I loved Susan Krinard's Prince of Shadows (but still haven't read the rest of the series). I also moderately liked Krinard's futuristic Kinsman's Oath, but the speculative elements worked a lot better for me than the romance did. On the other hand, I hated Krinard's first Luna book.
I'm not sure if futuristic romance is considered paranormal or not, but I liked the first J. D. Robb book and one shorter piece set in that universe, although I haven't liked most of Nora Roberts' other books I've tried.
Oh and I've read a few time travel or ghost paranormals by Lynn Kurland, which I liked.
Let's see, the paranormals I hated... I tried two Christine Feehan books and I thought that not only were they badly written, but they were horribly misogynistic and celebrated the rape culture. Silver Shadows by Sylvie Kurtz was a mediocre book. Several of the Lunas by romance authors were more paranormal than fantasy and had all of the gender stereotypes. And even in the romance/fantasy crossover anthologies that have come out in recent years, I've liked the SFF stories and hated all but one romance story.
Even in Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan, which I thought was more fantasy than paranormal, the gender stuff really pissed me off.
Once a Pirate by Susan Grant did nothing for me, although I think I might like her futuristics a lot more.
Shield's Lady by Amanda Glass (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) was okay and I kind of wish I didn't get rid of it because I'd like to try it again now. I'd also like to read her books as Jayne Castle.
I'm trying to read Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris now and it's not the romance angle or any kind of sexism interfering with my enjoyment of the book, it's Sookie's voice. So I guess I'm destined not to like most paranormals or romantic fantasy that paranormal readers love too.
Warrior's Woman by Johanna Lindsey is right up there with Feehan's books as being one of the most offensive books I've ever attempted to read.
Awaken Me Darkly by Gena Showalter had a kick-ass heroine, except every time she was with the hero, she was shown to be less than he was. Here's a great post about this trend: http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/2007/03/15/the-envelope-that-still-needs-pushing/
There's a few more I can't remember now, all of which had very sexist themes.
Then there's a few books which I consider half romance and half SFF, like Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair. I loved the heroine, liked the space opera story (although the world building felt cardboard), but hated the domineering alpha hero. And in Elphame's Choice by P. C. Cast, the world was really neat, but I didn't like how the heroine turned into a wet dishrag as soon as she met the hero.
I would like to try Marjorie Liu, more by Grant, J. R. Ward, Nalini Singh, Robin D. Owens, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Patti O'Shea, Karen Marie Moning, Liz Maverick, more Tor Paranormals, and I put the first Shomi book on reserve at the library.
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I loved Susan Krinard's Prince of Shadows (but still haven't read the rest of the series). I also moderately liked Krinard's futuristic Kinsman's Oath, but the speculative elements worked a lot better for me than the romance did. On the other hand, I hated Krinard's first Luna book.
I'm not sure if futuristic romance is considered paranormal or not, but I liked the first J. D. Robb book and one shorter piece set in that universe, although I haven't liked most of Nora Roberts' other books I've tried.
Oh and I've read a few time travel or ghost paranormals by Lynn Kurland, which I liked.
Let's see, the paranormals I hated... I tried two Christine Feehan books and I thought that not only were they badly written, but they were horribly misogynistic and celebrated the rape culture. Silver Shadows by Sylvie Kurtz was a mediocre book. Several of the Lunas by romance authors were more paranormal than fantasy and had all of the gender stereotypes. And even in the romance/fantasy crossover anthologies that have come out in recent years, I've liked the SFF stories and hated all but one romance story.
Even in Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan, which I thought was more fantasy than paranormal, the gender stuff really pissed me off.
Once a Pirate by Susan Grant did nothing for me, although I think I might like her futuristics a lot more.
Shield's Lady by Amanda Glass (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) was okay and I kind of wish I didn't get rid of it because I'd like to try it again now. I'd also like to read her books as Jayne Castle.
I'm trying to read Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris now and it's not the romance angle or any kind of sexism interfering with my enjoyment of the book, it's Sookie's voice. So I guess I'm destined not to like most paranormals or romantic fantasy that paranormal readers love too.
Warrior's Woman by Johanna Lindsey is right up there with Feehan's books as being one of the most offensive books I've ever attempted to read.
Awaken Me Darkly by Gena Showalter had a kick-ass heroine, except every time she was with the hero, she was shown to be less than he was. Here's a great post about this trend: http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/2007/03/15/the-envelope-that-still-needs-pushing/
There's a few more I can't remember now, all of which had very sexist themes.
Then there's a few books which I consider half romance and half SFF, like Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair. I loved the heroine, liked the space opera story (although the world building felt cardboard), but hated the domineering alpha hero. And in Elphame's Choice by P. C. Cast, the world was really neat, but I didn't like how the heroine turned into a wet dishrag as soon as she met the hero.
I would like to try Marjorie Liu, more by Grant, J. R. Ward, Nalini Singh, Robin D. Owens, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Patti O'Shea, Karen Marie Moning, Liz Maverick, more Tor Paranormals, and I put the first Shomi book on reserve at the library.