Help: Need A Book Recommendation

Posted September 29, 2008 by Holly in Discussions | 30 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance


I’ve been whining and crying about the flood of paranormal romances for ages now (along with the lack of straight contemporaries). The thing is, I’ve never really been a fan of vampires. Ever. Sure, there are some ok vamp books on the market, but I think the market got flooded and the few SUPER great ones got lost in the shuffle. Shifters are ok (I have favorites, like Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series), but there’s also been a flood of those. You know what they say, too much of a good thing….

But, in all my lamenting, I didn’t considering one important thing: There’s another type of PNR. One I absolutely adore. Ghost-y type ones. You know, parapsychology and etc. I love a good ghost story, and if someone has a psychic ability, so much the better.

But I haven’t really seen any of these on the market. Are there any? Not that I’ve really looked too hard (psst..I’m kind of lazy) but nothing has jumped out at me.

Can you please recommend a good paranormal romance that has no shifters or vampires, but has psychics, ghosts or parapsychology related themes? Do such things exist anymore?

Help a girl out, would you?


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30 responses to “Help: Need A Book Recommendation

  1. What about the Sydney Croft series? Those books are filled with parapsycho characters.

    Kay Hooper did a series a few years back about psychics that was pretty good you may want to look into.

  2. Lisa Cach wrote a ghost book set in seattle called BABES IN GHOSTLAND. It’s cute. And did I mention it’s set in SEATTLE??

    Katie MacAlister has a heroine whose job is ghost hunting…but it’s also in her vampire series. So you’d get both…kinda like Kresley Cole’s fourth book with the vamp/ghost fling.

    Isn’t GABRIEL’S GHOST by Linnea Sinclair about ghosts? I loved her book GAMES OF COMMAND, but haven’t read GG. I just assumed by the title. KB?

  3. Ciara: GG isn’t about ghosts, but Gabriel has a special quirk that kind of makes him ghost like. But that is another great rec. Lots of people using special mind powers in that book.

  4. C2

    One of my very favorite books ever is a ghost story – Stardust of Yesterday by Lynn Kurland. It’s very sweet AND the beginning of a series that has more ghosts here and there and a good bit of time travel. Jayne Castle’s books are about psychic phenomena but not ghosts, as such. I like those too. Some old Mickee Madden titles are ghostly…Everlastin’, for one.

  5. Before I Wake by Kathryn Smith. It’s about the dream realm–not ghosts–but it’s in that same category to me. No vampires, no shifters, none of the “typical” PNR characters we’re so tired of.

    The heroine has the ability to manipulate her dreams and the dreams of others. I’d call that psychic ability to some extent.

    I wrote an A- review of it a few weeks ago on my blog (just search for Before I Wake). It was a keeper for me.

  6. The one that came immediately to mind is Kelley Armstrong’s series, Women of the Otherworld. Each book has a different woman narrating and they all have different abilities, the first couple are werewolves (and they are great!) then they move into some other types…but the most recent is a woman who can see and speak to ghosts. Worth checking out if you haven’t already.

  7. Hot Rod Heaven by Melani Blazer (Ellora’s Cave) is my favorite ghost story. (Yes, she is a friend of mine, but I adore the book all on its own.) Especially delicious if you like old cars.

  8. Tabitha C

    Have you read or heard of Linda Howard’s, ‘Now You See Her’? That book has a bit of ghost/paranormal as the theme. I recall enjoying it when I first read it.

  9. Have you tried the Ghostwalkers series by Christine Feehan? I’ve only read the first one, but it was about a squad made up of people with enhanced psychic and mental abilities.

  10. While I love the Sydney Croft books, I don’t think you would like them.

    Did you ever read the Kresley Cole books? One of the newer ones had a ghost heroine.

  11. One more for Feehan’s Ghostwalker series, although I think it peaks at book 2. 😀 I’ve read a couple of the Lynn Kurlands–one was good, one not so much–so I’d probably try the book that C2 recommended (it’s not one I’ve read).

  12. While I love the Sydney Croft books, I don’t think you would like them.

    Did you ever read the Kresley Cole books? One of the newer ones had a ghost heroine.

  13. I have them – but they are still in the TBR pile but Sarah MacKenzie wrote a series of Ghost books:
    Return Of The Highlander
    Secrets Of The Highwayman
    Passions Of The Ghost

  14. Whoa – lots of books. Yes for the uh ARCO books. And I think the Rebecca York book I reviewed a while back.
    Also – Brenda Joyce actually has a few of them – “The Third Heiress” and “House of Dreams.”
    Loved tTH- it FREAKED me out – and “House of Dreams” was much the same – House of Dreams very slightly ties to some of her historicals, too, which is fun. (But not definitely.)

  15. Ohhh and are you ok with witches? Erin McCarthy has a few lighthearted witch reads. Some ghost story ones – but definitely not dark.
    LJ Smith has some great ones that are uh… for YA. Psychics, and witches.

  16. Kimberly H

    If you are interested in ghost stories/paranormal and enjoy some historical fiction, Candace Camp has a series (The Crazy Morelands sp?) that are fun to read.
    Hope you find something good!

  17. I quite liked “Arousing Suspicions” by Marianne Stillings. The heroine can see people’s dreams while the hero is a major skeptic. There’s a *wonderful* scene/setup at baseball game where they bet on which team will win…and, well, it turns out pretty damn hawt.

    Unfortunately, I didn’t like the second book in this series (“Satisfaction”).

  18. Sam

    Lynn Kurland! Her stuff is great! Off the top of my head some of her ghost books are A Stardust of Yesterday mentioned above, and one of my favorites, Much Ado About Love. I haven’t read a Lynn Kurland book I didn’t like.

  19. Lynn Kurland – Stardust of Yesterday is a good read. It sort of has a time-travel feel to it though, so I don’t know if you like that or not.

    I would also recommend Holly Lisle’s Night Echoes. It set in modern day but it has a sort of gothic feel to it. I really enjoyed it. The heroine can see ghosts and one in particular keeps coming to her.

    Also, Nell by Jeanette Baker is a good one. This story is really two romances in one. One is set in modern day Ireland, the other in medieval times. Very well done, and unusual.

  20. The Ophelia and Abby Mysteries start with Witch Way to Murder by Shirley Damsgaard. The heroine is a witch but she is also a bit psychic.

    The Pepper Martin Mysteries by Casey Daniels starts with Don of the Dead. Pepper works in a cemetery and sees ghosts.

  21. Wow, thanks for the excellent recommendations. Couple questions:

    1) Doesn’t Kresley Cole write a vampire series?
    2) Isn’t Lynn Kurland a historical author? I’ve read a couple of her books and they were time travel but set in a historical period.

    I don’t think I want something historical, though obviously that could change. But I’ve definitely added some of these to my cart on Amazon.

    Keep them coming…

  22. Holly, Yes the Kresly Cole books do have vampires in them, but there are a lot of other mythical creatures from werewolves, demons valkryie (sp?) and witches, not to mention elves, goddesses and a whole host of others. If you haven’t read this series, you are missing out. It is fabulous IMHO! Get to reading girl!

    As far as the Lynn Kurland book goes, Stardust of Yesterday is set in present day Scotland (I think it’s Scotland) and the hero is a ghost or trapped in a mirror. I can’t remember which. Anyway, the book won a RITA for it and I thought it was pretty good.

  23. Holly, I’m back to correct a gross oversight: check out Shiloh Walker’s books–Through the Veil, Guilty Needs, Vicious Vixen, and the upcoming The Missing. The first is a bit more fantasy than contemporary, but it has great psychic powers and inter dimensional stuff. The last three are firmly contemporary with ghosts/psychic powers things.

    I also just found an older book, Pamela Palmer’s The Dark Gate (Nocturne, April 2007) with psychic powers and… 😀 well, it’s good so far.

    Good luck!

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