Paranormal romance had a massive run in the 2000s and early 2010s — Twilight, Sookie Stackhouse, Black Dagger Brotherhood. Then it went quieter as romantasy took over the imagination of the market. But paranormal romance never left. The books kept getting written, the series kept getting longer, and a whole generation of readers has quietly been waiting for the subgenre to get its renaissance. It's starting to happen. Here's where to read now.
Vampires
The Black Dagger Brotherhood — J.R. Ward
Heat: Spicy. Books: 22+ and counting.
The most commercially successful paranormal romance series of the modern era. A brotherhood of six genetically-elite vampire warriors defends their race against a sect of undead enemies called Lessers. Every book features a different brother, and the through-line mythology gets deeper and stranger as it goes. Start with Dark Lover (Wrath and Beth). Warning: once you start, you will read all 22.
Immortals After Dark — Kresley Cole
Heat: Spicy. Books: 18.
Vampires, Valkyries, demons, werewolves, witches — all in one interconnected world of supernatural beings called the Lore. Kresley Cole's series is the other pillar of 2000s-era paranormal romance. A Hunger Like No Other (book 1) pairs a Lykae (werewolf) king with a half-vampire half-Valkyrie woman he's been searching for centuries.
The Serpent & The Wings of Night — Carissa Broadbent
Heat: Steamy. Tropes: Rivals-to-lovers, mortal-among-vampires, deadly tournament.
The modern entry — gothic, slow-burn, politically complex. Oraya is a mortal raised among vampires in a deadly tournament for survival. Raihn is a rival competitor. Crowns of Nyaxia is one of the best-reviewed romantasy-adjacent paranormal series of the last three years.
Werewolves & Shifters
The Mercy Thompson Series — Patricia Briggs
Heat: Steamy. Books: 13+.
Often called the best urban fantasy-paranormal romance series still being written. Mercy is a Volkswagen mechanic in the Tri-Cities who happens to be a coyote shapeshifter living next door to the local Alpha werewolf. Briggs writes pack dynamics better than almost anyone. Start with Moon Called and commit to the long haul.
Alpha and Omega — Patricia Briggs
Heat: Steamy. Books: 6.
Briggs's spinoff series in the same world as Mercy Thompson. Anna is an Omega wolf — rare, calming, the quiet centre of any pack — who has been horribly abused by her previous pack. Charles is the enforcer son of the Marrok, the leader of all North American wolves. Trauma recovery romance done with extraordinary care.
A Hunger Like No Other — Kresley Cole
Heat: Spicy. Tropes: Fated mates, werewolf king.
The book that launched Immortals After Dark — and the one to start with if the werewolf angle is what pulls you in. Lachlain MacRieve is the Lykae king, imprisoned by vampires for 150 years. When he escapes he finds Emmaline — his fated mate, and inconveniently half-vampire.
Witches
A Discovery of Witches — Deborah Harkness
Heat: Steamy. Series: All Souls Trilogy.
An Oxford historian with reluctant witch abilities discovers an enchanted alchemical manuscript, and with it a 1,500-year-old vampire geneticist. The trilogy is ambitious, literary, and deeply romantic — it earned a prestige TV adaptation on AMC/Sky. For readers who want their paranormal romance with Oxford libraries and centuries of history.
Practical Magic — Alice Hoffman
Heat: Sweet. Format: Standalone (with 3 companion novels).
The Owens women have been cursed for three hundred years — any man they love meets a dark end. Sally and Gillian try to escape it, and love, and each other. Hoffman is a literary writer who happens to also be one of the great contemporary witch-romance voices. Atmospheric, rich, unhurried.
Urban Fantasy Adjacent (but romance-central)
Kate Daniels — Ilona Andrews
Heat: Steamy. Books: 10.
Post-apocalyptic Atlanta where magic and tech alternate in "flares" and "shifts". Kate Daniels is a mercenary. Curran is the Beast Lord, king of the shapeshifters. Ilona Andrews (a husband-wife writing duo) builds the slowest, most satisfying slow-burn in modern paranormal romance — Kate and Curran don't kiss until book 3. The payoff is enormous.
The Innkeeper Chronicles — Ilona Andrews
Heat: Steamy. Books: 6+.
Andrews's lighter, weirder series. Dina is an innkeeper — running a sentient bed-and-breakfast in small-town Texas where she hosts interdimensional visitors including vampires, werewolves, and galactic royalty. Fun, cosy, romantic, and unlike anything else in the subgenre.
Where to Start
If you want the biggest, most-binge-worthy series: Black Dagger Brotherhood. 22 books. Start with Dark Lover.
If you want the best-written paranormal romance being produced today: Ilona Andrews. Start with Magic Bites (Kate Daniels).
If you want pack dynamics done right: Patricia Briggs. Start with Moon Called.
If you want the gateway — classic paranormal, steamy, fated-mates energy: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole.
If you want gothic atmosphere and vampire politics: The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent.