Stewart, Mary. My Brother Michael. New York: Morrow, 2001 (ISBN: 978-0-380-82075-7).
Every library should have Stewart’s timeless titles. While her Arthurian saga remains popular, her other novels should not be neglected. Often set in exotic locales and filled with legends and literary references, they offer a range of satisfactions. Delphi and the legends of ancient Greece provide the background for this atmospheric tale of love and adventure, first published in 1960, in which Camilla takes up an offer to deliver a car to an unfamiliar man on Delphi and becomes entangled in the dangerous search into his brother’s death.
Paranormal Romance
Paranormal is the umbrella under which speculative fiction merges with romance, both as integral to the plot as is the required HEA (Happily Ever After ending). Settings include alternate realities, future or alternate Earth, or fictional planets or star systems. Characters range from humans and non-humans with special powers (vampires, witches, ghosts, cyborgs, sentient aliens or animals) who exhibit aspects beyond the range of currently accepted scientific explanation. Subgenres include time travel, science fiction, vampire, urban fantasy, shape-shifter, fantasy, and futuristic romances.
With crossover appeal to readers of mythology, science fiction, and fantasy (SFF) who enjoy a romantic subplot, the genre has experienced a resurgence in popularity over the past several years due to the emergence of authors skilled in world-building and readers willing to suspend disbelief to follow them. Alpha protagonists–powerful men and women willing and able to protect the vulnerable–are a major focus of the genre and one of its greatest attractions; the clash between the supernatural and the ordinary, as well as the sensual nature of many paranormals, are others. Paranormal is another area where romance subgenres blend, as many include elements of historical romance and romantic suspense.
Feehan, Christine. Dark Prince. New York: Dorchester Leisure Books, 2005 (ISBN: 978-0-8439-5528-6).
Feehan’s darkly sensual, groundbreaking Carpathian series re-energized the vampire romance industry. This first book introduced Mikhail, the acknowledged prince of an ancient and powerful race. Mikhail is weary of life until Raven, a human psychic and his lifemate, brings light and color back into his world. But in order to keep her, he must protect her from his powerful enemies–both vampire and human–while he binds her with ties of sexual desire and mental telepathy.
Krentz, Jayne Ann. White Lies. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007 (ISBN: 978-0-399-15373-0).
Jayne Ann Krentz has championed paranormals since the 1980s. Her new Arcane Society series effectively employs her trademark wit, sparkling dialog, and supportive family networks as her psychically talented characters investigate attempts to co-opt a secret formula meant to strengthen those talents. Psychic hunter Jake Salter was undercover when he encountered Clare Lancaster, whose talent is the ability to detect lies, but he is reluctantly fascinated by her passion and precipitates an affair.