Tired of Anita Blake? Best butt kicking heroines - contemp fantasy
Looking for the best butt-kicking heroines in contemporary fantasy? Tired of Anita Blake? Discover 15 gripping reads featuring fierce female protagonists, including Patricia Briggs' *On the Prowl*, Karen Chance's *Claimed By Shadow*, and Kelley Armstrong's *Dime Store Magic*. From urban shamans to vampire hunters, this curated list delivers powerful, action-packed stories with strong female leads. Dive into the adventures of Kitty Norville, Dante Valentine, and Joanne Walker—perfect for fans seeking fresh, independent heroines and thrilling paranormal plots. Explore your next favorite fantasy series today!
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Kitty and the Midnight Hour
by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station-and a werewolf in the closet. Sick of lame song requests, she accidentally starts 'The Midnight Hour', a late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. After desperate vampires, werewolves, and witches across the country begin calling in to share their woes, her new show is a raging success. But it's Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew...
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Ill Wind
by Rachel Caine
Someone's finally doing something about the weather...in the first in this series by the New York Times bestselling author of Ink and Bone and the Morganville Vampires series. It's "A FUN READ" (Jim Butcher) from "A FIRST-CLASS STORYTELLER" (Charlaine Harris)... The Wardens Association has been around pretty much forever. Some Wardens control Fire, others control Earth or Water or Wind—and the most powerful can control more than one. Without wardens, Mother Nature would wipe humanity off the face of the earth... Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now, Joanne is trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So, she’s resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life… Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful warden known. Unfortunately, he’s also on the run from the Council. It seems he’s stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn—making him the most wanted man on earth. And without Lewis, Joanne’s chances of surviving are as good as a snowball in—well, a place she may be headed. So, she and her classic Mustang are racing hard to find him—because there’s some bad weather closing in fast... “[Ill Wind’s] forecast calls for murder, mayhem, magic, meteorology—and a fun read. You’ll never watch the Weather Channel the same way again.”—Jim Butcher, bestselling author of The Dresden Files Rachel Caine is the author of several bestselling series, including the Revivalist and Outcast Season novels. Among her many popular novels are Daylighters, The Dead Girls' Dance, Terminated, and Black Dawn.
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Claimed By Shadow
by Karen Chance
Clairvoyant Cassie Plamer has inherited new magical powers-including the ability to travel through time. But it's a whole lot of responsibility she'd rather not have. Now she's the most popular girl in town, as an assortment of vamps, fey, and mages try to convince, force, or seduce her-and her magic-over to their side. But one particular master vampire didn't ask what Cassie wanted before putting a claim on her. He had a spell cast that binds her to him, and now she doesn't know if what she feels for him is real-or imagined...
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Dime Store Magic
by Kelley Armstrong
From Canada's new queen of suspense comes the latest in her Women of the Otherworld series--a mesmerizing tale of an exceptional young woman caught up in an otherworldly realm where some will stop at nothing to get what they want. Original.
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The Eyre Affair
by Jasper Fforde
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The first novel in the renowned Thursday Next series, which “combines elements of Monty Python, Harry Potter, Stephen Hawking, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (The Wall Street Journal). “A literary wonderland [that] recalls Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker series [and] the works of Lewis Carroll.”—USA Today Meet Thursday Next, “part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew, and part Dirty Harry” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times), a literary detective without equal, fear, or boyfriend—and welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wadsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature. When Jane Eyre is plucked from the pages of Brontë’s novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter a novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide. Don’t miss any of Jasper Fforde’s delightfully entertaining Thursday Next novels: THE EYRE AFFAIR • LOST IN A GOOD BOOK • THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS • SOMETHING ROTTEN • FIRST AMONG SEQUELS • ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING • THE WOMAN WHO DIED A LOT
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Dead Until Dark
by Charlaine Harris
Sink your teeth into the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series—the books that gave life to the Dead and inspired the HBO® original series True Blood. Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Bon Temps, Louisiana. She's quiet, doesn't get out much, and tends to mind her own business—except when it comes to her “disability.” Sookie can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. Then along comes Bill Compton. He’s tall, dark, handsome—and Sookie can’t hear a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the type of guy she’s been waiting for all her life... But Bill has a disability of his own: he’s a vampire with a bad reputation. And when a string of murders hits Bon Temps—along with a gang of truly nasty bloodsuckers looking for Bill—Sookie starts to wonder if having a vampire for a boyfriend is such a bright idea.
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Bell, Book, and Murder
by Rosemary Edghill
For readers who desire a unique dose of witchcraft, mystery, and thrill, here's a real treat. "Bell, Book, and Murder" offers all three of Edghill's Bast novels--"Speak Daggers to Her", "Book of Moons" and the first softcover edition of "The Bowl of Night".
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On the Prowl
by Patricia Briggs
Four stories of inhuman passions from four of the hottest authors in paranormal romance... “Alpha and Omega” by Patricia Briggs The werewolf Anna finds a new sense of self when the son of the werewolf king comes to town to quell unrest in the Chicago pack—and inspires a power in Anna she’s never felt before. “Inhuman” by Eileen Wilks Andie has a secret gift of sensing thoughts and desires. What she senses in her neighbor Nathan could be dangerous. Because he has a secret gift too, and it’s about to be let loose… “Buying Trouble” by Karen Chance A Lord of the Fey crosses paths with a fiery red-headed mage named Claire in a New York auction house. But in this strange underground society, the rarity up for sale is Claire herself. “Mona Lisa Betwining” by Sunny Among the children of the moon, Milady is of mixed blood—part Monère, part human, and destined to be alone. Until she meets a man who could be her salvation—or her downfall.
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Matters of the Blood
by Maria Lima
Keira Kelly, half-breed descendant of a powerful paranormal family has chosen to live apart from her clan and among humans in the Texas Hill Country. When she experiences a prophetic vision that foretells the vicious murder of her human cousin, Marty Nelson, she vows to determine the truth. Keira begins to uncover long-concealed secrets and risks alienating everyone she knows, from her former lover, Sheriff Carlton Larson, to the enigmatic Adam Walker, once a friendly acquaintance and now much more.
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Heart Of Stone
by C.E. Murphy
Starred Review. Public defender Margrit Knight is enjoying a midnight run in Central Park when a strange man accosts her. Her instincts take over, and she flees. Later that night, she learns that a woman has been murdered near the site of the encounter. The prime suspect: Alban Korund, the man who approached her. The situation escalates as more women are found dead, and Alban seems to be stalking Margrit. He insists that he is not guilty and asks Margrit for her assistance. The hitch? Alban isn't human--he's a gargoyle, one of the five Old Races, and he can't take his case through the human legal system. Margrit has her doubts, but she enjoys a challenge and takes the case. However, clearing Alban's name means navigating a network of djinn, dragons, vampires, selkies, and gargoyles, all living among the humans of New York City--and they aren't always cooperative. There are enough dead ends, misdirection, and shady characters to keep mystery fans satisfied; the mild romantic elements will draw in romance readers; and fantasy aficionados will appreciate Murphy's (Urban Shaman) careful world-building. A satisfying beginning to a promising new urban fantasy series; highly recommended.--Nanette Donohue, Champaign P.L., IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
