These binge-worthy book series are a welcome change
Tired of scrolling through Netflix? Ready to go on vacation? It’s bingereading recommendation time.
For the fans of romance, fantasy or both
Pretty much anything by Nalini Singh: If you love complicated worlds, ever-growing casts of characters and a flood of emotional angst that could float a few yachts, look no further than Singh’s Guild Hunter Series, PsyChangeling Series and
Rock Series. The Psy-Changeling series takes place in a world populated by shifters, humans and the psy — supposedly emotionless beings that possess dangerous powers. Each book builds on a complex universe, exploring the costs of power, diplomacy and emotional control. You can start with the first book, “Slave to Sensation,” or the first in what readers are calling the “second season” of the series, “Silver Silence.”
The Guild Hunter series involves archangels, vampires and the titular Guild Hunters in a world that mixes theology and mythology with mystery and romance. The stories follow two main characters for the first few books beginning with “Angels’ Blood,” but the series widens to feature other pairings as well. And with 14 installments in this series — plus a new book, “Archangel’s War,” coming in September — you won’t risk running out of story anytime soon.
If fantasy and the paranormal aren’t your thing, Singh also writes the contemporary Rock Kiss series, which is scorching hot but also surprisingly sweet. Start with “Rock Addiction.” There are four books and a novella in this series — perfect for a long weekend or a week away.
Shelly Laurenston’s
series: Perhaps you like your romance with some campy humor and mayhem. If your tastes tend toward over the top, pick any Shelly Laurenston book in the Pride series, the Call of Crows trilogy or the Honey Badger Chronicles. Most of Laurenston’s stories take place in an interconnected fantasy world populated by fierce, sarcastic animal shifters.
Of course, anxious honey badger shifters, winged Norse goddesses and overprotective tiger shifter assassin moms will either appeal to you or send you running. If it’s the former, there are more than 40 books to enjoy.
For mystery lovers
Jennifer Ashley’s Kat
Holloway series: Ashley writes exquisite historical romance and equally marvelous mysteries. Kat Holloway is a highly trained cook in wealthy households during the late 1800s — a position of higher status among the servants, though still in service. When she’s not creating meals that will make your stomach growl, she’s solving murders alongside a mysterious, charming and potentially unreliable ally, Daniel McAdam. The latest book, “Death in Kew Gardens,” just came out. Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby Mystery series: These books slowly unite two very different characters over multiple installments (and multiple murders), blending mystery with historical fiction, social commentary and a delicious slow-burn romance. Lady Darby is holding on by a thread to her position on the fringes of 19th-century London society, due in part to her late husband’s cruelty. In “The Anatomist’s Wife,” she’s the prime suspect in a grisly house party murder.
Is there anything better than the words “house party murder”? Probably not, but these come close: “New book!” The most recent in the seven-book series, “An Artless Demise,” came out in April. Sherry Thomas’ The Lady Sherlock series: These books, which recast Sherlock Holmes as Charlotte Holmes, are perfect for those who adore layered stories. Unignorable questions of gender, expectation and privilege lurk beneath complex mysteries and a slowly scorching romance. The more I reread these books, the more I discover about Charlotte’s brilliant powers of deduction. The first novel is “A Conspiracy in Belgravia,” and the fourth, “The Art of Theft,” arrives in October.