Hi everyone!
I’m back after a long break from the blog due to exams. This is my first blog post of 2024.
Who doesn’t love a little murder with their romance, right? (That sounded better in my head, sorry).
The POINT is, with serial killers and dead bodies and investigating dilapidated basements and interrogations, the idea of finding The One is as absurd as it is exciting.
The stakes are higher, lives are on the line and things get messy in not a very good way.
A lot of the books I’ll be recommending below are mysteries/thrillers first and romance second. There is a great balance between the investigation plot line vs the romance plot line.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson-
Full Disclosure: I haven’t read the last part in the series yet so I don’t know how it ends. But from what I’ve read so far, I can confidently say that it’s gonna to be amazing.
You’ve probably heard of this series many times before. I don’t need to tell you anymore than that I think it’s totally worth the hype.
The author has a talent for unravelling the mystery step-by-step.
She’s very good at laying out red herrings and keeping the reader hooked throughout each step. Initially I had thought that I would get bored because the book is not very action-packed or fast-paced. It takes its time to take the reader through the process of the investigation in a very organic and realistic way.
2) Murder Between Us by Tal Bauer
Tal Bauer is an amazing writer of queer romance books, and I think he really hit it out the park with this one. This is different from his usual brand of sweet, contemporary romance, but he pulls it off.
We follow around Noah and Cole, our two main characters who team up to track a down a serial killer. It’s a second chance romance with theme of self-acceptance, a well laid-out, suspenseful plot and angst. One of the characters is also single dad, and if you like that trope, this book is perfect for you.
3. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
It always cracks me up whenever I think about how one book named These Violent Delights is “solve murders, fall in love” and the other is “commit murders, fall in love”. Or at least, that’s how I think about them in my head. (Let me know if you’d like me to make a list based on “Commiiting Crimes, Falling in Love”).
(And if you didn’t get the joke- First of all, have been living under a rock?!?
Secondly, it’s because there’s another book named These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever and it’s famously known as “TVD but the gay one”. It’s an apt description).
That tells you nothing about the book itself, I’m sorry. A YA series set in 1920s Shanghai, we follow Juliette and Roma, heirs of two most powerful rival gangs in the city- who also happen to be exes and still in love with each other.
It’s a little different than other books since the two are not trying to stop a human being from killing others, but actually the spread of a deadly disease that compels people to tear out their own throat.
4. Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
This book will definitely appeal to fans of Rebecca by Daphne De Maurier. With the signature sentient haunted house, a walled garden, the mysteries death of the Mistress of the house and incredible Gothic vibes, it’s a really fun read.
Our main character Signa cannot die. She’s not immortal- she grows old. But she has a strange power that allows her to prevent dying and also interact with the entity that is Death personified. When she reunites with her uncles family at their mansion, she gets hacked in investigating the abnormal circumstances of her aunt's death and other conspiracies going on at this peak of noble society.
The next few series are stories that follow two main characters throughout multiple books, in an episodic way.
These stories capture not only how the characters fall in love, but also take us through the progression of their relationship through all the conventional bumps in the road like meeting the family, moving in together, communication issues AS WELL AS some pretty unconventional obstacles that can range from anything to psychotic scientists, dark and violent pasts, undercover work, and serial killers on the loose.
These books are special because the progression of their relationship is so realistic and relatable. The authors put the characters through real personality growth and change. The characters feel so believable because we spend a lot of time exploring their flaws, why they a re the way they are, their ticks and behaviours.
4. Seven of Spades by Cordelia Kingsbridge
Probably the series that’s more on the morbid and darker side, Seven of Spades follows homicide detective Levi Abrams who has to track the very conniving and deadly serial killer, Seven of Spades, who not only likes to leave behind gruesome crime scenes but also is also obsessed about two things: his “moral superiority”…
and Levi.
Levi teams up with Dominic Russo, a bounty hunter also working on the case, and both of them find themselves helplessly drawn to each other.
If you’re worried that the mystery is going to be subpar, let me assuage your concerns right here. Seven of Spades is probably one of the most conniving, unhinged and manipulative antagonists I’ve read about. They’re enough to keep you guessing through 5 books. Yes, 5 BOOKS.
The romance is incredible, to say the least. The spice is spicyyy, the tension is through the roof, and there’s no shortage of tragic backstories. The story deals with topics like gambling addiction, PTSD, and depression very well.
There’s betrayals, there’s relationship drama, there’s action, knife fights, shoot outs, explosions, hostage situations. It’s a whole thing and it’s SO GOOD.
5. A Charm of Magpies series by KJ Charles
I went a little overboard with Seven of Spades since it’s my first time talking about it so I’ll keep this short. The Magpie Lord trilogy is set in 18th century England.
Lord Crane is freshly back from China, forced to leave his life of freedom and become a Lord of a n estate after his father and brother pass away. And he comes back to a house haunted.
Safe to say he’s not having the best luck. Which only seems to worsen when he requires the help of magician Stephen Day, who is prickly, distractingly attractive and stubborn.
The dynamic between Crane and Stephen is so magnetic. The way their personalities clash, but also seem to seamlessly fall in place when they’re together. Each book the duo finds some new magical mishap to deal with while also dealing with changes in their relationship.
Stephen is chronically overworked, jealously guards his independence and refuses to ask for help. Crane has power in every way, and he should push every one of Stephen’s buttons. But they love each other fiercely.
There are shamans, human-eating rats, vicious spirits, evil magicians and flying tattoo birds. It’s an incredibly fun time.
(I also highly recommend checking out other book by KJ Charles. He has a ton of incredible queer romance books with a great combination of magic and mystery).
6. Big Bad Wolf series by Charlie Adhara
My absolute favourite series. My comfort book. The standard for all romance for me. I think about this series at least once every single day. All of the qualities that I talked about a little bit earlier- the realistic characters, their flaws and trauma. This book delivers on EVERYTHING. You have the soft moments, the angsty moments, secrets from their pasts, discussion of mental health, breaking away from “omegaverse” and taking a modern take on werewolves.
If you like the idea of reading about a tall, dark , handsome modern werewolf who’s just a nerdy English lit professor at heart (but forced to be a fearsome leader) falling in love with a prickly, sassy, anxiety-ridden detective, then this is the story for you.
I soon hope to have an entire post dedicated to talking (read: gushing) about this series and I encourage you to check that out because this series is the BEST of the best. So well-written, with well-rounded characters.
I have to stop myself here, otherwise we’ll be here the whole day.
7. Criminal Intentions Cole McCade
A series for the lovers of extreme slow-burn and dark, brooding main characters.
If you’re looking for a story with gross murders, queer rep in the police force and psychological backflips that will make your brain melt, this is the perfect series.
Even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of the series myself, I think a lot of people will really enjoy it, especially the main character Seong Jae- Yoon, a Korean-American detective who is as dificult to unravel as the murders themselves.
Let’s Chat!
That’s it for today. Thank you so much for reading till the end!
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