Sherrilyn Kenyon is a well-known and popular paranormal romance writer. Some of her books have been recently adapted to graphic novel or manga. Here is a review of her manga series, courtesy of the Graphic Novels blog.

The Dark Hunters, Vol. 1 and The Dark Hunters, Vol. 2 by Sherrilyn Kenyon

May's Review: The 2 volume manga series was adapted from Kenyon's hugely popular paranormal romantic Dark-Hunter series, specifically Night Pleasures. Both the book and the manga tells the story of Kyrian, former prince of Thrace turned Dark-Hunter vampire, who must protect Amanda, a human who knows little about the psychic power she possesses or the dangers she is about to attract. In the introduction of volume 1, Kenyon writes that she is a huge fan of manga so it's not surprising that her Dark Hunter story is well suited for this format. Good illustrations with strong emphasis on action and romance makes this manga series not only an enjoyable read but almost a guilty pleasure! A total must-read for Kenyon fans.

If you enjoy the manga, you might also want to check out Kenyon's graphic novel, Lords of Avalon: Sword of Darkness, that was also based on one of her novels. Here is a link to my 2008 review of her graphic novel.

For more about Kenyon and her work, check out her website.

By now everyone is probably suffering from vampire burnout, what with True Blood, Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. But, if you like vampire stories, and you are a sucker for teen romances, check out Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey.

Summary: On Solange's sixteenth birthday, she is going to wake up dead. As if that's not bad enough, she also has to outwit her seven overprotective older brothers, avoid the politics involved with being the only daughter born to an ancient vampire dynasty, and elude Kieran Black—agent of an anti-vampire league who is searching for his father's killer and is intent on staking Solange and her entire family.
Luckily she has her own secret weapon—her human best friend Lucy—who is willing to defend Solange's right to a normal life, whether she's being smothered by her well-intentioned brothers or abducted by a power-hungry queen. Two unlikely alliances are formed in a race to save Solange's eternal life—Lucy and Solange's brother Nicholas, and Solange and Kieran Black—in a dual romance that is guaranteed to jump start any romance-lover's heart.
Even fans of the genre who've seen it all will find a fresh read with kick-butt characters and family dynamics that ring true for all brothers and sisters—vampire or otherwise.

Mr Darcy, Vampyre is the newest addition to the growing group of retellings of classic literature with a paranormal twist. Mixing the current trend of vampire love interests with the ageless story of Pride and Prejudice, this one is a must read.

Product Description:

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre starts where Pride and Prejudice ends and introduces a dark family curse so perfectly that the result is a delightfully thrilling, spine-chilling, breathtaking read. A dark, poignant and visionary continuation of Austen's beloved story, this tale is full of danger, darkness and immortal love.

Sucker for Love by Kimberly Kaye

Summary: Divalicious darling of the undead Lil Marchette is this close to finding her own happily-ever-after with hunky live-in bounty hunter Ty Bonner. Unfortunately, reality is biting back in a big way. Lil’s got mounting bills to pay and clients to keep happily hooked up courtesy of Dead End Dating, the ultimate meet-and-greet for New York’s fanged, furry, and fabulous. But leave it to a drop-dead gorgeous eight-hundred-year-old warlock with a big-girl fetish to take the biggest chomp out of Lil’s happiness by kidnapping Esther Crutch, one of Lil’s plus-size clients, now stamped as Grade-A Ritual Meat. Will Lil remain calm and save Esther–or will her client bite the dust?

Faeries Gone Wild by MaryJanice Davidson, Lois Greiman, Michele Hauf and Leandra Logan.

Summary: An anthology featuring what else? Faeries of course! Stories feature a six foot, four inch tall faery following royal orders in Minnesota; an environmental-loving faery battling a cutthroat land developer; a librarian by day and tooth faery by night meeting her Mr. Right; and a young appealing faery striking it hot with a firefighter in Manhattan.

The newest chapter in the Sookie Stackhouse series is out, and it is a Pop Pick! Not sure what that means? Check it out here. I've read it, and I don't want to give anything away, but Dead and Gone was a pretty good book. I've found that in the last few titles the number of characters has grown a bit out of control, and this book gives some closure to a few of the side stories, which makes me believe that the next books will be concentrate more on Sookie and the vampires in her life - a move that I think is long overdue.

No one can do angst-ridden love stories quite like young adult writers, and, when done right, these books appeal to adults as well as teens. With the success of Twilight, I figured there was no better way to celebrate vampires and teen love stories than to flashback to 1991, and look at L.J. Smith's The Vampire Diaries.

To put this into perspective, L.J. Smith was writing around the time of Fear Street, when horror books written directly for a teen age group really exploded. But, unlike R.L. Stine where the relationships in the books took a backseat to the horror and paranormal features of the story, Smith concentrated on the emotional state of her main characters.

In this series, Elena, a popular girl at school becomes involved with Stefan and Damon, two very different brothers, who also happen to be vampires. The Vampire Diaries have been reissued, so start with The Awakening and The Struggle.

The latest book in Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series, Swallowing Darkness, is now a Popular Pick. Check the catalogue to see if it is in at a library near you. Too busy running around to sit down and read? Then put a hold on the spoken word.

If you are new to the Meredith Gentry novels, start with the first book, A Kiss of Shadows. Set in modern day LA, Meridith is a mixed blood fey and is in line to rule the Faerie Court, but only if she can provide the Queen of Air and Darkness an heir.

There’s been a lot of hype about Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, a young adult book about a teen girl and a vampire, and many people wonder if the books will appeal to adults as well as teens.

The short answer: yes they will.

Twilight is a captivating love story, and will appeal to anyone who likes mysterious heroes, strong heroines and intense drama. The last book in the series just came out, and the movie will be released in December, so make sure you put holds on the books so that you aren’t left out!

I was surprised to see that there aren't that many holds on Mary Janice Davidson's newest title. This one is a book of three short stories featuring Betsy the vampire queen from the Undead and Unwed series, a mermaid tale, and a werewolf story with one of the best titles I've heard yet: "Speed Dating, Werewolf Style -- or, Ow, I Think You Broke the Bone." Davidson's writing is quite funny, and this collection is sure to be hilarious.

There seems to be a real trend in publishing Paranormal romance novels. But beware - There are two different streams of paranormal romance, and they are very different in content. I am going to refer to them as “Dark and Serious” and “Funny and Fun.”

Dark and serious romances generally have a strong female lead who has some sort of power (be it vampirism, lycanthropy or psychic affinity), and becomes involved in the paranormal subculture. Generally, the plot follows a crime or event rather than the romantic escapades of the main characters. One of the best examples of this genre is the early books in the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, where the protagonist (Anita Blake) raises zombies for a living, and works as a consultant for the police when they are investigating a paranormal crime scene. Amid trying to solve some sort of mystery, she also battles her desires for Jean Claude, a master vampire. If you like this kind of story, you should also try:

Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur

Funny and fun romances are typically chicklit type novels where the heroine either copes with supernatural powers or falls in love with a paranormal being. A great example of this genre is the Undead series by Mary Janice Davidson. Betsy is a shoe-obsessed former model that is infected with vampirism and learns that she might be the prophesied Vampire Queen, much to the chagrin of her would-be consort. If you like this kind of story, you should also try:

Bitten and Smitten by Michelle Rowan