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Romance novels are a legitimate part of our popular culture, and a new subgenre has surfaced in the past 15 years. These series are formulaic, as most pulps are, involving a female protagonist who is either a detective or ends up solving a mystery in a modernized fantasy realm that exists as a hidden part of our world. Though more intense in some series, these detectives usually end up in intricate sexual encounters with various preternatural creatures, all embodied by the Fabio-like men you expect to see on the cover of romances. These books are not for everyone, but if you like fantasy or if you happen to be a fan of the romance genre, you may find something new and innovating to sink your teeth into.

Anita Blake

I’ve covered the comic series before but never the books the comic was based on. So far, this series by Laurell K. Hamilton is 15 novels and a few short stories. The first novel, Guilty Pleasures, introduces readers to vampire hunter and zombie reanimator Anita Blake and to a world of werewolves and vampires who are legal U.S. citizens. The early books are detective mysteries with sensual aspects, and the newer books have turned into sex scene after sex scene, but the most recent novel, The Harlequin, appears to show a balance being reached between sex and mystery. This was the series that all the other books of this genre emulated.

Meredith Gentry

Also by Laurell K. Hamilton, this series is only six books and began with 2000s Kiss of Shadows. Unlike Anita Blake, who primarily deals with the undead and werewolves, Meredith Gentry’s world is one concerned with faeries (which makes sense, seeing as Meredith is a faerie princess living in the mortal world). This series has much more sex than the earlier Anita Blake books.

Southern Vampire Mysteries

Written by Charlaine Harris, this series debuted with Dead Until Dark and features the telepathic Sookie Stackhouse. She has to contend with vampires and werewolves and, of course, becomes romantically involved with some of the vamps.

Mercy Thompson

Mercedes Thompson is a werecoyote mechanic who lives in a world of vampires, werewolves and faeries (here called fae). The romance here does not have as large of a presence when compared to Anita Blake, but there is enough mystery and romance to land this series into this genre. The third novel, Iron Kissed, was released last month.

Rachel Morgan

Kim Harrison’s Hollow series takes place in a postapocalyptic world where a virus has decimated the human population. The magical creatures that were hidden, such as elves and vampires (the Inderlanders), then reveal themselves to the world. Rachel Morgan is a witch working to police the magical creatures of the world at the beginning of her first novel, Dead Witch Walking.

Dark-Hunters

Sherrilyn Kenyon’s series focuses on different characters in each novel. The Dark-Hunters are immortals pledged in the service of Athena to destroy Daimons (essentially vampires). They also happen to have a lot of sex. But then again, what can you expect from a series whose debut novel was titled Fantasy Lover?