This Rec League comes from Kayla. Thanks, Kayla!
I’m dying for some BIPOC vampires I can really sink my teeth into. Ideally wise cracking and leather pants wearing but I’m not that picky. I just want more diversity in my night life.
Shana: Well, there’s classics that I love, like Jewelle Gomez’s The Gilda Stories ( A | BN | K | AB ), Tananarive Due’s My Soul to Keep ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), and Octavia Butler’s Fledgling ( A | BN | K | AB ), but that doesn’t get you the lighthearted fun…or the leather pants. For that, you need the Vampire Sorority Sisters series by Rebekah Weatherspoon.
I didn’t finish The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa ( A | BN | K | AB ) because I’m a scaredy cat, but that might work for this prompt too.
Sarah: The first that comes to mind is the late LA Banks’ Vampire Huntress series, starting with Minion. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Vampires of Manhattan by Melissa de la Cruz ( A | BN | K | AB )
And several options in the anthology Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite.
10+ years ago there was a brief explosion of chick-lit + paranormal, and Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta ( A ) fits this brief.
What books would you suggest? Tell us in the comments!
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was recently republished.
Rather on the gorey side, iirc.
I haven’t read it yet, but “Human Enough” by ES Yu looks like a fun paranormal m/m romance between a vampire and a vampire hunter, with an Asian protagonist.
I didn’t love “Certain Dark Things,” sadly, although I really wanted to! The world building in the abstract was stronger than the actual plot.
Octavia Butler’s FLEDGLING is wonderful though dark and heavier than I think she anticipated. Also CW: the female vampire, though she is much, much older, looks like an adolescent so her partner appears much older than her. This can be a big problem for readers. She wrote it for fun after reading a bunch of vampire romances.
It’s book 10 in the Guild Hunter series, but Archangel’s Viper by Nalini Singh fits. Vampire hero is Indian. Some of the other couples in the series are also BIPOC, but I think they’re angels rather than vampires. This one probably also has the most leather pants-adjacent vibe for the hero.
Seconding @Neile on the scenes from the start of FLEDGLING. Shori has amnesia so doesn’t know what she is (or her name yet), but looks like a prepubescent African American female. She does have sex with an adult human male. The story sets it up so it’s clear she’s not in any danger (because she’s a super strong, super fast carnivore who’s already killed and eaten one adult male) (not spoilers — this is the first chapter). But, honestly, I don’t really get why OB did that. The kind of character Shori is becomes important as she figures out how to reclaim her life in a pansexual, polyamorous community. But that first scene with what’s-his-name? I just skip it now and suggest my students think seriously about skipping in when I assign the novel. OB really rubs your face in how the scene appears even if we know that the appearances are deceiving. Don’t get it.
It’s a great novel, though, even though the beginning needs epic-size CW/TWs. THE GILDA STORIES are awesome too.
Joey W. Hill has several BIPOC vampire characters in her Vampire Queen series. It *does* feature fairly heavy BDSM, so be aware of that.
The Sookie Stackhouse series has some BIPOC characters, but they aren’t necessarily the main characters, the aren’t all vampires, and they are spread out over the entire series. So this suggestion may not work for you at all LOL!
Adding to @CourtneyM’s suggestion of Nalini Singh’s Archangel’s Viper, #8 of the Guild Hunter series, Archangel’s Enigma, might also fit the rec request. I read Naasir as a POC and part of the story is about what he is/is not!
Not too sure if the series books can be read as stand alones though…
What We Do In the Shadows the movie (and the tv series) has multiple BIPOC vampires.
Zephyr Hollis series by Alan Dawn Johnson (although it’s set in the 1920s, so no leather pants; and neither of the couple are vampires. But plenty of other people are.)
Sorry, autocorrect strikes again, that should be Alaya Dawn Johnson
And speaking of Charlaine Harris, the TV casting of Midnight, Texas was impressively color-blind (or -conscious, as you prefer). Lemuel is not as all as I envisioned him from the books, but he is absolutely the hottest thing on two legs. And if there are no literal leather pants, it may be that his vibe is so strong I remembered them anyway.
_The Vampire’s Accidental Wife_ by Kristen Painter.