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Greetings! We Come in Peace! – Winner Picked!

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greetings_wecomeinpeaceWelcome to Paranormal Unbound, where we not only like to kick ass and take names, we also like to analyze said kick-assery, read about it, and roll in it with our legs twitching in the air.

Who are we? We are nine authors defending the paranormal genre, while trying not to take ourselves too seriously. We are nine authors who are probably ignorant of what the heck we just agreed to do together, but are proceeding anyway, fists pumping in the air. We are nine authors, bound by a common love of the paranormal genre, be it fang, fur, bumps in the night, time warps, or general supernatural WTFery.

And like any self-respecting group blog, we have a nifty manifesto:

Maybe, like us, you’ve heard whispers that there’s nothing new under the moon and paranormal fiction is on the decline. We don’t think that’s true. Paranormal remains a vibrant genre because otherworldly creatures and superhuman powers reveal a lot about our mundane human condition … and they can be pretty sexy, too.

Here at Paranormal Unbound, we’re interested in all the citizens of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Feisty women in leather and hot alpha males with fangs? Sure! But also quirky, neurotic heroines and geeky, glasses-wearing heroes. Unusual settings and genre-crossing stories, fantastical world-building and subtle magic. Books that push the envelope, make us laugh, and make us think. If you’re looking for something that’s just a little bit different, you’ve come to the right place.

We are writers and geek girls, genre apologists and romance lovers, Whedonites, trekkies, historians, lawyers, scientists, priests, and above all, readers in search of books to fall in love with.  Come nerd out with us over everything from the evolutionary basis for the popularity of vampire romances to the terrible injustice of Firefly’s cancellation. Drop us a line and recommend your favorite offbeat paranormal romance. Tell us about your adventures as a fellow geek. Look around, stay awhile, and don’t be a stranger.

We’re super-tickled to have this space to share this love with like-minded readers and imbibers of all things paranormal. We have lots of exciting posts planned, including author interviews, short fiction, what we’re reading and what aspects of the genre we’re burning to talk about. And it won’t be just books, but movies and TV shows. You name it, if it has to do with pushing the paranormal envelope, we want to chat about it.

So let’s kick this off! To make this party more fun, we’re going to give away some of our books! There are several ways to increase your chances…

Here’s how to enter. You can do just the one entry, but read on, and you’ll see that you can earn additional one as well!

Answer this in the comments for your first entry:

What paranormal fiction is on your keeper shelf? What do you love about it?

For additional entries…

… do any or all of the following, and leave a comment for each thing, to count as the entry.

  1. Tweet this: Stop by the new paranormal group blog launched today– Paranormal Unbound @ParaUnbound– & win prizes! #books <– Click to tweet
  2. Follow us on Twitter leave your twitter handle in the comment
  3. Like us on Facebook

And here’s what you can win if we draw your name!

a print copy of Suzanne Johnson’s River Road
a print copy of Lisa Kessler’s Night Walker
a print copy of Elisabeth Staab’s Prince of Power
an ebook copy of Lisa Kessler’s Night Thief
an ebook copy of Amber Belldene’s Blood Vine
an ebook copy (Kindle only) of AJ Larrieu’s Anchored
an ebook copy of Angela Quarles’ Beer and Groping in Las Vegas

This contest will run until tonight (12 AM Pacific) – Winner will be drawn and announced tomorrow!

Disclaimer: Winners can be US or International. Prize must be claimed within one week of the winning announcement.

The gods at random.org have spoken! The winner of the pack of 7 books is: S.C. CHALMERS!

162 thoughts on “Greetings! We Come in Peace! – Winner Picked!”

  1. Liked and shared on Facebook 🙂 Now what is on my shelf and what do I like about it….VERY HARD QUESTION because I have so many! Let’s go with The Fever Series, by Karen M Moaning…These books have a little bit of EVERYTHING…an awesome lead heroine, a funny as hell teen who says all the “right” things at the best times, and one of the sexiest, most mysterious dark and deadly male characters, EVER…as well as a witty “death by sex” Angel! Plus drama, intrigue, tons of OMG moments, and on the edge of your seat story lines and plots. And talk about monumentus cliffhangers….I waited almost 2 years to find out what happened after book 4!!! I remember screaming my head off when it ended, I was so mad, I wanted to hunt Karen down and demand some answers….Paranormal at it’s best!! Did I mention, one of the most sexiest, mysterious dark and deadly male characters, EVER??!!!

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  2. Oh so many favorites. Christine Feehan, Thea Harrison, Lora Leigh, Suzanne Johnson, Nalini Singh, Kresley Cole, Christine Warren, Sherrilyn Kenyon. Yup, I love PNR stories. Thanks for the contest!

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  3. Hi all, the paranormal books on my keeper shelf are too many to count for ex : sherrilyn Kenyon, tes hillaire, kresley Cole, etc.. I love them because paranormal story give me a version of the hidden world which for me is very interesting :). I already like the Page as well with username fb Aretha zhen . Thx

    Reply

    • Hi, Aretha, thanks for stopping by! I love the “hidden world” aspect of paranormal fiction, too. My favorites are books where the paranormal world is truly hidden, and most of the population doesn’t know abut it. But I love the stories where the beasties are out in the open, also. My keeper shelf is too big for my little condo. 🙂

      Reply

  4. Hum i love the Kate daniels series because there is romance that grows a little until they get together and still then they have to work to make it last and with the action there is a lot of humour so reading this series always make me smile a little

    another one is the sentinel of new orleans series because i love the originality of the undead historical ( jean can be so seductive^^), the humour is there and so many different kind of creatures that we can’t be sure what to expect next ( except that it will be good)

    Thank you a lot for this giveaway!!! ( i would like to enter only for print copy though because i don’t have an ereader)

    Reply

  5. On my keeper shelf: Kim Harrison’s Hollows series, Suzanne Johnson’s The Sentinels of New Orleans series, Susannah Sandlin’s The Penton Legacy series, Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series, Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series, Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series, Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series, and Jeri Smith-Ready’s WVMP series. I think that’s actually two shelves. It all started with Kim.

    I need to add: Adrian Phoenix’s Maker’s Song & Hoodoo series, and Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files.

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  9. Congrats on Paranormal Unbound! I tweeted, liked you on FB, followed on Twitter. Dracula and any books that include him are on my keeper shelf. He’s the first vampire I ever read about! He’s the vampire template.

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  10. Hey ladies! Congrats on the new blog to you all! I am an avid lover of all things Paranormal and have many ‘Keepers’ on my bookshelves. Among them-Rebecca Zanetti’s ‘Dark Protectors’, Gabrielle Bisset’s ‘Sons of Navarus’, Alexandra Ivy’s ‘Guardians of Eternity’, and some newly added ones by the very talented Lisa Kessler and Elisabeth Staab!!! These books bring me places that I cannot go in real life (hmmm….maybe) and give me characters that I fall in love with! I love you both for giving this enjoyment to me! 😉

    I tweeted again this morning for you all (@PhyllisM426), I already am following you all, and I have Pinned to my board, shared on my FB last night, LIKED you FB page, shared again this morning and will continue to do so!

    Glad to have you all around!

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  13. I have a pretty big keeper shelf. A lot of it is older out of print books that I’ve picked up over the years like Les Daniels. Current series include the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, Kitty Norville series, and several series by C.E. Murphy. Mostly a book makes my keeper shelf if I enjoy the characters and writing enough that I will want to re-read it.

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    • Thanks for stoping by and “liking” us, Sandy! I *love* the Mercy Thompson series, and CE Murphy is definitely on my keeper shelf. Her Walker Papers series is great, but my favorite by her is Heart of Stone. Such great characters!

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    • OH I love the Mercy Thompson series!!! Have you read the Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs too? I might like those even more… 🙂

      Thanks for coming by and commenting!

      Lisa

      Reply

  14. I’m like SandyG265 – I have a lot of print PNR/UF on my shelves, mostly Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Nalini Singh, and Seanan McGuire. I also have some oldies but goodies, like Jayne Castle books and War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. I feel like UF has some amazing writers, and that, plus strong female characters, keeps me coming back for more!

    Followed on Twitter: @RebeLovesBooks
    Tweeted: https://twitter.com/RebeLovesBooks/status/318737630378483712

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    • Your top four authors are all on my auto-buy list! Love it! I agree: there are some truly great writers in UF, and I love the breadth of style and theme that the genre permits. Thanks for stopping by & helping us spread the word. 🙂

      Reply

  15. I have a lot of paranormal fiction on my keeper shelf! In fact it pretty much is the only genre there!! I have all the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles, Kelley Armstrong’s Otehrworld, the Kate Daniles series, the Dresden Files, Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance, Ann Aguirre’s Corine Solomon books. I also have Royal Street on the shelf…I now think I have a few new authors to check out! 🙂

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  16. Oh yes, this looks like the right place. 🙂

    Keeper shelf of paranormal fiction? Do you have a few days? No. Okay, let’s say then anything by Gena Showalter, Jeaniene Frost and Nalini Singh. Also, Larissa Ione, Ilona Andrews, and Kasey Mackenzie. Oh don’t forget J. R. Ward, Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, and Marjorie Liu. All on my shelf along with many more. 😀

    Reply

  17. Like on Fb, tweeted (livywelch)!

    Now I like a lot of vampire books! So if its got vampires in them and they are amazing then I’m all for it!! So I’ve got Lisa’s Night Walker, Night Thief, and Night Demon, Immortals After Dark Series by Kresley Cole, and soo many more! I love the romance and story plots of them all. I love, love the passion for the books I read! If its a mystery or suspense it just heightens my mood to read!

    Reply

    • Thanks for commenting Olivia!!! 🙂 And you made my day to see the Night Series on your keeper shelf!!! 🙂

      I agree with you about vampire books… There is something so sexy and tortured about an immortal…

      Lisa 🙂

      Reply

    • Olivia–Thanks for sharing our new blog! I’m a vampire fan too, in fact, I read all of Immortals After Dark and Black Dagger Brotherhood back to back in a month when I was on maternity leave. Cole and Ward totally inspired me to start writing. And, I secretly want to be a Valkyrie, or at least to escape to their party house and play video games when I need a break from work and mommying 🙂

      Reply

    • Another vampire fan here! They’re so not dead (sorry, couldn’t resist). We have several vampire authors on the blog here–and I agree that Lisa’s Night series is awesome!

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    • Yay, vampires! Love Kresley Cole’s vamps (and her valkyrie) and J. R. Ward’s alpha vamps rock. I’ll also give a shout out to Laurell H. Hamilton’s vampires. I particularly enjoyed her protagonist vamps. And if we wander off into film/TV, then I have to give a shout out to Joss Whedon and SPIKE. Okay, Angel, too, especially when he was set to “evil mode”. LOL
      Celia

      Reply

  18. I have so many on my keeper shelf! Larissa Ione’s Demonica series, Kerrelyn Sparks and Lynsay Sands Vampires, Jocelynn Drake’s Dark Day’s series, Adrian Phoenix’s Maker Song series, J.R. Ward’s The Fallen Angel’s series, Laurie London’s Sweet Blood series, Allison Pang’s Abby Sinclair series, Laura Wright’s Mark of The Vampire series, Gennita Low’s Virtually books though I am not sure if it’s considered paranormal, Enemy Lover by Karin Harlow, Blood Born by Linda Howard, Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, Katherine Kitty Kat series by Gini Koch, The League series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Alpha Pack series by J.D. Tyler, Renegade Angels by Sylvia Day, No Proper Lady by Isobel Cooper, Shadow of The Vampire by Meagan Hatfield, and The Lost Angels series by Heather killough-Walden…..Phew, that’s a lot but there is more 🙂

    Reply

  21. I LOVE your blog (and all the familiar faces)! What a great idea. 🙂 I’ve followed you on FB, Twitter, and tweeted about the new site. (And it was my pleasure!) My paranormal keeper shelf? I’ve got Lauren Kate’s Fallen series, Nora Robert’s The Circle Trilogy, and JR Ward’s series up to Phury’s book.
    xo
    Kristin

    Reply

  22. I’ve recently got into the Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs. Honestly, I shy away from paranormal but I enjoyed almost everyone I’ve read. Hopefully I’ll get some fun recommendations.

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  23. I love all things paranormal, its practically the only things I read/review! Some authors that are my keeper shelf are; Jaye Wells, Seanan McGuire, Rachel Vincent, Richelle Mead, Gail Carriger, Ilona Andrews, Jenn Bennett, KMM, Patricia Briggs, Jennifer Estep, Kelly Gay, Suzanna Johnson, and Lisa Shearin. Anything with vampires, weres/shifters, faeries, witches, wizards, and demons….sign me right up! 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway ladies, great website!

    -tweeted: https://twitter.com/vanpham88/status/318775064118050816
    -twitter follower: vanpham88
    -liked on fb: van pham

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  24. Yay! Congratulations on your new group blog! *tosses confetti* I’m already friends with many of you and look forward to meeting the rest. 🙂 I’ve liked, tweeted, followed, etc.

    My favorite is Kresley Cole and her Immortals After Dark series, but I think I’d have a bunch more favorites if I read all the other suggestions here. *looks for spare time between the couch cushions* Hey, are any of your paranormal characters working on a pause button for life that I can borrow? 😉

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    • Maybe we can write a sci-fi where we can just upload the books to our brains and auto-read them. But I guess we’d miss the other accoutrements–the glass of wine or cup of tea, the cozy throw on the couch, the dozing off mid-sentence. Phooey–I guess I wouldn’t want to download books right into my consciousness after all.

      Reply

      • Exactly, Amber. We want the whole experience, not just the memory of it. 🙂

        Now nonfiction books are an entirely different matter. Just download those straight into my brain, Matrix-style. LOL!

  26. This sounds like it’ll be a fun blog!
    Some of my paranormal keepers: Jeaniene Frost, Gena Showalter, Sherrilyn Kenyon. Why? Um hello… Kick-ass heroines, beyond sexy heroes and fangs, fur, aliens and spaceships! What’s not to love? 😀

    I tweeted and liked on FB. @MarleneRelja
    😉

    Reply

  27. Hello ladies, nice to meet you. And I do agree, paranormal romance/urban fantasy is here to stay. I enjoy reading about witches, mages, vampires, wereanimals, fae, elves, and whatever else is hiding in the dark. So keep me entertained and keep me surprised with your stories, and I will be a loyal fan.
    Some of my keeper authors: Laurell K. Hamilton, Christine Feehan, Nalini Singh, Patricia Briggs, Anne Bishop, Kevin Hearne, Thea Harrison, Susan Sizemore, Alexis Morgan, Jacquelyn Frank. ok, I can go on with many more names.
    I tweeted, I follow on facebook and twitter. One complaint: follow by email wants to open Outlook, and that does not work for me.

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    • I love Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series… Hope she’ll have more soon!

      Thanks for the heads up about the subscribe by email option… Weird! We’ll check it out…

      Lisa 🙂

      Reply

    • GREAT list, Xaurianx. Kevin Hearne is one of my favorites, too–I even got my dad (who’d never picked up a paranormal book in his life) hooked on his books. And Thea Harrison is amazing! Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for pointing out the email issue. 🙂

      Reply

    • What a great keeper list. My keeper shelf includes, Larissa Ione, Laurell K. Hamilton, Kresley Cole, J.R. Ward, and more.
      Thanks for the Outlook report. That doesn’t work for me on sites, either.
      Celia

      Reply

    • Great to see you here, Aurian! We share a lot of favorites…and there’s one I so badly want to read: Kevin Hearne. I’ve heard SUCH great things about the Iron Druid series. (And the covers are terrific!)

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  28. Paranormal romance is my favorite type of romance to read, especially because it can go dark, or have a lot of humor, and always take you somewhere unexpected. The romance often seems more believable and fascinating to me because it takes it out of the mundane and somewhere more interesting. Favorites that pack my bookshelves are Kelley Armstrong, Gena Showalter, P.C. Cast, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Elizabeth Vaughan to name a few.

    Reply

    • S.C. I agree with you about the realism of the paranormal romances–its a funny irony of the genre, and one I hope we’ll explore on this blog! You’ve got a lot of new-to-me authors on your list that I will have to check out!

      Reply

      • Ironically, a few of the authors aren’t that “new” at all; I’m just loyal, and some of the books are a bit old. 😉 Kelley Armstrong is an interesting one that her books are sometimes considered romance, but I’ve found them shelved in “horror” – I think the kind of cross-genre thing paranormal plays with also makes it interesting.

      • S.C. & Lisa: Absolutely–I think cross-genre aspect of The Women of the Otherworld is part of why I love it. I recall being surprised by many of the books–by the twists in the plot and the choices she made for the heroines. Plenty of strong female characters, too!

  29. Oooh boy. There are so many on my keeper shelf that I might run out of room. I really enjoy Lauren Dane’s Bound by Magick and Delavega Cats series, as well as Moira Rogers ‘Southern Arcana’ series. A friend introduced me to the Mercy Thompson series and Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs and I love them like cake. I loved Christine Feehan’s ‘Drake sisters’ series as well. Currently, I am reading ‘Firelight’ by Kristen Callihan which takes place during the 1800’s in London and I’d be interested in finding more historical paranormals, although I love all kinds. I do have some trouble getting in to UF if there is a love triangle that goes on for eleventy million books and it has yet to be resolved.

    I retweeted and followed you on twitter and my user name is @mektastic — congratulations on your launch!

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    • LOL! Eleventy Million! FIRELIGHT is next on my list too, Meka, and my summer writing project is a historical paranormal. I like Gail Carriger and Meljean Brook’s steampunk books because of the (alternate) historical setting too–and, as this group formed, a lot of us expressed interests in paranormals that draw on history–Suzanne has the historical undead, Angela writes time travel, and part of Lisa’s Night Walker takes place in the past. We hope you’ll find something to interest you here!

      Reply

  30. Patricia Briggs, Suzanne Johnson, Kevin Hearne andTerry Brooks are at the top of my list. Can’t wait to check out the new to me authors on the blog here.
    facebook follower

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  35. I’m happy to have stumbled on your new blog. I love PN stories. I keep the first nine books in the Anita Blake series, the first eight books in the Hollows by Kin Harrison and everything by Ilona Andrews. I’m always looking for new reads and will be looking up everyone else’s favorites soon. Good luck on the blog!

    Reply

    • Hi, Marsha! I confess I only recently discovered Ilona Andrews, but they got on my auto-buy list right away. Great writing, complex world-building, multi-dimensional characters–can’t ask for much more! Thanks for stopping by–hope to see you here again in the future. 🙂

      Reply

    • Thanks for stopping by, Marsha! I like the early Anita Blake (pre succubus) books as well, and Kim Harrison is an absolute favorite. I thought the last Hollows book really set up the end to the series that’s coming.

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  36. Paranormal and urban fantasy. Always enjoy reading both of this genre 🙂

    I liked fb and follow on twitter.

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  37. WOW! Congrats on the launch of your new site, gals!
    I spread the news on twitter, and FB, and I’ll tell all my paranormal friends!
    ::Grins and hunts around for the LIKE button::

    You know, I love a little magic in my stories. On my keeper shelf: From Lora Leigh’s Breeds Series – LION’S MATE – Jonas Wyatt is TO.DIE.FOR. Meow!
    Then, I have to confess, A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness is a keeper too.
    LOVED Amber’s BLOOD VINE, and I can’t WAIT to read HAVEN by Celia Breslin.

    Oh, was I supposed to stop at one favorite?
    Paranormal Genre Rocks!
    Good luck you guys!
    Paula

    Reply

  40. Gail Carriger is on my auto-buy list. The Elemental Assassin books are pretty awesome (can’t think of the author’s name at the moment, my sister is the one who owns them). I also like P.N. Elrod’s Vampire Files for the old-school vampires. Seanan MacGuire is awesome, another auto-buy author.

    In the non-romantic section, Harry Dresden got himself an eternal place on my bookshelf, and Simon Green’s Nightsides are pretty fun light urban fantasy. I wish the man spent more time writing about those crazy, compelling characters and concepts and didn’t just give them a shout and move on.

    By the way.

    Hi, Angela.

    Reply

  41. Congrats on your new blog ladies, it looks very interesting. I don’t understand how people say paranormal romance is dying out. Romance has been around forever, and paranormal just adds a bit of spice to the characters. I’d have to say my collection of Kelley Armstrong’s Otherword books is a keeper. I love how it’s a series but not a series, and of course the fact that she is Canadian is a bonus, eh.

    Reply

  42. Congrats for the new site! 🙂
    PNR and UF are my favorite! And 90% from books in my shelves are from those genres. I have Nalini Singh, Kresley Cole, J.R.Ward, Thea Harrison, Gena Showalter, Lara Adrian, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Karen Marie Moning, and so much more 🙂
    I almost read UF and PNR books everyday, because I like the variety of the genres. From the world building, characters, plot, the romance too. And also lots of action.

    I already like FB page as Ren Russell
    And tweeted here : https://twitter.com/r3n87/status/319006060763570176

    Reply

  44. Pingback: Blog Goodness: Paranormal Unbound | celiabreslin

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