Let’s talk about books with some serious spooky vibes to get into the Halloween spirit!
When you think “Halloween,” what comes to mind?
➡️Ghosts?
➡️Witches?
➡️Vampires?
➡️Werewolves?
That’s what comes to mind for me!
But what’s sexier than an unsuspecting human falling in love with a gorgeous vampire?
NOTHING!
Everybody loves a sexy vampire...and there's nothing more swoon-worthy than a vampire who falls in love with a girl who could just as easily become his lunch!
I love a great paranormal romance book, and vamps are some of my favorites. So why not dive into 6 vampire romance novels that you would LOVE to sink your teeth into this fall?
But before we go there, let me pause for a moment and explain who I am. I'm Josephine Lamont, long time paranormal romance reader, author of new adult romantasy books and YA fiction, and just a plain old avid romance enthusiast. I'm all about books featuring a coming-of-age story with a female lead and sexy romantic interest.
Give me love triangles, good-boys/girls-next-door, misunderstood bad boys, meet cutes, sex appeal, soulmates, love at first sight, alpha males...all the things that leave you hot and bothered.
So before I dive into my list of the 6 vampire romance novels you should read this fall, know that I thoroughly enjoy the genre and love all the tropes! So if you're open to all things paranormal romance, then let's dive right in.
Vampire Romance #1: The Awakening by L.J. Smith
Have you ever watched The Vampire Diaries on TV? What about Legacies or The Originals?
If you answered yes, then you're going to be delighted to hear that it all started with this oldie, but goodie by New York Times bestselling author, L.J. Smith!
Your first vampire romance read is The Awakening, book one of The Vampire Diaries series that started it all! What I really like about this story is that it is safe for younger readers and still delicious to enjoy as an adult. The romance is swoon-worthy, but you don't need to worry about the story getting too steamy or language getting too heavy.
Take a look at the book blurb and see if this doesn't entice you...
Book Blurb: The Awakening
A deadly love triangle.
Elena Gilbert is a high school golden girl, used to getting what she wants. And who she wants. But when the boy she’s set her sights on—the handsome and haunted Stefan—isn’t interested, she’s confused.
She could never know the real reason Stefan is struggling to resist her: Stefan is a vampire, and Elena’s in danger just by being around him. What’s more, Stefan’s dark, dangerous vampire brother Damon has just arrived in town.
And wherever Damon goes, trouble always follows.
Perfect for fans of Midnight Sun, The Beautiful, and Crave, get sucked in to the heart-stopping suspense, fierce romances, and jaw-dropping surprises that captured millions of fans and inspired the hit TV show.
Vampire Romance #2: Secret Vampire by L.J. Smith
Okay, here's another one by Smith...Secret Vampire.
L.J. Smith wrote nothing but paranormal romance, and so it's no surprise that she got pretty good at it! She's been a favored author of many popular writers today. Ever hear of Jennifer L. Armentrout? She's a big New York Times bestselling author, and her favorite series was written by L.J. Smith.
As a teenager searching for swoon-worthy books, I gobbled up Smith's books the same way I shoved frosting down my gullet after a break-up. So, it's no surprise that Smith has two books on my list, with our second novel being book one of the Night World series.
The cool thing about this series is that each book reads very much like a standalone. I still recommend you read them in order because characters from one book pop-in as cameos in the other, but you can absolutely enjoy these as individual reads.
Like The Awakening, this book is safe for younger readers, but easily enjoyed by adults. We have a great romance playing with the concept of soulmates, with no smut and safe language for a younger audience.
Checkout this book blurb and see if it doesn't draw you in...
Book Blurb: Secret Vampire
The pain was something Poppy couldn’t ignore. The diagnosis was death. There was no hope—until James appeared in the darkened hospital room.
James, her best friend and secret love, the most handsome boy in El Camino High. But this was a James she didn’t know, menacing yet irresistible as he offered Poppy the gift of eternal life.
Only he could open the door to the Night World, and spirit her into its lonely, secret universe.
One dizzying kiss and she can see into his soul. She finds that he has always loved her. They’re soul mates—but can she follow him into death and beyond? It’s a desperate choice, and Poppy’s time is running out...
Vampire Romance #3: Temptation by R.L. Stine
This next one might surprise you...it's R.L. Stine's Temptation. This is a 3-book boxset featuring Stine's YA vampire romance series.
Did you know R.L. Stine leaped out of Goosebumps and into YA horror? Moreover, did you know he wrote YA paranormal romance?
Me neither!
It wasn't until my own daughter started to crave a little romance in her books that I started searching for some YA series that would be safe for younger readers. I needed something with no smut and mild language. Never in my life did I think R.L. Stine, and yet, here we are!
Now, full disclosure, I did not read this series myself. But my daughter enjoyed it, and right now, smut is popular. I wanted to make sure my list included several books that were low on the steam scale but still enjoyable for all lovers of vampire romance.
Book Blurb: Temptation
Cruel Intentions meets The Vampire Diaries in this sexy packaging of a classic vampire series from bestselling author R.L. Stine.
In this collection of three fan-favorite stories, the vampires of Sandy Hollow crave the summer months. Summer means plenty of beach tourists…and plenty of fresh blood after months of deprivation. But this year the Eternal Ones have decided to spice things up with a little bet: The first to seduce a hot date of the human variety, and then turn him into a fellow creature of the night, wins.
The catch? In order to successfully turn their prey, they must take only three small sips of blood on three different nights. If they take too much blood on any night, the human will die and the bet will be lost.
The setup sounds simple enough, but things quickly get complicated—especially since each vampire is just dying to quench her thirst...
Vampire Romance #4: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
I'm sorry, but you just can't make a list of vampire romance novels and not include Twilight! I know some people have beef with her, and I also know many people (myself included) are not fans of book 4, but there's no way I can make a list without including this one.
What can I say? Twilight (in my opinion) breathed new life into a subgenre that was seriously struggling. Vampire romances were very much a dying breed, but Meyer's helped relaunch it into the stratosphere!
Do I think she was 100% unique? No, absolutely not.
If you read L.J. Smith and then read Meyer, you'll see that the Twilight Saga is not a special snowflake at all. But...that doesn't mean that Twilight isn't deliciously addictive!
What I like about Twilight is that it has such a captivating romance that is super swoon-worthy, but no smut and mild language. That makes it safe for younger readers and totally delicious for older readers too. (As a frame of reference, I was in college when I read Twilight and was totally feeling all the feels!)
Be warned, however, that there is sexual content in book 4, but it's light in my opinion when compared to other YA romance series being published at this time.
Book Blurb: Twilight
Fall in love with the addictive, suspenseful love story between a teenage girl and a vampire with the book that sparked a "literary phenomenon" and redefined romance for a generation (New York Times).
Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn.
Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife -- between desire and danger.
Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.
Vampire Romance #5: Crave by Tracy Wolff
Okay, now we're really jumping to vampire romances with some spicier, steamier picks for those who love some smut in their reading diet!
Number 5 on my list is Crave by Tracy Wolff. If you're an avid paranormal romance reader, then there is no way you haven't heard of the Crave series yet. It's super popular, and the paperback edition just came out, so there's no time like the present to get your hands on book 1 of this series if you haven't read it yet.
What can I say about Crave? It's intense, exciting, intriguing, mysterious, and our male lead is super sexy and well written. I just LOVE this book, and the series is complete so you can binge read them next weekend.
Crave is safe for my no-smut readers, but the series does become more smutty as they move along. With that said, even though there is no actual smut in book 1, there are intimate scenes that do feel steamier. For that reason, I do consider this book best for older readers who enjoy a little steam in their fiction.
Book Blurb: Crave
My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.
Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.
Which could spell death for us all.
Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.
Vampire Romance #6: Inception by Bianca Scardoni
Alright folks, we've come to the final pick on my list. If you like vampires, romance, love triangles, and smut, then you HAVE to read Inception.
In so many ways, I HATE this book because I was so addicted to it. I seriously looked like Gollum in the corner of my living room, gobbling page after page, hissing at anyone that dared to interrupt me. (My poor family. I'm so sorry you have to deal with me 🙈)
Inception is book 1 of The Marked Saga, and it's a fantastic debut novel for Scardoni. There are 7 books in the series, with the 8th being written at the time that this post went live. The only thing I'll say is that Scardoni has a bad habit of saying, "This is the final book," and then it's not. But I honestly can't complain because each book has been impossible to put down.
Some of my favorite things about Inception is the enemies-to-lovers trope and the fantastic love triangle. I am still horribly conflicted about who I want the MC to be with, and honestly, I really don't care anymore who she picks because I adore both of the male leads.
This whole series is SUPER SMUTTY. I'm talking bunnies on a full moon here, so if you're a smut lover, then you're going to be very satisfied with the steam level throughout this entire series. It is definitely off the charts.
Book Blurb: Inception
A soulmate that runs hot-and-cold. A morally gray anti-hero with a heart. Choosing between the two is just the beginning of her problems.
Some secrets are better left dead in the ground.
My name is Jemma Blackburn and I have a secret. I know vampires are real; I watched one murder my father eight months ago. Of course, they tried to convince me that it didn’t happen—that I’d lost touch with reality due to the trauma—but I know what I saw was real.
Hollow Hills is now the place I call home. It was supposed to be my chance at a normal life. My chance to bury the past and start over again. But there’s something even worse going on in this town—something sinister in the air around me. Everyone seems to be keeping their own secrets, whispering lies in my ears like promises, and one of them is about to turn my entire world on its head.
I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I knew who I was. The truth is, I didn’t even know the half of it. There’s a reason why these vampires are still after me—why they will always hunt me no matter where I go or how fast I run—and apparently, my blood is the key to all of it.
I’m the angel they crave and the devil they fear.
Too bad I’m the only one who doesn’t know it.
INCEPTION is the enthralling first installment in The Marked Saga. A coming-of-age dark paranormal romance that features mystery, swoon-worthy romance, supernatural adventure, and jaw-dropping twists that will keep you guessing until the very last page. Perfect for fans of Crave, Twilight, and The Vampire Diaries.
6 Vampire Romance Reads to Sink Your Teeth Into
Well, there you have it, folks. Six vampire romance novels to read this fall to get into the spooky vibes! We've got plenty to choose from with varying levels of steam, and I'm positive you'll find one that you just can't put down.
It's been fun, but now I got to get back to writing my actual novel instead of procrastinating. Until next time, keep turning the page!
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