A non-romance-reading friend recently asked me for paranormal romance recommendations. Of course I jumped at the chance to pimp books, but the pressure is hot. The mission, should I chose to accept it (and I did): She needs to be completely sucked in and addicted for life. It’s imperative. (Especially if I’m moving to Portland! I want her to join the Cheeky Pages Romance Book Group at Powell’s with me and attend all the Romance author signings in Cedar Hill Crossing.)

I wrote up a list of recommendations and started filling a box of books for her. Mr. Wonderful called me crazy, said I was going to scare her, and told me to tone it down, so I sent him to Portland with only 7 books from my shelves to tempt her to the dark side. Her reading tastes have been everywhere from chick lit to horror. My goal was to give her a wide cross-section so that she would have a better chance of finding her poison of choice. Does she prefer light or dark paranormals? High Fantasy or Urban Fantasy? Hot or sweet? Irreverent or serious? Here are the books I sent her, and my thoughts on the series to recommend NEXT if that book hits the spot, from DARK to LIGHT:

1. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
   Next – Patricia Briggs‘ Mercy Thompson series, Ilona Andrews‘ Kate Daniels series
2. Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione
   Next – J.R. Ward‘s Black Dagger Brotherhood
3. Fantasy Lover, Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
   Next – Gena Showalter‘s Lord of the Underworld series
4. Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson
   Next – Meljean Brook‘s Guardian Series
5. No Rest for the Wicked, Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole (I temporarily misplaced book 1. :0) Next – Nalini Singh‘s Psy/Changelings
6. You Slay Me (book 1), Aisling Grey, Guardian series by Katie MacAlister
   Next – Stephanie Rowe’s Goblet of Eternal Youth series
7. Bit the Jackpot, Vegas Vampires series by Erin McCarthy
   Next - Lyndsay Sands‘ Argeneau Vampire Series

I don’t own the first book in Nalini or Meljean’s series, otherwise I would have sent them. (I hope to get autographed copies for my forever shelf soon!) Would have sent Dark Lover and Moon Called, but my copies are already on loan to other friends.

What books would you recommend to a Paranormal Romance virgin? What books are out-of-this world that are guaranteed to get my friend addicted?

EDITED TO ADD: She’s starting with BITTEN!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dilT46jbyiY]

Katie MacAlister‘s klutzy heroine, dragon anti-hero and hilariously snarky Newfoundland dog demon pack an excellent punch. On the lighter side of paranormal romance, YOU SLAY ME, book 1 in the Aisling Grey, Guardian, series, is one of my desert island keepers.

Did I mention how much I like book videos?

Katie MacAlister, another wonderful SEATTLE author, has long been one of my favorite reads for her spunky characters and lol humor. One of my first romance novels was her book Men in Kilts and her Aisling Grey, Guardian, series is awesome. I adore Jim, the demon newfoundland.

KATIECON 2009? MAYBE…

Recently, some of the lovely folk over on the message forum have been talking about arranging a Minion Meet/Get-Together/mini KatieCon in the Seattle environs, since they know I am a shy little hermit who doesn’t travel much.

I started thinking about that, and after talking to my darling agent Michelle, we decided that rather than have just a couple of hours over a tea, we’d like to do a day-long event. The event would be held in the meeting room of a hotel, with one meal catered by the hotel (they do a great job with food). We’d also likely have some amusements–Michelle wants poker with prizes being exchanged for chips, rather than money (don’t ask Michelle about her Puzzle Pirates poker addiction–it’s just too, too shameful)–and probably a Q&A session with us both, books to be signed, a raffle benefitting a local charity, giveaways, etc.

This would not be a conference in the sense of workshops, agent appointments, etc. It would instead be a gathering of people who wanted to get together for a day to talk about dragons and Dark Ones, scarf down some delicious food, and generally have a good time.

Originally we were thinking of this fall for the KatieCon, but after consulting with Michelle, we feel April or May of next year would be better. Since attendance will be limited to keep me sane, I’d like to hear from those of you who would be interested in coming. There would be no charge for the event other than your travel and lodging expenses (if applicable), etc., and would likely be held on a Saturday. I have a May 2009 book, so it might be fun to have the event in the middle to end of April, so I could pass out early copies of the book.

If you are interested in coming to the Seattle area (the hotel where I’d have the event is actually in Bellevue, which is right next to Seattle) for this get-together, please drop me an e-mail (katie@katiemacalister.com) with:

• A vote for a Saturday in April 2009
• A vote for a Saturday in May 2009
• A vote for some other time

Once I see how many people are really interested in attending, then I will be able to make some decisions about dates, attendance limit, etc. Questions and comments are also welcome, so let me know what you think about the whole idea!

Best,

Katie

Did someone say Puzzle Pirates??? Funniest book ever (if you’ve played Puzzle Pirates)- Blow Me Down. I’ll be there, taking pictures and notes for you poor souls who don’t live in the most beautiful place in the world, the Pacific Northwest.

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading Katie (I’ve read all but 2 of her books!), may I strongly suggest you read You Slay Me, the first book in the Aisling Grey, Guardian series.