Charlaine Harris: Sookie Stackhouse Series

Sookie Stackhouse is just a cocktail waitress at Merlotte's Bar in Bon Temps, Louisiana with a "special condition": she's a telepath. When the vampires went public after synthetic blood was developed by the Japanese, Sookie is thrilled to meet the town's first vampire, but her life will never be the same.
Charlaine Harris' series will have readers giggling over Sookie's predicaments and pouring over the twisted plotlines. The supernatural characters (vampires, werewolves, demons, fairies and more!) aren't always the the most unusual people in this small backward town, and each book is filled with surprises galore. Readers will appreciate Sookie's common-sense attitude and heartfelt emotion over her troubled relationships. This series has been made into the popular television series, True Blood.

The Sookie Stackhouse (aka Southern Vampire) series in order:

1. Dead Until Dark (2001)

2. Living Dead in Dallas (2002)

3. Club Dead (2003)

4. Dead to the World (2004)

5. Dead as a Doornail (2005)

6. Definitely Dead (2006)

7. All Together Dead (2007)

8. From Dead to Worse (2008)

9. Dead and Gone (2009)

10. Dead in the Family (2010)

MaryJanice Davidson: Queen Betsy Series

Poor Betsy. While crossing the street, she was fatally struck by a Pontiac Aztek. And now, it seems that a bunch of lunatics have named her their queen, and all Betsy wants is a good sale at Nordstrom's, Prada shoes, and a little romance wouldn't be bad, either.
MaryJanice Davidson is the author of several series, and her special brand of fiction always includes a wonderful sense of humor. We call these books "Chick Lit", and in the Betsy series, readers get the fabulous mash-up of Chick Lit meets Vampire Fiction. Enjoy!

Betsy, the Vampire Queen Series in order:

1. Undead and Unwed (2002)

2. Undead and Unemployed (2004)

3. Undead and Unappreciated (2005)

4. Undead and Unreturnable (2005)

5. Undead and Unpopular (2006)

6. Undead and Uneasy (2007)

7. Undead and Unworthy (2008)

8. Undead and Unwelcome (2009)

9. Undead and Unfinished (2010)

Laurell K. Hamilton: Anita Blake Series

One enthusiast of this series described the Anita Blake books like this: "She's smart, clever and funny like Sookie Stackhouse, except that Anita Blake really kicks a_ _ !"

I'd have to agree. Anita is self-sustaining, and needs no companion to come to her rescue. These books are bold, filled with mystery, suspense and sometimes gore, but Hamilton manages to mix in some romance with all of that.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series in order:

1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)

2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)

3. Circus of the Damned (1995)

4. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)

5. Bloody Bones (1996)

6. The Killing Dance (1997)

7. Burnt Offerings (1998)

8. Blue Moon (1998)

9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)

10. Narcissus in Chains (2001)

11. Cerulean Sins (2003)

12. Incubus Dreams (2004)

13. Micah (2006)

14. Danse Macabre (2006)

15. The Harlequin (2007)

16. Blood Noir (2008)

17. Skin Trade (2009)

18. Flirt (2010)

19. Bullet (2010)