"The Hunter & The Wolf" by Erica Jackson

Current Tags

vampires, werewolves, vampirehunter, enemiestolovers, actionadventure, strongheroines, romance

Categories

Fantasy / Paranormal

Affiliate Link

The Hunter & The Wolf

Author's Description

Lydia learned from an early age to keep to herself. And the people around her tend to like it that way. Half-bloods might as well be full fledged vampires as far as the world is concerned, and Lydia is well aware the only reason she's kept alive is for her coveted skills as a hunter. But as fate would have it, her next job would force her to decide where her true loyalties lie. A daunting task, considering how annoyingly attractive her target is.

Why I Chose it

Like many romance stories, this has alternating point of view chapters. But unlike many romance stories, I found the viewpoint of both characters different but still intriguing.

[4 episodes so far, with 4 in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

If paranormal romance between a half-vampire hunter and her werewolf prey is your jam, check this out!

Unrelated Griping

More AI-generated word salad stories in the "Recently added stories" section. I assume someone must be making money on them, but as a reader, they're really annoying.

"Healer to the Ash King" by Rebecca F. Kenney

Current Tags

wicked king, steamy, dark fantasy, enemies to lovers, romance, fantasy romance, magic

Categories

Romance / Fantasy

Affiliate Link

Healer to the Ash King

Author's Description

A young healer with water powers is conscripted to serve in the Capital during the "Calling of the Favored," a competition during which the King will choose his bride. Her sympathies--and her friends--are with the Undoing, a band of anarchists intent on overthrowing the monarchy. So when she meets the fire-wielding Ash King, all she can think about is removing him from power by any means necessary. (Adult fantasy romance, spicy content)(The Bachelor X The Hunger Games with Thranduil/Zuko vibes)

(Daily episodes)

Why I Chose it

The first sentence grabbed me: "I live in a land full of memories, fossilized and crystallized by time."

Plus, this definitely starts at a time when everything changes — in a disastrous way — for the main character.

[9 episodes so far, with 9 in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

If you're in the mood for a dark fantasy romance, check this one out!

Unrelated Griping

No gripes today. I'm still laughing about the number of article links ProWritingAid sends me every week, as if maybe I'll finally learn the rules for comma placement if they just keep nudging me...

"Fighting Fate: A Science Fiction Romance" by T.M. Baumgartner

Current Tags

scifi romance, paranormal, space opera, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, fated, romance

Categories

Science Fiction / Romance

Affiliate Link

Fighting Fate: A Science Fiction Romance

Author's Description

Bred and raised to become a guardian for a dreamer, Shara fled home after a disastrous bonding attempt, stealing the identity of a permanently indentured criminal in order to hide from the dreamer's family. But her attempt to get off-world backfires, leaving her heading to the one place she never wanted to go, trapped in the company of the one man she needs to avoid

Why I Chose it

I'll be honest — I chose this one because it's mine and it just came out today. But I wouldn't have put it on Vella if I didn't think it was a fun read. I'm a sucker for the forced proximity trope in romance, and I know I'm not alone. Plus, it has space ships, aliens, and buffacows!

[5 episodes, 5 in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

If SF romance with a forced proximity trope is your thing, check this one out!

Unrelated Griping

I'd like to mark my other Vella story (Dragon Freehold) complete so it would show up in the "completed" carousel and maybe get an extra bump from the exposure. But the completed carousel has remained essentially unchanged for a week, so I suspect it's not automatically updating. What to do, what to do...

"Shadowglen: Witches & Wolves" by Cyan Skye

Current Tags

slow burn, shifters, shifter romance, angst, friends to lovers, cyan skye, paranormal

Categories

Paranormal / Romance

Affiliate Link

Shadowglen: Witches & Wolves

Author's Description

I haven't seen my childhood crush in fifteen years. Now I'm finally home, but he wants me to leave. Secrets, shifters, magic . . . Shadowglen isn't safe. Especially not for someone like me. | New episodes of this slow burn paranormal romance every Monday! Instagram & Facebook @AuthorCyanSkye

Why I Chose it

This starts off with a nice little action scene that does a great job of setting the tone.

[26 episodes so far, with 5 updates in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

Fans of atmospheric paranormal romance will want to pounce on this one!

Unrelated Griping

Still haven't updated the "Featured in Kindle Vella" list...

Also, a bunch of stories no longer have the cover image showing. But they did finally make it so people can have more than one author listed for the story. I'm not sure what's going on with their development team, but it's strictly amateur hour.

"Love on Paper" by Sarah Madelin

Current Tags

romantic comedy, slow burn, friends to lovers, just kisses, sweet romance, older woman younger man, women's fiction

Categories

Romance / Humor

Affiliate Link

Love on Paper

Author's Description

"To you, love is only fiction." Marin can't help but wonder...are these harsh parting words from her ex-fiance true? Did watching her parents' marriage end ruin her ability to commit? Ready to confront the past, Marin returns to the setting of her parents' famous love story - a tiny blue cottage on the English coast. Surrounded by sea winds, bittersweet memories, and her own surprising new romance, Marin must ask: Does she believe in love outside of books? And can she accept it for herself?

Why I Chose it

In the first episode, the main character is dealing with her former fiancé's betrayal. And while she's not exactly coping well, the episode manages to show this is an aberration. Lots of gentle humor and some wonderfully layered relationships here.

[11 episodes so far, with 11 updates in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

I'm pretty confident anyone who enjoys low-heat romances will want to curl up with this serial!

Unrelated Griping

Ooh, it looks like they finally added a way to see if a story is complete! (At least, they added it in one place. I'm not sure it shows up anywhere else.) I'm going to be optimistic and assume this means some of the other major-but-easily-fixable issues will be addressed soon.

"Run Away to Texas" by Seneca Fauls

Current Tags

love hate relationship, cowboy romance, contemporary romance, sexual attraction, slow burn, enemies to lovers, desire

Categories

Romance

Affiliate Link

Run Away to Texas

Author's Description

When Hank offers to help his new neighbor Hannah left a heavy bag at the local grocery store, he finds her ornery and standoffish. Hannah finds drop-dead georgeous Hank arrogant and conceited. After traveling the whole way from Boston to Texas by herself, she is not going accept any man's help. When she leaves the store headed in the wrong direction, Hank heads out to turn her around. But can he turn her stubborn heart and heal the hurt that brought her to Texas?

Why I Chose it

It's a cowboy romance, and you know exactly what you should be getting with this genre.

The blushing note from the author at the end of episode one says "While this story doesn't have gratuitous sex, you should be aware that, just like in life, the story does progress to that point", which I found both quaint and kind of hilarious. But it's possible I'm a lot more jaded than people who read a lot of cowboy romances.

[16 episodes so far, with 2 updates in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

If you're into cowboy romances, this could be your catnip!

Unrelated Griping

Almost chose a different story, but while I was heavily invested in the first POV character, the third episode switched to a different character which lost me completely. That's always a danger with having multiple points of view.

"Love, War, & Serialized Fiction" by Jessica Erin

Current Tags

romantic comedy, romance, drama, humor, enemies to lovers, contemporary romance, jessica erin

Categories

Romance / Humor

Affiliate Link

"Love, War, & Serialized Fiction"

Author's Description

After sweet romance author Peyton gets bumped out of the top five on the serial fiction platform, Zella, @authorjacobstoll becomes her arch-nemesis. To distract herself the night before the Zella conference, she ends up in a handsome stranger's bed. The last thing she expects is for him to be in the presentation room the next morning. Even worse, he's @authorjacobstoll, and now she can't escape him for the entire weekend. Team-building or writing prompts anyone? *Click my tag for more stories!

Why I Chose it

This is possibly the best example I've ever seen in my life of someone knowing their audience. Because the biggest audience of Vella by far is other Vella authors. So here's a romcom with all the in jokes other Vella authors can enjoy. It's a naked grab for audience and I'm only mad I didn't think of it first.

[6 episodes so far, with 6 updates in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

A serial firmly aimed at romance readers writing serials.

Unrelated Griping

Oops, Vella was down for a few hours today. It boggles the mind that a company with the resources of Amazon could have that happen, but there you go.

"Wake Up The Dawn" by Kate Karyus Quinn

Current Tags

spaceopera, fairytaleretelling, sleepingbeauty, enemiestolovers, foundfamily, sisters, fantasy

Categories

Science Fiction / Romance

Affiliate Link

Wake Up The Dawn

Author's Description

An epic fairy tale inspired space opera about Raura, a girl who is determined to save her kidnapped sister - even if she must cross the galaxy to do so. Helping her are an eccentric young genius named Taft, and Axim, a Mechanical man known as Mecha, who begins as an enemy, but soon becomes someone Raura finds herself increasingly attracted to as a man. But she can't rescue her sister if she loses her heart to a man who doesn't have one - or can she?

Why I Chose it

This starts out with space-dwelling Raura and her family on a pilgrimage to a planet. Not the fabled lush planets of lore, but an aged and cracking dome on a planet in the middle of nowhere.

The story does a good job of subverting expectations (because yes, in this story, living on a ship seems like a much better idea). Also, the reactions of the main character are spot-on: there's an acceptance of the pilgrimage as something one just does, but she's also thinking that if she wants to find a guy not on one of the ships they travel with, now is the time. Plus, she clearly loves her little brother but she's responsible for him which is kind of a pain. And oh yeah, she and her sister are telepaths, something that will ruin their family if word gets out.

Basically some great character and world building.

[4 episodes so far, with 4 updates in the last 30 days.]

Who Might Like This

Looking for unconventional space opera with a side order of romance? This could be your thing!

Unrelated Griping

This is more of an observance than a gripe, but I've found that any story that doesn't have any thumbs-ups at all usually deserves that.  I feel bad for the authors, but... I'm not giving a pity thumbs-up that someone else might take as a sign that the episode is readable.

On the other side, people are definitely gaming the system, so a bunch of thumbs-ups aren't necessarily a good sign either.

Update: My new story (published three days ago) still isn't showing up in the "Recently Added Stories" section. I would think it was the content -- it's definitely 18+ -- but there are other stories showing up there that should have had similar flags. I'm seeing stories published after mine showing up. So who knows?

"Crimson Steel" by L.P.M. Sinclair

Current Tags

sword and sorcery, monster hunter, magic, enemies to lovers, fated mates, fantasy romance, female protagonist

Categories

Fantasy / Romance

Affiliate Link

Crimson Steel

Author's Description

Mera has spent her life doing three things- killing monsters, drinking beer, and avoiding men. That is, until she meets a wizard who asks her to guide him through the Wilds of Estenla, the largest swath of monster-infested land on the continent. Tensin has charm, a mission, and magic as strange as his manners. Tradition paints Crimson Steel hunters and Wizards as enemies, but something about him makes her stony heart race. Which will ruin her life first, the monsters or her feelings?

Why I Chose it

This is a fun read! I'd call it a guilty pleasure, but there's no point in feeling guilty about what you like to read. Enjoy the heck out of it when you can find it!

In the first episode we meet Mera, a Crimson Steel hunter who is a bit a lot rough around the edges. She is hired by Tensin, a wizard who wants to go study things in the wilds for a year. Wizards and Crimson Steel don't play nicely together, but he hires her to keep him alive.

I'm a sucker for a good enemies to lovers story, and this looks promising.

[28 episodes so far, with 10 updates in the last 30 days]

Who Might Like This

This is fantasy romance at its most fun! Go read it!

Unrelated Griping

No real griping again today. I passed on one story because it wobbled a bit at the beginning and then fell over with a multi-page info dump via dialog.

I passed on another because it had a non-con warning and that's not the thing for me -- thank you for that label and may you find your audience elsewhere!

"Guardian of Talons and Snares (The Zheninghai Chronicles)" by Anastasis Faith

Current Tags

romance, fantasy, magic, enemies to lovers, highfantasy, female protagonist, young adult

Categories

Fantasy / Romance

Affiliate Link

Guardian of Talons and Snares (The Zheninghai Chronicles)

Author's Description

After years of relentless training, Sun Aranya has finally earned her position as a city deputy. All she wants is a stable job so she can care for her ailing grandfather. When she arrives on her first day to discover that an annoyingly handsome stranger is laying claim to her position, she’s determined to fight for her place. She doesn’t care if Shi Kai’s magic is stronger, or that he harbors lethal secrets. She will win their competition.

But mysteries abound, and not just those surrounding her rival. Soon, Aranya finds herself paired with Kai on a secret mission. People are disappearing across the empire without a trace—and it’s up to them to discover their fate.

Can Aranya and Kai see past their rivalry to save their empire? Or will Kai’s secrets come back to destroy them all?

Why I Chose it

This is good fun! Aranya shows up and finds out they've mistakenly sent two wardens for training where they only need one -- and she's the second one to show up. The stakes are immediate, the setting is clear, and even by the end of episode one, it's clear there is trouble brewing in the background.

[25 episodes available so far, with 9 updates in the last 30 days. Also, this serial is part of the "Romantic Fantasy on Kindle Vella" BookFunnel promo along with Dragon Freehold.]

Who Might Like This

Who doesn't like a good enemies-to-lovers story? If you're into high fantasy with a kick-ass heroine, this might be the one for you!