[Note from Frolic: We are so excited to have author Hailey Turner guest post on the site today. Take it away Hailey!]
What is it about a man in uniform? They’re always hot and sexy, and you will almost always find a Law Enforcement Officer in an urban fantasy or paranormal romance. It’s almost required these days for your heroes to have a badge of some sort in those kinds of stories – FBI, CIA, detective. As readers, we’re not picky!
LEOs lend themselves well to urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Those two sub-genres are a mix of magic, mystery and romance. It makes sense that law enforcement will play a part in a story where the main characters tend to be private investigators or hunters, and the main story problem revolves around a murder. Dead bodies usually crop up in urban fantasy and paranormal romance in the first chapter.
Sometimes the magical worlds in these books are closed, and the law enforcement agencies don’t know the supernatural exists. Or they’re like my Soulbound series, where the magical world is integrated into the regular world, and everyone knows you can sell your soul at a pawn shop if you’re down on your luck.
I’ve been reading fantasy, urban fantasy and paranormal romance since I was a kid. I loved the magic in the real-world concept paired with creatures right out of myths, like werewolves, vampires, witches and ghosts. When I started writing LGBTQ science fiction and fantasy books, I knew my urban fantasy series was going to have a special agent falling in love with a werewolf. It’s a classic kind of get-together within the genre that I was excited to forge my own path with.
Whether the supernatural is known or not, here are a few LGBTQ urban fantasy and paranormal romance series where LEOs take center stage.
Not Dead Yet by Jenn Burke
LEO: Detective
Paranormal aspect: Ghosts
World: Closed
Take one ghost who isn’t quite dead, toss in a silver-fox detective, add a couple of murders, and you get the beginnings of a second-chance romance full of mystery. Wes Cooper died, then came back to life in a weird ghostly way. Living in his in-between state means Wes doesn’t age, and the man he loved in his past is a lot older now when they reconnect. Detective Hudson Rojas has secrets that slowly reveal themselves over the course of the book.
In Jenn’s series, the supernatural world is definitely not known by the public at large, and there’s no secret agency (at least, not so far) that Hudson ends up working for. Hudson’s job is a driving force of the plot. While I loved the murder mystery aspect, my favorite part of the story was the twist on ghosts that Jenn Burke did, which was interesting and fun. Don’t miss out on this great book!
Dead Speak by Pandora Pine
LEO: Detective
Paranormal aspect: Medium, ghosts
World: Closed
What do you get when you throw in one medium who sees ghosts, a skeptical detective channeling his inner Mulder from the X-Files, and reality TV? A murder mystery, that’s what. Detective Ronan O’Mara has been demoted to the Boston PD’s cold case squad. He enlists psychic Tennyson Grimm to help crack a seven-year old case full of dead-ends. These two could not be more different, but there’s truth in the old adage that opposites attract.
I consider the supernatural world closed in Pandora’s series, even though Tennyson’s work is being broadcasted on reality television. It’s a bit of an oxymoron, right? But ghosts are one of those supernatural things that lots of people will believe in, but never believe they’ll see. Ronan’s job as a detective further helps keep the story grounded for a reader. Pandora Pine’s Cold Case series has eleven books full of paranormal romance for you to sink your teeth into. For those who like to binge, this one’s for you.
The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara
LEO: Federal Agent
Paranormal aspect: Werewolves
World: Closed/Open
Do you like werewolves? Do you like federal agents who stumble into the supernatural world? Do you like enough sexual tension you need an appointment at a fancy spa for some cryotherapy to cool you off? Then you need this book. Agent Cooper Dayton survives a werewolf attack and gets transferred to a secret bureau that handles supernatural cases, and is partnered with the sexy, mysterious Oliver Park. Charlie Adhara does a fantastic job with tension here, both within the plot and between Cooper and Park, and makes this book impossible to put down.
Charlie’s series is one where the supernatural world is closed to the public, but is open to the government and those in the know. You have a secret bureau full of agents tasked with policing the supernatural and trying to keep the world blind to the monsters lurking in the shadows. It’s a great mix that ensures Cooper’s job will always be integral to the series.
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About the Author:
Hailey Turner is big city girl who spoils her cats rotten and has a demanding day job that she loves, but not as much as she loves writing. She enjoys creating stories with lots of action, gritty relationships and an eventual HEA that satisfies the heart.
Find Her Here:
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/haileyshellions/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorHaileyTurner/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/hailey-turner
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haileyturnerwrites/
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All Souls Near and Nigh (Spellbound Book 2) by Hailey Turner, out now!
You can’t bargain with death if you’ve already sold your soul.
Special Agent Patrick Collins has been reassigned by the Supernatural Operations Agency to New York City. Navigating his new relationship with Jonothon de Vere, the werewolf he’s now soulbound to, is nothing compared to dealing with territorial disputes between the vampires and werecreatures who call the five boroughs home. But the delicate treaties that have kept the preternatural world in check are fraying at the edges, and the fallout is spilling into the mundane world.
Manhattan’s club scene is overrun with the vampire drug known as shine and the subways have become a dumping ground for bodies. When the dead are revealed as missing werecreatures, Patrick and Jono find themselves entangled in pack politics twisted by vampire machinations.
Learning to trust each other comes with problems for both of them, and the gods with a stake in Patrick’s soul debt aren’t finished with him yet. Bound by promises they can’t break, Patrick and Jono must find a way to survive a threat that takes no prisoners and is stalking them relentlessly through the city streets.
Old and new betrayals are coming home to roost but the truth—buried in blood—is more poisonous than the lies being spun. Trying to outrun death is a nightmare—one Patrick may never wake up from.
