11 quirky paranormal romance heroines who are far from normal (in a good way)

You know how some romance heroines are often serious and stoic and pretty much perfect in every way? Yeah, this isn’t a list of THOSE heroines. This is a list of eccentric, sometimes goofy, adorable, QUIRKY paranormal romance heroines who don’t take themselves too seriously. Enjoy!

(And let’s not get into a “well, that’s not really paranormal romance, it’s urban fantasy” debate, m’kay? If a book has a strong romance element in it and the book wouldn’t be able to stand on its own if you remove that element, it’s paranormal romance. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Plus, it’s my blog and I do what I want. No one is the boss of me.)

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My Commander by Alanea Alder

When the topic of grandchildren comes up during a weekly sewing circle the matriarchs of the founding families seek out the witch Elder to scry to see if their sons have mates. They are shocked to discover that many of their son’s mates are out in the world and are human!
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Fearing that their future daughter in laws will end up dead before being claimed and providing them with grandchildren to spoil, they convince their own mates that something must be done. After gathering all of the warriors together in a fake award ceremony the witch Elder casts a spell to pull the warrior’s mates to them, whether they want it or not.

Aiden McKenzie is adamant that he doesn’t need a mate and that she would only get in the way. He doesn’t have time to coddle a female. He likes his world run with military precision. Little does he realize, Fate is sending him his mate first! He meets his destined mate Meryn Evans and things go downhill from there. She is the embodiment of chaos. In the first twenty-four hours she kicks, screams and knocks her bear shifting mate unconscious.

Eventually they discover that life before finding each other may have been good, but life afterwards is perfect, even if it involves super soaker battles and accidentally discharging hand grenades.

Unfortunately the joy of their mating is overshadowed when Aiden and Meryn find themselves embroiled in a missing persons case assigned to Aiden by the Lycaonian Council. By assisting Aiden, Meryn finds herself the focus of a demented killer.

Can Aiden and the elite warriors from the Alpha Unit keep Meryn safe? Or did Fate bring her to Lycaonia to die?

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The Trouble With the Twelfth Grave by Darynda Jones

Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the twelfth installment of Darynda Jones’ New York Times bestselling paranormal series, The Trouble with Twelfth Grave.

Ever since Reyes Farrow escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley Davidson accidentally trapped him, the son of Satan has been brimstone-bent on destroying the world his heavenly Brother created. His volatile tendencies have put Charley in a bit of a pickle. But that’s not the only briny vegetable on her plate. While trying to domesticate the feral being that used to be her husband, she also has to deal with her everyday life of annoying all manner of beings—some corporeal, some not so much—as she struggles to right the wrongs of society. Only this time she’s not uncovering a murder. This time she’s covering one up.

Add to that her new occupation of keeping a startup PI venture—the indomitable mystery-solving team of Amber Kowalski and Quentin Rutherford—out of trouble and dealing with the Vatican’s inquiries into her beloved daughter, and Charley is on the brink of throwing in the towel and becoming a professional shopper. Or possibly a live mannequin. But when someone starts attacking humans who are sensitive to the supernatural world, Charley knows it’s time to let loose her razor sharp claws. Then again, her number one suspect is the dark entity she’s loved for centuries. So the question becomes: Can she tame the unruly beast before it destroys everything she’s worked so hard to protect?

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Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper

Maybe it was the Shenanigans gift certificate that put her over the edge. When children's librarian and self-professed nice girl Jane Jameson is fired by her beastly boss and handed twenty-five dollars in potato skins instead of a severance check, she goes on a bender that's sure to become Half Moon Hollow legend. On her way home, she's mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead. And thanks to the mysterious stranger she met while chugging neon-colored cocktails, she wakes up with a decidedly unladylike thirst for blood.

Jane is now the latest recipient of a gift basket from the Newly Undead Welcoming Committee, and her life-after-lifestyle is taking some getting used to. Her recently deceased favorite aunt is now her ghostly roommate. She has to fake breathing and endure daytime hours to avoid coming out of the coffin to her family. She's forced to forgo her favorite down-home Southern cooking for bags of O negative. Her relationship with her sexy, mercurial vampire sire keeps running hot and cold. And if all that wasn't enough, it looks like someone in Half Moon Hollow is trying to frame her for a series of vampire murders. What's a nice undead girl to do?

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Night Reigns by Dianne Duvall

Dianne Duvall portrays a world of temptation, loyalty, and heartbreak. . .a world where danger and desire walk hand in hand. . .
 
Ami isn't much for trusting strangers. She has a hard time trusting anyone. But she's no coward, and she's no pushover in the protection department either. So when she comes across a mysterious warrior taking on eight deranged vampires on his own, she doesn't hesitate to save his bacon. Of course, that was before she realized what one little rescue would get her into. . .
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Marcus Graden has been an Immortal protector of humanity for eight hundred years, and he's not interested in backup. From the moment Ami arrives in his life, he can't deny that she's strong, smart, and extremely skilled at watching his back. But she's also destroying his protective solitude and stirring desires he can't bear to awaken. After all, whatever her secrets--how can she defeat death itself?

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Fashionably Dead by Robyn Peterman

Vampyres don’t exist. They absolutely do not exist.

At least I didn’t think they did ‘til I tried to quit smoking and ended up Undead. Who in the hell did I screw over in a former life that my getting healthy equates with dead?

Now I’m a Vampyre. Yes, we exist whether we want to or not. However, I have to admit, the perks aren’t bad. My girls no longer jiggle, my ass is higher than a kite and the latest Prada keeps finding its way to my wardrobe. On the downside, I’m stuck with an obscenely profane Guardian Angel who looks like Oprah and a Fairy Fighting Coach who’s teaching me to annihilate like the Terminator.

To complicate matters, my libido has increased to Vampyric proportions and my attraction to a hotter than Satan’s underpants killer rogue Vampyre is not only dangerous . . . it’s possibly deadly. For real dead. Permanent death isn’t on my agenda. Avoiding him is my only option. Of course, since he thinks I’m his, it’s easier said than done. Like THAT’S not enough to deal with, all the other Vampyres think I’m some sort of Chosen One.

Holy Hell, if I’m in charge of saving an entire race of blood suckers, the Undead are in for one hell of a ride.

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A Demon and His Witch by Eve Langlais

Burning alive is nothing compared to the heat of his touch.

There are better ways to break up with a girl than having her roasted at the stake as a witch. Is it any wonder Ysabel has trust issues? She got her revenge, though, and it only cost her a slightly tarnished soul.

Working for Lucifer isn't all bad, until her ex-boyfriend escapes the bowels of Hell and she's forced to team up with a womanizing demon to fetch the jerk back.

As a minion in Lucifer's legion, Remy's seen a lot of things, but nothing can prepare him for the witch with the acerbic tongue - and voluptuous figure. The more she pushes him away, the more determined he becomes to seduce her. However, what's a poor demon to do when he accidentally falls in love and wants to keep her forever?

Welcome to Hell where you're screwed if you do and damned if don't. And just so you know, Lucifer has a special spot reserved for you…

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Dragon Actually by GA Aiken

It's not always easy being a female warrior with a nickname like Annwyl the Bloody. Men tend to either cower in fear--a lot--or else salute. It's true that Annwyl has a knack for decapitating legions of her ruthless brother's soldiers without pausing for breath. But just once it would be nice to be able to really talk to a man, the way she can talk to Fearghus the Destroyer.

Too bad that Fearghus is a dragon, of the large, scaly, and deadly type. With him, Annwyl feels safe--a far cry from the feelings aroused by the hard-bodied, arrogant knight Fearghus has arranged to help train her for battle. With her days spent fighting a man who fills her with fierce, heady desire, and her nights spent in the company of a magical creature who could smite a village just by exhaling, Annwyl is sure life couldn't get any stranger.

She's wrong. . .

And just wait until you meet the rest of the family. . .

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Semi-Charmed by Isabel Jordan

Psychic and paranormal PI Harper Hall isn't that surprised when her business partner skips town. The moral of the story: never trust a guy named Romeo.

But if Harper wants to consult for the police on a high profile case, she'll need a new partner-- preferably one with some supernatural skills of his own. Enter Noah Riddick, a slayer left jobless by the legalization of vampirism.

Riddick's dark secrets and shady past forced him into exile from human society--an exile he was comfortable with until gorgeous and exasperating Harper waltzed into his life. Now, all too aware of how...unlifelike his life has truly been, he agrees to partner with her. (As if saying no to Harper Hall was ever really an option).

Fighting vampires, making immortal enemies, engaging in semi-sadistic interrogation techniques, staging daring rescues...it's all in a day's work for this paranormal odd couple. But falling in love? Well...that's a little trickier. Even for the Semi-Charmed Harper Hall.

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Sealed With a Curse by Cecy Robson

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other 20-something girls—with one tiny exception: they're products of a backfired curse that has given each of them unique powers that make them, well, weird…

The Wird sisters are content to avoid the local vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region—until one of them blows up a vampire in self-defense. Everyone knows vampires aren't aggressive, and killing one is punishable by death. But soon more bloodlust-fueled attacks occur, and the community wonders: are the vampires of Tahoe cursed with a plague?

Celia reluctantly agrees to help Misha, the handsome leader of an infected vampire family. But Aric, the head of the werewolf pack determined to destroy Misha's family to keep the region safe, warns Celia to stay out of the fight. Caught between two hot alphas, Celia must find a way to please everyone, save everyone, and oh yeah, not lose her heart to the wrong guy—or die a miserable death. Because now that the evil behind the plague knows who Celia is, it’s coming for her and her sisters. This Wird girl has never had it so tough.

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Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson

First Betsy Taylor loses her job, then she's killed in a car accident.  But what really bites is that she can't seem to stay dead. And now her new friends have the ridiculous idea that Betsy is the prophesied vampire queen, and they want her help in overthrowing the most obnoxious power-hungry vampire in five centuries.

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Witched At Birth by Dakota Cassidy

Freshly sprung from witch jail, Winnie Foster just has to fulfill the conditions of her parole and she's home free.

Too bad that parole takes place in Paris. (Texas!) Where she'll work at a school for the magically inclined. (KIDS!) And be forced to endure the ex, who's one of the very reasons she landed in the pokey to begin with. (GAH!!)

Bratty tots, sexy ex, timed showers, creepy dolls, magic restrictions, and a GPS with an attitude, all wrapped in a Texas town hotter than the surface of the sun? Oh yeah. No way this could go wrong!

A small town, a parole officer, and the blazing Texas heat, all wrapped up in a laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from USA Today bestselling romantic comedy author, Dakota Cassidy. Paris, Texas will never be the same after not-so-good witch Winnie serves out her parole with determination...determination to get out of this small town and back to the 'real world'. Witched At Birth is a Halloween paranormal romantic comedy sure to keep you turning the pages as you discover the secret hiding in the shadowy corners of Paris...Texas that is!

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What about you? Any awesome quirky heroines you’d like to add? Let us know! We’d love to hear from you.
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