Authors That Make Us Love Vampires

How did we go from Nosferatu to Edward Cullen? Nowadays women clamor for the latest vampire novels to sate their voracious hunger for new paranormal romance. I for one am totally in love with vampire nature. They are the dark, sexy, brooding, bad boys of the night that no woman can get enough of. With authors like Anne Rice, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Laurell K. Hamilton heating up the pages, who can blame us for fantasizing about their tantalizing protagonists.

Anne Rice was one of the first authors to imbue their vampire characters with such romanticism and smoldering sensuality. Rice's Vampire Chronicles are packed with intriguing characters who defy gender roles, death, and logic while still maintaining their humanity in a way that previous authors failed to capture. I remember being sixteen when I read my first Anne Rice novel, Interview with a Vampire. It took me quite a while to get into, but a few chapters later and I was hooked. Her main characters had a unique way of bringing a dark sensuality into play. Lestat had a surety of self that came from centuries of living as one does when one is a vampire. Louis had that broody quality that names him a broken man that every woman longs to fix. The characters had a type of sensuality that transcended gender. You really couldn't put Louis or Lestat into a box labeled handsome, or pretty. After reading that first novel in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, I had no choice but to read every word the woman ever penned about vampires. I loved the way these vampires' lives intertwined for centuries. Anne Rice remains one of my favorite authors of all time.

I started reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series just as soon as I had devoured the last of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. In Sherrilyn Kenyon's novels the vampires are called dark hunters and daimons. These are two different types of vampire, both which hold their own appeal. The dark hunters are the good guys with bad attitudes. Men and women who were given a chance to get revenge for the ultimate betrayal that ended their lives. In exchange they were bound to serve the Goddess Artemis for all of eternity, soulless. Men who are so totally off limits are smolderingly hot. Daimons got the short end of the stick when they were cursed by the angry God, Apollo. Typically, Daimons are the bad guys although there are no absolutes. In some cases the Daimons have a story that is every bit as romantic as the dark hunters that pursue them. Each novel in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter Series contains a touching love story in which the love of a good woman (in some cases man), earns back the soul of their dark hunter love. Some of these books are guaranteed tear jerkers, so keep some tissue handy. These are books that can be enjoyed over and over again.

Another great paranormal romance author is Laurell K. Hamilton. Within her Anita Blake novels, vampires represent the misunderstood and the unknown. They are much like humans in the way that there are no absolutes when it comes to their nature. Neither innately good nor evil. The level of eroticism and romance in these novels are so remarkable. Some of the love scenes will send a shockwave down your spine. Sex isn't all you get with these novels. The level of connection you see between characters is enviable. A difference that can be seen in comparison to characters of other vampire novels is that Hamilton's vampires aren't always strikingly beautiful. They all have a preternatural allure, but are sometimes disfigured, or simply unattractive. I find that these flaws make her characters more believable and lovable. I love the way that her vampires aren't generic and all have their own unique traits. This is an ongoing series and I intend to read every word it contains.

What's your flavor of vampire? Do you like variety, or a uniform grace and beauty? There's something for every vamp lover in the novels of these three great authors. I will be continuing to absorb anything paranormally related until there is nothing left to be read. Maybe next I'll become an Edward Cullen addict?