If you have devoured every delicious page of Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires and now find yourself wandering the streets at twilight, searching for your next supernatural obsession, we bid you welcome. Merit’s transformation from graduate student to formidable vampire Sentinel has captured many a reader’s heart, and we understand entirely the particular ache one feels when such a splendid series must end.
Fear not, dear reader. We have ventured into the shadows to gather for you a collection of tales equally intoxicating—stories where remarkable women navigate treacherous supernatural politics, where romance blooms amid danger, and where the night holds both terror and wonder in equal measure.
What Makes Chicagoland Vampires So Captivating
Before we embark upon our recommendations, let us acknowledge what makes Neill’s creation so thoroughly enchanting. Merit possesses that rare combination of vulnerability and strength, wit and wisdom. The vampire politics of Cadogan House simmer with intrigue, and her slow-burning romance with Ethan Sullivan has the sort of tension that makes one forget to breathe.
If these elements have captured your fancy, the following tales shall serve you splendidly.
Night Huntress Series by Jeaniene Frost
Starting with Halfway to the Grave
We present to you Catherine “Cat” Crawfield—half-vampire, half-human, and wholly magnificent. Born from violence, Cat has spent her youth hunting the creatures of darkness, only to discover her greatest ally in Bones, a vampire whose centuries of experience are matched only by his devastating charm.
The banter between these two crackles with electricity, whilst the action sequences leave one quite breathless. Frost has crafted something unapologetically fun—a blend of romance, humor, and genuine peril that moves at tremendous pace. Like Merit, Cat must reconcile two halves of herself, and watching her evolution across the series proves immensely satisfying.
The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison
Starting with Dead Witch Walking
In an alternate Cincinnati where supernatural beings live openly among humans, we meet Rachel Morgan—witch, bounty hunter, and possessor of an attitude most formidable. When Rachel leaves her position with the supernatural law enforcement agency, she finds herself marked for death and must rely upon unlikely allies: a living vampire named Ivy and a temperamental pixie called Jenks.
Jim Butcher himself praised this series, and we concur with his assessment. Harrison weaves humor and thrills together masterfully, creating a world both familiar and fantastically strange. Rachel’s adventures grow increasingly complex, her relationships deepening with each volume in ways that shall thoroughly satisfy those who treasured the bonds Merit forged.
Guild Hunter Series by Nalini Singh
Starting with Angels’ Blood
Here we find ourselves in a world where archangels rule supreme, vampires serve as their subjects, and Elena Deveraux—vampire hunter extraordinaire—is tasked with tracking a most dangerous quarry by the terrifyingly beautiful Archangel Raphael. This is a slow-burn romance of the most exquisite variety.
Singh has created something gritty and sensual in equal measure. Raphael is no gentle lover; he is ancient, powerful, and utterly inhuman in his thinking. Yet watching Elena stand her ground against such overwhelming force, watching something genuine bloom between them—well, it is rather magnificent. The world Singh has built spans the globe, populated by angels both terrible and wondrous.
Jane Yellowrock Series by Faith Hunter
Starting with Skinwalker
Jane Yellowrock stands quite apart from other urban fantasy heroines. A skinwalker of Cherokee descent, she can transform into any creature she desires and makes her living hunting rogue vampires. When she arrives in New Orleans to track a vampire who has been killing his own kind, she enters a world of ancient politics and deadly secrets.
The bond between Jane and Beast—her animal self—provides the series its unique heartbeat. Publishers Weekly noted that this “ever-evolving bond” keeps the series perpetually fresh, and we heartily agree. Jane possesses a grumpy sort of charm, and New Orleans itself becomes a character, atmospheric and slightly dangerous.
Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris
Starting with Dead Until Dark
Long before it graced television screens, Charlaine Harris crafted this delightful series set in small-town Louisiana. Sookie Stackhouse tends bar, reads minds (an ability she considers more curse than gift), and finds her quiet existence upended when vampires come out of the coffin, so to speak, and one particularly intriguing specimen walks into her establishment.
Harris pioneered the blend of Southern Gothic atmosphere with supernatural romance that countless others have attempted to imitate. Sookie’s voice—wry, warm, and wonderfully real—carries readers through a world where the mundane and magical collide with often hilarious results. The series won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery, testament to its quality.
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series by Laurell K. Hamilton
Starting with Guilty Pleasures
In St. Louis, where vampires have legal rights and the supernatural operates in plain sight, Anita Blake works as an Animator—one who raises the dead—and vampire executioner. Her reputation has earned her the moniker “The Executioner,” and when we first meet her, she possesses a moral clarity that becomes increasingly complicated as the series progresses.
Hamilton is credited with helping establish the urban fantasy genre as we know it. The early books offer tight plotting, genuine mystery, and a heroine who is simultaneously tough and vulnerable. The world-building is rich, the action relentless, and Anita’s voice carries that perfect blend of dark humor and determination. We recommend the first four books especially.
Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward
Starting with Dark Lover
If you yearn for vampires of a more intensely romantic variety, Ward’s Brotherhood awaits. In Caldwell, New York, a secret band of vampire warriors defends their race against the slayers who hunt them. Wrath, the only purebred vampire remaining, leads these Brothers—warriors who favor leather, fast cars, and extremely sharp blades.
Ward’s world is unapologetically sensual, her heroes magnificently flawed. The romance between Wrath and Beth unfolds with considerable heat, yet there exists genuine emotional depth beneath the surface. Each Brother receives his own tale, his own redemption, and watching these damaged souls find their fated mates proves rather addictive.
Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs
Starting with Moon Called
Mercedes Thompson works as an auto mechanic, can transform into a coyote at will, and lives next door to the Alpha of the local werewolf pack. When a newly turned teenage werewolf arrives seeking help, Mercy finds herself drawn into dangerous pack politics and supernatural conflicts she had carefully avoided.
Briggs has crafted something rather special here. Mercy is vulnerable in ways that feel genuine—she has limits, she gets hurt, she cannot simply overpower every obstacle. The series emphasizes clever thinking over raw strength, and the supernatural world feels lived-in and consequential. Kelley Armstrong called it “the best new urban fantasy series I’ve read in years.”
Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews
Starting with Magic Bites
In post-apocalyptic Atlanta, magic and technology wage an unpredictable war, surging and failing in waves that reshape reality itself. Kate Daniels works as a mercenary, cleaning up supernatural messes, until the murder of her mentor draws her into a deadly investigation involving shapeshifters, vampires, and powers best left undisturbed.
The husband-and-wife writing team behind this series has created something unique. Their vampires are not romantic figures but mindless parasites controlled by necromancers. Kate herself possesses that perfect balance of strength, humor, and vulnerability—sharp-tongued and formidable, yet refreshingly free of angst. The slow-burn tension with Curran, the Beast Lord, unfolds delightfully across the series.
Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning
Starting with Darkfever
MacKayla Lane travels to Dublin seeking answers about her sister’s murder and discovers she can see the Fae—ancient, terrible beings walking among humans. Her guide through this dangerous new world is Jericho Barrons, a man of considerable mystery whose true nature remains tantalizingly unclear.
Moning builds her fairy world upon Irish lore, and Dublin itself becomes wonderfully atmospheric—wet, dark, old, and genuinely eerie. This is darker fare than some on our list, more urban fantasy than romance, though the tension between Mac and Barrons is palpable. Be warned: each book ends without full resolution, for this is truly one epic tale told across multiple volumes.
Immortals After Dark Series by Kresley Cole
Starting with A Hunger Like No Other
Here we enter the Lore—a hidden world where Valkyries, vampires, werewolves, and demons exist in uneasy proximity, their factions occasionally exploding into brutal conflict during events called Accessions. Stronger than any war, however, is the call of a Fated Mate.
Cole’s series is gloriously over-the-top, filled with powerful beings consumed by equally powerful passions. The violence is considerable, the romance quite heated, and the world sprawling with fascinating mythology. Characters who appear as villains in one volume become heroes in another, their redemption arcs surprisingly affecting. For those who desire their supernatural romance with considerable spice, this series delivers abundantly.
Finding Your Next Vampire Obsession
Each series we have gathered possesses its own particular magic. Some lean more heavily into romance, others into action and mystery. Some feature vampires as central figures, whilst others merely include them among a broader supernatural tapestry. All share that essential quality that made Chicagoland Vampires so beloved: heroines of remarkable spirit navigating worlds where danger and desire intertwine.
We suggest beginning with whichever summary most captured your imagination. Trust that instinct—it rarely leads readers astray. And when you have devoured that series entire, return here, for others await.
The night, after all, is long, and there are stories enough to fill it.
