There is something deliciously eternal about vampire fiction. It is not for no reason that it has enjoyed massive success over the past hundred years – in point of fact, Dracula is the second most portrayed fictional character in history after only Sherlock Holmes!
Though once figures of terror and mystery, the public perception of vampires has morphed into something quite different over the years. Gone are the sinister Nosferatus and Draculas of yesteryear; in their place we have Edward Cullens and Angels and Bill Comptons, brooding, handsome vampires with tortured souls and boundless love for humanity.
And with these sensitive loners come, inevitably, the young women who beguile them and steal their hearts – their Bella Swans and Buffy Summers and Sookie Stackhouses – and the subsequent entanglement and tragic romances of such star-crossed lovers.
List of Top 18 Vampire Romance Novels Online
There is no shortage of vampire romance novels, of course; but where is one to begin? How can one separate the wheat from the chaff? And what, indeed, are the greatest vampire romance books for adults and teens alike?
Read on as we delve into the dark and mysterious world of vampire romance stories…
1. Lady Dhampir by Jenny Fox
Milena de Crescent is born as the Duchess of the Crescent Vampire family. She was kidnapped and sold to a slave merchant when she was a baby. Then she was brought back to her rightful place at about 7 years old. She is Dhampir, half-vampire, half-human. The only one of her kind. She is feisty, beautiful, strong, and smart. The Oracle says she will wear the dark crown at the dawn. She is about to become a Legend.
She is already in the vortex of the Vampire Court infighting. A fierce competition wages on. Wicked schemes, betrayals, love, war, and passion… She has gone through it all. A human prince also admires her and loves her tenderly. Which one would be her Mr. Right?
Still very young, she has begun to prepare herself for the future. The blood pool of her family will give her unmatched power to defeat her ultimate enemies. A heroine that chooses her own path, not a path society has chosen for her. Why don’t you walk with her on this journey of hers?
Rating: 5/5
2. Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost
Ian is a roguish devil-may-care vampire rebel. He is so self-destructive that he has a silver piece piercing in his own body. Veritas is a fastidious, by-the-book vampiress who obeys the law to the letter and puts down any vampire who defies it.
The two couldn’t seem like stranger bedfellows – particularly given the former’s penchant for violating the laws that the latter holds dear – but it is in finding a common cause that these two unlikely lovers come together. As they plot to rid the world of a powerful demon to whom Ian sold his soul, Veritas finds that there are hidden depths to the cocksure vampire that she couldn’t imagine, and Ian finds that the uptight Guardian holds one or two secrets of her own…
Immaculately paced with prose that leaps off the page and leaves the reader eager for more, Shades of Night is one of the very best vampire romance novels that you’ll find.
Rating: 5/5
Find Shades of Wicked on Goodreads
3. The Vampire’s Servant by Rory McCauley Hayman
Victor Nightshade is a kind vampire lord. He sired Paul Springer, his friend Jacob’s kid, into a vampire. But Paul Springer goes wayward and stole millions from him, then disappeared. Victor is looking for him for the last 15 years. The night finally arrives when Victor locates Springer, only to find out that Springer has been feeding on a human girl for the last ten years. Victor wants to right his wrong and ensures that the girl is safe again.
Echo Gale has been offering her own blood vampires since she is a kid. She lives as a servant to a vampire to provide for her family. But her parents don’t like her and think she is evil. Her siblings have a heart for her, but not daring to do against their parents. So in some hidden ways, they did everything they could to make Echo’s life easier. They are trying to make up for their parents’ wrongdoing.
Victor finds Echo who is feeding Paul Springer. He wants to help the girl. A chain of events unfolds and the two finally bond together in an unlikely way. An instant connection happens because it relates to the oldest secret of the vampire world.
Rating: 4.5/5
Read The Vampire’s Servant on Dreame
4. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Set in a high-fantasy medieval-era world, From Blood and Ash follows the trials and tribulations of a Maiden named Poppy. Forbidden to even leave the castle of her wards, the Duke and Duchess, Poppy leads a directionless, dull existence in which she lives for nothing but her inexorable Ascension. But when a strapping young guard named Hawke enters the equation, Poppy finds her sense of duty threatened by the burgeoning passion growing in her breast for the hunky Hawke…
This epic fantasy story takes its time to unfold, setting the time with some excellent and descriptive world-building and slowly building up the relationships between the principals. Sultry and steamy, From Blood and Ash packs a punch in all the right departments as it kicks into high gear and Hawke and Poppy discover what they really mean to each other.
Rating: 4/5
Find From Blood and Ash on Goodreads
5. Vampire King’s Second Chance by Skylar
King Zavian was once a mighty Vampire King of the kingdom of Tarnan. His endless life was a burden on him since his mate was killed by his enemies a long time ago. Though he did not know much about her or really love her, the thought that he would have to be alone for the rest of his immortal life was enough to make him mad. He served as the wise king for so long until he couldn’t anymore. He was ready to give up. But Davina Taylor comes into his life. And he gets the second chance to have a mate.
Davina Taylor was born to an ordinary farmer family in an obscure village in Tarnan where vampires and humans lived in harmony. She was a regular mortal. She grew up hearing a lot of the great deeds of his king. Her only wish was to see him once. Her wish came true but dramatically. The first time the King Zavian sees Davina Taylor, he asks her to be his Queen.
Rating: 4/5
Read Vampire King’s Second Chance on Dreame
6. V Games by Caroline Peckham
In a sanguinary twist on the Hunger Games format, this sultry YA vampire romance story sees a young girl convicted of murdering her wicked stepfather. She is condemned not to a prison for her crime, but to the sadistic “V Games” – a battle royale on an isolated island, deserted save for the bloodthirsty vampires that hunt the convicts sent there.
Selena Grey, the heroine of the book, is haunted by the vampire that brought her there – one Varick Cartwright, terrifying and enchanting in equal measure. As Selena fights for her life, she must ask herself if it’s mere lust that makes her yearn for Varick – or something altogether deeper and more terrifying…
Rating: 4/5
Find The V Game Series on Goodreads
7. Blood Treasure Series by Mac Flynn
Blood Treasure is a new adult vampire romance by Mac Flynn. Student archaeologist Mary Murray has begun to regret her choice of major. What she thought would be an easy way to see the world and experience new sights and sounds have become a monotonous exercise in tedium, dusting off shards and sherds and all manner of utterly uninteresting ancient relics.
Mary’s life changes entirely when a dig in remote Hungary uncovers something that she and her team could never have imagined, and her life is plunged into darkness and the forbidden fruit of the blood kiss…
The Blood Treasure boxset is a rip-roaring read of horror and romance at every turn, available in its entirety on Dreame.com.
Rating: 4/5
Find Blood Treasure Series on Goodreads
8. A Night with the Vampire King
Kira was totally toast. Her parents died in an accident, she was in debt, and her fiancé cheated on her before their wedding. So she decided to have some FUN and escape the situation for a while! She finds a stranger handsome boy and gets him on the bed.
It was the best night of her life. But she wasn’t expecting the stranger is so awesome with his bed skills. It turns out that the stranger is her boss. And as much as she wanted to avoid meeting him, she just couldn’t.
The boss is in fact the vampire king. He has great power. Gradually, Kira falls in love with him. And the Vampire King gets her out of the mire of her life and makes her his queen.
Rating: 4/5
Read A Night with the Vampire King on Dreame
9. The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice
The undisputed queen of the vampires Anne Rice penned this, possibly the most unconventional of the vampire romance books on this list, as the fourth entry in her acclaimed Vampire Chronicles series.
The book is somewhat unusual for a vampire romance novel because it barely features vampires at all – Lestat, Rice’s mercurial anti-hero, has been tricked into a human body and is forced to try to track down his usurper with the help of his one remaining ally, David Talbot.
Lestat is, as with most of Rice’s vampires, bisexual, and enjoys an affair with a nun who helps to heal his new human body. But it is the elderly David that Lestat really wants, and it is in his new human body that he is finally able to physically express his love for him…
Melancholy, moving and filled with Rice’s trademark existential ponderings, The Tale of the Body Thief examines the price of vampirism from an entirely new angle and forces the frequently vainglorious and sociopathic Lestat to look inside himself and consider, being stripped of his powers for the first time in centuries, who he really is.
Rating: 5/5
Find The Tale of the Body Thief on Goodreads
10. The Blood Thief Series by Mac Flynn
Faith Luvena is an ordinary florist’s assistant until a dark, handsome stranger enters her shop one evening and buys up half the flowers in the shop, ordering one lot to a luxury and another to an address Faith is all too familiar with – her own apartment.
What begins as an encounter Faith would just as soon forget turns into a whirlwind romance that will change Faith’s life forever. Her new suitor – a mysterious billionaire called Cruor – is not simply a handsome stranger, but a creature of the night. Faith must soon make a choice – does she want to return to her mundane former life, or does she want to rule the night forevermore?
Written in a crisp, clean prose that leaves the reader engrossed with every turn of the page, The Blood Thief boxed set comprises the entirety of Faith’s story and her descent into a world of blood and shadow that seems without end.
Rating: 3.5/5
11. Bloodstained Fate by A Einzbern
Eona is a girl who, despite her early encounters with the world of the supernaturals, has long disavowed all belief in that ethereal realm and given herself over to rationalism. Werewolves, vampires, and everything in between no longer means anything to her outside of old wives’ tales and boogeymen to frighten children into coming home before dusk.
But when the mysterious Rouen enters her life, Eona is forced to reassess every belief that she has come to hold. Was she really mistaken about her early memories, or did they actually happen? Do vampires and shifters exist in some shadowy twilight realm beyond a human scope of reality or is it all in her head? And if Rouen were to offer to turn her, what would her response be?
Rich in lore and worldbuilding, Bloodstained Fate is an endlessly rewarding tapestry expertly woven by a master storyteller, and one that is not to be missed by any reader looking for great vampire romance stories.
Rating: 4.5/5
12. A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
If you like your Outlander you’ll love this tale of a half-vampire half-Valkyrie hybrid destined to be the mate of a Lykae (the book’s word for ‘werewolf’) king. Emmaline Troy is spirited away to the ancestral Scottish castle of Lachlan MacRieve, a fierce and unrelentingly furious werewolf king, who despises vampires for all that they have cost him.
In a scenario reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, the two of them – captor and captive – are forced to come to some kind of accord and make peace with each other. Can Lachlan find anything but contempt in his heart for someone he despises on a fundamental level? And can Emmaline bring herself to summon any emotion other than fear in the presence of this terrifying brute?
Rating: 3.5/5
13. Teen Vampire Romance by Jeff Child
In this Diaries-of-Adrian-Mole-style twist on teen vampire romance stories, Teen Vampire Romance follows the world’s oldest teenager, the 121-year-old Lennux, as his interest in the opposite sex is awakened and he sets out to find a girlfriend. Finding that he is disinterested in vampire girls, Lennux’s friend, Nicolai, suggests that he considers a human girl. Lennux ventures into the realm of mortals to spy on them and see if he can find a fitting bride. But just what is Nicolai’s agenda in setting him on this path?
Rating: 2/5
14. Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Catherine Crawfield is a half-vampire, obsessed with hunting down pure-blooded vampires in an attempt to gift her late mother with vicarious vengeance on the monster who ruined her life. But Catherine finds the tables turned when she is captured by 200-year-old vampire bounty hunter ‘Bones’. Catherine finds herself quickly warming to the cold-skinned killer, and when he agrees to help her track down her monstrous father so that she might take her vengeance, Catherine wonders if all vampires really have to die – not least the sexy night-stalker by her side!
Packed with wit, intrigue and action, Halfway to the Grave is one of the best vampire romance books for adults around.
Rating: 4.5/5
15. Broken Compass by Jaymin Eve
Whilst this vampire romance book is actually the fourth in a series, the first three books feature vampires only as peripheral characters. Broken Compass shifts the perspective to Maximus Compass, a heartbroken vampire who lost his soulmate in a climactic battle against the dragon king.
Despite himself, Maximus finds that the hole in his heart is slowly healing, and when he runs into a werewolf with whom he enjoyed a brief fling – and who is now pregnant with his child – Maximus is forced to reconsider everything he believed he held dear.
Rating: 3/5
16. Captive by Jex Lane
Matthew Callahan has spent seven years trying to reconcile his vampire nature with his human one, and it is a battle he has long been losing. Consigning himself to a lifetime of isolation and loneliness lest he succumbs to his baser urges and hurt a mortal, Matthew finds himself a pawn in a battle he never knew was happening as he is kidnapped by a domineering, sexy incubus.
Kept captive by the rapacious incubus, Matthew now has a new dichotomy to reconcile – his desire for freedom versus his lust for the charismatic monster.
Never anything less than compelling, Captive is a – we daresay – captivating entry in the male-male vampire romance story subgenre.
Rating: 4/5
17. Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
A secret war is waged nightly in the shadows of New York State – a war between vampires and those who would hunt them to extinction. The leader of the vampires, Wrath, is the last pure-blooded vampire left in the world, and it is his responsibility to shepherd his kind against the depredations of the sadistic vampire slayers.
When one of his closest allies is killed, orphaning a half-vampire unaware of her unique ancestry, Wrath is forced to take her under his wing and induct her into the world of the undead. But passions soon flare between the veteran undead warrior and the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on in a hundred or more lifetimes…
Sexy, sensual, and always thrilling, Dark Lover is one vampire romance book that you won’t be able to put down.
Rating: 3/5
18. Taken by the Vampire King by Roxie Ray and Lindsey Devin
Recalling the Robert Redford/Demi Moore smash An Indecent Proposal, Taken by the Vampire King presents a proposition as thorny as it is intriguing: spend a month with mysterious Nicolas DuPont, billionaire, and owner of La Petite Mort Casino, and he will forgive the debts of protagonist Leia’s father. But when Nic starts to show more of an interest in her than she would like – and claims that he is the only one who can protect her from those who are now chasing her – Leia has to ask herself some serious questions about what it means to be taken by a vampire king…
Rating: 3.5/5
Conclusion to the 15 best vampire romance books
And there we have it – 15 absolutely fangtastic books to sink your teeth into! It would be overly sanguine to think we’d covered everybody’s favorites, so if we missed any of yours don’t hesitate to bare your teeth and tell it to us straight!
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