I LOVE a list, who doesn’t?!?!? And this weeks topic for SIX FOR SUNDAY is – Favourite book one in a series – sounds like a lot of fun. So let’s begin…
So in no particular order here are my top 6 FAVOURITE books that have started some amazing series.
1 – Burn for me by Ilona Andrews
This is a book I’ve now read twice – I very recently re-read it. It is a total comfort read with a lot of action, some memorable characters and a good whack of romance all thrown in the mix. The whole trilogy is great. And Ilona Andrews (who is a husband and wife team) have extended the series with a further spinoff series.
Highly recommended – I’ve yet to read a back book from them.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews launches a brand-new Hidden Legacy series, in which one woman must place her trust in a seductive, dangerous man who sets off an even more dangerous desire . . .
Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile situation. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.
Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run and wanting to surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.
Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.
2 – First Grave on the right by Darynda Jones
I LOVE this one! Darynda Jones is Hilarious. HILARIOUS. She is by far the author that makes me laugh out loud the most. I end up highlighting almost all the book with quotes I want to share with my friend – who would also recommend the series.
Seriously – Charley Davidson is a character you need to get to know.
I have blogged about First Grave on the right – HERE
Private investigator Charlotte Davidson was born with three things: looks; a healthy respect for the male anatomy; and the rather odd job title of grim reaper. Since the age of five, she has been helping the departed solve the mysteries of their deaths so they can cross. Thus, when three lawyers from the same law firm are murdered, they come to her to find their killer.
In the meantime, Charley’s dealing with a being more powerful – and definitely sexier – than any spectre she’s ever come across before. With the help of a pain-in-the-ass skip tracer, a dead pubescent gangbanger named Angel, and a lifetime supply of sarcasm, Charley sets out to solve the highest profile case of the year and discovers that dodging bullets isn’t nearly as dangerous as falling in love.
3 – The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
I loved, loved, loved The Final Empire! I am currently reading book two in the series and it is just as good.
Great writing, great characters and some AMAZING world building. If you fancy reading some fantasy then I highly suggest starting with The Final Empire.
I have also previously blogged about The final empire – HERE
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed.
For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear while the Lord Ruler reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, a divinely invincible leader. Hope is long lost, until a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa in the depths of the most hellish prison and discovered he has the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, Kelsier will turn his talents to the ultimate caper: one with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.
Only he’s not just planning the greatest heist in history, he’s plotting the overthrow of a divine despot.
Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks like a long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.
4 – Me before you by Jojo Moyes
I LOVED this book and I LOVED the film. I also really liked the second book in the series, but I have still to read the third and most recent. As much as I did like the second book it was really Me Before you that stood out as a must read. Beautiful writing and a heart wrenching but wonderful story.
Have you read the book? Watched the film? You should do both, but keep a box of tissues close to hand.
Lou is an amazing character!
Will needed Lou as much as she needed him, but will her love be enough to save his life?
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun teashop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.
5 – Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
I really have enjoyed following Jamie and Claire’s dramatic story of love, conflict and endurance. But I do cringe whenever I see outlander shelved as a romance. It isn’t. It is a brutal historical drama with far more blood and gore than love – yes there is a love story but I still wouldn’t classify it as a romance.
Have you read it? Or watched the TV series – which is also very good!?!?
What if your future was the past?
1946, and Claire Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. It’s a second honeymoon, a chance to re-establish their loving marriage. But one afternoon, Claire walks through a circle of standing stones and vanishes into 1743, where the first person she meets is a British army officer – her husband’s six-times great-grandfather.
Unfortunately, Black Jack Randall is not the man his descendant is, and while trying to escape him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Scottish outlaws, and finds herself a Sassenach – an outlander – in danger from both Jacobites and Redcoats.
Marooned amid danger, passion and violence, her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
6 – Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Bach
When I was perusing my Goodreads shelves looking for some inspiration for this post I stumbled across Fortune’s Pawn and I instantly thought – ‘I must re-read that!’ – So of course I then had to add it in.
Rachel Bach is a great writer and she really did a fantastic job at writing an action packed space adventure with a great and strong female lead. The book had it all – armour, battles and some romance. I loved it.
Fans of Firefly and Elizabeth Moon will lap up this action-packed military science fiction series. Welcome to the start of a thrilling new space adventure, starring female mercenary Deviana Morris . . .
Deviana Morris isn’t your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. One of those is going to get her killed one day – but not just yet.
Not when she just got a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn’t misnamed: it likes to get into trouble. And with a reputation for bad luck that makes one year as security detail on this ship equal to five years everywhere else – Devi knows she’s found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn’t give up its secrets without a fight, and one year might be more than even Devi can handle.
Finding 6 fantastic series starts was easy – In fact, I could have listed my TOP 20. I LOVE a good series and having a browse through my Goodreads shelves has reminded me just how many AMAZING series I have started, completed and are still reading. I do love a series, don’t you?
I also realised that I have picked quite a mixed bag – I do love jumping from one genre to another – keep it exciting.
Have you any series recommendations for me? Any books I HAVE to read?
Six for Sunday is hosted over at the wonderful A Little But a Lot blog.
One More Word 
One of the Money, the first book in the Stephanie Plum series, by Janet Evanovich!!
I must be the only one who didn’t like Me Before You 🙈 I did like the movie! x
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I read the first few of the Stephanie Plum series years ago – but I am off to add them to my wishlist right now because they are the sort of fun, easy reads I have been in the mood for!
We can’t like every book 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation. x
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Steph is my go-to when I need a light read ❤️
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Lists are “calls for action”. I have a tendency to keep them short.
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So glad the second one in the mistborn series is just as good- really want to read it! And I loved Lou as a character as well.
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I love Brandon Sanderson – he’s just so talented! Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read and comment on a few of my posts – I really appreciate it 😀
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Me too! No worries! 😀
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Sounds like I can really look forward to The Final Empire huh? 😀 Thanks for sharing this!
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Thank you, it was a great book- one of my favourite fantasy reads 🙂 I hope you enjoy it when you get the chance to pick it up!
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