Chelsea Mueller, author of upcoming urban fantasy release, Borrowed Souls, stops by to help us fill the gaping Buffy hole in our hearts that still isn’t filled 20 years later.
There are books like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the hit TV series from Joss Whedon, and Chelsea Mueller is here to share them. Read on for a list of recommendations!
Don’t forget to check out Hypable’s Book Hype podcast, complete with book club discussions, the latest book news and recommendations galore.
And if you are desperate for more Buffy the Vampire Slayer, our Rewatchable Podcast has a bunch of superfans walking a group of newbies through Buffy and Angel.
Ready for books like Buffy the Vampire Slayer? First…
About ‘Borrowed Souls’
Callie Delgado always puts family first, and unfortunately her brother knows it. She’s emptied her savings, lost work, and spilled countless tears trying to keep him out of trouble, but now he’s in deeper than ever, and his debt is on Callie’s head. She’s given a choice: do some dirty work for the mob, or have her brother returned to her in tiny pieces.
Renting souls is big business for the religious population of Gem City. Those looking to take part in immoral—or even illegal—activity can borrow someone else’s soul, for a price, and sin without consequence.
To save her brother, Callie needs a borrowed soul, but she doesn’t have anywhere near the money to pay for it. The slimy Soul Charmer is willing to barter, but accepting his offer will force Callie into a dangerous world of magic she isn’t ready for.
With the help of the guarded but undeniably attractive Derek—whose allegiance to the Charmer wavers as his connection to Callie grows—she’ll have to walk a tight line, avoid pissing off the bad guys, all while struggling to determine what her loyalty to her family’s really worth.
Losing her brother isn’t an option. Losing her soul? Maybe.
5 books like ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ to fill the void, by Chelsea Mueller
It’s been 20 years since The Slayer came to the Hellmouth and vampires started meeting Mr. Pointy. It doesn’t matter if you managed a final binge of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before Netflix pulled it from your queue or if you can sing along with “Walk Through the Fire,” there’s a Buffy-shaped hole in your life. It’ll be okay, because I have five great books to help you through.
1. If you miss the slayage…
Try Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series. The first book, Halfway to the Grave, introduces us to Cat Crawford. She’s a half-vampire who is nothing-but-slayer. In lieu of Mr. Pointy, she has silver stilettos (silver kills vampires in Frost’s world because wood is too plentiful). Over time she gets her own big, broody vampire on her side, but he offers Watcher-level training to Cat in the first book. There are lots of vampires to slay, and she’s on it.
2. If you can’t get enough ‘Chosen One’…
How about three Chosen Ones? In Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns, triplet princesses are each told they’re the Chosen One. All three girls are groomed by families focused on their magical talents — poisoners, elementals, naturalists — to be ready to take the throne. Sounds easy enough, except the princesses are destined to kill their sisters in order to take the throne at 16. And MAYBE they aren’t too excited about that. Talk about Chosen One pressure.
3. If you need twists…
If you thought Joss Whedon did wicked twists, you haven’t read Richelle Mead. Her Vampire Academy series is perfect for Buffy fans, and not simply because the “vampire” in the name. These books focus on friendships that aren’t perfect while everyone is attempting to destroy some legit evil. The best reason this is for Buffy fans? If you liked the sacrifice and redemption arcs in Buffy, you will cry/throw the book/hug the book/tweet your praises to the book gods as you move through the third and fourth books in the series, Shadow Kiss and Blood Promise.
Seriously, though, no one tell Whedon about Mead’s third-book plot twists. He doesn’t need more ideas of how to make us cry.
4. If you’re longing for The Scooby Gang…
You need to meet Merit’s Scooby Gang in Chloe Neill’s Some Girls Bite. It’s the first in the Chicagoland Vampires series, and where we see Merit become a vampire (not of her own choice, mind you), and find herself a part of a new community in Cadogan House. She has a Cadogan posse who help protect the vampire house, and a group of shifter and magic-inclined friends who act as supernatural liaisons. It should be noted she called the latter the Ombuddies. Both groups are fun, like a good snack, a quality movie night, and generally battling evil with katana swords, magic, and claws. Bonus points for having 13 novels in the series to quench your Buffy-esque thirst.
5. If you’d wished for more Dark Willow episodes…
Really? I mean, she was going to magic dens and getting high and was so mean, and while I wouldn’t want Willow to stay dark for long, the concept of magic as a controlled substance, a high sold in back alleys? That I can get behind (just not for my Willow). Jaye Wells explores this very concept in her novel Dirty Magic. Her main character Kate Prospero is a beat cop who gets tangled in the use of bad magic and finds herself tempted to use it herself. We probably should keep Kate Prospero away from Dark Willow, though. For everyone’s sakes.
About Chelsea Mueller
Chelsea Mueller writes gritty fantasy and YA novels packed with lots of action and a steady undercurrent of sexual tension.
She spends too much time at the gym practicing MMA skills, but makes up for it by counseling other authors on writing dynamic and realistic fight scenes.
When not crafting tales full of ass-kicking and kissing, she runs the totally fun blog Vampire Book Club, dishes on the latest book and TV hotties for Heroes & Heartbreakers, and hangs out with her awesome husband and two giant dogs. She loves bad cover songs, dramatic movies and TV vampires.
She lives in Texas and has been known to say y’all.