A number of authors have created new worlds with vampires living with people. True blood (aka the Sookie Stackhouse Series) is by Charlaine Harris. I have not seen a full episode but I have read many of the books. Sookie is telepathic. She also lives in a small town in the South. Much of the culture of the South is included. These books do have sex but it is not graphic or even violent. Sookie likes Bill, the vampire, because when she sleeps with him she doesn't feel his emotions pushing at her. This series is one of the less explicit vampire series. Sexually explicit I mean.
Anita Blake is one of the wilder vampire series. The series is written by Laurell K Hamilton. She also writes a series about a fairy who is a PI and also the heir to the "throne" of the fairy world. Meredith Gentry, the fairy, is involved in a bunch of political stuff that never makes sense to me. Anita Blake is another story.
Anita raises zombies for a living. She actually is a necromancer and if she doesn't use her power to raise zombies then zombies come looking for her. Anita is "dating" a werewolf and a vampire (the vampire head of St. Louis, actuallly). She also is bound with them in a triad. But anita got some supernatural "gift" from John Claude, the vampire. She must ahve sex frequently and it wears the men out, so one or two guys are not enough.
These books are VERY explicit sexually. Many people are turned off by it, esp as it is integral to the story. I like the way she handles problems, and the way her world is so much like ours but so different at the same time. The early books in the series were not nearly as sex-based. I know quite a few women who loved the early books and have been totally upset by the sex in the later books.
Tanya Huff has a series about a vampire (Henry Fitzroy, the heir to the english throne at one point) and an ex-cop turned PI. Vickie Nelson, the PI, gets drawn into a case where a demon killed some people. Then she crossed paths with Henry. He cannot influence her like other people, so he 'comes out' to her. They frequently end up working with Vickie's ex partner, who still thinks she is the best thing since sliced bread, but also thinks she is in over her head with Henry.
I have not read Tanya Huff's work, but the tv series (on lifetime - you can watch the first season on their website) is very well done, in my opinion. It is fun, not a heavy drama.
Sherrilyn Kenyon has a series that is very different from any vampire novel. It deals with all kinds of supernaturals and the humans who help them hide their secrets. It is too much to explain here, but the books are really fun reads.
Christine Feehan has a couple of series dealing with the supernatural stuff. The Drake sisters are 7 sisters with magical gifts. They are the children of a woman who had seven sisters, etc... It is a fun series. NOt heavy duty. Good love stories with some plot going on.
She has a leopard series. It was just a book years ago. Then she added a short story in an anthology. Now she has another one out, Burning Wild. I am reading it now.
Feehan also has a vampire series that I find over complicated and heavy reading. Lots of sex in it but it is strange. Then she has the "game" series. About men who have gone through a military experiment to give them psychic gifts. And women that went through his testing as very young children (monster adopted them from 3rd world countries). I do enjoy this, but some of the books feature a set of twin men who are a bit to extreme. The sex with them is VERY intense with a strong touch of violence. It really was not enjoyable. I like most of the books but the two male twins was not a wonderful idea for a book.
Kelley Armstrong writes Women of the Otherworld. They are shapeshifters, demons, witches and sorcerers, etc... Their is continuity between books, characters in one book are stars of another book, etc... It is fun. The problems the characters face are pretty compelling, in my opinion.
Lynsay Sands writes hysterical vampire books. Stand in the grocery store cackling your head off books. Light plot with a mystery or problem, characters you become fond of, just lots of fun. I highly recommend them. The sex in these books is there, but not "in your face".
The last series I can think of is written by Kerrelyn Sparks. The first one is How to marry a millionaire vampire. It is hysterically funny. The books are light, fun and very interesting. Vampires have "come out of the closet" with the invention of artificial blood. Throughout the series they come out with other blood products - like chocolood, chocolate flavored blood. They even come out with alcoholic products in one book. Of course some vampires didn't want to "come out" and they try to sabotage the blood factories, etc... That is where the conflict usually comes into play. Sex in this series is not a big part either.
I am not sure WHY so many series popped up now, except that as Anne Rice and then Laurell K Hamilton and Sherrilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan gained popularity the publishers starting looking for new series about vampires.
I hope you try a few of teh books. Many of them are very enjoyable.
), what is the current fascination with vampirism? And, when I say "current", don't forget my age, my current is a long one.
