Reddit mentions of Guilty Pleasures: An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel

Try some Laurell K. Hamilton with Guilty Pleasures. It has vampires and werewolves in it, so it's in the neighborhood of what she likes. However, the female protagonist is powerful and well-drawn, so it's a step up from Twilight in that regard. It's basically a hard-boiled detective novel, with vampires and zombies. It's the first book in a long series, and while the series does take a nose-dive in quality down the road, the first six books or so are very solid, and are pretty fun reads.

If you are still looking for books to read, I have recently started a series known colloquially as "The Alphabet Mysteries" by Sue Grafton. It is a murder mystery series set in California and the main character is a woman PI in her 30s. She's very independent and I love to find longer series - I think she's up to V right now, so it's a pretty good series. Even if you don't normally like the mystery genre, just give it a shot. The first book in the series is 'A is for Alibi' and was really good.

http://www.amazon.com/Is-Alibi-Kinsey-Millhone-Mystery/dp/0553279912


Second, I'd like to recommend author Laurell K. Hamilton. She is famous for two series, both with strong female characters. Her more popular series is "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter" and is a fantastic alternative to the twilight-esque tween romanticized version of vampire novels. It is pretty graphic and has a lot of sex, so be warned in advance. It has some really great thought-provoking themes and I think it's well written. Also there is some pretty graphic sex especially later on in the series but I find it a turn-on. The first book is "Guilty Pleasures." (I also read that they've started making a color "graphic novel" out of the series, which looks really cool if you prefer comics).

http://www.amazon.com/Guilty-Pleasures-Anita-Vampire-Hunter/dp/0425197549/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343582698&sr=1-1&keywords=guilty+pleasures


Her second series is the "Merry Gentry" series which is a fantasy style book with faerie and elves and the modern day world as well. This one is very smutty and chock full of sex and to be honest, even to me the sex started to get overpowering, but I still really enjoyed the series. However a new one hasn't come out in a few years and I have to say I am a little disappointed in that. The first one is "A Kiss of Shadows."

http://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Shadows-Meredith-Gentry-Book/dp/0345423399


Thirdly, my all-time favorite author is Mercedes Lackey. Her series are mixed with female and male characters but one of the most well-known and popular books she wrote early in her career is the "Arrows of the Queen" trilogy introducing the world of Valdemar. The entire Valdemar series is fantastic, and Arrows specifically focuses on a woman.

http://www.amazon.com/Arrows-Queen-Heralds-Valdemar-Book/dp/0886773784/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343582295&sr=1-1&keywords=arrows+of+the+queen


There are other trilogies in the series about women, as well as men. I am also very fond of her "Elemental Masters" series, which typically has one female and one male protagonist. It's a fantastic series. The first book in this series is "The Serpent's Shadow." I love everything she writes, really!!

http://www.amazon.com/Serpents-Shadow-Elemental-Masters-Book/dp/0756400619/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343582580&sr=1-2&keywords=elemental+masters

EDIT: formatting

Have you looked at Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series? Kind of fits the bill, and the sex content increases a lot as the series goes on. Pretty much all of the paranormal romances I've read feature a strong, seductive male love interest, but I can't say I'd really recommend any of them.

Fifty Shades of Grey was pretty extreme? Maybe someone will know of a good self-pub erotica author?