U is for Urban Fantasy

by Karen Michelle Nutt

U is for Urban Fantasy

Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural qualities, while other urban fantasy stories have taken place in historical or futuristic settings, as well as a fictional setting.

The difference between an urban fantasy tale and a paranormal romance novel is the romantic relationships. In paranormal tales, the outside forces affect the relationship. In urban fantasy tales, the story focuses on the issues other than the romance. Most likely if you removed the romance from the story, you would still have a viable tale.

A Fun fact
The term urban fantasy to describe fiction books, or television and movies, wasn’t used until the 1980s.

List of Urban Fantasy TV shows
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Supernatural
Lost Girl
Beauty and the Beast
Moonlight
Grimm

Urban Fantasy Books and Authors
The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne
Vampire Huntress series by L.A. Banks
Patricia Briggs’ books
Modern Faerie Tales series by Holy Black
The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

My Urban Fantasy Tales

Soul Taker is an urban fantasy set in contemporary Boston.

No soul is safe…

A vampire from the Grim Sith sept is sucking the souls out of young women from the Boston area, but this sinister crime is far worse than a vampire seeking substance. He’s selling the souls to the highest bidder and it seems business is booming.

A vampire, a werewolf, and a Necromancer are a most unlikely team, but Garran, Harrison, and Isabella plan on putting a kink in the dubbed Soul Taker’s plans. It’s personal now. One of their friends has fallen victim to the Soul Taker’s charms, but to stop him from hurting anyone else, their efforts may involve raising the dead.

E-book Available at:  Amazon Kindle   Barnes and Noble

Lucca: Warriors for the Light takes place in contemporary Southern California.

Lucca Marlowe is half human, half angel, one of the Nephilim. Banished for crimes against one of his fellow brethren, the elders bind his glamour and wings, casting him to the human’s realm. He’ll either learn to respect his human side of existence or live out eternity trying.

Lucca does not live a mundane life. Angels and demons demand he do their bidding. His estrange father resurfaces after centuries of being absent and he’s brought a friend from Hell.

To make his life more complicated, he fears he found his soul mate in a human female. Only Juliet Romeo has a secret that will bring the wrath of Heaven down upon their heads.It’s a race against time to find out who will end up with his soul.  E-Book Amazon Kindle Nook

7 thoughts on “U is for Urban Fantasy”

    1. Hi Jacqueline,
      If the romance isn’t the main focus of your story, then yes it would be an Urban Fantasy.
      The best way to determine is: If you didn’t have the romance, would you still have a story? If the answer is yes, then your story is an urban fantasy. I hope that helps. 🙂

  3. I don’t have an e-reader so I’m probably missing out on tons of books I should be reading including yours. sorry! But I admit to one guilty pleasure of watching Supernatural every morning with my coffee while I read my e-mails :).

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