My First Paranormal Romance

I've never read a paranormal romance before as I'm sure you surmised from the title. I enjoy the paranormal in books and I also like a good romance in books, but I've never tried the genre dedicated to the two. I believe it's one of those things where enough people around me have said disparaging things about the genre and those who read it that I've almost been afraid to try it myself. That probably says a lot about me and hopefully I'm moving away from that. 

The book I read was Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison. When I read it, I actually thought it was simply a paranormal read and because it was the day before Halloween it would be a fun book for the season. I honestly enjoyed it. I wish it had been longer and that instead of just describing a character's death and a few scenes after throughout the book it had actually been written. It was a very intriguing part of the book but it felt as if I was missing out on the character's thoughts and motivations by not including any of it. At the same time, it was an interesting way to slowly reveal information which might have made certain parts more intriguing. 

It was also an interesting read because I haven't read a young adult book for a while and went into the book thinking it was for adults. I'm usually not a fan of reading about petty high school drama but I did enjoy how the character was written. They were confident but real at the same time. There were moments where she felt sad and unsure but at her base she really seemed to believe in who she was which was refreshing. She wasn't the cliché female high school protagonist who needed to be saved by a love interest. She had control of her situation and asked for help but I had no doubt she could handle herself just fine if that help didn't come. 

This year, my almost two-year-old was dressed up as Pikachu for Halloween. He adores Pikachu and it's adorable when he excitedly claps his hands and says 'kachu when he sees pictures of the Pokémon. Because of that, I've been replaying Pokémon Sword with him. It's mostly him barking at Yamper and growling at Charizard but it's so fun seeing how excited he gets. I've had a lot of fun because the new Pokémon game comes out in less than three weeks. Pokémon is something I grew up with and the games are a part of me. I played XD so much as a kid but even as an adult I'll sometimes put the GameCube disk in our Wii to play it more. It's a great franchise, a bit repetitive in its formula, but it looks like Scarlet and Violet might be trying something new. 

What are some genres you were nervous about but ended up reading? Do you try to read spooky books for Halloween? What are some genres you think should be appreciated more? 

Keep dreaming and daydreaming about all the beautiful worlds in your head.