Authors Like Kristen Callihan (8 Book Recommendations)

Kristen Callihan is an American New York Times and USA Today author who has written well over 25 novels.

Her primary genres are contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and historical romance, but she has also been known to write young adult novels.

Authors Like Kristen Callihan (8 Book Recommendations)

In the past, she has written under the pen names Rachel Hawthorne, J.A. London, and Jade Parker. She takes her writing inspiration from her admiration of action movies, history, and superheroes.

Callihan has written a wide range of excellent novels, but one of her best is her debut book Firelight. This historical romance and contemporary (If you like this genre, check out the works of Authors Like Connie Brockway) romance novel received RT Magazine’s Seal of Excellence.

It was also named the best book of the year by the Library Journal. 

Kristen Callihan has written both standalone novels and book series. Some of her bestselling book series are Darkest London and Game On.

Firelight is part of her Darkest London series. Bestselling standalone novels include Make It Sweet, Dear Enemy, and Outmatched.

If you’re looking for hot and steamy novels with mystery and desire, Kristen Callihan’s books are for you.

If you love novels like The Hookup, Firelight, and The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan, you’ll also thoroughly enjoy novels written by similar authors like JoAnn Ross, Vi Keeland, Maya Hughes, and Lora Leigh. 

These 4 authors write novels that are equally as saucy, hot, steamy, and romantic.

Books By Kristen Callihan

Books By Kristen Callihan

Kristen Callihan is an author that prefers to write in contemporary romance, historical paranormal romance, and straight-up romance genres. It could be said that some of her novels are somewhat explicit too. 

Designed to get your blood pumping, almost all of Kristen Callihan’s novels are full of intense love, dramatic encounters, danger, mystery, and the darkest temptations. A lot of her books also center around forbidden love.

As a writer of historical paranormal romance, you can expect her novels to be crammed with romantic love and elements that go well beyond scientific explanation. 

Callihan’s bestselling book is Firelight. This novel follows tormented woman Miranda Ellis as she battles her way through a marriage she doesn’t want to be in.

However, when her masked husband is accused of a series of murders, she must save his soul and uncover the mystery behind the mask.

Another bestseller is The Hook-Up. This is a more flirtatious, almost adult book that sees Anna Jones fight against the temptations that draw her towards football hunk Drew Baylor. This novel will definitely make you hot under the collar.

Other popular novels Kristen Callihan has written include Idol, Dear Enemy, and The Friend Zone. In all of these novels, you can expect themes of sensuality, danger, desire, passion, love, alpha males, temptation, betrayal, and mystery (If you like the mystery genre, check out the works of Louise Penny and similar authors here.).

Authors Like Kristen Callihan

JoAnn Ross

The Homecoming: A Shelter Bay Novel

If you love novels written by Kristen Callihan, we’re certain you’ll love the ones written by JoAnn Ross too. In fact, as far as romance novels and women’s fiction goes, JoAnn takes some serious beating (If you like woman’s fiction, you might also like the works of Liane Moriarty and similar authors. Check them out here).

JoAnn Ross has written more than 100 romance novels. She has a large collection of steamy standalone novels and some epic book series such as Shelter Bay.

Some of the books we recommend include The Homecoming and Freefall. Both of these books follow war veterans on their journey home.

They come with plenty of romance, love, passion, intrigue, and mystery. A lot of JoAnn Ross’s romance novels also center around crime. This is something Kristen Callihan does too.

Pros

  • JoAnn Ross has more than 100 novels for you to choose from.
  • JoAnn Ross writes novels that are hot, sensual, and romantic too.
  • A lot of JoAnn Ross’s books have deeper meanings.

Cons

Themes: love, mystery, crime, temptation, love, danger, drama, family, sensuality, and suspension.

Vi Keeland

The Baller: A Down and Dirty Football Novel

Vi Keeland is an American bestselling author best known for writing romance novels. She is a #1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal author and has sold millions of books worldwide (see also “Authors Like Cheyenne McCray“).

Her novels have been translated into 26 different languages and fit into the contemporary romance genre.

Like Kristen Callihan, Vi Keeland writes historical paranormal romance novels that tell tales of dark temptation, desire, passion, and love. She wrote The Baller, which is very similar to The Hook-Up.

The Baller is an incredibly sensual novel. It follows one girl’s pursuit and relationship with heartthrob footballer Brody Easton.

Another novel we’d recommend is Boss Man. This is a flirtatious book that screams 50 Shades of Grey vibes. If intense, alpha male bosses are a favorite of yours, this book is perfect.

Pros

  • Vi Keeland’s novels are very similar to Kristen Callihan’s The Hook Up.
  • This author writes books that are extremely romantic (see also “Authors Like Beverly Barton!“).
  • Vi Keeland has a range of excellent book series you can enjoy.

Cons

  • Vi Keeland’s novels don’t contain as much mystery or crime as Kristen Callihan’s books.

Themes: sensuality, forbidden love, desire, passion, fantasy, and danger.

Maya Hughes

The Hate of Loving You (Falling Trilogy)

Next up, we have Maya Hughes. Maya Hughes is an Amazon Top 20 author, much-loved for her swoon-worthy, emotional, romantic, and laugh-out-loud funny contemporary romance novels. 

Maya Hughes’s books tend to be filled with intense passion, alpha males, hot sports stars, and flirtatious women.

More often than not, the novels follow a young woman as she tries to fight off temptation and stay away from the hot hunk. As you’d expect, the girl normally fails, falling hard for the bad boy.

One of Maya Hughes’s bestsellers is The Perfect First. Similar to The Hook Up, this novel centers around a young girl that wants to lose her virginity before the end of the semester.

The story is funny, romantic, intense, and sensual. What more could you ask for?

Another saucy novel we recommend is The Hate of Loving You. This is a fantastic romance book that is full of twists and turns and plenty of tension.

Pros

  • Most of Maya Hughes’s books are like Kristen Callihan’s young adult novels (Also check out Books Like Bone Gap).
  • Maya Hughes is an award-winning author with heaps of experience.
  • This author has written some cracking book series you can dive into (see also “Authors Like Betty Neels“).

Cons

  • Maya Hughes doesn’t have as many novels to read as other authors in this guide.

Themes: love, college, sports, bad boys, alpha males, desire, young love, passion, and temptation.

Lora Leigh

Deadly Sins

Another author that writes similar novels to Kristen Callihan is Lora Leigh. She is a New York Times bestselling author and is most famous for writing an impressive collection of sensual romance novels.

She is a good author to follow if you enjoy books that are more intense, creative, and passionate (see also “Authors Like Nancy Thayer“). The genre she writes in tends to be contemporary romance.

A lot of her novels also follow a more supernatural and paranormal theme.

Lora Leigh has published more than 40 novels to date. This includes juicy standalone books and enthralling series.

Two novels we’d recommend are Deadly Sins and Lions Heart. Both of these novels are packed with drama, danger, sensuality, violence, and mystery. 

Pros

  • If you enjoy novels that are more passionate, Lora Leigh’s books are ideal for you.
  • Lora Leigh’s Breeds series is up there with the very best romance series.
  • Lora Leigh has an extremely large collection of romance novels to choose from.

Cons

  • These novels might be a bit too adult for some readers.

Themes: sensuality, desire, dark temptations, love, friendship, danger, crime, and drama.

Final Thoughts

Kristen Callihan is one of the best romance novelists there is. She has won a range of different awards and knows what it takes to write a compelling book. Her novels are romantic, intense, mysterious, intriguing, and loaded with temptation.

However, that doesn’t mean we can’t find other authors that write similar books (see also “Authors Like Alice Clayton“). In this guide, we showed you 4 romance novelists that write similar books to Callihan.

The authors we looked at are all award-winning, having written a wide range of romantic, passionate, and fantasy novels.

Whether you’re looking for something exactly the same, something more dramatic, or something tamer, we’ve looked at an author that has something you’ll enjoy.

We’ve even given you some novel recommendations to get you started. All you have to do now is decide which books you want to start reading first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Kristen Callihan Release Another VIP Book?

Kristen Callihan has confirmed that she will release another VIP book. This will be the 5th novel in the series.

She hasn’t confirmed when it will be released yet, but she has revealed that it is in the next lineup.

How Many Novels Does Kristen Callihan Have?

Kristen Callihan has published more than 30 books. The latest novels she published were The Game Plan and The Friend Zone in 2022.

She does plan to publish more novels so expect this number to increase.

Where Is Kristen Callihan From?

Kristen Callihan is from Washington DC. This is where she currently writes. She lives with her husband and her two children.

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Anna Davis