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Order of Laurell K. Hamilton Books
Laurell Kaye Hamilton was born on February 19, 1963, in Heber Springs, Arkansas, and raised in Greensboro, Indiana, by her grandmother, Laura Gentry. From a small-town girl raised in a conservative setting, Hamilton would go on to revolutionize the landscape of urban fantasy with a pen dipped in blood, magic, and unapologetic sensuality. As of today, she is alive and writing, still spinning darkly seductive tales that toe the line between horror and eroticism.
Hamilton earned her Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in biology from Marion College (now known as Indiana Wesleyan University). That blend of science and literature is no coincidence—her understanding of anatomy, psychology, and the primal elements of survival pulses through every vampire bite and necromantic spell in her novels. You can feel it in her characters, too—flesh, blood, and bone wrapped in mystery and moral ambiguity.
But here’s the twist: Hamilton didn’t just write about monsters—she redefined them. Before there was a wave of vampire romance in bookstores, before fantasy heroines wielded both Glock pistols and enchanted blades, Laurell K. Hamilton had already laid the groundwork. She took the mythos of the undead and fused it with noir crime drama, BDSM-laced romance, and a splash of feminist fury.
She rose to prominence with the creation of Anita Blake, a necromancer-turned-vampire-hunter whose day job involves raising the dead and whose nights are spent tangling with creatures who might be less monstrous than the humans who hire her. With “Guilty Pleasures” (1993), Hamilton didn’t just launch a series—she ignited a movement. The Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series would go on to become one of the most influential and best-selling urban fantasy series of all time.
But she didn’t stop there. Hamilton doubled down on sensuality and danger with her second groundbreaking series: Merry Gentry, which followed a faerie princess/private investigator navigating the deadly and decadent politics of the Unseelie Court. With this series, Hamilton dared to merge high fantasy with erotic fiction in a way that had never been done so boldly. Critics scoffed. Readers devoured. Her books became New York Times bestsellers, one after another.
Her style is visceral, controversial, and utterly distinctive. Laurell K. Hamilton writes like she’s summoning demons—and maybe, in a way, she is. Her work explores themes of identity, power, consent, sexuality, trauma, and what it means to be human—or something else entirely.
She’s been praised for pushing genre boundaries and criticized for doing exactly that. But if you ask her fans, that’s the beauty of her work. Hamilton doesn't play it safe. She doesn't tame her monsters. She lets them love, bleed, rule, and evolve—just like her readers.
Laurell K. Hamilton currently resides in Missouri, where she lives with her husband Jonathon Green, a fellow writer and co-author on some of her projects. Together they run Hamilton’s blog, where she shares updates, writing advice, and unfiltered insights into her creative world.
And here’s the real kicker—Hamilton is still writing. Still conjuring vampires and fae, still plunging her readers into realms of pleasure, peril, and power. With dozens of books published and more to come, she remains a towering figure in speculative fiction. Whether you’re drawn to the thrill of a vampire hunt or the politics of a fae court, one thing is certain: Laurell K. Hamilton doesn’t just write books—she builds worlds you can’t escape from.
Dare to enter?
Publication Order of Series Books
Publication Order of Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter
| Title | Year | Amazon Links |
|---|---|---|
| Guilty Pleasures | 1993 | Amazon |
| The Laughing Corpse | 1994 | Amazon |
| Circus of the Damned | 1995 | Amazon |
| The Lunatic Cafe | 1996 | Amazon |
| Bloody Bones | 1996 | Amazon |
| The Killing Dance | 1997 | Amazon |
| Burnt Offerings | 1998 | Amazon |
| Blue Moon | 1998 | Amazon |
| Obsidian Butterfly | 2000 | Amazon |
| Narcissus in Chains | 2001 | Amazon |
| Cerulean Sins | 2003 | Amazon |
| Incubus Dreams | 2004 | Amazon |
| Micah | 2006 | Amazon |
| Danse Macabre | 2006 | Amazon |
| The Harlequin | 2007 | Amazon |
| Blood Noir | 2008 | Amazon |
| Skin Trade | 2009 | Amazon |
| Flirt | 2009 | Amazon |
| Bullet | 2010 | Amazon |
| Hit List | 2011 | Amazon |
| Beauty | 2012 | Amazon |
| Kiss the Dead | 2012 | Amazon |
| Affliction | 2013 | Amazon |
| Dancing | 2013 | Amazon |
| Shutdown | 2013 | Amazon |
| Jason | 2014 | Amazon |
| Dead Ice | 2015 | Amazon |
| Crimson Death | 2016 | Amazon |
| Wounded | 2016 | Amazon |
| Serpentine | 2018 | Amazon |
| Sucker Punch | 2020 | Amazon |
| Rafael | 2021 | Amazon |
| Smolder | 2023 | Amazon |
| Slay | 2023 | Amazon |
Publication Order of Merry Gentry
| Title | Year | Amazon Links |
|---|---|---|
| A Kiss of Shadows | 2000 | Amazon |
| A Caress of Twilight | 2002 | Amazon |
| Seduced by Moonlight | 2004 | Amazon |
| A Stroke of Midnight | 2005 | Amazon |
| Mistral's Kiss | 2006 | Amazon |
| A Lick of Frost | 2007 | Amazon |
| Swallowing Darkness | 2008 | Amazon |
| Divine Misdemeanors | 2009 | Amazon |
| A Shiver of Light | 2014 | Amazon |