Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark, the first book Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series, is a vampire romance book; however do not go into this book thinking it will be like Twilight. There are similarities, but not many. A vampire and a human fall in love, there's some mind-reading (but from the human, not the vampire) and she can't hear her lover's thoughts (she can't hear ANY vampires' thoughts). That's as far as the similarities go, though; not everyone in Twilight's audience should read these books. There is no abstinence message to speak of and there's language some readers might find offensive. Sookie can be a little annoying at times because she is 50% bratty teenager and 50% old-fashioned grandma, so her views of things can seem a tad bizarre.
Here's a little bit of what Dead Until Dark is about: Sookie Stackhouse is a barmaid at Merlotte's in Bon Temps, LA. She's single because of a problematic "disability" she's had since she was young: she can read minds. Ever since they "came out of the coffin", she has wanted to meet a vampire. Enter Bill Compton, vampire. She knows there's something different about Bill from the moment he walks in; for one thing, she can't read his mind. They fall in love after she saves him from nearly being killed permanently. But then a co-worker is killed and several other women after that; could it be Bill? You'll have to read to find out.
These books are more realistic than Twilight in my opinion, but I wouldn't call them better. They're just different--okay, maybe they're a little better. If you don't mind tastefully-written sex (it's not very descriptive of the act itself, mostly how she feels during it) and a little foul language and you like vampire books, you should read these.