2019: My Year in Books

I meant to post this ages ago, but better late than never, I suppose! 

Each year, I participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge and set a goal for how many books I would like to read by the end of that year. I try to be ambitious, but realistic, in setting my goal, which has unfortunately forced me to lower my expectations for most of the last few years as life and work have gotten busier. In 2019, I settled on a goal of reading 100 books, but in the end, I managed a total of 187. Normally, I would say I had no idea where I found the time (although the truth would be that most of it was when I was supposed to be sleeping), but in 2019 I found myself with more free time than I ever wanted as I took time away from work to fight stage IV breast cancer. (Sidenote: At age 36, and with no family history! Make sure you're keeping on top of those monthly self-exams, ladies!! It can happen to anyone.)

As I waited through treatments and recovered from surgeries, I found great comfort in escaping into a good book whenever possible. There's nothing like a happy ending to make the world seem a bit brighter! As we head into 2020, I look forward to (hopefully) completing my treatments, continuing to discover wonderful new books and authors, and sharing my love for those books with as many of my fellow readers as possible.

Looking back over all of the books I read in 2019, there were several that stood out to me as favorites. I've posted reviews of most of these books previously, and you can find them by using the search box on the right side of this page. (Note that these books weren't necessarily published in 2019, but since I read them in 2019, I chose to include them here.)

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite books (and authors) of 2019. I had such a difficult time making these choices that I ended up splitting a few of my original categories so that I could include more titles.

Favorite Historical Romance: This was a difficult choice because so many of my favorite historical romance authors released excellent books in 2019 (Eloisa James, Tessa Dare, Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, and Grace Burrowes, to name a few). In the end, however, it was a tie between Julie Anne Long's "Lady Derring Takes a Lover" and "Angel in a Devil's Arms," the first two books in her new Palace of Rogues series. I loved Ms. Long's contemporary Hellcat Canyon series, but I am thrilled that she has returned to writing historical romance. I can't wait to see what her next book has in store for us.

Favorite Contemporary Romance: This was another tough choice because I read some great contemporaries in 2019, and discovered some new-to-me authors that quickly became favorites. However, my overall favorite contemporary was "The Friend Zone" by debut author Abby Jimenez. I laughed, I cried, and I fell in love with each and every one of the characters in this book. I am ridiculously excited to read Abby's follow up novel, "The Happy Ever After Playlist," scheduled for release in April 2020.

An honorable mention in this category goes to "The Lemon Sisters" by Jill Shalvis. The characters in this book felt so real and were so vividly described that it was easy for me to imagine being friends with them in real life.

Favorite Comedic Romance, Historical: I absolutely adored Tessa Dare's "The Wallflower Wager." Not only was the romance between main characters Gabe and Penny delightful, this book featured one of the best (and funniest) bromances I've ever seen in a historical. I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud while reading this story, though it certainly had its share of serious moments as well.

Favorite Comedic Romance, Contemporary: I've always enjoyed contemporary romantic comedies, but I read even more of them than usual in 2019. While there were quite a few I rated highly, my absolute favorite of the bunch was "Just My Type" by Tara Sivec. I read this whole book with a smile on my face (when I wasn't giggling or full-on laughing out loud).

Favorite Debut Romance: I read quite a few excellent debut novels in 2019, so this was yet another difficult choice. However, I think my favorite (aside from "The Friend Zone") was "The Bromance Book Club" by Lyssa Kay Adams. I loved the idea of a group of men reading romance novels to try and better understand the women in their lives, and the book's blend of humor and heart was just about perfect. I am so excited to read the next book in the series, "Undercover Bromance," which releases this coming week!

An honorable mention in this category goes to "Red, White, and Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston. I was a bit nervous to read this book because of its many positive reviews and author endorsements, but it more than lived up to the hype.

Favorite Royalty-Themed Romance: I've been on a bit of a royalty kick over the past couple of years, and thanks in large part to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, there has been no shortage of books released with this theme. In 2019, my favorite was Karina Halle's "The Royal Rogue," both because I adore Ms. Halle's writing and because I've been anxiously awaiting Princess Stella's story ever since we met her in 2018's "A Nordic King."  It was totally worth the wait!

An honorable mention in this category goes to Alyssa Cole's "A Prince on Paper," the third book in her Reluctant Royals series. This is another story I was anxiously awaiting after having come to know Prince Johan in earlier books, and it was tremendously satisfying to see him find love with such a wonderful partner.

Favorite Holiday-Themed Romance Novel/Novella: I'm a sucker for a good holiday-themed romance, and I managed to find quite a few of them in 2019. However, once again I have to choose a Tara Sivec book, "Christmas Cliche," as my favorite. The characters were wildly entertaining and tremendously likeable, the romance was sweet, and the over-the-top Christmas theme was so much fun.

Favorite Workplace Romance: I've always enjoyed workplace romances, but there was one that stood out to me so much in 2019 that I had to create a special category for it: R.S. Grey's "His Royal Highness." There aren't many things in this world that I love as much as romance novels, but Disney is one of them, so the fact that this story features a theme park loosely based on Walt Disney World nearly made my Mickey-loving heart explode with glee. Setting aside the Disney connection, it was one of the best workplace romances I've ever read. I really appreciated that the male lead character, Derek, made his interest in the female lead, Whitney, clear without crossing any boundaries and making it seem like he was sexually harassing a subordinate. That's probably my biggest pet peeve in any workplace romance, but IMO R.S. Grey crafted the story superbly to avoid that pitfall, and I absolutely loved it.

Favorite Women's Fiction Title: This is one of the few categories that wasn't a tough choice, because I loved "The Military Wife" by Laura Trentham so much. There are definite romantic elements to the story, but the emphasis is on main character Harper's journey after losing her husband. Also, as someone with several friends and family members currently serving in the military, I really appreciated Ms. Trentham's efforts to highlight the difficulties these families face, especially the impact of PTSD on the family as a whole.

Favorite New-to-Me Author: There were a number of candidates in this category, but in the end, I chose Jasmine Guillory because I've been enjoying her Wedding Date series so much. Her characters always feel so true-to-life, and if they actually were real people, I'd want to be best friends with them!

An honorable mention goes to Melonie Johnson, whose Sometimes in Love series was also a tremendous amount of fun. I'm looking forward to both of these authors' next books with great anticipation.

The above titles are only a small sample of the books I enjoyed in 2019. What were some of your favorites? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter/Instagram if there's a book you particularly enjoyed last year that's not listed above; maybe it will end up on my "favorites of 2020" list!