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! 

2018: My Year in Books

I meant to write this post a few weeks ago, but better late than never, I suppose!  Anyway, each year, I participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge and set a goal for how many books I want 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 the last couple of years as life and work have gotten busier.  My goal for 2018 was to read 80 books, but somehow or another, I managed to read 137.  I'm still not sure where I found the time (probably when I was supposed to be sleeping...), but I have to admit that I am quite proud of myself!

Looking back over all of the books I read in 2018, there were several that stood out to me as favorites.  I've posted reviews of some, but not all, of these books previously.  (Note that these books weren't necessarily published in 2018, but since I read them in 2018, I chose to include them here.)

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite books (and authors) of 2018. 

Favorite Historical Romance: This was a difficult choice because so many of my favorite historical romance authors released really good books in 2018 (Tessa Dare, Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, and Grace Burrowes, to name a few).  In the end, I think it's a tie between "Too Wilde to Wed" and "Born to be Wilde" by Eloisa James.  I've really been enjoying the Wildes of Lindow Castle series so far and look forward to book 4 coming in June 2019.

Favorite Contemporary Romance: This was another tough choice because I read some great contemporaries in 2018, and discovered some new-to-me authors that quickly became favorites (see below).  However, my overall favorite contemporary was "The First Time at Firelight Falls" by an author I have admired for many years, Julie Anne Long.  I first discovered Ms. Long through her historical romances, particularly the Pennyroyal Green series, but her contemporary Hellcat Canyon series has also been excellent.  I'm looking forward to Ms. Long's return to historical romance in February 2019, but I hope that we haven't seen the last of Hellcat Canyon yet.

Favorite Comedic Romance: I've always enjoyed romantic comedies, but I read even more of them than usual in 2018.  While there were quite a few I rated highly, my absolute favorite of the bunch was "The Simple Life" by Tara Sivec.  I love Ms. Sivec's inappropriate sense of humor and ability to deliver emotionally charged stories featuring characters that seem incredibly true to life.  Honorable mentions in this category go to Ms. Sivec's Naughty Princess Club series, which starts with "At the Stroke of Midnight," and Karina Halle's "Nothing Personal." (The antics of the chicken in this story made me laugh so hard I almost fell out of my chair!)

Favorite Royalty-Themed Romance: I was on a bit of a royalty kick in 2018, and thanks in large part to Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle, there was no shortage of books with this theme to choose from.  My favorite was "A Nordic King" by Karina Halle, mainly because it felt like I had to wait FOREVER for King Aksel's story after getting to know him in the earlier books in the series, but an honorable mention goes to "The Royal Treatment" by Melanie Summers because it (and its sequels) were just so darn cute and funny.

Favorite Holiday-Themed Romance Book/Anthology: I'm usually a sucker for a holiday-themed story, but most of the ones I read in 2018 fell flat for me.  The exception was "How the Dukes Stole Christmas" by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, and Joanna Shupe.  These ladies know how to write a good story! 

Favorite New-to-Me Author: This is one of the few categories where the answer was easy for me: Susannah Nix was my favorite new-to-me author of 2018.  I read all three books of Ms. Nix's Chemistry Lessons series, which starts with "Remedial Rocket Science," in under a week.  An honorable mention in this category goes to Mariana Zapata, who is a master of the slow burn romance.  "The Wall of Winnipeg and Me" and "Wait for It" were both incredible books that I had a hard time putting down.  I look forward to reading more of both authors' work in 2019!

Favorite Non-Romance Book: I don't read a lot of non-romance books (though I do sometimes enjoy a good mystery/thriller or young adult novel), so I didn't have a lot to choose from in this category in 2018.  That said, I did enjoy "Luckiest Girl Alive" by Jessica Knoll.  The book has very mixed reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, and I can understand why.  It tackles serious subjects and the main character does not always come across as very likeable or trustworthy. 

 

The above titles are but a small sampling of the books I enjoyed in 2018.  What were some of your favorites?  Let me know in the comments if there's a book you particularly enjoyed in 2018 that's not listed above - maybe it will end up on my "favorites of 2019" list! 

A-Z Author Challenge 2011 - Round 1

Back in January, I decided to participate in a reading challenge on one of the romance message boards I sometimes visit.  The challenge was to read one book for each letter of the alphabet, using the first letter in the author's first and last name to determine the letter it represented.  Difficult letters like Q were allowed to be found anywhere in the author's name, not just at the beginning.

Participants have a whole year in which to finish the challenge, which seems like a lot of time to me since it works out to about 2 weeks per book.  Despite being a pretty fast reader and having ample time to finish each book, at first I thought that it would take me all year to finish the challenge because I tend to be a "mood" reader.  I had a feeling that I wouldn't do a good job of sticking to my list because the ones I had picked might not fit with what I felt like reading when I got around to that letter.  To my surprise, I managed to finish my list in about 4 months.  I found the challenge to be very enjoyable because it forced me to vary my reading and find new authors for some of the letters, so I didn't get stuck in a rut and keep reading the same thing over and over. I still chose to read some books that weren't on my list, and I also switched out books for some of the letters because I found something more appealing than what I had originally planned to read, but the planner in me was very excited about having my reading all planned out in advance. :-) That way I didn't agonize over which book to choose and waste time that I could be using to actually read!

In case anyone actually stumbles across this blog and is interested, here is my completed list:

A - Adele Ashworth - My Darling Caroline - 2/13/2011
B - Celeste Bradley - Desperately Seeking a Duke - 2/26/2011
C - Allison Chase - Most Eagerly Yours - 1/14/2011
D - Jude Deveraux - Forever - 3/22/2011
E - Eileen Dreyer - Never a Gentleman - 4/3/2011
F - Jane Feather - A Wicked Gentleman - 3/9/2011
G - Julie Garwood - Sizzle - 2/18/2011
H - Diane Haeger -The Queen's Rival - 3/30/2011
I - Eva Ibbotson - A Countess Below Stairs - 1/30/2011
J - Judith James - Broken Wing (NOOK) - 4/16/2011
K - Carla Kelly - The Admiral's Penniless Bride (KINDLE) - 4/23/2011
L - Julie Anne Long - The Runaway Duke - 3/13/2011
M - Laurel McKee - Countess of Scandal - 3/20/2011
N - Linda Needham - Marry the Man Today - 3/18/2011
O - Olivia Drake - Seducing the Heiress - 1/25/2011
P - Mary Jo Putney - The Bargain (NOOK) - 4/10/2011
Q - Amanda Quick - Scandal - 4/8/2011
R - Maya Rodale - A Groom of One's Own - 2/15/2011
S - Susan Holloway Scott - The Countess and the King - 2/6/2011
T - Elizabeth Thornton - The Marriage Trap - 3/2/2011
U - Lisa Unger - Beautiful Lies - 4/27/2011
V - Virginia Henley - Unmasked - 5/3/2011
W - Wendy Markham - The Best Gift - 2/22/2011
X - Cathy Maxwell - You and No Other - 4/17/2011
Y - Rebecca York - Royal Lockdown (KINDLE) - 1/28/2011
Z - Laura Zigman - Her (KINDLE) - 2/2/2011

I enjoyed the challenge so much that I've decided to try and do it twice more before the end of the year. I'm already working on my second list, which I'll post soon. I may post reviews of some of the books, too.  Who knows - this is a new blog, so I don't know exactly what I may feel like writing yet!