Another great year of reading! My favorite books in no particular order:

Listen to the Moon by Rose Lerner – This was the first book I reviewed for 2016 and it is fabulous. The hero is a butler, the heroine is a maid and it is a marriage of convenience. Rose Lerner consistently writes some of the best historical romances I read.

Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat – The end to a trilogy that holds a dear, dear, place in my heart. During this series, my heart was ripped out more than once. A m/m fantasy – difficult to read at times, the twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat and the romance made me swoon so hard. SO HARD.

Act Like it by Lucy Parker – this released in November of 2015, but I didn’t read it until this year. A terrific enemies to friends to lovers story with a surly hero and an adorable heroine. A debut that made me cheer. Her second book comes out next month and I hear the hero is curmudgeonly. Swooning already.

Earth Bound by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner – Set in the 60’s we get a heroine who is in the computing department for the space program and a hero in the engineering department. So sexy – and sciency – and just amazing chemistry between these two.

Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt – Oh Val, you sexy, crazy, vain, villainous hero! A duke who falls for his housekeeper. OMG I loved this. So fun and sexy and made me laugh. A must read.

Burn Down the Night by M. O’Keefe – This book made me HURT. Both the hero and heroine are so broken and damaged and find each other and made me hurt even more. So well done. This can be read as a stand alone but I loved the first two books as well.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. Probably my favorite book of the year – just absolutely adorable and romantic. I still smile when I think of it. How Josh pretends to hate Lucy so much but he secretly loves her so much and Lucy’s slow discovery of this. I can’t even deal with how much romance this book produces.

A Change of Heart by Sonali Dev – Well if I thought Burn Down the Night made me hurt, I forgot that A Change of Heart put me in complete agony. The hero’s grief over losing his wife about killed me. I’m not kidding. His grief is so intense and so well done – and his torture over falling in love with the heroine – omg. My heart. Sonali Dev is an amazing writer. Read this.

Royally Screwed by Emma Chase – I adored this book so much I really, really, realllllly want everyone to try it. The hero is a prince (think prince harry) and the heroine is a poor pie maker. It’s naughty, and funny and just – FUN.

Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews – Absolute master storytellers. Each book is so damn good. I listened to this one – the first time I did on audio – and the narrator is brilliant.

Authors who excite me for 2017:

Ruby Lang
Dakota Gray
Megan Erickson
Santino Hassell
Amanda Bouchet
Chanel Cleeton
KJ Charles
Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner
M. O’Keefe
Roan Parrish
Laura Griffin
Rachel Grant

I listen to audio books when I’m not reading. I tend to choose audio books that are going to be turned into a movie soon, or are topping the NYT bestseller list – I also love very dark, very chilling books.  Almost all of my audio books are not in the romance genre. But I’d like to mention  my favorites that I listened to this year.

You by Caroline Kepnes and Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes. The main character in this book is a stalker and a murderer – but I still enjoyed him and rooted for him at times. I know, I know. Crazy two books – and the narrator, Santino Fontana is brilliant and makes Joe come to life.

Bird Box by Josh Malerman – A horror book where something appears on earth, and if you look at it, you die. So our main character and her two children haven’t gone outside in years. She finally decides she needs to leave her house and get in her boat and travel down the river to a compound she hears might be safe – so they must travel the entire time with their eyes shut. Omg – I have chills just writing this and thinking about this book. Cassandra Campbell narrates and is outstanding.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – this is going to be a movie in 2018 directed to Steven Spielberg. If you are a fan of 80’s pop culture, you will love this. It involves a virtual reality world and an awkward teen and the entire world trying to find clues in this world to win a ton of money. I fell in love with the main character. So fun. Narrated by Wil Wheaton.

The Girl Before by Rena Olsen – Our main character was taken as a young child and raised in a compound by people heavily involved in sex trafficking. She is brain-washed etc…as an adult the Feds come and arrest everyone – and she then goes on a journey of realization. It takes place in the past and present and I found her journey heartbreaking and so well done. You root for her so hard. Narrated by Brittany Pressley.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter – Main character’s husband gets murdered, and as she spends days going through his belongings, she starts to uncover very dark, dark, dark, things about his life. And then really bad things start to happen…… *hold me* Narrated by Kathleen Early who I love.