2018 was a hard reading year for me. I started out the year with huge goals and it fell apart quickly. I can’t be mad about it though. I read some fantastic books by amazing authors, made new friends in romancelandia and had lots of romance discussions on Twitter and beyond. Here is a round up of my favorite books this year. Spoiler alert, several these authors were on my lists from 2017 and 2016.

2018 was all about fantastic series for me. So many of my favorite books where part of a series. While they were all stand alones, the connected stories and paths made the stories more enjoyable for me. These three series really stood out for me this year with things for containing things like prickly heroines, positive female friendships, and all have heroines who are strong AF but maybe a little fractured on the inside and when they find their hero, it doesn’t magically make everything better but just enhances their lives.

Chance of a Lifetime by Kate Clayborn. Luck of the Draw and Best of Luck were both absolutely stunning. Both drew me in and I loved every moment of reading them. Kate writes flawed characters who remain flawed after they’ve found love.

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Bridesmaids Behaving Badly by Jenny Holiday. The first two books in this series, One and Only and It Takes Two were released in 2018. Both were fantastic. I gave both if them A Reviews. There are two novellas featuring Elise and Jay and I have read one, Merrily Ever After and the theme is a marriage kind of in trouble. I have already read the third book, Three Little Words and it is just as good, if not better than the ones before it.

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The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Loren– Loren is a new to me author and I am really late to this party. The Ones Who Got Away & The One You Can’t Forget are heartbreakingly beautiful. It’s centered around a group of friends that survived a school shooting. It is such a heavy and unusual topic for a romance but it worked for me on every level.

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Stand Alone Books

Stripped by Zoey Castile– The worst part of this book was that I read it while I was on a cruise with no internet and I couldn’t immediately tweet/talk/skywrite how much I enjoyed this book. The title names were song titles. It was a lot of fun to read Robyn and Fallon’s story.

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton. The first book I absolutely loved this year. If y’all haven’t heard me/seen me tweet about this book yet, you must be a new follower. I like to joke that I am responsible for getting it picked for Reese’s Book Club (I know this isn’t true.) The story, much like the cover is absolutely stunning. I have the follow up waiting for me on my Kindle.

Rogue Acts (The Rogue Series Book 3) Two of the short stories in the anthology were absolutely magnificent. The rest of the stories were good too, but Make You Mine by Molly O’Keefe and Cover Me by Olivia Dade were standouts for me. O’Keefe brought me the longing and tension that she normally does. Dade’s story was a departure from her previous books which were more light hearted.

One Night Wife by Ainslie Paton– Fake relationship is one of my favorites tropes and Paton checked off all my favorites in this book. Cal the hero tends to Fin, the heroine, when she has her period. What else could you want from a hero?

Honorable Mentions-

Thirsty by Mia Hopkins– Ex-con finds love, yes please! This book is told entirely from the hero’s POV and I was here for it. Sal was a complex and nuanced hero. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

The Tycoon/The Cowboy (The King Family Series) by Molly O’Keefe– Keeping tradition from last year, O’Keefe claims two spots on my favorites list. O’Keefe brought her mix of high emotions and lots of sex to both of these stories and I was there for every moment of them.

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Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon– A light and fluffy book with a male nanny. It is a fun, sexy and fast read. It was just what I needed to read at the time that I read it. I could definitely use more low angst reads in my life.