I have been logging my books in a notebook. I haven’t been great about keeping up with the notes but I have managed to write down all the titles I have read this year. To date I have read 51 books and marked 19 as DNF’s, in total I have started 70 books this year. Last year I think I finished around 100, including DNFs so I am doing better than last year.
Here is my list of favorites so far this year.
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa– This feels like a cheat because Angela also had it, but the book is damn good. It has banter and enemies to lovers without being too antagonistic. Plus Max has “big lick energy.” You can find my mini review here.
Big Bad Cowboy by Carly Bloom– Bloom delivers a sexy as hell Red Riding Hood retelling with this cowboy book. This book was released in 2019 and I was late to the game on this one, but I am glad to know about Bloom now. You can read my Cowboy Round Up review here. I saw she finished the next book so I am patiently awaiting news on release date.
Love Hard by Nalini Singh– This was my first contemporary read by Singh in several years. And it hit all my sweet spots. I didn’t review it here but I really did love it. Single parent, widower dad, low angst. I have now read the other two books in this series and Love Hard will be my favorite.
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner– I really, really enjoyed this slow burn, age gap romance. I picked up on their attraction and feelings early on and I enjoyed the story as the characters came to terms with their feelings. I wrote a mini-review here.
You Deserve Each Other By Sarah Hogle– A relationship in trouble where the love interests are already engaged and need to either break up or fix their relationship. Y’all I loved this book so much. Naomi was petty as hell. Give me all the petty heroines, please. My full review here.
Dream Maker by Kristen Ashley– This wasn’t a perfect book but it was so much fun to read a new book by Ashley that felt like an old school KA book. Damsel in distress with a great group of female friends and a sometimes grunty hero- LOVE IT. My full review here.
Just a Heartbeat Away by Cara Bastone– Y’all this is out next week, 6/30 so you should go ahead and pre-order it. I love it. You can see my Tweet thread about this book here-
A few other authors/things I want to acknowledge:
Big thanks to Rachel Reid for reigniting my interest in hockey romance. Tough Guy was really good and sexy and had (IMO) great representation of mental illness, specifically anxiety & depression.
Cowboys- Thanks to books by Carly Bloom and Rebekah Weatherspoon that featured sexy AF cowboys, I have added a new sub-genre to my reading list.
All the messy and complicated heroines. I love them all so much. I want to read all the messy and complicated heroines. Here are some of my favorites so far this year- Naomi from You Deserve Each Other, Layla from The Marriage Game by Sara Desai, January from Beach Read by Emily Henry, and Erin Walsh from The Spire by Kate Canterbary.
What books are your favorites so far this year?
I already posted my mid-year favorites at Angela’s post. I’m adding the Bloom and Bastone to my never-ending tbr (I think, “She never got to the end of her tbr pile” would be a fitting epitaph for many of us).
And speaking of cowboys, I just finished Genevieve Turner’s very good series, A COWBOY OF HER OWN: set in and around a ranching community in Southern California, the six interconnected books feature multi-cultural/multi-ethnic MCs and various tropes (antagonists-to-lovers, fake relationship, boss & employee, second-chance, unplanned pregnancy). I thought they were excellent, so if you’re looking for some good cowboy romances, we d recommend looking at these.
Kini, Thanks for sharing your list. I see some tempting choices!