I absolutely adore writing these posts up every three months because there’s something so fun about getting to look back and talk about all of my favorite reads, particularly since I only really review the ARCs I receive and not all of my favorite reads are ARCs. Plus, I love seeing what ultimately makes it to my favorite books of the year, especially since sometimes there’s a book that just sneaks up on me in how it won’t let go of me elevating it past some books I think of as a favorite immediately. So let’s see what books rose to the top already during these first three months of the year!
As we go through the first three books on this list, I think it’s interesting to note that all three are books in a series where I was already deeply attached to the characters, which I think sometimes makes it easier for a book to immediately cement its place in my heart.
10. House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas
This book is the desperately awaited conclusion to SJM’s Crescent City series and personally, I loved it. It is not, however, my favorite SJM book by a long shot and nothing about Hunt and Bryce comes close to my love of [redacted] and [redacted] from Throne of Glass. That said, I did a full reread in January of this series and it was really delightful and a great way to start my year. If you, like me, have trouble resisting SJM, I would recommend the series, but if you haven’t gotten sucked in yet… I’m sure you can find something else that you may love.
9. Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano
Y’all. My obsession with Finlay is going strong. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC so I do actually have a full review that you can find here. But essentially, despite the fact that Finlay gives me second hand stress/embarrassment CONSTANTLY so I have to be in the right mood to pick up one of these books, there is something so cozy about this series despite the chaos. And this book was such a satisfying conclusion to this ARC. Do I hope there’s more? For sure. But I won’t be upset if Cosimano moves on and that’s a fantastic place to leave an installment in a series for me.
8. A Crown this Cold & Heavy by Stacia Stark
The plot in this fantasy romance series keeps getting bigger and the world keeps expanding, which has left me desperately awaiting book four. I was also fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book so for a full review, click here. But the tl;dr is that Stark is really good at ending the book with a hook that keeps you desperate for more. I’m so anxious for the next book in this series, which is the finale.
7. The Return of His Caribbean Heiress
by Lydia San Andres
Another book I was lucky enough to receive as an ARC, though my review has not been posted quite yet, for which I do apologize (mostly to Lydia San Andres). But!!! Let me tell you, I really love San Andres’ writing in this series of interconnected standalones she’s been writing for Harlequin. She’s done a really fabulous job invoking an air of mystery and suspense in these historical romances, which drives the plot of the book forward, while leaving so much room for the romance to breathe. I think that’s a tricky line to walk, but she has done so perfectly in my estimation. Do not go into this book series looking specifically for a lot of suspense, because I do think it’s a light touch. But she adds stakes to each of her books and I’ve enjoyed all three. I hope that we’ll see a lot more from San Andres in the future! She’s hands down one of my favorites, if not my favorite, currently writing in categories.
6. Bride by Ali Hazelwood
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to read this book at all and that’s not because I dislike Hazelwood. I’ve read and loved her debut and novella collection, DNF’d her second full length novel, and have yet to pick up Love Theoretically. But this book promised the paranormal romance of my dreams and so I picked it up. (Also, for the record, the physical copy of this book feels incredible. The pages are so soft and I love the way the cover feels.) Anyway, what I wanted from this book, it definitely delivered and even if I’m not really an… omegaverse(?) person (maybe just a knotting person), I loved everything else about this book and am desperate for more in this world and find myself PRAYING Berkley will allow Hazelwood to make this a series. PLEASE.
The way that this set of five books is three contemporary romances tracks so well and then you throw in a 1000+ page fantasy and a 500+ page historical fiction book and you can start to question whether or not this is truly my list of favorites. Or perhaps that’s not fair considering my Wheel of Time binge a couple of years ago and my adoration of Lessons in Chemistry. But it did surprise me that these two books made my top ten, I’ll say that.
5. How to Get the Girl by Anita Kelly
Another book I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of (review here)! How to Get the Girl was a really moving and contemplative novel. In fact, setting aside the two outliers in this set of favorites, all three of these contemporary romance novels have in common that they’re really about the personal journey of the main character(s). How You Get the Girl balances that journey pretty equally between Julie and Elle and their romance really blossoms through both of them finding their way into being wholly themselves. I really love the way that journey for each of them is depicted. I love the way Elle’s struggles with depressions and migraines is handled. I love the way Julie seemingly has so much going for her and still feels a little lost. I love the way this book talks about and shows different friendships. I love Vanessa. I really just love this entire series, if I’m being honest, and think Kelly is a truly excellent writer. I can’t wait to read more from them in the future.
4. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Honestly though, if you had told me in January that this book would be on my favorites list, I would have laughed at you. I used to own the mass market paperback version of this book and unhauled it because I was like, “There’s no way I’ll ever read that.” Then I was randomly placed on Team White Rabbit and TWOK was the unofficial buddy read. Still I resisted. “Y’all are doing great, but I will not be reading that.” But all of the “Now that we don’t TWOK” and “going on a TWOK” comments had my FOMO flaring. So I went to Barnes & Noble one day and I was like, “Well, I won’t read it this month, but maybe eventually.” Y’all. The way I devoured this book and then Warbreaker and Words of Radiance. I’m truly in so deep. Kaladin, Shallan, Adolin… My babies. I love them so much. If anything happens to them, I will riot. And being able to share my reactions and ask questions with Team White Rabbit in the discord made this reading experience absolutely magical and I’m so excited to be able to continue this series with a whole bunch of people cheering me on. And then in December, we can all be emotionally destroyed by the final book together! How exciting and not at all terrifying. (Brandon, truly, sir, you better let Kaladin live happily ever after in whatever way that looks for him!!!!!)
Also, if you want to know what this book is about… Despite reading over 2000 pages of this series now, I still can’t really tell you. It’s like a fantasy character study with a lot of plot happening at the same time. And honor and whether or not it exists is a theme. Yeah, you really would just need to try it for yourself and see if you fall in love with at least one of the characters.
3. The Friendship Study by Ruby Barrett
Another book I was lucky enough to receive an ARC for (review here)! I loved The Friendship Study probably more than I can adequately express, but I’ll give it my best shot. This book had me tearing up a few different times because the way that it talks about loneliness and the importance of finding your place in your community was really impactful. I think there’s a lot to be said for a book finding you at the right time in your life, and that’s certainly true here. I’ve lived in the town I do for about five years and my community is still largely based on my job, which is sometimes a little lonely. This book reminded me that you can’t just expect a community to come to you without you putting forth some effort. Now, have I managed to take that lesson from this book and translate it into actually building a community? No, not really. But that’s beside the point! Anyway, the other part of my gushing really is about how gorgeous the romance that develops between Jesse and Lulu is, particularly since it truly is more emotionally driven than anything else, but with sparks of physical attraction definitely present at the same time. This was my first Ruby Barrett, but definitely not my last!
2. This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan
Where I would say that the personal journey and the romance journey in the other two contemporary romances on this list are fairly well balanced between the couple, this book is really more about Soledad’s journey. Sure, it’s dual perspective and we get to see Julian letting go a little of his rigid control to an extent, but for the most part, this is about Soledad in the aftermath of her betrayal by her husband. And that betrayal is not just that he cheated on her, the man was literally embezzling money and is now subject of a criminal investigation. I really loved the way Ryan handled the plot in this case and I loved how so much of this book came down to Soledad learning to trust herself again. This book is a quintessential Kennedy Ryan book and I adored it. I also think that if you haven’t liked Ryan’s books in the past, this isn’t going to change your mind. But for me? I loved it. Also, I was once again lucky enough to receive an ARC, but I haven’t posted my review quite yet. I’m working on getting caught up, I promise!
1. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
I will be extremely excited if another book dethrones The Alice Network as my favorite book of the year, but I would not expect that to happen. The way this book completely absorbed all of my attention and I had to share every detail of the plot with my non-reader assistant at work was consuming. Essentially, the two different timelines in this book pretty quickly intersect, in that Charlie quickly winds up meeting and interacting with Eve, but the way that the two unfold slowly but steadily… It’s a gorgeously written, almost haunting novel. And Charlie is pregnant at the start of the novel and so much of this book winds up really examining the choices women made and make, which in light of some of what’s going on in the US today felt very prescient. It set me down a path of wanting to read more historical fiction books with reproductive issues at its center, although I only managed to read one of the two on my shelves in March. Here’s to making time for more in the upcoming months though! And if you have any books that you feel like match this vibe, please, please let me know! I loved this book so much and would love to have more like it.
Honorable Mentions
I don’t want to belabor this post too much so I won’t say anything about these books, I’ll just present them visually, but they are strong contenders to potentially stick with me and jump into a favorite spot by the end of the year.
Closing Thoughts
Please share with me any of the books that you’ve absolutely adored in the past three months or books you think I should read based on the books I’ve shared today! I would love to know.
xx
firewhiskeyreader 