2022 Favorite Book of the Month/Year

I'm in! I love seeing all the favorites.

January: The Governess of Penwythe Hall by Sarah E. Ladd

February: Nothing Short of Wondrous by Regina Scott

March:  A Gilded Lady by Elizabeth Camden

April:  The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan

May: Storing Up Trouble by Jen Turano

June: The Star Garden by Nancy E. Turner

July: The Heart of a Vicar - Sarah M. Eden

August: Carved in Stone by Elizabeth Camden

September: Lost in Darkness by Michelle Griep

October: A Castaway in Cornwall by Julie Klassen

November: Written on the Wind by Elizabeth Camden

December: A Mosaic of Wings by Kimberly Duffy

Favorite book of the year:

It's a tie!!!!

 Lost in Darkness by Michelle Griep

 Written on the Wind by Elizabeth Camden

Let's do this! Happy Reading! 2022 Monthly Favorites

January: Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score; Someone said it reminded them of K.A. books and I took a chance. I enjoyed the book a solid 4 star, a few things were bleh but the best read of the month. Gonna check more books by this author. If you're looking for a soap opera like story this book is it, good twin/bad twin, opposites attract, old soul child, great side characters. 

February: Classified Planet: Turongal by S.J. Sanders; A sci-fi novel that surprised me like Ann Aguirre's alien books. This is a slow burn opposites (quite literally since they are two different species) attract. I give this one 4.5 stars, and it was the best read of the 3 books I managed to read for this month. 

March: Kissing Lessons (Kissing Creek #1) by Stefanie London; This is a contemporary romantic comedy set a small college town.  Heroine is smart, older daughter taking care of her siblings, with a dad who is taking advantage of her and manipulative of her, hero is a young college professor.  It was the best read this month, 3.5 stars. (heroine is curvy and the hero just adores his curves.) 

April: The Bully (Kingmaker #3) by Sophie Lark; It's a complicated enemies to lovers, opposites attract, NA school based romance. The whole series reads like a tribute to Hogwarts but if Slytherin was the only house and the teachers paid more attention, without magic and just insert mafia heirs instead. I read the first one, I thought this was the second book, but I clicked on the 3rd one instead and by then I was too invested to go back and read the 2nd one. H is a Malfoy type and the h is a mix of a few characters, Dom/Sub situation and really enjoyable to me. A 5 star read for me, as I am a believer of a good redemption arc.

May: Contagion by Amanda Milo; Alien romance, comedic, hero who is really out of place, heroine who is the savior to the OCD, neat freak, germophobic alien in a strange new land. I loved this book, there is a book previous to this one, but it's not needed to fully love and understand this book. TW for mention of SA, (If I miss anything else I am sorry) but other than that it's a great read. Simmi is something literally out of this world, but also asks the right questions, lol! 4.5 Star read for me.

June: Love and Monsters by Raven Flannagan; Monster romance, dimension traveling, human heroine. I enjoyed the book it kept me wanting to find out what would happen next. Hero keeps his identity a secret from the heroine even though she wouldn't really have an idea of what it fully meant other than in a general sense. It wasn't a great month for books for me, this one I placed here because I thought it was a standout, the one I am reading now would have been on the list for this month but since I have not completed it yet, I added this one instead.  Four and a half stars for me.



July: Columbine by Dave Cullen; My best read this month because I disliked the book. It read as if the author was taking a side on which killer should be blamed for instead of having both killers be blamed for what they BOTH did. Whatever power dynamics played in their co-dependent friendship cannot be simplified by simply implying (really hard) that Harris was a manipulative psychopath and Klebold depressed and easily manipulated. I won't be unfair and say it reads like that always, but for the most part it does. I did like how the author said the media and officers said and quoted a lot of misinformation, and how that escalated the situation and how the world looked at the survivors, their friends (from school and work), the remaining families (victims and of the assailants), and the town as a whole. Three stars if I am being generous, 2.5 overall. I've ranted and paused so many times reading it this week, that it has felt like a month.

August: Never Sweeter by Charlotte Stein (Dark Obsession #2); A bully redemption romance, where hero and his friends bullied the heroine  all throughout high school, so much so that they even hit her with a truck. I think the author handled the two characters dynamics really well, and their growths as well. The romance is something that is slowly built, and even though you don't get the side of the hero's perspective you do get to read his thoughts and feelings on his part of the bullying. I will also say that the hero is a virgin, the heroine doesn't forgive him right away but it is taking place during a semester of school. (They are college aged kids, not in their teens though). Three high stars leaning into a four star book.

September: Gotta Be Bayou by Erin Nicholas (Badges of the Bayou); Opposites attract, hero is a FBI agent who isn't looking for a woman like the heroine. He wants a woman who cooks, cleans and loves dogs, while the heroine is not a dog hater she is also an investigative journalist who is busy with work to be a responsible dog owner, cook her own meals or bake anything and though she cleans she also is always on the move for her next story. They are attracted to each other, have a moment together which then has the hero obsessed over her and when a bad guy targets the heroine, the hero is all in to protect her. It was a cute story, nothing out of the ordinary but just what you need to pass the time if you have been on a slump or need something other than true crime books or horror books to lighten up your reading. A very high 3.5 stars from me. (This is also the only book I was able to finish without feeling sad or angry about what I was reading this month.)

October: Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Chicago Stars #3); It is a re-read for me, I started reading because I wanted something comforting after having listened to a few audio books of true crime and some horror stories. (I found I can breeze through true crime books and horror books but not fiction audio books)  Cal Bonner, Jane and the whole family and Kevin are a favorite of mines of this series. For anyone who hasn't read it, a genius wants a baby so she tricks a football player into it (sounds bad, it is bad but makes for either a frustrating read or a fun one depending on your preferences.) It has the small town feel to it and two stories one of an older couple who needs a second chance, and the other of the son and his pregnant genius wife and how they navigate a new marriage, having a baby together, getting older and knowing when to let go and embrace change. Four star read.

November: Sweet Like Poison (Savage U #3) by J.Wolf/Julia Wolf; It's a college romance, both main characters have a few traumas with relationship and situations that happened in the past. Lachlan and Elena fight/argue every time they meet up. Hero is unfair towards the heroine based on his belief of who she is, so when they come together due to the undeniable attraction he still does and says somethings that hurt the heroine who thought there was more to them than just lust (a start of a friendship with benefits) until she overhears him with their mutual friends. I adored her friendship with another character who was in an accident in the 2nd book and is now recovering, and I love how this friendship is always honest. Elena quickly became one of my favorite heroines, she took no nonsense from others and was fast to defend those she felt needed defending. A five star read for me.

December: Heartless by Elsie Silver; Cade, Willa and specially Luke made this book a really fun and enjoyable read for me. This is a small town, single dad, age gap OM/YW, romance that had me smiling from ear to ear. Cade is a teddy bear under all the tough and gruff exterior. Willa and Luke have an amazing relationship as future step parent and child, they found each other and it was as if stars aligned for all of them. Glad my SIL convinced me of reading this before the year was out. Five stars for this book, and a good way to end the year.  




Favorite Read Of The Year: Sweet Like Poison by J.Wolf/Julia Wolf. I didn't think college set romance was still something I would enjoy but my two favorites this year were set in a school type setting. These characters had it all, the hero and heroine were great in my opinion. 

Runner Up: The Bully by Sophie Lark, came really close to being my best read this year but then I read this amazing book in November and re-read it again right after I finished it. Dean and Cat are a favorite of mines from this series and it looks like it's going to be one of my go to books for re-reading.

Honorable Mention: Love and Monsters by Raven Flannagan 

New to me Author who deserves a mention: Amanda Milo

2022- Favorite Book of the Month/Year

January- re-read of the iron duke - meljean brooks
February-MUNRO - Kresley Cole
March- after the night - Linda Howard
April-
May-
June-
July-
August-
September-
October-
November-
December-


***Favorite Book of 2022-***

I really enjoy making a list like this:

January:  The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews
February:  Dance with a Deverell by Jayne Fresina
March:  After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long
April:  An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn
May:  The Duke's Messenger by Vanessa Gray
June:  The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan & Bloomsbury Girls by Natilie Jenner.  Loved them both.
July:  You Were Made to be Mine by Julie Anne Long.  Love the whole series, but this is one of the best of them, IMO.
August: A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin. Where the fortune hunter is not the villain.  
September:  The Rake's Daughter by Anne Gracie
October:  The Heart of a Vicar by Sarah M. Eden 
November:  In the Family Way by Shari Cobb Smith.  More a mystery than a romance, but there is a lot of love in the story.
December: A Gentleman Will Never...Forget a Lady by Emily Windsor

Favorite book of 2022: A Gentleman Will Never...Forget A Lady by Emily Windsor

I'll never keep up with this type of list, but do want to mention an author who I never read before and the name of her book as the best I've read in a long time. So for January 2022 the book is A Man of My Own - Johanna Lindsey

So for me a new author but sad that she recently passed.

Better late than never! January was a good reading month, but I really enjoyed The Governess of Penwythe Hall by Sarah E. Ladd. It proved that you can write romantic suspense without characters who are TSTL. The only character who runs heedlessly into danger is a 14-year-old boy.

bluebear  Like you, I also started several books that didn't fit what I was looking for.  I liked the ones I did read, however.  For February, I have to go with Fresina's book, although it's not my favorite of hers, I like her writing style a lot.