I’ve had a pretty good year of reading all told – there have been a few, but not too many duds, and Goodreads tells me I’ve read/listened to just over 250 books this year, and that I’ve graded the majority of them 4 stars / B and above, which isn’t too shabby! I definitely curate my reads more and more with every year, but then I suppose we all do that – nobody wants to spend time reading something they know they are unlikely to enjoy, after all – and pick up fewer books by new authors because nine out of ten are disappointments. Still, one new-to-me author has made my Best of list this year, while most of the other books are by tried-and-tested favourites.
The Evening Wolves by Gregory Ashe
As is usually the case when I choose a book by this author, it’s with the caveat that the whole series is worth reading as that particular entry doesn’t stand alone. The Evening Wolves is the final book in the Iron on Iron crossover series in which each of the four books sees one of the author’s established couples taking centre stage in each book. This is Hazard and Somerset’s entry and it’s a real tour de force – a gripping and gut-wrenching read that ties up the series’ overarching plot while also circling back round to where-it-all-began for our beloved Hazard and Somerset. A series like this one could easily have turned out to be merely fan service, but this is Gregory Ashe we’re talking about, and he does an amazing job of balancing eight already familiar characters and making sure they all maintain their own, distinct voices and personalities. This is an author at the very top of his game.
Fall for Him by Andie Burke
Andie Burke is new-to-me and Fall for Him is only her second book, but what a great read it was! A charming antagonists-to-lovers romance that actually deserves the ‘rom-com’ label (because it delivers on both the rom and the com), it’s warm and funny, with a beautifully developed romance and two leads with depth, complexity and off-the-charts chemistry.
Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
I suppose it’s no surprise that KJ Charles was going to turn in an utterly exquisite historical mystery, given that many of her historical romances contain mystery elements. The surprise was that after warning readers not to expect a Romance (with a capital R), she proceeded to weave an absolutely captivating love story through this clever and skilfully crafted character-driven turn-of-the (20th) -century tale featuring a group of university friends whose friendship fractured when one of their number was murdered.
Cicadas by Avery Cockburn
Avery Cockburn’s Cicadas may be subtitled “a totally epic ordinary love story” but while it’s certainly ‘epic’, it’s not at all ‘ordinary’. Spread over three-and-a-half decades, it’s your classic ‘right-person-wrong-time’ romance featuring two beautifully drawn, complex characters whose journey from awkward teens to battered, middle-aged survivors captivated me from start to finish.
Fen by Barbara Elsborg
This gorgeous romance between Fen – a restorer/repairer of antiques living with a chronic illness and Ripley – a successful barrister with mummy issues – is funny, sweet, charming, and packs quite the emotional punch. I absolutely adored Fen, with his delightfully sassy humour, his indomitable spirit and his fierce determination – it’s no wonder Ripley can’t help falling head-over-heels in love despite his belief that romance is not for him!
Don’t Look Back by Rachel Grant (Narrated by Nicol Zanzarella & Greg Tremblay)
Rachel Grant continues to be my go-to author for m/f romantic suspense, and this third book in her Evidence: Under Fire series is an absolute cracker of a tale, a fast-paced, sexy and superbly researched romantic thriller with an exciting plot that will have you on the edge of your seat, as art historian Kira Hanson travels to the island of Malta to find out more about her past and finds a lot more than she bargained for – including her HEA with another of the author’s wonderfully swoonworthy heroes, Navy SEAL Randall Fallon. I did this one in audio and the narration by Grant regulars Nicol Zanzarella and Greg Tremblay is fantastic. Don’t Look Back is my favourite book in the series so far.
Salt by Fearne Hill
Salt – the first book in Fearne Hill’s Island Love series – is a gorgeous, slow-burn, May/December opposites-attract love story between a young French salt farmer and an Englishman who has come to the island to recuperate after an illness. The setting – the French island of Ré – is lovingly and expertly depicted, and the two leads are engaging and fully three-dimensional; and while their path to true love runs far from smooth, their romance is heartfelt and very satisfying. I enjoyed all the books in the series, but this one is my favourite.
Promises of Forever by Nicky James
Nicky James is one of my favourite authors and I’ll read anything she writes. Her fantastic Valor & Doyle series of romantic mysteries concluded at the end of 2023, and between that, and starting her new Shadowy Solutions romantic suspense series in the spring, she brought us Promises of Forever, a heartbreaking and intensely emotional slow-burn romance between two childhood friends who reconnect thirty years after they last saw one another. The two leads are well-rounded, complex characters, very different in so many ways (a middle-aged jock and nerd pairing!) but who are nonetheless perfect for each other, and their beautifully written love story with its hard-won HEA is the perfect combination of angsty and passionate.
No Man’s Land by Sally Malcolm
This was a ‘surprise release’ that landed in my inbox almost without warning – and I’m so glad it did! No Man’s Land is a compelling historical paranormal romance that draws on ancient folklore and superstition to weave a darkly chilling and atmospheric tale as evil born of the battlefield stalks the streets of London. The opposites-attract romance between conscientious objector, Josef, and the enigmatic Alex Winchester is heartfelt and satisfying, the action scenes are real edge-of-the-seat stuff, and the author has done a superb job with the setting and historical background to her story. I’d definitely read more books set in this world.
Twisted Shadows by Allie Therin
Possibly my most eagerly anticipated release of 2024, Allie Therin’s Twisted Shadows didn’t disappoint. A tense and exciting paranormal/urban fantasy thriller, this second book in the Sugar & Vice series sees scrappy, snarky empath, Reece Davies, once more teaming up with his supposed nemesis, Grayson Evans – aka The Dead Man – to track down whoever is responsible for the murder of a couple of empaths near the Canadian border. I summed up my feelings in my review, when I said “I really can’t say enough good things about this book. The plot is complex, nail-bitingly tense and contains some shocking revelations, the romance is sweet and hot by turns, the worldbuilding is excellent, and the humour lands just right, bringing a much needed levity to a story that goes to some pretty dark places.“ I loved it, and am on tenterhooks waiting for book three. I hope the wait isn’t too long!
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