Now that we’ve all shared our Best of 2024 lists with you, it’s time for the AAR team to choose just ONE title as their Book of the Year.
Here are our Best of the Best of 2024.
Caz:
Twisted Shadows by Allie Therin
I always hate having to choose a single title as my Book of the Year. I usually have two or three strong contenders, any of which I could choose depending on my mood or the day of the week, and this year is no different. When it comes to straight-up romance, the winner is, hands down, Promises of Forever by Nicky James, which is a beautifully written and deeply emotional love-story between two older characters that just hits all the right spots. But the book that grabbed me from the very first page and kept me utterly enthralled throughout is Allie Therin’s Twisted Shadows, a tense and exciting paranormal thriller with a romance that just oozes chemistry and sexual tension. Choosing between these two books is an incredibly difficult task, and I’ve ended up going with the Therin purely because I can still remember how I felt when I read it during the summer (I had a very early ARC) – and how absolutely captivated I was by the story. It ends on a massive cliffhanger so I suppose there isn’t even an HFN (although the author promises an HEA in book three), but it’s just SO VERY GOOD – the plotting and worldbuilding is fantastic, the humour lands just right and the romance is *chef’s kiss*. So I can’t do other than call Twisted Shadows my favourite book of 2024.
Dolly:
Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Maehrer displays brilliant world building and storytelling skills, bolstering them with a just… sheer fun factor. This series is so different and smart. It’s full of a robust cast of secondary characters that amplify the fun rather than bogging it down with too many PoVs. After a harrowing political season in the real world, fans of fantasy romances will find a shero in Evie Sage.
Jessica:
The Beast Takes a Bride by Julie Anne Long
This title received one of the few five star reviews I gave this year. Anyone who has read any of my reviews knows I ADORE the grumpy/sunshine trope and dislike second chance romances – but Julie Anne Long handles this aspect beautifully and I felt as though I was reading Magnus and Alexandra’s story from the beginning.
Kayne:
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Funny Story is joyful and funny and my favorite book of 2024. Miles and Daphne end up living together after her boyfriend and his girlfriend become a couple and leave them high and dry! They comfort each other and have fun adventures when Miles shows Daphne his favorite places in their small beach town. It’s a slow burn with a nice balance of spice and fun times and I savored it.
Laura:
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
This is speculative fiction, set in the near future when a shady British government ministry brings five historical characters back to life. There’s a large cast, with five characters and their handlers, and all the government hangers-on. It’s poignant and hilarious with a satisfying romance between Commander Graeme Gore (from 1847) and his (unnamed) handler. Of course there’s also villainy and as always with time travel, it gets complicated. From Graeme’s unorthodox heroism, to the big plot twist, I loved every page.
Lisa:
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
This is my only A+ of the year and for a good reason. This snappy, spicy, fun romantic mystery packs in all of the tension and humor and even a pulse pounding mystery that one would possibly want.
Maggie:
Unusually, my best book of the year didn’t already appear on my Best of list because I stuck to romances and/or books with romantic elements for that.
Bad Liar by Tami Hoag.
This is not a romance, although the series overall contains a wonderful love story. What makes it my best read of 2024 is that alongside the riveting narrative, excellent prose, and intriguing characters is a nuanced look at the American justice system and where it succeeds and fails. And an even better look at women and how we fight for those we love.
Maria Rose:
At First Spite by Olivia Dade
The ‘enemies to lovers’ trope is a tried and true basis for angst and drama, but Olivia Dade has added some extra spice by making the story about a woman and her now ex-fiance’s brother – the brother being the one who ruined the engagement and the woman’s hopes of a fresh start. On the surface it looks like an understandable reason for their enmity, but finding out the background of the characters and what led to their current circumstances gives the reader a reason to hope that they can find a way forward (and root for their happy ending). The author tackles an abundance of issues, including mental health challenges in a memorable romance that is worthy of my best of the year pick.
Dabney:
Eleanore of Avignon
by Elizabeth DeLozier
Oh how I love this book! And yes, it’s about the Black Death which first arrived in Europe in 1347, the year in which this extraordinary first novel is set. The novel begins in November of that year, on the outskirts of Avignon, where Eleanore, our fictional titular lead, is searching for medicinal herbs: comfrey for Anes’s swollen knees, fennel for the baker’s fussy baby, pennyroyal to keep the fleas at bay. Eleanore is an herbalist, a gifted one and, with the help of Europe’s greatest surgeon, she’s determined to save those she loves.
Eleanore of Avignon is not just superb historical fiction–it’s marvelous fiction. And, yes, there is a romance here. Even better, it’s at the heart of Eleanore’s story–its resolution, on the novel’s final pages, is a gift to those who love lovers. I can’t recommend this wonderful read enough!