Best of 2015: The Books

Posted January 5, 2016 by Rowena in Features | 12 Comments

Rowena

I read a lot of books each year and it’s always hard to pick favorites but this year, it wasn’t that hard for me. I liked many books but my favorites were pretty easy to choose.

  1. Sincerely, Carter by Whitney Gracia Williams: Absolutely loved this one. I am a sucker for friends to lovers story lines and this one completely worked for me. I loved Carter. I loved Arizona. I loved their romance. Such a freaking good story.
  2. The Deal by Elle Kennedy: This book was my most read book of 2015, especially toward the end of the year. I just kept re-reading this book like it was disappearing from the earth. I loved it that much. I loved the main characters, the secondary characters and I really loved the romance. Elle Kennedy was one of my top authors of 2015 and this book was a huge reason why.
  3. Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh: I knew that I was going to love this book. Too many of my trusted book pimps loved it so when I finally cracked open the book, I waited for Nalini Singh to amaze me and she freaking blew me away. The story was interesting, the characters were fantastic and the world that she created for the Psy and Changelings just worked for me. Judd is my boyfriend…spread it around. 🙂
  4. Sustained by Emma Chase: Holy crap, this book! Unlike Caressed by Ice, I wasn’t prepared for how much I was going to love this book…especially considering how much I did not like the book that came before this one in the series. But it was like night and day for me. For everything that I hated in Book 1, I absolutely loved in this book. So much of this book hit me in the feels that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these characters. I LOVED Jake and I loved Chelsea and all of the kids and Emma Chase won me over. I’m thirsty for more of her stuff.
  5. True Devotion by Liora Blake: Simon Cole had me swooning all over the place while reading his book. From the time we meet him in True North and he’s introduced as that wears too much cologne, flirty guy, I wondered if I would like him but then his book starts and I’m immediately in love with this guy and throughout the entire book I fell in love with him more and more. This book rocked all of my socks in my socks drawer. It was that good for me.

Honorable Mentions: Falling into Bed with a Duke by Lorraine Heath, Rock Redemption by Nalini Singh and Sacked by Jen Frederick.

Holly

I had a hard time picking my favorites this year, since so many of my favorite authors had new releases.

1. Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh: I’m pretty sure I highlighted almost every page of this book. It was amazing.
2. The Deal by Elle Kennedy: Hannah and Garrett were such a great couple. I loved their story.
3. November 9 by Colleen Hoover: This book was such an emotional roller coaster ride. I loved it…and hated it.
4. Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley: Carissa was probably my favorite of all Ashley’s heroines. I loved her and Joker.
5. The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan – Gray! Mac! Special Sauce and Cupcake! So.Much.Love.

Honorable Mentions: The Mistake by Elle Kennedy, The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan and Archangel’s Enigma by Nalini Singh. I didn’t include them in my list because I didn’t want to double dip.

Tracy

I had a lot more than just 5 books that I really loved this year but I think these are really my top favorites (a lot of friends to lovers stories caught my attention this year):

  1. The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen: So good!  I loved the slow burn of the friends to lovers story.
  2. The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen: The best part of this was Bridger and his wonderful personality.  I loved how he took such great care of his sister and the romance was spot on too.
  3. Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase: Amazingly wonderful.  Loved the wit and sarcasm and the story rocked as well.
  4. The Deal by Elle Kennedy: Another great friends to lovers story and oh so hot.
  5. Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh: I got action, adventure, intrigue, love, respect, kindness and hope all wrapped up in a wonderful story and frankly I didn’t want the book to end.

Honorable Mentions: Nice Girls Don’t Ride by Roni Loren: Short but sweet story that was awesome; and With a Twist by Staci Hart: Really great friends to lovers story with lots of laughter and friendship.

What were your favorite books of 2015?


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12 responses to “Best of 2015: The Books

  1. Kareni

    It’s hard for me to pick out absolute favorites since I enjoy so many of the books that I read. One book that I found noteworthy though was Heidi Cullinan’s Carry the Ocean (The Roosevelt Book 1).

      • JenM

        I loved Carry The Ocean. I don’t read much m/m, but the blurb for this book totally caught my eye and I’m so glad I read it. I really liked Heidi Cullinan and want to try more of her books.

  2. Sharlene Wegner

    So many great books! Laura Florand’s books – Once Upon a Rose and a Wish Upon Jasmine were both highly romantic books, as are all of hers. Tessa Dare’s books – Say Yes to the Marquess and When a Scot Ties the Knot were both excellent and very romantic books, too.

  3. Jen

    Ugh, I am the worst at keeping track of books I read. If I don’t write a review, I try to add it to goodreads but I’m spotty at best! (Actually I should really add that to my resolutions–I’m going to try to at least enter the books I’ve read on goodreads so I can keep track.)

    After taking a few minutes to think about it, I’d say some of my favorites that I read this year were Total Surrender by Rebecca Zanetti, Taking the Heat by Victoria Dahl, Once Upon a Rose by Laura Florand, and Kraken King by Meljean Brook (did I read that in 2015? I reviewed it in 2015 so I’m going to count it).

    • Goodreads is a great place to track your reads. Rowena has a spreadsheet and gets all crazy tracking hers, but I just log mine in GR by month and genre, and read or re-read. At the end of the year it’s so easy to look back and see my reading trends. I’m too lazy for anything more complicated.

    • I love my spreadsheet! I’ll share with you, if you want Jen. Just let me know. But I agree with Holly too, Goodreads is a great way to track what you read.

  4. I just realized I completely forgot to include The Legend of Lyon Redmond by Julie Anne Long in my list. I adored that book.

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