Best of 2013: The Authors.

Posted February 2, 2014 by Rowena in Features | 4 Comments

(I have no idea how we missed posting this at the beginning of January. Better late than never?)

Rowena: I have my favorite authors who have never let me down but this year, I was also introduced to some authors that I have seriously come to love.

Julie James
Jill Shalvis
Jessica Sorensen
Samantha Young
Tessa Dare

Honorable Mentions: Sarah MacLean, Cora Carmack and Kristen Ashley. Each of these authors have written some winners for me this year and they definitely deserve to be mentioned.

Holly: I made an effort to read more new-t0-me authors this year. As a result I found some new favorites. Of course, I still love many of my old favorites.

Samantha Young
Kristen Ashley
Thea Harrison
Lauren Dane
Meljean Brook

Honorable mentions or authors I plan to watch in 2014: Jessica Scott, Jennifer Ashley, Jessica Clare, Tammara Weber and Christina Lee. Clare, Weber and Lee are all authors I discovered this year. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have to offer with their next releases.

Which authors made your favorites list this year?

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Tagged: Best Authors, Best of 2013, Best of Lists, Best Reads, Holly Says, Holly's Best of Lists, Rowena Says, Rowena's Best of Lists

Worst of 2013: The Books.

Posted January 3, 2014 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Rowena: I read a lot of books and I loved a lot of the books that I read. However, there were some pretty craptastic books that just didn’t work for me, at all.

Here are those books:

Fallen too Far by Abbi Glines
Breaking Nova by Jessica Sorensen
Simple Perfection by Abbi Glines
Play by Play by Kate Donovan
Cover Mine by Catherine Mann

Holly: I read a lot of good books this year. Unfortunately I also read some pretty bad ones. I don’t know what it says about me that I have no problem coming up with my Worst of list every year but I struggled to come up with my Best.

The Rocker That Holds Me by Terri Anne Browning
Away From the Spotlight by Tamara Carlisle
Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Trying to Score by Toni Aleo
Raid by Kristen Ashley

Dishonorable mention goes to Dark Wolf by Christine Feehan. It wasn’t a bad book, really, but it wasn’t what I was expecting for Skylar and Dmitri.

Which books made it onto your Worst Reads of the Year lists?

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Tagged: Best of 2013, Best of Lists, Holly's Books, Holly's Reads, Holly's Worst of Lists, Rowena's Books, Rowena's Reads, Rowena's Worst of Lists, Worst Books, Worst of 2013, Worst Of Lists, Worst Reads

Best of 2013: The Heroines.

Posted January 2, 2014 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Rowena: It’s always hard for me to put this list together each year because I don’t pay nearly as much attention to the heroines as I do the heroes but these are the heroines that stood out for me this year.

Brooke Parker from Love, Irresistibly by Julie James
Lady Grace Ryburn from With this Kiss by Eloisa James
Johanna Walker from Down London Road by Samantha Young
Lauren Grahame from Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley
Mara Lowe from No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean

With honorable mentions: Lila Summers from The Temptation of Lila & Ethan by Jessica Sorensen, Ellie Carmichael from Until Fountain Bridge by Samantha Young and Miss Eliza Cade from The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare.

Holly: This is the hardest list for me each year. I tend to be really hard on heroines. These 5 were really fabulous, though.

Raven Smith from Drawn Together by Lauren Dane
Aryal from Kinked by Thea Harrison
Tabitha Allen from Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley
Mackenzie “Max” Miller from Faking It by Cora Carmack
Gretchen Petty from The Beauty and the Billionaire by Jessica Clare

Which heroines made it onto your Best of Lists this year? Any heroines we should know about?

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Tagged: Best Heroines, Best of 2013, Best of Lists, Best Reads, Holly Says, Holly's Best of Lists, Rowena Says, Rowena's Best of Lists

Best of 2013: The Heroes.

Posted January 1, 2014 by Rowena in Features | 1 Comment

Rowena: Heroes have always been my thing. I almost always love the heroes in the books that I read. Whether I love the book or not, the hero is usually an instant love for me.

Cade Morgan from Love, Irresistibly by Julie James
Shy Cage from Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley
Micha Scott from The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen
Jack Harper from Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis
Bo Randolph from Unspoken by Jen Frederick

Honorable Mentions: Cade Winston from Faking It by Cora Carmack, Brad from The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding (yeah, he wasn’t the hero or the love interest but still, I absolutely adored him) and Braeden Carmichael from On Dublin Street by Samantha Young.

Holly: Heroines tend to make-or-break books for me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t fall in love with the occasional hero.

Parker “Shy” Cage from Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley
Jonah Warner from Drawn Together by Lauren Dane
Bennett Reynolds from All of You by Christina Lee
Landon/Lucas from Easy by Tammara Webber
Bo Randolph from Unspoken by Jen Frederick

Which heroes made your Best of List this year?

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Tagged: Best Heroes, Best of 2013, Best of Lists, Best Reads, Holly Says, Holly's Best of Lists, Rowena Says, Rowena's Best of Lists

Best of 2013: The Books.

Posted December 31, 2013 by Rowena in Features | 11 Comments

Rowena: I read a lot of books this year. I almost read 200 books, which is something that I’ve never done in my life. But throughout the year, I’ve read some fantastic books and some, not so fantastic books. Here are my favorite reads of the year:

Love, Irresistibly by Julie James
The Scandalous, Dissolute, No Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare
Down London Road by Samantha Young
The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen
Unspoken by Jen Frederick

Honorable Mentions: The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding, Into the Deep by Samantha Young and Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley.

Holly: My memory is not what it used to be. I struggle to remember the names of characters 5 seconds after I finish reading a book. Luckily I had no trouble choosing these books, however. All of them are books that have stayed with me.