Skip to main content

Best reads of 2021

 

It is just over one week into the new year and it took me that time to narrow my list and build this post for my best reads of 2021. I read 273 books in 2021, and these choices are from only those reads.  Many are books that released during the year because I was fortunate to read an ARC of them.  Some are older books.  I read many new-to-me authors this year as I attended my first book signings and met a lot of fabulous readers and very talented authors.  I realized after the signings that I really didn't do a great job taking pictures there, so that will be a goal of mine for 2022.  If I get to attend signings this year, then I will make a concentrated effort to get more pictures, even if we are all wearing masks. 

Attending the Holidays with the Belles signing in Dallas, and the Indies Invade Philly signing were definitely highlights of my year.  I can't tell you how awesome it was to meet readers I have talked with regularly online in person.  And meeting the talented authors I have been fortunate enough to read was absolutely incredible.  Did I fan girl?  I absolutely did. I am including some pictures from the signings below.

Top Row: Ellie Wade, Stacy Kestwick, Kelly (reader)    
Middle Row: Chelle Sloan, Jamie Albright, Andrea Johnston
Bottom Row: Hazel James, Jess Bryant


My daughter created these drawings for authors to sign around for both events.  They are now framed and hanging on my office wall.


Top Row: Pippa Grant, Kathryn Nolan
Middle Row: Lucy (Freaking) Score, Claire Kingsley, Avery Maxwell
Bottom Row: Stephanie Rose, Narrators Table ( Back Row: Rose Dioro, Jason Clarke, Shane East, Emma Wilder, Aaron Shedlock. Front Row: Teddy Hamilton, Erin Mallon)

This year I decided to change up my "Best Of..." list.  There were so many good books, I decided to list my tops in each category.  Many books made several lists. I will try to compile a separate list at the end to narrow down my top ten.  If they are mentioned, they received a 5 star review from me and also had a fairly consistently high Goodreads average.  I am certain I am missing some books in some categories.  However I feel like these books will not disappoint readers if they are looking for a particular type of book.  Missing this year are categories for Sci-Fi and Historical.  Apparently I read zero sci-fi romance this year, which is really a shame.  I also apparently only read one historical novel.  These are things I will also work on for 2022. I also did not read nearly enough male/male romance and I hope to correct that as well. I should also mentioned that I am just leaning into audiobooks and have only listened to maybe ten in 2021.  I hope that next year I can break those up by some categories also.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my picks for my best reads of 2021:








For a series: I had to have read all of the books in 2021 and the series must be complete.
For the Box set category, I had to have read all of the books in the box set in 2021.  There were several other box sets that were released this year, but I had read the books in prior years or did not read all of the books in the box set.
I only had one 5 star ex-con book this year and that was my first read by Tia Louise.

Changing the Rules by Catherine Bybee

Ridin' Solo by Marika Ray

The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary

The Partnership by Annie Dyer

If I were going to list my top ten books for the year, the books I would choose often overlap several tropes.  Or they are difficult to pin to any trope at times.  They are often more than a romance and touch my mind and my heart. These are the books I am still thinking about months after I read them.  These are the books I want to read again for the first time. Links for all of these books are available in the subcategories. 

In no particular order, my top ten books of 2021 would be:

From the Embers by Aly Martinez

His Heart by Claire Kingsley

Out of the Blue by Kathryn Nolan

Forever Never by Lucy Score

Trap by Jennifer Rebecca

Sound of Madness by Maria Luis

Hot Mess and the Heartthrob by Pippa Grant

April May Fall by Christina Hovland

All In With Him by Lauren Blakely

The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary

Thanks for reading through my best of 2021 reads.  I hope it helped you find more books to add to your TBR.  Reviews for all of these books are available on my blog.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Book reviews for books read May 3rd - May 10th

  Happy weekend!  I read two ARCs this week. They were both very different and both very good. Marika Ray's new book is going to be the perfect summer read. Take it to the lake or the beach and fully enjoy the quirky romance between Maple and Holt. I promise you will adore the meddling seniors along the way. Then I read an arc by a debut author and it knocked  my socks off. When was the last time you got a book hangover from a brand new author? Yeah, it is a rare thing but it happened to me this week.  Check my reviews and add these to your TBR. You wont be sorry. Until next time, happy reading. Anchored by Marika Ray ARC: Release Date- 05/13/2025 #FakeRelationship #ForcedProximity #SmallTown #SecondChance #ARC I am voluntarily leaving this honest review after receiving an advance reader copy of the book. This standalone is written in first person from an alternating dual POV and ends with a HEA. Maple (32) is having a crisis of confidence due to many factors when sh...

Best Reads of 2024

 It is 2025! It feels like 2024 flew by.  This year's "best of" list is a little different.  In part this is due to time constraints and in part due to the fact that some trope categories have a LOT of excellent reads.  I just could not narrow them down to even eight for the graphics. I obviously have my favorite tropes, as this list will tell you. If you don't see a trope here on this list, it may be that I read one and it just wasn't quite a five star read for me. Most of the books I read are either four or five star reads. I have found what I like, and I tend to stick to it. You can search the labels on the main page of my blog or search in the general search bar to pull up books from another category and read my reviews. If a book is on this list, it was a five star read for me. That means I loved it, I found no major flaws in timeline, editing, or characters, and I would want to read it again. The links I am including are for Amazon out of ease, but several o...

Book reviews for books read May 11th-25th

  I read three ARCs and 2 books from my TBR in the last 2 weeks. I feel good about that considering that life at home has been pretty full lately. May has been an excellent reading month for me. There are so many good releases right now, it is impossible for me to keep up. These are all worth adding to your TBR. Check my reviews and add them to your list. Until next time, happy reading. Built To Last (Park Avenue Promise #3) by Lexi Blake ARC: Release Date- 05/27/2025 #EnemiesToLovers #Celebrity #Workplace  #ARC I am voluntarily leaving this honest review after receiving an advance reader copy of the book. This is the third book in the series, and it is written in first person from Harper’s POV. This book is driven heavily by dialogue, and I personally did not miss having the male POV. Though it fully contains the love story of Harper and Reid, I think readers will gain the most value from reading this series in order. The friendship and found family relationship between Ivy, ...