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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.
Men of Summer by Lauren Blakely
Chikalu Falls by Lena Hendrix
Love & Laughs by Jackie Walker
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.
The McCabe Brothers Box Set by Julie Capulet
The I Love You Box Set by Julie Capulet
The Never Too Late Box Set by Stephanie Rose
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.


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