2013: A Year in Books | The Favorites

Image Credit: Abhi Sharma

The year is almost over, and you know what that means: it’s time to write our “Best of” lists and anger people with our terrible choices. But fear not! My impeccable taste guarantees a list filled with nothing but great recommendations… That, and I’m aware of how obnoxious and pretentious some of these lists are, which is why this year I’m going with “Favorites” instead of “Best”. So even if you violently disagree with me, at least you know that I consider this my list and not the list.

Before I get to it, though, I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful year I’ve had. I know I was a bit of a slacker, yet you’re still here even when I only blog once a month. But consistent or not, 2013 was a lot of fun and that’s all thanks to you blogger/twitter/reader/author friends who make the Internet welcoming, interesting and highly addictive.

I’ll resume my not-so-regularly scheduled blogging next month, but in the meantime I leave you with my favorite books of the year (in no particular order). Let me know if any of your favorites made the list.

The Good, the Bad and the DNF: A Mixed Bag of Current Reads

I have been an inconsistent blogger, but I have been a steady reader. Here are some thoughts on a few recent reads.

Source: Not all the books are review copies, but let’s assume they are. 

Ripped by Sarah Morgan

This novella is a very good blend of Chick-Lit and a Harlequin Presents. It’s told from the heroine’s POV; a heroine who is a bit goofy and socially awkward, but instead of being an insecure mess, she’s a confident rocket scientist whose dresses have the misfortune of ripping open in front of people.  The hero is an intense Italian hunk all brooding and disapproving, but not entirely overbearing. See? Chick-Lit + Harlequin Presents. It may not sound appealing, but the result is a charming and funny story that I highly recommend, even if I my issues with the price remain.

Grade: 4
Sensuality: McSteamy
Purchase: Amazon

NA and the Limitations of Romance: One and Only by Viv Daniels

Source: A review copy was provided by the author.

When I heard that Diana Peterfreund was publishing a New Adult novel under the Viv Daniels pen name, I was very curious. I was even more excited after I read the blurb, because I like complex family dynamics and when the love of your life is your legitimate half-sister’s boyfriend, I kind of expect just that. Now that I have read the book, I can say that it was not what I expected in both positive and negative ways.

Our heroine, Tess, grew up knowing she was the product of an affair between her mother and a rich, married man. Her father was somewhat present in her life, but the unspoken rule in their relationship was that she should always remain a secret. And even after finding out that she had a half-sister, Tess focused all that curiosity, envy, and secret yearnings for a normal family, into her dream of becoming a scientist.

Six Reasons Why I Won't Finish R. Lee Smith’s The Last Hour of Gann

That's a Lizardman-titty cover, alright!

The Last Hour of Gann is the new “it” book, at least in my little corner of the internet. It’s getting a lot of hype and positive reviews, and Twitter and the blogoverse is abuzz with the lizardman romance (yes, lizardman) that seem to have taken the community by storm.

The blurb should give you an idea of the overall plot:

It was her last chance: 

Amber Bierce had nothing left except her sister and two tickets on Earth’s first colony-ship. She entered her Sleeper with a five-year contract and the promise of a better life, but awakened in wreckage on an unknown world. For the survivors, there is no rescue, no way home and no hope until they are found by Meoraq—a holy warrior more deadly than any hungering beast on this hostile new world…but whose eyes show a different sort of hunger when he looks at her. 

It was his last year of freedom: 

Uyane Meoraq is a Sword of Sheul, God’s own instrument of judgment, victor of hundreds of trials, with a conqueror’s rights over all men. Or at least he was until his father’s death. Now, without divine intervention, he will be forced to assume stewardship over House Uyane and lose the life he has always known. At the legendary temple of Xi’Matezh, Meoraq hopes to find the deliverance he seeks, but the humans he encounters on his pilgrimage may prove too great a test even for him…especially the one called Amber, behind whose monstrous appearance burns a woman’s heart unlike any he has ever known.

I probably would have read the book eventually because I’m no strange to R. Lee Smith’s novels, which I find incredibly compelling but highly problematic. The same could be said about this book, except that this time the problematic parts won and I’m unable to finish it.

Here’s why:

Review: Cake by Lauren Dane

Source: a review copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Cake is Lauren Dane’s contribution to the Cosmo Red-Hot Reads collection. These books are a partnership between Cosmopolitan magazine and Harlequin, so that’s where the “Cosmo” part comes from. Unfortunately, this one didn’t include ridiculous sex advice.

Wren is an art student who works as a messenger in order to pay the bills. She often delivers packages to tormented artist, Gregori Ivanov, and they have developed an easy friendship. She also has a massive crush on him because he has tattoos, a Mohawk, an accent and lots of attitude (and now you know what made me read the book). But his evil ex-wife left him traumatized and afraid of commitment, which means that it’s up to Wren to get what she wants because this dude is too busy being predictable to do much else.

Guest Review: And Then Comes Marriage by Celeste Bradley

Sarah is back! For those of you who don’t know her, Sarah is a library science student and a part-time librarian. She runs the blog Sarah’s Bookshelf and you can also find her on Goodreads.

*****

I first read Celeste Bradley when she co-authored a book with one of my favorite contemporary authors, Susan Donovan. The book, recently republished under the name Unbound, follows a story of a courtesan and her diary of sexual exploration. It was a fabulous read, but more importantly it introduced me to Bradley. I'm not usually a huge historical fan, but Bradley has a way to keep me laughing, sometimes crying, but almost always finding time to finish any book that I can get my hands on. This book was no exception to that. In fact, I can't wait to read the other books in this series, including the previous book, When She Said I Do.

We initially meet Mrs. Miranda Talbot, a naive widow, as she is trying to locate a man that she's previously met and very attracted to. She knows his last name, Worthington, but not much else. Her curiosity has gotten the best of her, but when she finally locates him a huge explosion occurs, and she is saved by the mysterious object of her affection. Only it turns out that man is different from the man she thought she was looking for. He is actually a twin. She doesn't realize this fact until the twins actually confront each other about their mutual interest in Miranda. 

When Good Authors Happen to Bad Tropes: Uncommon Passion by Anne Calhoun

This cover is so misleading I can't even.
Who reads this book and says: "Hey,
let's give it a Military Romantic
Suspense cover"?
And why is he shirtless?
And why is this caption so long?

Source: a review copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

This is going to be long, so I’m skipping the introduction and going straight to the book.

Uncommon Passion tells the story of Rachel, a woman who recently left the constrictions of a closed religious community to experience life on her own terms. She works at a farm and dreams of becoming a veterinary technician. Sex and dating are some of the experiences she wants to build in order to re-shape her life and gain power and control over it. But she’s not interested in anything serious; all she wants is to lose her virginity. That’s how she ends at a bachelor auction paying a stranger to go out on a date with her. The only reason she bids for him is because she senses something in him (and by “senses something” I mean that he gives her the Sex Eye, which is like the Evil Eye but hornier). Needless to say, they go out on a date, have sex, have sex, have sex, have sex (this is a 320-page Erotic Romance, after all) some emotional stuff happens and then live happily ever after.

Except that it’s nowhere near as easy.