Favorite Books of 2018

I hope you all are having a nice holiday season. TBH – I’m not really a fan of this time of year. It just seems like a mad rush to shop, shop, shop as we run through the holidays (starting in OCTOBER NOW) through January 1st. My store already has the Valentine’s stuff going up and I even saw a picture of an Easter egg candy display at a store on IG.

I’m still not really reading - no urge (going on week #4 & I've only read 1 book) and my arm is getting better but still hurts when I type so comments have been slow going and posting non existent.

I did want to get a Best Of 2019 list up though so here we go!

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES 

I adore sweet, funny romances and Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating and Starry Eyes hit the mark big time and left me smiling for weeks. (Starry Eyes review, Josh & Hazel review)

I didn’t love The Cruel Prince but I liked it enough to see where book #2 in the series would go and OMG – SO glad I gave it a shot because this one was filled with WTF just happened???? goodness. (the Friday 5 treatment)

LOVED

These three books were all diverse, emotional and brilliantly written.

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World was a beautiful LGBQT, MG novel about self discovery, first crushes and family. (my review)

Pride is a Pride and Prejudice re-telling and clever update that tackles gentrification, class and so many other relevant topics with a dash or romance. (my review)

Finding Yvonne was an amazing YA read that was unique – it was not a romance – but had a very authentic voice for teens today, trying to find their path, coming of age, testing out relationships with an honest portrayal of teen sexuality. (my review)

All of the above books also had rich family dynamics.

ALL THE ANGST BUT WORTH IT

I’m not a fan of overly emotional or angsty reads but these three were worth stepping out of my comfort zone.

Heels Over Head and Autoboyography are both M/M, NA romances that were fairly intense but you get a nice payoff in the end.

Sadie is INTENSE x’s100 and there’s no cute little ending tied up in a bow - but if you can handle it - I recommend this story about a girl on a journey to avenge the death of her sister. (my review)

BIGGEST SURPRISE

The Lying Woods was my biggest reading surprise. I’m not a fan of thrillers (& I’m not sure this even counts as one – more the unraveling of a family mystery of sorts) but I loved it so much! (my review)

GREAT SERIES ENDERS

I’m not reading many series these days but there were two trilogies that I’ve stuck with. They need to be read in order but have solid series endings.

The Burning Magus was the conclusion to the Blue Unicorn trilogy and I’m not sure who to even rec this to lol It’s a wild, sexually charged, M/M, urban fantasy, cyber punk series that goes balls to the wall but feels fresh, fun and original. (my review)

Rough Trade is the conclusion to the Woodbury Boys M/M trilogy. There is a different couple for each book but an over-arching story with a crime family with a great payoff and HEA for the most interesting character – Ghost - in book #3. It’s SUPER intense though. (child abuse – sexual and physical)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Talia Hibbert was a new to me author this year. I’m not usually a fan of dirty talking heroes but I LOVE Hibbert’s books. They’re super dirty but hilarious and the heroines are sooooo real – with cellulite, periods and normal girl issues. And the heroes are swoon worthy. (my review)

Stacey Kade has been a favorite author of mine for years, starting with her YA Ghost & the Goth series, but she’s been branching out into NA and Finding Felicity was a really wonderful surprise. A quieter story with just a touch of romance – this was a true to life college set about becoming an adult. Very underrated IMHO.

MY TWO BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

This section is super depressing for me because, as you can see, my two biggest disappointments are by the same authors of my two absolute favorites.

Josh & Hazel left me so damn happy and I was hoping for that same feeling from My Favorite Half-Night Stand but I really disliked the romance and lying in this one. (my review)

Serious Moonlight doesn’t come out until next year but I was lucky enough to borrow an arc from a friend. I LOVE , LOVE, LOVE Bennett’s books. Her YA, her adult – everything! So it pains me to say that this book was fine. Just fine. Nothing about it captivated me, the romance didn’t feel swoony, the plot didn’t grab me. *cries*

Oh & here’s my Goodreads challenge for the year – I doubt I will read more because I just made me hand/wrist worse by typing this post lol

2018 Reading Challenge

Karen has completed her goal of reading 150 books in 2018!

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157 of 150 (100%)

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Thank you all for visiting this blog and commenting all year! I'm sorry if I'm a little slower than usual visiting back lately but I'm trying to keep up - a few blogs per day.

Let me know if you agree/disagree with any of my choices - what your favorite (or biggest disappointment) reads were and leave a link for me to visit if you did a best of list!

So my 2018 reading is a wrap! Happy New Years everyone!