When I say important books, I mean that the top 10 books that I read that were the most important to me. They aren’t in any particular order, because I rarely put anything in any kind of order.
K. Webster-My Torin
My Torin was one of the first books I read this year. I cried like crazy while I was reading it. K. Webster writes taboo, dark, and then this heavily emotional stuff. And she does it so well. Each one of her heavy emotion books has gotten to me and has made me cry. There are a lot of reasons why Torin got to me. One is that I have an autistic son, and I worry about what his future looks like, so seeing a character like Torin in the lead of one of KWeb’s books gave me a serious happy. Another reason it really got to me is because of how well and how sensitively K wrote Torin. She didn’t go for the sensationalization or stereotypes, but made Torin a real person with a lot of depth and layers. Torin is going to live in my heart for a long time. (review)
Ilona Andrews-Magic Triumphs
I know that I’ve talked about how much I love urban fantasy, especially with a strong female lead. Well, Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series really fits into that category. I would argue that Kate is definitely one of the strongest female leads in urban fiction. I reread the entire series, complete with all the novellas, at least once a year. Magic Triumphs came out this year. I had it on pre-order from literally the day that Gordon and Ilona announced that it was available for preorder. I think it was nearly a year. Why did I do this? Well, one, I love this series so hard. And two, this was the last book in the Kate Daniels series. There may be more books that come out in the world over the years, according to Ilona Andrews, but no more in Kate’s series. I’m not even going to try to sum up the whole thing here. It would take more space than I have. I just realized that I don’t have a blog review for it. Hmmm….
Addison Cain-The Golden Line
We all know that I’m going to read any and every Addison Cain book, so what makes The Golden Line important to me? There are a lot of reasons why, but the biggest one is Simin. Addison was my first intro to the whole Omegaverse subgenre, with the Alpha’s Claim series. (BTW, I own those books in 3 formats, as ARCs, as audio books, and as purchased books. Yeah, I may be obsessed.) I love that series, and Shepherd is my man all the way, but what we usually see in the interactions between Alphas and Omegas is very intense and violent-ish. Lots of dubcon/noncon going on. However, it’s different with Simin. When he rescues Morgaine, he wants to handle her very carefully and respectfully, but she hadn’t been dealt with until then, so it was hard for her to believe that anyone would treat her that way. Simin was so patient with her and so caring. It was a different version of an Alpha from Shepherd, and that felt really important to me. Besides, I had been waiting on it forever! All Addison ever says about release dates is coming soon. Even to her ARC team and PA. (review)
Kit Rocha-Beyond series
Well, I’m sort of cheating with this one, since it’s a whole series and not just one book. And when I say the Beyond series, I’m adding in the novellas and the Gideon’s Riders books into the original 9 books. These books have gotten me through some shitty times. I can easily fall into the series and just get lost in that world. The worldbuilding for this series is great. They are another one that I read frequently. And I have loads of O’Kane swag, and will be getting an O’Kane tattoo at some point. I recommend this series to everyone. It has something for everyone. I also generally describe it as fucking to save the world. Read it and see why I say that. I know that I don’t have a blog review of the books, but check out these posts for an overview. 1 2
T.M. Smith-The Messenger
T.M. Smith was a new writer to me when I read this book. The Messenger was a revelation to me. Which is kind of funny, considering that main characters are the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. This book is a beautiful love story and a tragic love story. There are gay sex scenes, which people may think is weird and maybe more than a little sacrilegious when it comes archangels, but they are beautiful and sacred somehow. Yeah, they are hot, but there’s just such a reverence to them that makes it hard to not revel in them. There’s a deep spirituality to the book that felt really important to me, but it isn’t religious. I can’t wait for the next book to come out in the series, to see if the theme carries out. (review)
Well, that’s the first part of the first part of my yearly round up, if that makes any kind of sense at all, lol. Expect more over the next few days. Meanwhile, have a safe and happy holiday. We’ll be watching movies at my house and maybe making it to midnight. I have to wake up early tomorrow, so we’ll see, lol.
And to finish the year, let’s look at a pretty pinup girl.
In Between the Pages 