So it seems I read more good books than bad in 2010, which is pretty great. These are the ones I loved most of all and that I now want to go read right this minute.
10. When Blood Calls by J. K. Beck – This book has one of my favorite heroes. I absolutely love Luke and I can see myself re-reading this again for him alone. There is lots of great potential with this series, so I might be willing to overlook the second book. More on that one later, though. See my review here.
9. Bitter Night by Diana Pharaoh Francis – It’s hard to find an urban fantasy that stands out. I read so many books that if I don’t write down my thoughts I quickly forget what I love or hate about it. Bitter Night has stayed in my head and the next book, which just came out, is in my needs to be read soon pile.
You can read my review here.
8. The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks – Maya Banks has become a favorite author of mine when it comes to romantic suspense. Even though these don’t feel very much like romantic suspense to me, it has everything I usually want out of the genre. My emotions get involved and I’m hooked. I love the Kelly family and I hope I get to spend a lot more time with them in future books. My review is here.
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. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare – This book and series for me is like Twilight all over again. The staying up late, anxiety over what could happen next, wanting the couple to overcome their seemingly insurmountable problems and be together. For some reason young adult books turn me into the stereotypical romance reader. I become a teenage girl again and these books are like crack to me. I’m sure there are flaws in this book, but I get sucked in and I can’t see beyond the page I’m reading. Also, I would pick Jace over Edward any day.
6. Enemy Within by Marcella Burnard – I don’t read sci fi romance nearly as often as I’d like to. It seems to be a genre that I forget how much I like it until I’m reading another book. I probably wouldn’t have thought to read this book unless it’s been sent to me to review. It really would have been a shame if I had missed this book. It’s fun and exciting, everything I could want from the genre.
5. Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins – This is a hard book to read, a hard series to read, but it belongs on my best of ever list. My review of it says it all, and I’d rather not get into the emotions of it all again. There are some books I just have a hard time moving on from once the final page is done, and this is one of them. I just hope the movie based on this series can live up to the book.
4. Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips – I wish I could read this book again for the first time. I’m not a huge contemporary fan, I’m picky with them and I think it’s because paranormal is my first love. After reading about vampires, demons, and angels, real life books just seem a bit dull. Not at all the case with Kiss an Angel. This is the only contemporary book that is on my keeper shelf, which itself is not very big, I don’t tend to keep many books. I’m very tempted to go start this book again, just from typing this.
3. Silver Bourne by Patricia Briggs – This is one of my favorite series that I can honestly say I have enjoyed every book. Briggs knows how to write a story and keep it fresh. Mercy and Adam are on the top of my favorite characters list. If you haven’t read this series, then you are missing out.
2. Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh– Of course I couldn’t make this list without having a book by Ms. Singh on it. She can’t really do any wrong to me, and I can add any of her books here. I love Elena and Raphael and the rest of the characters in this world. It’s angels and vampires, a must read for anyone.
1. Changes by Jim Butcher – I can’t think of anyone who tops Harry in the urban fantasy world. I can’t even express how much I love Harry, this world, and Jim Butcher. This is the 12th book in the series so I can’t really say anything without giving everything away. If you aren’t reading it, you should be.
And now…the bad. There aren’t as many, which was good for me.
5. Evermore by Alyson Noel– I don’t think this book would be so well liked if it wasn’t the ‘in’ thing right now. It doesn’t stand up to the really good paranormal young adult books. It’s boring and underwhelming.
4. Tempted by a Warrior by Amanda Scott – The characters are uninteresting and the plot is predictable. I couldn’t stand the heroine and I ended up skimming the book. Not sure I plan to bother reading any more by Amanda Scott.
3. Finding the Lost by Shannon K. Butcher – This book is just bad. It’s a series that I can’t seem to stop reading, even though I don’t like it very much. I do have to say the latest book in this series is a bit better, but not a great read by any means. Finding the Lost is my least favorite and I still don’t really care what happens to Andra and Paul. In fact, in the latest book, I hate Andra even more. She isn’t the type of person I could ever like, and because of her, I couldn’t find anything to like about Paul. See my review here.
2. When Pleasure Rules by J. K. Beck – What makes this so bad is not even the fact that it’s a bad story, but that I enjoyed the first book so much. I don’t understand how one book can be one of the better ones I’ve read and the next is almost the worst. I still don’t know if I will read the third book, I don’t want to waste time on what could be another bad book. I hate that what I thought would be a great new series has turned out to be such a dud. You can read my review here.
1. Shadows at Midnight by Elizabeth Jennings – My review pretty much says it all. I kind of wish I never had to read this. If I was one to throw books, it would have been this one.
