Top 25 Reads for 2018

2018 was a busy year for reading -- lots of great books, so little time, right?

Although I must admit that this year I was immersed in Susan Mallery's Fools Gold series, as well as Jill Shalvis' Lucky Harbor and Heartbreaker Bay series --  and I do mean totally immersed.  These two writers can world build like no other!  But for the sake of the Top 25, I am putting Mallery and Shalvis in their own kingdom and let you decide.

Also, please note that I am not driven by the NYT Bestseller List or any other "lists" -- I tend to like to find my writers in a more organic way, mainly by browsing in real brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries, so some are "newish" and some are older.  If I'm starting a new series, I like to start at the beginning, which means I'm reading past bestsellers.

So, here's my top 25 titles that I heartily recommend to readers (broken down by genre / subgenre):


Regency Romance:

Sherry Thomas, His at Night
Tessa Dare, The Dutchess Deal
Suzanne Enoch, The Care and Taming of a Rogue
S. Enoch, The Lady's Guide to Improper Behavior
Grace Burrowes, Douglas
Sally MacKenzie, What Ales the Earl  (no, that's not a misspelling) 


Historical Romance & Mystery  --  Colonial America / American Revolution:

Laura Frantz, The Lacemaker  (gentle)
Donna Thorland, Turncoat
Karen Swee, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Murder (mystery)
Barbara Hamilton, The Ninth Daughter  (mystery)


Contemporary Romance:

Jennifer Crusie, Bet Me
Elisa Lorello, Pasta Wars
Nora Roberts, Inn Boonsboro Trilogy (counts as 3 books)
Vicki Lewis Thompson, The Nerd who Loved Me
Julia Gabriel, Drawing Lessons
Elizabeth Adler, Summer in Tuscany


Other:

Marlena DeBlasi, Thousand Days in Venice (memoir, travel, romance)
M. DeBlasi, Thousand Days in Tuscany


Stay tuned as I begin to post my 2019 "Intentional" Reading List(s) -- good intentions sometimes fall by the wayside, depending on time, health, weather, which side of the bed I woke up on . . . ah, so many variables! 

To sit alone in the lamplight with a book

spread out before you . . . is a pleasure beyond compare.

        ~Kenko Yoshida, Buddhist monk (ca. 13th c.)

Happy New Year!