I want to start by wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year! 2018 was a wild ride for me: I moved from New Jersey to Nashville, I had a press shut down, I had a book come out and a whole lot of crazy things in between. I was also lucky enough to enjoy some wonderful books, and while I didn’t hit my Goodreads goal of 150 stories for the year, I’m still excited to look over all the great books I did read and see what I learned from them. Here’s my list for 2018.
Off Base, Annabeth Albert
Dark of Night, Suzanne Brockmann
King’s Cage, Victoria Aveyard
At Attention, Annabeth Albert
On Point, Annabeth Albert
Belgium Heat, Rebecca Fairfax
Wheels Up, Annabeth Albert
Deep, Kylie Scott
At the Corner of Rock Bottom and Nowhere, L.A. Witt
Christmas Bride for the Boss, Kate Hardy
Shelter the Sea, Heidi Cullinan
The Bride Who Got Lucky, Janna McGregor
The Glamour Thieves, Don Allmon
Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo
The Way You Bite, Zoe Forward
On His Knees, Laura Kaye
The Pawn, Sky Warren
Willing Victim, Cara McKenna
Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo
Difficult Women, Roxane Gay
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson
Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman
Can’t Stand the Heat, Peggy Jaeger
Fresh Baked, Annabeth Albert
Once Upon a Tower, Eloisa James
Murder at the 42nd Street Library, Con Lehane
The Captain and the Cavalry Trooper, Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead
Spellbound, Sylvia Day
Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo
Rule, Jay Crownover
Siege and Storm, Leigh Bardugo
Jet, Jay Crownover
Rome, Jay Crownover
Magnate, Joanna Shupe
Ruin and Rising, Leigh Bardugo
Nash, Jay Crownover
A Daring Arrangement, Joanna Shupe
A Scandalous Deal, Joanna Shupe
Rowdy, Jay Crownover
Beginnings and Ends, Suzanne Brockmann
Tycoon, Joanna Shupe
Future Perfect, Suzanne Brockmann
Do or Die, Suzanne Brockmann
The McCullagh Inn in Maine, Jen McLaughlin
Embraced By Love, Suzanne Brockmann
1001 Dark Nights, Laura Kaye
Fighting for Everything, Laura Kaye
Asa, Jay Crownover
Leveled, Jay Crownover
Hot Head, Damon Suede
Cold-Hearted Rake, Lisa Kleypas
Back to You, Lauren Dane
The Duke and the Lady in Red, Lorraine Heath
Built, Jay Crownover
Kiss and Tell, Suzanne Brockmann
Marrying Winterbourne, Lisa Kleypas
The Kissing Game, Suzanne Brockmann
The Light of the Fireflies, Paul Pen
Squared Away, Annabeth Albert
Otherwise Engaged, Suzanne Brockmann
The Captain and the Cricketer, Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead
Simply Irresistible, Jill Shalvis
Devil in Spring, Lisa Kleypas
Greenwich Heat, Rebecca Fairfax
Tight Quarters, Annabeth Albert
Served Hot, Annabeth Albert
Delivered Fast, Annabeth Albert
Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas
A Princess in Theory, Alyssa Cole
Traded Out, Samantha Wayland
Hungary, Silvia Violet
Flirt, Lucy Lennox
Too Wilde to Wed, Eloisa James
Outside the Lines, A. R. Barley
Her Forbidden Hero, Laura Kaye
Wonder Woman: Warbringer, Leigh Bardugo
One Night With a Hero, Laura Kaye
Baiting the Maid of the Honor, Tessa Bailey
Dare to Resist, Laura Kaye
Seducing the Bridesmaid, Katee Robert
Wilde in Love, Eloisa James
Best Man With Benefits, Samantha Beck
Batman: Nightwalker, Marie Lu
Falling for the Groomsman, Jen McLaughlin
The Captain’s Ghostly Gamble, Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead
Born to be Wilde, Eloisa James
Wallflower Gone Wilde, Maya Rodale
The Soldier’s Scoundrel, Cat Sebastian
Damage Control, Kate McMurray
Duke By Default, Alyssa Cole
In Tune, J.N. Welsh
What a Wallflower Wants, Maya Rodale
Baron, Joanna Shupe
Lady Bridget’s Diary, Maya Rodale
Mogul, Joanna Shupe
Chasing Lady Amelia, Maya Rodale
A Notorious Vow, Joanna Shupe
Better Not Pout, Annabeth Albert
Lady Claire is All That, Maya Rodale
Miracle on Ladies Mile, Joanna Shupe
A Groom of One’s Own, Maya Rodale
It’s Hard Out Here for a Duke, Maya Rodale
A Tale of Two Lovers, Maya Rodale
The Captain’s Cornish Christmas, Catherine Curzon, and Eleanor Harkstead
Duchess by Design, Maya Rodale
The Lawrence Browne Affair, Cat Sebastian
Mine Till Midnight, Lisa Kleypas
Falling into Bed With a Duke, Lorraine Heath
It’s exciting to go back over all the great, good and not-quite books of the last year. The vast majority of these titles are romance novels and I’m perfectly happy with that. The reason I went into writing romance was because I absolutely love it. Reading romance novels now both allows me to enjoy my favorite stories and allows me to learn from the best authors writing today and then.
That said, there’s a decent amount of variation between the stories, genres, and pairings! I’m pleased, looking back, to see more diversity in authors of color and queer authors and storylines, though I know that it’s important to keep adding more and more to the list. I’ve fallen totally in love with some new authors this year (and some greats I’d never read before) and I’ve learned a ton from some books that didn’t hit the mark for me. Many of the books on this list were audiobooks, which made it possible to enjoy so many more stories than I would otherwise be able to do in a year with so many other things going on.
It’s also interesting to look at the kind of books I gravitate toward when I’m stressed or overwhelmed. Maya Rodale, Lisa Kleypas, Joanna Shupe, Eloisa James, and Lorraine Heath are all historical romance novelists with stories set between the Regency era and the Gilded Age. Eloisa James’s Desperate Duchess series was the series that first inspired me to start writing romance novels and I find that when things around me are a little too much all at once, historical romance is a great escape from the big bad world outside.
I’ve gone ahead and set my 2019 goals for 150 books again. I go a little into why I love book challenges here. It stands to be reiterated, however, that reading books, trying new authors, exploring new storylines and everything in between, is what helps us to be better writers and more discerning people living our lives in the world. I can’t wait to see what great new stories are waiting in 2019!
Happy New Year and very happy reading!
Welcome to Nashville! I moved here about a year and a half ago.
Awesome! It’s such a cool city!! Are you getting a lot of inspiration?