We’re starting to work on our Best of 2021 lists–and we want yours!
AAR staffers are beginning to compile our Best of 2021 lists. We’d like a list of our readers’ Best of 2021 too!
So–and I know many of you will find this hard to do but PLEASE!–give us your one and only Best Romance/Women’s Fiction of 2021. It must have been published this year. That’s right…. one book!
Go!
Total Creative Control by Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm
Lucy Parker: BATTLE ROYAL
Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Until reading this, I had NO interest in contemporary romance. Ali changed everything for me.
If I had to pick just one, my favorite would be The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles.
Runners up:
Thank you for that recommendation, I forget who here was consistently repeating how good this is – I finally looked for this, and thank you so much!
Runners Up:
and a bit further down the line
Very different books, but these were the books that truly stood out for me and that were written 2021.
Published, not written…
I’m pretty sure that it was me who kept going on about the Sword Dance trilogy! I’m very pleased that you enjoyed them so much too. And two of the books were published this year….
On one hand, Strong Wine (Book 3) completes Dami and Varazda’s story, whilst having a strong mystery with returning characters from the first book’s plot. On the other hand, Saffron Alley (Book 2) deals mostly with the development of Dami and Varazda’s relationship and their domestic arrangements and is utterly charming.
The whole trilogy is just such a gentle, warm and quietly humorous read.
Thanks Wendy for the Rec, and for pointing out that SAFFRON ALLEY is also a 2021 book.
I agree with what you say, I also found the books wise in bits, in their description of democracy, and philosophy, and the values that the characters lived by – never preaching, just showing us how that worked in practice, by having characters who are motivated by certain values, or by what was done to them.
And book 3 is hilarious, in stretches, the family … the trial… just so funny in some parts, yet never cruel at all to even the most horrible silly persons.
Lieselotte – I somehow missed The Necklace. I’ve just looked over it at Amazon and read the reviews. Interesting that some loathed it; others loved it. She is a writer of immense talent and has written about varied time periods and cultures and does it with great elan and her research shines through. I loved the novels set in early New Mexico though there was violence, harshness, despair and they depicted a hard and difficult life. Anyway, thanks for the heads-up on this one which I will be putting in the TBR list today so that I can make my own assessment. I have visited (in the main rural) Spain countless times over the years and so this one will be particularly interesting to me.
John Eyre by Mimi Matthews
Just finished King’s Man by Sally Malcom and Float Plan by Felicia Watson a few days before that . . . . both excellent. Thank you for the recs from those who suggested both of these titles.
Both would be included in a list of my favorites this year. If I *have* to pick one I think it’d have to go to Float Plan – just because it is so rare that I find a m/f contemporary that really works for me.
But as many have already noted, ask me again next week you’ll likely get a different answer ;-)
The Malcolm is on my list for sure. And definitely near the top of it!
I’d read a couple of Malcolm’s contemporaries but somehow have missed all of her historicals up to this point. But they are even better than the contemporaries. And I’m really intrigued to read this trilogy that opens with a “Tory” point of view – many of whom supported all the goals of the rest of the colonists. They just couldn’t bring themselves to commit violence against their neighbors and outright war against their government. Plenty of food for thought in this day and age.
I’m reading King’s Man right now and really enjoying it.
Lee Welsh’s SEDUCING THE SORCERER
Molly Greeley’s THE HEIRESS
Tia Williams’ SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE
Alexis Hall’s ROSALINE PALMER TAKES THE CAKE
Courtney Milan’s THE DEVIL COMES COURTING
Ruby Barrett’s HOT COPY
Talia Hibbert’s ACT YOUR AGE, EVE BROWN
KJ Charles, THE GENTLE ART OF FORTUNE HUNTING
Kate Clayborn, LOVE AT FIRST
And if you had to pick one?
I’d say SEDUCING THE SORCERER; love Welsh’s writing, and the world-building is so great! Love the amazing magical horses…
Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews
Since my favorite is almost always my favorite funny romance, for the moment I will go with the only 2021 book I’ve read so far with 4 stars for humor: The Hot Mess and the Heartthrob by Pippa Grant.
My vote goes to After Dark with the Duke by Julie Ann Long. It doesn’t come out until November 30th. I was lucky to get an ARC.
This one was neck and neck with the one I did pick and could easily be my number one if you asked me on another day. The other of my three contenders is the SF/Romance, HUNT THE STARS by Jessie Mihalik.
A Marriage of Equals by Elizabeth Rolls
This beautifully written, believable, historically grounded (what a thought!) Harlequin Historical title renewed my faith in this category romance line despite some of its recent setbacks. Is it perfect? No. I would say its big fault is too much character stuffing. Also, you have to be okay with the fact that in some respects, it’s kind of a knockoff of Belle. But since I appreciated Belle, and A Marriage of Equals provides a different interpretation of some of the themes, I honestly didn’t care. Other than that, it definitely earns the A- rating it received at AAR.
I don’t think I’ve read anything this year that really knocked my socks off, but this came close/
If I had to pick one at this point, though I have three top contenders, I’d have to go with Freya Marske’s debut A MARVELLOUS LIGHT – described as “Red, White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” which, totally fair. Loved the world-building, characters and the romance. Mystery, fantasy, romance all in one.
I liked this a lot, too! Very similar to KJ Charles or Lee Welch.
Just finished this a day or so ago. Had to return to thank you for the rec. Really enjoyed this and looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.
There are two books (maybe three) published in 2021 that are pretty much tied for my “best of” at this point. If I have to pick just one, I pick C.S. Poe’s Madison Square Murders. That book is unique in many ways. Larkin, the MC has an odd disability that is difficult to manage, and the supporting male character, Doyle, is such a strong, kind presence. This is really more of a mystery with romantic potential, but it definitely stands out for me this year.
Float Plan by Trish Doller although I reserve the right to select, in advance, Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon which more than likely be The One and Only once I have received and read it!
Unless I read something that really knocks my socks off between now and December 31 (and that has happened in past years), my favorite book of 2021 that was published in 2021 (I keep a separate list for favorite books published in prior years but only read in the current year) is Sierra Simone’s SAINT, a second-chance m/m romance with a road-trip element (beautiful descriptions of the isolated Irish west coast and the lavender-infused French countryside). One of the heroes is about to become a monk, the other is his former boyfriend who is about to marry another man. Lots of angsty heartache and hot sexy-times, along with questions about how spirituality & sexuality can co-exist within the Catholic doctrine, especially for queer people. I thought it was brilliantly-written—but I do think you first need to read PRIEST and SINNER (which are both m/f romances) to get the full impact of SAINT (the heroes of the three books are brothers). I also think SAINT is far more critical of Catholic doctrine than either of the previous books.
DDD, I think maybe you’ve mentioned this before, but were Priest and Sinner both pretty good? Saint sounds interesting; I just need some incentive to read those previous two books. :-)
I love PRIEST; it’s one of my all-time favorite romances. I was less enthusiastic about SINNER (but I believe Dabney loved it). The heroes of the three books are brothers and there is a devastating family trauma in the past that continues to reverberate through all three books.
Thanks, this sounds like an interesting series.