Best of 2021… So Far
October may be a bit too early for AAR’s “Best romance novels of 2021” columns, but knowing that those are around the corner, I always like to stop and take stock of my “Best romance novels of 2021… so far.” I see it as a time to suggest a few last-minute books for your TBRs and hopefully to get some recommendations for my own in return.
Here are the best new romance novel releases of 2021 I’ve read so far.
For me, 2021 has been the year of YA romance. I hope the YA branding doesn’t put people off of trying these fantastic reads!
Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer is a fast-paced tech thriller about a girl on the run from her father and the AI helping to keep her safe. It has an f/f romance subplot and a happy ending for those characters.
In Not Here To Be LIked by Michelle Quach, an eminently qualified young woman running for high school newspaper editor loses to the last-minute candidacy of a newbie male jock, prompting our heroine and the entire school to confront systemic misogyny and what feminism really means. It’s nuanced, compelling, important, and well worth an adult read.
Kristen Cashore’s Winterkeep is the continuation of the Graceling Realms series (by the way, I’m hugely excited for the Graceling graphic novel, which releases in November). A kidnapped Queen Bitterblue realizes her feelings for her advisor Giddon when it may be too late, while the daughter of the leaders of a rival kingdom struggles to choose her path.
I also very much enjoyed a couple of adult romances – including one that is VERY adult.
Harlequin Historical’s A Marriage of Equals by Elizabeth Rolls takes on a Regency interracial couple in the midst of a suspense plot as they try to help a young woman on the run from an exploitative forced marriage.
My most recent DIK read – one which only released this month – is Brianna Ocampo’s Truth or Dare. This burning-level erotic novella features two longtime friends pushed over the edge to lovers by a game and an attractive third party.
Trish Doller’s Float Plan stars two grieving protagonists healing together – a hero who lost his leg and his sailing career with it, and heroine trying to find herself sailing on the boat she inherited from her fiance, who died from suicide.
I’m glad I stopped to make this list, because I realized how few of the DIKs by other AAR reviewers I’ve tried this year. Now I’m off to restock my TBR in the hopes of adding a few more top choices by December!
Have something else I should try? Please let me know in the comments!
I’m never ready for the end of the year lists until the last minute and this year will be no exception, especially as I’ve read less this year than any other year of the past decade. Most of mine will be arcs also (like other AAR reviewers) and I’ll reserve them for the actual list but hopefully will squeeze in a few more reads in November!
My favourite romance so far in 2021 has been The Stand-In by Lily Chu. It’s only an audiobook right now, but the audio is fantastic. I can “see” the characters just through the subtle accents that Phillipa Soo uses. Usually, I don’t like heroines who are too doormat-y, but Gracie is the right combination of put-upon and sympathetic. And the enemies to lovers trope unspools in a very believable way. It’s all set in Toronto, but if you enjoy C-dramas and K-dramas, this may be right up your alley.
Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle was a 5 star book for me. Both MCs were sweet, shy, and sensitive, and you could feel the love between them.
Battle Royal by Lucy Parker also got 5 stars. The plot was fun, the characters were very well done (as always), and there was a love story within a love story within a love story.
My favorites of 2021 are all m/m romances, some mentioned already, many suggested by reviewers on AAR. So thanks! Here goes:
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles
Subtle Blood by KJ Charles
King’s Man by Sally Malcolm
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell (3rd book in Simon Snow trilogy, YA Fantasy). I highly recommend the wonderful audio read by Euan Morton.
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz (I didn’t like this quite as much as the first book (not enough Dante for me,) but it was still very good.) The audio is beautifully read by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Caroline, I just finished Catfishing on the Catnet, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the AI, the writing was strong, and the plot always kept moving. Thanks for the recommendation!
Have been reading lots of good stuff this year but much of it has been published in prior years. But published this year, the books that stand out so far:
Just Last Night – Mairi McFarlane – about a friend group dealing with the loss of one of its members.
The Murder Between Us – Tal Bauer – m/m romantic suspense.
Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake – Alexis Hall – Great British Baking Show setting.
Also, Kaje Harper wound up her “Hidden Wolves” series of shifter stories this year with novel #6 and a short novella #7. While this year’s titles would not be the place to start – readers who like Charlie Adhara’s shifter series should check out Harper’s wolves as well.
Tal Bauer published 6(!) books this year and I had a hard time picking just one for my list. I loved The Jock the most but I really, really liked The Murder Between Us as well as The Night Of.
Hah – still can’t beat Gregory Ashe with 11 last year and 9 this!! The Murder Between Us was my first Bauer – I have some more waiting for me to get around to them! (including The Jock, The Night Of and the second Noah & Cole book.)
I’ve done a lot of M/M romance reading this year and my contenders are:
The Dating Experiment by Briar Prescott
The Jock by Tal Bauer
On Board by Jay Hogan
Summer Kisses by Charlie Novak
King’s Man by Sally Malcolm
Peter Cabot Gets Lost by Cat Sebastian
I have the Bauer and Prescott on my never-ending TBR. Every year I say I’m going to read/review fewer ARCs and more books I own… I haven’t managed it yet!
I’ve had a really good year but mostly it’s been discovering authors I hadn’t read before, like Charlie Adhara and N.R. Walker, so not very many books actually published in 2021.
So far I have ON BOARD by Jay Hogan, MADISON SQUARE MURDERS by C.S.Poe, and BEAUTIFULLY UNEXPECTED by Lily Morton as DIK’s published in 2021.
I enjoyed Beautifully Unexpected too . . . I’m always up for “older” protagonists. Not sure it will make my “best of” list this year (not wowed by this year’s new titles generally – but maybe that is just me this year for some reason). But this one is definitely worth a read!
I adore Lily Morton’s books but neither Beautifully Unexpected or The Quiet House from 2021 wowed me as much as her 2020 books Merry Measure, After Felix and Charlie Sunshine.
same. :(
This is a great topic. My favorite books so far this year all have humor.
The Road Trip, Beth O’Leary: Five twentysomethings pack into a little car on their way to a wedding. Fun but but also has some sad moments.
Twice Shy, Sarah Hogle: Fun banter, grumpy but sweet H
The Worst Duke in the World, Lisa Bernes: Widowed duke and his son have a pig that competes in the local fair. The Duke is under pressure to marry again. The h is a neighbor.
After Dark with the Duke, Julie Anne Long: I got an ARC. It stars Duke Valkirk, a former General and admired hero working on his memoirs and Mariana Wylde an opera singer hiding from scandal at the Grand Palace on the Thames.
A Pairing to Die For, Kate Lansing: Cozy mystery with some romance that takes place in Boulder in the fall. Has some wine stomping, fall foods and two cats.
You had me at “pig”
Thanks for the Lisa Berne rec. I have been binging the Penhallow books.
A Marriage of Equals by Elizabeth Rolls was fantastic! Harlequin Historical was really on their A-game when they picked up this manuscript. This is the book I would point to for readers looking for historically grounded HR (what a thought!) with a hard-won but realistic and period-appropriate HEA. Also, the text was lyrical which is also important, and the characters were great.
Most of my reading tends to be “old,” but here are some other contenders for awesome 2021 romance books I read:
The Hellion’s Waltz by Olivia Waite
This is an f/f HR heist story featuring two heroines- a weaver’s union leader and a piano tuner- who work together to defraud a fraudster. Fair warning: you better like lots of descriptions of early 19th century weaving techniques. The looms come alive on the page!
A Wicked Bargain for the Duke by Megan Frampton
I liked how Frampton subverted some tropes here. In particular, when the virgin heroine is first introduced to sex, it’s kind of lackluster. Of course, the hero and heroine have plenty of time to practice since they are trying to produce an heir, but the portrayal is refreshingly realistic.
The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian
This wasn’t quite as spectacular as I hoped, but I still liked it a lot. There were some pacing issues (personally, I thought the book could be a bit longer so it didn’t feel as cramped in places) and unresolved plot threads, but the characterization of the two heroes helped me overlook some of the wonky plotting.
You had me at “historically grounded HR”
My reading this year – as it is pretty much every year! – is predominantly ARCs, so my list is likely to be exclusively titles I’ve reviewed here. I’ve been keeping a list of my DIKs and noting which are the “cut above” ones so that I’ve got something to go on when I make my
cullselection. Gregory Ashe, KJ Charles, C.S Poe, Con Riley Jay Hogan and Sally Malcolm all have books in contention :)What is a DIK?
A Desert Island Keeper–a book you’ll read again and again.
My favorite book of 2021 so far 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 need to read PRIEST and SINNER first to get the full impact of SAINT.
Is that a new release?
Yes—it was released earlier this year.
To clarify: PRIEST, SINNER, and SAINT are all technically standalone books, but the heroes of the three books are brothers (and they appear in each other’s books) and all of the books deal with different aspects of the spiritual-sexual dichotomy and how that functions within the Catholic doctrine. PRIEST (published in 2015) and SINNER (published in 2018) are both m/f romances; SAINT, which was published this year, is an m/m romance and is, imho, far more critical of the Catholic position than the two previous books.
I have had a great reading year although much of it has been older books. Still, when I look at my Goodreads books for the year, I’ve added 21 books to my best of 2021 list. Most, however, are mysteries but there are a few romances in there. I’m looking forward to making my list!
I’m curious to see your mysteries list! I’ve been reading a lot more mysteries — or romantic mysteries/ historical mysteries/ romantic historical mysteries — recently. Mainly Allison Montclair, Anna Lee Huber, and Jennifer Ashley so far.
I’ve got books by 14 authors on my Best of 2021 so far – and some of them have more than one book on the list.
At the moment I would say that my top 3 are:
Subtle Blood by KJ Charles
Relative Justice by Gregory Ashe
Saffron Alley and Strong Wine by AJ Demas
These could change by the end of the year as I have high hopes of a few books yet to be released. Also, I need to reread some on the list that were released early in the year. I seem to have done much less rereading than usual this year….
Agree 100% on Float Plan. It was a stunning story and I await the author’s next book with great anticipation. Definitely the best CR for me in a very long time.
OK, your recommendation has pushed Float Plan up on the list!