Bridging the Gap – The Poll that never was…

ByCaz Owens
10 Comments
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Given that we’re soon going to be gearing up for our 2017 Annual Poll, it seemed like a good idea to bridge the gap between it and the 2015 poll because, as Dabney explained in her recent post, it just hasn’t been possible for us to do our annual poll for the Best Books of 2016.  You may recall that the majority of AAR staffers chose their best books of the year in a series of posts that ran throughout December and January.  Well, at around the same time, we had an internal poll of the books WE thought were the best of 2016.  In lieu of doing a public poll, we thought you might like to see what our choices were – and to chime in in the comments with your own thoughts and suggestions.

Obviously, our tastes as a group can be quite diverse, so none of the books on this list received a mountain of votes; but there were clear winners – and runners-up – in some categories, and they were chosen as follows:

AAR Staff Best of 2016: Chosen by the most staff members

AAR Staff Best of 2016 Honorable Mention: This book did not have the most votes, but at least two staff members voted for it.

With thanks to Caroline Russomanno for collating all the information.

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Best Romance of 2016


The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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Honorable Mentions

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Best contemporary romance of 2016:

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
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Honorable Mentions

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Best Category Romance:

There was no outright winner in this category.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ layout=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no” border_position=”all”][fusion_text hide_pop_tinymce=””]

Honorable Mentions

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Best Romantic Suspense

This vote was a tie:

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Honorable Mentions

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Best LGBTQ+ Romance

This result was also a tie:

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Honorable Mentions

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Best Début Author

Sally Thorne

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Honorable Mentions

Cat Sebastian

Dal Maclean

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Best YA

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Honorable Mentions

There are no honourable mentions in this category.

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Best Novella or Short Story

There was no outright winner in this category, and no honourable mentions[/fusion_text][fusion_builder_row_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ layout=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no” border_position=”all”][fusion_text hide_pop_tinymce=””]

Best Romance Couple


Lucy & Josh – The Hating Game by Sally Thorne[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ layout=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no” border_position=”all”][fusion_text hide_pop_tinymce=””]

Honorable Mentions


Colin and Emily – The Earl by Katharine Ashe

Cletus and Jennifer – Beard Science by Penny Reid

Ivory & Maximus – Duke of My Heart by Kelly Bowen

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Best Hero

Valentine Napier, the Duke of Montgomery – Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ layout=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no” border_position=”all”][fusion_text hide_pop_tinymce=””]

Honorable Mention

Colin Gray, Earl of Egremoor – The Earl by Katharine Ashe[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column_inner][/fusion_builder_row_inner][fusion_builder_row_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ layout=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no” border_position=”all”][fusion_text hide_pop_tinymce=””]

Favorite Funny

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Honorable Mentions

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Best Tear Jerker

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Honorable Mentions

There are no honourable mentions in this category.

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Steamiest Read

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Honorable Mentions

There are no honourable mentions in this category.

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Most Tortured Hero

Christopher Argent, The Hunter by Kerrigan Byrne[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ layout=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no” border_position=”all”][fusion_text hide_pop_tinymce=””]

Honorable Mentions

There are no honourable mentions in this category.

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Best Kick-Ass Heroine

Ivory Moore, Duke of My Heart by Kelly Bowen[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column_inner][fusion_builder_column_inner type=”1_2″ layout=”1_2″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no” border_position=”all”][fusion_text hide_pop_tinymce=””]

Honorable Mentions

There are no honourable mentions in this category.

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Best NA

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Honorable Mentions

There are no honourable mentions in this category.

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Best Novel (non-romance) with strong romantic elements

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Honorable Mention

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Best UK Historical

This vote was a tie:

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Honorable Mention

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Best Non-UK Historical

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Honorable Mention

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Best SF, Fantasy, or Paranormal

There was no outright winner in this category

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Honorable Mentions

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So those are the books, characters and authors that stood out for the AAR team in 2016.  With such a huge number of books being published each year, it’s entirely possible we’ve missed out on something really good, and that our choices are completely different to yours.  So tell us – what did we get wrong?

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Amanda
Amanda
Member
08/23/2017 1:49 pm

Some great choices! And many I haven’t read. A few I didn’t like at all. I might post my own picks if I can make decisions!

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NSum
NSum
Guest
08/23/2017 10:42 am

There are many gaps, could this b a formatting error? I cannot see 11 of the winners (more if ties are counted twice). I see Sally Thorne several times (yay! I agree), (Best) KA Heroine, Tortured Hero, Hero, Romance Couple, Romance, Contemporary Romance, debut author. That is it. I cannot see any other results.

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Dabney Grinnan
Dabney Grinnan
Admin
Reply to  NSum
08/23/2017 11:16 am

Can you see the images?

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Caz Owens
Caz Owens
Author
Reply to  Dabney Grinnan
08/23/2017 1:01 pm

Odd – I’m on my phone and I can see them all.

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library addict
library addict
Guest
08/23/2017 2:47 am

I hadn’t finalized any of my choices, but from the notes I’d taken throughout the year I had:

Best Romance = The Trouble with Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis
Favorite Funny Romance = Homecoming by Shannon Stacey
Favorite Tear-Jerker Romance = Rock Wedding by Nalini Singh
Most Tortured Romance Hero = Alex Rojas in Ultimate Courage by Piper J Drake
Best Kick-Ass Heroine = Jamie Rutherford in Fully Ignited by Shannon Stacey
Best Romance Hero = Keane Winters in The Trouble with Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis
Best Romance Heroine = Sascha Duncan in Allegiance of Honor by Nalini Singh
Best Romance Couple = Lucas Hunter & Sascha Duncan in Allegiance of Honor Nalini Singh
Best Fantasy Romance = A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet
Best Contemporary Romance = The Trouble with Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis
Best Category Romance Book = Cavanaugh or Death by Marie Ferrarella
Best Romantic Suspense = Extreme Honor by Piper J Drake
2016’s Best Debuting Romance Author = Amanda Bouchet
Best Romance Short Story = Echo of Silence by Nalini Singh
Best Paranormal Romance = Allegiance of Honor by Nalini Singh (or as best novel with romantic elements since it didn’t really have a central romance this go around since it was an ensemble book)

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CarolineAAR
CarolineAAR
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Reply to  library addict
08/23/2017 2:06 pm

I was disappointed in Allegiance of Honor. It read like one long epilogue where everybody runs around pregnant and precious characters show up. The plot was so thin – there was the skeleton of a rescue, and then “Mercy throws a party.” Just not enough content to justify a book.

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Lola
Lola
Guest
Reply to  CarolineAAR
08/25/2017 12:58 am

Allegiance of Honor straight up made me mad. I don’t mind if a chunk of a book revisits the other couples central to the earlier series. A quick visit is nice. But a whole book! It was a giant epilogue. Maybe other readers knew it ahead of time- and they weren’t expecting a new story or couple. I did not and I just kept waiting for the book to start!

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library addict
library addict
Guest
08/23/2017 2:39 am

test
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Blackjack
Blackjack
08/21/2017 1:52 pm

I concur with much of the above. Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game was hands down the best romance of 2016. It’s so funny and romantic, and I agree that Josh and Lucy make the best couple. I still can’t believe that the book was Sally Thorne’s debut, and I’m looking forward to her budding career. Anyway, I found out about the book here and am so grateful to the AAR reviewer for it.

Beard Science was my runner-up. I think it’s the best in Penny Reid’s Winston Bros. series and among her very best books overall.

I really like Sherry Thomas’s A Study in Scarlet Women, but I think Simone St. James’s Lost Among the Living was my favorite romantic suspense.

I guess the only other book that stood out for me is Loretta Chase’s Dukes Prefer Blondes. Strangely, it was published in Dec. 2015 and for some reason couldn’t be included in the 2015 polls, but then it looks as if it didn’t get included in the 2016 polls either. That’s a shame as it was one of Chase’s best, I thought.

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BJ Jansen
BJ Jansen
Member
08/21/2017 1:46 pm

Thrilled at how many LGBTQ+ books are intermingled with mainstream as winners and honourable mentions. Well done winners and AAR!

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