the ask@AAR: What was your favorite romance published in 2021?
We want to hear from you. We’ve shared our top picks for 2021–now it’s your turn.
If you’re looking for inspiration, we have two sources for you. Using our new Power Search, we learned that, in 2021, we gave DIKs to 139 books published in 2021. We gave the most DIKS to contemporary romance (30), historical romance (25), historical fiction (13), and romantic suspense (14). Thirty-three featured leads of color and twenty-five were by authors of color. Additionally, you can see all the books our staff picked in one place on our Amazon Storefront.
What was your favorite romance/women’s fiction novel published last year? Why?
We can’t wait to see what you loved!
Looking back at my Goodreads list (and parsing back books not of 2021) here are the books I gave excellent ratings to for 2021.
THE GENTLE ART OF FORTUNE HUNTING by KJ Charles (because you cannot go wrong with this author and I particularly liked this one)
CRY WOLF by Charlie Adhara. This series is exceptional and this was book three and extremely satisfying. A m/m paranormal, suspense novel.
FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT by Elle Cosimano. This is a type of farce really. with absurd and funny consequences to being in the wrong place at the right time.
PALADIN’S STRENGTH by T. Kingfisher. I liked all the Saints of Steel books but book 2 was my favorite. Fantasy setting with a skilled soldier/knight undone by a competent woman.
FUGITIVE TELEMETRY by Martha Wells. Because Murderbot! I’ll read anything about this character. This was too short because I need more about this security unit.
ROLE MODEL by Rachel Reid. Although this is book 5 in her hockey player series, it stands out for the feels it generates. A m/m sports romance.
JUST NOT THAT INTO BILLIONAIRES by Anika Martin. Ok, this plot trope is a bit wackadoodle and you have to really suspend belief but the fun to be had was worth it. Plus I love the grumpy/sunshine pairing.
EVIL TWIN by Kati Wilde. This is a loosely connected series by various authors and the book is nothing like you would expect from the blurb. Which is a good thing. The heroine of this story is so capable that it is breathtaking.
FATED BLADES by Ilona Andrews. Because….Ilona Andrews, nuff said. If you like excellent world building and competence porn this will be your jam.
That was all the 5 stars I gave for PUBLISHED in 2021
Sorry, I made a list. Don’t follow rules well. :)
My 5* reads in 2021: superb writing/worldbuilding/research, snappy dialogue, complex characters that show growth over the story arc, off the charts chemistry or a unique connection
Role Model by Rachel Reid
The Paris Apartment by Kelly Bowen
Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
Marriage and Murder: Solving for Pie by Penny Reid
Subtle Blood by K.J. Charles
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Under a Dark Moon by Stella Riley
After Dark With the Duke by Julie Anne Long
The Games Lovers Play by Stephanie Laurens
The Devil in Her Bed by Kerrigan Byrne
Other Genre
The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Master of Storms by Bec McMaster
The Turncoat King by Michelle Diener
My favorite was KJ Charles’ Subtle Blood. I loved each book in her Will Darling series, and she closed out the trilogy with heart and panache. However, I did not read a lot of books published in 2021, so I don’t have a large pool for comparison. It’s like saying I favor Dune for the Oscars when that’s the only film I’ve seen. I also enjoyed Float Plan, The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, and Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell.
The romances that grabbed me most in 2021 were the Will Trent series by KJ Charles. I read the entire series this year, so my official vote would be for Subtle Blood as the first two were published in 2020.
M/M romances are not my usual, but I thought these were stellar. The setting and characters struck me historically accurate and I was totally immersed in their story. I really enjoyed the author’s voice and am going to have to explore her backlist.
You’ve got some treats in store – KJC is without doubt one of the best authors of HR writing today.
I must admit, of the books I read last year, only eleven were published in 2021. (I read 50 altogether.) Of those eleven, I’d say my favorite, which I gave an “A” was The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros. I guess I would give honorable mention to Kate Clayborn’s Love at First. I liked her Love Lettering a bit better.
Just had a look at my Goodreads history and not much really impressed me in 2021; the best and most memorable books I read last year were in the social history sphere. If I had to name my absolutely #1 favourite romance, published in 2021, it would be Float Plan by Trish Doller followed by The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall. Best of all for me was Go Tell the Bees I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon but it does not really fit into the “romance” category for most readers so I don’t know if it “counts”. I have started off 2022 with yet more non-fiction and have yet to read a single romance since I finished Bees. Nothing reviewed at AAR lately has struck my imagination, sadly. Is it me or is it the genre? The same old debate, as ever!
I have been in a slump as to finding new books that I actually like (and bother finishing), but the best one I read this year was A Marriage of Equals by Elizabeth Rolls. Good though it was, the problem I had with it was the problem I have with most Harlequins—it wasn’t long enough. It could have used more time to develop the conflicts.
I checked my Goodreads list and have three books I can remember just by looking at the cover. So, it’s a tie. They are:
Just Last Night Mhairi Macfarlane
How to Fail at Flirting Denise Williams
After Dark with the Duke Julie Anne Long
The most beautiful girl in Havana by Chanel cleeton. I’ve loved all the books in the series. I believe she has another book release this year as well.
She’s one of the very few authors that I auto buy.
Mary Balogh someone to cherish.. someone perfect also very enjoyable.
I thought this question was already asked, but I’ll just repeat my response from January 31: My very favorite book published and read in 2021 was SAINT by Sierra Simone. It’s a second-chance m/m romance between two former lovers, one of whom is about to become a monk. Both men seek the balance between erotic love and spiritual solace and ask themselves if such a thing is possible within the confines of Catholic doctrine. Highly recommended, but I would read PRIEST and SINNER first because the MCs of the three books are brothers and there’s a lot of family history there
I’m asking it again to see if I an get more responses. I’d like to do a poll but I don’t have enough entries yet.
The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary
Doctors at the same hospital who have to attend mandated conflict resolution sessions. One is a grump, the other an introvert.
It legit made me laugh out loud a few times.
I agree. Kate Canterbary’s The Worst Guy was the best and most fun for me. Beautifully written grouch opposite a women on the threshold of breaking free from multiple goblins. Fascinating hospital background. Elegant writing and delightful comedic counterpoint. My second favorite would be Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, main characters a PhD candidate and colleague in Stanford U.’s biology department.
I enjoyed The Love Hypothesis as well. It wouldn’t be my favorite of the year but it was a really good debut and I will certainly read the author’s upcoming trio of novellas featuring STEM heroines (first book Under One Roof comes out in May).
I have heard of this author but never read anything by her. I checked it out on Amazon and it looks really good so I bought it. I love the enemies-to-lovers trope and a grumpy protagonist. Thanks for the recommendation!
I hope you like it! I haven’t read any other books by the author, but the blurb of this one proved irresistible.
She’s written a couple of m/m books, too – I liked her Missing in Action – the audio version narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Jacob Morgan is fab,
This looks good too. I’ll wait and see how I like The Worst Guy first!
Canterbary is one of my favorite writers. All of her books (she has a big back list) are related in some way to all the others, starting with the Walsh Family series: eight books about six siblings who all work in the family’s Boston-based architectural firm that specializes in renovating historic structures. So much competence p0rn (which Canterbary does extremely well). Canterbary also does a great job with female friendships, food, and pets (almost every book has at least one dog). My favorite Canterbary books are FAR CRY (which I like more than Dabney did) and MISSING IN ACTION (m/m with opposites attract and one MC not sure how to come out to his family).
My first Kate Canterbary, which holds a special place in my heart, was Boss in the Bedsheets. (The silly name almost put me off, but it was a promo, so I bought it anyway.) In short, I loved it. It is another story with a hero who presents as one sort of person, to the detriment of his larger, richer personality. That tension between “Who I should be,” and “Who I am,” is the reverse image of his love interest’s issues of course. Boss/Bedsheets introduced me to Canterbary’s comedic timing, sassy dialog and thoughtful stories.
I am giving The Worst Guy a shot. But I worry that she’ll get the plastics wrong. It’s the downside of being married to one!
When THE WORST GUY was reviewed (and later showed up on What Are You Reading?) on Smart Bitches, several people who work in the medical field commented that Canterbary did a good job with getting the details right. I think Canterbary is a writer who writes professional details that feel authentic even when they’re not always accurate—but, yes, with your knowledge of how surgeons actually work and interact, THE WORST GUY might be a tough sell for you. The opening scene features the heroine (a reconstructive surgeon) furious with the hero (an ER/Trauma surgeon) for using staples to close up the facial wound of an injured patient. Their antagonism continues from there.
So I ran a series of things by my husband last night–for decades he worked in academic major medical centers like the one the book is set in. He’s a board certified plastic surgeon who did a fellowship in craniofacial surgery.
He said he has literally NEVER seen anyone close a facial wound with staples. Typically, because of facial swelling, many facial wounds are closed with glue and sterie strips. Staples are great for holding muscles together but, on the surface, they’re so likely to leave big dented scars. In fact, when I had my second C-section, the OB marveled at how bad my first scar was–dented with staples–and cut out the scaring for me and then sewed me up.
No one has multiple beepers like the guy who tells the story of having nine.
It cracked him up that anyone would schedule reconstructive and plastic surgeons who treat trauma patients for eight paid for mental health sessions during the day. That is unlikely on every front.
One other interesting fact–plastic surgeons–a small group comparatively–who treat burns are almost always at a hospital in a city that has a burn unit.
So, thus far, as far as specific details go, I’d say it’s iffy. But I think she gets the culture and the bantering down well.
I’m only 15% in so it may improve as I go on.
Makes sense. When it comes to accuracy and our enjoyment of books, a lot of it depends on whether or not the setting and details are well known to us and/or important to us. I think that’s why historical accuracy is so important to some,while others can let things slide for a good story. It’s more difficult to let things slide when you know it’s glaringly, and at times insultingly, wrong.
I guess I’m harder on contemporary stories for that than I am on historicals because ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK.
The staples in the face thing would be malpractice–it’s just odd to me. I always wonder why more romance writers don’t ask for fact checking from friends/acquaintances.
Several years ago, I read an ARC in which a bridge in NYC was on the on the wrong side of the city. The author wasn’t American so I wrote her and told her. It was still in the published copy–I’ve always wondered if she just didn’t care or if she couldn’t change it before print. But how does that happen? How hard is it to look at a map?
At least in historical romance, when things are wrong, it’s because often because someone needed that error to tell the story she wished to. To get basic facts wrong in contemporary fiction seems to me to be somewhat more egregious.
I disagree that it’s more egregious, but understand that it might not bother you as much. It seems to me that doing the research is part of any good writing, and many things historical romance authors get wrong are easily found with very little effort (how to address nobility, how titles are inherited,etc.), so I don’t see why they wouldn’t be held to the same standard. I mean honestly, with the internet, all you have to do is ask, as you said.
But that’s exactly what the author you’re discussing has done. It’s not okay in HR either, IMO.
See, now this intimidates me. Although I love finding a new author, it stresses me if they have a large back list. I feel like I want to read everything by the author but it is just impossible when my own TBR is has hundreds of books already!
I just read my first Canterbary: Far Cry. I liked it but found both leads to be somewhat inexplicable. I also felt like the book could have been cut by a third and wouldn’t have lost a thing. I did love Brooke’s and Annette’s texts. And she writes sex scenes very well.
The Paris Apartment, for me. Super story with women I enjoyed reading about. I learned about it from AAR. Thank you.
So glad you liked it!