The Best of 2015: Lee’s List
I chose The Legend of Lyon Redmond by Julie Anne Long. (Our DIK review is here.) as my favorite book of the year.
Here are the rest of my favorites (in alphabetical order by author last name):
Last Chance Llama Ranch by Hilary Fields. This is a fun and quirky story of what happens when a ski champ has to find a new career.
If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins. Ms. Higgins really knows how to write relationship books and the central one here is of two sisters trying to cope with their changing lives. (Our DIK review is here.)
A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley. In this novel, two very different young women centuries apart and the mystery that needs to be solved. (Our B+ review is here.)
Doing No Harm by Carla Kelly. I know Ms. Kelly writes books set in the US but I always prefer the books set in the UK. This one is excellent. (Our DIK review is here.)
My Very Best Friend by Cathy Lamb. This is the poignant story of a frustrated writer travels to Scotland to deal with her father’s past.
The Little Flower Shop by the Sea by Ali McNamara. In this contemporary romance set in a flower shop in a small town in Cornwall, a woman faces her demons.
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn. I LOVED Ms. Raybourn’s Lady Julia mysteries and this new book introduces us to another female detective. (Our DIK review is here.)
The Day We Disappeared by Lucy Robinson. This is a heart-wrenching story about two young women.
The Lure of the Moonflower by Lauren Willig. This is the last of the Pink Carnation series. Ms. Willig always charms with her stories. (Our B+ review is here.)
I shake my head at so many people liking/loving The Legend of Lyon Redmond! There was so much just wrong, wrong, wrong with that book. It was a sad disappointment. I feel that readers must have skimmed that book to have missed such poor plotting, research and writing. It was not her best but her worse in my mind.
I seriously think I’d buy the llama book just for that cover.
I’d be happy with more llamas and fewer oily man-chests on my books!
I didn’t even stop to notice the llama, ha! I would prefer that cover too over the abundance of man chests on romance covers :)
Yep, I totally agree.
Raybourn’s book is definitely on my list. Long’s other new release from 2015, It Started with a Scandal, bumped The Legend of Lyon Redmond out of place, but it was a good year for Julie Ann Long readers. I have not read a Susanna Kearsley book yet, but I plan to remedy that in 2016.
I also loved the Raybourn (which made my list, too) and the Willig :). The Kelly is on my TBR.
Like Maggie, I have read two books on your list. A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley, and If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins. I enjoyed them both!
I really liked a Desperate Fortune, Curious Beginning, and Lure of the Moonflower. The flower shop one sounds like something I should check out.
I’ve read two of the books on your list – A Desperate Fortune and The Lure of the Moonflower. I liked them both. I hadn’t heard about The Little Flower Shop by the Sea before but it sounds super cute. I will have to add it to my TBR.
The Little Flower Shop by the Sea and The Day We Disappeared were both published in the UK first but now are both available in the US.