The Best of 2016: Shannon’s List
It’s time to start looking back over 2016 at what we’ve read – what we’ve enjoyed, what we’ve hated and everything in between. Over the coming weeks, the AAR team will be blogging about their favourite books of the year, and to kick us off, here’s Shannon Dyer’s Top Ten.
A Gift of Time by Beth Flynn
This was an amazing ending to Beth Flynn’s Nine Minutes trilogy. The hero and heroine had a long and complex road to their HEA, and I loved seeing them finally achieve it. A/BN/iB/K
False Hearts by Laura Lam
This book rang a number of my bells: cults, people going undercover, and conjoined twins. I was hooked from page one. A/BN/iB/K
Dark Deeds by Michelle Diener
Book 2 in Michelle Diener’s Class 5 series definitely doesn’t suffer from second book syndrome. The world-building is amazing, and I absolutely adore the artificial intelligence she developed. The romance is wonderfully believable too. A/BN/iB/K
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult’s latest novel is an incredibly timely and poignant discussion of race and privilege. I was moved to tears several times. I highly recommend this. A/BN/iB/K
Shadow Silence by Yasmine Galenorn
I’m a huge fan of everything this author comes up with, and this second book in her Whisper Hollow series is no exception. Not only does the relationship between Brian and Carris continue to blossom, but the town of Whisper Hollow is on the verge of being overtaken by a secret society bound to an evil deity. A/BN/iB/K
Duke of My Heart by Kelly Bowen
I can’t say enough good things about this book. It’s so different from most historical romances out there. It was such a fun read. Ivory and Maximus make an incredible couple. A/BN/iB/K
Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst
Another book that discusses cults, but this one also looks at disability and how it affects the family unit. Ms. Parkhurst is so insightful, and the characters practically leapt off the page. A/BN/iB/K
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
This book is dark, sexy, and utterly enthralling. It took so many twists and turns I didn’t expect, and I can’t wait for book three. Will our hero and heroine be able to claim their HEA? I certainly hope so. A/BN/iB/K
The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath
This was a difficult storyline to pull off, but Ms. Heath did it perfectly. The romance was sweet, but complicated. The historical detail was wonderful too. A/BN/iB/K
The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth
I think this is my most memorable read of 2016. I cried so much, but came away feeling like I’d learned something that wouldn’t soon leave me. Anna and Luke have so much to contend with, but they seize their happiness in small, seemingly unimportant moments. It’s truly a beautiful, heart-wrenching story. A/BN/iB/K
A Court of Mist and Fury is one I wanted to love but just couldn’t. It fell so flat compared to the first for me. I thought it was so much sex, and too little plot which, coming from me, is a shocker lol.
I read lots outside of the romance genre, but I have to agree with others above that I use this site almost exclusively for romance reading suggestions and so I hope that a list of best romances will be coming soon.
I might have to give Bowen’s _Duke of My Heart_ a try. I was disappointed that I didn’t enjoy the second book in the series, _A Duke to Remember_, more and usually I don’t follow up with a new author if a first book doesn’t hold my attention. Bowen though has such positive reviews from many different readers.
It’s certainly our hope that you and our other readers will continue to come to us for romance reviews as well as reviews of other books we think our readers might be interested in.
Our top romances of the year post will be published on Monday.
Thank you so much for including Duke of My Heart on this list! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it. And thank you to those who are considering reading it – I hope you enjoy it as well ! Best wishes to all in 2017 :)
Well, I liked investigating some of the titles and just added 4 to my TBR list…. and Diener’s I’ll read as soon as get the first one too. So, this was at the same time a good and bad list for me. But now I’m eager to read the ones that caught my eye. :)
I think Bowen’s book would be on my list as well (although my list would be best romances). I haven’t really sat down and thought about my top 10 though. I’ve read so many good books, including as recently as this week.
FYI – all the book titles are linked either to reviews (where AAR has reviewed the book) or to Amazon, so extra information is not difficult to find. Some people want more information than others; this way, nobody is spoiled and can seek out as many – or as few – details as they require.
I have the Bowen book on my list. And Sally Hepworth’s book was a tearjerker for me. But so worth reading.
Since I read across genres, I’m happy to have a list of top 10 books, romance or not. I do agree that it would be nice if the books could be identified as romance, mystery, fiction, or whatever. That gives readers a heads-up as to whether they need to do a little more investigation before reading but doesn’t give away too much (just knowing the genre does not count as a spoiler).
Yes, that’s where I was coming from. I read all kinds of things, but I’m used to using this site for romance. I am perfectly fine with the columnists doing whatever, but I don’t really come here so I can then go on to Goodreads and try to find out what the ending is.
Since it doesn’t look like the list is in countdown order, maybe you could do “Romance” and then “Non-Romances.” That wouldn’t even require genre detail, but it would let us know the minimum.
Lisa – I think Shannon was letting us have a gentle, shorter column to start with. I believe the others are slightly longer in their descriptions – I know mine is LOL
That’s good to hear BJ! Mine is quite a bit longer as well!
As is mine!
I’m so sorry for the confusion. The Flynn, Diener, Bowen, and Heath end in conventional HEA’s. The Maas and Galenorn books are entries in ongoing series, but have strong romantic arcs throughout. The Hepworth is a love story of sorts, but there is not a conventional HEA. The others were just super great books written this year.
I also share Lisa’s concern. I wasn’t at all sure whether all these were romances. From their description, it doesn’t seem as if even half are romances. I think that, because this is a romance site, that this entry is misnamed. It shouldn’t be “Top Ten Book,” but “Top Ten Romances.” I appreciated Shannon’s indication that the Maas book does not end with the conventional happy ending. My request: that anyone else’s top ten list be limited to romances, and if they are part of a series or gay romances or do not end with a conventional happy ending, that some mention is made.
In this column, we ask our reviewers to share the best books they read this year. The column is called the Best of 2016 for that reason. It’s not intended to be just romances and we trust our readers will be able to see that.
We will publish, on Monday, our list of top romances of the year and it will be so named.
Lynda X – I can understand that you would expect romances, but would then realise it was Best Books read in 2016 and personal choices from reviewers. I can also understand readers wanting to have at least a hint at an HEA in their choices, as 2016 has been a pretty hard year for the world BUT I don’t think it is necessary to specifically name a book as a ‘gay’ romance.
We are becoming too prescriptive in our book choices surely this takes away the surprise of finding a wonderful new author, or new genre to enjoy.
One concern I have about these end-of-year lists is that I can’t tell which ones have happy endings since we don’t get genre clues like in reviews. 2016 has been too hard on me for me to read anything unhappy at the finish. Can anybody clue me in on the recs here? I’m assuming Bowen, Flynn, Diener, and Heath do, and that Maas is an unconcluded series.
These lists are of books broadly and not just romances. I guess we could add in romance or non-romance in the listings of the others.