My Favorite Books in 2014

This year I did something new. I started a Pinterest board to keep track of all the books I've read. Last January, I didn't truly expect to be pinning to the board in December, but here I am, still at it. (Jump HERE to take a look at my board.) There are 117 pins, and while last summer I didn't think I'd ever be able to come up with a list of ten favorites, it seems that having a little time and distance from the stories made it possible.

I'm not going to write full-on reviews here - just record a couple thoughts about why I liked the books. As you read through my choices, you'll likely notice a couple things. I'm not much into the literary fiction, and none of my favorites fell very far from the romance tree. Most of them are from the m/m (queer/lgbt) romance subgenre, and while the interwebs are full of opinions about middle aged straight women who read and write about gay men, it's what's working for me right now.

So here's my top ten list for 2014 - all books I loved, most of them I read at least a couple times, and all books I'd recommend in a heartbeat.



10. The Great Sex Olympics of 221B by Eli Easton.
This was a bit of a departure for me - first time reading Eli Easton and first time reading fanfic. It's about Sherlock & Watson, specifically the version of the characters created by the BBC, and lordy was it entertaining. This one was a free download, but I've got a couple other things by Ms. Easton on the kindle now.









9. This Rough Magic by Josh Lanyon
I love a good historical, and this one pretty much nailed it. It's a mystery with a sidecar of romance, and Mr. Lanyon totally sold me on the early 20th century San Francisco setting.












8. Glitterland by Alexis Hall
I think Alexis Hall is doing some of the most imaginative work of any writer, any genre, anywhere. He made me like Ash, who's really kind of a jerk. ;) Here's a link to my review from last February.










7. Love Hacked by Penny Reid
So...mea culpa...when I reviewed this book last April (HERE), I said I liked it, but it wouldn't make my top ten list.
Yeah.
Wrong about that.
Smart and funny and sexy, this one stayed with me. It's hard to do contemporary romance well - I mean, come on, how many reasons can you come up with that a couple of healthy heterosexuals WOULDN'T get together? - but the conflict felt real and the characters rang true.






6. The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
I don't even know where to begin with this one. It's the first in a trilogy. It's romantic fantasy, the kind of re-imagined history I eat up with a spoon. It's a heckuva lot of fun, and I hope you skip on over to the ebook retailer of your choice and grab a copy!

5. Hold on Tight by Serena Bell
I'm not one for the angst, but a friend (ahem, Amanda) INSISTED I read this one, and I'm so glad she did. The raw honesty in this story of what happens when life tears a couple apart, then throws them back together made for a "stay up way late after a night shift because I can't put the book down" kind of read.










4. Hainted by Jordan L. Hawk
Ms. Hawk has a couple other very popular series, and while I've read parts of them (and liked them a lot), this is the book that grabbed me. I love the combination of mythology and setting and characters (Dan! and Leif!). I can't even tell you how many times I've re-read this one, and every time, I like it even more.









3. Enlightenment (trilogy) by Joanna Chambers
I'm counting these three (Provoked, Beguiled, and Enlightened) as a single entry because the endings of the first two are sort of cliffhangerish, or at least unresolved, so they really can be read as one. The sample of the first book absolutely gutted me, and I knew I had to read the rest. When I think of Ms. Chambers' writing, words like elegant and restrained come to mind (although her naughty bits are fun, too), and I'm absolutely in love with the way she handled the historical setting. Brilliant!






2. Prosperity by Alexis Hall
Yeah, Mr. Hall made my list twice, because he's really that good. HERE's my review of Prosperity, but just to recap, this is one of the boldest, most imaginative books I've read all year. It's a demanding book - all in dialect - but SO worth the effort. Even better, there are a bunch of stories set in the same world that'll be coming out soon!






1. Think of England by KJ Charles
The thing that set this book apart for me was the subtle, unapologetic understanding of it's period, as well as the connection to it's heritage. And yeah, since that heritage is Victorian pulp fiction, specifically King Solomon's Mines, you know you're in for a good time. In the interest of saving us both from embarrassment, I'm going to spare you the fangirl squeeing. Just read it. It's really, really good.
(Here's a link to my Goodreads review.)





Best Anthology - I read a number of anthologies this year - a couple of great holiday sets from Carina, another rather unfortunately called Butt Ninjas from Hell that was way better than it's title, but it was Another Place In Time that resonated most with me. The stories are consistently good, and confirmed my love of historical fiction, especially the m/m variety.









Apparently the only way I could come up with a top-ten list was to let myself go wild with the honorable mentions. Here they are (in no discernible order)...
Hot Head, The Quick, Special Delivery, Liesmith, Circus of the Damned, The Theory of Attraction, Dangerously Happy, Catch A Ghost/ Long Time Gone/ Daylight Again, Snowball in Hell, The Haunting of Maddie Clare, Bad Boys Do, A Companion to Wolves, Cold Copper

Thanks so much for hanging out with me this year, whether on Facebook or twitter, over here on blogspot or on my website blog. It's been an adventure, one I'm happy to have shared with you. Happy New Year!
Liv

Irish Fairy Tales & Enchanted Roses....by Sophie Moss

So I was trolling Twitter a couple months ago and saw a tweet that caught my eye. It was a link to a new romance, The Selkie Spell. "Hmm," I thought. "I like Selkies." And while I confess that I was referring to Nicole Peeler's character Jane True at the time (but that's another freaky fan-girl post), I followed the link, read the blurb, and hit the buy button.

And despite the height of my TBR pile, I read the thing. And loved it!

After that, every time I saw a tweet about The Selkie Spell, I forwarded it, and after a while, I started chatting with the author, Sophie Moss. I invited her to do a guest post on my blog, and today, I'm very excited to say she is here! 

I'm going to shut up now and let Sophie tell you about what inspired The Selkie Spell and it's sequel, The Selkie Enchantress.

What is it about fairytales that draw us to them? Is it because they awaken that long lost dreamer inside us? That hidden part of us that still yearns to believe in magic, true love, and the power of good over evil? I write Irish fairy tale romances so I can go back to that place every day. My stories are magical and mysterious and filled with enchantments that usually come in the unsuspecting form of a beautiful rose.

Each story in the Seal Island Trilogy includes a different colored rose with a unique, magical power. In The Selkie Spell, American doctor Tara Moore is in hiding and cannot reveal her true identity, but she uses the mysterious, fast-growing red rose petals as an herbal remedy to heal ailing islanders. But the magical power of Tara’s roses goes far beyond medicine when they begin to play a part in unraveling the mystery of a centuries-old Irish curse.

In The Selkie Enchantress, coming out this summer, the magical roses are white and hold secrets to unlocking a mysterious Irish fairy tale that has remained hidden for hundreds of years, overlooked even by seasoned professor of Irish folklore, Liam O’Sullivan. When the petals of a white rose grown in winter start to fall, the legend is set in motion. And only one woman holds the power to change the ending before the last petal falls.

 

When I started writing, I knew I wanted to weave magic into my stories. But I wasn’t sure how until discovering the selkie legends of Ireland, and I was drawn to them as naturally as the selkies were drawn to the sea. As a writer, or reader, have you ever stumbled across a fairy tale that pulled to you? That you went back to re-read again and again? What is it about that story that spoke to you?      

Sophie Moss writes contemporary Irish fairy tale romances. Her stories are full of magic, mystery, and small-town Irish charm. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Vermont. When she's not writing, she's tending to her garden. She has a strange knack for finding four-leaf clovers and writes best while sipping a Guinness. http://sophiemosswrites.com/

  

The Selkie Spell is available from Amazon. The Selkie Enchantress will be available soon, and Sophie's sharing a sneak peek at the cover art with us today. Isn't it pretty? Thanks, Sophie, for  stopping by!

Peace,

Liv