the hallmark holiday is upon us
and while i'm all for a good romance
not all of them are amazing
so here are nine of my faves!
when i was about, 13, my best friend and i were really into reading. i don't remember how i found norma klein the first time but i was quick to hit up the local shops and grab all i could find (which wasn't much, but a decent little pile was found)
Beginner's love is one of my favourites, a short and sweet story about a young man who learns about love from an older woman.
how can you not fall in love with these cinnamon buns? Penny and Sam's awkwardness spills off the page in a way that wants the reader to just cuddle them up and protect them from the big bad world. written with lots of text-based conversation, it makes for a sweet quick read that will have you wanting to reread it right away
i didn't know what to expect when i read this (all the feels is equally cute for the proud nerds of the world) but finding Madi and her blog hits you right in the feels. when her online life begins to encourage a real life romance with one of her followers, there's one person who tries to ruin it all for Madi.
as i closed the book, i was so twitterpated that i wanted more! this story is absolutely adorbs in every sense.
josh and hazel are the unexpected couple that you root for (though that is most of CL's work). they have known each other for years, but when their love lives just aren't going in the right direction, they decide to try and help each other out ... by fixing each other up with other people.
quick and sassy like classic christina lauren is, this is one you won't want to put down
TM Frazier's King series is absolutely breathtaking. King and Doe are the beautiful main story, but as we continue on we see the other couples in King's circle and how they find their true love in the middle of gangs and past lives.
if you can handle drama, sexiness, rough-around-the-edges characters ... and sometimes disturbing content and language, then this must be on the tbr !
also, there's pancakes.
i came across this one randomly in walmart and quickly fell in love with the sass of the MC. her quick wit is a breath of fresh air to her TA. some ramble about ethics has these two waiting til annie graduates in order to pursue a lil somethin' somethin' between them. however, none of them expect to fall this hard
(i wasn't a big fan of the sequel, 3/5 recommend)
this series will always have a special place in my heart. another one i found at walmart randomly (tho it starts with beautiful disaster) that you cannot help but fall in love with the bad-boy maddox brothers. beautiful oblivion is actually the second brother we meet (team trent!)
while the series starts off as a college love story, we quickly get more drama with abby's past and how travis will do anything for his pigeon. oblivion tells us about trent and local barmaid Cammi.
(plus. when i finished the finale of this series, i cried the whole day... my partner at the time told me to stop reading books if they're going to wreck my heart like this but how do you stay away?! haha)
alright, alright, hear me out. while there is so much hate for this series (yeah, the writing isn't literally class worthy) it's still a very sweet love story. bella is kind of a wimp with edward (*see New moon) but for a high school romance, it's adorable. plus, they get better as you go on so *thumbs up*
i'm not a huge "classic" fan, but wuthering heights is one of the most heartbreaking, yet romantic, stories i've ever read. adopted Heathcliff finds himself shunned in the household that saved him from the streets. only cathy, his 'sister' gives him any attention. their friendship deepens over the year until Cathy finds herself infatuated with someone more her class. to which heathcliff decides he must be more worthy of her to get his happily ever after
* keep in mind i've read a few versions, and i found that the more modern ones are helpful for plot but the love is deeper in the older ones. whatever floats your boat!
happy reading everyone <3
I know, it's crazy to even try and narrow down a list of fantastic books this year - and it was definitely a banner year - so I'm not limiting how many are on this list.
I keep a notebook of all the books I've read because 1) I can't stand goodreads since I read so quickly that it just doesn't work
also b) that I don't post *every* book on goodreads since my sister site has their own so the numbers are not even real. *eye roll*
there has got to be a better system.
Now, on to the books!
out of the 200 I will have read by NYE, these are my faves, and all 10/10s for 2017:
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
I devoured this one in a few hours. The magic drew me in and I could not put it down. I really want to find all the different covers but something tells me Canada doesn't have them. Like usual...
sequel comes out soon *squeee*
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
I even read this the same day I read Caraval and thankfully i read it afterwards because I was in a giant puddle of my tears.
Stranger than Fanfic by Chris Colfer
While the story itself was pretty predictable, I was laughing out loud on almost every page. A fun, quick read about a group of best friends before they go off to college.
ACOTAR/MAF/WAR by Sarah J Maas
When I saw everyone gushing over ACOWAR online I went out and bought the whole series. TAR and WAR took 2 days, MAF took a few hours.
Then I saw that SJM was coming to a town near me for her book tour and I ran down for it. Though I didn't get to meet her, I got to hear her speak and she was inspiring and hilarious and just *swoon*
Falling Kingdom Series by Morgan Rhodes
In the same month as SJM, Morgan Rhodes was coming to a town near-ish near me and so I binged this series within a couple of weeks too so I could go see her, spoiler free, and get some books signed. She was amazing - as was the panel she was on.
and now I am anxiously awaiting the final book, but I need to reread number 5 because how am i supposed to remember what I read 6 months ago?
Mindfuck Series by S.T Abby
I saw this online and so I bought all 5 books and binged them back to back (don't ask me where one ends and the other begins) in a matter of few hours. This whole series is a SVU/Criminal minds episode but with no filter. and told from the perp's POV, if you will, so it had cringe-worthy moments but overall, it was action packed and had a sweet love story weaved in. You couldn't help but flip the pages as quickly as possible.
The Book Jumper by Mechthild Glaser
A unique concept with a bit of "West Side story"/"Romeo and Juliet" going on, I was quickly drawn into this story and fell in love with it quickly. What bookworm doesn't want the power to jump into the stories that we read?
Wrath and the Dawn/The Rose and the Dagger - Renee Ahdieh
I was at work when I finished WatD and was red from crying before I went into my appointment so, thanks for that Ahdieh! This was a powerful love story with an eventual happy ending so yay.
Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
When I was done with this one, I wanted to go back to the beginning and start all over again. I'm pretty sure this is my favourite read of the year. All of it was just swoon worthy.
If you haven't read it, and you have ever had an online presence you wanted to keep secret, or you know how it feels to try and keep your off- and online life away from each other - or you just want an awesome story - pick this one up!
The Halloween tree by Ray Bradbury
This one had been on my list forever and it was nice to finally read the story that matches one of my all time fave movies. True classic for any age, although it is a kid book .. " " ...
King by T.M Frazier
This was a promo buy - it was free on amazon and hello, free books. I didn't realize how amazing it would be and what turned into "i have an hour to read a bit" turned into a binge read to finish it. I cannot wait to get the rest of the series.
Rough and explicit, Frazier pulls at our heartstrings in all the right ways.
Alex approximately by Jenn Bennett
My second fave read for the year. SimonTeen had their 25-days of xmas with a free book every 24 hours, and I binged this one in a few hours. Amazing and adorable. I need to get my hands on a paper copy so I can read it over and over again.
Who doesn't love a case of mistaken identity and a teenage love story set in a weird old museum? nobody, that's who.
The list above were my absolute loves but
Honourable mention goes out to:
- Strange the Dreamer (though I didn't like the ending)
- End of Oz
- Everything, Everything
- Beginning of Everything
- Talking as fast as I can
- Yes, my accent is real
- When Dimple met Rishi
- Autoboyography
- Mr President
- Wires and Nerves Vol. 1
- Coldest girl in Coldtown
- Let me be your hope
and considering I read 200 books, this list is TINY but I'm pretty picky!
2018 is looking like another fantastic year for books but my anticipated reads will be in my wrap up post for December *winks*
