Jennie’s Best of 2011 List
2011 does not stand out as one of my more memorable reading years; many books fell in the okay/mediocre range, with a whole lot of B range books and a handful of C range books. Only one D, and no Fs! – which I guess is a good thing, though I feel oddly nostalgic about the notion of reading a Really Bad Book. Following are the best 2011-published romances (or romance-y books) I read this year.
- Mr. Bishop and the Actress, Janet Mullany, A (my review)
- When Beauty Tamed the Beast, Eloisa James, A-, (my review)
- A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal, Meredith Duran, A-, (my review)
- Silk is for Seduction, Loretta Chase, A-, (Jane’s review)
- What I Did for a Duke, Julie Ann Long, A-, (Janet’s review)
- Slice of Cherry, Dia Reeves, B+, (Janine’s review)
- Cat’s Tale: A Fairy Tale Retold, Bettie Sharpe, B+, (mine and Lazaraspaste’s reviews)
- The Last Time I Saw Paris, Lynn Sheene, B+, (my review)
- The Second Duchess, Elizabeth Loupas, B+, (my review)
- The Lantern, Deborah Lawrenson, B+, (my review)
Of these, I’ve only read Silk is for Seduction, but I really enjoyed it. It was such a great change of pace to have a businesswoman as the heroine of a historical. Frankly, it’s not that common to have a serious, ambitious businesswoman as the heroine of a contemporary*, and as a business chick myself, I’d love to see more of it.
*Unless, of course, said businesswoman realizes at the end that she’s too driven and cold and mean and moves to an idyllic small town to run a bakery while the hero does manly things. Ugh.
I agree that What I Did For a Duke was terrific. I purchased Meredith Duran’s, A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal and hope to read it soon.
Glad you enjoyed my CPs works this year, Jennie. Besides those, I’ve read the Chase, the Long and the Reeves and enjoyed the first two. The Reeves had a lot going for it but was just too violent and disturbing for me. I couldn’t connect that much to the main characters, though I loved her first book, Bleeding Violet. I think it was my favorite book of the year last year.
Of the other five, I have all but the Lawrenson TBR. Still need to read the Loupas, the Sheene, the James and the Mullany! But I look forward to them all the more now.
Thanks so much for including Mr. Bishop and the Actress tho if this means it’s jinxed in the Ritas, you and I will have to have a little chat.
@Janet Mullany: Duly noted. :-)
@Janine: I’d be curious to know what you think about the Lawrenson if you ever felt inclined to read it. Particularly how you feel about the prose.
@Jennie: Will let you know if I get around to it.