Kaetrin’s Best of 2018
I took a look at my 5 star reads for the year and created my top 10 from that. I’ve decided not to rank them; it’s too hard to do and they were all fabulous books.
Iron & Magic by Ilona Andrews. Magic Triumphs could easily have made this list but when I thought about it, it was Iron & Magic which made the bigger impression, perhaps because I didn’t think I’d buy Hugh D’Ambray as a hero and I totally did.
This new life, it was just his. Hugh didn’t owe it to anyone. He was building it himself, brick by brick, one shovel of cement at a time, the same way he had built that damn moat. He was building his own castle, and for better or worse, the harpy wormed her way into his world and became its tower.
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Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs. Every release by Patricia Briggs is a cause for celebration but this one was particularly noteworthy for me. Charles is one of my very favourite heroes and here is exactly why.
He knew it was not his job to make her smaller, safer. It was his job to lift her up as high as she wanted to soar—and to kill anything that tried to interfere.
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Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven. I’m hungry for fantasy romance at present and this book hit all my buttons and trod the right line for me on some important issues. A delightful slow burn.
“Why have you never used me? Without my magic to defend myself, I couldn’t stop you.”
…
“Because I know what it is to be used. By one. By many. The empress likes an audience when she plays with her toys, and sometimes she likes the audience to participate.” When had his voice become so hoarse? His throat so tight? “The worst injuries I ever suffered—those that almost killed me—weren’t earned in the Pit but in Dalvila’s bedchamber. I might not have been able to help a Flower of Spring escape the fire when I was a gladiator, but I never made them, or any woman, suffer rape. I never have. I never will.”
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Band Sinister by KJ Charles. Charming and delightful.
“…Manda, he could sue us!”
“Oh, nonsense,” Amanda said, far too airily. “He won’t read it, and if you go around belonging to a hellfire club called ‘the Murder’ and having orgies, you can’t complain if people wonder about you. And my publisher assured me they would protect my anonymity. And it’s not even meant to be him anyway.”
“When you say all that in court, put the last part first.”
A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian. Angsty, sweet and sexy.
“I care about you more than I know how to manage,” Hartley finally said, looking up at Sam with wet eyes. “More than our circumstances will allow.”
Sam’s voice rumbled. “I think you care about me just the right amount.”
The Love Coupon by Ainslie Paton. Substantive and complicated and delicious. And the hero pays attention.
“The pearls on the silver chain. The earrings like silver buttons. You have a pearl thing you sometimes put in your hair. You should put your hair up that way you do with it all neat in front and messy at the back. I like the perfume that smells of oranges and when you do whatever it is that makes your eyelashes look a thousand feet long and your eyes hold all the answers.”
“You think I have all the answers when my eyes are made up?”
“I think you have most of them when they’re not.”
It Takes Two by Jenny Holiday. I so related to Wendy plus, female empowerment FTW.
He gestured to a seat and waited until she was settled before lowering himself next to her. Their thighs touched. She pulled away slightly. Then regretted it. Then scolded herself for regretting it. Then went back to regretting it.
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Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren. I laughed so much reading this book. I was a feel-good read from start to finish.
I am now alone with Josh Im. He studies me like he’s looking at something infectious through a microscope.
“I always thought I caught you in . . . a phase.” His left eyebrow makes a fancy arch. “Apparently you’re just like this.”
“I feel like I have a lot to apologize for,” I admit, “but I can’t be sure I won’t be constantly exasperating you, so maybe I’ll just wait until we’re elderly.”
Half of his mouth turns up. “I can say without question I’ve honestly never known anyone else like you.”
“So completely undatable?”
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The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. A fabulous debut (even if it does have maths in it).
“I like you better than calculus, and math is the only thing that unites the universe.”
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A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert. This was one of my early successes from 2018 and one I know I’ll go back to. Ruth was all the things.
He stepped back, opening the door completely, and said, “Come in.”
Oh. Oh. She hadn’t expected that.
Ruth couldn’t back down, and she couldn’t show weakness. Especially not her weakness, the sort that other people didn’t understand. If she said, Oh, I thought you were suggesting that we talk in the future, and I planned to prepare for that interaction in advance because I have to plan most conversations very carefully so that I don’t freak other people out… Well, he’d probably be freaked out.
So she walked into his flat and tried not to jump as he shut the door behind them.
~ Kaetrin ~
Great list! I’ve only read the Patricia Briggs and the Helen Hoang but both of them made my Top Ten, too. I really want to try Talia Hibbert—I have heard so many good things!
I’m glad Ainslie Paton made it on here. I really like her books. They aren’t perfect but the characters feel so real.
I’ve read five of your selections, Kaetrin, and would like to read more. Here’s hoping that 2019 brings many good books!
The ones that I have read on this list have all made it onto my best of lists, so i’m pretty sure I’d better read the others as well. Thanks for adding a few new books to my tbr pile.
@Janine: I haven’t read as many of her books as I own (what else is new?) but the ones I have read are great.
@Jo Savage: I think The Love Coupon is my favourite of her books so far. It really worked for me.
@Kareni: Amen!
@Kathy: What is on your best of list that isn’t on mine? I’m always after recs (don’t even ask me about the 5500+ books on the TBR – I’m still always after recs!).
I also had the Kiss Quotient on my top ten list! As well as different books by Ainslie Paton (Fool Me Forever) and Jenny Holiday (One and Only) though I also enjoyed the ones you picked by these authors. Of the rest I’ve read the Christina Lauren one and enjoyed that too. Great list!
@Kaetrin: You directed your request to Kathy, but I have a recommendation to share: Linesman by SK Dunstall. It’s the first in a science fiction/space opera trilogy. It was one of my favorite finds last year and a series I continue to reread.
@Kareni: Thank you! Does it end on a cliffhanger? Is the romance strong?
@Christine Maria Rose: I haven’t read Fool Me Forever or One and Only yet (bad Kaetrin). I’m choosing to think this lack made picking my top 10 easier! LOL
I’ve read Iron Magic three times. I just love it!
@Karina Bliss: I have the audiobook which I’m saving as a treat.
@Kaetrin: Linesman is not a romance, but there is a relationship that slowly develops over the course of the trilogy. I would not say that the book ends on a cliffhanger; however, it certainly left me wanting to read more.
@Kareni: Have you read all three? Is there a HEA?
@Kaetrin: I loved the audiobook of Iron Magic. It was the first time I’d listened to Steve West narrate, and he did a great job. He struggles a bit with some of the female voices, but he IS Hugh and I can’t imagine another narrator for the series. You’re in for a treat.
@Susan: I’m a big fan of Steve West – he narrates the Megan Whalen Turner Queen’s Thief series as well. Plus he does some contemporary romance under the name Shane East (I don’t believe that’s a secret). I really like his narrations.
@Kaetrin: I listened to The Thief after Iron Magic. He’s definitely on my list of go-to narrators now. I didn’t know about the Shane East (lol) pseudonym. I don’t listen to many contemporary romances, but will keep an eye out for him. Thanks!
@Kaetrin: I had mixed feelings about Steve West’s narration of the Megan Whalen Turner series. He’s great with the male characters but I’m not that keen on how he voices the female ones. Also, the accents are great in some instances but not in others.
@Susan: I hope you continue with the Megan Whalen Turner books. I wasn’t grabbed until the second half of book two, but it’s my favorite YA series now.
I love the Burn Bright cover. It gives me a beauty and the beast vibe.
I also really enjoyed the Linesman novels. I wouldn’t say they have an HEA exactly because HEA is romance terminology and they aren’t romances. Everything turns out well for the main characters, though (and I say that as someone who reads romances almost exclusively and still sometimes peeks at the end).
Basically, I like the series in spite of there being no overt romantic relationship. :) It has a character driven plot, the main character is very relatable, and it has a “found family” theme.
@Janine: Thanks, Janine. I liked The Thief, but wasn’t bowled over by it. But all of the reviews I read after finishing it remarked it was the weakest book in the series and that things really pick up with subsequent books. So, I’ll definitely continue, whether in ebook (since I already own all the books in that format) or audio.
@Kaetrin: I have indeed read all three books, Kaetrin, and reread them a time or seven. I recommended the series to my husband and my adult daughter and both of them liked it. I sent a copy of the first book to a hospitalized friend undergoing chemo, and she and her sister are currently reading on in the series.
As regards the HEA, @MaryK addresses that in her comment.
I’ve only read two of these Kaetrin and I enjoyed them both – the KJ Charles and the Cat Sebastian.
I only had two 5 star reads on GR in 2018 (I think I may need to recalibrate – I give A LOT of 3 star ratings and those range quite a bit in terms of quality and enjoyment).
My top two were Lights and Sirens by Lisa Henry (easily her best book so far) and the last book in the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells.
I apparently have stopped reading heterosexual novels. It was not a conscious choice, but I’m just so much more drawn to queer fiction these days.
@cleo: Oh! I want to read Lights & Sirens! I think I saw your review on Goodreads and I’ve been meaning to pick it up since then. Thx for the reminder.
I have the Murderbot books on my TBR – I’ve only read the first novella so far but I really liked it.
@Kaetrin: “Lights and Sirens” was awesome . I also meant to thank you for introducing me to “A girl like her”. Occasional m/f romance reader as I am, I really liked it.
I still think that I won’t cry if Hugh drops dead :), but they did a bang on job in trying to redeem him IMO.
@Susan: Yes, the later books really pick up the pace and are also more adult / complex. Oh, and much more angsty.
Plus, all of her books are written to be reread but I think this is more true of The Thief than others. I got much more out of it when I reread it after reading some of the later books, because I knew a lot more about where Gen’s future relationships with the gods and the queens were heading, and also, what Gen had up in sleeve. Turner plants double entendres that you can only pick up on after knowing the outcome of the book.
There’s a review on Amazon that points this out: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R21CREQHF5FAJB/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0062642960
I had a very similar experience to that reviewer except that where he gave The Thief 4 stars the first time, I only gave it 3.
@Sirius: Oh I’m so glad you liked it! :)