Willaful’s Best of 2014
Reading Lists / Top Ten Lists18 Comments
This was such a rough reading year for me, I was surprised to see my overall total was 469 books, including audiobooks, novellas and short stories. It made much more sense when I realized that 208 of those were DNFs. So my actual total for the year so far is 261 books, down from 383 last year. This includes 60 rereads, and I’m rather proud that I gave myself permission to reread so often.
Comparing this list to my 2013 choices, I see it reflects what I think of as my tastes more accurately, with five historical romances, two of which are m/m stories. There are a fair number of repeat authors: Cara McKenna, Laura Florand, Courtney Milan, and Robin York (who also writes as Ruthie Knox.) Rather than dealing with rankings, I’m listing the books alphabetically.
Beguiled by Joanna Chambers (Reviewed by Sirius)
The entire “Enlightment” trilogy was very good, but the second book — often the weakest in a trilogy — stood out as exceptional historical romance. The setting is fascinating: Scotland in the midst of an opulent, over-the-top pageant to celebrate the visit of King George, with the excitement of the populace verging on riotous. But it’s the development of the relationship, the changing hearts and minds of the main characters as they realize they’re capable of having deep feelings for each other, that makes it so satisfying. The trilogy format works really well for this slow-burn love story.
Deeper by Robin York (Reviewed by Rose)
With my love for angst, New Adult would seem to be a subgenre made for me, yet I find much of it unpleasant to read. I think Deeper was a deliberate attempt to deliver the expected enjoyable aspects of NA romance — intensity, uncertainty, the powerful rush of growing into yourself — without the cringeworthy sexism and already stale plot points that permeate so many books. It delivers beautifully, using a perturbing, relevant plot — the heroine is the subject of revenge porn — to stress sex-positivity and personal growth.
Hard Time by Cara McKenna. (Reviewed by Jane)
This didn’t impress and astonish me quite as much as Unbound did last year, but it was still intensely exciting. The sometimes uncomfortably creepy story of a prison librarian and an inmate, it’s practically the definition of forbidden, this-is-a-really-bad-idea romance but Eric’s courtship of Annie — via letters that she’s transcribing for him — is so sexy and powerfully yearning, you can’t blame her for succumbing. (There’s no reason to regret it, either.)
Her Kind of Trouble by Sarah Mayberry (My review)
As is common for Mayberry, this contemporary romance delivers the funny, the sexy, and the sad all in one. It’s about two free spirit types who have a quick fling, and then discover years later that they’ve both grown up. And none too soon, because the shit is about to hit the fan. I found it unexpectedly fresh and very moving.
The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin (My collaborative review with Sunita and Jayne)
The follow-up to the wonderful The Lotus Palace (which sadly, I read too late to put on my Best Of last year) is another gorgeous mystery/romance set in ancient China. Immersive scene-setting, intricate class issues, and an exploration of the themes of authenticity and artifice make it a particularly sophisticated, intelligent story, yet it’s also very accessible.
The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan (My review)
Although I had some issues around this Victorian set story as an historical, the romance part completely won me over. The main characters are both very sharp and tough, which highlights the tenderness of their feelings for each other. I also appreciated the heroine’s strong, hopeful message about what it means to be a feminist activist.
Sun-Kissed by Laura Florand (My review)
The sequel to Snow-Kissed, one of my best of 2013, is another fairy-tale inspired story, with powerful emotions and a gorgeous use of metaphor. I thought it a bit overcrowded by characters from previous books, but loved the playful sexiness, which is especially good to find in a story about a middle-aged couple.
Sweet Disorder by Rose Lerner (Reviewed by Janine and Kaetrin)
I wasn’t really a fan of Lerner’s previous two books, so was very glad that peer pressure caused me to read this one anyway. It’s our all-too familiar Regency England seen through a different lens, with a focus on middle- and working-class people and what politics mean in their lives. I enjoyed the richness of the romance and the complex family relationships.
Think of England by KJ Charles. (My review, with some concerns from Sunita in the comment thread)
I can’t think of another book this year that simply gave me as much pleasure to read as this one. Except for some shocks at violent moments, I smiled and chortled and swooned all the way through it; it brought back many happy memories of reading classic British literature, but with a delicious new perspective. There are two unexpected heroes, and I fell madly in love with both of them.
Think of England and The Jade Temptress-you know I completely agree! I need to try some of these others….
Since half of these books are also on my Best Of 2014 list (the one in my head, because tradition dictates that I not get around to posting that list until, say, March), I’m off to go buy the rest. :) THINK OF ENGLAND is, for me, the best book I’ve read all year. KJ Charles is just a brilliantly funny and sexy writer. If you haven’t yet picked up the charity anthology, Another Place in Time (historical romance stories), Charles has a story in that collection that’s pretty much the hottest card game I’ve ever read. :)
Wow, I’ve only read 95 ish books this year, not counting re-reads. Not that it’s a competition, but it’s interesting to me the variations in volume between voracious readers.
I’ve only read two on this list (Think of England and Jade Temptress) and I Iiked both of them a lot. I’ve been looking at Deeper, but haven’t taken the plunge since I’m not a big NA fan.
@Amy Jo Cousins – yes! That card game – that was one of my favorite short stories of the year.
@cleo: And this was a slow year for me. ;-) Looking at my old GR stats, around 320 a year seems to be my mean. But I read a lot of shorter books.
You *might* find Deeper worth reading even if you don’t like NA… I guess it would depend on what turns you off. Be aware that you have to read the sequel to get a happy ending.
I adored that card game. Old skool in the best possible way.
Nice list– I greatly enjoyed The Jade Temptress, The Suffragette Scandal and Sweet Disorder. I need to try some of the others!
I can’t believe this was a “slow” year for you (given that volume of books, because even the DNFs were at least partial reads!!). Wow. That’s an impressive number.
I’ve read several of these that you listed…but I’m really intrigued by the Hard Time description. If you reviewed it earlier this year, I missed it. Think I’ll have to go download the sample pages. Thanks!
@jamie beck: Fast reader + far amount of time spent waiting + read at the gym + getting though boring chores with the help of audiobooks.
I didn’t review Hard Times here because Jane did, but my review is at GoodReads. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/914049062
@cleo Yes! And I think she’s sold a series of books in that world, which made me do all the happy dancing. :)
@Any Jo Cousins – I read that too!! And it’s going to be published by Loveswept / Penguin. It’s very, very exciting.
Here’s the announcement for anyone who wants to join the happy dance: http://kjcharleswriter.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/announcement-kj-charles-regency-mm-trilogy-to-loveswept/
@cleo – that’s Amy Jo, not Any Jo. Sigh. Stupid auto correct.
Wow. I could not read that many books and retain enough to make it worthwhile. That is impressive!
I’m so glad to see the Chambers book. I beta read the first two, so I haven’t felt comfortable recommending them, but I thought they were both really good. The historical setting was so well realized and the characters are not cut from the standard models.
After reading this I decided to count how many books I have read. I went back to June 1st and counted 240 books just since then! I knew I read a lot but I never really counted so I’m really surprised by the number. There are only a few DNFs and short stories in the total.
I have a full time job and three children at home. I don’t know how I managed to read so much. I don’t think I will tell my non-reading friends about this number. They won’t understand. I don’t even want to think about how much I spent on books. I make a point of never totaling up that number.
Thank you for drawing attention to the conversation around your review of Think of England. That was a very interesting discussion :)
Enjoyed your list/summaries, @Willaful. I have about half of these on my TBR pile, so I guess I’d better get cracking! I certainly won’t get to all of them before yearend, but I definitely need to move the Charles book towards the front of the queue.
This is the first year since I was a teen that I actually noted all the books I read. I found I was getting a tad forgetful and wanted to have something to jog my memory. My count so far is 209, which is probably average for me. Depending on what’s going on in my life, I think there were years I read a good deal more, but there were also years that I hardly read anything at all, so there’s a lot of fluctuation.
@Sunita: There’s nothing especially impressive about it… just that I can read 3 Harlequin Presents in a day — and frequently do! I spend more time on review books. :-)
Willaful, thanks for your attention and review. I have some questions about the books. I need some advices.
I like these kind of books, but they started to make me bored. I do not know why I am bored.. Maybe I need some different books which will open my mind.
What can you prefer for me? I follow this link for your review, or you can send an e-mail to me…
Swear I didn’t look at your list until AFTER I wrote up my own. SWEAR!
@Jackie Horne: Hehe… We do tend to have similar tastes. And I don’t think this is an area where people worry about copy cats. ;-)
There are at least three books on your list that I considered adding to mine, and I’m pretty sure The Understatement of the Year would’ve made it if I’d read it in time.