THE TOP TEN NOVELS THAT I READ IN 2024

Good morning! It's time again to unveil the best books that I read this year. This is the sixth consecutive year I do this since I started this blog. In fact, I've been making these lists for a bit longer than that. They're a bit too long to post on normal social media, like Facebook or Threads. Even sites like Goodreads and The Storygraph aren't well suited for this. That's why I launched this blog. I wanted a place where I could share my reviews and opinions with the world.

This year, I decided to post this list now, rather than in December as usual. That makes it less likely that a great read I finish last-minute doesn't make it as one of the picks. It almost happened with Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. It was a fantastic book, but I read it very late in 2023. I just would rather not cut it too close again. Without further ado, here are my choices for the top 10 books I read in 2024:

BOOK REVIEW: BREAK ME BY TIFFANY SNOW

Title: Break Me

Author: Tiffany Snow
Genre: Romance
Published on: March 14, 2017 by Montlake Romance

Just a few weeks ago, computer prodigy China Mack's typical night in involved Endor Star Wars pajamas and a sensible bedtime. Now she's dating gorgeous tech guru Jackson Cooper--one of Forbes's Top Ten Eligible Billionaires--much to the Twitterverse's delight.

Turns out, going from socially inept hermit to poster girl for geek chic has its challenges. China's relationship gets even more complicated because her role heading the top-secret Vigilance program--where she's partnered with Superman clone Clark Slattery--makes her a target. And when ruthless businessman Simon Lu plans to co-opt Vigilance software to blackmail government and military employees, he'll need China's cooperation--willing or otherwise.

But not every enemy is so easily identified. Some hide in plain sight, in very high places, and mistaking foe for friend could be the last mistake China ever makes...

Break Me is the second installment of the Corrupted Hearts series. The protagonist is China Mack (whose actual surname, according to her, is unpronounceable). She’s a gifted programmer with genius-level intellect. China’s also very OCD and is not good with social interactions. Despite being in her early twenties, China already has an impressive resume. She used to work for Cysnet, a prominent tech company owned by Jackson Cooper. In the previous book, the two became close and are now dating. China resigned from her job, though. She got an offer that she couldn’t refuse.

The aforementioned offer was a bit of a twist in the ending of Follow Me. As revealed, the project that China and Jackson had been working on was a program called Vigilance. It’s a sophisticated tool that can gather data from various sources. Vigilance can then use this data to predict, for instance, whether a specific person is planning a bombing. It’s very Minority Report meets Edward Snowden, so China obviously saw how dangerous and controversial the program could be. There’s nothing she can do about the government using this tool, though. The president issued a special directive (a sort of non-public executive order) to put together a team that will harness Vigilance. And he wanted China to be the leader.

BOOK REVIEW: THE CHASE BY ELLE KENNEDY

Title: The Chase

Author: Elle Kennedy

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: August 6, 2018, self-published

Everyone says opposites attract. And they must be right, because there's no logical reason why I'm so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald. I don't usually go for tattoo-covered, video-gaming, hockey-playing nerd-jocks who think I'm flighty and superficial. His narrow view of me is the first strike against him. It doesn't help that he's buddy-buddy with my brother.

And that his best friend has a crush on me.
And that I just moved in with them.

Oh, did I not mention we're roommates?

I suppose it doesn't matter. Fitzy has made it clear he's not interested in me, even though the sparks between us are liable to burn our house down. I'm not the kind of girl who chases after a man, though, and I'm not about to start. I've got my hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy professor, and an uncertain future. So if my sexy brooding roomie wises up and realizes what he's missing?

He knows where to find me.

Forbidden love stories are among my favorite in the romance genre. If it's also a New Adult novel that doesn't have a shirtless dude in the cover, I'm picking it up. The Chase is the first in a New Adult romance series. The books are named after the setting, Briar University. The protagonist/love interest in The Chase is Summer Heyward-Di Laurentis. That mouthful of a name is a hint at her status. Summer is a well-to-do student, though it's refreshing that she's not your usual trust fund kid. Summer's father is a prosecutor, which I found interesting (even though he's never physically in any of the scenes).

The book starts on New Year's Eve. Summer is at a bar, where she meets the love interest, Colin Fitzgerald. She already knew him, but this is the first time Summer tries to get him to date her. Colin finds Summer pretty much irresistible, but there's a big obstacle. Summer is his best friend David's little sister. Colin and David know each other from playing hockey for Briar. David's not on the team anymore, but Colin still feels loyal to him. In an attempt to persuade himself not to give in to Summer, Colin talks about her (imagined) flaws to one of his acquaintances. Of course Summer overhears this, and is seriously offended. She assumes that Colin sees Summer as little more than fluff.

BOOK REVIEW: FOLLOW ME BY TIFFANY SNOW

Title: Follow Me

Author: Tiffany Snow

Genre: Romance

Published on: October 4, 2016 by Montlake Romance

Brilliant, quirky twenty-three-year-old China Mack is totally satisfied with her carefully ordered, data-driven life. A computer prodigy who landed a coveted programming job at the cutting-edge tech company Cysnet before even graduating from MIT, China is happiest when following her routine: shower before coffee, pizza only on Mondays, bedtime at ten thirty sharp.

But then things start to get a little…unpredictable.

First Jackson Cooper—Cysnet’s rich, gorgeous, genius CEO—assigns China to a dangerous and highly classified project for a government defense contractor. Her sixteen-year-old runaway niece suddenly arrives in town, begging to move in with China. And then there’s her sexy but oddly unsettling new neighbor, Clark…

Quickly the Cysnet assignment becomes disconcerting—and then downright scary—as key staffers turn up dead. China suspects she’s being followed and isn’t sure whom she can trust. For the first time ever, she’ll have to follow her instincts, rather than logic, if she’s going to survive.

This book caught my interest because I’m a fan of the author’s Kathleen Turner series. The synopsis sounded compelling, so I bought a copy. Follow Me is the first book of the Corrupted Hearts series. The protagonist is China Mack, an extremely gifted programmer in her early twenties. She works for Cysnet, a tech company that apparently–according to China–runs circles around Apple. They hired China straight out of school because of how smart and talented she is. By now, she’s established a comfortable routine. And yes, China lives alone–for now.

China’s life changes when Jackson Cooper, Cysnet’s CEO himself, gives her an important assignment. The job’s a government contract, highly classified…and potentially dangerous. Jackson selected China because she’s the only employee at Cysnet with a particular skill. China, being shy and modest, downplays it as if it were as common as knowing HTML. Jackson seems to take it in stride, thinking nothing of China’s awkwardness. I think he might even find her endearing. China struggles to make a good impression, even though she might not need to try too hard. The thing that Jackson values most in China is her intelligence.

THE TOP 10 BOOKS I READ IN 2023

Good morning, folks! It’s time again for my annual list of the 10 best books that I read. This year was my most prolific yet. I’ve finished 84 books as of the time I’m writing this post. It could increase slightly, but I’m pretty much done for the year. And though I read so many books, there weren’t that many to choose from to pick my top 10. It seems the…likability of the books I read this year wasn’t as high as usual. Despite that, there were still plenty of books that I greatly enjoyed.

One of my picks this year was a huge surprise. This book was so good I added it to this list at the very last minute. Usually, December is a wind-down month for me; I either read less books or pick only books that I’ve read before. But this last-minute book is part of a series I didn’t want to postpone until next year. And boy, was that a good choice. The book is Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. It was absolutely earth-shattering in my opinion. I liked it so much I couldn’t not include it in this list. And it damn near beat all my other picks. Here’s the full list:

BOOK REVIEW: THE STAR THIEF BY JAMIE GRAY

Title: The Star Thief

Author: Jamie Grey

Genre: Science Fiction, romance

Published on: December 29, 2013

Experience the romance and adventure of the best selling futuristic romance.

Stealing another galactic secret will get her arrested, but playing by the rules might just get her killed.

At twenty-three, Renna Carrizal is the most notorious thief in the galaxy. There's just one problem - all she wants is to get out of the business.

But after Renna rescues an injured boy on her final job, she finds herself on the run from the mob instead of enjoying retirement. She unwittingly becomes ensnared by MYTH, the empire's top-secret galactic protection agency, who offer her a choice - either help them on their latest mission, or spend the rest of her life on a prison ship.

Forced to work under the watchful eye of handsome but arrogant Captain Finn, Renna learns the former mercenary-turned-space marine has a few dirty secrets himself. As Renna works to discover the truth about Finn's past and keep the tantalizing man at arm's length, she unearths a plot to create an unstoppable army. The target? The human star fleet.

Now Renna must pull off the biggest job of her career - saving the galaxy. And maybe even herself.

I haven’t read many space opera novels. They’re a fascinating sci-fi subgenre for me, especially when done right like Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. After I came across The Star Thief, I thought it sounded cool. The protagonist is 23-year-old Renna Carrizal, and she’s perhaps the best thief in the galaxy. The novel doesn’t specify how far into the future the story is set, only that it’s several centuries after our time. Renna is introduced while she’s in the middle of an assignment. Someone hired her to steal some tech prototype. Renna is able to find it, of course. When she’s about to leave, Renna gets into a snag. She is forced to outrun the building’s guards with extra cargo that she hadn’t anticipated.

Just when Renna thinks she’s made it away, an unknown group shows up. They’re not the goons Renna just stole from. These newcomers seem to be some sort of paramilitary unit. Renna can’t help but think of them as ninjas, especially as they use swords. She tells the reader that swords went out of fashion eons ago. They’re highly effective in the hands of these guys, though. The squad make short work of the goons and take Renna hostage. Of course, Renna tries to escape and almost manages it...until she sees who sent the ninja soldiers after her.

BOOK REVIEW: MORE THAN HER BY JAY MCLEAN

Title: More than Her

Author: Jay McLean

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: November 18, 2013, self-published

Please note that this is the second book in the series and should not be read prior to reading More Than This.

"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."
For every choice you make there are rewards, or there are consequences.
It was my choice to walk away the first time. And my choice to chase her the second.
But sometimes you don't get a choice, and all you get are the consequences.
Unless that someone is Logan Matthews.

Because loving him didn't give me the strength to walk away.
It didn't give me the courage to fight for him.
And when it was over, all it gave me was a broken heart.
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

Despite having liked More than This and More than Forever so much, I’ve hesitated to read this book. It’s part of a romance series, and each book focuses on a particular couple. Jake and Micky were great, just like Cameron and Lucy. More than Her focuses on the character of Logan Matthews. He was introduced in the previous book, as one of Jake’s best friends. Part of the reason I put this book off for so long is that Logan’s, well, a bit of a jerk. He loves girls, but isn’t as good at treating them well as Jake and Cameron are. I also confess that Logan seemed so much like high school me, except with the jerkiness dialed down two or three notches.

Like me, Logan absolutely worships women. He is very eager to meet the girl who’ll sweep him off his feet, like Micky did Jake. Actually, Logan happened to have met Micky first (by a few minutes). He had a big crush on her, but backed off as soon as Jake showed interest in her. It didn’t help that Logan made a very poor first impression on Micky. Things turned out more than fine in the end. Logan eventually meets another girl who gets way deeper under his skin than even Micky did. Pity that he once again had bad luck when it comes to how they met. It started out okay, but Logan seriously misread the situation and royally screwed things up.

BOOK REVIEW: IN FIVE YEARS BY REBECCA SERLE

Title: In Five Years

Author: Rebecca Serle

Genre: Romance

Published on: March 10, 2020 by Atria Books

 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Good Morning America, FabFitFun, and Marie Claire Book Club Pick

“In Five Years is as clever as it is moving, the rare read-in-one-sitting novel you won’t forget.” —Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

​Perfect for fans of Me Before You and One Day—a striking, powerful, and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who experiences an astonishing vision that could change her life forever.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers.

She is nothing like her lifelong best friend—the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content.

But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight—but it is one hour she cannot shake. In Five Years is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.

 

When I came across this book in the Kindle Store, I thought the title was so intriguing. And the synopsis made it even more compelling. How many of us can be certain where we’ll be five years in the future? In Five Years is the story of Dannie Cohan, a lawyer from Manhattan. When she’s introduced, Dannie is about to go to the job interview she’s worked so many years for. Dannie dreams of working at Wachtell, which she believes is the best place for a corporate lawyer. After the interview, Dannie feels confident that she’ll get the job. Her boyfriend, David Rosen, takes her on a date where he proposes. Dannie accepts, feeling all the pieces of her five-year plan falling into place.

What happens next is something extraordinary and unexpected. Dannie wakes up in a strange bed, in an apartment she’s not familiar with. And there’s a man she doesn’t know. Did Dannie have a one-night stand? Of course not, she’d never cheat on David, much less on the same night he proposed. The stranger seems friendly enough, but Dannie is still cautious. She eventually discovers that she’s somehow moved forward five years into the future. Things are so different that Dannie doesn’t know what to make of it. She’s a woman with plans, and she can’t fathom how those plans will lead her to the new apartment with a different man.

BOOK REVIEW: MORE THAN THIS BY JAY MCLEAN

Title: More than This

Author: Jay McLean

Genre: Romance, Young Adult

Published on: July 21, 2014 by Skyscape

When Mikayla imagined her prom night, she envisioned a fairy-tale evening full of romance. So when betrayal and tragedy come in quick succession, Mikayla is completely destroyed. Suddenly, everything she loved and everyone she relied on are tragically, irrevocably gone.

Jake, a handsome boy she just met, happens to witness her loss. With no one to turn to, Mikayla is forced to depend on this near stranger and his family, and he in turn is determined to take care of her. But Mikayla-thrust into adulthood with no one to guide her-is desperate to contain her grief and hide what she considers to be her weakness. Mikayla and Jake both want more, but despite their growing closeness and intense chemistry, she tries to keep her distance and protect her heart. As he does everything in his power to win her trust, Mikayla must choose between remaining alone and safe or letting love in.

Revised edition: This edition of More than This includes editorial revisions.

I’m a big fan of romance novels (young adult or New Adult) where the main couple are totally devoted to each other. That’s the case in More Than This. It’s the first novel in a romance series by Jay McLean. The protagonist is Mikayla “Micky” Jones, a high school senior. We meet her on the day of her prom. Micky is supposed to attend the event with her boyfriend, James, and her best friend, Megan. Before the three can enjoy their prom, though, something happens that destroys that plan…as well as something else. I’ll just say it’s a gross betrayal.

This is where the second main character is introduced. He’s Jake, another high school senior. He doesn’t go to the same school as Micky and her group, though. Jake’s there just when Micky needs someone to save her prom night. The two take off to meet his friends, whom I found really great. They’re the kind of friends anyone would love to have. Micky enjoys her time with them. But the night can still get worse. When Jake takes Micky home, a horrible tragedy awaits them. This part of More Than This is utterly sad. Micky has lost pretty much everything. Fortunately, Jake doesn’t think twice about taking care of her. Even though they just met, Jake is adamant about being there for Micky. She’s so lucky to have found him.

FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS FROM BOOKS, PART 2

Good morning! Today I’m publishing the second part of a post I wrote almost three years ago. In it, I listed some of my favorite characters from the books that I’ve read. I re-uploaded the post recently because the images embedded in it were lost. I didn’t alter any of the text, but it did give me the opportunity to pick better “casting choices” for some of the characters. I’m not a big movie buff, so I don’t know as many actors as some people do, but I still fancy imagining who could play certain characters.

In the three years since I first uploaded that post, I’ve read a lot of books. Inevitably, I’ve met new characters who I ended up liking or admiring. A few are from very popular series that I hadn’t had a chance to read yet. Like with the previous post, this list is in no particular order. Here it goes:

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BOOK REVIEW: BE THE GIRL BY K.A. TUCKER

Title: Be The Girl

Author: K.A. Tucker

Genre: Young Adult, romance

Published on: January 21, 2019, self-published

From the internationally bestselling author of Ten Tiny Breaths and The Simple Wild comes a poignant novel about a girl trying to change her future while evading her past.

Aria Jones is starting over. New postal code, new last name, new rules. But she doesn’t mind, because it means she can leave her painful regrets behind. In the bustling town of Eastmonte, she can become someone else. Someone better.

With the Hartford family living next door, it seems she will succeed. Sure, Cassie Hartford may be the epitome of social awkwardness thanks to her autism, but she also offers an innocent and sincere friendship that Aria learns to appreciate. And Cassie’s older brother, Emmett—a popular hockey player with a bright future—well … Aria wishes that friendship could lead to something more. If he didn’t already have a girlfriend, maybe it would.

But Aria soon finds herself in a dicey moral predicament that could derail her attempt at a fresh start. It is her loyalty to Cassie and her growing crush on Emmett that leads her to make a risky move, one that earns her a vindictive enemy who is determined to splinter her happy new world.

 

Most of the books I read are part of a series. I slightly prefer those because it means you spend more time with the characters (it’s great when you like them). Still, there are times I feel like reading a standalone book, which is why I picked Be The Girl. This is a young adult romance from an author who has written great novels in the genre. The main protagonist is Aria Jones. At the start of the story, she and her mother Debra have just moved to Eastmonte in Canada. It’s obvious something bad happened that caused the move.

Part of the reason the Joneses moved is because Debra got divorced. She found out her husband had a secret family somewhere in the city. The jerk didn’t even love Aria anymore. She’s starting to move past it, though. Aria is ready to start a better life. Debra and Aria decide to stay with the latter’s elderly Uncle Merv. He’s been living alone ever since his wife passed away. Uncle Merv’s house needs a lot of TLC, which makes Debra get a little carried away. She spends tons of money renovating first one thing, then another. Debra can afford it--she used to be a successful lawyer.

BOOK REVIEW: TWISTED BOND BY EMMA HART

Title: Twisted Bond
Author: Emma Hart
Genre: Romance, mystery
Published on: June 11, 2015, self-published

I’m an Italian-Texan woman in a family full of cops. I’m passionate and shoot before I think. You only f*ck with me if you’re stupid.

Photograph cheating spouses. Hand over the evidence. Cash my check.

That was my plan when I returned home to Holly Woods, Texas, and became a private investigator.

Finding the dead body in my dumpster? Yeah… Given the choice, I think I would have opted out of that little discovery, especially since all three of my brothers are cops. And my Italian grandmother is sure the reason I’m single is because of my job.

Of course, my connection to the victim is entirely coincidental. Until I’m hired by her husband to investigate her murder and shoved bang-smack into the path of Detective Drake Nash. My nemesis, a persistent pain in my ass, and one hell of a sexy son of a bitch.

Shame he still holds a grudge from that time I shot him in the foot twelve years ago, or we could have something. In another life.

So now all I have to do is avoid my nonna’s blind dates, try not to blackmail my brothers into giving me confidential police files, and absolutely do not point my gun at Drake Nash. Or kiss him. Or jump his bones.

All while I hunt down the killer.

Sounds totally simple—until a second body proves that sometimes things that start as coincidences don’t always end up that way…

I’m familiar with Emma Hart. She is one of the first self-published authors I discovered. Hart mostly writes romances aimed at women…the kind I don’t read. So I’ve only picked up a small fraction of her works, the few ones I wouldn’t mind others knowing I own. Twisted Bond caught my eye because of its genre. I was intrigued when I found out Hart branched into mystery. It’s one of my favorite genres. I had to see whether the author pulled it off.

Twisted Bond takes place in the fictional town of Holly Woods, Texas. I would know because, well, I’m a Texan. The main character is Noelle Bond, a 30-year-old hotheaded private investigator. She’s the owner of Bond P.I., an agency that mostly handles infidelity cases. Noelle is also part Italian, and it’s a huge part of her character. She has a grandmother (whom she calls ‘Nonna’) who is bent on finding Noelle a husband. And he has to be part Italian, like them. Noelle is too independent and self-assured to  care about having a man in her life.

BOOK REVIEW: A COURT OF MIST AND FURY BY SARAH J. MAAS

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Fantasy, romance
Published on: May 3, 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing

 

The seductive and stunning #1 New York Times bestselling sequel to Sarah J. Maas's spellbinding A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she's now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people.

As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre's hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different people: one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future-and the future of a world in turmoil.

Bestselling author Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her dazzling, sexy, action-packed series to new heights.

  

If a second read of A Court of Thorns and Roses made me like it better, then this sequel finished the job of making me a fan of the series. Now I see why it has such an ardent fan base. A Court of Mist and Fury picks things up shortly after the first book’s ending. Feyre Archeron is the main character. She’s a human girl who was compelled to enter Prythian, the fairy realm, after a fateful evening. There, she fell for Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court. This romance gave Feyre the courage to stop Amarantha, a wicked and powerful fairy princess. Feyre ends up getting killed, though. Fortunately, the seven High Lords of Prythian brought her back as thanks for saving their land.

Feyre is now a High Fae, and is living in the Spring Court. Tamlin and his people are rebuilding after the damage wrought by the war. However, their court isn’t the only thing that’s damaged. Feyre’s experience Under the Mountain (Amarantha’s base) broke her. Saving Prythian cost her way more than just her life. Feyre is now living with guilt, and it doesn’t help that Tamlin smothers her with protection. He doesn’t want to lose Feyre again, and goes to great lengths for it.

BOOK REVIEW: WHEN I WAS YOURS BY SAMANTHA TOWLE

Title: When I Was Yours

Author: Samantha Towle

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: November 10, 2015, self-published

“Marry me.”
“What?” I stared back at him, unblinking.
He moved closer, taking my face in his hands. “I love you, Evie. I look into the future, and the only thing I see clearly is you. Marry me.”

What’s an eighteen-year-old girl who was madly in love with her nineteen-year-old boyfriend say?

Of course, I said yes.

Twenty-four hours later, I married Adam Gunner at a Vegas chapel to the sounds of “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. Not the best omen. I get that now.

Then, exactly one week later, I left him. I walked out, leaving behind my wedding ring, annulment papers, and my heart, and he never knew why.

I haven’t seen him since. Not in ten long years.

Now, he’s here, standing before me. Looking at me with nothing but hurt and hatred in his eyes, he wants answers.

Answers I can’t give.

 

I’d been looking forward to reading a Samantha Towle book for a while. She seems to write the kind of romance novels that appeal to me. When I read the synopsis for When I Was Yours, it made me piqued. The main characters are Adam Gunner and Evie Taylor (I know). They met one fateful summer, shortly before they were due to attend college. Adam is a rich guy, and the only son of two Hollywood moguls. In contrast, Evie’s family is barely able to make ends meet. She also has a younger sister, Casey.

Adam first notices Evie when she’s out on the beach not far from his house. She’s sitting on a rock, drawing on a sketchpad. Adam’s quite a ladies’ man, but there’s something about Evie that he can’t resist. Unfortunately, Adam takes a long time to pluck up the courage to talk to Evie. When they finally are face to face, it’s a coup de foudre. Adam thinks Evie is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. Evie also really likes Adam, even knowing he spent weeks simply watching her.

BOOK REVIEW: WICKED SEXY BY J.T. GEISSINGER

Title: Wicked Sexy

Author: J.T. Geissinger

Genre: Romance

Published on: July 26, 2018, self-published

Connor Hughes is a bonafide badass. His private security firm is renowned for its effectiveness. He's renowned for his lethal precision and iron self-control. But when the former Marine meets a gorgeous young hacker with a mouth as smart as her brain, his control unravels in ways he never could have predicted.

Tabitha West is a genius MIT dropout with a bad attitude, an obsession with Hello Kitty, and piercings in unmentionable places. Known in hacker circles as Polaroid due to her photographic memory, she's as secretive as she is accustomed to working alone. So when Connor decides she's the only one who can help him catch a cyber criminal intent on taking down one of his clients, she tells him exactly where he can stick it.

But when the cyber criminal turns out to be a dark presence from Tabby's past, Tabby and Connor are drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse. They find themselves fighting not only their common enemy, but also an explosive desire that threatens to consume them. When the stakes are this high and the game this deadly, will falling in love be the most dangerous move of all?

 

After meeting Tabitha “Tabby” West in Wicked Beautiful, I felt eager to read her story. She was a prominent supporting character and is now a protagonist. I liked Tabby a lot mostly because she’s a tech genius. Tabby is so wickedly intelligent (couldn’t resist) she graduated from MIT at an age most other people are starting high school. I’m really into smart women--especially tech-wise--like Daisy Johnson or Caitlin Snow. Wicked Sexy takes place three years after the first book. Tabby’s love interest is Connor Hughes. He’s a whiz at technology as well…though not as much as Tabitha.

Tabby and Connor met while their respective bosses were at odds with each other. They both served as the go-to tech people. Connor even has his own elite private security company. He tried to uncover info on Tabby’s boss, and it didn’t end well. Tabby wasn’t just a tech whiz: she was the notorious hacker called Polaroid. Her security software fried Connor’s custom system, which drove him nuts. When Connor found out Tabby was his rival, he was incredulous. Connor couldn’t fathom how such a petite girl could best him.

BOOK REVIEW: A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES BY SARAH J. MAAS

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Fantasy, romance

Published on: May 5, 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

 

Before I started reading this book, I had a few doubts about it. I’d read some reviews (as I do with some of the books I get) and they were divisive. I’m not completely swayed by critiques, though. That lots of people didn’t like a particular novel doesn’t mean I won’t like it. So I decided to read A Court of Thorns and Roses, looking forward to seeing who I’d agree with. The main character is Feyre. She’s nineteen and lives in a cottage with her father and two sisters. They are desperately poor, so Feyre must hunt to provide for them all. This has made her skilled with a bow. Feyre is also kind of an old-soul, and the most resilient of her sisters.

The setting of ACOTAR is a fantastical land where fairies exist. Long ago, there was a war between them and humans. After it ended, the fairies isolated themselves, claiming a huge chunk of the territory. Humans settled for a small portion of the south. The land is a country-sized island, and the fairy section is known as Prythian. This surprised me a little bit. I’d thought the fairies would live in a separate realm/dimension. Instead they live in the same physical world as humans.

BOOK REVIEW: EMERGENCY CONTACT BY MARY H.K. CHOI

Title: Emergency Contact
Author: Mary H.K. Choi
Genre: Young Adult, romance

Published on: March 27, 2018 by Simon & Schuster

From debut author Mary H.K. Choi comes a compulsively readable novel that shows young love in all its awkward glory—perfect for fans of Eleanor & Park and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

For Penny Lee, high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she’d somehow landed a boyfriend, they never managed to know much about each other. Now Penny is heading to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer. It’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to, you know, see each other.

 

 

Lately (I’m writing this review in early 2021) I’ve been borrowing Kindle ebooks from my public library. I’ve never done it before because I like to buy my books. It’s why I haven’t subscribed to something like Kindle Unlimited. I don’t see the point, even though it'd be worth it for me seeing how many books I read every month. But the pandemic has hit me rather hard, like it has done to many people. So I’ve turned to borrowing ebooks, especially ones that I’m not 100% sure I’ll like. Did Emergency Contact turn out to be a good read?

This is an unconventional romance novel written by an Asian author. The main characters are Penny Lee, an Asian college freshman, and Sam Becker, an employee at a small restaurant. Their story takes place in Austin, Texas, one of my favorite cities. Penny is a highly memorable character: she’s incredibly smart yet rather socially inept. While I was reading, Penny felt a little bit like a Carrie Pilby kind of girl. I didn’t like Pilby, so I was apprehensive. I ended up liking Penny very much, way more than Carrie. Whereas Pilby was exasperating to me due to her cluelessness, Penny just felt adorable.

MY TOP 10 READS OF 2022

 

Good morning! It's once again time to share the books I enjoyed reading the most this year. And in 2022, there were a lot of books to pick from. So far I've read over 70 books, which I track with The StoryGraph. That's pretty much the same as the number of books I finished in 2021. I ended up selecting just 10 books as always, which makes for tough decisions.

This is also the second year in which I've exclusively used The StoryGraph instead of Goodreads. I moved over because the latter remained static the entire decade I used it. It was also quite bloated and didn't have a handful of features I consider must-haves. Rating books in fractions of a star is the biggest advantage The StoryGraph has, in my opinion. I can also see reading statistics, which tells me I read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi this year. Anyway, here are the books I ended up selecting:

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BOOK REVIEW: WICKED BEAUTIFUL BY J.T. GEISSINGER

Title: Wicked Beautiful

Author: J.T. Geissinger

Genre: Romance

Published on: December 1, 2015, self-published

Life coach and best-selling author Victoria Price has it all: a successful career, fabulous friends, a fantastic penthouse in Manhattan. What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again.

Drop-dead sexy restauranteur and infamous playboy Parker Maxwell has only three rules for the women he dates: no questions about his past, no expectations for the future, and no spending the night. When he meets Victoria, however, he’s willing to break his own rules if it means sating the explosive desire she arouses in him. What he doesn’t know is that the alluring Victoria Price used to be the mousy Isabel Diaz, the girl he deflowered and dumped long ago.

Presented with a perfect opportunity for revenge, Victoria decides the game is on. But when her connection with Parker proves more than just skin deep, she has to make a choice: continue with her plan for payback, or risk her career, her reputation, and her heart by taking a second chance on love?

 

When it comes to romance novels, I tend to choose optimistic ones, like those by J.A. Redmerski or Samantha Young. I haven’t read anything like Wicked Beautiful, which is what drew me to it. The protagonist, Victoria Price, hates the romantic interest, Parker Maxwell, from the start. I found this intriguing (having read only one enemies-to-lovers romance before). This novel is written in the first-person POV. It lets you see how strong Victoria’s feelings are toward Parker. She recounts how Parker broke her heart several years ago. The experience made Victoria into what she is today.

Victoria is a famous celebrity who lives in New York. She made her fortune working as a life coach of sorts. Victoria’s fans are exclusively female. She’s known as the Queen B****. Victoria heads seminars where she teaches women how to own their power and to not let anyone take advantage of them or treat them wrong. Bitter much? You bet. As for Parker, he’s also wealthy in his own right. By this time, Parker is the owner of around 20 restaurants all over the country. Victoria encounters him again when visiting his newest restaurant with her friend Darcy. The latter’s a food blogger with formidable influence. To Victoria’s relief, Parker doesn’t recognize her. He does feel an intense attraction toward her, though.

BOOK REVIEW: FRICTION BY SANDRA BROWN

Title: Friction

Author: Sandra Brown

Genre: Mystery, romance

Published on: August 18, 2015 by Grand Central Publishing

After a courtroom gunman threatens everything he holds dear, a Texas Ranger with a checkered past must choose between vengeance and family in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller.

Crawford Hunt wants his daughter back. Following the death of his wife four years ago, he fell into a downward spiral that knocked him down to deskwork and landed his five-year-old daughter Georgia in the custody of her grandparents. But now that Crawford has cleaned up his act and met the court's requirements, the fate of his family lies with Judge Holly Spencer.

Holly, ambitious and confident, must prove herself worthy of a permanent judgeship on the cusp of an upcoming election. Every decision is high-stakes, and despite Crawford's commitment to being a better father, Holly is wary of his past. But when a masked gunman barges into the courtroom during the custody hearing, Crawford reacts instinctively to save Holly's life.

But his heroism soon takes on the taint of recklessness. With the gunman still at large, Crawford uncovers a horrifying truth, and the cloud over him grows even darker as he considers vengeance. He quickly realizes that pursuing the killer will jeopardize his chances of gaining custody of his daughter and compromise Holly, who needs protection not only from an assassin, but from Crawford himself and the forbidden attraction between them.

Friction will keep you on the edge of your seat with breathtaking plot twists and the unforgettable characters that make Sandra Brown one of the world's best-loved authors. It is an extraordinary novel about the powerful ties that bind us to the ones we love and the secrets we keep to protect them.

I’ve read a few Sandra Brown novels before. She’s a really good writer, so I thought I would like Friction when I saw it at the bookstore. This is a romantic suspense set in a fictional town in Texas. The main protagonists are Crawford Hunt and Holly Spencer. Crawford is a Texas Ranger who’s recently cleaned up his act. He was in serious grief after the tragic death of his wife. Now that Crawford has put himself back together, he has one goal. Crawford wants custody of Georgia, his five-year-old daughter. She’s been living with her maternal grandparents.

At the custody hearing, the second protagonist is introduced. Holly happens to be the judge handling the case. She took over the position from her old mentor. Holly wants to be elected as judge permanently. This means she’s going to be as objective and impartial as possible. No matter how much Crawford shows he loves Georgia, Holly will make her decision with the girl’s best interests in mind. Before she can do that, though, something unexpected happens. A gunman storms into the courtroom, killing someone before most people can react. Crawford instinctively saves Holly’s life and then pursues the gunman.