Featured Book Lists

I had a hard time picking faves this year—there were so many! But here is where I landed. Just know that there are so many in honorable mention. Make sure you check out faves from the first half of the year too!

It’s that special time of the year, the end of June, and we’re halfway through 2023. I’m taking a moment to reflect on my favorite books so far.

I’ve been looking at a lot of book covers recently, especially in the realm of Fantasy Romance. I’m trying to decide what it means to nail the vibe of a book with the cover. I’m thinking where the artist manages to capture the major themes as well as the tone of the book. In my searching, here were a few that stood out to me across the intersection of fantasy and romance. What are your favorites?

In the never ending list that is my TBR (To Be Read), I can’t help but worry I’m missing out on a gem. A book or series that I will love, that I just simply haven’t gotten to yet. We can’t read everything all at once, so we have to try our best to pick the next book we’ll enjoy. I just wanted to share a few books that had been on my TBR for years, that I read recently. I’m highlighting these in hopes that if they’re on your TBR, you check them out soon!

I decided that I can’t possibly select only 5 top books for the whole year, so I’m combining this list with the list I made in July - 2022 Favorites So Far - to make a top 10!

Enemies to Lovers taken to the extreme. They don’t just hate each other at first, but one of them comes in hot with plans to kill the other, until everyone catches feelings and we all swoon together.

Like many of my other lists, I didn’t realize this representation existed before I stumbled across it in Blade of Secrets. I found Ziva, the main character, with social anxiety, very relatable. The representation was well done, it hindered the character’s ability to complete their quest, but it wasn’t something to be conquered or solved, it was a reality to be dealt with. After that, I went in search of other books with strong anxiety representation, and these are a few of my favorites.

I read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and couldn’t get enough of the feeling that it gave me. To para-quote Samwise, “…there’s some good in this world….and it’s worth fighting for.” The characters just wanted a space to exist and someone to care about them, and you know what? They found their HEAs.

I just wanted more of this feeling, so I went on a cozy paranormal romance romp. Below are my findings and favorites.

I’m actually leaving out Kaz and the crows from this list because they could easily take it all up. But if you love Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom for the heist vibes, checkout these other fantasy thieves you should get acquainted with.

Looking for something similar to your favorite book?

Checkout some recommendations based on your current favorites.

You know that feeling, when you fall in love with an ensemble or supporting character in a series, and then the author announces that they are also in love the with character? And that they are getting their own series or story?

Or what about the authors that decide there are other time periods in the world to explore.

Yeah, these are some of my favorite feelings. Here are a few of those stories that we love.

Favorite Multiple Points of View Stories

Why settle for getting in one characters head when you can see into many?! I love a good use of multiple POVs, especially when the tensions between the characters make for conflicting insights from each. Some of our favorites are below.

Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award

BBNYA is an annual Indie book award hosted and judged completely by book bloggers from all over the world! 2021 was the first year I participated as a panelist! It was a lot of fun and while you’ve likely seen some of the blog tours for the finalists and winner, we wanted to showcase all the fun reads from BBYNA in one place.

Best Fairy Tale Retellings

Give me ALL the fairy tale retellings and reimaginings. I love a new spin on a classic, and even retellings that introduce me to a fairy tale that I’m not really familiar with. Here are a few of my faves.