Anne's Best Books of 2012

My Top Ten of 2012 list includes books I read this year. Not all of them were originally published this year;  these are the books that stand out in my memory.  Clearly contemporary is my favorite genre.

1.  Willing Victim by Cara McKenna  (contemporary)

2. Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha  (contemporary)

3. Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb (audio, futuristic, mystery)

4.Deep Desires by Charlotte Stein (contemporary, novella)

5. Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy (contemporary, m/m)

6. Delicious (in Cherished) by Lauren Dane (contemporary, novella)

7. Tart by Lauren Dane (contemporary)

8. Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward (paranormal)

9. Riveted by Meljean Brook  (steampunk)

10.Beguilement (The Sharing Knife #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold (audio, fantasy)

 

 

Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon (contemporary, mystery, m/m)

The Witness by Nora Roberts (audio, contemporary)

All He Ever Needed and All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey (contemporary)

Slow Summer Kisses by Shannon Stacey (contemporary, novella)

Playing for Keeps by R.L. Mathewson (contemporary)

Bear Meets Girl and Howl for It (novella) by Shelly Laurenston (paranormal)

Forever and a Day (Lucky Harbor #6) by Jill Shalvis (contemporary)

The Theory of Attraction by Delphine Dryden (contemporary, novella)

Never Have I Ever by Alisha Rai (contemporary/paranormal, novella)

Kate's Best Books of 2012

When putting my list together, I realized that my favorites came from all sorts of genres. And how can I pick just one to be number one? How can you compare a shifter to a m/m to a historical? You see my dilemma, right? So here is my top ten list of books I've read this year, by genre, in no particular order. Sci-fi: To the Princess Bound by Sara King Contemporary: Sweet Inspiration (Klaus Brothers #1) by Penny Watson (a holiday story) Alternative (m/m): No Souvenirs by K.A. Mitchell Pirate/Seafaring: Castaway Dreams by Darlene Marshall Menage: Southern Seduction (Bride Train #8) by Reece Butler BDSM: To Command and Collar (Shadowlands #6) by Cherise Sinclair Paranormal/Shifter: Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston Historical: Marry Me by Jo Goodman Short Story: Tales from the Hotel Bentmoore by Shelby Cross (BDSM short stories) YA Romance: Wrecked by Elle Casey Honorable Mention: Kissin' Tell (Rough Riders #13) by Lorelei James for the creative-and unforgettable-use of a trampoline

 

Kay's Best Books of 2012 List

I tried, I really did try to get in to 10 books but i just couldn't do it. Sorry.  (They are listed starting with #1 as most favorite.)

 

1. The Girl's Guide To Manhunting-Jessica Clare

2. Lover Reborn-J.R.Ward

3.Howl For It- Shelly Laurenston

4.Never Seduce A Scot-Maya Banks

5.All Afternoon With A Scandalous Marquess-Alexandra Hawkins

6.All Summer Long-Susan Mallery

7.Lucky In Love- Jill Shalvis

8.Forever And A Day-Jill Shalvis

9.Lothaire-Kresley Cole

10.Infamous-Sherrilyn Kenyon

11.Caden's Vow-Sarah McCarty

12.Playing For Keeps-R.L. Mathewson

13.Perfection-R.L. Mathewson

 

Honorable mentions:

Darker After Midnight-Lara Adrian

The Darkest Seduction-Gena Showalter

Meandros-Sasha White

Hot As Hades-Alisha Rai

Try Me-Olivia Cunning

The Care And Feeding Of An Alpha Male-Jessica Clare

Bared To You-Sylvia Day

Reflected In You-Sylvia Day

Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy

Grade-A+
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Reviewed by Anne

I can't believe I waited so long to read this book! It was incredible! I didn't want to put it down.  I was severely book cranky inbetween reading sessions. I see there is a sequel that catches up with Simon and Declan a few years later. I will definitely read it, but for now I just want them to be perfectly happy in my head for a while!
Tigers and Devils is a contemporary male/male romance set in Australia.  And when I say it's set in Australia, it's really in Australia, with Australian slang and references I had to figure out.  Declan is a pro footballer and a mega celebrity.  He just happens to overhear Simon both insulting and defending him at a party.  Simon is a huge football fan, but a bit of an "arty wanker".  After overhearing a comment that lets him know Simon is gay, Declan comes on to Simon when they are alone.  The only hitch is that Declan is far, far in the closet.  And this starts a funny and touching journey for the two of them together. 

There were several things I loved about this book.  I smiled constantly while reading it.  The whole story is told from Simon's point of view, and he's a funny, self-depreciating guy.  The story also feels very realistic.  I believed in Simon and Declan's affection for each other.  That made their situation all the more gut wrenching. 

Simon and Declan were great characters, too.  Neither was perfect, and both made frustrating decisions.  The way they worked through things was realistic, too.  It's incredible writing!

There were a few little things that might bother some readers.  As I mentioned, the story is told exclusively from Simon's point of view.  This worked fine for me.  Also, the sex in this book is behind closed doors and not detailed. There's no doubt it takes place, and there's lots of it, but it's not written explicitly.

I highly recommend this story!

Caden's Vow by Sarah McCarty

Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Low
Series-Hell's Eight #6
Reviewed by Kay

This focus of this book is on Caden and Maddie. Caden is one of the Hell's Eight. Eight boys who were the only survivors of a massacre in the town they lived in. This attack happened when they were all boys and it bonded them all together. They had to survive on the streets until they were found by Tia, who took them in and basically saved their lives. They as adults built Hell's Eight Ranch and became Texas Rangers. Their reputations are fierce and well known.

Caden is tired of all the matrimonial bliss going on around him and decides to leave and find his own place in life. Maddie is also living at Hell's Eight. She escaped from a whorehouse she was born and raised in, taking refuge at Hell's Eight. She is love with Caden and it's a difficult situation. Maddie retreats in her own mind a lot. This causes others to see her as crazy or childlike.

I looked at some reviews of this book and was scared to read it. They were not favorable. I agree that Sarah McCarty has slipped with the last few books in this series. The last book I truly enjoyed by her was Tucker's. For me, Tracker's and Shadow's were borderline sub par. The stories were okay but the heat level was tanking and that was one of the reasons I have enjoyed her work so much in the past.

I loved everything about this book. I can't stress that enough. I think McCarty has hit her stride. The characters broke my heart, especially Maddie. She's always been viewed as fragile and for most of the book she is, but you know a little bit more why. She is an extremely damaged young woman. She was pimped out by her mom at age eight. She cares horrific self-esteem issues. I was furious at some comments made by Caden to her about her. I openly bawled several times in this book because of her view of what she deserved for circumstances in her life she had no control over. Her defense mechanism was too retreat inside her mind and with her past it is totally understandable. Fans of this series will cheer this book. It is my favorite in the series easily.

Tempt Me by Olivia Cunning

Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Low
Series-One Night With Sole Regret #2
Reviewed by Kay

This is story two in the One Night With Sole Regret series. Sole Regret is a rock band with five members. This story focuses on one of the guitarists, Adam Taylor and his frequent hook-up, Madison Fairbanks. They've hooked up whenever he's in Dallas for the last year. They very much enjoy each other and the time they spend together. Madison met Adam as a counselor for substance abuse. He'd just survived a drug overdose and was in treatment.

Madison comes to the decision that this hook-up is their last because she's acknowledging that she had fallen in love with Adam. She knows their not seeing each other again will be painful but less painful than a broken heart. Adam has realized he's tired of non-discriminate hook-ups with random women. He gets almost giddy with anticipation when he thinks about Madison. He tries to keep it under wraps because his band mates would give him hell over it.  He realizes that Madison accepts him, past and all.

Each of these characters get an education about each other and what the other sees in and expects of them. Adam gets to find out that Madison accepts his rock star lifestyle even knowing she might not be able to handle being a part of it. Madison finds out that Adam has been keeping a few big secrets from her.

This story captivated  me from the first page and never stopped. I've been a huge fan of Olivia Cunning's from the beginning of the Sinners On Tour series. I have the third one of that series on my Kindle waiting! Can't wait! I recommend anything she writes although she writes something with time travel in it that haven't read. Read this story with a fan blowing on you because it's a scorcher.

Tart by Lauren Dane

 

Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level Low, HEA for 3
Series-Delicious #2 (Note that Delicious is connected to the Brown Siblings series)
Reviewed by Anne

So, last Wednesday I confessed to buying this book, Tart.  It was on the expensive end of what I’m willing to pay for a book, but, in this case, I have no regrets.  Be warned, this is going to be another love fest from me to Lauren Dane.  I really love her contemporary set writing.  I know it’s not perfect, but I don’t care.  It’s perfect to me!

In this book, Jules, friend to Daisy and Gillian, is nursing a long standing but unreturned affection for Cal.  This has been the status quo for several years.  Cal, openly bi, has serially dated several women and men during this time.  He’s secretly got a thing for Jules, but feels unworthy of her and is too scared of losing the friendship he has with her to take a chance and make a move.  That’s the case until Jules and Gideon meet. 

Gideon is a childhood friend of Jules and Cal’s.  He’s returned to town to help his grandfather run his farm.  There are immediate sparks between Jules and Gideon, and the move quickly into a relationship they both realize is serious.  That finally spurs Cal into action.

For me, this point where Cal decides to pursue Jules is the weakest point in the story.  I don’t want to spoil anything, but the way they moved from a couple and an outside pursuer into a triad was difficult for me to believe.  However, besides this point in the story, I thought the rest of the dynamics of being part of a triad were realistically portrayed.  (Disclaimer:  I’m not an expert on triads, this is just based on how I would imagine it being.  To me this is fantasy in a contemporary setting.) 

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I enjoyed the Brown Siblings series and now the Delicious series because there are no villains and no susupse, just a telling of how two (or three) people come together.  In this story Jules had more growing to do than the two men.  I’m not sure they could have made a relationship work if they all were a mess.  But I can buy into this fantasy, and I enjoyed being there!  I’m impatient for the next story.  For me, there is just no one who writes quite like Lauren Dane when it comes to this kind of contemporary book!

Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha

Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Moderate
Series-Beyond #1
Reviewed by Anne

Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book from the author.

OK, so I just finished reading Beyond Shame and I LOVED it!  I’ve been on a string of a bunch of A/A+ reads.  It’s not just that I’m in a good mood – I’ve genuinely liked all of these books.  Beyond Shame goes beyond like for me, and it’s going on my best of the year list for sure!

First off, let me say that this is a dirty book.  Reading it made me feel dirty in a very, very good way.  Back when I read Maya Banks’ short story in Cherished I had problems with the group sex and it made me feel dirty in a yucky way.  Not so in this book. 

 

There is m/f, m/m/f, f/f, m/f/f sex and some fairly big parties.  However, the heart of the story is the m/f relationship between Noelle and Jasper.  There’s also some kink, but the consent is never questionable, so I had no problems with it.

OK, let me back up a bit.  I think the right word for the setting of this book would be dystopian.  It’s a dark, post-apocalyptic world.  It reminded me of the Hunger Games world in feeling, and also in that it has one extremely rich city/center/region, Eden, that lords over the rest of the relatively poor ones.  This story has a very urban feel as well. 

Noelle is one of the privileged few.  As a daughter of a powerful politician she’s been raised in a repressed society that reminds me of historical romance.  There’s an emphasis on politics and purity.  However, the book begins with Noelle having been disowned and thrown out of Eden into one of the sectors surrounding it.  Luckily for her, she quickly is picked up by Jasper, one of the members of the gang that runs the sector she was abandoned in.  Oh, and I forgot to mention – why was she disowned and thrown out?  Fornication!  And drinking!  Noelle took it upon herself to find out what this sex stuff was all about.  She wonders if there was something wrong with her.  Everyone else seems able to resist their sexual urges, but she sought it out.

So, Noelle is abruptly banished from the home she’s known and thrown into a dangerous sector.  Thankfully, Jasper sees her and is feeling protective, and just like that, she’s being folded into their gang, the O’Kanes.  I will say, this quick acceptance was a weak plot point for me, but as the dystopian setting is fantasy to me, I can just blink and go with it in a way I wouldn’t be able to in a contemporary setting.  ‘Cause, you know, I am kind of a gang expert.  /<sarcasm>

So, the O’Kanes are a dangerous and powerful gang.  They are family to each other.  They run the sector – and maybe other sectors, too?  They make alcohol, which is how they make money.  Two of the very high ups in the gang are smitten with Noelle, so her protection continues and her entrance to the gang comes quickly.  Unlike any urban legend I’ve ever heard, there is no ritual killing or beat down required for joining the gang. 

So, where does the sex fit in?  Everywhere.  As repressed as Eden was, the sectors are in-your-face sexual.  They embrace their sexuality and aren’t shy about their bodies.  Noelle is both intrigued by and ashamed of her interest and attraction.  The gang is accepting of this, but they bring her into their world one experience at a time.  By that point I was fully accepting of this world and the gang and I found the sex to be incredibly hot.

Noelle is rescued by Jasper, but quickly taken in by Lex, girlfriend to the gang leader, Dallas.  Lex and Dallas have an interesting relationship which they haven’t formalized with the tattoo neck bands that are the symbol of permanent relationship in this gang.  (By the way, I really need to read more about Lex and Dallas.  Now.  I don’ want to wait until next year when their book comes out!)  So, Lex likes Noelle.  Actually, Lex like likes Noelle, so she really enjoys teaching Noelle all about her sexuality.  Jasper and Dallas are happy to be part of Lex's teaching program.  And while Noelle has a really strong preference for Jasper, she’s also very attracted to Lex.  And really to everyone. 

 

For her whole life Noelle was taught to suppress all her feelings and sexuality.  Now she’s being encouraged to embrace it all.  It’s overwhelming, and she still has feelings of shame, wondering if what she’s doing is really ok.  To top it off, Noelle finds out she gets off on pain and being ordered around.  That seems really dirty to her, and it’s confusing.  Jasper, luckily, understands that and is dominant himself.  However, he’s worried that Noelle will wake up one day and realize she was just trying everything out and was wrong.  She’ll decide it really is all bad and shameful and she’ll be mad at him for introducing her to it all.  So he encourages her to find her own way.  He’ll be there along the way, but how will she know what she likes and doesn’t if she doesn’t give it a try? 

So it starts with Noelle getting permission and encouragement from Jasper to spread her sexual, ahem, wings and see what she likes and how she really feels about it all.  That evolves into Noelle gaining confidence in herself and what she enjoys.  She comes to see she doesn’t need Jasper’s permission to do any of that, but at the same time she figures out that she really does enjoy being bossed around by him, and all the things that she likes, well, they are even better with Jasper.

At the same time all this is going on, we meet other gang members.   We see some of the politics going on in the world and how that affects the O’Kanes.  I’m not big on politics.  These seemed coherent, though and kept my interest.  There’s plenty of sequel bait and I was very distressed to realize this is a NEW series.  No!!!!  I have to wait for the next book!

The books are written by Kit Rocha, who also writes as Moira Rogers.  Interestingly, Kit Rocha is actually two authors who work together.

A final word about the BDSM aspect of this story, especially for Kay.  I’d give this a moderate kink rating.  There’s some bondage and some spanking.  There’s some bossing around.  But no blood, and it’s all very well written so that it’s clear that Noelle enjoys it.  That’s my sweet spot for kink.  I’m interested to hear what Kay thinks after she’s read it since my kink acceptance level is a little different than hers.

To wrap it up, I loved this book.   The flaws were easily overlooked.  The story sucked me in and made me sad when it was over.  It’s another one for my best of the year list!  I highly recommend it.

Kit Rocha's website
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Like a Wolf with a Bone by Shelly Laurenston (Howl For It)

Grade-A
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-Pride #0.5
Reviewed by Anne

(Note: I only read Laurenston's story.)

So, I am a big Shelly Laurenston fan.  I’ve been reading her stuff for a while and I love it all.  It’s not often that you can say that about an author, but her stuff is ALL good to me.  It’s set in an alternate present day where shifters (that most full humans don’t know about) exist.  One of the things Laurenston does best with her shifters is bring their animal traits into their personalities and habits, whether in human or animal form.  She's amazingly good! Her stories are  over the top funny and over the top violent, and I just don’t want to put them down when I start them!

I just finished the novella Like a Wolf with a Bone in the anthology Howl For It.  I need to take a moment and mention just how much I appreciate those title.   There’s some nice double entendre along with a nod to the shifterness of the story.  Awesome.

So Like a Wolf with a Bone is a prequel to the current stories.  It takes place in the 70s and there’s some humor to be had from the references that come up.  Darla and Eggie are the parents of one of the most recent heroines, DeeAnn.  Like a Dog with a Bone tells the story of their courtship.  There’s so much to enjoy!

Darla is attacked by a group of full humans.  Eggie manages to fend them off, and by fend them off, I mean that he easily and efficiently kills them all.  However, Darla is hurt and unconscious when Eggie is done with the humans.  Without a whole lot of thought to it, Eggie takes her away from her home – she wasn’t safe there! – and takes her to his military base hospital for treatment.  When Darla wakes up she assesses the situation and after some initial shock, she’s fine with Eggie having rescued her.  So, the conflict in this book doesn’t really come from the two of them together, but from everyone else in the story.  And while there is a lot of humor between Eggie and Darla, it’s the squads of secondary characters that really had me cracking up!

See, Darla has lots of sisters, and Eggie has lots of brothers.  And they are all dating each other.  Yep.  In the rural area I grew up in this wasn’t uncommon.  We used to joke about the family tree growing up, but not out.  Anyway, Darla and Eggie’s siblings have a lot to say about Darla and Eggie being together.  Actually, Darla’s sisters have a lot to say.  They do most of the talking.  And then there’s Eggie’s momma.  She may not know a pacifist from a polygamist, but she's looking out for her boy.  It’s just all good!

This story was ridiculously funny and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.  I highly recommend it!  It’s probably best appreciated if you’ve read some of the other books in the series, especially the more recent ones where DeeAnn and Eggie are mentioned.

 

 

Riveted by Meljean Brook

 
Grade-A+
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-Iron Seas #3
Reviewed by Anne

I have loved every Iron Seas story I've read, and Riveted was no exception.  I was hesitant about this story because it had no previously known characters, but that was no problem at all.  I loved it from start to finish.  Annika and David were delightful.

Before I read romance I read science fiction/fantasy, and I was always drawn to books that had a romance subplot.  This book reminds me that I still enjoy sci fi/fantasy.  There's a complicated plot and lots of fun and adventure.  And a mechanical whale.  I kid you not, there is a humongous mechanical whale in this story.

When David and Annika first meet it is while they are on their own quests, paths just crossing.  As the story progresses, and their paths happen to merge for a while, you see that they have more to overcome.  Annika has never been in love and is not sure that she wants to give it a try.  She doesn't want to be diverted from her guilt fueled quest.  David is handsome and wonderful as seen through Annika's eyes, but he has a lifetime of insecurity related to the prosthetic hand, eye, and legs he has.  Watching them overcome their issues and find each other is such a joyful journey.  That fact that it takes place in such a fantastical world is icing on the cake.  This is a best of 2012 read for me!

Cherished by Maya Banks and Lauren Dane

This book contains two novellas
Exiled by Maya Banks and Sway by Lauren Dane
Grade-DNF/A+
Hotness Level-Inferno/Inferno
Kink Level-moderate/moderate
Series-Sway is #1 of the Delicious series, a spin off of the Brown Siblings books
Reviewed by Anne

Exiled by Maya Banks made me feel dirty, and not in a good way.  I didn't like the way the heroine was coerced into spending what she thought would be 6 months with the hero and his 3 closest friends.  I might have been more accepting of this in a fantasy setting, especially if the heroine was less innocent and more aware of what she was getting into.  I didn't like the way it made me feel.  At Dear Author they've discussed reader consent as an important part of what makes coercion in a sexual setting seem ok or not.  I think that reader consent is what was missing for me.  I didn't finish reading the book.  I don't think it was bad, it just wasn't a story for me.

On the other hand, Sway by Lauren Dane pushed all the right buttons for me.  Daisy is a 24 year old artist, devoted friend and all around good person.  (She is one of Gillian's circle of friends we met in the book Never Enough.)  Levi is a 40 year old lawyer.  He meets her in a dance class his brother's fiance badgers him into attending.  They are instantly attracted to each other.  Here's one of the first passages that caught me.  Daisy has noticed Levi likes to be in charge as they dance and talk and she is commenting on it.

“Do you like telling people what to do? Just to see how they react?” …
“I prefer it when their reaction is obedience.” A flush roared through her, hot and wild.
 

They enjoy a few dances and then go their separate ways, but after bumping into each other around town a few more times they get together for supper.  They realize the chemistry between them is off the scales.  Daisy also realizes that playing submissive (though they never really discuss it in those terms) to Levi really turns her crank.  So as their relationship develops, they have D/s roles while having sex.  Outside of sex, Levi appreciates Daisy's maturity and independence.

This is a low conflict/no villian romance, which I really love.  The conflict comes from them figuring out how they can be together, and Levi working through some issues with his family.  That was very believable to me.  I can't wait for more of this series and look forward to reading the next story, Tart, soon!  Unfortunately this series is in trade paperback, which puts it out of my price range.  I borrowed this book from the library and have a hold on Tart.  If I get some book money for Christmas, I just might splurge and buy it, though.