Kay's Annual Black Dagger Brotherhood Challenge

For the last three years I have done the Black Dagger Brotherhood Challenge. This consists of trying to have a book that I've read this calendar year for every available entry. I completed the challenge the first two years but fell short last year. I hate to say it but I won't meet it this year either. I got all but two and needed books for the letter Y. My challenge is as follows:

I- Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon

L- Let Me Be The One by Bella Andre
O- Once Tempted by Laura Moore
V- Vincente by Melissa Schroeder
E- Easy by Tammara Webber

T- Taking The Stage by Emma Rose
H- Hot Secrets by Lisa Renee Jones
E- Edge Of Dawn by Lara Adrian

B- Big Girls On Top by Mercy Walker
L- Lush by Lauren Dane
A- All Over You by Emily Snow
C- Come Away With Me by Kristen Proby
K- Knight by Kristen Ashley

D- Defying The Odds by Kele Moon
A- An Alpha's Path by Carrie Ann Ryan
G- Going For It by Liz Matis
G- Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard
E- Empty Net by Toni Aleo
R- Raphael/Parrish by Laura Wright and Alexandra Ivy

B- Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
R- Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde
O- One Good Earl Deserves A Lover by Sarah Maclean
T- Taking Shots by Toni Aleo
H- Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks
E- Eyes Wide Open by Raine Miller
R- Reckless Night by Lisa Marie Rice
H- Headed For Trouble by Suzanne Brockmann
O- On Dublin Street by Samantha Young
O- Offsides by Juliana Stone
D- Down To You by M. Leighton

E- Exotica by Eden Bradley
S- Shades Of Gray by Maya Banks
P- Paradise Hops by Liz Crowe
E-
C- Covert Seduction by Callie Croix
I- Into The Fire by Amanda Usen
A- A Taste For You- Sorcha Grace
L- Lover At Last by J. R. Ward
L- Lover Undercover by Samanthe Beck
Y-

M- Midnight Secrets by Ella Grace
Y-

M- Mine To Take by Cynthia Eden
A- Against The Wall by Rebecca Zanetti
N- Naked by Megan Hart

W- Wolf With Benefits by Shelly Laurenston
R- Rush by Maya Banks
A- Against The Ropes by Sarah Castille
T-Trying To Score by Toni Aleo
H- Highlander Taken by Juliette Miller

Oops, I forgot about not getting one for an E entry either. This is always a fun challenge for me and I now challenge Anne and Kate to do it next year. Come on Kate, you know you want to. There, gauntlet thrown down.

Kay's Top Ten List of the Year and More

Here's my top ten list for 2013.

1.) Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks. Very pissed that I have to wait for the final book in this wonderful trilogy for a whole other year! Are you listening Maya?

2.) All Over You by Emily Snow. The second full length novel in this series has been pushed back time and time again. Pissed about that too!

3.) Knight by Kristen Ashley. Very alpha male book and I loved it. It was also filthy and I loved that too!

4.) Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I absolutely can not say enough about this YA series. I love every book and eagerly await the next one.

5.) Wolf With Benefits by Shelly Laurenston. Laurenston writing about non-winged shifters. Enough said. Plus I get to quote exchange with Anne.

6.) Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Gut wrenching and spectacular. Kenyon at her brilliant best.

7.) Trying To Score by Toni Aleo. Hockey and hotness.

8.) Empty Net by Toni Aleo. Repeat the above.

9.) The Christmas He Loved Her by Juliana Stone. A sweet book about second chance love.

10.) SEAL of Honor by Tonya Burrows. Military romantic suspense. One of my favorite genres.

I read a great number of great books this year. I got to go to the RT book convention with Anne. We had a great time there and I discovered that I'm officially too old to read out of mass market paperback books.

I discovered and met Toni Aleo. She is my favorite find and author of 2013. Her hockey series is fantastic! Here's to 2014 and the hope for more wonderful books to read!

Kate's Year in Review and Best Books List

Way back at the beginning of January, I set some reading goals.

1. I wanted to read 200 books before the end of the year,
2. I wanted to finish reading the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn (I had already read the first one and loved it), and
3. Anne challenged me to read the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward (I reluctantly agreed because I don't read vampires).

So how did I do, you ask?

1. I am at 193 books so far, and I'm pretty confident that I can read 7 more before the end of the year,
2. The last of the Bridgerton books is waiting for me to pick up a the library (and I can't wait), and
3. I not only loved, loved, loved the Black Dagger Brotherhood, I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the next book The King on (*gasp*) 4/1/14.

In reviewing the books I've read this year, I noticed something. I read my way through a lot of new-to-me series. Some were newly published, others have been on bookshelves for years. Here are the ones that I loved and recommend:

Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward-obviously. I'm still not a huge fan of vampires, but I am a huge fan of the brotherhood. If you're one of those few that haven't tried the series yet and you like your romance with a bit of a bite (yes, that was a bad pun), you need to try this series. First book-Dark Lover.

The Bridgertons series by Julia Quinn-although I'm probably the only person who hadn't read this series before this year, I'd recommend these books to fans of historical romance. The humor that runs throughout the books blends perfectly with the romance. I know I'm in love with them. First book-The Duke and I.

Dragon Kin series by G.A. Aiken-independent heroines, strong heroes, arrogant dragons, and humor that will make you snort out loud. What's not to love? If you don't mind shifters that end up with scales and flame-breathing abilities, this series is for you. First book-Dragon Actually.

The Chrysalis series by Elene Sallinger-BDSM relationships that don't happen overnight. The buildup to these relationships is so perfect and the characters will have you following each high and low right along with them. Perfect for BDSM readers who prefer more emotion to their stories. First book-Awakening.

Tucker Springs series by L.A. Witt, Heidi Cullinan, and Marie Sexton-m/m series that mixes emotion and passion to sexy, steamy perfection. I can't pick a favorite among this series. I highly recommend to any readers of m/m romances. First book-Where Nerves End (by L.A. Witt).

The Professor's Rule by Heidi Belleau-m/m BDSM reads. The first one blew me away. It was something completely new. The second one was exactly the story I wanted and the third one left me wanting more and more. Luckily there are more coming to this series. These are around 50 pages each. If you read one series of short m/m BDSM books, this should be it. First book-Giving an Inch.

So now that I'm caught up on all of these series, what series should I attempt to complete for next year's goal?

Anne's Best of 2013 List

My 12 favorite reads of the year, in order from most super favorite to favorite.  I really tried to get this down to 10 but I couldn't cut any more!  These were all wonderful stories!!!

 

1.  Family Man by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton (m/m, contemporary)

 

2.  The Story Guy by Mary Ann Rivers (novella, contemporary)

 

3.  Making It Last by Ruthie Knox (novella, contemporary)

 

4.  The entire Tucker Springs Series especially Dirty Laundry (m/m, contemporary)

 

5.  The Seduction Hypothesis by Delphine Dryden (contemporary, nerd, BDSM)

 

6.  Heating Up the Holidays by Mary Ann Rivers and Serena Bell (novella, contemporary)

 

7.  Wolf With Benefits by Shelly Laurenston (paranormal, shifter)

 

8.  Croc and The Fox by Eve Langlais (paranormal, shifter)

 

9.  College Boys by Daisy Harris (m/m, contemporary)

 

10.  Sweet Young Thang by Anne Tenino (m/m, contemporary)

 

11  Beyond Pain by Kit Rocha (Dystopian, erotic romance)

 

12. Toy Box by Delphine Dryden (novella, contemporary, BDSM)

Kay's Series Lists

After seeing Anne's series lists, I had to do my own.

1.) The Dark-Hunters/Were-Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Engaging and wonderful series. Some books are hit and miss but overall, fantastic. (Anne, don't be a quitter!)

2.) The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward. Just fantastic and its keeps getting better. Hot sex and vampires? What's better than that?

3.) The Pride series by Shelly Laurenston. Laugh out loud hilarious. Sexy and endearing. Love Anne and my quote conversations back and forth.

4.) Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter. Demon lords who crack me up as I fan myself. And William. you devil!

5.)Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole. Another fun and very sexy series.

Enough paranormal, now historicals.

1.) The Highland Guard by Monica McCarty. Scottish Highlanders! Do I need to say more? Kilts and claymores.

2.) The Smith-Smythe Quartet by Julia Quinn. Not as good as the Bridgertons but pretty darn good.

3.) Maya Banks historical trilogy series. She's put it on hiatus for another BDSM trilogy and I'm very pissed at her!

4.) Hell's Eight series by Sarah McCarty. Historical cowboys? Giddy-up!

And now contemporary.

1.) The Assassins series by Toni Aleo. Hot, sexy and funny. Hockey. Great.

2.)Play-by-Play series by Jaci Burton. Good series with great covers!

3.) One Night With Sole Regret by Olivia Cunning. Series of novella. Hot! Rockers!

4.) Rough Riders/West Boys by Lorelei James. Filthy and funny. Can be very emotional. Kate and I love them. Anne is now hooked too.

5.) Fool's Gold series by Susan Mallery. Small town romances with heat and heart. Love this series!

6.) Lucy Harbor by Jill Shalvis. Small town romances with heat and heart also.

There are a few others but I've just started those.

Anne's Series List

As I worked on my best of the year reads and my list of lists, I ended up with this long list that needed a post of it's own:

Twelve Series I'm Still Reading  I've pretty much given up on Sherrilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan, too.  But there are some series that I just keep reading...

1. The Rev. Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming  - contemporary, small town set mysteries I read by audio.  Incredibly good.  I'll even put up with some semi-cliffhanger endings, these are so good.  Start with In the Bleak Midwinter.
2. In Death Series by J.D. Robb - set around 2060 in New York, with Eve, Roarke, and tons of secondary characters that are good enough to steal the scene from Eve and Roarke, which is saying something.  I audio this one, too.  Book 37 just came out this year.  Amazingly I think this series is just as good as when it started!  Start with Naked in Death.
3. Rough Riders Series by Lorelei James - Contemporary set cowboy romance that includes ménage and men who love each other along with more traditional couples.  The first book was a train wreck for me, but I couldn't look away.  Things improved drastically in book 2, and by book 3 I was hooked.  Start with Long Hard Ride, but remember the series gets better within a couple books!
4. Tucker Springs by L.A. Witt, Heidi Cullinan, and Marie Sexton - contemporary set m/m romance takes place in the fictional college town of Tucker Springs. I kind of want to move there.  These books feel so real.  There's humor, there's a bit of angst, but really, really well done!  Start with Where Nerves End, though you're fine to jump in anywhere - I read them terribly out of order!
5. The Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon - I plowed through these last winter and loved them.  They are contemporary set mysteries with a running m/m romance throughout the series.  I don't know if Lanyon will write more in this series, but I'm there if he does!  Start with Fatal Shadows.
6. The Mercy Thompson series and the Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs - alternate universe (with werewolves, fae, vampires, and magic) urban fantasy with really good romances running through it.  Yes, it's actually two series, but they are set in the same world and often overlap, so they are one series in my head.  Start with Moon Called. 
7. Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews - Another urban fantasy with romantic elements.  Really good romantic elements!  Curran!  Even when the focus switches to Kate's friend Andrea, they are still good reads!  Start with Magic Bites. But have the next ones ready to read, because you won't want to stop!
8. Beyond Series by Kit Rocha - Dystopian Romance in a post apocalyptic world.  The tone reminded me in some ways of the tone of the Hunger Games series, but the content is pure erotic romance and it's done really well.  Start with Beyond Shame.
9. Science of Temptation series by Delphine Dryden - contemporary set romance with nerds and BDSM?  The first one made me think of Big Bang Theory Fan Fiction, except that it worked really, really well!  Smart and kinky is a really good combo!  Start with The Theory of Attraction.
10. Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward - This is total crack.  Just when i think it's getting to be a little too much for me, I read another book and I'm hooked again.  Start with Dark Lover.  Suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the ride!
11. The Pride Series by Shelly Laurenston  (if you want to be hard core, go read the 4 books of the Mangus Pack Series, too) These are laugh out loud, extra violent shifter romances that I just love.  Start with the two short stories in The Mane Event.  For extra fun, text the funniest lines to a friend and make them laugh, too.  (Kay and I do this.)
12. The Kowalski Family Series by Shannon Stacey - this is really, really well done small town contemporary romance that will make you laugh a lot!  Start with Exclusively Yours.

So, what about you?  What are your favorite series?  And am I really missing out on something I need to read next year???

Anne's End of Year Lists

When I sat down to make my best reads of the year list (I'll put them in a separate post) I ended up making a WHOLE BUNCH of lists.  So here you go.  My list of lists:

A. Best Authors I haven't read (yet)  This was determined by how much Kay has nagged me.

1. Tessa Bailey
2. Kristen Ashely

B. Books I read this year that were really new or innovative

1. Wallflower by Heidi Belleau - a romance about a young man coming to terms with his desire to cross dress and understanding what that means and doesn't mean about his sexuality.  Really well done.
2. Choose Your Shot: An Interative Erotic Adventure by Christine d'Abo - a choose your own adventure in a BDSM club where you make choices along the way that direct your encounters.  Kate and I really enjoyed this one.  I'd definitely read another!
3. Never Deal with Dragons by Lorenda Christensen - I like dragon shifter books.  This one stuck out (in a good way) for me because of the interesting world building - a present day where dragons had been created as weapons to fight a world war, but came out to be stronger than any humans could control.  Now these very intelligent beings live all around us and society struggles to adjust.  I felt like the book felt a little flat in the second half, but I'll watch for another in this series because I overall enjoyed it!
4. Caged Warrior by Lindsey Piper - another innovative set up.  Think non-shifting dragons mixed with a gladiator type set up.  Really riveting!
5. Stone Guardian by Danielle Monsch - gargoyles!  There's other supernatural beings in this world, bu she had me at gargoyles!
6. Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway - another cross dressing romance.  This time the cross dressing character is very comfortable with himself and his (hetero) sexuality.  The author has a great voice and it was funny and sweet.

C.  Books that pissed me off or disappointed me this year;

1. Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi  (Worst ending ever)
2. Fearless by Tawny Weber (Gettin' It was just too much for me!)
3. All I Want is You by Elizabeth Anthony (waaay too much drama, and a horrible ending!)
4. Demon Lovers novella series by Kate Douglas (I have enjoyed her books in the past, but this one was disappointing and just got worse with each novella!)

D. New To Me Authors this year:(most with a backlist I still want to read)

1. Delphine Dryden - her Science of Temptation series is Nerd-mance with BDSM and I love it!  I've read a couple novellas on her backlist, too, and really enjoyed them.
2. Cara McKenna - another author with an extensive backlist who is only new to me.  So far Willing Victim is my favorite, but Curio, Unbound, and Brazen were all really good, and they are very different books.  At this point I'll follow McKenna whatever she writes!
3. Mary Ann Rivers - I think she's pretty new to the writing scene, but wow is she incredible!  The Story Guy and her Christmas novella Snowfall (in the Heating Up the Holidays anthology)  She's got a unique voice and writing style that I love.  Goodreads shows she's got more stuff coming next year and I can't wait!
4. Anne Tenino - Again, she has a pretty big backlist, but I just found her this year.  I've read a couple books in her Theta Alpha Gamma series and really enjoyed them.  She writes m/m and does it really well!
5. Heidi Cullinan - A m/m author, I'd heard good things about her, so I can't believe I waited so long to read Heidi Cullinan.  Family Man (written with Marie Sexton) was incredibly good.  It's a book I'd recommend to someone who hasn't read m/m before as an example of how great it can be.  Her entries in the Tucker Springs series are awesome, too!
6. Marie Sexton - Another m/m author.  So far I've only read her entries in the Tucker Springs Series, along with Family Man, but they've been really good!
7. L.A. Witt - Yet another m/m author I met through the Tucker Springs series.  Goodreads shows an extensive backlist, which is really exciting!
8. Daisy Harris - Ok, I'll admit that in 2011 I read a book by Harris called Studenstein.  This sentient robot romance was good, but a little wacky for my taste, so I didn't go back for more.  But then I heard about College Boys, and there was talking through a wall, and it sounded cool, and it was contemporary m/m, which i know I like, so what the heck?  This is the start of my review:

   "I just finished reading this book, and I almost feel like I shouldn't write a review now because I'm too giddy to be coherent."  I'm looking forward to reading more!

9. Ruthie Knox - a contemporary romance author who writes great stories in both full length and novella formats!  She's an author I'll try anything with - bike ride across the country (Ride With Me)?  I'm in.  Marriage imploding (Making It Last)?  I'm in.  (For the record, both were incredible reads!)  And there's more to read!