Lets start by saying that in my real life 2024 was set to be a cracker. I was 66 in April and finally entitled to my state pension, so that meant I could afford to put down my pen, step away from the office keyboard and retire. Hurray!! My OH was in the process of selling the business and we had plans to finally do the things being employed had restricted us from doing. The Universe, however, had other plans. The fact that I had to cancel my birthday dinner due to illness presaged the start of a descent into months of multi-layered stress. Don’t worry, I’m not going to regale you with everything that followed on, but just to let you know that books saved my sanity in 2024 and I was so thankful for the escape they offered.
The year got off to a cracking start with an exceptional 23 reads in January, and that included 4 of my best books of the year, so I had high hopes. Though I never managed such a monthly high again, I was bouyed by all the books I enjoyed going forward. They became a welcome escape from reality and as in the previous year, almost all were romances. I’ve been happily sustained by a wide range of book boyfriends who have given me all the swoons and happy endings that I yearned for. Just for the avoidance of doubt, and to spare any awkward glances at my OH should you ever meet, none of the desire to escape can be laid at his door. He’s been a rock this year and just as much at the receiving end of all the madness and chaos as me.
According to Goodreads I managed to read 182 books, comprising 67,727 pages. The longest of those was Mile High by Liz Tomforde at 603 pages (reminder to self – get the rest of the series read), and the average length was 344 pages. The most popular of my reads was The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, who also made several other appearances on my reading list and I’ve no doubt will also be appearing this year. I suspect I managed a few more than 182 but not all made Goodreads as I didn’t list them. I’ll only list the books I’ve enjoyed. It’s worth saying at this point, that I largely love all that I read, because like many avid readers I’ve become adept at knowing what I’ll like and picking what suits. That latter point is also why I won’t normally bad mouth a book/author because what I like isn’t always going to be what someone else likes and vice versa. If I ‘don’t like’ a book it’s not me saying it’s a bad book, it’s me saying it simply didn’t suit me, at that time. I just like to share the books that gave me joy, in whatever form I might have consumed them. Ebook or hard copy, take your pick, I’m reading for the content not the medium, so I have no preferences. Yes I enjoy the feel and weight of a ‘real’ book but I appreciate the ease and convenience of an eBook. While I’m here I might as well weigh in other related pet peeves – yes, audiobooks count as reading, graphic novels are also reading and if someone wants to read a comic and gets pleasure from it – that’s all that counts. It’s the reading for pleasure/recreation that’s important and not getting too bogged down by the how and what. With my ex librarian’s hat on, if someone is reading they can always refine what they read or become more discerning (should they wish) as they gain experience, but none of that can happen if they’re not reading at all. Sadly, reading for pleasure is declining among children and young people, so we need to be encouraging reading not putting up arbitary barriers to enjoyment. Whilst I’m not of the opinion that waving a book about on TikTok counts as a review, and some of the ‘endorsements’ are not as impartial as they seem, at least it puts books back in front of younger people. Anyway, ramble over, this is what happens when I step away from the keyboard for any length of time, I feel inclined to make up for it!
I went down several rabbit reading holes this year and got waylaid by cowboys (again); met more American sporting heroes (though still don’t understand the rules of NHL or NFL); dipped my toe into the omegaverse with a ‘fated mate’ werewolf meeting (let’s just say I haven’t repeated that experience – yet) and ventured into the paranormal as well as time slip territory – and yes, I did enjoy them. Given that I read so many and I’m usually pretty stingy with handing out 5 stars I was wondering how to put this post together so as to give a shout out to as many books/authors as possible. So as well as being my ‘best of’ in terms of standout books, it will also feature ‘stand out series/themes’ that kept me thoroughly engrossed and entertained this year. Hopefully, it will make sense, but then as nothing else made sense last year, I’ll just plough on regardless and hope you’ll be understanding.
Home, Home on the Range…
Yes, I’m as surprised as anyone that I’ve become addicted to cowboy romance. The reality is a ranch is just a setting and a ‘cowboy’ is another occupation/way of life. What I get invested in is the family dynamic that usually accompanies our resident hero. The ranch is usually home to several siblings, (‘cos they all need they’re own story) and Dad is usually retired (or retiring) . He’s normally despairing of his wayward offspring ever settling down to take over the ranch when along comes a surprise, feisty female ready to tackle one into submission, followed by more for all the others. Each book is brimming with all the tropes, to keep every romance reader happy. I know I’m over simplifying and being flippant but I’ll admit that to the uninitiated reader they do largely all look the same. But then again don’t many genre books? In this case, as every romance reader knows, it’s how the scene is set and the characters develop that make the story. Without that we’ve simply got boy meets girl, they fall in love and all ends happily ever after. We know we’re going to get that before we start reading, we want to see it happen on the page (and I don’t mean that graphically, although that often happens too).
This year my go to ranch has been Elsie Silver’s Chestnut Springs with the Eaton family (both real and extended). It has humour and emotion in spades as well as some pretty swoonworthy cowboys. Having said I’m surprised by my addiction, I shouldn’t be because I grew up on a diet of TV cowboys starting with Clint Eastwood as ‘Rowdy Yates’ in Rawhide. Throw in the Cartwright clan on the Ponderosa Ranch in Bonanza; the Barkley Ranch in The Big Valley; the Shiloh Ranch in The Virginian and last, but not least The High Chaparral and cowboys are virtually in my blood! With Scott Eastwood routinely being put forward as an ideal candidate to play one of the Eaton clan, it brings things full circle. I initially started reading Elsie’s series via Kindle Unlimited but decided I’d like a set to keep and bought the paperbacks from The Works. Amazon are currently price matching the paperbacks at £2.50 each. I also paid a visit to her Gold Rush Ranch and I’m now collecting those in hard copy.
Another recommended ranch I’ve visited and will be going back to is Lyla Sage’s Rebel Blue Ranch.
This year I’ll be paying a visit to Elsie’s latest ‘Rose Hill‘ ranch, having already bought books 1 & 2 in paperback with book 3 due in March. Other intended visits are Paisley Hope’s Silver Pines, Alexandra Banks’s Rosewood Ranch, Elliot Rose’s Crimson Ridge and Maggie Gates’s Griffith Brothers. So it looks like I’ll still be in cowboy era in 2025!
Just a Small Town Girl …
I do enjoy a small town setting for a romance. The location is often as much a character as its real life inhabitants and it’s easy to get caught up in everyone’s lives, and not just those of our would be hero/heroine. Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove series is a prime example. I started reading her Blossom Street series back in the ‘noughties’ and dipped into Cedar Cove but never finished. I started a reread in 2023 and finished the series at the beginning of 2024. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there but after 12 books it was a fitting time to say goodbye. I did buy the eBook boxed set of the Blossom Street series so maybe this will be the year I go back and catch up.
The Macomber books, are a bit of a palate cleanser as they are definitely on the closed door and more wholesome side of the romance spectrum. My other small town reads this year have been a bit more realistic on the ‘activity’ front and I don’t have a problem with that. It’s a natural part of the process and as I don’t intentionally stray into ‘dark romance’ territory I’m comfortable with an open door. In January I paid a visit to BK Borison’s Lovelight Farms and kept returning for books 2 and 3. I’ve still got the final instalment to read so that’s definitely on my radar for this year.
Another small town series started was that of the Speakeasy Taproom. A linked series by different authors set in Colebury Vermont’s newest brewery and gastropub! Come for the food and the brews… stay for the stories, the gossip and the good times! Well, with an invitation like that, how could I refuse? I’m three book into the 9 book series so I’ll also need to go back there at some point. Having read Lucy Score’s Pretend Your Mine in 2023, I got drawn back to Benevolence, Maryland to finish books 2 & 3 and I wasn’t disappointed. I now want to start her Knockemout series as I have books 1 & 2 waiting. I’m also keen to make a visit to Bootleg Springs, the series she co-wrote with Claire Kingsley.
The Momcoms
This year I spent more time trying to get to grips with Instagram – for the record I think I failed but a quick lesson from my more savvy brother will hopefully see an improvement going forward. All I say on that front though is don’t hold your breathe! Though I’m rubbish with posting I seem to spend a lot of time wasting browsing on there and went through period of being bombarded with posts for a series of books referred to as The Momcoms. As I had Kindle Unlimited at the time I decided to give them a go. The series of four titles (Mother Faker, Mother Maker, Mother Pucker and Mother Hater) are all written by different authors and follow the fortunes of 4 single mums who pool resources to buy a Boston brownstone and live together as one happy family. Of course, these are romances so each book follows the story of each one as they find their own happy ending. Needless to say I was quickly hooked and ate them up. They were hilariously funny but yet still romantic with all the feels. The characters are seamlessly written as each book meshed into the world that had been created so that all 4 individual stories made a perfect whole. What I also got invested in was the wider world that was created as the MMC in the first story was Beckett Langfield of Langfield Corp, he heads up the baseball team. His brother Gavin manages the Boston Bolts ice hockey team and the remaining brothers both play ice hockey. They all appear not only throughout this series but in their own spin off series – of which more later.
So Britanee Nicole, Jenni Bara, Swati MH and Daphne Elliott take a bow, you kept me thoroughly entertained. You also led me to picking up more of your books for my reading list. I’ve already started Daphne Elliott’s Maine Lumberjacks series, I’m keen to start Jenni Bara’s Boston Revs series and I’m already invested in Britanne Nicole’s Boston Bolts series.
What the Puck?
Despite the fact I have never watched a game of ice hockey in my life I seem to spend a lot of time reading about the fictional exploits of hockey players. I use the work ‘players’ in more than one sense as as it seems that the majority are nothing short than man whores until they are brought to their knees by the love of their lives. All I seemed to have learned about ice hockey is that the goalies are ‘Gods’ and normally of Viking proportions; the players seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in the sin bin for on field brawling and they generally couldn’t give a ‘puck’ about their image – until they’re forced too. And it appears, I’m a sucker for them. I think it’s less the sport and more the world that each author creates. It harks back to the small town feel and cowboy brotherhood. The books create a world of friends and found family, it’s about the team and supporting each each other and of course, it’s always humbling to see an arrogant, cocky player finally seeing the light. As the majority of the books form a series, it’s nice to see previous characters dropping in, like meeting old friends for a catch up. I don’t envisage that this year I’ll be any less enamoured with my ‘puck’ boys as I’ve already gone back to The Boston Bolts for my next instalment.
So thanks to Britanee Nicole for her Revenge Games and Boston Bolts, to Helena Hunting for her Toronto Terror series and Lulu Moore for starting me on her New York Players series – I’ve bought them all, so I’ll be continuing with those this year
Although hockey seemed to be my default sport I did venture further afield and tackled a few other games. I continued with Lyndsey Gallagher’s Professional Players series (Irish Rugby), got involved with Amy Daws’s Harris Brothers (Premier League Football) and dabbled with baseball with Lulu Moore’s New York Lions.
BookTok/Facebook/Insta Made Me …
Well clearly, I don’t mean this literally, but with sponsored posts it becomes hard to avoid certain titles. There were also certain books that were constantly being mentioned in forum groups and taking centre stage in book shop displays. So using that as a prompt it allows me to include the books that were being lauded in 2024 that I succumbed too – and enjoyed of course.
I started the year with Ali Hazelwood’s Love Theoretically one of her contemporary romcom novels about women in STEM and academia and I followed this up with The Love Hypothesis and Check & Mate I also bought her departure novel Bride about a Vampyre bride and an Alpha werewolf. I haven’t felt like tackling that one yet. My one outing with a werewolf this year left me undecided as to whether me and the omegaverse are a natural fit! I obviously had to try Becka Mack’s Playing for Keeps series as it took my back to hockey world and I’ve got another two of those already lined up for this year. Liz Tomford’s Windy City series covers off a variety of sports starting with hockey, then basketball to baseball. It’s another series I need to finish. Another series I started, largely because of the hype, was Hannah Grace’s Maple Hills books. Possibly more YA than my other reads but romance is romance and I enjoyed them. I’m two down with one to go!
My Rare Reviews
My reviews these days are few and far between. They tend to be for books I have chosen to review and have requested via NetGalley, or authors whose books I love and have had the chance to get an ARC for. I still don’t like the pressure that comes with accepting books for review, so don’t envisage that 2025 will see my output increase. Happily, all the books I reviewed I loved and have absolutely no hesitation in recommending. The link on each title will take you to my review so I’ve not gone into detail here.
I started the year with Frank and Red a debut by Matt Coyne. It had been on my radar having seen the cover and read the blurb so when NetGalley offered it up I took my chance. It’s a book that is by turns heartbreaking, heartwarming and ultimately uplifting and I defy you not to fall in love with it.
I had no hesitation in requesting A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey. I love this series, not only for it’s police procedural element but for the will they won’t they ongoing romantic tension between DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent. This book really played with the emotions and that ending! I know I’m not alone in waiting for the next instalment in April.
I was lucky last year to get the chance to read the next two in Cass Grafton’s Little Cornish Cove series. It’s always a delight to return to the fictional world of Polkerran Point in Cornwall. It’s a chance to catch up with the characters I know and also to find love for another couple. In February I had the chance to read Escape to Polkerran Point and Christmas came early for me in August with the next in the series Christmas at Polkerran Point. If, like me, you love small town romances that are full of heart then you have to read this series. I’m eagerly awaiting the next one which is due in April.
Jon Rance is an author that has crossed my radar many times but somehow never got around to reading. That changed last year and I’m so glad it did. I loved One Hundred Moments of Us. I wrote at the time ” this is the story of a relationship, beautifully told, with warmth, heart and at times heartbreak”. Looking back for the purposes of this post I’m remembering exactly why I loved it.
Last but not least, I had the chance to read Laura Wilkinson’s That Night in New York. I’ve followed Laura since we met at a local literary event back in 2019 so I was delighted to have the opportunity to read this in advance of publication. It’s a heart warming and uplifting tale about family, love and fighting for what you believe in.
It’s All in the Voice!
I didn’t listen to as many audiobooks in 2024 as in the previous year, largely I suspect because giving up the day job took away my normal listening opportunities. I made an exception for one particular narrator though. I discovered Eric Nolan in December 2023 when he produced for Instagram a somewhat cheeky romance advent calendar in conjunction with the author BB Easton. She had previously reached out to Eric, having heard him narrate, to take the male lead in her book The Devil Of Dublin. Let me just say, if you’re a sucker for an Irish accent, and I clearly am, just give the man a listen. So this year I listened and swooned to The Devil of Dublin and bought the sequel The Devil Himself. Is is sad to say I haven’t started it because I don’t want it to finish!
I read, Butcher & Blackbird the first book in Brynne Weaver’s Ruinous Love Trilogy to bring me up to speed because the second Leather & Lark was narrated by Eric Nolan and Samantha Brentmoor. This is a dark, serial killer romance series, but it’s also very funny and the narration for this was just sheer perfection. To say I was excited to discover they’ll both be narrating Scythe & Sparrow, due in February, was an understatement. So a shout to Eric, who I may just have become a little obsessed with – as it happens I know I’m not the only one, he already has his own fan club and was voted ‘Sexiest Narrator on the Planet’ on Goodreads for The Devil Of Dublin.
My Runners Up for 2024
Well first of all, thank you if you’ve made it this far. I realise this post sort of took on a life of it’s own and I have gone on a bit. I just wanted to mention as many books as possible because narrowing 182 books down to a handful didn’t seem fair. There are still so many amazing books I haven’t mentioned but you can always follow me on Goodreads to get the low down. While I don’t review I will score.
So in order of reading date only I’m starting with the books that just sat outside of my top listing because they deserve to get a personal shout out.
The Space Between by Sarah Ready
Jace and Andrea. Andrea and Jace. From the moment of their fate-filled first meeting in Central Park they’ve known one true thing—they’re meant to be.
Life doesn’t have many certainties but for Andrea and Jace forever is one of them.
Andrea Leighton-Hughes—shockingly wealthy Upper East Sider, a chess-piece in her family’s games since before she was born—knows what it’s like to hide behind a mask. Her world is one of lies, manipulation, and reputation. Jace is the first and only person to see who she truly is.
Jace Morgan is no stranger to tragedy and every day is a struggle to get by. A musical prodigy from the Bronx, Jace and his brothers will do whatever it takes to climb to the top of the music charts. Andrea is the first and only person who has helped him play from the heart.
No one understands their connection. No one understands their love.
As Jace and Andrea struggle to stay together and prove that love defeats all obstacles, life sets out to prove them wrong.
What happens when two people promise forever, but life tears them apart?
What happens in the time they aren’t together—in the space between?
At First Sight by Hannah Sunderland
Two strangers. Two chance meetings. One extraordinary love story…
Nell and Charlie feel a spark when they meet by chance in a cafe. But they don’t trade numbers, or surnames, so there’s no way they’ll meet again.
But the next day, Nell’s phone rings at work. Somehow, impossibly, Charlie is on the other end. And he needs her help.
Nell is about to save a life, fall in love … and risk everything for a perfect stranger.
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise novel from the bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.
Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.
Six months ago, Clementine West had the worst day of her life. So, she came up with a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, work hard, take no risks. And it’s been working.
That is until one day she finds a strange man standing in her kitchen. A man with kind eyes, a crooked smile, and a recipe for the perfect lemon meringue pie. The kind of man that, before everything, she could have fallen for …
He’s perfect but for one thing: he lives in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact.
This should be impossible, but Clementine used to love impossible things. And maybe, just maybe, she will again. After all, love is never a matter of time – but a matter of timing.
The Happy Hour by Cressida McLaughlin
Can they fall in love, sixty minutes at a time?
Jess is happy working in Greenwich market selling trinkets to well-heeled locals and excitable tourists.
Then one Sunday, Jess is thrown together with handsome, funny Ash, as they chase a pickpocket through the market, and before long they are making a habit of running into each other at the same time each week.
Jess starts to realize that their hour together is the brightest part of her life. But Ash isn’t telling her everything – can she discover the truth before it’s too late?
One Hundred Moments of Us by Jon Rance
They say life is made up of moments.
So is a relationship.
From the moment he sets his eyes on Ashley Oliver at sixth form on the cusp of the new millennium, Charlie falls in love. It isn’t all sunshine and roses though and it takes several years and more than one chance meeting before they begin their relationship.
Will they survive everything the world has to throw at them or will the pressure of life, love, and London be too much for them?
Told through moments big and small, trivial and significant, this is the moving and uplifting story of a relationship – the ups, the downs, and everything in between.
My Audiobook of the Year 2024
Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver. Narrated by Eric Nolan and Samantha Brentmoor
Every killer claims a soul.
Every phantom wants revenge.
All contract killer Lachlan Kane wants is a quiet life. But when he botches a job for his boss’s biggest client, Lachlan knows he’ll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until Lark Montague offers him a deal: use his skills to hunt down a killer and she’ll find a way to secure his freedom.
The catch? He has to marry her first. And they can’t stand each other.
Indie singer-songwriter Lark may seem like sunshine and glitter personified but she has her own secrets hiding in the shadows. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.
As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them. There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep . . . And this one has come for blood.
My Top Books of the Year (in reverse order)
The Last Train Home by Elle Cook
On the last train home you expect to find…
– Standing space only
– Drunk people singing
– The overpowering smell of McDonalds
You never expect to find love.
When Abbie and Tom cross paths traveling home after a night out, their eyes meet across a crowded carriage and their connection is unmistakable.
What they don’t know is that moments later they’ll both be caught up in an event that will change them forever.
It is one that will bring them together. But it will also tear them apart.
A lot can happen in seven seconds. A lot can happen in seven years.
Can they find their way back to each other?
We Three Kings by Kristen Bailey
Maggie Field was looking forward to a solo Christmas in her cosy London flat – before her three workmates decided to liven things up for her.
Maggie loves her job as head of IT at a financial firm, and her three geeky but lovable work buddies. And when they invite her to stay with each of them for the holidays, she can’t resist the chance to get to know them better.
But then her boss tells her she has to make one of her beloved team redundant, and Maggie is distraught. Frank’s work is his world, Jasper’s sarcastic humour is everything, and Leo…well, he’s talented, professional, confusingly attractive, dependable, and funny… Maggie definitely doesn’t want to lose him.
With her career and her heart on the line, Maggie sets off on the Christmas adventure of a lifetime, from playing fake girlfriend at a lavish wedding, to rescuing baby foxes on a posh country estate, to chasing a very confused donkey on Christmas Day in the Lake District. She can’t ignore the sparks between her and Leo – but she also can’t avoid her dilemma.
Can she find a way to keep her work family together, and maybe even find true love under the mistletoe?
A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey
Every mother’s worst nightmare …
When nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall vanished from her bed one summer night, her disappearance tore her family apart.
Now, sixteen years later, her mother Helena is found dead, her husband by her side. It looks like a straightforward murder-suicide but DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent soon discover nothing about this case is straightforward.
The Marshalls have been keeping secrets. And someone is prepared to kill to hide the truth. Until Maeve finds out what happened to Rosalie, no one will be safe …
Ghosted by Sarah Ready
Jillian Nejat is the only dating and relationship expert on the planet who is incapable of speaking to men. If they’re living, if they’re breathing, it’s game over.
With her bank account at zero, her career a dumpster fire, and her dating life in a ten-year slump, she moves into a tiny, dirt-cheap NYC apartment.
Unfortunately, the apartment is already occupied.
Daniel (no-last-name) is a sexy, shirtless, six-pack wielding heartthrob who is also…dead.
He isn’t living. He isn’t breathing. He’s a ghost. He’s also the only man on the planet who Jillian can talk to.
Soon, Daniel’s convinced that it’s his afterlife mission to resurrect Jillian’s love life. He knows, if he helps her fall in love then he can move on. Jillian agrees. The last thing she needs is a Lothario ghost haunting her living room.
But then, one practice date leads to another, one confession leads to more, and suddenly Jillian fears she’s falling for the one man she can never have.
There is a Light That Never Goes Out by David M Barnett
How do you find love . . . when you have the loneliest job in the world?
This is the story of Gayle and Martin, who fall in love over the course of ten years- over a yearly visit to a tiny, isolated island off the Welsh coast.
Gayle is a teacher and each year she brings her class to the island to see the local flora and fauna, from sea birds to playful seals. Martin, the island’s caretaker and only human resident, lives in and maintains the lighthouse, which opens to the public for just this one day a year.
Gayle is effervescent but feels trapped, while Martin is lonely and isolated. As their love slowly builds over time, they both yearn for the annual field trip where they can finally see each other… Until one year Gayle doesn’t come back, and Martin has to leave his island hideaway to find her.
Frank & Red by Matt Coyne
Sometimes, the friend you need is the one you never saw coming.
Frank and Red are a mess.
Frank is a grumpy old curmudgeon. A recluse whose only company is the ‘ghost’ of his dead wife, Marcie. He is estranged from his friends, his son, and the ever-changing world beyond his front gate.
And then Red moves in next door.
Red is six. A boy struggling to adjust to the separation of his mum and dad, a new school, and the demonic school bully. Red is curious, smart, he never stops talking, and he’s got a trampoline.
From the moment Red’s blonde mop appears over the top of the fence that divides their two gardens, the unlikeliest of friendships is born.
. . . And it is a friendship that will change both of their lives forever.
Finally, that’s all folks.
Hope 2025 is kind to you. Happy Reading!!
