Reading Year in Review 2018

I think we all can agree that 2018 was a dumpster fire of a year and yet, somehow, I managed to get through 95 books.  My reading goal is always 100, so while I did fall short, 95 is the most I've managed to get through since 2014 (when I read an incredible 119).  Here's how it all broke down (and yes, I count DNFs):

5 Stars (A Grade) = 7

4 Stars (B Grade) = 27

3 Stars (C Grades, includes some "low B-") = 38

2 Stars (D Grades) = 10

1 Star (F Grades) = 3

DNF (Did Not Finish) = 10

Audiobooks = 28

My A grades were up this year (although pretty consistent from previous years - I rarely assign 5-Stars in the double digits), my DNFs were up a smidge, my audiobook numbers were down (shorter work commute after I moved last year!), and my C grades outpaced my B grades (which is not great).  But, I'll take it.  This was the most productive reading year I've had in a dog's age.

Now, for what everybody cares about: the books!  A reminder that this is a recap of what I loved and read during 2018, but not necessarily books published in 2018.  I'm perpetually behind, so most of my Best Of list will be books that will, hopefully, be lurking in TBRs already or easy to score at your local library.

Note: Title links will take you to full reviews

The Romance:

Burn Down the Night (2016) and Wait For It (2017) by Molly O'Keefe - After not a single romance garnered an A grade from me in 2017, I vowed to start off 2018 on the right foot - with an author who consistently works for me.  The final two books in a quartet series, Burn Down the Night gives me the closest thing I've read to a true Bad Girl Heroine in the genre and Wait For It is an example of an Asshole Hero done right.  I didn't read these books so much as inhale them.

Breathe (2016) by L. Setterby - My contest judging this year was largely meh, but holy hell where has this book been all my life?!  A perfect example of starting a book, reading the first sentence, and just falling head over feet right into the world.  I'm so hooked that I downloaded the Wattpad app to read the next book in the series (still being released in weekly installments as I write up this post).

An Extraordinary Union (2017) by Alyssa Cole - A historical romance with legit high stakes conflict.  I loved this heroine so much I'm thinking of taking the Gone Fishin' sign off of my ovaries.

The Tycoon's Socialite Bride (2014) by Tracey Livesay - Here it is, the best category romance I read this year.  Livesay hit all her emotional beats, right on time.  I loved the heroine's family baggage and the hero bent on revenge but not needlessly cruel (although this one does rip your guts out in parts).  Don't think you like category romance?  Try this one.  It's damn near magical.

Indigo (1996) by Beverly Jenkins - Arguably the book that Jenkins is best known for, and it's easy to see why.  She puts so much into this story, addressing racism, colorism, and sexism, without preaching from the pulpit or losing sight of the romance.  Also, I've always felt that Jenkins' strength (well, besides her dynamite heroines) is her world-building.  The community she creates in this story, using the Underground Railroad as a backdrop, was so well done.

The Soldier Prince (2018) by Aarti V. Raman - This is my cracktastic read of the year, basically a category romance about a former Black Ops-style soldier, who is really a prince, who falls in love with a struggling college student waiting tables in a New York City deli.  This one is full of ALL THE TROPES and I couldn't get enough of it.  Raman needs to publish the next book in this series, like, yesterday.

Delicious Temptation (2015) by Sabrina Sol - Believable baggage (seriously, families can be the worst), and I loved the East LA family bakery backdrop.  Is it because I live in southern California and know the area?  Maybe.  Because Sol writes it so very well.  My runner up for best category read of the year.

Not Romance, Still Awesome:

The Broken Girls (2018) by Simone St. James - It's to the point now where I'm a squee'ing unreasonable fangirl for Simone St. James, but seriously, I loved this one.  A time slip novel with converging 1950 and 2014 plot treads and a nice "romantic elements" secondary thread involving the 2014 heroine and her cop boyfriend.  

Grant (2017) by Ron Chernow - A long book (47 hours on audio!), this one is worth the time investment.  Grant's life exemplifies the old "truth is stranger than fiction" adage.  That this man, basically a failure is every other aspect of his life, defeated the Confederacy, saved the Union, and became President is simply remarkable.  This is my new Read A Book Already book.  Plus, I learned stuff.  Which is always nice when reading non-fiction.

Jane Doe (2018) by Victoria Helen Stone - The revenge thriller I didn't know I needed.  A cool, methodical heroine who exacts her revenge against the worst sort of hypocritical DudeBro.  I loved every blessed minute of it.

Charlesgate Confidential (2018) by Scott Von Doviak - A crime novel set in Boston with three converging timelines. It did take a while for me to sink into this story and I did have to read about the damn Red Sox way too much for my liking, but this one is excellent.  Excellent world building.  Excellent mystery.  Interesting characters.  It kept me guessing all the way to the end.

Comfort Read/Author of 2018:

Marcia Muller - Every reader I know has what they call "comfort reading."  Either a favorite book or author, maybe a favorite genre.  For me, that's mystery.  I fell in love with reading via mysteries.  I devoured them as a teen, so there's a really high nostalgia factor at play here.  Given what a mess 2018 was, it's probably not surprising that I read 14 books in the Sharon McCone series this year.  I got through books 3 - 15 and one short story collection this year, in a mix of audio and print.  Technically these were all rereads for me, revisiting books I first read or listened to on audio as a teenager and in my early 20s.  Yes, some held up better than others, but the world building! The character arcs! I wanted to read more in the series this year, but other obligations have kept me from them.  I plan to pick up again with book 16 in 2019.

And that's my Year In Review for 2018.  I'm quite pleased with myself, but continue to hope for bigger and better in 2019.  The goal, once again, is 100 books.  Let's see if I make it.

Review: The Soldier Prince

I'll be honest, I don't naturally gravitate to what I call "fake royalty" romances.  I tend to read them by authors that are already known commodities to me and even then it's somewhat grudgingly.  Never mind that I've enjoyed several such books in the past.  Royalty romances featuring made-up countries is a mental block that I'm unlikely to ever fully shake.  So reading such a book by an completely unknown to me author is - well, let's just say it's out of character.  But something about The Soldier Prince by Aarti V Raman hit me in just the right way that weekend I finally decided to clean out my in-box.  And you know what?  I liked this.  Quite a bit.  Like enough that I want the next two books in the series...um, by tomorrow would be great.

Sasha Ray is a perfectly ordinary Indian-American girl from New Jersey working as a waitress in New York City while struggling to pay for college.  In fact the only semi-exciting thing to happen to her is the mystery hunk who sits in her station every day, always orders the chicken parm salad with two cups of espresso, pays cash, and leaves her a 40% tip.  Then, as he pays for his meal, he forks over a wade of cash and tells the staff to feed whomever comes into the deli for free until his money runs out.  How was Sasha to know he was not only royalty but a former special ops soldier?

Alexander Heinrickson is "the spare" and witnessed his mother's murder while he was accompanying her on a humanitarian mission.  It broke him.  In his grief he left everything behind, the girl he loved, his family, and joined the Marines.  Then, after his tour, he joined a private special ops firm because...well, romance hero.  Anyway, he finally walked away from all of that eight months ago but has not been able to haul himself back home to Stellangard.  But it looks like someone is there to change his mind.  He's being followed.  By a small band of mercenaries who are determined to do him harm (turns out they want to kidnap him).  Nothing he's not capable of handling, well that is until Sasha shows up to warn him.  Now she's in danger and he has to protect her while he tries to figure out who is out to get him.  That means he cannot avoid home any longer and oh, she's going to have to come to Stellangard until he unravels the mess.

This book is basically a Harlequin on steroids with all sorts of delicious tropey-ness that sucked me right in.  Yes, the plot is slightly absurd - sort of like if a Harlequin Presents and a Harlequin Romantic Suspense had a baby - but it's all in good fun with the author laying down a thick frosting of fairy tale.  If you recently watched the Prince Harry / Meghan Markle royal wedding for the 12th time (you know who you are...) this is the book for you.

Sasha is a nice American girl with a nice American life.  She's strong and brave without being a cliche and will acknowledge when she makes a muck of things, even though she always has good intentions.  Alexander (AKA Xander) is all Alpha still grieving over his mother's death when he was a teenager.  Oh, and the girl he left behind?  Turns out she married his brother - the Crown Prince - and there are still "feelings" there.  So yeah, all the delicious tropes, all the angsty baggage, gorge at the trough my greedy category romance fans!

There are, however, a few slight bumps in the road.  Raman is not an American - which, in and of itself, is not a problem.  But the early chapters of this book take place in New York City and it all feels a little "off."  The turns of phrase, the edges around the setting - it's nothing that an American beta reader couldn't have helped smooth out a bit.  Also, there's some head-hopping.  Not a ton, but occasionally the author will leave the third person point-of-view of Sasha or Xander and briefly move it to a secondary character.  Again, nothing intrinsically wrong with this (I'm not a vehement head-hopping hater) but the transitions aren't always smooth and I found myself backtracking to previous paragraphs because I missed the "hop."

But I really enjoyed this - slightly absurd fairy tale plot and all.  The author has created an interesting and sympathetic cast of characters, has laid the foundation for a good on-going suspense thread, and hits all the buttons that light up the part of my brain addicted to category romance.  I need another series like a hole in the head, and in fact am a little burnt out on them, but damn if I don't want more of this world.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an author newsletter to sign up for.

Final Grade = B