The Best of 2021 – Charlotte’s List

By |2021-12-21T10:40:37-05:00December 27th, 2021|Categories: Best of 2021, Best of List, Charlotte AAR|Tags: , |

Best of the Year lists are always a challenge for me, so I’ve restricted myself to books we’ve reviewed here at AAR. With that caveat out on the table, here goes. Interestingly, three-quarters of my list is composed of debut titles.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn

Clayborn’s next standalone after Love Lettering, Love at First is about a heroine who is trying to defend her beloved Chicago apartment building from the Airbnb fantasies of the new doctor in the place. […]

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The Best of 2021 – Em’s List

By |2021-12-12T08:43:01-05:00December 13th, 2021|Categories: Best of 2021, Best of List, EmAAR, Romance reading|Tags: , |

Friends, I wouldn’t say this was my best year of reading.  I read a lot of good books, but very few great ones.  Here are my favorites in no particular order.

Relative Justice and Custody Battles, Hazard and Somerset:  Arrows in the Hand by Gregory Ashe.

I want to tell you I love this newest Hazard and Somerset series, but that’s only half the story.  I also hate it.  Both books (so far) are chock full of relationship challenges, awful people who do terrible things to children, and not nearly enough happy, silly Emery and John-Henry moments.  But I still can’t wait for each new book, […]

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The Best of 2021 – Maggie’s List

By |2021-12-07T11:44:20-05:00December 8th, 2021|Categories: Best of 2021, Best of List, Maggie AAR|Tags: , |

2021 was a rollercoaster of a  year for me – and I would imagine for many others. Regardless of where on the political spectrum you fall, you were no doubt affected by the controversies surrounding the events at the U.S. Capitol in January, the vaccine debates that have raged the world over since the spring and the ongoing pandemic. Fortunately, romance is a diverse enough genre to have a little something for everyone and this year I found some angsty reads, some books that made me think, and some books that made me laugh. All of them reminded me that however hopeless things seem, love always finds a way.

Our Darkest Night  by Jennifer Robson

It is the Autumn of 1943. To survive the Holocaust, Antonina Mazina, a young Jewish woman, poses as the wife of  […]

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The Best of 2021 – Jessica’s List

By |2021-12-05T12:32:58-05:00December 6th, 2021|Categories: Best of 2021, Best of List, Best of Romance, Romance reading|Tags: |

After discovering a love of Harlequin Historical romances last year, I began really reading them this year and tried several new-to-me authors. This is reflected in my Best Of 2021 list as three of my four favorites were published under that banner.

 A Nun for the Viking Warrior by Lucy Morris

I purchased this book because someone shared it as a joke in a reading group on Facebook and I found the blurb interesting.  Now I’m in love with Viking romances.  Gentle giants are my favorite and Jorund is one of the best: he was so sweet to Aimee the entire story.  And this was packed with so much action I had trouble putting it down.

Buy it at Amazon or your local independent retailer

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the ask@AAR: And the top selling books at AAR this year are….

By |2021-12-02T11:52:32-05:00December 3rd, 2021|Categories: Best of 2021, the ask @AAR|Tags: , , |

I’m always interested to see what AAR readers buy through the links on our site and in our newsletter. After looking over the data from Amazon for our account, it’s clear this is the year of historical romance. Out of our top ten best sellers, eight are historical romances. (I’m including Sherry Thomas’ Murder on Cold Street.) […]

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