The Best of 2021 – Maggie’s List

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  […]

By |2021-12-07T11:44:20-05:00December 8th, 2021|Categories: Best of 2021, Best of List, Maggie AAR|Tags: , |17 Comments
Read More

Here are the books you picked as the Best of 2020!

Here are the books readers picked as the ten best books of 2020. Ms. Ryan’s Queen Move came in at the top–the rest of the list is in no particular order. All but one of the nominated romances received a DIK at AAR and the one that didn’t got a B+.

Thank you to all who voted. And a big congratulations to these authors! […]

By |2022-01-20T12:26:33-05:00February 8th, 2021|Categories: Best of 2020|Tags: , |12 Comments
Read More

The Best of 2019 – Lisa’s List

Incredible as it may seem, it’s December, which means it’s time for AAR staffers to look back at their reading year and pick out the books they consider to be the best of the year. We’re kicking off this year’s batch of “Best ofs” with Lisa’s list of favourites – look for more lists of 2019 favourites over the coming weeks. […]

By |2022-01-21T14:42:21-05:00December 9th, 2019|Categories: Best of 2019, Best of List, Best of Romance, Lisa F, Romance reading|Tags: , |34 Comments
Read More

The Best of the Best – Our Favorite Books of 2018!

And, here it is, the AAR staff’s picks for the very best books of 2018. We ask each reviewer to pick her favorite book of the year and then we share the compiled list with you. This list isn’t one we all agree on nor is it one that we’d argue is definitive. Our Best Lists is idiosyncratic. Each pick is a reflection of a reviewer’s druthers, experiences and expectations, and is limited by what she personally read in the past year. These are, quite simply, books we individually loved.

We’d like to know what you loved too and hope you’ll share your picks with us in the comments.

Here’s to us all reading well in 2019!

Alex A:

Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven

As I’m sure other people have said, pretty much any book on my Best Of list could qualify […]

By |2019-01-18T08:27:13-05:00January 18th, 2019|Categories: Best of 2018, Best of List, Best of Romance, Romance reading|Tags: , |17 Comments
Read More

The Best of 2018 – Kristen’s List

Humans learn through stories – the ones we tell ourselves, the ones we’re told, the ones we tell about others. This year, Netflix gifted us all with Hannah Gadsby’s brilliant Nanette (which you must watch if you haven’t!) that makes that point achingly well. After watching it, I spent a lot of time thinking about the stories romance tells – especially the ones I needed to hear this year. Hence, my list. The following – in no particular order – are the ten books released this year that brought me joy, immersed me in another story, celebrated love, and centered women.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

I have bought approximately five copies of this book to give to friends, sent with a post-it that they must read this. Count this as my post-it to you: this is making appearances […]

By |2018-12-23T09:03:39-05:00December 23rd, 2018|Categories: Best of List, Kristen D, Romance reading|Tags: , |16 Comments
Read More
...