Sally Thorne Archives : All About Romance

The books AAR loved best in 2016

By Dabney Grinnan|2017-06-23T08:30:01-04:00January 28th, 2017|Categories: Romance reading|Tags: Best of 2016, Cat Sebastian, Clare MacIntosh, Dal MacLean, Emily Larkin, Katharine Ashe, Kelly Bowen, Kristen Callihan, Lorraine Heath, Sally Thorne, Sherry Thomas, tana french|

This year the AAR staff posted 16 Best of 2016 Lists. We chose books from every genre and, in romance, from every sub-genre. And while it’s safe to say we don’t all share the same taste in books, there were some books that appeared on more than one list.

As will surprise no one who has been reading these lists, Sally Thorne’s debut novel The Hating Game is AAR’s Book of the Year. (Our DIK review is here.) Eight of us put it on our list. We call it: charming, witty, sexy, smart and refreshing. It gives the enemies to lovers trope new life and reveals paintball for the dangerous game it truly is. We loved it.

A/iB/BN/K

The Best of 2016: Dabney’s List

By Dabney Grinnan|2017-06-23T08:30:02-04:00January 22nd, 2017|Categories: Best of 2016, Best of List, Dabney AAR|Tags: Amanda Weaver, Anthony Doerr, Clare Mackintosh, Jill Sorenson, Lee Smith, Lisa Kleypas, Megan Crane, Mercy Brown, Sally Thorne, tana french|

2016 was the year I wrote more and read less. I’d have thought reading fewer books would make me easier to please but the opposite proved true. Not many books knocked my socks off in 2016. The ten on this list did.

The Trespasser by Tana French

I’ve been a devotee of Ms. French’s complex, character-driven mysteries since I read her first, In the Woods, almost ten years ago. While my favorite is still Faithful Place, The Trespasser is next on that list. […]