The Best of the Best – Our Favourite Books of 2023
We’ve reached the end of our individual Best of 2023 lists, so now it’s crunch time, and we’ve all narrowed our choices down to a single (mostly!) Best Book of the Year. Without further ado, here are the books the AAR team have chosen as their 2023 favourites.
Caz
Until You by Briar Prescott
Picking a favourite book from my Best of list each year is always difficult and I find myself wavering backwards and forwards between two or three titles. I hate playing favourites because my choice often depends on how I feel on any given day! It came down to a choice between Briar Prescott’s Until You and KJ Charles’ A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel – and I went for the Prescott simply because I remember how I felt when I read it and how completely blown away by it I was. Everything about it just… works. The way the author orchestrates the reveal is masterful, the slow-burn romance is funny, sexy and utterly charming and the characterisation is superb; the PoV character, Jude, is complex and endearing, and I loved that, unlike so many emotionally scarred romance heroes, he’s reached a stage where he’s able to admit that the life he’s built is no longer the life for him and is willing to open his heart, take a chance and build a life with someone. The story is single PoV, so we don’t (for good reason) get Blake’s PoV, but he feels just as vibrant and well-drawn, and the love letter he writes near the end is one of the best I’ve ever read in fiction. (Maybe not quite Wentworth standard, but pretty close!) In my review, I said:
Until You is Briar Prescott’s best book yet. The prose is thoughtful, insightful and romantic in the best of ways – emotional without being sappy; she writes banter that is genuinely witty, and Jude and Blake are beautifully drawn, complex, three-dimensional characters who will make you laugh, make you cry and (sometimes) make you want to bang their heads together…
I stand by every word.
Buy it at Amazon
Charlotte
Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey
Narrated by Callie Dalton
One of the defining factors of whether I buy into a romance is how sensitive the protagonists are to each other’s unspoken needs/motivations. Natalie and August, the couple at the center of this marriage-of-convenience contemporary, do that really well. I listened to the audiobook while packing for a move – which I always find exhausting – and I think that made me particularly vulnerable to the sexiness of August, former Navy SEAL, and, as I like to call him: King of the Emotionally Intelligent. This man can do the heavy lifting of moving boxes AND the heavy lifting in a romantic relationship. I really enjoyed the audio – August and Natalie sounded very real to me, not just like characters performed by someone, and it made for a cozy, immersive listening experience.
Buy it at Amazon
Dabney
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon.
I adore this book. As I wrote in my review, “Ariel Lawhon’s latest work is my favorite book of 2023. This whopper of a novel delicately peels back the layers of history to reveal the intricate struggles and enduring resilience of women in post Revolutionary War 18th-century America. Through the eyes of Martha Ballard, a local midwife and guardian of the town’s hidden stories, Lawhon brilliantly illuminates the profound absence of women’s rights in the burgeoning American legal landscape, all without resorting to heavy-handed messaging.”
It’s a perfect read.
Buy it at Amazon
Jenna
Best Book of 2023 is, for me, tied between Five First Chances by Sarah Jost and Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes
Five First Chances was a great read because of the way Jost constructed the story. With each retelling of the “chances”, she reveals more about the characters and provides the connections between them. Too, the way that she presents very unique results for the changed decisions of the main character is refreshing. If you want a story that involves time travel without any of the messy mental gymnastics, this is the book for you.
Buy it at Amazon
In Someone Else’s Shoes, Moyes presented two characters with very different lives and personalities and yet managed to put them together in a story that made sense. Too, while I didn’t like one of the main characters very much, Moyes did an amazing job making this woman sympathetic and redeeming her in a realistic way.
Buy it at Amazon
Jessica
A Kiss in the Moonlight by Cathy Maxwell
I gave this title five stars on Goodreads because I absolutely loved it. I am a complete sucker for the hero falling first, and though Dara was for sure attracted to Michael from the beginning, he’s the first to realizes he’s catching feelngs for her. I couldn’t put it down!
Buy it at Amazon
Kayne
The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella
The Burnout had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. It’s Sophie Kinsella at her best. Sasha works for a travel app and she is burned out. Finn is an overworked management consultant who had a meltdown at work. They meet at a hotel where they both used to stay when they were young. It’s a heartwarming story and a must-read for anyone who has experienced burnout or is looking for a fun romcom.
Buy it at Amazon
Lisa
Marrying Off Morgan McBride by Amy Barry
I didn’t have a better time with a romance this year than I did with the second volume of Amy Barry’s McBride sibling series. The first one isn’t half bad, but the second is even more delightful.
Buy it at Amazon
Maggie
It’s a tie between Code Name: Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem and Julie Heaberlin’s Night Will Find You. The Heaberlin boasts fascinating characters, an engrossing mystery, and an intriguing love story make this stellar book one of my favorites of the year, while the Landsem is rich in the history of the battle for the American soul fought during the years preceding WWII. Both are outstanding books and people read them and loved them because of my reviews, which makes them extra dear to me. 😊
Buy Code Name Eidelweiss at Amazon
Buy Night Will Find You at Amazon
Maria Rose
Once a Rogue
by Allie Therin
Picking a best book of 2023 wasn’t hard for me this year. From the moment I read Proper Scoundrels in early 2022 I was hoping there would be more books in this world and anticipating Once a Rogue for over a year meant I had high expectations for the next magical adventure. Those expectations were definitely met! Once a Rogue continues the growing romance between very non-magical Lord Wesley Fine and his companion Sebastian de-Leon, a magic user, as they travel to America to respond to a mysterious message from a friend. The worldbuilding and characters are what make this series, and its original Magic in Manhattan series, some of my absolute favourite reads.
Buy it at Amazon
I finally have a few minutes to look back over my year of reading, and several of my favorites came courtesy of AAR staff and readers, due to making me aware of the authors or the particular book chosen, so thank you very much for adding many hours of reading pleasure to my 2023. I have two favorite m/m romances which stood above the rest:
We Could be so Good by Cat Sebastian was far and away my favorite. I am pretty darn picky, but dang, I can’t think of a single flaw, except, perhaps, that this lovely mid-century HR does not go on forever. I would love to see Nick and Andy as an older couple, perhaps getting married once it’s legalized. Broadway Butchery by C.S. Poe (Memento Mori series). The mystery gets a little creepy and convoluted for me, but the characters and the writing are incredible and keep me reading this excellent series.
A favorite m/m series which concluded in 2023:
Sword Dance series by A.J. DemasThree of my favorite authors had books out this year, and my hopes were high. KJ Charles, Rachel Reid and Jay Hogan all had strong entries, but for various reasons, they were all in the B/B+ range for me.
Finally, in non-romance reading, there were a few books that stood out:
Tom Lake by Ann PatchettThe Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (Thursday Murder Club series)Code Name Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem
Sorry my italicizing etc didn’t work out— I don’t have time to fix!
What interesting best choices! With the exception of Dabney’s (and only because she already told us it was her favorite), these are surprises to me based on other options from everyone’s Top 10 lists. I would have been so wrong if I’d tried to predict everyone’s choice! ;-)
I love this time of year for all the recommendations – it sets me up for weeks of lovely reading. Like Lisolette, I want to thank everyone who has been reading and reviewing and posting here at AAR. There are just too many titles being published, and I’d be sunk without all of your help to find authors worthy of my time and $$.
Lovely to hear! Thank you!
Is this where we put our top book as well?
I just will, hope it is fine.
The reads that transported me, and still resonate, in 2023, are in total 2, all others were good, but not that good.
Cat Sebastian We Could be so Good is my top romance book of 2023.
At the Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard is my best epic fantasy, and my top book overall. Though it only works after reading The Hands of the Emperor, which is even better, but older than 2023.
My runner up (fantasy romance) was Casey Blair Tea Princess Chronicles, but that came out 2022, and is a trilogy, so I am cheating twice with it.
Everything else is not memorable enough, though I had lots of good reads, and I thank everyone here.
I realized, going through my kindle and KU lists, that I had more good reads and very few, nearly no, awful ones, and that is because I read based on recs here, or prior knowledge, so I end up with very few books that are just plain bad quality (badly written, badly plotted, …) and that is thanks to AAR and a few other places.
You, and I mean reviewers and readers here, are such a valuable filter!
Thank you!,
Aw, thank you so much! It’s always nice to know we’re not just shouting into the void ;)!
Most of the books in the Nine Worlds / Greenwing & Dart / Red Company universe by Victoria Goddard are excellent fantasies, many with romantic threads.
I did not have a standout best romance of the year, but I will mention The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton as a strong candidate.
Until You is my favorite of the year too. I don’t know how many times I have re-read that love letter – it is <swoon>
I loved the Cat Sebastian book so much. I’ve already got You Could Be So Lucky (due out in May) on my audible wishlist even without an author’s blurb being available.
I have it pre-ordered, too :-)
Caz- Until You is amazing, and I’m happy to see it’s your “Best of the Best” this year, even though there were several fantastic books to choose from.
Marie Rose- Like you I loved Proper Scoundrels so I was excited for Once A Rogue. Sebatian and Wesley’s love story is so sweet and emotional. Plus the magical world is so well done and the search for the magical relics plot is exciting. I gobbled this up in print and again on audio as soon as it came out. Joel Leslie does such an amazing job with all the emotions and accents. I really, really hope there’s another book coming in this series!
I hate playing favourites so choosing just one book of the year is really hard. I could have chosen any of my other picks.
There will be a third Wesley & Sebastian book, but I think it’s a way off yet – 2025 was the last date I saw.
I’ve never been good at any “favorites” list, so having to narrow it down to one is an almost impossible task. But Until You was a contemporary romance (without a suspense or fantasy, etc plot) that was riveting and emotionally satisfying, and that seems to be rare. Jay Hogan is one of the few who are consistently writing this kind of A -level contemporary romance, so seeing something this good from Briar Prescott was a real treat. When it was followed up with And Then You, I put Prescott on my autobuy list.
I hate having to wait for the third Wesley and Sebasian book, but at least there will be anotherone!
I don’t think I’ve ever chosen a contemporary romance as a Best of the Year book – the vast majority of CR is too fluffy and by rote for my taste, so this one is doubly a standout! As you say there are a few authors who can consistenly write interesting, strongly characterised contemporaries, but they’re in a minority.
Thanks Carrie, I find that the books by Allie Therin, and the Magpie Lord series by K.J. Charles are some of my favourites ever and I am equally excited about them on rereads (and for KJ, the audio versions).
Good picks, everyone!