NB: This week, we’re taking a look back at some of our favorite and our most popular pieces of writing this year. We’ve got a week of best-of posts to share, with reviews, cover snark, sales, and more. We hope you enjoy this saunter through the archives, and most of all, we wish you and yours a wonderful holiday and a happy new year – with all the very best of reading.
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Looking at page views for the year, we have discovered our top ten most read reviews of 2017! These were the reviews we posted during this calendar year, and to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised at how varied the selection was. There’s fantasy, contemporary romances, and plenty of historical romances, too!
Join us as we count down reviews ten through six!
10. Looking Inside by Beth Kery (March 22)
Review by Elyse
Grade: B+
In summation, we have a heroine who is on a journey of self realization that she gets to be both sexy and powerful and still fundamentally the person she always was. We get lots of erotic sexytimes. We get a hero who reads Pride and Prejudice. We get Elyse passed out on the floor from too many shots.
9. Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb (September 6)
Review by Elyse
Grade: A
Over the years here at the Hot Pink Palace of Bitchery, my fortitude has been tested. I’ve read books about reindeer shifters and suffered through hours of Nick Viall trying to form a coherent sentence. My constitution strengthened by rum, I’d describe my loins as exceptionally girdy.
My aunt has been recommending JD Robb’s (aka Nora Robert’s) In Death series to me forever, but I’ve always been intimidated by the length of the series. Then Secrets in Death came out and sounded good, and I thought, fuck it. I’ll start with the 45th book in the series.
I’m not scared.
8. Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones (March 8)
Review by Amanda
Grade: A-
For those who love Labyrinth or any of the elements I mentioned above, please get this book. It’s whimsical, spellbinding, and full of things that will make fairy tale lovers squee. This is Jae-Jones’ debut novel and because of Wintersong, you can guarantee that I’ll be following her writing closely, whether it’s up and down the Escher staircase or knee-deep into the bog of eternal stench.
7. The Thing About Love by Julie James (April 18)
Review by Sarah
Grade: A-
I spent one weekend reading The Thing About Love, and it was so enjoyable and so much fun that knowing that I still had more of it to read left me in the best mood. It lifted my entire weekend, and when people ask me about it, I grin and wave my hands around and make Good Book Noise® (and then those people probably regret asking me).
6. Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren (June 7)
Review by Amanda
Grade: A-
Evie is the heroine you want to cheer for, be best friends with, and she’d definitely come over at 2am after a date-gone-wrong for a good wine & kvetching session. While romance is well…about romance, it’s also about sharing women’s stories. Which brings me to what I truly loved about Dating You/Hating You. Evie is the star. It’s her story. She shines and Carter, as a character, takes a backseat. I didn’t feel deprived of the romance or felt that I was missing anything. He was a wonderful support for Evie, both as a partner for her and keeping the tension going for readers.
And while Evie’s was falling in love with Carter, I was definitely falling in love with Evie.
If you want the book-form of a great, contemporary rom-com (since those seem to be nonexistent from the theaters these days), Dating You/Hating You will scratch that itch. No, not just scratch it. Massage it. A full body, deep-tissue Swedish massage that will leave your bones feeling like jelly, where all you can do is close your eyes and let out a deep, satisfying sigh.
What did you think of the first half of our Best of 2017 reviews? Did you read any of these books? Let us know what reviews you hope will crack the top five!
Happy holidays to everyone celebrating one! I’m enjoying the ‘Best of 2017.’ Thank you!
I read ‘Dating You, Hating You’ and enjoyed it but had issues with the MCs. I’ve worked in academia, government, and private industry and, in my experience, their behavior would land you the wrong type of attention everywhere. So that detracted from my enjoyment.
I also read ‘The Thing About Love’ and enjoyed it. Julie James has the most gorgeous covers! And I love her competence p0rn!
I read the book by Julie James and enjoyed it. I started, but did not finish, the Christina Lauren book — I’ll likely give it another try at some point.