NB: This week, we’re taking a look back at 2020. We’ve got a week of best-of posts to share, with reviews, cover snark, sales, and more. We hope you enjoy revisiting our 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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We’re counting down the best of our 2020 reviews, which I’m sure you’re all curious about. Counting down from ten, these are the first five reviews in terms of page views. I think this year, we have a wider assortment of genres in the top ten.
Let’s get into it!
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10. The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan (September 23)
Review by Catherine
Grade: Squee
I love Jeremy and Chloe together – they complement each other perfectly. Jeremy loves Chloe not in spite of her intensity and prickliness and her lists but because of them, and he knows her well enough to realise that the hardest part of persuading her to marry him (well, apart from the Duke stuff) will be convincing her of this.
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9. Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher (May 4)
Review by AJ
Grade: A
The book covers a lot of ground. It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s suspenseful. It’s a fantasy romance AND a spy story AND a courtroom drama. It has lines like, “Am I the only person concerned about the severed head situation in this city?” (Yes, Stephen, you are.) It would be easy for such a packed plot to go off the rails and lose track of what it’s trying to be, but it never does. Grace and Stephen’s relationship is always the heart of the story, right from their first awkward encounter.
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8. The Guest List by Lucy Foley (June 3)
Review by Elyse
Grade: A
This book is also not gory, and while it does have some creepy aspects (like those people buried in the bog), I think it would be fine for more squeamish readers. I cannot recommend The Guest List strongly enough for fans of suspense. It’s wonderfully executed, feminist and has just enough Gothic flavor to make my heart happy. This is one outstanding thriller and I’ll be gifting to my creepy-shit loving friends.
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7. Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn (December 31)
Review by Aarya
Grade: A
Love Lettering is a special book that I’ll hold close to my heart for a long time. It’s a quiet romance with quiet protagonists, but sometimes it’s the quiet moments that echo the loudest. Meg and Reid will make your heart melt as they cross the finish line into their Happily Ever After.
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6.The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (April 9)
Review by Carrie
Grade: B
Truthfully, if I had known what I was getting into, I doubt I would have read this book. And yet I’m so glad I did, because this, among other things, is a story about reading whatever the heck we want to read and the power of women when they decide to unite, both of which are themes that are Relevant to my Interests, Oh, Yeah.
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What are your predictions for the top five? Let us know in the comments!
My guess is Dani Brown
Murderbot. Maybe Harrow. No, Murderbot, any title.
Ten Things I Hate About the Duke should make the list, along with Boyfriend Material. But if the choosing goes by visits to the page,one of the rant reviews will probably make it. Perhaps When a Duke Met His Match.
Personally, I’d like to see Strange Love by Ann Aguirre.
Another vote for Strange Love.
For romances published in 2020, my faves were I’ll Be the One (Lyla Lee), The Rakess (Scarlett Peckham), 40-Love and Spoiler Alert (Olivia Dade).
…And I’m waiting for Strange Love via interlibrary loan. 🙂
Oh, gosh, I nearly forgot to add T. Kingfisher’s Paladin’s Grace. That makes five. 😉
Wow, just gonna break all of your hearts tomorrow.
Hmmm, if Southern Guide is on there… maybe Empire of the Wild? Was it reviewed in 2020? Or the Catherine Coulter rant!
I’m not reading any other comments, I don’t want to be influenced. I also totally misread the question, I thought you were rating books, but you are talking about the the reviews with the most page views. Hopefully that is right! This is actually a tough one because something in the comments can increase page views…
Boyfriend Material
Widow of Rose House
Headliners
Daring and the Duke
I feel this might be a book not published in 2020-but might get tons of page views-something from Courtney Milan?
@Maureen: You are correct! These are the reviews that had the most traffic/views on the site. Our actual favorites or “best of” will be posted on Thursday.
Ooh, I love this column! On this list, I’ve only read Love Lettering so far and it was just fabulous.
For me, Sarah Hogle’s You Deserve Each Other has been my favorite book.