NB: This week, we’re taking a look back at 2022. 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 onto part two of of our Best of Reviews for 2022! I’m eager to see if some of you guessed correctly. As I was looking up the site stats for these, I was honestly surprised by some of the top reviews. Others definitely made sense, though certainly some wild cards.
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5. Book Lovers by Emily Henry (May 5)
Review by Sarah
Grade: B+
Even the title Book Lovers refers to many subtle and prominent details of this book, and I gulped the entire novel in one day, disappearing into a few pages when I was supposed to be doing other things (oops). I love stories that are about people being seen and loved and appreciated exactly as they are, that in some part are about bending or destroying expectations. As I said, there was some skimming on my part when the plot started to seem slow to me, especially as more and more characters were introduced and connected to the central relationships. I wasn’t invested in every storyline (and there were several!) but I was very invested in the romance between two individuals who love books as much as I do.
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4. A Most Unusual Duke by Susanna Allen (January 11)
Review by Catherine
Grade: Squee
A Most Unusual Duke was utterly unlike anything I was expecting. I was prepared for drama (let’s face it, werewolves *are* usually dramatic) and angst and fated mates and sexytimes, and I got some of those things, but mostly I got a cosy, tender, funny, domestic sort of story about two people figuring out how to live together and look after each other and the people around them. I loved that the story could be serious and angsty and sweet one moment, and laugh at itself in the next moment. And I adored Beatrice and Osborn and the way they treated each other and the people around them. I loved this book, and I’m heading straight off to read the first book in the series as soon as I finish writing this review.
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3. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (July 2)
Review by Carrie
Grade: C
I am very confused by The Dead Romantics, a contemporary romance between a ghostwriter and an actual ghost. This book has a lot of parts to it, and I’m not sure how I feel about almost all of them. I will therefore write this review as a list of all the pieces and how I felt about them. Expect frequent use of words like “ambivalent” and “confused.” None of these are spoilers – they are all parts of the basic plot set up. As you can imagine, I think the book struggles to balance all this stuff.
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2. A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (May 24)
Review by Shana
Grade: Squee
The pace of this story was perfect for me because there were plenty of subplots to keep me absorbed, but the love story felt luxuriously unrushed. Viola and Gracewood both start the book feeling unlovable, and watching them find their way back to one another was incredibly satisfying. Many of the book’s themes are around friendship–loving a friend but hiding parts of yourself, learning to connect with other women, and the perils of competitive friendships. I loved A Lady for a Duke, it’s a must-read for historical romance fans looking for a new take on Regency friends-to-lovers.
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1. The No-Show by Beth O’Leary (April 12)
Review by Shana
Grade: B+
I Ioved how The No-Show kept me guessing. The story sucked me in with its complicated layers and kept me wondering whether one woman needed Joseph in her life a bit more than the rest. The No-Show may appeal to readers who like relationship-driven fiction with laughs, angst, tension, and tragedy. I gave up mysteries during the pandemic, but the book reminded me of how fun they can be. Just be prepared to join the Bad Decisions Book Club.
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What are your predictions for the top five? Let us know in the comments!
I love the Susanna Allen series. There are three books, so far. There’s a real warmth to the characters and the romances are properly swoonworthy (is that a word?). Also, I will read anything Alexis Hall writes. A Lady… is one of my books of 2022.
HNY all.
I’m still not sure what O’Leary was going for in THE NO-SHOW. While I admit it was quite readable—and I can’t say too much without spoilers—when I finished it, I felt that the whole goal of the book was to make you intensely dislike a character because of their (ostensible) actions and then suddenly pull the rug out from under you at the end with a “ta-da!” I think that sort of sleight-of-hand works so much better in mysteries & psychological suspense than in romance.
The No-Show is my biggest disappointment of the year and I still wished I liked it more.
Yes to A Lady for Duke! There are so many dukes in Regency romances. This is an aspect I haven’t seen before.
Wow, I wasn’t expecting any of these. Like DDD, I thought that The Long Game would be in the top 5 because it was such a highly anticipated book and such a controversial review.
I seem to be in the minority, but I really disliked A Lady for a Duke. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. I had problems with the pacing and the excessive plot – I really don’t miss that style of historical romance. Plus it uses of my very least favorite romance tropes / stock characters – the strong minded busy-body who knows what’s best for everyone and sets the plot in motion by interfering with the MC’s life. In this case, having a cis woman trying to manage a trans woman’s life made me uncomfortable as well as annoyed.
If any of you are curious, The Long Game review had about 1500 less page views than our 10th spot.
One of my favorite aspects of BOOK LOVERS was how it upended some of the Big City/Small Town tropes. Emily Henry loves big cities and small towns, and she doesn’t demonize one to make the other look not just better but Perfect. There are different kinds of heroes and heroines, and it makes sense that they find love and happiness in different settings. Just as we readers frown on slut-shaming, we should frown on denigrating people’s choice to live in midtown Manhattan or a town where the population is 5 figures or less – and in BOOK LOVERS there are those who make very different choices.
I also liked that there is a character introduced as a potential hero who is not turned into a villain just so that the actual hero can look better and more heroic. He is a nice guy, just not the right nice guy for the heroine.
“ooooh that sounds interesting”…and I already bought it when you recommended it the first time.
Seriously I need to wade through my e-books.