Once again, I challenged our reviewers to pick their favorite (only one!) book they read this year. It didn’t necessarily have to be a 2022 release. I loved seeing which book they all selected and hearing about what made it so good for them. Surprisingly, there wasn’t too much hemming and hawing about selecting just one.
Here are our favorites of the year! We’d also love to hear about your best read of 2022!
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Ocean’s Echo
Author: Everina Maxwell
Released: November 1, 2022 by Tor Books
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance, Science Fiction/FantasyRich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster Tennalhin Halkana can read minds. Tennal, like all neuromodified “readers,” is a security threat on his own. But when controlled, readers are a rare asset. Not only can they read minds, but they can navigate chaotic space, the maelstroms surrounding the gateway to the wider universe.
Conscripted into the military under dubious circumstances, Tennal is placed into the care of Lieutenant Surit Yeni, a duty-bound soldier, principled leader, and the son of a notorious traitor general. Whereas Tennal can read minds, Surit can influence them. Like all other neuromodified “architects,” he can impose his will onto others, and he’s under orders to control Tennal by merging their minds.
Surit accepted a suspicious promotion-track request out of desperation, but he refuses to go through with his illegal orders to sync and control an unconsenting Tennal. So they lie: They fake a sync bond and plan Tennal’s escape.
Their best chance arrives with a salvage-retrieval mission into chaotic space—to the very neuromodifcation lab that Surit’s traitor mother destroyed twenty years ago. And among the rubble is a treasure both terrible and unimaginably powerful, one that upends a decades-old power struggle, and begins a war.
Tennal and Surit can no longer abandon their unit or their world. The only way to avoid life under full military control is to complete the very sync they’ve been faking.
Can two unwilling weapons of war bring about peace?
AJ: Gay space opera + opposites attract +slow burn. I just loved the characters SO HECKIN MUCH. Their mutual respect and admiration and snark were chef’s kiss.
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Nettle & Bone
Author: T. Kingfisher
Released: April 26, 2022 by Tor Books
Genre: Science Fiction/FantasyWith her signature mix of the grim and the delightful, award-winning author T. Kingfisher takes the old bones of fantasy and fairytale and makes them into something entirely new in this enchanting adventure.
After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.
Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.
On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra’s family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.
“Nettle & Bone is the kind of book that immediately feels like an old friend. Fairytale mythic resonance meets homey pragmatism in this utterly delightful story. It’s creepy, funny, heartfelt, and full of fantastic characters I absolutely loved!” —Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage
Amanda: The atmosphere and non-linear storytelling really sucked me in. It was quirky without being too twee and had just enough darkness and bite for me. My only complaint is that I want hundreds of more pages to read!
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Red Blossom in Snow
Author: Jeannie Lin
Released: March 21, 2022
Genre: Historical: Other, Mystery/Thriller, Romance
Series: The Pingkang Li Mysteries #4Murder and forbidden love in the Tang Dynasty. The latest in the bestselling Lotus Palace Mystery series.
Magistrate Li Chen harbors a secret. One that could destroy his hard-earned reputation, as well as his growing passion for the talented courtesan, Song Yi.
Li Chen’s duty to his family and the Emperor must come before the desires of his heart, but when a stranger to the city is found dead near the House of Heavenly Peaches, where Song Yi is indentured, the complicated nature of their relationship becomes the least of his troubles.
For Song Yi, Magistrate Li’s gentlemanly, late night conversations provide a welcome change from the games of courtship she is accustomed to, but his reserved attention won’t pay the bills. When one of her courtesan-sisters goes missing at the same time a stranger is killed in the pleasure quarter, she and Li Chen embark on an investigation as well as a passionate affair. But the riddle they uncover goes deeper than they could have imagined, and mysteries from their pasts may shatter any hope for the future.
Claudia: Thank you, Titles I’ve Borrowed in Libby List. My pick is Red Blossom in the Snow by Jennie Lin. Excellent return to the richly imagined Lotus Palace world.
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A Lady for a Duke
Author: Alexis Hall
Released: May 24, 2022 by Forever
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, RomanceWhen Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood.
Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become.
As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again.
Elyse: It just left me absolutely aching with bittersweet feels and the HEA was so satisfying. It’s a great book for when you need to have some Big Feels.
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Season of Love
Author: Helena Greer
Released: October 11, 2022 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceMiriam Blum has no choice but to face the past she thought she’d left behind when she inherits her great-aunt’s Christmas tree farm in this witty, glittering, heart-filled romcom.
Thanks to her thriving art career, Miriam Blum finally has her decoupaged glitter ducks in a row—until devastating news forces her to a very unwanted family reunion. Her beloved great-aunt Cass has passed and left Miriam part-owner of Carrigan’s, her (ironically) Jewish-run Christmas tree farm.
But Miriam’s plans to sit shiva, avoid her parents, then put Carrigan’s in her rearview mirror are spoiled when she learns the business is at risk of going under. To have any chance at turning things around, she’ll need to work with the farm’s grumpy manager—as long as the attraction sparking between them doesn’t set all their trees on fire first.
Noelle Northwood wants Miriam Blum gone—even if her ingenious ideas and sensitive soul keep showing Noelle there’s more to Cass’s niece than meets the eye. But saving Carrigan’s requires trust, love, and risking it all—for the chance to make their wildest dreams come true.
Sarah: Season of Love was probably one of my favorite books this year. Quirky and emotional, smart and sweet without being saccharine, and as I said, it captured that feeling of swimming in the ocean of Christmas when you don’t celebrate it. It’s a book about a lot of people who feel alone, who all realize that they aren’t alone at all, which is perfect because the story made me feel less alone, too.
Read Sarah and Tara’s joint review!
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You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Released: May 24, 2022 by Atria Books
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance, Women's FictionA New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist reimagines the love story in this fresh and seductive novel about a young woman seeking joy while healing from loss.
Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again.
It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio, and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career.
She’s even started dating the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance by the dangerous thrill Feyi feels every time she locks eyes with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits. This new life she asked for just got a lot more complicated, and Feyi must begin her search for real answers. Who is she ready to become? Can she release her past and honor her grief while still embracing her future? And, of course, there’s the biggest question of all—how far is she willing to go for a second chance at love?
Akwaeke Emezi’s vivid and passionate writing takes us deep into a world of possibility and healing, and the constant bravery of choosing love against all odds.
Shana: It was such fun to read—the heroine took me along her messy, soapy journey to love through a bunch of hot guys who, unfortunately for them, all knew one another. It has a HEA but an atypical structure for a romance, so for most of the book I had no idea what would happen next. The book also just gives off EXTREMELY queer energy for a m/f romance. It’s like a beautiful bisexual fairy tale, if fairy tales had characters who accidentally make out with their date’s dad.
Also I have to mention that the hero is a chef who is just enough like Marcus Samuelsson to be hot, without ever tipping into RPF (real person fiction).
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Truth and Measure
Author: Roslyn Sinclair
Released: April 25, 2022 by Ylva Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: The Carlisle Series #1What happens when the world’s fiercest fashion editor learns she’s pregnant—and her distracting assistant is the only one she can turn to? This wildly popular age-gap lesbian romance mixes humor and chaos with self-discovery.
Jules Moretti is newly single, an aspiring writer, and the hyper-competent assistant to the most powerful woman in fashion. It’s a tough job, but her ice queen boss won’t settle for less than perfection.
Vivian Carlisle helms the internationally revered fashion publication Du Jour. She might be smack in the middle of a messy divorce, but you have to make sacrifices to be the best. That’s what she tells herself, anyway.
When the unthinkable happens, Vivian’s regimented world is turned upside-down. Her life is about power, success, and dominance—not a baby!
This single, shocking moment throws boss and assistant together into an intimacy neither could have imagined. With their lives in chaos, every day brings a new challenge bigger than the last. But everything will work out…just so long as they don’t do anything totally ridiculous.
Like fall in love.
Truth and Measure is the first part of a two-book series. This slow-burn office romance is a steamy story of fashion, passion, and the power of the unexpected.
Tara: My favourite book of the year was Truth and Measure, and its second part Above All Things, by Roslyn Sinclair. Yes, technically that’s two books, but they need to be read together. It’s a rewrite of my favourite fanfic of all time and it love it so much that it’s just hands down my favourite book ever. This is one of those YMMV stories, because the couple that gets together starts as a boss/employee situation, but I felt it handled that line well.
Read Tara and Susan’s joint review!
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The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray. She does an incredible job of capturing the voices of the established Austen characters (I LOVE her Emma), and she creates two wonderful new ones in Juliet Tilney and Jonathan Darcy. It does help if you’re an Austen fan, but it can stand alone.
The scene that I refer to as the ‘Edmund Bertram/Mr. Elton Bible verse dance-off’ makes it golden.
THE LONG GAME by Rachel Reid is my favorite book read (and published) in 2022. It can’t be read as a standalone: HEATED RIVALRY has to be read first (and, if possible, the other books in Reid’s Game Changers series, especially ROLE MODEL). It brings the story of Shane & Ilya—professional hockey player rivals for a decade (and secret lovers for most of that time)—to a satisfying, if hard-won, close.
I did *not* do a good job tracking my reading this year. (hangs head in shame) but NETTLE AND BONE would be way up there and for non-fiction, BIG FEELINGS.
The Kingfisher and Lin books were also some of my favorites, but for me Lady for a Duke wins overall because it made me love a big sweeping angst fest of a romance, which is not unprecedented, but still so rare as to be an unexpected delight. Kingfisher and Lin are both at this point reliable delights whereas Hall very much can go either way.
I definitely liked the Maxwell book but there is a tragic lack of on page sex, and they were both so nearly instantly full of admiration and adoration for the other – and aware of the other’s feelings – that it didn’t have enough sexual tension to make up for it.
But Nona the Ninth would definitely make my best of the year list, and is also a queer sci-fi without on page sex. That whole series is just mind blowingly excellent.
I expected The Long Game would be one of my favorites this year, and it wasn’t. I didn’t hate it but I was pretty lukewarm.
Dunno the others because grief, xmas, and boss/employee dynamics are all things I avoid, although exceptions can be made, especially for bodyguards and KJ Charles. I have finally managed to cut myself off from romances involving Austen (also anything set in Scotland) as inevitably irritating to me no matter how irresistible they seem. Now if only I could learn about librarians and Vikings…
I finished Ocean’s Echo last night… And by last night I mean early this morning because I absolutely could not put it down. I love the characters so much that I am contemplating re-reading it just to spend more time with them.
My favorite book of the year has to be Black Water Sister, by Zen Cho. I love fantasy, especially novels that stray from European models, so I expected to like it. But the plot was so unexpected, the characters so alive and their speech so delightful, that I was shocked by the pleasure of reading in a way I haven’t experienced for a while. It’s set mostly in Malaysia, and the characters often talk in Manglish. There are no distracting explanatory commas (as in, “I call him ‘amigo,’ which is the word we use in Spanish for a friend”). The author’s lovely use of language let me enjoy the feeling of traveling via reading. But also: fast-moving! scary! immersive!
Two books come to mind that I expect to always remember. First, The Guncle, which I was initially hesitant to read (expecting a heap of meanness) but which touched my heart with its tenderness and humor. Second, Lucy Score’s Things We Never Got Over. The plot is not unfamiliar – run away bride, abandoned niece, troubled sibling – but in Score’s hands it soars.
Happy New Year to all of my fellow readers and to the many authors responsible for my life’s chief pleasure.
I had 12 5-star reads this year (not counting rereads). For romance, A Lady for a Duke was definitely at the top of the list. For non-romance, the books that lingered in my mind after reading were Becky Chambers’ Psalm for the Wild-Built and Prayer for the Crown-Shy.
I absolutely adored A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE by Foz Meadows. It’s a queer fantasy marriage of convenience with a political mystery too. I don’t read much fantasy, but I loved the world building here and fell in love with the gorgeous romance between two wonderful men. Lots of content warnings (it was reviewed here at SBTB) which I was initially cautious about, but I’m so grateful that I decided to read this and am now wanting more queer fantasy in my life.
@kkw, I laughed out loud when you said you won’t read Austen themed or Scotland set romances, because I won’t either. I’ve tried, but I just canna do it.
I loved The Guncle and The People on Platform 5 (aka Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting) by Clare Pooley (who isn’t well marketed in the US). Both explore complicated romance/familial/chosen family stories of love and have a background of grief (which isn’t grim, it is a fact of life following on from HEA romances). Watching Patrick, the Guncle, open up his heart to new loves, responsibilities, and the caring gestures of random neighbors, was lovely. Funny as hell, too. Pooley shows a group of commuting strangers brought together by one fabulous, gorgeous and over-the-top-dressing older woman (who is grieving the loss of her wife) plotting and humor. Fans of dry humor and intricate plots will love it. Both books feature mature characters and the message is: true love is stronger than death.
Manchester Happened by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi gets my vote for best read of the year. I am not quite finished with all the stories (it is a short story collection) but everyone is a so so good. Superlative. Excellent. Exceptional.
Just been through my list for the year and there aren’t that many great ones, except a couple probably not of interest to the list (I discovered the school story writer Clare Mallory this year, plus found some books by Pansy I hadn’t read cheaply on kindle). I think I’ll go with AJ Demas’s Sword Dance.
I’m normally a lurker not a poster, but I’ll give this a go. Maybe a New Year’s resolution?! I hope my formatting works ok.
Interestingly most of my favourites this year, in terms of genre, were romance + something else (fantasy, mostly) rather than ‘just’ romances. The one that comes to mind is The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen. It’s very like You’ve Got Mail, but in a weird and wonderful world with western vibes, demigods and all sorts of other stuff going on…though that really doesn’t do it justice. It took a little while to figure out what was going on but then I got completely sucked in. By the end I was feeling all the feels, totally invested in the characters and the romance. Thank you to the glowing review (and comments) here on SBTB which was why I gave it a try! This was easily a 5-star read for me, and it was just the perfect book at the perfect time.
I’m cheating slightly by also picking a non-romance favourite: Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I was wary of the hype and thought I might hate all the science whooshing over my head so I put off reading this for ages, but I shouldn’t have worried. I can’t really mention what I most loved about this without plot spoilers, but it was one of those books I kept thinking and telling other people about as I was reading. It had more heart than I expected, somehow, as well as being such a page-turner. Overall a really fun ride.
I had a somewhat unusual reading year in that my favorite books happened to be small, debut romances. I loved Sophie Irwin’s A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting and Annabelle Monaghan’s Nora Goes Off Script.
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews is my top book of the year. A beautifully written, generous coming of age story about a 22 year old queer immigrant working a crappy consulting job in Milwaukee WI during the Great Recession and trying to figure out how to live her messy life. It is definitely not a romance and is actually the only lit fic I read this year.
My top romances are Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun, The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian and A Restless Truth by Freya Marske.
I’ve read 3 of the books listed above, which I’m pretty impressed with. I’ve already mentioned really disliking A Lady for A Duke in another recent post, so I’ll just say that I quite enjoyed Ocean’s Echo and You Made a Fool of Love with Your Beauty.
I don’t have a standout favorite book of the year though I’ve read many books that I’ve enjoyed including one, two, and four in your list above.
@spinsterrevival: I’m currently reading and quite enjoying A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE by Foz Meadows. I expect that this will be a book I’ll reread.
This has been a year dealing with the loss of my co-author, intellectual foil, husband, and best friend, then the announcement of triple negative breast cancer for two daughters, one with an excellent outcome, the other with a less positive future, the partial loss of a house due to a tornado, and, in the last three weeks, having to get my parents into assisted living (ongoing process) after major strokes, several falls, COVID, etc. 2022 just isn’t giving up! But, the book that i found most wonderful in this year filled with loss was Mary Bly’s (she typically writes under Eloisa James) book, LIZZY AND DANTE. This book manages a HFN that is absolutely incredible for those of us caring for or dealing with a terminal diagnosis. I always suggest this book along with CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER (Eli Brown) and TJ Klune’s UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR. I think that I’d also include THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY (Megan Bannen), another wonderful find in 2020. Yeah, it’s more than one, but given my year, I have needed, appreciated, and loved each and all.
2022. Sigh. It’s that kind of a decade so far.
I need to read the Lin and the Greer; A LADY FOR A DUKE is definitely on my top reads of the year list!
I’m very sorry, Qualisign. Any one of those happenings is terrible. I hope 2023 begins your healing.
@Qualisign: sending hope for love, comfort, and healing your (and your daughters’) way.
My top 2022-published reads have already been mentioned (Truth and Measure, Nettle & Bone). I also loved Rose Lerner’s “Sailor’s Delight,” though it wasn’t completely without flaws. Such a deep dive into its historical setting–the regency era of dockyards and maritime professionals, a metaphorical thousand miles from Almack’s! Such a lovely main character, and such centrality to the way his Jewish faith helps him think though his life.
@Qualisgn — so sorry that life has been pummeling you so. My good wishes to you!
@Qualisign, sending all good wishes to you and your family.
Sending good wishes to all who are facing physical and emotional challenges.
@Qualisign, my heart goes out to you. I lost my husband a few years ago, and there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t miss him. As another widow told me, “being a widow doesn’t get any easier, but I’m getting better at it.” Helps to have loving family and friends and to keep busy and engaged in the world, but it is still a huge loss. To have worries about your daughters in addition is so very unfair, but there are truly times when Life sucks. I hope that thoughts and prayers and modern medicine help both your daughters recover completely.
I normally lurk but have to thank Shana for recommending You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is an amazing read. It’s not a book I probably would have chosen but was intrigued by your write up. I finished it last night and was so very good and have been thinking about it ever since. Thanks for introducing me to reading more of Akwaeke Emezi’s books.
@Qualisign: I am so sorry for your loss and for how hard things are for you and yours right now. I’m sending you so much love and support.