It’s been an awesome year of reading for me! There have been some fantastic releases from much-loved authors, as well as great debuts, newly discovered series and some older releases that have been languishing on my TBR for far too long. It was impossible to choose a top ten, and still too hard to do a top 20, but I managed 21 and I’m happy with that. All 5 stars, and even a couple of 6s, these are the books that rocked my world in 2017 (with a few standouts), and ones that I know I will (and some I already have) reread over and over again.
AJ’s Faves for 2017!
After We Fall by Melanie Harlow
*Stand out fave*
Review
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5 massive stars!
OMG, I love, love, love this book! Funny, sweet, sexy and emotional with a gorgeous love story that is so beautiful, so honest, so natural, so functional, so full of chemistry, so EVERYTHING! This unassuming little story of a high society girl and her damaged, broody farmer completely blew me away and I adored every single moment of it!
Beneath the Truth (Beneath, #7) by Meghan March
Review
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Absolutely fantastic, 5 stars!
Meghan March sure knows how to finish off a series with a bang, and Rhett Hennessy’s long-awaited story was everything that I was hoping for and more! Intense, romantic, sexy and emotional, with a gorgeous best-friend’s-brother romance that is full of heart and intensity, and a mystery/suspense/thriller storyline that had me on the edge of my seat, this book held me absolutely captivated and I loved every moment of it.
Breaking Hollywood by Samantha Towle
Review
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5 Astro-fucking-nomical stars!!!
OMG, this is such an awesome read! A celebrity romance that had me hooked from start to finish. Laugh-out-loud funny, characters that you can’t help but love from the moment you meet them, sizzling chemistry, epic banter and teasing, steamy hot sexy time and a beautiful, heartfelt romance with low angst. Oh, and a pygmy goat. It has everything you could possibly want, and I freaking loved it!
Damaged Like Us (Like Us, #1) by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Review
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I. LOVE. THIS BOOK! I love it HARD!
5 huge stars!
The Ritchie twins have once again given the fans what we want, and have brought us back into their Addicted world, but this time writing about the next generation. And though set in the same world, this book has a feeling that is different from the originals, which I really appreciated, though there is still that incredible sense of family and friendship that runs strongly throughout the series, and an emotional, heartfelt and steamy M/M romance that captured my heart and left me hugging my kindle and already planning my next re-read.
Fighting to Forget (Fighting, #3) by J.B. Salsbury
Review
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5 stars!
This is the third book in the Fighting series, and as much as I am loving being immersed in the lives of these characters, the feels were kicked up a notch with this one, and there is something truly special about this book. From the earlier books in the series, we know that there is something between Mac and Rex, but it’s not until this book that the full extent of their connection is fully explored, and OMG! This story broke me and healed me and broke me and healed me all over again. I swooned, I laughed and I cried, and I absolutely loved it!
Holding Onto Hope (Beyond The Mathews Family, #2) by Beverly Preston
Review
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5 stars!
Wow, what a surprise! Super-emotional, oh-so-hot and gorgeously romantic, this book absolutely captivated me and I loved every moment of it! This is my first read by Beverly Preston, and I loved it! Her writing is emotive and descriptive without being overly sappy, and she swept me right up into the story. A heartwrenching almost-second-chance romance set in the vineyards of Italy, I feel like I’ve been on a journey, and I read this book in one sitting unable to put it down.
Infini (Aerial Ethereal, #2) by Krista & Becca Ritchie
*Stand out fave*
Review
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6 MASSIVE STARS!
WOW! Seriously, that’s all I could say after finishing this book. So much wow, that I had to put all of my other reading aside to go back and read it all over again – and that hasn’t happened to me for a very long time. This book is everything that I love about Krista and Becca Ritchie’s writing – smart, funny, deeply dramatic and intense with a soul-deep love story dripping in chemistry. Luka and Baylee’s story (a second-chance-romance) touched my heart, and I absolutely loved it.
Justice Ascending (Scorpius Syndrome, #3) by Rebecca Zanetti
*Stand out fave*
Review
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ABSOLUTELY SENSATIONAL! 5 huge stars!
This book is a wild ride from start to finish. Action, adventure, suspense, romance and drama with some laugh-out-loud moments, I loved being back in Zanetti’s post-apocalyptic world. I was absolutely hooked from the first page and struggled to put it down and I loved every moment of it!
Long Way Home (Thunder Road, #3) by Katie McGarry
Review
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5 shining stars!
I am a mad fan of all things Katie McGarry, and I love this series. Set in the world of a legitimate motorcycle club, and telling the stories of the younger generation – those who were born and raised in the club and who are now approaching adulthood. From the first book of the series I fell in love with Chevy and Violet, who grew up together, became best friends, fell in love and then lost it all. I have been so excited to get their story, and this book did not disappoint. It’s a heartfelt second-chance-romance, and a wonderfully written coming of age story. It was everything that I wanted, and I absolutely loved it!
Preservation (The Walshes, #7) by Kate Canterbary
Review
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Perfection! 5 huge stars!
Like all other Walsh fans, I have been eagerly anticipating this book, and I am absolutely thrilled because Kate Canterbary has smashed it out of the park! From the moment I picked it up I was sucked into the story, and I loved every moment of it! I was highlighting constantly the whole time I read – the funny, emotional, the sexy, the swoony and the profound. This book was everything that I was hoping for, and I freaking loved it!
Riot (Scarred Souls, #4) by Tillie Cole
*Stand out fave*
Review
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SO GOOD, SO GOOD, SO, SO GOOD!!!!
5 stars!
I love this series – dark and gritty romances tied together through family, loyalty, and a hideous shared nightmare. Tillie Cole has brought it all together for this final book, and she absolutely nailed it with a heart-achingly beautiful love story set in tragic circumstances, and a kickass ending that had my heart pounding and feels all over the freaking place. It’s everything that I wanted from this book, and I loved it!
Tempt the Boss by Natasha Madison
*Stand out fave*
Review
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I FREAKING LOVE THIS BOOK!!
5 huge stars!
An enemies-to-lovers story, this book is smart and sexy with fantastic banter and a heap of snark, and it’s absolutely hilarious! I haven’t laughed this hard while reading in such a long time, I had tears streaming down my face! So much fun! And the love story is sweet and emotional, making this a really well-rounded read that I could not put down. A definite favourite, I loved it!
The Darkest Sunrise Duet by Aly Martinez
The Darkest Sunrise (#1)
Review
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5 stunning stars!
Aly Martinez has done it again! She has created a dramatic, heartbreaking but ultimately heartfelt story that made me laugh, cry and fall in love. Featuring two characters who have been left emotionally damaged from the trauma of their pasts, but who find something together that starts to drag them out of the darkness of their lives. Sweet, fun, emotional, intense, and beautifully romantic, this beautifully written story held me absolutely captivated and I read it in one sitting, unable to put it down.
The Brightest Sunset (#2)
Review
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Beautiful, perfect, and emotionally stunning…. again.
5 stars!
After reading the incredible The Darkest Sunrise, I was desperate to get my hands on this book and the moment it arrived on my kindle I dropped everything to read it. And I regret nothing! This book (and this duet) is amazing, pure and simple. It’s heart-clenching drama, raw emotion and incredible romance, and I loved every moment of it!
The Final Fight (Fighting, #7) by J.B. Salsbury
Review
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ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!
I loved EVERYTHING about this book! I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and I felt everything in between! A second-chance-romance between a playful yet damaged war veteran and the only girl he’s ever loved, JB Salsbury has given us another emotionally intense story with a romance that is just perfection. I freaking loved it!
The Gravity of Us (Elements, #4) by Brittainy C. Cherry
Review
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A stunningly emotional and heartfelt romance
5 huge stars!
I’m sure I say this every time I finish a Brittainy C. Cherry book, but just… wow. What a beautiful story! And so unique! A true slow-burning romance, this is an opposites-attract story with touches of the forbidden, and enemies-to-friends-to-lovers. It’s all about the emotion, and I felt every moment of it, and with a perfectly unfolding build-up, I completely lost myself in this profound and beautifully, beautifully written story. Absolutely sensational.
The Silent Waters (Elements, #3) by Brittainy C. Cherry
*Stand out fave*
Review
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ABSOLUTELY, STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL!
6 shining stars
I fell in absolute and complete love with this story, and was completely swept away by the romance, drama and emotion. I haven’t felt this way about a book in such a long time, and I reveled in every single moment of heartache, joy and heart-pounding romance. A brother’s best friend/childhood crush romance, I felt everything and I loved it all. Why, why, why did I wait so long to read this book? An instant favourite.
The Time in Between (Magdalene, #3) by Kristen Ashley
Review
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5 “running to catch up” stars
Kristen Ashley has done it again! I pretty much always love her books, but some stand out more than others, and this is one of them. A stunningly beautiful, emotional second-chance-romance, this is everything that I love about KA – incredible characters and a heart-clenching, swoony, sexy and functional romance that has all the feels! This is the third and final book in the Magdalene series, but it can easily standalone.
Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6) by Sarah J. Maas
Review
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One word – EPIC!
Just wow.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Chaol’s book. I was a fan of him from book #1, and though I’ve loved the way this whole story has played out, my heart broke for him and all that he went through, so I’ve been so excited to get this own book – and when I saw it was being changed from a novella to a novel, I was thrilled!
But even having said that, I wasn’t expecting this book to be so… much! It’s everything that I love about this series. It’s clever, intricate, exciting, funny, sweet, unexpected, emotional and romantic, and absolutely enthralling! And far from being a spin-off, it is an integral part of the story which becomes more complex and interconnected with each book. Sarah J. Maas, you are a genius to plot all of this out and then pull it together the way you have. This is an absolutely amazing read!
Twisted Truths (Blood Brothers, #3) by Rebecca Zanetti
Review
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Sensational action packed romantic suspense – 5 stars!
The third and final book in the Blood Brothers trilogy, and wow, Rebecca Zanetti has smacked it out of the park with this one! Exciting, intense and action-packed with a gorgeous second-chance romance, this is a wonderful story and a great close for the series – as well as additional closure for the Sin Brothers series (this series is a spin-off from the Sin Brothers, and while you don’t have to have read the Sin Brothers to understand this one, it definitely provides great background. Also be aware that this series contains spoilers for the original). Denver’s story is my favourite in the series, I absolutely loved it!
Wrecked by J.B. Salsbury
*Stand-out fave*
Review
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5 stars!!!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS BOOK! Raw, dramatic and emotional yet sweet, fun and sexy with a beautifully romantic love story, this book captivated me from start to finish and I could not put it down. The writing is fantastic, the characters are wonderfully developed and the story made my heart race, made me laugh, made me cry, it made me so proud of the characters and their journeys, and it had me melting into a puddle of goo on the floor. I loved every moment and it’s definitely going down as a favourite for 2017.
Check out more of our favourite reads on our Favourite Reads of 2017 page
I’m excited to see what 2018 has in store!