I'm not necessarily going to attempt to rank these as my Top Five, but they are books that have stayed in my memory and since I read a LOT (when I'm not writing), I take that as an excellent sign that they deserve to be on a Favorites List.
Archangel's Legion by Nalini Singh - continues the story of Raphael the Archangel and his Guildhunter consort, added some serious new twists to the already complex world building. Plus, angels! I also enjoyed Obsidian by her, which is the latest installment in her Psy Wars series. It was dark and intense, but I was unable to put it down. I admire how she weaves the plot elements together so seamlessly over the many books.
Ruby by Jeffe Kennedy, my fellow Word Whore - I felt as if New Orleans was another key character in this sensuous, intense book and I loved the Cajun chef, Bobby Prejean, and the heroine, Danielle. I wanted a sequel the moment I turned the last page! (Are you listening, Jeffe???)
South of Surrender by Laura Kaye - terrific idea to have the ancient Greek gods of the wind as modern day heroes. Her worldbuilding was amazing and the romance between the South Wind and a human who is slowly losing her sight was poignant. I read the other two books in the series right after this one and can't wait for the final volume in 2014.
I read quite a few books that are scholarly tomes on ancient Egypt, to enhance my own world building (and Dancing for Hathor, by Carolyn Graves Brown, about the role of women in those faraway days. Ancient Egyptian Jewelry was pure eye candy, a lot of beautiful items other those in the well known King Tut collection, plus discussions of how the jewelry was made...this book was by Carol Andrews.because like most authors, I love research for research's sake). One I especially enjoyed was
Breeder by Cara Bristol - science fiction romance with terrific worldbuilding on Ms. Bristol's part...I was really pulling for the main character to overcome all the conditioning of his planet and his culture and Find True Love. I'd been reading 8 sentence snippets of this book on the Weekend Warriors Blog Hop prior to its release so I was more than ready to have the entire story in my hands.
I periodically reread my favorite Georgette Heyer Regency novels, which are now on my kindle, and so Talisman Ring, Frederica and Cotillion deserve mention on my list. (I kept my original paperback copies, now very well worn and falling apart, as well as more recent re-releases with beautiful paintings on the covers.)
That's a sampler of my reading year...that's kinda five, plus or minus, right? I can't wait for 2014 and another year of great books from my favorite authors and exciting new authors yet to be discovered. I want to FILL that kindle!
