Top 10 of 2018: Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2019

And the wait begins. Some are coming in a matter of weeks, some almost a full year away. But these ten books have me waiting for their release in 2019. Bring on all the books!

Only a Breath Apart | Katie McGarry
I read very little YA anymore but I will always read Katie McGarry.
Daisy Jones & the Six | Taylor Jenkins Reid
I'm convinced TJR can do no wrong.
Be the Girl | K.A. Tucker
Tucker is one that never disappoints.
The Wicked King | Holly Black
Court intrigue and machinations + Cardan + Jude = I need.
What He Never Knew | Kandi Steiner
The guy not chosen now gets his own story? I'm so there.
The Bride Test | Helen Hoang
After loving The Kiss Quotient so much, I need more from Hoang.
Storm and Fury | Jennifer L. Armentrout
Zayne gets his own story? Yes! *fist pump*
The Son & His Hope | Pepper Winters
The Ribbon Duet is now a trilogy! And I need it now.
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird | Josie Silver
It'll be a long wait for this one but I already have grabby hands.
What the Wind Knows | Amy Harmon
Amy Harmon's writing never fails to elicit an emotional response.

What 2019 release are you most looking forward to?

The Sunday Post #135

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 

showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is

coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:

Sunday Post Meme

I hope everyone had a simply wonderful Christmas. And if you don't celebrate, hopefully you just had a great week. :) I had a great time at my mom's house on Christmas Eve. That's our real Christmas celebration where the whole family gets together. We snacked on appetizers and desserts, played the plastic wrap game for the second year (this YouTube video explains it if you've never heard of it), exchanged gifts, and generally had a good time together. 

Christmas Day is even more low-key. The Husband and I exchanged gifts in the morning, we hosted lunch at our house in the afternoon, and we were both so exhausted by evening that we went to bed at 7 PM. Ha!

My mom's tree, Mom and my sisters and me, bears made from my dad's flannel shirts, my favorite gift wrap of the night, Fiona the deer

I had the rest of the week off from work and it was simply fabulous to not be on a schedule. The extra time was just... everything. I had time to relax, time to read, time for blog posts (and blog visiting), time to make nice home-cooked dinners. I could get used to that, but tomorrow is a return to the real world. 

How did you spend the holiday? Did you stay at home? Travel to be with family? Take a trip somewhere fabulous? I hope you had a safe and happy time no matter what you did. And now it's time to ring in another year. My hope is that 2019 is kinder and gentler, because 2018 was my toughest year ever. Here's hoping for a great new year for us all. ♥

Wednesday, December 26

Top 10 of 2018: New-to-Me Authors

Thursday, December 27

Top 10 of 2018: Captivating Characters

Saturday, December 29
Top 10 of 2018: Favorite Couples

WHAT I READ IN THE LAST WEEK:

The One You Fight For - Roni Loren

I really loved Taryn and Shaw, both separately and together, but I'm still working out how I feel about that ending. Overall a really good read, though.

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING: 

The Christmas Sisters - Sarah Morgan

This isn't something I would typically be drawn to but my mom read it and loaned it to me so I decided to give it a go. I'm about 80 pages in and enjoying it well enough so far.

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Fuel the Fire - Krista & Becca Ritchie

Still listening to Fuel the Fire. I'm at about the 75% mark and loving every minute of it. Connor and Rose are both such complex characters and I love the insights this book gives into them individually and as a couple. They face some staggering challenges in this one and my heart always swells at the lengths they are willing to go to protect their family and friends. 

PHYSICAL BOOKS

    

Verity - Colleen Hoover

Santa was kind enough to leave a copy of Verity under my tree and I am crazy excited to dive into it.

    

How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 

I'd love to hear about it!

Top 10 of 2018: Favorite Couples (OTP's)

I love romance. I'm all about romance. All romance, all the time. :) So picking my favorite couples from the year was easy. The only hard part? Narrowing it down to only ten.♥

May + Elliot | Love and Other Words
Calla + Jonah | The Simple Wild
Stella + Michael | The Kiss Quotient
Beth + Chase | One Small Thing
Gavin + Penny | Blind Kiss
Laurie + Jack | One Day in December
Jude + Sophie | Steadfast
Tanner + Sebastian | Autoboyography
Henry + Sarah | Royally Matched
Ren + Della | The Girl & Her Ren

Who was your favorite couple this year?

Top 10 of 2018: Captivating Characters

I am all about the characters when I read. I get attached. And I'll always choose characters over plot. Yes, a strong plot is important, too, but give me a character that I love and I'll follow them anywhere.  I can't always pinpoint what draws me to a certain character or what makes one more memorable than another, but certain characteristics seem to be a constant. One of those being vulnerability. A character - man or woman - who can be vulnerable, and let that show... gets me every time. Also characters who are more than they appear to be. The whole 'still waters run deep' thing. Characters who have a depth that is only hinted at, that is only shared with a precious few... that's another trait that pulls me right in. So here are the characters that, for a myriad reasons, were utterly captivating and truly memorable this year.

Evelyn Hugo | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Cardan | The Cruel Prince
Stella | The Kiss Quotient
Monty | The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Blake | Good Boy
Ren | The Boy & His Ribbon
Jude | Steadfast
Grizz | Nine Minutes
Mal | Play
Rev | More Than We Can Tell

Have you read any of these books?

What character captivated you this year?

Top 10 of 2018: New-To-Me Authors

I thought I wouldn't be able to come up with ten authors for this prompt, assuming that I had mostly stuck with my tried and true favorites this year (a lot of Jennifer Armentrout and Sarina Bowen). Color me surprised when I realized that I had actually read TWENTY new-to-me authors over the course of the year! Some were hits, some were misses (I'm not including those LOL), some I consider new favorites. So here are my top 10 new-to-me authors of 2018 and the book(s) I read.

J E N N   B E NN E T T

 

M A C K E N Z I   L E E

 

E R I N   W A T T 

 

A L Y   M A R T I N E Z

     

R O N I   L O R E N

    

K A N D I   S T E I N E R

    

J O S I E   S I L V E R

 

H E L E N   H O A N G

 

C H R I S T I N A   L A U R E N

    

Have you read any of these authors?

What was your favorite new-to-you author of 2018?

The Sunday Post #134

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 

showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is

coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:

Sunday Post Meme

So is everyone whipped into a frenzy of excitement that Christmas is just two days away? Or do you find yourself in a panic because you're nowhere near ready? I happy to say, I'm a lot closer to the former this year - and it's a good feeling. :) It's been a really busy week - at the office, with last-minute shopping, gift-wrapping, and preparations - but it hasn't been too overwhelming and it's great to know that all the big stuff is done and I'm actually enjoying it all. There have definitely been years past where it felt like it all passed in a blur of stress and to-do lists and it's so disappointing when that happens. I really do like to think it's a special time of year. I hope it is for you, too. 

Our real Christmas celebration is on Christmas Eve when the whole family gathers at my parent's house. There's no formal sit-down dinner, just heavy hors d'oeuvres and some Christmas treats. We eat and talk and exchange gifts. It's a very relaxed evening and one of my favorites nights of the year. Christmas Day is even more low-key. This year I'll be hosting lunch and part of the family will come over for that. I'm looking forward to lots of family time. 

I hope however you spend the holiday - at home, traveling to be with family or friends, on a getaway somewhere exotic - that you'll be safe and well and have a wonderful time. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I'll leave you with this compilation of Christmas commercials. I'll admit that a couple of them got me a bit teary-eyed!

Tuesday, December 18

Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR

Wednesday, December 19

WWW Wednesday #35

WHAT I READ IN THE LAST WEEK:

    

Maybe Now (Maybe #2) - Colleen Hoover

As I mentioned in my WWW Wednesday #35 post, I have... feelings about this one. And I plan to have a review posted this coming week sooo, it's coming.

Rule (Marked Men #1) - Jay Crownover

My third listen of this first book in the Marked Men series. Once a year since 2016 - it seems to be a tradition now. :) I just don't seem to tire of these characters or their stories. They feel like friends.

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING: 

The One You Fight For - Roni Loren

I'm not connecting with this one as quickly as I did the first two books in the series and I'm not sure if it's the book or me. I'll keep reading and hopefully things will click into place very soon.

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Fuel the Fire - Krista & Becca Ritchie

This series is The One for me. My favorite contemporary series ever. Krista & Becca are incredibly gifted and created a cast of characters that feel so completely real that they continue to touch my heart, no matter how many times I revisit their stories. 

KINDLE BOOKS

    

Mouth to Mouth (Beach Kingdom #1) - Tessa Bailey

I've never read anything by Tessa Bailey but the synopsis of this one grabbed me.

    

Merry Christmas from my house to yours!

How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 

I'd love to hear about it!

WWW Wednesday #35 | December 19, 2018

WWW Wednesdays is a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

Just answer three questions and share what you're reading.

December is apparently my month of re-reading. Which is odd because I so very rarely re-read at all. But in the last week I've been all about revisiting old favorites - and I'm showing no signs of slowing down (I just started another re-read yesterday and have another on hold on Overdrive). Here's to re-reading and enjoying old favorites... it's like visiting old friends! :) 

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

     

The One You Fight For - Roni Loren
This one doesn't fall into the re-read category but it does fall into the "I'm so happy to be reading this" category. :) I just discovered Loren back in January with the first book in the companion series. I read the second in May and was already a solid fan. I'm only on chapter two of this one so far and I'm excited to see where it goes.  

Fuel the Fire - Krista & Becca Ritchie 
Krista and Becca's Addicted series is my favorite contemporary series ever and I never seem to tire of returning to that world and the characters that I love so much. I'm listening to this one on audio this time and Mark Boyett's narration for Connor Cobalt is perfection. I'm only about 10% in, and with this one coming in at 17+ hours I have plenty of good listening coming my way.  

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

 

  

Maybe Someday (Maybe #1) - Colleen Hoover
With the release of Maybe Now I knew I wanted to re-read Maybe Someday. It had been 4+ years since I read this one and I've always had a serious soft spot for it since it was my first by CoHo. I was completely wrapped up in Ridge and Sydney and their impossible situation. Tears, laughs, swoons... it had it all! :)

Maybe Not (Maybe #1.5) - Colleen Hoover
This novella makes me laugh just thinking about it. Warren (Ridge's roommate from Maybe Someday) provided such comic relief and getting his POV and his crazy, explosive relationship with Bridgette was priceless.

Maybe Now (Maybe #2) - Colleen Hoover
I have feelings, people. Many, many feelings. Once I sort them out I'll actually write a review. I expect utter greatness from CoHo and maybe part of the problem is that this one wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be... but, yeah, I have feelings. 

Rule (Marked Men #1) - Jay Crownover
My third go-around with the Marked Men. (Oh wait, that doesn't sound right at all... LOL) Ahem. My third listen of the Marked Men series, starting with Rule, of course. I already have the next book on hold and I'm excited to do a complete an almost complete re-listen of the series. (I will probably skip Rowdy's book because there's a character in that one that annoys the ever-loving life out of me.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL READ NEXT?

     

Moonlight Scandals (de Vincent #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout
This releases next month so I need to get busy and pick up the arc that has been languishing on my Kindle. I'm excited to see how this trilogy wraps up... and get some questions answered!

What are you currently reading?
I wanna know! :)