Happy New Year to all my reading buddies!
Whether we chat, talk books once a day or three times a year, I cherish each and every one of you that I've made a connection with over the years 💓
Usually I take a blogging hiatus at the end of the year, this time it was forced upon me when I got Covid, but I'm on the mend now. I'm guessing I had a mild to moderate case and trust me when I say, you do not want this, do what you can to keep yourselves healthy out there.
I'm still sticking with calling my end of year awards The Roms, to reflect that not all nominees might be romance (I still probably read 80% romance, so never fear). I ended up reading 110 books this year, down from 127 last year but I had 5 books I gave 5 stars to and only 1 starred one book. My rating average was also a solid 3 stars!! (you can see my year in books on GR)
This year I did get the coveted Halloween Bingo (final post) and enjoyed reconnecting with my BookLikes crew on the new little home we've made for ourselves (the BLs site is basically defunct now).
I had so much fun with Halloween Bingo, I decided, and I know I say this every year, that I'm going to accept less ARCs and try and do more games/challenges and buddy reads. My friend Sam(AMNReader) over on GRs has joined me in trying to do more buddy reads and we're going to try and do one every month. She's also trying to get my GRs loving heart over to StoryGraph and we're going to read Undecided by Julianna Keyes for our first buddy read, join us over there! (I have it on good authority that our Feb. read is going to be Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran if looking for something to read next month!).
My greatest shame was how I fell off the #TBRChallenge hosted by wendythesuperlibrarian but, like not getting a HB bingo one year, it has made me more determined to be better this year. I mean, one month's theme is Bananapants!, I MUST. Also, the previous two years has seen selections from this challenge earn my favorite book of the year.
I'm also adding Twimom227 Romance Reading Challenge. I mean, it's a bingo game, I'm only human! I have already got one square covered, too :)
Onto the awards,
The books eligible for my Roms, can be published in any year, they simply had to be read by me in 2023. There will be the usual 9 categories, Favorite Cover; Favorite Secondary Character; Favorite Scene; Favorite Quote; Favorite Leads; Favorite Couple; Favorite Contemporary and Historical, and Favorite of 2023. Again, hopefully reflected in the new awards name, as I participate in Halloween Bingo, some horror books could sneak in there, along with other genres I read; basically any book I rate or discuss on GoodReads is fair game.
Without further ado, let me kick off the award show today with Favorite Cover, I try very hard to not let how much I liked or disliked the actual story affect this one, all visual judging a book by it's cover here :)
Click on the cover for my review if I wrote one and if I didn't, you'll be directed to it's GoodReads page
The Roms
Favorite Cover
Nominees:
1. Not Your Ex's Hexes by April Asher - A cartoon cover, I'm not their biggest fan but this one conveys a sense of fun, magical whimsy, and romance. It looks like he's in the act of twirling her and it brings me into the moment wanting me to smile and read about their happiness. Plus, I may be a purple gal but I enjoy pink coloring, too.
2. The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles - Cartoon but feeling adult. The adding and weaving in of the animals on the side, tying in and bringing out the country part of the story was genius and I love how it works to put me in the setting. The couple centered, crouched and facing each other, as if they're hanging on each other's every word, the coloring with bright greenery but set on a calming dark blue. I don't know, it just draws the eye.
3. The Rodeo Queen by Marcella Bell - If you've been a frequent reader of my awards, you know you're going to get a cowboy cover, I'm a weak woman for them. The pasture setting, her straddling his lap, his fitted grey t-shirt, his hands on her waist, the about to kiss, gah, I LOVE. And for once the horses are minding their own business! The cooler tones of the cover bring in that right before a rain, and I can feel the wind, and vastness of the western setting but also the simmering before a storm heat between the two.
4. The Blood Gift by N.E. Davenport - Scifi and fantasy have definitely crept up in my reading more and more. I love this cover because we have the lead front and center but her being backed up by her friends tells me this is going to have some ensemble piece to it and a lot of butt-kicking. This screams action adventure with the scifi weapons giving you the setting. I want to read about this adventure, I want to be a part of the crew!
5. The Witches of Bone Hill by Ava Morgyn - Gothic is one of those subgenres that always holds a special place in my heart, usually mixing horror with my romance. This cover is whispering of spookiness. The doom and gloomy home being it's forbidding self in the background, the bats/birds circling and the fox(???), yes you have to read the story to get the fox but when you do, the cover will mean even more to you. Very something wicked this way comes vibes.
6. Dreaming of a Duke Like You by Sara Bennett - Like last year, my one and only historical romance to make the list. Either I really am reading less or the covers really aren't doing it for me lately. This one though, ooooh to the golden light. It gives you that early morning after a tryst and not wanting it to end, her getting back into his lap after trying to leave the bed. I can hear birds chirping, feel the sun starting to warm skin, and companions waking up and panicking.
7. Haunt by Christina Maraziotis - Look, I can't help the pull I feel towards Western gunslingers, so it's no surprise I'm weak for this cover. The bandana pulled up, the weathered face, the scowl, just, I can't look away! Dusty trails, six shooters, gritted (probably with grit but leave me alone) teeth, this cover says a lot with just a stare.
8. Squelch by John Halkin - Humans contain multitudes and mine happens to be how much I love angsty romance stories and gory squelchy horror. When I was trying to find a book for the Halloween Bingo square Creepy Crawlies, I squealed in delight when I saw this cover and knew I had to read it. Those caterpillars look menacing and they did not disappoint in the story, even had the personality to back up this gorgeous cover. Even the title dripping in red script "Squelch" adds emotion.
9. A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sienna Simone - I love reading holiday stories in July and Dec., I'm looking for light, fluffy, and sweet because my typical reading veers toward angsty, gut punching emotion, give me that depth, baby. So holiday romances give me that reprieve and this cover had me giddy for some fun snowy holiday delights. I anticipated sweet and funny and hitting hard on those festive holiday events. As most know, it turned out to be the pinky in the butthole book, which is fine, just not how I personally read the cover. Still, I love the cover with it's seasonal vibes and cool blue tones.
10. Playing with Fire by Shonel Jackson - I love this contemporary romance cover! Real people, as opposed to cartoon, they look adult! Maybe it's my old advanced age of forty but I feel like contemporary romance has felt a little juvenile to me with some picks in 2023. Could all be me and what I just happened to pick up, but I was missing some adult depth (who even knows what that means!). The way he's looking down at her, determined to make her his/I want you and the way she's looking up at him, flirty challenging. Snap, crackling, and popping!
Winner:
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles
This was a battle with The Rodeo Queen but I feel like I take out this one and stare at it longer, seeing new little additives. Really just a cover that conveys so much, country setting, whimsical with animals, maybe some quietness, and yearning between the two leads. A special cover.
2022 Winner
What was your favorite cover of 2023?
Stay tuned for Favorite Secondary Character...
I'm not sure what my favorite cover was -- maybe We Could Be So Good -- but I definitely agree with your choice! Really fun post, I look forward to the next ones.
ReplyDeleteOh, btw -- Litsy is the place for games and buddy reads! I've been having the best time there, except I tend to overdo. Of course. Where did you reconnect with your BL friends?
ReplyDeleteWe Could Be So Good might be the most rec book to me out of 2023, I need to bump it up again. It's wild but I feel like you can tell from the cover that it's from around the 1950s??? It's just a couple silhouette on staircase and yet?? The beat and time period is there!
DeleteOh no, now I'm going to have to check out Litsy more! February project lol.
A couple of the BL posters setup a Wordpress, private by invite, but a format all can post to, to keep our community going. Since I'm not a coder by any means, its ran by magic and much appreciated hard work, by my understanding. There's not a lot of romance genre readers, but some!, and it can be fairly quiet until Halloween Bingo when everyone comes back to play but if you ever want an invite let me know! Other games, like monopoly, chutes and ladders, or a holiday festive game do get started and played from time to time. And of course, Halloween Bingo!
That sounds lovely. I wish I hadn't lost touch with so many online friends. :-( Thanks for the offer but I think I probably have enough to keep me more than too busy already though. ;-)
DeleteLosing touch with online friends has become so inevitable the last couple of years and I hate it. If you ever change your mind let me know, I just checked in there and there's a new challenge called Read Your Hoard - Here are the levels:
DeleteToothless: 12 books
Saphira: 24 books
Falcor: 36 books
Mushu: 48 books
Temeraire: 60 books
Smaug: 75 books
But I definitely hear you on a full plate already. I saw your post about the Faranae challenge and I was like "Could I get planning for that this year?" and then was like "Put it on the list for next year, girl." So next year, lol.
::shamelessly butting in::
DeleteHold on a moment.
I can arguably consider most of the books in my kindle and shelves (and piles) around the house my hoard, right? So it's basically a, "number of books read" challenge? If so, I could enter (unofficially, you understand, not ready for the commitment of actually putting my name down anywhere)
Mostly, though, I love the level names.
It's like the TBRChallenge! The outline is there, read any books you already own (most set date of must own by Jan. 1, 2024) and then you can color the rest of the challenge in any way you want! I think it goes for the whole year, but not sure.
DeleteIf you want an invite to the group, let me know!
It's not private because of selectivity, BookLikes became unusable because of all of the spam, so when the group of us (around 100) were looking for a new home to stick together with, it was decided to make private to keep spam out, and some people post more personal posts over there too. It's a pretty worldly group from different countries, pretty sure a few are around my age with majority older, and if you like birds, there is quite a few birders :)
I really like checking out people's "best of" posts about books!
ReplyDeleteI will definitely read the KJ Charles book at some point!
Happy new year (of reading)!
I love Best of Lists too! I'm trying to plan a day where I sit down and finally go through everyone's.
DeleteThe Charles' was really good, not just a pretty cover lol.
Happy New Year reading to you! If you're doing the #TBRChallenge again, can't wait to read your thoughts on your picks :)
I don't generally pay attention to the covers since I'm primarily an e-book/audiobook reader. Of those you selected, my favorite is also The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles. Looking at the books I read using Goodreads, I pick Claws and Contrivances by Stephanie Burgis as my favorite from last year.
ReplyDeleteThe baby dragons!
DeleteI probably am starting to read more on ebook but I still think covers can get me to put a book on my tbr or not by how much I like them. When I'm scrolling my feeds a really good one can catch my eye and I must add the pretty.
No contest for me, your winner is the winner--and once you've read the book and find all the little references in the cover? MOAR WIN!
ReplyDelete::ahem::
Glad you are doing better, but honestly, if you can? keep resting, the post-COVID bullshit ain't no joke either.
Yes! I flipped back to the cover to see the animals that made the cover and I love Easter Eggs.
DeleteThe weather has turned bitter cold here and we're supposed to get snow this weekend, so a little bit of forced to stay in and do nothing but read.
Oh, darn.
I literally heard that!
Delete😂
Delete