It’s that time of year again people. The time when we, the voracious and obsessive readers of LGBT romance, look back and reflect on what an amazing year of books it’s been. If you’re anything like us then you’re already compiling your 2016 “To Read” list, but first, let’s share some of our favourite books from the year just gone.
During seven days we’ll be posting our top reads of the year. Please feel free to tell us your own favourites, or simply comment on our choices.
Love Bytes is giving away 2 x $10 AllRomance Giftcards to two readers. Just tell us your favourites and why in one of these posts over the next week
Dan and Donna are here for
Day Three
DAN
Haven’s Creed by Parker Williams: This was one of the darkest books I read all year, but I loved it. A secret US government agency and a contract killer taking out the child pornographers, child sex slave traders, and other unsavory bad guys that get away with their crimes through payoffs and having the police in their pockets. I love the character Haven, and I loved reading his story. It says something about me personally probably that I loved how brutally he destroyed the evil doers. Great story!
The Kage Trilogy by Maris Black: WELCOME TO THE MACHINE. I loved this three part series. Maris Black brought us a story of a MMA fighter named Michael Kage and the man he loves, Jaime Atwood. I eagerly awaited each new installment and highly recommended all three.
Misplaced Affection by Wade Kelly: The best boy next door, coming out, teen angst, misunderstanding, Christian “conversion”, family drama, miscommunication…(I could go on and on)…novel that I read this year. This book had it all. I believe it is by the far the best Wade Kelly book ever! This book particularly hit home to me, because the story of Flynn and his best friend Zach could very well have been copied in part from my own feelings for my best friend growing up. I think a lot of gay men will relate to this story.
Champions of the Gods Series, The Last Grand Master & The Eye and the Arm by Andrew Q. Gordon: My favorite fantasy series of the year. I loved Mr. Gordon’s world building and character development. This series is definitely for anyone who enjoys a strong fantasy novel, complete with wizards, telepathic unicorns, evil doers and some really well written characters and storylines. I truly felt I was part of the stories as I was reading. I’m eagerly awaiting Book 3’s release in 2016!
Firsts and Forever Series, all TEN books by Alexa Land: My favorite contemporary series of the year. I loved every single one of the 10 books to date in this series. If you haven’t read Ms. Land’s series, you need to start today. My favorite character of course is Nana Dombruso. If you’ve read the books, you know why. If you haven’t…you’re missing out on one feisty little 80 year old woman with a mouth like a sailor, who will go all out to protect her “gay homosexual” grandsons, their boyfriends, husbands, friends, slight acquaintances…or pretty much anyone who fits her “gay homosexual” description.
Whyborne & Griffin Series – Hoarfrost & Maelstrom by Jordan L. Hawk: My favorite historical paranormal fiction series of the year is of course the Whyborne & Griffin Series by Jordan L. Hawk. This year I was lucky enough to review both “Hoarfrost”, Book #6 and “Maelstrom”, Book #7 as soon as they came out. I love these guys and the improbable situations they get themselves into. I also love the supporting characters. Ms. Hawk writes fully fleshed out characters, even for the support cast. We got some hints of things to come in Maelstrom, and I can’t wait for Book #8!
Rogue by Allen Renfro: Mr. Renfro brought us a murder mystery whodunit, with gay characters, a gay FBI agent, a bunch of “straight” men who like to have sex with other men, and set it in the middle of one of the most intolerant parts of the country. The characters were very well written and described, and the setting and locations were very clear. I actually felt like I was in the scenes with the characters. If you are into serial killers, FBI agents, lots of gay sex and a murder mystery, you will love this book!
Serve & Protect Series, Serve and Protect & Dust In The Wind by Shelly Connors: I absolutely loved “Serve and Protect”! It is a whodunit type of book, complete with police detectives, an evilly homophobic mother and tragedy. Happily there is also some romance. If you’re looking for hot sex scenes, there aren’t any, so you might want to look elsewhere if you can’t live without them. I must say though that the book doesn’t suffer from the lack of them at all! When the sequel, “Dust In The Wind” came out, I didn’t think she could equal the first book, but I was wrong! Another Great Job!
Café Blue by J. Carter Swift: Café Blue was one of the darkest books that I read in 2015. There are a lot of subjects in this book which might push some folk’s buttons, so I’m going to mention them. There are references to and descriptions of snuff films, where young boys are raped, beaten and eviscerated. There are references to other rapes. There are several murders. There is pedophilia. There are references to sex slavery. And there is evil incarnate in one of the background characters. All tough subject matter items, but it is definitely worth the read. The author did a fantastic job at pulling the reader into that sort of world. I’d give it more than 5 stars if I could.
The Boys on the Mountain by John Inman: My favorite ghost story of the year. I loved this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good ghost story, complete with very believable characters, some humor, a very believable storyline and the feeling that the story could be true it is so well written. OK, I’ll admit it…I even Googled the background character Nigel Letters to make sure he wasn’t a real person! This is the story of a serial killer, and his victims, so might not be for everyone.
DONNA
Playing for Keeps (Glasgow Lads #1) by Avery Cockburn: OMG, how excited was I to discover Avery Cockburn’s books this year. This surprisingly religious colored story knocked my socks off. There’s hot, steamy, heart clutching sex between men in kilts! PLUS, Scottish accents to get all swoony over.
Playing to Win (Glasgow Lads #2) by Avery Cockburn: Surprise! It’s the Glasgow Lads again. I straight up adore this series and want everybody to read it. This story has a strong political slant. Yes, this author made me read about both religion and politics, and he made me love it!
You Are the Reason (The Tav #2) by Renae Kaye: Renae Kaye has yet to write a book that I haven’t gone gaga for, but this story gave us my favourite of her characters to date. Lee was written as a perfect example that femme doesn’t equal weak.
Signs by Anna Martin: I love me some young adult reads on occasion and this story by Anna Martin was my favourite YA read of the year. The level of mature emotion that she credibly instilled in these teens convinced me that the boys would be living out their HEAs despite their young ages.
Cronin’s Key by N.R. Walker: I’m not usually a fan of vampire stories but this one was freakin’ perfection. The sexual tension between the main characters was off the charts. What I remember most about this book was the way I had to stop reading because I was so excited by what was happening (no, it wasn’t sex!) that I couldn’t concentrate on the words.
Shadows Fall by J.K. Hogan: Although J.K. Hogan was not a new author to me, this year she blew me away with her books. This paranormal slanted murder mystery was brilliantly researched and planned out (from what I gather) and I have my fingers crossed that it will become the first book of a series.
Fish Sticks Friday by Rhys Ford: While the plot is all well and good, it was the dialogue between the characters that scored this book a spot on my list. They were witty, they were sexy, they were amusing and sometimes they were too damn cute for words. Plus it had a tough guy, on his tough guy bike, rocking a tutu. Need I say more?
Unbreak Broken by J.K. Hogan: Another by J.K. Hogan! I tried to chose just one, but decided they both deserved to make my list. This author wows me with her attention to detail and the depth that she gives her characters.
To Be Human by Pearl Love: This one just scrapes in, having been released on 01/09. This book was totally unexpected, like nothing I’d ever read before, and the author never once settled for a predictable direction to take this story. Yes, it ended with a cliffhanger, but the sequel was released with in a few weeks, so all was forgiven.
I almost added Haven’s Creed to my list too, Dan! But I couldn’t decide on a title to swap it with, and since you already had it…
I had to swap mine around a couple times. If we had had the top 25 of 2015, I think I still would have had a hard time!
One of my favorites of 2015 was Sutphin Boulevard by Santino Hassell. The book was so raw, gritty and real. It had such a New York vibe. The chemistry between Michael & Nunzio was off the charts. Santino has become an auto-buy for me!
The Glasgow Lads by Avery Cockburn was a favorite debut author and series of mine in 2015. I loved all the stories and really looking forward to the upcoming release end of this month.
Other than that my favorite books were penned by the usual suspects (well, my usual suspects *grins*) such as Jackdaw by KJ Charles, Hoarfrost by Jordan L. Hawk, Blood and Dirt by Lloyd A. Meeker, and Fidelity by Lia Black.
A few cross overs today – interesting to see the thoughts about the books
Dan, thank you so much for including my book “Café Blue” in your list. Coming from a true reader like you, it means a great deal to me.
Of all the books I’ve written, there are two passages that stand out in my mind, and both are in “Café Blue.” The first is when Ayden & Niko go to the Moreau exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, the second when Niko awakens that morning to find Ayden had filled the Condo with flowers…”The morning light dusted Niko with gold, and innocent of clothing, he stood slender and fine. Niko’s leaf-shaped eyes bloomed endlessly wide. Ayden took in a sharp breath, for it seemed that there among the blossoms, Niko had, for an enchanted moment, become one of them, the loveliest flower of them all.”
Again, many thanks,
SDJ, J. Carter Swift
Dan, I appreciate all you time and effort. This has been a wonderful experience. There are a few on your list that I still need to read and I’m curious about your book!
Quite a few of these are also on my wishlist. I really enjoyed the Firsts and Forever Series and am glad to see it made the list =)
These are interesting lists and I enjoyed reading what you felt about them. I have only read a couple of these books and have read a few books from some of the authors. Thank you for including links to the books, this came in handy.
Cronin’s Key and J.K. Hogan’s series were a hit for me. Two of my fav authors. Sam with Renae Kaye and Rhys Ford.
You are so right Renae Kaye. I loved You Are the Reason for its story about the two main characters but especially for seeing Dave’s experiences with changing Maxine’s diaper. My favorite of her books is still Loving Jay. Re-read passages every month.
I really want to read Haven’s Creed. I’ve already downloaded Fish Stick Friday’s, but haven’t gotten to it yet. So many good books, so little time. 🙂
I’m rather late to the party to add my thanks to LB and to Dan for including me in the list, but my gratitude is no less genuine. I’m looking forward to what ’16 bring, from my author friends and all the wonderful people at Love Bytes.