Love Bytes Reviewers “Best of 2019” – Day #12 – Valerie

 

It’s that time of year again people. The time where we, the voracious and obsessive readers of LGBTQ 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 2020 “To Read” list, but first, let’s share some of our favourite books from the year just gone.

Over the next few weeks 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.

 

VALERIE

 

Love Me Whole (Audio) by Nicky James (Author) & Adam Gold (Narrator)

This is not just my favorite book of this year, it’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s an extraordinary book about a man with dissociative identity disorder who finds love with a special man willing to accept all of him, including relationships with his five alter personalities. Love Me Whole benefits from audio narration more than any book I’ve listened to. Narrator Adam Gold reigns supreme with his well-defined voices for all 6 personalities. I cannot recommend this audiobook enough.

 

Headstrong Like Us by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Farrow and Maximoff are probably my all-time favorite MM couple. The have a particular way of talking to each other and even though it’s not sweet and tender, it gives me all the feels. This book is the culmination of their previous three novels in the Like Us Series and ends with a wedding and a big “little” surprise. These men love each other so much and the steam is off the charts.

 

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

I couldn’t get enough of this book, having read it twice so far and listened to the audio. It’s young love without the high school hijinx. This is an enemies to lovers romance between Alex, the son of the President of the United States, and Henry, the Prince of Wales. As their relationship develops, so too does the pressure to keep it secret. Thus begins a series of publicity gambits by both governments to spin the relationship in their favor. Alex and Henry are very endearing characters and their blossoming love is sweet and tender.

 

Rule Breaker (Audio) by Lily Morton (Author) & Joel Leslie (Narrator)

I LOVE this book and it’s laugh-out-loud funny in the hands of narrator, Joel Leslie, who has a talent for this brand of crazy. Author Lily Morton is a master of snark and intelligent wit in this tale of Dylan, who hates his boss, and Gabe, who harbors the same antipathy for Dylan. Or so they think. Rule Breaker is the first in the Mixed Messages series in which the other two books are equally as good.

 

King Me: A Forever Wilde Novel (Audio) by Lucy Lennox (Author) & Michael Dean (Narrator)

It’s a heist novel that’s a cross between the The Thomas Crown Affair and Oceans Eleven. This is a five-star read, and it’s even better in its audio form narrated by the uber talented Michael Pauley. Get ready for action, intrigue, a sexy art thief, an alluring FBI agent, and a great set of characters. This is one time you should definitely forgo the ebook in favor of the audio version. It’s that good!

 

The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings by Lily Morton

The best way for me to describe The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings is that it is, well, mysterious and amazing. It is part romance and part mystery of the ghost hunting variety. Levi and Blue are very endearing and the mystery is captivating in this story about the two men working together to determine who or what is haunting Levi’s new haunted house.

 

We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra

This is a beautiful epistolary novel about two boys who are given an English class assignment to write letters back and forth. First Jo, the outcast, and Kurl, the jock, become friends and then lovers as the letter writing progresses. The book does deal with the sensitive subjects of homophobia, bullying, and abuse.

 

How to Belong with a Billionaire (Arden St. Ives #3) by Alexis Hall

 What a great conclusion to the Arden St. Ives trilogy. The power balance has shifted in Arden’s favor, and the MCs spend a good part of the book apart as they both grow up. While not my favorite in the series, I certainly like it enough to put it on this list. Alexis Hall is a truly gifted writer with his evocative imagery, world building, clever humor, and characterization – particularly the sassy imp, Arden.

 

Dealing In Death (Death and the Devil) by L.J. Hayward

This was supposed to be a novella but ended up being a full-length novel occurring between books two and three of the Death and the Devil series. (Book three, When Death Frees the Devil, will be released January 17, 2020.) I love Jack and Ethan; I would read a cookbook starring them. Or an economics textbook narrated by them. They have that much chemistry. That’s the thing about the series – their off the charts chemistry gets you through all the anxiety and edge of your seat suspense produced by the main storyline. Dealing in Death is written exclusively in Ethan’s POV for his perspective on events in book 2 and some before. Ethan’s past is painful, so this book is sad at times.

 

Deception in Darkness (In Darkness #3) by Alice Winters

  This third installment of Alice Winter’s In Darkness series continues the wacky partnership – both domestic and crime solving – of Lane and Felix. Romantic comedy is right up my alley and Felix is one of the funniest, over-the-top characters I’ve read in the MM genre. In this edition, the men are offered a new job – to steal a watch that’s in police custody. They don’t hesitate to jump back into the criminal life, and their usual shenanigans ensue.