Welcome to the Love Bytes Reviewers’ Best of 2023
Another year has passed in which books have brought all of us a much-needed escape and sense of comfort. Our Love Bytes team reviewed approximately 1,300 LGBTQ+ books in 2023, from contemporary romance to fantasy, paranormal, historical, adventure, mystery, comedy, and everything in between. Each day for the next few weeks, we will feature one of our reviewers’ top picks from books and audiobooks published in 2023. These lists highlight how diverse our tastes in reading are, and offer something for everyone. With thousands of fantastic new books each year, written by hundreds of creative and talented authors, it’s so difficult to narrow our lists down. We all have many favorite authors not featured here and wish we could acknowledge them all.
Larissa’s 2023 Favorites
We were the lucky recipients of many stellar M/M offerings by a host of talented authors in 2023. Several continuing series that have been on my best of list in prior years saw new installments added, fantastic new series began and authors delivered spellbinding standalone titles as well, while audiobooks continue to prove themselves as essentials rather than just nice-to-have additions. While calling out – again – some of the tried-and-trues like Nicky James’s Valor and Doyle series, C.S. Poe’s Memento Mori series, and Garrett Leigh’s Rebel Kings MC series, I’ve highlighted some shining stars that deserve attention, but may have flown under your radar. Every one of these titles will give you a book hangover, and that’s exactly the kind of hangover I’m craving for New Year’s.
Tied Over (Marshals
, Book 6) by Mary Calmes
Mary Calmes’ addictive Marshals series is often cited by readers as one of their top MM series ever, and I have to agree. Miro Jones and Ian Doyle are magic, but even when the focus shifts to the romance between two side characters – Bodhi Callahan and Josiah Redecker – nothing about the quality of the writing, the witty dialogue, the couple’s crackling chemistry, or their well-deserved HEA slips. Tied Over is the best of both worlds: it feels like a Miro and Ian story but serves up a best-friends-to-lovers romance that’s fresh and new. It’s funny, sexy, a little bit angsty, and has us falling in love with the Marshals universe all over again as we fall for two endearing, charismatic characters in Bodhi and Jed. Calmes then ties it all together with a subplot that brings us found family in full force, and rejoice because there’s Miro and Ian and all the rest. Hail, hail, the gang’s all here and it’s fabulous.
Prince of Lies by Lucy Lennox (Author) and Michael Dean (Narrator)
Prince of Lies is an absorbing gem of an audiobook that I could easily put on repeat. Michael Dean manages to achieve what I thought impossible: he takes what I consider Lennox’s best story and makes it into something more. The layers of false personas and exaggerated presentation in Rowe’s “quirky billionaire eccentricities” give Dean room to play. And play he does. You can hear in his voice the love he has for the characters he’s inhabiting and his joy in bringing the story to life. He’s energetic, dialed in, and hits every detailed inflection, pause, intonation, emphasis, pitch, timbre – you name it, he’s got it in spades. He brings to life Rowe, Bash, and the Brotherhood, as well as the hoity-toity rich snobbery of Bash’s filthy rich peers, all with an irresistible enthusiasm and attitude.
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
We Could Be So Good is a delicious grumpy/sunshine Newsies-esque MM rom-com set in the 1950s in New York City, a time when men fall in love, but keep it behind closed doors. Andy, the flighty, affable heir to The Chronicle newspaper empire, improbably befriends grouchy Chronicle reporter Nick Russo. These friends become BFFs then roommates and then more, cautiously navigating complex family relationships and real societal threats to living out loud and proud. But Sebastian doesn’t focus on the perils, choosing instead to show us beautiful moments of the everyday joy of two men in love, committed to each other and embracing the happiness that brings. I adored every moment of this vivid and fulfilling love story. If you are an audiophile, Joel Leslie is divine on the audiobook.
Until You (Until #1) by Briar Prescott
Briar Prescott’s Until You is a labor of love and it shows. This is far and away the best story Prescott’s produced to date. The writing is crisp, precise, and inspired. She nails Jude and Blake, making them vivid and relatable, and portrays them authentically and consistently across the narrative even as their attitudes develop and change. This story is heartbreaking, and yet also completely reassuring with a solid HEA. The magic in this story is our shared experience with Jude as we learn things right alongside him as events unfold. We feel his emotions acutely but also can appreciate Blake’s point of view. Prescott’s sequel, And Then You, is equally inspired.
Until I Saw You by Dianna Roman
You haven’t seen what Dianna Roman can do until you’ve read Until I Saw You. This is her best work to date. It will hold your heart hostage from the first page as you white-knuckle through Harper Reid’s painful, emotional journey of healing and love. This unputdownable story features the indefatigable spirit of Riley Davenport – a man who has lived life to the fullest, never shying away from a challenge or adventure. Even a devastating accident that has rendered him virtually blind can’t break his spirit. Roman gets everything right here, balancing horror (off-page and not too much) and humor in an impactful way that respects the sensitive, serious topics the book depicts without making the story too heavy. You’ll be hanging on every word and every precious moment between these two mesmerizing men.
Fairy Cakes in Winter by Lane Hayes
Fairy Cakes in Winter is a short novella that, despite its length, packs a punch. It is my favorite story from Hayes to date. Scott and Theo are fully realized, relatable, loveable characters, and the storyline she creates for them is breathtaking in its simplicity. Just two guys improbably falling in love over baked goods. Yummy.
How to Say I Do
by Tal Bauer
At the start of the year, Bauer published The Rest of the Story, a fantastic book in its own right, but the nuanced, angsty How to Say I Do is truly something special. Noël and Wyatt’s romance is fresh, new, and different, evoking deep feelings for these endearing men. It’s a full-bodied, comprehensive story of love of all kinds – the completely improbable love, resilient friendships, unwavering family, small-town found family, and the deep, lasting connection between a parent and a child. How to Say I Do is a gem to be savored and then enjoyed often. One taste of this fabulous love story is not enough.
Gardens & Ghosts (Relic #5) by Maz Maddox
Maz Maddox wraps up her hugely creative, wildly entertaining RELIC series with Gardens & Ghosts, the long-awaited HEA for Montana, the grief-stricken, beleaguered father figure of the RELIC team. This dino romance had me crying as often as laughing. And the swoon! So. Much. Swoon. Be still my heart. Who knew that sweet, innocent, plant-loving, Albertosaurus-shifter Henry would be so devastating in all the best ways. Epic.
Where Foxes Say Goodnight (Sleeping Foxes #1) by Sam Burns
In Where Foxes Say Goodnight, Sam Burns beguiles us with a clever, captivating, paranormal-lite mystery romance about a lonely screenwriter who is uber-talented and receiving the highest of professional accolades, yet feels like an outsider and an imposter. The book is a sleeper hit with warm and cozy feels, falling-in-love and found-family vibes, and just a sprinkling of sexy times. While subtle and unassuming, it’s remarkably different and superbly executed – pretty much par for the course for Burns’ stories.
Diamond Ring (Unwritten Rules, Book 3)
, by K.D. Casey
Diamond Ring is everything you didn’t know you needed in a sports romance. It’s brilliant, unique, captivating, and unforgettable – shining like a precious gem, as rare as the sublime writing within its covers, and as coveted as the love Jake and Alex share. Diamond Ring is one of the best sports romances I’ve read. You don’t need to have read the previous books in this series to enjoy this exceptional sports romance, although I highly encourage you to also read one of my best of 2022 books, the second series book, Fire Season.
Reluctant Renegade (Rebel Kings MC, Book 5)
, by Garrett Leigh
Garrett Leigh’s riveting Rebel Kings MC series took a surprising turn in the fifth book, Reluctant Renegade, shifting focus to two previously ancillary characters, Decoy and Folk. In light of the spellbinding series installments focusing on Cam, Alexei and Saint, I wondered how Leigh could possibly keep that energy going especially with side characters now moved to the fore. Maybe it’s sorcery she wields, but five books in, Leigh delivers the best of the series (save the first groundbreaking installment, Devil’s Dance). Leigh gives us plenty of glimpses into what life is like for the men of the previous books, and the camaraderie between them is quite funny at times, while also deeply connected. The plot is textured and well-paced with many elements weaving in and out of each other to create a mesmerizing fabric of a story that you won’t be able to put down. The Rebel Kings MC series continues to cruise along quite nicely.
Valor and Doyle Series (Inevitable Disclosure #4, Defying Logic #5, Disrupted Engagement #6, Matrimonial Merriment#7) by Nicky James
Quaid Valor and Aslan Doyle are one of my favorite MM couples. Nicky James has infused magic into their characters, and by extension, their relationship and the series at large. In 2023, James ran the gamut with these guys, from the devastating Inevitable Disclosure to the heartbreaking Defying Logic, the painful ups and downs of Disrupted Engagement, and then finally the decadent Matrimonial Merriment – pure, unadulterated wish fulfillment. Whatever happened, I hung on every word.
Memento Mori series Audiobooks (Subway Slayings #2 and Broadway Butchery #3) by C.S. Poe (Author) and Kale Williams (Narrator)
In 2023, C.S. Poe gave us two riveting stories in the Memento Mori universe featuring our beloved Everett Larkin and Ira Doyle. Violent titles and the dark, gritty content within notwithstanding, Poe’s character portrayals of Evie and Ira are balanced, nuanced and utterly fascinating. She delivers with scalpel-like precision a devastatingly subtle love story wrapped within gripping murder mysteries. And while a best-of on text alone, Kale Williams’ performances on each of these audiobooks is a tour de force. These audios are not to be missed.
[…] so definitely partake in it, whether you read or listen or both. The book squarely landed on my Best of 2023 list for a reason. I wish I could commend the audiobook as […]