My Favorite Reads of 2010

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Is it just me or do these things seem to come along pretty damn fast every year?

Everyone seems to be doing their favorite reads of 2010 lists, so I figured I’d do mine.

I read some great books this year, and want to share some of my favorites:

Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis – This is the first Jill Shalvis book I ever read. Yeah, where the hell have I been? Read it, loved it, then proceeded to devour Jill’s entire backlist. I’ll read the phone book if Jill writes it. She’s an autobuy for me now, and I’m kicking myself for not reading her sooner.

Same for Julie James. I hadn’t read her either before this year. What can I say? Sometimes I’m a little slow. But once I catch up? Get out of my way. I’ve read everything Julie has written, and if you love fun, sexy contemporary romance, so should you. My favorite…well my favorite is a book that isn’t out yet (lucky me…heh), but otherwise JUST THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE was one of my favorites.

Shannon Stacey is one of my best friends.  Just going to give you a heads up on that. And now I’m going to tell you how wonderful EXCLUSIVELY YOURS was. It was fun, it was laugh out loud funny, and it was romantic as hell. And if you haven’t read it yet, you’ve missed out on one of the best books of the year. She did everything right with this book–romance, family, comedy, and happily ever after. And she made me very jealous that I didn’t write this book.

Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh – I have been a fan of Nalini’s Psy/Changeling series since book 1. I’m amazed and in awe of Nalini’s talent to create such a broad, ever changing world, and to keep her readers enthralled and on the edge of their seats waiting for the next installment. I’m one of those readers. Her talent is limitless and Max and Sophie were heartbreaking and romantic. I loved this book. I can’t wait for Hawke’s book in 2011.

Another disclaimer – Maya Banks is another good friend of mine, but even if she wasn’t I would devour everything she wrote, and beg to read it early. Her KGI series debuted this year, and it’s amazing. Hot, sexy, suspenseful, filled with dynamic, emotional characters you root for, and heroes and heroines that make you ache. I love the way this woman writes (and also hate her just a little bit for her limitless talent *g*). NO PLACE TO RUN was the second book in this series, and my favorite so far.

HAPPY EVER AFTER by Nora Roberts – Nobody but nobody does romance like Nora Roberts. I read the first three books in Nora’s bride quartet back to back, then gnashed my teeth and wished I had waited to read all four at once, because I couldn’t wait for Parker’s story. Unfortunately, I had to, and when it released, it was so worth the wait. I loved this quartet of stories. And okay, I’m a big sappy romantic and I love stories about friendship. Happy Ever After made me sob and was my favorite read of the year. I will read this quartet of stories again and again, because I fell in love with all the characters in these books.

There were so many more great books I read that I loved, but those are the highlights. I have several on my To Be Read pile that I bought last year and I can’t wait to dig into.

And yes, as you can tell I’m a big fan of contemporary romance!

According to my Goodreads account I only read 37 books last year. That amount seems so pathetically low. As I went over the list I knew there were some missing that I didn’t get loaded in there, but hell if I know which ones they were, and I’m not about to go figure it out now. Who has the time? The problem of spending so much time writing is that I don’t have much leisure time to read. But I know I read more last year than I read the year before, so that’s a good thing. And I think I’ll make that a resolution for 2011–more reading time!! We’ll see how it goes.

So what was your favorite read of 2010? Share and I might pick up some new favorites 🙂