Best Books of 2018 | Michelle's Lists

Hello everyone,
I read a total of 93 books in 2018! Here are the best of the best of the bunch in no particular order.

Romance

As it's been typical the last couple years, I read more romance novels than I did any other genre in 2018. Hence, I have 5 favorite reads and 3 honorable mentions in romance.

I kicked the year off with The Wedding Date (my full review) and I fell in love with the cutest, most charming rom-com. Then about halfway through the year, I read The Kiss Quotient (my full review) and I swooned for days--it immediately went on my all-time fave list.

I had my doubts about The Wall of Winnipeg and Me because I kept hearing it's a slow burn, but it's a lot longer than a typical romance novel length. I wondered if I would get bored or frustrated with the characters. I was wrong! I will forever compare it to other romances being lauded as "slow burn" because The Wall of Winnipeg and Me is how it's done!

The Bastard's Bargain (my full review) was another one where I had my doubts I'd like it because I was let down by the author's previous book that I'd picked up. But, oh man, it ticked all my boxes: arranged marriage ✔ hate-to-love ✔ gentleman murder hero with a hidden sweet side ✔ hero who says endearments in another language ✔ feisty heroine ✔ smokin' hot smexy times ✔✔✔✔

Fight of Flight (my full review) kind of started a little rocky for me because the hero and heroine were immature during the airport bit in the beginning, but I completely fell for them as we got to know them and swooned during all their moments. Also, I took a trip to Boston recently and it just took me back to what is now one of my favorite cities.

Honorable Mentions

If you told me at the beginning of 2018 that a book with ménage will make my best books list I would've said, Impossible! Ménage are always a hard pass for me 🙅🙅 And yet, here we are with Three Guilty Pleasures (my full review) because it's something else!

People complained that Gavin was too perfect to be real, and it was too rushed in the end. I agree with those people, but it didn't stop me from completely loving Intercepted (my full review) anyway.

Misadventures of a College Girl (my full review) took me back to all the giddy and swoony feelings I had when I read The Deal and The Hook-Up (my two holy grail of NA books) two years ago. I need my own Tyler Caldwell.

YA

I didn't read too many YA books in 2018, but I did read one book that started a new obsession.

I initially ignored the hype for The Cruel Prince because I'm not the biggest fan of fairies and I didn't think I'd gel with Holly Black's writing style. But, for some reason I ended up buying it at B&N and reading it right away (which I hardly ever do after buying a book--it's typical for a book to sit on my shelf for YEARS before I pick it up) and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! I devoured the whole book in about two sittings and I had the biggest book hang over after and cried because I had to wait months before I can read the sequel. Thank God it's not long now until I can get my hands on The Wicked King...

Graphic Novel

I snuck in Check, Please: #Hockey, Vol. 1 the last few days of 2018 needing a quick read to up my total number of books read, but HOLY COW IT WAS THE CUTEST, MOST FUN GRAPHIC NOVEL EVER!! The art and the color palette was fantastic, the amount of text on a page was perfect (not too wordy, letting the graphics speak for themselves), I loved ALL the characters (especially our vlogging, pie-baking, scared-of-being-checked Bitty), and the romance in the end was too cute!

Audiobook

I rate audiobooks in terms of how the narration adds to the story--does the narration elevate the text in a way that I enjoy the story even more than I would've if I was reading it on my own? The audiobook for 44 Chapters About 4 Men narrated by Ramona Master did just that! If you're picking up this book, you HAVE TO read/listen to it through audio. Ms. Master's chatty, playful tone and inflections were perfect for the hilarious memoir--her voice was how BB would sound in my imagination and no one else could've done it except her.

Best Series

This series have been languishing in my Kindle for years. I read Pucked way back when and fairly enjoyed it, but I never managed to pick up the rest of the books. But, when I got the Audible Romance Package and found out that the entire series (or at least the main novels pictured above) was available on there, I quickly binged read/listened to the entire series in the course of about three week and IT WAS THE BEST TIME EVER!!! Some books were better than others and I liked some couples more than the other, but the series as a whole was GOLD!! My absolute favorite part was the friendship group/found family that formed between Violet and Alex, Miller and Sunny, Lily and Randy, Poppy and Lance, and Charlene and Darren.

Let me know if we share the same favorites. My next wrap-up post will be my worst and most disappointing reads of 2018 😬😬

Happy reading,
Michelle