My Favorite Reads of 2020

My 2020 in Books 

Between kids books, comic books like Garfield and Baby Blues, Agatha Christie novellas and all the regular books I read 608 books in 2020. So trying to figure out a favorite list was more than a little daunting!! There are going to be several books mentioned in this post...it was a fun year reading wise!

My Favorite Christian Fiction Reads(in no particular order)

Line By Line by Jenifer Delamere

Jocelyn by Sarah Monzon

Storing Up Trouble by Jen Turano

To Steal A Heart by Jen Turano

Stay With Me by Becky Wade

The Red Canary by Rachel Scott McDaniel

Stay With Me by Kara Isaac

Lake Season by Denise Hunter

At Love's Command by Karen Witemeyer

The Librarian Of Boone's Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Something To Believe In by Jenny B. Jones

A Bride Of Convenience by Jody Hedlund

Starfish Pier by Irene Hannon

Vying For The Viscount by Kristi Hunter

Set The Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes

Being Known by Robin Jones Gunn

The Kissing Tree novella collection by Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, Amanda Dykes, Nicole Geese

Finding The Road Home by Tina Radcliffe

The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox

The Happy Camper by Melody Carlson

Favorite Suspense 

End Game by Rachel Dylan

Point of Danger by Irene Hannon

Rocky Mountain Revenge by Rhonda Starnes

The Baby’s Defender by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

Silent Shadows by Natalie Walters

Untraceable Evidence by Sharee Stover

The Traitor’s Pawn by Lisa Harris

Killer Insight by Virginia Vaughan

Protecting The Princess by Rachelle McCalla

Favorite Series

Meet Your Match by Rachael Anderson

1) Prejudice meets Pride 

2) Rough Around The Edges Meets Refined

3) Stick in the Mud Meets Spontaneity

Amish Village Mystery by Vannetta Chapman

1) Murder Simply Brewed

2) Murder Tightly Knit

3) Murder Freshly Baked

Favorite Novellas

Unseen Enemy by Lynn H. Blackburn

Miracle on Ford Avenue by Natalie Walters

Take A Chance On Me by Becky Wade

Favorite Cozies

Murder, She Wrote: Murder In Season by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land

Murder, She Wrote: The Murder of Twelve by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land

To Kill A Mocking Girl by Harper Kincaid

Pulp Friction by Julie Anne Lindsay

One For The Books by Jenn McKinlay

Gone With The Whisker by Laurie Cass

Favorite Fiction

The Book Of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel

My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

Paris Is Always A Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay

Favorite Non Fiction

On The Bright Side by Melanie Shankle

Everything Beautiful In Its Time by Jenna Bush Hager

Favorite Christmas Books

Christmas Ever After by Karen Schaler

The Holiday Husband by Jenny B. Jones

His Holiday Prayer by Tina Radcliffe

Christmas Ever After

While promoting her next novel, a Christmas love story, author Riley Reynolds is caught off guard when she’s asked during a live national television interview how she can write about romance when she still hasn’t found “the one” herself. Scrambling for an answer, she quickly answers that she has had great love in her past and that love inspired her novels.

Little does she know that this one offhanded remark will turn her world upside down. Three of her ex-boyfriends see the interview, and each, believing she’s talking about him, shows up for her Christmas Camp book event at the Christmas Lake Lodge, determined to rewrite his happily-ever-after with her!

Over the festive weekend, Riley’s old boyfriends compete to win her heart, pulling out all the stops while planning the most romantic Christmas dates on the planet. Despite herself, Riley starts falling for each guy— again—but for different reasons. As Riley revisits each relationship and discovers more about herself, she embraces the magic of Christmas and finally finds true love and her own Christmas ever after...

 My Rating: 5 Stars

Another fun and charming Christmas romance from Karen. I have come to love her Christmas stories because they are always full of humor, romance and great characters and this one fits the bill perfectly. Riley was a great character and her predicament when all three of her exes show up to win her back was hilarious. Great Christmas read!!

Deadly Amish Reunion

Separated by amnesia…

reunited by a lethal holiday threat.

Jennie Beiler’s husband was supposed to be dead, so she’s shocked when he rescues her from an attacker. Although Luke has no memories of his Englisch wife, it’s up to him to protect her from someone who won’t stop until she’s dead. Can the peaceful Amish community he returned to after losing his memory shelter them and their son this Christmas when danger strikes again?

From Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

Amish Country Justice

Book 1: Plain Target

Book 2: Plain Retribution

Book 3: Amish Christmas Abduction

Book 4: Amish Country Ambush

Book 5: Amish Christmas Emergency

Book 6: Guarding the Amish Midwife

Book 7: Hidden in Amish Country

Book 8: Plain Refuge

Book 9: Deadly Amish Reunion

 My Rating: 4 Stars

Another exciting read from Dana! I enjoyed Jennie's story after meeting her in Plain Refuge. This one is just as exciting and with surprises along the way, I wasn't entirely sure who the bad guy was until the end. The story moves well and kept me interested. A fun and exciting Christmas mystery! 

I received this book from the author and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my own. 

The Cul-de-Sac War

All’s fair in love and prank wars. 

Bree Leake doesn’t want to be tied down. She’s had more jobs than she can count, and she plans to move as soon as the curtains fall on her less-than-minor stage role at The Barter—the oldest live performance theater in the US. But just when it’s time to move on again, Bree’s parents make her an offer: hold steady for a full year, and they will give her the one thing she’s always wanted—her grandmother’s house. Her dreams are coming true . . . until life at the theater throws her some curve balls. 

And then there’s Chip McBride—her handsome and infuriating next-door neighbor. 

Chip just might be the only person whose stubborn streak can match Bree’s. She would move heaven and earth to have him off her cul-de-sac and out of her life, but according to the bargain she’s struck, she can’t move out of her house and away from the man who’s making her life miserable. So begins Bree’s obsessive new mission: to drive Chip out of the neighborhood—and fast. 

Bree isn’t the only one who’s a tad competitive, and Chip is more than willing to fight fire with fire. But as their pranks escalate, the line between love and hate starts to blur—and their heated rivalry threatens to take a hilarious, heartwarming, and romantic new turn. 

My Rating: 4 Stars

A fun lighthearted romance with lots of laugh out moments for me. I lost count of the times I laughed out loud while listening to the story. The narrator of the audio was very good and made the listening aspect very enjoyable. The end was cute and overall I enjoyed the story. Some of the pranks they pulled on each other was a bit over the top but that's my only minor complaint of the story. This a great story if you are looking for a quick, funny and light romance. 

I received this book through NetGalley and wasn't required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my own.

Besotted

In a land where being the fairest maiden is a curse . . .

A young queen trying to stay alive until she comes of age to rule, and a prince turned into a pauper.

Queen Aurora of Mercia has spent her entire life deep in Inglewood Forest, hiding from Warwick’s Queen Margery, who seeks her demise. As the time draws near for Aurora to take the throne, she happens upon a handsome woodcutter. Although friendship with outsiders is forbidden and dangerous, she cannot stay away from the charming stranger.

Only two months away from completing his royal testing, Prince Kresten of Scania is ready to be finished with the poverty and hardships of being a woodcutter. When he meets a beautiful peasant woman, he doesn’t plan to fall in love, especially when he must soon leave and return to his homeland.

As Queen Margery’s forces close in, Aurora finds herself in mortal danger. Kresten knows a future with Aurora is impossible, but he is desperate to save her and bring an end to the queen’s threat. To do so, he joins the ultimate battle against the evil queen, risking everything, including his chance at true love.

The real Sleeping Beauty story.

The Fairest Maidens
Book 1: Beholden (Sept 2020)
Book 2: Beguiled (Oct 2020)
Book 3: Besotted (Nov 2020)

My Rating: 4 Stars

What an exciting finale to the Fairest Maidens series! Aurora and Kresten's story just might be my favorite of the set. Kresten's growth during the book was very cool and by the end he was definitely my favorite of the three brothers. Aurora and Kresten's romance was fun to read and the twists that Jody had up her sleeve for the story made for exciting reading. Jody does fairly tale stories extremely well and I highly recommend them!

I received this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my honest opinion. 

 

The Red Canary

 

In 1928, soot from the local mills and music from speakeasies linger in the Pittsburgh air. When the manager of The Kelly Club is found dead, nightclub singer Vera Pembroke is thrust into peril. As the only witness to the crime, she’s sentenced to hide away in the Allegheny Forest with a stuffy police sergeant as her guardian.

Sergeant Mick Dinelo harbors a burning hatred for Pittsburgh’s underworld after the devastation it left on his life—and heart. He should be out exposing the culpable gangsters rather than tending to the impetuous woman who defies his every effort to keep her safe.

Mick and Vera must set aside their differences to solve the murder that someone wants to keep buried beneath the soot of Steel City.

My Rating: 5 Stars

Wowza! This book was fantastic. I found myself completely immersed in 1920's Philadelphia right along with Mick & Vera. This book is COMPLETELY unputdownable-at least for me. I read half of it in one sitting. The story pulled me in from the first chapter and the characters were wonderful. I especially enjoyed Lacey and Pops! Do yourself a favor and give this one a try, I am willing to bet you'll love it!

I received this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my honest opinion. 

Carolina Breeze

 

A jilted bride. A struggling innkeeper. And a romantic mountain getaway that changes everything.

Rising Hollywood star Mia Emerson is looking for a safe place to land in the wake of a public breakup and scandal, and she finds it in the lake town of Bluebell, North Carolina—the location of her canceled honeymoon. She wants nothing more than to hide and wait for the tabloids to die down.

Soon after her arrival at the Bluebell Inn, Mia meets Levi Bennett, who runs the inn along with his two younger sisters. Drawn to one another from the start, Mia trusts Levi to keep her location from the press, and Levi confides in Mia about the financial state of the inn—a secret he’s been keeping from his sisters.

When Mia and Levi discover an old journal that hints at a rare diamond necklace hidden in the inn, they set off on a treasure hunt to find the long-lost heirloom. What they don’t expect to surface are feelings they thought were safely locked away. Mia and Levi must decide if falling in love again is too big a risk—or if it will uncover a treasure of its own instead.

This Bluebell Inn romance takes us to a quiet North Carolina retreat that holds more secrets than it shares.

My Rating: 5 Stars

This series of Denise's is shaping up to be my favorite of hers. Carolina Breeze has romance, humor, and mystery and is such a fun read! Mia and Levi are great characters and their blossoming romance makes for an enjoyable read and a lovely bookish escape. I definitely recommend this series!!

Escape

 

US Marshals Madison James and Jonas Quinn are thrust into a high-profile case when they are called on to transport two prisoners across the country on a private plane. But when the plane experiences engine trouble en route from the Pacific Northwest to Colorado, the pilots crash-land the aircraft deep in the heart of the sprawling Salmon-Challis National Forest.

When Madison and Jonas regain consciousness, they find both pilots and one prisoner dead--and one fugitive on the run. They'll have to negotiate the rugged and remote backcountry through Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado while tracking a murderer who is desperate to disappear--and will do anything to stop them.

This high-octane game of cat-and-mouse from bestselling and award-winning author Lisa Harris will have your heart pumping as you try to catch a fugitive with nothing to lose.

My Rating: 4 Stars

The Escape is quite the exciting read! Trying to catch an escaped killer on the run from a plane crash made for quite a story line and hard to put down. Madison and Jonas are fun characters and I really enjoyed them in this story. Madison's back story peaked my interest especially with the mystery element that's sure to come out in the rest of the series. All in all, a good start to her new series. Looking forward to book 2!

I received this book from the publisher and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my own.