Tina's Reading Books

Part three of my best of 2013 welcomes the newcomers.   Well…kinda.  These books do not necessarily represent the debut book of the author.  But these authors are fairly new-ish  and  are definitely new to me.  But the thing that stands out is how strongly I reacted to their voice.  Like…immediate love.   In a year that I was feeling increasingly frustrated at what felt like stale options, these books stood out as brash reminders that there are some fresh voices that were doing the thing!  And a validation that when I click that ‘buy’ button for a book written by a totally unfamiliar author, that the leap of faith sometimes really pays off.

Part 3 – New-to-me authors that made a splash!

   This is exactly the type of contemporary novel I love the most.  It has two adult appealing main characters, a cast of well defined supporting characters, family drama and it is all pulled together by writing that is infused with both humor and poignancy.  And it isn't filled with lots of siblings that are sequel bait.  It just tells it's own story.  Did I mention it was also funny?  And sexy?

   Of all the books I read this year, this one, hands down just killed me.  Killed Me!  It took the age old convention of breaking the fourth wall and having the narrator speak directly to me.  But the narrator is what takes this book over the top.  Drew.  What an asshole.  I loved him.  I wanted to punch him.  I wanted to hug him.  I wanted to buy him trumpet lessons.  I wanted to be invited to his family’s Thanksgiving dinner.  Fun, fun book.

This is probably a bit of a cheat since the whole book isn’t quite done yet.  This is a serialized book done in six installments with the final installment not available til mid-January.  But since I adored the first five there was no way I was leaving this one off.  Like the Brogan book mentioned above, this one hits all of my contemporary sweet spots: great mains, awesome supporting, wonderful plotting and fantastic dialogue.  Chloe and Patrick felt really right in their skin.  An added bonus…it is a multicultural romance.  Yay!!  And I love the covers for each installment.  They telegraph the growing relationship of the couple.  Cute and Yay! again.

Next up part 4 – The Honorables