Hi Maryse!
I wanted to send in my favorite read books of 2022! I’m a long-time follower of your blog but go in spurts posting. 🙂 I think over the years I’ve posted as J.R. and Julie R.
Thank for you for continuing to post new releases, reader favorites and reviews. I love to read them! I read 59 books last year – here are my favorites.
I’m stingy with 5-star ratings so I included my 4.5 star reads as well.
5 Stars!
New-to-me authors
JR: friends to lovers and she owns a Christmas tree farm. Loved the banter and am so glad there are two more in this series! This story made me smile all the way through. Available in KU.
Jackie: I finished a really good holiday read called Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison. It’s a friends to lovers romance that takes place on a Christmas tree farm. Stella and Luca are just so good together! And you will be hoping you could visit this farm after reading this book.
JR: second chance romance with all the feels.
Tasha J: I read Every Summer After, loved it!
Favorite authors (still 5 STARS)
JR: second chance romance with a similar feel to Every Summer After. It’s hard to go wrong with a Christina Lauren book. I’ve been a fan since they wrote fan fiction years ago!
R. Renee: My favorite book for September was Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. LOVED IT!
JR: reminded me of a cross between Groundhog Day and The Summer I Turned Pretty. I loved every minute of it!
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
JR: they’ve don’t get along and now they are working together on a special project with NASA. Loved it!
JR: I started reading J. Saman books the last year or two and I think I have now read almost all of them! This was my favorite in the Wild To Love series (it’s book #2). A slow burn between a rocker and the girl he grew up with that was his brother’s girlfriend. Available in KU.
JR: I just finished Book Lovers by Emily Henry and I’m already in a book fog! I love the idea of the story being about what happens to the workaholic city girl who is left behind in a romantic novel or Hallmark movie when the guy she’s dating discovers himself and what he’s always wanted in an idyllic small town. What then happens to the city girl and her story? Loved it!
Mony: Book Lovers by Emily Henry – Refreshing to find a CR I couldn’t put down until the end. Lots of cool things in this story – fabulous characters. I think Emily Henry’s writing is getting stronger.
Harper: Book Lovers is AMAZING!!! I cried and laughed through the whole book. The banter is incredible. The steamy parts were ok, but it wasn’t the focus of the story anyway. I included it in my list of Best of 2022.
4.5 Stars
Romance
Boy and girl fall in love – my favorite type of book to read!
JR: Just Haven’t Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens. Laura is on assignment for her work to write a story on how her parents met on vacation by bringing two parts of a coin back together. However, she finds out some things about her past are not what she thought and she might have a love story of her own.
R. Renee: After reading Nora Goes Off Script, I started getting up to watch the sunrise so I’ll at least have 30 minutes of calm every day. Now I’m looking at porch swings so I’ll have a designated sunrise watching spot like Nora did. If only I could find a handsome movie star to watch it with me. *sigh*
Kathy: I loved The Bodyguard. That is on my top 10! …If you like books about a male actor and a female bodyguard you will love this one. I would definitely recommend it.
- You Again by Lauren Layne
- How to Fake it in Hollywood by Ava Wilder
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
JR: Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. Alexis and Daniel are from different worlds and it seems there is much keeping them apart (at least from her end). Is love enough?
Tasha J: I just finished Part of Your World recently and loved it
JR: I just finished My Favorite Half Night Stand. I saw it was on sale on Amazon and wasn’t sure why I hadn’t read it already. So glad I did – I thoroughly enjoyed it! Loved the two main characters and their circle of friends – professors who decide they need to join a dating site for an upcoming work function. Fun banter plus funny and sweet moments.
Steph N: I read My Half Night Stand and LOVED LOVED LOVED it.
JR: A couple other older stories I just read and enjoyed were To Love Jason Thorne (famous actor and childhood friend) and To Hate Adam Connor (spin-off of Jason Thorne).
Leslie M: To Love Jason Thorn is pure CR bliss. Loved that one!
Thriller
I like to read at night so not too many thrillers but I had to read this one after loving her first book The Last Flight!
Tasha J: I recently finished The Lies I Tell and LOVED it! I totally just picked the thinnest book off my physical tbr (I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed over here 😅) and am so glad it exceeded my expectations. I totally could have read it in a couple days if not for life getting in the way, lol. I hadn’t realized the author also wrote The Last Flight bc I hadn’t read the synopsis since before I bought it, but I have it and remember now hearing a lot of buzz about that one so I am looking forward to digging in!
Contemporary Fiction
I read these to learn what all the fuss was about – and now I know!
Grey: the writing was so freaking fabulous….
Steph N: I would have given Where the Crawdads Sing 6 stars if I could. I fell in love with the book. I’m from the south and can totally see “back in the day” a young girl going through and surviving what she did.
Michele G: I felt the same way about Where the Crawdads Sing! ❤️
MichelleS: Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens – Every year I have that ONE BOOK that everyone has read (but me) and I finally get around to it late in the year. This was it. It was soooooo good. It reminds me that I need to get out of my comfort zone more often.
Non-fiction
I’m a sucker for royalty and the Real Housewives book was just fun even if I don’t watch all of the housewives’ series!
- The Palace Papers by Tina Brown
- Not All Diamonds and Rosé by Dave Quinn
Like JR’s book style? Check out her first list with us from 2018:
Okay, who’s next? 😉 You can send me your list here.
➔➔➔ Looking for more recommendations? Browse all of the reader favorites lists here on the blog. 😀
➔➔➔ Looking for my must-read recommendations? Browse my 5 star and 4.5 star and 4 star reviews or my favorite book lists here 😀
Thanks Maryse! I always love looking at everyone’s list and recommendations so I’m glad to share some of mine!
Thank YOU!! I do love these lists too, and now I HAVE to read Book Lovers. Too many are crazy for it. I can’t wait!