2021 Favorites

 Okay, after getting through my December and 2021 Wrap Ups where I had all of my stats, it's time for me to really reflect on what I really enjoyed reading last year. I picked up a lot of new authors and really expanded the genres that I typically read. Mostly because I really got into BookTube and started watching a lot more people. Because of that, I also started doing more with Bookstagram and joining in a lot more readathons and reading challenges. I really have a lot of fun participating and can't wait to see what books I pick up this year!

So for my favorite books I created some brackets (my sports loving heart loves brackets). It's really hard for me to choose, so I thought if I break them up it might make it easier. We'll see what happens. So before we get to the brackets, I do want to go over some other favorites lists. Just as a little note, I have decided to breakdown my books into three genre categories, historical romance, contemporary romance and paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy romance.

Favorite New Authors:

So this was a tough choice, but I am going to pick a couple per my three genre breakdowns. I narrowed it down by looking at how many were added to my want to own list as well as if I've already bought some of their books in paperback. I'm also looking at how many of their books I read (or plan to read). Their names will be linked to a compilation of their book's reviews.

Contemporary: Elsie Silver and Max Monroe

Historical: Donna Fletcher and Kathryn Caskie

Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Grace Draven and Annabelle Rex

Favorite 2021 Releases:

I have read a lot more newer releases this year and thought it might be fun to look at what was new that I picked up right away and absolutely adored! Some of these might be in my brackets below, but I also wanted to highlight them separately in case you are looking for any recent releases as well.

Contemporary: Off to the Races by Elsie Silver & A Bullet Between Us by K. Dosal

Historical: The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret & Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas

Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross & Tempting Auzed by Victoria Aveline

Favorite Books of 2021:

Okay, so before we get into my brackets I want to mention a couple things. First, I didn't count any of my rereads. I obviously love them enough to do a reread and wanted to focus on new books I read this year. Second, there were a couple months where I didn't read one genre. I just counted it as an extra bonus space. Speaking of, I have several planned bonus spaces. This is to allow for a proper full bracket and also allow me to mix some honorable mentions into the mix. It was hard enough narrowing it down to just one per genre per month. Okay, so I do still have a few honorable mentions as well (that didn't make it from my favorites to the bonus brackets). I'll list those before the bracket. Also if you want to use the brackets, here are the links to the templates in Canva: Contemporary  Historical  Paranormal
If you'd like for me to send you a copy not through Canva, just send me a message on instagram or twitter or something and I can send it to you directly!

Also, I decided to something fun and record me talking through my thoughts and filling out my bracket! I'll post the winning bracket below so you can see how it ended up without watching the video, but please do if you want to listen to me ramble on about books! The first round takes the longest because I go into every book and my feelings about it, but the rest of the round go pretty quickly!

Contemporary:

Honorable Mentions:  A Photo Finish by Elsie Silver, The Devil and I by Kay Alastor, Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

Round 1:

Jan vs Oct: Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn vs Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley

Mar vs Dec: Her Big City Neighbor by Jacki Lau vs The Front Runner by Elsie Silver

May vs Bonus Book 2: Savage Lover by Sophie Lark vs Dirty Letters by Vi Keeland

 July vs Bonus Book 4:  The Rebel by Sophie Lark vs Off the Record by Chelle Sloan

Sept vs Feb: To Hate Adam Connor by Ella Maise vs Trouble With the Guy Next Door by Holly Renee

Nov vs Apr: Off to the Races by Elsie Silver vs Trouble With the Fake Boyfriend by Holly Renee

Bonus Book 1 vs June: Meant to Be by Terri Osburn vs A Bullet Between Us by K. Dosal

Bonus Book 3 vs Aug: Rushing In by Claire Kingsley vs Single Dad Seeks Juliet by Max Monroe

As you have just seen or can see below, the winner was Off to the Races by Elsie Silver! This book just blew me away and started my mini Elsie Silver binge. I've followed her on all the socials and signed up for her newsletter. She has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary authors and I can't wait to read whatever she comes out with next! March we should be getting the fourth book and I can't wait. It was a little tough to decide between Unraveling Him and Off to the Races, but I just had to go with instinct. I loved them both so much though!

Historical:

Honorable Mentions: The Highlander by Kerrigan Byrne, Daring Miss Danvers by Vivienne Lorret, Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt

Round 1:

Jan vs Oct: Bound to a Warrior by Donna Fletcher vs In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks

Mar vs Dec: Return of the Rogue by Donna Fletcher vs Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett

May vs Bonus Book 2: Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas vs How to Seduce a Duke by Kathryn Caskie

July vs Bonus Book 4: The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham vs My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid

Sept vs Feb: Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase vs Love Only Once by Johanna Lindsey

Nov vs Apr: The Husband Trap by Tracy Anne Warren vs Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt

Bonus Book 1 vs June: How to Engage an Earl by Kathryn Caskie vs The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret

Bonus Book 3 vs Aug: The Highlander's Forbidden Bride by Donna Fletcher vs Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas

And the winner is... The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret! This was one of  my favorite books of 2021 that was published in 2021 and just further cemented my love of Vivienne Lorret. I was so hyped to start this book leading up to release and it exceeded all expectations. I can't wait for book 4, How to Steal a Scoundrel's Heart. It comes out May 24th and I preordered it as soon as the links went live. I feel like Vivienne Lorret is an underrated author and I can't urge enough people to read her books! Especially her newest series. So good!

Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Fantasy:

Honorable Mentions: Tamed by the Troll by Tracy Lauren, Hades by Alessa Thorn, Saving Verakko by Victoria Aveline

Round 1:

Jan vs Oct: The Sea King by C.L. Wilson vs Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

Mar vs Dec: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole vs Walking in a Witchy Wonderland by Juliette Cross

May vs Bonus Book 2: A Kiss for Solstice by Elizabeth Allyn-Dean vs Medusa by Alessa Thorn

July vs Bonus Book 4: Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross vs Wildest Dreams by Kristen Ashley

Sept vs Feb: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews vs Radiance by Grace Draven

Nov vs Apr: The Undying King by Grace Draven vs The Alien's Ransom by Ella Maven

Bonus Book 1 vs June: Tempting Auzed by Victoria Aveline vs Aubin by Annabelle Rex

Bonus Book 3 vs Aug: A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane vs Alien Tongues by Chloe Parker

And the winner is... Radiance by Grace Draven. It was a really hard choice, but as I mentioned at the end of my video, if I seperated the subgenres my favorite paranormal would be the runner up Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross and my favorite sci-fi would be Tempting Auzed by Victoria Aveline! Depending on how these genres end up percentage wise of my reading next year, I might separate the brackets. We'll see what happens! I just had to go with Radiance as my overall number one though since Grace Draven was a new author to me and I've gone through most of her backlist at this point.

That is it. We are done. Officially my favorite books are Off to the Races by Elsie Silver, The Wrong Marquessby Vivienne Lorret and Radiance by Grace Draven. Honestly though, you could pick up any of the books I mentioned here today and probably have a good time! I had a lot of fun filming my favorites and filling out my brackets. I definitely want to do more brackets again next year! There was a good mix of authors and books. I was happy that while there were some tougher decisions, it went pretty smoothly overall. If you enjoyed watching me fill out my brackets, let me know! I'm starting to foray into booktube and will be posting an announcement when I'm a little more comfortable and have a few videos posted.

What were your favorites of 2021?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎