Bri's 5/5 Books of 2023
Big ol' wrap up newsletter instead of your regularly scheduled programming
Welcome to my end of year in reading! Last year’s roundup can be found here.
This year, as of the posting of this newsletter (December 22, 2023), I read:
My top-read authors of 2023 (aka authors who I’d never read prior to 2023- there were 74 of these!):
Claire Kingsley | Books Read: 25 | Avg Rating: 3.83
Lisa Kleypas | Books Read: 24 | Avg Rating: 4.3125
Sarina Bowen | Books Read: 22 | Avg Rating: 3.97
Olivia Hayle | Books Read: 18 | Avg Rating: 3.91
Annika Martin | Books Read: 15 | Avg Rating: 4.03
Courtney Milan | Books Read: 15 | Avg Rating: 4.41
Caroline Linden | Books Read: 12 | Avg Rating: 4.31
Jenny Holiday | Books Read: 10 | Avg Rating: 4.15
Elizabeth O'Roark | Books Read: 10 | Avg Rating: 4
Julie Anne Long | Books Read: 10 | Avg Rating: 4.2
Lenora Bell | Books Read: 9 | Avg Rating: 4.43
Caitlin Crews | Books Read: 9 | Avg Rating: 3.61
Elsie Silver | Books Read: 9 | Avg Rating: 3.94
Stella Rhys | Books Read: 8 | Avg Rating: 3.68
Mariana Zapata | Books Read: 8 | Avg Rating: 3.90
Lauren Blakely | Books Read: 8 | Avg Rating: 3.40
Julie Olivia | Books Read: 8 | Avg Rating: 3.84
Eloisa James | Books Read: 8 | Avg Rating: 4.34
And now, the books I rated 5 stars in 2023!
Contemporary:
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (featured in Opposites Attract roundup)
The Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call Girl by Annika Martin
All Night Long With A Cowboy by Caitlin Crews (featured in Opposites Attract roundup)
Happy Place by Emily Henry (featured in next week’s Burnout roundup!)
Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn (featured in Homecoming roundup)
Historical:
Fortune Favors the Viscount by Caroline Linden
After The Wedding by Courtney Milan
Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan
The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore
After Dark With the Duke by Julie Anne Long
How To Tame a Wild Rogue by Julie Anne Long
For The Duke's Eyes Only by Lenora Bell
What A Difference a Duke Makes by Lenora Bell (featured in Single Parents roundup)
Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas (featured in Curvy Heroines roundup)
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Non-romance (not all 5 stars, but since I only read 4 and did like all of them, I wanted to feature):
Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson (YA mystery)
Dear Girls by Ali Wong (memoir, I listened to Ali Wong read the audiobook while playing Fallout 4)
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (some consider this a romance, I consider it ROMANTIC but not, precisely, a romance novel)
The Black Lord by Colin Hinckley (friend of mine, actor in almost all my work as a filmmaker!)
I keep hearing great things about Georgie, All Along! Def adding it to my TBR next year. I also want to read How to Tame a Wild Rogue based on that cover alone *swoon*
I gave 5 stars to The Gentleman's Gambit, and high marks to all but one of Julie Anne Long's Palace of Rogues series. The Annika Martin billionaire books are all very entertaining too. I loved The Belle of Bellegrave Square(Mimi Matthews) and a whole bunch of historical mysteries-The Electra Mc'Donnell books by Ashley Weaver, the Bainbridge & Sparks mysteries by Allison Montclair, and the Harriet Gordon mysteries by A.M. Stuart.