2022 Best of the Year & Choose Your Own Giveaway
February 21, 2023 11:39 AM Posted by juliannadouglas
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Sorry it’s late this year, but I always say better late than never. It’s time once again for my annual Best of the Year giveaway. Ever since I started my review site, The Hope Chest Reviews, in 2008, I’ve been posting a Best of the Year list to highlight all the very best books I read the previous year. As always, I have an eclectic group of books on it from a wide variety of genres. Since I’m a romance writer and nearly life-long romance reader, my focus is mostly on romance, but I also have a nice selection of other books, including historical fiction, fantasy, YA, children’s, biography/memoirs, and non-fiction. I'm a pretty slow reader, so I rarely have time to read books when they're released, although sometimes I do. That being the case, I compile the list from the books I read during the previous year. This makes for a well-rounded list of brand new books, mixed with older ones, and a little bit of everything in between. |
I read just over seventy books and novellas in 2021, and a little over half of them made it to my keeper shelf, meaning that they earned 4.5 to 5 stars from me. These are the books that make my “Best of …” lists in the individual genres. I've also nominated books (though never any that I rated less than four stars) in a wide variety of other categories, including best characters, best quotes, and best covers. I hope you'll check out my full list and perhaps find your next great read.
Categories: Giveaways
Tags: Best of the Year, Larissa Ione, Nalini Singh
January 2023 Book of the Month Giveaway
February 19, 2023 04:21 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
During the month of January, I read four full-length books, and two children’s book. A couple of them didn’t pass muster, but the majority I very much enjoyed. However, there was only one romance that came out with five stars. It’s a book by a favorite author in a favorite series of mine that I’ve featured before and the author has done it again, giving me a book I loved. It pairs SnowDancer alpha Hawke with powerful X-Psy Sienna. Hawke gave refuge to Sienna and her family a few years earlier when they defected from the PsyNet, and in the time since, they’ve all become valued members of the wolf pack. There’s been an attraction between Hawke and Sienna almost from the beginning, but because of her youth, Hawke has put a strict lid on any feelings he might be having for her. He also lost his mate years ago, and doesn’t believe he has anything to offer her beyond a physical relationship. Lucky for him, Sienna is mature beyond her years and just as stubborn as he is, challenging him in ways no one else would dare stand up to the alpha of their pack, which intrigues both man and wolf. But despite her managing to get under his skin, Sienna’s time on Earth may be limited. No X-Psy has ever been known to live to full adulthood, and she’s already nineteen. Her power is building at an exponential rate, and she’s having an increasingly difficult time controlling it. If she reaches the critical point, she could set off the equivalent of a nuclear blast that would obliterate everyone and everything she loves for miles around. Hawke is determined not to let that happen, but he may not have a say if they can’t find the information they need to stop it. Elsewhere, the Pure Psy faction is prepping for all-out war and have, not only the SnowDancer den, but also DarkRiver and San Francisco in their sights, leaving the lives of all their citizens hanging in the balance.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Nalini Singh
