Long before I started writing my own novels, I was a reader/reviewer. I founded my review website, The Hope Chest Reviews, in 2008, and despite now being a busy writer, I’ve continued to write and post reviews there for all the book that I read for pleasure. At the end of my first year, I started my Best of the Year list. Back then it was actually called the Best & Worst of the Year list, but let’s face it, nobody wants to see their book on a Worst of the Year list. I know I certainly don’t, so last year, I changed the name and started posting only the very best of my reading. After all, as a reader, that’s what I would want to know. Which books are worth taking a closer look at? And as for which to possibly stay away from? Well, the reviews can speak for themselves.

Anyway, due to the mad rush to publish and promote my newest book in January, I’m a little late getting my 2016 Best of the Year list published, but it’s now finally finished and posted. I’m a pretty eclectic reader, so not surprisingly it's an eclectic group of books. As you might expect with me being a romance writer, what I read more of than anything else is romance, but I also read a wide variety of other genres. Therefore, my list has lots of romances along with a little bit of everything else, including fantasy, YA, historical fiction, graphic novels, and non-fiction. Since I'm such a slow reader and rarely have time to read books when they're released, 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 over sixty books in 2016, and nearly two-thirds of those made it to my keeper shelf, meaning that they earned 4.5 to 5 stars from me. For the most part, these are the books that make my “Best of …” lists. I've also nominated books in a wide variety of other categories, including best characters, best lines, and prettiest covers. I hope you'll check out my full list and perhaps find your next great read.

In honor of posting my list, I’m doing a different sort of giveaway. I tried this last year, and it turned out to be pretty popular. In this giveaway, you, the reader, will get the opportunity to choose the book you want to win. It can be any book from my 2016 Best of the Year Reading List. Some of them, I previously nominated as my Book of the Month, so you could have a second chance to win another copy or pick a different book altogether.

You may choose one book from the following:

• Any book written by J. R. Ward/Jessica Bird, my Author of the Year winner.

• Any book written by E. L. James, my Author of the Year runner-up.

• Any specific book from my 2016 Best of the Year Reading List. (You can check out the complete list on my review website or for a quick reference click through to the 2016 Best of the Year Pinterest board.) There are 48 books in all to pick from.

Choose the book you'd most like to own and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below for a chance to win a copy for your library.