You’ve seen ours–it’s your turn to share! What were your top reads of 2023?
(And, if you’d like to see all our choices for Best of 2023 in one place, you can see them all here.)
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I thought I’d already posted these, but possibly not, so with apologies for the possible duplication—
I divided my list of favorite books of 2023 into two categories: books published in 2023 and books published in a prior year but that I read for the first time in 2023. Regardless of publication date, a beautifully written emotional-nuanced journey with angsty complications and a splash of melancholy will get me every time.
Favorite books published in 2023:
DIAMOND RING by KD Casey: beautifully written m/m baseball romance about a pitcher and a catcher who fall in love their first season playing together in the major leagues but then fall apart when a misplaced pitch/catch loses their team the World Series. Ten years later they are reunited. Is the spark—professional and romantic—still there? An absolutely lovely book about baseball, love, and life.
TEN THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED by Alexis Hall. Hall’s best book since FOR REAL is full of snarky English humor, big feelings, sharp-eyed asides, found family, Christmas preparations, falling in love, and facing the sadness of a past that cannot be changed. Marvelous on every level.
I’M YOUR GUY by Sarina Bowen: m/m romance between a professional (and closeted) hockey player and the interior designer he hires to decorate and furnish his new house. Smoothly written with recurring characters and themes that eventually come full circle. Not since Cait Nary’s SEASON’S CHANGE has there been a book that so thoroughly addresses the complexities of coming out in a professional sport.
SOMETHING WILD & WONDERFUL by Anita Kelly: lovely and lyrical story of two men who meet and fall in love while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail; but each man will have to decide how much to risk their heart. Gorgeous descriptions of the trail terrain and perceptive insights about loss, love, and life.
ROLE PLAYING by Cathy Yardley: a cozy, warm hug of a book, despite addressing some serious topics, about two older people who initially meet on-line as players in a video game, but then progress to friendship and love.
REBEL AT HEART by Zoe York: lovely and melancholy story of regrets and missed opportunities as a mechanic who once had aspirations to be a race car driver discovers that he was never divorced from the woman he’d impulsively married years before. York writes a seriously hot book that still faces squarely how we have to let go of the past in order to move forward.
CINDERELLA AND THE OUTBACK BILLIONAIRE by Kelly Hunter: a man whose self-piloted helicopter crashes during a dust storm is rescued and kept alive by a botanist who was in the area documenting native plant species. One of the best-written books of the year, with vivid descriptions of the Australian Outback and nuanced character development. Multiple cuts above the standard HP.
Favorite books published in a prior year:
SEASON’S CHANGE by Cait Nary (published in 2022): slow-burn between professional hockey players whose relationship develops over a season while they are both teammates and roommates. Excellent mental health and bisexuality representation.
UNWRITTEN RULES by KD Casey (published in 2021): Incredibly well-written m/m baseball romance about a professional player who feels isolated by his religion (Judaism), his hearing loss, and his deeply closeted sexuality, and what happens when he falls for a teammate. Casey’s beautifully weaves the intricacies of baseball into the fabric of a romance with meticulous finesse.
I very much like Rebel at Heart as well. I’m going to go hunt down the Hunter. I’ve liked her work before. Thanks!
And Role Playing is on sale right now!
I’m a big fan of Zoe York’s books and have had the opportunity to meet her in person (she lives in the same city as my sister) – she’s lovely!
I’m listening to Fire Season by KD Casey at the moment and enjoying it. I didn’t read Unwritten Rules first, so I may go back to that one. The Diamond Ring audiobook is already on my phone!
I agree about the Hall book, and Something Wild and Wonderful, which I think is an overlooked gem.
I don’t do much m/f these days, but I picked up Roll Playing based on your recommendation, and the fact that our family is full of gamers–electronic and tabletop–and my daughter and her husband met online playing a video game. I’m also intrigued by Cinderella and the Outback Billionaire, so off to look at that.
Thanks for the list! I always love your descriptions.
I liked Fire Season – the narration by Jon Waters is excellent – and I enjoyed Diamond Ring, but Unwritten Rules didn’t work for me at all, unfortunately. I think I read somewhere that you can read the books in that series in any order.
I enjoyed I’m Your Guy by Sarina Bowen too. That, and The New Guy, made me realise that I had a whole load of Brooklynnaire/Brooklyn Bruisers books in my TBR folder that I’d picked up when they were on offer, so I had fun reading through them all.
Diamond Ring looks interesting!
I reviewed Diamond Ring here, and have just written a review of the audiobook for AG. Not DIK level for me, but good.
I really like the Brooklyn Bruisers series too!
Great list! And a few titles I’ve not read so adding them to my tbr 😉
I second the comment that your descriptions are just lovely! I bought the KD Casey baseball romance series and mean to get around to reading them. I enjoyed Sarina Bowen’s I’m Your Guy as well as the preceding book in the series (The New Guy), which was also published in 2023. I feel Sarina Bowen is underrated. She writes both M/F and M/M, which isn’t the most common, and I think she does both well. I like some of her books more than others but they all tend to be solid reads for me and that’s impressive considering how prolific she is. I tend to enjoy her M/M romances a smidge more than her M/F.
I liked The New Guy – I did it in audio and the narration by Teddy Hamilton and J.F. Harding is fantastic. But for me, the story was a bit too run-of-the-mill to rise above a B. I have You’re My Guy in my Audible library waiting for me. Her The Understatement of the Year is one of my all-time favourites.
I would agree. I’m Your Guy and The New Guy were solid and I liked them but they weren’t groundbreaking or unique. I just think Sarina Bowen is an all around dependable author. I won’t necessarily read a book of hers as soon as it comes out but when I do pick it up, I know that I will enjoy it and I think that’s pretty great!
The Understatement of the Year was my first m/m read read so it’s cemented in my brain as one of my favourites!
My Top 10 (in alphabetical order):
Forget Me Not, Julie Soto
Hello Stranger, Katherine Center
Hotel of Secrets, Diana Biller
Love, Theoretically, Ali Hazelwood
The Marquis Who Mustn’t, Courtney Milan
Role Playing, Cathy Yardley
Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher
Tom Lake, Ann Pratchett
The True Love Experiment, Christina Lauren
You Again, Kate Goldbeck
Books I didn’t get to read yet but might have been contenders:
Codename Charming, Lucy Parker
We Could Be So Good, Cat Sebastian
My A reads or listens for 2023, with a few A- reads included because they stuck with me in some way.
K.J. Charles:
Secret Lives of Country Gentleman
A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel
Jay Hogan:
The Art of Husbandry
The Mechanics of Lust
(Foxed A-)
Briar Prescott:
Until You
And Then You
Nicky James:
Inevitable Discloser
Defying Logic
(Disrupted Engagement and Matrimonial Merriment were A-)
Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly
10 Things That Didn’t Happen by Alexis Hall
Time to Shine by Rachel Reid
Once a Rogue by Allie Therin
Honorable mentions (A- but memorable in some way):
Second-Best Men by Fearne Hill
Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding
Make Me Stay by Annabeth Albert
I somehow neglected to add We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian to this list!! That’s bad because it’s one of my top 5 audiobooks of the year!
I know that I’ve already posted my list elsewhere, but I said I’d post it again! 😉
10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall. This is the book I’ve revisited the most, even though it was only published in October. So funny, so poignant…… Will Watt’s narration on the audiobook is superb too.
The Face in the Water by Gregory Ashe. This is Book 1 of the Iron on Iron series which incorporates four of his popular couples. I truly do not know how he manages to do this.
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles. I loved this romance between Kent and London!
Broadway Butchery by CS Poe was another great book in a terrific series.
I thought Time to Shine by Rachel Reid was absolutely lovely.
As was We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian.
Cloud Nine, the second in the Nailed It! trilogy, was my favourite of Fearne Hill’s books this year. Such brilliant writing of a main character with Cerebral Palsy.
Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly. I loved the trail setting and the way Alexei’s grief was written. There was something fresh about the book.
You Made a Fool out of Death with your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi. (Although this was published in hardback in 2022, the paperback and ebook were not released until 2023). I found this stunningly beautiful (and want to live in that house!)
Tenth spot on the list is between Best Supporting Actor by Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm and The Sleeping Soldier by Aster Glenn Gray. I enjoyed both of these books but, IMO, the first doesn’t reach the heights of books the authors have written individually, and the second, whilst good, didn’t thrill me like Honeytrap or Tramps and Vagabonds.
There were three 5 stars 2023 releases for me.
Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston.
Codename Charming by Lucy Parker. Despite having less of the humour that Lucy is justifiably renowned for and I can’t get enough of, this is Lucy’s best book AFAIAC. I honestly believe her non romcom writing skills have significantly improved.
Paladin’s Faith by T. Kingfisher. The best of a very good series. Not quite as romantic or funny as Swordheart but the next best thing.
I really love those Paladins. Each book is good, I am so happy that the series continues.
I liked Codename Charming, but less than other books by Lucy Parker.
From books already mentioned here, We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian is one of my stellar reads.
Still thinking what else would make my list.
My picks for 2023 romance reading, in no particular order
(published in 2023)
Role Playing by Cathy Yardley
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
Liar City by Allie Therin
A Power Unbound by Freyja Marske
And Then You by Briar Prescott
10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall
Lavender’s Blue and Rest in Pink, Books 1&2 by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer Broadway Butchery by CS Poe
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles
Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston
(published before 2023)
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwake Emezi (2022)
Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane (2022)
Sundays with Oliver by Kelly Jensen (2022)
I just finished Role Playing and a review will be up at AAR here shortly! I’m excited for the sequel to Liar City (though I picked Once a Rogue for my list).
Several of the books already listed would make my Top Ten, especially:
Inevitable Disclosure by Nicky James
Cloud Nine by Fearne Hill
Until You by Briar Prescott (which likely would be my #1)
I’m going to throw out a few others that haven’t been mentioned but which would be in my top tier for the year. First the M/F ones:
Reckless by Elsie Silver – this author is not new but I just discovered her this year. Reckless is the 4th in a series of 5 books (series is complete). The couple have a one-night stand, she gets pregnant but he doesn’t find out until a few months after she delivers. The hero steps up to support the heroine and their baby in the most gorgeous way. The heroine is a prickly one and their love story is sexy. I liked the entire series but this was my favorite due to the hero.
Forget Me Not by Julie Soto – second chance romance about a wedding planner and a florist. It has an unusual structure in that it is told in alternating points of view but the heroine’s are from the present and the hero’s are from the past, detailing their original romance. An impressive debut and I’m looking forward to more from this author.
Then the M/M ones:
The Unlikely Heir by Jax Calder – a man unexpectedly becomes the Prince of Wales and falls in love with the Prime Minister. Yes, the premise is far fetched but the banter is witty and the emotional connection between the main characters is well written. I think this author is getting better and better over time.
Like I Needed by Charlie Novak – this author’s more recent books have been on the sweeter, low angst side and I have liked but not necessarily loved them. However, I really loved this one, which is the third in a series. It’s about an overworked farmer and the trust fund/rich guy who falls in love with both farmer and farm, finding purpose along the way. And there are cute sheep!
To the Moon and Back by N.R. Walker – this is really a novella (just a bit over 200 pages) and about a single father struggling with caring for a baby who hires a manny and they fall in love. It’s a simple story but sweet and well done.
Cherry Picked by May Archer – this is the 3rd in a series about brothers living in small town Vermont. It’s an age gap romance about a romance novel-loving young man who has been in love with his employer/older brother’s best friend for years and makes his move by asking him to take his virginity. Conflict/confusion/feelings ensue!
I haven’t read the last four you mentioned, although I have the Walker on my TBR list. I’m going to take a look at the others! The premise of Forget Me Not sounds interesting, too.
I hope you like any that you pick up. May Archer has several series (all M/M contemporary). I know you don’t like too much angst/trauma in your books and I think you would like hers. I started with her Love in O’Leary series (small town) and enjoyed it.
Jax Calder is a Kiwi M/M author and I think her best book to date is the one Caz mentions called Beautiful Hearts. It is a gorgeous love story between 2 teachers with a major twist that I never saw coming. If you like a father/manny book, she has one called Playing at Home. Both The Unlikely Heir and Beautiful Hearts are the first in series with the next book for each coming out later this year,
It sounds like you are familiar with N,R. Walker. I read her Storm Boys series this year but it just didn’t grab me. I liked her release Enemies with Benefits better but not as much as To the Moon and Back.
Charlie Novak’s books take place in England. My favorites of hers so far are Summer Kisses (featuring 2 chefs and Charisma Check (featuring a tattoo artist and a cosplayer), These 2 are enemies to lovers, which is one of my favorite tropes, but most of her others are not and whereas her books have plenty of heat, they are overall sweet romances.
Thanks or all the recs! You’re right I don’t like things too dark or angsty, but I’m not generally a fan of fluff, either, although sometimes it’s just the thing. I think that’s why I enjoy mixing a romance plot with a really good mystery, sci-fi, or fantasy.
I have really enjoyed a lot of NR Walker books (Galaxies and Oceans is a favorite), but I’m not a fan of MC romances, so I haven’t read much of her newer stuff. I agree with you, the Storm Boys series didn’t click with me. I stopped after the first book. (I enjoyed the prequel most.) I haven’t read Jax Calder, so I’ll look into those for sure. I’ve read some of the other authors, but I’ll check out those titles!
I did the Love in O’Leary series in audio – well, the first three – and quite liked them (I reviewed some at AG), but then the author switched to a narrator I don’t care for much, so I didn’t finish it. She still uses that narrator so I haven’t tried any more of her books.
I checked and realized I’ve listen to the first three book in the O’Leary series, too, and enjoyed them. My library has them on audio. I haven’t read anything else by her, though. I might try something in print.
I checked my reviews and I did review one book in another of her series (at AG) – her stuff is okay, but nothing to write home about IMO. But for me, that’s 90-95% of Contemporary romance these days.
@Manjari: based on your recommendation, I just read BEAUTIFUL HEARTS, and I loved it! I think it was that intricately plotted twist (which I absolutely did not see coming), and how the MCs handle it, that elevated the book from good to great. BEAUTIFUL HEARTS is the first book on my Favorite Reads of 2024 list. Thank you for the recommendation.
Oh my gosh, I am so glad you liked it! If you sign up for Jax Calder’s newsletter, you will get a link to her BookFunnel, where there are bonus scenes and epilogues. Beautiful Hearts has a fairly long epilogue called The Dream which shows Tim and Jamie at multiple points in their future. I really enjoyed it.
I really liked the Jax Calder book I read this year, Beautiful Hearts and plan to read more of her work, but I just can’t suspend my disbelief enough to buy into the premise of The Unlikely Heir.
I completely understand but it was really good! I think the next in the series (The Unlikely Pair) has a more realistic plot so maybe that will be more up your alley 🙂
I hope so – I do like her work.
I’m not sure if you are asking about books published in 2023 or the best readings of 2023, not considering the year in which the book was published. So I’m going to make two lists:
First, this is a list of the books published in 2023 that I have enjoyed most:
Rachel Reid: TIME TO SHINE
Sandra Brown: OUT OF NOWHERE
Elle Kennedy: THE GRAHAM EFFECT
Liz Tomforde: THE RIGHT MOVE & MILE HIGH -but I DNF’d the third one of the series
Tal Bauer: THE REST OF THE STORY
Sarina Bowen: THE NEW GUY & I’M YOUR GUY
Jennifer Crusie: LAVENDER’S BLUE – but I couldn’t finish the second book in the series
In January 2024 I’ve read WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY, by Ava Wilder, and I enjoyed it a lot. These days I’m reading WE COULD BE SO GOOD, by Cat Sebastian and so far so good.
But now, which books have I enjoyed most in 2023? Well, my 5-star readings were published way (sometimes way way way) before 2023:
Loretta Chase: YOUR SCANDALOUS WAYS
Lisa Gregory: THE RAINBOW SEASON
Stella Riley: THE PARFIT KNIGHT
Pamela Morsi: WILD OATS
Tal Bauer: WHISPER & NEVER STAY GONE
Sarina Bowen: THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR
And three 5-star rereads:
Sean Kennedy: TIGERS AND DEVILS
Karen Robards: ONE SUMMER
Mary Jo Putney: SHATTERED RAINBOW
When we post our Best of Year lists, we limit them to books published in that year. I’m hoping to pull together a post of Best Belated Reads soon – that is for books we read in 2023 that were published before 2023.
I enjoyed Tal Bauer’s The Rest of the Story too. I read some good reviews of Liz Tomforde’s books but haven’t read one yet, mostly because they are so long!
Thanks for this comprehensive list! I still want to read the Sarina Bowen ones (I bought them and they sit, lost in mount ‘TBR’ (to be read pile)
Grin: I enjoyed Lavender Blue, liked the second one and DNF-ed the third. I think they should have made it one book, a bit more substance/length, instead of going for 3. the story was excellent but not complex/rich enough for 3 books. It got repetitive. And the jokes were repeated until they lost their charm. A pity, since I really like Crusie‘s humor and personalities.
Tigers and Devils is also a favorite of mine. Glad you found it!
Late to the party but here they are:
Published in 2023
How to Tame a Wild Rogue (The Palace of Rogues #6) by Julie Anne Long – HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Dark Memory (Dark #37) by Christine Feehan – PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2) by Rebecca Yarros – FANTASY/ROMANTASY
Payback in Death (In Death #57) by J.D. Robb – ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
Broadway Butchery (Memento Mori #3) by C.S. Poe – M/M; MYSTERY
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian – LBGTQ+; HISTORICAL ROMANCE
The Emperor’s Bone Palace (Infernal War Saga #2) by Hailey Turner – LBGTQ+; PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Just a Bit Captivated (Straight Guys #14) by Alessandra Hazard – M/M; CONTEMPORARY/EROTIC ROMANCE
Published Before 2023
The Jade Temptress (Lotus Palace Mysteries #2) by Jeannie Lin – HISTORICAL ROMANCE / MYSTERY
Heart of the Sun Warrior (Celestial Kingdom #2) by Sue Lyn Tann – FANTASY
Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles #5) by Ilona Andrews – FANTASY
Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros – FANTASY/ROMANTASY
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot #2) by Becky Chambers – SCIFI
I Married A Beast (Prime Mating Agency #7) by Regine Abel – SCIFI ROMANCE
Chaos Station series by Jenn Burke & Kelly Jensen – M/M; SCIFI ROMANCE
So This is Christmas (Adrien English 5.50) by Josh Lanyon – M/M; CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
My favourite was Kelly Hunter CINDERELLA AND THE OUTBACK BILLIONAIRE. Very entertaining and to me, a believable love story. Accurate representation of Australian outback also. I only read this because I read favourable review on this site and had read other Kelly Hunter books that I liked in the past. 2023 was not a great romance reading experience for me. I branched out into other genres for more satisfaction. I found many of the contemporary romances that are trending, not for me.