What a fantastic reading year! When looking back at the books I have read throughout the year I had not realised how many really fantastic books I have read and how many new authors I have discovered. I thought I would share with you today my list of favourite stand alone books I read this year. This list is in no particular order of favouritism. These are ones that I gave 5 stars to and ones that I would not hesitate to read again and again and again! I hope you guys have had a fantastic reading year and are looking forward to starting a new one...
It happens at the start
of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of
their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some
riders live. Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the
returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any
fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck
Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races.
But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the
competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared
for what is going to happen.
From the award-winning
author of PIECES OF YOU comes this enthralling love story, guaranteed to
make you laugh, cry and dream upon a star…
What if your first love was your only love?
When
Molly is diagnosed with a life changing illness, it feels like her
whole world has come crashing down. She hopes the news will make her
marriage to Sam stronger. But why does Molly always call best friend Ed
in a crisis?
Ed. The very same Ed that Molly fell in love
with at a party when they were teenagers, underneath a star-filled sky.
Then life took them in very different directions. They could only ever
be friends.
Suddenly Molly starts to question every decision
she’s ever made. What if they could turn back the clock? Back to the
very beginning. When the only certainty they shared was each other …
The epic made simple. The miracle in the mundane.
One
day, while browsing an antique store in Helena, Montana, photographer
Tyler Knott Gregson stumbled upon a vintage Remington typewriter for
sale. Standing up and using a page from a broken book he was buying for
$2, he typed a poem without thinking, without planning, and without the
ability to revise anything.
He fell in love.
Three years and almost one thousand poems later, Tyler is now known as the creator of the Typewriter Series: a striking collection of poems typed onto found scraps of paper or created via blackout method. Chasers of the Light features
some of his most insightful and beautifully worded pieces of work—poems
that illuminate grand gestures and small glimpses, poems that celebrate
the beauty of a life spent chasing the light.
Samantha is a stranger
in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend,
Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream
boyfriend.
Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of
who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece
together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants
any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and
it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty
sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting
a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and
she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for
her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.
But Cassie is
still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't
just buried deep inside of Sam's memory-someone else knows, someone who
wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if
she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can
finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?
Auburn Reed has her
entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for
mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a
job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic
artist who works there, Owen Gentry.
For once, Auburn takes a
risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping
major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to
destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life
back on track is to cut Owen out of it.
The last thing Owen
wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is
sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their
relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much
more destructive than the actual sin…
Sienna Murphy never does
anything without a plan. And so far her plans have been working. Right
after college, she got a prestigious job and gained the stability she'd
always craved-until work takes her to the sun-drenched shores of Oahu
and places her in the path of sexy surfer Luke Everett. For the first
time, she lets her heart take control. Drawn to his carefree charm, she
makes a spontaneous and very un-Sienna-like decision to drop everything
and stay in Hawaii for two more weeks.
Luke lives fast and wild.
When he meets Sienna, he's convinced that some no-strings-attached fun
is just what she needs. As their nights quickly turn from playful to
passionate, Luke can't deny the deep connection he feels. But there's a
reason Luke doesn't do long-term. He can't promise Sienna forever, when
the enormity of his past has shown him just how fragile the future can
be . . .
The next stunning novel from Richard and Judy pick, Amanda Brooke
When
Jo pretends to be asleep as her husband leaves for work the morning
after an argument, she doesn’t realise how deeply she will come to
regret the opportunity to say goodbye. By nightfall, her life has
changed irrevocably.
David has disappeared and there doesn’t seem
to be any trace of him. But Jo is five months pregnant and her marriage
is full of secrets – not least, David’s unwillingness to start a family.
As
the mystery around David’s disappearance shows no sign of being solved,
Jo must choose: will she give up her baby to make the man she loves
come home?
A street-girl and a lord? London is poised for scandal ... Bestselling author Joanna Taylor delivers captivating historical romance.
Can a street-girl fool Regency London?
Lizzy
Ward never meant to end up working the streets of Piccadilly. So when a
mysterious lord pursues her, it seems her fortunes are changing.
But Lord Hays wants feisty Lizzy for more than a night. He needs her to masquerade as his companion.
So
can a street-girl navigate the fashion and faux pas of London society?
And will Lizzy’s wild heart be too much temptation for Lord Hays?
Lily Fitzpatrick loves
vintage clothes - made all the more precious because they were once
owned and loved by another woman. Thousands follow her vintage fashion
blog and her daily Instagram feed. But this passion for the beautiful
clothes of the past is about to have unforeseen consequences, when Lily
stumbles upon the story of a 1950s New York beauty, who was not only
everything Lily longs to be, but also shares Lily's surname.
Joy
Fitzpatrick was a legend. But what was the famous dress which she once
commissioned - said to be so original that nothing in couture would ever
match it again? What happened to it - and why did Joy suddenly
disappear from New York high society?
Kate Kerrigan's enthralling
novel interweaves the dramatic story of Joy, the beautiful but tortured
socialite and that of Lily - determined to uncover the truth and, if
possible, bring back to life the legendary dress itself.
They had found paradise.
What would they do to keep it?
With a quick spin of the globe, Kitty and Lana
escape their grey reality and journey to the Philippines.
There they discover The Blue – a beautiful yacht,
with a wandering crew.
They spend day after languorous day exploring the pristine
white beaches and swimming beneath the stars, and Lana
drifts further away from the long-buried secrets of home.
But the tide turns when death creeps quietly on deck.
A dangerous swell of mistrust and lies threatens to bring
the crew’s adventures to an end – but some won’t
let paradise go…whatever the price.
Over one short weekend,
when Canadian musician Scott Emerson and British children's author
Frankie Shaw meet by chance, a profound connection is made. Their homes
are thousands of miles apart: Frankie and her children live by the coast
of North Norfolk while Scott’s roots lie deep in the mountains of
British Columbia. Against all advice, they decide to see where this
might go.
Over oceans and time zones, they make sacrifices and
take risks, discovering along the way new truths about love and family.
For the first time in a long while, it seems life could be very good.
But fate has a tragic twist in store, one that could destroy all that
was hoped for.
Poignant, engrossing and moving, The Turning Point
is a novel about the importance of seizing happiness and trusting that
love will always find a way.
When her husband Richard
dies in a freak accident, Shelby Pomeroy is devastated. But his death
reveals a horrible truth - Richard was a liar and a cheat. Now Shelby is
left with the consequences - huge, terrifying debts and mounting proof
that her late husband betrayed her in every conceivable way.
Heart-broken
but unbowed, Shelby is determined to fix her problems - if only for the
sake of her gorgeous little daughter Callie. Returning home to
Tennessee and the family she thought she'd lost for ever, she discovers a
new sense of strength and freedom. And hope, too, in the handsome form
of carpenter Griffin Lott - a straight-dealing man who couldn't lie to
her if he tried.
But not everyone is thrilled to see Shelby
Pomeroy back in town. And when a shocking act of violence is traced back
to Richard's shady business, it becomes clear that she is not safe from
him, even in death. With her life in danger, Shelby must face the lies
of the past - or lose everything.
The emotional and unforgettable new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series.
Alexa
Holland’s father was her hero—until her shocking discovery that she and
her mother weren’t his only family. Ever since, Alexa has worked to
turn her life in a different direction and forge her own identity
outside of his terrible secrets,. But when she meets a man who’s as
damaged by her father’s mistakes as she is, Alexa must help him.
Caine
Carraway wants nothing to do with Alexa’s efforts at redemption, but
it’s not so easy to push her away. Determined to make her hate him, he
brings her to the edge of her patience and waits for her to walk away.
But his actions only draw them together and, despite the odds, they
begin an intense and explosive affair.
Only Caine knows he can
never be the white knight that Alexa has always longed for. And when
they’re on the precipice of danger, he finds he’ll do anything to
protect either one of them from being hurt again…
