profilePreviously, I posted my mid-year favorites by new-to-me authors. Of the 17 books, so far, that I’ve rated as 5-star reads, only five were from new-to-me authors. That left twelve books from favorite authors and series. I did not want to feature all twelve, so I narrowed it down to five. Between the two lists, the total is ten. So, in a way, this is the Top Ten of the first half of 2012. The remainder will be listed as “honorable mentions” at the end of the post.
Narrowing the list down to five was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It helped that two authors had two books each — and it was easy to eliminate one of each. The list I came up with is almost exclusively paranormal romance, with one exception. Like the previous list, the books are listed in the order they were read– it’s just coincidence that the first book on the list wasn’t a paranormal!
Jake. Charlie. Khalil. Mendez. Hawke.
Ah, yes. The heroes. I find it interesting to compare this set of five to the new-to-me set. Both lists feature one book with a couple in almost identical stances: hero facing the reader, heroine facing him, in an embrace (another interesting comparison between Her Singapore Fling and A Secret in Her Kiss: Jake Bennett and Major Bennett Prestwood). As with the other set, this one also has four covers with a single person on each. This time it’s hunky guys instead of kick-butt (and armed!) gals.
One last thing — Her Singapore Fling was the first book I read this year. Butterfly Swords (from the other list) was the last book I read in June. Both feature a Chinese heroine: Jianne Xang-Bennett and Princess Ai Li. Again, I wasn’t something I planned. 😀
Her Singapore Fling (Kelly Hunter) – This was the last book about the Bennett siblings. It was good to finally learn about Jake and Jianne’s failed marriage, which has been in the background of the other books. I will miss this series.
A Warrior’s Desire (Pamela Palmer) – Finally, after years of waiting, we get Tarrys and Charlie’s story. Tarrys was a revelation, since she comes across as shy in the other books. Initially, even Charlie thought she was meek.
Oracle’s Moon (Thea Harrison) – After being disappointed with Serpent’s Kiss, I was looking forward to this book. Khalil is both exasperating and funny. His genuine fondness of the children really makes up for some of his overbearing djinn nature.
Storm Kissed (Jessica Andersen) – This one was a surprise. For most of the series, Dez hasn’t been around. His story really hooked me. These books are not short and I read it in 2 days.
Kiss of Snow (Nalini Singh) – I’m a relatively new fan of Nalini Singh’s, starting with the second book, which I read in May 2011, so I was lucky enough to read the books somewhat back-to-back. Loved how Hawke and Sienna’s story unfolds.
Honorable Mentions
Affairs of Steak (Julie Hyzy)
The Iron Duke (Meljean Brook)
Shadow Touch (Marjorie M. Liu)
The Restorer (Amanda Stevens)
Magic Unchained (Jessica Andersen)
Play of Passion (Nalini Singh)
Children of Scarabaeus (Sara Creasy)
