You'll notice that I didn't call this list a "best of". That was intentional. I'm not trying to claim that these books are any better than other ones that were released. "Better" and "best" are so subjective. What I can say, though, is that THESE books made the biggest impression on ME in 2021: 

This series was on my TBR list FOREVER. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for post-apocalypse reads while we had our own kind of apocalypse going on in the real world? I dunno. But for whatever reason, I kept bumping this series in order of reading other, lighter series. I'm glad I finally read it, though. It's...an adventure, that's for sure.  Here are the details:  

There was a trailer for a movie that came out yesterday. It's a movie called The Lost City, and in it, a hot romance novel cover model shows up to save an imperiled romance author from a dastardly villain. He proceeds to tell her he's certified in CPR, CrossFit, and...that he brought snacks. Frankly, he had me at "snacks." It made me think about all the great romance novel heroes who either cook for their love interests, or just go out of their way to make sure they're properly fed. In other words, today's book recommendations list is all about heroes who know that food = love. And without further ado, here they are:

I'll be honest. I wasn't a huge fan of the original Sex in the City. But I watched enough of it to form some opinions. First of all, Carrie was a crap friend and an even worse person. Aidan deserved better. Mr. Big and Carrie (both a couple of big fat cheaters) deserved each other (and I don't mean that as a compliment). Samantha was a better person and friend than she ever got credit for. And finally, Harry Goldenblatt was the best, kindest person on the show and he deserved THE WORLD. So, all that said, I went into the reboot, And Just Like That, with SUPER low expectations. What follows is everything I got out of the first 2 episodes. And just so you know, I'm dropping BIG spoilers (pun intended), so proceed at your own risk:     

There are few things more inspiring than romance heroines who have loved and lost--then found the strength to love again. Here are but a few of my favorite romance heroines who lost who they THOUGHT was the love of their life, only to find out that they still had a lot of love left to give (and receive): 

What's more romantic than a wedding? Romance novels with a wedding theme, of course! And here are some great ones that'll make you want to say "I do"...to one-clicking them, at least: