2014 – A Year End Book Review

I did this post last year too and I like the idea of keeping a list of books I read throughout the year.  The current tally is 50 books!  WOO HOOO!  That was my unofficial goal for the year.  It was also a rather pricey year for books at Casa de E.  hehe.  Thanks to mint.com Matt was able to pull up how much I’d spent on books.  Whoops.  It was a little more than I expected.  I feel like this was the year of the series though.  I got sucked into several  numerous series this year.  Most of the books weren’t more than a few dollars but it adds up for sure.

A Demon’s Wrath: Part 2 (Peachville High Demons Book 8), Sarra Cannon

Demons Forever (Peachville High Demons Book 6), Sarra Cannon

Rival Demons (Peachville High Demons Book 5), Sarra Cannon

Shadow Demons (Peachville High Demons Book 4), Sarra Cannon

A Demon’s Wrath: Part 1 (Peachville High Demons Book 7), Sarra Cannon

Beautiful Demons Box Set, Books 1-3, Sarra Cannon

Hard to Come By: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye

Thirty-Three and a Half Shenanigans (Rose Gardner Mystery), Grover Swank

Conquer Me (Royals Saga, Book 2), Geneva Lee

STRIPPED, Part 3, Kellie Perkins

STRIPPED, Part 2, Kellie Perkins

Billionaire Unmasked ~ Jason (The Billionaire’s Obsession), J. S. Scott

Being Neighborly: a novella, Carey Heywood

One Night with a Billionaire, J. S. Scott

BROKEN SYMMETRY: A Young Adult Science Fiction Thriller, Dan Rix

Command Me (Royals Saga, Book 1), Geneva Lee

STRIPPED, Kellie Perkins

Crash (Billionaire New Adult Romance), Vanessa Waltz

Going Down (Wish Upon A Stud – Book 1), Elise Sax

Hard to Hold On To: A Hard Ink Novella, Laura Kaye

Shattered Hearts (Shattered #1), Octavia Wildwood

The Job Offer, Eleanor Webb

PSYCHOPHILIA: A Disturbing Psychological Thriller, Michelle Muckley

Thirty-Two and a Half Complications (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank

Thirty-One and a Half Regrets (Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 4), Denise Grover Swank

Thirty and a Half Excuses (Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 3), Denise Grover Swank

Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank

Business as Usual (Off the Subject Book 3), Denise Grover Swank

Redesigned (Off the Subject Book 2), Denise Grover Swank

A Separate Peace, John Knowles

After Math (Off the Subject Book 1), Denise Grover Swank

Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel, Janet Evanovich

Hard As You Can: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye

Hard As It Gets: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye

Presumed Dead (A Dylan Scott Mystery), Shirley Wells

The Back Road, Rachel Abbott

Only The Innocent, Rachel Abbott

Worn Me Down (Playing With Fire, #3), T.E. Sivec

Because of You (Playing with Fire, #2), T.E. Sivec

Sleep Tight , Rachel Abbott

A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire, #1), Tara Sivec

Here (YA Romance), Ella James

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank

The Last Year Boxed Set, Books 1-4, Trisha Leigh

Last year I kind of got on a paranormal kick.  I’m not normally one to read about things like witches, demons, or aliens, but this year found me reading about all of these things.  Mostly the books are well written and suck you in.  Here are a few highlights from the past year.

The Rose Gardner Mystery series by Denise Grover Swank

These books are similar in style to the Janet Evanovich series I’ve read for the past few years.  The difference being Rose has a gift for seeing things that will happen in the future.  It could be something as mundane as a dog running away or something big like a murder.  Her “visions” find her in a series of comical adventures which lead to a relationship with a local State Trooper.  Over the course of the series (which isn’t complete) Rose finds herself in numerous bad situations caused by her visions.  The books are funny and well written.  By the time I finished the last one, I’d say I was a tad bored with the series as a whole but I also read most of them back to back.  I will more than likely keep my eye out for the next book and read it when it comes out.

If you hadn’t noticed I’ve developed a little bit of a thing for Denise.  Something about her books draw me in.  If you are looking for a new author check her out!

The Playing with Fire series by T.E. Sivec

I stumbled across these books when I was looking for something a little more “adult” oriented.  I was pleasantly surprised that the storyline was actually good.  The sex scenes were steamy but played well into the storyline.  This series is about 2 friends who set out to find the truth behind what happened when one of their friends is tragically killed. Book 4, the last of the series, came out in Sept but somehow I missed that one so I will be downloading it later today.  🙂  You can now buy the series as a boxset if you’re interested.  I would definitely check out this series if you like a little spice and a fast moving story. (ETA: I read book 4 in a day and it deals with pregnancy loss. It was quite the tear jerker. I think you could read the first 3 books and not miss if you don’t read the 4th book)

The Hard Ink series by Laura Kaye

Not a bad overall plot but the individual storylines pretty much the same: troubled guy meets girl in some extraordinary circumstance and falls in love.  All of the books take place over the course of a week or two.  A group of dishonorably discharged Army buddies come together to find out what really happened on a mission gone wrong involving their commander when the commander’s son goes missing.  His daughter contacts one of the guys and the group is reunited in order to save the son and clear their names.

The Peachville High Demons by Sarra Cannon

I finished the year with this series about witches and demons.  Harper is a teen that has been bounced around from foster home to foster home when she finds herself at a home for girls in Peachville GA.  Once arriving, Harper starts to discover that Peachville isn’t your ordinary small town.  The town has secrets and she is about to be thrown right into the middle of them.  It turns out Harper comes from a long line of witches from Peachville.  The story unfolds as she falls for Jackson, a demon from another dimension.  Together they set out to right the wrongs being done the demon world by the Order of Shadows witches.

Happy New Year!

~k