Can You Really Have a Favorite?

 I follow several writing hashtags on social media (primarily Twitter but also Instagram). There is the #RomBkLove hash, #fridayreads, of course the obligatory #newrelease...and a few others. I kind of want to start a #favoritereads hashtag but then I think, I don't have a favorite book. There are too many! I have favorite authors. Favorite series. Favorite tropes and favorite settings.

There are just too many 'favorites' (for me) for there to be a standalone Favorite Book. And yet, here I am writing a favorite books post. We'll see where this goes.

Wait, another disclaimer. There are more favorites, of course, and some books come on and off the list according to whatever I happen to be obsessed with at the moment (like secret heirs, or firefighters, or enemies-to-lovers, or...you get the drift).

Also, because I don't want the books to be mad at me, there is no particular order to these...although I will say I've read Montana Sky at least 10 times, which is probably the record for my personal library. Please, other books, don't be discouraged by this, I'll read you again, too...probably, many times.

Okay, Nora is on this favorites list, and as regular WW readers know, I have a thing for Nora books. The old, the new, I'm particularly obsessed with her trilogies and quads (The Quinns, anyone? I mean, G.A.H.!!), but Montana Sky is, I think, my first Nora read, and I've gone back to it time and again. I just love the characters and the backstory to them, the ranch aspect.

I picked up a Carolyn Hector book about 18 months ago and immediately devoured her entire Beauty
Queen series. Carolyn has a knack for creating really vivid settings and communities and these characters that are just so yummy you can't stop reading them. Her heroines are sassy (y'all know I love a little sass), and her southern settings are just perfection.

Another oldie-but-goodie makes the list because it's the first grown up (as in, not teen-angsty) romance. I stole it off my Grandmother's bookshelf when I was in junior high, and just loved the whole thing. Even the parts that kinda make me cringe now because it was written in the 70s or 80s and bits of the hero's portions are...hyper-alpha and borderline ... I'll just say uncaring of how the heroine feels. We'll just leave it at that. But, there is a happy ever after and the heroine is a strong woman and those elements always slay me.

I started reading Jude Deveraux books on a lark - I hadn't read any paranormal romances - like, ever - because I'm not all that into vamps or weres or things that go bump in the night...but a good friend recommended her to me because her books were (at the time) more time-travel-para than shifter-things-para. So I jumped into The Summer House, and I couldn't put it down. The idea that we could possibly get a do-over at life was enthralling to me, because although I love my life and wouldn't really change anything...there are things I might do differently. The 'what if' of traveling down another path and being able to choose which road to stay on is very interesting.

A list like this isn't complete without mentioning fellow-wrangler Liz

Flaherty, but while I love all of her books, Back to McGuffey's is definitely a favorite of mine. Liz has a way of bringing characters to life so that you want to live in her books. She did that with McGuffey's...I still want a sequel, if you're listening, Liz! ;D

And there are even more favorites but this blog is already getting long. Here are a few more authors that will get a shout-out in another favorites post: Maisey Yates, Jill Kemerer, Jessica Patch, Nicole Flockton, Holley Trent, Farrah Rochon. Oh my gosh, the more authors I list the more pop up in my head! Dana Nussio and Liz Talley and Megan Crane and Kristan Higgins and Suzanne Brockman and .... I have to stop listing or this post is going to go on for DAYS! We'll continue in the comments because I want to hear from Y O U!

Okay, WordWrangler Readers, have a favorite romance book or author? Share in the comments - because we all need a good book (or 12) to read!