2016 Book Reports (Issue #3)

Oh, so close. Or, you liked me; you really, really liked me! I was fortunate enough in 2016 to read a LOT of books that I really, really liked. Hence the A- category description. Of course, when you get into the top tier (A-, A, A+) there are so many fine-line distinctions between what makes a book "really good" and what makes it "fantastic" that sometimes it's a little difficult for me to decide which side of the line I'm falling on. I will say that the A+ books (for which you will have to be patient for only two posts longer) really did stand out for me, even as I read them, but we'll talk about that more in detail soon.

Because I had so many A- books on the 2016 list, I'm not going to expound too much today but rather list them (in alphabetical order by series), and you can look them up if you feel led to do so. Suffice it to say that I would most definitely recommend that you put at least a few of these on your TBR pile, if you haven't read them already.

Without further ado, the A- list:

Title	Author	Series (if applicable)
Charlotte's Story	Laura Benedict	a Bliss House novel
A Touch of TNT	LJ Charles	Everly Gray Adventures (#2)
To Touch a Thief	LJ Charles	Everly Gray Adventures (#2.5)
A Touch of the Past	LJ Charles	Everly Gray Adventures (#3)
The Celtic Dagger	Jill Paterson	Fitzjohn Mysteries (#1)
Murder on the Hill	Kennedy Chase	Harley Hill (#1)
Murder on the Page	Kennedy Chase	Harley Hill (#2)
Hot Property	Susanne O'Leary	Kerry Romance Series (#1)
Killer Cupcakes	Leighann Dobbs	Lexy Baker Cozy Mysteries (#1)
Dying for Danish	Leighann Dobbs	Lexy Baker Cozy Mysteries (#2)
Lovers at Heart	Melissa Foster	Love in Bloom-The Bradens (#1)
Evensong	Krista Walsh	Meratis Trilogy (#1)
Eventide	Krista Walsh	Meratis Trilogy (#2)
Evenlight	Krista Walsh	Meratis Trilogy (#3)
The Baron and the Bluestocking	GG Vandagriff	Six Rogues and Their Ladies (#6)
Welcome to Paradise	Rosalind James	The Kincaids Series
Place Your Betts	Katie Graykowski	The Marilyns (#1)
Winters Heat	Cristin Harber	Titan Series (#1)
Don't Marry Thomas Clark	Celia Hayes
Gone Girl	Gillian Flynn
Saving Saffron Sweeting	Pauline Wiles
There Are No Men	Carol Maloney Scott

I will say that I'm really glad I finally read Gone Girl, after having been encouraged to do so by a great number of fellow readers. Probably won't see the movie because I'm not sure I can get my head wrapped around the whole thing as playing out in front of me in real time. But still. An excellent read. If you haven't gone there...well, go there. It's worth it.

I mentioned in the B+ post the pair of trilogies by Krista Walsh about the author who finds himself transported into his created world. The Meratis Trilogy mentioned above is the beginning of that series, and I liked it just a little bit better than its sister Cadis Trilogy simply for the premise and how Walsh so deftly handled the back-and-forth, consequences of our actions aspect. If you like inter-dimensional travel and the whole good-versus-evil fantasy kind of stuff, you might like these.

So, let's talk books. Has anyone read any of my A- listers? If so, what did you think? Are there any you've read that might land in this category that you'd recommend? You know I'm always looking for something to read.

Until next time, you know what to do. It's good for you!