And as just a little overview, I included my rating of each book as well as the book order and series in which it falls, since they were all from a series! Enjoy!
Undead and Unwed
Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Book 1 in the Undead Series
Betsy Taylor turns 30, gets laid off, is killed by an SUV and wakes up dead all in the same week. The vampire community is convinced she's their prophesied Queen. But she's not having any of it—she's got shoes to buy! And now the undead world is being turned upside-down by a Bela Lugosi throwback and her subjects expect her to take care of it! Why didn't she read the handbook? But her would-be consort, Eric Sinclair, is (annoyingly) ever-present. If only he wasn't so tall, dark, gorgeous...and undead.
Author: Nora Roberts
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Book 2 in the Bride Quartet
Florist Emma Grant is finding career success with her friends at their Vows wedding planning company, and her love life appears to be thriving. Though men swarm around her, she still hasn’t found Mr. Right. And the last place she’s looking is right under her nose.
But that’s right where Jack Cooke is. He’s so close to the women of Vows that he’s practically family. But the architect has begun to admit to himself that his feelings for Emma have developed into much more than friendship.
Author: Charlaine Harris
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 4 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Book 9 in the Southern Vampire Series
Except for Sookie Stackhouse, folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, knew little about vamps - and nothing about Weres. Until now. The Weres and shifters have finally revealed their existence to the ordinary world, and the backlash may have claimed the life of someone Sookie knew. But her determination to find out who is responsible for the murder is put aside in face of a far greater danger. A race of unhuman beings - older, more powerful, and more secretive that vampires and werewolves - is preparing for war. And Sookie will find herself in an all-too-human pawn in their battle...
Author: Janet Evanovich
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Book 8 in the Stephanie Plum Series
Fugitive Apprehension Agent Stephanie Plum has a big problem on her hands: Seven-year-old Annie Soder and her mother, Evelyn, have disappeared.
Evelyn's estranged husband, Steven, a shady owner of a seedy bar, is not at all happy. During the divorce proceedings, he and Evelyn signed a child custody bond, and Steven is demanding the money guaranteed by the bond to find Annie. The money was secured by a mortgage on Evelyn's grandmother's house, and the True Blue Bonds Bail Agency wants to take possession of the house.
Finding a kidnapped child is not an assignment for a bounty hunter. But Evelyn's grandmother lives next door to Stephanie's parents, and Stephanie's mother and grandmother are not about to see their neighbor lose her house because of abduction.
Even though Stephanie's plate is full with miscreants who missed their court dates, including old nemesis and violent drunk Andy Bender and an elusive little old lady accused of grand theft auto, she can't disappoint Grandma Mazur! So she follows the trail left by Annie and Evelyn-- and finds a lot more than she bargained for. Steven is somehow linked with a very scary Eddie Abruzzi. Trenton cop and on-again, off-again fiance Joe Morelli and Stephanie's mentor and tormentor, Ranger, warn Stephanie about Abruzzi, but it's Abruzzi's eyes and mannerisms that frighten Stephanie the most. Stephanie needs Ranger's savvy and expertise, and she's willing to accept his help to find Annie even though it might mean becoming too involved with Ranger.
Stephanie, Ranger, Lula (who's not going to miss riding with Ranger), and Evelyn's lawyer/laundromat manager set out to find Annie. The search turns out to be a race among Stephanie's posse, the True Blue Bonds' agent, a Rangerette known as Jeanne Ellen Burrows, and the Abruzzi crew. Not to mention the fact that there's a killer rabbit on the loose!
Author: Nora Roberts
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Book 1 in the Bride Quartet
The first book in the Bride Quartet—following the lives and loves of four friends who run Vows, a wedding-planning company. Wedding photographer Mackensie “Mac” Elliot is most at home behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments before an important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into the bride-to-be’s brother…an encounter that has them both seeing stars.
A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitely not Mac’s type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs to take her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turn into something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have to turn to her three best friends—and business partners—to see her way to her own happy ending.
Author: Rachel Gibson
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Book 4 in the Chinook Hockey Team Series
Disaster Number One: Men Hard knocks and hunger taught Faith Duffy not to believe in love. Still, when she married her very wealthy—and very old—husband, she became the perfect wife. And then he went to that big bank in the sky, leaving Faith with lonely nights, a pile of money, and a total mess of a pro hockey team. Heck, Faith doesn't even watch hockey!
Disaster Number Two: Passion
But most of America and half of Canada is watching Ty Savage. His lethal sex appeal and deadly right hook make him the favorite of fans. For most of Ty's life, he's dreamed of winning the Stanley Cup. The last thing he needs is a bimbo messing up his plans.
Disaster Number Three: Love
Faith loathes Ty on sight, but she can't stop thinking about him all day . . . and night. Then a moment of temptation ends with Faith in Ty's bed, and she begins to see there's more to him than sex appeal. Ty discovers there's far more to Faith than beauty and billions. But a relationship with Faith is impossible, and falling in love—that would be a disaster.
Author: Janet Evanovich
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Book 11 in the Stephanie Plum Series
Stephanie Plum is thinking her career as fugitive apprehension agent has run its course. She's been shot at, spat at, cussed at, fire-bombed, mooned, and attacked by dogs. Time for a change, Stephanie thinks. Time to find the kind of job her mother can tell her friends about without making the sign of the cross.
So Stephanie Plum quits. Resigns. No looking back. No changing her mind.
She wants something safe and normal. As it turns out, jobs that are safe and normal for most people aren't necessarily safe and normal for Stephanie Plum. Trouble follows her, and the kind of trouble she had at the bail bonds office can't compare to the kind of trouble she finds herself facing now. Her past has come back to haunt her. She's stalked by a maniac returned from the grave for the sole purpose of putting her into a burial plot of her own. He's killed before, and he'll kill again if given the chance.
Caught between staying far away from the bounty hunter business and staying alive, Stephanie re-examines her life and the possibility that being a bounty hunter is the solution rather than the problem. After disturbingly brief careers at the button factory, Kan Klean Dry Cleaners, and Cluck-in-a-Bucket, Stephanie takes an office position in security, working for Ranger, the sexiest, baddest, bounty hunter and businessman in two continents. It might not be the job she'll keep for the rest of her life, but for now, it gives her the technical access she needs to find her stalker.
Tempers and temperatures rise as competition ratchets up between the two men in her life --her off-again, on-again boyfriend, tough Trenton cop, Joe Morelli, and her bad-ass boss, Ranger. Can Stephanie Plum take the heat? Can you?
Author: J.R. Ward
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Book 1 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There also exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Among them, none relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood...
The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed- orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate - Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead…
Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn't there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both…
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Book 2 in the Night Huntress Series
Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.
Being around Bones awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline rush of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head – wanted: dead or half-alive – means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard Cat tries to keep things professional between them, she’ll find that desire lasts forever … and Bones won’t let her get away again.
Halfway to the Grave
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Book 1 in the Night Huntress Series
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Characters: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Book 1 in the Night Huntress Series
Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father – the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. Then she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unlikely partnership.
In exchange for help finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She’s amazed she doesn’t end up as his dinner – are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn’t have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side … and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.
And there you have it folks! My best reads of 2010! If your favorites didn't make this list (and I'm just guessing - but I bet very few actually agreed with me!), what were they? I'm always on the lookout for new reads, so bring them on! =)
And there you have it folks! My best reads of 2010! If your favorites didn't make this list (and I'm just guessing - but I bet very few actually agreed with me!), what were they? I'm always on the lookout for new reads, so bring them on! =)
