Happily Ever After by Elizabeth Maxwell (2014)

I love a book that leaps off the shelf at me at the library and asks me to take it home. This book was misshelved while I was looking for something else and it leapt into my hand. 

Sadie Fuller is a single mother, and a romance novelist who writes erotica under a pseudonym. Meanwhile, she's raising her daughter, dealing with her gay ex-husband, and dodging the PTA. When she runs into her newest romantic lead at Target, things get interesting. But not in the way that you might think. 

It's a fabulously original unexpected story with rich, realistic characters in a magical situation. So much quiet, dry humor. I love a scene when her ex forbids her to do something, then they pause to laugh hysterically at the thought of him forbidding her to do anything. 

Funny, realistic and delightful. I love a book where I'm not even done with it and I'm already looking for more work by the author. A total hidden gem, ala Tuscany for Beginners or Nancy's Theory of Style. Adorable.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2015)

So sigh. 

Despite a blurb from Gregory Maguire on the cover, I adored this book. A lovely fairy tale retelling which keeps the barest bones of the original tale (Beauty and the Beast) and transforms it into a magical, original tale. 

Agnieszka lives in a small village with her family in a land that is threatened by the mysterious Wood. The Dragon, a distant, cold wizard who protects the land chooses one girl every ten years to serve him in his tower. To everyone's surprise and dismay, Agnieszka is chosen. She learns that she has magic and works with the difficult, diffident Dragon to explore her magical abilities. 

But before you know it, her friends, family and land are threatened by the Wood and a magical war takes place. I love the friendship between Agnieszka and her good friend Kasia, the mysterious danger of the Wood, and the burgeoning relationship between Agnieszka and the Dragon. Plus, this book is a super dreamy grown-up romance.

I adored the insults that the Dragon throws at Agnieszka, like "recalcitrant idiot." Also, this book features very swoony kissing: "'You intolerable lunatic' he snarled at me, and then he caught my face between his hands and kissed me."

Romantic, suspenseful, well-written, and heart-rending, this is just a completely lovely novel.

You by Caroline Kepnes (2014)

Well-written thriller about a bookstore clerk who stalks, romances and stalks an attractive female customer. The stakes are high, and the perspective is really interesting. Although I normally loathe book written in the second person--to "you"--writing this narrative to the stalkee works beautifully and is very chilling. 

It's fascinating to read a stalkerish tale that takes place in the contemporary social media landscape. It's a deeply complex and yet very readable story. 

To say more would be spoilery.

George by Alex Gino (2015)

Juvenile novel about George, a young boy who considers himself a girl and his struggle with figuring herself out, telling his family, and desiring to star as Charlotte in the school play of Charlotte's Web. 

I kept bracing for something horrible to happen, and was cheered when it didn't. But Gino depicts the everyday stresses of childhood very well, and very evocatively. The look inside George's head, or as he prefers to think of himself, "Melissa," is unique and well done. 

A definite addition to the new transgender literature.

A School for Brides by Patrice Kindl (2015)

Young adult, Jane Austenesque sequel to the equally adorable Keeping the Castle, which was in its own way a nod to I Capture the Castle. 

Sometimes you just have to let a book speak for itself:

"Oh, she was pretty enough in the usual way, but she was not the heroine of a novel, fit for drama and a life of extraordinary jobs and griefs. No, she was one who would find contentment as the wife of a gentleman landowner and farmer, a magistrate and person of importance in a small country village. She was cut from a simple, strong cloth that would was and wear well, with modest trimmings for a holiday, she was not a fragile velvet or satin that must be kept for best."

"A happy marriage confers a great advantage upon all members of the union: the wife, the husband, and any children in their care. It is not essential for fulfillment in life; both sexes may live singly and be well satisfied with their lot. And not every marriage is happy; many married people must seek their contentment elsewhere. Yet where a sturdy bond does grow up between a wedded pair it becomes a source of strength and joy their whole lives through." 

 Great characters, lovely humor, adorable and sweet book. 

The Viscount Who Lived Down the Lane by Elizabeth Boyle (2014)

Lovely Regency novel about Louisa Tempest, a young woman who "comes face-to-face with the reclusive Viscount Wakefield. But even more dismaying than his foul temper is the disarray in which she finds his home. Convinced his demeanor would improve if his household were in order, Louise resolves to put everything to rights." (Thanks, Goodreads!)

What? Organizing AND romance? Yes, please! 

Don't forget the great characters, realistic relationships, and the very lovely romance. A new favorite author.

Destiny's Embrace by Beverly Jenkins (2013)

Perfectly dreamy romance. Beverly Jenkins is often mentioned as a great romance author of color and a great author, period. 

This historical romance is about Mariah Cooper, a headstrong woman who leaves her lousy, abusive mother and heads across the country to work as a housekeeper for a handsome rancher in California. 

Drama, chemistry, and love ensues as well as excellent character development, along with a fascinating thread of race issues that runs throughout the entire book. 

And very romantic! Beautiful.

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood (2014)

The tagline: "How well do you know your neighbours?"

The novel takes place in an apartment building in South London. The tenants, all a bit down on their luck, have a variety of problems, but one of them holds one very nasty secret: he/she is a serial killer. 

Marwood keeps the tension and the suspense at a high level throughout the whole book, even after the killer is unveiled halfway through. The characters are strong, the plot is well done. Quite a bit of suspense, and it dips into horror as well. It's also wonderfully rich in its London setting, and features a fantastic ending.

See also The Wicked Girls. Equally gripping (if a little fat-shaming.)

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg (2015)

Charming nonfiction book where Aziz, with the help of nonfiction writer Eric Klinenberg (Going Solo, Heat Wave), explores modern romance, online dating, patterns of love and so on. 

I love Aziz's distinctive, hilarious voice which comes through so vividly in the narrative. I totally also admire the effort he made to do something broader and more universal than the traditional comedian memoir. 

Movie Star: A Novel by Lizzie Pepper by Hilary Liftin (2015)

If you've ever been even mildly intrigued by the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes marriage/fiasco and the world of Hollywood and Scientology, you'll love this novel.

It's a marvelously dishy roman a clef fictional memoir by "Lizzie Pepper", a young actress who marries a megastar actor who is involved with a powerful Hollywood church/cult. Sound familiar? 

It's wonderfully Inside Hollywood not only in the Scientology scandal aspect but as how superstardom really works. It's a fascinating look at how the whole process works and a great slant on an often-speculated about, complicated relationship. Fun and SO dishy.