I once again read a lot of romances, however, more than half the romances I read were rereads, and they don’t count in the end-of-the-year roundup. Which I means I read some disappointing new-to-me romances (just over 20% of the romances I read had a rating lower than 7, and the new-to-me reads had an average rating of 6.8). Luckily, there were only three books that I disliked (though now I come back to it, I want to rate one of the books lower than the 4 I gave it).

All of which is to say I didn’t read a lot of new romances I loved.

Which is why I’m adding audio books and comics to this post, as I only read one stand-out comic. I did listen to 33 audio books, but the way I listen to audio books means they are almost entirely books I’ve read before. Plus, I did a complete re-listen to several series, to get caught up so I could read forward (Rivers of London, Jane Yellowrock, which were 24 books for both series).

Romance

~ 8.5/10 ~

Agents of Winter (2022) (The Agency)
by Ada Maria Soto
[LGBT]

 

His Quiet Agent is a comfort read for me. One character is ace, the other is demi, so there is absolutely no boinking, and although the author didn’t do it on purpose, both characters are neurodiverse.

Since His Quiet Agent was published in 2017, and the story snippet set after in 2018, I was assuming there wouldn’t me another story.

I was delighted to be wrong.

To be clear, neither this nor the first book is an easy read, as Arthur deals with a death in the first book, and then his first Christmas after than death in the second, and Martin’s past is a nightmare, yet I find the story as a whole is incredibly comforting.

“I’m sorry, which one is B-837?”

“Romantic or sexual involvement with another agency employee or contractor.”

“I… um…” Arthur felt his cheeks flush and didn’t know what to say. It had never crossed his mind to fill out the “Fucking Form” as it was referred to by the crasser employees. His and Martin’s relationship had slid from friendship into something deeper and intertwined so smoothly that there was never a date he could point to on a calendar and say ‘Yes, here is where our relationship began and I will put that into box 14A.’

“So, who is this Arthur?”

“My friend.”

“Don’t lie to your lawyer.”

“He-” Is the name I put on form B-837. “Is someone who accepts me exactly as I am and has my heart for it.”

~ 8/10 ~

Always Only You (2020) (Bergman Brothers)
by Chloe Liese
[Contemporary *]

 

This was another recommendation—the female lead has ASD and rheumatoid arthritis, and is the grump in the grumpy-sunshine trope.

The psychologist said I’d have been diagnosed sooner if not for my fantastic ability to follow rules, copy behaviors, and pretend I was “normal.” Everyone hits a breaking point, the shrink said. It was only a matter of time before I’d have to stop pretending and get honest about my neurological difference.

 

I like my books. They’re one of the most vital tools in my arsenal for navigating human behavior, to explore my feelings about the parts of life that most confuse me. Books help me feel a bit more connected to a world that often is hard to make sense of. Books are patient with me. They don’t laugh at me instead of with me. They don’t ask why I’m “always” frowning, or why I can’t sit still. Books welcome me— weirdness and all— and take me exactly as I am.

 

An Agreement with the Soldier (2021) (Necessary Arrangements)
by Sadie Bosque
[Historical *]

 

This isn’t a light story. It’s about grief and PTSD and addresses both in a realistic way, which means that falling in love with the heroine doesn’t fix he hero’s problems.

But the heroine has a loving and protected family, and the hero eventually finds other former soldiers who can support him, so things are ok in the end (this is a romance of course) but in a realistic way, which I very much appreciated.

 

Husband Material (2022) (London Calling)
by Alexis Hall
[LGBT]

 

I love Alexis Hall’s writing.

All of it, in all the genres I’ve read.

However, being with a major publisher means said publisher tries to categorize his books into existing pigeonholes—and they simply don’t fit neatly.

Parts of this book are hilarious, but that doesn’t make the story a romantic comedy. It just means the humor and the silliness offset the darkness.

Luc is much better than he was in the previous book, but it is still a work in progress.

“But what if knowing it’ll make him feel better makes me feel worse?”

“Then maybe you need to revisit the does-he-have-power-over-you question.”

Oh. Right. My shoulders drooped. I was supposed to be… not like this anymore. “Why do people keep having power over me?”

There is a fair amount of darkness in this story, but it is offset by the humor.

Oliver took a deep breath. “You are not that kind of person. You just worry you might be every time somebody likes you.” That was at once reassuring and embarrassing.

“Stop knowing me,” I whined.

Which brings me to an aside, you’ll notice Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble is not on this list. Was it a bad book? No. But it was sure as hell NOT a romantic comedy, and despite the content warnings, I was not prepared for just how dark things got.

So, I’ll keep reading and recommending Alexis Hall, but also keep in mind that major publishers are going to shoehorn books into a category whether they fit or not.

• LGBT: 2
• Historical: 1

Graphic Novels

~ 8.5/10 ~

Valor: Wands (2018)
by Isabelle Melançon, Megan Lavey-Heaton Editors
[Fantasy, Graphic Novel, YA]

 

My comic / graphic novel reading has been lax this year. I have them lined up, but since reading them requires (finding and) putting on reading glasses, I keep putting it off.

This is a lovely collection of short stories in the vein of folk and fairy tales.

Audio Books

~ 8.5/10 ~

Rivers of London by by Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
[Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural]
False Value, Audio Edition (2020), Amongst Our Weapons, Audio Edition (2022)

I’d say I’m not sure why I hadn’t listened to the audio version of False Value, except that it was published in 2020, so I know precisely what happened.

Even if I didn’t adore Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s narration, I’d still want to listen to these books, because they are generally so fast-paced I miss a lot my first read-through.

I looked up. The ceiling was a bog-standard suspended tile affair useful for covering up ducts, cables and xenomorph infiltrations.
— False Value

Not the snark though. I almost always catch the snark.

(A) dozen or more kids were playing amongst the ruins.

“God, I hope they’ve had their tetanus jabs,” said Danni as we watched a pair of boys sled down a rubble heap on a piece of rusty corrugated iron.

“Don’t be such a mitherer,” said Brook. “If you don’t bloody your knees when you’re a kiddie, what kind of a childhood would that be?”

“One without septicemia?”
 — Amongst Our Weapons

Although he is not publishing one book a year, I am completely fine with that. I’d rather a book that takes longer than expected but is the book the author wanted, than a book the author shoves out because it was due.

The Books of 2022: Yearly Reading Roundup
The Books of 2022: Romance Covers

* boinking