Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. They’d love to share their lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Happy Thursday! So I missed getting to do my list this past Tuesday so I figured I’d do it a few days late this week. The topic is “Ten Underrated/Hidden Gem Books I’ve Read In The Past Year Or So” and I honestly could fill a list with 100 books on it! Most of what I read is indie so getting the word out on these books takes some effort. And guys believe me when I say there are some true hidden gems. In order to shorten my list, I made a few conditions: only books published in 2016 made the cut AND rated 5 stars by me. Here are my top ten underrated, hidden gems of 2016. Covers link to Goodreads/my review/Amazon (affiliate), number of ratings in parentheses attained from Goodreads.
Hidden Gems of 2016
If We Were a Movie by Kelly Oram (933): I love Kelly Oram! She has the ability to write characters that leap off the pages. It is so easy to forget they are not real! It is no different with Nate and Jordan. I love the chemistry between the two friends and the meddling Miss Pearl who was a recurrent character from the multi-author series Power of the Matchmaker.
Chosen Fool by Scarlett Dawn (881): I loved everything about this book! I personally had a hard time with the first book in the series and wasn’t sure how I felt about continuing. BUT I’m SO glad that I did! Caro is an awesome character and this is a massive series that I really need to go back and read all of. Plus who doesn’t love urban fantasy?!
Relentless by Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs (394): My newest love thanks to this book is superheroes. This book was a great sci-fi/fantasy for young adults. I loved, LOVED the world-building around the heroes and villains. It actually reminded me a lot of the movie Sky High, a little darker but fun and I liked the main characters. I was rooting for them!
Pimpernel by Sheralyn Pratt (378): This clean romance hooked me from the first. I loved the characters and I adored how the author continued the legend from the classic The Scarlet Pimpernel. It flowed well and I fell head over heels for the cast of characters. I’m hoping for a series, it ended in a way that the author could write more mysteries for them. *crossing fingers*
Mistletoe Cottage by Debbie Mason (326): If you enjoyed the Christmas, Colorado series, you will enjoy Harmony Harbor! Debbie Mason is the queen of contemporary romance IMO. I loved this book! I loved the characters and I even didn’t mind the angsty drama that ensued.
Blood and Sin by Laura Thalassa and Dan Rix (253): First off I LOVE Laura Thalassa so for me this was an auto-buy book just because her name was attached to it. However it is the first time I’ve read anything by her husband Dan Rix. I’m hoping to remedy that this year. I loved this book! Together they’ve created a fantastic urban fantasy, and the two main characters couldn’t get any hotter. I’m anxiously waiting on the sequel.
Between Heaven and Earth by Michele Paige Holmes (191): Another book from the Power of the Matchmaker series that I loved! Miss Pearl doesn’t intervene too much in this book. Instead the book tackles a really hard issue. The main character’s husband is in a vegetative state with little hope of awakening. She’s basically lived her life on pause, raising a child that wasn’t even born yet when her husband was injured. How do you live while holding onto the past? I’ll admit you’ll want tissues when you read this book. It isn’t a fluffy romance, but I guarantee you will enjoy it.
Saven Defiance by Siobhan Davis (159): This is the third novel in the Saven series and possibly my favorite. Sadie is a tough character to like in my opinion. BUT she really comes into her own here and the scifi portion of this series kicks up a notch in this book. I loved the world created by the author and the fantastic twists that are foreshadowed.
Paper Dolls by Hanna Peach (122): This book destroyed me! It is simply amazing! Why this book hasn’t gained more attention I don’t know. It deals with some hard, social issues and truly I didn’t see the end coming. I can’t say ANYTHING about this book for risk of spoiling it. Just trust me when I say it should be read.
Crown of Cinders by Rebecca Ethington (101): The finale of the Imdalind series. I loved this book! I binged the entire series prior to reading the final book and guys Rebecca is a genius! The foreshadowing from other books that led up to this ending, it was amazing to me how I missed it. Perfect in every way!
Your turn! What hidden gems did you find last year? Share below
I loved If We Were a Movie and Between Heaven and Earth! I enjoyed the entire series, but those two especially!
Me too!! I loved how each author portrayed Miss Pearl. My other favorite from the series was Chasing Fireflies.
Thank you for a fascinating collection of books – Relentless particularly caught my eye.
sjhigbee recently posted…While the Morning Stars Sing
Relentless is great! I love a good superhero story. The first book in the series is called Powerless. 😀