It’s hard to believe another year is over and despite it being a tough year for us all we have made it through. I managed to reach my Goodreads goal of reading 100 books with just a few extras read as well and now I’ve looked back on what has been another fabulous year for books. I’ve discovered a number of new authors and once again loved books from some of my all time favourites. It was hard to narrow my choice down to ten but I have managed it and below you will find my favourite books of 2022. I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Sharon for her continued friendship and for hosting my reviews on the blog.
I’m looking forward to what 2023 brings in terms of books and I already have a number of blog tours lined up for the new year. I think I’ve even already read a book which will feature on my 2023 books of the year but as to what that is I’ll leave you to guess. Perhaps put your guesses in the comments section. So without further ado here are my top ten books of 2022.
Andrea Mara is a queen at the top of her game and just gets better and better with each book she publishes. I already have her 2023 book – No One Saw A Thing on my TBR pile and know it will be just as good as Hide and Seek. This was a sublime read full of tension, suspense and twists and turns right until the very last page. There was a whirlwind of characters to get to know with suspicion falling in every corner as to what happened to young Lily Murphy whilst playing a game of hide and seek so many years ago. There is a creepy and unsettling feeling throughout as Johanna moves into the estate years later and discovers her house is where Lily once lived. Johanna can’t let sleeping dogs lie and she becomes dogged in discovering the truth of what happened and as a reader you are with her every step of the way in what was an utterly brilliant book which was extremely well plotted leaving you guessing until the last possible moment. My full review can be read here.
I’ve loved all the books Tracy Rees has written in the historical fiction genre and was delighted to see last year she turned her hand to women’s fiction writing for my favourite publisher Bookouture. The Little House by the Sea is the first in what I hope will be a long series set in the village of Pennystrand. This is a gorgeous, warm and inviting read following Kitty Roberts as she up sticks and moves from London to the small village of Pennystrand. She gets work in an estate agents and her life is transformed and what a journey of discovery she goes on. It was fabulous to read of what she goes through and how she transforms into someone more confident and capable and someone who starts to believe in herself and her abilities. An exciting story awaits you between the covers of this wonderful book and I was sad to finish it and that’s why I hope there will be more to come from these characters and the fabulous setting. It’s a rare author that can write in multiple genres but Tracy Rees nails it and I know will continue to do so. My full review can be read here.
I’ve read books by Cressida McLaughlin ever since she first started publishing her stories in parts which I loved but I always wanted the full length book straightaway and thankfully that’s now what we are getting. Even better recently she has been publishing two books a year and I am really enjoying The Cornish Cream Tea series. I did say in my review at the time for The Cornish Cream Tea Holiday (book number six in the series) that I felt the series lost its way slightly in the previous two books but this story saw her back on form and I adored every minute of it. I really connected with the main character Thea as she came to Port Karadow on holiday which turned into an exciting adventure of discovery and fulfilling her long held ambition. I was completely hooked by the storyline and was fully invested in the outcome for her both on a personal and professional level. This without doubt was one of my reading highlights of summer 2022 and it reminded me why I love Cressida’s writing so much. The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop was published in November and I loved this too continuing Thea’s story but with the focus on a new character also. The next book in the series, From Cornwall with Love will be with us in June 2023 and I can’t wait to see what is next in store for us. My full review can be read here.
I couldn’t not include a Christie Barlow book in my top ten books of the year. The Love Heart Lane series is my all time favourite series and I hope it just goes on for many more years to come. Christie just gets better and better with each book and there hasn’t been any that I didn’t enjoy in the series so far. It’s warm, familiar and inviting and an added bonus is that multiple books are published each year. I adored New Beginnings at the Old Bakehouse as it continued on Molly and Cam’s story and was set during the winter months. A new character Bree, a sixteen-year-old homeless girl, arrives in the village and things are sent to test both Molly and Cam. I was completely sucked in by the story and couldn’t bare to leave it out of my hands and although I tried to read it as slowly as possible in order to savour every moment that notion quickly went out the window and I raced through this wonderful read with a well developed plot and a great paced plot that just leaves you wanting to read more and more about this special village in Scotland that has captured the hearts of so many readers and deservedly so. Thankfully there are two more books (so far) to come in 2023 and I can’t wait to read them. My full review can be read here.
Sharon Gosling is my find of the year. I adored The Lighthouse Bookshop from beginning to end. It’s a fabulous read with multiple characters and storylines that reel you in and don’t relinquish their grip until the final word. It’s a gem of a read that deserves to be read by a wide and far audience and it shows how talented this author is. It really captured a piece of my heart and the fact that it was set in and around a bookshop was even better. It’s a book which reminded me just how much I love reading and I know I will read anything this author writes in the future. Rachel is an incomer to the village and she hides her past but she has formed many friendships whilst working in the bookshop which is not a lighthouse a such as it is nowhere near the sea. The story behind this brought in a historical element which I loved with also the added bonus of a mystery and uncovering hidden secrets. There are various storylines running alongside the main plot and it could have gotten confusing but it didn’t at all as so well does the author fuse everything together. I didn’t want this brilliant book to end and as I said in my review at the time, I feel there is room for a sequel, and I hope we will get one in the future. My full review can be read here.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse is not a book I have reviewed on the blog. Instead, I listened to it on audio book whilst doing long car journeys. Crime/thriller wouldn’t be my go to genre but funnily enough that’s the genre I choose when selecting an audio book. This book was published back in 2021 and since then the author has published The Retreat which I also enjoyed listening to this year. The Sanatorium is a dark and atmospheric read set in a hotel in the Swiss Alps which was a former sanatorium. Detective Elin Warner arrives there for an engagement party with her estranged brother but when a snowstorm cuts them off from the outside world and the next morning her brothers fiancée is missing a whole chain of unsettling events in set in motion where everyone is in danger. This is packed full of twists and turns and edge of your seat stuff. It’s creepy and chilling and I didn’t guess at all who the culprit was. I couldn’t get enough of it and was disappointed to reach the end of a car journey knowing I had to stop listening for awhile. I definitely can’t wait to read more from this talented author.
Of course I had to include a Christmas book in my books of the year and this genre just grows bigger and bigger every year. In fact, it seems to start earlier and earlier every year too as I remember seeing Christmas books crop up on my timeline way back in July. I didn’t start properly reading Christmas books until November but I must confess I had to read this wonderful book by Donna Ashcroft back in August as I just love her books set in Scotland. It may have been a blazing hot day amidst the heatwave but I was caught up in all things Christmas in Snowflakes and Secrets in the Scottish Highlands and I adored every minute of it. The storyline had a gorgeous, heart warming concept to it along with some fabulous characters and beautiful descriptions along with some familiar faces from her previous books set in the little village of Christmas. I loved following Merry’s journey and as it’s still very much the Christmas season if you haven’t read this gem of a book then I suggest you get your hands on a copy as soon as possible. My full review can be read here.
Dianne Haley published her first book in the Resistance girl series The Watchmaker’s Daughter back in April of this year and has since published book two-Under A Brighter Sky. I read dozens of books set during World War Two each year and it has to be something special for it to stand out from the crowd for me. Dianne blew me away with The Watchmakers Daughter. It was something fresh and new to the genre and I was gutted it had to end but I was delighted to discover it was the first in a series. It follows Valerie who lives in Geneva and is secretly helping the French Resistance. I loved the fact that there were several strands to the story all of them very much nail-biting and edge of your seat stuff as we also follow Philippe, Valerie’s fiancée, who is away high up in the mountains defending his country in case of invasion. This book was packed full of twists and turns and I remember saying in my review at the time that I couldn’t believe Dianne Haley was a debut author because this book read as if she had been publishing books for years and years. Book three in the series A Light to Guide Us Home will publish in April 2023 and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. My full review can be read here.
Carmel Harrington has long been a favourite Irish author of mine and A Mother’s Heart was a stunning read which I gave five stars to on Goodreads and Amazon and that alone is testament to how much I loved this book. I’m super picky when deciding to give five stars. The book really has to have me gripped and blow me away and this book did all that and much more. The writing was phenomenal and the characters were expertly developed. The themes and issues being discussed and explored were divisive and really made you think about the situation the characters find themselves in. I found myself swaying back and forth between Rachel and whether she should be allowed to keep her stepchildren or whether their grandparents were best suited to look after them following the death of their father. This book asks the questions - what makes a parent? What makes a home? And with whom do the children of her heart have a future? It’s a fantastic read showing Carmel at the height of her game and just before Christmas she announced news of her next book due to be published in March 2023.The Girl from Donegal seems a little different from her previous books but reading the blurb it’s a book I know is just what I like to read. My full review can be read here.
I hadn’t read a book by Ali McNamara in years. Not since her very early days of publishing but one summers day I selected Cornish Clouds and Silver Lining Skies from my Kindle and believe me once I started reading it I couldn’t put it down. It was an entertaining and impressive read following Sky who was a meteorologist sent to an island to discover what is going on with the strange weather patterns over St. Felix. Admittedly, I’m not a fan of books where there are magical elements and you need to suspend your disbelief. I’d normally toss my eyes to heaven at this but here it worked brilliantly and digging a little deeper there was a brilliant storyline waiting to be unearthed with some fantastic characters, a brilliant setting and of course some romance. If you had asked me at the beginning of the year would a book of this nature feature in my top ten of the year I would have laughed but it just goes to show give everything a chance as you could be completely surprised. My full review can be read here.
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