It’s time for my favorite post of the year! My top 10 favorite books of 2021. This year I’ve read 83 books (so far) and I’m sharing my very favorites with y’all today.
Now, this year I read a ton of romance and rom coms. Y’all know I’ve always been a huge fan of that genre and the publishers really stepped up their game when it came to swoon worthy stories. I was for sure that my favorite book of the year would be a romance, but it was actually a mystery/thriller. But rest assured, I am sharing plenty of love stories in my favorites.
Let’s jump right in. Here are my top ten favorite books of 2021.
**You can purchase the books on my Amazon storefront here. Thank you all for your support!
Meet You in the Middle by Devon Daniels
Let’s kick things off with my favorite romance of the year. I am a huge fan of political fiction/romance, which I realize is sorta an odd subgenre, but I love when democratic/republican views are embedded in a love story. Meet You in the Middle was exactly that. And let me tell y’all, I first heard this was going to be a book early last year, but the pub date kept getting pushed back. This one was on my radar for the longest, but I was very worried after reading an early Goodreads review that wasn’t very positive. I am very passionate about my political views and I wondered if I would be able to fall in love with a story about two people with VERY different political views, but I thought that aspect of the story was done very well. The actual romance in this one is one of the swooniest I’ve ever read. It’s about two people who worked in Washington D.C. One is a Democratic and one is a Republican. This is the closest thing I’ve read to the magic of The Hating Game. It’s just wonderful.
From Goodreads:
There’s just one thing standing between liberal Senate staffer Kate Adams and passage of the landmark legislation she’s been fighting for all year: Ben Mackenzie, intimidating gatekeeper for one of DC’s most powerful conservative senators. After Kate and Ben lock horns in a meet-not-so-cute, they vow to take each other down–by any means necessary.
She thinks he’s arrogant (and doesn’t deserve those gorgeous green eyes). He thinks she’s too quick to judge (and irresistibly distracting). But as their endless game of one-upmanship becomes Kate’s favorite part of the day, she starts to wonder if her feelings for Ben are closer to attraction than animosity…and maybe their sparring is flirting. And when Kate realizes there’s more to Ben than meets the eye, she’s forced her to confront her biggest fear: In her sworn enemy, she may have found her perfect match.
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
This book had been on my list for the longest time before I finally picked it up in March. I knew I wanted to read it before watching the series on Netflix. I’ve only read one other Kristen Hannah book (The Nightingale) but I knew this one would be wonderful. I wasn’t wrong.
This book is the best book about friendship. It follows two women from their childhood to adulthood. Kristin Hannah knows how to write a story. I was a sobbing mess by the end. I also cried at the Netflix adaption, but for a completely different reason. Ugh, that was the worst, wasn’t it?? It was almost a completely different story. Read the book, but skip the show.
From Goodreads:
In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all—beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable.
So begins Kristin Hannah’s magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.
From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness.
Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn’t know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she’ll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she’ll envy her famous best friend. . . .
For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship—jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.
Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone’s Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it’s the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It’s about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you—and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you’ll never forget . . . one you’ll want to pass on to your best friend
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Another year, another Emily Henry gift. Y’all know how much I loved Beach Read in 2020. I was worried that she couldn’t top the magic that is that story, but she did. People We Meet on Vacation is even better. I didn’t think I was a fan of the best friends to lovers trope, but this book convinced me I was missing out. This is a masterpiece on best friends to lovers. The witty banter is absolutely adorable. Emily Henry can do no wrong. I’ve already read her 2022 release, Book Lovers, and it’s just as amazing. Go ahead and preorder now. At this point, we should just do an automatic yearly renewal of Emily Henry preorders. Queen.
From Goodreads:
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan
The biggest surprise on the list. Some books I know when I first purchase them, they stand a good chance of ending up on the favorites list either because of the author or the storyline, but this one completely shocked me. It was our June selection for #lalalifebookclub, and I honestly just hoped I would be able to not DNF, but I ended up loving this one so so much. It’s the perfect blend of friendship, romance, self discovery, and mystery. I cannot wait to read more from Amy Mason Doan. I loved this one!
From Goodreads:
Laura and Casey were once inseparable: as they floated on their backs in the sunlit lake, as they dreamed about the future under starry skies, and as they teamed up for the wild scavenger hunts in their small California lakeside town. Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.
But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…
Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
Mary Kubica is one of my favorite mystery/thriller authors, but the last few I’ve read by her were good, not great. Her newest, Local Woman Missing, was the closest I’ve read to her book, The Good Girl, which is one of my favorite thrillers of all time. I LOVED this year’s book. It took so many twists and turns. I couldn’t put it down. So good!
From Goodreads:
Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.
Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find….
In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times best-selling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.
Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie
This book. Y’all, this is the only 4 star book that made my favorites list. It stood a chance of being my top favorite of the year but one thing happened at the end that made me deduct a full star. I won’t spoil the book though. Songs in Ursa Major is like a 1970’s version of Taylor Swift’s career. It follows a singer/songwriter who makes it big after filling in for a major star at a small music festival. She and her band then go on tour with the big star and they fall in love. Honestly, this one is so much more than a romance though. But let’s face, y’all know that was my favorite part of it 🙂 Seriously, I never connect music to books, but I thought about so many Taylor Swift songs while I read this one. It was a treat.
From Goodreads:
The year is 1969, and the Bayleen Island Folk Fest is abuzz with one name: Jesse Reid. Tall and soft-spoken, with eyes blue as stone-washed denim, Jesse Reid’s intricate guitar riffs and supple baritone are poised to tip from fame to legend with this one headlining performance. That is, until his motorcycle crashes on the way to the show.
Jane Quinn is a Bayleen Island local whose music flows as naturally as her long blond hair. When she and her bandmates are asked to play in Jesse Reid’s place at the festival, it almost doesn’t seem real. But Jane plants her bare feet on the Main Stage and delivers the performance of a lifetime, stopping Jesse’s disappointed fans in their tracks: A star is born.
Jesse stays on the island to recover from his near-fatal accident and he strikes up a friendship with Jane, coaching her through the production of her first record. As Jane contends with the music industry’s sexism, Jesse becomes her advocate, and what starts as a shared calling soon becomes a passionate love affair. On tour with Jesse, Jane is so captivated by the giant stadiums, the late nights, the wild parties, and the media attention, that she is blind-sided when she stumbles on the dark secret beneath Jesse’s music. With nowhere to turn, Jane must reckon with the shadows of her own past; what follows is the birth of one of most iconic albums of all time.
Shot through with the lyrics, the icons, the lore, the adrenaline of the early 70s music scene, Songs in Ursa Major pulses with romantic longing and asks the question so many female artists must face: What are we willing to sacrifice for our dreams?
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
The hype is real with this one, friends. I didn’t think I would love this one nearly as much as I did. The cover isn’t my favorite and I don’t really love anything in a science setting because goodness that’s my least favorite subject, but this little rom com was an absolute delight. You know how there’s a ton of rom coms out there but only a few that are really good? This is a really good one. Adam is the definition of swoon. So many sweet moments. I loved it so so much!
From Goodreads
As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.
That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding… six-pack abs.
Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
If you’re looking for a great October mystery/thriller, The Broken Girls is perfect. It has a paranormal element to it, but it’s not a huge part of the story so if you aren’t into ghosts, this one is a great book for you! It’s got dual timelines and one is set at a boarding school. I loved all of the characters in this one. It was such a great story that kept you guessing until the end. Highly recommend this one as a fall read.
From Goodreads:
Vermont, 1950. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants–the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming–until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .
Vermont, 2014. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.
When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past–and a voice that won’t be silenced. . . .
The Ravenhood Series by Kate Stewart
Let’s talk about this series. Friends, the Ravenhood series consumed my life for an entire week. When I say I thought about these characters and their world for 7 days, I mean it. I finished this series two weeks ago and I’m still searching for tik toks about it and listening to the spotify playlist that the author created. No other book has made me so obsessed. Yes, not even the After series. If I had to pick one book, I would most definitely pick the 2nd (Exodus) and then the 3rd (The Finish Line). The first book (Flock) is amazing and unputdownable, but once you get into the series and start reading the second book, you will look back to the first and wonder how it’s even in the same family. I mean, you definitely can’t skip it, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the other two. This series contains my favorite book boyfriend ever. It is absolutely all consuming and wonderful.
**A couple of things to note about this series:
-it’s best to go into it blind. It’s contemporary romance, not fantasy. It’s hard to find much else out there in terms of what this series is about and there’s a reason. Just dive in and enjoy!
-it’s definitely 18+. There’s some steamy moments. If that isn’t your thing, I encourage you to still pick it up and read. Just skip over those parts! The romance in this one is so swoony- it isn’t to be missed!
From Goodreads:
Can you keep a secret?
I grew up sick.
Let me clarify.
I grew up believing that real love stories include a martyr or demand great sacrifice to be worthy.
Because of that, I believed it, because I made myself believe it, and I bred the most masochistic of romantic hearts, which resulted in my illness.
When I lived this story, my own twisted fairy tale, it was unbeknownst to me at the time because I was young and naïve. I gave into temptation and fed the beating beast, which grew thirstier with every slash, every strike, every blow.
Triple Falls wasn’t at all what it seemed, nor were the men that swept me under their wing. But in order to keep them, I had to be in on their secrets.
Secrets that cost us everything to keep.
That’s the novelty of fiction versus reality. You can’t re-live your own love story, because by the time you’ve realized you’re living it, it’s over. At least that was the case for me and the men I trusted my foolish heart to.
Looking back, I’m convinced I willed my story into existence due to my illness.
And all were punished.
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
And now my favorite book that I read in 2021 is…In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead. This book is everything I love in a book. It’s part romance, part mystery, part thriller. It’s character driven, but written in an engaging and unputdownable way. It’s got a ton of flashbacks and is told from multiple POVs, but it never became too confusing. It was flawless. Seriously, there isn’t one thing I would change about this book. I loved it. Give me allllllll the books that are set in academia.
From Goodreads:
A college reunion turns dark and deadly in this chilling and propulsive suspense novel about six friends, one unsolved murder, and the dark secrets they’ve been hiding from each other—and themselves—for a decade.
Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see—confident, beautiful, indifferent—not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather’s murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year. Ten years ago, everything fell apart, including the dreams she worked for her whole life—and her relationship with the one person she wasn’t supposed to love.
But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.
And there you have it! My favorite books of the year! I’d love to hear if you’ve read any of these or what your favorite book of the year is! Be sure and follow me on Instagram, Tik Tok, and Goodreads for more book recommendations!
Check out my past yearly favorites!
*Amazon affiliate links are used in this post
A fantastic top 10 list!