28 BOOKS
Through the years, I've used my birthday posts for reflection. Looking back on what's been left behind, and hoping to catch a glimpse of what's ahead, they have often been thought-provoking and sentimental.
In a way, this year's is no different. But it's also a lot more fun 😂 For me, at least. And, it is my birthday, sooooo...
I've rehashed it over and over, but my twenty-seventh year of life was hard. H.A.R.D.
Though sometimes getting older grants me images of diving deeper and deeper into spinsterhood, I could not wait for my Charlotte Lucas year to be over. Done. Finished.
By far, my hardest struggles were contained in this set of 365 days that seemed to stretch into eternity. However, there were of course, high points in the year as well. And one of the highest of those peaks was books.
Books were a literal lifeline to me. I'm so grateful for this gift that my Heavenly Father gave me, because I don't know that I would have been able to weather the storms without it. These stories were the thing that got me up in the morning, a blessed distraction, a friend, a relief, a confidant, and an inspiration. Name a support, and books were it for me.
I owe a lot to these authors and the worlds they've created, and I plan to do my best to repay them throughout the shout outs that follow. It is the least I can do.
As always, this list is not ordered via preference. We do not pick favorites here on Negative (N)ellie. Rather, I've opted to relay things chronologically. A significant choice, because I truly believe each selection came when I needed it most.
Also, many of these are series, because, who doesn't want the opportunity to become even more attached to fictional characters. I have listed the number of books in each series next to the title 😁
(Just as a side note, all of the romances listed below fall under the categories of: Clean, Closed-door, Young Adult. All the toe-curling without going farther than I like to go in my reading endeavors. The perfect balance!)
Get ready, because St. Clair is going to appear on this list a lot.
Right around my birthday last year is when everything fell apart. I was completely and utterly lost in world I no longer recognized. I felt betrayed and abandoned, and I didn't know how to regain what I'd left behind.
And I wouldn't, for a while. But this series allowed me to step out of the chaos for a while. To find a little piece of joy again, and actually look forward to something when I realized the third book still had months before release. (So worth the wait. Chevy and Val are AMAZING)
This fictional town is a place I want to live, and I am so grateful for two more books.
I warned you! St Clair is one of those authors that you just have to binge. I might have read the two, connected series a little out of order, but thouroughly enjoyed going back and diving into the backstories of some of the characters mentioned in the Sheet Cake series.
I mentioned in my post THE BEST SO FAR PART II, DELAYED that these books were instrumental to me in the latter half of 2022, and as we all know, that was not an exaggeration. The women of this series became some of my best friends, consoling me, but also inspiring me to be myself. After just trying to change myself to please someone else (and failing), I needed the reminder that the right person will love ME, not a mask I presented to them.
This is the last time she appears, I promise. I think 😂
Royals in today's world? Princes and Dukes and balls and accents? Sign me up! I love St. Clair's Royal series, and am anxious to see what she does with Callum, as I actually started to like him in the second book. However, I don't know if he will ever be able to upend Rafe. He is at Edward Cullen level, guys.
Any small town in Texas theme is immediately going to steal my heart. I loved the mystery element to the Nice Guy Next Door, the tight-knit, somewhat stifling community in all three, and especially the love for the grump that is Colby in The Grump I Despies. Us grumps need love, too!
Zaragoza also has another book, Never Graham Spencer, that I throughly enjoyed. This one has a much more prevelant Christian theme, something I truly appreciate, as those can be much harder to find.
Apple Valley is as picturesque as it sounds, and although I'm partial to the South, I could see myself settling there. Especially with that library!
The men in these books are all swoony, but one of my favorite characters from this series is Emmy from My Own Best Enemy, as I stated in my GET TO KNOW ME: LITERARY EDITION post. Emmy is me and I am Emmy, and it is nice to see us perfectionists getting out of that mindset and gaining a happy ending. It gives a girl hope!
Get ready, Keisel is a double header, too!
I will forever be grateful for the inspiration that Keisel presented me. Though all of these incredible authors gifted me the mindset and the vision to create my own rom com series, Keisel's approach was possibly the most influential. She creates characters that seem real.
Plus, the cool confidence all of her male leads posses brings an amused but irritated smirk to my face every single time. (Looking at you, Tyler Dixon).
I grew up on dystopian YA. The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, The Uglies, these are the universes that feel like home. I loved this genre, and was so sad to see that it had seemed to be left in the past with my high school dreams of becoming a nurse 😂
Keisel brought me right back into that world and headspace, and I was so grateful for it! I missed it! If you are from my era, you need these books!
The only non-romance book series on the list, (I promise I do read more than that 😂) Stroud was a nice change of pace and a breath of fresh air. An icy, chilling, convuluted breath of fresh air that had me abandoning chores and phone calls with friends to see just what happened next!
These books have a very Percy Jackson and the Olympians vibe to me, mixing sarcasm with adventure in the perfect way! Mystery and suspense and anger, and "Oh, they better not die!". You know, all of the elements that make up the perfect book.
Don't do the math, it's over twenty-eight book. Oops. But trust me when I say I left sooooo mannnny out. The honorable mentions could go on for days people. Days.
If you'd like that detailed list, please let me know 😉
These books. I can never say enough about these books. They literally carried me to my twenty-eight birthday. They brought bright points to the Charlotte Lucas season that sometimes seemed completely covered in shadow. They are near and dear to me, and I hope if you slide yourself between the pages of one, they will offer the same love they offered me. I know they will.
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