My Top 10 Books of 2022
This has been a fantastic year of reading. I’ve read many books in various genres with some surprising picks in genres I don’t usually read in. My usual genres that I go to are urban fantasy, shifters, paranormal romance, steamy romance, dark fantasy, or romance. While many of these are in those categories, some are not. Check out my best reads of the year though spanning these genres and more.
Starting with book number 10, this is from an author I’ve chatted with on my Book Chat channel on YouTube, Jewels of Smoky Quarts by Anat Eliraz. Her story features a young woman with a traumatic history. Her unique abilities that help her in the world she finds herself in are her fighting skills. It made a difference in life or death for her many times. The character’s name is not revealed until later in the book but it’s a portal fantasy with a mix of romance. The character discovers a tie to the world she finds herself in that is shocking. I enjoyed reading this story and felt is sweep me away from the start.
What it does well is pull readers in immediately with an opening scene in the emergency room. The character is a nurse there and was unable to save a life that sends her into a destructive spiral. I wasn’t sure why it bothered her so much since many deaths happen in the ER but a scene later in the story revealed why it did. This story was a heart wrencher and had my emotions all over the place at times.
Synopsis:
A world ruled by force and magic. A game which could have a fatal ending.
She is just an ordinary woman - an emergency room nurse who practices martial arts in her free time.
Teleported into a harsh, strange world and sold into slavery to the fighters' ring of Tur'an, she must use her wit and skills to survive.
On the brink of death, she wakes up in a strange room - only to meet one of her captors. Now, he acts as her protector.
Together they leave the city, but their journey will confront them with their own fears and deepest secrets.
And through it all, she finds solace in an old tune. Not knowing yet how it will impact her life - and the lives of everyone else.
Book number 9 on this list is A Machine of Blood: The Full Life of a Robot 2, by Jay Tea Moriarty. This book is the continuation of a book I read last year by this author. In this one it follows the robot modeled after a female named W-IX. She’s mentioned in book 1 in several scenes and came across as a bitch but in this book, I discovered there was more to her character. She’s got a lot going on.
She also feels more emotions like humans than the first robot but doesn’t always care. I loved seeing her caring side come out though and her vulnerability come out at times. It made her seem more human despite being made of metal. This also seemed to spark her desire to create something of her own. She was determined to create her own machine, but wow does it get a bit dark at times. There were some similarities in this story to that of Frankenstein. Very fascinating.
Synopsis:
The full life of a robot continues, but the firey red-shelled W-ix has taken the wheel!
Jealous after finding out our robot hero had written a journal, W-ix has taken it upon herself to set the record straight, adding much that is missing to the first Full Life novella, as well as supplying a welcome injection of user-friendly reading.
Our story begins when W-ix first wakes up, becoming operational and refusing to turn back off. Full of gusto and naivety she presses forth and learns a great deal in a short time. Then she recounts her entire time meeting, befriend, and helping our robot friend from the first book, shedding more light on the situation. Finally, she concludes with the events of today, the fallout from the final chapters of The Full Life of a Robot 1, and where they're all heading off to next.
It's a safe bet that Ouilt will have his own journal out soon enough.
Jump in and continue the quest for our robot heroes family! Where the hell did they go, and who kidnapped them?
Next is book number 8, Dino Rift from the Dino Rift series by Derek Borne. This book I listened to via audio, and it was narrated by Isabella Tugman. This is officially my all-time favorite audio book. The story is full of action and adventure with a slow romance developing between two best friends. It’s the end of their senior year but Kamren and Vivienne are not ready for what comes next. They are caught sneaking into a museum with the help of new friend and are thrown into a strange portal. When they land on the ground, they realize they’ve gone back in time to a world filled with dinosaurs.
Their adventure challenged their friendship in many ways, and they faced a few near-death experiences. I loved the author’s take on the dinosaurs in his story and cringed at the giant bugs. Holy cow were they creepy. With the excellent way the narrator portrayed this story with the fun sounds, this is one of those stories I know I will listen to repeatedly.
Synopsis:
The Rift.
A gateway to a prehistoric world.
For years, SauraCorps has kept its existence confidential while touting themselves as a run-of-the-mill dinosaur museum.
For two Utah teens, Kamren and Vivienne, a care-free night to themselves quickly turns into a daunting trek through an exotic, unfamiliar time.
Not only do they stumble upon SauraCorps’ nefarious agenda, they also encounter major discrepancies concerning the past that would rewrite history books as we know them.
Kam and Viv’s reliance on each other through the primeval environment also tests their friendship in unexpected ways.
Will they survive and make it home…together?
Number 7 on the list is The Paige Papillon Paranormal Mysteries Series books 1-3 by Lily Luchesi. This group of books follows Paige as she’s thrust into the world of the paranormal. What she thought was only from stories becomes real as she’s pulled into a case regarding strange deaths. The culprit attempts to frame another and it’s up to Paige to get to the bottom of it. As she solves one case, she’s catapulted into many more. She has become the new go to for the magical society.
I loved how exciting and creative these stories were. I found it easy to relate to Paige with the way she handled getting overwhelmed. I also loved the various beings the author brings into this world. They weren’t all typical creatures. Check this series out to see them all.
Book 1 Daunting Darkness: A Supernatural Cozy Mystery (Paige Papillon Paranormal Mysteries Book 1)
Synopsis:
Following your dreams can become a nightmare.
Paige Papillon has always loved mysteries. So much so, she enlists in the Police Academy to one day become a detective.
But when she washes out of training, her Sergeant inspires her to go another route: become a private investigator.