Best of the Year 2023

Since The Hope Chest Reviews is not dedicated to the latest book releases, the majority of the books on this list were not published in 2023. Instead the list is compiled from the books that were read and reviewed during the 2023 calendar year. If you would like to view our picks from past years, please visit the archive. 

Author of the Year - Winner

Nalini Singh (5 - 5 star reads in a row)

Author of the Year - Runner-Up

Larissa Ione (3 - 4 ½ star reads this year)

Best Overall Romance

Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath (5 stars)

Best Alternate Reality Romances

Veil of Midnight by Lara Adrian (5 stars)

Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh (5 stars)

Lady of Light and Shadows by C. L. Wilson (5 stars)

Last Dragon Standing by G. A. Aiken (4 ½ stars)

Her Guardian Angel by Larissa Ione (4 ½ stars)

Darius by J. R. Ward* (4 ½ stars)

Lassiter by J. R. Ward* (4 ½ stars)

Best Contemporary Romances

Hoping for Love by Marie Force (5 stars)

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev (4 ½ stars)

Best Erotic Romance

Lean on Me by Cherise Sinclair (5 stars)

Best Historical Romances (American)

Annie's Song by Catherine Anderson (5 stars)

Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath (5 stars)

Best Historical Romance (Britain & Other Countries)

The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley (5 stars)

Best LGBTQ Romance

Saving Liam by D. P. Denman (4 ½ stars)

Best Romantic Suspense

The Defiant Hero by Suzanne Brockmann (5 stars)

Best New Adult Romances

Until Fountain Bridge by Samantha Young (5 stars)

Saving Liam by D. P. Denman (4 ½ stars)

Best Romance Novellas

Until Fountain Bridge by Samantha Young (5 stars)

Hawkyn by Larissa Ione (4 ½ stars)

Z by Larissa Ione (4 ½ stars)

His For The Weekend by Marie Tuhart (4 ½ stars) 

Best Romance Novelettes & Short Stories

Grocery Shopping by Nalini Singh (5 stars)

Naya's Most Important Visitors by Nalini Singh (5 stars)

Stalking Hawke by Nalini Singh (5 stars)

Wild Night by Nalini Singh (5 stars)

Take It Off by L. A. Witt, Aleksandr Voinov (5 stars)

Best Children's Fiction Picture Books

Sound Switch Wonder by Christine J. Ko, Owen Whang, Katie Crumpton* (5 stars)

The Mitten by Jan Brett (4 ½ stars)

Best Children's Non-Fiction Picture Book

Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea by Chris Butterworth, John Lawrence (5 stars)

Best Children's Middle-Grade Fiction

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (5 stars)

Santa Paws, Come Home by Nicholas Edwards (5 stars)

Best Children's Middle-Grade Non-Fiction

Medieval World by Jane Bingham (5 stars) 

Navajo Long Walk: Tragic Story of A Proud People's Forced March from Their Homeland by Joseph Bruchac, Shonto Begay (4 ½ stars)

Best Contemporary Fiction

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (5 stars)

Best Fantasy Fiction

Cold Days by Jim Butcher (5 stars)

Best Historical Fiction Novella

A Fugitive Green by Diana Gabaldon (4 ½ stars)

Best Science Fantasy

Tinker by Wen Spencer (4 ½ stars)

Best Time Travel Fiction

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (5 stars)

Best Biographies/Memoirs

The World According to Bob: The Further Adventures of One Man and His Streetwise Cat by James Bowen (5 stars)

Best Non-Fiction Books

Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church by Nijay K. Gupta* (5 stars)

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible by A. J. Jacobs (5 stars)

Best Christmas Stories

Santa Paws, Come Home by Nicholas Edwards (5 stars)

Most Surprising Winner

The Defiant Hero by Suzanne Brockmann (5 stars)

Funniest Read

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible by A.J. Jacobs (5 stars)

Biggest Tearjerker

Darius by J. R. Ward* (4 ½ stars)

Sweetest Romance

The best romance I read this year that has milder content.

Wild Night by Nalini Singh (5 stars) 

Steamiest Romances

For me, the steamiest romance doesn't necessarily have the most erotic content (although this time they do). Instead it's the book(s) that best combine hot, sexy scenes with a deep emotional connection that really make the pages sizzle.

Lean on Me by Cherise Sinclair (5 stars)

Take It Off by L. A. Witt, Aleksandr Voinov (5 stars)

Most Impressive Debuts

Only one of these was a 2023 release, but both were the debut books for these authors and quite impressive for a first effort.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (5 stars)

Sound Switch Wonder by Christine J. Ko, Owen Whang, Katie Crumpton* (5 stars)

Best Overall Hero

Clayton Holland (Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath)

Best Overall Heroine

Annie Trimble (Annie's Song by Catherine Anderson)

Most Tortured Hero

Liam Newman (Saving Liam by D. P. Denman)

Most Tortured Heroines

Annie Trimble (Annie's Song by Catherine Anderson)

Rahvyn (Lassiter by J. R. Ward*)

Hottest Hero

Cullen O'Keefe aka Master Cullen (Lean on Me by Cherise Sinclair)

Most Perfect Couple

Clayton Holland & Meg Warner (Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath)

Most Evil Villains

Devina & Lash (Lassiter by J. R. Ward*)

High Mage of Eld (Lady of Light and Shadows by C. L. Wilson)

Dragos (Veil of Midnight by Lara Adrian)

Cord (Saving Liam by D. P. Denman)

Draygar (Hawkyn by Larissa Ione)

Most Memorable Supporting Characters

Sam Starrett & Alyssa Locke (The Defiant Hero by Suzanne Brockmann)

Walker Lauren & Lara Kingston (Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh)

Kev Merripen & Winnifred Hathaway (Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas)

Cipher (Her Guardian Angel by Larissa Ione)

Hassan (The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini)

Most Memorable Child Characters

Josh and Joe Holland (Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath)

Amy Moore (The Defiant Hero by Suzanne Brockmann)

Roman and Julian Ryder (Naya's Most Important Visitors by Nalini Singh)

Ben (Stalking Hawke by Nalini Singh)

Mira (Veil of Midnight by Lara Adrian)

Abigail and Jamie (To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt)

Sohrab (The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini)

Most Memorable Animal Characters

Bob (The World According to Bob: The Further Adventures of One Man and His Streetwise Cat by James Bowen)

Ivan, Ruby & Bob (The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate)

Ranger, Sabine & Puck (The Underneath by Kathi Appelt)

Santa Paws (Santa Paws, Come Home by Nicholas Edwards)

Most Unique/Unusual Romance Leads

Characters with occupations or circumstances you don't often see in romance.

Christian Langland (Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale) - a duke who's been committed to an insane asylum

Maddy Timms (Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale) - Quaker nurse

Cam Rohan (Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas) - manager of a gambling club

Liam Newman (Saving Liam by D. P. Denman) - porn star

Tavish McKenzie (A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole) - modern-day sword maker

Samir Rathod (A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev) - Bollywood screenwriter

Most Unique/Unusual Romance Plots

Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale

Best Opening Lines

"There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road." - The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

"I lost an arm on my last trip home." - Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

"Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, has unique ideas regarding physical therapy." - Cold Days by Jim Butcher

Best Overall Quotes

"There's a beauty to forgiveness, especially forgiveness that goes beyond rationality. Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great & powerful one" - The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

"My reading list grows exponentially. Every time I read a book, it'll mention three other books I feel I have to read. It's like a particularly relentless series of pop-up ads." - The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

"I was made for the library, not the classroom. The classroom was a jail of other people's interests. The library was open, unending, free." - Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

"I don't believe in hate. To me it wastes too much time. People who hate waste so much of their life hating that they miss out on all the other stuff out here." - A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

Funniest Quotes

"Romance

Make eye contact.

Show your form.

Strut.

Grunt.

Throw a stick.

Grunt some more.

Make some moves.

Romance is hard work.

It looks easy on TV.

I'm not sure I will ever get the hang of it." - Ivan (The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate)

"Nice to meet ya, human. I'm Wraith." The demon grinned, flashing vicious-looking fangs. "And I'll be your guide to the nightmares that live in your brain." - Wraith (Her Guardian Angel by Larissa Ione)

"Excuse me?"

The librarian looked up again.

"I need help now. I need to print this article and . . . do you have any books about dukes?"

The librarian's eyes went wide and she rubbed her hands together with glee. "We have a fantastic romance section," she said. "Do you need recommendations? How do you like your dukes? Grumpy? Tortured? Alpha, beta, or alpha in the streets, beta in the sheets?"

"Actually, I meant nonfiction," Portia said glumly.

The librarian sighed. "Aye. Just a warning, love--the non-fic dukes are not nearly as fun." - Portia & the Librarian (A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole)

Most Emotional Quotes

"For you, a thousand times over" - Hassan (The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini)

"Let me share with you the most important sentences: When I first met her, I did not know she would be my one true love. When I fell in love with her, I did not know she would bear me a daughter on her deathbed. When I died, more than twenty years later, it would be while trying to save the life of our young. On a rainy night. When the tears I could no longer shed fell from a disinterested Caldwell sky. Those are the real details of me." - Darius (Darius by J.R. Ward*)

"He clamped a large hand down on mine as I moved to lift the diaries. I glanced up at him and he shook his head with a small smile. ‘It's painful to read how my stupidity hurt you at the time, but I like being inside you head. I like knowing that while I was struggling with the fact that I had fallen in love with my best friend's little sister, she loved me back more than I could ever hope to deserve.'" - Adam (Until Fountain Bridge by Samantha Young)

Most Romantic Quotes

"You're in my every breath and every thought, intertwined so deep inside me that love's not a strong enough word-you have my devotion, your name branded on my soul, my wolf yours to command. A hundred years? It'll never be enough. I want eternity." - Hawke (Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh)

"Rohan's fingertips drifted with stunning delicacy over her throat, behind her ear, pushing into the satiny warmth of her hair. "You are an interesting woman Amelia."

Gooseflesh rose wherever his breath touched. "I can't f-fathom why you would think so."

His playful mouth traced the wing of her brow. "I find you thoroughly, deeply interesting. I want to open you like a book and read every page." A smile curved the corners of his lips as he added huskily, "Footnotes included." - Cam & Amelia (Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas)

"I want every piece of you. Even the stuff I missed without even knowing I was missing it." - Adam (Until Fountain Bridge by Samantha Young)

Sexiest Quotes

"I like everything you do to me."

"In that case"-- he flipped her onto her back again, spread her thighs-- "I think we should explore the concept of oral sex." Her brain hazed over. And stayed hazed." - Walker & Lara (Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh)

"I don't want to be friends with you, Ainsley Douglas. I want to be your lover. I want to bury myself inside you, I want to find out whether you taste as good all the way down, I want to feel you squeezing me, and I want to hear your cries as you take me inside you." - Cameron (The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley)

"She glanced down and gasped, and her arms slapped into place to cover all her most interesting bits. He grinned. The robe and gown were sheer and he had not spun undergarments.

She scowled. "This is not what I would call being 'very, very good.'"

"That is a matter of perspective, shei'tani. From where I'm standing, it looks very, very good indeed." - Rain & Ellysetta (Lady of Light and Shadows by C.L. Wilson) 

Prettiest Covers

Sexiest Covers

Most Interesting/Unusual Covers

*This book was published in 2023. 

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