Reader Favorites – Amy’s Top 13 Reads for 2015

Our resident goof-ball, make-up advisor, and angsty-pain loving fellow reader, Amy ALSO has a list of 2015 favorites, to help us with our countdown to 2016!! Amy is one of my frequent buddy-readers, ’cause we love the same kind of books, with the same kind of tear-your-heart-out twists and we’ve been known to enjoy a shocking ending, or two. 😉 Tee hee!!

That said, I’m not the best buddy-reader due to my squirreling… poor Amy. She’s thrown a few peanuts at my head, ’cause of that. LOL! Sorry Amy! One of my New Year’s resolutions is to be a better buddy-reader to you.

Also make sure to check out her favorite books of all time: Amy’s Top Favorite Books List

Ready for her list? She says:

“I wish I could list ALL of the books I loved this past year, but these are my five-star reads from 2015…”

1.) Tight by Alessandra Torre <— “Oh for the love of manatees and panty-melting sexy time…I freaking loved it!!!!!!!!  I was right in what I thought was going on at about the halfway mark, even though I was so hoping I was wrong. Then, when it was confirmed, it was one gut punch after another. And another. Bam, bam, BAM!! And then a heartbreaking final whollop. I loved Brett. I loved Riley (not often that I actually love the h as much as the H). I loved this book.”

2.) Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan <— “You have to read Archer’s Voice!!! Have to!! I was one of the people holding out on it (no idea why), and when I finally read it I LOVED IT!!!! So emotional but sweet and I fell in love with Archer. *dreamy sigh* I wish I could read it again for the first time!”

3.) The Deal (Off-Campus Book 1) by Elle Kennedy <— “I loved it. Loved, loved, LOVED it!! …Garrett and “Wellsy” (so cute!).”

4.) On the Island: A Novel by Tracey Garvis-Graves <— “*sigh* Be still my heart. I loved it so freaking much.  And now let the I-told-ya-so’s commence ’cause I deserve every one of them! ”

5.) Collide: Book One in the Collide Series by Gail McHugh <— “I loved Collide and Pulse…they were just what I needed with drama, some angst and sexy times!! Gavin… *sigh* Such a sweetheart.”

6.) Jezebel by K. Larsen <— “Jezebel is nothing to be afraid of! It’s just a great story-within-a-story with a perfect WTF ending… I went from “yeah, I know what’s going on” to “okay, that was pretty predictable” to “wait…oh sh!t, that’s messed up!” to “WTF!!!!!!” And I really liked how the POV’s in the novella were presented as well…oh man, the emotion in that one which didn’t have the chance to be explored in Jezebel. I love reliving books like this through you guys!!! “

7.) Me Before You: A Novel by Jojo Moyes <— “Me Before You. Oh, my heart. *sniffle* I loved it. MBY was everything that it was built up to be. It was so achingly but beautifully bittersweet. *sob* Where is everyone when I need a snuggle??? *snuffles on stuffed manatee* Oh yeah, that’s right…it’s past 1:00 in the morning here and everyone is sleeping like I should be doing right now. Tessa said it’s on sale…if you don’t have it already, grab it NOW. *sniffle-snort*  Aw man…I can’t breathe through my nose…”

8.) The Paper Swan by Leylah Attar <— “loved it. LOVED it. It ended on a different tone from where it started, but for me it worked. I know I keep going on about her writing but something about it just makes it so easy to slip into the story, no adjusting or adapting to it necessary. Kind of like slipping into a warm bubble bath with a glass of wine. Weird analogy? Whatever…it’s the best I’ve got. ”

Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney <— “Wow. WOW. Three interlinking stories from three different decades running at the same time, but it absolutely works. Already knowing what’s coming in two of the stories and that there is *nothing* that can be changed in them was pretty tough at times, but the third story offsets all of it with some actual hope. *sigh* THIS, my friends, was a great hidden gem. ”

Lily of the Springs by Carole Bellacera <— “Oh ladies, Lily of the Springs…I loved it. It was SO different in so many ways for me. Had it been set in current times, I would have quit reading it and been furious with Lily for being weak and a doormat. But it starts out in the 1950′s in Kentucky, and the values and expectations and prospects for women were just so different in that time, so I had a different frame of mind while reading it which kept me from wanting to shake her. I have a much greater appreciation for that generation of women after this. And the ending was bittersweet but sooooo satisfying.”

“And my absolute favorite of the year, without a single doubt, is ******BADGER BY C.M. MCKENNA!!!!!!******”

“Two that I read which I didn’t five-star (for whatever reason that I cannot remember now) but probably SHOULD be five stars for the simple fact that they still make my heart clench and my eyes teary when I think of them are the Until the End of the World series by Sarah Lyons Fleming and Broken by Erica Stevens. UTEOTW because…well, those of my friends here who have read the books know why. 😉 And Broken because holy mother-effin’ moly that book BROKE me. That woman made my heart shatter for the one character I hated the most in the previous books. *fans eyes* Not gonna cry…not gonna cry…”

➔➔➔  Looking for more of our favorite recommendations? Browse our “Ultimate Favorites Lists” here. Are you in the mood for a certain kind of story? Browse our favorite “genre/trope categories” here and our reader favorites lists too.