She officially joined our crew in late 2019, and this is her second “Best of the Year” list with us (P.S. Here’s her first one: Reader Favorites – Harper’s Top Ten Best Books of 2019 List). I’m looking forward to many more.
And since 2020 was quite a crazy year, I thought it would be fun to get to know Harper via some of her comment highlights over the last year.
Harper’s 2020 comments highlights:
NOTE: She’s from Brasil!!! And also, she wants to be a Police Officer. 😀
In Brasil, things are getting tense too. I spent the last year of my life preparing for this test that will allow me to get a job as a “police officer” (the real position only works with the notary part of the job). There were almost 53 thousand people taking the test that was supposed to be today. The government postponed it indefinitely. I’m bummed about it, but I get it. The schools are having their break anticipated too. I guess now I have more time to read all the books on my wishlist.
Here our public security department is divided into special areas (just like yours), but there are two completely different branches. One is responsible for the investigation of crimes and to produce enough proof of the crime and its author to initiate a lawsuit. The other is responsible for enabling crimes on the street and dealing with the day to day security problems. In the end, they cooperate but have different functions. One is the muscle and the other is the brain.
In the investigation branch, which is the one I’m applying to, you can choose different careers. I have no idea how to translate any of them because I don’t know if they exist there, but basically there are the forensic experts, the chief, the police officer, and the registrar. You have to have specific qualifications to apply for each of them and take a different type of test. I’m applying to become a registrar now. I will be responsible for the hearing of the suspects, witnesses, collecting bail, elaborating the report of the findings and other similar stuff. When needed, I will go to the streets and help other police officers with the investigation and dealing with suspects, but it won’t be my primary job. I hope I did a good enough job explaining.
She and her family had Covid!!
Happy Friday 13th!!! In the spirit of this day, my test for COVID just came back positive! No worries, though, I only have a cough now. We are five here at home and everyone got it and everyone is doing fine. We’re so lucky! …It has been almost a week since the symptoms started, so I think we’re on the tail end of it.
About her love (and not-so-love) of books…
I am guilty of writing bad reviews when I don’t like a book. I write them more for myself than for any other reason. In a few months, when this book crosses my path again and I feel tempted to read it, I want to remember why I shouldn’t ou should. And, the first thing I do when deciding if I want to read a book or not is read the reviews.
If you guys recommended it, I read it. If an author I follow liked it, I read it. Then I go to the one-star reviews and see if what they complained about is something I would too. So they help me a LOT.
I love Carian Cole heros. They make the best book boyfriends.
miscommunication always gets to me…
I hate cheating with a passion. …There are very few books that I still liked even though there was cheating, like Carnage by Lesley Jones and True Love Story by Willow Aster.
Some of my favorites authors are Collen Hoover, Brittainy C Cherry, Helen Hoang, Tracy Garvis Graves, Elizabeth O’Roark, Krista Richie & Becca Richie (Amour Amour), Christina Lauren, Emily Foster (How not to fall), Sally Thorne, Katherine Center, Kate Quinn (The Alice Network), Kristin Hannah (The Nightingale – it will be a movie very soon with Dakota and Elle Fanning).
And now… for her favorites (and I love how she did this!! Her Top 10, and then her other favorites in various genres!!) 😀
TOP TEN FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2020
The Simple Wild was the best book I have read in a very long time. It was amazing. There were some parts that I couldn’t stop laughing and every single part of the book was swoon worthy. I already know that its going to be in my list of best books of 2020. I had unbelievable luck with books this weekend, all thanks to the recommendations made here.
Just finished Wild at heart. I’m completely in love with this series. I can’t imagine how K.A. Tucker could write something better than these two books. It had it all. I laughed a lot, cried and smiled through beginning to end. The character development was off the charts. The secondary characters were so well the developed that they could have their own books. The only fault I could find was that it ended way too soon. I just wanted to spend more time with this story. I guess I will have to read it again…
Harper: I finally followed your recommendation and read Flock and Exodus. I’m shook. What a mess! It felt like a train wreck I couldn’t stop reading haha Every single character was so flawed and so well developed. I’ve never read a story like this one. It will for sure be in my list of best books of the year.
Harper: I finished Beach Read yesterday. I loved it. It will be on my list of best books of the year for sure. Don’t let the cover fool you, it’s not a simple rom-com. It goes deep and is very realistic.
Harper: I finished You deserve each other last night and really enjoyed. For me, it was the right amount of comedy and light-heartedness. It gave me the chance to think about the way we act sometimes and the way it is perceived by other people. I don’t want to give anything away, but I recommend.
Harper: Out of Love by Jewel E. Ann is about Livy, Jackson Knight’s daughter!!!! …Jessica/Jillian was one of the best characters I have ever read and her niece is proving to be just as good.
I just finished it. I loved it so much. I hope she makes it a series because there is so much more story to be told and I still have many questions. I want to discuss it but I can’t give any spoilers ughhhh. Everyone has to read it so we can talk about it hahaha
Harper: Just finished Release by Aly Martinez. Is a very good book, lots of angst, chemistry, a good dose of reality and an amazing love story. I recommend it!
Harper: The Player Next door… I absolutely loved it. It’s one of those books that you read with a smile on your face and where the characters communicate as they should at their age. It reminds me of the Simple Wild. It will be on my list of favorites books of 2020.
Harper: I read Signed by Marni Mann and See Through Heart by Amie Knight. They’re both series. I read just the first one from each series and I really enjoyed them.
Harper: Just finished Dance Away with Me and it was awesome. Is different from everything I read of hers, but I loved it. There were two things that I didn’t like. I felt like the h was bit dismissive of the H’s feelings and bit selfish towards him. And I wish there were a few more chapters at the end. I don’t think it will disappoint you though.
And here are Harper’s favorites by genre:
This was a year of exploring new subgenres for me. With covid and isolation, I read my first paranormal romances, reverse harem and menage, m/m romance, taboo romance, and Bikers (MC) romance.
I’ll include my top favorite of each, but there is a lot more after the incredible recommendations I got from you guys.
Paranormal Romance:
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (not very steamy, but AMAZING all the same).
Harper: The coldest girl in Coldtown by Holly Black. It’s a YA, so there are no steamy scenes, but it was soooooo perfect! The character development is off the charts and the whole story is beautifully written. I loved it so much!!!
For a bit more steamy, Clayton (Wildflower, #1) by Rachelle Mills
Harper: Wildflower (Rachelle Mills) was really well written and the romance was truly believable. There was a lot of chemistry between the couple. The author took her time developing their story, so when it was time for the bonding and claiming part it made sense and truly moved us. You could feel the pain the h felt on the first book and how her character developed into a stronger and more confident woman.
The first book is awesome (made me cry and had a really good romance story).
Harper: I’m moving on from paranormal to reverse harem (one book led to another that led to another that had reverse harem and I liked it). I really enjoyed Groupie by C. M. Stunich.
M/M romance – Try (Temptation, #1) by Ella Frank
Taboo – The Wild (The Wild, #1) by K. Webster
Harper: the ultimate taboo author: K. Webster. Every book I read by her is pretty outrageous, especially because they are novellas. They are far from 5 stars, but they are exactly what I wanted when I was looking for a forbidden romance.
The best for me are The Wild (father/daughter romance) and Hale (brother/sister romance)
Harper: The Fallen Men series. Just finished Welcome to the Dark Side and Zeus is absolutely the best book boyfriend and the age gap is written so perfectly.
Thank you all for the tips you gave me. This year would have sucked without you ❤️
Like Harper’s book style? Check out more of her favorites:
➔➔➔ 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.
➔➔➔ Do you have your “Best of 2020 list” for us? Send it to me here. 😀
Okay, I apparently need to read The Simple Wild. I keep hearing such amazing things about it.
Janie you MUST!!!! You wanted small town & change… well you’ve got it here!! Plus she meets the man of her dreams, but experiencing her first impressions with his super-grumbly moodiness is so much fun!!
I’ll try to pick it up as soon as I’m done with Motorcycle Man!
Have you read From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout yet? I keep hearing amazing things about it as well!
I haven’t but I too, hear it’s incredible. I’m not that much into Fantasy so I’m waiting until I get that urge. 🙂
I know what you mean. I used to love fantasy (I always will), but lately all I want is to read Kristen Ashley and Devney Perry type books. Let’s just say that along with those two, and all the recommendations I got from you guys the other day, my reading list is enormous. But I’m not complaining!!
Great list. I’ve read lots of them but thinking I need to check out Signed… for the cover alone.
I’ve read a few of these. I really liked The Player Next Door! The one that really took me by surprise though was You Deserve Each Other…such a good story! I listened to The Coldest Girl in Coldtown years ago and it’s great in audiobook format (It’s read by Christine Lakin… if anyone watched ‘Step by Step’ they know her – she’s done lots of other stuff too – but she does a great job.) Great list!