This end-of-the-year-list business is fascinating because first, it forces me to choose and my friends know how often I do my best to avoid being in a situation where I have to make a choice. My philosophy often is why choose when you can have both. Stepping out of my comfort zone in a safe environment can’t be a bad thing though, so here we go. Another interesting fact is that the books that made an impression aren’t always the ones I thought would when I read and reviewed them. And on a third level, on years like this one, even though it was a pretty good year for me as far as reading is concerned, with a lot of stories I enjoyed very much, some books stand out clearly. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that A Whisper of Solace by Milena McKay tops that list (or would top it had I not chosen to list books in chronological order). Purposefully Accidental by G Benson, Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake and No Strings by Lucy Bexley are probably the other books I recommended most often in 2022. Last Chance Chicago by Diana DiGangi joined them in the last stretch of the year, a total and welcome surprise, whereas I’d been looking forward to Honey in the Marrow by Emily Waters since I found out the fanfic was becoming a novel, which I adored just as much.

Here are the books that shined most brightly for me in 2022, in chronological order. Click on the titles to read my reviews:

#1 No Strings by Lucy Bexley

#2 Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

#3 Hell Bent by Calista Lynne

#4 Blood Thinners (Love Me Dead #1) by Heather Novak

#5 A Whisper Of Solace (A Tainted Tinseltown Book) by Milena McKay

#6 Delafield (Kate Delafield #10) by Katherine V. Forrest

#7 If I Don’t Ask (Ask, Tell #4) by E.J. Noyes

#8 Queen (Hidden Earth #1) by J.S. Fields

#9 The Heartbeat of a Million Dreams by Halo Scot

#10 Purposefully Accidental by G. Benson

#11 Honey in the Marrow by Emily Waters

#12 She’ll Steal Your Heart (Midnight in Manhattan #4) by Rachel Lacey

#13 Honeymoon for One by Rachel Bowdler

#14 Last Chance Chicago by Diana DiGangi

I also have to mention Girl Island by Kate Castle, which was released in 2021 but which I read early this year. And no list would be complete without Truth and Measure (Carlisle #1) & Above All Things (Carlisle #2) – two books that have to be read together and would have made more sense as one – when we, as lovers of sapphic fiction, owe their author, Roslyn Sinclair, so much.

I’m very much looking forward to 2023. A few of my autobuy authors have already announced new releases in coming months (some can be preordered – Stars Collide by Rachel Lacey, These Thin Lines by Milena Mckay –, others, such as Clare Ashton’s, not yet) and I also hope we’ll have the opportunity to discover new debut novels as enchanting as the ones 2022 graced us with.

Also, watch this space for my favourite audiobooks of the year!