2022 was the year I really embraced my love for feel-good books written by women. Chick lit, rom coms, whatever you want to call it.
And while I definitely continued that in 2023, this was also the year that I became a bit of a fantasy girlie. Who knew?! Turns out the part of me that was obsessed with Harry Potter and The Hunger Games has officially be reignited… just with a touch of smut because we’re adults now ;)
#5: True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
I can always count on Christina Lauren for a fun page turner and True Love Experiment did not disappoint. It’s about a documentary filmmaker who needs to create a reality dating show. What starts as an annoying task in order to keep his job turns into much more when he meets a popular romance writer and decides that she is the perfect lead.
It’s quick and a little spicy with a lot of heart… which is actually how I’d describe a lot of their books. My other favorites are Love & Other Words and The Unhoneymooners.
#4: A Court of Mist and Fury + A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Mass
I finally gave in to the ACOTAR craze last year. I resisted for so long but friends finally wore me down. Truthfully, I only read the first 3 books in the series because, while I enjoyed them, I wasn’t as obsessed as a lot of other people.
The first book, A Court of Thorns and Roses, didn’t make this list because it felt a little slow for me. Because it’s a fantasy book, there’s so much world building to understand and it didn’t really pick up and get exciting until the end… and then there’s a big twist in the beginning of the second book that made me frustrated I spent so much time on the first book. This is hard to explain without spoilers!
That being said, A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin both pick up a LOT. By the time you get to these books, you also have a good basic understanding of the world they’re in even as you learn more information, so it’s easier to keep up with the plot and character development. There’s also more conflict and war and romance - these 2 definitely held my attention more and kept me turning the pages!
#3: A Winter In New York by Josie Silver
One Day In December is one of my favorite books, so I was thrilled that Josie Silver had another cozy wintery book to read. A Winter In New York is about young chef who moves to New York to feel closer to her late mother and find herself again after leaving an emotionally abusive relationship. Her new life is simple, working at a noodle restaurant and making batches of her Mom’s perfect vanilla gelato (a recipe she promised she would never share with anyone) - until she stumbles upon a family owned gelateria that she recognizes from one of her mother’s photos.
When curiosity leads her back there, she meets Gio who informs her that his Uncle (the only one who was trusted with the family’s gelato recipe) is recovering from a stroke and can’t remember it. When she tells him she’s a chef, he offers Iris a taste of their last batch and she realizes that it’s the same vanilla gelato she grew up with. But if the recipe is top secret, how did her mother have it?
Honestly, there’s a lot more to this book but I don’t want to give too much away. Iris gets herself into quite a web of lies that frustrated me at times during the book, but I also couldn’t stop reading. I especially loved Gio and his big New York Italian family. What a DELIGHT!
#2: Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
I read Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez last year and thought it was adorable, but I loved Yours Truly even more! It’s about Briana, a doctor who has a lot going on in her personal life. She’s finalizing her divorce while desperately trying to find a kidney donor for her brother, only to have a new male doctor swoop in to compete for the promotion she thought was in the bag.
But instead of letting her hate him, he sends her a letter. And she sends one back… and an unlikely friendship (and maybe romance?!) blooms. I mean… are you surprised that I loved a book with a letter-writing element?! You’ve Got Mail is my favorite rom com, people!
I also just loved both of these characters so much - they were both so kind hearted and endearing, and I loved getting to know them. Overall, this is definitely a feel good book, but it also had a lot of depth to it and it covered some more serious topics like anxiety, chronic illness, cheating, pregnancy loss, and depression.
#1: Fourth Wing (and Iron Flame) by Rebecca Yarros
OF COURSE FOURTH WING HAS MY NUMBER 1 SPOT. How could it not?!
I still can’t get over the chokehold these books have on me. Unlike ACOTAR, I was sucked in immediately. It feels very Harry Potter meets Hunger Games with a little bit of Game of Thrones mixed in. There’s a lot of fun adventure and dragons but there’s also a hefty amount of violence and death. And don’t forget about the smut ;)
I don’t even really want to describe the plot here because I just want you to read it. Please read it! PLEASE!!!
And on that note… if you have read it, would you like to do a little book club chat about it here? I could write a post full of thoughts and theories without worrying about spoilers, and we can talk about what we think is most likely to happen in the next book in the comments? What do you think?
I like your description of “feel-good books written by women” - I have always disliked the phrase “chick lit” as too meaningless - your description is more accurate, I read to feel good!
Oh my gosh Fourth Wing!!! I'm a bit more than half way through Iron Flame right now and can't put it down! I loved ACOTAR though and still need to read Throne of Glass!