I’ve frequently complained that I have too many books and not enough time to read them. When the global pandemic struck and we went into lockdown due to COVID-19, I found myself with more free time than ever. Ironically, I couldn’t concentrate long enough to read a book to save my life. I read far fewer books than normal and only gave a handful of five stars to those published in 2020. Therefore, my Favorite Books of 2020 list also includes books that I read in 2020 but were published in a previous year. There are a couple of series as well.
Fortuity by Jewel E. Ann
Fortuity is a bewitching romance that is quite simply a joy to read from beginning to end. I’m increasingly thankful for books like this one that prove passion doesn’t die in your 30s. The characters are funny, sexy, and relatable. It’s a touching and exceptionally rewarding story.
Forty-something Gracelyn Glock is living the dream.
No husband.
No retirement plan.
And since her self-imposed man-ban—no need to shave above her knees.After a tragic accident, Gracelyn inherits her ten-year-old nephew. She signs a lease on a San Diego beach house and learns their neighbors for the summer are a sexy anatomy professor and his young daughter.
Professor Nathaniel Hunt has spent the last decade being a single dad … and not having sex.
So when he discovers Gracelyn has a peculiar outdoor stripping ritual, a million inappropriate thoughts fill his responsible mind.
When kisses are stolen, man-bans are broken, and summer comes to an end, will hearts stay in one piece and hope stay alive? Or will saying goodbye destroy everything?
A standalone contemporary romance.
The Simple Wild (The Simple Wild #1) by K.A. Tucker
I needed a story to jumpstart my joy in reading, and this funny and emotional book did the trick. I swear the planets aligned and angels sang. The Simple Wild ends on a satisfying note and I was content to imagine what comes next. However, I was surprised and delighted to find out there is a follow-up book, Wild at Heart.
City girl Calla Fletcher attempts to reconnect with her estranged father, and unwittingly finds herself torn between her desire to return to the bustle of Toronto and a budding relationship with a rugged Alaskan pilot in this masterful new romance from acclaimed author K.A. Tucker.
Calla Fletcher was two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when her father reaches out to inform her that his days are numbered, Calla knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.
She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this new subarctic environment, Jonah—the quiet, brooding, and proud Alaskan pilot who keeps her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.
Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. As time passes, she unexpectedly finds herself forming a bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago.
It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.
Wild at Heart (The Simple Wild #2) by K.A. Tucker
I loved Wild at Heart to pieces. This follow-up to The Simple Wild is everything I hoped it would be. Filled with humor and heartwarming emotion, I finished the book with a happy sigh and a full heart.
From the internationally best-selling author of The Simple Wild comes the continuation of a woman’s journey to Alaska and a life she never imagined for herself.
Calla Fletcher returns to Toronto a different person, struggling to find direction and still very much in love with the rugged bush pilot she left behind. When Jonah arrives on her doorstep with a proposition she can’t dismiss, she takes the leap and rushes back to Alaska to begin their exciting future together.
But Calla soon learns that even the best intentions can lead to broken promises, and that compromise comes with a hefty price—a log cabin in interior rural Alaska that feels as isolating as the western tundra.
With Jonah gone more than he’s home, one neighbor who insists on transforming her into a true Alaskan, and another who seems more likely to shoot her than come to her aid, Calla grapples with forging her own path. In a world with roaming wildlife that has her constantly watching over her shoulder and harsh conditions that stretch far beyond the cold, dark, winter months, just stepping outside her front door can be daunting.
This is not the future Calla had in mind, leaving her to fear that perhaps she is doomed to follow in her mother’s fleeing footsteps after all.
Forever Wild (The Simple Wild #2.5) by K.A. Tucker
The series is complete without this novella, but Forever Wild is a delightful cherry on top and the perfect way to end Jonah and Calla’s love story.
From the international bestselling author of The Simple Wild comes Forever Wild, a novella that continues the story of Calla’s journey to the Alaskan wild and a life she never imagined for herself.
The holiday season is upon Calla and Jonah, and with the mistletoe and gingerbread comes plenty of family drama. Jonah is bracing himself for two weeks with a stepfather he loathes, and while Calla is looking forward to her mother and Simon’s arrival, she dreads the continued pressure to set a date for their wedding … in Toronto. Add in one bullheaded neighbor’s unintentional meddling and another cantankerous neighbor’s own family strife, and Christmas in Trapper’s Crossing will be anything but simple.
Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan
Queen Move is quintessential Kennedy Ryan—a second chance romance that seamlessly combines important social issues with a scorching love story and an emotional plot.
The boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have…
Dig a little and you’ll find photos of me in the bathtub with Ezra Stern.Get your mind out of the gutter. We were six months old. Pry and one of us might confess we saved our first kiss for each other. The most clumsy, wet, sloppy . . . spectacular thirty seconds of my adolescence. Get into our business and you’ll see two families, closer than blood, torn apart in an instant.
Twenty years later, my “awkward duckling” best friend from childhood, the boy no one noticed, is a man no one can ignore.
Finer. Fiercer. Smarter.
Taken.Tell me it’s wrong. Tell me the boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have. When we find each other again, everything stands in our way–secrets, lies, promises.
But we didn’t come this far to give up now. And I know just the move to make if I want to make him mine.
The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
Can you say rom com heaven? If you think you’re just getting a fluffy romantic comedy though, think again. The book’s emphasis on self-discovery and recovering from grief really touched me. The Happy Ever After Playlist is funny and emotional and delivers exactly what the title promises.
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Friend Zone comes a fresh romantic comedy full of “fierce humor and fiercer heart” about one trouble-making dog who brings together two perfect strangers. (Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue)
Two years after losing her fiancé, Sloan Monroe still can’t seem to get her life back on track. But one trouble-making pup with a “take me home” look in his eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, Sloan finally starts to feel more like herself. Then, after weeks of unanswered texts, Tucker’s owner reaches out. He’s a musician on tour in Australia. And bottom line: He wants Tucker back.
Well, Sloan’s not about to give up her dog without a fight. But what if this Jason guy really loves Tucker? As their flirty texts turn into long calls, Sloan can’t deny a connection. Jason is hot and nice and funny. There’s no telling what could happen when they meet in person. The question is: With his music career on the rise, how long will Jason really stick around? And is it possible for Sloan to survive another heartbreak?
The Life that Mattered (Life Duet #1) by Jewel E. Ann
The Life That Mattered knocked my socks off. With painstaking execution, this entirely unique, consuming, passionate, and thought-provoking romantic suspense puts Jewel E. Ann’s literary sorcery on full display.
Sex isn’t love. Love isn’t sex. And friendship is neither.
The son of a French Olympic skier and a Malaysian fashion designer, Ronin Alexander has lived the life of a nomad, traveling the world to find his next adventure.
Life takes a dramatic turn when he meets Evelyn, a beautiful scientist who owns a bath shop in Aspen, Colorado. They defy all the rules of relationships, falling hard and quickly in love.
Their world intertwines with Evelyn’s two best friends, the Governor and his soon-to-be wife. The four become close—very close.
When tragedy strikes, things from their pasts are unveiled—unimaginable truths and the grim realization that life will never be the same.
Jewel E. Ann steps into another dimension with this mind-bending thriller, a provocative story that pushes boundaries and tests the true meaning of love.
The Life You Stole (Life Duet #2) by Jewel E. Ann
The conclusion of the Life Duet is every bit as riveting as I anticipated. The Life You Stole is twisted and dark on a totally different level than book one.
Sex. Lies. Revenge.
On the heels of a devastating loss, Evelyn fights to put her life back together.
Only … part of her husband belongs to another woman, and the devil owns her soul.“If you tell her the lie, I will tell her the truth.”
When her best friend goes to great lengths to protect Evelyn from destruction and devastation, mistakes are made, lines are crossed, and all trust is shattered.
“We weren’t unbreakable.
I just needed to believe we weren’t unrepairable.”
Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover hit me in the feels once again with this poignant tale. She has a knack for creating identifiable and intriguing characters and then weaving them into an absorbing storyline. Romance is an important aspect in the plot, but the heart of Regretting You is the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us comes a poignant novel about family, first love, grief, and betrayal that will touch the hearts of both mothers and daughters.
Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.
Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.
With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.
While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
This book really took me by surprise in the best possible way. I expected Beach Read to simply be a lighthearted romance, perfect for a day of relaxing. While there is humor a plenty, which I gobbled up, it is actually a very touching story.
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
Layla by Colleen Hoover
The very first sentence in Layla had me instantly covered in goosebumps, fully invested in the story. I knew Colleen Hoover had a darker side after reading her phenomenal thriller Verity, and I was all too happy to be sucked into her vortex of romantic suspense once again — this time with a paranormal spin.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love.
When Leeds meets Layla, he’s convinced he’ll spend the rest of his life with her—until an unexpected attack leaves Layla fighting for her life. After weeks in the hospital, Layla recovers physically, but the emotional and mental scarring has altered the woman Leeds fell in love with. In order to put their relationship back on track, Leeds whisks Layla away to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. Once they arrive, Layla’s behavior takes a bizarre turn. And that’s just one of many inexplicable occurrences.
Feeling distant from Layla, Leeds soon finds solace in Willow—another guest of the B&B with whom he forms a connection through their shared concerns. As his curiosity for Willow grows, his decision to help her find answers puts him in direct conflict with Layla’s well-being. Leeds soon realizes he has to make a choice because he can’t help both of them. But if he makes the wrong choice, it could be detrimental for all of them.
Great list, Angela! I’ve read most of your list and agree that they were amazing books. I really need to get my hands on Jewel’s books, though!
Yes! I’ve read almost every one of her books and have yet to rate any lower than 4 stars.
Beach Read was one of my top reads for 2020, as well! Such a good book!
You read some great books! Seeing all of Tucker’s books on here makes me happy.
The Simple Wild and Beach Read were among my favorites, too!
I really need to read Wild at Heart! I only read the first book. Great picks!
It’s such an easy read and so good!