What Books Have You Enjoyed So Far In 2012?

I like to check in every now and then and ask readers what new authors they’ve discovered or what books they’ve enjoyed. It’s fun to share literary finds…to discover a book on someone else’s list that you might enjoy. Sometimes it is the recommendation of another reader that pushes you over the edge from considering a book to actually buying it. I love hearing what everyone is reading…what they’re enjoying…who their favorite authors and new discoveries are.

I have always been a fan of audiobooks, though I go through periods where I listen to a lot of them and periods where I don’t listen to any for a while. Lately I’ve been in a phase of listening to quite a few of them…and listening to more fiction/romance than thriller and non-fiction which are my normal audio fare. Recently I’ve been doing more re-discovering than discovering.

In the past month or so I’ve read audio books by Diana Palmer, Linda Howard, and Maya Banks. I’ve read all of these authors before. Diana Palmer is an OLD favorite. I’ve read her for YEARS. Linda Howard too is an author I’ve read a lot in the past, though I’d not read anything recent. I read Maya Banks’ Colters’ Woman and enjoyed it when I read it, several years ago. It was one of the first menage romances I read. I liked it. Enjoyed it. But it didn’t put Maya on my auto-buy list.

Recently someone here (Gabrielle maybe) mentioned liking Maya’s Sweet Series. So…when I was looking around Audible for something to spend my credits on I put Maya into the search and turned up a couple of  books in her Sweet Series in audio format. Sweet Possession sounded like a good read so I purchased and downloaded it.

Last night I finished reading it. Sweet Possession is book 5 in the series – and I’d not read the other books in the series but I really liked this book. It’s definitely put Maya on my auto-buy list for audio books.

What I liked about Sweet Possession by Maya Banks was more than just the hero and heroine and their relationship. Connor Malone is saddled with the job of providing security for the full of attitude, out-of-control, used to getting her own way, pop star Lyric Jones. He REALLY does not want this job. Lyric sets him on edge at their first meeting. Yet, as Connor gets to know Lyric he finds the attitude is a cover for her vulnerability and it brings out his protective instincts. All of that was in itself a yummy read. I like characters who are a bit full of attitude…especially when it is a cover for their vulnerability. I like characters with heavy baggage, which Lyric certainly had. Trust is a theme that I like in romance novels…so this book started off hitting a lot of the right marks for me.

But what I liked even more in this book was the way that the author used the secondary characters (the wives of Connor Malone’s friends) to help bring out Lyric’s vulnerability. Lyric’s background has taught her not to trust anyone. As a result she’s never really had any friends who were not out to get something from her. When she’s introduced to Connor’s friends’ wives she finds people who like her for her…who don’t want anything from her. She finds a place she belongs.

The friendship with the wives without the great romance between Connor and Lyric wouldn’t have worked. But neither would the story have been the same without the relationship that formed between Lyric and her friends.

It’s very unusual for me to like a book because of the secondary characters. I can only think of one other occasion when an author has made it onto my auto-buy list because of the secondary characters in their books. The first instance was Diana Palmer with Love By Proxy which featured a very hip break-dancing grandmother. That was YEARS ago. Usually I prefer books that focus tightly on the hero and heroine. However, in Sweet Possession, the secondary characters added a great deal to the story…the wives and their friendship became part of what healed Lyric’s trust issues.

Maya Banks was a great rediscovery. I’ve purchased another book in the Sweet Series (Sweet Temptation). What about you? What have you read recently? What have you really enjoyed? Have you discovered any new to you authors that have made it to your favorite list?