I have a huge passion for reading. Nothing excites me more than being taken on adventures with some really cool and quirky characters. I’m generally seen overindulging in my favourite genre, fantasy, however I also love a good romance with a happy ending. My top 5 changes all the time, but for now these are some of my favourites:
Fifty Shades of Grey By E L James
This is and will continue to be one of the most controversial books/movies to date; it‘s like marmite, you either love it or hate it. Fifty shades of Grey is one of my most favourite reads ever. I believe there is a lot more to the three novels than the obvious and if people looked past the erotic nature of each one they’d see a more sad, troubling, yet beautiful love story. Looking past the whips, butt plugs and silver tie is a troubled young man who is deeply insecure, has been abused, and for that reason turned his feelings off for the most part of his adult life. What makes me love the Fifty Shades series is seeing how much Christian and Ana learn from one another, whilst overcoming these dark obstacles that are their life and finding light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
The Debt & The Doormat By Laura Barnard
Honestly I wasn’t expecting much for a book that was free from Amazon for Kindle – it ended up being a book I would happily read over and over again. The Debt & The Doormat is one of my favourite reads of 2022. Bursting onto the scene are Poppy and Jazz, best friends yet couldn’t be anymore different, different lives, different personalities and completely different ways of thinking. They end up swapping lives and, like always, everything ends up in the air and completely chaotic. The Debt & The Doormat is everything I want from a book: a crazy friendship, romance and fantastic comedy that will have you crying with laughter. Poppy is very much your down to earth, normal ‘realistic’ character, and so relatable with her clumsiness that it’s hard not to love her. I can’t recommend this book enough, as soon as I read this one I downloaded the second book in the series, The Baby & The Bride and that’s fabulous too.
Yours Truly By Kirsty Greenwood
Yours Truly is an amazing romantic comedy book full of laugh out loud moments. Natalie is an easy, relatable character who tells a few white lies here and there to keep everyone around her happy. That is until one night and a pub visit later. Everything starts to pop out of her mouth, thanks to a hypnotist. She ends up getting herself into some very tricky situations whilst on the hunt to track him down. I love this book, the characters, the way it’s written- absolutely everything. It had me bursting into fits of laughter, plus I’m a sucker for a good romance and this was definitely a page turner.
You Had Me At Hello By Mhairi McFarlane
Huge lover of anything romantic and kind of cheesy at the same time, You Had Me At Hello is exactly that. Rachel and Ben have been friends since uni, but they’ve not seen each other for over a decade. One day they bump into one another and picked up where they left off. Ben’s married, but Rachel is completely single after waving goodbye to her now ex. Their old friendship is back and with that so is Rachel’s broken heart and a whole load of questions. This book is everything I want it to be and more, a good light read that’s written beautifully, is effortlessly humorous and very witty. Mhairi is such a good writer who pulls you in with each sentence and makes you picture what’s happening inside your head.
Josie Day Is Coming Home By Lisa Plumley
I really enjoyed reading Josie Day Is Coming Home. It was a very light-hearted, heart-warming story with two very likeable characters. Along the way Josie and Luke find themselves having a lot in common; they’re both witty and not afraid to say exactly what they think. I found reading about the relationship unfolding in the book lovely. It had natural chemistry and banter that will have you smiling with maybe even the occasional burst of laughter. I loved how their relationship blossomed and spread out over the entire book; it wasn’t instant like some books can be. The relationship was a slow process and by the end it was great to see them come together as one, despite the drama and chaos of living in a town where people have a very bad opinion of you.
What are your top 5 books?
