I make a point of searching for new authors every year. I make lists and eventually those authors that attract my interest get read. 2009 has been a great year for me when it comes to new-to-me authors as you'll see by my list below. I didn't get to many I wanted to this year, but then, there's always 2010!
Linnea Sinclair - Sci/Fi Romance
In March of this year, after devouring Gabriel's Ghost, Shades of Dark and Hope's Folly, I undoubtedly became a Linnea Sinclair fan and she moved up to the top of my list as a favorite author in the Sci-Fi Romance genre. I still have a few books from her backlist to read, The Down Home Zombie Blues, Finder's Keepers and Games of Command are all in my TBR pile and I'll be reading them in 2010. As you can imagine the new installment in the Dock Five series, Rebels and Lovers is also one of my most anticipated books of 2010. I cannot wait for this book!
Ilona Andrews - Urban Fantasy
Urban Fantasy was a new-to-me genre this year. My goal was to choose and read at least three urban fantasy series -- to give it a chance, something I had been reluctant to do. After much research and thought, I chose the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews as my starter series. In April 2009, I read
Magic Bites, and proceeded to devour
Magic Burns and
Magic Strikes in a matter of days! I couldn't stop reading. After falling in love with the world and the characters Andrews created in the Kate Daniels series, I went on to read more of their work. With the addition of their quirky installment on a new series
On the Edge and their excellent short story Sci/Fi Romance
Silent Blade, Ilona Andrews moved to the top of the new-to-me favorite authors list of 2009.
Magic Bleeds is also on my 2010 list of most anticipated books.
Meljean Brook - Paranormal Romance
Paranormal romance is a genre I enjoy, but don't necessarily love. After a while there just seem to be too many vampires, werewolves and "other" creatures running around, and uniqueness in a series seems to be tough to find. Maintaining tight worldbuilding in a series and balancing it out with the romances taking place in each book seems to be a definite challenge.
This year my paranormal romance reading had dwindled down to three series, but after reading
Must Love Hellhounds Anthology, I decided to give the Guardian series by Meljean Brook a try. Well, I haven't been this excited about a paranormal series since I started reading the Psy/Changeling series by Nalini Singh. I began by reading
Demon Angel last month and I've already finished Demon Moon and Demon Night. Demon Bound is next on my list and I'll be catching up with this series soon! Brooks is an excellent addition to my paranormal romance list of authors and her series is one I'll definitely continue to follow.
Pam Rosenthal - Historical Romance
I'm always looking for new or new-to-me historical romance writers to add to my list. As opposed to last year when I read quite a few excellent historical romance books, this year most of them fell in the average to the very good category. Pam Rosenthal's The Edge of Impropriety was a surprisingly fresh read, and one I remember even now in a category that too often feels saturated by sameness and predictability. Her backlist is one I will be exploring and I hope to read her new books in the future.
Margaret Campbell Barnes - Historical Fiction
It has been a while since I've read historical fiction, a genre I truly love. Margaret Campbell Barnes'
The Tudor Rose: A Novel of Elizabeth of York reminded me not only of that love, but sparked my interest in reading more by this author. She has an excellent backlist and I'll definitely be exploring her work as well as reacquainting myself with other historical fiction authors I've neglected.
Lisa Dale - Contemporary Romance
I cut my teeth reading contemporary romance and to this day it's my favorite genre. My comfort reads are usually contemporary romances. A good contemporary will do it for me every. single. time. But boy are good, straight contemporary romances tough to find these days! The balance is hardly ever there... they are either plagued with suspense (I call it a plague), or the chick lit wave hits them with such force that the romance is lost and they're hardly recognizable. So, to find a contemporary romance writer, one that balances the romance with a good, meaty plot and great characters (including secondary ones), is not that easy. Dale seems to have the potential for reaching this balance. She didn't quite achieve it with Simple Wishes, but she wrote a book I enjoyed regardless. Her It Happened One Night got even closer to reaching that balance, so yes! I'm definitely keeping my eye on this author who only has two books out and whose writing I've enjoyed enough to look forward to that third one.
Sarah Mayberry - Category Romance
After a few years of not reading category romance, 2009 was my year to give this genre another chance. I enjoyed books by different authors, Jill Shalvis, Raeanne Thayne and Lucy Monroe. However of all the authors, Sarah Mayberry was the one who met the requirements most often, that feeling of having read a meaty romance when in fact it was a Blaze. I love the short, quick format for those occasions when I can't seem to find the time or the energy for a long read. Sarah Mayberry left me satisfied after I finished her books. My favorite one is Anything For You, a friends to lovers, which should not be a surprise to anyone who knows me by now. I still have some of her books in my TBR, but I'm saving those for the holidays. :)
China Mieville - Fantasy
After reading Perdido Street Station, I can't say anything but that China Mieville blew my mind. I haven't read any fantasy like Mieville's and I want to read more. I have The City and The City in my TBR pile, but I won't read it. I want to read The Scar and King Rat first, two of his previous books, THEN I'll read The City and The City... I don't know what else to say, but that at some point I'll have to gather my thoughts and write something about this book. I finished it at a time when I did not have the time to do a write up and I wanted to do it justice, so I opted for not reviewing it because it deserved both the time and the effort.
Ginn Hale - M/M Fantasy
Ginn Hale wrote one of my favorite fantasy books of 2009, not just M/M, but fantasy. Wicked Gentlemen is a book that stayed with me for quite a while after a read it. I truly couldn't put it away, the atmosphere, the world, the characters, they all stayed with me and I couldn't shake them. This book is one of two books that received an A+ from me this year, so you know I loved it. Her follow up book Lord Foster's Devils is another book I can't wait to read in 2010.
Steve Kluger, Vincent Diamond and Z.A. Maxfield - M/M Romance
In the LGBT category, under M/M Romance there are many authors I "discovered" and really liked or loved this year. There are many more whose work stayed in my TBR pile or TBB list, so my choices were not easy to make. I made those choices based on how the books I read by these authors affected me and how or if they stayed with me.
Steve Kluger's
"Almost Like Being in Love" is a book I had on my TBB list for a while, but had not made a move to buy until last month. Reading the book moved this author to the top of my list with little effort. I'll definitely be checking out his other work, no question about it.
And, last but not least, Z.A. Maxfield's
ePistols at Dawn was my first book by this amazing author. A book that also stayed with me, not only for the relationships in the book, but for her amazing study of the way society uses masks, individual fears and insecurities, choices and how to triumph over the whole mess. I have other books by Maxfield in my TBR pile ready for reading and hope to get to them early next year.
Who were your favorite new authors of 2009?