Favorites of 2017 ~ Books & Audiobooks

I enjoyed doing a "look back at the year" in 2016 so I figured it'd once again be fun to bring 2017 to a close by listing some of favorites. I hope you enjoy reading about some of my favorites and I'd be happy to hear about any of yours!

*~*Books & Audiobooks*~*

• How the Duke Was Won - I chose this book solely because it was narrated by Beverley A. Crick but I found a new favorite author in Lenora Bell
• The Nightingale - a powerful read about how war affected women during WWII from Kristin Hannah
• Red Rising - so realistic in nature and well written, so many parallels to our world today
• Rock F*ck Club - a female anthem, if you will, for equality - especially in our sexuality
• Outlander - omigosh! I adore Jamie and Claire!
• And I Darken - I'm only waiting til 2018 to read the next installment - and honestly, I'm so anxious over it - because the final installment releases in June of 2018. Sometimes I hate the wait.
• Texas Rodeo series - an incredible series revolving around small town West Texas and the rodeo circuit - great writing and narration (Kari Lynn Dell & Johanna Parker)
• New Camelot Trilogy - I listened to the first two - excellent narration - and read the final installment because I was too anxious to wait for the audio! I adored this trilogy!
• The Angel - such a unique story and so very well conveyed
• Steal the Light - it's making the list because IT. HAS. IT. ALL!

Honestly, this list was hard to compile. I mean, I read 160 books this year so it's hard to narrow it down to ~10. In the end, I realized it was just a good reading year. *grins*

Audio Review ~ American Prince ~ Sierra Simone #2017NewRelease #AudioChallenge

American Prince by Sierra Simone
New Camelot Trilogy #2
Narrated by: Stephanie Rose and Guy Locke
Release Date: June 27, 2017
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Source: I received a complimentary copy from Tantor Audio. This did not affect my rating and my review is voluntarily provided. 
Rating: 4.5 Bookworms
Challenges: #2017NewReleasee, #AudioChallenge
Goodreads

Synopsis
I've been many things.

I've been a son and a stepbrother. An Army captain and a Vice President.

But only with Him and I a prince. His little prince.

Only with Maxen and Greer does my world make sense, only between them can I find peace from the demons that haunt me. But men like me aren't made to be happy. We don't deserve it. And I should have known a love as sharp as ours could cut both ways.

My name is Embry Moore and I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States...for now.

This is the story of an American Prince.

I started listening to American Prince immediately after finishing American Queen and found myself swallowed by Greer, Ash, and Embry once again.

American Prince is told mostly from Embry's POV and once again, Simone delivered the story via past and present timelines. This format was an excellent way to get Embry and Ash's backstory and their history was gut-wrenching, heartwarming, and riveting. The present timeline was also suspense-filled with Ash, Embry, and Greer dealing with the fallout over the consequences from the event that ended American Queen. The way Simone handled that was so well done and felt authentic. The feelings and emotions of Embry, Ash, and Greer as well as the public backlash over what was leaked - it all felt so real. The political intrigue and conniving and plotting against the trio kept me tied in knots as well. Especially considering who was behind most of it. Once again, I was shocked at how much emotion - HATRED - Simone made me feel towards a certain character.

And then...and then...AND THEN! I absolutely could not believe the choices Embry made and the repercussions from those choices. These choices and their repercussions impacted the rest of the book and even with all the revelations made at the end of the book, I'm still reeling. STILL. Seriously.

Needless to say, I pre-ordered American King in ebook format because I couldn't wait for audio...BECAUSE I HAVE TO KNOW HOW IT ALL ENDS!!! (I'm currently reading it)

The narrators, Stephanie Rose and Guy Locke, did well for the most part. Locke's range seemed limited and he did have some inconsistencies with pronunciations which bothered me but I enjoyed Rose's delivery once again.