The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

Join 1,707 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Tell Tale

A. L. Brooks Why did I love this book?

As with all of Ashton’s books, the characterization goes deep, and even more so in this one as glimpses of the past hint at the troubles obvious in the present.

The mystery that weaves through the story has an edge of darkness that’s deliciously paced, and the love story and its queer representation is sublime. Set in her beloved Wales, Ashton portrays without remorse some of the less pleasant aspects of a small community, where everyone knows (or thinks they do) everyone else’s business.

There are fantastic twists and turns, and the ending is beyond satisfying. The audio version is impossible to stop listening to – the narrator, Lucy Rayner, captures every nuance, grabbing hold of your imagination as the drama unfolds and not letting it go.

By Clare Ashton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Tell Tale as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Cowboys and Kisses

A. L. Brooks Why did I love this book?

I’m a sucker for a sapphic historical romance! I love all the secret glances and tortured moments that play such a part of stories set in times long before now.

This one, while a relatively short novel, packs a mighty punch. Kallmaker’s two main characters are so very different, yet so obviously right for each other from the moment it becomes a possibility. Set against the backdrop of the colonization of the West in America, there’s realistic yet not too heavy brutality, acerbic observations on the vast gulf between the sexes at that time, and authentic settings and action.

By Karin Kallmaker,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cowboys and Kisses as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Want my future book recommendations?

My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Beyond Any Experience

A. L. Brooks Why did I love this book?

This is a gorgeous and realistic sapphic romance that deals with grief and a person’s struggle to live again after loss in a way that had me shaking my head every few pages as it’s the author’s debut novel and is staggeringly well-written.

The two main characters are at very different places in their lives. One is a widow, raising her autistic son alone, with all the challenges that represents. The other is younger, more gregarious, and at first they seem an unlikely match. But the skilfully woven story pulls them slowly together in ways which are completely believable and authentic.

By Anne E Terpstra,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beyond Any Experience as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Olivia Northman’s world shattered the day she lost her wife to a drunk driver. Three years later, she still struggles with grief and the demands of being a single parent to their autistic son, Ben. After her first attempt at a new relationship crumbles, Olivia retreats to the simple, the predictable. It’s what’s best for her son and her heart.

Ellie Vasquez isn’t simple or predictable. In fact, she’s charmingly impulsive, as well as gregarious, confident, and attracted to Olivia, which she reveals in an unguarded moment. Olivia doesn’t know what’s more surprising—Ellie’s interest, or her own—but a quiet conversation…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Make Her Wish Come True

By A. L. Brooks,

Book cover of Make Her Wish Come True

What is my book about?

A lesbian romance where the realest thing about a fake relationship is all the possibilities.

Abby’s dream to be a reporter gets a boost when her journalist friend makes her a deal: Fake-date a woman for a story and she’ll get Abby a co-writing credit.

All Erica’s spare time is spent on her eight-year-old girl. A deal to be wined and dined if she fakes a romance sounds fun. It’d help if her date actually liked kids…and wasn’t so attractive!