It’s 2026, and Here’s My Favorite Books of the Past Two Years

~ B. A. Lovejoy

And I suppose my other favorite things as well? What a strange time.

As many readers know, it has been far too long since I last posted on my website, and I was, technically, in the middle of reworking it when I seemed to drop off of the face of the planet. I’m still doing that and trying to find a set up that suits my style of blogging, but that’s beyond the point.

Far too many of you have been waiting for this post for two years. Aside from the fae folklore posts that get scraped by ChatGPT and Geimini, my book recommendations posts have long been one of the largest traffic drivers to my blog. Well, that and the nanowrimo posts… which are arguably entertaining, but now slightly ruined. But that’s another conversation.

I have no idea how long this is going to get, and I apologize. Everything listed under books I’ve read is in fact books I’ve actually read and recommend, but these aren’t all the great books I’ve read in the past two years. You’ll probably catch stragglers of book recommendations throughout the year as I relaunch my newsletter (upon learning that substack forces you to have an account to read some of my emails), and continue to learn how to use Threads.

Also, yes, that is a link to my Threads account, which is a very good way to keep track of me and what I’m doing after I deleted my tiktok. So, you know, here I go linking my social media again.

You may notice that I did not link my facebook page. This is because I try to pretend that website does not exist. Lately, it’s been a bit awful.

For the longest time, though, this blog has been the primary place where I find traction. Strange yet true. So, you know. Linking my social media here before we get into the thick of it.

Similar to last time, here is a rundown of how this blog post is going to work:

  • A rundown of me as a reader (and writer)
  • An example of how this list will be formatted that just so happens to use one of my books because I have to get my marketing as many times as possible on this blog
  • Books I Read These Past Two Years that I think You Should Read Too (Organized by Genre)
  • Books That I have Not Yet Read But Want You to Be Aware of Too (so we can enjoy things)
  • Other media I enjoyed
  • A brief closing paragraph of what I’m up to.

I will now give you a rundown on me as a reader. (And a writer. Marketing, you know.)

  • My name’s B. A. Lovejoy, I’m 29 years old and I write historical/folklore heavy romantasy. I like to read it too.
  • I love historical romance with all my heart and have recently gotten into historical mysteries.
  • My dream is for there to someday be a Nancy Drew mystery series for adults with a lot of romance. I am unashamed.
  • I’m from Minnesota and was therefore extra susceptible to the hockey romance trope, but I know next to nothing about sports and cannot for the life of you tell you what the rules of hockey are. This makes me an amazing sports romance reader and definitely someone you want to follow if you know anything about sports at all. Occasionally I read soccer romance too, which is interesting because I played it for two years and can still not tell you anything about how that sport is played.
  • I do love to read books with crafting featured as well, but there is a major problem: I know a lot about the textile arts because I’ve been sewing for I think like fifteen to fourteen years?
  • I’m not big on ai. See, them scraping this website and also me finding out a bunch of my books were in the meta training data.
  • I failed my goodreads challenge last year and also need to join the various other slightly more ethical reading apps.
  • I’m still reading fae and monster romances on and off.

Recommendation Structure:

Available on Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Tropes: Historical Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Friends to Lovers
Complete Series/Standalone: Completed Series. Five books.
Short summary:A Historical Alice in Wonderland taking place in the 1940s. Alice is lured into wonderland by the White Rabbit, who plans to marry her in order to become king. The only problem is his four brothers and Alice’s relentless determination to not only solve the mystery of what happened to her father years prior, but also escape Wonderland. Nothing is as it seems.

Bam. There’s our format.

Books I Read Over the Past Two Years that I think You Should Read Too

Contemporary Romance

Available on Kindle Unlimited: No. Libby.
Tropes: Mystery Romance, He’s just Ken, Authors as the main character, Everyone hates everyone, Rich people– They’re not like us.
Complete Series/Have I Read It All: There’s a second book coming out in this set, I have it on hold on libby, but to my knowledge it’s interconnected stand alones and not a series. I’m praying for more because this book made me want to write again.
Short summary:
She’s a mystery author whose best days seem behind her when her ex fiance (and her editor) gets engaged and invites her to his wedding. He’s the Australian hunk she had a fling with. The two are stuck together on an Island for a weding weekend as someone tries to kill the bride and frame her for it.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: No.
Tropes: Mystery Romance, Spoiled brat solves it, Our poor man, Rich people– They’re not like us, POC male love interest
Complete Series/Have I Read It All: This is a series, not complete to my knowledge, but I’m so happy that it is.
Short summary:
She’s a hotel heiress who has been stripped of all of her riches after her grandmother is murdered. Turns out that the rest of her family made contingency plans for the day when her grandmother would go, but not her. Pomona either has to hope that a stroke of good luck solves the mystery for her so that she can get her trustfund back, or solve the msytery herself. She opts for the later.
Staying with the son of her childhood nanny (who hates her for her spoiled ways), Pomona is brought down to reality as she solves the case and slowly falls in love with the one person she thought she wouldn’t.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: Yes.
Tropes: The Princess Diaries esq, Bodyguard Romance (Kind of?), Our love will destroy the world or whatever.
Complete Series/Have I Read It All: I think the series just got completed this past year, and I’m currently on the last book.
Short summary:
She’s the fabulously wealthy princes from a fabulously wealthy country, and he’s a decorated military man. They’re not supposed to fall in love, but through a few chance encounters, they find a way to each other.

Historical

Available on Kindle Unlimited: No
Tropes: Historical Mystery, Regency Sleuth, No Romance, Hard to Categorize
Complete Series/Have I Read It All: This is a series, and I believe it’s ongoing.
Short summary:
It’s so hard to place this book because while it is arguably somewhat of a historical mystery, it does also take place in a more fantastical England and her sister might be a werewolf? But then I can’t tell if she is a werewolf or not. I am putting this in historical, and you guys can figure out what it is for me. It’s a lyrical, comical, and slightly ridiculous mystery series that I just adore. If you’re a fan of the Shady Hollow series then this is the one for you.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: No, but the prequel series is
Tropes: Historical Mystery, Mystery Romance, Reformed Rake,
Complete Series: This is a new series that’s following up on another series.
Short summary:
She’s a wallflower who has taken a swift departure from high society, and he’s a viscount in need of a wealth heiress. Also, he’s the brother of her close friend. And, you know, there’s murder afoot.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: Last I checked, no.
Tropes: Historical Romance, Highlander Romance, Author main character, found family
Complete Series: This is a part of multiple series of very loosely interconnected standalones
Short summary:
She lied and told everyone that she had a sweetheart who died in the war… only now that sweetheart is very much alive, has received every single one of her letters, and would greatly like to inherit the piece of land her family gave her. Shenanigans ensue.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: No.
Tropes: Historical mystery, Historical romance, Rakish lover
Complete Series: This is a standalone.
Short summary:
She’s the woman who has solved the last three murders in her small english town, he’s the assistant of a detective she wrote to to try and figure out why the heck everyone is our doing murder. This posh, floppy man is more than he seems, but the main character has to work hard to get to the bottom of his character and the mystery.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Tropes: 80’s romance, Historical romance, Gruff love interest, Journalism!
Complete Series: This is a series of interconnected standalones and one of my favorites.
Short summary:
She’s a journalist trying to make it in a male dominated field and he’s the drummer of the band she’s following from city to city to report on. By all accounts, she’s off limits, and yet he can’t help himself.

Fantasy

Available on Kindle Unlimited: YES! READ IT!
Tropes: Gaslamp Fantasy, Vampires, Found Family, Multiple POVs, multiple POC main characters
Complete Series: The second book just came out and I’m eagerly awaiting my hold on it!
Short summary:
Think Six of Crows meets vampires. This is series about a group of clever, ragtag cons who slowly begin to rule the underground in a city ruled by masked men. Vampires are real, and this series has an insanely cool approach to them.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Tropes: Himbo, Regency romance, Hockey Romance, ill-fated lover affair
Complete Series: I believe there’s a sequel coming out
Short summary:
I told you I love hockey books, and while this might be the only one on the list this year, it’s worth it. He’s a hockey player who drives into a lake and ends up in Regency England, she’s a friend of Jane Austen who desperately wants to be a writer. They fall in love. There’s magic. Bam, I love it.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: No.
Tropes: Light Academia, Witchcraft, Romantasy, Historical/Gaslamp Fantasy, Enemies to Lovers
Complete Series: Ongoing, gets better every book.
Short summary:
For obvious reasons, I’ve had a huge thing for Academia fantasy lately, and this book is a part of that. It’s a lot more light hearted and zany than other books in the series, and I do think can read a little younger wit the caveat of there being sexual content in this series that makes it not for younger readers, but man do I love it. Everything is like an increasingly ridiculous play, which is sort of India Holton’s style of romantasy. Two rival Ornithologists are forced to work together as they seek out an insanely rare bird in England, unaware that their misadventures are due to a larger plot.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Tropes: Linguist main character, forbidden love, fantasy romance, betrayal, uprising.
Complete Series: Anther book has come out or is coming out and I’m eagerly awaiting it from my local library.
Short summary:
The main character is a linguist who has dedicated her life to mastering dragon languages with the goal of getting a lucrative government job and elevating her family’s status… until her family home is raided and her family is outed as rebels. Following that, she joins a prestigious program in the military that’s working on ways to prevent the next great dragon war, with the hope being that if she helps them they will save her family. The line between right and wrong blurs.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: No
Tropes: Fae, folklore heavy fantasy, romantasy, cozier fantasy, rake lover, academic rivals
Complete Series: Complete series
Short summary:
Emily Wilde is a scientist specialized in the fae. She’s dedicated herself to being one of the first scientists to come out with a comprehensive encyclopedia on the fae. She’s also determined to complete her encylopedia on her own, until her professional rival and largest headache shows up during a research trip.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: No
Tropes: Two Ners in Love, Cryptids
Complete Series: There’s multiple books in the series
Short summary:
Is this book heavy on bigfoot? No. Is this book technically fantasy? Yes/no. There’s not much actual magic here but I would get in trouble with some of you if I categorized it otherwise. Therefore, let’s just summarize.
Did you ever watch Buzzfeed Unsolved and say wow I would love if there were a romance novel based on this? If so, this is it. Your book. Mallory made this for you, and then she went and wrote an alien one too for those of us who grew up on x-files. Thank you Mallory, I love you, and I love this hilarious and uplifting book (with possibly cryptids).

Available on Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Tropes: Alt history World War but with monsters, werewolves and vampires and witches oh my!, Fantasy Romance, Gaslamp Fantasy
Complete Series: Yes
Short summary:
This is a world war 1 esq fantasy novel that asks the questions of what if the bad guys had zombies, and what if there were witches? the main character is a woman and a witch, and it’s a beautifully put together series with some touching imagery. I absolutely adored this read and have gone back to start reading her other series.

Available on Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Tropes: Forbidden love, betrothed to another, dark brooding man, knights, friends to lovers, romantasy
Complete Series: There’s a book before this one and she has another book coming out!
Short summary:
He’s a knight that’s betrothed to another woman. She’s a healer who slowly becomes his friend and learns that there’s a connection between them that’s impossible to ignore. Like all Juliette Caruso books, they then proceed to ruin my life.

Books That I Have Not Yet Read But Want You to Be Aware of Too

Other Media I Enjoyed

  • Sinners is my top movie of 2025, I think it was beautifully put together, had amazing actors, and was one of the most interesting pieces of fantasy I’ve encountered. The Soundtrack was also amazing, and no one gives enough recognition to Pale, Pale Moon. Honestly. Listen to it, the fact that no one clipped this performance is insane to me because that was one of the defining moments of the movie for me.
  • Lisa Frankenstein was my top movie of 2024, and has inspired me in so many different ways. It was one of the most fun movies I’ve experienced lately and I own the collector’s edition of it.
  • I finally saw the movie Bottoms, where two queer women start a fight club to hook up with chicks, and I cannot put into words just how hilarious and amazing it is.
  • Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein was an atmospheric masterpiece that I could talk about for hours.
  • Similar vein, shout out to Nosferatu (2024)
  • I loved Heated Rivalry, big surprise.
  • Florence + the Machine released a new album and it’s all the inspiration that I have been waiting for.
  • The music video for Findlay’s song Fishbowl is one of my top music videos of all time, and she’s one of my favorite artists. If you’ve seen any of my fish posts, you now know where they come from.
  • Spotify says Lullaby by Grace Ives was my most played song of 2025, which makes sense.
  • If you’ve not heard Junie and theHutFriends, let me introduce you to their song Drown Me!
  • Hinting more about what I’m working on by linking you the highly relevant song Bourgeoisieses by Conan Gray

What I’m Currently Working On!

As I work on my website’s format a little more, please look at my newly updated sidebar.

Let me give you spoilers:

  • The Time Traveler’s Guide is a historical romantasy taking place in the same universe as the University of the Unseen, I.e. Ivy and Ash, and features a magical professor and his human assistant, who has a strange feeling that there is far more to their relationship than the professor lets on.
  • Fox Hunt is a Historical Mystery with a dash of romance. Think And Then There Were None meets a gaggle of fake psychics. They’ve all been lured to the home of a wealthy Marquess for the weekend under false pretenses. But when dinner begins, the ruse is dropped, and the reality of their situation comes to light…One of them has murdered the Marchioness, and the rest of them are frauds, bound for the stocks. Only one of them will walk away free, but whether they will have solved the mystery or gotten away with yet another sleight of hand remains to be seen.
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Published by B. A. Lovejoy

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