Recently I asked on Twitter for reviews written by my book blogger friends featuring their favorite reads of 2021 so far. These encompass books read in the first half of 2021, whether or not they were published this year. Here’s what we shared!

Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you click on and/or purchase from some links, I make a portion of the sale. This helps keep Bitch Bookshelf running.

Eastern Lights by Brittainy Cherry

review by Nadene @ Totally Addicted to Reading
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

Cherry did an awesome job in creating a swoon worthy hero. Connor possessed so many good qualities, one cannot but help fall for him. Not that he didn’t have faults, but they didn’t take away from his awesome characteristics.

Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

review by Bex Books and Stuff
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

The characters are built beautifully and once you hit the half way mark the suspense comes thick and fast. Honestly there are some amazing twists and turns, every time I thought I had figured it out I was thrown another curve ball and left guessing again until the very end! I couldn’t put this book down, it was an incredible and agonising page turner.

The Girl at the Back of the Bus by Suzette D. Harrison

review by Robin Loves Reading
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

While this story began with Mattie on that monumental bus ride and witnessing what happened to Rosa Parks, the story evolves into the touching story of two strong women and how Mattie’s experiences go a long way into bringing great change into Ashlee’s life. I loved the drama, the warmth, the strength and the message that this book delivered. While Suzette D. Harrison may be a new name for me as an author, I will be front and center for whatever else she has in store for her readers.

When Stars Rain Down by Angela Jackson-Brown

review by Books and Bindings
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

I was entranced, enthralled, and riveted to the sharply-honed and tension-filled narrative.  I sobbed when Opal was devastated and felt her elation and losses as keenly as if they were my own. Angela Jackson-Brown is a masterful storyteller with serious word voodoo. Somehow, five stars just doesn’t feel like enough, ten seems far more accurate.

Waiting for a Scot Like You by Eva Leigh

review by Bitch Bookshelf
Buy it on Amazon!

Featured Image

Check out this excerpt:

Gosh, what’s not to love about this one? As with the entire series, Eva Leigh embraces the best of tropes and flips the worst of them on their head. I loved that Beatrice is twelve years older than Duncan. I’ve never read a romance novel with a middle-aged heroine where the hero wasn’t the same age. I loved that the love scenes are a little kinky. I really appreciated how strong Beatrice was in her opinion about not getting married. I liked that those interested in having multiple sexual partners, whether they are single or in an open relationship, were not described as sinful or evil.

Under the Italian Sun by Sue Moorcroft

review by Book Escapes with BabsW67
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

I certainly enjoyed the wide array of characters, in this book, but in particular, I loved the immediate connection between Zia and Lucia Costa.  The love from Lucia was a tangible emotion which was evident almost immediately.

I enjoyed my book escape to Italy, it coincided with some rather rainy weather

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

review by See Sadie Read
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

We’re given a strong, competent heroine who gets everything she wished for—if not in the way she imagined it—by doing the right thing in difficult situations. We have a villain who is recognizable and realistic. We have two gods and a whole cosmos of divinity that are inhumane but relatable. They are, after all, gods, not humans. We have a subtle romance based in the heart, not the loins. And the whole thing is steeped in shades and tones of oral history, as if this is a myth being told.

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

review by Whispering Stories
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

The book is masterfully written. The scenes are very descriptive which makes for perfect visuals as you read. The world-building is superb and I loved that at the beginning we are given a map of the kingdoms of Wenderall where the book is set and a detailed map of the prison.

The Wolf and The Woodsman by Ava Reid

review by And On She Reads
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

I said I’d struggle with reviewing this book and I was entirely correct in my assumption. It is one the most powerful, enchanting, magical reads I have ever come across, and the world will be a better place for it being in it. It seems almost impossible to believe that this is a debut novel. Ava Reid works with her words as well as her spell crafters work their magic.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

review by Bookworming Life
Buy it on Amazon!

Check out this excerpt:

This book was awe inspiring and incredibly moving and I loved every second of reading it and would highly recommend it to anyone. We see the good and the bad of people. We see how love can sometimes blind us, that sometimes it’s not as straight forward as we may assume and the people we thought we knew can also be complete strangers.

Backstories by Simon Van Der Velde

review by Jo Linsdell
Buy it on Amazon!

Go forth and check out these amazing reviews! Happy reading!