My Favourite Book Series of 2021

As we approach the end of the year I thought I’d put together a list of the top book series that I read/started in 2021. So far I’ve read 105 books this year (at the time of posting) and although not all of them have been great I’ve found some that I adored. All of the below are romance/dark romance novels as I don’t read any series of a different genre. Hopefully there’s a suggestion below that can become someone else’s favourite.

Please note that these are not necessarily books published in 2021, they are books that I just read for the first time this year.

The Fallen Men Series by Giana Darling

★★★★☆ - 4.23 on Goodreads

★★★★☆ - 4.6 on Amazon

A series of interconnected standalone MC (Motorcycle Club) romances that each follow a rough-around-the-edges hero and his love interest. I haven't watched the show myself but I've seen these books compared to Sons of Anarchy. Each book has a different trope, couple and plot but they all connect to tell the overarching plot of the whole series.
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Addicted & Calloway Sisters Series by Krista and Becca Ritchie

★★★★☆ - 4.30 on Goodreads
★★★★☆ - 4.7 on Amazon

Recommended reading order:

Addicted to You (Addicted #1)

Ricochet (Addicted #2)
Addicted for Now (Addicted #3)
Kiss the Sky (Calloway Sisters #1)
Hothouse Flower (Calloway Sisters #2)
Thrive (Addicted #4)
Addicted After All (Addicted #5)
Fuel the Fire (Calloway Sisters #3)
Long Way Down (Calloway Sisters #4)
Some Kind of Perfect (Calloway Sisters #5 - Epilogue Novel)

I was persuaded to read this series by a friend I made on bookstagram and I'm so glad I did. In the Addicted series we follow Lily Calloway, a sex addict and her best friend, Loren Hale, who is an alcoholic. Lily and Lo have been best friends for years and pretend to be in a relationship which allows them to live together so they don't have to sneak around or hide their addictions. Although I'm no expert on the subject of addiction, Krista and Becca Ritchie seem to capture the mind of an addict so well. I think they’re written so realistically and respectfully and make the addictions so understandable and heartbreaking. I think everyone can learn some things about addiction through these books.

The other characters we are introduced to in the Addicted series are Rose and Daisy Calloway and Connor Cobalt and Ryke Meadows; these are the characters that the Calloway Sisters series follows. All 10 books revolve around the group of 6 but each book has 2 of the 6 featured more heavily. Described as being perfect for fans of Gossip Girl, Friends, and Euphoria.

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Stay With Me Series by Nicole Fiorina

★★★★☆ - 4.27 on Goodreads

★★★★☆ - 4.6 on Amazon

In the Stay with Me series we follow Mia, a 19 year-old who is transferred to Dolor University, a reformatory college/mental health institution in the UK that houses deranged and dangerous young adults. Mia is someone who has shut down emotionally and switched off (yes, like Vampire Diaries) until she meets Oliver Masters. Someone who has the complete opposite issue. Ollie deals with Emotional Intensity, in that he feels everything extremely strongly. Either he will be the one to free her from her past, or she will be the one to destroy him.

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Souls Trilogy by Harley LaRoux

★★★★☆ - 4.31 on Goodreads

★★★★☆ - 4.6 on Amazon

This series will definitely not be for everyone. It is probably only for the minority...but I enjoyed it. This is a monster romance. In the first book our heroine, Rae, has always been intrigued by the supernatural and spends her time hunting for ghosts. Then she accidentally summons a demon. And they eventually fall in love. Realistic? No. Incredibly fascinating and entertaining? Yes. This book had some horror elements to it which I loved and it was just so fascinating to see how Harley LaRoux was going to convince readers that a demon and a human make a good couple. I think she succeeded.

TW: violence, kink content, horror elements
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~Special mention~

The Mindf*ck Series by S.T. Abby

★★★★☆ - 4.6 on Goodreads
★★★★★ - 5.0 on Amazon

Books in the series:

The Risk

Sidetracked
Scarlet Angel
All the Lies
Paint It All Red

In my last post I briefly wrote about my favourite series when discussing the stigma around the romance genre. I read this series for the first time last year but sadly S.T. Abby (also published under the names C.M. Owens and Kristy Cunning) passed away in July of this year. When the news broke I reread this series and so, because I love it so much, I thought I would give it a mention here too.

This series follows Lana and Logan who meet outside a coffee shop one morning and hit it off almost instantly. Except Lana is a serial killer, hunting down the people who left her for dead 10 years ago, and Logan is the FBI agent investigating her murders. As Lana and Logan fall more in love, the body count gets higher. I love this series because you're inside the mind of the killer, and in the end you can't help but take her side and root for her - you want her to get her revenge. It skews your moral compass and is such a fast-paced compelling read, with each book only being around 100-150 pages each.

TW: Very graphic violence, adult language

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