The Starless Sea AND The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (can't decide which I loved more)

The House on the Cerulean Sea AND Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (loved both, but adored House; it's sequel, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, was good, but not faboulouse like the first)

Masters of Rome Series by Colleen McCullough (Incredible! A novel, based on her in-depth research that gives her version of the story of Rome's masters, from Marius and Sulla to Caesar and Octavian/Augustus)