A reader named Sheri emailed me, asking if there were a place at SBTB she could talk to other romance readers about what she's reading, and know that folks would understand what she's talking about. Sheri wrote, I would love for there to be a place where all of us fans and romance lovers had a place to talk without a thread, just free form. I am sure there is a place like this somewhere on the internet but I …enjoy your website and its followers so much. I really feel like it would just be an added bonus. I am going to be starting the Evanovich Plum Series and while I feel like this is a big undertaking, I am sure no one in my immediate circle would care. I am sure however that the bitchery would totally understand and give lots of humorous support.
The whole Plum series, all upteen books? Oh, yes, I know exactly what you're facing. The early books will make you laugh hard enough to consider using the bathroom, so be ye warned.
Sheri's email got me thinking, though, about having a Friday afternoon thread for y'all, just to talk about what you're reading right now, or planning to read this weekend. I love hearing about what you're reading when I post the Top 10 list, but perhaps a separate thread just for discussing what you're reading would be of interest. I'll tag them all “reader thread” for easy following.
So, whatcha reading?
I really want to get to 3 since the one character in that book has a tie in over in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series that I love!
I do have favorites, but I reread the whole series. I’m a little OCD that way. I just picked up the first two stories in her MAcGregors series.
I got a Kindle for Christmas, and have been using it to satisfy my desire for absurd contemporary romance… I’ve been going through my library’s e-collection of Harlequins. I think I’m up to the F’s now. The last one was English Doctor, Italian Something-or-other (Bride? Virgin? Nurse?).
But I did just finish Anne Gracie’s newest novel, and I enjoyed it. She was one of the first romance authors that I absoluely adored. I haven’t been as fond of her newer material as I am of her older books, but this one was fun. =)
You could try Simone Elkeles’ Perfect Chemistry trilogy, wrong-side-of-the-tracks romances featuring three brothers. They’re Latino, so that might appeal, although they have Mexican heritage (not Caribbean). No supernatural goings-on, though. Maureen Johnson is great for humor and witty dialogue if you’re going for idioms and whatnot. There’s usually some romance thrown in, too. Spoiled is one of the funniest YAs I’ve read in a long time, and Girl, Stolen by April Henry is a really fast, suspenseful book – great for reluctant readers.
I just finished Heartless, the 4th book in the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. Paranormal steampunk, which sounds like it shouldn’t work at all, but it does. But the best part is the Victorian-esque language and sensibilities, it’s soooo good, just perfectly turned out sentences (On werewolves: “Dealing with eternity requires a certain complexity of spirit.”) and endlessly amusing dialogue on the importance of a properly tied cravat. I gobble that kind of stuff up like a bag of pretzel M&Ms…
Ah, my romance reading has become so enhanced (and encouraged) with my new Kindle. I lurve it so much. *strokes it in happiness*
Because of Le Kindle, I have recently discovered that Tessa Dare is awesomesauce with a historical romance (Goddess of the Hunt had me constantly amused, and I loved the hero and heroine to death.) I also recently read an m/m, The Boy Next Door, that was so good. Not too long, but very emotionally strong (and draining – so much angst and angsty sex.)
I’m really wanting to read more m/m now as a result, but there’s just so much out there. I’m trying to read a variety of it, and would like both heavy and light books (though light meaning light on angst-fest.) Recommendations would be great if anyone has them. I have also been trolling my library’s e-book catalog (which is where I got the Dare) and have been figuring out what I want to tackle next. Digital reading. I am a quick and welcome convert.
@LG – Be careful with Mercedes Lackey. I think a lot of people, myself included, feel the quality of her books has taken a sharp dive in recent years. The Outstretched Shadow (not a Valdemar) wasn’t bad, and the two books that followed it, but everything else of hers I’ve read lately has been sub par at best. Intrigues, the first in her latest Valdemar trilogy, was very, very blah. Tread carefully.
I’m rereading Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt. I read it on a vacation last year, and while I knew I enjoyed it and remembered some details, it wasn’t sticking out to me like Wicked Intentions did (damn, that was a good one). I’ve got the third in that series in my TBR pile, and I want to be ready.
Oh! And I just finished rereading Wuthering Heights. I read it at 14, after falling in love with Jane Eyre, and hated it with a passion (I’m sure this is a common experience among us). But I figured it deserved a second chance, and I want to keep up with the recent Wuthering Heights comics over at Harkavagrant.com. I no longer hate it with a passion, but it will never come close to being as awesome as Jane Eyre. Heathcliff blows, Rochester rules. ‘Nuff said.
I’m reading Zoe Archer’s Collision Course, and will follow up w/ the sequel (Chain Reaction) when I’m done.
This past week, I’ve been reading some of those old MC Beaton/Marion Chesney books that have been released as ebooks. Some I’ve liked and some, well, not so much.
I’m not a huge fan of contemporaries, but Susan Donovan’s Take a Chance on Me was really good. I’d definitely like to try some of her other books now.
Reread part of Victoria Alexander’s A Visit from Sir Nicholas, but just couldn’t get into it this time around. I may try one more time after I’ve taken a break, but then it goes back into the archives.
Also taking a break from Harper Fox’s Last Line. Not because it isn’t any good, but because it got so intense I needed some fluff (sorta like when you pause the DVD to go into the kitchen because it got to be too much all of a sudden). I’m only at the halfway mark but it’s blowing me away.
Lauren Willig has a nice feature on her blog on Fridays where she lists the books she’s read over the past week (it’s always an impressive list) and asks readers about what they’ve been reading. It’s a really great way to get ideas and feedback. She also has an “if you liked X, then you might also like Y, Z, etc.” feature. Just be warned, tho—you’ll find new books you just have to add to your TBR piles.
SB Sarah—is there a way that we can respond to other posters’ comments where the thread will show up with the original comment and not just as a new comment with the “in reply to XX” notation? It would be great to be able to “immediately” respond to a comment/question. And, yes, the moon—I’d also like the moon (since I’m being greedy). 😀
Oops. Forgot that I also read Jennifer Estep’s Mythos Academy YA books (2 novels, one short so far). Really enjoyed book #1. Book #2 wasn’t as strong, IMO, but still like the series and can’t wait for #3.
No need to duck. You are not alone, but I guess I soon will be! Off to the GBPL page to reserve so I’m not the last woman standing
OK, just one more comment!
I started reading Evanovich many (many) years ago when I walked into my boss’s office and caught her shoving a book under her desk. When she saw it was me, she pulled it back out and said she was literally reading the last sentence of One for the Money and just had to finish. So, she finished the last sentence and then handed the book to me to read.
Some of the books kinda blur to me and I can’t always tell by the description if I’ve read the latest one or not, but I still love them. They are one of my few genuine LOL reads. I gave several books to my sister to read during her chemo sessions to keep her spirits up. Even my straitlaced elderly mother loves them—Lula is her fave.
(I’m just dreading the movie w/ Katherine Heigl as Stephanie. I hope someone here will watch it and report on it for the rest of the team.)
The early Evanovich books made me laugh out loud, to the point where even the dog looked at me like I was nuts. The more recent ones? Not so much and I can’t stand the thought of Katherine Heigl as Stephanie. Ugh.
I’m working my way through Sabrina Jeffries Hellions of Halstead Hall series (on book #3 now.) I started them a little out of order, but they are still terrific. I found her because I got a Kindle for my birthday and went on a book buying spree targeting authors I’d never read before. Good for me, not so good for my wallet.
Are you in Rhode Island? I think we go to the same library! Mine also has only the first and the third books for several different series- it is intensely frustrating. And it’s a state wide system, so it’s not like just requesting the second book from a different library is an option. I vote conspiracy!
Just finished Anne Gracie’s Bride by Mistake and Shana Galen’s Lord and Lady Spy, I really enjoyed both.
I’m currently reading Jenn LeBlanc’s The Rake and The Recluse ‘cos I got a Kindle for my birthday and I’d been wanting to read this for a while.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making.
I’m a huge fan of Kristen Ashley, so this weekend I’m finishing up Lacybourne Manor and hoping her new book Play It Safe comes out this weekend.
For caper/heist books: Faking It by Jennifer Crusie!
I just finished Jayne Ann Krentz’s In Too Deep. I’m so in love in Fallon Jones that I am now re-reading his parts of Fired Up, Sizzle and Burn and other modern Arcane.
Death Comes to Pemberly by P. D. James. I was excited about this one – murder mystery at Jane Austen’s Pemberly with Elizabeth and Darcy married about 5 years. I’m in the middle of it and not so excited anymore but I’m reserving judgment until the end.
I’m currently re-reading “Lothaire” because I loved it! Here’s my review:
Lothaire, the Enemy of Old, has, what he thinks is the perfect bride in the Evil Sorceress Saroya…or has he? There is the little problem of his “perfect” bride not having her own body and needing to reside in the body of the ill-bred appalachain, hillbilly, deathrow inmate (long story), Elizabeth (Ellie) Peirce. Every now and then Saroya likes to take possession of Ellie’s body from her, and torture and kill people just for fun. Now that’s a bride for Lothaire, Enemy of Old… manipulative, evil, cruel and sorta cuckoo and once he exorcises Ellie’s soul from her body, he and Saroya will rule together happily together. But…when Ellie touches him…he feels passion that he has never felt before…surely this peasant can’t be the Bride who will make one of the oldest and evilest Vampires heart beat…or is she?
I’m a big fan of Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series, but I have to admit to being more partial to the books in which the Lykae and Demons take center stage, if only because they are written more playful and less brooding and depressed about their state of immortality…as many of the Vampires are. But Lothaire loves what he is and what he can do and that’s why I love him…he’s pretty much evil and completely insane, but he’s so entertaining and he has some of the best one liners. And Ellie is a perfect match for him, she doesn’t let him push her around. She’s smart, funny and tough.
I think what I really loved about this book (aside from the Lothaire/Ellie romance) was the interactions of the main characters with new Loreans (such as the Daci’s) and the return of characters like Thad (the Vampire/Phantom hafling from “Dreams of a Dark Warrior) and of course Nuckin’ Futs Nix! Finding out more about Nix and Lothaire’s relationship was wonderful. I have to admit to wanting her to be his bride after reading their scenes in previous IAD books, but I think the relationship played out in “Lothaire” is better. More dots are being connected for the Vampire caste and I gotta give kudos to Kresley Cole…she keeps this stuff on point, everything is connecting and builds more anticipation for the next book. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out!
I’m in a bit of a romance drought at the moment. I have a whole bunch of library books to finish, and none of them are romance.
I’m currently about halfway through House of Leaves which is… interesting. (And due back Tuesday.)
I’m currently about a quarter way through Showalter’s “The Darkest Surrender.” While I am finding it amusing, I’m finding it to be a little bit too Kresley Cole-ish. Harpies and Valkyries, too many similarities. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kresley Cole, but she has a unique voice that shouldn’t be tried to be imitated. But the jackass hero does make me giggle.
I’m in line to get “Lothaire” and “Copper Beach,” plus Medeiros’ “The Pleasure of Your Kiss” from the library as soon as they are processed.
In the TBR pile are Robb’s “Stranger in Death,” Carlyle’s “The Bride Wore Scarlet,” Andrew’s “Magic Burns,” and Willis’s “Miracle and Other Christmas Stories” (which I requested before Christmas but didn’t come in until now). After it was mentioned on here as a free read, I downloaded “All Seated on the Ground” and enjoyed it, so I requested more. Thanks, Bitchery!
I love Connie Willis, especially To Say Nothing of the Dog and Bellweather! They’re not traditional romance, but they are awesome and have a HEA. I’m currently 1/2 way through a Darlene Marshall pirate romance and I just finished The White Garden by Stephanie Barron (historical mystery with a hint of romance) yesterday. It was really good.
I got the Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland etc for Christmas. I started it, didn’t have time to get into it, set it aside and forgot about it. Maybe I’ll pull it out again.
I have all of NR’s series books. They can be formulaic, but each character has a unique trait that keeps me coming back for more.
I just finished To Wed a Wild Lord. You can already tell who some of the characters in the next series will be. Can’t wait for the final story. I think it comes out next month (?). Need to look it up on Amazon.
Sabrina Jeffries’ earlier books got too graphic sometimes, but with the Hellions of Halstead Hall she has toned down the sex to a point where it doesn’t dominate the plot. Unlike Stephanie Laurens whose recent books have bordered on erotica with the couple having sex from the moment they meet and then realizing it’s love because they’re two beautiful people. What else could it be? (sarcasm alert)
I love Connie Willis’s Oxford time travel series. The “Blackout” and “All Clear” duet also has a couple of sweet romances in it.
Just finished Lothaire. Lovely and dark. (Sidenote: So looking forward to Nix getting her story—isn’t everyone? And I’m looking forward to see what happens with Thad. In the middle of this dark universe where so many are tormented and have big ugly pasts of misdeeds done to them and misdeeds they’ve done to others, he’s just sweet.) And for fun, rereading some of His at Night—because Sherry Thomas rocks.
Loulou, I really don’t think I will bother with the third one. Usually I feel compelled to finish trilogies/series (like the good girl who’s been raised to finish all the food on her plate!) but I was so irritated by the ridiculous turns the plot took at the end of the second Grey book that I don’t feel even a bit inclined to see what comes next.
I’ll be finishing up the delightful Travels with Charley by Steinbeck then will read Unclaimed by Courtney Milan. I really liked the first one, Unveiled, so I am hoping the second is as good.
i’m having trouble committing to the individual books! agree about liu’s voice and writing style, i think that’s why i’m trying to stick with it. i had a lot of trouble with tiger eye though. not so much with the shapeshifter held in captivity bit. more the ‘has been tortured and forced to kill/maim for 2000 years but is now able to trust one woman because she says trust me’ bit.
and if you like paranormal romance that doesnt require a lot of effort to remember worldbuilding facts, i really enjoyed patricia briggs’ mercy thompson series. and have you read the kate daniels series by ilona andrews? i was late to that party, but boy am i glad i jumped on board.
@ Margueite Kaye…I am with you -Silent on the Moor (3rd DR book) is SOOOOOO good. I have re-read it a few times! The 4th book (Dark Road to Darjeeling) was good but I was so very disappointed by the newest book The Dark Enquiry. I was so irritated by Julia’s demeanor and the decisions she made. Did anyone else feel that way??
@Marguerite Kaye – I was looking for inspiration but seeing your name pop up reminded me how much I liked Innocent in the Sheikh’s Harem. Three clicks later and now I’m reading the follow up – perfect for a Saturday afternoon on the sofa.
The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Amazingly romantic but very sad, get your hankies out. Although it really doesn’t have an HEA, it is very uplifting and beautiful.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch is one of the best caper novels I have ever read. The second book was also good, title escapes me at the moment.
I also just finished How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown. What a good book! It even has romance in it – he met his wife, got married and had a baby all while discovering “planets” that would later prove that Pluto was not one…
Even the online library here (Midwest Library Collaborative) is missing books in many series like that. I don’t get it.
Loved that short story/novella. Read the Doomsday Book and thought it was very repetitive – got tired of “she had to get to the drop!” every other page. Yes, we know, dear! So I read Blackout, and had the same reaction…but now I am trapped and have to find out what happens to everyone.
I read that recently, my first of Susanna Kearsley’s books, and I was smitten and immediately got Mariana.