Time for the most expensive comment thread of the month! What are you reading right now? How do you like it?
Me, well, last month I said I was about the start the Tessa Dare that comes out in a week or so… and I haven't started it yet. That's my weekend treat. I found myself reading a lot of contemporary/erotic, especially the Delphine Dryden series, which I re-read after reading book three last week.
What about you? What books are setting your world on fire with happy? Anything you recommend – or do you need a recommendation?
I’m reading Jill Shalvis’ Agnes and the Hitman. I just finished several of Lauren Dane’s Brown Family novels and progressed to her (related) Delicious series. I’d love to read the rest but I can not stand to pay $10.99 for an e-book! Ugh.
I’m mostly reading for book tours; books I’m reading include Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, The Perfume Collector which has very beautiful sentences as well as quotes, At the River’s Edge which I’m liking so far, and The Debt of Tamar which also has lovely writing.
I’m reading the first book in the Delphine Dryden series and like it so far. On the other hand, I just finished the new KGI novel from Maya Banks and, sadly, absolutely hated it.
I´m reading the german translation of Nora Roberts “Genuine Lies” and i like it. My next book will be “Forbidden” by Tabitha Suzuma or “The darkest lie” by Gena Showalter.
I just finished Magic Bites by Ionia Andrews and Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh. I liked them, but I’m not head over heels in love with those authors. At least not yet. I’m not really into super dominant heroes so I wasn’t enthralled with either guy to be honest. I did like the heroines though, and I especially loved Elena’s relationship with Sara, I really appreciate it when heroines have strong female relationships. If the heroes hadn’t been such assholes I might have really loved the books, but right now they’re a 3.5/5 five me right now. I’m interested enough to keep reading both series though.
@Gloria: Give it some time on the Andrews if you can. I don’t like major dominant guys either, but Curran’s really pretty cool, and his relationship with Kate grows and matures.
I’m re-reading Jim Butcher’s Ghost Story. I want to get through both it and Cold Days before Skin Game comes out in May.
I’m currently trying to finish The Shadow of the Wind before it disappears tomorrow night.
I have just read Nalini Singh’s Angel’s Legion and Written in Red by Anne Bishop, and enjoyed both of them.
I’m hoping to read Hexed by Kevin Hearne and Planning for Love by Christi Barth.
Literally just finished Hard as It Gets by Laura Kaye. It’s got a lot of my current catnip: military men, tattoos. Thank you SBTB advertisers. I liked it enough that I’ll read more of the series, but not enough to make it a priority. Special Forces are cool, but they ain’t SEALs.
See my priorities? Wake up. Read. Make coffee. Hit up SBTB. And then read more.
I swore to myself that Archangel’s Legion was next up, but then the GBPL coughed up JAK’s latest and the new Harry Dolan mystery. Has anyone been reading these? He is awesome, and his protagonist is an editor. In keeping with that, I have never had to pull out a red pen while reading his books. And Stephen King’s blurb for the first book: “Great fucking book, man.” I mean, what more do you need to recommend it? Since I hate to keep other people on the wait list… waiting, I’ll probably, regretfully and with longing looks, put Archangel’s Legion back on top of the tbr pile. I have got to stop reserving books at the library until I’ve read the autobuys!
@K F I wouldn’t go as far as say that I hated the new KGI novel but I was really really disappointed. Too much repetition and superficially visting the couples of previous books at the expense of the actual plot. Too little action. Way too little action. Still, I already pre-ordered the next one. If that one is as disappointing, I’ll have to reconsider my commitment to the series.
I’m currently about halfway through the second book in Pamela Clare’s I-Team series, Hard Evidence. I like it and depending on how it ends I might just start reading the next one straight away.
I just finished an older Cara Makenna book, The Reluctant Nude. I love her books so very much. The dialog is as good as it gets.
@Laine, KEEP READING!! The I-Team series gets BETTER as it goes on. I envy you getting to read Kat & Gabe’s book for the first time.
I listened/glommed my way through the available three books in Robyn Carr’s new series, Thunder Point. Eh. While it is quite compelling, it’s not as emotionally intense as Virgin River. It’s also almost more women’s lit than romance. I’m going to keep on it when the next books release, but possibly wait for sales. (In the meanwhile, I’m collecting the Virgin River Series in audio because it’s such a comfort listen.)
I just read Delphine Dryden’s “Theory of Attraction”. Very good. With all those “BDSM 101” explanations, now I’ll know what to recommend if someone ever asks me where’s a good place to dip a toe into the genre; but more importantly it’s a great romance with well-written characters. Cami’s first-person narration has a dual function of really getting across what she gets out of being a submissive, and really conveying her personality, and Ivan’s personality comes through really clearly too which isn’t always the case in 1st person.
I don’t really have a book at the moment (I KNOW). I have a stack of library books on the bedside table and a ridiculously full Kindle, but I’m kinda in the “blah in-between-books” stage. I figure something short to get me back in the reading swing – maybe “A Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula LeGuin. It’s a small book, never read it or anything by her before. Maybe then I can return to tackling the behemoth that is the “Game of Thrones” 5-book set I got before the holidays because it was on sale. Frankly, I’m not really feeling all the feels that so many people seem to have for these books.
I’m not reading romance this weekend. This morning I started ‘The Maltese Falcon’, by Dashiell Hamish, then next on the TBR list is ‘To Be Loved’, by Paul Pilkington.
Above, I typed Hammett, it autocorrected to Hamish. Jeesh! I don’t read THAT many books about Scots.
I am re-reading The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig. I’ve recently gone through a series of books that didn’t work for me—I did a re-read of the last two Bride books by Nora Roberts and I just couldn’t get into them. Then, I tried The First Love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde and I couldn’t get passed the fact that the entire town thought that big cities were evil. How the hell could this woman write that and not expect people to be pissed.
I just finished Jessica McHugh’s The Maiden Voyage, which involves “werebees” and has a definite horror element to the steampunk setting – on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. Quite unusual, and definitely not the kind of romance you might expect after watching the Titanic movie!
I’ve also been meaning to read Build a Man by Talli Roland, since I’ve also toyed with this idea of the “perfect man” being something one might be able to build from scratch, in robotic/android form.
I am reading Hailey’s Truth by Cate Beauman. It is the 3rd in her bodyguards of LA County series. And I am loving them. I just got the 4th in the series for my kindle.
I’m reading Along Came Trouble by Ruthie Knox. It’s part of her Camelot Series. I enjoy how she writes about relationships and sex in such a nuanced, believable way. I look forward to every new book by her.
I’m slowly working my way through Lisa Kleypas’s Wallflower series and Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series. I just finished Again the Magic by Kleypas, after I’d already read Secrets of a Summer’s Night and It Happened One Autumn. I liked this one the least of the series so far. As a whole, the series isn’t captivating me as much as it seems to do for everyone else, but I’m enjoying it.
I’m working on the third Singh book in the Guild Hunter series. I’m not a huge paranormal romance fan, but thought I’d re-dip my toes in with one of the most beloved PNR authors. I like the books better than other paranormal I’ve read, but it would never be my first choice. Although it’s a nice change of pace and I do want to continue with the series for a few more books.
I literally just finished Tessa Dare’s Any Duchess Will Do, and my feels are pretty much ripped from my chest cavity and are at this very moment covering the walls. That book was damned good that I think I want to snuggle it for the rest of the day. I literally want to repeat EVERYTHING I said about this book from my goodreads review, but I figure I’ll just save space for those who are interested and post the non-spoilery sentiments with a URL.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/630200138
Seriously. READ THAT BOOK ALL YE WHO READ THESE WORDS!
I’ve been busy reading. Someone on another blog recommended Sharon Shinn, so I rather rapidly gulped down all five of her 12 Houses series. For those of you easily confused two advance warnings. One of the books is titled 13th House which makes sense in her world building, but as a series title, it sucks. The other thing is that most of her stories contain romances, but one of those in the series does not end with a HEA. That said, I was swept away with the stories. The story arc is also somewhat uneven—book four is really the big moment. Book five is fun, but it has the feel of a long epilogue.
I like my romance and fantasy pretty light at times. Lynn Kurland’s River of Dreams in her Nine Kingdoms series fulfills that perfectly. Her magic is simple, her romance is G or PG, and her plot is fairly predictable. But she picks me up and puts me racing through a magical adventure with this book. Her secondary characters are such fun. My main irritation is that everyone of her heroines thinks she is too low for the hero; that repetition is my main complaint.
I’ve had some sort of hellvirus/food poisoning that has kept me chained to the bathroom since Tuesday. In between running for the loo, I’ve been tearing through books like nobody’s business. I finally finished Miss Buncle’s Book by D. E. Stevenson, then I read Bite Me, Your Grace by Brooklyn Ann, Sweet Revenge by Zoe Archer, and I’m currently reading The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley.
I recommend them all except Bite Me, Your Grace. I really didn’t like anything about that book, but I didn’t hate it either. It was thoroughly meh.
Honestly, once I got into The Firebird, I kept kicking myself for reading anything other than Susanna Kearsley. She’s my ultimate comfort read.
I just finished Belle Cora, which is the fake memoir of a courtesan. It was pretty disappointing, super heavy on the exposition, characters subsumed by plot, but at least the plot was fairly page turnery. It’s not a romance, making it more realistic than most romance novels featuring courtesans – I was supposed to read Bronwyn Stuart’s Behind the Courtesan next but it’s unreadable – and clearly I am impossible to please because I don’t want a heroine who was only ever pretending to be bad but would never ever ever ok just this once as long as we get married, but then if it’s at all plausible, she’s going to die of syphilis. At least TB. Which kinda messes with my HEA.
Next up, an old Suzanne Brockmann I am reasonably certain won’t disappoint.
I had just put Miss Buncle’s Book on hold, knowing nothing but I liked the drawing of the hat on the cover, so I’m very excited to see it recommended.
Currently reading Break It Up by Emily Tippetts, YA – third in this series which I love. Not so fond of her other stuff. Just finished Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand which I liked a fair deal due to its portrayal of the restaurant business, not quite as sold on the romance, but I did enjoy the book a lot. Also just finished The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson which I loved as much as the first book. I will probably read the last book in the series soonish but I am put off by the 12.99 cost. When it comes to ebooks, 9.99 tends to be my upper limit. Now off to look up all the books mentioned above and, quite probably, add to my already huge TBR list.
@ K F I read the latest Maya Banks and eye rolled so much I gave myself a headache. I’m pretty sure I’m done with that series.
Just finished the latest I team book which I enjoyed and now I’m contemplating what to read next. I think it wil be Fangirl which has been sitting patiently on my tbr pile for a while now 🙂
I just finished Agnes and the Hitman (mentioned above) and as I closed it saw JENNIFER CRUSIE instead of Jill Shalvis. I guess I shouldn’t talk about books before I’ve had any caffeine. Sorry for the earlier confusion!
Just finished The Patrician’s Fortune by Joan Kayse which was really very good, lots of action and plot. The heroine was a bit unbelievably naive (I get that she’s been very sheltered but still) but both the H/H are likeable people that you root for. Kayse has clearly done her research and brings out both the pomp and brutality of Ancient Rome, enough that I could forgive the occasional incorrect Latin (and if you’re not a Classical specialist you probably won’t notice.) If you’re looking for a historical in an unusual time period, this is a good place to start.
Just started The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook on the recommendation of several people here and you’re right, ladies, it’s excellent and I’m enjoying it tremendously.
@Laine – I agree that it was really disappointing. I’ll wait until I see some reviews for the next one before I buy it; previously the series was an auto-buy for me.
@Jo – I nearly chucked my Kindle at the wall on almost every page. Clearly I am a glutton for punishment as I eye-rolled my way through both Fever and Burn but still had the KGI one pre-ordered.
I finished the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews and decided to check out their edge series and LOVED it! The edge books have more romance in them and just as much of the dry witty dialogue I love about this author. I loved that each book was a stand alone romance that had a HEA at the end. Sort of getting tired of all the other UF series out there that just throw one problem after another at main characters book after book after book… It was nice to read a book where the romance developed really nicely and reached the ending when it was supposed to!
Also read the latest KGI book and was so disappointed but will still pre order the next book. Also really enjoyed Anne Bishop’s urban fantasy book!
@ Chris Z – Did you like AGNES AND THE HITMAN? I’ve been on a Jennifer Crusie glom-fest, and just finished DON’T LOOK DOWN, which I enjoyed. I have AGNES out from the library, but I don’t know if I can get into a novel with a contract killer as the hero.
@Mzcue -I really enjoyed Agnes and the Hitman. He’s not the type of bad guy hitman anti-hero you expect him to be from the blurb. The dialogue is funny, the story is chaotic and the side characters are great.
I haven’t read Don’t Look Down yet, but I am definitely adding it to my TBR list.
@ Chris Z – So far I’ve been delighted with every one of the Crusie novels I’ve read. I’d seen some people say that her collaborations with Bob Mayer weren’t as good, but haven’t found that to be true at all. I read WILD RIDE, the first of the joint efforts with Mayer, and thought that was peachy. Crusie’s heroines do it for me, even with their various foibles, they’re all substantive, gutsy women. Haven’t had a miss yet. Thanks for the reassurance about Agnes. Now I’ll take a deep breath and dive in.
I just finished reading the Desperate Duchesses series by Eloisa James and I loved it! The first book in the series (also titled “Desperate Duchesses”) was a tough read for a couple reasons. After reading mostly Regency romance I found the switch to the Georgian era a bit of a mental adjustment. Also the heroine’s choice of a fiance following a two-minute, random encounter was kinda ridiculous and made it difficult to like her. That being said, the gradual resolution of her HEA made it worth the effort and the series as a whole was extremely satisfying. The fact that the stories rarely played out in a ballroom was a nice change from usual HR. I liked how the author developed the ongoing storylines of some characters throughout the series (yup, you wanna read this series, in order). And most importantly, despite this being a series, the plots of all 6 books were very different. I never once felt the author was just plugging in a different set of characters to the same problems or motivations I’d read about in the previous story.
As for what I’m reading right now…I’ve just started “Duke of Midnight” from Elizabeth Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series and following that I have book 1 of Lorraine Heath’s Scoundrels of St. James on my TBR pile.
Finished the second Tairen Soul book Lady of Light and Shadows by C. L. Wilson. First half crawled for me, but once all the world building came together for actions I couldn’t put it down.
Halfway through a commentary on the Song of Solomon. It’s interesting enough.
I’ll probably go historical, or maybe something with a mystery next.
I’m re-reading When Strangers Marry by Lisa Kleypas. I first read this a few years ago and recently picked up a copy in the local market’s second-hand bookshop.
I’m currently on a Laura Griffin streak. I read the Fiona Glass books, and I’m currently read the Tracers series. Not the best books I’ve ever read, but suspenseful enough for me, and suits my mood at the moment.
In the fantasy genre I’m currently reading Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta. I’ve also started rereading the Devlin books by Patricia Bray.