Whatcha Reading?

Bitchin' Blog Posts

by SB Sarah | by SB Sarah | June 08, 2012 | Friday at 9:11 am | 84 Comments

I love hearing what books you're reading every so often - which is why I love this open thread of sorts to get all nosy in your reading business. Whatcha reading?

As for me, I am reading a YA due out in August that Jane recommended to me, Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry ( A | BN | K | S) - which I can never remember the title of, despite seeing it. It's the "kissing in the dark hallway cover" book. Then I have to go look it up. My memory is a ridiculous silly place. (And then, as I was looking up the "kissing in the dark hallway cover," I found Jennifer Echols' July book, Such a Rush, ( A | BN | K | S) which sounds all kinds of cool: a teen from a trailer park learns to pilot planes in secret.

But since Pushing the Limits is not out until late July (the 31st, which I am told in Publishing Land, is actually August, despite it being the last day of July. At least my memory is not the only ridiculous silly place!), and Such a Rush isn't out until mid-July (which is Publishing Land is probably December 2016) and I haven't read either one yet, I can tell you that I just finished reading Kate Noble's novella, The Dress of the Season ( A | BN | K | S), which I liked, but didn't love, and which is totally available right now. There's a lot of telling and overexplaining, but I very much liked the intelligent heroine and her determination. I just realized how difficult it is to describe a novella plot, as it's really flipping easy to give away too much! Let's see if I can do it in less than 30 words: Felicity is the ward of Harris, who is better known as Austere Osterley. They were childhood friends, but now he holds himself apart from her, and everything. (They aren't quite snowbound, which I have a total weakness for, but they are certainly rainbound, which is JUST AS GOOD). (The parenthesis do NOT COUNT in the quest for less-than-30.) (Word counts suck.)

So, what are you reading this weekend? Anything totally making you joyous this week? What books are you into? Share share!

Filed: General Bitching, Random Musings

Tagged: ya romance, whatcha reading, romance, kate noble, historical romance

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Ladyof Lostshadows said on 06.08.12 at 09:31 AM • [link]

I’m currently in the middle of Treachery in Death and hope to move on to New York to Dallas by tonight.
Anna said on 06.08.12 at 09:49 AM • [link]

I’m in the middle of Code Name Verity, about two young women behind enemy lines in WWII. So far it’s a very intense read and very well crafted (albeit not a romance). I think after this I’ll have to read something light and fun.
Joe LeRoy said on 06.08.12 at 10:28 AM • [link]

Right now I’m currently reading “When Passion Rules” by Johanna Lindsey. This is the first Johanna Lindsey book ive ever read and so far i’m enjoying it. Hopefully I can finish it this evening after I get home from work so I can start reading “The Devil You Know” by Liz Carlyle…
Mirandaflynn said on 06.08.12 at 10:37 AM • [link]

Just started Soul Hunt by Margaret Ronald. It’s the latest in the Evie Scelan series.
MissB2U said on 06.08.12 at 10:40 AM • [link]

I’m re-reading a couple of J.R. Whard’s (heh), books because I need to load up on brain candy right now. Many of my in-laws are coming to visit and my oldest is moving out to college and I’m sorta freaking out. Yeah.
cate said on 06.08.12 at 10:52 AM • [link]

I’ve just finished Earth Girl by Janet Edwards which is a YA sci fi novel ..It’s brilliant ! And I’m 3 chapters into The Parisians Return by Janet Stagg - not technically romance, although there is a very sweet love story involved - and it’s just as funny and touching as her first book. Vive la Weekend !
Jeannie S said on 06.08.12 at 10:58 AM • [link]

I am reading a young adult book, Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles. very compelling story about a boy who hits a girl while driving drunk and spend time in a juvenile jail and the relationship they have when he returns home. Really good! I will be reading the next book in this series.
Bnbsrose said on 06.08.12 at 11:02 AM • [link]

Just finished Kate Noble’s “If I Fall” and, like the “The Dress of the Season”, it was a like, but not love experience.

Started Lauren Dane’s latest Federation installment this morning. Nothing like red hot M/M/F action to perk up a Friday morning.

And then I’m all over “Crucilbe of Gold” for my Sunday beach read. Okay, it’s not the beach. It’s a lounge chair on my miniscule patio, but the peach chardonnay 10 steps away in the fridge beats sand in your bathing suit any day.
ECSpurlock said on 06.08.12 at 11:41 AM • [link]

I am in the middle of “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield which is OMGFANTASTIC! It is actually a modern Gothic which harks back a lot to books like “Jane Eyre”, “The Woman in White” (which are referenced multiple times) and especially “Rebecca”. This is a brilliant book and I recommend it highly if you like classic Gothic tales.

Before that it was the Old Skool angstravaganza “Shadow of a Lady” by Jane Aiken Hodge and let me tell you the crazysauce cup, it runneth over. Rape! Revolution! Volcanic eruptions! Unrealistically fast-growing plot moppets! Homicidal homosexual pseudo-husbands! You name the trope, we gots it! If you like the old skool crazysauce, have at it!
Jennifer Estep said on 06.08.12 at 11:53 AM • [link]

I’m hoping to read some YA this weekend. Maybe The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen or Touch of Power by Maria Snyder. I also have some contemporaries to read, including About That Night by Julie James and Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey.
Vicki said on 06.08.12 at 11:55 AM • [link]

@ECSpurlock - Yes, The Thirteenth Tale is excellent - all the way through - enjoy. I also love Jane Aiken Hodge but can’t find her in ebook format - are you reading books without batteries or do you have a secret source?

I just finished The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman which is horror but not too horrible - I really liked it. I am now rereading Mercedes Lackey. She writes as if she is talking to 8 year olds and yet the stories are like crack to me - working my way through the 500 Kingdoms series again. A little spicier than her usual stuff. And I should cut her some slack - my daughter says I always sound as if I’m talking to 6 year olds, which is true since I’m a pediatrician.
Jane said on 06.08.12 at 12:03 PM • [link]

I have been proselytizing about Katie McGarry’s Pushing the Limits. It’s a great romance that I think even adults can appreciate. The challenges the seniors are experiencing go far beyond dealing with a breakup or being popular in college. Noah is a foster kid whose life was totally destroyed when he lost his parents at age 14 and was put in the foster system. He hit his foster father in an attempt to protect a younger kid in the home and was labeled “trouble” and separated from his two younger brothers. His whole goal is to get a job, whether it is managing a fast food joint or something else, and put his family back together.

Echo is a girl who lost her brother in the Afghanistan war, lost her mother to a mental disease, and lost her family when her father married their nanny. She is afraid she suffers from her mother’s mental illness and has been blocking out a terrible event involving her mom because she is afraid of what the memory might hold.
Graniagrace said on 06.08.12 at 12:20 PM • [link]

Just re-read my way through all of Patricia Briggs Omega Wolf series, because I LOVE Charles and Anna, and I want more about Da (Alpha of Alphas, Marrok of the western world, and pancake maker extraordinaire). I thought it was hard waiting for new J. D. Robb or G. A. Aiken books - but nothing is as fraught as waiting to see what the Fae have in store for the world, and if Samuel will be truly happy, and if Mercedes and Anna will ever be Besties. Vampires and Shifters and Fae, Oh My!
Mikaela Lind said on 06.08.12 at 12:34 PM • [link]

I am in the mood for Fantasy lately, so I am re-reading books I haven’t read in years. I am leaning towards re-reading Curt Benjamin next. ( And I would *love* to know who he is an pseudonym for! All Goodreads say is that he writes Contemporary fantasy normally.)
AKD said on 06.08.12 at 12:49 PM • [link]

I recently started reading Mary Balogh, so I checked out a ton of books by her from the library and have been avidly consuming them. Also, I just read Courtney Milan’s Unraveled, which I liked a lot, so I got some of her other books.
Carrie Gwaltney said on 06.08.12 at 01:02 PM • [link]

In print—I’m presently reading “Firelight” by Kristen Callihan and enjoying it. I’ve got Karen Robard’s “Shattered” and Jill Shalvis’s “Lucky in Love” checked out from the library, so they’ll probably be next.

On audio—I just finished Sandra Brown’s “Envy” (5 star listen—fabulous narration), and plan to start “A Civil Campaign” by Lois McMaster Bujold next.
Elizabeth Gunther said on 06.08.12 at 01:11 PM • [link]

I just finished Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts. I have to say it is one of the worst books I have ever read by her. Now, I’m cleansing my Nora pallet with the Three Sisters Island Series.
Danielle TBQ said on 06.08.12 at 01:11 PM • [link]

Right now I’m in the middle of Suzanne Ellison’s (older book—‘92), “Arrowpoint”. It’s booke seven in the connected series, ‘Welcome to Tyler’, where each book is done by a different author. So far, so good! :)

Just curious, how many of you have read this series? I know we’re always talking about new releases or upcoming books, but how many, other than myself, still read old books? :)

I came across this series last summer when I found book 1 in my used bookstore; it looked good, so I grabbed it up, only to find out later that it was part of a long series. Needless to say, I had to have the rest of the series, but as these are older books (‘92-ish), they are out of print, and not in e-book (yet). So between digging through my used bookstore and shelling out money online to have some used copies shipped to me, I finally found all of them.

If you like the connected-community type of books, with a good romance (if not always very spicy), and a bit of a mystery, which continues through the entire series, I highly recommend picking these up. If, you know, you happen to see them cheap in a used bookstore somewhere. :) I’m only about half way through the series, but I’ve really enjoyed each and every one. My grandmother, whom I share books like this with, read the entire series as soon as I found them, and she really liked them! :)

After this book, I think it’s back to review books, though the ones I have are all ones that are out or will be out within a few weeks—no ARCs for next year for me. ;) Lol.

Enjoy!
TBQ
CK said on 06.08.12 at 01:13 PM • [link]

I’m reading Moonglow by Kristen Callihan. It’s the sequel to Firelight which I enjoyed. Just finished Undercover Alliance by Lilly Cain which was a good scifirotica.
Croceon said on 06.08.12 at 01:26 PM • [link]

I read Shiver this afternoon and while I did not find it as horrible as I expected, I still plan on obliviating myself with a good dose of The Silmarillion this evening. For the weekend I have The Duke and I, which I actually only purchased last Monday as the first of two books I only bought because I saw them here. Second was Her Best Worst Mistake, which I bought on impulse and totally consumed last night.
And, because this weekend is blessedly work-free, for once, I’m going to re-read Faunblut by Nina Blazon. Which is actually an originally German YA book, now that I think about it. Huh. That’s rare.
cleo said on 06.08.12 at 01:42 PM • [link]

Yesterday I read two novellas - The Girl with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir and Slow Summer Kisses by Shannon Stacey and both were great, in completely different ways. The Girl with the Cat Tattoo is one of those stories that really shouldn’t work but it totally does (it’s a romance with a bit of a mystery, and one of the narrators is a matchmaking cat - but it works - not cutesy or cheesy at all). I highly recommend it if you have to sit in a doctor’s office or other unpleasant waiting room.

I also read Castaway Dreams by Darlene Marshall - sequel to Sea Change - and it’s so good. Gave me that good book goofy smile look. Read Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh, which I enjoyed, but didn’t love, and definitely didn’t get giddy or gooey over.

I did get giddy and gooey over Country Mouse by Amy Lane and Aleksandr Voinov - an m/m and bdsm novella about a laid back America traveling in Europe who hooks up with a driven yuppy Brit. It’s both sweet and hot - my fave combination in that type of story.
Karenmc said on 06.08.12 at 01:53 PM • [link]

I’m about halfway through Rose Lerner’s A Rose Among Thornes. The first few chapters were a bit bumpy for me, but now things are chugging along just fine, and I appreciate the beta hero’s impressions of the heroine, a woman who spends much of her time and energy using anger as a defense mechanism. Not as impressive as In for a Penny, but still good. I believe I saw somewhere recently that Ms. Lerner is without a publisher (someone correct me if that’s wrong); I like her writing and hope she releases more books in the future.
Crystal Grey-Hewett said on 06.08.12 at 02:18 PM • [link]

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal.
JL said on 06.08.12 at 02:27 PM • [link]

I’m working my way through Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series. Luckily, they can be read completely out of order. I started with the first one, but the library recalled it before I could finish. Then I checked out a newer one, which was quite funny. But going back to the older ones, the humour seems to be missing (or I’m missing it?).

I have the newest from Stacia Kane, Nicole Peeler and Jenn Bennett on order, plus the second in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series. I own all the others but that one and have so many friends that I’m trying to pimp them out to who don’t use libraries that I have been forced to buy it. I like having complete collections, though, so it’s all good!
DreadPirateRachel said on 06.08.12 at 02:32 PM • [link]

I won’t be reading anything this weekend because I’ll be too busy trying to finish the last research papers of the term—which are, incidentally, the last research papers I will EVER have to do for college. Graduate next week! W00t!
ReneeK said on 06.08.12 at 02:37 PM • [link]

I’m reading the new Anita Blake…

Oh LKH…I just can’t quit you.
Des Livres said on 06.08.12 at 02:57 PM • [link]

finished it yesterday. She’s written worse.
elianara said on 06.08.12 at 03:24 PM • [link]

I just bought and started “Bitterblue” by Kristin Cashore. I actually liked “Fire” better than “Graceling”, so I’m looking forward to Bitterblue’s tale.
Readsalot81 said on 06.08.12 at 03:45 PM • [link]

I picked up Easy by Tammara Webber recommended by Dear Author. I have the novella, Scandal, by Carrie Lofty. Also on deck, The Emperor’s Knife by Mazarkis Williams and A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean.
SusannaG said on 06.08.12 at 03:46 PM • [link]

Just finished a re-read of my favorite Heyer, The Grand Sophy.
Nadia said on 06.08.12 at 04:17 PM • [link]

I have four books going right now:

Finally cracked open Lisa Gardner’s “Catch Me” because eventually the library will want it back. Was just getting sucked in when I got distracted, will have to get back soon.

Halfway through Joey W. Hill’s “Something About Witches” but I keep putting it down for something more shiny.

Still have Meljean Brook’s “Demon Moon” on the nightstand. I will finish it one day. Really. I have too many more in the series in my TBR closet not to.

And finally, “The Cocoa Conspiracy” which is second in Andrea Penrose’s Lady Arianna Regency Mystery series. Mystery, romance, chocolate - what’s not to like?
Linda S said on 06.08.12 at 04:43 PM • [link]

I picked up Pamela Clare’s novella Skin Deep, which I really enjoyed, but the short story in the back “Marc and Julian Make a Beer Run” made me immediately have to read the entire I-Team series. I am in the middle of Unlawful Contact now, which is my favorite to date. I don’t know how I missed these before!
Mom_on_the_Run2001 said on 06.08.12 at 04:51 PM • [link]

Just reread the 2 Abigail Reynold’s Woods Hole books The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice and Morning Light…and wondering when the next one is coming out.
Carolyn Jewel said on 06.08.12 at 05:11 PM • [link]

I just finished reading Wool (Omnibus Edition) It was fantastic and washed away the awful reaction I had to a Romance in which the heroine, in her 30’s, has sex with a 15 year old boy. All I could think was, if I found out some woman was doing that with my 16 year old son, I’d want to do murder. I don’t care what excuse the author dreams up for it. It’s wrong.

But back to Wool. I highly recommend it. I loved Courtney Milan’s The Governess Affair, also a recent read.
pamelia said on 06.08.12 at 05:29 PM • [link]

I have fallen hard for Kristen Ashley and just finished her Dream Man series. Love! I have found my new kindle-crack, oh yes I have.
I am going to read “A Gentleman Undone” by Cecelia Grant next for a change of pace.
Melonie Johnson said on 06.08.12 at 05:39 PM • [link]

Reading the new novella from Roni Loren: Still Into You. But, it’s a novella, and I started it this morning, so I’ll probably wrap it up tonight….As a woman with 2 kids who is rounding the curve to her 11th year of marriage - this story is easy to relate to.

Also in the middle of re-reading the first romance novel I ever read, found last weekend on a trip to Half Price Books: Johanna Lindsey’s Savage Thunder. Sexxoring on a horse for the win!
Layla A said on 06.08.12 at 05:39 PM • [link]

I’m reading Nell Stark’s “Homecoming.” I’ve been waiting to read this for a while - thank God it’s the weekend.
KarenF said on 06.08.12 at 06:32 PM • [link]

I’m REreading Julie James: Something About You (having just read “About that Night” which I adored, I’m now going back to read the whole series back to back).
ECSpurlock said on 06.08.12 at 07:06 PM • [link]

@#11 Vickie: I was putting my bookshelves back in order after my kids (and the older one’s girlfriend) ransacked them and stumbled across a cache of old JAH paperbacks I had bought in college (as well as some Edna Ferbers and Norah Lofts; I was into the historical angstfests then) and didn’t remember reading them, so I pulled them all out and had a go at them in between my newer purchases. So sorry, I’m no help there. I am not sure whether her backlist will be put up as e-books; it will probably depend on whoever’s in charge of her literary estate.
Sam said on 06.08.12 at 07:18 PM • [link]

I’m…between books. *screams into the void* THE HORROR (will not last more than like another hour before something takes my fancy.)
Crystal F. said on 06.08.12 at 07:31 PM • [link]

Charming the Prince, by Teresa Medeiros.
Jenny Dolton said on 06.08.12 at 08:19 PM • [link]

I just finished… something or other. Can’t even remember the title. Obviously, it made a great impression. Hmph. Really glad it was a library book.

I think I’ll probably pick up a comfort re-read next. I’m in the middle of listening to one Lisa Kleypas’ historicals… maybe one of her contemporaries? Or a Julie Garwood. I’ll be traveling next week—need to load up the kindle!
NicoleE said on 06.08.12 at 08:21 PM • [link]

Currently reading a variety of books for a variety of reasons: Bound to you by Bethany Kane, Catherine the Great by Robert Massie and Why am I depressed? by James Phelps.
PamG said on 06.08.12 at 08:40 PM • [link]

I finished Julia Spencer-Fleming’s All Mortal Flesh about half an hour ago. It’s the 5th book in the series and definitely the most twisted and angst-ridden. Unlike it’s predecessors the intensity is unrelieved by the touches of humor that kept said predecessors from being full-fledged mea culpa fests. Doesn’t matter because I am thoroughly hooked. The writing is sterling, characterization outstanding, and plotting exemplary. I already have I Shall Not Want rarin’ to go. Once I finish the series, it’ll be Redshirts by John Scalzi and then the latest Sookie Stackhouse.
April V. said on 06.08.12 at 08:46 PM • [link]

Audiobook: Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters - enjoying the heck out of Vicky Bliss and her sassy self.

Currently in the middle of Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan which is the second book (although it is combined the third and fourth books of the original set) and it is excellent.

Also recently finished An Affair with Mr. Kennedy which was excellent - sweet romance, hot sex, art, family and mystery/adventure. Good stuff.
Ilona said on 06.08.12 at 09:00 PM • [link]

I’m reading The Seduction of Phaeton Black by Jillian Stone.
Carrie Gwaltney said on 06.08.12 at 09:10 PM • [link]

@ Ilona—I’m very curious about that book. What do you think so far?
Converseleigh said on 06.08.12 at 09:51 PM • [link]

My husband asked me to stop buying so many e-books on my nook for awhile so I made a trip to my bookshelf and I am rereading Karen Marie Moning’s earlier works. I honestly like them better than her Fever series, not really being an apocalyptic kind of gal.
Susanna Fraser said on 06.08.12 at 10:03 PM • [link]

Several years back I made a bucket list that included “Read War and Peace,” and I just started it this week. I’m reading it on my lunch hour at work, 30-45 minutes/day, and Kindle says I’m 6% through. Even assuming the last 10% or so of the file is footnotes and translations of French dialogue, I figure I won’t finish till sometime in September. I’m enjoying it so far—good thing, too. I’m not sure I could make it through something this long if it felt like homework.

I’ve also just started Diana Gabaldon’s The Scottish Prisoner, and I just finished Louisa Edwards’ Too Hot to Touch.
Susan said on 06.08.12 at 10:52 PM • [link]

Read The Girl with the Cat Tatoo by Theresa Weir last nite. It was cute and wonderful.

Just now finishing up William Dietrich’s Napoleon’s Pyramids.

Read the Ilona Andrews short story in the Hexed anthology. . . and then moved on to the Jim Butcher story, which I liked very much, much to my surprise. I had started the first Harry Dresden book several years ago and didn’t like it. But, based on the short story I gave it another shot today. I’m a couple of chapters in and like it; it’s nothing at all like I remember. Weird.

Finally read Carriger’s Timeless. I’d been putting it off because I really didn’t want to say goodbye to the series. It was a bittersweet read.

Enjoyed A Soldier’s Duty, a non-romance sci-fi by romance writer Jean Johnson.

Confession time: I like those old Jane Aiken Hodge books. :-)
Karin said on 06.09.12 at 09:25 AM • [link]

I loved the chocolate recipes at the beginning of each chapter in the first of Andrea Penrose’s Lady Arianna mysteries. It’s worth buying the book just for that, although I like her writing as Cara Elliott & Andrea Pickens better. I’ve been going through the backlist of Andrea Pickens books which were published as Signet Regencies. I’m also reading an old series that Mary Jo Putney did, called “Fallen Angels” which is fantastic. It’s got the most tormented, angstiest bunch of heroes you could imagine, and the heroines have a lot of depth too. #1 Thunder and Roses, #2 Petals in the Storm, #3 Dancing in the Wind, #4 Angel Rogue, #5 Shattered Rainbows, #River of Fire, #7 One Perfect Rose. Excellent historical detail about coal mining in #1, and the Battle of Waterloo in #5. It’ll be too intense to read these all in a row, so I plan to break it up with something lighthearted, Julia Quinn’s “A Night Like This”.
Karin said on 06.09.12 at 09:33 AM • [link]

Forgot to mention, Jane Aiken Hodge books can best be found in the library, especially an old small town library that never gets around to clearing old hardcovers from their shelves.
And I’m very intriqued by a new YA, “Keeping the Castle” by Patrice Kindl. Has anyone read/heard about it?
Amandag_18 said on 06.09.12 at 11:05 AM • [link]

I was reading ‘Hot Item’ by Carly Phillips but I don’t think I’m going to finish it. Just not very exciting, not the best writing, and supremely predictable. So I’m going to start ‘Make her Pay’ by Roxanne St. Clair
Kate Hewitt said on 06.09.12 at 11:24 AM • [link]

I’m reading The King’s Concubine by Anne O’Brien and Weekend Arrangement by Barbara Wallace, switching between the two depending on my mood.
Lisa Pegg said on 06.09.12 at 11:40 AM • [link]

Glommed most of the Robert Asprin “Myth” books at the UBS yesterday so I’m settling in with those today. Also potentially on deck: either some Rachel Gibson or the new Jennifer Estep “Dark Frost”. Oh, or any of the e-books I won in the Brenda Novak auction. :) I’m a happy reader today.
Peggy P said on 06.09.12 at 12:42 PM • [link]

Just finished On the Island by Tracy Garvis-Graves, wow, what a debut novel. You may think you’ve read this story before (2 people stranded on a island) but this is quite the story and very well written. I read it in a marathon session straight through because it was that compelling, I highly recommend.
BrooklynShoeBabe said on 06.09.12 at 02:43 PM • [link]

I am about half-way through my first Dreamspinner novel Hot Head by Damon Suede. This book is so intense, so sexy, and just so edge of your seat that I can’t put it down. It’s about a closeted young 30-something firemen,Griff, who is in love with his best friend and fellow firemen, a sexy free spirit. The story, which opens up on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, has so much emotional depth to my joyous surprise. Griff is a quiet lonely man whose spirit has all about been snuffed out by the loss of his mother, the emotional abandonment of his father, and the terrorist attacks. He lives each day as an automaton just waiting for the times he can hang out with his best buddy-almost brother, Dante. It takes all his resolve to keep his emotions and passion for Dante in check. Sometimes, I start to feel as claustophobic as Griff and have to take a deep breath before I continue reading.

Not to give too much away, but Dante ends up in some money trouble and convinces Griff to do “perform” with him at website where men watch handsome men in uniform. I know that plot twist makes the book sound corny but it doesn’t. The emotion is what really makes this book. I can’t stop saying good things about it.
BrooklynShoeBabe said on 06.09.12 at 02:51 PM • [link]

Oh yeah, I’ve also started reading a short story collection Lila DiPasqua
called Awakened by a kiss. I’m only about half way through the first story but it has already singed off my eyelashes!
pur8ple said on 06.09.12 at 05:16 PM • [link]

IMHO, the first Butcher is not so great, as are a lot of author’s first books. I gave my brother the second and third ones to get him hooked before he read the first. I’m glad you’re liking it on reread- it only gets better from there!
Candypants said on 06.09.12 at 05:48 PM • [link]

I won’t give anything away…but I was in tears at the end of The Thirteenth Tale. Don’t know if it’s because I am a twin..or was feeling emotional…but very unusual reaction for me. Other than that, it’s one of the best twisty gothics of the last 10 years.
Hell Cat said on 06.09.12 at 06:41 PM • [link]

I’m currently reading “Lucy Wagner Gets In Shape,” since I just finished a book earlier this weekend. So far, I’m loving it. I really like the character of Lucy. I’m dead broke so I’m living on free ebook reads for now. After the last two blechs, I’m thrilled to be able to cheer for a heroine with real issues and not manufactured doo-doo.
Des Livres said on 06.10.12 at 03:24 AM • [link]

Just finished Dinah Dean’s The Country Gentleman and The Country Cousins. *happy sigh*
Newf Mom said on 06.10.12 at 06:44 AM • [link]

@Peggy - LOVED On the Island! It stuck with me for days afterward. :-)
Newf Mom said on 06.10.12 at 06:49 AM • [link]

Pam - Oh man I can’t begin to tell you how much I adore this whole series. I’m putting off reading One Was a Soldier because I can’t bear for it to be the last one available before her next one comes out. Spencer-Fleming is just the best.
Ejaygirl said on 06.10.12 at 07:00 AM • [link]

I’m reading Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag. I love her stories but they are LONG! Also, I recently finished The Wild One by Danelle Harmon and had to immediately read the next book in her de Monteforte Brothers series, The Beloved One. Thanks for putting this series on my radar with your recent cover analysis. It’s a great series!
Reneek said on 06.10.12 at 07:42 AM • [link]

@Readsalot81 - I really liked Easy and I LOVED A Rogue By Any Other Name! Since you bookended your list with two of my recent favs I had to check out the other two you mentioned. I’ve added them to my TBR list! Thanks for sharing.
Pat202 said on 06.10.12 at 07:57 AM • [link]

First I read the new Julia Quinn, ” A Night Like This”. A few years ago, I would always name her in my top 2-3 favorite authors but recently I am finding her books too light and borderline silly…maybe my reading tastes have changed over the years but although it was an enjoyable read, I used to finish her books and want to reread them right away but not lately.

Am also reading Toni Blake’s Destiny series which I like ( not love) so read ” Holly Lane” last night and I did enjoy a lot.
Anna von Stromberg said on 06.10.12 at 07:59 AM • [link]

Disappointingly, I just got finished reading some serious (for me) duds. I guess these would be anti-recs. ;) I’ve been wanting to try Sally Mackenzie for a while, so I picked up her first novel, The Naked Duke. I found the plot, just my opinion, really contrived and the characters were very two-dimensional, flat and wallpaper historial-ish. Really let down by this, because the beginning of the book was catchy and interesting. I might try another of her books and see if that’s more to my taste.

Also just finished Scandalous by Candace Camp. Ugh. I had to force myself to finish this. Like The Naked Duke, everything that happened was super silly and wallpaper historial-y; I wanted to wring the heroine’s neck for the ridiculous Big Misunderstandings that she kept causing.

Am currently torn between starting A Gentleman Undone by Cecilia Grant or The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James. I can’t decide which I’m in the mood for: yet another historical romance or a 1920s-era ghost story. :/

@ Bnbsrose: Thanks for the Lauren Dane, rec. After reading your comment, I ended up buying her entire Federation series. It looks delicious!
Nabpaw said on 06.10.12 at 08:01 AM • [link]

I just devoured Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas. It was pretty good, but the heroine wandered in TSTL territory for awhile before getting her act together. Even so, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one in the series. Am currently reading The Summer of You by Kate Noble. So far it’s ok. I think it will get better.

I went a little nuts yesterday and bought the new Julia Quinn, two old Lorretta Chase books, Isabella and The English Witch and pre-ordered her new one, Sherry Thomas’ new one and Eloisa James’ new one. As I said, a little nuts.
Debra J. Kelly, MFT. said on 06.10.12 at 08:14 AM • [link]

I’m loving the series, Game of Thrones. Exciting and you will surely get addicted to it.
LG said on 06.10.12 at 08:58 AM • [link]

In print, I just finished The Wedding Beat by Devan Sipher - not the best book for me to have been reading at this time in my life. So, in order to get over that one, I started a book I’ve been wanting to read for ages, Jeannie Lin’s The Dragon and the Pearl, which I am enjoying, although not quite as much as her Butterfly Swords. After that, I’ll read Lin’s My Fair Concubine.

On my e-reader, I’m just about finished with a novel-length Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic (which would have been better off novella length), so I’m going to be faced with deciding which of the many e-books in my collection to read next. That’ll be a challenge. According to Calibre, I have 300 unread e-books to choose from. Gah.
Holly Gault said on 06.10.12 at 09:33 AM • [link]

I just read Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty which was fantastic. Triplets (two identical and their fraternal—so the tension begins in the womb!) grapple with their 33rd year of life. Light and airy on top then the camera dips down to show the really rotten foundation of this roller coaster ride.

Last night I finished Barbara O’Neal’s Garden of Happy Endings. Yes there is a HEA, but it is hard won and—for me—bought with too much suspense and violence. It isn’t the same as O’Neal’s past plots, but that’s what keeps an author going.
Tania Marshall said on 06.10.12 at 10:09 AM • [link]

I just devoured Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I expect the final book in the trilogy to be out next year. Teens in a near future dystopian society would make you think Hunger Games clone. My adult daughter and I were discussing this and are thinking this series is better. I’m going to finish Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen before reading an Amazon Prime loan, Guernsey, Rachel’s Story by Peter Lihou which starts when Guernsey was occupied in WW II.
Kathleen said on 06.10.12 at 12:01 PM • [link]

I am readint A Perfect Storm by Lori Foster. It is the 4th book in her Edge of Honor series.. I have loved them all, but I think I love this one the most.
Erin L. said on 06.10.12 at 12:11 PM • [link]

Book Two of Elizabeth Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series. My DH is having shoulder surgery tomorrow and I picked up books two and three to get me through the wait. I didn’t know Darlene Marshall had a new book out, off to purchase it now.
Mandee Wyrick said on 06.10.12 at 01:09 PM • [link]

I am reading Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter for the second time, to prepare for the movie coming out in 12 days! In my opinion, it’s going to be one of the top 3 movies of the year. The other two both by Tim Burton of course. :)
Darlynne said on 06.10.12 at 01:31 PM • [link]

I just finished Overseas by Beatriz Williams and have to say that compared to the rest of the book, time travel was the MOST believable part. A great premise that went nowhere, bogged down in repetitious scenes of “I love you, why won’t you trust me” angst. I swear, “little minx” as a term of endearment is beyond annoying, especially after the first 50 times.

There are 400 books on my Nook. Something better is waiting for me, I just know it.
Heather said on 06.10.12 at 06:01 PM • [link]

I’ve been working on the third book in Jennifer Blake’s Three Graces series, “Seduced by Grace”, for about 2 or 3 weeks now. The first two books went quite well, but this third one isn’t compulsively readable. I have an older hardcover of hers, “Fierce Eden”, so I may work on that and get started on “Just Like Heaven” from Julia Quinn so I can read “A Night Like This” afterwards. I’m also rereading “Lord of Scoundrels”.
Karen Wapinski said on 06.10.12 at 09:37 PM • [link]

I just finished Fate’s Edge by Ilona Andrews. I’m very sad, the book was amazing like the rest of the series with compelling heroes and heroines mixed with an excellent plot and actual character development. But now that I’m finished it I can’t help but feel ‘what do I do with my life until the next book comes out?’
I’ll be checking some of the books on the reader list here for sure. I need new comfort food.
Bibliophile said on 06.11.12 at 02:48 AM • [link]

I’m on a Nora Roberts backlist glom, 5 books so far this month, plus I reread the In the Garden trilogy.
joann said on 06.11.12 at 09:29 AM • [link]

Reading my way through the Rock Chick series by Kristen Ashley - love em!! Discovered her after reading Knight (which is controversial for some but I liked). Jill Shalvis’ Lucky in Love (yum!) and Pamela Clare’s novella Skin Deep (double yum!).
Hot In AZ said on 06.11.12 at 08:09 PM • [link]

I just finished Shayla Black’s latest in the “Wicked Lovers” series, “Mine to Hold”. Loved the intense sex between Tyler and Delaney. Next on my list, non-romance lit “Coldest Night” by Robert Olmstead.
Darlene Marshall said on 06.12.12 at 10:11 AM • [link]

I devoured all the Jane Aiken Hodge books at the local public library when I was a teen. I think “Watch The Wall, My Darling” was my fave. May be time for a re-read.
Darlene Marshall said on 06.12.12 at 10:13 AM • [link]

A Civil Campaign is one of my “comfort” books. So many awesome scenes!