I couldn't find the thread for it, but I finally got around to reading Tangled Up In You by Rachel Gibson & loved it! It's one of the best books I've read in a long time. The last book of hers I read was See Jane Score. I'll be off to the UBS to find the other books about Maddy's friends.

Tomorrow is the release of Creation in Death by J. D. Robb!! Yea!!

(Sorry, some of the touchstones worked & some didn't) :(

I started Jo Beverley's Three Heroes yesterday. It's a single-volume collection containing 3 titles in the Company of Rogues series: The Demon's Mistress, The Dragon's Bride, and The Devil's Heiress. I'm almost finished with the first one and it's really good!

"A Touch of Minx" by Suzanne Enoch.

(I don't think the book touchstone is working - the book is relatively new, part of the Samantha Jellicoe series.)

I'm reading The Devil Earl by Deborah Simmons, its a regency with a gothic/mystery feel to it. Not bad though.

I just finished Sarah McCarty's Promises Linger (which I own in Ebook PDF format). I'm not much of a Western fan in general, but I did very much enjoy this novel set on a financially imperilled cattle ranch in the 19th century.

*warning*
*slight spoilers follow*

McCarty is a good writer, with a decent ear for dialogue and a well-honed ability to convey character through word choice and small gestures and actions. While nothing revolutionary, the plot is fresh enough to maintain interest throughout all 287 pages (although there are a few clichéd elements lurking in the background-I personally felt that the abusive elements of both protagonists' childhoods were overdone and slightly unnecessary and a few tangential characters seemed so corny that they could have stepped straight out of a '60s TV Western like Gunsmoke). The main characters, Elizabeth Coyote (embattled owner of the failing Rocking C cattle ranch following the death of her father) and Asa McIntyre (former gunslinger looking to settle down, hang up his holster and lead a respectable life) are very sympathetic- attractive but not idealized or overly perfect; the reader's given enough back story for both to develop interest in each as an individual and not only as a couple. The development of the romance was realistically paced (well, at least as "real" as romances in romance novels ever are! ;-)) and the erotic content seemed to flow naturally out of the relationship rather than just being tacked on to fit the publisher's specifications.

As to the aforementioned "erotic content": it was scorching hot! *fans self* While one scene of extended intercourse on horseback struck me as pretty unlikely (certainly anatomically challenging!), most of the other sex scenes were fairly realistic, true to the characters and their motivations and, above all, very, very sexy. Readers who like explicit, sensual romances definitely won't come away disappointed from this one!

I like this enough that I plan to buy the other two books in the Promises series and to order McCarty's new print novel, Caine's Reckoning, as well.

I am reading a Mary Balogh book that I had missed, No Man's Mistress. She is one of my favorite authors and I was surprised that I had missed this one.

Next up for me is Karen Ranney's Scottish Companion (Touchstones not working on this title). I haven't read her before so I am looking forward to it. I believe it got 4 1/2 stars on Romantic Times.

This week I decided to do the Cynster books again, and have finished Devil's Bride through All About Love, now I'm 1/2 through Again the Magic, once that's done I'm hoping to pick up Hellion
by Bertrice Small again (haven't read it in almost 7 years). I'm also waiting on the arrival of more Kat Martin and Candace Camp books for something I haven't yet read. I'm hoping to break my own record of 12 books in one week, but we'll see!

Message edited by its author, Nov 7, 2007, 2:59pm.

I'm back from my trip to the States---it was great! My parents were so surprised.

On the flight home I read Cover of Night by Linda Howard. On the trip I read several other books, but since I shipped them I can't remember all the titles. The Fire Opal and The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro were two of them, both very good.

rianoel,
glad you had a great trip and made it home safe!

marietherese writes @ #5, "intercourse on horseback"

The average horse, even if gelded, would probably not be immune to the smells, sounds and movements involved in such activity. I doubt whether the author did any practical research, unless she wrote from her hospital bed. ;)

Hee hee, Linkmeister! I strongly suspect you're right about that lack of practical research! ;-)

I should note as well, that this, er, humping on horseback, apparently went on for over an hour (!!!) Probably enough to drive even the oldest, staidest horse a bit wild (and just imagine the oddly placed saddlesores for the poor humans involved!)

In fairness to McCarty though, I have to say that this scene was the only really implausible bit in the book and that I enjoyed the story overall very much.

Message edited by its author, Nov 8, 2007, 9:44pm.

marietherese, there's a scene in Montana Sky where the (citified) female half of one of the couples suggests the same idea to her lover (lawyer/rancher). He demurs for the reasons I mentioned above.

In other words, I have no practical experience with that situation, but I read a lot. ;)

Message edited by its author, Nov 9, 2007, 1:20am.

There is also a scene in Stephanie Laurens' book Scandal's Bride where the event takes place on horseback. I have to admit that I had to laugh when I read it as it seemed so unlikely and almost impossible to accomplish. Catriona's companion Algaria just happened to be looking out the window with her telescope when this occurred! I still loved the book though!

and also a scene in Hellion, Bertrice Small...but then I don't think there is a place that its not done in the book.....

Reading Sex, Lies and Online Dating by Rachel Gibson & thoroughly enjoying it. Next up is I'm in No Mood For Love.

I think there was a horseback scene in Savage Thunder as well, although it has been years since I've read it.

I read Blaze by Susan Johnson this week. I just got a bunch of boxes of books out of storage and this was in there, probably from a library sale. I wasn't that impressed and actually skipped several portions of it where the descriptions were just too flowery. I like how she had footnotes to the historical significance of things though.

Also read Mine Till Midnight this week and loved it. Loved the family dynamics, and Cam, of course. It seems likely to me that the brother's story would be next, or perhaps Merripen and Win. Something has to go on to explain the tattoos.

I usually skip these "What are you reading week of .." threads since I also read a lot of non-romance. Can I mention those books too? Or too off topic?

Kristin, I read more than romance, too, I just don't usually mention them here, but there is no rule I know of that says you can't! Feel free. I might find something else to add to my TBR stack!

CC

kristinmm, the thread title is "what are you reading," not "what romance are you reading." ;)

I read as many mysteries as anything else; I've also got two birthday non-fiction books staring balefully at me, waiting. (David Halberstam's last book "The Coldest Winter" and Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine; inside the secret world of the Supreme Court.)

Just finished Creation in Death last night (see my post on the J.D. Robb thread). So sad...you wait so long for it and then it's over so fast...*sigh* I know, lots of books are like that - but I feel more emotionally invested in these characters than most others (not all, but most).

Oh, and complete side note (speaking of emotionally invested in the characters) - if anyone out there reads the Tamora Pierce books and the In Death books, I just realized that I imagine Roarke and Jonathan of Conte as looking like the same person! I've never read them so close together before, but I was reading the Alanna books last week and it just hit me while I was reading Creation last night. It was like an epiphany! Totally weird! No wonder I love these books so much....

Message edited by its author, Nov 9, 2007, 3:47pm.

I finished The greatest lover in all England by Christina Dodd which was good and started Not the Marrying Kind by Hailey North which I waited for impatiently for the last couple of years.

Julia

Just finished Arabella by Georgette Heyer, the very first Heyer book I read, and I loved it. Now I have to get my hands on other Heyer books!!=)

booklover79, you're in for such a treat! How wonderful to be able to look forward to reading all of Georgette Heyer. My favorites are Frederica and Venetia, but they're all good. (By the way, she also wrote a number of mysteries. They're not as good but still readable.)

Last night I picked up Suzanne Enoch's Sins of a Duke. After the first couple of chapters, I just really was not enjoying it, so I flipped through the rest and put it down. (I really did not like the heroine.) So I picked up Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas instead, and there went the rest of the evening. I had been avoiding it because I had read some bad reviews, but I loved it. She's such a good writer; she really brings the characters alive.

anamuhandis,
After finishing Arabella I purchased a few other Heyer books (including the 2 you mentioned.lol) and 3 others. These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, and The Corinthian. I love it when I find new books to read!

anamuhandis - I had the same response to Sins of a Duke. And I'm a big fan of that series by Enoch. It was so disappointing that Sebastian's heroine was so awful. I never finished more than a few chapters of it either.

Ditto on Sins. I really hated the heroine's character, or lack of it. Midnight was slightly disappointing as well, but still a good story. I thought Cam deserved a much better storyline, but I'm looking forward to the Heroine's brother's story. I'm a sucker for a hero with a wounded, tortured soul.

CC

kristinmm, you should post whatever you're reading here if you want. We like hearing about other books & authors. I would say most of this group reads historical romances, however, I rarely read that genre, but I post here all the time!

Ilithyia, I hear ya about J. D. Robb (why isn't the touchstone working for her?). She has Strangers in Death coming out in Feb. 2008; also just out Dead of Night has a short story "Eternity in Death" by her in it.

(touchstones are great when they're working & aggravating when they're not)

I just bought Dead of Night yesterday...I'm excited about the possible vampire angle. I remember Bump in the Night had one about a ghost.