What are you reading - July 2011

I finished The Vampire who loved me and started The Seductive One by Susan Mallery.

Julia

I'm reading Slightly Wicked by Mary Balogh.

I'm reading Just Let Go... by Kathleen O'Reilly. It contains my most favorite passage from a romance novel ever: "There were violens in the air. Bluebirds singing. It was a god-damned allergy medicine commercial." I hurt myself trying not to spit out my tea reading that!

I fnished Slightly Wicked and am now beginning Guardian Angel by Julie Garwood.

Just started A Dance Through Time by Lynn Kurland. It was a birthday gift from a friend of mine...my birthday was last month, but i just got around to starting the book.

Right now I'm finishing The Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill. Highly recomended!! Next I'm going to read the spin offs to Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series (First Drop of Crimson & Eternal Kiss of Darkness). Then finally I'm going to read the latest book in the Mercy Thompson series "River Marked" by Particia Thompson. Its funny because I started out this year devouring in historical romance novels and now I can't get away from the paranormal romance novels.

Been MIA here for ages, it seems. Just finished When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James and enjoyed it very much. It was my first romance in quite awhile but not my last, with Nora Roberts' Chasing Fire up next.

I finished A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell and am now starting Before Versailles by Karleen Koen.

Two posts in two days after months of silence! Hope I don't wear out my welcome, but I just had to say that I read The Exile by Diane Gabaldon, a graphic novel (!) that adapts Outlander. Other than the fact Jamie didn't look anything like I'd pictured him and the story was missing so much that, unless I'd read the novel, I'd have been lost, but it was kind of cool anyway to see this interpretation of people, time and place.

#9 - I really loved The Exile, but I really just think of it as an hors d'oeurve by Diana Gabaldon. I took the illustrations with a grain of salt, it's a graphic novel and everything is exaggerated. I liked the look of it, and no Jamie didn't really look like "my" Jamie, nor Claire, but it was fun, pure and simple and that's the spirit I took it in, like a comic book. For Outlander newcomers, it's not the impression I would want them to have of the book at all, so I wouldn't recommend it to them. But for fans that are already crazy about the series (such as moi), this was just a little treat, and one that I wouldn't take too seriously. Now, regarding a movie or mini-series, "that" is going to get a ton of disgruntled fans for tons of reasons. Cutting out scenes, main characters not looking like some fans want them to, etc. I cringe at the upheaval it will create!

Haha yes, it's almost impossible to do a film adaptation of a long, richly nuanced novel like Outlander with its myriad of opinionated fans without causing a lot of flak about what was left out, what was put in that wasn't in the novel, and the choices of actors for the parts. Not being a fan of movies for the most part (except the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice *swoon*ColinFirth*swoon* and one or two others over the years), it probably won't affect me in a serious way.

#11 Colin Firth! Now you're talking my language!! I met him once at the height of my CF crush after BJD came out.

I just finished Midnight's Wild Passion by Anna Campbell. I normally love Anna Campbell and find her characters unique and compelling but not in this case. This was an OK book but the hero was a caricature of a rake.

I finished Cold As Ice, which I really enjoyed. Now I'm starting Shameless, another by Anne Stuart.

I finished Night Embrace this week. Started it last month while I was in New Orleans! Always cool to read about places that you know.

I finished Laird of the Mist on my Kindle. Amazon had it for $0.99 so I had to try it. A good book by a new author for me. I'll read more by her in the future.

I finished Guardian Angel by Julie Garwood and am now beginning And The Bride Wore Plaid by Karen Hawkins.

I picked up Magic Slays from the library and am a little ways into it. I'm juggling that one along with A Colby Christmas for romances, Dragon Soul which is a fantasy and Make it So which is sort of a fiction/non-fiction amalgamation of leadership advice from Captain Picard (Star Trek). They are all interesting so I'm having a hard time sticking with any one book.

Jean-Luc Picard! *swoons* Now that's my idea of a hero. Why aren't more romance heroes like Picard?

I'm so sad. Not reading anything! Listening to a kids' audiobook with my kids, but for the first time I'm in a reading slump in the summer! Just too busy with kids underfoot AND a foster dog and her 9 puppies. I so totally did not think it through when a couple of days before school got out the rescue lady called and asked if I could take a pregnant rescue dog. I tho't of the practicalities - dog run, check, fenced yard, check, vinyl flooring in room off garage where they can be in air conditioning (it was 110F here today) check. Did not think, "oh, we'll have them most of the summer until they're old enough to be weaned and adopted out." On the other hand, the kids are totally socializing the pups! And the poor cat! Every morning we put the mama dog out and bring the cat in to the pups and let them crawl all over him and he just looks at me and rolls his eyes when I assure him that he is teaching the puppies that they want to be adopted by families with cats and let the cats boss them around LOL!

But back to my reading slump. I'm so envious of you all! So many good sounding books! I keep buying . . .

Penn

I just finished Unveiled(Hqn) by Courtney Milan, the 1st book in the Turner series, and it was a-ma-zing. I loved Ash Turner and cannot wait for Mark's story to come out now.

o2b5ft2> Courtney Milan has a novella that she published as an ebook that has characters from the Turner series. It's called Unlocked and I really enjoyed it. You can find it on amazon.

I finished the rest of the Marcelli series The Seductive One, The Marcelli Bride and The Marcelli Princess by Susan Mallery.

Next is Some Like it Wicked by Teresa Medeiros.

Julia

I just started The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer after having finished The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather. I seem to be in a nostalgic reading mood these days.

Thanks reesa00!!

>19 marietherese: :-) Make it So is really interesting in so far as you can practically picture Capt. Picard sitting there and writing. They did a great job of capturing his "voice".

I've been in the mood to read old Harlequins lately. One of my recent reads was Avenging Angel by Helen Bianchin. I like it a lot for its warm and fuzzy moments, but at the same time I also feel guilty for liking it because the hero and heroine's relationship reminds me of Stockholm syndrome. Oh boy.

I finished And The Bride Wore Plaid and am now beginning Highlander Ever After by Jennifer Ashley.

I finished Shameless by Anne Stuart and Secret Desires of a Gentleman by Laura Lee Guhrke, both of which I loved. At times parts of Secret Desires reminded me a lot of Pride and Prejudice and the old Bogart/Hepburn movie Sabrina. Which probably explains why I liked it so much since I adore both of those stories and have read and/or watched them more times than I can count.

Next up is the new one by Gail Carriger, Heartless.

fadinga - I agree, Secret Desires reminded me a lot of P&P and Sabrina too!

Just finished Sugar Daddy, Blue-Eyed Devil, and Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor all by Lisa Kleypas. I liked them all. Now I need to find Smooth Talking Stranger as my library doesn't have it..

just finished Now Face To Face by Karleen Koen it is the sequel to Through a Glass Darkly. If you have ever read Gone with the wind you will probably like the series.

Started Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton last night and was up until 3 in the morning. Will most likely finish it tonight. I have The Reluctant Vampire by Lynsay Sands and When Passion Rules by Johanna Lindsey waiting for me at the library.

Hello everyone - its been a bit since I stopped in. So, I have read Heartless by Gail Carriger which I really enjoyed. Its a great series. Also, Sin Undone & Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione Now, I have decided to re-read Kresley Cole's IAD series & Im on No rest for the Wicked. I think that should keep me busy for a bit.

I am patiently waiting for some new Releases to come out from the Authors I love & they seem to be taking their sweet time! lol... Hope all is well!

In the middle of Bargain Bride by Barbara Metzger and recently finished Devil of the Highlands.

Just finished Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie. I liked it very much and I think I will head for the library to look for another book by her.

I finished Desert Ice Daddy, the second in the Daddies and Diamonds series. I really liked this one, perhaps even better than the previous one, but I had one major problem with this book. I mean, having sex while hiding from kidnappers who have your son (or from the male POV the son of the woman you love) on a ledge however many feet above the ground?! An obvious ploy to get in the obligatory mid-book sex scene and it wasn't believable at all.

I finished Suspended Animation by Jenna Ryan earlier today. It's a romantic suspense that takes place in an animation studio. I love the older books for it's different settings.

I finished An Accidental Seduction by Lois Greiman which used the mistaken identity plot device which is my least favorite. It was an interesting book but I just hate when the hero and heroine are pretending to be other people while they fall in love.

I finished Highlander Ever After by Jennifer Ashley and am now beginning My Seduction by Connie Brockway.

I received an email that Magic Slays was going to be due back at the library tomorrow so I pushed through finishing up the book yesterday. I enjoyed the story...just the feeling of having to really work to stay with it was a little frustrating. I think it is more of a reflection of my attention span (or lack thereof) than of the book itself.

36 -
Crazy for You is one of my favorites too. I also really liked Getting Rid of Bradley, Bet Me, and Anyone but You.

I'm now working on Into the Night from the Troubleshooters books by Suzanne Brockmann.

42 - I loved Bet Me too. Generally I like most of her books.

I just finished Scoundrel in My Dreams by Celeste Bradley. It's the last book of The Runaway Brides series. Of course, I haven't read the first two. I hate when I do that!

Didn't sleep last night. Finished rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows then read most of When Passion Rules by Johanna Lindsey.

mamalaz, if you haven't read Crusie's Anyone But You already, I second sdbookhound's recommendation. It's a really fun and funny, charming book.

>44 BookLizard: My sons and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last night and the whole time I kept asking myself, "was this part in the book?" I read it when it first came out and it turns out I must have forgotten quite a bit.

I finished Some like it Wild and started The Devil wears Plaid by by Teresa Medeiros.

Also finished Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer a bit strange for a Crusie.

Julia

Marietherese, Anyone but You is one of my Crusie favorites. I'm not sure who I liked better - the dog or the doctor : )

I just did a little Nora Roberts marathon. Read Reflections, Impulse, and The Best Mistake. All novellas and all light and enjoyable. I will probably read a mystery next.

46> I had to reread after watching the 2 movies. Part 1 covered the first 500 pages and Part 2 covered the last 250. I hadn't remembered much from the book either, but they followed it pretty closely - maybe not enough for die-hard fans, but more closely than most movies based on books.

Now I want to watch the movie again. LOL.

I liked Anyone But You mostly because the older woman got the hot young doctor. :-)

Been offline for a while - when I work 10 hrs a day on a computer, the last thing I want to do is go back on a computer when I get home. My relatives are all over me about not answering emails. I just don't feel like sitting in front of a screen.

Instead, I get dinner and a drink and get into bed and read.

I'm on here tonight because I had to add about a dozen books into my library.

I recently read the Bob Mayer/Jennifer Crusie collaboration, Wild Ride. It's a fantasy/paranormal with some romance thrown in. It took me a while to get into it as you can clearly pick out who wrote what part. Action? Mayer. Comedy? Crusie. Romance? Crusie for the female protagonist, Mayer for the male. I did like the idea of an old amusement park as a jail for demons. But the book had so much going on, it was harder to follow with the distraction of the writer's voice/tone changing every chapter.

I've been reading a bunch of early Emma Wildes ebooks on my kindle.

Hello, everyone
I am new here, and I love to read historical romances. I need to find a good author that mixes romance and some kind of mystery to solve. Can you help me? I have read Teresa Madeiros, Jude Deveraux, Amanda Quick, Elizabeth Lowell, and others.

Hello Luz_Cheng, welcome to the group!

Christina Dodd usually has a suspense / spy ... subplot that is why I avoid her historicals now. LOL

Also I finished The Devil wears Plaid which took me a while to get into it and The Little Prince.

Started an more than halfway through Delicious by Susan Mallery.

Julia

Welcome Luz Cheung. I just finished How to Wed a Baron by Kasey Michaels which contained a fair amount of intrigue. She is a very good writer and you might like it.

Welcome, Luz Cheng!

Have you read Barbara Michaels Gothic romances? The importance of the romance aspect varies from book to book (with Black Rainbow probably the least romantic, although still the best of her books in my opinion, and Greygallows probably the most) but they are all very good, very suspenseful and well-plotted.

Some of Jane Ashford's Regency romances have mystery elements. Charmed and Dangerous and The Bargain are the first two that come to mind.

You might also want to check out Betina Krahn's The Book of True Desires and The Book of Seven Delights. The first is my favourite of the two but both are excellent, full of intrigue, and feature smart, witty, endearing characters moving through unusual settings.

I'm still working my way through Heartless. In the meantime I read With Seduction in Mind, which I enjoyed. Now I think I'm going to mix in a new-to-me author, Julie Anne Long, with The Perils of Pleasure while hopefully finishing up Heartless.

Currently reading The Reluctant Vampire by Lynsay Sands. So far it's kind of low on plot, but high on hot!

fadinga> I loved the second book in Julie Anne Long's series a ton. For me The Perils of Pleasure was good but the second book was better so I'd encourage you to try her second book if the first interests you even a bit.

I haven't read any newer romance in a long. long time so yesterday I made up for it by reading one novel, Rakes and Radishes by Susanna Ives, and getting through about three-quarters of another, Wanted: Mail-Order Mistress by Deborah Hale, in a single day!

The first book by Susanna Ives is a hard one for me to grade. I know nothing about Ives' history as a writer but I suspect this may be a first novel-it certainly has a lot of the issues with pacing, plot, and characterization I frequently find in first romance novels (especially the tendency to keep to a leisurely pace through first half of the book and then throw everything but the kitchen sink into the second half as far too many competing plot points race each other to the bitter end).

Despite the absolutely absurd and completely improbable initial premise (a brainy but highly romantic young country woman, in love with a poet who has run off to London, persuades another man, a rough 'round the edges earl and childhood friend who loves her, to try his fortune in London mimicking the hero of a popular Gothic novel hoping he might lure away the poet's new beloved) I really enjoyed the first half of this novel. The initial country setting was a pleasant change from the usual urban glamour most Regencies offer up, and both the heroine and the hero were genuinely engaging characters: young and somewhat unformed but interesting and very grounded in their genuine friendship, their shared past. I pitied the heroine for her youthful silliness and naivete but also liked her for her passion, her verve and her dreams of betterment and I loved the hero for his generousity and kindness, his unaffected but very real love for the land around him and the people who inhabit it. But when the novel moved to London, things gradually took a turn for the worse, the hero made an about-face I really didn't feel was justified by the plot or his history and the whole story went from sprightly comedy of manners to deepest, darkest, melodramatic angst in just a few pages. All the pleasure I'd felt in finding a delightful new successor to Ashford, Smith and Chesney evaporated as one angry misunderstanding piled on another and the hero morphed from someone I believed capable of selfless love to a debauched wretch who bore little resemblance to the man from a few chapters back.

I think Ives shows herself here as an interesting, intelligent writer and I'd like to read more from her but only if she drops the obligatory sex scenes (which felt tacked on and were remarkably unerotic, and I say this as someone who actually likes erotica) and the unnecessary angst and focuses on what she does really well: fresh settings, sensitive character delineation, and excellent place description. I would love to see her write a romance featuring mature protagonists (she has some middle-aged secondary characters in this romance who are really quite wonderful and fascinating and could easily carry a story on their own). Whether that would actually sell is another question altogether, I suppose... Anyway, I give this 3 stars or a C tending towards a B- because of the promise and the entertainment value of the first half of the book.

I'll write more about Hale's book later but I suspect it will be a C to B- as well. Lovely heroine and a fascinating setting (Singapore in 1825!) but an unappealing hero and other issues I find problematic. A quick read though and worth checking out for those interested in historical romances set outside of England.

Rakes and Radishes seriously sounds like a gardening manual. LOL :D

I finished My Seduction by Connie Brockway. Disappointing, usually I love her books and they are full of humor and clever dialogue, this was a real miss. Now I'm beginning The Untamed One by Ronda Thompson.

LMAO @julia1605!

reesa00 - Thanks for the recommendation, I already picked it up at the used book store!

fadinga - No problem. It's funny, as I read the series, I enjoyed the Eversea books but absolutely loved the Redmond family books. No idea why, they've just really captured me... This series is on my autobuy now..

Ha ha, Julia! But the hero actually is a bit of an agriculturalist. When the novel begins he's rather excited about the recent publication of his article on increasing turnip crops through manipulating ash content in manure. And, no, I'm not making that up! ;-)

I finished Wanted: Mail-Order Mistress and as I suspected it would be, this was a C grade book for me. The Singapore setting was pretty interesting and I liked the spirited if rather naive heroine but the hero was a dud. I found virtually everything about him really unappealing. He was rigid, self-absorbed, self-righteous, and so self-pitying that I seemed always to hear the world's tiniest violin playing in the background in any scene featuring him. While Hale is a competent writer, the plot of this novel just wasn't fresh or intriguing enough (ack! the dreaded neglected child forcing them together trope! So old hat!) to support such a tiresome character. Oddly, as I read the book I kept expecting it to veer into inspirational territory-not because it was billed in any way as inspirational and not because of a lack of sex (there was some explicit sex) but because something about the writing style and characters just screamed "Bethany House" to me.

LOL that'a too funny!

I finished Iris Johansen's Eve last week and am currently reading Quinn. It always amazes me when I'm torn between two love interests. Eve and Quinn are long-time lovers, but I found myself wanting her to be with her first love as well. Fickle, fickle heart.

Starting Dream Man by Linda Howard on audio.

Just a head's up to anyone interested in reading Johansen's Quinn------Wait until Bonnie is released in October. Johansen leaves us hanging at the end of the book and it's very frustrating not to move right into the next chapter.

Finished Delicious and Irresistible by Susan Mallery.

Also started 1984 by George Orwell.

Julia

I finished The Untamed One by Ronda Thompson, really liked it and now am beginning Lady of the Glen by Jennifer Roberson.

Just finished A Reckless Beauty by Kasey Michaels. On to Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie.

Just got back from two weeks in Colorado (where I'm from - and shout-out to my dh who took care of the NINE foster puppies & their foster mama) and I didn't actually get to read with my eyes. BUT, by myself I was able to listen to Changeless by Gail Carriger. I've a question for those of you who have read the next one. I saw some reviews (either here or at amazon or audible) that indicate our heroine might be a little too forgiving of her dh in the next one. Opinions from here?

Also listened to The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour and The Red Blazer Girls: The Vanishing Violin by Michael D. Bell when in the car with the kids.

Penn

I finished Before Versailles by Kareleen Koen and will start tomorrow The Many Sins of Lord Cameron which I am eager to begin as soon as I can download it on my kindle!

I'm about 3 chapters into Betty Neels' Saturday's Child. I'm trying to understand the abiding love many category romance readers have for Neels but I am just not getting it. So far, the novel reads like a even duller version of some old "Cherry Ames" nursing story. Gastric patients (the obligatory orphaned nurse heroine's first case in Holland) aren't terribly romantic (must be the thought of all those barium tests and "milky" meals the heroine waits for her patient to pass) and, as a woman with many tall, blond, professional Dutch relatives, I find it hard to swoon over the all too familiar. Plus, so far the heroine's taste in everything, from language to clothing, is so relentlessly middle-class, middle-brow and inoffensive that she makes me want to pull my hair out from the roots in sheer boredom (hoping the pain will wake me up, I guess). She's just completely faceless and so uninteresting! Mary Stewart frequently wrote down-on-their luck orphaned heroines but her young women are intriguing, gutsy and complex. Abigail Trent, Neels' heroine, looks like a cheap cardboard cut-out compared to them.

Has anyone else here read Neels? Are her other books better?

Marietherese, I also wonder about that. For me, her writing is very slow and boring (it once put me to sleep!), and it doesn't help that all her story lines are all so alike!

The way I see it, Neels' writing is very recognizable so readers find comfort in knowing what to expect from her books. I once read a bunch of books that left me feeling irritated, so I took a break and read a Neels book because they're different; it helped me lift my mood up. That's why I keep several copies of her books on hand because though her books annoy me to no end, I sometimes I just need the familiarity of her writing. I feel the same way with Jessica Steele's writing.

>76 marietherese: & >77 starlightgenie:,

I first read Betty Neels back in the '80s, and her heroes and heroines were so different from the other category romances that I was reading that it was a nice change of pace. As a matter of fact, I saw that first Neels at a UBS several years ago and bo't it and won't cull it from my shelves. But even then, I found her characters very old fashioned. I never did see them as in the "now" even in the '80s. For me they belonged to a different time and place . . .

So I would guess, like starlightgenie, a lot of us keep her around b/c of the familiarity for those times when we want that kind of read - when we're in a slump, when we're stressed out, when we just need a quick, comfortable escape. She's a comfort read for me, not a first choice.

FWIW,

Penn

Georgette heyer's these old shades is an excellent novel with dialogue that is so sharp it cuts whenyou turn the page lol I love saying that. but seriously the plot is good and I think these old shades is even better than heyer's novel the grand sophie for reasons such as the plot is far better a d has less unrealistic fluff and the the characters are more consistent in these old shades. besides in the grand
sophie I seriously think that everything problematic was just too conveinently tied up and resolved.

Thanks for your replies regarding Betty Neels, Starlightgenie and Penn.

Having finished 'Saturday's Child' and skimmed a couple of other Neels' books, I think I can safely say that Betty Neels is not an author I plan to read more from but I can see how many readers would find the predictability of her settings and plots comforting. Her novels have a somewhat "timeless" quality simply because it seems almost impossible to pin down precisely when these stories are supposed to occur ("modern" post-war conveniences and technology occasionally make an appearance but the characters attitudes all seem suspended in some vague, idealized pre-WWII past; a past my real-life elderly Dutch relatives wouldn't recognize as in any way authentic but one that I imagine an infatuated visitor to the Netherlands might find compelling enough to try to evoke over and over again). I must admit I find her almost fetishistic devotion to Dutch doctors kind of creepy (more than in the standard romance novel, I feel like I'm looking directly into someone's very private, personal, idiosyncratic fantasy), but then I find the long-standing romance obsession with "sheiks", Greeks and Italians disquieting, as well. Whatever floats the writer's boat, I guess...

I think I need to seek out one of my own "comfort" reads now and find a Chesney or Joan Smith book to read ASAP!

I just read Heartbreak Creek and it was amazing. I have never been big into Western genre novels but this one just broke my heart and put it back together several times. I loved the chemistry between the h/h. A really great read.