Books I Loved Loved Loved This Year

I don't read enough. I have sooooo many books and not enough time to enjoy all the great stories. So, if you think I'm missing some wonderful books, they're probably on my TBR pile, waiting patiently. Or, they're in hard cover and I can't afford those till they come out in paperback (Briggs. Sob. How I'm missing my Briggs).

Making that annual list and in no particular order:

1) Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (2011)
Urban fantasy series, full of action and gore, with great romance. Although the sexual tension between the main couple is gone, now that they're mated, the dialogue still sparkles. Not sure whether I love the twist about Ilona's mother and her adopted father, though. But, the Andrews team has magical storytelling powers.

2) Silk Is For Seduction by Loretta Chase (2011)
Historical. I miss my Carsingtons. Not as great as Last Night's Scandal (2010) but Chase is a must-read for me. Her heroines always make the heroes laugh and behave like lovesick men and I love her for it. She makes me go on a glom, every year, re-reading the Carsington books.

3) Inside Out by Barry Eisler (2010)
Thriller. My kind of thing--spec ops, CIA, warrior, espionage, international intrigue. I love Eisler's voice.

4) Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh (2011)
Urban fantasy. The focus has changed to Dmitri, Raphael's righthand vampire. This is a violent tale, not for the squeamish who likes her paranormal violence off-stage. The heroine, Honor, has been violated and this topic is front and center. I liked the change in focus from Raphael and Elena, but I do miss them because I like the angelic mythological elements more than vampire stuff (which is, you know, kind of all the same right now). Dmitri's tortured past was beyond horrific and sad and so he is redeemed from all those mean deeds he did against our main heroine, Elena.

5) With No Remorse by Cindy Gerard (2011)
Romantic suspense just the way I like it--quick paced action and sexy times. Her protective alpha males are fun to read.

6) Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (2009, English mmpb)
Didn't see the original movie with Noomi Rapace but the US one starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara is coming out this Christmas. Daniel Craig is my must-see guy, so off I went to buy the book.

Not a romance. Thriller with romantic elements. Very layered. A page turner, with a female protagonist that just jumps off the pages. She's much more interesting than the hero (male protagonist) but that's to be expected since the trilogy has 'The Girl...' in the titles. I usually don't like murder mysteries and gory serial killer plots so if a book with those element held my attention, you know the story was a good one :). Made me want to go out and get a nipple ring.

7) Shameless by Anne Stuart (2011).
Historical. Stuart's heroes are my Achilles' heel. I don't care bad they are. I lub them. The hero in Shameless is the usual bored rake that needed reforming. The heroine is Stuart's classic matyr who kind of hates or, at least, is indifferent to sex. Hero seduces heroine but is ultimately reformed. Stuart makes this trope so darn pleasurable to read.

MUST READ SOON ON THE TBR PILE. I'm recommending these without having read any pages because I know I'll love them:
 
The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne (2011, historical, Hawke's story)

New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb (2011, hardcover, which means I wait for mmpb)

Within The Flames by Marjorie M. Liu (2011, paranormal)

Please tell me what books are your favorite this year. I read more than 7 but the above really resonated with me.

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Year End List of Recommended Books Pt. 1

I can't believe it's December already. Are you guys ready for the rush towards 2010?

I always like to look back at the past year around this time--what I've read, what I've done, significant events. When I used to keep a journal, I'd have these long-ass entries about the year, with side- and footnotes as I reread them in the following years. Sometimes I wish I kept up with the hobby, but what with writing for a living, doing blogs, tweeting and facebooking, I think the private journal has sort of gone out of style.

I mean, are we private about anything any more? :-P I know why writers do it--we like to share our thoughts in writing because you know, that's our thing, and we love the acknowledgement of our output. In fact, I'd say most writers need it because writing in public help us gather our ideas and give our Muse something to work with; we observe, opine, and when a light bulb comes on, we tell stories.

Which segues us to new stories I've read this year that are in my Top List ;-). I'm going to start with just five, and during the rest of the month, have a few more posts of fives titles. Here they are, in no particular order.

1) Magic Strikes--Ilona Andrews

Urban fantasy. Book 3 of the Kate Daniels series. This series is getting better and better and thank God Ilona hasn't sacrificed the romance/relationship. Sometimes I get frustrated with reading urban fantasy because I want more relationship and not gory supernatural murders, you know?

2) Pleasure and Purpose--Megan Hart

Fantasy erotic romance that reads like a historical. The worldbuilding is really cool and the three novellas in this anthology were riveting. Each sexual situation was different and because of the worldbuilding, the erotic elements worked very well with the romance (it's tough in erotic romance, imho, especially short stories).

3) Scandal--Carolyn Jewel

Historical. Her stories are always character-driven, very internal, and thus, very engaging for me. Sexy too, because the author takes her time.

4) Bone Crossed--Patricia Briggs

Another urban fantasy series that I follow. Mercedes the mechanic makes Gennita the roofer smile. And she is snarky without being overbearingly so. I like the werewolf politics in Briggs' world and every character is interesting. And Mercedes is kickass too, taking care of certain gory business and not needing much help, in spite of being surrounded by the alphaest of werewolves, and her being a small little coyote shifter who's just trying to stay out of trouble just adds to the fun.

5) Seducing Mr. Darcy--Gwyn Cready

Delightful historical/modern time travel! You guessed it--the heroine goes back to Mr. Darcy's time and yeah, there are some hottie-tottie moments with him that changed the text of the modern-day version. It's damn original and so much fun to read.

What about you? What have you read in 2009 that you'd like to recommend to other GLow readers?

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Reading Thread

Running late this morning. Will post more later, my dears.

Finished Briggs' MOON CROSSED. Loved it. Wants to have Briggs' babies.

What are you reading right now?

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Books Make Nice Prizes And Gifts!

Books are wonderful gifts. Here are some great reasons:

1) They are relatively cheap
2) They promote mental health
3) They are easy to wrap
4) You can read it first before gifting them
5) They take you away from boring daily life
6) They help starving authors to buy Christmas gifts for their loved ones

So many absolutely irrefutable reasons. Why would you want to go walking round and round in the malls when you could be browsing bookshelves of...books?! (In my best Craig Ferguson--of whom I adore, adore, adore--imitation) I know! I'm such a genius.

And of course I have a few ways for you to get a good book:

The Keanu! BlahBlahBlah! Caption Contest will be open till Friday, so put on your funny thinking caps. Come on...look at the prizes ;-). BOOKS! Or, don't you at least want a $10 Amazon gift cert.? It can go to pay for your order of, ahem, Big Bad Wolf. Just sayin'.

And when does Big Bad Wolf go live, anyway, Jenn?

Well, glad you asked. I just finished reading the ARC for typos and making changes and will be waiting for Amazon's email to me for the thumbs up. Then you can start ordering. I'm just so happy to get this ready before Christmas.

I was also thinking that some of you might need suggestions for new authors to try out to get to $25, which qualifies you for free shipping at Amazon. Let's put out some names on this thread.

Who is a new author you've discovered this year that you've really enjoyed?

My recommendation is Ilona Andrews' superb Magic series. It's urban fantasy, with a heroine who's a mercenary who cleans up magic gone wrong in a post-apocalyptic Atlanta (YO, LADY ZANNAH!!!!!). The love interest is the Lord of Beast, a werelion named Curran. Trust me. You want to meet Curran. ;-)

Your turn.

There, some of your Christmas shopping anxieties taken care of. I know! I'm a genius!

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YooHoo!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. It's been great for me, catching up with friends and family, and getting some quiet time for gardening. You've been quiet, my friends, so I'm assuming that your Thanksgiving long weekend has been swell too.

Quickies to slowly get back into talking with Jenn ;-).

1) What I am reading now

I just finished Larissa Ione's Pleasure Unbound. Awesome start to an interesting paranormal series. Imagine Demon ER, with your handsome Dr. Ross as an incubus (sex) demon, heh heh. Throw in Buffy with a bit of a problem--she's injured and being sewn back together by beings that hate her but are bound by whatever the demon's version of the Hippocratic Oath is.

A terrific story--sexy, different (the demon doctor thing), with a few twists in the end. I like the way the book opens with both sides having a black and white concept of their worlds, but the more the hero and heroine interact, the more grey it becomes. I also like how the demons always act like demons, or other-worldly, anyway. Their reactions, their sense of justice, and their culture are just alien enough that I buy the hero's and his brothers' perspectives, even if they aren't always "good" the way we see good. The best part is the demon brothers' banter with each other--funny but not overly snarky, affectionate in a demonic sort of way, and umm...you can say their names without lisping. ;-)

Warning: The first few sex scenes aren't romantic. They were hawt. But some of you might find them a bit brutal. Hey, he's a demon!

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2) Big Bad Wolf Update

Almost ready! Paid for the cover photo, redid the back, and tweaked. Once I submit, I get a couple of ARCs to make sure everything is as it should be. Then we can go live!

Question: It's trade size (approx. 5x8) and 100,000 words (regular length). The cheapest I could make it is $11. Yes, printing is, like, expen$$$ive. Would you pay $11or $12 for a trade-size book? I really want to know. The ones I buy, mostly erotic romances, are always between $14-$15. I'm thinking they're probably using the same POD service I am, LOL.

It's been an interesting learning process and certainly deserves a good long post one day. I know I've learned a lot.

Please click on the Yes or No poll about the price when I set it up, 'kay?

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Other Things

Have you guys been watching The Lord of the Rings on TNT the last few nights? Tonight is third and final part. I've forgotten how much I enjoyed those movies, but now every time I see those poor Hobbits, I keep thinking of Rambo Rabbits. LOL.

And Aragorn. Sigh. There's a King and Warrior, eh?

One of these days, I'll buy the DVD set so I can see the extended versions. I want to catch all the extra scenes my friend told me about, like Legolas and Gimli's drinking game or the part where Aragorn healed Eowen and she fell in love with Faramir.

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So, a nice vacay for me. Did any of you go shopping? Stand in line at Best Buy all Weds. and Thurs.? Gulp. Now those people are tenacious about their shopping.

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Uber Books With That Certain Kick

One of my favorite books of all time is Katherine Neville's THE EIGHT. It was an extraordinary blend of suspense, historical, alternative history, super secret society stuff, and even a bit of romance. I've reread this book many times.

Well, it's been 20 (?!) years and Neville has finally penned a sequel! Squuuueeeee. It's called THE FIRE.

It picks up 30 years after The Eight and the protagonist is the daughter of The Eight's heroine. The Fire is coming out sometime in October and I'm already saving my pennies so I can get my hands on this book ASAP.

If you've never read The Eight and enjoy stories with conspiracy/secret society type elements, I highly recommend it. It starts out reading like a suspense, about the main character working for some very, very important law company (there are eight powerful ones) and from there, becomes a treasure hunt story as she looks for a missing chess set that every powerful figure in history seemed to have owned at one point or another. Then the story morphs into a historical with a parallel storyline and here are where the paranormal and romantic elements emerge and before you can even catch your breath, the story turns into a conspiracy/alternative history story. There is just no way to describe the ride ;-), except that it's an unforgettable tale, masterfully told.

So, that's why I'm saving my pennies this month (besides the electric bill, which seems to have doubled....)

Have any of you read The Eight?

What story still holds your attention even though it's been years? It doesn't have to be 20 years old. I still reread Dodd's Candle In The Window (late 90s?), all of Anne Stuart's Onyx releases (also late 90s), and a few others written in the early 2000s. I don't just mean comfort reads. These books are just as fresh as when I first read them, groundbreaking at that time because I've never read that kind of twist/character/emotional impact before. I'm curious to see what books gave you that kind of kick!

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Post #2: Cool Reads and Trailers

For Joss Whedon fans, have you been checking out Dr. Horrible from I-Tunes?


Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

For John Scalzi fans (and you know I am), he has a free story at TOR titled AFTER THE COUP. Click and read!

Sherrilyn Kenyon's ACHERON video debuted last night. Have you seen it?



Never HEARD of the DARK HUNTERS? No way! You can see how thoroughly talented her fans are at Youtube. Here is a sample, introducing the world of the Dark Hunters with fantastic clips using actors we know and love:



Of course, I thoroughly approve any gratuitous use of Gerard Butler ;-). Also Nine Inch Nails! Yessssss.

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Post #2: Because I Anticipate A Paycheck Soon

I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN. I'LL BE PICKING THE WINNERS OF THE SYLVIA DAY BOOKS TONIGHT. THANKS FOR ENTERING THE CONTEST!

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I'm hoping to buy these new books:

FIONA BRAND's Blind Instinct (MIRA Books, paranormal/reincarnation)

It has a Nazi Resistance backstory (I see reincarnation stories as a kind of time travel), so I'm interested to read a 1940s romance.

ELIZABETH HOYT's To Taste Temptation (Forever, historical)

I enjoyed her "prince" series very much, so am looking forward to this new series. It's called The Legend of Four Soldiers.

JERI SMITH-READY's Wicked Game (Pocket, vampire)

She was my roommate at RT and such a great person to be around! This story centers around vampires who work as DJs at a radio station. What? A rock-and-roll vampire? A Sinatra-era vampire? A disco vampire? Sold.

Okay, this is the short list. I have a few more but I haven't decided whether I can afford them this time, especially since I wasn't too keen about their last books.

What about your hot list?

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Uber Paradox, or, Too Much Time Restrains

This past week, I read two books, which was a miracle. There was a time when I could read a book a day, but that was years ago.

Anyway, I highly recommend Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady and Patricia Brigg's Iron Kissed. The first is a historical spy romance and the second, the third book of an urban fantasy series, which can be read stand-alone. Both have twists and turns that made me go "ooooh" and unable to stop turning the pages. Unless you want me to write one of my long-ass reviews, you'd have to take my word that these are wonderful reads that transcended their respective genres. The Spymaster's Lady, for instance, has the most kick-ass female spies that doesn't come across as too modern; in fact, she's so well-written, I started to read the narrative with a French accent. In my head, of course. My out-loud French accent could slay indignant Francophones by ear wave assault.

My reading two books also coincides with the fact that I'm not working or writing much, both of which seem uncontrollable, the former by the economy and the latter...who knows? Yes, the control freak in me is freaking out, in a very controlled way. And that's why no one notices. I'm actually a walking hysterical jello pudding right now. Just kidding.

It is so strange, though. The more time I have on my hands, the less words I produce. It's a puzzle to me. I keep thinking I should be writing my ass off. Everyone tells me so. Everyone.

"Oh, wow, not working for a week? You must love all that writing time!"

"Hey, that's great, you must be writing morning to night!"

"Oh, that's wonderful, all that free time...you must be loving the writing."

If words could kill one's ability to create, those knocked mine out cold. I have all this time and I can't write! :::head desk::: I think I'm wired wrong.

So I turned to my other love. I read. These were such beautiful stories, they swept me off my feet, taking me from my present troubles for a few glorious hours. And, they renew those little creative neurons. Hopefully. Thank you, Bourne and Briggs ;-). From these two books, I'll take one kick ass lady spy with a wonderful sense of humor and one alpha male (albeit werewolf) who is mad, angry, MURDEROUS that his female has been hurt, and sprinkle the magic onto my pages. Hopefully. Because my lady spy just happens to be injured. And my usually very controlled alpha male happens to have just lost it.

You take your creative flow from wherever you can.

And oh, snap: I KNOW you girls are reading those last two sentences about the two spies very, very speculatively. Uh-huh.

*****

Let's hear your current read.

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On A Rainy Friday

We nap. After many attempts to divert Mommy's attention, Bad Puppy sulks and dreams of killing bunnies and his next romance book hero.



Me, I'm in bed with Grey in Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady. Scandalous, but he is so. Irresistible. Spies, the Revolution, the next invasion, France and England, and the deadliest female spy to chase after. What a great historical (hero) to sink one's teeth in on a dreary, rainy day.

Grey's calling me again. He's magnifique!

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