Sara Reyes | Where's Your Bookmark today?

I signed off with that last week and didn't get a whole ton of feedback, but ah well, it didn't stop me from reading more stuff. So, because I've got a full day including an 8am stop at Central Market Plano for their 'to-die-for' pancakes -- very very early on a Saturday -- I need to buckle down and write.

This week was filled with thrillers, weepers, and a little bit of historical romance.

First off...finally finished DARK OF NIGHT and was a bit disappointed in the quality of the book. I mean, seriously folks, it's a f@#ing hardcover and the pages are falling out with one read? And I am NOT a messy reader. No dog earing, no cracking of spines or folding of pages. Geez! That put me off greatly BTW. Even if I got it at Costco and not full retail, a hardcover with pages falling out! What has the world come to? Oh, and the book was good. I wasn't entirely happy with the reason for all the thrills and chills, but the ride was satisfying. Why did Nash go on all those 'covert missions'? I didn't buy the "money" angle. Ah well. Maybe there is something else down the road.

My next one was the [insert a bunch of raves here. then repeat, this one deserves a ton of raves] MEN OF THE OTHERWORLD by Kelley Armstrong. OMG. This is the compilation of four short stories Kelley's posted on her web site over the years. They're about Clayton and Jeremy. The back story so to speak! And for any fan of the "Otherworld" this is definitely required reading. And because I am special...I snatched it off the pile of books arriving for review...I'm going to treat myself to MADE TO BE BROKEN this weekend. Read and weep oh fellow KA fans.

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Buy Your Copy today


Pre-order Your Copy today


Pre-order Your Copy today

Then I spent some time weeping, sigh, oh, yeah. Read all of the Robyn Carr Virgin Rivers books (series part two or books 4, 5, 6 and 7) in two days. I've gotten smarter when I read her, I just leave out the contact lens. It's much better than way. No nasty buildup from the extra salt in the tears. It's hard to believe she can be so consistently good. But on the other hand, thank goodness she is! I think my favorite is Paradise Valley. Although, I did enjoy the interplay between Shelby and Luke in Temptation Ridge. Then, of course, Second Chance Pass wasn't shabby either. Paul tried so HARD to be the best friend! And since I missed the Christmas story, I dove into it as well. A Virgin River Christmas was the most heart-warming story I've read since A Simple Gift. The thought of Marcie spending every thing she had to track down Ian. And then, Ian, well, he was just worth the cost after a bit of polishing. He did come through for Marcie in the end and that's what's important. Every time I read about the tree I just lost it. Sigh, All done now. I've got the contacts back in and no time for tears!

Then I finished off my week with back-to-back historicals: Elizabeth Hoyt's To Beguile A Beast and Mary Balogh's At Last Comes Love. Yes, yes, it isn't available until the end of April but you want a heads up, don't you? No, okay, then I'll just say it's prime Mary Balogh reading. Balogh's four tales of the Huxtable family follows a familiar path but she's able to keep the story unfolding at the right pace and with enough emotion to make it extremely satisfying! Do tell me though what you think of the first three in paperback at $6.99 and the concluding one in hardcover for $22?

Hoyt's story is the fourth in her Legend of the Four Soldiers series, a beauty and the beast tale. A great read, I highly recommend you pre-order of this one! And if you haven't read the first three, I say, WHY NOT? She has the sensuality and the historical period down pat. So, don't miss Jasper's story in To Seduce a Sinner, plus Samuel's story in To Taste Temptation, which starts the whole series. Then you'll be ready in May for To Beguile a Beast? which moves it along and provides a few more twists and turns...my favorite! And a wounded hero, delicious! And he's got a way with lemons as well. [we'll talk in May, remind me.]

So, now that you know what I've been reading, where is YOUR bookmark?

Get out there and READ a book...
Sara Reyes
DFW Tea Readers Group
Join us at Readers 'n 'ritas in 2009!

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Emilie Richards | Why I Became a Serial Killer

Emilie Richards

A serial killer? Well, I didn't become one, of course. Not exactly. But lately, and I have to admit the following part is true, people are dropping dead all around me. And by my hand.

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Of course my hand is on the computer keyboard whenever bad things happen. And the people dropping dead? Not nice people, for the most part. People you and I would cross the street to avoid. People who enjoy causing trouble for others. People who are sure the world revolves around them.

Serial killers get to choose their victims. And there are so many places to look. Take reality shows, for instance. Haven't you ever wanted to rid the world–or at least the television studio–of some of those judges? You know the ones I mean. They're sarcastic and egotistic and often downright cruel, all in the name of ratings. They're the ones we love to hate, and still, like bystanders staring at a train wreck, we just can't seem to pull ourselves away.

Well, I got rid of one of them this year.

got you hooked? read the rest of Emilie's blog...

Lauren Willig | Driving by Misdirection, or Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Most things in my life happen when I’m trying to do something else. I don’t even mean the big things, like planning to write a dissertation and coming out with a series of romance novels instead (ought I to get an RD for that? I like the sound of Romanciae Doctor), or the fact that if I meant to go right, I usually walk left (I find all sorts of new and interesting places that way). This happens to me in my writing, too. What I wind up writing is seldom exactly what I intended it to be.

Take my first book for example, the lengthily titled Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I very firmly told my agent that what I had produced was a “traditional Regency romance”. My agent is a very kind, patient sort of person. Instead of making snorting noises, he said, very gently, “Are you sure?” I was quite sure. “Um…” he said, flipping through the mental filofax for Tactful Ways to Deal With Deluded Authors. “Are you really sure?” That’s how I found out that what I’d really written was Napoleonic-era historical fiction/ romantic suspense/ mystery/ chick lit. No can quite agree on what it is, but it sure ain’t a traditional Regency. In a word, ooops.

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Tina Leonard | Fail-And-Succeed Success

I love writing. I feel fortunate that I get to make my living at putting words to paper. It means that I get to indulge my love of doing what I enjoyed when I was a child, which was read every single word I could get my hands on. Now I get to read wonderful works by other authors and friends, and sometimes I feel like I have a front-row seat to the ever-changing publishing world. I see a book make a bestseller list and I think, "Wow! I met that author!" Call me perpetually star-struck because I suppose I am. I root for everybody's careers and the state of the publishing industry because this is my team, the team that allows me to stay at home and do what I love to do most: Write, read, be a mom, a wife, a good neighbor and friend.

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Mary Nichols | Writing Historical

I love writing historical romance, researching the backgrounds and working out how my hero and heroine are going to resolve their dilemmas. Although the majority of my books have Regency backgrounds, I have also used the English Civil War, the Jacobite Rebellion, the building of the railways (Working Man, Society Bride) and the outcry for and against building the Crystal Palace in Victoria's reign (A Desirable Husband). Romance can be found in the most unexpected places. For instance, the conflict between Roland, the Earl of Amerleigh and Charlotte Cartwright in The Earl and The Hoyden, just out in the UK, involves a quarrel over the ownership of a Shropshire lead mine.

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Amanda McIntyre | Life in a Blender

Not very often, thankfully, life tosses in a time of great challenge to you on many levels. I am sure that many of you are nodding your head in agreement. Such has been the case in my real life this past few weeks. My mind is only just today slowing down from the whir to be able to grasp something as "normal" as writing this blog. But in the greater picture of life, it is also these moments of great challenge that can provide a clearer perspective on your life. Maybe get you to slow down a bit, or reassess your time and goals, maybe organize things a bit better to make life less stressful. There is no way of finding the magic cure-all for such moments in life--they are going to happen and it is in how I handle these times, what blessings I find, or lesson I learn, that will make the difference.

Interestingly--and perhaps it touches a part of me that has before experienced these moments--it is why I like to write about heroes and heroines, who for the most part (depending on the era) may have ordinary lives that are similar to yours or mine. Granted , we may not be experiencing firsthand ,what they are experiencing in the story, but perhaps there is a scene or a thought that the character has that you might find a kinship to. I enjoy reading about characters who seem ordinary, until something prompts them (internally or externally ) to step out of the ordinary and deal with life in an extraordinary way. The everyday hero/heroine--who may not wear a cape, who may not be totally alpha male or female, but--who when faced with a challenge or obstacle--suddenly becomes the designer of their own fate.

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Sandi Shilhanek | January Reading

It’s extremely hard to believe that we are at the beginning of the second month of 2009. That leads to the question of how did your resolutions pan out so far?

Most of my self improvement resolutions have gone by the wayside, but my reading resolution to watch the personal outlay of cash for new books has held firm, though my TBR has grown a lot thanks to a great DFW Tea trade, and a very generous gift card from Amazon. I also belong to another trade site that has added a couple of books. Of all the new books in my pile only one was personally paid for with cash out of my pocket. Not bad!

Then I had resolved to participate in two more reading resolutions. One was to read the EYE SPY Challenge Word that one of my yahoo groups is doing. The word for January was Snow, and I read Not So Snow White by Donna Kauffman. While the story was enjoyable I personally liked Dear Prince Charming better.

Then I needed to read a title by the author of the month for the DFW Tea Dinner Group. January’s author was Laura Griffin, and I read her first book One Last Breath. I was totally hooked, and need to work the follow up book One Wrong Step into my reading schedule soon.

I only read 5 books in January, and I think One Last Breath was my favorite, and the one I’m going to recommend to all my friends. So, how are your book resolutions going? Got a book to recommend that shouldn’t be missed?