I don’t want to leave this weekend with the previous post hanging around like a bad smell, so I thought I’d organise my TBR and tell you what I’ve been reading.
On holiday I went totally crazy and bought about twenty new books (hey, we don’t get the same books over here). As you can imagine, it was a challenge to fit them in my suitcase on the way home. I had to get very creative.
Here is a list of some of the more interesting books that I bought whilst in the US:
Passion, by Lisa Valdez
Love Slave, Bertrice Small (bought on the advice of the the fab girl at Borders)
All The Sweet Tomorrows, Bertrice Small
Skye O’Malley, Bertrice Small (Did I mention that the girl at Borders was persuasive?)
Mackenzies Mountain, Linda Howard (not really sure why I bought this)
Behind Closed Doors, Shannon Mckenna
Out of Control, Shannon Mckenna
Standing In The Shadows, Shannon Mckenna
Bad Boys Next Exit, Shannon Mckenna et al (yeah, I’m glomming her, and what of it? *g*)
What A woman Wants, Caroline Linden (hey it was only $3.99!)
Sensation, Thea Devine (erm, this will probably will be one that stays on the TBR forever because it’s part of a series. At $14, it was very expensive!)
Too Much Temptation, Lori Foster
Chance McCall, Sharon Sala (currently reading)
Born To Be Bad, Sherrilyn Kenyon
Now, onto the books that I read (including those in the TBR on the sidebar that I took to Florida with me):
The first book on my TBR pile that I read was Tami Hoag’s Cry Wolf. Damn but that woman is a frickin’ genius! A lot of her older books seem to be set in Louisiana so it would be interesting to see if she returns to this part of the US in her future books.
I then read, Out of Control, Behind Closed Doors, and Standing In The Shadows, all of them were by Shannon Mckenna . Now, she’s an author who’s books I probably shouldn’t like, but if I’m honest, I love them. The reason I say I shouldn’t like them is because every one of her stories seems to be exactly the same. Let me give you a brief blurb that covers all three books.
Girl Unlucky meets Boy Moody Bastard under strenuous circumstances, i.e there’s a murderous killer out to get her.
Murderous Fellow finds her devastatingly attractive and wants a piece of her before he kills her (who says romance is dead?)
Girl Unlucky and Boy Moody Bastard fall into bed and have very hot sex for about three days
Boy Moody Bastard acts all macho and possesive and eventually drives Girl Unlucky nuts so she runs away.
Girl Unlucky realises too late that it’s probably not a good idea to run off when Murderous Fellow is on the loose, and gunning for her.
Unbeknownst to her, Girl Unlucky is wearing a tracking device that Boy Moody Bastard planted on her so that he knows where she is at all times (some would call it stalking, but I found it romantic *g*)
Murderous Fellow traps her, and is about to kill her, when Boy Moody Bastard flies in and takes him down, risking his life for that utterly stupid Girl Unlucky, and they live happily ever after.
You pick up any of these three books, and you’ll find the same stories running through them. I still loved them though.
The next book I read was Linda Howard’s Kiss Me While I Sleep. The heroine is a hired assassin who is depressed so she kills the man who kills the people she is closest to. Can we say traumatised? F*cking loved it.
The next Linda Howard that I read was Dying To Please, which was another good one.
I then read Debbi Rawlin’s Hands On. It was a blaze book. I have no recollection of what it was about. ‘Nuff said.
Joahanna Lindsey’s Glorious Angel, I really enjoyed this book. Girl and Boy fall in love, then find out that they could be brother and sister, so she runs away in despair leaving Boy hard and embittered. It turns out that they aren’t related, and they live happily ever after. I’m glad they weren’t related. Still, I enjoyed it.
Lori Foster’s Too Much Temptation was another jolly good light read, I loved Grace, who was the female character, she rocked.
I read the first story in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Born To Be Bad, and it was OK. It didn’t blow me away, but I think she’s one of those ‘popular’ authors whose books I will always enjoy, but will never be really impressed by.
So, that’s what I’ve read in the past two weeks. I think I did pretty well actually.
Now, wasn’t that a nice girly, non-confrontational entry? *g*
Have a nice weekend y’all!
Sam
October 7
7:07 pm
I love Tami Hoag too.
My TBR pile is tottering, and I am going to start off with two Terry Prachett novels – Night watch and Maskerade. Then on to The Last Templar and then the three last books in the Golden Compass series.
Phew.
Last book I read was Daisy Dexter Dobb’s EC book – Penelope’s Perilous Pleasures – very funny.
Amy
October 7
7:40 pm
You’re giving me the urge to go buy some of these, even though my TBR is waaaay out of control! And yes, I’d say you did well for 2 weeks. 🙂
Jennifer B.
October 7
7:58 pm
You know, I posted a comment about disliking the angst McKenna’s heroes dump on / pour into / take out on their heroines on a list in recent months and received NO response. One of those everyone fell silent in a crowded room moments. Your take on these books (which I enjoyed immensely too BTW) is dead on and hilarious! Moody bastard. Love it Karen!
Eve Vaughn
October 7
8:16 pm
I adore Beatrice Small. *sigh* and you can’t go wrong with Sherrilyn Kenyon. Hope you have a great weekend reading.
Rosie
October 8
12:48 am
Dayum…with all the sites and pics you took on your vacation I’d say you did great! I’ve read most of the books you’ve listed. I really Shannon McKenna too!
My TBR is just disgraceful, but I see I’m in good company. 😉
Anonymous
October 8
12:19 pm
Ok. The fact that you have MacKenzie’s mountain in your TBR pile now makes it a Holy shrine. *G*
That is one of my all time favorite books. Just love Howard’s touch with H&H in that book. And loved the H&H.
Sarah McCarty
October 8
12:20 pm
Ok. Why does This stupid Verification change all my posts to anonymous?
Sarah
Misty G
October 10
2:39 am
Small definately is a unique author. The books you chose pretty much defined the bodice ripper of the 80’s. Happy reading!
Karen Scott
October 10
9:42 am
Sam, Tami Hoag is amazing isn’t she?
Amy, I took a book with me every where we went, which meant lots of reading whilst in the car, or if we had to wait for anything. I also read a lot during the evenings.
Jennifer, don’t worry about it, I find that on list serves people are sometimes afraid to react just in case they’re ignored. You’ll find that if just one other person responds, then they soon come out of their shell. Also, some people feel funny about criticising authors in a public forum.
I enjoyed the books, but honestly, the heroes were the same in each book, bloody overbearing and moody as hell!
I read one of her short stories, and the hero was just the same in that. I wonder if she’d agree to do an interview? *g*
Eve, I haven’t got round to reading any of Bertrice Small’s books yet, they do sound interesting though.
Rosie, my TBR just keeps growing! I do like Shannon Mckenna’s books too, although her heroes are too similar for my liking.
Sarah, I can’t remember why I bought Mackenzies Mountain, but the story sounded really interesting, plus it is by Linda Howard who I’m reading a lot of at the mo!
I don’t think it’s got anything to do with word verification, but don’t quote me!
Misty, I was attracted to the Skye O’Malley books because she sounded like a slut, and I like the thought of a heroine who sleeps with more than one person, as opposed to the thirty year old virgin in a lot of other main stream romance!! *g*
Anne
October 10
11:42 am
Hi Karen,
Mackenzie’s Mountain… one of Linda Howard’s best! I absolutely LOVED this book! You need to read the book A Game Of Chance which ties into the Mackenzie’s theme. That book along with Heartbreaker and Mr. Perfect and Dream Man are my fave L. Howard books. Nothing better than a fantastic Linda Howard book!
I’m not a fan of S. McKenna because of the fact that it is the same story rewritten a thousand times with just different characters and a little difference in the plot. To me that’s cheating : )
Not a huge fan of B. Small but then again I’m not much of a historical fan other than Sarah’s books and VERY few others : )
Lori Foster’s Too Much Temptation is on my keeper shelf… one of her best! Grace is one hell of a woman, isn’t she? Gotta love the hunky Noah too. It’s one of those that you can read over and over again and still love every single word.
I have S. Kenyon’s Born to Be Bad and like you, I read the first story and it was okay, not fantastic. Not sure if I’ll read the other two stories… but I did pick up Bad Attitude (her newest) from the library so we’ll see if that is any better.
Okay… now I’ve gotta try J. Lindsay’s book that you mentioned. That’s my kind of story line… some dislike it as it is cliched, but I love it!
Seems we have the same taste in books Karen! Imagine that! LOL Have you picked up Katherine Allred’s newest from Cerridwen from last month? She’s got another one coming out this month I believe also. I haven’t gotten them yet, but you can bet I will!