What are you reading - September 2011

I finished Heartless by Gail Carriger yesterday. It started out slow, but I wound up really liking it once it got exciting in the 2nd half. Now I'm reading Goddess of Spring by P.C. Cast.

In the middle of For the Roses by Julie Garwood. I tend to read historical romances set in England so this one is a bit different for me. Garwood never seems to disappoint me. I'll probably be done in the next day or two and not sure what's on the reading table next.

I just finished To Distraction by Stephanie Laurens and next up for me is either Love Me Forever by Johanna Lindsey or I also got the Runaway Brides Trilogy by Celeste Bradley.

I got all 5 books for less than $4 at a thrift store!!

I'm working on the Troubleshooters books and am up to All Through the Night

I just finished Hidden Riches by Nora Roberts. Right now I am reading The Down East Murders by J. S. Borthwick, a mystery set in Maine. Since I just spent a week there, I thought the book might be fun. So far, so good.

I'm working my way through Stephanie Laurens' Cynster Novels (the ones I have anyways....) I finished The Taste of Innocence and will start Where The Heart Leads tonight.

Finished Captured by the Highlander and started Lip Service by Susan Mallery.

Julia

Just finished One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost I loved it. It as so good I think it was one of my fave's from this series.
Waiting until tomorrow to get Envy by J.R. Ward and Dark Predator by Christine Feehan

Just finished Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones. It was almost as funny as the first one.

Next will probably be The Sookie Stackhouse Companion.

I finished Like No Other Lover by Julie Ann Long, which was great. Now I've started Ice Blue by Anne Stuart.

Just read Any Man of Mine by Rachel Gibson, another in her Seattle Chinooks series. For some reason, I love books where the hero is a professional athlete -- even though I am not really a sports fan. Probably because the guy is so physical, although often a jerk. Go figure!!

Just started Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase this is the 1st book of hers I believe I've read & so far its pretty good- kindle purchased for 99cents

#13 - One of my favorite romances - ever! Love the interplay between the h/h, she is a great foil to his alpha of all alphas. Great book - you're in for a treat!

I finished Lip Service by Susan Mallery it wasn't as good as the other mainly because I found Skye's insecureties a bit anoying.

Next is Claimed by the Highlander by Julianne MacLean.

Julia

I just recently finished the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. Now I'm starting the Sentinel Wars series by Shannon Butcher

I finished Katherine by Anya Seton on audiobook, which I loved! A beautiful medieval love story between Katherine, Lady Swynford and John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster.

#13-#14 - I agree. Lord of Scoundrels is one of the greatest romances ever written. I think it frequently pops up as #1 on Top 100 lists. In my opinion, Loretta Chase's more recent books fail to measure up. Some of her other earlier ones have also been re-released I believe, and they are worth reading. Enjoy!

I finished Claimed by the Highlander and started The Time Machine by H. G. Wells as my 1001 book.

Julia

I am about halfway through Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn. For those of you who know and love the Bridgerton's, the heroine in this story is one of the Smythe-Smith's of musicale fame. I am really enjoying the book.

I finished and enjoyed Ice Blue. Now I'm starting Scandal by Carolyn Jewel.

Still reading the Troubleshooters series from Suzanne Brockmann. I am now just finishing Into the Fire and about to start Dark of Night. I am really enjoying most of these books and kind of sad that I'm reaching the end of what is out so far. For those who have read them, what couple is your favorite? Do you have a favorite SEAL or other character? After thinking about it, I'm still rather fond of Tom and Kelly from the first book. I wish they were more a part of the later books other than a few mentions. I also think that Decker is an interesting character.
After I finish these, I'm going back to the Susan Wiggs books.

Just started the The Handmaiden's Necklace by Kat Martin. I've read one of the other books in this series and really enjoyed it.

> 23 The Necklace trilogy is probably my favorite romance series. Although I still maintain The Devil's Necklace is the best book overall, with a very Handmaiden's in a close second, but I just really love Rafe, he's my favorite of the guys.

I'm in the middle of Devil in my Bed by Celeste Bradley, the first book of her Runaway Brides Trilogy.

Finished Lord of Scoundrels I really enjoyed it! At first I was a little frustrated because they kept misunderstanding the situations but that totally went along with his personality - I ended up really liking the book & loved the ending!!

Finished One Grave at a Time and Devil to Pay both by Jeaniene Frost
and Loved them. Now Im going to be stuck waiting for the next one & One grave just came out - grrrr.

Just started Deeper than Midnight by Lara Adrian so far it has my attention :)

I haven't been on here in, oh years, but I'm back. Glad to know all the great reading didn't stop in my absence. I've read a number of books this month:

The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky
The Possessed by Elif Batuman
Indiscreet by Carolyn Jewel
Patience by Lisa Valdez (I know, I'm late on this one.)
Delicious by Sherry Thomas
Dangerous Secrets by Lisa Marie Rice
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

My favorites were Delicious and The Maltese Falcon. The others were mostly mediocre or just plain bad, in the case of Patience. Not sure what I'll read next.

26> The next novella will be out October 25th. It's in The Bite Before Christmas.

Welcome back Gracer.! Are you here in the states?

#27 - gracer - I loved Delicious, I pretty much have loved all of Sherry Thomas' books!

#29-Yes, Mamalaz, I'm back home for awhile. I still remember you sending me that package of books. Much appreciated. I left them with my English teaching counterpart. She loves to read, but understandably has access to very few books in English.

#30-I'm thinking of reading Private Arrangements next. She is a promising author.

In general, I'm feeling a little out of the loop on all the recent and new releases. Trying to track down what authors have put out what in the last few years is difficult. Plus, all my books have been in storage so I can't really remember what I have and I don't want to buy duplicates (has already happened a few times). But I can't complain. It's really wonderful having access to so many books again.

Welcome back, gracer! Glad to know you are safe and sound and still reading. If you like Sherry Thomas, you may want to check out Meredith Duran and the newish author, Courtney Milan. I think they all have a somewhat similar writing style and like the early Victorian era rather than the more standard Regency.

I recently finished an Amazon freebie (a book that I'd actually had on my wishlist for ages): George and the Virgin by Lisa Cach. A very light, funny, even slightly silly, but delightful time-travel romance.

The hero, George, is a WWF-style wrestling star recovering from an injury and a minor scandal involving some foolish little boys recklessly copying his signature move (predictably injuring themselves) and the heroine is Alizoun, a medieval maiden scheduled to be served up to a dragon as a tasty little morsel designed to keep the bloodthirsty reptile away from her superstitious, terrified village for yet another year. How these two meet and what happens when they do is the heart of the tale. It's utterly improbable (more like totally impossible) but also quite charming and the St. George legend is nicely woven into the story even as the contemporary reader is snickering at modern George's goofy wrestler gear and moves. Alizoun is a kick-ass heroine (I loved her!) and George is actually a very sweet, rather beta, immensely loveable hero.

I'm always a bit nervous with time-travel romances, wondering if and how things are going to work out, but Cach brings this one to a perfect if perfectly absurd conclusion and I closed the book quite satisfied. In fact, I think I read this whole novel with a broad grin on my face-it's nothing serious but it sure is a whole lot of fun.

#32-Thanks for the recommendations. I have read one Meredith Duran, which I enjoyed, Written On Your Skin and I have a couple of others in TBR. I haven't heard of the other.

I just quickly read Animal Farm. I'd never read it and thought it was quite good.

And I just finished an out of print historical Lady Cat by Joan Overfield. It was okay, but I did not think that everything was properly resolved at the end. I hate it when a kidnapping is used to rush the HEA. But the book was solid and well-reviewed on Amazon. Has anyone else read it?

24 -
The series is the Troubleshooters series by Suzanne Brockmann. It has been around for a while, but I just discovered it not long ago. I am really enjoying it. You should definately check it out.

Just started listening to Blameless by Gail Carriger, read by Emily Gray. Am enjoying it, though she is going through a lot of unpleasantness just at the moment. I expect she will shake off her unhappiness soon, and the action will pick up.

marietherese, George and the Virgin sounds wonderful. I will look for it.

Finished A Knight Well Spent, wasn't too crazy about it, but at least I finished it! Now, I'm starting The Shadowy Horses.

I read First Comes Marriage and found it a bit tepid. It was refreshing not to see villainous in-laws, except for Con, I suppose. But in general, I thought h/h characterization was weak and a little off and didn't really believe in their romance. I thought Vanessa's cheeriness rang false and Elliott was too much of a stick-in-the-mud. Also, I found it strange that Vanessa shared a bed with her first husband who had consumption.

#39 gracer, I agree that First Comes Marriage was not quite up to Balogh's usual standards -- too many ploys to move the plot along. I did like the whole series and anxiously awaited Con's story, which I really liked.

Right now I am reading Light in Shadow by Jayne Ann Krentz. Lately I just really enjoy these psychic detective plots.

Finished Scandal by Carolyn Jewel. It is the first I've read by her and I enjoyed it.

Just got two library downloads on my nook and I'm trying to decide which to read first, Not Quite a Husband or Ravishing in Red...

#39 & #40 - I completely agree about First Comes Marriage. The rest of the Huxtable series was better but still kind of 'meh' to me until Con's story. That was the best of the series in my opinion.

Right now I am reading To Wed a Wicked Prince by Jane Feather, so far so good. It does make me wonder if I meet a prince and get to know him for a few days, would I accept if he proposes?

I am listening to The Hellion and the Highlander by Lynsay Sands. I've read the book and enjoy Sands sense of humor. Listening to books with sexy Scottish accents is always fun.

41> I really enjoyed Ravishing in Red and the sequels.

This past week I read The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. I just discovered Julia Quinn and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the Bridgerton series.

I also read One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost (loved it!) and I'm now reading Kiss of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon (OK).

#43 BookLizard - you're in for a treat, The Bridgerton books by Julia Quinn are the best, my favorite regency series!

I read Laura Lee Guhrke's Wedding of the Season, the first in her Abandoned at the Altar series. I enjoyed it, but again found it a little blah. I thought it was a good, character-driven romance, without some distracting, villainous plot. And I thought the h/h's issues were realistic for the time period. But I didn't really believe in the hero's sudden decision to woo the heroine or the heroine's dawning of understanding towards the end. Everything wrapped up too nicely and I wanted them to really resolve their issues. But the setting of turn of the century was a nice change.

I am looking for Ravishing in Red. I found Dangerous in Diamonds at Goodwill the other day and snapped it up only to discover it's the last in the series. So I'm waiting to find the others before starting on it.

Today I read Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man which I enjoyed, but not as much as The Maltese Falcon.

I finished The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn and I really loved it. I am now reading McClairen's Isle by Connie Brockway.

44> Have you read Quinn's latest, Just Like Heaven? That was the first book I read by her. It's the start of the Smythe-Smith quartet. Quite humorous - reminded me of Julie Garwood's older novels.

It's so funny that you called it a Regency series. When I hear "Regency series," I think of the traditional Regency romance lines, like from Harlequin, that were short and had no sex. I never read them and I have it in my head that "I don't like Regencies." But what historical romance authors have I read recently? Julia Quinn, Madeline Hunter, Sarah Maclean. And what are some of my old favorites? Johanna Lindsay's Malory series, Catherine Coulter's Sherbrooke series, Amanda Quick, Julie Garwood . . . all historical romances that just happen to be set in the early 19th century. LOL.

46> You definitely want to read the other 3 books before Dangerous in Diamonds. Castleford is such a rake in the earlier books - it makes his fall (into love) so much better.

I will definitely track down the other three before diving into the series.

I am taking a romance break and reading the non-fiction book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

>48 BookLizard: booklizard, I loved Just Like Heaven. It's sort of a contination of the Bridgertons.

I just finished A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald and am about to read some romance or other, haven't decided yet.

I finished Straight from the Hip and started More than a Scandal by Sari Robins just to realise that it's book no. 2 of a series. Argh!

Julia

#48 & #49 - Okay, I'm only half way through Ravishing in Red and I already can not wait for Castleford's story. After the bedroom scene where this Hero turns down the offer to 'join in' I had to look up the rest of the series to see if he got his own book.

Just started Heartless by Gail Carriger.

51> I wish I'd discovered Julia Quinn years ago - I might have enjoyed Just Like Heaven even more if I'd read the Bridgertons first.

53> Castleford only gets better (or worse, depending on your opinion) as the series continues.

Finished The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. It was quite good. I was depressed reading halfway through, but overall it is an inspiring tale with the highlight being William's message of African solutions for Africans. It is an easy read and I recommend it. Not sure what I'll read next.

Who's this Gail Carriger you all keep mentioning? Is she new?

55> Fairly new. She writes The Parasol Protectorate series - paranormal steampunk. I wasn't sure if I would like it since it's so different from what I usually read, but it's pretty funny. The first book is Soulless.

I don't know what to think of the words parasol and protectorate going together. I just read Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey which was excellent and Shannon Butcher's No Regrets which was okay. May have to hunt up a historical next.

#57, gracer if you're looking for good historicals, I just finished up reading Jennifer Donnelly's The Tea Rose trilogy. I simply loved every one of the books, they got better and better and they have a romantic element to them too! I highly recommend them!

57: gracer, you should give Gail a try - I love that series.

Just finished Deeper than Midnight by Lara Adrian Very good story in this series & it just seems to be getting better. I wasnt sure in the beginning if I was going to really like this series but each book just kept getting better!

Now I think I am going to start Envy by J.R. Ward - this isnt my favorite series by her but it is still very good & I always end up getting sucked into the book so I keep buying them.

gracer, I'm the odd woman out here on the board with regard to the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. I read the first and strongly disliked it and started the second (which I'd bought with the first) and found that I just couldn't bring myself to read beyond the first couple of chapters. Something about Carriger's prose, the smug, juvenile archness of it, just rubs me the wrong way and gets on my very last nerve. For me, reading her is like being stuck alone in a small car with a busted radio on an all day road trip with an obnoxious, precocious but not very genuinely intelligent 15 year-old. In other words, it's sheer HELL! ;-)

Of course, your mileage may vary. But I thought you should hear another opinion before you splurge on the whole series.

Thanks for your opinion, marietherese, on Gail Carriger. I will probably check it out at some point, but it's not a high priority. I'm trying to diminish my TBR as it is.

I've started reading Mary Balogh's Then Comes Seduction, the second Huxtable book, but I only got about 75 pages in last night before putting it down and going to bed. It seems unoriginal and unnecessarily long, in my opinion, but I'll probably keep up with it.

Finished with the Troubleshooters books. Next on deck Anna and the French Kiss and some more by Susan Wiggs

I finished Then Comes Seduction and found it only marginally better than the first in the series. I didn't really get the h/h's relationship and the humor didn't work for me. I also thought the wager and the forced marriage were trite. But I guess I'm a glutton for punishment because I plowed through all 419 unnecessary pages. Now I have to hunt up Meg and Stephen's stories before I can read Con's. Tell me they get better...

>61 gracer: Diminishing one's TBR pile. I can't even imagine what that would be like. Mine just keeps growing and growing and growing...

Anyway, I got on a Georgette Heyer streak and read, in relatively quick order, The Devil's Cub and These Old Shades, recommended to me by someone here on LT whose name I can't recall, after having read and enjoyed The Black Moth. I just loved them! How I got to be the age I am without having discovered Heyer is a mystery.

I've finished McClairen's Isle by Connie Brockway and am now beginning After the Abduction by Sabrina Jeffries

>64 Storeetllr:, storeetllr
I loved those two heyer books and I had never read any of her books until introduced to her on LT either. That's why I love this group!

Just finished the necklace trilogy by Kat Martin. The library had all 3 books in the series on the shelf at the same time. How could I resist?

Right now I am reading Death and Judgment by Donna Leon, a Venice murder mystery. If you like mysteries, I highly recommend the author and her Commissario Brunetti series. I think I am a little in love with the protaganist.

I finished the Runaway Brides trilogy by Celeste Bradley and I really liked it, the plot line was interesting with the little girl and it made for 3 completely different stories.

I also read A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James. As my first foray into James' writing I found it to be very intriguing. I started the book right before bed (about midnight) and couldn't stop reading until I was done (4am!).

Currently I'm reading Talk of the Ton, it has 4 short stories by 4 different authors. The first was really really good, by Eloisa James, and I hope the other 3 live up to the first story.

Wow, I just realized that I've read a lot of books this month, and this is just romances.

I just finished Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase. I was worried the story would seem too out there - the heroine owns the dress shop and ends up with a duke. But it was great. I'm sure this is the first in the series and can't wait for the next one (there definitely was foreshadowing on that romance)...

I finished The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley and am now beginning If You Deceive by Kresley Cole

I just finished Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. It was cute and funny but I think I like her better writing on her own.

Finished Heartless which was good, but I found I didn't remember some details from previous books. The last book in the series, Timeless, is coming out at the end of February, so maybe I'll try rereading the rest before then.

Currently reading Dark Predator by Christine Feehan.

I read Strangers in Death a few days ago and now I'm working on Salvation in Death.

I'm halfway through Hot on her Heels by Susan Mallery.

I'm up for suggestions on which historical authour I should start next from my tbr pile as I'm absolutely not sure.

Julia

#73, have you read Judith McNaught, she's one of my all time favorites!

ktleyed, no, I don't think so. But as she's not in my tbr it wouldn't matter. :D

75: Eloisa James!

I'm currently reading the ebook version of Mary Chase Comstock's A Sparkling Affair, which has been retitled High Spirits at Harroweby (I actually like this new title better than the old one-more descriptive of the plot as a whole). It's a totally delightful, smile-inducing trad Regency with some ghost story elements. The characters are lovely and well-delineated, the dialogue is witty, and the supernatural aspect, while important to the plot, never overtakes the romance. I highly recommend this to trad Regency fans.

Julia1605> One of my favorite books is on your tbr list: Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke. It was my first book by the author and put her on my must read list.

Just finished If You Deceive by Kresley Cole - loved it. Best and last of a trilogy. Now I'm beginning What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris, a Sebastian St. Cyr mystery.

78: I second the recommendation for Guilty Pleasures. It's a great book and I think you'll enjoy it Julia.

I finished another Eve Dallas mystery, Salvation in Death which was good and took me a little longer to read. I thought the mystery was a little more involved in this one.

I'm not sure what I'll read next. I might have to hunt up my copy of Guilty Pleasures for a re-read.

I just finished A Discovery of Witches which I liked enough to be unhappy when I found Harkness was still writing the sequel! Interesting premise, nice romance and wonderful historical detail.

Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke it is. Thank you all.

Finished Hot on her heels I think I like this one best in the series.

Julia

I'm a couple of pages into Seduce Me in Dreams which is my April (or maybe March) Early Review book which just finally showed up in my mail a couple weeks ago. I'm going to try and get it done this weekend...but can't guarantee anything.

Well, I'm getting in one last post before October. I started another J.D. Robb, Promises in Death, but I'm going on a trip tomorrow, so I definitely won't finish it in time for September. And I found Stephen Huxtable's story, Seducing an Angel at Goodwill the other day. So now I'm just looking for Meg's story and I can finish the series.