FIVE more days!!!!!

Only FIVE more days until the release of Reckless (Thoughtless, #3) S. C. Stephens.  Guess this tells you what I will be doing as soon as I get home from work on Tuesday!!!  If you have not started this trilogy, GET ON WITH IT ALREADY

New 5 Star Review - Groupie by Ginger Voight

Updated:  OMG!  Why do I torture myself with these emotionally draining books?.  I am not a big roller coaster fan, but I can't stay away from these!   SO - I just finished Groupie by Ginger Voight.  It is the first book in her Groupie Trilogy.  I LOVED it!  Again, I have a thing for bad boys :)  This book had me all over the place.  Haven't we all fallen for the one we can't have? There were times my heart broke her, times I wanted to slap the crap out of her and ask her how naive she can really be.  I felt my pulse quicken ....I often had to read past the lump in my throat......I found myself releasing breaths that I did not know I was holding.....its full of angst and intensity and I love it!  Bring on book# 2:  Rock Star!!! 

Update:   WOW - books 2 and 3 were just as fabulous!!!!!  Rock stars, love triangles, groupies, crazy people, deception, lies, danger, fear, murder, and love - this triolgy has it all.

Book Description:

Into any girl's life a star could fall, but there's a thin line between love and obsession.

Andy Foster never expected lightning to strike when she met the enigmatic frontman of an up-and-coming rock band, but Giovanni Carnevale left her thunderstruck. At first it is easy to use her freelance writing career as an excuse to indulge the steamy flirtation from city to city. As she gets ever closer to making her lascivious fantasies a reality, however, she finds herself entangled in the fake and sometimes dangerous world of celebrity where nothing is as it seems, including the celebrities themselves.

She hangs on to find something real amidst the illusion, while Giovanni balances what he wants against what he fears most. Over three years they come together and blow apart with the same kind of combustible passion. This keeps them orbiting in the others' stratosphere despite new relationships and bitter betrayals. They are bound together by something they can't fight, something that draws the ire of another fan determined to claim Vanni all to herself.

Unknowingly they all race toward a dramatic moment of truth that will leave two people injured, and one dead, with a twist of an ending you may never see coming.

Decisions are the worst!!! (Kindle overload)

So - it's Wednesday and Wednesday are "my nights".  That is one day when I do not get on the treadmill, I try not to cook dinner or do anything that requires effort.  Tonight I wanted to curl up with a good book for a bit and then watch some mindless television.  Problem is, I have too many books to choose from and don't know where to begin.  I am not kidding you when I say that I currently have over 100 books on the 'cloud' that I have yet to read.  How is one to decide when there are so many to choose from????  Decisions are the worst!!!! I can think of a couple that I would like to download, but I have NO BUSINESS downloading more books (free ot not) until I read more of the ones I have.  Help a girl out - What are you currently reading?  Comment on this post with your reading recommendations!!!

As of right now, I think I might give Groupie, by Ginger Voight, a try.  Looks like its a trilogy with all 3 books published.  Wonder if I can finish them all before Reckless (Thoughtless, #3) by S.C Stephens comes out on March 5?

"Booked" on Series

I love a good series.  I love following along, from the very start, getting to know each character along the way.  While you can find my 'Best of 2012' reads listed on the right sidebar of my page, there were so many more that I have loved and will continue to read, if the series is not yet complete.   While many books in a series can be read stand-alone and not in a particular order, I am one of those who HAS to put them in order.   Book 1 may mention a character who will be the lead in Book 4, and while Book 4 could have been read first, I know so much more about the Book 4 character, from having picked up on little pieces along the way in Books 1, 2, and 3.   Even if an author states that there is no reading order for their books, I tend to still read them in order of publication......it's just my 'thing' and certainly not one you have to adopt.  I am like that with TV shows too - if I do not catch the first episode, I am likely to never watch the show.

Anyway - here are some of my favorites:

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Racing On The Edge series - by Shey Stahl



I fell in love with these little treasures and all the characters in it.  Nascar Bad boy and fun romance.....everyone might need a man like Jameson and his camshaft :)  **giggle, giggle**  I started this series after some other very intense and emotionally draining reading and at the time, it was just what I needed....to fall in love with new characters and a different feel to the story.  Not that there were not intense moments, because there were and I loved them.....but I also loved the moments that had me giggling like a school girl.  As the series continued, I enjoyed them all.....they were fun, suspenseful, romantic, sexy......hubby is a Nascar fan, so I had fun with conversations with him about the use of race talk lingo etc.  A very good series,  I still giggle and blush thinking about it :)

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Fool's Gold Series - by Susan Mallery



I have loved every single one of these books and novellas.  Please note that Only Us and Almost Summer are e-Novellas.  The above pictured covers are what has been published to date, but there are 4 more coming soon, to be released in May, June, July and August  -  a treat for each month of our summer, to enjoy while lounging at the pool or beach :)    I fell in love with every character AND with Fool's Gold, California.  I found that I lost myself in these books.....like I was living there in Fool's Gold, and these people, these characters became my friends...my family.  OK -  so maybe I get a little TOO involved and TOO attached to my reading sometimes, but isn't that the purpose.....to be taken away to another place, another life?  I could so see myself living in a place like Fool's Gold and loving every moment.  Go for a visit, starting with Chasing Perfect, Book #1 in the series.  I promise you will love it there :)

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The Sullivan Series  - by Belle Andre



From the authors website:

The Sullivan Series

In Bella's sexy, emotional and funny contemporary romance series, each member of the Sullivan family will eventually find true love...usually where he or she least expects it.

I found these little gems when books 1-5 were on sale for $.99.   I fell in love with the Sullivan family.  Each book features a new family member.  You could read them in any order, or stand-alone, but you will get so much more out of them if you read them in order.  Note:  book 8, Always On My Mind, has yet to be released.  It's release date is March 5.  You can bet I will be downloading that one first thing that morning :)

Highly Recommended - 5 Star Reading

Here are some recent books that I have read that I would give a 5-Star rating to:

   The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmerski

Book Description:  Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she's ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she'd do. He shows her what it's really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew's dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?
(Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for 17+ - Adult Contemporary Women's - New Adult Fiction)

That was some kind of an emotional ride!!!  I felt like I was right there, traveling with them on their road-trip.  I giggled through their funny banter, my heart raced with anticipation, I ached for them, I cried with them, I think I fell in love with them.


   Beautifully Damaged by L. A. Fiore

Book Description:  Ember Walsh was always the quiet one, enjoying a book and a glass of wine over the noise and crowds of a club. When her best friend asks her to come out on the town and meet the guy she likes, Ember's world is turned upside down. He appears like a mythical, avenging angel: inked, gorgeous and completely out of her league. After one look, Ember no longer wants the quiet; she wants him.

Trace Montgomery has buried his damaged past with the help of women and fighting until one day he suddenly meets an angel and wants more; he wants her. To have her, he's determined to overcome his demons but will the dark secret that links their pasts bring them closer or will it tear them apart?

OMG - What it is with me and all of the books that take me on such emotional roller coaster rides?  The intensity and emotions were high for this one.   And have I ever mentioned how much I love bad boys?  :)

Review of Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens

I read Thoughtless, by S.C. Stephens back in December 2012.  My review went as follows:

This is by far one of the best books that I have ever read.  It took me on such an emotion ride.  The book is very well written.  The author pulled me into each scene, into every page, so that I could feel the emotions of each character......Like I was there, living and breathing it with them  I suffered every heartache, savored every joyous moment, felt alone in the distance, every thing they felt, I felt.  Very raw emotions.  Definitely on my top 5 list for the year.  

The sequel to Thoughtless was Effortless.  I dove into that book the second I finished the last page of book 1.  There was no hesitation, no delay.....my fictional boyfriend became Kellan Kyle.  I have a thing for bad boys :).  Effortless tugged at me just the same as the first book.   The series has left such an impact on my emotional being.  Book 3, Reckless, comes out in March.....it can't get here soon enough.  I have the release date on my calendar, with alerts set up 2 days and another for 2 hours before release date.  I am thinking I need to take a vacation day on March 5 so that I can stay home and read. 

         

New Chapters

Starting this book blog is a whole new chapter for me.   I will be learning as I go but am eager to share my thoughts/reviews with you.   I guess we should start at the beginning....

Throughout my adult life, I was never much of a reader.  I loved reading as a young girl/teenager, but I do not think I have ENJOYED reading since age 12, after reading all of the Sweet Valley High books.  As an adult, I would pick up a book and make attempts, but found that reading made me tired and after about 3-5 pages, I would be ready to fall asleep....and then that leads to taking entirely too long to read a book and losing interest.  

Well, apparently I was just reading the wrong kind of books (insert giggle here).  So, in June I was on Amazon, ordering a book that my friend wrote and published.   When checking out, I noticed I had just a couple of more dollars to spend to qualify for free shipping.....so I decided to browse.   One of the top sellers that week was Fifty Shades of Grey.  I had heard about the book, wondered what all the hoopla was about, so I decided to order it.  The order arrived a few days later.  I quickly read my girlfriends book, Life in Flip Flops, which is a wonderful collection of short stories.  I sat by the pool and read, story by story, until complete.  Knowing the author and having a little insight to her personal stories, made following along become such a personal and heart-warming journey.   I enjoyed it, was so glad and so thankful for my friend and the messages she put on paper, that left a smile on my heart.  As I closed the back cover, I thought back to the last time I had read for enjoyment, which had been a good 25+ years, and laughed to myself that it might be another 25 before I do it again.

Several days later, there still sat Fifty Shades, on the table, waiting for the cover to be opened and pages to be turned.   I picked it up and I don't think there has been a day that I have not held a book or ereader in my hand since.  Whether the romance is sweet or a little smutty (**blushing**), I am hooked.  Soon I realized I was not the only one.  Before long, chats were happening at the water coolers, facebook and over cocktails at Ladies' Night Out.....like an underground book club....ladies sharing thoughts and reviews of the books we were reading.  Before long, I was sending frequent emails about book reviews, links to purchasing new books, notification of free books, etc.....and before long people were looking forward to my emails and book reviews......we are hooked.....which leads us to my new blog "Booked On Romance".  It is here that I will come here to share book interests....reviews, new releases, suggested readings, etc.

I hope you enjoy the pages.  I am learning as I go -  and hope the learning curve is wide.