Wednesday, June 27, 2012

If you like Robyn Carr, try..

Robyn Carr writes contemporary romance, but don't be fooled, her sex scenes can be descriptive, but the stories are amazing. So, what else to read?

Susan Mallery... she has several different series, the latest of which is the Fool's Gold series.

Toni Blake- Destiny Falls series

Susan Elizabeth Phillips.. several stand alones along with the Chicago Stars/Bonner brothers series. Alot of these focus around football, which I love, and they are really good.

Deirdre Martin- New York Blades series.. another sports themed series. This time its hockey. I cannot stand hockey, but this series is really good.

Nora Roberts- she writes a little bit of everything.

Linda Lael Miller- contemporary romance, mostly about cowboys, woohoo!!

Catherine Anderson- Kendrick/Coulter/Harrigan series.. another series about cowboys.. This one can sometimes drive me crazy, because there is always something wrong with the woman.. Blind, paralyzed, abused.. But always the woman! Otherwise, they are really good.

Sharon Sala- she has a couple of trilogies that I really like, and they have more mystery in them than the list above, but still totally worth a read!

Emily March- Eternity Springs series. The only issue I have with this series is that they use the word "God" too much.. most people that read these type of romances don't usually mind though. Very good series!

UPDATE 12/29/12
Addison Fox.. Alaskan Nights series.. There are two books so far in this series and they are awesome!

If you like J.R. Ward, you can try...

JR Ward writes paranormal romance, so this is a list of paranormal authors.. vampires, witches, shapeshifters.. Oh my!

Jacquelyn Frank- Nightwalker series
Pamela Palmer- Feral Warriors series
Jennifer Ashley- Shifters series
Lara Adrian- Midnight Breed series
Kresley Cole- Immortals After Dark series
Deborah Cooke- Dragonfire series
Thea Harrison -Elder Races series
G.A. Aiken- Dragon kin series
Larissa Ione- Demonica and subsequent Four Horsemen series
Alyssa Day- Warriors of Poseidon series
Gena Showalter- Lords of the Underworld series
Lynsay Sands- Argeneau series
Jeaniene Frost- Night Huntress series
Shannon Butcher - Sentinals series
Nalini Singh- Guild Hunter series
Rachel Vincent- Shifters series
Sherrilyn Kenyon- League series (And Dark Hunters but they haven't been very good lately)
Jenna Black- Nikki Glass series
Patricia Briggs- Mercy Thompson series and Alpha and Omega series
Suzanne Brockmann- Born to Darkness (single title so far, not yet a series)

50 Shades of Grey.. NOT for the faint at heart (or anyone under the age of 18!)

So, the big thing now is 50 Shades of Gray by EL James.. Its all over the bestseller lists, all over the newspapers and talk shows.. So, as I was chilling in my hotel room back in April after visiting ComicCon and the RT convention, I sat and read this book.  It was so peaceful.. no kids.. no work.. just sitting back with my feet propped up reading a book. And... WOW.  So, my boss at work describes this book as Harlequin romance meets sex.  I can agree with that. The book is told from Ana's point of view, the fresh out of college virgin.  And the "hero" of the book is Christian Gray.. Extremely Hot Billionaire who is totally into BDSM.  This book is every girl's dream but totally NOT going to happen.  James' writing is not extremely professional, she can't bring herself to use correct terms for private body parts, and if I had to hear Ana talk about her Inner Goddess one more time, I probably would have reached into the book and smacked her.

My other issue is Christian. His overcontrolling nature drove me nuts! Now, after some research I understand that, the Dom in a BDSM relationship is expected to be overly controlling. Yet, outside of the "Red Room of Pain) he was STILL over controlling, jealous, and in the end it was annoying as heck! I had to do alot of google searching while reading this book.. There were several things mentioned that I had no clue what it was. Course, when I got the answer, I flushed 50 shades of red! Holy Cow! You can do that!?

So after all of that, I have to say. I love these books..  There are three, the second being 50 Shades Darker and third 50 Shades Freed.  Everyone wants to read the first book because its #1 on the Bestseller lists, but these books are not for everyone. My heart stops every time an older person checks this book out. I try to warn them.. I really do.. I'm afraid that one of these times, someone will have a heart attack. The basic story is good, but there is ALOT of explicit sex in these books. (Just so you know, I've read them like four times now... but everyone knows I read kinky romance novels anyways). These books are Erotica, its a genre. This genre's sales have jumped 26% in the last few years. Wow, the world, how it is a-changing.

 I love 50 Shades. Don't care what anyone says! The writing style sucks, the characters don't really mesh, but I love them anyways.  Alright, Im out. Have a great day!

April Reads

Brotherband Chronicles: Invaders- (juvenile fiction) Okay I have to push this one. Yes, its juvenile fiction, but it so amazing. It is a second series by Flanagan, the first of which was the Ranger's Apprentice series. It is set in the same world, with a couple of the old characters showing their faces in this one.  It is a made up world (which you will very much liken to Vikings and other Old English history).  The Ranger's Apprentice is about  a boy named Will, who is apprenticed to Halt, a Ranger. Rangers are like a spy network, and these books are so action packed that I cannot put them down when I read them.  The Brotherband Chronicles are the same way. Invaders is book two of this series.  So, yeah, thats all I have to say, they are awesome.

Born of Silence by Sherrilyn Kenyon- I am not a fan of science fiction, but I love this series.  Its romance, certainly, set on another planet, with people traveling by space ship, but Kenyon manages to keep all that stuff in the background and focus on the romance. For me, I just picture it as fantasy and am able to read them.  I have been really disappointed in the Dark Hunters series the last couple of years, so having this to kind of take their place is awesome.

Cast in Shadow by Michele Sagara- fantasy, okay so I don't really know what to say about this book.  I really liked it, but even after reading and re-reading parts, I don't think I could tell you what the book is actually about. Going to try book 2.

Dark Descendant by Jenna Black- urban fantasy, so I picked this book up when I met the author in Chicago. Its an adult book, and I had never read adult books by this author, but I love her Fairiewalker young adult series.  This was really good! And I have an autographed copy, woot!! I am reading the second book now.

Lover Reborn by JR Ward.. paranormal romance.. what can I say.. I love JR Ward,. She was in Chicago but I did not get to meet her, and I sob loudly every day because of it. This is the latest in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, which YES you have to read in order or you will be totally LOST.. and its about Tohr.. -sigh- Tohr.. LOVED IT!! That is all.

Heart of a Killer by David Rosenfelt- mystery.. Aha! Something NOT romance!! Yes, its a mystery! And his books are so good. I have yet to meet a book by this author that I do not like.  First off, he has the Andy Carpenter series, which the next book comes out in July and I am ever so excited for it!.  Andy Carpenter is a lawyer, who came into some money, and his books have alot about dogs in them. They rock, they are kind of like John Grisham with a bit of humor and dogs in them.  He also has several stand alone novels, like this one, and they are all really good too!

Okay, thats all for now!

Recently Read.. May 2012

Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich- sequel to Wicked Appetite.. gotta love Diesel! I've got about 40 pages left and I am really liking it.

Big Sky Country by Linda Lael Miller- seriously, cannot go wrong with modern cowboy romance. I haven't met a book of hers recently that I haven't liked.

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini.. OMG.. sequel to Starcrossed.. these books are amazing. Young Adult romance meets Greek mythology and reincarnated Helen of Troy and crew trying to kill each other .. -sigh-

Insurgent by Veronica Roth- sequel to Divergent.. Young Adult Dystopian (if you liked Hunger Games...) Really good, slower moving than the first book, but still really liked.

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris- newest Sookie Stackhouse book.. NOT worth my time. I didn't even get halfway through this book before I gave up.

Under a Vampire Moon by Lynsay Sands- another Argeneau book, took me longer to get through this one that it normally does.

Sunrise Point by Robyn Carr- contemporary romance, I absolutely adore the Virgin River series and have nothing bad to say about them.. And there are close to 20 of them now!

Lethal Rider by Larissa Ione- third book in the 4 Horseman series (paranormal romance), subseries to the Demonica series.. Once again, not a bad thing to say about this series. AND I met Ione in Chicago in April, and she is reallllllllllllly nice!

A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer-(paranormal romance) another author I met in Chicago, and she's really amazing as well, and normally I love her books, but this is a new series, and I have to say.. not my favorite. I haven't been able to tell her yet :(

The Witness by Nora Roberts (romantic suspense)- I loved this book. Lately her romantic mysteries have been kind of so-so, but this one was really good, although the end was slightly thrown together.

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts (contemporary romance)- sequel to The Next Always, the Inn Innsoboro series.. I loved this book. I totally laughed out loud while sitting in my car at my son's baseball practice and got weird looks from people because I was laughing so much! Can't wait til November for the next one!

Summer Days by Susan Mallery- Fool's Gold series.. (contemporary romance).. sooo good. Just a nice light read, good if you don't want to involve thinking on a hot summer day.


If you liked Maximum Ride, try...

These titles are more for the age twelve and up range, with a few that are okay for slightly younger readers..

Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson (juvenile section)
Starcatchers by Dave Barry (juvenile section)
Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer (juvenile section)
Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima (teen section, personal fave!)
Heir trilogy by Cinda Williams Chima (teen section)
Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke (juvenile section)
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (juvenile section, personal fave!)
Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan (juvenile section, personal fave!)
Pillage series by Oberon Skye (juvenile section)
Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins (yes the lady who wrote "The Hunger Games"!, juvenile
section)
Keys to the Kingdom  series by Garth Nix
His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman (teen section)
Stormbreaker series by Anthony Horowitz (teen section)
Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud (juvenile section)
Virals series by Kathy Reichs (juvenile section)