Reading ALL the Books

As we've discussed in the past, I like to read. I like to read A LOT. The only time I ever had to sit out at recess in elementary school was when my teacher found me reading a Babysitter's Club book tucked into my Social Studies textbook and I was frequently yelled at for turning my light back on after bedtime to read FAR later than any 10-year-old should. In a normal week where I'm allowed to do my job, I probably read 2-4 books; in a furlough week I'm reading at least one every two days. They're all paranormal-esque escape/adventure/romance stories. Stories with FANTASTIC writing, world-building, dialogue, and three-dimensional characters and absolutely nothing relatable to real life. Luckily, I've found friends who like to read the same. I typed out an email of my faves to several of them a few years ago and just updated it. As I was furiously typing over 100 book titles the other night, James finally looked over and said, "WHAT are you working on??"

"A vampire romance novel list," I relied without looking up.

"Oh."

I mean, literally what else do I have to do right now?

So, because I've already done all the typing, and because I really need more books, I thought I'd publish the list I sent my friends, somewhat in order of what I'm most excited to recommend and with some commentary. So pour a cup of tea/frozen margarita, and let's discuss.

None of the books below are appropriate for children

Ilona Andrews- husband/wife writing team, they have several series and the writing, dialogue, world-building, and fight scenes are fantastic. I've never re-read a book purely for the sword fight choreography before. All the series are solidly in the "urban fantasy" genre which is not a genre I knew existed, but it's like an action-filled subsection of paranormal romance. Kate Daniels is their largest and I adore it, but Hidden Legacy might be my sleeper fave?

Kate Daniels series - their longest series. I love it because it's different and fun and pulls in all sorts of mythology for its magic stories. The first book is kind of odd, but push through. They get much more light-hearted and smooth.

1. Magic Bites
2. Magic Burns
3. Magic Strikes
4. Magic Bleeds
4.5 Magic Dreams (novella re: Dali)
5. Magic Slays
6.5 Gunmetal Magic (novella re: Andrea)
6. Magic Rises
7. Magic Breaks
7.5 Magic Steals (novella re: Dali)
8. Magic Shifts
9. Magic Binds
10. Magic Triumphs

Iron Covenant - new spin-off series from Kate Daniels that I am LOVING. Read the first one between the 9th and 10th books of Kate Daniels.

1. Iron and Magic
2. Unnamed (expected 2019)

Hidden Legacy series - LOVE. Super fun series about powerful magical families, set in a fictional Houston, TX.

1. Burn for Me
2. White Hot
3. Wildfire
4. Diamond Fire (novella; switches POV from Nevada to Catalina)
5. Sapphire Flames (expected 2019; will continue Catalina's story)

The Edge Series - Older series, very fun; two characters pop up again in Innkeeper.

1. On the Edge
2. Bayou Moon
3. Fate's Edge
4. Steel's Edge

Innkeeper series - A magical inn that can change shape, etc. and serves as a way-point for visitors from space passing through Earth. The Innkeeper is Dina, a great character, who runs it all.

1. Clean Sweep
2. Sweep in Peace
3. One Fell Sweep
4. Sweep of the Blade

Kresley Cole

Immortals After Dark series- super fun paranormal romance series; lots of action, sex, and strong female characters. She pays impeccable attention to detail by an author who has written a TON of books and somehow they all weave together.

1. The Warlord Wants Forever (it used to be part of an anthology but you can now buy it on its own. You don't have to read it first, I'd probably read it after Hunger Like No Other which was originally written to be the first book and gives you more background, though Warlord happens chronologically before it).
2. A Hunger Like No Other
3. No Rest for the Wicked
4. Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
5. Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
6. Dark Desires After Dusk
7. Kiss of a Demon King
8. “Untouched” (supposedly found in the A Deep Kiss of Winter Anthology, but I've never found it)
9. Pleasure of a Dark Prince
10. Demon from the Dark
11. Dreams of a Dark Warrior
12. Lothaire
13. Shadow’s Claim (The Dacians: Realm of Blood and Mist, a new spin-off series that follows the characters and fits in spot 13 chronologically- it was very good)
14. MacRieve
15. Dark Skye
16. Sweet Ruin
17. Wicked Abyss
18. Shadow's Seduction
19. Munro (expected 2019)

The Arcana Chronicles- YA series by Cole that I ADORE. A creative premise (a set of teens become the Major Arcana from the Tarot cards and have to battle it out to win the game); there's also an excellent love triangle. It's very teenage angsty but for some reason I absolutely love it.

1. Poison Princess
2. Endless Knight
3. Dead of Winter
4. Arcana Rising
0. Day Zero (prequel that shows every character's POV on the first day of the Flash)
5. The Dark Calling
6. (Final book expected 2019)

Gamemaker Series - erotica trilogy; #1 and #3 are okay, but the 2nd book is one of my faves ever and I re-read it all the time. The characters are great.

1. The Professional
2. The Master
3. The Player

MacCarrick Trilogy - a trilogy about three Scottish brothers; one of her first series, they're more traditional historical romance.
1. If You Dare
2. If You Desire
3. If You Deceive

Nalini Singh - Psy/Changling series. One of my newer authors; I'm currently reading this one (on #14 and sad there's only one left). Super fun and different, it's a world made up of the Psy (super smart, intellectual, mind powers and telepathy abound), Changelings (wolf, leopard, and other shape shifters), and Humans (as always, we totally get the short end of the stick).

1. Slave to Sensation
2. Visions of Heat
3. Caressed by Ice
4. Mine to Possess
5. Hostage to Pleasure
6. Branded by Fire
7. Blaze of Memory
8. Bonds of Justice
9. Play of Passion
10. Kiss of Snow (my fave!)
11. Tangle of Need
12. Heart of Obsidian
13. Shield of Winter
14. Shards of Hope
15. Allegiance of Honour

Guild Hunter series. Archangels and the women who love them! Also vampires. This was the first Nalini Sing series I read, but I think I like the Psy/Changeling one even better.

1. Angel's Blood
2. Archangel's Kiss
3. Archangel's Consort
4. Archangel's Blade
5. Archangel's Storm
6. Archangel's Legion
7. Archangel's Shadows
8. Archangel's Enigma
9. Archangel's Heart
10. Archangel's Viper
11. Archangel's Prophecy
12. Archangel's War (coming 2019)

Larissa Ione, Demonica series. Ione is an Air Force vet and trained medic turned author and one of my top tier faves. Darker than the series and author recommended above, she's a great writer and I enjoy the creativity of her worlds. Apparently she came up with the idea of this first one when she was watching Buffy when a vampire got hurt and she wondered, where would they go? and so this demon hospital series was born. These are definitely on the steamier side and the first is a little more intense than the others, but the writing and characters are great and I feel like she really hit her groove as the series goes on.

1. Pleasure Unbound
2. Desire Unchained
3. Passion Unleashed
4. Ecstasy Unveiled
5. Sin Undone

Lords of Deliverance. Spin-off from the Demonica series, book 1 picks up immediately at the end of book 5 above; I LOVED this series- it's a little darker, but for whatever reason, it completely captured me and you still get to see your favorite characters from the series before.

1. Eternal Rider
2. Immortal Rider
3. Lethal Rider
4. Rogue Rider

Demonica Heritage/Underworld. (More spin-offs and novellas, in order, interweaving all the characters from the earlier books and adding new ones while continuing the overall plot line).

1. Reaver
2. Azagoth
3. Revenant
4. Hades
5. Z
6. Razr
7. Hawkyn
8. Her Guardian Angel

Moonbound Clan. New vampire/werewolf type series by Ione. I like it, but she isn't publishing the books very fast and I'm not sure where it's going.

1. Bound by Night
2. Chained by Night
3. Forsaken by Night

Gena Showalter - Lords of the Underworld. I enjoy this series a lot. The first few are a little dark, but then they lighten up and the brother/sister-like relationships between all the characters really shine.

0.5 The Darkest Fire
1. The Darkest Night
2. The Darkest Kiss
3. The Darkest Pleasure
3.5. The Darkest Prison
4. The Darkest Whisper
4.5 The Darkest Angel
5. The Darkest Passion
6. The Darkest Lie
7. The Darkest Secret
8. The Darkest Surrender
9. The Darkest Seduction
10. The Darkest Craving
11. The Darkest Touch
12. The Darkest Torment
13. The Darkest Promise
14. The Darkest Warrior
14.5. The Darkest Captive
5. The Darkest King (expected 2019)

White Rabbit Chronicles. YA series by Showalter that I enjoyed far more than I expected. I was sad the series ended.

1. Alice in Zombieland
2. Through the Zombie Glass
3. The Queen of Zombie Hearts
4. A Mad Zombie Party

Jeaniene Frost - Night Huntress/Cat & Bones series; a fun series that's not my very top tier (Ilona Andrews/Kresley Cole/Larissa Ione forever), but is at the top of my tier #2. I find Cat (the heroine) occasionally annoying, but overall, it's well-done. I also enjoyed the spin-offs (noted below) even more than the original. These are the books in the order you should read them, with all the series and spin-off mixed together:

1. Halfway to the Grave
2. One Foot in the Grave
3. At Grave's End
4. Destined for an Early Grave
5. First Drop of Crimson (spin-off re: Denise)
6. Eternal Kiss of Darkness (spin-off re: Mencheres)
7. This Side of the Grave (Cat & Bones)
8. One Grave at a Time (Cat & Bones)
9. Once Burned (spin-off series re: Vlad)
10. Twice Tempted (Vlad book 2)
11. Up from the Grave (final Cat & Bones)
12. Bound by Flames (Vlad book 3)
13. Into the Fire (Vlad book 4)
14. Shades of Wicked (new series re: Ian; loved it)
15. Wicked Bite (Ian book 2, coming July 2019)

Karen Marie Moning - Fever series. These are a cult favorite. I have SO MANY criticisms of them and yet I don't think I've ever read a series faster or sacrificed my sleep more. They're like crack in book form. It's hard to describe. They take place in Dublin when the "wall" between the fae world and the human world comes down and chaos ensues. The main female character is Mackayla and she annoys me about 50% of the time. The main male character is Barrons and you like him very much once you figure out if he's good or bad. The series continues to add more characters and somehow lots of things happen and absolutely nothing really happens. Like I said, it's inexplicable. They have a million reviews and a cult-like following and yet, I can't even explain why I read them so fast. (I know this is a middling review, but they are inexplicable to me. I even re-read the series and still stayed up until 2 and 3 a.m. to finish each book. I can't explain it. Oh! there's also a prequel series- the Highlanders that I think were better written and yet somehow less addictive. I don't know. [shrug emoji])

Highlander series

1. Beyond the Highland Mist
2. To Tame a Highland Warrior
3. The Highlander's Touch
4. Kiss of the Highlander
5. The Dark Highlander
6. The Immortal Highlander
7. Spell of the Highlander
8. Into the Dreaming

Fever series

1. Darkfever
2. Bloodfever
3. Faefever
4. Dreamfever
5. Shadowfever
6. Iced
7. Burned
8. Feverborn
9. Feversong
10. High Voltage

Patricia Briggs - Mercy Thompson series. Mercy is an auto mechanic in the Pacific Northwest. She's also a coyote shape shifter. A fun series; not in my top tier, but solidly in the second. Some of the pack interactions with Mercy get annoying, but I liked the last one more than most of the ones that have been in the middle so far.

1. Moon Called
2. Blood Bound
3. Iron Kissed
4. Bone Crossed
5. Silver Borne
6. River Marked
7. Frost Burned
8. Night Broken
9. Fire Touched
10. Silence Fallen
11. Storm Cursed (coming May 2019)

Alpha and Omega spin-off series - I never loved this as much as I felt I was supposed to, but friends disagree and I did enjoy them.
1. On the Prowl
2. Cry Wolf
3. Hunting Ground
4. Fair Game
5. Dead Heat
6. Burn Bright

Cassandra Clare - Shadowhunters series

Mortal Instruments - I enjoyed this, but it got a little repetitive by the end and it can be pretty YA angsty. (Some recommend reading books 1-3 of this, then the prequel Infernal Devices series, then books 4-6 of Mortal Instruments; I just read Infernal Devices first and then all of Mortal Instruments, but that's just because I found that series first).

1. City of Bones
2. City of Ashes
3. City of Glass
4. City of Fallen Angels
5. City of Lost Souls
6. City of Heavenly Fire

Infernal Devices - prequel series to Mortal Instruments; I found this first and enjoyed it more than I ended up enjoying the original.
1. Clockwork Angel
2. Clockwork Prince
3. Clockwork Princess

(In between these series are The Bane Chronicles, The Shadowhunter's Codex, and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy.)

Dark Artifices- my fave series of hers so far
1. Lady Midnight
2. Lord of Shadows
3. Queen of Air and Darkness

Nora Roberts - In Death series. A super fun futuristic true crime romance series. There are 49 in this series (I just listed the first 12) and I read all of them on maternity leave for Cora and stay up with each as they're published every 6 months or so. Written by Nora Roberts under the pseudonym JD Robb, they are very different from her usual romance fluff. Eve Dallas is the kickass New York police homicide lieutenant and Roarke is the crazy rich super sexy guy she ends up entangled with in the first book. Each book has it's own murder she's trying to solve (and, spoiler alert, she always does), while the overall plot of her romance, her friendships, etc. all grow. Some of the murders can be pretty rough, but they're the only mystery/crime type series I've ever really enjoyed. The first ten or so are so good I re-check them out to re-read all the time. (Fun note: the first book was written in 1995 and takes place in 2050; it's fun seeing what she got right about the future and what we will definitely not be able to do even 30 years from now.)

1. Naked in Death
2. Glory in Death
3. Immortal in Death
4. Rapture in Death
5. Ceremony in Death
6. Vengeance in Death
7. Holiday in Death
8. Conspiracy in Death
9. Loyalty in Death
10. Witness in Death
11. Judgment in Death
12. Betrayal in Death

JR Ward - Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Another one I have to almost apologize for. I love LOVE the first 8 or 9 books in this series. Then she starts to repeat herself and forgets to expand the universe she created. I still read them whenever she publishes one, but I no longer buy them and re-read them a dozen times. But book #3 is really one of my all time favorites and I've read it at least ten times. Her "voice" sometimes gets annoying - she's writing about a brotherhood of macho vampires and her macho "talk" comes off as fairly ridiculous, but then again, Landon says "bro" now, so who am I to say?

1. Dark Lover
2. Lover Eternal
3. Lover Awakened
4. Lover Revealed
5. Lover Unbound
6. Lover Enshrined
7. Father Mine (novella)
8. Lover Avenged
9. Lover Mine
10. Lover Unleashed
11. Lover Reborn
12. Lover at Last
13. The King
14. The Shadows
15. Blood Kiss
16. The Beast
17. Blood Vow
18. The Chosen
19. Blood Fury
20. Dearest Ivie
21. The Thief
22. Prisoner of Night
23. The Savior

(She has other series like the Fallen Angels and Bourbon Kings. Fallen Angels is okay; Bourbon Kings was fairly terrible.)

Lisa Kleypas - Wallflowers series- Great historical romance author (she has some modern day romance that are pretty good, but I'm not a modern romance reader) I always read when I want something lighter. The Wallflowers series is a particular favorite, but I like everything she's written.

1. Secrets of a Summer Night
2. It Happened One Autumn
3. A Devil in Winter
4. Scandal in the Spring
5. A Wallflower Christmas (novella)

Again the Magic is sort of a prequel to the Wallflowers (it involves one of the main character's older sister and is fantastic) and The Hathaways is also great and has some overlapping characters.

The Gamblers series (prequel and slight overlap with the Wallflowers)

1. Then Came You - a favorite; I re-read this all the time. Cora was nearly named Lily.
2. Dreaming of You

The Ravenels - a spin-off series from the Wallflowers, bumped about about 15 years in time. #1 wasn't my favorite, but it had good background. I thoroughly enjoyed #2-4.

1. Cold Hearted Rake (not my fave, but good background)
2. Marrying Winterbourne
3. Devil in Spring
4. Hello Stranger
5. Devil's Daughter (expected Feb. 2019)

Julia Quinn - Bridgerton series. Very fun, light Regency romance series about a family with 8 siblings; each kid grows up over the series and gets their book/happily ever after.

1. The Duke and I
2. The Viscount Who Loved Me
3. An Offer from a Gentleman
4. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton
5. To Sir Philip with Love
6. When He Was Wicked
7. It's In His Kiss
8. On the Way to the Wedding

Pierce Brown - Red Rising. Fabulous urban fantasy series; lots of action, great world-building.

1. Red Rising
2. Golden Son
3. Morning Star
4. Iron Gold
5. Dark Age (expected 2019)

Marie Lu - Legend Trilogy. YA urban fantasy series; easy reads, but fun.
1. Legend
2. Prodigy
3. Champion

Sharon Kay Penman- very heavily researched historical fiction; can sometimes be dense, but she makes characters who died over 1,000 years ago come alive. My favorite was her Welsh series, but her Plantagenet series about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine series is also excellent.

Welsh series
1. Here Be Dragons
2. Falls the Shadow
3. The Reckoning

Plantagenets
1. When Christ and His Saints Slept
2. Time and Chance
3. Devil's Brood

Other series I've attempted and/or abandoned
- Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones - I liked it quite a lot for the first 7 or 8 and then I just found Charley too annoying.
- The Hollows by Kim Harrison - I read this whole series and always felt I should like it more than I did. It's worth reading, and there were whole books and plot lines I really really liked, but some of the characters just never made sense to me.
- October Daye series by Seanan McGuire - I tried, I really did. I read one, forced myself halfway through the second and for one of the only times in my life, abandoned a book mid-read. She just never came alive for me.
- Anita Blake series by Laurell Hamilton - Same as above, though I think I read three of them before giving up.

Let me know if you have any others I should read!

Stitch Fixing: ReFixed (also Books!)

So I contacted Stitch Fix after my last post to say that I wasn't going to keep anything, but I'd like to try again. They waived my $20 styling fee for my re-do, I updated my profile, and my box arrived last night. On first glimpse, it's much more what I was looking for. Cute, fun, different summer clothes.

Item 1: Kut from the Kloth Lonnie Frayed Cuff Denim Short (Size 2), $68

Let's get this out of the way. Hard no. I hate that length of shorts always and being wrapped in a long sausage casing of denim sounds terrible in our 100+ degree summers. The fit is nice and I will keep it in mind if I ever bargain shop that brand. But no on this iteration.

Verdict: RETURN.

Item 2: Loveapella Madras Embroidery Detail Knit Top (Size XS), $48

This is very cute and I like it very much. The fabric is super soft but not thin and I like the embroidery a lot (and I am normally not an embroidery person).

Verdict: TBD; if I'd loved everything and could get the 25% discount I'd keep it, but probably won't for $48.

Item 3: Renee C Jensine Split Neck Blouse (Size XS), $48

I really like this top. Love the colors, the print, the uniqueness, and the length. This is the kind of thing I want from my stitch fix.

Verdict: TBD; like the top above, if I could get the 25% discount I'd keep it for sure.

Item 4: Gilli Tahj 2fer Knit Maxi Dress (Size XS), $78

I really like this too- super soft, great colors, flattering neckline you can't really see in my picture... only downside is it's too short. Like basically everything that is supposed to hit my ankles, it's floating about 2" too high. For the price, I can't keep it.

Verdict: RETURN, but reluctantly.

Item 5: Bay to Baubles Jerry Open Filigree Drop Earrings, $28

These are cute, but I have earrings that are similar and I rarely wear them. Not unique enough to keep for the price.

Verdict: RETURN.

~ ~ ~

And so I reach the problem I just continue to have with Stitch Fix. Unless I were to love everything and get 25% off all the prices (a dream long held, but never fulfilled), it's hard to justify when I know I can get cute things that are much cheaper. Especially when I have enough time to occasionally shop, and I don't hate shopping for the cheaper things. As much as I LOVE a box showing up at my door for me to try on- and I do! it's so rare as an adult to be truly surprised with a gift (even if ultimately, it's a gift from yourself), I just can't justify keeping many of the items.

Because I picked up these shorts at Target for $15 each (25% off $20) last week and they fit perfectly and they're cute and colorful and fun. Are they as nice as the $58 shorts I got in my last Fix? Maybe not? But they are 95% as nice. And that's all I really need, given that I can only wear shorts on the weekends and 50% of that time I'm in a maxi dress or swim suit and someday I'm going to have to grow up and wear shorts longer than 3" so these aren't exactly a long term investment. I'm wearing the mint and black pairs in my pics above. And the grey ones below are really nice- they're a slightly different fabric and honestly feel the same, if not better, as the ones I got in my last Fix.

(This polka-dotted style is also really cute. I could just only justify keeping so many shorts.)

I also ordered this Target top, which I love with the yellow shorts (that are honestly maybe a shade too yellow, but maybe not too yellow for $15. I'm keeping the tags on in case I decide they're too big bird), but I took it back because I didn't think the knot in the front was very flattering.

Maybe I was wrong? I've now been looking for basically the exact same top without the knot and have not been successful. I expanded to any black/white stripe cute top and still haven't found my replacement. I want something that is black with white stripes in some sort of cute, non-purely-horizontal compilation. Google doesn't like my phrasings and won't find me anything.

This is the floral top I linked to in the last Stitch Fix post from Express (40% off too!). I love it. Our winter is pretending to be spring, so I feel like this brings the two together.

And I love the work-appropriate-with-a-cardigan cut outs. They have it in a ton of colors; I already owned the teal. It's such a great top, esp. when purchased on sale.

And, after ordering 6 pairs and saving a ton of options to various shopping carts scattered throughout the interwebs, I found the perfect white jeans! And of course, they're from Old Navy. I even finally took a deep breath and almost ordered a $100+ pair from Nordstrom, but the $20 perma-on-sale Rockstar Skinny Jeans from Old Navy are perfection. No matter how hard I try to be fancy, I was made for these jeans, and Old Navy is the only member of the Gap family to still carry longs for smaller sizes. I still wear my Rockstar dark denim skinnies purchased in 2011 more than any other pair of jeans I've tried to love; when they finally wear out, I'll just buy another identical pair. I also got this super cute floral tank to go with them. Adorable yes? Sometimes Old Navy surprises me.

And I've just proven why Stitch Fix, though I think it is a genuinely brilliant idea and encourage anyone who doesn't like to shop or doesn't have time to try it out (referral link), just doesn't work for me. I'm more excited about the jeans and this top than I am about anything in my fixes and combined they cost me $36. My body is meant for cheaper things.

(Also, don't forget your eBates if you buy any of these things online! I just cashed a $200 check from my Christmas shopping, which probably says terrible things about my online Christmas shopping, but $200 of "free" money in February is a beautiful thing!!)

Speaking of cheaper things- someone asked on my last post where I get all my books, and the answer is: our public library! My sisterfriend Jenny told me about this a few years ago, that most public libraries subscribe to a digital online lending library, usually run by Overdrive. With your library card number you can log in and check out up to 10 books and place holds on others if they aren't available (I've never had to wait more than a week for one to become available; there's usually multiple digital copies). It's so great. I'm sure there's some limit to the books available, but every book I've ever wanted to read has been in there, and since I read anywhere from 2-4 books a week, this has saved me HUNDREDS and has let me read as much as my little bookwormy heart desires, whereas before I would cut myself off after a certain number of Amazon purchases a month.

As for what I'm reading now- I've gotten on a dystopian/YA fiction tangent thanks to a work colleague with similar taste. He recommended Red Rising, Legend, and The Three Body Problem. Luckily, he hadn't actually read The Three Body Problem when he recommended it to me; otherwise, all his future recs would be suspect because that book was NOT my favorite. It's an interesting concept and I wanted to want to read it, but omg it was like homework. I felt obligated. I sighed inwardly every time I clicked on my kindle app. It sat on my phone for 8 days and I was only 22% through and I finally quit. I have never taken 8 days to read a book. Clearly it just wasn't happening. The dialogue was so stilted I just couldn't handle it. Make whatever crazy world you want with whatever rules, but I need the characters to sound like they're actually talking to each other and not reading from cue cards. Luckily my coworker, who had the same criticisms, is more OCD than me and has to finish the trilogy, so he's filling me in on all the plot I'm missing. I've quit reading maybe 5 books in my life and I do not regret quitting that one.

We'll take the others quickly:

~ Legend trilogy: LOVE. Fun, fast reads. Great character building, I was very sad it ended and almost dipped into the world of fan fiction just to let me stay with the characters longer. Has anyone read Marie Lu's other series, the Young Elites? She's a beautiful character writer, so I'm curious.

~ Red Rising: I'm 30% through book 3; highly recommend the series. It's denser and darker (and much broader/more complex world building) than Legend, but I like it very much and recommend it too.

~The Queen of Tearling: another co-worker recommended this and I'm next up to get it from the digital library; has anyone read it? Thoughts?

~ Burn for Me: my beloved author duo, Ilona Andrews, wrote this book a while ago and when I read it I didn't realize it was part of a temporarily abandoned trilogy without its companion books. Luckily, they've started it up again, re-releasing this book (currently $1.99 on Amazon!) and releasing both books 2 AND 3 later this year. I'm so excited; anything Ilona Andrews writes is my favorite.

~ Kresley Cole is another author I still actually buy instead of check out because I love her books and re-read them so much. She just had a new one out in her Dacian spin-off line from her Immortals After Dark series- Shadow's Section, that I haven't read yet because I'm trapped in the above trilogies. She has a new book coming out soon in IAD later this spring (Wicked Abyss) AND a new Arcana book coming this fall (Dark Calling). I can't wait. These are the books I download at midnight Tuesday when they come out and read until dawn.

~ Echoes in Death, #44 in J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts In Death series. I still love these. I wouldn't pay for them- they're like cotton candy (super murdery cotton candy), but I love the characters, they're always fun, and I can never put them down. If you haven't read the series the first 12 or so are really fantastic and I've honestly enjoyed every one. They're like episodes of House- a self-contained murder story (the lead character is a lieutenant in the murder division of a futuristic New York Police Department), but multi-year long character arcs that grow and develop as you read.

And that's what I'm reading now (in addition to a fun dip back into Elizabeth Philips for an update in the Stars series and Iris Johansen for some classic medieval and Regency romance). The Court of Thrones and Roses series is on my list, as well as the Throne of Glass and Red Queen trilogies. Any others? I like pretty much anything not based in fact. Nothing that will make me think very hard, ponder my own life reflectively, or is based in our reality.

Goldfish Princess Food

Thank you all for your kind words on the loss of my aunt. As I mentioned, she wasn't a daily part of my life, so I almost have to keep reminding myself that she's gone- that my uncle and cousins don't have her home, that she isn't calling my grandparents each morning, that she won't be at our next lake house family gathering. It is a cold surprise each time. But I remain thankful for what was really a beautiful weekend honoring her with our family.

my blue, my pearls, and Cora's baby Skyla

The week has pressed on.

Cora remains an irrepressible tutu-clad ball of joy. She is constantly exclaiming over things that are delightful to her, "CWAIRE! I have a purple cup LIKE YOU!" and "MAMA you're HOME! WITH ME!" or "I'm at the POOL and THAT'S MY DADDY OVER THERE!!" and "WANDON, I'm sitting IN YOUR SEAT- WITH YOU!!". On Monday, we dropped the kids off at swim practice (a 5 mile trip for which she had to pack many things, including maracas, obvi), I heard her cheerfully announce from the living room: "Don't worry mom! I just ate that goldfish cracker!"

on my parents' new boat

We hadn't had goldfish in the house in *weeks*. And I honestly keep the house pretty clean, so I cannot imagine from where she unearthed that petrified goldfish or how long it had been there. It gives me shudders, but didn't seem to affect her.

prepared to row us home

She has also started dancing with her princess dolls for at least an hour every night, in full costume. I don't know what flipped the princess switch in her- Claire never cared about them one way or the other, but Cora's love of princesses is as deep as it is true and we all get a kick out of it. Belle remains her favorite and sometimes I'll hear her sigh from the playroom as she pets Belle's hair, "Belle, you are so be-yufull".

Cora Dancing from Lag Liv on Vimeo.

Two nights ago she decided that she needed a dance partner and dug around in her dress up bin before presenting Landon with a rainbow tutu and hot pink eye mask and demanding he dance with her. And despite his initial skepticism, he totally did. Rainbow tutu and all. He is the best big brother.

Cora also got back into her swim lessons last night and she was SO EXCITED to be there. She swam 25 yards all the way across the pool- swimming with her big arms, turning to her back float to breathe, and then flipping back over to keep swimming forward. Her new instructor (or "Coach" as Cora has cheerfully dubbed her; I guess Tara called one of her swim instructors coach last semester and now Cora will hear no name but "Coach" regardless of who is teaching her) said she was a joy to teach and was laughing telling me that she could see Cora smiling even as she kicked all the way down to the bottom of the pool to get a dive stick.

Sounds right.

I've read 4 books in the last 8 days and I am very tired (and equally thankful/remorseful that I can download free books to my Kindle so instantly from the library).

(1) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, on the suggestion of my sister. It was fun and different and I've already downloaded the next in the series.

(2) Angel's Storm, book #5 in Nalini Sing's Guild Hunter Series. I seem to be enjoying those far more than they probably deserve, but I inhale them as soon as each next volume is available through the library and stay up all night to finish each one. I mean, they're good and fun and I'm enjoying the later books in the series focusing on other characters very much, but I really can't explain to you why they are like crack to me.

(3) Feversong, the long-awaited final book in Karen Marie Moning's Fever series. I read this until 3 a.m. two nights in a row and liked it far more than I expected. I thought the last book was terrible and if I had to hear Mac equivocate inside her head for 300 more pages without actually doing anything I was going to demand a refund (something I've only ever done for the 3rd book in the Divergent series which remains one of the worst things I've ever read), but it was good. Things moved forward. Plots concluded. And there's room for a Dani spin-off series which would be much appreciated because while I enjoyed Mac and Barrons, I'm quite done with them and I think they're done with us. My obsession with the Fever series is a mystery to me. I have many very legitimate complaints about Moning's plotting, writing style, and tendency to get distracted by subplots that don't go anywhere but I am addicted to those books in a way that defies logic. Each time I new one has come out over the last 5 years I have started reading it at midnight and stopped only at dawn. I don't know. I'm not even sure how heartily I recommend them, and yet, I didn't sleep for 2 days to finish the last installment.

(4) First Star I See Tonight, a new book in Susan Elizabeth Phillips Chicago Stars series that took me completely by surprise when my friend wrote about it yesterday. Phillips hasn't written a Chicago Stars book for about 9 years, so I assumed the series was over. When I learned otherwise at 10:30 p.m. last night, I obviously downloaded it immediately from the library and then finished it around 3:30.

I have a problem.

On to food, my other favorite thing, and another belated thank you for your amazing recipes and cookbook suggestions on my food post. I've written down every single one and bookmarked anything linkable and can't wait to try them. This week ended up being a giant Skinnytaste Tasting Menu because I ordered the two Skinnytaste cookbooks (the original and fast and slow) for myself after Christmas and took them with me to read in the car on our drive to Houston and planned my menu from there. I love a good post-it flag and enjoyed feeling old fashioned in my recipe planning. But next week I'll start branching out again. Until then, here was our menu:

Thursday's chili hurt Cora's feelings
(though she ended up eating her whole bowl)

Monday: Santa Fe Turkey Taco Salads (from the Skinnytaste cookbook; possibly not exactly the right name, but it's and the book is too far away for me to go check), lots of toppings, tortilla chips. (We all liked this; healthy and hearty and eaten on top of a bed of chopped lettuce instead of rice or taco shells, and since I made a bunch of the AMAZING avocado cilantro crema and then mixed it up into the salads, the kids ate every bite. They'll do anything for avocado.)

Tuesday: I had a PTA Board Meeting, so this was a test of some new pre-made ingredients for a healthy, quick dinner: TJ's organic whole wheat spaghetti, TJ's organic tomato basil marinara sauce, and Costco's organic chicken meatballs (in the refrigerated section), plus orange pepper slices and cherry tomatoes on the side. And it was all really good! So good it's possible I'm not making meatballs from scratch all that often anymore... And the whole meal was $12. Not bad for filling and healthy with no effort.

Wednesday: TJ's BBQ brisket slices (another pre-made, you just heat and serve; James had bought it about 2 weeks ago so I needed to use it up), whole wheat rolls and sandwich toppings, and another round of the Kale Radicchio Salad with Farro and Lemon Miso dressing because I am OBSESSED with it. I seriously love this salad, especially now that I add chopped avocado.

Thursday: Turkey, White Bean, and Pumpkin chili. A new and interesting take on chili. Everyone really liked it, though it definitely needed a few toppings and James needed hot sauce as it is very mild. But the pumpkin gave it an unctuous creamy flavor (you couldn't tell it was pumpkin, but you knew there was something wonderful in there) and I liked having a variation of chili that was lighter and made with different spices. (Also, I didn't make it in the crock pot; I browned the turkey and sauteed the onions and garlic in a Dutch Oven, mixed everything in, brought to a boil, and then covered the pot and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 90 mins, came out great.)

Friday: Supposed to be another Skinnytaste meal (Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore, tossed with pasta, roasted cauliflower and carrots on the side), but it's a beautiful day and I want a margarita so badly, so rather than break my credit card diet and spend money to save money at happy hour, I'm going to make our own nachos and frozen margaritas to eat outside while the girls play. Landon is spending the night with a friend (it's a brave new world for us with occasionally missing children; we've always been a pack and it's super weird but also not terrible), so that means I can douse everything in cheese without anyone complaining about it.

Saturday: DATE NIGHT, location to be determined. I wanted frozen margaritas (a craving that should be cured this evening), James wants to try Cork & Pig on 7th, and we both want Stir Crazy Baked Goods for dessert (they decorated uterus/ovary sugar cookies in honor of the Women's March on Fort Worth tomorrow; just when I thought I couldn't love them move). It may be a progressive dinner. My brother gave us a gift card for Christmas and this night is my one allowed exception to my month-long credit card diet. The kids are having their choice of TJ's finest organic spaghettios, mac and cheese, or mini pizzas. With veggies, because our nanny is a nutrition major and I like to not disappoint her.

Sunday: Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa (from a facebook recipe video that caught my eye), Skinnytaste roasted corn salsa side (cookbook), probably also tossed with brown rice because James needs carbs.

And I made these Protein Egg and Quinoa Jar salads for lunch for two days. I am killing it on this no eating out/spending money thing. And it feels so good and so emotionally cleansing. Not that I won't absolutely go back to enjoying my lunches out more than once a week and perusing the sale sections of my favorite internet stores, but much like how after a big meal, other food doesn't even look good. Well after the last 2 months of vacations and Christmas and a bunch of other random expenses that just happened to fall in December, shopping doesn't even look good. It's like a financial Whole 30. (Because goodness knows I'm never doing the food one; my understanding is nachos are not approved and that doesn't work for me.)

And finally, workouts. I'm doing them. Still loving yoga, still getting my butt kicked at OTF (are the workouts harder lately? I've been going for nearly a year and I have been DYING at the last few):

Monday: Orangetheory
Tuesday: eating pizza, reading until my eyes bleed
Wednesday: CorePower C2 Yoga
Thursday: Orangetheory
Friday: C2 Yoga
Saturday: Barre (teaching)
Sunday: Cyclebar spin class

I'm off to buy ingredients for nachos and margaritas and ignore reality and the news for a little while longer. A wonderful weekend (and happy marching, to those who are!) to you all!

Recommendations: Books and Soup

It's been raining for three days and the weather has finally dropped below 90, so we're eating all the soups and I'm making all the photobooks and wishing I had a new fiction book to read instead (I adore those books when they're done, bu MAN hey are a beat down to create). So in the interest of making even more soups and reading even more books, I thought I'd share a few recent recommendations of mine and solicit everything you've got.

Food from the last week:

Lasagna soup. One of my absolute favorite recipes. I use beef stock, a full small can of tomato paste (recipe calls for 2 Tbl), regular diced tomatoes, and chicken Italian sausage (often combined with a pound of ground turkey), and I mix the shredded mozzarella in with the ricotta and other goodness to make the cheesy yum for the bottom, but none of my changes matter because you can't mess up this soup and it is DELICIOUS. So, so hearty and satisfying and good. Go make it. The cheesy goodness at the bottom makes my soul happy.

Chicken noodle soup. Traditional classic and the first thing I made when our downpour began. I minimize the celery, maximize the carrot, use chicken breasts in lieu of a whole chicken because bones scare me, and sometimes make a roux to add in at the end if I'm craving something a little thicker and creamier, but almost any standard chicken soup will do. Thursday night seemed to call for crackers and cheese on the side, but we often to a big loaf of crusty bread or grilled cheese sandwiches. James needs a lot of carbs.

Spaghetti sauce in crock pot. New discovery! Super delicious. The recipe calls for you to cook the noodles in the crockpot too, but the risk of coming home to find them turned to mush seemed to high and I wouldn't have been able to bear it. I used 2 jars of Trader Joe's tomato and basil sauce, the pound of ground beef browned with onions and garlic, 4 oz. cream cheese, with the second can of spaghetti sauce on top. It all came together way better than it had any business tasting and this will be a go to recipe when we want something heartier than our usual tomato cream sauce but lighter than my mom's awesome but work/flavor intensive meat sauce.

Quinoa Enchilada Bake. A forever favorite, I change up this recipe too (no adobe chiles, double the tomato sauce, add chili powder, double the black beans, omit the green chilies; why do I even pretend I'm following these as written?), but I don't think you can go wrong. We serve it with tortilla chips and diced tomato and avocado on top. The whole family loves it.

I have other soups and stews that I love, but I'm always looking for more! Hearty, crock-pottable recipes preferred, but there's not much soup-related I don't enjoy.

~ ~ ~ 

And now to the important part, new books!

(The girls' room is still under construction, but their new reading corner is open for business!)

As I mentioned a time or three, I finally followed my friend's recommendation and downloaded the first Kate Daniels book by Ilona Andrews and O.M.G. I read 8 books in 12 days. I didn't sleep. I didn't go to barre. I was addicted and I LOVED it. I've read tons of paranormal romance, but urban fantasy is a new genre for me. Kate is one of the best heroines I've ever read- emotionally strong, physically capable, super skilled (and not just because she was born special, but because she trained her ass off), but also kind and human. I love her. She is proof you can have a character who is not whiny or full of constant and seemingly baseless self-doubt (ahem, Rachel Morgan in the Holllows) or just annoying inner monologues that go on forever, retread the same ground, and lead to no action at all ever (MACAYLA LANE, Fever series)

Anyway, the Kate Daniels series is incredible (though admittedly the first book starts off a little hard to read and remains my least favorite in the whole series; just keep going, trust me) and I need 10,000% more of it. I saw on the authors' website that two more books are under contract and I need them to come out right now. But in the meantime, I'm looking for more.

First, here are my recs:

The Tranche of Excellence:

Kresley Cole- my gold standard. Love all of her books and I start reading anything new of hers at midnight when it comes out.
- Immortals After Dark: paranormal romance. LOVE. We're on book 14 or so and they continue to be awesome and fun and all the storylines are beautifully woven together.
- Game Maker series: Book 1 (The Professional) was full erotica and it was good (apparetly she wrote it forever ago but didn't think she could release it until 50 Shades of Grey came out and her publisher encouraged her to), but Book 2 (The Master) added in more of her awesome storytelling and I ADORED it. I think I've re-read it a dozen times. Looking forward to book 3.
- The Arcana Chronicles: Young adult fiction. LOVE SO MUCH. Books 1-3 are out and I have a countdown in my phone until book 4. Apparently book 1 just got optioned to be a movie. Love, love, love this series and its novelty (it involves teens who are the living Major Arcana from the Tarot cards) and characters.
- MacCarrick Brothers Trilogy: one of her earlier works and the books that started me down my "download everything Kresley Cole writes" path. I still re-read these books all the time.

Larissa Ione- Demonica & Lords of Deliverance. Gold standard #2. Start with her Demonica series, but her spin-off Lords of Deliverance books are even better. She ended up writing about 9 of those and they are all SO good. Dark, but sexy and funny and action packed. I think she's finished the series up fully now and I'm very sad about it.
- Moonbound Clan series- a new one for her, totally separate from Demonica, but honestly not as good. I'll still read them all, but they're a step below (to be fair, I'm not sure how you'd go a step above).

Ilona Andrews- Kate Daniels series. My first addition to my upper echelon of authors in about 5 years. It gives me hope there's more out there I could love as much that I haven't discovered yet.

The Tranche of the Very Good:

Patricia Briggs- Mercy Thompson series. A reader recommended these after I glowed about Kate Daniels and they are quite good. Mercy is great, the stories are great, and I recommend them all. I do wish they spent a little more time with Adam (and with Mercy & Adam), but that's more of a comment than a criticism.

Karen Marie Moning- Fever series. Also very good. Her world building is simply amazing and her characters are so intriguing I will read anything she writes instantly even though I can't stand Mac (female lead) about 50% of the time. Mac spends A LOT of time in her head telling you stories about the old south that have literally no relevance in modern day fae-infested Dublin and even more time making grand statements in her mind that very rarely result in any actual action on her part. But it doesn't matter, the fever world is so good I'm looking forward to Feverborn's release in January more than anything else on my to be released countdowns.

Kim Harrison- The Hollows series. Frequently recommended and highly rated on Amazon, I enjoyed the first several books very much, but ultimately got too annoyed with Rachel's constant self-doubt (she spent like 7 books kicking ass and then the last book whining about how she's dragging down her boyfriend and doesn't deserve him and ohmygod you saved the world like a million times, you're pretty great) and Ivy's moodiness (I never understood why I was supposed to care about her at all).

Jeaniene Frost- Nighthuntress (Cat and Bones) series. LOVE these. The last book was my least favorite, but the first few are wonderful. They're a great couple and Cat is one of my favorite heroines. The spin-off books are also great.

Darynda Jones- Charley Davidson series. LOVED the first few of these, then got annoyed as the Charley character, who started out super smart and quirky but awesome, seemed to devolve into just being annoying and super quirky. I'll read the last one when the library has it for free.

I googled around last night and found two more series people who liked Kate Daniels recommended (Street Magic/Black London by Caitlin Kittredge and Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep), so let me know if you've read them and I'd love to hear about more!

All the Books

I got an email from Amazon this morning- an email I almost deleted because I'm trying to delete all commercial type emails that make me want to buy things like pretty Spring clothes and shoes- and discovered I have a $51.12 book credit from the antitrust settlement! $51!! Apparently I bought a LOT of kindle books during the relevant time period.

Now I just need some new books to buy! So in that spirit, I thought I'd offer quick rundown of books I've read and liked in the last few months and seek your recommendations on any others that I need:

1. Kresley Cole- Immortals after Dark series: Fabulous. Seriously. One of my favorite series ever and though we're up to book 14 Cole manages to keep each new story just as strong as the ones before it. Dark Skye (which will be Lanthe's book) is coming out in August and I can't wait!

1.5 Kresley Cole- The Professional/Game Maker mini-series. Whoah. As a warning this is erotica (something many people apparently didn't realize when they downloaded Cole's latest when it popped up on Amazon), but it's well-written, with good, mostly 3-dimensional characters and though I haven't actually read 50 Shades of Grey, I've read a few excerpts (that were terrible), and I can assure you that this book is WAY better.

2. Kresley Cole- Arcana Chronicles: I continue to be obsessed with this series and am very sad I didn't discover it 5 years from now when all the books will be written and done so I could binge read them like I want to. Instead I'm stuck re-reading books 1 and 2 and waiting another YEAR for book 3 to come out. Cole recently said she expects to write 5-6 for the series, so at this rate I'll be about 40 when they're finally done. Just about time for me to probably stop having countdowns for new releases in YA book series.

3. Larissa Ione- Lords of Deliverance series: A dark, funny, and fabulous spin-off of the similarly fabulous Daemonica series (I actually prefer the Lords of Deliverance books, but I re-read all 10 books on a regular basis). Another of my very favorite series ever. Reaver came out recently and though it was supposed to be the last book, she's announced that at least 2 more are coming and I'm so happy.

3.5 Larissa Ione- Moonbound Clan series: This popped up in my Amazon feed and since it was written by Ione, I bought it, but I didn't find it quite up to par with her previous two series. There's only one book so far, so she's still world building, and I'll definitely download book 2, but if you're going to go Ione, start with Pleasure Unbound.

4. Jeaniene Frost- Night Huntress series: Great fun! I started out pretty "meh" for the first half of book 1 (the heroine annoyed me greatly in the beginning), but I persevered and next thing I knew I'd read all 6 books and all 4 spin-off books and have already re-read several of them 2-3 times. Frost is no Larissa Ione or Kresley Cole, but she's good and I enjoyed the books and characters. (Except for the last book, but I'm just pretending that one didn't happen because I'm too happy to have found another fun paranormal romancey adventurey series).

5. J.D. Robb/Nora Robert- In Death series: I'm kind of a sucker for this one. During my maternity leave I read all 40, borrowing them from our library's ebooks section, and re-download and read favorites all the time. I enjoy the characters and the TV-episode-like nature of the book installments. It's like watching House- established characters you know and enjoy, a new little mystery you know will be solved by the end, and small character developments along the way. You can read them out of order and it doesn't really matter, but I enjoy them all the same.

6. Veronica Roth- Divergent trilogy: I thought book 1 was great, book 2 was mediocre, and book 3 was TERRIBLE. Terrible. Just seeing the title in my kindle account renewed my fury and I deeply regret not demanding a refund back when I read it. I do remember finishing it, hours after it was released, and just staring at my kindle and saying out loud, What. The. Fcuk. I don't care about the shocking plot twist, it was that the shocking plot element didn't make sense within the plot. Roth's world-building fell into pieces when she tried to expand it. The characters were unrecognizable and when the first person perspective bounced back and forth between them I frequently had to back page just to remember who was the one talking. SO BAD. Clearly I'm still pretty mad about it.

7. Marie Force- Fatal series: These have been fun. Honestly, they read like a paler imitation of JD Robb's In Death series (to the point that I can't believe Force hadn't read many an In Death book and didn't accidentally have them in the back of her mind while she was writing), but they're still good and I've enjoyed them all.

8. Roberta Gellis- Rosalynde Chronicles: some of the first historical fiction I ever read (back in middle school, I think), I just rediscovered these on the Kindle a few months ago and enjoyed re-reading them. They're not as heavily researched as your average Sharon Kay Penman novel, but they're a fun look at medieval England.

9. J.D. Ward- Black Dagger Brotherhood: the newest installment ("The King") is coming out next Tuesday and I'm very excited to get a whole book focused on the two original characters of the series. I feel like Ward's story lines have gotten so convoluted and scattered and I'm hoping this book brings a bit of focus back to the series. Her prose (tough guy talk that frequently sounds ridiculous) may be annoying at times, but the characters and the friendships and relationships are wonderful and very real. Despite, you know, all of them being vampires.

So let me know what I need to read next! I have a strong preference for series, but will occasionally read a stand-alone if it's really REALLY good. I could use a good string of historical fiction/romances- I've been on an accidental paranormal streak and wouldn't mind jumping tracks for a bit (though, that said, if you have a good adventure-y romance-y paranomral-y series, please chime in!).

Speaking of adventure-y, romance-y books, Outlander, still my second favorite book series of all time (Harry Potter Forever in spot #1), has a new book coming out in June and a TV series debuting later this year! I'm thrilled and terrified to see it translated on screen, but the trailer and character casting has been very good and the author has been heavily involved in the casting and scripting, so I have hope.

And not speaking of anything relating to this post, Cora is teething and it is terrible. She is the saddest, but still also the sweetest, and she tremulously smiles at me in the middle of the night (SO much waking up in the middle of the night) with big fat tears in her eyes and it makes my heart hurt. When we got home from school/work this afternoon she only wanted to be held while she chewed on her elephant (basically a poor man's Sophie, but Cora doesn't mind), so that's exactly what we did for 1.5 hours. I read a new book (the latest In Death installation, I finally got to the top of the library's hold list) and we cuddled while the big kids played outside.

I finished the book just as JP got home and we threw dinner together in less than 10 minutes (our shishless kebabs, so delicious!), which circles us back to the point- new book recommendations! I needs them.

RRA Meeting 4

I need to do these more often- I started this partial list of books I've read since the last post, but that was nearly a year ago and the list is waaaay too long. So here's the highlights of books I loved, liked, or at least don't regret the time and sleepless night I probably gave them.

Last week's blogging silence was brought to you by my latest discovery, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Its 600 pages dominated two very late nights in bed, squinting at the words on my kindle so JP wouldn't wake up and realize I was still reading (not that he can ground me like my parents used to do when I was little and reading past my bedtime, but he can tell me to zip it when I whine about how tired I am the next morning), and it ends in an cliff-hanger that forces you to download the second book, Shadow of Night, and start reading immediately. The books don't care that it's 1 am. Download and read! I'll admit the books desperately needed a harsher editor, but the story is fun and I can't wait for book 3 (always the sign of a series worth reading).

Other books I've enjoyed recently (some with links (none of them sponsored) until I got tired of looking them up):

The Scottish Prisoner, Diana Gabaldon's latest contribution to her Outlander world. This one actually belongs to the Lord John series, but Jamie plays a large role (non-spoiler alert- he's the Scottish Prisoner) and it fills in many of his missing years between Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager. The next Outlander book, Written in My Own Heart's Blood, promises to be out sometime in 2013, so this helped tide me over. (Bonus tip, if you "like" Diana on Facebook you get excerpts from the next book every few days, and The Scottish Prisoner includes the first few chapters of the next book at the end).

One of my other favorite series, Lords of Deliverance by Larissa Ione, had two new volumes- #2, Immortal Rider, and #3, Lethal Rider. I love Larissa Ione's world and think her Demonica series is one of the best, but I think I like this spin-off series even more than the original. The fourth and final book comes out in November and the date is marked on all of my calendars.

My other, OTHER favorite series- Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole- also had some new releases: Warlord Wants Forever (prequel; original book 1 that used to be sold in a compilation with other authors) and Lothaire (new book 9? 10? I forget). Lothaire was great- this is such a fun series, I re-read the others all the time.

I found the Susan Elizabeth Phillips Chicago Stars series on a list of Top 100 Romance Novels (the first book was somewhere in the top 20) and found it to be lots of fun, even if it did involve football and some plot line repetition: It Had To Be You, Heaven, Texas, Nobody's Baby But Mine, Dream a Little Dream, This Heart of Mine, Natural Born Charmer. It's hard to say which were my favorites- probably Heart of Mine and Natural Born Charmer but they were all worth the time spent reading on the couch on the weekends during the kids naptime when I was supposed to be doing other, more-productive things.

Also on that Top 100 list was Naked in Death by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts. I liked it way more than I expected given that it's a crime/mystery novel and takes place in the future. I read the next two, Glory in Death and Immortal in Death and really enjoyed them, and then found out the series is 30 books long and vowed not to buy any more until I find a library.

Others, in no particular order:

• Lover Reborn (JR Ward)- the latest in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  I still love the series, even if the tough guy vocab occasionally makes me roll my eyes, and I thought this book was way better than the last one (Lover Unleashed).  Now I wait with baited breath for the next one which promises to be Blay and Qhuinn's book.  
• The Witness (Nora Roberts).  I downloaded this 10 seconds before my plane back from DC took off a few months ago and was surprised how much I liked it.  I recommended it to my mom and she loved it too.  A different, modern, thriller-light type book for me.
• The Salt Bride (Lucinda Brant)- a Georgian historical romance and an  an unusually good free download on your kindle.
• Lord of Illusion (Kathryne Kennedy)- the latest and last book in the Elven Lords series, which might be in my top 10 (def. top 15) favorite series ever.  The books are pretty cheap downloads and I love the different take on the regency romance genre.
• Dreaming of You, Then Came You (Lisa Kleypas)- excellent regency romances.  Less romance, more plot, great characters.
• Jinxed, Charmed, Seduced (Beth Ciotta) - three books (not yet sure if it's a trilogy or if she's writing more with the same characters) that were lots of fun.  Modern, sexy, better dialogue than most- I've re-read these several times, though the heroine in #2 annoys me.
• Vision in White, Bed of Roses, Savor the Moment (Nora Roberts) - one of her most recent series, I thought it was pretty flat.  I still read them all and will probably download the 4th when it drops in price, but these pale (pale) in comparison to her Sisters of the Heart or Circle trilogies.

I also re-read the Hunger Games last weekend and found they were even better, particularly the first one. I didn't properly appreciate it the first time. A friend just recommended that I read Lauren Oliver's Delirium and Pandemonium, and another friend recommended the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Any other fun, suspend-reality type books (preferably series) you've discovered lately?

RRA Meeting 3

I can't believe it's been months since I last wrote an RRA post (oh man, it's been MANY months). I'm not sure how that happened, I've been reading voraciously, so I should have updated by now. Something about all the travel and the unfamiliar "I can't sleep in you anyway" hotel beds and the need to think about something that is NOT patent law before I go to bed has led to a giant stack of books at my bedside (and a book in every travel bag) even though I just entered over 250 hours for August. I've even gone back to paperbacks! At first I just kind of stared at the bottom of the page, waiting for it to flip because my finger was pressing the spine, but then I remembered that I needed to actually turn the page. How quickly technology changes us.

The paperbacks came back on the scene because I went to a party at a friend's parents' house in Houston in June and her mother and older sister are apparently big readers of my blog, and are particular fans of the RRA posts. In fact, when I walked in the door and the mom said something about regency romance, her dad turned and said (rather accusingly, I must say ;), "YOU'RE the blogger?!" That I am, and thus a 45 minute discussion of corsets and heaving bosoms was launched. I was sent back to Austin with a paper bag full of books- books I forgot about for several weeks and rediscovered while packing for my first trip to Palo Alto. I packed a couple books in my suitcase and all were read when I touched back in Austin 4 days later.  After a 5-month foray into the world of vampires and magic, I was re-hooked on regular old historical romance (if you can call it historical, which most of the time, you can't).

My other reading/RRA story came on the plane ride home from my second Palo Alto trip. I'd finished the 2 books I brought with me and had left my kindle at home (poor thing is feeling very unloved right now), so for the first time in years I went to buy a book in a bookstore. Happily, I found the sequel to one of the books loaned to me by my friend's mom. I started it as the plane took off and read the last page as the plane landed. The woman next to me looked over, and then smacked her husband, loudly whispering, "honey, HONEY, look! that young lady right there started a book and FINISHED IT on our flight! HONEY!!" I wasn't sure what to do- she wasn't talking to me, but she was obviously talking about me, and I felt like I should explain the book was called "A Wedding Wager" and was a terribly light piece of literary fluff even by my low standards. In the end I just smiled and tucked it back in my laptop bag.  After a very difficult and stressful trip, it was nice to feel good at something, even if it's just speed reading about earls and the woman who love them.  I smiled my whole way off the plane (right until I hit the wall of 110 degree hit at the door of the plane, I'm really not sure I can live here much longer).

Now, on to a list of books I've read in the last few months, with added commentary because I can't help it (and I just entered my time for the month and feel I can afford to waste 0.5 hours):

• Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole.  Starting with "A Hunger Like No Other" and currently ending with #9 "Dreams of a Dark Warrior," I had so much fun with this series.  It's a modern paranormal romancy actiony hybrid.  I think #3 (Bowen & Mari) and #5 (Cade & Holly) were my favorites.
• McCarrick Brothers triology by Kresley Cole (If You Deceive, If You Desire, If You Dare).  Recommended by a friend, these books are about 3 Scottish brothers in 1850.  #3 was by far my favorite, but I liked them all.  Then amazon pointed me to her Immortals After Dark series and I was lost there for about a month- I do love a long series.
• The Demonica series by Larissa Ione. I know I wrote about this before, but it remains a favorite and I re-read all of the books since I last wrote about them.  Then I read "Eternal Rider," the first book in her spin-off Lords of Deliverance series, and LOVED it.  The next Deliverance book comes out in November and I can't wait.
• My Unfair Lady and Lady of the Storm by Kathryne Kennedy.  I really like her books.  The kindle versions are inexpensive, so I'm not sure how popular she is, but I think her stories and writing are fantastic.  Lady of the Storm is the second book in a new series that starts with The Fire Lord's Lover.  If she keeps it up, this is going to be one of my favorite series, I just wish she'd write them faster.
• Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward.  Another one I've talked about before, but I've re-read a bunch and really do enjoy the stories.  Her writing frequently annoys the crap out of me (it's the fake tough guy talk), but I love the caracters and their interractions.  However, I really disliked her latest one, Lover Unleashed.  The main character was nothing like she seemed from the previous books, and even if I liked this new version of her (she was tolerable), she barely got any screen time!  At this point I'm reading the series solely because my two favorite characters (Blay and Quinn) haven't had ther stories told yet and I live for the snippets relating to them. 
• The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt. Part of the set loaned to me by my friend's mom, this was my first regency romance in months and it sucked me right back in.  I liked the flip of a strong, independently wealthy woman with a lower class male character.
• Whitney, My Love, Until You, Something Wonderful, and Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught.  How did I not know about this author?  My mom friend/blog reader loaned me Whitney, My Love, saying simpy, "just read it."  I started it in Palo Alto, got no sleep, and then immediately bought 3 more of her books.  I wouldn't recommend reading them in a row because she only really writes one kind of male and female character, but I still found them so fun and so good, and with the tiny print and more substantive plot lines (not like non-fiction substantive, you won't learn any history from this book, but more weighty than A Wedding Wager, for instance), they took me longer to read than most of these others.  Kingdon of Dreams is my favoritre, but I also adored Something Wonderful (and Whitney and Until You... they're good, is what I'm saying). 
• Shanna and A Rose in Winter by Kathleen Woodiwiss.  Shanna was the first romance novel I ever read and I fell in love. I read it about 25 times before leaving my parent's house and, after basking in fond memories, read it again a few months ago.  As it turns out, Shanna is maybe the most annoying heroine ever written, but Woodiwiss did better with Erienne in Rose in Winter. 

Up next on my reading list is Son of the Morning by Linda Howard.  I think it's a series, so I'm looking forward to it.  I need to go back through my comments from the first RRA post because I need a few new authors to explore.  (And/or I need Diana Gabaldon to get on with her next Outlander novel, I'm still annoyed about how she ended the last one!) Let me know if you're reading anything you love!

RRA: Meeting 2

We're way overdue for a meeting. Since our last virtual visit together, I have unintentionally become quite the paranormal romance reader.

I know, I never thought I'd type that sentence either, but I've already admitted I'm not a discerning reader of fiction.  Basically, if you can tell me a good story, a story that has nothing to do with my daily life (no lawyers, nothing that takes place in the last 50 years, definitely no dramatic true stories involving life and death, and no wounded animals, ever), and if you draw me 3-dimensional characters with convincing dialogue, and just generally entertain me for the few hours it will take me to read your book, I'm sold.

Thus, paranormal fiction. It all started with the Nora Roberts Magic Circle triology books that I friend lent me over a year ago, which I read twice during the few weeks I had them, then I asked to borrow them again a few months later because I was craving a re-read (I frequently crave books, do you?), and then I finally just bought them used online so I could read them anytime I wanted. Then my sister lent me all the Sookie Stackhouse True Blood books, which I flew through because they're like a literary combination of candy and crack. I've already written about Twilight here and my general disgust both for it and for myself for reading them all multiple times, but I suppose they fall in this category. Then this list of the top 100 romance books included "Lover Awakened," Book 3 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward. The mini summary sounded good, so I bought the first three books with my Christmas kindle gift card. Ten days later, I'd read all 8. I got very little sleep, but they are so much fun. The street/tough guy language as written by a woman can be annoying, especially when I'm pretty sure she's using certain slang words wrong (not that I'm any tough guy expert), but as I've already stated, my standards are not that high and she drew some really great characters. The ninth book comes out tomorrow and even though the Kindle price is ridiculous, I'll probably end up buying it just because I've now read the original eight 2-3 times each and I've been looking forward to #9 for months.  It'll be a "I worked all weekend" present. My faves in the series are #1 (Dark Lover), #3 (Lover Awakened), and #8 (Lover Mine). They've made me an even bigger fan of the kindle because I can hide the covers/titles of my ridiculous books from the general public (and my non-fiction, autobiography reading husband), but this is a safe space right?

Then, because the world is conspiring to get me to read more of these books, the Pixel of Ink emails told me this book by Kathryne Kennedy was $1.  It's called "Enchanting the Lady" and I loved it.  It's takes place in Victoria England "where the magic has never stopped" and involves the nobility, who get their titles based on magical ability (Dukes can change matter, Earls have a special gift, etc.), and shape-shifting relic hunters which track down the remaining, dangerously powerful Relics of Merlin.  And while that is probably one of the silliest sentences I've ever typed, I loved the book and it's two successors: Enchanting the Beast and Double Enchantment.  Then I found the first book in a new series Kennedy has started called "The Fire Lord's Lover" and loved it too.  She writes a great stories with strong characters and I hope she continues both lines of books.

Lastly, I started the Demonica series by Larissa Ione on our plane ride to Denver on Spring Break.  Also very good, and very addictive, I finished all five within the week.  It starts with Pleasure Unbound and the first book of a spin-off series comes out tomorrow.

Some other books I've read since December (all regency romance):

• The last two in the Julia Quinn Bridgerton series (It's In His Kiss and On the Way to the Wedding); not quite as good as the first few, I basically read them for the glimpses you get of the older siblings, but still fun.
• The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt.  I'd enjoyed her Four Soldiers series and thought this one was pretty good.  I have to admit, after reading so many books involving magic, it was a hard comedown to the regular world with its regular human characters.
• Lord of Scoundrels.  Number 1 on the top 100 romance books list I linked to above and a great rad.  I'm not sure about #1, but then again, I have an impossible time ranking books because I enjoy just about all of them. 

My first love will always be historical fiction, and see the last two RRA posts for some great recommendations there, but I tend to read in themes and apparently magic is the kick I'm on now.  And lucky for me, two of my new series have books coming out this week! 

So what about you, reading anything I should know about?  Has anyone else read any of the series I mentioned?  I have no one to talk to about these things!