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#AprilReadingChallenge: Favorite Children’s Books

Welcome to April! It’s my favorite month of the year . . . for many reasons. First, of course, it’s spring. When I lived in a more season-oriented climate, April was the first month when we could count on more warm days than cold ones. And it was the month of daffodils, tulips and forsythia. The air was filled with fragrance.

And April is *my* month–I celebrate my birthday on the 7th!

This year, I also have a huge release on that same day. AGE OF AQUARIUS goes live on the 7th.

So when I saw this reading challenge for April, I thought . . . why not?

April 2nd: Favorite Children’s Book

This is not easy! I’m going to fudge a little and give three answers:

  1. Favorite grade-school book: Mr. Pine’s Mixed Up Signs by Leonard P. Kessler (The book that taught me how to read!)
  2. Favorite middle-grade/chapter book: (This was REALLY tough!!) Look Through My Window by Jean Little. I fell in love with this story and read it over and over . . . I’m not sure if it was the idea of the big old house they moved into, or maybe the cousins coming to live with them (I always wished for a bigger family), but this story is warm, wonderful and amazing. If you haven’t read it, grab it NOW. Seriously. Life changing stuff here.
  3. Favorite young adult book: When I was in high school, we really didn’t have young adult books. We went from Laura Ingalls Wilder to the classics or adult lit. Of course, we had Judy Bloom and her forbidden book Forever, but that is in a class by itself. (Ahem.) My favorite young adult that I’ve read in the last five years would have to be Jesi Lea Ryan’s Arcadia series. I love book #2 especially.

I’m Reading Never Tear Us Apart by Monica Murphy

One of the great things about finding new authors is finding out they have talented friends, too! I’ve mentioned before that when I began reading Sarina Bowen’s books, I joined a Facebook group called The Locker Room. I’d already read three of the other ‘coaches’ there–Elle Kennedy, Kristen Callihan and Cora Carmack–but to my great delight, I discovered another new favorite–Monica Murphy.

I enjoyed Monica’s THE RULES series, and her One Week Girlfriend quartet. This week, though, I realized she had a brand-new stand-alone, and the idea of it intrigued me. So I picked up Never Tear Us Apart.

The premise of this story is not unfamiliar, sadly; it opens about nine years after the female lead, Never Tear CoverKatherine, survived an abduction and rape. We learn pretty quickly that she was able to escape her captor only with the help of his then-15-year old son, Will. We also learn that while the two had stayed in touch for a while, eventually they lost each other.

Now twenty-one, Katherine is still trying to get her life back. She’s understandably cautious and has never dated. So when she has a chance encounter with a man who saves her from a mugging, no one is more surprised than Katherine that she is drawn to her rescuer. The two begin dating.

Of course, since the book is told from a dual point of view, we already know that her new friend Ethan is actually Will. He only wanted to check on the girl he’d helped to save. He never intended to deceive her. But now they’re in a relationship of sorts,and each of them has secrets that have the potential to be explosive.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but it’s harder and harder to put down. I’m worried about the fallout when the inevitable happens and Katherine finds out Ethan’s true identity.

It’s A Ghoul Thing Teaser

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Coming next week!

The Halloween read you can’t miss.

Eight paranormal short stories by the fabulous authors of Romantic Edge Books! Supernatural and sizzling, this is one set you don’t want to miss.

Masked (A Gwen Sparks short story) by Stephanie Nelson
When Gregory Arthur—a tiger shifter—hires Gwen for Halloween night, she and Dorian must figure out why Gregory’s daughter is haunting his house before the suspected murderer figures them out. But like everything in Gwen’s life, not everything is as it seems. If she’s not careful, she may be the killer’s next victim.

Temporal Tango (Miss Series Short) by C.G. Powell
Since Tango’s birth as a human, his mind has been charmed to forget most of his past. What secrets will be reviled when the spell is broken at midnight on the eve of Veronica’s eighteenth birthday? Immortal life as a cat was not all that it was cracked up to be, and somethings are better left forgotten.

Fire&Ice (A Little Flame Short, #7.5) by Melissa Lummis
Fiamette Jurato isn’t your everyday healer, but even she’s never seen this particular problem before. And it doesn’t help that her patient is a stubborn jackass of a troll. Seriously. A real troll. A spoonful of sugar can’t make the medicine go down when the patient would rather die than swallow his pride.

Moon Dust (The Werevamp Diaries-1) by Olivia Hardin
When Magical And Undead Creatures cross paths with humans, sometimes they get hurt. That’s when Rhiannon, doctor to the paranormal world, steps into action. What she doesn’t expect is to get an urgent call from her secret crush. Risking her life to grant him a favor might not be the smartest decision she’s ever made, but sometimes love means taking chances.

Unforgettable (A Serendipity/Recipe for Death Short) by Tawdra Kandle
When seers at Carruthers Institute sense impending world doom, Cathryn Whitmore sends for her top agents. Their mission could help battle the forces of evil, but it’s also going to sorely test their love for each other–especially when someone from the past makes a surprise appearance.

Curse of the Tolomato Cemetery (Olde City Angels) by Mandie Stevens
Eva and Thomas are used to dealing with things that go bump in the night, but on an unexpected day off, the last thing they expect to encounter are vampire pirates–and Thomas’ old flame.
When the vampires capture that ex-lover, the two must brave a haunted cemetery to stop the quest and save the day.

Disguise (Secrets of the Succubus) by Amanda Latzel
Gisele Green’s lifestyle comes with nice perks–hello, unlimited orgasms–-but on All Hallows’ Eve not even expensive cosmetics can hide the succubus inside. Usually she’d stay hidden from public view, but this year she’s blackmailed into being part of the festivities. With all eyes on her, she must maintain her disguise, or lose the life she loves in the human world.

Knead to Know by Liz Schulte
Maggie Edwards can’t sleep, eat, or die—but she can bake. However, just before the Halloween grand opening of her bakery, a pesky reporter witnesses an accident in her kitchen and gets a little too close to the truth. If she can’t convince him to keep quiet, not only will she lose her chance at happiness, but they both could lose their lives.

Preorder your copy today for only 99 cents!

iBooks/Amazon/Nook/Kobo/Smashwords

And since it’s #TeaserTuesday, here’s a tiny sneak peek at Unforgettable, the Serendipity/Recipe for Death short in It’s A Ghoul Thing. This segment is from Rafe’s point of view.

 

We were both quiet as I unlocked our front door. It was always a relief to me to come home, to this place that Nell and I had made our own sanctuary. It was usually bright, with loads of natural light, and even now, as the sun began to sink lower in the sky, its last beams shot through the skylights.

Nell stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the lake. I came up behind her, sliding my arms beneath hers and pulling her body up against me.

“Beautiful sunset.”

“Hmmm.”

“You’re far away from me.” I eased her black hair out of my way and kissed the white column of her neck.

“I’m thinking.”

“Care to tell me about it?”

“I was wondering about Joss. About what would have happened if she hadn’t died in the forest that day. What if I’d been sent to rescue both of you? What if it’d been three of us in that cabin in the woods?”

“What if I’d never come to King when I was in high school? What if my father had lived? Nell, life is a series of choices mixed in with random shit that happens. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you keep thinking like that.”

“And God knows I’ve already been there.” She meant it as a joke, I knew, but I heard the thread of despondency in her voice.

“You were strong enough to get past what happened in King. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, Nell. And I love you.”

“You loved Joss, too.” It was that same careful tone, no accusation. Just a matter-of-fact statement.

“I did.” We’d been through this before. I never denied what I’d felt for Joss. “But what I had with her isn’t what you and I share. We’ve built a life. We’ve made a home.” I turned her around to face me and tipped up her chin with my finger. Storms raged in those ice blue eyes. “Hey. Nell Massler, you are it for me, now and tomorrow and all of my days. If you’d ever say yes, I’d make it official and tell the world that I belong to you.”

“I don’t need a piece of paper to define how I feel.”

“I don’t, either. All I need is you.” I lowered my mouth to cover hers, kissing her with all the depth of passion I felt. When I opened my eyes, hers had quieted into a measure of tranquility, nearly as calm as the still lake outside our windows. “You’re my home. You’re my world. You’re why I’ll do whatever we need to do in order to stop Mallory Jones.”

She buried her face against my chest and nodded. When she spoke, her voice was muffled.

“We’ll stop her together. Whatever it takes.”

“We will.” I rubbed my hand down her back, letting it graze her ass. “But for the rest of tonight, let’s not talk about her, or tomorrow, or anything to do with Carruthers. I’ll order a pizza, we’ll take it to bed, and then I’ll do my damnedest to keep your mind off anything the least bit upsetting.”

Nell sagged against me. “I don’t know. I’m pretty tense. It’d take quite the man to make me forget my problems tonight.”

I kissed her again, my fingers gripped her backside.

“Challenge accepted.”

 

 

 

I’m reading The Liar by Nora Roberts

I’ve been a Nora Roberts fan for a very long time. My favorites have always been her trilogies, whether they’re the romance with paranormal twists books or straight romance, but of course I enjoy her annual hardback romantic thriller releases, too.

The Liar was a book that intrigued me. I was excited to read it and see if it lived up to the hype. The first few chapters were. . .slow. Now whether they really were or whether my perception of them was colored by my recent new adult romance reading, I can’t say. I do know that although the story was building, slow but sure, it wasn’t quite gripping me yet.

The shift came when the female lead, Shelby, returned with her young daughter to her family and home in the mountains of Tennessee. Here the story not only picked up pacing, the heart of the tale began to beat. There was such connection between Shelby and her family and friends,and their community, that it became almost another character in the story.

Of course, the love story didn’t hurt either. Griffin was a leading man worthy of the title, and his part never faltered.

One of the things I’ve always loved about Nora Roberts is that she doesn’t fall into trite traps in her books. We might anticipate the fight that’s going to alienate the romantic leads, but Nora derails it before it happens. She takes another route and leads us to the inevitable conclusion with finesse and style.

This book was no different when it came to the love story, but the thriller part was fairly predictable. No spoilers here, but I’d called the main situation before I reached the halfway point in the book, and I’m frankly surprised no one in the story itself did, too.

Happily, as in all of Nora’s books, the excellent writing, heart-melting love story and fabulous characterization trumps any weak plot lines. I enjoyed this book; it lingered on my mind for days afterward, and I can gladly recommend it.

Wednesday #Meme: What I’m Reading Now

It’s Wednesday; do you know what you’re reading?

cover225x225This week, I have the pleasure to read a book that’s not available to the rest of you. <Insert nanny nanny boo boo here.> It’s THIS SPELLS TROUBLE by the ever-talented Olivia Hardin. The book will be out next month. . .but I get a sneak peek. It’s good to be me!

If you haven’t read the previous Lynlee books, check them out here. The story begins with Trolling for Trouble and continues with Tangled Up in Trouble.

Want to see what others are reading? Check it out here at Literary Addicts.