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Apple Books, Apple Books Friday, Book Blog, love story, Promotion and Publicity

BOUNTIFUL (iBooks FRiDAY 4)

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There are some authors who are an auto-one click, buy the book IMMEDIATELY for me. Sarina Bowen is one of those. Her stories are smart, wryly funny and real, not to mention smoking hot–and although her Ivy Years books were definitely how I found her, I think her True North books are my new favorites.

So I had really mixed feelings this week: I am now back to writing under deadline after my hiatus, and I have to hunker down and get serious about hitting word counts. But the newest True North BOUNTIFUL released last week, and there is was on my iBooks app, just taunting me. I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time!

BOUNTIFUL became my reward at the end of each day of writing. I didn’t let myself open the iBooks app before bedtime, and I was (mostly) disciplined about that.

Mostly.

The good news is that I managed to stretch out the book and really savor it all week. The bad news is that I finished the book this morning (yes, I cheated and read the end before I got out of bed today. Sue me.).

I also have to send an iBooks shout-out about the reading comfort. This was something that’s been going on for a while, but I hadn’t really noticed it. When I read in the dark, the screen automatically goes to black background with white print–and then it flips back to white background with black print when the light in the room is bright. I like this. So do my aging eyes!

Now, let’s talk about BOUNTIFUL. I’m not usually a fan of surprise baby books. While there are a few in my own backlist (THE FIRST ONE, TEMPORARY DUTY and just a side character in THE POSSE), it’s not a trope I seek out to write or to read. But I’d been reading Zara’s story as a side dish to the other characters’ books in the True North series, so I couldn’t wait to find out about the father of her baby.

And what made this even better? There’s a sweet crossover from Sarina’s Brooklyn Bruisers series in this book. Hockey and Vermont? It just doesn’t get any better.

If you haven’t discovered Sarina’s books, stop what you’re doing and go get them . . . now. I promise you won’t be sorry.

And buy them on iBooks!

Book Blog, What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading The Mistake by Elle Kennedy and The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan

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I was trolling the ‘Zon last week when lo and behold, I saw that The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan had been released! I gobbled it up–you might remember that Kristen wrote The Hook Up which I’d found earlier this year. I was so excited to read this book, and it didn’t disappoint. I absolutely loved the relationship between Ivy and Gray and the easy way it developed. Both were well-rounded, believable characters, likable and real. I was thrilled with the bumps along their way and how they were resolved. It was a story worthy of the huge hangover it gave me.

I sighed as I finished, flipping back onto the home screen of my Kindle, and I blinked in surprise and then glee–because there was The Mistake by Elle Kennedy, the follow up book to The Deal. It was like a miracle . . . a reader’s miracle.

While I was enjoying it, though, I was surprised to come across a familiar name from another book. Drew Baylor? But he was a character in The Hook Up. I loved it, though–characters crossing worlds. How cool! So imagine how giddy I was when I reached the end of the book and found out about a very cool Facebook group that lets fans of some of my favorite authors hang out and chat!

The Locker Room celebrates the books and characters of Cora Carmack, Elle Kennedy, Kristen Callihan, Monica Murphy and Sarina Bowen. It’s a dream come true.

So to recap: this week’s books were both excellent follow-ups to the fabulous first books. Both were deep and sassy love stories, deep and realistic characters, men who make us all go ga-ga and women who are more than capable of kicking a little ass.

What could be better? So glad you asked. All Played Out, the Rusk University book I’ve been waiting for over the last months, finally hit my Kindle last night. You know what we’ll be discussing next Wednesday.

Sigh.

Signed,

One Really Happy Reader

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading . . . some New Adult Romance

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This is a fine thing, indeed. It’s What I’m Reading #Wednesday, and honestly, in the last week, I’ve been unhappy with what I’ve read.

I blame Colleen Hoover, Cora Carmack and Ginger Scott. Their last books were so good, I’m getting spoiled.

I’m happy to report, however, that last night, while trolling the ‘zon and iBooks for something . . . anything . . . I found out that Sarina Bowen’s new book, The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years Book 3) went live last week.

Booyah!

Next week, I promise I’ll have more to report. But why have the other books I’ve been reading (which I will not name; we’re all entitled to our points of view!) not been cutting the mustard? It’s been a few things.

First, the characters are not memorable. They’ve been lackluster, wishy-washy and too capricious. One girl couldn’t make up her mind about anything, and that made me nuts. Another whined. No. Just no. Second, the storylines were unbelievable, and while I’m more than ready to suspend my disbelief, you’ve got to give me something to work with. Anything. Third, and this is a big one, some of the books I read this week were poorly edited. It wasn’t typos or missed words so much as my own personal bugaboo: words misused. One series I read had so many words used in the wrong context that I wanted to scream.

“No, you didn’t withhold the sobs threatening to escape!” I raged. “You held them in. You swallowed them. You bit them back. That word doesn’t mean what you think it does.”

On the other hand, I did read all three books–partly out of desperation and partly out of a morbid curiosity to see how the author brought it all together. So maybe it’s understandable that others read them, too.

The good news is that May is bringing me all sorts of book deliciousness. If only I can hold out that long . . .

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading Wild Reckless by Ginger Scott and The Ivy Years by Sarina Bowen

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When you’re a reader-connoisseur of a certain genre of books, you tend to develop a sixth sense about those books. I can usually tell from a blurb–either how well it’s written or its content–whether a book is for me or not. Sometimes, though, I choose to read a book despite its blurb. At times this works out, and others it does not.

This week, I read three really excellent books that fell into this category. I wasn’t enthralled with any of the blurbs, but I went for it anyway and was pleasantly surprised.

The first book is Wild Reckless by Ginger Scott. I’d read four of her other books; the first two were really excellent (This is Falling and You and Everything After–LOVE those titles), and the other two were only so-so. I’m happy to say the newer books were the better one, so it was clear Ms. Scott’s writing has been evolving. But on the basis of those first two, I bought Wild Reckless even though it seemed to be a little YA.

I loved this story. The characters are amazing, three-dimensional, well-rounded and well-written. There is a lot of angst and trauma, but none of it is manufactured or dwelt on too long. It’s just the sucky stuff that happens in some lives and how we move on from those situations, living past them without letting them define us.

Owen and Kensington had terrific chemistry, and their story developed at the perfect pace. I really enjoyed this book, and I’d love to read more in this world. (Hint, hint, Ms. Scott!)

After finishing Wild Reckless, I started reading The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen. I wasn’t sure about this. The main female character was in a wheelchair, and I wasn’t sure how that would be handled. As it turned out, I was impressed that while the challenges of Corey’s condition certainly were not ignored, again they did not define her. They were part of the situation that allowed her to meet Hartley, and they added some complications, but they only made the ultimate coming together sweeter. Again, well-written characters set into a plot that didn’t have too much contriving.

I enjoyed it so much that I went directly into the next book, The Year We Hid Away, and I loved it, too. Possibly even more! I even read the novella The Blonde Date, and found it wonderful. I highly recommend The Ivy Years books.

And now I’m looking for a new read. Any thoughts? Ideas? Books that are making you sigh?