Friday, June 29, 2012

Summer Reads: Beach... or anywhere that's hot!

Playa Nibujon
Picture taken by my cousin F. Ma
Hey... it's hot, hot, hot... at least it's really hot this weekend in Jersey (100 degrees F), and the temperature is going to stay that way for the rest of the weekend and next week. Are we all dreaming of the beach yet? I know, I am!!! You see the picture of that beach? My family grew up swimming on that beach, and I'm dreaming of it right now...

Next week there's a holiday, and many of us will be heading to the beach, (down the shore), or to other summer places to get away from it all. What better time to get some nice reading done? Here are a few recommendations from my recent list of books read and from past years. If you're interested in reading some full-length summery contemporary romances, you can always pick up:

The Lucky Harbor Series by Jill Shalvis includes the original three books that I loved and the latest releases, which I plan to read during this next week, but for a hot summer day? The Sweetest Thing! Here you'll find a book that will make you want to run for the boardwalk, another one with a great seaside romance and an unforgettable dog! And yet another one about two people who begin a summer affair and find love.


The Sweetest Thing, #2 (2011)
No Tan Lines by Kate Angell (2012)
Summer at Seaside Cove by Jacquie D'Alessandro (2011)
Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl (2010)

And, if just want to pick up some shorter reads that won't take too much time out of your day, I loved and recommend the following three books -- all three are favorites:

Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry (2012 Contemporary Romance)
A Little More Scandal by Carrie Lofty (2012 Historical Romance Novella)
Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry (2010 Contemporary Romance)  


Here are some LGBT recommendations: two enjoyable anthologies full of short stories where you can find sunshine, love or fantastic seafaring tales, an excellent fantasy novella with romance a police-procedural, and a full-length light, summery, young adult mystery read.


Boys of Summer edited by Steve Berman (2012 Contemporary Anthology)
The Touch of the Sea edited by Steve Berman (2012 Fantasy Anthology)
Point of Knives by Melissa Scott (2012 Fantasy Novella)
Mystery of the Tempest: A Fisher Key Adventure by Sam Cameron (2011 Contemporary YA Mystery) 
That's it! I'm going to go enjoy my hot, hot weekend and pick up a summer read! Enjoy your weekend. Stay cool!

10 comments:

  1. Wow! Awesome boks!! :D
    I need to check out some of those :D

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    1. Alex, these are fun or great summer reads. Enjoy.

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  2. Aren't you so sweet!! Suggesting some fun beach reads for us. I'm pretty sure I have Crazy For Love on my shelf. Probably from you! haha! I think I'll read that one this summer. Thanks, Hils!

    Keep cool! : )

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    1. LOL, Christine... I think you might be right about Crazy in Love! :D

      Keep cool my friend, a scorcher coming up!

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  3. *sigh* It makes me so sad when I think of all the good books I have sitting in my tbr pile. There's not enough time!! LOL

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    1. I know, Ames... I know! There's never enough time. Boooh!

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  4. Good recs Hils. The Mayberry is on my TBR pile but I forgot about Victoria Dahl having earlier contemps. I liked her most recent ones so I'll need to get this one too. Stay cool! There were places "back east" that were hotter than where I'm at. Crazy!

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    1. Leslie, you know? I just saw the re-releases of Dahl's earlier contempt too... and of course I haven't read them. I was thinking of getting some of them because I enjoyed her latest releases so much too. I love reading contemporaries in the summer... so maybe? LOL!

      The weather? We are burning, baby! Burning!

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  5. LOL, with the weather we're having, it's criminal that we don't have beaches like that here! Don't you think Hils?

    Thankfully, the temperature has cooled down for us. But it was deadly when Ames was by to visit. And I think this is the first time in a couple of years i've tanned!

    Those are great recs up there :) I've actually read all the contemporary romance you've suggested, so I know what I'm talking :) Need to come out of my shell and try the others :)

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    1. Oh Nath! That beach is my dream place to go when I want to go away in my mind. My cousin sent me that picture a couple of years ago and I have it as my desktop backdrop at work just so I can escape from THIS reality sometimes! Particularly during really cold days or hot days in the city... sigh... We are still burning here in Jersey. Hot, hot, hot!

      While I enjoyed some of those reads as summer reads, you know.... nice and easy, others are really favorites. You should get to the ones you haven't tried yet. The books up there are all good!

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