This n' That: Catching Up + Nora Roberts, Laura Lee Guhrke

Has it been almost a week since I last posted? It has! There is so much going on. Post-Sandy, I'm back at work but our offices are not 100% yet. My boss lost her home and much more than that, so she's gone for now. Additionally, New Jersey's Courts in the north of the State are still closed or just now beginning to open -- at this point I'm basically catching up on a little paperwork and getting ready for the avalanche of work once everything reopens.

But there are other reasons! On the bright side, our family welcomed a new addition, my middle brother's third daughter. Natalia A. J. arrived on November 3rd and weighed 8.5 lbs. She arrived just in time to bring happiness and much needed brightness to all of us! I'm a tia again!

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Born In Trilogy

What about reading? Well, during the hurricane I was unable to read new books, so I picked up an old favorite comfort re-read, the Born In Trilogy (1994 to 1996) by Nora Roberts (Born in Fire, Born in Ice, Born in Shame). Why do I love this trilogy? Well, Roberts has a way with her depiction of those small little rural places in Ireland. In this case it's County Clare with its farming land, the village, pub, and all the requisite places: castle ruins, cliffs, and the sea. But of course Roberts' characters, from the protagonists to the villagers, are the main attraction. There is spitfire Maggie and her jackeen Rogan, cool-as-a-cucumber Brie and her charming Yank Grayson, and of course beautiful-oh-my-god-I-have-a-crush-on-him Murphy Muldoon and clueless-somebody-smack-her Shannon. I've read and re-read this trilogy countless times and know these books like the back of my hand. I still love them!

My favorite hands down? Although Born in Fire IS fiery and Born in Shame has my favorite Irish hunk Murphy Muldoon as its hero, for me Born in Ice is the most romantic of the three books and the one I read slowwwly this time around. It took me forever to finish it because I wanted to savor every word. Have you read this trilogy by Nora Roberts? It's a classic and it is still my #1 favorite trilogy by this author.

Conor's Way

I also read Conor's Way by Laura Lee Guhrke. I loved, loved this historical romance! Truthfully? I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I looked at this book critically (as a reviewer), and if you review books, you know there are always flaws to find or nit picking to do. But, sigh... as a reader, there just was not one aspect of this book that I did not enjoy! From Conor and Olivia as our main romantic couple, to Olivia's three little girls who play their roles as secondary characters to perfection, the characters are fantastic. I love the mixed setting -- the small town in post-revolutionary American South in the present, and a famine-plagued/post-famine Ireland full of revolutionary Fenians in Conor's past. This was an emotionally wrenching story with a tortured hero, but it was also sweet, sweet, sweet, with a great strong spinster heroine and three little girls that will win your heart. Lovely!

This week I also picked up and finished Velvet by Xavier Axelson. A gay historical romance, this is Axelson's first full-length novel. I will be reviewing it soon.

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Last, but not least, today is National Election Day in the U.S., it comes every four years and doesn't take too much of our personal time. So, please don't forget to vote!

New Releases: January/February 2011

It is time again for those new releases! And it's a really good time of the year, there are lots of upcoming releases and you know I want to read them all. However since that's not possible, I'll be highlighting a few of the books I'm really looking forward to reading for January and February. A few of my favorite writers have new releases and that's exciting!

Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Release Date: January 18, 2011

RSVP TO THE MOST RIOTOUS WEDDING OF THE YEAR!

Lucy Jorik is the daughter of the former President of the United States.

Meg Koranda is the offspring of legends.

One of them is about to marry Mr. Irresistible—Ted Beaudine—the favorite son of Wynette, Texas. The other is not happy about it. Not happy at all....

But even though Meg knows breaking up her best friend’s wedding is the right thing to do, no one else seems to agree. Faster than Lucy can say, “I don’t,” Meg becomes the most hated woman in town. A town where she’s stuck with a dead car, an empty wallet, and a very angry bridegroom.

Broke, stranded, and without her famous parents at her back, Meg is sure she can survive on her own wits. What’s the worst that can happen? Lose her heart to the one and only Mr. Irresistible? Not likely. Not likely at all....

Let's begin with Susan Elizabeth Phillips' new contemporary romance. SEP is one of my favorite contemporary romance writers and I've been waiting for her new release for a while. I will be buying Call Me Irresistible while it's hot off the presses!

Shadow Fever by Karen Marie Moning
Release Date: January 18, 2011

MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.

Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh—a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves. Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.

And what about Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning? I've been waiting for the end of this series for quite a while! As a matter of fact, I haven't read Dreamfever yet, WAITING for this book just so I can finish the series in style, making this a highly anticipated book for me.

Notorious Pleasures (Maiden Lane, Book 2) by Elizabeth Hoyt
Release Date: January 25, 2011

Their lives were perfect . . .
Lady Hero Batten, the beautiful sister of the Duke of Wakefield, has everything a woman could want, including the perfect fiancé. True, the Marquis of Mandeville is a trifle dull and has no sense of humor, but that doesn't bother Hero. Until she meets his notorious brother . . .

Until they met each other.
Griffin Remmington, Lord Reading, is far from perfect - and he likes it that way. How he spends his days is a mystery, but all of London knows he engages in the worst sorts of drunken revelry at night. Hero takes an instant dislike to him, and Griffin thinks that Hero, with her charities and faultless manners, is much too impeccable for society, let alone his brother. Yet their near-constant battle of wits soon sparks desire - desire that causes their carefully constructed worlds to come tumbling down. As Hero's wedding nears, and Griffin's enemies lay plans to end their dreams forever, can two imperfect people find perfect true love?

Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt is the second book in her Maiden Lane series. I loved, loved Wicked Intentions, the first book... and can't wait to read Hero's story, so this is another highly anticipated book.

Scandal of the Year: Abandoned at the Altar by Laura Lee Guhrke
Release Date: January 25, 2011

One tryst was all she wanted . . .

From their very first meeting, Julia knew that Aidan Carr, the oh-so-proper Duke of Trathen, had a bit of the devil in him, a devil who secretly yearned for what he could not have, a devil who harbored a desire for her. So when she needed to be caught in a compromising situation, Aidan was the answer to her prayers.

One tryst just wasn't enough . . .

Aidan is supposed to be looking for a bride, yet his scandalous liaison with Julia is all he can think about. Hot, erotic memories of kissing her skin, falling into her bed, pulling her naked body on top of his own continue to torment and tempt him. What is it about this brazen seductress that he finds so hard to resist? And how can he stop himself from falling into her bed a second time?

I already have the first book in this series Wedding of the Season in my TBR. I'll probably wind up reading both of these books as a set, one after the other. I don't know why, but the summary for Scandal of the Year just calls to me. :)

The Sea Thy Mistress by Elizabeth Bear
Release Date: February 1, 2011

This direct sequel to Elizabeth Bear’s highly acclaimed All the Windwracked Stars picks up the story some fifty years after Muire went into the sea and became the new Bearer of Burdens.

Beautiful Cathoair, now an immortal warrior angel, has been called back to the city of Eiledon to raise his son--Muire’s son as well, cast up on shore as an infant. It is seemingly a quiet life. But deadly danger approaches…the evil goddess Heythe, who engineered the death of Valdyrgard, has travelled forward in time on her rainbow steed. She came expecting to gloat over a dead world, the proof of her revenge, but instead she finds a Rekindled land, renewed by Muire’s sacrifice.

She will have her revenge by forcing this new Bearer of Burdens to violate her oaths and break her bounds and thus bring about the true and final end of Valdyrgard. She will do it by tormenting both Cathoair and his son Cathmar. But Mingan, the gray wolf, sees his old enemy Heythe’s return. He will not allow it to happen again.

AND, oh boy! This is the last book in Elizabeth Bear's latest trilogy. I read and loved All the Windwracked Stars, Book 1, really enjoyed By the Mountain Bound, Book 2, and The Sea Thy Mistress, Book 3 is the end of this wonderful cyberpunk fantasy trilogy, with all its mythological details and characters. I received an ARC from Tor/Forge Books and will post an early review for this book.  :)

Absolutely, Positively (Lucy Valentine, Book 3) by Heather Webber
Release Date: February 1, 2011

“Exposed” by a Boston Herald reporter, Lucy is suddenly the talk of the town. Long back-story short: Even though the rest of her Valentine ancestors were blessed by Cupid with psychic abilities, Lucy’s only special power lies in her ability to find things. This skill has proven quite a blessing for those who come to her matchmaking agency in search of finding their long-lost loves. Now that Lucy’s secret is out, she has more new clients than she knows what to do with. But soon a certain man of mystery steals Lucy’s spotlight…

No, it’s not Sean Donahue, the sexy fireman-turned-private-eye who’s stolen Lucy’s heart. It’s a masked man in a cowboy hat, dubbed “The Lone Ranger,” who’s been throwing handfuls of cash across the Common. Now all of Beantown’s abuzz. Can Lucy unmask the mysterious money man, track down all her clients’ old flames, and turn up the heat on her love life? Absolutely, positively…

And last, but certainly not least, is the next installment in the Lucy Valentine series, Absolutely, Positively by Heather Webber. I read the first book in this series late last year and loved Lucy! (No pun intended). I have the second book already, and hope to catch up with Lucy and Sean's light and fun adventures with this book.

I might add more later if something I adore catches my eye, but that's it for now! What about you? Any great releases you're looking forward to reading?

News and more December 2010 New Releases!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I have some personal news for you today. I started a new job this week and I'm excited! As with all changes, I'll need to make some adjustments to my routine. However, even if I slow down a bit during this first month with my new job, I will continue to read and share my impressions with you.

Today, I want to share three December releases I did not include in my original list of "must reads" for the month. Three books by very different authors in different genres:

• On the LGBT front, I'll definitely be reading Binding the God: Ursine Essays from the Mountain South by Jeff Mann. I've only read one short story by this author and loved it. I'm not passing up this collection of essays.
• All She Wrote: Holmes and Moriarity by Josh Lanyon (Book 2). I loved the characters and the first book of this M/M mystery romance series and can't wait to continue reading it. The mysteries and fun!
• Wedding of the Season by Laura Lee Guhrke is a historical romance and first in the Abandoned at the Altar series. This series attracted my attention and I'm hoping it will be a winner for me.

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Binding the God: Ursine Essays from the Mountain South by Jeff Mann
Release Date: December 6, 2010

A much lauded essayist and poet, Jeff Mann writes of the passion and pain of being a Southern gentleman who happens to be invested in many worlds: the hungers of gay Bear culture; the propensities of leather and bondage; the frustrations of academia; and the perspectives of an Appalachian who has traveled the world. In Binding the God, his second collection of essays, Mann offers readers another tour of his consciousness and experiences. This volume includes essays previously published in Arts and Letters, Second Person Queer, Callaloo, Now and Then, White Crane, Queer and Catholic, and other journals and anthologies.

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All She Wrote: Holmes and Moriarity, Book 2 by Josh Lanyon
Release Date: December 28, 2010

A murderous fall down icy stairs is nearly the death of Anna Hitchcock, the much-beloved “American Agatha Christie” and Christopher Holmes’s former mentor. Anna’s plea for him to host her annual winter writing retreat touches all Kit’s sore spots—traveling, teaching writing classes, and separation from his new lover, J.X. Moriarity.

For J.X., Kit’s cancellation of yet another romantic weekend is the death knell of a relationship that has been limping along for months. But that’s just as well, right? Kit isn’t ready for anything serious and besides, Kit owes Anna far too much to refuse.

Faster than you can say “Miss Marple wears boxer shorts”, Kit is snooping around Anna’s elegant, snowbound mansion in the Berkshires for clues as to who’s trying to kill her. A tough task with six amateur sleuths underfoot. Six budding writers with a tangled web of dark undercurrents running among them. Slowly, Kit gets the uneasy feeling that the secret may lie between the pages of someone’s fictional past. Unfortunately, a clever killer is one step ahead. And it may be too late for J.X. to ride to the rescue.

Warning: Contains one irascible, forty-year-old mystery writer who desperately needs to get laid, one exasperated thirty-something ex-cop only too happy to oblige, an isolated country manor that needs the thermostat cranked up, various assorted aspiring and perspiring authors, and a merciless killer who may have read one too many mystery novels.

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Wedding of the Season: Abandoned at the Altar by Laura Lee Guhrke (Book 1)
Release Date: December 28, 2010

Abandoned at the altar . . .
Lady Beatrix Danbury had always known she would marry William Mallory. She'd loved him forever and she'd never doubted he loved her, too. But when she made him choose between their life together or his lifelong dream, Will chose the latter . . . and left two weeks before their wedding.

Return of the duke . . .
Will has no illusions that Beatrix would welcome him back with open arms, but six years did not dim his love or desire for her. The only problem is, she's about to marry someone else. Someone safe and predictable . . . the complete opposite of Will. But can he stop the wedding of the season and win Beatrix back, or is it just too late?