Category: books

Suggested Summer reads: June 25 edition

bit of magic, hint of romance, and three favorite books to share today…

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
I recommend EVERYTHING by this husband/wife writing team so far. This is the first novel in their “Edge” series. It’s part romance, part fantasy, pure awesome. Action packed, amazing detail and world building, and a novel I loved from first to last page. The heroine is a strong magically gifted woman that lives in the area between the normal (aka non-magical world we know) and the weird wild magical realm. I also read, loved, and recommend the second book in the series- Bayou Moon. It’s kind of a hard series to explain – but if you’re a fan of darker, more paranormal/fantasy type fiction this could be your next favorite too.

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
What I love most is how this author infuses magic into her stories without spells or making it about that. Magic simply IS. In this story, we meet a sad girl who prefers winter because she can cover up and go hide in her closet eating chocolates and generally ignoring the real world. One day a woman appears in her closet, and everything starts changing… the real beauty is that our heroine is in fact the one who’s mixing up her world – not any magic. Between the memorable cast of characters and touching tale, I really enjoyed this book!

Every Boy’s Got One by Meg Cabot
One of my all time favorite romantic comedies, this one is told as diary entries and emails… and it’s awesome. The heroine runs off to Italy with her best friend and her fiancée to witness their marriage! So romantic, so exciting… except for the guy’s best friend who is totally against the whole thing but coming along as the best man. It’s funny, it’s light, it’s totally adorable. I read this when it first came out back in ’05, and I STILL read + love it every summer.

 

That’s what I’ve got for this week in summer reading suggestions – enjoy! and as always if you have suggestions don’t hesitate to share!

Suggested summer reads: June 14 edition

Time for another batch!!

“ye olde romance”
9 rules to break… by Sarah MacLean
What I think took it from good to great was the heroine. We stick with her for most all of the story, and really get to see how this on-the-shelf spinster with an impeccable reputation and too-chubby figure breaks free of demands and finds herself. She lets herself dream up a list of things she would do if she was free to do anything – and then sets off doing them. In the process, naturally, she finds herself entwined and adventuring with her long-time (from afar) unrequited love. What really works for me on this book too is that the author stuck to the couple’s relationship. No half-done mystery or secret villain to battle, it was a straightforward, clever, utterly lovely romance.

“A book to write in”
Mess by Keri Smith
This author has all kinds of FANTASTIC books – and the point of each is to play. make mess. think. get creative. be inspired. have fun. If you’ve never tried one – I highly recommend it. I just sent this one to one of my favorite people as a summer activity.

“Dragons & magic & romance oh my!”
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
Mega-cheese cover aside, this book rocked my socks. Heroine steals something from a very scary dragon’s lair, and he chases her down. Much romance ensues, but what really made me love this book was all of the detail, the skill of the writing, world building, and all around AWESOMENESS of the entire book. This author gets everything just right – and I was amazed at just how much I liked it. If you’re at all into the paranormal/dark/urban fantasy genres check it out!

In fact- I liked this book SO MUCH that I went and bought a second copy to give away to one of you. So if you’d like to try out Dragon Bound – just leave a comment here! Winner to be drawn next week…

Suggested summer reads for June 6

 It’s the last week of school here, and that means summer is nearly here! Ok, so it’s still pouring rain and feels like January outside – but that’s ok!! I’ve been so busy working on projects all winter and spring that I’ve completely been neglecting my usual book suggestions shared with you here on my blog. Shame on me!! I’m breaking them up into small groups and I’ll be sharing much more often – as well as doing give-aways of some of my favorites as well! Here’s today’s picks:

“on the lighter side of fiction”
Maybe this time by Jen Crusie
It’s got some spooky ghosts, a second chance romance, some odd kids (whom I liked), and a classic Crusie heroine. (Funky, strong, does her own thing, great in the kitchen..). It’s not quite any one genre – but it’s entertaining and I could see this making a great poolside or at the beach read.

“dark & twisty”
Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews
Book #5 in an increasingly AMAZING addition to a series that started out slow (there’s SO many questions to be answered!!) and has become one of my absolute favorite series. This Urban Fantasy series follows Kate (a magically kick ass mercenary) as she gets a real life in a very funky world (set in Atlanta – sort of) filled with bad guys (and good) of all walks of supernatural life. I *LOVE* this series!! Check it out and if you’re looking for something with a lot of twists, action & danger, dash of romance, and a super awesome heroine. Note: series MUST be read in order: 1 magic bites, 2 magic burns , 3 magic strikes, 4 magic bleeds

“ye olde fashioned romance”
Unveiled by Courtney Milan
It’s a simple story really, a man is bent on destroying a family and taking everything from them… and then he meets and falls in love with a woman (the sister of said family, posing as nurse). Well it’s not THAT simple as we have a number of brothers to contend with, not to mention how these two can possibly find happily ever after without one of them turning their back on their family… [bottom line: this author ROCKS the ye olde regency romance. AMAZING]

I’ve got a back-log of books to share, prizes, and crafty ideas to share as well – so stay tuned! Oh! and as always – if you’ve got reading suggestions I’d love to hear them – please do share!

also note: if you click on the category “books” here on the blog you can read any/all past posts and recommendations I’ve done. Happy reading!

Books, books, oh how I love books… {give-away inside}

It’s no secret I love me some fiction. When I’m not doing something creative, I’m in my chair reading. So it delights me when somebody wants me to review a book – and I’ve done a few guest reviews. In fact – today my review of the latest Nora Roberts novel is up at Mandi aka Smexy’s blog. I’ve been reading her blog for a while (funny + loves romance books = I like) and I’ve chatted with her on Twitter regarding important issues like Thor action figures, series we are fan girls about, etc… so I was happy to review the book on her blog!

book review in summary: Well – it was LONG… and ok on the slow/dull side but great characters.

Mandi is sending me some more books to check out so I’ll be sure to let you know if more review goodness happens from me.

I *do* in fact have some serious summer reading (by serious I mean read lots, not actual SERIOUS book readin’) to recommend to you and I will take time to post about that soon-ish. Definitely during my month!!! But for now I want to give away two of my favorite novels:

Agnes = cranky chef who finds herself in the middle of a big ‘ol mob/government hitman/wedding mess. I LOVE IT. She’s kick ass in the kitchen + will use her tools to defend if needed. *LOVE* Have read it at least a dozen times. Jennifer Crusie + Bob Mayer = fabulous together.

all i ever wanted = sweet love story that has it all from humor to emotional moments + dogs. You know I love novels that have good dog characters. 🙂 Kristan Higgins writes really sweet love stories. love her.

I will pick two winners – just leave a comment with which book you’d like to win – or just put either if you would like either one!

note: these authors have no clue who I am – I’m a fan girl who occasionally buys books to give-away right here, and yes… I have more coming…

Fairy Tales

The girls and I have really been enjoying Mary Engelbreit’s “Fairy Tales”. It’s a bunch of classic fairy tales, told in very short format (just a few pages each) with amazing illustrations. I love that the stories are short (so we can read more than one) but also the images are so detailed it gets the girls talking about what’s going on in the story, etc.

I totally recommend it.

Link to Amazon.com