Sara wrote: "Finished late last night just in the knick of time...I read Eucalyptus A Novel by Murray Bail on Cam's recommendation and gave it 3 1/2 stars. Thanks for the suggest..."

Rumplstickson indeed Sara.

I love the Sookie Stackhouse books!! They're amazing and it has been exciting watching them unfold on True Blood on HBO. I love watching what they do with the characters, but I love the books much more. I can't believe we have to wait until next May for the next book!

Finished late last night just in the knick of time...I read Eucalyptus A Novel by Murray Bail on Cam's recommendation and gave it 3 1/2 stars. Thanks for the suggestion Cam! Wonderful romantic read and I learned a lot about trees and parts of Australia that I didn't know. Rumpelstickson meets the real world!

Squeezed one more in before the end of the month (with 15 minutes to spare no less!). Hot Item is the story of the third of the Jordan sisters. This is the middle sister Sophie and her beau is Riley Nash. Riley is the biological son of the recently outed Spencer Atkins. The love story is decent but often frustrating. And once again, a short mallet strike to the skull of several of the main characters would probably help them get over some issues as well.

If you've read the other two before it, by all means this book won't disappoint. Then again, it isn't really any better than the other two either. (7/10)

My library has at least twenty requests on Dead Until Dark. It's so popular and I really want to read it!

Photojim wrote: "Lyn, I know enough readers locally that the chances that I'll end up getting it from the library are pretty slim. I'll most likely get it from someone else far before the library. The hard part ..."

Photojim, When I borrow from others, I have been putting a post it note inside the front cover with that person's name on it and it has helped me keep track of which books belong to who.

Lyn, I know enough readers locally that the chances that I'll end up getting it from the library are pretty slim. I'll most likely get it from someone else far before the library. The hard part is keeping books separate for each person I borrow from/lend to.

Hey Jim, that is better than me. I am 58th in the queue and have had the book on hold for a month already.

I finally finished a romance book this month, LOL. Bad month for reading. I just finished Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos and am giving it five stars. As in her other book, Marisa De Loa Santos builds great characters that you cannot help but admire. Her writing style is fantastic. I really hope she continues to write novels and not just poetry. I am really looking forward to reading more from this author.
This book was wonderful, and while not a traditional romance, it was definitely a love story. It was the love story of Cornelia and Teo, of Clare and Cornelia, of Clare and her mother, and of Cornelia's whole family. I cannot say enough of this book. I read the sequel to it first (Belong to Me A Novel), not knowing this book existed, and thoroughly enjoyed that one also, but this one was spectacular. The story revolved around Cornelia Brown and the events in her life that allow her to open up and finally find love, and life in the process. In the beginning, Cornelia just exists, but by the end of the book she becomes a character that I will never forget. In the book Cornelia shares top billing with Clare, and 11 year old girl who finds herself suddenly on her own. Clare, herself, is a brave, strong character that you can't help but admire and love.

One more August Romance!

Talk Me Down - Molly Jennings is back in town. Ten years she's been gone and she's certainly not the innocent little girl she used to be. Ben Lawson is now the police chief, but no less sexy than when they parted. So what's keeping them apart? A secret occupation, trust issues, lies, and a stalker or two thrown in for good measure. The book was funny and sexy. Fairly hot. I just wished I liked Molly a little more than I did. (6/10)

And Sara, I'm also getting the Sookie books from the library so it will be some time before I get there. (I'm currently 21st in the queue)

I hope you all start to love the Sookie Stackhouse series as much as I do. I am a huge "True Blood" fan, and as the first book is fairly true to the book, the books start to be different as you get into them. They are so packed with sex, violence, and mystery that they are hard to put down. Sookie is a main character who actually knows what she wants and fights for those she loves. I have been getting them from the library, so it will be a little while longer till I finish them, but it has been nice to place them between some heavier reads.

Slayermel - I agree. One of the series I have always loved is the Kinsey Milhone series by Sue Grafton, but every single book starts out with the same "...Hi, I'm Kinsey Milhone...." for about a page or page and a half. By the time you get to D or E it is getting old. It is one of the things I like about Jim Butcher, he doesn't do that.

As for Sookie - I am just starting the series so I'm looking forward to more fun books.

The first book Dead Until Dark was pretty good and I really enjoyed it, but I have found the following books much more exciting.
What I do really enjoy about Charlaine Harris's writing, is she does not waist time trying to remind the reader what happened in the last book, and who characters are etc... etc... She just gets on with the story. When there is something that comes up that should be remembered from a previous book she finds a way to work it into the story or dialogue so you don't feel like your being talked at.
In my opinion there is nothing worse then reading a series and having the author constantly re-inform you of what's happend, it becomes such a chore to continue reading. I find even though I love the Anita Blake series, Laurell K. Hamilton is guilty of this. I find as I'm progressing in the series it's not as bad, but maybe that's her developing her writing skills. Maybe by the time I get to book 15 she will have stopped all together :oD

photojim - I'm pretty sure you will find that Sookie Stackhouse is not a doormat. She is a much better character for adults.

I have no problem with that. :-P

My problem with the Twilight series is with the doormat, I mean main character. If I don't like the heroine, how am I supposed to like the books? It is not like she qualifies as an anti-hero.

Photojim all I can say is much more adult ;op

Tara, I've been thinking of reading the Sookie S. series. However, all of the comparisons to Twilight have been a bit off putting for me. I've just put a request into the library system for it so I'll find out one way or the other.

Just finished reading Club Dead by Charlaine Harris and I give it 5 Stars.
I am loving these books! As Tara has said they are full of steamy sex scenes, violence and mystery. When I'm done reading the books, I'm going to watch the True Blood series :0)

Tara wrote: "Just finished Dead Until Dark. I really enjoyed it. It was like reading Twilight with murders and steamy sex scenes and set in the south.
"

Ohhh Tara keep reading, because they only get better :0)

Just finished Dead Until Dark. I really enjoyed it. It was like reading Twilight with murders and steamy sex scenes and set in the south.

Yay for more games. :)

Ya - Since I only got one and 2/3 books read for Beach Blanket, I think I will just wait for the new October game. I'm sure it will be fun. So far they all have been.

Very cool. Lyn's e-mail cleared a lot up. That looks like a pretty hefty challenge you guys are doing. Have fun.

Lyn wrote: "I'm not sure what type of challenges we might be doing in this group. Karen, Luanne, or Slayermel - do we have any thing coming up in that category? I know people are not done with the Beach Blanket one, but what are our future plans, if anything?"

Karen is working on what looks to be a VERY fun, brand new game which will start in October. So, Beach Blanket readers who haven't finished yet (me included!) have one month left - if you don't want to be doing both games at the same time. :)

The fall challenge I was talking about is the Seasonal Challenge. It used to be in The Next Best Book Club, but it got so big it now has it's own GR group called The Seasonal Reading Challenge. It starts on September 1 and ends on November 30 at midnight. It is sort of like the summer reading challenge that a lot of public libraries have if you are familiar with them.

I'm not sure what type of challenges we might be doing in this group. Karen, Luanne, or Slayermel - do we have any thing coming up in that category? I know people are not done with the Beach Blanket one, but what are our future plans, if anything?

Lyn wrote: "Ya - but historical fiction will work really well with the Fall challenge, huh?"

When will the fall challenge start? What is the challenge going to be this time?

I too just finished Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris. I am enjoy the series and working through it slowly. I gave it 3 stars since it was such a fast read. Can't wait to read the next one, hope to finish it this weekend.

I'm hoping so :0)

Ya - but historical fiction will work really well with the Fall challenge, huh?

I was so excited about the romance coming up as I thought I would get through a chunk of my books, but being the challenge addict that I am, I was having a hard time working them all into the summer challenge.

I did however just finish Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris and I gave it 5 stars. It was so action packed that I had a really hard time putting it down to go to bed :0)
I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Read The Princess Bride this week and really loved it. I have watched the movie numerous times and love that as well, so really didn't have much interest in reading the book until I chose it for a Read-the-book, Watch-the-movie challenge this month. When I watch the movie (today or tomorrow!), I'll be watching for the scenes that are given more background in the book, and thinking about the back-stories of Fessik and Inigo that explain why they hooked up with Vizzini. And I enjoyed the way that Goldman carried out the (false) idea he presented at the beginning of the book - that he was simply abridging a book written decades earlier by S. Morgenstern that had long, boring sections that ruined what should have been an exciting story, and all he was doing was getting rid of those (non-existing) boring passages.

5* read for me

Broke 3 fingers coming off my bike as a child delivering a box of Mum's 'smut' Mills & Boon books to her best friend. I still give her a hard time about that.

I read a butt-load of romances when I was working on my master's degree.

Slayermel - paranormal smut is flavor of the month just now, so you're in luck!

Photojim, you have a way with words :0)
It was actually smutty Harlequin books that started my love of reading. I used to hate reading, then my friend introduced me to romance when I was 14 and that's all I read for a couple of years. I mean really who knew they talked about sex in books.
Then as I matured I branched out, and I pretty much read everything and anything now. I still enjoy my smut every once in a while, just to escape reality.
The best is paranormal smut. :OD

Photojim. WOW. I agree totally. When I first graduated from college (back in the dark ages), all I read were Harlequin's for the first few years. I didn't want anything with any message, point, or substance. I still read them every once in a while, but now have graduated to the next level (Nora Roberts, Twilight, etc.) I might have to go back and put a Harlequin in there every once in a while. You have inspired me to simply escape every once in a while.

Cam, I reviewed all of my books for this year. Two books made the 8+ list (Perdido Street Station and Nation). Neither of them is a romance. Maybe I need to be a little more generous?

Iris, I think you are missing the point of the romance novel. We already know that the heroine will end up with the hero by definition. We also know that they will end up happily ever after. When you start watching Columbo, you know that there will be, "Just one more thing" and he will solve the murder. Same thing. It is nothing more than fantasy.

Do you remember what Jack Nicholson said to Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets? He said, "You make me want to be a better man." We all have an idea of what perfection should be. If you read Vogue or W or GQ or any of the fashion magazines with tips and guides, you don't read them and think, "If only I had that $3000.00 pair of shoes I'd look just like her." Instead you think, "Wow, I never thought of wearing my gold kitten heels with black Capri's before. But they look great on her." (sorry if this analogy doesn't work for you - I work as a photographer) Cook books/Food Network give you ideas to try in the kitchen. Fashion magazines give you ideas to try with your wardrobe. Romance novels give you ideas to try with your love life. I've been married 17 years and this last year has been one of the best.

If your watching a cooking show, they don't show the time it takes to let the dough rise. They cut ahead to the good parts. I don't want my escapism cluttered with the boring moments of reality. We all know they are there, but we'd rather get to the good stuff.

I finally read my romance book and am reminded why I am not a fan of romance novels: in real life we can't skip the boring moments and we rarely feel like we are at the happily-ever-after moment.

I read The Princess, a sweet, Christian romance. I only gave it 2 stars because it was too sweet and everyone was too perfect. On the positive side, it was an interesting look at arranged marriages and reinforced the idea that love is more of a choice than an emotion.

Photojim - Sensational - Harlequin, that's serious romance reading. So interested, is it possible on your rating scale for them or has one ever attained a 8+ out of 10. If so, what?????? Couldn't begin to imagine a review of that. Would be hard pressed to beat some of your others - very entertaining reading.

Sorry, I started reading romance novels about a year ago. And a fair number of these are the Harlequin Blaze series (I refer to them as HRB's). These are the equivalent of literary sit-coms. They are short and easily digested. You know what you are in for when you open the front cover - one man, one woman, some minor obstacle to overcome, happy ending. Sometimes I read them out loud with my wife. Sometimes it is just something to pass the time while I wait for a batch process on the PC. I'm not looking for great literature here. In other words my standards aren't exactly that high.

But every now and again I come across something that makes me say, "My time would have been better spent watching paint dry." Any two or one out of ten would generally fall into this category. The Angry Desire was one of these. My book tally for the year is at 102 and climbing. If I had to rank them from best to worst, I would place this in the penultimate position. (Yes there was one I actually threw away the moment the back cover closed.)

Photojim wrote: "Well, I have more than a couple August Romance reads. I may have missed one or two, but here they are:

Anticipation – Jennifer LaBrecque (249 p) – HRB# 228. Nick O'Mally embezzled ..."

Snort! "Gag-worthy"! "I didn't believe a word of it."

Tell us how you really feel!

Photojim wrote: "Well, I have more than a couple August Romance reads. I may have missed one or two, but here they are:

Anticipation – Jennifer LaBrecque (249 p) – HRB# 228. Nick O'Mally embezzled ..."

Ohhh....."Gag worthy" I'm still laughing :0)
That was awesome!

Well, I have more than a couple August Romance reads. I may have missed one or two, but here they are:

Anticipation – Jennifer LaBrecque (249 p) – HRB# 228. Nick O'Mally embezzled a quarter of a million dollars from a company because he could. He got caught and instead of being put in prison, was given a public slap on the wrist. However, now he is being set up to take the fall for a more serious offense. And he's being fed to Serena Riggs, undercover cop. Add a bet that Nick can go 30 days without sleeping with a woman and it gets a bit strained. Unlikely but fun. (4.5/10)

Her Body of Work – Marie Donovan (249 p) – HRB#204. This is the precursor to Her Book of Pleasure (see above). The wedding that starts that book is the culmination of this one. Fairly graphic and sexy. Hokey ending, but what else can you say? (5/10)

Angry Desire – Charlotte Lamb (186 p) - HP#1846. A harlequin from More than 10years ago. I thought it was actually written in the 60's. It was pretty bad all the way around. Almost laughably so. Gabriella walks out on Stephen on their wedding day. She was traumatized as a small child when her uncle tried to molest her and then killed himself over the shame. So she was afraid to give away her heart. Gag worthy. (2/10)

Taken – Tori Carrington (251 p) – HRB#335. Seline Sanborn is a con woman who takes Blackwell and Blackwell for $750K. Ryder Blackwell takes it upon himself to track down the con woman. When he finds her, they find love. Some things are different with this one than most of these. They kill people, she is an unrepentant criminal, and someone gets shot. Hot and sexy scenes also help. (6/10)


Hot Stuff – Carly Phillips (377 p) – Annabelle Jordan is the oldest of the Jordan sisters. The three of them were orphaned and left in the care of Uncle Hank. Naturally they all grew up to be sports agents/publicists for the Hot Zone agency (Uncle Hank's firm). Annabelle has a bad history of falling for her clients. But when Vaughn (super hot ex football star) needs someone to help him save his image and his new hotel venture, Annabelle can't help herself. But this time the love is for real. I'll probably read the next two books in the series. They are an awfully lot like the Bachelor series with the Chandler brothers. Decent. (6/10)

Minute by Minute – Jo Leigh (251 p) – HRB#227. Meg Becker is a vet who has dedicated her life to the people on 'the mountain'. Alex Rosten is a world renowned columnist for the Washington Post. They meet and fall in love online. When they finally meet for real, can it stay the same or will it be the end? Alex has finally committed career suicide and is looking for a change. He's hoping that Meg will be willing to do the same. It was OK. The setting was lush, the characters felt real, but something was definitely missing. I'd give it an OK but nothing more than that. (4/10)


My Sexy Greek Summer – Marie Donovan (219 p) – HRB#470. A rich young widow, Cara Sokol, returns to the homeland of her former husband. Can she find love again? Can she put the horrible past behind her? Can a U of Michigan student really fall in love with an OSU student? What do you think? Yannis Petrides plays the male lead. (6/10)

Bare Necessities – Marie Donovan (248 p) – HRB#371. Bridget Weiss is a sweet Wisconsin girl who moves to the big bad city of Chicago to go to fashion and design school. She finds work designing specialty bras and outfits for strippers and big chested girls. She's one by the way (DD). When the guy she grew up lusting after is recruited by her family to keep an eye on her, he ends up keeping more than that on her. Adam Hale has come to the rescue. Fun and light. (5.5/10)

Sex by the Numbers – Marie Donovan (214 p) – HRB#403. The youngest of the Weiss brothers, Dane, is asked to find out who is stealing money from a firm. He's also asked to take on an undercover forensic accountant by the name of Keeley Davis. Sparks fly. Bad guy is caught. Love ensues. (6/10)

Hot Number – Carly Phillips (378 p) – The second of the Hot Zone series. This time it is the youngest of the Jordan girls, Micki. She is always looked at as one of the guys. What happens when she turns out to be more than that? Retiring ball player Damian Fuller is sure to find out. Odd storyline with the unplanned pregnancy, but decent. (5/10)

Hot Pink – Susan Johnson (295 p) – Just something I picked up at the library. Chloe Chisolm likes sex. She also likes tall dark men. Guess what she really likes. Yeah, sex with tall dark men. This book has a lot of that. I thought Chloe was rather a bitchy slut who sometimes acted like a moody teen, which makes it hard to really like the book. Certainly not a typical romance book, but not really erotica either. It's odd that the guy, Rocco Vinelli has all the good character qualities. Who knew? (4.5/10)


The Ex-Girlfriends' Club – Rhonda Nelson (249 p) – HRB#322. Eden Rutherford can't seem to keep her wits (not to mention her clothes) about her when she is confronted with Bennett Wilder. After the second time he dumps her, she starts BennettWilderSucks.com and starts the ex-girlfriends club. When someone starts posting on the site serious threats, she has to step in to protect the man who is going to hurt her again. I didn't believe a word of it. Didn't really like any of the characters. Didn't even like the sex much. Not the best effort. (3/10)

Lyn wrote: "Sara wrote: "I just finished Belong to Me A Novel by Marisa de los Santos and I gave it 4 stars. I can't classify the entire book as romance. I think that there wer..."

Too funny Lyn! I liked Clare and her spirit in Love Walked In....part of me hopes my daughter will dream and have the gumption that she had, and to still believe there is hope. Hope you enjoy the rest of Love Walked in.

Sara wrote: "I just finished Belong to Me A Novel by Marisa de los Santos and I gave it 4 stars. I can't classify the entire book as romance. I think that there were parts of it..."

Sara - funny you should say that. I read Belong to Me A Novel for the realistic fiction month. I also gave it 4 stars. Though the story was somewhat predictable, I found that I really enjoyed the writing style and the characters. In fact, Dev is one of my favorite characters of all time right now (It changes often). Probably because he reminds me so much of my son.

I am reading Love Walked In now and am about half way through.

I just finished Belong to Me A Novel by Marisa de los Santos and I gave it 4 stars. I can't classify the entire book as romance. I think that there were parts of it that were romantic, but the book as a whole was more realistic fiction. Great read though and I enjoyed reading it after reading its prequel Love Walked In. As for romance reading for the month, I think I am done. Now looking forward to finishing a few TBRs on my shelf before starting historical fiction for next month.

Dance Upon the Air Three Sisters Island trilogy 1 by Nora Roberts. 2 stars.

Seriously people, stop falling in love within a few months. It's not healthy for you. That's my main gripe with the book. The other is how Nell acts. She's afraid of Zack and nervous around him yet some time later is cool with going skinny dipping with him. Doesn't make much sense to me. Neither does Zack's action. He sees how nervous she is around him yet insists on kissing her. The magic/witch bit couldn't save it. Nell throws herself seemingly way too quickly into the whole witch thing. At th...more Seriously people, stop falling in love within a few months. It's not healthy for you. That's my main gripe with the book. The other is how Nell acts. She's afraid of Zack and nervous around him yet some time later is cool with going skinny dipping with him. Doesn't make much sense to me. Neither does Zack's action. He sees how nervous she is around him yet insists on kissing her. The magic/witch bit couldn't save it. Nell throws herself seemingly way too quickly into the whole witch thing. At the end I found myself reading passages and not remembering what I read.

I'm a new member of this group. This month's romance books are:
Micah I don't normally read vampire books, this is a vampire romance, but I had finished my book and still had 5 hours left of my double shift and I need a book to read for my breaks. One of my friends had this book available so I started reading it. It really wasn't too bad. A bit of mystery and sex and love. Not a bad quick read. I gave it 3 stars.
Impossible I received this book in a GoodReads giveaway. Thank you very much! It was very romantic.
I was lucky to have this book in my bag on a day when I could read a lot. I love the song that the book is based on. The author has taken this folk song and built a credible back story for it. A young girl's life takes a dramatic turn when she learns the reason behind the song that her insane mother sings. I will never hear the song "Scarborough Fair" again without thinking of Lucinda and her "true love". I gave it 5 stars.
Sanctuary Nora Roberts tells a good romantic story and an easy read. I read most of this while waiting in the ER.
and How Stella Got Her Groove Back Terry McMillan's very romantic book about finding a man in Jamaica.

I just finished Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos and gave it 3 stars. I think that it had a slight bit of romance, but only touched on it. It is more a story of family and of a mother's love. As a mom, I was intrigued as I got more into the story.

I loved loved the book. I didn't really have any expectations for it. I think I read a few pages of it a few years ago @ my sister's mother-in-law's house, but didn't really want to start it. But I'm glad I read it, it was interesting with all the time traveling, but became easy to follow. I think Henry & Clare will eventually be one of those romantic couples people/readers will remember.

& the movie was okay for me. I really didn't like the Gomez character in it (he was so different from the way I read him in the book). And I wished they cast a different girl for Alba. So, I probably would have enjoyed the movie more if I read the book after watching it. But I HATE reading books afterwards.

Tara wrote: "I read The Next Mrs. Blackthorne and gave it 3 stars.
This book was like watching a soap opera. It was highly entertaining and focused on two rival families in Texas. Its main story..."

Yes, Jennifer. I'd love to hear what you think. I really want to read this book before seeing the movie, which will be hard to do. The movie looks so good!!