Back from quarantine, reading Trouble at the Wedding
January 10th, 2012 | 
Author: I swear I have been sick more in the past year. I could blame this last nasty virus on Pax, but she’s wasn’t patient zero in the house this time. It was Juan.
Meanwhile, Pax turned one Saturday. Still can’t believe that it has been that long. She is such a joy. Happy birthday, baby girl.
[Left: day she was born, Right: 11 1/2 months old]
Since I was off yesterday (and sick in bed), I spent the afternoon reading Trouble at the Wedding by Laura Lee Guhrke, which – of course – I find out that it is apart of a series half way through it. Has it distracted me from the story – no… but I haven’t finished, so I don’t know how it will impact me if I haven’t read the others.
Trouble at the Wedding in many was the usual heiress and impoverished peer story – he needs the money, she wants the status upgrade. A little difference here. Annabel’s American New Money, a southern girl, and still viewed as white trash. Christian’s still a heavily in debt British peer, but he’s trying to stop her wedding to a different heavily in debt British peer (who will just spend all her money on mistresses). Annabel’s uncle hires him to talk her into postponing her wedding, cause her uncle doesn’t trust the guy she has her sights on to marry.
Heh… and they are forced to do a little back peddling when Christian stands up and Annabel’s wedding DRUNK saying that the bride and groom shouldn’t get married.
Yeah, that makes the whole situation look so good for Annabel’s reputation. Not.
So, I hope I finish over the next couple of days. I’m enjoying it. So far it feels a little refreshing to read. In a market where it seems that the hotter, the sexier, the better, it’s nice to read something where they have only kissed where I am at in the book (about 1/2 way).
Posted in 
Ponders New Years Resolution
Okay, so I have the usual - eat less, move more, lose weight.
But I need a reading resolution!
So I have been thinking, there are books/authors that I have never read. So hear goes. I have to read at least 12 books by authors I don’t read or have never read and probably SHOULD have read. My list this thus far:
Jane Austen
Georgette Heyer
Kathleen Woodiwiss
Lavyrle Spencer
Victoria Holt
Sandra Brown
Debbie Macomber
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Jayne Ann Krentz
Barbara Cartland
Jude Devereaux
Judith McNaught
Tom and Sharon Curtis (specifically The Windflower)
I’m sure everyone is coming up with other authors, but the author has to be in print prior to 1992. My resolution, my list, my rules.
So if you can provide a specific book or specific author and tell me why, I’ll consider reading it.
For the Jane Austen enthusiasts
I still haven’t read Jane Austen! (Maybe I need to make my reading resolutions for the year…) But if you like the idea of spin-off novels from her classics… here are a few to look at.
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
Kindle Price: $4.96
Nook: $4.96
When a modern woman goes back to Jane Austen’s time, she needs to know…
Everything! Eleanor agrees to travel back in time to prevent a deadly duel, but she doesn’t know how to behave, what to say, and most importantly…
How to tell a villain from a rake
The captivating, infuriating, and mysterious Lord Shermont is a renowned rake and womanizer—but is he also a dangerous cutthroat and spy? Eleanor has to get up close and personal to find out…
Otherwise, she could fall into a most shocking scandal…
Thankfully, Miss Jane Austen herself arrives on the scene, with sage guidance and a twinkle in her eye, to help Eleanor navigate countryhouse society and the dangerous terrain of her own heart…
From the author of Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake, a new time travel romance featuring a modern day career woman swept back in time to Regency England, where she thwarts a Napoleonic spy, chats with Jane Austen, and falls in love with a notorious rake.
Emma and the Vampires by Wayne Josephson
Kindle Price: $3.51
Nook: $10.19
What better place than pale England to hide a secret society of gentlemen vampires?
In this hilarious retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, screenwriter Wayne Josephson casts Mr. Knightley as one of the most handsome and noble of the gentlemen village vampires. Blithely unaware of their presence, Emma, who imagines she has a special gift for matchmaking, attempts to arrange the affairs of her social circle with delightfully disastrous results. But when her dear friend Harriet Smith declares her love for Mr. Knightley, Emma realizes she’s the one who wants to stay up all night with him. Fortunately, Mr. Knightley has been hiding a secret deep within his unbeating heart-his (literal) undying love for her… A brilliant mash-up of Jane Austen and the undead.
Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell
Kindle Price: $1.99
Nook: $9.89
When the smoke has cleared from the battlefields and the civil war has finally ended, fervent Union supporter Beth Bennet reluctantly moves with her family from their home in Meryton, Ohio, to the windswept plains of Rosings, Texas. Handsome, haughty Will Darcy, a Confederate officer back from the war, owns half the land around Rosings, and his even haughtier cousin, Cate Burroughs, owns the other half.
In a town as small as Rosings, Beth and Will inevitably cross paths. But as Will becomes enchanted with the fiery Yankee, Beth won’t allow herself to warm to the man who represents the one thing she hates most: the army that killed her only brother.
But when carpetbagger George Whitehead arrives in Rosings, all that Beth thought to be true is turned on its head, and the only man who can save her home is the one she swore she’d never trust…
Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star by Heather Lynn Rigaud
Kindle Price: $1.99
Nook: $9.89
Darcy’s as hot as he is talented…
Fast music, powerful beats, and wild reputations-on and off stage-have made virtuoso guitarist Fitzwilliam Darcy’s band into rock’s newest bad boys. But they’ve lost their latest opening act, and their red-hot summer tour is on the fast track to disaster. Now Darcy and bandmates Charles Bingley and Richard Fitzwilliam are about to meet their match…
But she’s about to rock his world…
Enter Elizabeth Bennet, fiercely independent star of girl-band Long Borne Suffering. Elizabeth, her sister Jane, and friend Charlotte Lucas have talent to spare and jump at the opening band slot. Elizabeth is sure she’s seen the worst the music industry has to offer. But as the days and nights heat up, it becomes clear that everyone is in for a summer to remember.
Kismet’s Kiss by Cate Rowan
I finally read Kismet’s Kiss recently. I got it a while back. Okay, last summer, after reading a blog post about her first year as an indie (self-published) author. I’m old school. I like the idea of a publisher, vetting processes, editing, etc… But I have to say… New York – you are missing out on a wonderful book here.
Cate Rowan finaled twice… TWICE… in the Golden Heart (Romance Writer’s of America’s Unpublished contest) with this story – and she wasn’t able to sell it.
Why? There isn’t a flaw in it. This is a wonderful fantasy romance about a healer and the sultan who need her help to save his children, wives, and servants from a mysterious and deadly sickness. No, I didn’t mistype that… I said wives. He has a harem of wives.
You’re thinking… “Sarah, the hero isn’t allow to have wives. He’s not really married to them, right?”
Nope. He’s married. How so very naughty. No, this isn’t an erotic romance. There is no eight way orgy. This is a wonderful fantasy romance, and in many ways it makes me think of some of the fantasy/futuristic romances I read years ago. It’s unconventional with so many paranormals these days having the single mate thing going on (or I’ve been reading way too many werewolf books). And Rowan really makes it work. The book has this magical Arabian vibe to it.
In the desert realm of Kad, a deadly epidemic strikes the palace of Sultan Kuramos. Only a magical healer from an enemy land has the skill to save his royal household, but Kuramos never imagined the healer would be a woman.
Healer Varene finds her own surprises in Kad. She expects the sultan’s arrogance, but not his courage or his selfless care of the ill–or the possibility that the epidemic is the curse of a vengeful goddess.
Kuramos’s culture condemns Varene’s mystical talents. Her presence triggers an insurrection, yet as he and the healer toil for a cure, he loses his heart to her. She falls for him as well, but how can she relinquish her homeland and her principles–especially when he already has a harem and his family may be cursed?
Rowan has released a prequel to Kismet’s Kiss – The Source of Magic, and is planning more set in the same universe. And as soon as I can get around to it (me and my slow reading brain…) I’ll be getting The Source of Magic (even though what I really want to k now is what happens with the wives after the end of the book!).
Deals from Sourcebooks… (Free to 99 cents to 1.79 to 1.99)
After Shana Galen reminded me that her book was on sale… I searched for other Sourcebooks deals on Amazon (Click on the images to get the books)… if Barnes and Noble had them on sale as well… I added those links.
Free!
Get The Summons for free from Barnes and Noble
99 cents
Get Wild Highland Magic for 99 cents from Barnes and Noble
Get Wicked by Any Other Name from Barnes and Noble for 99 cents
$1.99 (or $1.79 – from Amazon.com)
(Kilts)
Get The Highlander’s Sword from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Awaken the Highlander Warrior from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get The Return of Black Douglas from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Heart of the Highland Wolf from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
(Cowboys)
Get Love Drunk Cowboy from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Cowboy Trouble from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Cowboy Fever from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Tyler from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get One Fine Cowboy from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
(Paranormal)
Get In Over Her Head from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get I Dream of Genies from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Legend of Michael: Sin and Satisfaction from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Fire Lord’s Lover from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get A Certain Wolfish Charm from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get It Happened One Bite from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Call of the Highland Moon from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Taste Me from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Strange Neighbors from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get What a Goddess Wants from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Demons Prefer Blondes from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Goblin King from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Kiss at Your Own Risk from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Wickedly Charming from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
(Historical)
Get Making of a Duchess from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get The Mistress’ House from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get A Duke to Die For (Rogues’ Dynasty Series #1) from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get The Heir from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Lessons in French from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Merely Magic from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
(Contemporary)
Get Romeo, Romeo from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get SEALed with a Kiss from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Cover Me from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Cheap Historicals (Mostly)
If you click on the images – they will take to you to Amazon.
Katie MacAllister’s Noble Series – 99 cents each!
Get Noble Intentions from Barnes and Noble for 99 cents
Get Noble Destiny from Barnes and Noble for 99 cents
Get The Trouble with Harry from Barnes and Noble for 99 cents
“Duke” books from Avon – $1.99 each!
Get Never Dare a Duke from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get The Duke’s Night of Sin from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Mad about the Duke from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Sins of a Wicked Duke from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get At The Duke’s Pleasure from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get The Lost Duke of Wyndham from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Duke of Sin from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Beauty and the Duke from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get A Duke of Her Own from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Get Sins of a Duke from Barnes and Noble for $1.99
Others for $1.99
These titles are not available from Barnes and Noble at these prices. 
Others for 99 cents
Get Love is in the Heir from Barnes and Noble for 99 cents!
Get Lady Dearing’s Masquerade from Barnes and Noble for 99 cents!
For $1.99
Reading on the Cheap
Of Noble Birth by Brenda Novak – FREE!
Novak’s first novel, a finalist for the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award, is a fast-moving Regency tale of intrigue and deception. Born with a deformed arm, Nathaniel Kent is immediately rejected by his noble father, the Duke of Greystone. Once grown, he takes his revenge for the denial of his fortune and title by turning pirate and raiding his father’s trading ships. When the duke abducts one of Nathaniel’s crew, the pirate retaliates by kidnapping a young woman he believes to be the duke’s daughter. But she is not his half-sister Ashe is Alexandra Cogsworth, a seamstress fleeing her own family woes. Aboard the pirate ship, Nathaniel stifles yearnings he believes to be incestuous, while Alexandra struggles to save her skin as well as her heart. Once her true identity is revealed, the two fight for their safety. Some readers may be troubled by Nathaniel’s deformity, and the book’s later chapters too strained and hectic to permit much romantic interplay don’t live up to the promise of its well-paced start. For most historical romance lovers, however, Novak’s energetic prose and appealing characters will more than compensate.
Free from Amazon.com
Not Available on Nook
To Love a Thief by Julie Anne Long – 99 cents! 
Lily Masters has a gift for picking pockets and telling stories—skills that come in handy for surviving London’s slums. She’s proud of providing for herself and her lively young sister, Alice, and she’s never been caught. Well, there’s always a first time. Gideon Cole is a brilliant barrister with an unfortunate weakness for clients who can’t pay. His latest charitable misstep: buying the freedom of a daring, beautiful thief. To repay the debt, Lily agrees to his proposition: pose as the object of his desire and help him snare a wealthy bride. All he has to do is transform the impudent Lily into a diamond of the first water. But the education of Lily could cost Gideon his carefully planned future. While she plays cards with his invalid uncle and Alice charms the servants, the honorable Gideon is harboring less than honorable thoughts. For sweet, stubborn, and sensual Lily has a way of slipping past a gentleman’s defenses—especially when she’s stealing his heart!
Special Bonus Feature: includes the first chapter of WHAT I DID FOR A DUKE, the upcoming title from Julie Anne Long’s acclaimed Pennyroyal Green series! (Avon/Harper Collins, March 2011).
99 cents at Amazon.com
99 cents at Barnes and Noble
Dish of the Day by Susan Sizemore (short story) – FREE!
War is forbidden among galactic civilizations but contests of skill are still life and death matters. Teams compete for power, planets, resources. Humans may not be the fastest, strongest or smartest among the species in the universe – but we sure can cook.
Bound by Sin by Cynthia Eden – FREE – from smashwords 
Human Paige Sloan once loved werewolf Drake Wyler more than life, but when she was bitten by a vampire, the life she’d known ended. When Paige learns that Drake is being targeted for death, she will do anything in order to make sure that he keeps living. Maybe she’ll even have the chance to sin–one more time–with the werewolf who’d marked her as his mate.
Smashwords if it shows up on amazon and bn as free.. I will let you know.
A couple of free reads to look at…
At this posting… they are free either at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble…
Wild Angel by Miriam Minger 
Readers from coast to coast have fallen in love with her strong, forceful heroes and fiery heroines. Now award-winner Miriam Minger sweeps you into a world of epic adventure and bold passion…
Ronan was a legend among men…and the last thing he needed was a troublesome woman. Yet this fierce Irish warrior took a deathbed oath to protect a chieftain’s rebellious daughter.
Triona was a hellion of a woman…who would let no man rule her. Raised in the ways of a warrior, she defied Ronan’s every command. So he planned to marry her off, to be rid of the wild lass forever. But in the heat of battle–enflamed by her passionate spirit–Ronan decided he wanted this beautiful, impossible woman for himself!
Free @ Amazon.com
.99 @ Barnes and Noble
The Witness by Dee Henderson 
Police Chief Luke Granger’s witness to a murder, Amy Griffin, has been on the run for years. Her family thinks she was murdered eight years ago, but Amy chose to accept a life in the shadows in order to protect her sisters’ lives. Now unveiled secrets about their father have thrust the sisters into the public spotlight. The man who wants Amy dead now sees her sisters as the way to locate her. Luke and two of his homicide detectives are determined to stand in the way. They are each falling in love with a different sister, and it’s become a personal mission to keep them safe. But chances are that at least one of them will fail, and facing the future will take a faith deeper than any of them currently knows.
Free @ Amazon.com
Free @ Barnes and Noble
Ryan’s Return by Barbara Freethy 
A HEART IS CALLED HOME…
Famous photojournalist Ryan Hunter has come back to a family torn apart by mistrust and resentment — to the father who disowned him, to the brother who betrayed him, to the little boy who shares his features. Ryan, the charismatic “bad boy” son, has returned — stirring up past conflicts like a whirlwind…and throwing Kara Delaney’s fragile, passionate heart into turmoil.
…AND LOVE IS WAITING.
Kara has struggled back from a disastrous marriage to build a new life for herself and her little girl — a peaceful existence now jeopardized by vicious, small town politics, by her daughter’s fanciful ghost stories…and by Ryan’s return. Now nature’s impending fury threatens to expose long-buried secrets. And Kara must join with the enigmatic, misunderstood Ryan — to discover the truth that will save their families…. and to explore a dangerous, irresistible love as mighty and enduring as the onrushing river.
Shouldn’t the new year be a fresh start?
For me, some reason, the new year just isn’t a fresh start!
The same pile of stuff to do is still there from December, and not just my to be read pile. Coming into work this morning, I ticked off the things that I needed to get done today in my head. The same list of things I needed to get done the day before my holiday vacation a week and a half ago.
I did get a couple… and I mean TWO books read over my short holiday. I wish I had read more!
Eileen Dreyer’s Always a Temptress – which I was overjoyed in finally getting around to reading it.
Eileen is a seasoned vet in romance – but this is only her third venture into Historical. She thoroughly shows her talent and versatility with the Drake’s Rakes series, and Always a Temptress was wonderful.
I am so happy to hear that there will be at least two more trilogies for Drake’s Rakes (Always a Temptress rounded out the Three Graces Trilogy). Rumor has it there will be a short story in the spring as well. Meanwhile, I’m trying to find out when the next book is coming. I feel like a little kid on a sugar high wanting more!
His greatest battle is just beginning . . .
Captain Harry Lidge has done his duty. After losing too many good men on the battlefield, he’s ready to put his responsibilities behind him and live a life free of care. But first he has one last mission: find out what the most outrageous woman in London, the same woman who betrayed him nearly a decade earlier, is concealing, before her secrets take down the crown.
Her heart is the only thing she won’t risk . . .
Surrounded by ardent admirers and a few loyal friends, Lady Kate Seaton glides through the ton on a confection of couture gowns and bon mots. No one suspects that beneath her lighthearted façade Kate hides a sorrow so scandalous she’ll do anything to keep it hidden. But only when she trusts Harry with the truth and only when he trusts her with his heart can they stop the villains all too willing to kill Kate to attain their ultimate goal: destroy England
The other book I read was Because of You by new comer Jessica Scott. 
I don’t normally read military romance – although… I guess I do – just not contemporary ones. But can you deny that cover?
I did enjoy it. A great addition to the Loveswept reboot/restart/comeback. I really enjoyed the secondary characters, and I’m waiting to see what happens in the next book coming in May – Back to You.
From the war-torn streets of Baghdad to the bittersweet comforts of the home front, two wounded hearts navigate the battlefield of coming home from war in this explosive eBook original from newcomer Jessica Scott.
Keeping his men alive is all that matters to Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison. But meeting Jen St. James the night before his latest deployment makes Shane wonder if there’s more to life than war. He leaves for Iraq remembering a single kiss with a woman he’ll never see again- until a near fatal attack lands him back at home and in her care. Jen has survived her own brush with death and endured its scars. And yet there’s a fire in Shane that makes Jen forget all about her past. He may be her patient, but when this warrior looks her in the eyes, she feels – for the first time in a long time – like a woman. Shane is too proud to ask for help, but for Jen, caring for him is more than a duty -it’s a need. And as Jen guides Shane through the fires of healing, she finds something she never expected – her deepest desire.
Winter Sea at $1.99
I mentioned Winter Sea back in October… so if you didn’t get it then, you should get it now. It had become one of my mother’s favorite books.
History has all but forgotten…
In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.
Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.
But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her…
Get Winter Sea From Barnes and Noble
Now… I have been waiting for Every Secret Thing to be on the cheap! But so far it is not. It is Mom’s other favorite Kearsley book. She compares it to A Man Call Intrepid or Catch-22.
‘No one lives for ever. But the truth survives us all’
Kate Murray is deeply troubled. In front of her lies a dead man, a stranger who only minutes before had approached her wanting to tell her about a mystery, a long-forgotten murder. The crime was old, he’d told her, but still deserving of justice.
Soon Kate is caught up in a dangerous whirlwind of events that takes her back into her grandmother’s mysterious war-time past and across the Atlantic as she tries to retrace the dead man’s footsteps. Finding out the truth is not so simple, however, as only a few people are still alive who know the story…and Kate soon realises that her questions are putting their lives in danger. Stalked by an unknown and sinister enemy, she must use her tough journalistic instinct to find the answers from the past – before she has to say goodbye to her future.
Get Every Secret Thing from Amazon for $6.67
Sadly, I can’t find it for Nook!