Check it out!!!

Anne Rainey got her cover for her first book Haley's Cabin! What do you all think?
You know how much of a cover snob I am and I don't think it's bad. That's saying a lot. haha. The girl is actually pretty and doesn't have a stupid damsel in distress look on her face, and the guys body? Can you say YUMMY! Granted I think his areolas are oddly big and pointed, lol, but his tummy, arm, and chest? Yeah, I'll take some of that.

In general Anne Rainey news things are happening. In January you can look forward to our interview with Anne. Be sure to be here for that while I get all her dirty secrets about her erotic writing, being married and raising her family. And anything else we can think up.

Then in February Haley's Cabin will be on sale! And I personally will be the first one to buy it. And you won't hear me shut up about it till all of you read it too.

So be prepared the time is getting closer.....

And in the mean time keep up to date on her and all her other works in progress on her blog and website.

Girl's Night by Stef Ann Holm

Hero: Vince Tremonti
Heroine: Jillene McDermott
Category: Contemp
Page Count: 376
Grade: B
Buy It: Here or here.

SEEKING A BOYFRIEND, MUST HAVE BIG FEET
All Jillene McDermott needs is a little breathing room, and the only place she can find it is the bathtub. Her coffee bar, Java the Hut, is on life support, and raising two daughters alone is a full-time job, so quiet moments in the tub are a rare treat.

Knowing their mom deserves some happiness, Jillene's daughters Claire and Faye, write her a personal ad. But their good intentions go wrong and Vince Tremonti, the town's most famous son, has to step in as Jillene's "boyfriend."

Vince is a crime writer who is back in Blue Heron Beach to rethink the grim reality of his career, and he can't afford to get involved with anyone, much less a young widow with a ready-made family.

But thrown together, the two can't deny the mutual attraction and they realize there is more between them than a summer fling. Suddenly, lattes are not the only thing steaming in Blue Heron Beach.


Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself (or out loud, lol) 'they would NEVER say that!'? Well I know I have and that was one of the most refreshing things about this book. Jillene said exactly what she thought. And not in an annoying think before you speak kind of way. Just in the honest truth, lets not have lies complicate things way.

Here's an example:
"I can't." She put her fingertips over her mouth, a mouth bruised from kisses. Shoving herself off the counter she shook her head - a burning embarrassment on her face. Her speech stumbled and was just as unsteady as her legs. "Not with my girls just outside the door. I can't believe I let this happen. They'd never approve of what we were doing."
Vince didn't try to touch her further, but his voice was low and quiet. "They're the ones who threw us together, Jillene."
"Not for this." She buried her face in her hands but with no inclination to cry. "Don't you understand? They don't want a lover for their mother. They want a new dad."
The tick of his wristwatch on the windowsill was the only noise in the room for long, drawn-out seconds.
"I can't be that."
Her chin shot up. "Of course not."
"There will be somebody for you. You're a wonderful-"
"I hate your bullshit, Vince." She surprised even herself with the outburst of indignation.

See it's not that she's some big strong smart mouthed woman. She is just a regular woman that doesn't want any run arounds. She's a mom, she's a business woman, she's plain old a woman. And I loved her.

Vince is great too. He is a true crimes writer and is in a whirlwind of hurt and confusion when he stumbles upon Jillene. He has succeeded immensely in his profession until he picks a new case to write and his world crumbles. He soon finds out that he didn't really pick this case but the killer choose him. Through different events we see how this killer layed everything out from day one and his first kill so that Vince could write his book. He doesn't care that he's in prison, or that he is awaiting the death penalty, he just wants to be famous with a book on him written by Vince. Now Vince is stuck, he is contracted to write this story, and yet how can he? The only time his decisions aren't hunting him is when he is with Jillene and even her girls.But at 42 can he really change his ways? Can he dig his way out of the hole he is in?

This book was sooo great. It had funny stuff with Jillene's 10 and 12 year old girls, hot stuff with Jillene and Vince, a great sub plot with Vince's dad and his lady love, and everything else that went along with a widowed woman trying to save a struggling company and Vince trying to find his way in his predicament.

This is my second book by Stef Ann Holm and I can't wait to read more. Go get something by her, anything and enjoy. Although not related in a series here is the link to Leaving Normal, my first book by her that I also loved.

After The Night by Linda Howard

Hero: Gray Rouillard
Heroine: Faith Devlin
Category: Contemp
Page Count: 327, pb
Grade: B-
Buy It: Here or here.

Faith Devlin: A poor, outcast child in Prescott, Louisiana, she'd always adored the town's golden boy from afar. But he called her white trash that sultry Southern night when his rich, respected father disappeared, along with her pretty Mom. Now Faith wanted to hate Gray Rouillard...not to feel a powerful surge of desire. But she couldn't quench her passion, any more than she could hide the truth about the past she had waited so long to unravel.
Gray Rouillard: Even when he raised hell, he did it with style. Reckless, charming, and backed by Rouillard money, Gray controlled the town of Prescott -- and Devlin was a name he never wanted to hear again. But when he gazed at Faith Devlin, all he saw was a swirl of tangled sheets and her silken flesh beneath him. To care for her was impossible, unthinkable...because Gray Rouillard planned to use all his power to ruin her.

Okay for some reason I've been having trouble putting together reviews lately. And this one was no better, so I'm warning you now this is the only way it was happening, and there might be spoilers. Well there will be, I couldn't explain myself without them.

What I loved: How funny Grey was with Faith after they got together. When they were in bed and she told him about the 'talking in French' when he was with another woman and not with her. So the next time they made love he purposely talked to her in french. I just loved how he was with her. For the most part. He cracked me the hell up in the bathroom "God damn woman! Can't you tell I'm busy in here!" (or something like that)ha ha ah.
I love Faith's red headed temper! She didn't back down, even when she was scared.
She rocked!

My Issues: (there are way more issues than loves) Monica has major issues, and they were never dealt with. She just gets to forget that she was pretending to be her mama for seven years and screwing around with a old family friend? And she said to Faith that she sent the notes and cat but would never do what Alex did. Yet didn't she go to her house with a gun that night??? Hello!!!! She should have been put into a crazy house.
Alex said he killed Guy by accident....ummm how do you shoot someone in the head by accident? And yeah he could have been lying but why did it seem that people still bought it in the end?
Grey never said sorry to Faith for calling her trash that one night. Never explained why he took his anger on her mother out on her.
And I didn't like how Grey cared so much about his crazy mother all through the book, at the expense of Faith, then in the end just told her to shove it basically. She was crazy from the get go.

In ending: Even though I had more issues than loves for this book it ended up being pretty good. It still had me intrigued the entire time. Even if I didn't like the way it was tied up. I really wish it had an epilogue, I wanted to see what happened with Micheal/Monica, Grey/Faith, and the mother, you know after the weddings. But Grey was hot, Faith was awesome so overall it was good.

Sunny Chandler's Return by Sandra Brown

Hero: Ty Beaumont
Heroine: Sunny Chandler
Category: Contemp
Page Count: 209, HB
Grade: B-
Buy It: Here, here or here.

Sandra Brown has won over fans and critics throughout
the world with more than fifty New York Times
bestselling novels. Her early works were hailed by
Rendezvous magazine as stories with “larger than life
heroes and heroines [who] make you believe all the
warm, wonderful, wild things in life.” Here is
the unforgettable story of a woman who returns to
her small hometown in the South—and finds
that the sins of her past are right where she left them.

Never. Sunny Chandler always said she’d never go
back to the tiny town where she grew up. It was just
three years ago that she was at the center of a notorious
scandal—and the good folks of Latham Green,
Louisiana, made it clear they’d never let her forget it.
So Sunny packed up and headed for New Orleans, and
now she wouldn’t give up city life for the world. But
when she’s invited to her best friend’s wedding, Sunny
has no choice but to go home. And with her return
come the whispers…the looks…the rumors she tried
to escape. It doesn’t take Sunny long to see that
Latham Green has nothing new to offer. Except
maybe Ty Beaumont.
The moment Ty and Sunny first meet at a party, he can
see she’s no ordinary woman. With her dazzling hair,
and eyes the color of gold, she’s a flesh-and-blood
fantasy—and Ty vows he’ll have her in his bed before
the week is out. Yet even when he turns on his southern
charm, Sunny makes it clear she’s not interested.
Sure, a night with Ty would be wilder than Bourbon
Street at Mardi Gras. But Sunny’s not in town to
become some good ol’ boy’s latest conquest, no matter
how sexy he is. Little does she know that Ty
isn’t used to taking no for an answer—and he isn’t
about to start now.

Soon what began as an innocent flirtation becomes
a tantalizingly slow, skillfully deliberate, and
overwhelmingly seductive pursuit that even Sunny
finds hard to resist. But resist him she will. For
Sunny is harboring an agonizing secret—the painful
truth of why she left Latham Green the way she did.
What she really needs now is a friend—and that’s when
she discovers there may be more to Ty Beaumont
than meets the eye. Despite his roguish facade, Sunny
comes to see he has a heart of gold. Still, she doesn’t
know if she can trust another person with her secret
heartbreak—not even the one man who may
be able to heal it.

I love Sandra Brown, especially the way she can write anything from a spine chilling thriller to a plain and simple romance. Well not really, cause there isn't much plain and simple about Sunny Chandler in this book.

Sunny's finally returned home after the scandal she caused all those years ago. And for nothing less than a wedding, her best friends. Quite ironic since a wedding is what caused the scandal to start with. Most likely it didn't help that she refuses to tell anyone why she did what she did, not her parents, not her best friend no one. So why one night, when the man that has been pursuing her since she came back to town, does she pour out her soul bearing all her secrets? Well no other reason except Ty makes her defy all reason. He's openly told her he wants to sleep with her, and in much more detail, that he's even bet on it with a buddy. So why can she not stay away from him? The more things turn against her in her home town the more she shares with him, and he really seems to understand. He's not judging her, and he believes in her. The more she gets to know him the harder it is to resist. And the more Ty pursues Sunny and the more she resists he realizes that there just might be more to it than getting her to bed, he just might be falling for her. And wouldn't that be bad with the secret she's holding on to.

This was a cute book, it was funny and a little sad. I was a little surprised with the scandal. Not the why of it, that's fairly easy to figure out. But the way she did it and her reasons for not telling. I liked Ty too, he was pretty arrogant but it worked as Sandra Brown has a way of doing with her hero's. It was a light fast read, nothing spectacular but still a good read.

Seduction by Design by Sandra Brown

Hero: Tyler Scott
Heroine: Hailey Ashton
Category: Contemp
Page Count: 183
Grade: C+
Buy It: Here

Hailey Ashton projects an image that she's on top of everything, but no one realizes that she lives a life of quiet emptiness -- not ready to have a relationship, not willing to give herself body and soul to a man. Never able to compete with her younger sister, the thoughtless beauty of the family, Hailey opted to be the "good girl." But when she meets Tyler Scott -- her rich, attractive new boss -- she longs to be anything but good.

Let me start off by telling you all I LOVE Sandra Brown. I've never hated a book by her. I mean of course I like some more than others, but a trait I love of hers is that she can make me like the most unlikable. Also this particular book was published back in the early 80's so some of the ways the characters act and dress are off. But in saying that.....

Haily has been managing at a theme park for four years now and loves her job. She is efficient and dependable. She never has viewed herself as beautiful, passably pretty maybe but beautiful? No that's for her younger sister Ellen. Ellen has never had to stick with a job, or be very smart her looks and personality have always gotten her by. But Haily has always been the one to go to, the dependable one. Even as her parents were sick and passing away she took care of them and they asked for Ellen.

So imagine her shock when there is a young girl at the theme park that needs her help and the girls father ends up being her boss that she's never met. And further more he tells her straight out that he intends to seduce her.

Now this is not normally a set up for a book that I would like. The hero actually says "I am going to seduce you" during the second conversation they have and then goes on to tell her how great he is and that he is attracted to her so what's the problem.

Throw a young girl in the mix, 11 years old. She has never lived with her father but her mother just passed away so she is adjusting to loosing her mother getting to know her father and needing a woman to go to for motherly things.

This is our story in a nut shell. And although SB wrote the book well enough for me to get over the blunt way Tyler starts off with Haily I could not get over the way the daughter talked. I mean she was 11 years old and I personally don't know any 11 year olds that say "Gee" before or after everything they say. Uggg, drove me up the wall.

But over all? I liked. I mean come on it is Sandra Brown did you expect anything less from me? lol.

Stealing Heaven by Madeline Hunter

Hero: Marcus of Anglesmore
Heroine: Nesta verch Llygad
Category: Medieval Historical
Page Count: 370
Grade: B+
Buy It: Here

Nationally bestselling author Madeline Hunter has thrilled her legions of fans with sensuous novels of intrigue, adventure, and romance. Now she weaves a spectacular tale of an English knight, a Welsh rebel, and a relationship that would defy their world and everything they believed possible between a man and a woman...

Stealing Heaven

Marcus of Anglesmore was not at all happy about being betrothed by the king to a woman he’d never laid eyes on. So when the brooding English knight accidentally came across her in a moonlit garden, he was both surprised--and delighted. Intelligent, charming, and beautiful, she was the most captivating woman he’d ever met. But the magic of that enchanted moment is soon shattered by cold reality: Nesta is not the woman he is to marry, but her sister. Of all the women Marcus might desire, none could be more dangerous than the wild and tantalizing Welsh witch with secret ties to both rebellion and king. For Nesta, no one could jeopardize her plans more than a man who would know the secrets of both her heart...and her body. Yet the course of their lives--and the destinies of their two nations--will be forever altered as they defy everything to surrender to the most daring seduction of all....

Have you ever started a book by a new author, a little hesitant and then get thrown off reading it cause someone says something negative about said author? That's what happened to me.
I have never read Madeline Hunter, but she was so nice at the book fair I went to, and I was craving a goo Medieval book, so I picked up her Stealing Heaven. I started reading it, enjoying it but still getting a feel for it when I told a friend I was trying her out. Well my friend said she read a MH book before and it was sooo dry, she finished that book but never picked her up again. OH NO! I tried but couldn't bring myself to read anymore, I had been in a reading funk and didn't want to break it with a bad book. So Take Me by Lucy Monroe came out and I've been waiting for it. So I picked that book up and devoured it! LOVED it, that review will be up next. When I finished TM I picked SH back up and.....couldn't put it down!!!! I have no idea what book my friend read by MH but this one???? Sooooo not a dry moment! So lets get on with it....

Marcus has been commanded to marry a Welsh woman that he's never met, and he's not happy about it. Especially when said woman has been pretending to be ill to put off the marriage to him. So he steals away into her home to confront her and take what's his, to his surprise she is in the garden....in the middle of the night. He goes to her and is swept away by her beauty and her wit. They share a magical kiss and some caresses, but the light of day brings many surprises for him. The next day he goes to call on his future bride and finds the woman he shared a magical moment with the night before is none other than his intendeds sister....and the whore of his King.

Nesta should not have allowed him to kiss her, she knew that. But when he came to her so brazen she could not hold a thought. Her body called to this man, the man promised to her sister. But it was of no consequence (so she told herself) since even though her sister was promised to him she would not be marrying him. Nesta and her father (before he passed) had made bigger plans that would not be thwarted by an English Knight and a King trying to make amends.

Now when I started off reading this, I though...here we go, I've read this story line before. They are on opposing sides of a 'war' and one will betray the other, they will fight and one I will hate. But it was sooo not the case and this book seriously swept me away.

Nesta is a strong woman (no she does not have penis envy and she does not take stupid risks trying to be a man), she knows her place in the grand scheme of things and knows that even if her heart is betraying her she must listen to her head. She tells herself that the happiness of one woman, herself, is so inconsequential in what she has dedicated her life to for the last few years.

Marcus knows that Nesta has ties to the Welsh rebellion and further more knows not to underestimate her. She's pulled one over on him once and it won't happen again. But as time passes and Marcus decides to have her as his own he needs to find a way to save her, from herself and the consequences that may come of her actions if they are found out. HE knows that he is falling for a strong and honorable woman and that woman no matter what her heart is telling her will not turn her back on her cause. And he admits to himself he wouldn't be falling for her is she was a woman that would. And Nesta knows the same of him.

They come together in truces at night and sharing themselves with each other in the sweetest of abandon ... yet they know with the light of each day they are enemies. They both do what they have to and pray that maybe there will be a way for them .... one day ... but they don't hold much hope.

As the book progressed I kept thinking 'okay now I'm gonna see that one side is right and one is wrong and then I'll know who is being stupidly stubborn' but I didn't. I was just as torn as they both were. In the end neither of them turned on their honor and .... well you'll just have to read to see how they end up.

I know your wondering what happened to the sister he was originally supposed to marry, and what about the King that Nesta was said to be the whore of? Well somethings cannot be said without ruining the book....sorry.

I would have given it an A maybe even and A+ but for one reason....I never cried. I know some of you are like "WHAT???" but I feel like a book filled with this much honor and passion should draw some kind of strong emotion from me. And since it didn't I am forced to give a VERY GOOD book a B+ instead. But I still say RUN AND BUY IT AND READ IT NOW!!!

Read it in order though! I didn't have that opportunity, grrr!:
By Possession
By Design
Stealing Heaven
By Arrangement

Take Me by Lucy Monroe

Hero: Jared Viscount Ravenswood
Heroine: Calantha Duchess of Clairborne
Category: Historical
Page Count: 321
Grade: A+
Buy It: Here or here.
Jared, Viscount Ravenswood, has no choice but to honor the deathbed wish of his ailing servant. All she asks is that Jared introduce her soon-to-be orphaned daughter to the notorious and reclusive Calantha, Duchess of Clairborne. No ordinary request, for this is no ordinary child. She is, in fact, the key to the Duchess's most private secrets and to Jared's own past-one that has branded him a Lord Beast amount the ton.
But when the Viscount meets the Duchess, he finds not the pitiless dowager he expected, but a lovely and wary angel=survivor of a brutal marriage left now with only her roses and the breathtaking mystery that is her life. For Jared, to solve that puzzle is to fall in love, to make Cali believe in the impossible, and to follow the promise that comes with the most intimate whisper of all...

***I am so pissed right now, I spent a half hour writing up a review on this book and it all freaking got deleted by blogger!***
O.M.G.! Talk about a phenomenal book! I could not put this book down for a second. That is after I got over the cover, I know I know I'm a cover snob. But you know what? I never said I wasn't so lets go there for a second, shall we. Okay now. The heroine....Calantha is supposed to be taller than most women but still delicate and almost frail. The hero....Jared is called Lord Beast, he is huge, massive, he has a scar down his face and even as Calantha is tall he towers over her. So our first problem? They are almost the same height...second, Jared looks like a fruit ball, what the heck is he doing with that rose? tickling her....third, Calantha looks like a linebacker, her shoulders are freaking huge! And she is not all that pretty. And what, is Jared tickling her with the rose causing a tickle on her thigh so she has to scrunch up her skirt? Okay, done rant....moving on the the excellent book.

Calantha has learned the hard way not to show her feelings, not to get close to people and to fear men. She was married to a horrible man, that used her loved ones against her, and always belittled her. Calantha did what she could to protect herself, she cut off her friends, she built up a wall of ice around her heart so not to feel and she never thought she'd look at a man again.....that's why Jared scared her so much. Yes, all the ton feared him. But not for the same reasons. They feared his looks and his impatience. He was scared, he was huge, the debs trembled in his presence. Calantha thawed in his presence, that ever present ice around her heart melted just a little each time. She saw his scar and saw a hero, she saw his size and felt protection, which was the strangest of all. After her record with men why should a man of such proportions make her feel safe, when she didn't even know him?

Jared was a strong man in both physical stature and honor. He made a promise to his dying friend on her death bed, he would take her daughter that he has raised and loved as his own to The Angel, as the ton has dubbed her. He knows what happened to Mary to get her pregnant, and cannot help but feel that woman she wants him to introduce to her daughter Hannah is a cold hearted Bitch. He is used to the way the girls of the ton cringe in his presence and the way servants snap to attention or tremble when he's near. So when he finally meets Calantha he is shocked by so many contradictions in her character.

As Cali and Jared find truths about each other and why they have been put together, they also find a friendship that runs deep. And a mutual love for a lost little girl. But what that friendship grows to becomes endangered when someone is out to frame Cali for a kidnapping and possible murder of that same little girl. As evidence mounts against her she is thrown back into defending herself from what she hasn't done, while Jared is fighting his own battle of wanting to have faith in a woman he is growing to care so much for and believing the blanted evidence.

This book knocked me on my ass. I cried for two chapters straight! I LOVED EVERY SINGLE WORD WRITTEN!!! Cali never became that heroine that knew better and could do it all. NO she depended on Jared when need be, never put herself in unnecessary danger, and was just about perfect. Jared was the perfect sensitive alpha male. Perfect mix. The only person that annoyed me in this book was Tessa, and only a little. She does something (or says) to/about Cali that is so wrong and mean and I don't think she honestly made up for it enough. It had surprises and everything. This book is just about as perfect as they come. So go get it. Don't put it on a list, get up and go get it NOW!!! My favorite of the series!!!

Read them in order:
Touch Me
Tempt Me
Take Me

Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie

Hero: Alex
Heroine: Nina
Category: Contemp
Page Count: 224, hb
Grade: A
Buy It: Here or here.
Part basset, part beagle, all Cupid . . . can a matchmaking hound fetch a new love for his owner?

For Nina Askew, turning forty means freedom -- from the ex-husband whose career always came first, from their stuffy suburban home. Freedom to have her own apartment in the city, freedom to focus on what she wants for a change. And what she wants is something her ex always vetoed -- a puppy. A bouncy puppy to cheer her up. Instead she gets . . . Fred.

Overweight, smelly and obviously suffering from some kind of doggy depression, Fred is light-years from perky. But for all his faults, he does manage to put Nina face-to-face with Alex Moore, her gorgeous, younger downstairs neighbor.

Alex looks great on paper -- a sexy, seemingly sane, surprisingly single E.R. doctor who shares Fred's abiding love for Oreos -- but a ten-year difference in age, despite his devastating smile, is too wide a gap for Nina to handle. Ignoring her insistent best friend, some interfering do-gooders and the ubiquitous Fred -- not to mention her suddenly raging hormones -- Nina thinks anyone but Alex would be a better bet for a relationship. But with every silver-haired stiff she dates, the more she suspects it's the young dog-loving doctor she wants to sit and stay!

Nina has wanted a dog practically from the day her and Guy got married, he didn't. It should have been a sign. 15 years later she's divorced and ready to get her dog. It's her 40th birthday and she wants a perky happy puppy, what she leaves with is Fred. An older overweight depressed dog, but what does it matter when he makes her happy? That's what she wanted all along. But living on the third floor makes it a bit difficult for him to do his thing, especially without an elevator, so she teaches him to go down the fire escape out the window. All is fine until one time he doesn't come back.....

Fred seems to have found a new friend, he's climbed into the second story window instead of his third floor one, and meets Alex. Alex has been an ER doctor for awhile, his family has been harping on him to choose a profession. It would seem he has but coming from a long line of specialist doctors an ER doctor is NOT a profession. It's also been hard in the dating field, every woman he dates is ready to settle down and sprout children, Alex isn't ready for marriage let alone the fact that he doesn't want children. But when he meets Fred and returns him to his owner he thinks he just might have meet the right woman.

Because of a ten year age gap Nina is very weary of anything romantic with Alex. She's come up with every excuse, his age, his maturity, his .... well everything. But nothing can change the feelings she has every time he is near, or every time she thinks of him for that matter.

Alex doesn't care about Nina's age, and is determined to make sure she doesn't care either. He wants her to see him as a grown man worthy of her. But he still is weary to make THE move, scared she'll turn away and his chance will be lost.

With Nina's best friend that has the black thumb in relationships writing a book on her love life and pushing Nina into SOMETHING with Alex. And their 75 year old upstairs neighbor and her 63 year old boyfriend also dropping hints to how age never matters. And everything else Nina and Alex are fighting an uphill battle. Throw in Alex's older brother Max that's struggling with his life decisions and an alcoholic, cardiac surgeon father this book adds up to lots of fun and a great romance. Hell throw in a red lace incredi bra while we're at it too. This is the closest to a Bet Me book. I loved it! The entire feel of the story, the banter, the dog it just makes a perfect Crusie book. Were there faults? Sure I think Charity and Max should have had some type of ending weather together or with someone else. In the end Alex went a little over board with what he was doing to prove to Nina he was mature and stable enough for her, but he smartened up. So like I said, this one rates #2 right next to Bet Me. A definite great read. Go Get It!

New Jersey Romance Writers Book Fair

On saturday I went to the book fair for New Jersey Romance Writers! I went with Rene Lyons and it was soooo freaking cool. We had a blast. Well we had a blast after she found me since I got lost (nothing new) and had to pull over and her and her husband tracked me down. lol. But that's besides the point.

We get there and Rene introduces me to some of her friends she's already made. Stella, Jennifer (can't find a link for her), Bianca, and Suzette. Great women! I can't wait to try their stuff, well except for Suzette, she's a reader like me.

So we go in and Rene is jumping outta her skin she's so excited, not that I can't say the same for me, but she was so cute about it.

Oh and side note, next time I go to meet up with my VERY short friend I shouldn't wear my 5 inch heeled boots! Uggg, and I'm not all that tall to start with at only 5'4". Whatever, back to the story....

Like I was saying, we weren't sure they'd let me in since it was before the thing actually started and the authors were setting up, but I just pranced in next to Rene like I belonged. lol. We were walking around trying to find her table and at the same time reading all the other names of authors that were going to be there and trying to be all calm. Yeah, that wasn't working.

So lets get on with who was there, besides the very talented Rene Lyons.

Eloisa James~ Who was selling all books I already read so I got her to sign a cover of her soon to be released book. She was so nice. Her son was with her and he looked just like her, he must have been around 8. So I told him how handsome he was and he said something about signing it too. I don't thing Eloisa thought I'd want him to or anything but I handed it to him and told him I'd love his signature too. But then he got all shy and said no thanks. They were both so sweet and nice.

Madeline Hunter~ She was sooo nice! I never read her before so I'm standing at her table and on the phone with Holly and MH looks at me and says "trying to get your tbr list?" so I laugh and ask her what kind of books she writes and if they are series. So she's going on about them all and filling me in, then she points to one and is all "this one's medieval times" and I go to Holly "what's that really? Like A Kingdom of Dreams by JM?" and she's all "yeah, kinda" so I give it to MH and say "I'll take this one." she laughed at me and signed it to me. The one I got was called Stealing Heaven.

Jennifer Crusie~ OMG I love love love her stuff. Well Bet Me is one of my all time favorite books! EVER! So I bought Anyone but You from her and she was very nice and signed it. I also told her how much I loved Bet Me, that it was one of my top 5 favorite books (something she's probably heard a million times before) and that Don't Look Down was the first book I did a write up on here at SF.

Victoria Alexandra was also there, but the same thing went. I had all her books so I got a book marker from her. Ummmm, Mariah Stewart, who I got a book signed by but when I got home I didn't have it! Suck! I must have layed it down somewhere and left it. Sooo mad.

Joy Nash~ I had heard of her before but never read her. Celtic Fire was a book I've been eying though. So I asked her about it, and she told me all about it and the next one and we just chatted up a bit about cover art and stuff like that. She was very nice. I bought Celtic Fire.

Jade Lee~ I read one book by her awhile ago called White Tigress (I think). It was very different, set in China, and all about The Tigress. Here's what the back of her book says what The Tigress is: the Chinese symbol for female sexuality: the counterpart of the "male" Dragon: a priestess of a Taoist sect. The books are all about reaching Immortality through all this sexual stuff. Very erotic, and informative about different believes. I enjoyed the first have the second one waiting, Hungry Tigress (again I think that's the title) and I bought Desperate Tigress from her at the fair.

and at the last minute I saw...

Cheyenne McCray~ I got Forbidden Magic. The woman Suzette I meet swore she was great. So I'm holding you to this Suzette! Hear me!!! lol. She was really nice though and I told her how great her covers are. Yeah, did I mention to all of you I'm a cover whore??? lol.

So those are the books I got, it was great. I wish I could have gone out to dinner with Rene and the other girls but I had an hour drive and Josh was home alone all day and not feeling well. So you know what they say 'the bigger the men, the bigger the baby'. Soooo true. lol.

But good times were had.

OH WAIT!!! I forgot to tell you! I almost hugged Hannah Howell! No you are not seeing things I really wrote that! Yup, I was standing next to Rene at her table and she's signing this book to someone and I'm thinking "why is Rene all shaky and stuff?" then I hear Renee say something Ms. Howell and I touched the woman's arm and said "What's your name?" she says "Hannah" and I go "Hannah who?" and Rene pipes in with "Ummm, that's Hannah Howell Nicole." and I go "OMG! I didn't see you at the table with your name! I was looking for you. OMG OMG!" and she's all "Oh sorry, they didn't send my books." I was all "WHAT! OMG would you sign my shirt?" she looked at me kinda nutty but said sure and did. lol I thought the woman was going to run from me. lol. Oh and no I'm not that crazy it wasn't the shirt I was wearing, it was a shirt I bought to get signed.

(no pictures cause blogger was annoying me, and I didn't' want to do it the hard way. Yeah, yeah, I'm lazy. Go here to Rene's blog and see her's.)

I'm In No Mood for Love by Rachel Gibson

Hero: Sebastian Vaughan
Heroine: Clare Wingate
Category: Contemp
Page Count: 359/paperback
Grade:A
Buy It: Here, or here.

What is Clare Wingate doing? One minute she's suffering in a pretty-in-pink gown she'll never wear again, and the next thing she knows it's morning . . . and she has the nastiest hangover of her life.
To make matters worse, she's wearing nothing but a spritz of Escada and lying next to Sebastian Vaughan . . . her girlhood crush turned sexy, globe-hopping journalist. Somewhere between the toast and the toss of the bouquet she'd gotten herself into a whole lot of trouble.

Clare had the right to go wild-after all, she'd been knocked off her dyed-to-match shoes after finding her own fiancé in a compromising position with the washing machine repairman. Clearly her society wedding is off.

But Sebastian pushed all the wrong buttons-and some of the right ones, too. Clare is in no mood for love-not even for lust-and wants to forget about Sebastian and his six-pack abs ASAP. But he isn't in the mood to go away, and his kiss is impossible to forget.

Ever since buying and reading Sex, Lies, and Online Dating, just about a year ago, I've been dying for Rachel Gibson's next book, I'm In No Mood For Love. It's the second in a series she's writing about 4 girl friends who are all fiction authors. And I wasn't disappointed.

Clare is a historical romance author and she loves her job, even if her mother tells all her friends that she writes woman's fiction and refuses to call it what it really is. Clare's completely happy with her life until the day of one of her best friends wedding when she runs back home and finds the Sears repair man riding her fiance on the floor of her walk in closet.

The next morning she wakes up with a huge hang over and not really remembering to much. But when she looks at the bed she's in and finds her self naked except for her pink thong in a hotel room it's obvious she didn't spend it alone. But before she can escape he's there, the worst person she could even think up. The boy who teased her, hit her and tricked her every chance he got grew up to be a very handsome man. Sebastian is a girls wet dream, with his green eyes, wicked smile, and body to drool over.

After a very embarrassing conversation with Sebastian, mostly cause she didn't remember anything and Sebastian is still teasing her, Clare escaped with what dignity she could. Then went home to face her reality. She cleaned house-so to speak, and decided to stay clear of men for awhile. But before Sebastian is off they share a hot kiss. And a few months later it's a make-out session in her mother pantry, and about a month or so later they stop lying to themselves and give in to the passion burning between them.

After mistakenly thinking they could rid themselves of each other after a night full of hot kinky sex they decide to just be friends that have sex, no strings attached. Great for Sebastian that cannot handle the R word or C word (that's relationship or commitment if you weren't sure), and great for Clare who doesn't mind a few multiple orgasms with Mr. Right Now while she waits for Mr. Right.

But when Clare finds herself in love with another man that doesn't love her back, she takes a stand. And that's when it gets really good. But I'm not gonna tell you the rest. You'll have to go read this to find out how Sebastian reacts, what he does, what she does.....and a lot more.

This book is full of men reading romance, men getting drug around shopping by a shopaholic, a father and son finding a relationship that had gotten forgotten, kick ass girl friends, some sexy banter with our H&H, a lot of laughter (even some tears for me) and that's not even mentioning a flipping fine hero and an awesome heroine.
So go get the book and read it!

Quote from Sebastian (after Clare asks if he heard what she said to him):

"Yeah. You assume I don't see myself married because I want to 'conquer' lots of different women and eat their Lucky Charms and Tasty O's."

....then after he corners her in her mothers pantry

"I want to talk about eating you like a Tasty O. I want to talk about all the things I want to do to you. Then we can talk about all the things I want you to do to me."

Oh wait.....the parts I didn't like? Hmmmm, even a favorite like RG had something that bothered me. There was something on page 182 that really irked me, read the book and see if you can figure it out. lol. And the ending? A little perfect but hey it's a romance novel right? What do you expect? All around though, it was a great book. I can always count on RG for a great read. Now I cannot wait till next year for Maddie's book!!!

The Series order so far:
Sex, Lies and Online Dating
I'm in no Mood for Love