Summertime and the Reading is Easy by Jenny Gardiner

Hey all!

I'm just back from sitting in a dark hospital room for a couple of days with our son, who got a nasty infection in his elbow joint a week after cutting his arm. Thank goodness he's fine, but had to spend a couple of days on IV antibiotics to try to knock out the infection so it didn't go septic, which is why we dropped everything to go up to DC to be with our boy! Hospitals are not the place you want to be, that's for sure.

Happy my baby is on the mend and we're back home. I'm now quite behind prepping for the release of my upcoming novel, Blue-Blooded Romeo, the latest in the Royal Romeo contemporary rom-com series, and trying to write Big O Romeo, which is due with my editor in two weeks.

So since I'm in the weeds and it's summertime and everyone loves book suggestions for those lazy, hot summer days, I'm going to just list a bunch of books I've enjoyed in the past several months. I always love to get book recs from friends, so hope this helps if you're in the market for some new reads! (and while you're at it feel free to check out the 25+ books I've read here!)

I'm currently reading American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse. I'd read a piece in the Washington Post about this crazy arsonist couple on the Eastern Shore of Virginia a few years back--one of those "you can't make it up" stories. The reporter has since written this book and it's a really compelling account of what happened, complete with all of the nutty local color you'll get with books like this. If you listened to the Serial podcast and liked it, you'll enjoy this.

My friend Karen Dionne has a fabulous suspense thriller out to rave reviews this summer: The Marsh King's Daughter. Highly recommend it. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat.

I LOVED Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny. I have such metaphor envy after reading this novel. The author is extraordinarily insightful into the tiny nuances of the mundanities of life, and conveys them so wonderfully.

The Season by Jonah Lisa Dyer was great fun. The authors are a husband/wife screenwriting team, and the book reads like a well-crafted TV show or movie. About a tomboy young woman who plays college soccer and her mother forces her and her twin sister to be girly-girl debutantes. Good beach read.

The Assistants by Camille Perri was a fun beach read.

I LOVED The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. Great beach read.

Oh, The Nix is amazing. Fabulously talented writer, crazy ride of a novel--it goes down so many rabbit holes, you cannot imagine how they all connect, but they do!

A few books I've started but have to get back to (but was enjoying!): Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney. The Heirs by Susan Rieger. This is Your Life, Harriet Chance by Jonathan Evison. The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Ginder.

I just heard about Those Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero and can't wait to read it. It's a dark take on the Scooby Doo-type kid detectives who survive a harrowing episode that involves ghosts and dead bodies but when they grow up they're psychologically scarred from the experience. When one of them commits suicide, the rest team together to face the demons of their past. Brilliant premise for a novel, right?

I hope you'll have a chance to check out my Royal Romeos series, which is a spin-off of my wildly popular It's Reigning Men series--please do check them out!

Happy reading!

    

  

 

I'm off to the beach...

...and this is what I've packed in my Kindle.

Shirley Jump's first Fortune's Island romance AND THEN FOREVER 

I've already started reading this book and it's just wonderful. I love Shirley's voice and Fortune's Island is going to be a favourite. Here's the blurb -

Love is an extravagance Darcy Williams can’t afford. She prefers the simple life, which includes waitressing at The Love Shack and avoiding temptation. But when a forbidden part of her past steps off the ferry, her safe, guarded existence is turned upside down.

Kincaid Foster has never gotten over his first love. When he sees the wild, beautiful blonde again, dancing her way around The Love Shack, the memories of Darcy’s soft skin, gentle touch, and heated kisses come rushing back. As the privileged son of a wealthy family, Kincaid was too young to stand up to his overbearing father when he and Darcy were together. Now, he’s back on the island—free of the family shackles—and the chiseled, big-time lawyer wants a second chance.

But, Darcy made a promise to keep a secret from Kincaid—a secret that is now a six-year-old girl who looks just like her daddy. If Kincaid finds out about their daughter, Darcy could lose everything. But, she can’t resist the man who stole her heart all those years ago. And it doesn’t take long before both of them realize that anything can happen on a hot summer night.

I have all the "Peter Grant" books on my Kindle and I'm waiting for the kindle version of the latest, "The Hanging Tree", but I'll dip into these again in the meantime. Here's a taste -

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

Murder, mayhem and a lot of fun.

Milly Johnson is a brilliant, witty writer and a huge bestseller in the UK. I'm not sure if US readers have found her yet, but they're in for a treat when they do. I love her books and this one seems to be perfect for a quiet, shady spot on the sand.

When dynamic, power-dressing Christie blows in like a warm wind to take over their department, five very different women find themselves thrown together at work. But none of them could have predicted the fierce bond of friendship that her leadership would inspire. . .


Oh, and if you're looking for something extra to pack for the beach, my latest,
Vettori's Damsel in Distress, published in July in the UK, US and Australia is a Romantic Times TOP PICK, For a taste test click here or on one of the links to download the book right now!

Amazon
iBooks
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Harlequin
Mills and Boon 
Mills and Boon, Australia

It's The Time of the Season. . .

Time of what season? Well, it's summer now - not officially but past Memorial Day so it counts -- and that means. . .it's time for summer anthologies and hot romances!

I realized what publishers already knew -- certain times of the year are better for reading short romances. Have you seen the shelves? The list of upcoming releases? There are SOOOOO many holiday and seasonal romance anthologies scheduled for not only Christmas-time but also the summer. June Brides, hot summer beach reads, both long and short, fill the shelves. My own TBR is filled with them, too.

Even though for some, summer means more time to read and more time for relaxing, it's not my 'slow time'. So, those anthologies are great! I can read a whole story in a short time and still have time to work, shop, write, and all those other things expected of me. And then, when I have another bit of open time, there's another whole little romance waiting for me! I love it!

And then, just when the weather gets hot. . . the romances get hotter! Is that because we're already sweating and fanning ourselves so publishers figure it's a good time for those? I was just browsing through the latest RT magazine and wow - it looks like there are some steamy romances coming out in the next couple of months. I guess I'll have to save those for when I'm near a pool or on the beach so I can run or jump in to cool off as needed? LOL!

So, do you fall for 'hot' summer romances? Do you read shorter books during the summer (or other times like Christmas)? More importantly, which hot or shorter romances are you looking forward to reading this summer? I have a set of my Highlander trilogy -- being published in the UK this summer -- for one lucky random poster.....


Terri has both a short and a hot romance coming out this summer! Her Harlequin Historical UNDONE! short story will be available online on June 1st -- A Night for Her Pleasure introduces readers to the Knights of Brittany, Terri's hot sexy medieval heroes. Then in July, the first full-length story The Conqueror's Lady hits the shelves to continue the story. Check out Terri's website for more info and links to her current and upcoming releases - www.terribrisbin.com