I finished Nora Roberts' Black Hills in exactly 7 days and got it back to the library with no ovedue fines. It was a great typical Nora story.

And I finished Black Jack by Lora Leigh. Likewise, a great Lora Leigh story.

Now I'm reading Just Right by Erin Nicholas. I really like Erin's writing - and I'm hoping Jessica gets the stick out of her butt soon, she's no fun at all! I know there's more to that, though...will keep reading.

And in the non-fiction department, I also read Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff by Andrew Kirtzman, and am just starting to look at Why Men Love Bitches by Sherry Argov.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I did finish Nauti Deceptions by Lora Leigh last week, and managed to finish another book - Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl. I really enjoyed this book! Do I sound surprised? For some reason, knowing it's considered a contemporary romance published by HQN, I thought it was going to be a sweet romance - but no! It was quite steamy! I loved the little role reversal and it was a great story too, with a wounded heroine. Almost got a little teary at the end when she...never mind, no spoilers. A great read!

And just last night I started Release by Beth Kery - already loving it!

Before I talk about what I'm reading (and almost not reading!) let me invite you to come by Leah Braemel's blog today where I am talking about my latest fun way to procrastinate!

After a run-in with the Sony store the other night (the books I wanted were only available in the U.S.!! What's up with that??) I headed on over to All Romance eBooks to make my purchases and ran into some technical difficulties. It was just me being a big techie loser. All is fine and I have a big list of books to be read.

I was too busy watching Olympics to read much (or write much!) but now they're over and I'm feeling the post-Olympic let down and ready to read.

Reading now: Nauti Deceptions by Lora Leigh. A good solid hot Lora Leigh story.

I finished Guilty Pleasure by Lora Leigh. This story was okay for me. There were times when all the conflict didn't make a lot of sense to me and I couldn't quite figure out why everyone was so angry at each other. I also didn't feel satisfied by the threesome sex. Shane seems a very sexy dominant man, but I got no sense of Marty's feelings for him. It's clear how much she loves Khalid, but surely she shoud have some feelings for the other man she's having sex with. Of course, this was a very hot Lora Leigh story, as always.

Now I'm reading Back in Black by Lori Foster. I didn't plan to read this next as I have a big list of books queued up on my reader, but I saw it in the bookstore and I bought the paperback. Lori Foster is a long time favorite author of mine, and I'm enjoying the story. Her characters are always so dimensional and interesting.

Another week with not much time for reading, but it's because I started work on a new book. One the weekend I finally broke through the barrier of getting those first words done. Once I do that it's hard to tear me away from it!

I finished Nauti Intentions by Lora Leigh. And I'm almost finished Bound and Determined by Shelley Bradley. At first I was disappointed in the story because from the title I thought there would be a lot more bondage. However it's turned out to be a very emotional story and I really like it!

Not much.
Last week was really busy with the release of Friends With Benefits - so I'm half through Lora Leigh's Nauti Intentions. I love Lora Leigh, and this book is as sexy and hot as ever, but I'm increasingly thrown by her point of view shifts. Even minor characters get brief periods with a POV. And while I love her mega alpha heroes, the conflict between Natches and Alex over Janey seems a bit overdone. But I am enjoying it!

Luckily I'm able to post this - last night we had a power failure due to heavy rains/sleet. The lights had been flickering all day and then the whole neighbourhood went black. Had to light a few candles for a while but happily it was short.


This week I read The Bikini Diaries by Lacey Alexander. Once again she has written a great story of a good girl who goes bad. She's a bad bunny. (I like that!) I love the journey of self-discovery in this story and the insights shared. I'm sure we've all felt that insecurity when faced with a gorgeous, confident woman - imagined her life is perfect, and wished we could be her. Or be like her. And maybe we can - because it's all about how we see ourselves - having confidence in ourselves and having the courage to step "out of the box".

And...if the setting for this story is based on a real resort - I so want to go there!

I also read Maverick by Lora Leigh. This story was okay. As usual, very hot, but somehow I didn't connect with the characters in this story as much as others.

Finished "Only Pleasure" by Lora Leigh. Another very hot story.

Started "My Man Michael" by Lori Foster. Her heroine is from the 23rd century. I'm not usually into time travel stories but I love Lori Foster and I'm intrigued about what's going to happen. Will keep reading.

Also just started "The Lifestyle" by Terry Gould. This book is about “what it means to be part of a fast-growing subculture of consenting, mainstream adults who are changing the rules of sexual behaviour for pair-bonded humans.” Okay, married swingers. Research only, folks.

And - I'm not going to name the title or author of the book I read over the weekend because I am TOTALLY FREAKED OUT! I started reading this book, and there were so many similarities between it and a book I wrote about four months ago I could not believe it! There is no way this author knew anything about my story and no way I could have known anything about hers, so it's kind of freaky. As I got further into the book the similarities lessened. Her main conflict was completely different than mine, and the characters are different, too, so in the end the stories are not the same. But wow! Here I think I'm coming up with something new and fresh and different and someone else has the very same idea. But as one fellow writer pointed out, every story will be told in a different way, with a different voice, so no two stories will ever be exactly the same.

Fellow writers, has that ever happened to you?