Carrie's Bookshelf: 2015

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Top Reads of 2015 (Part I)

Wow! What a year!! 2015 brought in lots of new (or, new to me) authors & series. I was blessed to meet some of my favorite authors (Kristen Ashley! Meghan March! Rachel Brookes!) and I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on Amazon. LOL But soooo worth it, every penny - even those pennies spent on books I didn't really like, because nothing ventured, nothing gained, and with the amount of gems I found, I cannot complain! : )

So, let's get to it! I'm not putting a number on this list - I'm essentially going through my GoodReads challenge (goal: 300 books; I'm currently reading book 298) & picking the ones that tug at me. I don't want it to get too bogged down, so I'll try to restrain myself! 2015 was seriously FULL of amazing books!!

(WARNING: I didn't do a very good job of restraining myself. But come on, out of THREE HUNDRED BOOKS, I think I did okay narrowing it down...maybe? Don't give up on me! Read the list!!) (Love you!)

Mugs of Love by Norma Jeanne Karlsson - This was a totally random find, I don't even remember from which site or how I stumbled upon it, but I began recommending it to people when I wasn't even 1/2 way through it. It was refreshing & amazing!

Bent Not Broken and Be Here Now by Julia Goda - These were fabulous!! Julia's writing style reminds me a lot of Kristen Ashley, and I wasn't expecting that at all when I picked up the first book. Pleasant surprise & these are both re-read favorites!!

To Have by M.L. Pennock - I admit, I clicked on this one because of the cover. Get your mind outta the gutter! LOL It reminded me of Mugs of Love (the cover, not the story) & I clicked. Then I read the synopsis & I clicked again to buy. My instinct for this one was SPOT ON. It is a true love story & written sooooo wellll! I love the pacing & story line & romance in this one. It made my soul happy. : )

Capture by Rachel Van Dyken - Intriguing premise, well-written, and the story had all my favorite things! Friendship, attraction, no relationship angst... gorgeous! It's book 1 in a spin-off series from the author's Seaside series (which I haven't read, but am interested enough to look them up later).

Hammer's Fall and Nyght's Eve by Laurie Ramos - I believe my friend Rochelle mentioned Hammer's Fall & I fell head over heels for this one! I read it in January & wanted the next book right away, but it was waaay out of my comfort zone for price. Then, later in the year, it went on sale & I SNATCHED that puppy up! There's a 3rd book I haven't purchased yet, but I'm anticipating enjoying it, as well!

SEAL of Protection series by Susan Stoker - Susan was a new-to-me author this year. I don't know how I came across her (probably FB) but Protecting Fiona (book 3 in the series) grabbed me w/ the synopsis. Once I read it, I was hooked on Susan's writing style & storylines! I've enjoyed the whole series & she has since come out w/ a couple connected but separate series that I am also enjoying/looking forward to!

Ashes & Embers series by Carian Cole - another random find (seriously, the theme this year) was book 1 in this series, Storm. Such a unique premise - two strangers stranded in a truck in a snow storm & one just happens to be a member of a very popular band & the heroine has NO IDEA who he is! It wasn't all sunshine & roses, but it was soooo sweet! I snatched up the remaining books in the series throughout the year, but ended up not reading them yet. Until Talon (book 4), which had another super unique premise - two strangers get married as part of an experiment, and it looks like the people who put this together got it totally wrong, as these two supposed "perfect matches" seem to have NOTHING in common. The journey their story takes is sooooo sweet and heartbreaking, with some surprise twisty roadblocks thrown in the way. I absolutely fell in love with Talon. : )

Beneath This Ink & Beneath These Chains by Meghan March - ALL THE STARS! That was the beginning of my review for BTI. It's book 2 in the series, and I hadn't read book 1 (Beneath This Mask), so it was another random find. I read it in February & ended up randomly meeting Meghan (in line at the KA signing) in July. I still get a little ferkelmpt (totally misspelled that) thinking about how THAT all went down! But this is about the stories! Each book started out w/ a unique, new-to-me premise & continued on w/ a writing style & story that pulled me in & wouldn't let me go! *hearts*

Two Truths And A Lie and Play It Again by Ashley Stoyanoff (PRG Investigations) - Elena & Jason and Piper & Vance totally pulled me into their stories! TTAAL was a random blog/FB find. I read a snippet of a blurb, clicked on the book & immediately started reading. Play It Again popped up on my kindle while I was out of town w/ my mom & I squealed like a little girl at Christmas. *grin* And immediately started reading. My mom MAY have been mid-sentence when this happened... LOL

Fighting Silence & Fighting Shadows (On The Ropes series) by Aly Martinez - Aly became an auto-click for me after reading her Wrecked and Ruined series last year. OTR is connected to that series, but can be read on its own as well. I just LOVE connected books/series, especially when I don't realize they're connected! Both these series deal with heavy subject matters, real-life issues & problems that will rip your heart out, but I promise it's worth it (and I'm not one for having my heart ripped out, so that is definitely saying something!) and when the pieces are all put back together, you're a better person. Or, at least, I felt like a better person after reading each of her books. I felt like I went on the journey w/ each character, and her writing & stories are PHENOMENAL. So, there's that. : )

Brothers of Ink and Steel series by Allie Juliette Mousseau - this is a spin-off series of a series I haven't yet read (but want to!) & was yet another random find. I truly love the FB author/reader/blogger community!

Need series by Cynthia P O'Neill - I Need You Always (book 1) was a random FB find in June. I didn't realize it was a D/s story until I was already sucked in. I'm not so much "into" that, and don't generally seek out books that are about the lifestyle, but this was done SO WELL and the explanations & family connections in this case were so amazing! I have snapped up each book in this series & LOVED every single one!

Sweet Hope and Sweet Soul by Tillie Cole - OH MY GOODNESS! Amazing, amazing, amazing. The cadence of the writing, the story, the fact that SH was to be the last in the series & then the fans really wanted to know what happened to one of the other characters & thus SS was born. I have found that sometimes when fans... *ahem* pester ... request a book the author wasn't planning on writing, it can go horribly, horribly wrong. The vibe isn't there, because the book wasn't the author's brainchild, really, and the characters don't "speak" to them in the same way. This is SO NOT THE CASE w/ SS. It was marvelously beautiful & I could seriously gush about it for paragraphs, but I won't. : ) Just trust me & pick up her Sweet Home series (Sweet Rome was my favorite prior to Sweet Hope)! *grin*

Rush & Endless Possibility by Emma Scott - I'd been intrigued by Rush for a while - reviews were very favorable & the hero is scarred & broken, which equals one of my favorite types of hero! It took me a while after purchasing to read, however, for various reasons. When I dove in, though, I was pulled right into the story immediately & enjoyed it immensely! It's lovely & perfect! AND THEN when I was finished & looking for other books by this author (because it's book 3 in a series of stand alones), Endless Possibility popped up (NOT a stand alone - read it after Rush, as it's a continuation of sorts of Noah & Charlotte's story) & it had JUST been released! I again was like a kid at Christmas! LOVE!!! So, for the best reading enjoyment, I recommend reading these two back to back. : )

Take The Fall series by Marquita Valentine - YES! This is another spin-off series of a series I haven't read (yet) & currently has 2 books. The stories are intense by not angsty, and so, soooo sweet!

Forever My Angel by Kelly Walker - this is book 4 in the Chadwell Hearts series & was a highly anticipated part of the story for me. : ) No One's Angel is book 1 & reading the series in order & together is a treat!!

Hearts of Fire by L.H. Cosway - book 1 in this series, Six of Hearts, was one of my FAVORITE reads of 2014, and HoF fit right into that expectation. SoH is about an illusionist & his awesome plot for revenge against those who had a hand in killing his family & hurting the girl he loves. HoF is about his brother, presumed dead, who is a fire eater & performer w/ the circus. EXCELLENT writing & an enjoyable story!! The set up for book 3, King of Hearts, is wonderful & I'm looking forward to reading it (but have been putting it off because it looks to be really emotional & I have to be in the right place for that!). : )

Evergreen Grove series by Elisabeth Staab - These books are emotionally charged, written beautifully & and made me both cry & laugh. Definite recommendations! Book 3 is a m/m, which I bought to support the author but likely won't read, because I just don't want to read m/m books. (A.D. Ellis's Sawyer is the other m/m story I have bought for the same reason. These are, currently, the only two authors who have written a m/m as part of a series that I've bought, thinking their writing styles MIGHT have me reading one, someday, maybe. *laugh*)

Breaking A Legend by Sarah Robinson - Another surprise find & LOVELY story! It's book 1 in a new series & I'm looking forward to the next one! There is some drama & a little angst, but mostly it's a story about Rory & Clare & their interactions, how they fall in love & help each other become the best versions of themselves. SWOONY GOODNESS ALERT as well. : ) (And there's this dog... and the real life story about the dog is heartbreakingly beautiful!)

Heart Shaped Hack by Tracey Garvis Graves - WOW! This story is hilarious & full of heart & feels & happy vibes. There's a happy ending, and it can be read as a stand alone, but there will also be a continuation of sorts, which I'm looking forward to - and I generally do NOT like that sort of thing, but I think Tracey will pull it off...

GOOD GRIEF! This is why I'm not a professional blogger. I love my books so much that I just go on & on & want you to love them, too. Or, rather, I want to share all my authors & books so those who might also love them get a chance to hear about them! *grin*

There were so many other authors/books... I'm making another list & if you aren't sick of me yet, go on & read part II (it's shorter, I promise! More of a list than any descriptions...!).

If you end up picking one (or more) of these up & loving it (them), too, let me know! : )

TTFN!

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Rock Chick Rendezvous - Indianapolis 2015

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to road trip to Indy and meet Kristen Ashley. She's written at least 40 books (I have about 10 paperbacks & 33 on my kindle...) and is one of my favorites!! : ) Her stories always feature the ALPHA-est of alpha guys, and they've been an inspiration for many of my favorite characters by other authors. Her heroines can be a little clueless... sometimes that annoys me and sometimes I feel like I totally understand and am RIGHT THERE with them!

Kristen's Amazon and Goodreads if you'd like to take a closer look

So, a little while ago I heard about this year's RCR tour - Virginia, Indy, Denver, Phoenix. Of those, Indy was closest to me & I thought I could probably do it as a day trip. Normally I would try to make a whole weekend of it (there were parties & get togethers aside from the signing on Saturday), but my vacation budget was already used on a trip to Denver at the end of May. And, btw, the reason I went to Denver? Because that's where a lot of Kristen's books take place. And from reading about these places, the area, the BEAUTY, I had to see it for myself. Denver does NOT disappoint, ppl, and I can't wait til I have an opportunity to go back & spend another week there! : )

I headed out on my journey early Saturday morning, arriving at the Books-A-Million (or, BAM!) just at 2 o'clock. I'd planned to be there a little early, at 1 (it was supposed to start at 2), but I'd forgotten about the time change - Indy is an hour ahead! Whoops! Still, God always knows what He's doing, and the time I arrived, and the time I made it into line worked out better than I could have ever imagined!

The ladies in front of me in line were very friendly & we chatted about journals & things around us as we waited in line. A bit later, ppl started arriving behind me in line, and I started chatting w/ them. The three ladies, Sandy, Rachel, and Meghan, were quite a lot of fun. Meghan started to find different books & things that amused us all & took pictures w/ them to post later. Rachel's from Australia & aside from loving her accent, she also had a really fun sense of humor! Sandy reminded me of my aunt Sandy (which was slightly ironic in that I didn't know her name until the end of the signing!), having fun hanging out & chatting about book blogs & the like (not that Aunt Sandy would talk about book blogs, just her fun attitude)! : )

As we're making our way through the line, chatting about various authors they want to find in the shelves & take pictures w/ (seriously, how neat is it when you're combing the shelves & you see one of YOUR books or one of YOUR authors on the shelf? In the independent publishing world that doesn't happen all the time, ya know?) I realize I'm having so much fun I haven't had even ONE anxiety attack since they joined the line. I felt like they enjoyed having me as part of their "group" even though they could have just chatted for a minute & then turned away. Rachel even went so far as to include me in her "Ellen selfie" which was super sweet. The type of anxiety I have has certain triggers, which I try to avoid but with things like signings, I know I can't. I'd already experienced a couple of the triggers when I attempted to join the line earlier, but I'm thankful I didn't let them hold me back, or send me back to my car & headed home.

So, when we'd first started talking, Meghan mentioned she writes romances, too, but she didn't mention her last name or titles or anything, and I didn't want to push. I mean, she's there as a fan of KA, just like me, and I didn't want to make her feel like she had to be "on author mode." The same w/ Rachel, she would mention characters or whatnot, but again, I didn't want to be all, "Have I heard of you?" I don't know, it just seems rude to do that when they're out & about. Like asking for autographs when ppl are having dinner (or, good lord, in the loo - who does that?!?!) I don't know if that makes any sense, but I was just having a good time and enjoying not having a panic attack!!

As we get closer to the front of the line, Meghan says something & it reminds me I was going to write down their names so I could look up their books later, but - uncharacteristically for me - I didn't have a pen. And then I was like, DUH! And I whipped out my phone to use the Notes section. (Seriously, I'm still not used to having a phone that does stuff like that!)

And this is when the hanging out in line w/ three cool fellow rock chicks, which was already the best time in a line I'd had in a LONG time, became my FAVORITE part of the trip. Meghan is Meghan March, who happens to be one of my recent favorite authors. She wrote Beneath This Mask, Beneath This Ink, and Beneath These Chains (BTM is the first book in the series, which I haven't read yet - I somehow stumbled upon BTI in February & fell in love with it - the writing, the banter, the storyline! I gave it all the stars when I reviewed because it deserved them!) Rachel is Rachel Brookes, whose recent release Be My December I stumbled upon again randomly & had to buy right away from the description. The sequel, Be My Temptation just released this month, as well. : )

Meghan's Amazon and Goodreads if you'd like to take a closer look

Rachel's Amazon and Goodreads if you'd like to take a closer look

I had been hanging out w/ one of my favorite authors and an author whose work has intrigued me, and discovered they are JUST as awesome as I would have thought. Actually, I'd emailed w/ Meghan a bit in a fan-girly capacity after reading BTI & signing up for her newsletter. To know she's as awesome in person? Brilliant!

After that, meeting Kristen, which was the reason for the trip, was just like the icing on an already amazing cake! : ) Unfortunately, between trying to tamp down my fan-girling on Meghan & making sure I didn't pass out, and the fact that Kristen was running late & her ppl were putting off some "hurry up" anxious vibes, I completely forgot EVERYTHING I wanted to tell Kristen! I wanted to thank her in person for writing Denver in such a way that I HAD to go there, and for her recommendations when I'd asked where I must visit while there. I'd told her this on FB after I got home, of course, but I had the opportunity to tell her IN PERSON, and I biffed it. In my defense, I got distracted by her kickass watch... (As a side note, her ppl were very, VERY nice & they did not mean to put off the hurry up vibe - it wasn't in a rude way at all, it was just feeding my own anxiety and was in no way their fault. I totally got where they were coming from!!)

And they DID remind me to get a picture. *grin*

AND THEN, Meghan very kindly offered to take a picture, and Rachel very kindly got in on the action, AND THEN Meghan also signed my author book that goes w/ me to all my signings! (Kristen's sister also looked through it, which was cool)(she had nifty earrings on, too!!)

I also must shout out to the BAM! employee who was super friendly & sweet & helped me out a lot when I finally got to my place in line. After what had happened w/ the girls in line when I arrived, she also really helped calm down my anxiety so I was able to chat w/ the NICE ppl around me in line this time around. Whew! : )

And then it was time to get back in the car for the adventurous trip home. I MAY have gotten off on the wrong turn right after leaving BAM! And I MAY have ironically ended up at an Amazon facility... *grin*

So... That's my story! It was a blessed, blessed day, and I'm SUPER thankful for all of it!! (Well, maybe not my aching joints today from the 10+ hour round trip all in one day, but everything else!! LOL)

TTFN!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

a question

Do you ever find yourself buying books in a series when they go on sale, even tho you’ve never read anything in the series – or, in some cases, by the author? But for whatever reason, when you see that a book in that series is on sale, you snatch it up w/o even looking to see what it’s about?

That happens for me w/ Addison Moore’s Kisses series. I think I have them all – I’m not even sure, actually. Book 5 just showed up on my list for 99 cents & I snatched it up. I have no idea what it’s about. I don’t even remember what it’s called (oh, wait, Rock Candy Kisses maybe?). But I saw it & said, “CLICK” and now it’s mine. And yet – I haven’t read any in this series yet. Not for any particular reason, they just haven’t made my rotation yet. : )

Of course, now that I’m thinking about them, I might have to remedy that.