Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite romance reads

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week it is a freebie, but related to love! When I was deciding what books to choose, I decided to share the last ten romances I read which I rated as either 4.5 or 5 out of 5.

Snowy Mountains Daughter by Alissa Callen - I really enjoyed this book and I am super excited that the follow up has just been released.

Red White and Royal blue by Casey McQuiston - Despite loving this book I still haven't read the follow up book.

The Prenup by Lauren Layne - This was so much fun!

Beach Read by Emily Henry - Another really fun read. I liked The People We Meet on Vacation too and I am very much looking forward to Book Lovers which is out in May.

Something to Talk About by Rachael Johns - Rachael Johns is one of my go to authors and has been for many years

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare - Once upon a time I read a lot of historical romance, but not so much anymore. Tessa Dare is an exception as she makes me laugh.

Hearts on Hold by Charish Reid - A sexy librarian features in this interracial romance.

Last Bridge Before Home by Lily Malone - I enjoyed this one and I am looking forward to the new Lily Malone novel.

The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary -  I mentioned before that I used to read a lot of historical romance, but I didn't read a lot of contemporary romance. This book is an example of why my reading has swung around, along with several other books on this list.

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer - My final choice is old school and a book I have listened to mulitple times on audio. 

Top Ten Tuesday: From draft to published

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Spring Cleaning Freebie (for example, books you’re planning to get rid of for whatever reason, book’s you’d like to clean off your TBR by either reading them or deciding you’re not interested, books that feel fresh and clean to you after winter is over, etc.).

My choice is to clean out a draft blog post from a few weeks ago. The theme on February 23 was books which made you laugh and I had created a list of potential choices but I was too busy with work to put any words in place or pictures or anything else and so it was still sitting in draft unpublished.

Pratchett, Pratchett, Pratchett  - doesn't really matter which book really..

Jasper Fforde - I was a big fan of the Thursday Next books.

Beach Read by Emily Henry - My romance reading has completely changed over the years. Once upon a time I read mainly historicals, with some paranormal and the occasional contemporary romance. Now I read a lot of contemporary romance, with some historical and no paranormal at all. This was a fun, read in one sitting contemporary

Jenny Colgan is great at the funny story with a lot of depth. I have really enjoyed a couple of her series!

Marian Keyes -another author that makes me laugh, especially her early books. The later ones not so much!

The Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters  - an eccentric archeologist family gallivanting around Egypt, stumbling onto mystery after mystery! So much fun.

The Prenup by Lauren Layne - a recent fun contemporary read

Chocolate Cake for Breakfast by Danielle Hawkins - So many contemporary women's fictions novels have the balance  between romance, issues and humour just right! This author gives us a great Kiwi spin on the genre!

The early books in the Stephanie Plum series were makes you cry you are laughing so hard. The later ones make me roll my eyes in exasperation, but I had to include her because of those early books.

I mentioned contemporary romance novels earlier in this post, so it's only right that I includes a historical novelist as well. Tessa Dare makes me laugh every time I read one of her books!

Top Ten Tuesday: New Orleans or bust!

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Purple, Green and Gold in honour of Mardi Gras which is today.

Whilst I am pretty sure I can do purple, green  and gold books pretty easily, but I thought I would twist it the topic a little bit. The last time I visited the US we visited New Orleans. Because we aren't going anywhere any time soon, I thought I would revisit some places that we have visited over the last few years on our US holidays, a couple with books associated!

The main reason for starting our 2018 trip in New Orleans was to catch up with some friends who I originally met through Sara Donati's author forum. Her book, Queen of Swords, was set against the background of the Battle of New Orleans. We were able to visit a few of the places she visited when researching for the book which was fun.

Other books I have read set in New Orleans include the Sherrilyn Kenyon series. I used to read these books a lot but I can't remember the last time I read a  paranormal romance.Back in the day, I didn't read a lot of contemporary romance but did read a bit of paranormal romance. Now it's the other way around.

During our visit to New Orleans we did visit one of the famous cemeteries where the books referenced included Interview with a Vampire, and A Confederacy of Dunces got a mention too during our time there. I haven't read either of these though.

In 2017 we visited New York. Of course there are tons of books set in New York, but I thought I would focus on two historical novels. One of these is from the follow up series to the Into the Wilderness series about the next generations. It was such a good read. 

The other series that I wanted to mention was Beverly Swerling's Old New York series which is set in the early days of colonisation.

Of course, there are many, many contemporary novels set in New York too. The latest one I read was The Prenup by Lauren Layne which was so much fun and then there is the futuristic New York as portrayed in the J D Robb In Death series.

The reason why we visited the US both in 2017 and 2019 is that my son was at college playing basketball in a place called Concordia in Kansas. Whilst I am sure that there aren't many books set in the town, there is a museum called the National Orphan Train Complex, which tells the story of the orphans who were taken from the East Coast to the midwest. The town is filled with statues telling stories of the children who rode the train. This book, The Orphan Train wasn't set in the town but the connection to the story that the museum is trying to preserve is obvious

Of course it's hard to talk about Kansas without thinking about The Wizard of Oz!

Other places that we visited on those two trips to see my son included Wichita, Tuscon, Nashville, Memphis, Tulsa, and Kansas City (twice) .

We also went on a Carribean cruise that docked in Honduras (where we officially got engaged), Belize and Mexico so in honour of that I am posting one of the James Michener  books I used to read back in the 80s and 90s.

Reading Reflections: What I read in January

I know I am going to sound old when I say this, but where on earth has January gone? How can we be a month into the year already? It doesn't really seem possible, but it is.

I managed to read 5 books during the month, three of which were part of the same series.

Here's what I read:

An American in Paris by Siobhan Curham - WWII and Paris! You know that is my jam! Review here

The first three books in the Granite Springs series by Maggie Christensen, an Australian author. The good thing about this series is that it is a  rural romance series which features older characters, which is lovely to read!

The Prenup by Lauren Layne - I read this in one setting. It's just one of those fun reads that you can inhale!

Pretty sure the shortest month of the year will fly by too!

This Week....

I'm reading...

Sometimes you just need a book that you can inhale, and I read one of those this weekend. Vassiliki from Shallowreader mentioned The Prenup by Lauren Layne and I was like that sounds like fun! And it was, plus it was amusing, readable and perfect to read in one setting!  The premise is that Charlotte and Colin got married 10 years ago, and have lived on opposite sides of the US ever since, but now Colin wants a divorce. Only problem is the prenup specifies that they have to live together for 3 months before they can do so. Charlotte moves back to New York, which also means that she has to deal with the unresolved issues she has with her family. I will definitely read another Lauren Layne book to see if the magic can strike twice.

Other than The Prenup, I haven't read a lot this week,so  I am still going with Ella Carey's book from last week too.

I'm watching....

We watched The Dig on Saturday night and I have to say it was a lovely film. It tells the story of the man who found the Sutton Hoo treasure. It has several big name British stars including Joseph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan and Lily James. There have been some liberties taken with the story in relation to the personal lives but the story of the find is very interesting.

Life...

We are still having a lot of conversation about our upcoming renovations. It's the way that we work. Lots and lots of conversations and then suddenly a plan emerges, and then my husband goes helff for leather and the reno is done! Well, not quite that quickly, but there's definitely a plan emerging.

Yesterday we spent a lovely day wandering around the Yarra Valley. We went to two places that I can't believe I hadn't heard of until recently. The first place was Blue Lotus Water Gardens which is a garden filled with, well, lotus flowers!

We also went to a California Redwood Forest which is in the valley. Until a couple of years ago, no one really knew about these trees, but these days it is quite a popular destination. It was such a lovely place. You took just a few steps into the forest and suddenly the noise from outside is muffled and quiet. I would love to go again!

Posts from the last week

Weekend Cooking: National Croissant Day

Top Ten Tuesday: New to Me (Australian) AuthorsI Read in 2020

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date