I’m still kind of shocked that it’s almost the end of the year. It kind of makes me want to cry. Instead, I’ll have my head buried in the sand a bit longer (I still have a few steampunk Q&As to finish — those are coming this weekend, I think) and just try to finish it out well.

That “finish it out well” will not include reading, alas — at least not until I finish this book. Which is especially sad for me because of two recent releases that I’m dying to get my grubby eyeballs on, but for now I have to settle for looking at their covers on my ebook reader. These are releases from two of my friends (which, I know, suggests automatic bias … but often the reason writers become friends and begin talking in the first place is because they really like each others’ work!)

If you haven’t been reading her Disillusionist books, then you probably know Carolyn Crane from our Wild & Steamy antho — she had a fabulous novella set between Books 2 & 3 of her trilogy. If you have been reading the trilogy, then you know what happened at the end of Book 2 (Double Cross) that made me do a OMG! OMG! and why I’ve been waiting along with so many others for the conclusion to this story.

Well, unless you are me and you aren’t reading anything until a book is turned in, you don’t have to wait any longer! Head Rush is finally here!

I will be avoiding any and all spoilers (but if it doesn’t end the way I want it to, I will be a whiny, petulant baby the next time I see Carolyn.)

And of course Ilona Andrews’ work needs no introduction here. Ilona and Gordon have a ridiculous ability to write anything and make it some of the best, most imaginative and strong work out there today — and her Edge series is no exception.

Fate’s Edge, the latest in this paranormal (rural fantasy?) romance series hit shelves last week (I always get so twisted around with end-of-the-month release dates!). As Ilona puts it: What do you get when you take the best conman in the world and make him into a secret agent? You get Kaldar Mar.

And because it’s Ilona Andrews, we get an awesome freaking story, too.

So go forth! Read it. Love it.

ETA: Oh my god, and Agony/Ecstasy, too! lol, this is how out-of-it I’ve been — I totally spaced this release!

AGONY/ECSTASY

Erotic romance collection

My contemporary short story, “Rescue Me,” will be included in this anthology (official site here, including excerpts from each story and a full author listing). This story stands alone, and is unrelated to my Guardians and Iron Seas series.

$15.00 Berkley Heat | $9.99 Berkley Ebook
ISBN 978-0425243459 | November 1st, 2011

talking about hoarding, and the point where it goes overboard.

Same shelf as at Odd Shots, but I freaked out and straightened it up after taking that first picture.

Thanks to the mighty power of random.org, we have the two winners for THE ROMANCE READERS’ BOOK CLUB:

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:

11 5

#11 – Paula
#5 – blodeuedd

Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy the book.

For the next one, I was going to do a different book, but in celebration of the news that Kinsale sold her book to SourceBooks, I’ve got SHADOWHEART, the sequel to FOR MY LADY’S HEART.

Here’s the PW review:

This long-awaited follow-up to Kinsale’s last book, For My Lady’s Heart (1993), takes place in 14th-century Europe, where Allegreto-assassin, pirate, brute and bastard son of the Navona family-attempts to reclaim his birthright in the Italian principality of Monteverde. To this end, he captures Elena, the princess of Monteverde, and makes her his wife in a particularly violent sex scene (“She met him with a fierce reply, opening her mouth against his shoulder, a willing she-cat to his leopard, biting him as viciously as if she could draw blood”). As Allegreto and Elena journey to Italy to face Franco Pietro, Elena’s former fiancé and a rival of Allegreto’s family, lust and affection spring between the two (in that order), but Elena’s disdain for Allegreto’s ability to murder without remorse gives rise to an abundance of romantic tension and some intense love scenes. Kinsale’s characters speak in stilted phrases resembling Middle English, and she loads the book with historical detail, making it both realistic and ponderous. Those who have waited 11 years for Kinsale’s return will lap up this romance, but others will be turned off by its length and its controlling, sometimes cruel, alpha male hero.

I loved SHADOWHEART, but I think this review is a fair representation of the reactions I’ve seen to the book. Some love it; others are turned off by some aspects of the novel. So, if you like your romance on the lighter side, be warned. (Also, if you haven’t read FOR MY LADY’S HEART … what are you waiting for?)

Same rules as before: comment, and you are entered. I’ll draw a winner at some random time at random.org.

The winner for the MAMMOTH BOOK OF PARANORMAL ROMANCE IS:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

17
Timestamp: 2009-04-22 22:04:13 UTC

#17 = Caffey!

Congratulations!

Also, I never thought I’d say this, but I have too many books. I simply don’t have room on my shelves. My problem is that I’ve never passed up a bargain table I didn’t like, even knowing that a) I already had the book, b) I was never going to read the book, or c) I don’t know what C is, but this can’t end on B, so I’m making it up. Or, I have two or more copies of one book. Or, I have books that I picked up, haven’t finished, and know I’m never going to finish. Not all of them are romance. Some are new, some used. Whatever the reason, they are books that are going to waste on my overburdened shelves.

I’m a fan of books going to homes where they are actually useful, so that’s what this is hopefully going to do, and slowly, I’ll whittle my bookshelves down to a manageable size.

First up, I have two copies of (bargain table, don’t ask) THE ROMANCE READERS’ BOOK CLUB by Julie L. Cannon.

Cover quote: “A coming-of-age story to cherish…Cannon’s South is a destination readers will want to visit again and again.” –Mary Kay Andrews, author of Savannah Breeze

Bored with her sheltered life on the family farm in Rigby, Georgia, fifteen-year-old Tammi Lynn Elco senses things can change when she acquires a stack of forbidden romance novels. Eluding the watchful eye of her Granny Elco, Tammi forms a secret book club with two girlfriends and her eccentric Aunt Minna, reading about weak-in-the-knees passion and sharing their own stories of love and heartache. When Rigby is seized in an economically damaging drought, local preachers are quick to proclaim sin as the reason for the devastation, forcing Tammi and her fellow book club members to come to terms with the emotions they’re feeling and the strict expectations of the community surrounding them. “Dixie Diva” Julie L. Cannon has written a heartfelt coming-of-age tale with true southern flair.

The rules for this are the same as every other one around here: leave a comment letting me know that you’re interested, and eventually I’ll go to random.org and grab two winners. I only ask that you are genuinely interested in reading the book before entering.