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Julia Quarterly Reading Post! (2.0)

I can’t believe it’s been four months. And yet is has been. Aish. You guys, welcome Julia Broadbooks! šŸ˜€

Iā€™ve always thought I wasnā€™t much of an erotic romance reader. I mean, I downloaded the sample of The Book That Shall Not Be Named, and didnā€™t even make it to the end. I wasnā€™t offended; I was bored. Which is how many of my erotic purchases end up: unfinished because I never really connected with the characters. But in the last couple of months Iā€™ve been trying to push myself out of my comfort zone, reading-wise and otherwise. I guess Iā€™m a victim of all the hype too since in the past few months Iā€™ve tried a few much talked about erotic romance/erotica books. Boy, am I glad that I did!

After reading so many glowing comments (in particular from Jane at Dear Author) about Liberating Lacey by Ann Calhoun , I bought it, kind of thinking I wouldnā€™t finish it. I could not have been more wrong. I loved this book. I finished it a couple of days, and immediately started reading it again. The sex in Calhounā€™s book is singe your fingertips hot and plentiful, but she never skimps on the emotion. To me, this read like a category novel ā€“ the conflict was all internal as the hero and heroine face their flaws and their fears and fight through them for their HEA. Watching two characters who I love figure out how much they love each other makes for a really satisfying read.

In a totally different vein, I downloaded a free ebook by Cara McKenna (the alter ego of Blaze author Meg Maguire) who I follow on twitter. Sheā€™s so fun to chat with that I wanted to give her books a try. Backwoods is a short, erotic, m/m book. Itā€™s also a crazy dirty book. These characters have the high octane angst going on. These arenā€™t things I gravitate toward in my reading, but this title really worked for me. I was so invested in these characters that I couldnā€™t put the book down. I was in awe that McKenna could draw me in and make me care so damn much about Shane and Gabriel. Iā€™m not sure this type of book is going to become a huge part of my reading diet, but Iā€™m really glad I read this one and I have another short (Curio) by McKenna waiting for me.

The other books I been reading are mostly series romance. Iā€™ve been pretty fascinated watching Entangled Publishing develop their different lines. Iā€™ve read a couple of handfuls already and Iā€™m curious to see how each line is going to develop its own style. Iā€™d considered them similar enough to Harlequinā€™s lines, but while reading Wife for Hire by Christine Bell, it occurred to me that the differences between the two publishing houses go deeper than just the covers. Bellā€™s novel hits all the series requirements: fake marriage, shorter length leading to a more concentrated story, a strong internal conflict the hero and heroine have to work past to have their happy ending. But there were enough differences that it really stood out to me. Thereā€™s a bit of a light suspense subplot which was a fun change, but the big thing was the tone and the authorā€™s voice. All through the book, even to resolution at the end, there is a certain playfulness to the book, that was really different and worked well for me here. Perhaps, stuck in my rut, Iā€™m not reading enough new authors at Harlequin?

In my quest to broaden my horizons, I picked up new author Kathy Altmanā€™s July SuperRomance title The Other Soldier. I donā€™t usually read military themed books, but Iā€™d read a very early first chapter of her book and wanted to see where she was going to go with her story. On leave for a month Reid finds struggling Parker, whom he widowed. How do you work through that? Altman never cuts Reid any slack. Parker isnā€™t feeling forgiving. In fact she is everything but. She is angry and bitter but desperate to stand on her own. Ever so slowly over the course of the month, the pair has to work through their anger and guilt in order to find happiness together. I especially appreciated the portrayal of Parkerā€™s daughter who feels so real, right down to her inability to catch a ball. There is even a sweet secondary romance that runs parallel. In the coming months SuperRomance will be adding to the word count of the line. With a nearly novel length and such complex story lines, these books really blur the boundary between single title and series.

Freshly purchased on my Kindle app I have The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis (yes, I am that far behind), Shannon Staceyā€™s latest All He Ever Needed. I have a couple of historicals from Carolyn Jewelā€™s backlist, Confessions from an Arranged Marriage by Miranda Neville and Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean because even though Iā€™m not reading much historical romance at the moment, I canā€™t quit buying them. I blame the covers.

The other upcoming book I am super excited about is Megan Mulryā€™s November 1st release A Royal Pain. Because Iā€™m absurdly fortunate, I got my hands on an ARC and I can tell you it is one of my favorite books of the year. Witty and smart with a hero to die for and a heroine I want as a best friend. It will be well worth the wait.