**Contest alert!  Win some books!**

September 30 is circled on my calendar several times, because there are an insane number of books coming out that day that I’m absolutely *desperate* to read.  As in, I’m counting the minutes until next Tuesday.  I mean, seriously: Quinn, Kleypas, Guhrke in one day!  Not to mention, an amazing anthology.  So if you don’t hear much from me the first week in October, it’s because I’m hunkered down with:

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn.  I loved Jack Audley, the deliciously roguish hero of The Lost Duke of Wyndham, but I’m just desperate to get to know the quiet, enigmatic Thomas, and read his and Amelia’s side of the story.

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas.  OMG, have I been desperate for this story.  The moment I finished Mine Till Midnight last year, my very first thought was, “How will I possibly survive until Win and Merripen’s story comes out?”  I have a deep, visceral need to see them together as…Is it Merriwin?  Winnipin?  Other?

The Secret Desires of a Gentleman by Laura Lee Guhrke.  LLG amazes me more with every book I read.  Her characters feel so real to me.  I love her “girl bachelors” series, and the two previous installments have been instant keepers for me.  I know SDOAG will be the same.

It Happened One Night, an anthology.  Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Jacqueline D’Alessandro, and Candice Hern.  Okay, I’m sold.

Yes, the first week of October will be rapturous indeed.  I will be floating on a cloud of romantic bliss, oblivious to the heaps of laundry and dishes piling up around me.  I will personally give the pizza and Thai delivery people unparalleled job security.   Until then…I live in exquisite, desperate anticipation.

Okay, I promised a contest!  Leave a comment, tell me what book you’re desperate to read in the next few months. It can be one of these, or something else entirely.  Doesn’t even have to be a romance.  If you’re one of the two randomly-chosen winners, I will buy it (pre-order, if necessary) and send it to you! (Within reason, please.  If your dream book costs more than an average fiction hardcover, we’ll have to substitute another prize.)


18 comments to “Desperate Reads”

  1. Alyssa Goodnight
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 pm · Link

    Well I’m suddenly VERY interested in Mr. Cavendish, I Presume. It’s been awhile since I read a Julia Quinn (I can’t think why), and you’ve whetted (is that right?) my appetite.



  2. Tessa
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm · Link

    Awesome, Alyssa! If it’s been a while since you’ve read a JQ, MCIP will be an awesome one to start with, I’m sure. 🙂

    Just to clarify for everyone, you can name any book you want – romance or something else entirely. Doesn’t have to be one of the same ones I’m desperate to read, but it can be.

    Oh, and I’ll keep the contest open through Friday midnight.



  3. Elyssa
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm · Link

    Take me out of the running since I’ve read two of those books already listed, and I’ve pre-ordered the others. The book should go to someone who hasn’t read them and/or hasn’t bought them already.

    I’m right there with you, Tessa, in regards to Seduce Me at Sunrise. I’ve been hankering after that book for what feels like forever. However, I’ve read (maybe it was on the EJ/JQ board when LK was a guest there?) that her next historical following SMAS is going to be her hottest book yet.



  4. Tessa
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 12:41 pm · Link

    However, I’ve read (maybe it was on the EJ/JQ board when LK was a guest there?) that her next historical following SMAS is going to be her hottest book yet.

    Ely, don’t tell me that! I know whose book that will be, and I’m already desperate for it a solid year in advance. You’re only making it worse, lol.

    To clarify the rules – you should tell me whatever book you’re desperate for, that you don’t already have. Doesn’t have to be one of the ones I mentioned. I’ll send you whatever book you want! Well, within reason. Please don’t go listing your $200 college biology textbook or something. 🙂 Must be the average price of a fiction hardcover, or less.



  5. Tessa
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 pm · Link

    Grr.. still trying to figure out wordpress. How do I make it quote?

    here, does this work?

    BTW, if anyone’s wondering how to get their picture to show up by their comment, you can do that by signing up for a free Gravatar account here:
    http://en.gravatar.com/site/signup



  6. Maggie Robinson
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 1:20 pm · Link

    Like Ely, I’ve read 2 of them, too (the JQ and the Guhrke—they were hers!). I want to read the Kleypas and the anthology with Candice Hern…the concept sounds so neat! To Seduce a Sinner by Hoyt is a must read, too…November?



  7. Janga
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm · Link

    Tessa, the problem with having four incredible books released on the same day is determining the reading order. I am giving this matter my serious attention.

    October has some great offerings too: another Kleypas (A Wallflower Christmas), the next book in Elizabeth Hoyt’s Legend of Three Soldiers series (To Seduce a Sinner–Melisande and Vale’s story), and Julie Ann Long’s Like No Other Lover. (If it’s half as good as The Perils of Pleasure, it will be a terrific book!)

    And November? EJ’s When the Duke Returns, a Virgin River book from Robyn Carr, Liz Bevarly’s second Kentucky Derby book, and Karen Hawkins’s first contemporary. And that’s just the start of my list. Fall 2008 is a great season for romance readers.

    Then there’s my mystery list . . . LOL!



  8. kelly krysten
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 2:56 pm · Link

    I’m also looking forward to all of them. Next week will be fantastic! But the one that calls out to me the most is Kleypas’s Seduce Me At Sunrise. Waiting a solid year is hard. I can’t wait to find out who the next book after Win and Merripen’s will be.



  9. Maggie Robinson
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 4:29 pm · Link

    Yikes, I just realized I read that Hoyt book already too! Ely loaned me the ARC. Too bad I remember next to nothing. Must start taking notes or something.



  10. Santa
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    · September 23rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm · Link

    What to read…what to read…..

    I’ve just finished one of them and MAN was it great. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the others – yet but I have to say the one I’ve been hankering for is the anthology ever since Candice Hern told me about it at National in Dallas. What a fantastic set of authors in one place!!

    And as Janga mentioned – all those other glorious books and I am sure I’m forgetting a TON of them!



  11. Kelly
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    · September 24th, 2008 at 5:42 am · Link

    Love the new blog, Tessa! It’s absolutely gorgeous over here.

    I have every intention of burying myself in fine literature come October 1! I’ve been eagerly awaiting all 4 of these novels, as well as the first book in Carly Phillips’ new series, Lucky Charm. But I think the one I’m looking forward to the most is Laura Lee Guhrke’s The Secret Desires of a Gentleman.

    And you’re to blame for my LLG addiction, Tessa! You gave me my first LLG novel last year, and now I await each new release like an eager puppy! As soon as I finish one, I’m wondering how I will possibly satisfy my reading addiction until she releases the next one! 😉



  12. terrio
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    · September 24th, 2008 at 6:24 am · Link

    Add me to the list of those anxiously awaiting Seduce Me At Sunrise. I only read Mine Till Midnight a week ago so I’m so excited to get this one now. As I’m always behind on all the others, I don’t know what is coming out except for Eloisa’s. But if I could pre-order anything, it would be the next Kleypas contemporary coming out next March. That is the one I can’t wait to read!



  13. Beverley
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    · September 25th, 2008 at 2:59 am · Link

    There are many and you’ve named a couple. LK’s and LLG’s. But also, LK’s A Wallflower Christmas(a novella in hardcover…ouch but it’s LK so I must). Also, LK .has a Christmas Anthology already available from Dorchester. Can you tell I love Lisa Kleypas? Then of course there are a slew of them I’ll have to wait until 2009 from our own dear Fanlitters. 😉



  14. Lady Leigh
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    · September 25th, 2008 at 7:45 pm · Link

    Thanks for the roundup info. I knew something good was comming out next tues but I wasn’t 100% sure whose. Now I know and I am extra super excited! Four great books- it’s almost better than Christmas 😉 I love all those authors and couldn’t chose one… My dream book to read would be the finished first draft of my WIP 😉



  15. Lady Leigh
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    · September 25th, 2008 at 7:46 pm · Link

    And congrats Bev!!

    And lovely new site, Tessa.

    You ladies are my inspiration!



  16. Darcy Burke
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    · September 25th, 2008 at 8:37 pm · Link

    Gah! I’d tried to put 9/30 out of my mind! I’m trying really hard to power through the first draft of my WIP and I finally hit a stride today (whew!). (See, I try not to read historicals when writing a first draft – they derail me.) But I’m desperate to read the JQ and LK (ought to pick up Guhrke apparently!). I’m also excited to read EH’s next Soldier book in October. I’m so intrigued by the characters.

    Argh! Damn you brilliant romance writers!!!!



  17. Gillian
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    · September 26th, 2008 at 7:31 am · Link

    Tessa, your new site is beautiful!

    I have a small request, please. I know we all remember dear Terry Jo, Terru Jo from Fanlit. She’s been swamped these past months caring for her niece and her brother’s family because her neice, Robynn, has leukemia. Today, the 26th, eight year old Robynn is having a bone marrow transplant.

    I would appreciate it so much if you all could spare some Fanlit fellowship and drop by her blog to extend your best wishes her way, so she remembers she’s not alone in this difficult time.

    http://terryjostone.blogspot.com/

    Thank you all so very, very much. 🙂



  18. Dev
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    · September 26th, 2008 at 6:17 pm · Link

    I’m most looking forward to A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas and Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn. I cannot wait to read these!