Since I blogged last, I turned in the manuscript of The Desire of a Duke to my editor. Such a good feeling.

Then I met up with my wonderful friends and critique partners for the weekend, and among other things, they helped me hash out the plot of Stud Club book two. They also helped me brainstorm some new title possibilities for it, and now I think I’m leaning toward The Return of a Rogue. If for no other reason than that the acronym is ROAR. 😉

My goals for the week are something like this:
1) Sleep.
2) Spend time with the family.
3) Catch up on all the stuff I’ve put off in the last month. (LOTS)
4) Start promoting The Legend of the Werestag (releasing May 12th from Samhain)!
5) READ.

Mount TBR is nearing epic proportions. Aside from the pile of research I’m accumulating for ROAR (books on Devonshire, Dartmoor, house construction, smuggling, etc., etc.), it had been far too long since I’d been able to just sit down with a great romance and get lost in it. Sometimes I find it hard to get lost in a romance at all anymore, because I have a hard time turning off my writing brain and simply enjoying the story.

Lucky me, I did just that twice this past week with two brilliant, heart-tugging, beautifully written historicals, Elizabeth Hoyt’s newest, To Beguile a Beast, and Jennifer Ashley’s The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. I’m in the mood to read tortured heroes (when am I not!) since I’m gearing up to write one of my own, and these two books are some of the finest examples I’ve read in ages. I’m not really a great reviewer, in the sense of giving synopses and critical evaluations of the books I read. My reader recommendations in the course of library work generally go something like this: “Oh my goodness, this book is sooooooo good. So. Good. You must read it.”

So this is the online equivalent. Picture me grabbing your arm and saying, “These books are soooooo good. So. Good. You must read them.” They each made me laugh, cry, blush, sigh, and completely lose myself in a well-told story.

What book have you read lately that was sooooo good I must read it?


4 comments to “And there was much rejoicing!”

  1. Tiffany
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    · May 5th, 2009 at 8:27 am · Link

    I love totured heroes!

    Woohoo on finishing the book and handing it in!

    And I’m ordering those two books tonight (the Hoyt and Ashley) I’ve been looking forward to them for a while now 🙂



  2. Sarah Tormey
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    · May 5th, 2009 at 8:31 am · Link

    I recently read a Harlequin Blaze title, great Sunday afternoon break from yard work. However, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie in on the top of my pile too!

    Congrats on handing in the first Stud Club book!



  3. Evangeline
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    · May 5th, 2009 at 4:56 pm · Link

    I’ve been praising Jade Lee’s The Concubine to the high heavens since completing it this weekend. It hit all my buttons and energized my own writing.



  4. Louisa Edwards
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    · May 6th, 2009 at 3:08 pm · Link

    Yes, I Twitterstalked you all the way to your blog. 🙂

    Congrats on turning in the book! I’m jealous, laboring under crushing deadline at the moment. Which means it’s been a while since I read anything for pleasure, but my all-time favorite tortured historical heroes are Christian from Flowers from the Storm and Samuel from Shadow and the Star. But I’m sure you’ve already read those!