Catchup and Friday Book Club

Wow, it's Friday again already! How did that happen?!

I'm off to have a hot chocolate with Ashwini and a good friend this morning, then it's back into Psy-Changeling #15. If you missed this month's newsletter, Psy-Changeling #15 will feature an ensemble cast and be a book about family, whether that family is related by blood, by loyalty, or myriad other bonds.

While I was traveling, I made my way through Ramez Naam's Nexus trilogy. This is science fiction (no romance), and I found the concepts within it both fascinating and thought-provoking. Plus, it's a great action story.

My current read is an early copy of JD Robb's Devoted in Death (out Sep 15th). It's awesome as always.

Okay, your turn! What are you reading and loving this week?

Good News & More

Archangel's Shadows is now out worldwide! I hope you all enjoy the book!! 

I woke up today to the news that Archangel's Shadows hit both the New York Times & USA Today Bestseller lists. A great big thank you to all of you - I'm so happy that you continue to be excited by the series and the Guild Hunter world. :-)

~ 

Thank you to everyone who attended Auckland event last night. It was fantastic!

I spoke to questions from the audience, and the discussion ranged from how I keep track of series details, to plotting, to questions about the next generation of characters & how much I don't like skipping time unless it's very necessary (it'll be more likely to happen in the GH series than the Psy one).

A special shout-out for the Remuera Library staff who hosted me - you were incredible!

I gave away a goody bag that included several of my favorite books and authors. Here they are if you're looking for reading recommendations (I'll be doing a lot of book giveaways over the holidays this year, so keep an eye out).

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook (I love the entire Iron Seas Series. If you don't want to dive into a full-length book, Meljean's novella Here There be Monsters is an amazing intro into the world. If you already have the Burning Up anthology, you'll have this novella, so don't accidentally buy it twice!)

Devil's Bride by Stephanie Laurens (My favorite in this historical series is A Secret Love, but the entire Cynster series is fantastic).

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev (My favorite book this year! I've been raving about it everywhere - I'm not sure I posted on the blog though. It's an amazing romance full of emotion and heart and it left me with a goofy smile on my face at the end. You don't have to take my word for it though: here's the link to an excerpt, and here's the link to the Amazon review page for the book).

Festive in Death by JD Robb (I think the In Death series is the longest running series I've kept up with. It's just amazing. That's all I gotta say. Naked in Death is book one).

~

"One of the best rock band stories I have read in a long time – in that it doesn’t hide the hard things and still finds a way to bring that awesome ending that romance readers long for."

- Jo at Joyfully Reviewed has an in-depth review up for Rock Addiction.

"Both main characters are well drawn and human. They could be people we already know so we want them to fall in love and be rescued … only they don’t need it.

They both have deep and abiding friendships, which prove they are capable of long-term relationships and love; they just don’t see it as it is revealed to the reader. We fall in love with them both as each page turns." 

- From ARRA's feature book review of Rock Addiction

JD Robb Giveaway Winners

The random numbers have been run and these are the winners of the copies of JD Robb's Celebrity In Death. 

1. Liz. C
2. Sarah
3. Maris
4. Anneela
5. Occam's Firefly

Congratulations! Please email your mailing address to naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom within the next 72 hours to claim your book. :-)

 

JD Robb - Celebrity In Death

It's no secret that I'm a huge, huge fan of JD Robb, so when my New Zealand publisher, Hachette, which publishes the In Death series here under its Piatkus imprint, asked me if I'd like some extra copies to give away as part of their release week celebrations, I jumped at the chance to share my JD Robb love with you all. 

I cannot wait to read this myself, but I promise I won't steal one of these five giveaway copies! ;-)

Here's the blurb:

The latest novel in J.D Robb's addictive 'In Death' series, where Eve Dallas specialises in tracking down those who break the law – including the ones sworn to uphold it.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she's managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity‐packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It's a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long‐lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director's luxury building.

Talented but rude and widely disliked, K.T. Harris had made an embarrassing scene during dinner. Now she's at the centre of a crime scene and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster, to step into the role she was born to play: cop.

To enter the random draw, leave a comment on this post on the main blog (rather than the Goodreads feed), with your answer to one of these questions, by 5pm Tuesday Feb 21st 2012, New Zealand time.

If you're a JD Robb fan, what do you love about these books?

If you're new to the In Death books, are you tempted to give them a go?

The fine print: Contest is open internationally. One entry per household. No purchase necessary to enter. Winner(s) will be chosen randomly using random.org and his or her name(s) posted on this blog on Wednesday Feb 22nd, 2012. Winner(s) will have 72 hours to contact us at the email given in the announcement in order to claim their book. Void where prohibited.

(p.s. The author of this post didn't receive any compensation for raving about the series - she's a crazy, mad fan happy to talk about these books to anyone who'll listen!

p.p.s. Roarke is mine.)

Friday Book Club

I read Julie James' Something About You this week and loved it! It's smart and sexy, and with an awesome cast of characters. Julie James is rapidly becoming one of my go-to authors for fabulous contemporary romance.

Right now, I'm reading JD Robb's Fantasy In Death and trying to figure out the howdunnit!

Okay, your turn. What're you reading and loving this week?

Friday Book Club

It's book club time! What are you reading and loving this week?

I managed to get my excited hands on the new The Lost anthology, and have so far read the first two novellas (by JD Robb & Patricia Gaffney). Loved them both! Looking forward to the stories by Mary Blayney and Ruth Ryan Langan.

Okay, your turn!

Q & A Date & Links

The Q & A session I promised everyone is scheduled for next week. I'll open the thread on Monday and close it Sunday, so you'll have lots of time to get questions in.

For those of you who prefer the forum format, I'll also be answering questions over at the fan forum beginning Tuesday.

I've also got three great links to share today.

Environmental artist Sally J Smith is guest-blogging over on Riding With the Top Down and you must go and see her work. It's incredibly beautiful and inspiring. Here's a link to Sally's personal blog. (Thanks to Michele Hauf for the heads-up on the guest blog).

For writers & readers - check out this great video of Nora Roberts where she talks about writing and Roarke.

Author TJ Bennett is giving away lots of RITA nominated books. There might be something in an upcoming tote from yours truly :)

Promises in Death - JD Robb

This is one series where every single one of the books have worked for me - some I've liked more than others, but I've enjoyed each and every one.

Promises in Death was no different. I opened it as soon as it came into my hands, and read it in one sitting. The mystery element was complex and interesting, but it was the emotional component - Eve and Roarke's relationship, their ties with the others in their world - that really made it stand out.

I simply don't know how JD Robb does it, but with each book, I simply fall more in love with the dynamics of this world and the people in it. This is absolutely recommended.

If you haven't read this series, I'd suggest starting with the very first one Naked in Death. While each mystery stands on its own, you'll enjoy the relationships so much more if you see them develop over the books. Also, this particular mystery does have a tie to an earlier book.

So, who else is a JD Robb fan? Who's your favorite secondary character?

Must Haves

Thanks for all the book recs everyone - I have a feeling that's a thread I'll keep coming back to pick up more reads :)

How about we talk about future releases today?

Here's another book I'm adding to my "can't wait" list - the new Ghost Hunter book! Comes out August 26!

I love this series.

The blurb:

Everything is different underground. Just ask the residents of Harmony, a futuristic world where alien catacombs can lead you astray—and where psychic senses spark out-of-this-world passion...

Reporter Sierra McIntyre's stories on Crystal City's ghost hunters—and their mysterious guild—have earned her tabloid a bit of respect. And they've allowed her to clothe her dust bunny companion Elvis in rock-and-roll style. It helps that she has mega-rez intuition to fall back on...

Especially when she interviews Ghost Hunter Guild Boss John Fontana about the disappearances of retired, homeless hunters. She doesn't want to trust the physically and psychically powerful man, but her senses—and Elvis—give her the green light. To uncover the conspiracy within his own organization, Fontana proposes...marriage. And though it's purely a business arrangement, there is nothing pure about the attraction that sizzles between them...

And just for fun, a few more books I'm wanting to get my paws on (no pun intended *g*).



And that's just for starters! I've also got a couple of fabulous ARCs that I'll be chatting about later. But now, tell me - what's on your "must have" list? :)

Angels Fall & Northern Lights - Nora Roberts

Okay peeps, you have a few more hours to ask PC any questions and enter the giveaway. I'll update this post once we've drawn the book prize. The random numbers have spoken. The winner of one copy each of Marked and Betrayed is Shari C. Email me at nalinisinghwrites @ gmail.com (without the spaces) with your addie. :)

And onto today's post!

I'm a crazy, crazy fan of Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb, but for some reason, I haven't read a lot of NR's single titles. Well, I tell you, that is going to change! Last year I loved Blue Smoke, and just recently I read Angels Fall, and really enjoyed the characters, the mystery and the small town setting.

Afterward, I read some reviews (yeah, I do it backward) and a lot of people linked Angels Fall with Northern Lights, not in the sense that they're connected stories, but because they're both set in small, isolated towns. Since I loved that about Angels Fall, I immediately grabbed Northern Lights. I'm so glad I did.

They're two very different stories, with utterly different characters - however the sense of community in them both is so strong. But what really, really got me, is the way the locations are described. Angels Fall is set in Wyoming, and Northern Lights in Alaska. After reading these books, I had just such a vivid sense of time and place for both those locations that I could almost touch them. I'm not talking about chunks of description - it's all woven in so seamlessly into the story that the locations become characters, too.

I'm now a total NR fan, no matter which pen name. Time to start going through the backlist (rubs hands in glee). If you want to check out book descriptions, have a look at the Publishers Weekly reviews on the Amazon pages for Angels Fall & Northern Lights.

What's your reaction to the same author writing different styles of books? Any favorite authors who you only read under one pen name and not the other?

Movies & Books

So you all know I'm a big old JD Robb fangirl. The other day, I was thinking about who I would choose to play Eve and Roarke (and even Mavis and Peabody) if I was the director of a JD Robb movie. And I dunno - I had some possibilities but I don't know if anyone could ever come close to my image of what the characters look like.

What about you? Any suggestions for stars to fill in the spots? What book (any author) would you love to see made into a movie?

JD Robb - Innocent In Death

I seriously LOVED this book! Yes, I'm an Eve and Roarke junkie but this book was just...wow. The emotion, the suspense, the whole shebang. I'm already going crazy waiting for the next one!

I suppose I should write something coherent, but really, this is a total love-fest. I devoured it in one giant rush. I loved seeing Eve and Roarke's relationship get rocky (heart palpitation time!), then not only survive, but get stronger. These two are just so real. The mystery was pretty cool, too, with an unforgettable ending, but for me, this book was all about Eve and Roarke.

Sigh. I think I'm in a JD Robb induced book coma of happiness.

Born In Death - JD Robb

It's Eve and Roarke. Need I say more? If JD Robb (for no reason that I can think of except to mess with us) decided to write a story about the two of them sitting around counting lint, I would buy, read and adore that.

These two are just the most amazing characters, and that's not even counting the wonderful supporting cast. I have a soft spot for Trueheart in particular. So really all I'm going to say is if you haven't read the JD Robb books, go now and do it! Start at the start - Naked In Death, for maximum impact.

Okay, fess up. Who's your I-would-read-it-even-if-they-were-counting-lint author/characters?