Favorite Books of 2014

It's been a great year for writing and for reading. I've enjoyed many books over the course of the last 12 months and I know there are more precious gems wanting to be gobbled up by me in 2015. All my favorite authors have something new coming out. Yippee!!

Since I read so many genres, I'm going to break this out by genre. First up is my original romance love.. historical.

There were so many to simply read, so many to devour, and so many to love. For 2015 my favorite is:

Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah Maclean: Read my review here

Between The Devil and Ian Eversea by Julie Anne Long: Read my review here

Fool Me Twice by Meredith Duran: Read my review here

Vixen in Velvet by Loretta Chase: Read my review here

The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan




Contemporary-- I love a good contemporary, but at times it's difficult to find one that breaks the mold

and explores tropes in different ways. There's so much of the same story out there, some done better than others. These are the few that really caught my eye and latched onto my memory.

Roulette by Megan Mulry: Read my review here

It Happened One Wedding by Julie James: Read my review here

The Bad Boy Billionaire's Girl Gone Wild by Maya Rodale: Read my review here

The Bad Boy Billionaire's Wicked Arrangement by Maya Rodale: Read my review here

Erotic - Technically most erotic I read is contemporary, but I believe all erotic falls into a separate category from other books I read. Because let's face it, erotic has more steam then a typical contemporary. I've had my boundaries pushed more in erotic books than any other genre... take note authors.

The Saint by Tiffany Reisz

Misbehaving by Tiffany Reisz: Read my review here

Bound to be a Groom by Megan Mulry






New Adult- I don't read a lot of this genre...yet. What I do read tends to be hit or miss, but I've found

several authors I don't mind diving into. Also both the books I've listed did something unique. In A Little Too Hot there was a surprise to end all surprises. The author caught me completely off guard and pulled a giant whammy that worked in all the right ways.
Beverley Kendall took the unplanned pregnancy trope to new and exciting heights. I wasn't throw off the heroines, like I am in so many pregnancy books and there's something to be said for an author tackling a difficult trope like this and making it fresh.

A Little Too Hot by Lisa Desrochers

Trapped by Beverley Kendall




Finally my favorite book. The book to make me scream from the rafters is duh duh duh....

The Kraken King by Meljean Brook

This was a serial novel that had me on tenterhooks, made me weep, hurrah, and pound my fists in fury as I anxiously waiting new pieces of it to come out. I devoured this book, spent far to many hours exulting it to fellow readers and begging everyone to buy the damn thing. Officially the hero, Ariq, is the my book boyfriend to end all book boyfriends. I've said this to the author as well, who I had the distinct pleasure of meeting at RT 2014 in New Orleans.
The book is steam punk and if you've never given the genre a chance I highly encourage it. You can't go wrong with Meljean Brook. She provides adventure, romance, and action in such wonderful doses. Also, you can buy the whole thing in one package now. :D




I can't for more wonderful books to read in 2015. In fact, I've already read a few and so far I'm impressed. There's going to be a lot of good books coming readers. So prep those bank accounts. Here's to hoping I can read as many books next year as I did this one.

NEW RELEASE: Trapped by Beverley Kendall #NewAdult #giveaway

Blurb:
My life has turned out to be such a cliché. And not in a good way.

It’s not exactly Sixteen and Pregnant, but at eighteen my only advantage is a high school diploma. And if that’s not enough, the father—and I use that term loosely—couldn’t have hightailed it out of my life fast enough.

I thought I really knew him. Unfortunately, my boyfriend of three years transformed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde once he realized his carefree, childless days would be coming to an end.

I’m over him now though. The real love of my life is chubby, has more gum than teeth, and stands a little over two feet tall. She may not have been planned, but I’ve never regretted having her. She is the center of my world.

A world that’s turned upside down when my ex returns ready to earn the love and trust of the child he abandoned before birth.

Letting him into my daughter’s life is one thing but letting him back into mine isn’t going to happen. Because the biggest mistake of my life has a name, and that name is Mitchell Aaron Kingsley.

And he’s one mistake I don’t ever intend to make again.

Review: 
NOTE: I strongly recommend you download The Trap for free first and give it a read through before launching into this story. It will provide more detail and if you like to pull on your heartstrings the prequel will do the job extremely well.

This book captures the difficulties of pregnancy at a young age, the challenges of doing the right thing, and how one decision will either break two people apart or bring them together to a tee.I loved this story, and it's a great romance as well as New Adult book.As a young mom myself I found Paige easy to relate to and so understanding of her plight. Mitch is a hot, and swoon worthy guy, who has to come a long way to redemption.Kendall is perfection when it comes to hooking a reader in and making me want to beg for deliverance. I couldn't get through each chapter fast enough and the progression is believable. Pacing, dialogue, and twisty turns are in full force and on target in this story as well. This author knows how to pack a wollop into a story and provide characters that grab you by the shoulders and say "Look at me".The romance scenes are on the spicy side, you are not shut out of the bedroom in this story, and there's plenty of room for more stories with delicious secondary characters. I can't wait to see what Kendall comes up with next. :)

Contest: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Purchase Trapped on:  Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iBooks ~ Kobo ~ GooglePlay
*Note currently the book is only available as Pre-Order on iBooks, but that should change soon. 

Author Bio: 
Beverley Kendall has lived on two continents, in three countries, two provinces, and four states. She stopped her nomadic existence and settled in the southeast with her young son. All things artistic feed her creative passion, but none more than writing.

Find Beverley: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads

Author Love: Jackie Barbosa

You may think I'm exaggerating, but let me make it perfectly clear Jackie Barbosa is the Queen of Spice. The reasons are simple, her books are so hot she has multiple reviews from readers claiming 'it's too much'. That means I need to buy every book. Right. Now. Because I love the 'it's-too-hot-to-handle' challenge.

I've purchase a couple of Barbosa's works from the self-published historical erotic read The Lesson Plan to her delicious, oh-too-spicy, threesome from Spice Briefs Grace Under Fire.

She's got talent, a flair for dialogue, and a good way of delivering characters you can love. Barbosa also produces a ton of quick reads, which appeal to me because for some reason I'm on a short story and novella kick.

One of her self-published series is contemporary and definitely perked me interest. Called the Gospel of Love series, three books are currently available, the stories revolve around four brothers seeking their HEA. Though I don't think any of them are get what they are expecting. I'm diving into this series headfirst, starting next week. It's part of my April reads for sure.

Outside of her books, Jackie and her family recently experienced a loss that I'd never wish upon anyone. Their son Julian, known as Alpha to the social media world, was taken from this world via a car accident. At this time the amazing Beverley Kendall has established a memorial fund operating in his honor and you can find more info about it here.

While we mourn for the loss of Alpha and honor his memory please consider supporting Jackie in the way readers and writers can, through loving her words and supporting her in this trying time.

Things Every One's Talking About: Sandy and Voting Day

She blew in from the south waters of the Atlantic, and crapped on the eastern seaboard. Then it spurned up thunderstorms, snowstorms, and a bunch of other weather messes further in the Mid-Atlantic region. Millions were and still are without power. NYC went dark. It's Mother Nature at her most potent. So, it's got me thinking about a couple of things.

Food, water, and the bare necessities: What are people doing out there to survive? They need help that's for sure. How can I do anything? Donate to the American Red Cross. For Americans everywhere all it requires is a quick text message and $10 gets tacked onto your bill. The number is 90999 for those who may have missed all the hubbub. Others outside the United States can still donate by going to www.redcross.org. I just can't imagine being in a disaster where I can get my children a drink of water or cook them dinner. Thankfully I haven't experienced a catastrophe of that nature.

It's Dark in NYC: Alright, I'm not knocking the city that never sleeps, because New York definitely doesn't sleep, but when I told my hubby that NYC went dark he said he was glad he lived here and not there. Our minds immediately went to the potential crime rise that would occur. I'm sure plenty of the people I know in the writer world are fairing just fine in the area. At least I hope and pray they are, but I've lived in the big cities and I don't like the crime insanity that follows a natural disaster. My prayers are not just for those without power but it's for those just trying to keep their personal property and families safe. "Hide yo kids, hide yo wife." People are inherently good, except for the 2% of the population who's in general a bunch of a-holes.

Now to the big news for Tuesday: It's voting day. Millions of American citizens are casting our votes for the next President of the United States, but it's more then just Romney vs. Obama. In each state there's other issues, we're casting votes on the definition of marriage, the right to legalize marijuana, State Representatives, County Judges, State Senators, and so many other things. So voting and exercising the ability to vote at first may seem like it's about the big race, when in fact it's about the little ones. Those little races and laws have a direct impact on day to day life and deserve every one's voice.

I don't talk about my personal politics on this blog, and for good reason. A friend and romance author, Beverley Kendall, once said that she loses far to many good friendships due to differences between religion and politics that it's better to not discuss them. I'm with her. So instead I'll just implore people to exercise their right to vote. You've got the ability, where others in some countries don't get the pleasure, so flaunt it, strut into that voter's booth and get your vote on.

To NYC and Jersey love you all and stay safe. I've already heard from the infamous shark, Janet Reid, who's been out to cast her vote on the streets of NYC. So even a hurricane won't get those folks down. In the word's of another president:

"...let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

Nothing will stop us from being heard except the fear that our voice doesn't matter. Don't fear, don't cower, vote.

Reading List for June 2011

Well, hello readers!
Where have I been, you ask??
On a getaway to some romantic island, with beaches, silk sheeted beds, and crystalline pools.... I wish!
Now that I am done in fantasy land, I've been reading. Yes, reading to my heart's content and dealing with a few stray projects. This post is severely delayed, but I figured I should get it out before next week's July reading list is presented.
1. One Night Scandal by Christie Kelley*
2. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
3. Cold Touch by Leslie Parrish*
4. Spirit of Seduction by Olivia Quincy*
5. Embraced by Blood by Laurie London**
6. Dangerous Desire by Diana Escalara
7. Duke of Scandal by Adele Ashworth
8. Seven Day Loan by Tiffany Reisz
9. Miss Verey's Proposal by Nicolal Cornick
10. Hidden Affections by Delia Parr
11. The Darkest Sin by Caroline Richards*
12. All's Fair in Love and Seduction by Beverley Kendall- Note review for this coming this week and special sale at The Season

(*)Review is posted on The Season E-Zine
(**) Review posted on The Examiner

Honestly, I am ashamed to say that my reading list was small for the month of June. But you will be proud to know that I read 3 books today. That's right... 3! An amazing feat even for me, and I was in absolute heaven. Goal for month of July is to read at least 15 books (which I believe I already broke), hopefully a few more then that but let's not push ourselves.
Question: What are you reading lately? WIP, non fiction or a good hearty dose of make believe?

Contest!!!

Email Excerpt is postponed for this week! Instead it's Contest Time!!!

The "I NEED LOVE" contest

The INL Grand Prize is one copy of either Delirium by Lauren Oliver, A Taste of Desire by Beverly Kendall, or Iron Duke from Meljean Brook. The title is the winner's choice.

INL Contest- To be eligible complete the steps.
1. Follow my blog or follow me on Twitter (@RiseoftheSlush).
2. Leave a comment and let me know where your following.
3. In the same comment tell me one book that I read in the month of February. *hint-this info is readily accessible.
4. Finally tell me what you would like to see on my blog to keep you coming back for more!

Contest Deadline: Sunday March 20th, 11:59 pm CST.

The winner will be randomly selected and posted on Monday March 21st.

Shake it and Bake it!