Recommend Monday!

Good Monday Everyone!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend and you're ready for a brand new week. My weekend was wonderfully full with reading, writing and spending time with my hubby and fur-kids. Our weather has been exceptional and though I'm afraid we're going to pay for it with a blizzard in May or June, I'm enjoying the heck out of it right now.

Wanted to say thank you again to Anne Woodall for doing such an exceptional job last week on the blog. Her post was so well thought out and had me adding several new-to-me authors to my TBR list.

My plan is to have one reader Recommend Monday blog a month, giving you all a chance to talk about your favorite books, series, authors, why you read romance or your favorite types of themes. Basically anything to do with books, reading or romance. If you're interested, email me at christy@christyreece.com and we'll chat. I've got volunteers booked through April, but the rest of the months are up for grabs.

I did read a fabulous book over the weekend, but I'm judging it for the RWA Rita contest and can't tell you what it is. (Yes, I know that's cruel!) I've got eight books to judge, with a deadline of early March. Got lots of reading to do and at some point, I'll definitely be recommending some of these books. So many fabulous authors and stories out there!

However, I wanted to mention again that if you haven't read Wait For Me by Elisabeth Naughton, you're missing out. I'm a sucker for an amnesia story and the way the heroine loses her memory is scarily realistic. There's a wonderful amount of angst, sizzle and suspense and I loved how Naughton allowed Kate and Ryan the time to fall in love again. Highly recommended!

SECRETS OF A SOUTHERN NIGHT is coming along very well. Zach and Savannah had a few more secrets than I originally thought. LOL I actually thought there was only one major secret. Boy oh boy do my characters love to surprise me. Now you know why I torture my characters so much...they do it to me first!

Okay, gotta go...hubby's calling. Saint's Alive, he's making me breakfast!

Can't wait to see what books you loved last week. And while you're at it, tell us what up-coming releases you're excited about reading.

Happy Monday All!

Recommend Monday with a Guest Blog!

Good Monday Everyone!

I'm finally home for a few days. Hubby is taking my place looking after my mom. (Love that man!) Thanks to all for the prayers and good wishes. Mom's doing great and is scooting around on her walker faster than I can walk. (:

As I mentioned last week, I asked one of the blog's long time commenters to guest host for me today. Anne Woodall, or as you all know her, Oklanannie, has been a contributer to this blog almost as long as I've been blogging. And she definitely knows her way around a book. (: I was thrilled when she said yes and told me what she'd like to blog about. Her post fits in perfectly for Recommend Monday and I know you'll not only enjoy it, but you'll be adding more authors to your TBR list.

Thank you so much, Anne, for hosting today's blog. I loved your post and I know everyone else will too.

I'm headed into my writing cave where Savannah and Zach are about to discover that Alabama fireworks aren't always in the sky. Can't wait to see what you're recommending today. I'll hop on a little later and add my own recommendation.

Happy Monday All! And now, here's Anne!

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Happy Monday Morning!

Hope everyone enjoyed a good weekend doing what they like best. For me, that’s spending time with family, finding a real bargain on a snazzy pair of shoes, and a little time reading a good book.

It’s no secret to some of you that I had a really hard time making the transition from paper books to e-readers. I was determined that nothing would ever take the place of my beautifully covered books. And absolutely nothing was ever going to change my mind either. But one very stubborn daughter and a beautifully wrapped gift revolutionized my entire reading experience. Yes, a Kindle e-reader is now an important part of my daily life. The road has been long and the potholes filled with lots of those "naughty" words, but "Miss Kindie" (as I so lovingly named her) has won me over. Because of her I’ve been on new journeys into the world of new-to-me authors and books I may never have otherwise given a chance. We’ve definitely reached the BFF status. In turn, I want to give Miss Kindie her very own "Happily Ever After." I’m calling it an "arranged" relationship between Miss Kindie and a handsome Kindle Fire. "Fire" will be joining our reading family soon. A lesson learned and quoting my two-year old granddaughter’s current distraction, the Bieber (Justin, that is) -- one should "NEVER SAY NEVER!"

When Christy asked if I would guest blog today, I immediately thought it might be fun to share some of the experiences Miss Kindie and I had exploring the world of e-book mania in 2011. Some of our searches have been highly successful and rendered great rewards; others not so much. Today I’m only interested in discussing those that ended on a positive note. And you must admit, with the number of new authors offering freebies and 99-cent deals, there are plenty of experiences to be had.

Here’s a list of the "best new authors and e-book discoveries in 2011" that my new BFF and I stumbled upon:

1) Marie Force (While this author is neither new-to-me or unknown, her self-published e-books are certainly worth mentioning and an auto-buy the moment she releases them. I would be remiss in not recommending them.)

"Fatal Series’

"McCarthys of Gansett Island Series"

2) Kaylea Cross (This author’s "Deadly Descent" blew me away. I loved her realistic writing style which actually put me in the co-pilot’s seat when the helicopter went down! Her "Suspense" series is also pretty darn good and kept me coming back for more.)

"Deadly Descent" (Book #1 Bagram Special Ops Series)

"Out of Her League" (Books #1 - 5 "Suspense" Series)

"Cover of Darkness"

"No Turning Back"

"Relentless"

"Absolution"

3) Tracy Sumner (I read the introductory historical novella first and was hooked so I went looking for other books by Sumner. That’s when I found the Seaswept Seduction Series which skyrocketed her historicals to some of my favorites.)

"To Desire A Scoundrel" (introductory novella to 2012 "Southern Heat Series")

"Tides of Love" (Books 1-2 Seaswept Seduction Series)

"Tides of Passion"

4) Kristen Ashley (She writes all her books in first-person! And surprise, surprise-- it really works. Her books are all about the over-the-edge alpha male with off-the-chart sexual encounters and very dirty talk! What? You think Oklanannie can’t handle the heat and badasses? Note: Biggest problem is the editing in these books but for some reason the Harleys and the biker babes overshadow these problems!)

"Sweet Dreams" (part of a buddy-read challenge on Goodreads)

"Heaven and Hell"

"Mystery Man" (Books 1-2 "Dream Man Series")

"Wild Man"

5) Jaycee Clark (Very well-written and enjoyable romantic suspense series. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.)

"Deadly Shadows" (Books 1-4 "Deadly Series)

"Deadly Ties"

"Deadly Obsession"

"Deadly Games" (to be released in February, 2011)

6) Catherine West

"Yesterday’s Tomorrow" (An unbelievably emotional and touching story set during the Viet Nam War and probably my most favorite discovery in 2011.)

7) Melissa Foster

"Come Back to Me" (Another real tearjerker from beginning to end - you’ll definitely need kleenex but it’s worth it!)

8) Teresa Reasor (Can’t wait for the next book from this new author - her writing style "sealed" the deal!)

"Breaking Free" (Book #1 "SEAL Series)

9) Jessica Park

"Flat-Out Love" (Very different, extremely entertaining. Quirky writing style. Can’t say I enjoyed this one, but certainly it kept my attention making me glad I stumbled onto it. It got rave reviews on Goodreads.)

10) Rita Henuber (Another new author whose next book will be an auto-buy for me!)

"Under Fire" (Non-stop action suspense thriller with sizzling romance and great characters)

Along with your usual Monday Recommendations, I hope you’ll share your own favorite 2011 e-book discoveries.

And from all of us – GET WELL SOON wishes to Christy’s mom!

Recommend Monday!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Mine was good but super busy and looks like this week will be even busier. More about that in a minute.

Thanks again to all those who have emailed or sent me messages about SWEET REWARD and the end of LCR. I so love hearing how much you've enjoyed the series. If you haven't heard back from me yet, please be patient. I promise to answer all your messages.

Your list of 2011 favorites was great! I've already added about twenty new books and a couple of new series to my TBR list. And thank you to those who included the SWEET trilogy on your list! Congrats to SusanT for winning an LCR book of her choice and a $10 Barnes and Noble card! Sue, I'll email you soon or you can email me at christy@christyreece.com with your mailing info.

I'm going to be out of pocket most of this week. Many of you may remember that my mom had knee replacement surgery last April. Well, it's time for the other knee, so I'll be spending a lot of time at the hospital and at my mom's home. The Internet service is spotty at best, so I won't be able to check in very often. Also, I won't be here for next week's Recommend Monday. However, I have a special treat for you! One of the blog's regular commenters, Oklanannie, is going to do a guest blog. I believe she's going to talk about all the wonderful ebook authors she's discovered recently and invite you to post your favorites, too. And of course, she'll ask for your regular recommended reads from the week before.

Since I'm going to be pushed for time over the next few months, I may make a reader's guest blog a monthly thing. So if you think you'd be interested in doing something like this, please let me know. I only have two rules for this blog: Stay positive and non-controversial. You can blog about your favorite romance book of all time, why you read romance or anything romance related. If you think you might be interested in something like that, shoot an email to me at christy@christyreece.com and let's chat!

Getting back to the business at hand, I do have a recommend for you. Last week, I finished up a fabulous romantic suspense by Elisabeth Naughton called Wait For Me. I believe it's an ebook only and was absolutely fantastic. Full of angst, tears, emotion, suspense and lots of sizzle. Here's the link over at Amazon if you want to check it out. http://www.amazon.com/Wait-Me-Romantic-Suspense-ebook/dp/B006P3B9MO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326723753&sr=8-1

Okay, that's it for me. I'll try to check in later on this week and say hey. Looking forward to hearing about your recommends!

Have a marvelous Monday!

Recommend Monday and Favorites of 2011!!!

Good Monday Everyone!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend. Mine went too fast but was excellent. Did some writing, reading, sleeping and eating. The four essentials for a restful and wonderful weekend!

Before we get started on the recommends, I want to thank all of you who have purchased SWEET REWARD, either as paperback or ebook. I got the fabulous news last week that my publisher is printing more books and that the ebook sold extremely well. So thank you, thank you, thank you! If you've not been able to find the book, hopefully with more being printed, you can find it easily now.

Also, thank you so very much to those who have emailed me or sent me messages about SWEET REWARD and how much you're going to miss the Last Chance Rescue gang. I sincerely appreciate your kind words. If you have the opportunity to leave a review at your favorite review site, that's certainly appreciated too! And if you get the chance, would you mind clicking 'like' on the SWEET REWARD Amazon page? Here's the link:

http://amzn.to/y4RVKQ

This week, I'm digging deep and hoping Savannah and Zach are ready to share all those secrets they're keeping. Just from what they've told me so far, I'm loving them both already!

With all the holiday craziness now over, I thought it'd be fun to chat about our favorite reads from 2011. Not necessarily published in 2011, but the ones you read and enjoyed in 2011. I won't limit the list to a certain number, so if you have 1000 favorite reads and you've got the energy to type them, go for it! I didn't get to read near as much as I wanted to last year, however, as I was going through my list, I realized I read more than I'd thought and with very few exceptions, enjoyed them immensely.

Here's my list for fun and memorable reads of 2011 (In no particular order)

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

Sweet as Sin by Inez Kelley

Breaking Point by Pamela Clare

Heaven Can't Wait by Pamela Clare

Ride the Fire by Pamela Clare

What Mattered Most by Linda Winfree

Bewitching by Jill Barnett

Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen

Because of You by Jessica Scott

You Belong to Me by Karen Rose

Circle of Desire by Carla Swafford

Face of Danger by Roxanne St. Claire

Hush by Cherry Adair

Virgin River by Robyn Carr

There were many more I intended to read but time ran out on me. They're at the top of my 2012 TBR list!

So what about you? What were your favorites? For extra incentive and to SWEETen the pot, one commenter will win a signed Last Chance Rescue book of your choice and a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card. I'll wait until next Monday to announce the winner. That way, you have all week to gather your favorites and make your list.

Okay, I'm headed out for a walk and hope that my characters come along, too. Then it's a day full of writing for me.

Hope you all have a fabulous week. Can't wait to see your 2011 Favorites!

Recommend Monday and Happy New Year!!!

Good Monday All!

Sorry I'm late! (Bad way to start off a new year!) We just drove in from my mom's where we rang in the new year with champagne, old movies and Mayberryopoly. Fun was had by all!

How was your new year's weekend? Did you party, stay at home with family and friends or sleep through it? Any fun stories you want to share?

I had planned to start off the year talking about our favorite reads from last year but I didn't get a chance to put my list together. You might want to think on it too, so let's table that discussion until next Monday. That way we'll be sure to hit all the ones we loved in 2011.

Thank you to everyone who has emailed me or sent me messages via Facebook and Twitter telling me how much you loved Mia and Jared in SWEET REWARD. There's no sweeter reward for an author than to hear those words!

I'm blogging over at Fresh Fiction today, talking about tortured characters, which, as you know, includes most of the LCR gang. Hope you'll come over and chat. There's a SWEET giveaway! Also, just got notice that SWEET REWARD is a Fresh Fiction Fresh Pick! Woohoo! How SWEET is that! Here's the link to the blog: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=3869

And here's the link to the Fresh Pick page: http://freshfiction.com/pick.php Come by and say hey!

The past couple of weeks have been crazy busy with the holidays and a SWEET release, but I did manage to read a fabulous book! I think I saw this book recommended on an Amazon forum and thought it sounded interesting. So glad I went with the recommendation. What Mattered Most by Linda Winfree was a fabulous angst-filled and emotional journey. The HEA isn't an easy one but well worth the effort it takes to get there.

What about you? What have you read lately that you absolutely loved?

This week I'm planning to write like the wind. I have a March deadline. I also have two characters who went silent on me during the holidays. Now that the fun and frivolity is over, I'm counting on them to get serious and tell me their story. Wish us luck!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Monday. Can't wait to hear what you're recommending today!