Author Susan Mallery has created a magazine based on her fictitious town, Fool’s Gold, the setting of her most recent contemporary romance trilogy. What a cool idea! Susan also has a website about the town and its inhabitants.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been following conversations on Twitter regarding authors reissuing their out-of-print books digitally. Here are a few authors whose digital backlist titles I’ve purchased, or have on my wish list for next month. If you click on their names, it will bring you to their respective Smashwords page, or wherever it is that they’re selling their books.

• Alexis Harrington - Writes American-set historical romances. I recently reviewed Home by Morning.
• P.B. Ryan/Patricia Ryan – Writes historical mysteries set in Boston during the Gilded Age; also writes medieval and contemporary romances.
• Theresa Weir/Anne Frasier – She’s released some of her backlist titles at Smashwords. Bad Karma is available from Samhain.
• Laura Leone – According to her website, she’s planning to release some of her older books digitally in the coming months.
• Roberta Gellis – Many of her books have been re-released through Cerridwen Press. Unfortunately, the Roselynde Chronicles are not among them.
• Michele Albert - Six of her backlist titles are available on her website shop. Absolute Trouble is available for free download.

With all this talk of authors making their OOP books available digitally, it got me thinking of books I’d love to read, or re-read, but which are only available used, sometimes at ridiculous prices. They include:

• Several of Anne Stuart’s old books, such as Nightfall
• Candice Proctor’s historical romances, especially September Moon and Night in Eden
• Patricia Gaffney’s Wyckerly trilogy
• LaVyrle Spencer
• Penelope Williamson
• Laura London/Tom & Sharon Curtis
• Devil in Velvet by John Dickinson Carr

Which authors would you like to see release their out-of-print books digitally (or in print)? Are there any books you’d love to read but can only find used at astronomical prices?

As per usual, there are several new releases I want to get next month, and a few August releases I got as digital ARCs from NetGalley.

There are three books I don’t yet have, but really want to get my mitts on:

A KISS AT MIDNIGHT

BY

ELOISA JAMES

BLURB: Miss Kate Daltry doesn’t believe in fairy tales… or happily ever after. Forced by her stepmother to attend a ball, Kate meets a prince… and decides he’s anything but charming. A clash of wits and wills ensues, but they both know their irresistible attraction will lead nowhere. For Gabriel is promised to another woman—a princess whose hand in marriage will fulfill his ruthless ambitions.

Gabriel likes his fiancé, which is a welcome turn of events, but he doesn’t love her. Obviously, he should be wooing his bride-to-be, not the witty, impoverished beauty who refuses to fawn over him.

Godmothers and glass slippers notwithstanding, this is one fairy tale in which destiny conspires to destroy any chance that Kate and Gabriel might have a happily ever after.

Unless a prince throws away everything that makes him noble… Unless a dowry of an unruly heart trumps a fortune… Unless one kiss at the stroke of midnight changes everything.

WHY I WANT TO READ IT: Eloisa James writes beautiful prose, but her books don’t always work for me. When they do, though, they are keepers. She tends to write series with ensemble casts, and sometimes the secondary characters eclipse the main characters. A Kiss at Midnight is a stand alone book, so I’m hoping this will be less of an issue here. Fingers crossed!

HOT FINISH

BY

ERIN McCARTHY

BLURB: Suzanne Jefferson is broke, which is why she’s given up charity work for wedding planning. Fortunately, she has a high-profile client,and best of all, he’s paid in advance. There are just two teensy problems: The bride is a bona fide bridezilla, and Suzanne’s ex-husband is the best man. At least she thought he was her ex-husband!

Two years after their marriage fell apart, stock car race driver Ryder Jefferson still can’t stop thinking about Suzanne. Which is why he isn’t too upset that, due to a glitch, the two are still technically married. Now he’s imagining easing Suzanne’s woes by satisfying her needs in the bedroom. After all, that’s the one room they never argued in. Besides, with wedding bells ringing all around them, Ryder is wondering if,even though they’d quit the race a few laps too early,they can still come on strong with a big, romantic finish!

WHY I WANT TO READ IT: I have been waiting for Suzanne and Ryder’s book since I read Erin McCarthy’s Flat-Out Sexy in 2008. It’s probably my most anticipated romance release in 2010. If it sucks, I think I’ll cry. Plus my husband thinks the covers for the NASCAR series are hilarious. I’ve dared him to take one with him on the train to work. So far, he won’t bite.

BURNING UP

Anthology

BLURB: Angela Knight pairs a vampire warrior and his seductive captor in a battle against demonic predators.

Nalini Singh returns to the world of her Psy-Changeling series as a woman in lethal danger finds an unlikely protector-and lover.

Virginia Kantra continues the haunting tales of the Children of the Sea in her story of a wounded soldier rescued by an enigmatic young woman.

Meljean Brook launches a bold new steampunk series about a woman who strikes a provocative-and terrifying-bargain for freedom.

WHY I WANT TO READ IT: Meljean Brook’s Steampunk novella, Here There Be Monsters. This novella is a prequel to her new Steampunk series which will launch in October with the novel, The Iron Duke. I’ve been curious about this series ever since she mentioned it on her blog ages ago.

I received the following books as ARCs. For those I’ve already reviewed, I’ve added links. The others will be featured on the blog over the next couple of weeks.

Ruthless by Anne Stuart – Historical Romance

Libertine’s Kiss by Judith James – Historical Romance

White Heat by Brenda Novak – Romantic Suspense

All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins – Contemporary Romance

When our last credit card bill arrived, I realised I might have gone a tad overboard since my BeBook arrived – the lure of instant gratification and all that. So I vowed to be sensible and spend less this month.

Here’s a peek at a the books I bought before my book budget for July was well and truly blown. Note: I purchased them as ebooks, but they should all be available in print.

ECHOES FROM THE DEAD

BY

JOHAN THEORIN

Blurb: Can you ever come to terms with a missing child? Julia Davidsson has not. Her five-year-old son disappeared twenty years previously on the Swedish island of Oland. No trace of him has ever been found. Until his shoe arrives in the post. It has been sent to Julia’s father, a retired sea-captain still living on the island. Soon he and Julia are piecing together fragments of the past: fragments that point inexorably to a local man called Nils Kant, known to delight in the pain of others. But Nils Kant died during the 1960s. So who is the stranger seen wandering across the fields as darkness falls? It soon becomes clear that someone wants to stop Julia’s search for the truth. And that he’s much, much closer than she thinks …

THE DARKEST ROOM

BY

JOHAN THEORIN

Blurb: ‘The dead are our neighbours everywhere on the island, and you have to get used to it’. It is bitter mid-winter on the Swedish island of Oland, and Katrine and Joakim Westin have moved with their children to the boarded-up manor house at Eel Point. But their remote idyll is soon shattered when Katrine is found drowned off the rocks nearby. As Joakim struggles to keep his sanity in the wake of the tragedy, the old house begins to exert a strange hold over him. Joakim has never been in the least superstitious, but from where are those whispering noises coming? To whom does his daughter call out in the night? And why is the barn door for ever ajar? As the end of the year approaches, and the infamous winter storm moves in across Oland, Joakim begins to fear that the most spine-chilling story he’s heard about Eel Point might indeed be true: that every Christmas the dead return…

Why Did I Buy Them? My interest was piqued by Keishon’s review of The Darkest Room. My mother is also reading and raving about them at the moment.

THE HEAT IS ON (August 2010)

BY

JILL SHALVIS

Blurb: Oh, dear. Bella Manchelli is so not having a good day. First, she’s deliciously exhausted from last night’s sizzling one-night stand. Second, there’s a (gulp) dead body at her back door. Third…um, that scrumptious one-nighter is at her front door… and he’s wearing a badge!

Police Officer Jacob Madden is all about duty. Until he shows up looking for a homicide…and runs right into last night’s slice of sexy heaven! Damn, he just can’t think straight when he’s around Bella. All he wants to do is lick her up one side and down the other….

Can duty and smoking-hot sex blend for a while? Definitely! Until Jacob discovers that several of the guys Bella’s dated have turned up dead. Jacob loves being around Bella. But is he ready to be used as target practice?

Why Did I Buy It? I read and enjoyed Jill Shalvis‘ novella, Friendly Fire, which features another Madden brother as the hero. However, I was determined to hold off and get this book at a later point. Then Jill Shalvis was cruel/clever enough to post the entire first chapter of The Heat is On on her blog. After reading it, I knew I had to have this book NOW! (Note for those confused by the August publication date: I purchased this book in digital format at the eHarlequin eBook Boutique. They always sell the next month’s releases a month early on their site.

ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE (2010)

BY

JULIA LONDON

Blurb: Adopted as an infant, Jane Aaron longs to know the identity of her birth mother and why she gave her up.  Her only clue is the name of the small Texas town where she was born, so she’s come to Cedar Springs for answers.

Handsome ad executive Asher Price lost his wife, the beautiful, mysterious Susanna, in a terrible car crash eighteen months ago. When he hires Jane as the nanny for his two children, sparks fly.  Jane finds herself falling in love with both Asher and his children, but begins to suspect that Susanna was not the perfect mother and wife the family portrays her to have been.

As Jane gets closer and closer to finding out the truth about both her own and Susanna’s past, devastating secrets begin to emerge that may be more than anyone can bear.  Will the truth bring Jane and Asher closer together or tear them apart forever?

Why Did I Buy It? Although I’ve never read anything by Julia London, I saw One Season of Sunshine mentioned at All About Romance and the blurb appealed to me.

HIGHLAND REBEL (2009)

BY

JUDITH JAMES

Blurb: Amidst the upheaval of Cromwell’s Britain, Jamie Sinclair’s wit and military prowess have served him well. Leading a troop in Scotland, he impetuously marries a captured maiden, saving her from a grim fate.

A Highlands heiress to title and fortune, Catherine Drummond is not the woman Jamie believes her to be. When her people effect her rescue, and he cannot annul the marriage, Jamie goes to recapture his hellcat of a new wife…

In a world where family and creed cannot be trusted, where faith fuels intolerance and war, Catherine and Jamie test the bounds of loyalty, friendship, and trust…

Why Did I Buy It? I’ve been meaning to buy this book since it was released last year. Plus I’m about halfway through her newest release, Libertine’s Kiss, and loving it.

Have you bought any books so far this month, or have you been more fiscally responsible than I have?

With summer upon us – at least in the Northern Hemisphere – it’s time to plan my holiday reading.

This is one task I look forward every year. It appeals to my list-loving personality. I usually start thinking about what books to take with me a couple of months in advance, eventually narrowing it down to just a few contenders.

It’s double the fun this year as we had a staycation last summer, and the holiday before that was in Ireland. (No offense to my family and friends, but a holiday in Dublin is NOT the same as going somewhere I’ve never been before. Irish holidays invariably entail juggling visits so that I get to see everyone that I want to see, and no one feels left out.)

Moreover, this will be my first holiday with my BeBook. I’ll be able to bring more books than ever before! As I enjoy the anticipation of looking forward to particular books, there will still be a few I’ll save specifically for my holiday.

When choosing books to read on holiday, I try to have a mix of genres, books by favourite authors, and also ones by new-to-me writers who look interesting.

Here are the contenders so far for Sarah’s Holiday Reads 2010:

STONE’S FALL

BY

IAIN PEARS

Blurb: In his most dazzling and brilliant novel since An Instance of the Fingerpost, Iain Pears tells the story of John Stone, financier and armaments manufacturer, a man so wealthy that in the years before World War One he was able to manipulate markets, industries and indeed whole countries and continents. A panoramic novel with a riveting mystery at its heart, Stone’s Fall is a quest to discover how and why John Stone dies, falling out of a window at his London home.Chronologically, it goes backwards – London in 1909, then Paris in 1890, and finally Venice in 1867 – and Stone’s character and motivation deepen as the book progresses; in the first part he is almost an abstraction, existing only in the memory of those who knew him; in the second he is a character, but only a secondary one; in the third he is the narrator of the story. A quest, then, but also a love story and a murder mystery, set against the backdrop of the evolution of high-stakes international finance, Europe’s first great age of espionage and the start of the twentieth century’s arms race. Like Fingerpost, Stone’s Fall is an intricate and richly satisfying puzzle, completely engaging on many levels, a triumphant return for one of the world’s great storytellers.

Why Is It On My List? An Instance of the Fingerpost is one of my absolute favourite historical mysteries. I was disappointed in a couple of Pears’ other books, but Stone’s Fall has gotten excellent reviews.

BROKEN

BY

KARIN SLAUGHTER

Blurb: When the body of a young woman is discovered deep beneath the icy waters of Lake Grant, a note left under a rock by the shore points to suicide. But within minutes, it becomes clear that this is no suicide. It’s a brutal, cold-blooded murder. All too soon former Grant County medical examiner Sara Linton – home for Thanksgiving after a long absence – finds herself unwittingly drawn into the case. The chief suspect is desperate to see her but when she arrives at the local police station she is met with a horrifying sight – he lies dead in his cell, the words ‘Not me’ scrawled across the walls. Something about his confession doesn’t add up and deeply suspicious of Lena Adams, the detective in charge, Sara immediately calls in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Shortly afterwards, Special Agent Will Trent is brought in from his vacation to investigate. But he is immediately confronted with a wall of silence. Grant County is a close-knit community with loyalties and ties that run deep. And the only person who can tell the truth about what really happened is dead.

Why Is It On My List? Although her books are extremely violent, there’s no denying that Slaughter knows how to write compelling thrillers.

BUTTERFLY SWORDS

BY

JEANNIE LIN

Blurb: During China’s infamous Tang Dynasty, a time awash with luxury, yet littered with deadly intrigues and fallen royalty, betrayed Princess Ai Li flees before her wedding.

Miles from home, with only her delicate butterfly swords for a defense, she enlists the reluctant protection of a blue-eyed warrior…

Battle-scarred, embittered Ryam has always held his own life at cheap value. Ai Li’s innocent trust in him and honorable, stubborn nature make him desperate to protect her – which means not seducing the first woman he has ever truly wanted….

Why Is It On My List? The setting, the setting, the setting! I first heard this book mentioned on Twitter a few months ago, and I’ve been waiting for it ever since. Although it’s an October release from Harlequin Historicals, I’m hoping it will be available for order as an ebook in September.

HEARTSTONE

BY

C.J. SANSOM

Blurb: Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII’s invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the currency to pay for the war, and England is in the grip of soaring inflation and economic crisis. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of ‘monstrous wrongs’ committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth. Once arrived, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a city preparing to become a war zone; and Shardlake takes the opportunity to also investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettipace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam. The emerging mysteries around the young ward, and the events that destroyed Ellen’s family nineteen years before, involve Shardlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the throne. Events will converge on board one of the King’s great warships, primed for battle in Portsmouth harbour: the Mary Rose…

Why Is It On My List? This is the fifth book in C.J. Sansom’s wonderful Tudor mystery series featuring Matthew Shardlake. I’ve been waiting for this book for almost two years. Whether or not I read it on holiday depends on its ebook release date. The hardback will be out at the beginning of September, but I’d really rather not lug that with me.

Do you like to plan your holiday/vacation reading in advance? What’s makes a perfect holiday read?

There are several books on my radar for July 2010.

I’m currently reading an ARC of Leslie Parrish’s Cold Sight, the first book in her Extra Sensory Agents series.

Blurb: After being made a scapegoat in a botched investigation that led to a child’s death, Aidan McConnell became a recluse. Still, as a favor to an old friend, Aidan will help on the occasional XI case. But under his handsome, rugged facade, he keeps his emotions in check–for fear of being burned again.

Reporter Lexie Nolan has a nose for news–and she believes a serial killer has been targeting teen girls around Savannah. But no one believes her. So she turns to the new paranormal detective agency and the sexy, mysterious Aidan for help.

But just as the two begin forging a relationship, the case turns eerily personal for Lexie–and Aidan discovers that maybe he hasn’t lost the ability to feel after all…

Janice Kay Johnson’s SuperRomances are a recent discovery. I was pleased to see that she has two books out back-to-back in July and August respectively. The first is Charlotte’s Homecoming.

Blurb: Marrying a local guy and settling in her hometown has never appealed to Charlotte Russell. She’s got a good job in the city…until a crisis forces her return to the family farm. She’s not back long before the well-laid plans for her future fall apart. And she holds Mayor Gray Van Dusen responsible.

In fairness, the gorgeous man hasn’t deliberately messed up her plans. But his very active pursuit of her is sparking all kinds of strange urges. Such as the urge to abandon her urban life. The urge to see where these intense feelings between them could lead. And the strangest urge of all: to have a white picket fence in the last place she’d ever thought to settle.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s latest ebook Blogger Bundle will be released by Harlequin in July. America’s Bravest features four books by SuperRomance author Kathryn Shay.

Blurb: Feel the heat with Kathryn Shay’s firefighting couples in all four books in the America’s Bravest series. Meet the strong, vulnerable women who work alongside men in a competitive and dangerous profession, finding love through their own trials and tribulations. Bundle includes: Feel the Heat, The Man Who Loved Christmas, Code of Honor and The Fire Within.

Note: Code of Honor is also included in Blogger Bundle Volume I: Dear Author Selects Unusual Heroines.

Dear Author also has another Blogger Bundle out in July.

Blurb: For their second blogger bundle, Jane of Dear Author went to the experts: readers! Their task: recommend titles that have not been previously available as ebooks and vote on the ones they want in a bundle. Suggestions were made, reasons argued and votes cast. Now, the four winners are gathered here! From a romantic comedy from Harlequin Duets to an unusual younger hero story, they were the books that stayed in readers’ hearts and intrigued new readers’ minds.

Bundle contains: The Sweetest Taboo by Alison Kent, The Older Woman by Cheryl Reavis, Shotgun Nanny by Nancy Warren and Cullen’s Bride by Fiona Brand.

Love in the Afternoon is the fifth and final book in Lisa Kleypas’s Hathaway series. I still need to read the fourth Hathaway story, Married by Morning!

Blurb: Captain Christopher Phelan has been corresponding with the beautiful golden-haired Prudence Mercer while he was away fighting in the Crimean War. What he doesn’t know, however, is that the woman who wrote to him is actually Prudence’s best friend, Beatrix Hathaway.

Upon his return home to Hampshire, it becomes clear that Christopher’s experiences in war have changed him. In this scene, Beatrix and Christopher argue over the dog he brought back with him, a regimental mascot named Albert . . .

Although I’ve never read anything by Julia London, I saw One Season of Sunshine mentioned at All About Romance and the blurb appealed to me.

Blurb: Adopted as an infant, Jane Aaron longs to know the identity of her birth mother and why she gave her up.  Her only clue is the name of the small Texas town where she was born, so she’s come to Cedar Springs for answers.

Handsome ad executive Asher Price lost his wife, the beautiful, mysterious Susanna, in a terrible car crash eighteen months ago. When he hires Jane as the nanny for his two children, sparks fly.  Jane finds herself falling in love with both Asher and his children, but begins to suspect that Susanna was not the perfect mother and wife the family portrays her to have been.

As Jane gets closer and closer to finding out the truth about both her own and Susanna’s past, devastating secrets begin to emerge that may be more than anyone can bear.  Will the truth bring Jane and Asher closer together or tear them apart forever?

I’m a fan of Karin Slaughter’s thrillers but I need to be in the mood to read them as they tend to be extremely bleak and brutally violent. Her latest book featuring Dr Sara Linton and Special Agent Will Trent is called Broken.

Blurb: When the body of a young woman is discovered deep beneath the icy waters of Lake Grant, a note left under a rock by the shore points to suicide. But within minutes, it becomes clear that this is no suicide. It’s a brutal, cold-blooded murder. All too soon former Grant County medical examiner Sara Linton – home for Thanksgiving after a long absence — finds herself unwittingly drawn into the case. The chief suspect is desperate to see her but when she arrives at the local police station she is met with a horrifying sight — he lies dead in his cell, the words ‘Not me’ scrawled across the walls. Something about his confession doesn’t add up and deeply suspicious of the detective in charge, Lena Adams, Sara immediately calls the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Shortly afterwards, Special Agent Will Trent is brought in from his vacation to investigate. But he is immediately confronted with a wall of silence. Grant County is a close-knit community with loyalties and ties that run deep. And the only person who can tell the truth about what really happened is dead.

Here are a few July releases which I’ve already read and reviewed:

The Bikini Car Wash by Pamela Morsi – A

Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery – B

Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl – B-

Winning a Groom in 10 Dates by Cara Colter – C+

Mia’s Scandal by Michelle Reid – C+

Are there any books which you’re particularly looking forward to next month?

I like romance novels which torture the hero/heroine before giving them their Happily Ever After. Unfortunately, most of the romances published today sacrifice internal conflict for silly suspense plots. When the characters are put through the wringer, it usually concerns coming to terms with their unhappy childhoods, or some other unpleasantness from the past. Rarely are we confronted with difficult emotional problems in the relationship between the hero and the heroine, or with their family and friends.

That’s one of the reasons why I’ve enjoyed some of the romances from Harlequin’s SuperRomance line. In Sarah Mayberry’s Her Best Friend, for example, the heroine’s love for the hero is almost painful to observe. He regards her as nothing more than a good friend, and it takes some time for him to reciprocate her feelings. The heroine’s angst is palpable, and I was rooting for her to get the happy resolution which she so deserved.

Another SuperRomance with a healthy dollop of angst is Janice Kay Johnson’s Match Made in Court. When the heroine’s brother is charged with murdering his wife during a domestic dispute, she is left in charge of her six-year-old niece. She soon finds herself embroiled in a custody battle with her late sister-in-law’s brother, who wants his niece to have nothing to do with her paternal relatives. The real angst in this story concerns the heroine’s gradual and reluctant realisation that her brother may in fact be guilty of the crime with which he has been charged. It’s convincingly done, and heartbreaking to read.

Part of the appeal of Pamela Morsi’s Women’s Fiction books The Bikini Car Wash and Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk Bar was their bitter-sweet quality. While both books end on a positive note – TBCW more so than RHHTB – there are as many sad moments in the books as there are happy ones. I enjoy the feeling that I’ve been on an emotional journey with characters, not merely observed their story from afar. Pamela Morsi certainly delivers in this respect.

Historicals which pack an emotional punch have all but disappeared. One of the most memorable historical romances for me is one of Mary Balogh’s Christmas books, the title of which eludes me. It features a marriage of convenience story and the heroine’s father is dying from cancer. I rarely cry when reading books but that one had me blubbing.

Do you like angsty romances which pack an emotional punch? If so, which are your favourites?

I’m currently reading The Devil’s Star by Jo Nesbø. I started it a couple of days ago and I’m still only at the halfway mark. Although I am usually a very fast reader, there are certain authors whose books need to be read at a slower pace. In my opinion, Jo Nesbø is one of them. His writing style is not particularly complicated, nor are his plots overly convoluted, yet I feel compelled to read his work at a significantly slower pace than is my norm.

RRRJessica recently blogged in defence of slow reading. While I appreciate her point of view, I’ve never had a problem absorbing information while speed reading, or reading at my normal pace. With the notable exception of authors such as Jo Nesbø, Jo Goodman, and A.S. Byatt, I find it almost impossible to consciously slow down the speed at which I read.

Would you define yourself as a fast, average, or slow reader? Does the pace at which you read vary from author to author, or from genre to genre?

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My BeBook Neo is due to arrive on Monday. I’ve never been so excited over a gadget! I’m not going to admit the number of times I’ve clicked ‘refresh’ on my FedEx tracking link.

I’m planning on doing a couple of posts on my experiences as a newbie digital book reader. I’ll probably post the first one a couple of days after receiving the device, and another a few weeks later.

In the meantime, I would love to get a few recommendations of Samhain authors to try. I’ve been hearing good things about their books for the past couple of years, but I’ve only read one or two due to the exorbitant cost of their print editions.

Are there any Samhain authors/books on your ‘Must Read’ list?

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In anticipation of my BeBook, I signed up for NetGalley. I really should have done this ages ago. I got digital ARCs of two books I’ve been looking forward to reading: Victoria Dahl’s Crazy for Love (July 2010) and Anne Stuart’s Ruthless (August 2010). I’m hoping to read the Victoria Dahl book next weekend while bonding with my in-laws up a mountain.

Have a great weekend!

I started reading J.R. Ward’s Lover Mine a couple of nights ago. I got to page six before I was thrown out of the story by an unlikely scenario involving electrolysis, tattoos and pubes.

R.I.P., a disdainful tattoo artist, is about to ink a customer named Keri. The following scene is told from R.I.P.’s point of view, and he makes it clear that he’s dismissed Keri and her friend, Sarah, as airheads who are unworthy to be the beneficiaries of his artistic talent.

“I want a rainbow carp,” Keri said as she got into his chair with what she clearly intended to be an enticing arch. “Right here.”

She pulled up her tight little shirt, undid the zipper on her jeans, and pushed down the top of her pink thong. Her belly button had a hoop with a pink rhinestone heart dangling off of it and it was clear that she was into electrolysis.

“Fine,” R.I.P. said. “How big?”

Keri the seductress seemed to deflate a little – as if her no doubt one hundred percent success rate with college football players had led her to assume her would pant all over the real estate she was showing him.

“Um…not too big. My parents would kill me if they knew I was doing this…so it can’t show over a bikini bottom.”

Of course not. “Two inches?” He held up his tatted hand and gave her a sense of dimension.

“Maybe…a little smaller.”

With a black pen, he made a sketch on her, and after she asked him to stay on the inside of the lines, he snapped on his black gloves, got out a fresh needle, and turned on his gun.

It took Keri about a second and a half to sport tears and hang onto Sarah’s hand as if she were giving birth without an epidural. And that was the difference, wasn’t it? There was a huge divide between the hard-core and the wannabe.

Notice the incongruity in this scene? Or am I the only freak who stays awake at night pondering the relative painfulness of electrolysis and getting a tattoo?

As I have no tattoos and no plans to have electrolysis done, in my pubic region or elsewhere, I needed and expert opinion.

So I Skyped my mother. Here’s our exhange:

ME: Which was more painful: electrolysis or tattoo? Need to know for tomorrow’s blog post! I got thrown out of a book when a character with electrolysised pubes freaked out while having a tattoo done.

HER: Without a doubt, electrolysis is much, much worse.  Tattoo is nothing by comparison.  My finger tattoo was probably a bit more intense because it was on the bone and the older method (as used in 1972) went much deeper.  The tattoo on my wrist was damned near pleasant.  Electrolysis was pure unadulterated hell.  On a scale of 1 to 10 it was off the charts.  Compared to childbirth, it was worse. I had eloctrolysis nightmares for years.  Will probably have one tonight now…

There are a few new releases I’m looking forward to next month. Here are three of them.

SUGAR CREEK BY TONI BLAKE

I’m a sucker for contemporary romances set in a small town. I liked One Reckless Summer, Toni Blake’s first book set in Destiny, and knew I wanted to read Mike Romo’s story.

Blurb: Welcome to Destiny, Ohio—where two families have been at odds as long as anyone in town can remember.

Rachel Farris returned to her childhood home with one mission in mind: get Mike Romo out of her family’s apple orchard business and out of their lives. But hard-nosed and totally hot Mike, who happens to be the law in Destiny, is convinced the Farris clan stole the land from his family fifty years ago and he’s not backing down. Even when shapely trouble shows up in a pair of designer blue jeans. However, neither the hunky cop nor the sexy prodigal hometown girl can anticipate the electricity that heats things up whenever they’re together—adding new sizzle to an ongoing feud that’s raged for generations, and soon putting both their hearts at risk.

MAID TO MATCH BY DEEANNE GIST

I’ve been looking forward to reading this book ever since Wendy the Super Librarian blogged about it a few months ago. I’ve read one other book by Deeanne Gist so far – A Bride in the Bargain – and I enjoyed it. It was my first inspirational romance and I was very pleasantly surprised. The premise of Maid to Match looks equally interesting.

Blurb: From the day she arrives at the Biltmore, Tillie Reese is dazzled–by the riches of the Vanderbilts and by Mack Danvers, a mountain man turned footman. When Tillie is enlisted to help tame Mack’s rugged behavior by tutoring him in proper servant etiquette, the resulting sparks threaten Tillie’s efforts to be chosen as Edith Vanderbilt’s lady’s maid. After all, the one rule of the house is no romance below stairs.

But the stakes rise even higher when Mack and Tillie become entangled in a cover-up at the town orphanage. They could both lose their jobs, their aspirations…and their hearts.

SKIN TIGHT BY AVA GRAY

Skin Game, the first title in Ava Gray’s paranormal romance series, was one of my favourite books of 2009. Although I enjoyed Reyes and Kyra’s story, my favourite character was the enigmatic Foster. Skin Tight is his book.

Blurb: As a forensic accountant, Mia Sauter could usually tell when people had something to hide. She made her living exposing secrets while concealing her own. Then, in Vegas, she met a clever, ruthless man who called himself Addison Foster. One year later, she’s still haunted by his betrayal.

The truth of him had long ago been buried. Foster was only one name of many; he’d been so many men, he’d lost count. Reinvented as Thomas Strong and hell-bent on revenge, his mission is about to be compromised by the one woman capable of exposing him…

Reunited, they confront the explosive chemistry still crackling between them. But their chance meeting will have consequences, for a ruthless madman has his own deadly agenda. The question is—if they survive the fallout, will he choose love over vengeance?

Which new releases are you looking forward to in June?