SBTB Goodreads Group discussion

What are you reading now? Are you loving it? Hating it?

Use this space for talking about your current reads!

I'm currently reading The Reluctant Highlander by Amanda Scott! I was fortunate to meet the author at the Scottish Festival in Orange County, CA last weekend and she signed a copy for me. I am such a big fan of her works; her books are historical romances always set in Scotland around the 14th/15th century. This one is turning out to be un-putdownable: I keep sneaking a few lines/pages in every moment I can.

Lori wrote: "
I'm currently reading The Reluctant Highlander by Amanda Scott! I was fortunate to meet the author at the Scottish Festival in Orange County, CA last w..."

A Scottish Festival?! That sounds awesome! And it's also cool they had a historical romance author there.

I'm currently doing a backlist binge of the Maiden Lane series. Even though I'm not a huge historical romance reading, I'm enjoying it so far. I'm also listening to them on audio.

For physical books: I just finished White Hot by Ilona Andrews and I DON'T WANT THE SERIES TO END!

Amanda wrote: "Lori wrote: "
I'm currently reading The Reluctant Highlander by Amanda Scott! I was fortunate to meet the author at the Scottish Festival in Orange Coun..."

Oh yes it's awesome! http://www.scottishfest.com/ I think there are others around the country too.

Lori wrote: "
I'm currently reading The Reluctant Highlander by Amanda Scott! I was fortunate to meet the author at the Scottish Festival in Orange County, CA last w..."
Lori, sounds like something I'd enjoy! Adding to the to-read pile!

M wrote: "Lori wrote: "
I'm currently reading The Reluctant Highlander by Amanda Scott! I was fortunate to meet the author at the Scottish Festival in Orange Coun..."

Yay! Happy to have contributed to your TBR pile. :-)

An Extraordinary Union
I'm reading An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole after seeing it rec'd multiple times in multiple places. I resisted for a while because I'm not usually a historical reader, but I love this one so far!

Rachael wrote: "An Extraordinary Union
I'm reading An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole after seeing it rec'd multiple times in multiple places. I resisted for a while because I'm not usually a hi..."

That was our Book Club pick for April! Alyssa Cole was able to join us for the chat and it was so informative and awesome. Glad you're enjoying it!

Just finished Lorelei James' That You Need. Starting the new Julia Quinn.

I recently finished The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (which I heard about on SBTB), and I *adored* it. I put the rest of her stuff on hold from the library immediately. I also just started The India Fan by Victoria Holt.

I'm finding these older romances to be really comforting right now. If anyone has any recs in a similar vein, I'm all ears!

Then again, I'm also looking forward to Dating You, Hating You by Christina Lauren, which comes out next week.

Leanne wrote: "I recently finished The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (which I heard about on SBTB), and I *adored* it. I put the rest of her stuff on hold from the library immediately. I also just started The Indi..."

OH! Leanne, do let me know what you think of Dating You/Hating You! I personally loved it and think it might be my favorite CLo book so far.

I'm going through the Macleods/de Piagets ... you might enjoy those, Leanne .... the only problem is the order is confusing ....

I usually have a paper, an ebook, and an audio going at the same time... so right now I'm reading The Day of the Duchess, by Sarah MacLean, The Untamed MacKenzie, by Jennifer Ashley, and A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J Maas.

It's not strictly a romance, but I'm listening to the audiobook of Crocodile on the Sandbank.

I've read it many, many times, and it never gets old. I just love Amelia and Emerson!

I am halfway through the new Julia Quinn book, The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband. She is always a fun read for me.

Suzanne wrote: "I usually have a paper, an ebook, and an audio going at the same time... so right now I'm reading The Day of the Duchess, by Sarah MacLean, The Untamed MacKenzie, by Jennifer Ashley, and A Court of..."

That'd exactly how I read also.

I'm completely surprised by how much I'm enjoying The Lost Vampire.

Middle Eastern vampire hero trying to find his mate. Fae heroine who can steal souls. You first meet her when she cuts off the pinky of a werewolf.

I'm new to the series, so some of the terminology is confusing, but nothing a cursory Google can't fix.

I've just finished "And Then He Kissed Her" by Laura Lee Guhrke. It was delightful! I cannot believe I had never heard of this author, especially since she's been writing since the 90s.

Anyway, it was pretty close to perfect... I'm going through her backlist right now... Before "And Then He Kissed Her," I read "Scandal of The Year," by the same author, and it was as nearly as satisfying as And Then He Kissed Her. Victorian and Edwardian settings, respectively.

My library has a bunch of her books so looking forward to catching up.

My other recent 'discover' -- again an author that has been around -- was Alissa Johnson. I read and enjoyed Nearly A Lady and An Unexpected Gentleman plus a few others.

And a note about libraries (and I may be the last person on earth to realize it), but I did interlibrary loans for the Alissa Johnson books and it was totally painless and very quick, at least where I live. For some reason in the past I had shied away from interlibrary loans...

Not a currently reading, but The Ripped Bodice has a summer reading challenge. Anyone else interested in doing it? I think I'm going to give it a shot.

Amanda, I am considering and I have a bunch of historical-leaning recs for some of the categories!

If anyone is interested, I can get a thread up so you can track the challenge and give recs!

Also, I plan on putting a post together for SBTB about the challenge and with recommendations,

Currently working my way through An Encounter at Hyde Park, an anthology from various self published authors (Regency era) and His Very Own Girl by Carrie Lofty (WWII era).

Amanda wrote: "Not a currently reading, but The Ripped Bodice has a summer reading challenge. Anyone else interested in doing it? I think I'm going to give it a shot."

I'm in! I just printed their bingo card last night and I'd love some recs for the categories.

Just finished the two books in Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy series: Burn for Me and White Hot The third book, Wildfire releases at the end of July. They are not easily categorized, but paranormal, UF, romance?

Feudal and fueding Houses of magic users set in an AU Houston with a slow burn romantic element. Very addictive series that I hope continues through more books.

Also read my way through Penny Reid's Knitting in the City series including the latest one, Dating-ish (which I think was one of her best).

I'm looking for some historical romance recs with characters that are not completely modernized. Something like Cecilia Grant or Sherry Thomas. Any recs?

Cassandra wrote: "Just finished the two books in Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy series: Burn for Me and White Hot The third book, Wildfire releases at the end of July. Th..."
Cassandra, I love Cecilia Grant and it's a toss-up between A Lady Awakened and A Gentleman Undone as far as being my favorite. I really like Sherry Thomas' Private Arrangements and Not Quite a Husband. Not Quite a Husband is probably my favorite of hers given the unusual setting (modern-day Afghanistan-Pakistan border) and heroine (a doctor back in the 1890s) but I've got to warn you that there's a little bit of crazysauce in that one (hero is battling a fever, heroine 'has her way' with him and he doesn't quite realize it).
My other rec would be any book by Erin Satie, Elizabeth Kingston, and Rose Lerner --- they really do their research.

Not Quite a Husband is my favorite Thomas too, the twist halfway through really sold it for me and I love the road trip vibe.

I have some Rose Lerner on my to read shelf, but the other two authors are new to me. Will check them out, thank you!

Cassandra wrote: "Not Quite a Husband is my favorite Thomas too, the twist halfway through really sold it for me and I love the road trip vibe.

I have some Rose Lerner on my to read shelf, but the other two authors..."

The King's Man by E. Kingston and Erin Satie's The Young Blood are favorites, and bonus point: TYB has some road trip vibe to it.

Cat wrote: "My other recent 'discover' -- again an author that has been around -- was Alissa Johnson. I read and enjoyed Nearly A Lady and An Unexpected Gentleman plus a few others.
@Mclaudia I luuuurrrvvvve A..."
Omg you are in for a treat with the two new Alissa Johnson books! I snapped them up for 99c each a while back (the start of my AJ kick) and I'm hoping for some lull in work and family life to savor no. 3 which is getting great reviews!!

Currently reading Outlander, The Witches: Salem. 1692, and Devil in Spring. I'm LOVING Outlander, though knowing that it's such a huge series is a bit daunting, but the sexy times...oh my god. The Witches is so creepy, so interesting, but I wish there was a chart with everyone's names and how they're connected- everyone is named Mather and it's confusing. Not sure yet how I feel about Devil in Spring- it has the houseparty in the country trope, which is definitely my catnip, and I love seeing how Evie and Sebastian are still so in love so many years later, but the book hasn't quite gripped me yet.

I'm reading Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders and it's sooooo good. It's super dark and emotional, but oh my god. The hero is a bearded blacksmith with lots of beta qualities. The heroine is an abuse survivor. It's a slow burn and dear lord.

As soon as I finish it, I'm buying the next book. I (surprisingly) remember seeing the second book tucked away on a shelf at my local indie bookstore. Fingers crossed it's still there!

When it comes to my romance novel habits, I've usually stayed pretty loyal to the historical genre. Then, a few weeks ago I devoured Going Nowhere Fast by Kati Wilde, and proceeded to fall into a contemporary hole in my attempt to recreate the intensity of that book. Really, I just need to reread it because I loved it so much. So much chemistry, so much delicious angst.

I've been a bit haphazard in my approach, flying around any and all sub genres. Right now I'm reading The Undoing, and while I don't consider this 'romance' in the truest sense after reading the first book in the Call of Crows series, it's still a lot of fun.

What's everyone reading this weekend? For those hitting the beach or a BBQ for the holiday, what books are you bringing with you?

I've waited for a lull to start Fair, Bright, and Terrible by Elizabeth Kingston. It's fantastic!!

Love Bec McMaster's books!

I'm getting back into Clive Barker's The Art Trilogy. But as for romance novels, I plan to go with the een menie mo approach to my book backlog.

I did pick up two of those three book collections of Nora Roberts novels. It would be nice to re-read Born in Fire when I have time.

I just finished Amanda Bouchet's A Promise of Fire as part of the Read A Romance Book Challenge.
LOVED IT!! So glad I picked it (&the second book) up when SBTB announced it was on sale. Gotta find a way to fit book two into next month's reads.

Ohh, I picked up A Promise of Fire a while ago too and haven't gotten to it yet! I will bump it up on my list - thanks Jayne!

@Mara - our delightful Amanda just posted a list of 50 Beta Heroes at one of her other gigs. 50 Irresistible Beta Heroes

Jayne wrote: "@Mara - our delightful Amanda just posted a list of 50 Beta Heroes at one of her other gigs. 50 Irresistible Beta Heroes"

Aw, Jayne! Thank you!

Dissension

This title for the reading challenge. I figured that the black and orange/gold cover would fit for the second challenge well.