I've scaled back my writing this summer due to vacations and such. I plan to jump back in, refreshed, at the end of July, but for the moment I'm reading like mad. Something I don't get to do often when I'm in full writing mode (which I have been since January).
For some reason I'm on a historical binge (I know this is a romantic suspense blog, but hey, most of the historicals I'm reading are suspense as well!), so I thought I'd pass along some really good summer reading material.
I'm not a fan of Susan Wigg's contemporaries but I absolutely love her historicals. I just finished the second book in her Chicago Fire trilogy and highly recommend both The Hostage and The Mistress. The romance is slow in these and I don't mean slow in the bad sense. I mean the path the main characters take to falling in love is a winding one, but it seemed so much more realistic than some of the romances where they fall in love (or bed) within the first three chapters. The stories are about three girls who survive the great Chicago fire and how their lives, and luck, change. Its an interesting concept that Wiggs introduces--that people can change who they are in the chaos of a tragedy.
Lisa Kleypas', Married by Morning, was wonderful. I just love tortured heroes and the hero in this book is definitely tortured. This is the third book in the series, but I didn't read the other three and was able to follow along easily. I liked it enough that I purchased another one in the series because the secondary characters intrigued me.
The next book in my TBR pile is The Firebrand, the third and final story in the Chicago Fire trilogy. Then after that? Well, I don't have to tell you that my TBR pile is enormous, but the characters in my head are clamoring to be let out and I'll probably return to my writing after that, revived, refreshed and ready to go.
What are you reading this summer?
3 comments:
I'd not heard of a series based on the Chicago Fire! What a hoot. I'm somewhat of a Chicago Fire buff, so I'll have to give that a look. You know, don't you, that there's a theory that the fire was caused not by the cow, but by Peg Leg O'Sullivan? There's at least one book out about that (can't remember the name -- I'll look it up for you!) -- but the Chicago City Council even re-enacted the whole thing, to clear the cow. Again, I'll look up that for you, just in case you're interested.
This suspense novel isn't in the "hot romance" genre, but it's still enjoyable and well, suspenseful! It's "Rogues, Riches and Retribution," by Harry Taylor, and love, of course, does enter into the picture, along with the Mafia, revenge, family secrets, greed, murder -- all the good stuff. The characters are intriguing (kid who witnesses his dad's death grows up to avenge it, schooled by the Mafia; plus a wealth Arab, snooty lawyer, his daughter) and the plot keeps you guessing.
Found the link to the book about the Chicago Fire. Non-=fiction, but I recall it as very readable.
I've read two Harlequin Superromances by former SOS member Christyne Butler. Both are contemporary westerns and a lot of fun. I also like any of B.J. Daniels Harlequin Intrigues, especially those set out West.
I don't spend as much time reading as I should. My TBR files are enormous.
I've downloaded the first of JoAnn Ross' High Risk series, FREEFALL, and I think it's the next one I'll read.
Post a Comment