I spy Heaven, Texas.

I saw someone reading Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips on the bus on my way home from work today.

The cover that I saw is the one in the middle.

Sometimes, I get kinda excited seeing someone reading a book on the bus or train. I always try to see what book they're holding and occasionally do strain my neck doing so. But it's interesting knowing what others around you go for.

The only two Susan Elizabeth Phillips books that I've read so far are Nobody's Baby But Mine and This Heart of Mine. These stories are so wonderful and beautiful and sweet with really fun situations, like that softball game in This Heart of Mine. That part totally rocks. One of the best written situations I've ever read. I'm definately going to read more of her books in the future, starting with all those in the Chigaco Stars series. Heaven, Texas is one of the books in this serie too.

I've got 5 new books!

So, envy me.

Yesterday, I only planned go to renew my free membership at a bookstore than then and grab some Aphrodisia books, but I "accidentally" checked my email before I left my home, and ended up printing discount coupons emailed from another bookstore, and thus making a trip there too.

And wow, I remember having a big headache (there're just too many damn books that I want).

I decided to pick up Erin McCarthy's High Stakes and Bit the Jackpot, and also Men at Work (which is related to Surf's Up). Reasons being I need more sexy vampires in my life now and that these books rarely turn up at any bookstores anymore (because I'm always late in discovering books).

Anyway, I was ALMOST wanted to jump and scream for joy, seeing P.J Mellor's Give Me More on the shelf.

Ever since I've read P.J Mellor'sPleasure Beach (My first Aphrodisia book actually), her books became an automatic must-buy for me. Her heroes are cute (I know I use this adjective alot) and I feel that her stories have a little bit of the fairytale theme, those love-at-sight (ok it's more of lust-at-first-sight) and got-married-and-live-happily-ever-after thingies.

And how can I not pickup The Firefighter too?

One book down!

I finished reading The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain, and it contains an element in it which I always get very frustrated reading about: a couple not understanding each other, not being honest with each other, and getting what they say and do taken out of context by each other almost all the time, and this usually goes on for a long time in most stories. Bummer.

Even though I dislike the frustrations I get from these kind of situations, the ending is always very satisfying. As with this book The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain, I got the prince shedding tears for this wife. This is sooooo satisfying.

Men like Claudio did not cry. Not ever.

Yea right.

Well then, now to the sweetest moment for me: It's the part where King Vincente (poor man in hospital because he just had a heart attack), reminds Therese to call him Papa instead of, well, King Vincente (and I have no idea how to pronounce this name).

And I have to add, in a conversation at the ending (second last line actually), Therese refers to King Vincente as Papa (without reminders from the King). I just find it very signifinant and suitable for this word to be brought up at the end. It feels to me that Therese is now very comfortable (and happy) with her life and had accepted herself with no doubts as being part of the family. And again, a satisfying thought.

Wow, a "Papa" moment made me weep instead of the "I love you" moment. Rare.

A Harlequin Sexy!

Got a new book today: The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain by Lucy Monroe, the third book in a trilogy about the Scorsolini Princes, and yes somehow I have this habit of not reading connecting book series in order.

Picked it up a second-hand book store today after work. It's one of those few times that I feel that I must buy some book (any book at all), or go home feeling extremely miserable (even though there's a beautiful TBR mountain back at home sweet home).

This kind of feeling is rather unhealthy actually, as I could end up buying books I didn't really want and waste money. But sometimes I rather risk this than go home feeling miserable.

But then, I hardly ever regret buying any book at any time.

Like now, I'm glad I got this book (oh just look at how finely chiselled is the face of the hunk on the cover), and I can't wait to read it.

Axel and Marilee.

I wanna rant alittle about the two supporting characters from Out of this World.

Axel and Marilee are really, really cute. They feel alittle scary to me at the beginning, because I didn't know who the hell they are, staying in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, and thus I'm so very, very suspicious of them.

But I did get to know them as the story progresses, and I love their little banters.

Ah, I think I figured out my favourite lines from the book:

"You're the prettiest idiot I've ever known."

and also:

"You're such a beautiful liar."

Both sincerely (I think) from Axel to Marilee. How sweet~

Well, the words"idiot" & "liar" are negative, but still these two lines sounded very honest to me, and it's just so cute cute cute.

Marilee's knowledge of cooking/baking is really entertaining, and oh Axel I don't even know what to say about his grining at almost everything! I love what authors sometimes do to their supporting cast, making them really crazily fun and out of this world.

Fulfilled my Punishment: Out of this World!

I finished reading Out of this World yesterday. Read about what's with the "punishment" here and here.

The book is written in first person, which I wasn't really a big fan of. But I'm getting to like them due to alot of fabulously written ones.

In Out of this World, other than getting into Rachel Bond's mind (the girl who wrote the pros and cons on Alaska on the blurb), we get her good friend Kellan's view of things too, which surprised me because I totally didn't expect that. I don't read alot of first persons you know.

And that's probably what I enjoyed most about the book -- reading Kellan's view.

I got an overload of emotional feelings reading the first part of chapter 5 (Kellan's point of view), when Kellan is thinking about his and Rachel's past together: Rachel in kindergarden/high school/or just life in general together before this Alaska thing.

Of course, if Rachel would just realise that I'm her soul mate...

I'm a sucker for such thoughts, though they make me want to hit Rachel hard in the head (Of course I support Kellan. I always suport the heroes).

Unexpectedly, Out of this World had really taken me for a wild heart-stopping ride. I'd never thought there would be a your-life-is-in-danger moment in the book. But there is, complete with guns and pirates and all. Seriously, from the cover and blurb, I thought it's just a normal twist of your average cute romances with penguins in them. No danger involved. Hmm, maybe I should have taken a hint from the text under the title on the cover:

And I don't mean that in a good way...

Anyway, it has been quite an exciting reading experience for me. Me, who hardly ever touch paranormals or first persons. Now, throw me paranormals and first persons anytime.

Oh Pink Ice Pink Ice Pink Ice Pink Ice Pink Ice

I have a sudden urge to want to get my hands on Susanna Carr's Pink Ice now. I want I want I want I want I want!

*Sigh*

Is there a solution or a cure for one who seriously has too many books she wants to get her hands on all at once? Especially for one who lacks the time (to read), money (to buy) and bookshelf space (to house them all)? How can this pathetic girl with a want of almost 10+ books per month save herself from the frustration of not being able to hold and read the book she want to at any moment? ANY moment at all?

Oh nevermind.

Meet three beautiful sisters, a jewel thief, and the incredible pair of earrings that makes their hottest fantasies come true…

The stunning pink diamond earrings are guaranteed to bring out the bombshell in every woman. So Sabrina, Lindsay, and Nicole pool their cash and decide to share. Little do they know that these perfect baubles are going to make their previously tranquil lives utterly X-rated…

Read the fantastic excerpts here. I can always count on Susanna Carr to provide entertaining, one-of-a-kind, and even hilariously embarrassing situations involving the hero and heroine.

I need Vampire Romance! Like... NOW!!!

Ok, not now, so I'll just have to content myself with reading excerpts online.

Currently, the only book that I own with vampires in it is the anthology Surf's Up.

I never thought I would ever take up reading paranormal romances (or at least I thought I wasn't interested in them). But I picked up Surf's Up (knowing it contains two paranormal stories) because I was in a bookstore with 20% off storewide at that time and I was really aching to buy something. And so, with the hot bod on the cover, I gave up resisting the book and bought it.

I thought I'd like Janelle Denison's Hot and Bothered the most because it's a normal contempary romance, but no, MaryJanice Davidson's Paradise Bossed and Nina Bangs' Hot Summer Bites actually appealed to me alot more (to my own surprise too).

By the way, I want to take this chance to mention that my favourite story of Janelle Denison is Something Wilde from the anthology I Brake For Bad Boys. ☺

The ending for MaryJanice Davidson's Paradise Bossed is really sweet. I don't know how many times I read the last chapter, and oh (since the book is right infront of me as I type) *flips to the last chapter and reads it again

***

Ok! Having finish reading that, now on to Hot Summer Bites by Nina Bangs!

Now, I do see the advantage of having a paranormal theme. If it's a normal story, how would you get the hunk to join minds with the lucky woman who he's going have sex with and tell her that he loves her (in her mind) before they make love? How can any normal people do that?! Well, that sexy vampire Taurin in Hot Summer Bites did it!

Score: Vampires ONE, Basically anybody else unless they have special powers too ZERO.

The plus point of reading paranormal romances: experience especially sweet/sexy/heart-warming moments that you can never get in normal romances.

Oh by the way, yesterday I finally read the excerpts from Erin McCarthy's two books in the Las Vegas Vampires series: High Stakes and Bit the Jackpot. The excerpts alone made me hungry for even more vampires. My absolute favourite part of the excerpt from Bit the Jackpot is when the heroine Cara told vampire Seamus to take a fucking hike.

Vampire Love, anyone?

I've gotten my "Punishment" : Out of This World!!

I got my hands on Out of This World by Jill Shalvis yesterday (like I said I would) and it goes on top of my beautiful pile of white-spined Brava Books:

Yes, I shelf my books according to colours of book spines.

Well, mostly according to colours for anthologies though.

Oh by the way, guess what I found hiding behind Out of This World on the shelf of the bookstore I was in:

I just grabbed both books in one hand and ran for the cashier. And do I feel embarrassed when I placed Pure Sex on the counter? Not really, it's not like the cashier is screaming: "You perverted gal!" *shrugs*

The queue at the cashier was very long, because there's a 20% discount storewide. Anyway, here's a sentence from the blurb for the one of the novellas, The Bet by Lucinda Betts, at the back of the book:

If golden girl Zoe wins the company’s big promotion, she gets Phillip’s bonus. If Phillip wins, Zoe’s his sex slave for twenty-four hours.

A steamy idea, love it!

The book cover looks very classy by the way, but what I wished this book didn't have is the loud title. I live in a conservative country (hello Singapore!) & belong to a conservative family (I can just imagine my parents freaking out if they saw this book, or any of the very few Aphrodisia books I own). I have to throw these kind of books (with sexy images on the cover) to the extreme back of my book cupboard. Not that I'm complaining about the sexy covers.

But what can I expect from erotic romance book covers? Penguins dressed like bell boys carrying suitcases?

Read some reviews on Pure Sex at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Check out the Aphrodisia Authors blog too.

Abrupt ending here, bye!

How to get your favourite author to contact you.

Misspell their name on your blog.

Step by Step Instructions:

1) Start a blog online. Make sure it's about books.

2) Create links to your favourite authors.

3) Misspell your favourite author's name in the links (E.g: Jill Shalvis becomes Jill Shavis. Note the missing letter L? Good.)

4) Post a comment (with your email & blog add) on the blog of your intented victim- I mean, author.

5) Check your email the next day.

6) Congratulations! You just got emails from your favourite author!

PLUS POINT: Bragging rights instantly. (E.g: "Hey guys! You never knew who emailed me yesterday!)

NOTE: Remember to leave out the contents of the email while bragging.

I'm not kidding! It WORKS!!

Anyway, the deal is, Jill SHALVIS emailed me because I misspelled her name on my blog. (Of course it's corrected now.) But how can it happen in the first place? Maybe I could buy Out of this World this weekend and read it as a punishment.

And yes, I did had an moment of urge to misspell all the names of authors in my links section.

The Man Who Fell In Love With His Wife

Just finished reading The Man Who Fell In Love With His Wife by Paul Burke.

This book is kinda different from what I usually read (which are Brava type/style of romance books), but it still appeals very much to me: a sweet love story. I'm so glad I came across this book.

I remember the first time I saw this book was at the Times BookShop at Suntec about two years ago (around the time when I was sourcing like mad for nice books to read), the title caught my attention; The Man Who Fell In Love With His Wife. And from this title, I thought the story is going to about an arranged marriage blah blah blah, and in the end the hero falls in love with the wife whom he did not choose blah blah blah & lived happily ever after.

No no, the book is not like that.

Well, whenever I see a interesting book title or pretty cover, I took note of the title and author & store the little info in my handphone, my pretty Nokia N73. (Or N70 which I had then.) That's what I did when I saw The Man Who Fell In Love With His Wife. And after that I just went home and store it in my excel file of books in my life. (Yes I have an excel file detailing when I buy books, how much I buy them, when I read them blah blah blah. I may blog about this someday). The Man Who Fell In Love With His Wife went under the worksheet title "Check Out" (which actually contains an obscenely long list of title I have yet checked out.)

I never really gotten around to reading it for more than a year, until one day I decided to do a search an Amazon for it. Then I realised it's actually about a former Catholic priest, and is a sequel to Father Frank, another book by Paul Burke.

Seeing that it has good reviews saying that the books are quite funny, I finally pick them up from the library.

Father Frank is about a Catholic priest, whose "vows (were put) under incredible strain" when Sarah appeared in his life.

Oh wow Father Frank, how I silently cry for Frank & Sarah sometimes. Even when I knew there's going to be happy ending. But Frank & Sarah did not know their ending at all. Damn how much heartache they must gone through. *sniff*

In The Man Who Fell In Love With His Wife, Frank & Sarah are happily married~ the story didn't make me cry though; I was just happily reading away.

Spoilers spoilers OH I simply LOVE the part where Frank straped his little twin babies at the back of his black cab & took them for a drive around town. It is sooooo heartwarming! This part in the book is short though, but I can imagine the whole journey, it's just simply sweet.

I love reading about sweet moments. I thrive on them.

Shannon Mckenna 2007 Part 3!

The gorgeous book covers for Shannon Mckenna's 2007 releases: Edge of Midnight & All About Men.

I've thrown in some hearts too.