For this year's Chinese New Year..

Last year, I posted some pictures of red book covers. And now I realised that I've featured too many of them, too much that I only have a few to show for this year. Anyway, here goes!

(Of course, lighting/contrast are tweaked to make the red stand out.)


^ First Blood by Susan Sizemore, Erin McCarthy, Chris Marie Green, & Meljean Brook. Won this at a give-away at Meljean Brook's blog. ♥ ♥


^ Unlawful Contact by Pamela Clare. Hot cover eh?


^ Playing Easy to Get by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jaid Black, & Kresley Cole.


^ Red-Hot and Royal by Susanna Carr.


^ Red-Hot and Royal by Susanna Carr (again).


^ Naughty, Naughty by P.J. Mellor, Melissa MacNeal, & Valerie Martinez.
Actually this is a Christmas book.

Happy Chinese New Year! There're still 8 days left to collect red packets!

Google Reader, My New Love.

Oh. Am I the last blog reader on this earth to find out the usefulness of Google Reader?

I've bookmarked a freaking good number of romance blogs (don't tell you don't) and for more than 3 years I have been accessing those links from my Favourites/Bookmarks folder by clicking them one by one and opening them in new tabs. And yesterday, I came to realise that this way of checking out romance blogs REALLY sucks. REALLY.

Because I (finally) tried Google Reader. Phwroar. It's freaking fabulous. One click, and I get to see IN ONE PAGE all the NEW POSTS ONLY from the ALL THE BLOGS that I've added to it. Super freaking time-saver. Seeing all the new post from different blogs together, it's like making your very own romance community. Starring your favourite author and romance bloggers. (And you yourself too if you are like me who add my own blog to the Google Reader.)



Yeah I've heard of Bloglines too but tried Google Reader first since I already have a Google account.

The downside of it (but it could be just me), unless I click on the post to go to the original blog, I can't exactly enjoy the different design/feel/environment/atmosphere of each blog. Hell I'd be a little bit disappointed if someone reads my blog only from their Google Reader and didn't go to my original blog to admire my very pretty pinky (not the best but I like it!) blog design. Hey, it's the whole package. I update the sidebars often too. Hello there! Don't just read me in Google Reader! Go to my blog! Look at my sidebars! Pls?

Anyway, if you are a romance novel and blog reader, please try Google Reader (or Bloglines). It's saves you time reading blogs online, so you can read more romance novels. ♥ ♥

Yah-nosh.

Ever since page 76 when Davy (♥) pronounced Val's name correctly, I made sure I read the name correctly too in my mind for the rest of the book. Janos = Yah-nosh. Gosh. Who knows how many other hero/heroine/supporting characters' names I've read wrongly.

Shannon Mckenna really outdone herself with this book. Tamara and Val are probably the hero & heroine with the most f**ked up past (and present) I've ever read. Well, makes them special.

Tamara is not really the Tamara that I read in the previous books, but then I didn't really get to know what's on her mind and she hadn't got a three year old baby girl yet. Crying? Hell. It only shows that Tamra's human. A super crazy one I might add with the poison tongue stud. And Val? I already love him upon knowing this name. Val Janos (Yah-nosh. *Adds to list of favourite hero names). Yummy. Val baby, I will call you Val as many times as you like, since Tamara is too stubborn to do that.

I'm already very looking forward to their appearance in the next McCloud book. I crave to read something happy and sappy about them. They so deserve it so much after this tedious book. Weddings, a new baby, whatever. Something that makes me go aww. Like Davy (♥) holding his baby girl. Oh I was hopping for a little showdown of Becca and Tamara (or mutual understanding), since Becca didn't really seem to like her in the previous book..

Favourite scenes? Probably all those of Val and Tam together. All really. They're goood together. And the part when Val had baby Rachel sitting on this shoulders. And Rachel "flirting" with him. Cute.

Hey lil' tibit: Ulimate Weapon and Extreme Danger has the same number of pages. 426. It's freaking thick (and heavy). Poor my hands. But can't complain. More would be really great though.



At the risk making the book draggy, but I somehow wish the next book would have 500 pages. I can't get enough of a Shannon Mckenna hero. Sigh. So now what? Another year's wait for a full-length novel? Damn. Can I have a novella or two in-between?

Books read in 2008.

Com'on, it's not too late to post this yet.

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January - The start..


• Katherine O'Neal - The Art of Seduction
  
• Linda Lael Miller - Tonight & Always
  
• Rachel Gibson - Daisy's Back In Town
  
• Rachel Gibson - Sex, Lies & Online Dating
  
• Susan Johnson, Sylvia Day, Noelle Mack - Perfect Kisses
  
  -----------
  Feburary - The month of Kresley Cole historicals.
  

• Kresley Cole - If You Dare
  
• Kresley Cole - If You Desire
  
• Kresley Cole - If You Deceive
  
• Kresley Cole - The Captain of all Pleasures
  
• Linda Lael Miller - Only Forever
  
  -------
  March - The month OMFG fabulous HOT HOT read of Shannon Mckenna and Sylvia Day.. The discovery of new-to-me author Angela Knight.. and Christie Ridgway I love her books as usual.. Love Sally Mackenzie's Naked series.. and of course another must-read author Janice Maynard. Great month. ☺

• Christie Ridgway - Must Love Mistletoe
  
• Christine Feehan, Emma Holly, Maggie Shane, Angela Knight - Hot Blooded
  
• Janice Maynard - Play with Me
  
• Sally Mackenzie - TheNaked Marquis
  
• Shannon Mckenna - Extreme Danger
  
• Stella and Audra Price - Fire In His Eyes
  
• Sylvia Day - Pleasures of the Night
  
• Sylvia Day - Heat of the Night
  
  ------
  April - I MUST HIGHLIGHT Pamela Morsi & Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Can never forget books that make me cry buckets.
  

• MaryJanice Davidson - The Royal Mess
  
• MaryJaniceDavidson - Sleeping with the Fishes
  
• Pamela Morsi - Something Shady
  
• Stella and Audra Price - Deep Water
  
• Sue Civil-Brown - Hurricane Hannah
  
• Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Heaven, Texas
  
• Sylvia Day - Passion for the Game
  
  -----
  May - MUST HIGHLIGHT Susan Elizabeth Phillips (again), Christie Ridgway (again), and Pamela Morsi (again), and .. Jill Barnett. Miss reading her stuff.
  
  
• Angela Knight - Master of the Dragons
  
• Christie Ridgway - Not Another New Year's
  
• Eloisa James - An Affair Before Christmas
  
• Jill Barnett, Mary Jo Putney, Susan King, Justine Davis - A Stockingful of Joy
  
• MaryJanice Davidson - Hello, Gorgeous!
  
• Pamela Clare - Extreme Exposure
  
• Pamela Morsi - The Love Charm
  
• Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Natural Born Charmer
  
  -----
  June - Wow, looking at the list here, it's probably the month where I really enjoyed my readings. I discovered the joy of eBooks, Charlene Teglia, Michelle Hasker, and another side of Kresley Cole's Rydstrom. He totally owned Cade's book.
  
  
• Charlene Teglia - Satisfaction Guaranteed
  
• Jenesi Ash - The Mistress Diary Bundle
  
• Karen Kelley - Cosmic Sex
  
• Kresley Cole - Dark Needs at Night's Edge
  
• Kresley Cole - Dark Desires After Dusk
  
• Lacy Danes - The Invitation
  
• Lucinda Betts - The Supplicant
  
• Michelle Hasker - A Cruise to Remember
  
• Michelle Hasker - Bunny Love
  
• Michelle Hasker - Kate'sMuse
  
• Rachelle Chase - Sex Lounge
  
• Sally MacKenzie - The Naked Gentleman
  
• Shelli Stevens - Love for Sale
  
  -----
  July - Another eBook month, 'cept for Angela Knight. ♥ Lacy Danes' is HOT, and Karen Kelley's is HOT & HAHAHA. ☺
  
  
• Anne Rainey - Forbidden Fruit
  
• Angela Knight - Master of Wolves
  
• Karen Kelley - The Bad Boys Guide to the Galaxy
  
• Lacy Danes - Animal Lust
  
• Michelle Hasker - Screaming Orgasm
  
• Michelle Hasker - Witchy Woes Book 1: Tamara
  
  --------
  August - Sarah McCarty's Running Wild. 'Nuff said.

• Angela Knight, MaryJanice Davidson, Virginia Kantra, Sunny - Over the Moon
  
• Jenna Petersen - Lessons from a Courtesan
  
• Michelle Hasker - Witchy Woes Book 2: Candance
  
• Pamela Clare - Hard Evidence
  
• Sarah McCarty - Running Wild
  
• Tara Janzen - Crazy Hot
  
  ------------
  September - is a month of crying. Need to stock up on tissues after reading James Patterson, LaVyrle Spencer, & Susan Elizabeth Phillips (duh). I also concluded then that My Prerogative is my favourite read of this year too.
  

• James Patterson - Sundays at Tiffany's
  
• Jenesi Ash - Swap
  
• LaVyrle Spencer - Forsaking All Others
  
• LaVyrle Spencer - Sweet Memories
  
• Michelle Hasker - Witchy Woes Book 3: Allison
  
• Sasha White - My Prerogative
  
• Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Ain't She Sweet
  
  ---------
  October - Lalala. Jon Amendola.
  
  
• Michelle Hasker - The Bodyguard
  
• Michelle Hasker - The Bodyguard: Nash
  
• Michelle Hasker - Midnight Rendezvous
  
• Shannon Mckenna, E.C. Sheedy, & Cate Noble - Baddest Bad Boys
  
  ------------
  November - GawainGawainGaaawainnnn & the month of reading new-to-me authors: J.R. Ward, Nalini Singh, Maya Banks, Portia Da Costa, Sophie Kinsella. Yea, I would try all authors again.
  

• Angela Knight - Master of Swords
  
• J.R. Ward - Dark Lover
  
• Lucy Monroe - Housekeeper to the Millionaire
  
• Maya Banks - Reckless
  
• Nalini Singh - Slave to Sensation
  
• Portia Da Costa - Wild in the Country
  
• Sophie Kinsella - Undomestic Goddess
  
  -----------
  December - Only three books, but still it has been a nice end to 2008.
  
  
• Abby Gaines - The Natural
  
• Erin McCarthy - Sucker Bet
  
• Lisa Cach - The Erotic Secrets of a French Maid

I really love to read. ☺

Thanks as usual to authors who write, and to romance bloggers who blog about books.

Now, back to reading Utimate Weapon. Yah-Nosh. ♥ ♥

My First Romance of 2009.

I read this after work last Monday and Tuesday, and it's horrible! No, not the book, it's just horrible not being able to read a wonderful story in one shot. Why do I have to have the mood to read it on a Monday night?! I can't exactly burn the midnight oil when I have to wake up early for work the next morning. And then I have to torture myself during work thinking about it.

Anyhooo, I ADORE Love Letters From A Duke. It's such a sweet story. I love how Thatcher gradually falls in love with Felicity. Omg sweetness. I cried a teeny bit at the middle of the book when Felicity is crying. Omg what a book. I definitely love the part when Thatcher starts to call Felicity by her name and starts thinking of her as his Felicity, and not Ms Langley. It's just so wow.

Of course I had thought Thatcher could have done more to get Felicity back at the end..

Anyway, the best part of the story is, the characters don't have to save the world! Weeee! I can't remember the last time I read a historial without all the the-world-needs-me-I-have-to-do-something thing. It's all about Thatcher and Felicity (and the supporting characters). Simple. Love it. Sweet. Charming. Lovely.

I DEFINATELY will read more Elizabeth Boyle's books. DEFINATELY.

Read an excerpt here.

Get it as an eBook here or here. Amazon linky here.

Though she can’t afford the coal to heat her drafty Mayfair mansion, Felicity Langley still clings to her dream of marrying a duke--one she’s had since her very first curtsy. After all, she’s been all but promised to the very proper and very lofty Duke of Hollindrake for the last four years. Now all she has to do is meet him. But what Felicity doesn’t realize is that she has already met her duke—he’s the rather unfashionable yet altogether too-handsome man who has just turned up at her doorstep. And Felicity has just mistaken him…for her new footman!

By rights, Thatcher should immediately set this presumptuous chit straight and tell her he has no intention of following through with a betrothal his grandfather—the previous duke—arranged. But he’s quickly smitten by Felicity’s delightful determination, her irrepressible charm…and her breathtaking beauty. Yes, she’d wed him in an instant were his true identity revealed—but Thatcher’s vowed to marry only for love. So begins his deception and his conquest of this uncommon woman who doesn’t believe in romance, but is about to find her heart and passions set aflame by the unlikely servant she’s sworn to resist.

I can read, I love reading, I'm so grateful.

I was digging out old books, seeing which ones I can clear out, give to people, sell on eBay etc. One of the books is To Pleasure A Prince, the only book I've read by Sabrina Jeffries. It was (note: was) in the to-be-given/sold pile. But then I just started to browse through the book again, the part when the heroine Regina was forced to confess to the hero Marcus, that she can't read (dyslexia dammit). My eyes got kind of watery reading that, and then, this book goes back on my shelf. For the time being. ☺ Oh it was one of my first few romances too. What was I thinking of getting rid of it?



Get it @ Amazon, or the ebook @ Fictionwise. It's the second book of a trilogy.

Oh yeah. Happy New Year!

I'm been taking a break (2 weeks?) from reading to play my much neglected video games. I'm a video games bitch too but not so much as a romance novel bitch I think. Anyway, it's 2009 and I guess the new year is a good time to start afresh, do something new, and change bad habits etc..

What I hoped for the new year is to only read good books. Only read books that I will like. But can one only read books they only like? How would you know you would like a book when you haven't read it?

Blah blah. I'm not really back on the reading track yet, I'm still in a play-video-games mood (playing Resistance 2 for the Sony PS3 if anyone is interested to know). But I'm really looking forward to reading Elizabeth Boyle's Love Letters from a Duke, which has a nice review at Rip My Bodice. Actually I started on it a little, but got sidetracked by video games.

Anyway again, my purpose of starting this post is to say I've got a nice end to 2008, with me winning free (free! free!) books from author's blogs, and the even better part is that I already love those authors whom I received free (free! free!) books from: Karen Kelley, Susanna Carr, & Sasha White, whose books I've just received. And Meljean Brook too, but she wasn't my favourite author yet when I won the anthology First Blood. And an honorable mention to Lucinda Betts for sending me Moon Shadow (my first free book) back in 2007. ♥ ♥ Thank you thank you thank you.

I got My Prerogative (yea I know I've got the eBook format already but-) and Sexy Devil on the 30th of Dec '08 (an almost 2 months wait!) , and thought WOW. What a way to start my new year. Thanks Ms White! I'd post photos like I did with the other free books I've got, as soon as I can stop thinking about Resistance 2..