Welcome to my blog down under in Australia.
I like to make new friends around the world and swap letters, postcards and happy mail.
I am an avid reader. I like to participate in reading challenges and blog about the books I have read for future reference. I aim to read 100 books a year.
Wanted: Real Men. Must be irresistible, good with his hands, and know how to handle any situation. . . in or out of the bedroom.
Honk If You Love Real Men is a contemporary erotic anthology featuring some of the brightest up and coming names in contemporary romance and erotic romance.
"Naughty Girl" by Carrie Alexander: When a sexy, sassy woman driving in her convertible catches the eye of a gorgeous construction worker, they indulge in a delicious afternoon tryst.
"WANTED: One Hot Blooded Man" by Pamela Britton: A sexy firefighter is responsible for lighting more fires than putting them out!
"Mercy Me" by Susan Donovan: A heated encounter with an irresistibly handsome doctor.
"Reno's Chance" by Lora Leigh: Ever since she was a little girl, Raven McIntire has secretly pined and longed for her best friend's sexy older brother, Reno, a Navy SEAL who has just returned home from duty. What she doesn't realize is that his only true mission is to get into her heart and get her into his bed.
I haven't really read many erotic romance books and the four authors featured in this anthology were all new authors to me.
I enjoyed reading these four stories by the different authors with their different styles of story telling. If you like hot, spicy and steamy stories then you might want to check this book out. Would make for a quick and easy read so ideal to throw in your bag as a book to read as you hang out for the day at the beach.
I look forward to checking out more books by these authors. If you would like to find out more about the four authors then you can check out their websites.....
Dr. Julia Cates was one of the country's preeminent child psychiatrists until a shocking tragedy ruined her career. Retreating to her small western Washington hometown, Julia meets an extraordinary six-year-old girl who has inexplicably emerged from the deep woods nearby - a child locked in a world of unimaginable fear and isolation. To Julia, nothing is more important than saving the girl she now calls Alice. But Julia will need help from others, including the sister she barely knows and a handsome doctor with secrets of his own. What follows will test the limits of Julia's faith and strength, as she struggles to find a home for Alice... and for herself.
The story opens with Julia appearing in court to defend her reputation as a child psychiatrist after the client she was seeing shot and killed four children and then turned the gun on herself and committed suicide. After Julia was dismissed from the complaint from the judge it was only to find that she was at a loss to know what to do with herself next as she no longer had any clients to see. Due to the court case they had opted to abandon Julia and with no clients to fill her days like she was used to Julia was at rather a lose end.
In the meantime Ellie, Julia's sister who is Chief of Police in their hometown has a rather unusual problem she desperately needs Julia's help with. She phones Julia to come to her aid and Julia having nothing better to do with herself due to lack of clients filling her days agrees to help out not really knowing just what it is that she is agreeing to.
Julia has lots to deal with returning to her hometown and staying with her estranged sister who lives in their deceased parents house. Ellie explains to Julia that she needs her to help out in a police case. A girl that they are referring to wolf girl has suddenly made an appearance in town. She was carrying a wolf in her arms and is looking rather scruffy and doesn't talk. It is as though she has been living it rough on her on in the forest for some time,
Will Julia be able to tame the unknown girl, try and get her to talk and be able to tell them her name so they have a chance of being able to locate her parents and return her to them. The story goes on to tell of the challenges that Julia faces with not only working with the girl who she comes to name Alice but also Alice's doctor Max who also seems to work his way into Julia's heart.
A very interesting read and one that has you continuing to turn the pages to find out how Julia faces her challenges and if she is able to tame the girl and exactly what the girls future will hold.
An excerpt of Kristin's books Firefly Lane was also included and I look forward to checking out this book next.
If you would like to learn more about Kristin Hannah and check out her other books then visit her website... http://www.kristinhannah.com/
Poppy Browne had never stolen anything in her life before moving to Pleasant Accres and meeting Mary Jane and Whitney. But when Poppy walks out of the mall with her two new friends and her first pair of stolen jeans, she's hooked.
Before long, Poppy is lifting whenever she gets the urge - it's never about the merchandise, it's always about the thrill. But when her secret gets out, the girl's in Poppy's clique turn on one another. As she watches her life collapse arond her, Poppy must decide where her loyalties lie... and how far she'll go to protect herself.
It it not often that I read a book from the Young Adult section of the library but I happened to see this on display at the library recently and as I had seen this book mentioned on several blogs I thought I would check the book out.
I am sure that this is a story line that many people would be able to relate to. Being the new girl in town, starting a new school, trying to fit in especially with the "cool" group, peer pressure, the thrill of doing wrong and getting away with it, you will find it all features within the covers of this book.
Poppy finds herself shifting with her mom to live in a new town. Her mother has enrolled her in a Christian school and is keeping a very close eye on Poppy and her grades as she wants to see Poppy be a high achiever and to do this she must study hard and be an A student.
When Poppy starts school she finds herself wanting to be befriended by three different girls. One is Bridgette, something of a loner who sings in the girls choir and the other two girls Mary Jane (unbeknown to Poppy, Mary Jane used to be best friends with Bridgette) and Whitney who are best friends and seem like two cool girls that Poppy would like to hang out with and get to know better. Conflicts arise as each girl tries to get Poppy's attention. She ends up befriending Mary Jane and Whitney. This leads them into tempting Poppy to join them in their shop lifting venture. They show Poppy how easy it would be to walk out of the store with a $200.00 pair of jeans she has been admiring but knows there is no way that she could afford to buy. Poppy is quickly drawn into the adrenaline rush she gets just after she has gotten away with walking out of the store with the stolen merchandise.
From then on Poppy's life starts to take some interesting turns. Her school grades begin to slip as the shop lifting addiction escalates and tends to take over her life until she can't help thinking about the next shop lifting challenge. Immediately after stealing she get the guilts and tells herself that this will be the very last time but finds that she really struggles and the addiction is hard to break. She can't sleep well for worrying about the shop lifting and how she can't seem to stop.
Interwoven into the story is also a romantic twist. Mary Jane and Bridgette try and get Poppy to attract Gabe's attention and set her up to invite him to the Sadies dance. Gabe agrees to be her partner. Little does Poppy know that Mary Jane and Whitney are setting her up as revenge to Bridgette as they know that Bridgette has always liked Gabe and intends inviting him to go to the Sadies dance with her. Poppy doesn't feel at all comfortable with the arrangement as deep down she feels an attraction to the preachers son David. Poppy doesn't seem to pay David much attention yet he still sticks around and patiently bides his time with her until the right opportunity presents itself and Poppy learns a valuable lesson in that even though you may have done wrong there are people that will forgive you and still be there for to see things through no matter what.
All in all this was a great read. One can easily relate to the main character Poppy and the different situation she is having to deal with. No matter what she faced she did her best to handle different situations and resolve them to the satisfaction of all parties. Yes something bad happened but she was able to take from that and move forward with it in a positive manner knowing that she had done wrong and had to fix it.
A very though provoking book and one I would recommend that others read.
Here is a trailer for the book.....
If you would like to find out more about Wendy Toliver and Lifted along with other books she has also written you can check out her website:
Lizzie Green is a successful, driven Australian politician. Now, at forty, she's got a baby bump! So she's planned a break in the Outback, away from the prying media and her family's feuding...
Jack Lewis is a young, laid-back, attractive cattle station manager. A prim, pampered city girl in a white designer suit is the last thing he needs.
Lizzie can see Jack is hot, and can't help being charmed, but he's so not her type... and she's expecting twins!
Will opposites attract?
I borrowed this book from the library and wasn't aware at the time that I borrowed it that this book was to be part of a series. However this books reads well as a stand alone book and you don't need to have read the first book to be able to follow the story line.
The minute Jack meets Lizzie as she steps off the plane in her pristine white white linen top and trousers he wonders what Lizzie really thinks she has come to? Life in the outback is very different to the Senator lifestyle that Lizzie has been accustomed to. Jack had been bullied into hosting Lizzie by his boss and he really doesn't have any idea why Lizzie has felt the need to hide out in the outback with him.
Lizzie is needing to hide out from her rather public profile as a senator to take some time out for herself and figure out just what her future holds. She needs to be away from the prying eyes of the public before they discover that she is pregnant and not only pregnant but pregnant from an anonymous sperm donor via in vitro fertilisation. Jack is totally unaware that she is pregnant and she questions just if and when she should tell him.
Jack falls for Lizzie the minute he set eyes on her after she stepped off the plane. Lizzie is reluctant to allow her feelings for Jack to grow as she is all too aware that she hasn't exactly had the best of luck in her past as far as affairs of the heart go. However as she starts getting back to basics with only being the two of them and having to pitch in and help Jack when he needs it and fend for herself with cooking chores instead of having everything done for her as she has been accustomed to in the past Lizzie falls in love with both Jack and the outback lifestyle.
Barbara has done a great job of bringing together two people from very different lifestyles and joining them together to make a winning combination. You are easily drawn into the story line and can easily visualise the settings and the challenges that need to be faced before a successful conclusion is able to be reached.
A great light and easy read.
If you would like to check out this book and others that Barbara has written then check out her website: http://www.barbarahannay.com/
This poor old blog of mine has all been forgotten. Time to dust off all the cobwebs and breathe fresh life into it again.
I did still continue to read books in 2009 but just didn't manage to keep a log off books read on my blog. Had some major computer hassles last year which meant that I was without a computer for a time. My hard drive completely failed and ended up having to be sent overseas to be replaced. I had been keeping an excel file on my computer of all the books that I read during 2009 but unfortunately all that information was lost to me. Now I am back to writing the books I read in a notebook so should anything ever happen to my computer again I will have an extra back up.
I will have to look into updating my blog template and tweaking the colour and fonts etc.... as well as adding some tabs to list books read, challenges participated in etc..
For now I am happy to have found the password for this blog so I can start using it again.
If you would like to be in with a chance to win a free book then head on over to visit with Margaret Daley and check out her interviews with MaryLu Tyndall and Cecelia Dowdy. I haven't read books by either of these two authors so I would love the chance to win one of their books. Gotta be in it to win it.
Honk If You Love Real Men
