Which one to choose, which one to choose?

I often have more than one book on the go at a time. I think there are quite a few of us like that. But lately I've gotten even worse!! It seems I read a book, put it down and then kind of forget where I put it. So I pick up another book, start reading it, put it down and forget where it is and move on. I also have "work" books and "home" books. Work books are the ones that I can safely take to work and if someone comes and asks what I'm reading I can show them.
Ice Storm by Anne Stuart is a good example of a 'work' book. I've come out of the closet a lot at work now. Most of my coworkers know I love romance books and that I'm headed to San Francisco to a romance writers conference. So I have no problem pulling that one out and showing them.
In fact I even have two coworkers reading and loving the Stephanie Plum books. One is all the way up to Eleven on Top and the other is reading Two to Score.
But as open as I've become in my love of romance, there are still some that I just wouldn't be comfortable with being seen reading in public. Such is the case with Warrior by Angela Knight. And that's one of the tamer covers.
Another book that I don't really consider a 'work' book that I'm reading is The Cat by Jean Johnson. While I don't mind the cover at all *g*, it's a bit too man-titty to pull out at breaks and lunch.





But I've never had so many books on the go as I do at the moment!! I don't know why that is! And then - I spend too much time on the computer to read them all!

I'm currently reading the above Ice Storm and Warrior. As well I'm also reading Time's Captive by Kate Lyon. This is my TBR book for Keishon's challenge in July. It' s proving to be a very emotional book so I can only read bits at a time.
I'm also part way through Tall Tales and Wedding Veils by Jane Graves. I've loved her books in the past and it's not a bad 'work' book.
I started Netherwood by Michele Lang but it's proved to be one of the books I've misplaced *sigh*. I'll find it - I know I will - and then I'll be back to it.
I was so taken with the Authors Talk series, I ordered a couple of Jill Monroe books and I've started reading Primal Instinct.
(and here's a fascinating post they did on how Author Talk came about.)

So - I just counted. That's seven books I have on the go right now!
Is anyone else a multiple book reader like me? And if so, what's the most you've had on the go at one time?

Revisiting an old post - The Futuristic - My Genre du Jour

Having just enjoyed Susan Grant's latest book, Moonstruck and looking forward to Linnea Sinclair's latest book coming out soon, and also with so many new bloggers in blogland, I went back into the vault for this post. This is one I did way back when in 2005. Hopefully I can get it to post now in 2008. It's funny how a few years can change things. I don't know if it's me being optimistic, but Futuristics seem to be making a bit of a comeback lately with a new name for the genre SciFi Romance. I still love them just as much today as I did back in 2005. And one other thing has changed since I first posted this - I know how to add pictures now!

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I read a good one recently and I can feel a futuristic reading marathon coming on. I know this genre isn’t for everyone but it’s one of my favourites. I’ve read them for years but I seemed to have gotten away from them for a while. After thoroughly enjoying the book I read, the fire is back again. Before I start blogging about the futuristic books I’ve read recently and/or are planning to read, I thought I’d explain why I like them so much and what I find appealing about them.
To do a well written futuristic, I find the author has to have a limitless imagination. There’s a specialty channel here in Canada with the catchy phrase – Space – the Imagination Station. I think that applies to futuristic books too. With a historical the boundaries are already set. There’s the ton with all the rules and regulations, the seasons, the country homes and parties; the dukes, the earls, the marquis etc. etc. etc.. What the author does is follow the parameters already set up. She/he adds their interpretation, storyline and characters within the outline already done in history. The same goes for medievals and westerns. Since it’s already happened, there is no need to create something different or unique. With romantic suspense and contemporaries, the same holds true. But with futuristics, the sky is the limit (so to speak).
The author can have a setting on earth in the not too distant future with still recognizable events or places such as the In Death books or Susan Grant’s The Star King, The Star Prince and The Star Princess. Or they can take place in a world completely unrecognizable such as Robin Owen’s world.
If we are far into the future the ruling empire can be evil such as the Coalition in Justine Davis Lord of the Storm and Skypirate or looking out for the greater good such as futuristic world in Angela Knight’s Jane’s Warlord (I wish we had seen more of it than we did. Hopefully for the futuristic lovers she will revisit it someday)

**** And she does have another one coming out in this series!! I just noticed this the other day and I was one happy camper! In fact I ordered it and since it's out in July, 2008 I don't have to long a wait.****

The author can create regular type heroes and heroines or the unusual such as Kathleen Morgan’s Heart’s Lair or Christine Spangler’s Shadow Fires (*note: this is one I haven’t read – just the reviews). The hero’s can be a ruler, an escaped convict, a bounty hunter or a pirate or any other creation of the author’s imagination. There’s also a wide variation for the heroine too; princess, convict, healer or empath (although if the heroine is either of the last two, the author may face the wrath of Mrs. Giggles – she’s tough on them healers (grin).
Another issue that doesn’t necessarily have to be dealt with in futuristics is unwanted pregnancies or STD’s. Since they take place in the future is seems almost a given that this is no longer a problem. Science and advanced medical treatment will have taken care of this. While I applaud authors who deal with this issue in contemporaries, wouldn’t it be nice to know that in the future it’s something we won’t have to worry about? And honestly, in RL instead of RW, there would be a whole lot of heroes in historicals running around with syphilis and a whole lot of heroines who were inconveniently pregnant
It seemed for a while like futuristics were on their way out. I’ve read that Justine Davis had a third book in mind for her journey into the futuristic but was told not to bother, that it wouldn’t sell. I’m sure there were other authors who were told the same thing. And at the time they probably wouldn’t have. But one of the things I most admire about Love Spell which I believe is a division of Leisure Publishing is they never gave up. They published them in 1995 and they are still publishing them today. I hope they and other publishers continue and that readers who are loving paranormals discover that futuristics can be just as good and different a read. Berkley is also publishing some good ones these days.
So if you’ve never tried one before, try that final frontier, explore strange new worlds, seek out new adventures, go where you the reader has ne're gone before.
There are some crappy ones out there I know – same as crappy historicals, medievals and every other genre, but there is also some very very good ones.

For anyone interested here are a just a few of my favourite favourites.

Banner’s Bonus by Carole Ann Lee (1995): I loved this book. One of my all time favourite furturistics, it was the only one I’ve ever been able to find by this author. This will be the first in line for a reread. There were some secondary characters who would have been great with their own books but alas – whatever happened to the author and/or sequels is a mystery





Lord of the Storm and Skypirate by Justine Davis: I wish more had been written. She did a wonderful job with these. And yes, I know. *sigh* They are Very Bad Covers.









Knighthawk by Kristen Kyle: After reading a few other books by this author and loving them and seeing she had a futuristic I knew this was one I had to have. It took me a while to track one down and I finally ordered it from Amazon but it was well worth the effort.








Heart’s Lair by Kathleen Morgan: This one was thinking on it now, was ahead of it’s time. The hero is part man, part lion. I found it a very interesting book.
There was a prequel to this one, but I didn't like it nearly as much.







Kinsman's Oath: Sadly, very sadly, she quit writing Futuristics after this one. I hope some day she goes back to them

I’m really looking forward to finding some new ones.

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And luckily, over the years I have found new books and new authors. I've discovered Linnea Sinclair. Susan Grant still continues to impress. Patricia Waddell wrote a nice book that I quite enjoyed. And of course I'm still as deeply in love with the In Death books as I was in 2005.

Recent Reads - Part 2

As I said, I've been reading quite a bit lately. This is the second batch though- which is really the first batch since I read them first.




The Power of Two by Patti O’Shea
Even though I’ve read this one before, I’m going to cheat a little and consider it part of the Keishon’s paranormal challenge for October. This is the third book in the 2176 series started by Susan Grant with The Legend of Banzai McGuire. Cai and Jake, both members of a special forces team, have a special relationship. Something to do with her being a receptor and having nanodes in both their brains and advising him on missions. I didn’t really understand it but I just went with it anyway. Jake thinks all along he has been mind talking to a computer but when Cai gets information on her parents mysterious disappearance, she goes to Jake to ask him for his help. He is stunned to realize all along that rather than a computer, his closest friend is a young woman. He manages to get over it and together along with the rest of the team, they travel to the raft cities to locate Banzai McGuire and her lover, UCE Commander, and Navy SEAL, Tyler Armstrong. She is also hoping to find her parents as she has reason to suspect they are being held against their will be a megalomaniac billionaire.
Obviously, since this is a reread, I quite enjoyed the book. I love both the characters of Jake and Cai. Even though Jake feels betrayed when he first realizes who Cai is, he get’s over it and becomes very protective of her. The sexual tension is great as they are both attracted to the other, but both fighting it. I really enjoyed this whole series and this was a great entry.
Grade: 4 out of 5




Mac’s Law by Sarah McCarty
This one was my first foray into romantica and while I had some issues with parts of it, this won’t be my last. Now – to discuss those issues without getting spammed is a challenge and just for the heck of it, I decided to give it a whirl. As I expected, there is sex and a lot of it in this book. However, one aspect was new to me and that was the amount of alternate entry – um – usage. I’d never read this before and decided very quickly that nope, no sir, never tried it, never will. And that’s probably even TMI. I had a bit of a head scratching while I was reading this book as to whether I was reading something cutting edge or I was just a dirty old lady. If I was 10 to 15 years younger there wouldn't have been any question. Anyway, on to the story. Mac Hollister is local law as well as a rancher. He has advertised for a cook and Jessie or J.C. Sterns is the one who has accepted the job. Mac has been thinking J.C. to be a guy and now way, now how, is he going to take on a woman for the job. Well, she finally talks him into letting her stay on a trial basis and before long they give in to their mutual attraction – again and again and again. In addition to the..um… alternate entry scenes, there was also some laying on of the hand to the lower portion of the heroine which is located behind her, which is also something I’d never read before. And a third party viewing scene which was also new to me. It looks like they are smaller that printed books too which doesn’t leave as much time for character development – but then the same can be said for Harlequins and anthologies. I think I would have liked this one better without some of the alternate scenes, but overall I liked it – I think
Grade: 31/2 out of 5




Master of the Moon by Angela Knight
This was another paranormal for Keishon’s challenge. Unfortunately this was a DNF. I loved Jane’s Warlord and if she ever goes back and revisits that universe, I’m there. But this one creeped me out with its evil elves and satanic theme. I don’t mind violence – as I liked Jane’s Warlord – but this really wasn’t for me.




Dark Lover by JR Ward
I decided to read this one based on Sybil’s DIK review and the fact that this is one the books that everyone else is reading and I didn’t want to miss the reading party. Normally, as I’ve said before, I don’t do vampire books, but decided to make an exception. And I must confess I’m quite glad I did. I like this one. A lot. As most everyone has either read or is planning on reading this one, reviews are all over the place so I don’t need to really add my 2 cents – other than to say everyone is right. This is a good book and I will again break my vampire ban when the next one comes out.
Grade 41/2 out of 5