Sunday, July 12, 2009

HEY STRANGERS! (sneaking in a giveaway)

I hope everyone had a great week last week and that the weekend is treating you right! We were on vacation all last week and while we didn't go anywhere far away, we kept busy enough that the week flew by in a blur. Back to work tomorrow, which totally sucks.
Last Sunday we went to Cincinnati to watch the Reds get absolutely creamed by the Cardinals. That beating was nothing compared to the beating they took a night or two later though, the poor guys. They've won their last couple of games though, which has to be a bit of a balm for them.
Monday morning Tim and I went to pick red and black raspberries. We froze some, ate some, and I made a one egg cake w/berries that was beautiful and yummy!
We spent took the Jet Express out of Port Clinton and went to South Bass Island for a day. We always have fun there. Spent time at Put-In-Bay, rented a golf cart to buzz around the island, went in some shops and sat by the water. Lake Erie is so beautiful these days - especially compared to the toxic disaster it was about 35 years ago.
On Friday we rented a pontoon boat at our local state park and took my mom, my best friend and her mom out for the day. It was incredibly hot, but there was a decent breeze on the water so we didn't suffer too much! We took picnic foods, sang the theme from Gilligan's Island (all but Tim, who laughed at our silliness), and we did word puzzles, read books and put our feet up while those who wanted (no thank you!) fished off the sides. It was a perfect day.
One thing I did that stretched out all week long was READ! I have reviews to write, review books to read, but did I touch them? Guiltily, I did not. I dipped into my TBR pile and devoured five books - I was on a serious romantic suspense kick. The books I read were:
  • Brenda Novak's TRUST ME and STOP ME - I've put WATCH ME on my birthday wish list, but will have to add the next three in the series too, releasing in August, September and October - THE PERFECT COUPLE, THE PERFECT LIAR, and THE PERFECT MURDER. The first two books in this series are excellent and I'm looking forward to the rest!
  • Bella Andre's WILD HEAT - the second in this series, HOT AS SIN, will be coming out in October and I absolutely cannot wait!
  • Jo Davis's UNDER FIRE, which follows TRIAL BY FIRE, both excellent. UNDER FIRE has a virgin hero, which was a first for me and I have to admit that while I looked forward to reading it (I've had it since the week it released, some time ago), I also dreaded it just a tad The whole virgin issue was nicely, sensually written. Next in this series is HIDDEN FIRE, and I am especially looking forward to it!
  • Cheyenne McCray's MOVING TARGET, which was enjoyable, but honestly? It wasn't anything spectacular.

I'm not keeping many books these days, having taken about six copy paper boxes crammed full to the library two weeks ago for their Friends of the Library annual sale, and I've decided to do a giveaway here for these five. It'll be up to you to check them out to determine if you're interested in them, I'm not taking time to put up any additional information. Now keep in mind that I've read these books so they're not pristine. They are clean but I'm pretty certain that all of the spines have creases and there are probably a couple of page corners w/fold lines. Sorry, but when I read a book I like to dig in and don't like worrying about being gentle, unless the book belongs to someone else, in which case I'm respectful and careful! If you're interested in these five books, simply leave a comment saying so. If you want to talk about your vacation plans, recent reads, etc., feel free! I'll draw a name on Thursday. Given the comments, I think I need to clarify here that the giveaway is for ALL FIVE books. If you're the winner and don't want a particular book or two, feel free to say so and I'll draw another name for them. I hope to have reviews for MATING GAME by Janice Maynard and DOUBLE PLAY by Jill Shalvis sometime this week, followed by a handful of Romance Junkie review books and Karin Tabke's MASTER OF CRAVING. No rest for the wicked, huh?
Have a great week!
Laurie

25 comments:

Booklover1335 said...

Welcome back Laurie,
Sounds like you vacation was just what it should be...and me I would have read the TBR pile too :)

I would love to read Bella Andre's Wild Heat. I was intrigued by this one when it first came out, and is on my wish list.

Laurie D. said...

Hey booklover! I couldn't resist the TBR pile!

I guess I should have clarified that I intended for all of these to go to one winner, but if the winner has already read any of them, I don't have a problem w/them declining and I'll draw a second, third, etc. winner for the remainder. Sound fair?

Judy F said...

Hey Girie I missed you.

I read a lot last week too.
Finished JoAnn Ross Breakpoint
Robin Kaye's Romeo Romeo and Too hot to Handle.
Marie Force Love at First Flight.

All good.

Don't put me in to win anything.

housemouse88 said...

Hey Laurie,

Glad you had some time off. All the books you have listed are on my list to buy. Would love to win any of them. Have a great day.

Anonymous said...

how fun great books
just working all summer long lol
would lvoe to read jo davis

kh

Stacy S said...

Sounds like you had a great time. I just read Double Play by Jill Shalvis. Loved it! Also, read Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer. It was good.

Laurie G said...

Hey Laurie,

Sounds like you had a fun week! It's so nice to get together with the family even if it's only for a week! I had 2 of my 4 here for the 4th! Luckily, the weather cooperated! We swam, read, biked,played cards and talked! RELAXING!

All of these books sound great! Lot's of variety! I find that a lot of my enjoyment depends on the mood I'm in!

I'm so behind on Brenda's books! Last read was the "Dead" trilogy.

Jo Davis's Under Fire received a lot of hype!!

I've never read anything by Bella Andre or Cheyenne McCray!

I do tend to agree with the majority of your reviews.

So I'd love to be thrown in for a chance to win more books!

I share books with family, neighbor, donate to the local nursing home and Friends of the Library sale.

sandi said...

Ooh...I have read and have something Laurie doesn't. What a change of pace! I've read all those first three Novak books, and got ARC's the next two for review. I haven't read them yet, but soon!

Your week sounds just lovely!

delitealex said...

Sounds like a great vacation. I don't really have any vacation plans just maybe go to the beach for a few days. I haven't read any of these books but i enjoy reading all of these authors.

Maureen said...

Hi Laurie,
Your time off sounds like a lot of fun. We have been taking day trips during our time off too. I haven't read any of those books so please enter me for your giveaway.

CrystalGB said...

I would love to read these books. Thanks for the great giveaway.

tetewa said...

I haven't read any of these, count me in!

robynl said...

not having read any of the mentioned books I would appreciate any of them. Thanks so much.

Glad you had a great relaxing week off. I am still waiting to hear from the cancer clinic so we can't go very far right now. We have had a family get together at our place and a couple of weiner roasts with friends.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the contest. Count me in as I have not read any of them.

RobynL - good luck with the Cancer clinic.

Pat L.

Cathy M said...

Hi Laurie, sounds like you are having a wonderful summer. I just finished reading the entire Changeling series by Nalini Singh, and absolutely loved these stories.

I've had Under Fire on my wish list, so that would be my pick.

Jane said...

Thanks for another great giveaway, Laurie. I'm currently reading the first book in Heather Graham's Flynn Brothers trilogy.

chey said...

Hi Laurie,
Sounds like you had a great vacation!
I haven't read any of those books. Count me in please.

Barbara said...

Hi Laurie-

Looks like you got some serious reading done there. Don't enter me in the contest I just wanted to say hey. Missed you last week.

Hope you have a smooth week this week going back to work.

Anonymous said...

What a great vacation! Sounds like fun! Summer vacation is always a great time for me to catch up on some reading. I'm sneaking a Rita Herron read in right now!

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Laurie!

Glad to hear that you had fun on your vaaction.

I would love to win the Brenda Novak books or Cheyenne McCray book.

Thanks for a chance to win books,

Terri W.

Karen T said...

I love reading interesting books, especially when I have a moment when my little girl is sleeping or if Im laying by the pool.

Anonymous said...

All these books sound great and since I've not read any of them, it would be a hoot if I won them!!
Mickey Mac

Fedora said...

Ooh, I love it when I have a chance to get a lot of reading in, Laurie! Yay! I'd love to read these--I've got the rest of Bella's books, and enjoyed them all. How can you miss with her and Jo's hot firefighters? I'm finally digging into Shelly Laurenston's backlist this week--extremely fun reads :)

cinquetta said...

Hey I love free books! I DO NOT care what type of genre/theme when its free. I want it! Please put me on the list.

Anonymous said...

Great Prize. Please count me in for the contest.

Looking forward to Mating Game. Will have to watch the post.

Helen L.