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

BELLA ANDRE - a new (to me) author!

I recently saw the cover for GAME FOR ANYTHING by Bella Andre and was instantly intrigued! I may claim that I'm much too sophisticated to be interested in a book simply because it has a hot cover but truth be told, I'm not. I didn't buy it though, because my book buying funds are in a bit of a pinch right now and I wasn't familiar with Ms. Andre - I'm simply not in a position to risk $14. on an unknown (to me) author.
My dear friend Judy soon after that mentioned this book, posting the cover on a reader loop we're both on, and gave in to temptation and bought it. I have the book on loan from her and read it in over the weekend. Yes, I'm behind on reviews and was only going to read the first couple of pages when I opened the book, but I found myself drawn in and had to read to the end.
This is one excellent book! I scurried over to Ms. Andre's website this morning and was tickled to find that she has several previous releases (leaving me to wonder how on Earth had I missed her), and upcoming releases that include another football hero book and a wildfire firefighter series.
The characters in GAME FOR ANYTHING are so very likable, and while the premise is nothing new - high school jock takes virginity of beautiful brainiac, crushes her fragile heart, the two are later reacquainted and she vows revenge - I'm pretty sure it hasn't been done this well. These characters each have issues and emotional baggage, the extent of which the other is unaware of. I highly recommend this book, especially if you enjoy romance with sports figures. There isn't an overwhelming amount of football or locker room talk - just enough to bring the story to life - so don't be put off by the football subject if football isn't your thing.
So tell me, have you read Bella Andre? If so, which of her books? I was tickled to see that GAME FOR SEDUCTION, the next book in this "Bad Boys of Football" series, comes out in early September - I can't wait! I'll definitely be getting my hands on a copy! I hope you'll check her out!
(And special thanks to Judy for loaning me the book - the best way to discover a new author is from the recommendation of others, don't you think?)
Have a great week!
Laurie