Doll Lil Shares Her Summer Reading List
Summer is coming! And that means my vacation is coming! *sigh* Six days of cruising on the lake, fishing, curling up with a great book, maybe get some writing done, and best of all visiting my favorite castle away from home Boldt Castle in Alexandria Bay, NY. Talk about romance and heartache that place brings it all to life on a heart shape island in the middle of St. Laurence River. Then another week visiting friends and family on the shores of Lake Erie where the wind turbines and concerts on the Erie Canal have become beacons to fun seekers everywhere. Where art shows in grain elevators are becoming a must see and where a visit to WNY is never complete without a day roaming Niagara Falls and Goat Island. I cannot wait. That also means it’s time to plan my summer reading list. I like to throw some new and old books into the mix because sometimes revisiting a favorite is the best way to spend a lazy day on the lake. And discovering a new author is like the joy of a 4th of July sky full of fireworks…
A new release from Lorelie James is first up on my list. Redneck Romeo hits the shelves on June 18th.
This is Rough Riders #15 and it is Dalton’s book. I can’t find a summary anywhere so I guess Dalton wanted to keep his story a mystery (it’s 11:26 on June 6th and I just searched everywhere again for a summary and I can’t find a word. But I believe in Lorelie, and I am positive this will be another fantastic read). If you are a fan of cowboys and alpha males then put the entire Rough Riders series on your summer TBR trust me you won’t regret it. And in the mean time, how about that cover? ;)
Robyn Carr’s next book in her Thunder Point series, The Newcomer comes out on June 25th.
Single dad and Thunder Point’s deputy sheriff “Mac” McCain has worked hard to keep his town safe and his daughter happy. Now he’s found his own happiness with Gina James. The longtime friends have always shared the challenges and rewards of raising their adolescent daughters. With an unexpected romance growing between them, they’re feeling like teenagers themselves—suddenly they can’t get enough of one another.And just when things are really taking off, their lives are suddenly thrown into chaos. When Mac’s long-lost ex-wife shows up in town, drama takes on a whole new meaning. Mac and Gina know they’re meant to be together, but can their newfound love withstand the pressure?
An author I only starting reading recently has a new addition to her series due out in early August. Please check out Olivia Cunning, her books will compliment any steamy summer night…
From the moment he lays eyes on Sinners’ new soundboard operator, drummer Eric Sticks is completely smitten. Rebekah Blake loves the uninhibited fun she’s having and thrives on Eric’s daring in the bedroom, but she’s got good reasons for not committing. Through role play, voyeuristic games, and lots of sex talk, this pair of kinky lovers must overcome their inner demons to have the perfect relationship they both secretly desire.
I think you may remember I reviewed my next pick a couple months back. The Best Man by Krsitan Higgins is still at the top of the leader board for my favorite read of 2013. The next book in this series doesn’t come out to the fall but now that y’all are going to read The Best Man over the summer you will be ready for The Perfect Match!
Sometimes the best man is the one you least expect…
Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she’s ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family’s vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there’s some great scenery there .
Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief—and best friend of her former fiancé. There’s a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it’s not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she’s having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.
Another author I just started reading thanks to free download a few weeks back is Tessa Dare. I was never a fan of historical or Regency romance but authors like Tessa and Jess Michaels have sucked me in so now I am adding all the big names to my TBR. Thanks ladies for helping to bury me under an ever growing TBR ;)
Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season—or any season—but his diabolical mother abducts him to “Spinster Cove” and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.
Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn’t dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop. That dream becomes a possibility when an arrogant, sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week’s employment. Her duties are simple: submit to his mother’s “duchess training”… and fail miserably.
But in London, Pauline isn’t a miserable failure. She’s a brave, quick-witted, beguiling failure—a woman who ignites Griff’s desire and soothes the darkness in his soul. Keeping Pauline by his side won’t be easy. Even if Society could accept a serving girl duchess—can a roguish duke convince a serving girl to trust him with her heart?
I’ve made in no secret I am a huge fan of Cat Johnson’s Studs and Spurs series but I am also a fan of her Red, Hot, & Blue series. Model Soldier is probably my favorite but they are all so worth putting on your TBR.
When love presents itself, take your shot.
Red, Hot, & Blue, Book 8
When Emily Price is assigned to an ad campaign featuring one of Uncle Sam’s finest soldiers, she’s thrilled. Who better to break up the monotonous parade of smooth, perfect models than a rough, war-hardened alpha male?
Maybe she’ll even get lucky like one of her colleagues and find romance. Unfortunately, when she meets her model, he’s more caveman than Prince Charming. Now her dreams of love—and her career—are dangling precariously from his callused fingertips.
Staff Sergeant David Hawk Hawkins never imagined refusing a command…until he loses a bet and is ordered off the battlefield and into a new role: poster boy for the Army’s recruiting campaign.
From the start, their relationship is more fire-and-ice than fairytale. Yet beneath their sparring simmers an attraction that finally explodes into a night of lovemaking that, after they part, haunts them to opposite sides of the globe.
But love isn’t through with them—and neither is the public. The campaign is a hit and Hawk becomes a star. Soon he and Emily are thrown together again, but this time it’s on Hawk’s turf, where flying bullets could settle their battle before it begins.
In my eyes this next author can do no wrong, there hasn’t been a story I haven’t read that I haven’t loved. She is someone every contemporary romance reader should have on her (or his) shelves (real or virtual). Rachel Gibson has a knack for writing men I love and want to smack at the same time. It takes talent to do that!
Disaster Number One: MenHard knocks and hunger taught Faith Duffy not to believe in love. Still, when she married her very wealthy—and very old—husband, she became the perfect wife. And then he went to that big bank in the sky, leaving Faith with lonely nights, a pile of money, and a total mess of a pro hockey team. Heck, Faith doesn’t even watch hockey!
Disaster Number Two: Passion
But most of America and half of Canada is watching Ty Savage. His lethal sex appeal and deadly right hook make him the favorite of fans. For most of Ty’s life, he’s dreamed of winning the Stanley Cup. The last thing he needs is a bimbo messing up his plans.
Disaster Number Three: Love
Faith loathes Ty on sight, but she can’t stop thinking about him all day . . . and night. Then a moment of temptation ends with Faith in Ty’s bed, and she begins to see there’s more to him than sex appeal. Ty discovers there’s far more to Faith than beauty and billions. But a relationship with Faith is impossible, and falling in love—that would be a disaster.
I haven’t read her yet but I have about 20 faithful Sylvia Day fans ready to lynch me if I don’t start this summer!
The worldwide phenomenon continues as Eva and Gideon face the demons of their pasts and accept the consequences of their obsessive desires…From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. Something I couldn’t resist. I also saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside—so much like my own. I was drawn to it. I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat.
No one knows how much he risked for me. How much I’d been threatened, or just how dark and desperate the shadow of our pasts would become.
Entwined by our secrets, we tried to defy the odds. We made our own rules and surrendered completely to the exquisite power of possession…
Jess Hayworth is a new author… well actually, no she’s not! It’s Doc Jess aka Jess Andersen author of The Nightkeepers series (also good friend of J.R. Ward). Under pen name Jess Hayworth, Doc has started is introducing a new CR series this month and there are cowboys and horses. So hell yeah, I am in!
A single visit to Mustang Ridge can change a person’s life in the most unexpected ways….Recovering from a difficult divorce and having problems with her daughter, Shelby accepts a summer job cooking at a family-run dude ranch. She hopes the animals will be just what her daughter, Lizzie, needs. Little does she know that ranch life will work some healing magic on her too.
When Shelby meets the head wrangler, Foster, she is put off by his brusque nature, but Lizzie takes an instant liking to the cowboy and his horses. While both Foster and Shelby have been scarred by love, it’s not long before Shelby is drawn to the rugged cowboy and his thoughtful ways.
But with summer nights in short supply and Foster wary of falling for a city girl, a simple summer romance soon grows complicated. As the days dwindle, Shelby will have to decide not only what is best for her daughter, but also where her future—and her happiness—will be found.
And to finish up my summer reading list I am once again suggesting my favorite RC book and let me tell you it was almost knocked off by The Best Man this year. You were this close Kristan, this close!
Ain’t She Sweet? Not exactly . . .
The girl everybody loves to hate has returned to the town she’d sworn to leave behind forever. As the rich, spoiled princess of Parrish, Mississippi, Sugar Beth Carey had broken hearts, ruined friendships, and destroyed reputations. But fifteen years have passed, and life has taught Sugar Beth its toughest lessons. Now she’s come home—broke, desperate, and too proud to show it.
The people of Parrish don’t believe in forgive and forget. When the Seawillows, Sugar Beth’s former girlfriends, get the chance to turn the tables on her, they don’t hesitate. And Winnie Davis, Sugar Beth’s most bitter enemy, intends to humiliate her in the worst possible way.
Then there’s Colin Byrne. . . . Fifteen years earlier, Sugar Beth had tried to ruin his career. Now he’s rich, powerful, and the owner of her old home. Even worse, this modern-day dark prince is planning exactly the sort of revenge best designed to bring a beautiful princess to her knees.
But none of them have reckoned on the unexpected strength of a woman who’s learned survival the hard way.
While Sugar Beth’s battered heart struggles to overcome old mistakes, Colin must choose between payback and love. Does the baddest girl in town deserve a second chance, or are some things beyond forgiving?
So there you have it! Those will be on coming with me on vacation. Yes ALL of them! All of these books are sold at all the major booksellers in both paperback and e-reader format. I would love to invite everyone to add to my list in the comments section. If there is an author or book you want to share with me I would love to add her (or him) to my TBR (that is now the size of the Pentagon) Laters Gators! Love, Lil
Do you hear that? That’s Summer saying hello….
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