End of the Year Roundup

Well, 2010 was an interesting year in Reading Land, so I figured an end of the year roundup might be fun.

Number of books I read: 283 (a few were re-reads or audio books - list here)
Number of new-to-me authors whose books I read: 117 (list and quick opinions here)
Challenges I participated in: A to Z Reading Challenge (list here)

Now comes the fun part - taking stock and picking the best of the best :)

Favorite authors of 2010: Cameron Dane and Riley Shane

Favorite new-to-me authors of 2010: Cherise Sinclair and Dee Tenorio

My Top Ten Books of 2010
Note: Not necessarily all published in 2010 but all were new-to-me reads
Also note: The books are alphabetized by author - love them all equally

1. Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3) by Ilona Andrews
Buy Link

2. Something New (Foster Siblings/Coleman, Florida Series, Book 2) by Cameron Dane
My Review | Buy Link

3. Quinn's Hart by Cassandra Gold
My Review | Buy Link

4. Love in the Afternoon (The Hathaways, Book 5) by Lisa Kleypas
My Review | Buy Link

5. A Vintage Affair by Josh Lanyon
My Review | Buy Link

6. The Taste of Magick by Riley Shane
Buy Link

7. Club Shadowlands (Masters of Shadowlands, Book 1) by Cherise Sinclair
My Review | Buy Link

8. Master of the Mountain (Mountain Masters, Book 1) by Cherise Sinclair
My Review | Buy Link

9. Burn for Me (Rancho Del Cielo, Book 3) by Dee Tenorio
My Review | Buy Link

10. Blonde with a Wand (Babes on Brooms, Book 1) by Vicki Lewis Thompson
My Review | Buy Link

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Review: Arrested Holiday by Lissa Matthews

Arrested Holiday by Lissa Matthews
Loose Id
Erotic Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 978-1-60737-899-0
Buy Link: http://www.loose-id.com/Arrested-Holiday.aspx

Decorator Holli always looks forward to the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s the one time of the year she takes a vacation and this year she’s headed to New York City to ring in the New Year with friends. At least, that was the plan…

When Michael pulls over a woman for speeding, he doesn’t expect to discover that she’s also wanted for fraud. He’s forced to put Holli behind bars and, to make matters worse, he discovers that the fraud charges are a mistake due to a clerical error. Unfortunately, with government offices closed, he can’t release her. He does, however, get permission to place Holli under house arrest until the mistake can be fixed.

Small-town Pennsylvania isn’t New York City, but Holli can’t bring herself to mind when Michael – aka Officer Hunky – offers to let her stay in his home rather than some nowhere motel. Holli’s first brush with the law might have been a mistake, but she fully plans on going for a second, far more personal “brush” with Officer Hunky.

Christmastime gets wicked in the delightful Arrested Holiday! I admit, the premise of the story made me raise an eyebrow, but hey, it’s fantasy. If you’re willing to slightly suspend disbelief, Arrested Holiday is one heck of a fun read. Holli is likeable, relatable, and has a few vulnerabilities that I found engaging. Michael, in turn, is every woman’s dream. He’s sexy, gorgeous, intelligent, and a gourmet cook. Together, Holli and Michael are hotter than any fire. In fact, put away the chestnuts and tell Santa to skip Officer Hunky’s chimney this Christmas, lest he find himself accidentally barbequed.

Arrested Holiday is a wonderful blend of naughty and nice, making it the perfect read for the holiday season. This is the first story I’ve read by Lissa Matthews and I will surely be coming back for more.

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Waiting on Wednesday: Treachery in Death

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine which spotlights eagerly anticipated upcoming releases!

I love, love, LOVE the In Death series. Eve and Roarke have kept me captivated for 39 stories (including novellas), and I expect nothing less than pure entertainment from Treachery in Death.

Note: Reading order and release date information for J.D. Robb’s books can be found HERE on Wit and Sin

Title: Treachery in Death
Author: J.D. Robb
Series: In Death, Book 40
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Putnam
Release Date: 22 February 2011

Book Description (from amazon.com):

Detective Eve Dallas and her partner, Peabody, are following up on a senseless crime-an elderly grocery owner killed by three stoned punks for nothing more than kicks and snacks. This is Peabody's first case as primary detective-good thing she learned from the master.

But Peabody soon stumbles upon a trickier situation. After a hard workout, she's all alone in the locker room when the gym door clatters open; and-while hiding inside a shower stall trying not to make a sound-she overhears two fellow officers, Garnet and Oberman, arguing. It doesn't take long to realize they're both crooked-guilty not just of corruption but of murder. Now Peabody, Eve, and Eve's husband, Roarke, are trying to get the hard evidence they need to bring the dirty cops down-knowing all the while that the two are willing to kill to keep their secret.

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Faeries and Witches and Challenges - Oh My!

I love a good reading challenge, so I had to post about not one, but two coming your way in 2011. Nicole Sheldon at The Betrayed Writer is hosting The 2011 Faery and Witches Challenge:

What's the goal? Read 10 books from either challenge in 2011. Post your books, your rating and your completion date as we follow along. Encourage discussions of the book and the author as we discover new worlds and friends! 

Check out Nicole's challenge page HERE for further details, gorgeous challenge buttons, and even news about prizes!!!

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Waiting On Wednesday: All She Wrote

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine which spotlights eagerly anticipated upcoming releases!

I love Josh Lanyon's work, so I'm always excited for a new book of his to come out. Mr. Lanyon often combines mystery, humor, and romance to provide one hell of a story and I expect that All She Wrote will be a fantastically entertaining read.

Title: All She Wrote
Author: Josh Lanyon
Series: Holmes & Moriarity, Book 2
Genre: Male/Male Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: 28 December 2010

Book Description (from Samhain Publishing's website):

Giving screwball mystery a whole deadly new meaning.

A murderous fall down icy stairs is nearly the death of Anna Hitchcock, the much-beloved “American Agatha Christie” and Christopher Holmes’s former mentor. Anna’s plea for him to host her annual winter writing retreat touches all Kit’s sore spots—traveling, teaching writing classes, and separation from his new lover, J.X. Moriarity.

For J.X., Kit’s cancellation of yet another romantic weekend is the death knell of a relationship that has been limping along for months. But that’s just as well, right? Kit isn’t ready for anything serious and besides, Kit owes Anna far too much to refuse.

Faster than you can say “Miss Marple wears boxer shorts”, Kit is snooping around Anna’s elegant, snowbound mansion in the Berkshires for clues as to who’s trying to kill her. A tough task with six amateur sleuths underfoot. Six budding writers with a tangled web of dark undercurrents running among them.

Slowly, Kit gets the uneasy feeling that the secret may lie between the pages of someone’s fictional past. Unfortunately, a clever killer is one step ahead. And it may be too late for J.X. to ride to the rescue.

Warning: Contains one irascible, forty-year-old mystery writer who desperately needs to get laid, one exasperated thirty-something ex-cop only too happy to oblige, an isolated country manor that needs the thermostat cranked up, various assorted aspiring and perspiring authors, and a merciless killer who may have read one too many mystery novels.

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Free Read: The Dickens With Love by Josh Lanyon

For one month only, Josh Lanyon's The Dickens With Love, a Christmastime romance, is available for free on Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook.

I highly recommend The Dickens With Love. In fact, you can read my review of it HERE.

The Dickens With Love is published as both an ebook and in print (in the To All a (Very Sexy) Good Night anthology) from Samhain Publishing:

A quirky holiday romance about Faith, Hope, and…er…glow-in-the-dark condoms!

Three years ago, a scandal cost antiquarian “book hunter” James Winter everything that mattered to him: his job, his lover and his self-respect. But now the rich and unscrupulous Mr. Stephanopoulos has a proposition. A previously unpublished Christmas book by Charles Dickens has turned up in the hands of an English chemistry professor by the name of Sedgwick Crisparkle. Mr. S. wants that book at any price, and he needs James to get it for him. There’s just one catch. James can’t tell the nutty professor who the buyer is.

Actually, two catches. The nutty Professor Crisparkle turns out to be totally gorgeous—and on the prowl. Faster than you can say, “Old Saint Nick,” James is mixing business with pleasure…and in real danger of forgetting that this is just a holiday romance.

Just as they’re well on the way to having their peppermint sticks and eating them too, Sedgwick discovers the truth. James has been a very bad boy. And any chance Santa will bring him what he wants most is disappearing quicker than the Jolly Old Elf’s sleigh.

Warning: This book contains an ocelot, songs by America, Stardust martinis, tinsel, long-lost manuscripts, Faith, Hope and…Love.

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Book Excitement: Heat of the Night by Elle Kennedy

I love Elle Kennedy's sexy Navy SEALs and am always thrilled when a new Out of Uniform book comes out. Much to my excitement, Ms. Kennedy's next Out of Uniform book, Heat of the Night, comes out this coming Tuesday.

Note: Reading order and release date information for Elle Kennedy's books can be found HERE on Wit and Sin

Heat of the Night by Elle Kennedy
Release Date: November 16, 2010

Back Cover Blurb (from Elle Kennedy's website):
When the heat is on, anything that can happen...will.
Out of Uniform, Book 5

When her long-time fiancé breaks off their engagement, saying he needs to “explore other avenues”, Annabelle Holmes has no trouble reading between the lines. Bryce thinks she’s a prude. Funny, since when it comes to acting out sexual fantasies, he’s always been the squeamish one.

Determined to prove him wrong, she sublets an apartment in San Diego, grabs pen and paper, and lists all her sexual fantasies. Intending to surprise Bryce with it as soon as possible. Only the list winds up in the wrong hands—or are they the right ones?

Navy SEAL Ryan Evans is expecting a little impromptu fun with his always-willing, blonde-and-leggy neighbor. But when he slides into her bed, he finds horrified, brunette-and-curvy Annabelle instead—along with her naughty list.

Embarrassment doesn’t begin to cover it when Annabelle realizes where her list has ended up. But then Ryan makes her a delicious offer: The chance to check off every last wild, wicked item—with the help of his equally hot SEAL team buddy, Matt.

A harmless fling is easy to add to her list. Then something unexpected happens that’s not so easy to cross off...

Warning: This title features a sassy heroine, a Navy SEAL hero, and a sex list—being organized has never been so much fun! Be prepared for hot sex on the floor, in public, and even with someone watching...

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