My TBR list - I'll never catch up

Do you ever feel like your "To Be Read" list will ever get smaller?  


I'm having anxiety over mine lately.  Each time I finish another book, I find 5 more to add to my list.  It's like these books breed.  Like a book knows you are about to finish and it decides to make more books to add to your list.  


As of today I believe I have approximately 212 books on my "To Be Read" list.  Oy!


Even if I read a book every 2-3 days I will never finish this year.  It's almost defeating.  It almost makes me crazy.  But then I remember that I'm not alone.  I know people that have longer lists than me!  

How long is your list?

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Still curious?  Read her bio.

Enchanting Ella: Hero Types

With so many genres in Romance, we have many many choices in hero types.  I find myself enjoying books with a hero who is strong, determined and successful.  However, lately - the damaged ones have been catching my eye.  

Tough and rugged.  That's another type out there that can be enjoyable to read about.  Even if it all comes back to storyline, the character has to be a big part of the success of the book.  We as readers require a hero with heart.  He should also have a protective side, always willing to save his heroine from danger.  

Of course it doesn't hurt if he has lots of muscles and even some nice tattoos if you so desire.  I so desire.  I myself fall for the Alpha.  Although I've been known to also swoon over the Beta hero a time or two also.  There are so many ways that a hero can be written.  The especially damaged hero is hard to read about at first but when you see the change take place and see the growth that the hero goes through in order to be "worthy" of his heroine, that right there is magic.  

A great writer can bring the hero to life right from the pages of the book.  I've found quite a few of these heroes recently and fell in love with the them based on the writer's interpretation of their character.  

What is your favorite hero type?  

Are you an Alpha or a Beta lover?  

Follow Enchanting Ella on Twitter and like her Facebook Page.  

Still curious?  Read her bio.

Enchanting Ella: Turkey or Tofurkey?

I'm a traditionalist.  I love my Holidays.  I love them all.  I don't discriminate.  Unless you tell me you are serving Tofurkey.  Then and only then I may have to comment on your choice of food.  Only because I love the food that is served during the holidays.  So many great traditional choices. 

Ham
Turkey
Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potato mash with Marshmallows
Mashed Potatoes
Corn
Cranberry salad
Cresent Rolls (my Devil in a red dress)
Gravy
and who could forget Pumpkin Pie! 

How does this all relate to Romance you ask?  I have a love affair with food.  Food is my comfort.  Much like a great read, food can also calm me and take me to places outside of the real world.  Good comfort food.  Yummy delicious, dilectible and delightful FOOD! 

Now that we're all hungry....

I have started a few Holiday Novellas.  I'm enjoying the Holiday theme.  It's nice to have 2 of my favorite things, hot men and Holidays put together in a book. 

Do you enjoy Holiday themed books? 

Most of all, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  

Follow Enchanting Ella on Twitter and like her Facebook Page.  

Still curious?  Read her bio.

Author Spotlight: Cara Marsi - Ten Reasons You'll Love My Hero Aiden Rourke

I planned to do an article on writing --

how I structure my day, how I come up with ideas 

and characters, etc.

But my hero in Storm of Desire, 

Aiden Rourke, insisted I write about him.

I tried to ignore him, but Aiden can be persistent in 

so many very good ways.

So here it is:

Ten reasons why I love Aiden and why I hope you will too.

10. He’s a hunk--thick dark hair, deep blue eyes, and a dimple in his cheek when he smiles.

9. Tall, with a muscular, sculpted body to die for.

                              8.  He’s a great lover.  

7. He loves his parents and siblings and feels connected to the place where he grew up.

6. He likes cats. Who doesn’t love a man who loves cats?

5. He’s smart and big-hearted.

4.  He’s loved Samantha for years, even after she ran away, wounding his ego and his heart.

3.  He’s understanding and kind.

2.  He knows what he wants from life.

and the Number One Reason I Love Aiden Rourke:

1. He’ll do anything and sacrifice anything to make Samantha happy.   

I hope you’ve enjoyed this and I hope you’ll read “Storm of Desire” to see if Aiden gets his heart’s desire.  Below is a hot excerpt to warm you on a cold day, or to heat you even more on a scorching day:

With a groan, he crushed her mouth in an urgent kiss. She parted her lips, welcoming his possession, as she slid down on the sofa, Aiden moving to lie on top of her. Slipping her arms around his neck, Sam kissed him with all the pent-up sexual frustration she’d been afraid to release.“Sam,” he whispered against her lips. He nibbled on the corners of her mouth and trailed hot, hungry kisses along her jaw line.She squirmed beneath him, her hips seeking his erection. Moaning under his touch, the storm inside her drowned out the storm outside.“Keep still, baby,” he muttered. “You keep moving like that, it’ll be over before it starts. We’ve got all night.”He slipped his hand under her sweater and cupped one breast, massaging her through the thin lace of her bra. Uttering tiny cries, she wound her fingers in his hair. It was as silky as it looked, as silky as she remembered.“Your breasts--so beautiful,” he murmured. He continued caressing and massaging until she bucked under him, nearly crazed with wanting him. 

“Easy, sweetheart.” He grabbed the edge of her sweater and slipped it over her head. Then he tenderly and expertly removed the skimpy red bra and threw it on the floor.Her nipples puckered and her juices flowed, wetting her panties. She was so ready for him. He took one breast in his large hand, rolling the peaked nipple between his fingers. “Beautiful.”Still cupping her breast, he captured the other nipple in his mouth, sucking, licking until she was a puddled mass of need.“Aiden,” she breathed.He kept up his relentless worship of her breasts, his talented hands and mouth working their sensual magic, taking her higher and higher, closer to the peak. It had been so long. She felt her climax building, a flame burning out of control. Purring her pleasure, she twisted her fingers into the soft fabric of the sofa.Her climax rolled over her in fiery waves, and she moaned his name until she finally lay still beneath him. 

Aiden held her close and kissed her hair. “Liked that, did you?”“Yes,” she croaked. “Oh, yes.”“You’re so responsive.” His soft breath whispered against her neck. “I remember how I made you come just touching your breasts.”His mention of that other night hit her with the force of the sleet outside. Humiliation and guilt reared up. She pushed against him and struggled to sit.He released her and she quickly stood, then bent to pick up her discarded clothing, holding the sweater over her nakedness.He stared up at her, the desire in his eyes slowly replaced by confusion. “Sam, what’s wrong?”She stared at him for long moments, her body on fire. She didn’t know what she felt for him. Lust? Love? Or was he just a convenience, someone to take her mind off her problems? Until she knew, she had to resist Aiden’s pull. For his sake.

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt.

Read excerpts for this book and my other books at www.caramarsi.com 

Thank you, Ravishing Romanes, for having me today.

Buy Links for “Storm of Desire:”

Amazon

  Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Smashwords 

 iTunes Apple Store

I love to hear from readers, contact me on my website or follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

           Thank you, Cara Marsi 

Romance Readers Stand Proud...and blog under a pseudonym

We are romance readers. 

We devour books in one sitting and ponder the intricate meanings of our favorite fictitious relationships.  We seek out tame paperback covers to read in public and hide racy ones behind magazines at the doctor's office. 

We read in ebook format hoping no one notices the words dripping and quivering accidentally highlighted on the screen. 

We are romance readers and, alas, we are a wee bit ashamed. 

But be ashamed no longer dear friends.  Display those sweaty chests and scantily clad women with pride.  Boldly browse the romance section and smile wide while purchasing enough erotica to last your family a month.

For it's us seasoned readers understand that Dean Koontz's Whispers contains more graphic sex than Laura Moore's Rosewood Trilogy and that Tina Folsom's Scanguard Vampires is more scathing than the Game of Thrones cast having a three way. 

We like love, we enjoy romance and you're darn right we expect a happy ending.

Let the others swoon over Patrick Swayze in Ghost yet condemn the same scene in print.  We know reading about sex is the same as watching it on television.  Books may be descriptive, but movies flaunt naked body parts in your face the size of a theater screen.  And there's grunting.  Maybe they'll make a movie of 50 Shades of Grey.  Huh. 

Let's ban together, fellow romance readers, and show everyone what they're missing.

...but you go first.  I feel safer behind my silhouette.


Comment about It

What are you dirty little secrets? 

Conquered by a Highlander (by Paula Quinn)

Conquered by a Highlander rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars
Release Date:  May 2012

Children of the Mist series rating:  6 stars

Though Conquered is part of a series, it reads as a stand alone story with fulfilling character appearances from previous books.

How are the sex scenes?
A couple descriptive ones, the rest are behind closed doors.

How are the story lines?
Great.  Detailed and historically accurate with character appearances from previous novels.

Would you read it again?
I plan to read this entire series again.

Conquered by a Highlander is the fourth and final novel in Paula Quinn's Children of the Mist Scottish romance series.  Preceded by three emotionally charged, historically driven novels (and the two book MacGregor series) Conquered debuted in May 2012 with high romantic expectations. 

If I do blog so myself, Mrs. Quinn was more than up to the challenge.

By 1688's standards, Camlochlin's very own Colin MacGregor is a grown man at twenty-two years and he's ready and willing to continue the fight for the Catholic king to keep the throne.  Colin infiltrates an enemy's army and befriends many foul smelling creatures - I mean, men - to collect information for the crown.

He didn't count on Lady Gillian Dearly...

The cousin to the enemy and mother of illegitimate, four-year-old Edmund.  At nineteen Lady Gillian has been cast out from her family and sent to hide behind the walls of her cousin's home.  Did you say nineteen?  Why, yes I did.  That would mean she was fifteen when she...  Why yes it does.  That young?  It is historically accurate, but feel free to call Teen Mom.

Torn between his loyalty to England and his growing desire for the bonny lass and her endearing son, Colin must make character defining choices that affect their future and the future of his clan.  Though we all know the ending - I pretty much enjoyed the journey getting there.

Pretty much?  Well, yes. 

Though Paula Quinn delivered yet again with superb writing skills, well defined characters and historically accurate facts, Colin and Gillian just didn't tug my heart strings like Tristan and Isobel did (Quinn's Seduced by a Highlander, book #2).  There wasn't enough resistance between the couple.  Yes, Gillian's evil cousin was threatening her son, but Quinn had already revealed that the cousin would never harm the child so Gillian and Colin's reason for staying apart fell flat; and

The first intimate scene burst out of left field and without the characters discussing it, or even giving the event consideration through inner dialogue.  Maybe it was too planned...read it and let me know your thoughts.  Aha - yes I did just tell you to buy this book.

Despite the two minimal complaints, Conquered is a great read and up to par with Rob and Davina's story (Quinn's Ravished by a Highlander, book #1). 

Do not consider this review a failure for Conquered, but a supreme achievement for Seduced and Quinn's Children of the Mist series as a whole.  Conquered is a good, solid love story that is heads above the competition.  (Apologies to Monica McCarty.  I do not mean you.)  The Children of the Mist series is one of the best historical romance stories I have read.  Ever.

Don't overlook Conquered.  Read the entire series and thank me later.

Learn more about Paula Quinn and upcoming titles at her website: http://www.paulaquinn.com/index.html


Read About the Characters from Beginning to End:

Laird of the Mist (MacGregor series, book #1)
A Highlander Never Surrenders (MacGregor series, book #2)
Ravished by a Highlander (Children of the Mist series, book #1)
Seduced by a Highlander (Children of the Mist series, book #2)
Tamed by a Highlander* (Children of the Mist series, book #3)
Conquered by a Highlander (Children of the Mist series, book #4)

*Quinn's link to Tamed is not working so I've linked the title to the Bonus Features section.