Reading Adventures during the month of lurrrrv....

Welcome to the latest Reading Adventures where the SARA members let us know what they are or have been reading...Get ready to write add some titles to your TBR pile.


Liana Skrzpczak

My February reading has consisted of White Fang by Jack London and The Road to Ruin by SARA's very own Bronwyn Stuart, both of which I'm absolutely loving! Although White Fang isn't a typical 'romance', I guess it could be considered a romance about the relationship between master and companion. :)

Sandy Vaile

Fear for Hire by Natalie S Ellis.

Wow! I highly recommend this fast-paced, unique romantic suspense. Jack is a born protector who is struggling to keep his head above the water of failure. Molly is feisty and tenacious and doesn’t take kindly to being accidentally kidnapped, even if her assailant is gorgeous. She’s convinced he’s the perfect big break story, until she’s embroiled in a mess of falsehoods and terrifyingly twisted minds. But who is pulling the strings in this perverted puppet show? Jack vows to protect Molly until he finds out the truth, but the forces conspiring against them may prove too powerful.

Emmeline Lock 

Rated 5 stars to The Perfect Match by Kristin Higgins, and 4 stars to Club Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair

Carla Caruso

Gave 4 stars to Be My Baby by Laura Greaves

Khloe Wren

Gave 5 stars to Viper Game (Ghost Walkers #11) by Christine Feehan

Virginia Taylor 

5 stars to Fake by Beck Nicholas

"Although I read books in every genre, Fake is the first Teen Romance I’ve read. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I got a beautifully written, gorgeous story about a girl who isn’t tattooed, doesn’t smoke or drink, and isn’t trying to have sex with the school’s best male athlete. She’s smart, thoughtful, and a loyal friend. 

I loved Kath. That’s right. She doesn’t have a clever name, or a nickname like Bones or Skull. Just Kath. She has a nice mother whom she doesn’t resent and she has a horrible background, like most of us. Well, some of us. She rises above her background and she chooses her friends for the right reasons. 

This is in a closing scene with her mother. ‘Her hands cup my cheek. “If you have to, you will. And with class.”’ That’s Kath – a heroine with class. I loved Kath’s sincerity, her social conscience, and her problems and solutions touched my heart in a very special way.

Fake’s author, Beck Nicholas, is one of those authors who has latched onto the ‘craft’ of writing. Her voice is light and smooth. She doesn’t use clichés or done to death prose. However, my advice is not to begin the book when you should be doing something else, because you’ll forget and end up with no bread for lunch". (review on Goodreads)

and now for moi, Eleni Konstantine

For sweet romance, I read our very own Claire Baxter's  More Than Just One Night. It's a lovely read about second chances at love and allowing them into your life.  

I also love the cover - Disclaimer: My alter ego designed the cover. ;)

4 stars!

For paranormal romance, I read (and chuckled) Dressed to Slay by Harper Allen. This is the first book in a series about the stunning & sarcastic Crosse triplets. The Russian heritage comes to the forefront as Grandpa 'Darkheart' visits and confides that the family business is vampire slaying. Normally they would have confined him to the looney bin, but they'd just been attacked by their Vampire fiances. Throw in a prophecy or two, a club called the Hot Boss, and a very sexy werewolf - oh and the sister who is the Daughter of Lilith (THE vampire slayer of this generation) and there you have it. Fun, adventure, sex, love, family - the works.

I had read book two of this a while back so some of this was familiar but it had been long enough ago, and from another triplets perspective to still make it an enjoyable read. I'll be rereading book 2 before moving to book 3. Helps the little neural pathways connect the dots.

4 stars!

Shifting to my audio - I listened to Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard #2) by Charlaine Harris

Lily Bard seems to attract trouble which finds infuriating as she tries to have a quiet normal life. Her past precludes her from that, and so does the town she now lives in. It's a small southern town with ingrained ideas about the social structure - though most people are nice enough, there are those few who want to stir trouble by picking on others. This book looks at racism, sexism, and violence used against others. It's a thinker though having it seen through the eyes of Lily who has been touched by violence and who protects herself by putting up walls. Though the walls have started breaking down. A good story. 

4 stars!

That's it for this time around. I hope we've given you some ideas of books to read - and don't forget our SARA books!

~Happy Reading~

 

Character Questionnair With Mya Jensen from Inheriting Fear by Sandy Vaile

Today we have the wonderful Sandy Vaile with us. Mya from her new release has agreed to have a little chat with us.She sounds like a great character with a lot of sass so she is perfect for Sassy in the South

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Mya Jensen from Inheriting Fear by Sandy Vaile

Character Questionnaire

1.      What do you do best? Take care of myself, because there has never been anyone else.

2.      How would you describe yourself in one sentence? Don’t mess with me or I’ll knock you on your arse!

3.      What do you like least and best about the person you are? There’s nothing wrong with me. Who said there was? Okay, if I’m honest with you, I may be a bit of a control freak, but if you’re a woman who needs protecting from an abusive man, then you’ve come to the right place.

4.      Where do you call home? I thought moving from one side of Adelaide to the other would be far enough to out run my past. I was mistaken.

5.      What makes you laugh out loud? Luca when he’s all bashful and gentlemanly. What a spunk!

6.      What makes you really angry? Men who beat women.

7.      How do you feel about authority figures, like the police? They’re necessary in the community, but the law didn’t keep my mum safe. They always let Jack Roach back out of the lockup.

8.      Who do you wish you were closest to? Doing the horizontal tango with that hot detective from down the road would have to be at the top of my list.

9.      Do you have a secret? The list is long, but they’re not really secrets if they’re no-one else’s business, right? I figure that if I keep to myself, the world will let me be. Pity it doesn’t seem to work that way.

10.  What is your greatest regret? Not getting Mum out of Jack Roach’s house.

11.  What is your most prized possession? My Triumph Speed Triple motorcycle. It’s black and red, loud and full of grunt. Riding it and feeling the wind on my face gives me a sense of freedom.

12.  On what occasion would you lie? Maybe you should ask when I wouldn’t. Nah, just kidding. I don’t much reason to fib, but I’m not one to volunteer information unnecessarily, either. A girl has to look after number one you know. You can take me at face value.

13.  What is your greatest achievement? Dragging myself out of the gutter I grew up in.

14.  What is your greatest fear? Letting my guard down long enough for a man to get under my skin.

15.  Tell us a memory of childhood? When I was in primary school, I bought Mum a glossy, black jewellery box from a second hand shop. She said it was the best birthday present ever and we used to imagine visiting the menagerie of African animals painted on the lid. We imagined daring to get so close to a lion that the hairs on the backs of our necks stood on end, and looking up at a strange giraffe with its long lips, doe eyes, and not-quite horns.

16.  Have you been in love and had a broken heart? There’s no past tense, my heart is still broken from losing Mum.

17.  Do you believe in luck? There are no silver spoons in Croydon. I make my own way in the world through blood, sweat and tears.

18.  What would you do to save someone you love? Throw myself under a bus, if I knew it was coming… And therein lies the problem with saving someone.

19.  What is your idea of happiness? A gourmet meal made with fresh produce from my garden, eaten in the peace of my own home. Sometimes it would be nice to have a little company though.

20.  What is the strangest thing to happen to you? Discovering that I have something other women need. I’m happy to share it, but my services are not for sale. Can you guess what it is? Pick up a copy of ‘Inheriting Fear’ and find out. 

 

·         Website: http://www.sandyvaile.com

·         Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sandy_Vaile

·         Facebook: https://facebook.com/sandyvaile

http://www.crimsonromance.com/romantic-suspense-novels/inheriting-fear/

 

SARA News - kicking 2015 off with a bang!

Hello, dear readers, and welcome to the first 2015 instalment of the very sasstacular SARA News!
All of us at SARA trust you have had an excellent start to this brand new year, and we KNOW it's going to be full of fabulously excellent reading.
Oh, the excitement!

What better way to start news for 2015 than with a few tasty tidbits from Lilliana Rose?  

Lilliana has a novella coming out mid-March, called The Clockwork Heart from Less Than Three Press.  Want to know the bestest part?  If you pre-order it now, you save!

Haunted by a past lover and left with scars so deep Libby gave up her life as an explorer, she spends her days trying to avoid bad memories by training ruthlessly with Helen, the woman she hired to teach her self-defense. Helen is beautiful, appealing, and could be what Libby needs to climb out of her past once and for all.

Until the past returns and threatens to destroy Libby, and all that she holds dear, once and for all.

In other very marvellous news, Lilliana is also on film!  Well, not her, precisely (actually, I can't be definitive about that... :)), but a script that she has penned:

The TAFE SA students have made my short script into a short film; Collection. (I was one of four scripts selected to make into a film, from over 50 entries).

It was exciting seeing the film and the students did an excellent job capturing the essence of what I had written. 

The film is about a young girl, Tammy with an over active imagination and the adventures she conjures when she has to take out the rubbish, down a very long driveway!

In our second piece of newsiness, Sandy Vaile has recently signed a contract...

Motorbike-riding chef, Mya, has a serious mistrust of men. Since she became the guardian of her disabled mother, self-reliance is a way of life. She doesn't need a man -- in fact she can knock most of them on their arses -- and she definitely doesn't need her cocky new neighbor, Detective Luca Patterson, linking her to his latest jewelry counterfeit investigation.

Luca's professional boundaries blur after an unexpectedly, sizzling interlude with Mya. She is sexy, feisty and so many kinds of wrong, but he can't stop thinking about her. The problem is that her name keeps popping up in relation to his case.

Mya is threatened by an anonymous foe who is hell bent on revenge. Will she try to fight her way out of this one, or put her faith in Luca to avoid becoming the next victim?

A romantic suspense story published by Crimson Romance.

Stay tuned for pre-order info.


Until next time, happy reading.

Emmeline.

Reading Adventures: holiday reading

Well it's the end of January now, but since we've been on a break, I would like to say 'Happy New Year!!' Did everyone have a little bit too much bubbly and food over the holiday period? I know I certainly did - the food not the bubbly. Well not much anyway :)

This was meant to be the last edition of 2014 however... (sorry, life!)

Welcome to our first edition of Reading Adventures for 2015. What did SARAs have on their reading pile for the holidays? 

Let's see...


SARAs reading SARAs
It seems there were a few books that were in common on the SARA reading lists and they were books by other SARA authors!

Stone Castles by Trish Morey

- Linda Knightley
- Lilliana Rose
- Suzie Hindmarsh-Knights

(Eleni: it's in the top 10 of my TBR)

Fake by Beck Nicholas

- Lilliana Rose

- Eleni Konstantine

"This was the first book of my reading rank for 2015. 

What an amazing book. Beck Nicholas is one talented writer. Loved the voice and this story of revenge and secrets. I would have loved this book as a YA. Looking forward to more from this amazing author!"

The Road to Ruin by Bronwyn Stuart

- Linda Knightley

- Suzie Hindmarsh-Knights

- Anne Oliver

(Eleni: it's in the top 10 of my TBR)












Of course, there were non-SARA books ......

Linda Knightley had been looking forward to - 

River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz

Seventh Heaven by Catherine Anderson

Called by Fire by Delwyn Jenkins

(Eleni: Linda, Delwyn's book is on my 2015 TBR pile!)

Lilliana Rose had been looking forward to - 

A Dance with Dragons, Part 1: Dreams and Dust by George RR Martin

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, book 2),  by Cassandra Clare

(Eleni: both of these are on my 2015 TBR piles, Lilliana. Great minds!)

Anne Oliver had been looking forward to - 

Re-reading Nora Roberts' The MacKade Brothers bundle. 

"I love her old romances".

(Eleni: Just before the Christmas break I finished listening to her The O'Hurleys series. Thoroughly enjoyed.)

Alison F had been looking forward to - 

I am looking forward to settling down with I selection of 'new to me' Betty Neels books I scored from Book Depository. These have been saved up for my 'Christmas Treat' which means lying in bed during daylight hours and reading and not feeling the least bit guilty about it!

Okay I lied - I will feel guilty about not doing the housework, but it is Christmas after all. 

(Eleni: One of these days I have to read a Betty Neels book. I have one on my TBR pile.)



Dianne had been looking forward to -

Writing Without a Parachute: the art of freefall by Barbara Turner-Vesselago.

A book on loan from the SA Writers Centre.

(Eleni: Dianne, this looks like a book after my pantser heart!)











Suzie Hindmarsh-Knights was reading - 

Vicious Circle (Hector Cross, book 2) by Wilbur Smith

"It's dark."

(Eleni: One author not on my TBR pile - yet!)

Liana Skrzypczak read - 

These aren't that Christmassy (in fact they're kinda depressing), but this is what I read these holidays!


Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Colour Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft (Short Story)

The Golden Bird by Wilhelm Grimm (Short Story)

(Eleni: Going to the classics, Liana!)

Eleni Konstantine managed to read a few books in early January (damn cold kept me from reading between Christmas and New Year's Eve).

Fake by Beck Nicholas - 5 stars! (- see above for review)

Home for Christmas by Fiona Greene (novella) - 5 stars!

"I try not to be biased when it comes to reviews of people I know and respect. But I suppose we all have our biases. I was lucky enough to read the pre-submitted version but I read this story again in this form, and it blew me away. This a sweet story about two people falling in love slowly via long distance. There is so much heart and soul entwined and it's easy to get swept away. This was perfect holiday read. A book to leave you with a smile on your face when you finish. "

After Dark (Harmony #1) by Jayne Castle (audio) - 4 stars

"Humans on another planet into the far future."

Much Ado About You (Essex Sisters #1) by Eloisa James - 5 stars!

"Delightful historical romance with wit and charm."

I hope everyone had a relaxing time reading. Check in next time with some more Reading Adventures.