Happy New Year

Hello friends!
I hope you had a wonderful New Year's celebration. It's hard to believe the 00 decade is over and we're into "the teenage" years. Let's hope those years are less turbulent for our country than they are for those of us with teenaged kids! Regular readers will notice a couple of additions to my sidebar. In 2010, I want to keep better track of my writing progress, and I'd really like to know exactly how many fabulous romances I read during the year. I figured I'd keep track of both here. Once I finish my first 2010 book, I'll add a new gadget that tracks 2010 Reads. I have a feeling it's a pretty significant number, but we shall see!! I'd love to hear about what you're reading, what you love, what you don't, what trends you see that please you and those that don't. One trend that I am frankly OVER is the vampire. I never have understood the lure, but I know paranormals are hugely popular. Not with me. I do read them if my friends wrote them and often enjoy them. But I would never choose a paranormal over a contemporary or historical. Historicals have become my friends in 2009. I sampled my first one with my friend Michele Anne Young's "Lady Flees Her Lord," and was instantly hooked! I've since blazed through at least 100 of them, and now I'm attempting to write one. I'm having a lot of fun with that. We'll see how it goes as this year unfolds. Right now, it's more of a "can I really do this?" experiment. So far, so good. What matters most is that it's fun!!

Over my 17-day stay-cation (the BEST vacation of the year), we had a lot of snow. That's somewhat unusual for us this early in the year up here in RI. Often when big snowstorms head our way, we don't get much down here on the coast. This year, we've probably already had more than two feet. When I lived here growing up, I used to HATE the snow. I never have liked being cold and snow was always a pain in the rear. Now that I am all grown up with kids of my own, I love the snow! It brings everything to a big fat halt and gives us time to hang out at home, read, play games and WRITE. I've written the entire 21,000 words of Fool for Love since Dec. 17, during two of the busier weeks of the year. It's snowing again today and I say let it snow, let it snow, LET IT SNOW! During the stay-cation, I've also done quite a lot of reading. Here is what I've read:

Captive of Sin
By: Anna Campbell
I've gotten to know Anna through my Casa sister Lucinda McGary, who along with Anna is an owner of the very popular Romance Bandits blog. Cindy is my dear friend and EVIL TWIN. Anna's new book is a really fun story about a damaged hero who saves a damsel in distress. In turn, she saves him from himself. A great book!! I loved it. Anna is a hoot in person and if you ever get the chance to hang out with her, you won't be disappointed. Pick up her earlier books, too, especially To Tempt The Devil. Loved that one, too!

Forbidden Falls
By: Robyn Carr
Regular blog readers will recall my fixation on Robyn's Virgin River series earlier this year. I think I read all seven books in four days during a summer vacation. Totally AWESOME! This new installment doesn't disappoint with a new-to-town minister who hires a down-on-her-luck single mother to be his pastoral assistant. The sparks fly between these two unlikely lovers. Throw in a subplot featuring a favorite couple from an earlier book along with Jack, Mel, Preacher and the rest of the Virgin River regulars, and Robyn has penned another winner. If you haven't read the Virgin River books, RUN don't walk to your nearest bookstore. I promise you won't be disappointed. The only bad thing is we have to wait until February for the next one!

Kindred In Death
By: J.D. Robb
I'm a huge fan of this series, which now numbers 30 books. Last December I read the whole series during the staycation. Prior to that, I'd read a few of them piecemeal. You really need to begin with Naked In Death to get the full lowdown on Eve and Roarke's amazing love story. Their story continues to amaze in this latest rendition that follows the investigation into the rape and murder of a police captain's daughter. As always, Eve and her team of friends and colleagues, aided by her ex-criminal and current uber-billionaire, tech-savvy husband Roarke are on the path of a killer. Before I read this latest installment, I heard this one was long on police procedure and short on relationship stuff. So I went into it expecting to be slightly disappointed, but Ms. Roberts gave us a nice mix of both. I always find myself craving more Eve and Roarke, which is probably what fuels the runaway success of the series. This is one series I often buy in hard cover, if that tells you anything about how much I love it. The one negative thing I will say about this latest book is, like in some of the past installments, I found some of the police stuff hard to follow. I had to go back a few times and re-read and still wasn't always clear about what was going on or how they'd come to certain conclusions. That said, however, a bit of confusion didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of this latest In Death book.

Finally, a few plugs for new books out this week by my friends:

Fugitive
By: Cheryl Brooks
This is the fifth book in Cheryl's Cat Star Chronicles. I read this one in manuscript format and it's a fun, sexy romp! Run out and buy the whole series! You won't believe Cheryl's world-building skills. What an imagination!! (Oh and did I mention it's SUPER SEXY?)

My Dearest Mr. Darcy
By: Sharon Lathan
The latest in Sharon's ongoing look into the happy marriage between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett. I am now two books behind and must get caught up! Sharon will be coming by soon for a visit, so stay tuned.

Breakfast in Bed
By: Robin Kaye
Robin's books are as funny as she is—and she's pretty damned funny. All we do is laugh when we catch up on the phone. This is the third book in her Domestic Gods series. I love the tagline for that series: Every woman wants a man who is a good in the kitchen as he is in the bedroom. Is that inspired or what? Looking forward to reading this new one in which a DG in training falls for the woman who was teaching him to be a better man for ANOTHER woman. Knowing Robin, you can expect a laugh riot!

What have you been reading during the holidays? Any great recommendations? Are we friends on Facebook? If not, why not? I'm growing my Facebook site and I want you there with me!