You are, you are...

Winners from We are, we are, the youth of a nation post Ashley Danielle and Kris Please let me know which book you would like and email me your address: Autumn in Scotland by Karen Ranney i see you by Holly Lisle The Prince Kidnaps a Bride by Christina Dodd (have two new copies) Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgway (have two new copies)

We are, we are, the youth of a nation

As I mention all the time, I have a lil sister. A very little sister, well not really but much younger than I am. As she tells me all the time (along with telling me how much taller than me she is, yes she is a brat). On January 22nd I will be 31 and on Febuary 9th she will be 13. This amuses her and she has taken to telling EVERYONE. Back to my point, the lil sis is a reader and I try very hard to encourage her love of books. I want to find her fun books. Books that are well written AND make her want to read. And with so many romance authors trying their hand at Young Adult novels, I also figured I would put her to work. Child labor... and she works cheap. So as I was making my list of books for 2007, I was trying to find one YA book for each month that the sis and I could review. And then I remembered I know jack about YA books. I have done what I do best, sent some emails and requested some catalogs. And now I doing the other thing I do well... asking for help *g*. So tell me what YA books are you looking forward to in 2007? Or your kids are looking forward too? Or are you writing? Or are your friends writing? Tell me all about it. Come now... don't be shy. Tell me a little about the book and/or the author. And I would love an age range for the book if you know it. We are in the process of redesigning my blog - yes I will most likely finally give in and move to wordwhateveritiscalled. Once the move is done I am thinking of clearing this and putting the YA reviews and rec's here. That way I don't have to worry about kids googling books and ending up with an erotica rec. And well mostly so I don't have to listen to: "mmmmmmmoooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm sybil said a bad word" It can be any author, any plot but I am really wondering how many of our oh so talented romance novel authors are trying or have tried their hands at young adult fiction. There is one by Susan Johnson... really! And no we won't be reading that one. For your hard work of reccing and/or pimping, I have a reward! I have a couple of duplicate books, so on Sunday night I will take all the comments and randomly pick two name (put a note in the post if you don't want to be in the drawing. The winning name can choice between brand new (unsigned) copies of Autumn in Scotland by Karen Ranney, i see you by Holly Lisle, The Prince Kidnaps a Bride by Christina Dodd or Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgway.

This is the best romance had to offer?

Quill Awards Nominees up for voting they say: The Quills celebrates the best books of the year in nineteen popular categories, ranging from romance to biography to graphic novels. then give us these five books to vote on: Nominees in the Romance category Blue Smoke Blue Smoke - Nora Roberts The Masque of the Black Tulip - Lauren Willig The Preacher's Daughter The Preacher's Daughter - Beverly Lewis Savannah Breeze - Mary Kay Andrews Undead and Unpopular - Mary Janice Davidson This is the best of the best out of romance? Really?

I need a friend

I wanna play! So someone be my friend and go sign up! Oh and email me and let me know ;). Pretty please... I never win but I am odd like that. [note: beta blogger is being goofy if you have issues posting use the option 'other' and type in your name... if you use anon, make sure you type your name in the post]

Don't forget it is a Week of Bad Boys, Good Spies, Unforgettable Lovers

Don't forget about the hunt for free Alison Kent books. I think she draws the names on Aug 1st. So get to commenting if you haven't already!

A Week of Bad Boys, Good Spies, Unforgettable Lovers

Screwing with Perfect, Her Wildest Dreams, Her Best Friend's Lover and Seducing Simon all have a theme in common... friends becoming lovers. This is one of my faves because, well, hmmmm.... What is it about friends becoming lovers? click me... SCULLY: Well, it seems to me that the best relationships-- the ones that last-- are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with. Love that quote! And I agree. A true friendship is an amazing thing. The trust. The bond. The knowledge. The understanding. The caring. You have this person who is there for you, you can turn to and you can count on. If you add in attraction and great sex, isn't that the perfect relationship? MULDER: It should be right here. The entire tape is blank. SCULLY: You know, an electrical surge in the outlet the storm may have degaussed everything, erasing the entire tape. You still have nothing. MULDER: I may not have the X-Files, Scully, but I still have my work. And I've still got you. And I still have myself. With two characters who begin as friends, the reader generally doesn't have to worry about the whole, I hate you/lets have sex/I hate you scenario(s). I find the push pull grows old quickly. They already like each other. It is grand to read about two people who respect each other and want to see the other person happy. Mulder: "Scully, I was like you once. I didn't know who to trust. And I chose another path. Another life, another fate where I found my sister. The end of my world was unrecognisable and upside down. There was one thing that remained the same. You were my friend and you told me the truth. Even when the world was falling apart you were my constant; my touchstone." And friends KNOW each other, the good, the bad and the ugly, and it doesn't matter. There is a acceptance and trust a true friends brings to a relationship you don't get with two people who don't have a friendship foundation to build on. And it can make for some explosive sex. They already knows the real you, the dirty secrets you hide away from the rest of the world. The horrible things you have done. The wild, wicked and wonderful adventures you have taken, hell he/she might have done them with you. That level of openness is a pretty powerful thing. The whole 'getting to know you' bullshit is not needed. There is no phase where one person is at their best trying to wow the other person with who they are really aren't. HOLMAN: I've been envious of men like you my whole life. Based on your physical bearing, I'd assumed you were... More experienced. I mean... You spend every day with Agent Scully a beautiful, enchanting woman. And you two never, uh...? I... confess I find that shocking. I... I've seen how you two gaze at one another. MULDER: This is about you, Holman. I'm here to help you. I'm perfectly happy with my relationship with Agent Scully. HOLMAN: So according to your theory I walk in there, tell her I love her and the drought will end? MULDER: Just tell her how you feel. And Holman. I do not gaze at Scully. Then there is the risk factor and fear involved. Do you risk fucking up a grand friendship? Will sex bring you closer or tear you apart? What if the sex is bad? Can two people be perfect together in every way but the physical? What happens then? Can the friendship survive? Can sex ruin a great relationship? Is it worth the risk? oh sweet, sweet angst... MULDER: All right, fire away, Poorboy. Ooh! That's good. All right, what you may find is you concentrate on hitting that little ball... The rest of the world just fades away-- all your everyday, nagging concerns. The ticking of your biological clock. How you probably couldn't afford that nice, new suede coat on a G-Woman's salary. How you threw away a promising career in medicine... to hunt aliens with a crackpot, albeit brilliant, partner. Getting into the heart of a global conspiracy. Your obscenely overdue triple-X bill. Oh, I... I'm sorry, Scully. Those last two problems are mine, not yours. SCULLY: Shut up, Mulder. I'm playing baseball. Friendship merging into loves seems like the perfect idea. And it is believable two people with a history can find their way to happy ever after. And really isn't that what romance is all about? (hee sorry cece :) ) SCULLY: Mulder, the case is over. There's no more evidence to be gathered. There's only my hope that you'll be able to see past this delusion. MULDER: You have to be willing to see. SCULLY: I wish it were that simple. MULDER: Scully, you have to believe me. Nobody else on this whole damn planet does or ever will. You're my one in… five billion. Do you enjoy a good friends to lovers tale? Do you hate it with a burning passion? What are your favorite books to fit the theme? Or if you are not a friends to lovers reader, what theme(s) do you enjoy? A book I currently have on the tbr pile seems to fit really well and after reading Julia Quinn's take on Friendship in Romance Novels, I think I will need to make time to read Minx soon. others I have read that come to mind I liked are: Fire and Rain by Elizabeth Lowell The Romantic by Madeline Hunter One Wish by Linda Lael Miller Standing in the Shadows by Shannon Mckenna Casey by Lori Foster As You Desire by Connie Brockway The Devil You Know by Liz Carlyle Too Much Temptation by Lori Foster more than half of Diana Palmer could fit here... Fit for a King, Lawless, Friends and Lovers... Sandra Brown has some Only Mine by Elizabeth Lowell The Last Man in Town by Susan Kay Law hmmm at least I think those fit, damn I will have to go check ;) so throw some more rec's at me... Anyone know the names of the episodes the quotes come from *g* MULDER: As difficult and as frustrating as it's been sometimes, your goddamned strict rationalism and science have saved me a thousand times over! You've kept me honest... you've made me a whole person. I owe you everything... Scully, and you owe me nothing. I don't know if I wanna do this alone... I don't even know if I can... and if I quit now, they win.

another contest coming soon...

speaking of contests... Alison Kent has another nifty book give away about to start. You will need to tune in for more info. Le Sigh one thing I would love about having a wordpress blog is that nifty date set thing. Now when I do posts in advance I have to remember to change the date when I hit send. Which I almost always forget to do. Alison talks more about marketing. I think she has come up with some really great ways to market her books and it is nice to see others doing it as well. Emma Sinclair is trying her hand at it. HelenKay has been doing some great give aways. If you haven't been to her blog, go check out her promo questions. It will be interesting to see what comes of dear jane's idea.