Romance Vagabonds

Casual Hex by Vicki Lewis Thompson (March 3, 2009)

Casual Hex gives us the chance to see Gwen Dubois’ story. And what a rivalry it looks to be! But seriously, who can resist a love triangle story, especially when one of the party involved sounds like a delicious Frenchmen and the other an equally charming wizard. I can’t wait to see who she chooses and who shows himself to be just perfect for her. Plus, you know we just can’t wait to see what George will be up to next!

– Élodie

Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione (February 24, 2009)

Ever since falling for Ione’s demons last summer - and then reading the tantalizing blurbs and excerpts on her website - I’ve been dying to read the stories of the other two brother. Since Shade’s comes first, that’s my pick. How can I resist his love curse - or conflict that starts with him trapped in a mysterious dungeon, chained to the ex-lover he betrayed. Plus, getting my hands on this book will mean it’s only another month to wait for Wraith’s story, Passion Unleashed! 

– Lindsey

Midnight’s Master by Cynthia Eden (June 30, 2009)

Cynthia Eden has not one, but TWO new books coming out in 2009. The first, Immortal Danger, features a vampire cop and her sexy main squeeze, and sounds sexy and dark and fun. But if I am to be honest, it’s Cynthia Eden’s second release of 2009 that’s got me counting down the days to June 30th. Because Midnight’s Master features that oh-so-bad boy bar owner who’s appeared in both Hotter After Midnight and Midnight Sins, Niol Lapen. Not only is Niol a powerful demon, he’s also a reluctant hero who’s been hurt before. Sigh. I love my heroes that way. And together he and his heroine, the intrepid reporter Holly Storm, must work to stop a killer. But if I know Cynthia Eden, there will be plenty of time for some hot demon love along the way! Only 173 days to go!

– Manda

Storm of Visions by Christina Dodd (August 4, 2009)

NYT Bestseller, Rita winner Christina Dodd gained new fans and set a personal record with her Darkness Chosen quartet last year. The last two books of the series, Into the Shadow and Into the Flame, reached #4 on the New York Times Paperback Fiction Bestseller list. Like many Dodd fans, I followed the Wilder saga from book one, impatiently awaiting Firebird’s story, and yet I adored the Wilders and was sorry to see the last of them. When I saw a new Dodd title listed on a website as Darkness Chosen Book Five, I was delighted—but I was also misled.

August 4, 2009, Storm of Visions, the first book of a spin-off series, The Chosen Ones, will be on bookstore shelves across the country. (Book Two Storm of Shadows will follow in September.) Although the new series is not a continuation of the Darkness Chosen books, it is set in the same universe. According to La Dodd herself, “It includes the Zorana’s gypsies, and the Abandoned Ones are the element that holds everything together; and one of the Wilders is a main character. But not the main character. Not for quite awhile.”

Hurray! We see more of the Wilders, and this series is going to be longer than four books. Ms Dodd is frankly enthusiastic about the new series: “It was so much fun to write and I love this cast of characters.”

I’ve been a Christina Dodd fan for a long time, and I feel certain that I will share her love for these characters. I won’t name names, but I know some of you other gypsies share my fangirl status.

The Vagabonds, thanks to Christina’s graciousness, are privileged to give you a first look at the introduction to the series and the back copy for Storm of Visions:

Hailed as “a master romantic storyteller,” New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd delivers a seductive new paranormal series about an ancient rivalry that lives in the world today.

When the world was young, twins were born. One brought light to a dark world. The other, darkness and danger. Their powers could not be denied, and they gathered others around them, men and women destined to use their gifts for good or evil. Today, they walk the earth as the Chosen and the ultimate battle is about to begin.

Jacqueline Vargha has always run from her gift. Now Caleb D’Angelo forces his way into her life and insists she take her place as one of the Chosen. She flees, he pursues, but she can no longer deny her visions, or the dangerous man who is her downfall and her destiny.

There will be an excerpt from SOV in the back of Danger in a Red Dress (March 2009), the conclusion to The Fortune Hunter series. Be sure to check out Christina’s website; she plans to reveal the cover of SOV, which she describes as “beautiful,” in February.

– Janga

What are your most anticipated paranormals for 2009? Got any scoop on them? 

I never used to write trilogies. To begin with, you have to think up three stories all at once instead of creating them one at a time. Since I am a plot-driven writer, that posed a problem. It was hard enough to come up with one set of characters solving one or two (counting the subplot) sets of problems. I couldn’t imagine coming up with three to six sets of problems before I even started writing book number one.

Earlier in my career, I had done a number of related books. GYPSY LORD, SWEET VENGEANCE, and THE DEVIL’S PRIZE were linked books with characters who were friends or brother and sister. CREOLE FIRES, SAVANNAH HEAT, and NATCHEZ FLAME were also linked, but I had yet to write what I now consider a true trilogy.

Then a friend, my agent at the time, came to Montana for a visit. She helped me come up with a story concept that was broader in scope, big enough to last through three novels instead of just one, and so The Necklace Trilogy was born.

Once I understood how to create a three-book storyline, it got a little easier (not much). My latest effort, The Heart Trilogy, began with the idea of a group of Victorian young women in 1850’s London who ran a magazine for ladies called Heart to Heart. HEART OF HONOR was the first, HEART OF FIRE, second, and out the end of December, HEART OF COURAGE, the final book in the trilogy.

Even in a trilogy, I do my best to write books that stand alone, meaning anyone can ready the books in any order. I think that is important, since readers often buy them out of sequence.

I like the idea that readers get to stay in touch with the people they have met in previous books, but as a writer, it requires a lot of extra work. I keep copious notes on who’s who and where they live and what their houses look like in each of the three different stories, then refer back to the lists when, for example, people from book number two visit people from books number one and so on.

And then, of course, the plots are often interwoven so notes must be made in that regard, as well.
So you begin to see why my lazier side likes single title books and not linked books, though now I’m afraid my brain has started to think in threes so there are more trilogies on the way. In September of 2009, ROYAL’S BRIDE will be out, the first in my new Bride Trilogy. Those are coming fairly close together, the tale of three brothers. REESES’S BRIDE will be out four months later, followed by RULE’S BRIDE four months after that.

I’ve also got a contemporary romantic suspense trilogy in the works. More about that later.

In summary, if you are thinking of writing a trilogy, consider carefully. A single book is a great deal of work. Three is a huge undertaking. Still, they can be fun. My advice–if the idea is there, go for it!

Best of luck and warmest wishes, Kat

Don’t forget to stop by Kat’s Website and enter the Scent of Roses Contest!

The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter (January 27, 2009)

Ever since he walked onto the scene in The Rules of Seduction, the eldest of the Rothwell brothers, Lord Easterbrook, has set female readers hearts aflutter. (At least this female reader’s heart anyway!) Now, at long last we finally get to see what makes the mysterious Lord Easterbrook tick. So far we know only that he has a sense of humor and that he loves his brothers and tolerates his aunt. Let’s hope Leona Montgomery, his heroine and a woman from his past, can appreciate the sense of humor and tolerates his aunt (who lives in the family mansion) as well!

– Manda

Confessions of a Little Black Gown by Elizabeth Boyle (March 31, 2009)

We first met Tally Langley in This Rake of Mine and she cracked us up with her ability to speak a variety of improper words in various languages. We then saw her wreak havoc on Felicity’s good sense in Love Letters from a Duke. It’s finally time for her to get her own story. And what can be more delicious than telling it with the Regency version of the little black dress? I just know she’s going to be hilarious getting her own HEA!

– Élodie

A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore (May 26, 2009)

I know better than anyone that this is going to be a year of amazing historical debuts - some of them could have been on my best reads of 2007/2008 lists - but one I actually get to look forward to reading along with everyone else is Jennifer Haymore’s A Hint of Wicked. I’ve read enough of her alter-ego to know that this will feature fantastic writing, with great characterization and depth of emotion. And the storyline couldn’t have me more intrigued. A woman caught between two husbands? It’s the ultimate love triangle. 

–Lindsey

Loving a Lost Lord by Mary Jo Putney (June 30, 2009)

I have been reading Mary Jo Putney books since The Would-Be Widow, her second traditional Regency. If I were compiling lists of my favorite romances by subgenre, MJP books would appear on my list of trad Regencies, Historicals (both Regency and my very brief list of Medievals), contemporary, paranormal, and novella. Her Fallen Angel books are among my most treasured comfort reads. I long ago lost count of how many times I’ve read them. All of these details of my reading history serve as context for my excitement over the June 30 publication of Loving a Lost Lord, the first book in a new series and MJP’s first straight historical romance since The Bartered Bride in 2002. I enjoyed the Guardian books, and The Marriage Spell is on my top 100 list; all those magical books are on my keeper shelves. But the thought of a new historical series from MJP, one that she compared to the Fallen Angel books in her recent newsletter, fills me with readerly joy. I’m counting the days until I have Loving a Lost Lord in my hand. An amnesiac duke who truly is lost—I’m sure he will be as unforgettable as Reggie, Nicholas, Michael, Stephen, Robin, Kinzie, Jack, Simon . . .

–Janga

What 2009 historicals are you anticipating?

My apologies for missing out on checking in yesterday, but just as I was getting back from helping out my best friend with a morning doctor’s appt for my niece, I got a telephone call…

OUR FAMILY IS BEING INVADED BY BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I say this because the 15th kid wasn’t quite the she that my SIL and I kept hoping might come…

I HAVE A NEW NEPHEW!!!!

Meet “Lizard.” Yep. He already has a nickname and only hours old…HA! Isn’t he gorgeous?? Okay, granted, he looks a lot cuter when he’s not wrapped up like a baby burrito…LOL! Big brother “Pork Chop” (yep, he’s still the Pork Chop) LOVES holding him!

Other big brother “Piglet” (we are a weird family) just preferred saying “cheese” for the camera…

Which is all well and good, since the little crazy might have wacked the new baby in the head, anyway…let’s just say he’s still learning the word “gently” when trying to pet the dog…a baby brother is a whole different situation…

Welcome Little Lizard!

Élodie

Well, as everyone in this group knows, I am the laggard with my pleasure reading right now, so I feel comfortable taking the liberty of including some of my favourite (re-) reads in my list from this year. Of course, I could provide you with a list of academic books, but where’s the fun in that??

Mostly my list includes reads from my TBR pile that has gotten out of control, as well as some books that I encountered along the way this year. So, I think on this 2nd day of the new year, I will attempt to follow Manda’s discussion in brevity–although knowing me, I might fail at that effort…Some of you lot may still be suffering New Year hangovers (hey, a 2-day hangover is possible–anything is possible in the Vagabond camp…) or in the case of dear Anna Campbell, who still may be holding Richard Armitage hostage 2 days after New Year’s… > BTW, when do I get him back??

So, without further ado, some of my favourite reads, old and new, of 2008 were:

Marianne Stillings’s Satisfaction. Funny enough, around the camp, I joked that I had trouble getting Satisfaction when it was first released, so I finally found it when I came home on break and stayed up overnight to read it. It was absolutely delicious! I’ve said it many times and will say it again. MS has one of the most amazing abilities to meld two seemingly disparate sub-genres into one book and have me simultaneously laughing while being intrigued by the mystery in a plot. It was tons of fun reading Ethan’s story. And I nearly died with laughter when Georgie, the heroine, took him to a house party she was attending.

Of course, this favourite read made me anticipate all the more the last book in the Darling siblings trilogy, Killer Charms. Andi’s story, perhaps the one I was anticipating the most, much the same as I wanted to read Claire and Taylor’s story (Sighs Matter). And an added boon was the fact that she got herself a Scottish hero in the end! It was enough to make a Vagabond swoon and consider trading in Soldier McKennitt for Logan Sinclair! Phew! Of course, both of these books have me desperately anticipating her next release.

This summer, I found an author that was new to me. Actually, I was surprised to learn that she had a fairly extensive backlist. I think I said earlier this year when I blogged on the book that I was absolutely delighted and surprised that I fell in love with Charlotte Hughes’s What Looks Like Crazy. Written as a book that appears to carry out the hero’s and heroine’s story over several books, I had a blast reading about Kate and Jay and am eagerly anticipating her new release in a few months to see what happens with their story.

Another author I discovered with whom I absolutely fell in love this year was Jasper Fforde and I will give my kudos to The Eyre Affair, since it is the book that kicks off the Thursday Next Chronicles. I swear I do not know how he does it, but it’s amazing! His style of prose and ability to cleverly insert literary references into his books keeps me smiling through every book. He had been recommended to me several times throughout the past couple of years, but I finally got around to reading the books this year and boy was it worth it! After having tasted a bit of his writing with the Thursday Next stories, as well as finding his Nursery Crimes series, I am eager to read his newest release Shades of Grey when it is released in July.

I did read some historicals along the way. As I said a couple of days ago, I have been on an Elizabeth Boyle kick lately and so I’ve been glomming all the recent books of hers of which I have not done a “real” read (rather than a skim read) and I was reminded of why I totally love her books as I went through This Rake of Mine and His Mistress by Morning. *sigh*

Her books are one of the reasons why I love spy stories set in the Regency period so much. As always, with EB, her style of story construction and ability to connect to all of her books has me anxiously awaiting the release of Confessions of a Little Black Gown. Seriously, how delicious is that title??

And no blog of favourite reads for me would be complete without a fond reference to a book I’ve read so many times and gifted to so many people that I actually managed to give away my last copy of it last year. *gasp* And, naturally, the book has gone out of print. Yes, you guessed it, Marianne Stillings’s The Damsel in this Dress. I cannot help it, but this is one of the my favourite reads, re-reads, you name it.

Every time I read it, it’s like the first time, I get so excited to find out what will happen to Soldier and Betsy and start to fall just the teensiest bit in love with Taylor and Claire and hope for their story. So, it remains on the top of my favourites list and I consider it one of my best reads of 2008–even if I’ve read it about 2 billion times! Now, I just need to find a new copy of it! LOL!

Okay, so that wasn’t as brief as I thought  it would be. I can’t help it. I love books and talking about them is just too much fun!

So, how about you dear readers? What are some of your favourite reads and which authors have made you so anxious to read their newest releases that you are eagerly plotting release dates on your calendars?

For you truly devoted Vagabonds who gave up slacking off, shopping, or just plain goofing around (because slacking off and goofing around are just so different…) on the day after New Years to come hang out at the Vagabond camp, I have yet another novel to give away (seriously, still cleaning out the book stash from RWA) to one lucky commenter.

Happy New Year!

I never understand the people who say they can’t find good books to read anymore. I’ve never had a year without some A reads, and 2008 was an exceptionally good class. I read 25 books to which I gave the grade of A. It’s no surprise to me that my list replicates Manda’s to such a high degree. We’ve been saying “me too” to each other’s favorite books since we first met on Squawk Radio. I’m the Verbose Vagabond, however, so don’t expect Manda’s succinctness today.

Some of my best books of the year were by authors whom I’ve been reading for decades.

While Simply Love remains my favorite of Mary Balogh’s Simply books, I thought Simply Perfect was a marvelous conclusion to the series. It was lovely to see the starchy Claudia get her HEA, and since I’m a fan of friends to lovers, I liked the way her relationship with Joseph developed. Joseph’s daughter Lizzie and Claudia’s scenes with Lady Hallmere, the former Lady Freyja Bedwyn were icing on a very good cake.

Jo Beverley’s A Lady’s Secret vaulted into my top ten Jo Bev books before I even finished it. It was a great road romance, a motif JB does especially well, and the ending was pure delight—and a total surprise.

I’ve enjoyed Susan Wiggs’s Lakeshore Chronicles books, but I had reservations about Snowfall at Willow Lake when I learned it was Sophie’s story because I found her an unappealing character in the other books. I should have trusted this writer. Sophie proved to be a complex, interesting character, I adored Noah and the younger man/older woman romance, and SAWL ended up on my list of the best.

Do you have writers that you just can’t imagine their writing a book you won’t love reading and look forward to rereading? I do. Eloisa James, Julie Ann Long, Julia Quinn, Connie Brockway, Anne Gracie, and Loretta Chase all fall in this group for me. Certainly I like some of their books better than others, but there’s a reason I have full sets of their books on my keeper shelves, sets I added to this year.

Eloisa James’s Desperate Duchesses books just keep getting better and better. Harriet’s cross-dressing story (Duchess by Night) was the best I’d read since Heyer’s Masqueraders, and then came When the Duke Returns (my #2 book of the year). Simeon totally captured my heart.

I think the Pennyroyal Green series may prove to be the best thing JAL has done; both Like No Other Lover and The Perils of Pleasure ended up in my top twenty-five books of 2008. I can’t wait for #3.

Julia Quinn gets my Most Admired Author of the Year award. She has reached a level where coasting would be easy. Instead, she took a risk with The Lost Duke of Wyndham and Mr. Cavendish, I Presume; she tried something new. I found the result fascinating, and while I liked Mr. Cavendish better, both books were A reads for me. I am among the most exuberant cheerleaders over

Connie Brockway’s return to historicals, but I hope she keeps writing women’s fiction too. Skinny Dipping was my first A read of 2008, and it remains a favorite. I love Mimi’s zaniness and her sometimes reluctant growth, I love the truth that mid-life is still a stage of self-discovery, and I love Chez Ducky.

One of the many reasons I loved Anne Gracie’s The Stolen Princess last year was a secondary character, Harry Morant. His Captive Lady is Harry’s story; it’s also the story of Nell Freymore, a tortured heroine with a single-mindedness I envy. I love these characters as individuals and as a couple. And the secondary romance edged out the one in Sherry Thomas’s Private Arrangements to win the Janga Cup as Best Secondary Romance of the Year.

I have posted the opening lines of Loretta Chase’s Your Scandalous Ways in several discussions over the past months. I laugh just thinking about them. That I do laugh is evidence of Chase’s gift because YSW is about a courtesan and a spy who deliberately choose to whore themselves. Not a funny storyline—and yet there is a rich vein of humor in the intense story of two survivors who are a perfect match. And my favorite line is not the opening, delightful though it is but rather Francesca’s quip to James: “’You’re beautiful when you’re angry,’ she said.” How can you not love a book with that line?

If I were giving my reading year a title, I might call it “The Year of the Debut Novel.” Some years I feel fortunate to add one debuting author to my list of must-buy writers; in 2008, I added four.

Sherry Thomas’s Private Arrangements is one of those books I expect to be rereading when I have to use a magnifying glass for my ancient eyes to see the page. I admit that I got a bit impatient with Camden, but Gigi with all her contradictions and flaws and strengths is one of the most memorable heroines I have encountered in my decades of romance reading. I also love the romance between Gigi’s mother and her unexpected duke, a conclusion that still makes me want to cheer, and Thomas’s prose that turns me green with envy.

Since Lindsey blogged so eloquently about Joanna Bourne’s The Spymaster’s Lady, I will only add that I agree. I groaned loudly when I learned a spy book was the EJ/JQ board’s book of the month, but the book I didn’t want to read became one of the best I ever read. And Bourne joined my autobuy list.

PJ told me that I should not miss Meredith Duran’s Duke of Shadows. She was right. It is a riveting story, darker than my usual fare, but with a setting that is out-of-the-ordinary, a hero and heroine who share a rare chemistry, and prose that manages to grab the reader by the throat and the heart. Thanks, PJ!

There could hardly be a greater contrast than the one between DOS and the last debut novel on my best-of list. Julie James’s Just the Sexiest Man Alive is sheer fun, the kind of romantic comedy I love and see all too seldom in contemporary romance. James combines a smart, sassy lawyer heroine, an arrogant, sexy actor hero, genuine sexual tension without a single insert-sex-scene filler, and the result is delightful escapism. I want more!

And I’m not through yet! Other books on my A list include Elizabeth Hoyt’s To Taste Temptation and To Seduce a Sinner, Liz Carlyle’s Never Romance a Rake, Jo Goodman’s The Price of Desire, Deanna Raybourn’s Silent in the Sanctuary, Toni Blake’s Letters to a Secret Lover, Sophia Nash’s The Kiss, and Susan Crandall’s Pitch Black. And I have to add two shorter works: Candice Hern’s short story “From This Moment On” in It Happened One Night was a perfect ending to a series I loved. Hern proved that the story of an older H/H with non-aristocratic linage can be a sweet, sexy, satisfying read; Leigh Bridger (pseudonym of Deborah Smith) published her first book Solomon’s Seal, a short contemporary fantasy, as an ebook only. I’ve loved this story since I read it in its first incarnation on DS’s website. I am hoping that the story continues.

And I didn’t even touch upon the rereads I cherished, the pre-2008 finds I rejoiced over, or the dozen or so B+ books that were nearly as good as these I’ve listed. Indeed, 2008 was a very good year for this reader.

What new or new-to-you authors made 2008 a very good reading year for you? What long-time favorites would any reading year seem incomplete without?

I feel like I say this every year, but this has been a banner year for romance. What else can you call a year when I can name 20 books as my favorite reads? And those are just the ones that were published in 2008. If I were to add in all the backlists I glommed we’d still be talking best reads this time next year. So in the interest of brevity and sanity, we’ll keep this to those published in 2008 only.

HISTORICALS
Bourne, Joanna - The Spymaster’s Lady
Thomas, Sherry – Private Arrangements
Hoyt, Elizabeth - To Taste Temptation
Nash, Sophia - The Kiss
Beverley, Jo - A Lady’s Secret
James, Eloisa - Duchess by Night
Carlyle, Liz - Never Romance a Rake
Goodman, Jo - The Price of Desire
Merrill, Christine - Miss Winthorpe’s Elopement
Gracie, Anne - His Captive Lady
James, Eloisa - When the Duke Returns
Hoyt, Elizabeth - To Seduce a Sinner
Long, Julie Anne - Like No Other Lover
Quinn, Julia - Mr. Cavendish, I Presume

CONTEMPORARY
Blake, Toni - Letters to a Secret Lover
Gibson, Rachel - Not Another Bad Date
Leigh, Jo – Ms. Match

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
Rose, Karen - Scream for Me
Novak, Brenda - Stop Me
Stewart, Mariah - Forgotten

PARANORMAL
Cynthia Eden – Hotter After Midnight
Kresley Cole- Dark Needs at Night’s Edge

BIGGEST GLOM
Karen Rose

Okay, Vagabonds, those are my best for 2008. What are yours? And who did you glom most this year? Inquiring minds want to know!

The Vagabonds announce the rest of our prize winners! 

Congrats t0:

JANE and CATHY M, who’ve won some fabulous European chocolate.

LORI P, who’s won a signed copy of Lani Diane Rich’s Crazy in Love. 

CRYSTAL GB, who’s won a copy of Loretta Chase’s The Last Hellion.

FEDORA, winner of our twelfth day contest (I don’t remember what the prize is, but I’m sure it’s fantastic!).

Email the Vagabonds to claim your prizes. 

Thanks to everyone who participated and helped us spread Christmas and romance cheer! Happy New Year!

Yesterday we shared our #1 picks for 2008. For the rest of the week we’re each going to share what is simply the best of what we happened to read this year - regardless of the book’s original publication  date. Why leave off a great book just because we didn’t get it read within a few months of release? 

My best of the year lists always feel incomplete - both because they’re a reminder of how little I’ve gotten around to reading and how lazy I can be about keeping track (though Goodreads is helping!). Still, counting quality over quantity, this list reminds me that 2009 was a great reading year. 

Favorite Fangirl Reads
I love these authors, I live for their new releases, so what were the chances they wouldn’t make the list? Obviously LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER by Toni Blake, DUCHESS BY NIGHT and WHEN THE DUKE RETURNS by Eloisa James (and I’ve already got a Best of 2009 spot earmarked for Jemma & Elijah!), and MISS WINTHORPE’S ELOPEMENT by Christine Merrill top my list. I devoured all four of these books within hours, and each one reminded me just why it is I’m such a fangirl of these talented authors.

Where Have You Been All My Life?
My promo project with the Contemporary Single Title RITA finalists prompted me to check out some of their books. And thank goodness! I’d been missing some amazing authors.  CATCH OF THE DAY and JUST ONE OF THE GUYS by Kristan Higgins and MAKE ME A MATCH and THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE by Diana Holquist all totally knocked my socks off. Those RITA judges sure know how to pick ‘em. 

Lindsey likes Paranormal?
Who knew? Certainly not me. But in spite of my every expectation, two paranormal titles wormed their way into my heart and onto my list. HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT by Cynthia Eden and PLEASURE UNBOUND by Larissa Ione helped my broaden my romance horizons. 

Reading. It’s not just for romance anymore. 
It’s true. I do sometimes read things besides romance.  Like graphic novels. WANTED by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones was one of my best for this year. Way better than the movie (though the movie did have James McAvoy). 

Worth the Exorbitant Ebay Prices
I came to romance late, so sometimes I have to do a little  legwork to catch up on all those great books I missed over the years. I’m slowly but surely tracking down old Mary Balogh Regencies, and this year THE NOTORIOUS RAKE was one of my best OOP finds. I also finally read and adored Toni Blake’s (writing as Toni Blair) OCTOBER MOON - a romance that takes place within twenty-four hours, and is still totally charming and believable. 

Just as Good the Second (or Third… or Fourth…) Time
Even with a towering TBR, sometimes you’re pulled back to your keeper shelf. I don’t really track my rereads, but two that I know I enjoyed rediscovering this year were FAIR GAME by Diane Farr and TALLIE’S KNIGHT by Anne Gracie.  

With so many great books to choose from- new releases, stuff in the TBR, titles from the keeper shelf - how do you decide what to read? Join us all this week for more Vagabonds favorites!

2008 was a fabulous year of books, some first books, some continuations in series, some new series, some re-releases of old favourites. We all found favourite books to add to our DIK piles and some of them may even have made it into our top 10 piles. Here around the Vagabond Camp, we sat around the campfire on Boxing Day and talked about our favourite books, new releases or old, from this year. Today we’re sharing with you our favourite books we read in the year 2008.

Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas

He’s the ultimate bad boy. Hardy Cates. He seemed the ultimate unredeemable anti-hero after his stunt in Sugar Daddy, but that Mayne-esque bad boyness still brought hope to my heart after rooting for him in Sugar Daddy. I was absolutely thrilled when I learned that LK was writing his story in Blue-Eyed Devil.

She’s the emotionally-damaged, fearful heroine. I often get a bit piqued with the over-tragic heroine–even when said heroine may have been the one to put herself in the damaging situation–and Haven Travis definitely has the potential to be that. She rebels against her father’s constraints and marries the wrong man. Naturally, she comes to regret this decision and after a rather messy divorce finds herself back in the family circle.

Although so much tragedy in one character and how that tragedy continually affects her relationships with both her family and her own hero (Hardy) might make her into a rather aggravating, constantly miserable character unable to move beyond her own bitterness to find happiness and fulfillment, what Lisa Kleypas manages to accomplish in the construction of Haven and Hardy’s story is a beautiful melding of damaged people finding repair in each other. Not in money, not in sexual fulfillment, and maybe not in the assumption that the other person will fix your life, but in the hope that love will fill the holes and mend the heart.

*sigh*

Blue-Eyed Devil, hands down, is the best book I read in 2008. I read it cover to cover in two sittings (and it took 2 days because I knew I had to sleep at some point ) and then read it again. This will be a book that I will read a thousand times over for the amazing story of love in it. Lisa Kleypas simultaneously constructs a heartwarming and heartwrenching story of a hero who learns humility and a heroine who learns to be strong in her darkest moments, and shows us the trust in love and the other person at the very core of finding an HEA.

And through it all, she reminds us that love conquers all!

Élodie

Last Dance at Jitterbug Lounge by Pamela Morsi

I confess that I’m cheating a bit with my selection. This book is not, strictly speaking, a romance. Even the tag “women’s fiction” doesn’t work because the double focus of the novel is the life of Jack “Bud” Dempsey Crabtree, a World War II veteran and his wife Geri, and the troubled marriage of his grandson and namesake. But the book has strong romantic elements and I shelved it with my other Morsi keepers, some of the best American historicals ever written.

From the gorgeous cover to the final word, I loved this book. How many books are both historical and contemporary? The first time I read it, I couldn’t put it down. I stayed up til the wee hours to finish it. It made me smile, it made me cry, and it made me think. The second time I read it, I read more slowly, taking time to savor the rich layers of Morsi’s characterization and to marvel at the extraordinary ordinary stories she creates and weaves together. I read it a third time because the characters were haunting me. The only thing I don’t like about this book is that it failed to receive the attention it deserves. Maybe some astute producer will see the potential for a movie, and the book will be given a second life.

Janga

The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Anne Long

I’ve got to admit that when I heard Julie Anne Long was moving to Avon I was a little nervous. Sometimes a move from one publisher to another changes writers. Doesn’t matter how good the new editor is, or how fabulous the deal was, sometimes changing publishers can mean the difference between an auto-buy and a library book. I should have known better. Julie Anne Long is too good for a mere change in publishers to dim her writing light.

From it’s jaw-dropping opening, to it’s satisfying-sigh inducing last line, The Perils of Pleasure is one of the most perfect road romances ever. I can’t tell too much of the how or why Colin and Maddy are on the run without giving away too much plot, but what I can tell is that these two are made for each other. And as they move inexorably toward their much-deserved HEA, it is utterly delightful to watch these two grow and change for the better as a result of their love for one another.

Funny, sexy, beautifully-written, character-driven romance at it’s best, POP has stayed with me all year. And I’ve read a LOT of books since this one.

And still brings a goofy grin to my face every time I think about it.

Isn’t that was a great romance is all about?

Manda

 The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne

 I don’t like historicals that feature spies. I’m pretty open minded as a romance readers - I can deal with secret babies, virgin widows, and even amnesia in the right mood - but books about historical spies leave me cold. So even though everyone I know was raving about Joanna Bourne’s debut, a small secret part of me was sure I wasn’t going to like it. I might appreciate it on an objective level, but there was no chance of it winning my heart. 

And yet it did. The reason I’ve never enjoyed historical spy stories is because I’d never read one like this. Espionage isn’t its high concept or a subplot to amplify the external conflict. The characters are spies in every thought, word, and action. The Napoleonic wars aren’t just an exciting and convenient backdrop - the story is tightly woven into that particular moment in history. And there are stakes - huge, changing-the course-of-history, life-or-death stakes. Not to mention twists, turns, and surprises that kept me turning page after page.

And the romance? An exquisite blend of internal and external conflict that’s upped with ever simmering scene of sexual tension. Such that the only thing I wanted more than to see them save the day was to see them find their HEA. 

Lindsey

What was your favorite read of 2008?