Paloma's Monthly Reads

I don't only write. I read too. Once upon a time, I was a book reviewer so I read a lot more because I had an excuse to ignore the housework to get my review book done. Those days are gone and writing has become a full-time venture another excuse to forego housework?!). Still, I want to share some of my favorite books. Maybe you'll find something new to read. This month's reads are eclectic - contemporary romance, new adult and historical. I always say that as long as a book has romance, it's a book I'll read.

I've been reading author Beth Kery’s new serial novel of a man and woman inextricably bound by the scandalous secrets of the past—and by the sexual transgressions that still fuel their uncontrollable desire. The book is released as a weekly series so readers get a few chapters at a time. She wrote a similar book in the fall with characters that make appearances in this book as well. I enjoyed it and had been awaiting When I’m With You. There are eight installments which are all now available.

Restaurateur and self-exiled heir Lucien Lenault’s first look at the breathtaking young chef trainee for his trendy Chicago restaurant is a shock. She’s Elise Martin, daughter of a wealthy French fashion designer. She’s also the holder of a secret that could explode his carefully laid plans. 

Notorious for her flagrant exhibitionism, and for flouting the respectable façade of her aristocratic background, the coquin’s wild streak shocked most people. Not Lucien. He was tempted by it. It was a deliriously punishable offense as far as Lucien was concerned. But taking on Elise is more than a game. She’s a catastrophe waiting to happen, an inferno that’s burned many a lover. Lucien isn’t most men, however, and he won’t allow her to manipulate him. In order to control the defiant beauty—in order to see her submit—he’s going to have to willingly walk in the flames…

I've begun the Outlander series by author extraordinaire Diana Gabaldon. It's an epic saga of Claire Randall, a woman who goes back in time and then A LOT of things happen when she meets the man she falls in love with, Jamie Frasier. Oversimplifying? Absolutely. But there is no way I can tell you everything that happens in these books. Some say its a bit of over-telling but I've listened to the first three so far on audiobook while doing carpool and have found it very satisfying. It's not all puppies and roses but it reaches inside you so that you'll never forget the story.

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord...1743. 

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

I've been wanting to read Beautiful Disaster since it first came out but it was the release of Walking Disaster that pushed it to the top of my TBR list. I think I was mostly drawn to it because the reviews were so tumultuous - the love/ hate of readers always fascinates me - and it seemed to draw out strong emotions. If there's anything I love most in romance books, it's the emotional undercurrents. The uniqueness of these books is that the first is from Abby's POV and the second is from Travis's POV. I still can't decide which I liked more.

Beautiful Disaster

INTENSE. DANGEROUS. ADDICTIVE.

Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

Walking Disaster

Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? I'm interested in your thoughts. Do you have any recommendations for me?