Phyl's 5 Phaves from June

OK, in an effort to discipline myself to blog more, I'm going to try a monthly feature where I'll let you know what my favorite books of the previous month were and why. Some I'll have blogged about, others not. In order, least to most:

5. Rock Star by Roslyn Hardy Holcomb. Ms. Holcomb left some comments in a discussion at SBTB about AA romances which led me to seek out this book. I found it at the library and thoroughly enjoyed this contemporary IR romance. I believe this is Ms. Holcomb's debut novel. I found the characters interesting and their story really drew me in. There's a nice little "mini-sequel" available as a free download on the author's web site.

4. One with the Shadows by Susan Squires. Ms. Squires' first book in this paranormal series about vampires who are created because of a symbiotic parasite in the blood is one of my favorite paranormal books. The book previous to this one was disappointing and I almost decided not to read further in the series. I'm glad I gave this one a try as it was much better and I was thoroughly engaged by it. The heroine in particular is someone who has been beaten down by life, but chooses again and again to act courageously. I really liked her.

3. Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase. All those good things other reviewers have said about this one? True. There's an interesting post about the symbolism of jewelry in this book here. I found this story of courtesan turned romance heroine thoroughly believable and I loved the way genre conventions were turned upside down.

2. With Every Breath by Lynn Kurland. I already raved about this one.

1. Lifelines by CJ Lyons. Hands down, best book I read last month. I was tempted to blog about it when I read it, but that was a very busy week and I never got to it. Written by a pediatric ER doctor, this is a medical suspense novel with strong romantic elements. I believe this is intended to be the first of 4 books about 4 women who work in a busy Pittsburgh ER. We are treated to the POV of all 4 women, although heroine Dr. Lydia Fiore receives the bulk of our attention. This is just first-rate romantic suspense with strong characterization and terrific pacing. The medical information is presented easily without making us non-medical types feel lost or overwhelmed. Book 2, Warning Signs isn't due until January 27, 2009, according to Amazon. ARRRGGGHH!!

Comments

  1. CJ LyonsJuly 2, 2008 at 8:16 AM

    Phyl,
    Thank you so very much for your kind words about LIFELINES! I'm so excited that you enjoyed it!

    And also, thank you for helping to spread the word--the hardest thing for a new author, especially since my books are filed in the general fiction/literature section (yep, right beside Moby Dick, lol!)

    Take care and Happy Reading--and Quilting!
    CJ

    ReplyDelete
  2. roslynholcombJuly 2, 2008 at 10:32 PM

    Thanks so much for reading Rock Star. I'm delighted you liked it. BTW, I'm a fanatical quilter too. I've been writing so much I haven't had time for it lately, but I think I'll get back to it soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JaceJuly 10, 2008 at 3:05 AM

    Lifelines sounds really good - I'm going to check it out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. PhylJuly 10, 2008 at 8:31 AM

    I thought all 5 of these were great, but if you like romantic suspense I cannot say enough good things about Lifelines.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I think I have ADD

Image
I'm one of those people who constantly moves from project to project. I do finish things, but midway through one project I'll stop and pull out fabric to start another one. Or something will come up that makes me start in on something else--a challenge, a class, a need to make a gift, or a new fabric purchase. All of those things change my focus. I don't want to admit how many UFOs (UnFinished Objects) I have here, but if I were totally honest, it's probably at least a dozen. Here are 3 I started this summer. And I'm not including the one I started the other night because I couldn't get a decent picture of it. This first one is from a class I took in June with 2 friends. I still have 4 more flowers to add to it. This is funky and fun, but it's large and appliqueing down the flowers is awkward at times. A while back I posted a picture of some flower blocks that I'm doing as part of an exchange with the same 2 friends. I had another set of blocks to finis...
Read more

TBR Day. Conor's Way / Laura Lee Guhrke. 1996

Image
Back in the early 2000's, when I began lurking at the old AAR  boards, I heard talk of this book. And according to Amazon, I apparently broke down and purchased a copy for myself via Marketplace in 2004 for a "mere" $4.75. Today a used print copy goes for about $25. I don't know why I waited so long to read it. I'd keep seeing references to how good it is, especially from KristieJ who has been nagging our TBR hostess to read it forever. I think I was saving it for a day when I knew I needed to read a really good book. But when I saw that this month's theme was "Recommended Read" it was clear that this was the book I had to read. I was really, really stupid to wait 8 years to read this. Frankly, I should just end this review with that statement. I am writing this Tuesday evening. Earlier today I saw on Twitter that at least 2 other TBR participants are reviewing this for today as well. And they'll probably do a better job at it than me. B...
Read more

57, 3, 15

Image
57 years. 3 months. 15 days. That's how old my sister was when she died on December 30, 2015. Char spent four and a half years in a tug of war with cancer. For a while there she seemed to be in total control. But that insidious disease came back and this time would not let up. Here's the kicker. She had uterine cancer, just like me. Only hers was Stage 4 when they found it. Mine barely qualified as Stage 1. Life is often unfair, but that seemed the cruelest irony of all. As I wept that she was dying, she wept because I was not. It's taken me a long time to process this and to be willing to talk openly about it. Some of you reading this have been very open with your own struggles with health, grief, death, and dying. I've wanted to be, but I think I needed for the worst of it to be over first. Every time I tried to write about it, I'd sit paralyzed at the keyboard. I just wasn't ready I guess. Char decided to suspend further treatment last August. It wa...
Read more