Top 3 of Nora Roberts

Anyone remembers my Top 3 feature? No one? LOL. I'm not surprised since it was a couple of years ago and I only did it twice ^_^; Well, the idea was to share with everyone my Top 3 reads from an author. I thought it'd serve as a good topic of discussion, but also as recommendations :) You all know where this is going, right? LOL, yes, I'm reviving the Top 3 feature!! However, I thought it'd be more fun to have more than one opinion and therefore, I'm moving it to Breezing Through :)

Ames and I wanted to start things with a bang and therefore picked Nora Roberts for our first  Top 3! Click here to find out which books are our favorite reads by Nora Roberts :)

We are planning to make this a long-running feature and hope to have guest bloggers contributing to it! If there's an author or a series you want to do a Top 3 for or need recommendations for, feel free to let us know :)

Top 3 of Jennifer Crusie

I started this “feature” a couple of months ago, while I was bored and a bit in a slump… and then, forgot about it ^_^; Can we say, oups? LOL... but I won't anymore and so, the feature is back on! :)

So I have a friend that recently started reading romance novels and she loves it. Well I think she loves it, based on the amount of books she has ordered LOL. Lucky her, she has me to gives suggestions, recommendations, lend books… basically, guided her in the romance novel world. Seriously, I wished I had someone like that when I started off. I would certainly have come in handy and I would discovered all of those great authors faster instead of coming across them by chance. Oh well... So, she has recently discovered Jennifer Crusie and like so many of us, fellin love with Ms Crusie!

Seriously, who reads comtemporary and doesn't adore Jennifer Crusie? Not many! This author just has great ideas, hilarious characters and crazy animals and just enough romance! Definitively the perfect combination. Of course, I'd wished she'd go back at writing solo instead of collaboration, but if her next collaboration with Mayer is as good as Agnes and the Hitman, then I'll take it.

So here are my top 3 books by Jennifer Crusie! Don't be shy and share yours! :)

3 - Crazy For You

Quinn McKenzie has it enough. She's always been the good girl, living a quiet life and going through the motion. However, she thinks her life is too beige and thrives for excitment. When her boyfriend, the guy that everyone in town thinks is perfect and nicest, tells her of their future plan, she blows a fuse. She wants excitment and she wants to be the one in charge, the one to decide and she decides to go after the forbidden fruit, Nick - her ex-brother-in-law and best friend.

I love this book, absolutely love it. What can I say? I think that Quinn was a great heroine and I really enjoyed it, seeing her finally stand on her own. Nick is a great hero as well... takes him a while to realize that Quinn is the woman he's been waiting forever, but when he does and finally goes after her... wowzer! In addition to a great couple, the supporting cast is just hilarious and let's not forget Katie, Quinn's little neurotic dog.

I almost chose Crazy for You as no.2, it was really a close call between this book and no.2; however, there is one little scene - just after they made love the first time, that I'm not fond of. Of course, it works well into the plot and becomes a good reason for Nick to grovel.


2 - Welcome to Temptation

All Sophie Dempsey wants is a normal life and to stay on the right side of the law... not easy though when she comes from a family of crooks and her little brother and sister are very entranched in family traditions. It also might not have been a good idea to come to Temptation to film a movie for her little brother's ex-girlfriend, especially when the movie turns into a porn flick. So how to stay on the right side of the law, hide the fact that she's filming a porn movie to the curious and nosy townpeoples and fight her attraction to Temptation's widowed mayor, Phineas Tucker?

Another great book, but then, it's in the top 3 so what were you expecting. Again, all the elements are there: great H/H, plot, romance and wacky townpeoples. I like how the whole story unfolds. Sophie and Phin being attracted to each other, but not wanting to. Falling in bed and then in love with each other and how at the end, they just get together. Yes, there were some conflicts, but at the end, they got together relatively without fuss and sometimes, you have to appreciate it. Overall the situation is just too hilarious and wacky and the hero and heroine, great... and so, you just enjoys the book. I have to admit that I prefer Quinn and Nick over Sophie and Phin, but the storyline in this one is funnier and wackier.


1 - Getting Rid of Bradley

Lucy Savage is not a happy woman: her bastard, cheating husband, Bradley, stood her up in divorce court. Then, handsome and sexy cop Zach Warren scares the hell out of her - apparently to save her life, but he must be desillusional, because who would shot at her? However, he might be right when Lucy realizes that Bradley is involved in a much bigger scheme than she thought possible... but who cares about Bradley when Zach moves in her nice Victorian house to protect her and her 3 dogs?

This book was a Silouhette book, meaning that it's quite shorter than regular romance novels... however, it doesn't matter. It's everything a romance novel should be and even if it's short, Ms Crusie pulls it out. It was funny, Lucy and Zach's chemistry was good and just so sweet. I don't know what else to say besides: It's a great book - go read it if you haven't!


Honorable mention goes to Stranger Bedpersons - it was my first book by Jennifer Crusie and I think it will always hold a special place in my heart/mind. I heart Tess and Nick sooooo much and I think this book was funny. However, the plot was a bit simple compared to the 3 other books and that's probably the only reason why it didn't make the Top 3.

So what about you? What are your favorites Jennifer Crusie? I'm expecting a lot of ppl to say Bet Me for some reasons... LOL

My Top 3 of Sharon Sala

So, as I said in my previous post, I have been reading… but nothing great or screaming at me to review. Since I want to blog, but have nothing “new” to say, I’ve decided to revisit the “old.”

This is probably going to be an ongoing feature, but I haven't decided on the frequency of it. So what is this about? Basically, I’m going to list my 3 favorite books by one of my favorite author :D The goal is not only share my love of the books and the author, but also be able to discuss these books with people who have read them.

The first featured author is...

Sharon Sala

Sharon Sala is an author whose books I love and I’m always waiting for her new books impatiently. She also writes under the pen name of Dinah McCall and I love those too! She is the first author being featured, because I’ve been in the mood of re-reading her books lately LOL! This was all sparked by Casee’s review at Book Binge of Sharon Sala’s new book, Cut Throat. In her review, Casee said “Sharon Sala is one of those authors whose books I love for a reason I can't name.” This is also how I feel about Sharon Sala. However, once you start thinking about it, the answer is her writing style. Her writing is very fluid and easy to read and she has a good pace. She also doesn’t use an excess of words and doesn’t go into lengthy descriptions which is good for me. When it starts getting too long or repetitive, I tend to skim… However, I think that was set her from other authors is that she surprises her readers with the pacing of her books and also, she always adds surprising elements… When you expect her books to go from A to B, it actually goes even further and to C... when you think it starts at E and goes to F, it actually starts at C... it’s hard to explain without giving examples which includes spoilers… so you’ll have to take my words for it! LOL...

So here is my top 3:

3 – Sweet Baby

The book starts off with Victoria Lancaster, a gypsy photographer, returning home to her boyfriend Brett Hooker from an assignment. Brett is relieved that Tory is fine, but he’s also angry with her for taking off without saying goodbye or calling while she was away. They have been together for 3 years and although Brett loves Tory very much, he is starting to wonder if it’ll work out. How many more times can he be left behind? This time, Tory comes home plagued with nightmares from the past she doesn't remember... then Brett is shot and Tory's life is turned upside down.

2- Reunion

Gabriel Connor and his parents were in a tragic car accident, but only Gabriel survived. After a month in coma, Gabriel wakes up... but he has started hearing a voice... a voice asking him for help because he's lost. Micheal Travers is a family friend and is worried about Gabriel's welfare, so he asks the help of Laura Dane, a psychic. In addition to the voice, Gabriel starts "seeing" the serial murders by the Prince Charming... a man who leaves roses without thorns with his victims. The most shocking is that these murders are connected to Gabriel in a way he could never have expected or imagined...

1- Out of the Dark

Jade Cochrane should have had a wonderful childhood with a loving father... instead, when her mother left to join a cult, she took Jade along with her... condamning Jade to hell. Luckily, she was able to escape with Raphael and both had to live a life of constant fear... 20 years after Jade's disappearance, Sam Cochrane, her father, gets his first clue about the whereabouts of Jade and hires his good friend, Luke Kelly, to find her. Luke finds her easily and brings Jade and Raphael back to Sam... but Jade's past catches up to her, throwing her into a nightmare that's going to change her life again forever.

So these synopsis are mine... they're not the greatest, because I wanted to avoid spoilers... but these books are really great! Definitively heart-wrenching... I cried soooo much for each. I've just re-read them all in the past three days and even knowing the stories, I cried. The plots are unexpected as well as the pacing... the characters are great... strong and very interesting. If you haven't read it, try to get your hand on it.