Since I have turned in my latest draft a couple weeks ago, I have let myself start reading books again.  I am glutting myself, really.  And it is at *just* the right time, because there are a number of my favorite authors who have had their books come out in the past month.  So without further ado, I present to you the latest in What Kate’s Reading!

After a long reprieve, I tend to glut myself on historical romance.  It’s my first love, and I’ll always come back to it.

First up was Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake, by Sarah MacLean.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Sarah MacLean a few months ago at Lady Jane’s Salon, where she wowed everyone with her reading abilities.  And the book lived up to the chapter taste we got that evening.  Lovely writing, great vulnerability in her characters – which is not easy to pull off.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and wanted to strangle Sarah when I found out this is her debut adult book (she has a YA historical – The Season – under her belt).  I can only imagine how awesome her future works will turn out to be.

Next, I turned to one of my faves, the perennial Julia Quinn, with Ten Things I Love About You.  (Side note:  what is it with the numbers in the book titles?  I cannot wait to come across a book titled Eleven Lords a Leaping into You Arms).  It was a solid story, a lot of good interaction between the characters.  Add in Julia Quinn’s dialogue, and it’s hard to ask for more than that.

I broke my short numerical streak with Lisa Kleypas, who is another fave (I love her contemporary Texas-set stories) and her latest in the Hathaway series Married by Morning.  I love the Hathaways.  I wanna be a Hathaway, especially if I lived during the Victorian Era.  And this novel simply fostered that desire.

Last but not least, I read Girls Dinner Club by Jessie Elliot.  It’s YA, and its set in Brooklyn, and I sort of love almost anything set in New York (I’m on a nostalgia kick for my old hometown). A very kind story about three high school aged friends who help each other through a period in their lives by having weekly dinners.  I consider it a historical romance palate cleanser.

I know four books in a matter of two weeks is not a high rate of reading, but I have every confidence I will get back into the swing of things with aplomb.  (That’s not to say I don’t have work to do.  I do, my editor and agent, I swear I do.)

But until next week, I wish you (and me!) happy reading!

I went to a library today with a friend of mine, for a book sale.  The library, needing funds and shelf space, killed two birds with one stone by selling off old books.  Now, normally, as an author, I try to support fellow authors by not purchasing resold books (do you think the hard toiling writer gets a penny on their resold book from the Strand?  A most definite no.)  But I LOVE book sales like the one today because it allows me to discover authors that are no longer in print, and discover just how much writing styles and characterizations have changed.  I bought 5 Harlequins from the mid 80s, another few from the mid 90s.  I cannot tell you how different they are from what I read now, and from each other.  Beta Heroes were RARE in those days, apparently, because I keep running across arrogant tycoons and landlords and absolutely no computer geeks to be found!  I guess the inherent sexiness of Bill Gates had yet to be discovered in the mid 80s. 

Working working working this week… happy reading to you all!