So I read 278 books in 2010. Is that still an impressive number when I add that 70 of them were books I’d read at least once before? But I don’t re-read a book unless I love it, and some of these I’ve read literally dozens of times. So here are some of my favorite books, as evidenced by my re-read of them in 2010:

Naked in Death by JD Robb. I re-read this every year. What’s funny about that is this book wasn’t on my Goodreads at all. Yet I read it yearly, at least. I’ve remedied that situation and it now appears there. Sheesh! This is probably my favorite re-read ever. I wonder how many copies of this book I’ve gifted over the years.

Nalini Singh‘s Psy-Changeling series: Slave to Sensation, which is book one, remains my favorite of these, but I enjoy them all

Nalini Singh‘s Archangel series: not really that great of feat since there were only 2 to re-read

Ilona Andrews‘ Kate Daniels series: I think the latest, Magic Bleeds, is my favorite.

The Belgariad by David Eddings My favorite fantasy series ever. I think now it’s time to re-read the Mallorean again for the ten hundredth time.

Julie Garwood historicals. For someone who doesn’t love historicals, these are some of my favorite re-reads. I am so happy to start seeing some of these in digital release. A few of my favorites available in digital are Honor’s Splendour, The Lion’s Lady and Ransom. Many of my other favorites of hers are still not available digitally by legal means, unfortunately, including The Secret, The Wedding and The Bride.

Warrior’s Woman by Johanna Lindsey. I don’t care how many people hate this book. I love it. LOVE IT. And was so glad to see a digital release in 2010.

There were more random re-reads I did, but the list above shows the re-reads that I know I’ll read again in the coming years. Below are some that I re-read for various reasons but wouldn’t count them as books I read and re-read year after year.

CL Wilson’s Tairen Soul series, books 1 & 2. I wish there was more fantasy romance like this.

Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold Fantasy romance. I think I may have liked the later books a little less on re-read this time (I felt impatience with Dag) but the world building fascinates me and book one is wonderful.

Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Yes, I did re-read them all, and let me tell you what I discovered when you read them all back to back. 1) Janet Evanovich does great sexual tension 2) Stephanie Plum actually grows as a character in book one. And then regresses back further in book 2 and never grows again. So you have a female protagonist who actually gets more inept and emotionally immature through 16 books. That takes some strange author talent!

In 2011 I’ve said I’m going to re-read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (and now Brandon Sanderson), 1 book a month. I stopped reading around book 10 or so, so if I read one a month for the next year, I won’t have to wait for the last book in the series (it releases in November 2011).

So, anyone else love any of these books? What did you re-read in 2010?

I think it’s only fair to follow the “what do you hate” post from earlier in the week with a post of the three things that are just about guaranteed to grab me when I’m reading

1) Injure the heroine: Yes, I’m a bit sick in the head, but I love it when the heroine is in mortal danger, and it makes the hero realize he can’t live without her and loves her. I love it when the heroine is shot, stabbed, traumatically injured in some way (not rape, ha!) and it creates a moment of loss for the hero so horrible, he can’t believe how bleak and colorless life will be without her (but you can do it without the melodrama of my description, lol).

2) Grovel: I love love love a good grovel. If the hero or heroine have wrongly accused their love interest of something, if they’ve thought they did something heinous, and treated them accordingly, and then find out…oh noes! they were wrong, then I love a good grovel. And I mean make it good. Make the person delivering the grovel mean it, and work for it. I don’t want easy forgiveness, I want them to crawl on their knees with the grovel. But this is a fine line, because I also don’t want the other person to drag on granting forgiveness for too long. And I don’t want the hero/heroine to lose their strength while groveling. I want them to grovel because of the strength of their personality, to make them seem even stronger. I also don’t want a grovel just because the other person feels wronged (and they really weren’t).

3) Insurmountable odds: I adore a book that creates a conflict so strong, so wrenching, that I have no idea how the hero/heroine are going to overcome it. The caveat here is that I need to also know and believe that they ARE going to overcome it (ie, have some sort of happy ending). I don’t want to be taken through the wringer and not get some sort of positive payoff in the end. This is why I love romance. I know the positive payoff is there. It’s also the reason I sometimes peek at the end of non-romance books, so I know if I should invest my emotional energy in the book and characters, or walk away.

Your turn. What things in a book will instantly grab you?

I am so fortunate. Today I said on Twitter and Facebook,  “Do you have a burning question for an editor? I need a blog topic.” I got a tremendous response of some really great, amazing questions. Not all of them about editing, either! So I’m going to be using my blog, and the Carina Press blog, to answer the “ask the editor” questions in the coming weeks. If you’re not on Twitter (or Facebook), and you have a question, feel free to leave it in the comments!

Today, @romancinkatrina asked: Three things that make you hurl a book across the room faster than seeing a spider on the wall.

This seems like it should be such an easy question, right? But I really had to think about it, because I couldn’t immediately think of the huge hot button issues that I always know won’t work for me. But I did finally come up with a few things I came up with that are issues for me in reading:

1) Rape: no, not the use of rape in a book in general, but when the main character (usually the heroine but sometimes it’s a hero) is shown as having been raped recently, especially within the book’s timeframe, but seems to suffer no emotional or psychological trauma, and just merrily goes on their way. Rape is a horrible act, and using it as a plot device or a character device, simply to add conflict to the book, and then disregarding all the consequences of that conflict makes me insane, and it strikes me as disrespectful of all the people who’ve suffered this. Don’t show the heroine (or hero) as jumping into bed with their romantic lead soon after the event, don’t ignore that the tragedy of having this happen has the potential to change how they act and react, and who they are. Don’t make it just a convenience. Don’t just use it because you want something horrible to happen to your characters to show you’re not afraid to torture them. (for the record, I remain impressed with how Patricia Briggs handles this in the Mercy Thompson series)

2) Big Misunderstandings: I’m not a fan of this plot device, so it can pretty often make me want to kick someone’s characters in the head. The problem, for me, with the Big Mis, is that it’s just so often the result of two people who are too stubborn and stupid to just say “Why did you do this” and instead play these passive-aggressive games that keep them apart. Passive-aggression doesn’t make ANYONE likeable, and when the only conflict keeping two people apart is stubborness and stupidity, I figure they don’t deserve to be happy anyway!

3) Unclean sex: Oh, just ew here. I apologize to anyone who’s easily embarrassed, but this one’s going to be a little more graphic (Dad, stop reading). There’s a few things in erotic romances that bother me in regards to “unclean” sex. I’m no prude but I draw the line at books that portray the hero going from the back hole to the front with no sanitary clean up in between. Do you have any IDEA of the kind of bacteria and illness that can introduce to women’s bodies? Say it with me, “ewwwww!” Also, if you’re going to show your hero/heroine in a masturbation scene, and something happens immediately after where they have to go answer the phone/door, etc., can they PLEASE wash their hands somehow. Because again…ew. That makes me want to run for the hand sanitizer and bathe in it.

Bonus: I’m not entirely sure “hint of tuna” while kissing would make me stop reading, but if a book becomes too gross as far as bodily functions and “reality”, I will toss the book. I’d like some mystery in the relationship, please.

I also won’t continue a book if I can’t connect with the characters or if I don’t understand their motivation. Sure, I might not agree with their motivation, but I need to know why they’re doing something. Unlikeable characters I don’t understand can be a deal breaker for me in a book I’m reading.

Okay, you got mine. Your turn. What will make you throw a book (or wish you could throw it if you’re reading digitally) faster than seeing a spider on the wall across the room?

Once upon a time…

I pulled a book from the slush pile. Okay, if we’re being really accurate, it was targeted for an anthology I’d put out a call for, but it was an author I’d never heard of and it was sent to the slush pile. So my story stands. Anyway! The book and the author captured me with its paranormal/urban fantasy tone, with the fun story, spunky heroine and imminently readable author’s voice. I knew immediately that I was going to acquire Kaye Chamber’s Tiger by the Tail and publish this debut author’s first story. That was two years ago and, as with all of my previous authors, it was hard to say goodbye to working with such a talented author whose voice I find delightful and fun to both edit and read.

So when Kaye contacted me to give me an opportunity to read her newest release, Blood and Destiny, I jumped at the chance. And I’m delighted to give her book a bit of space on the blog, to tell you a little about it, encourage you to buy it (it’s a fun read, I promise!) and to encourage you to enter her contest. In fact, when I learned of the contest, I told her not to bother sending me a copy of the book, I’d buy my own so I could enter the contest and win!

First, the book:

When the past bites, bite back.

Ladies of St. George, Book 1

For Destiny St. George, shapeshifting lioness and private investigator, her best friend’s looming wedding is little more than a reminder of her failed relationship with vampire king Marcus Smythe. Tired of being only one of many mistresses—and dinner entrees—she’s stayed away from the vampire scene altogether. Until a missing-person case forces her to seek his help.

Knowing that pressing Destiny is not the way to convince her to give their relationship another try, Marcus has been waiting her out—and his patience is rewarded when she steps into his nightclub. Now is his chance to lure her back into his arms. This time, he plans to keep her there.

Destiny’s not sure which is worse: working with Marcus, or trying to remember all the reasons she called it off with him. And when it becomes clear the case is an elaborate trap to avenge a millennia-old grudge, she finds herself caught between love and instinct—while the clock ticks down on an innocent victim’s life…

Product Warnings

Vampires determined to take more than a bite out of the heroine. A lioness sure that she’s going to have the last word.

You can buy Blood and Destiny at a number of places including: My Bookstore and More, Books on Board, and Amazon Kindle.

Now, for the contest from Kaye’s site:

Do you have an ereader?

Full details are on Kaye’s site. I’m led to understand that right now, the odds of winning look good. Heck, let’s be honest, this will probably be one contest where your odds are better than many, many (most) others and the prize is awesome. You don’t even have to buy the book to enter, but I think you should!

Last week I mentioned I’d been using Goodreads to track my reads and my thoughts on some of the books. Some of you said you liked my reviews, thanks! One of the things I wanted to ask in that post, and didn’t, is how you use Goodreads. I often feel like there’s a lot more potential I could be getting from the site that I’m not, because in the past I’ve focused on just tracking my books, and I feel a little overwhelmed about venturing outside my own library.

For instance, I know there are discussions that occur there, but are those only in group areas or are there non-group areas? And how do I track people’s reviews and get notified of them? By following? It appears that I have lots of friends, but am not following anyone. What does following do?

Also, what groups do you recommend? When I first joined Goodreads, I wanted to use it to track what I was reading. I moved “up” to adding mini-reviews when I felt moved to do so. It’s nice, because any time I’ve reviewed here on the blog, I’ve always felt like I need to have a lengthy, more detailed and formal review. On Goodreads, I can just slap a few thoughts down, mostly for myself but if someone else finds them useful, yay!

I guess what I’m looking for is to hear from some of you as to how you use Goodreads, other than just tracking your own reading. What are some of the best features of Goodreads, in your opinion, and what do you wish more people would take advantage of, that they might not know about?

As part of All Romance eBooks’ 28 Days of Heart campaign, I’ve been featured as the 12th of 28 romance bloggers. You can check out the interviews of all 28 here, or scroll to day 12 to read my interview!

Read on for more about the 28 Days of Heart Campaign:

In conjunction with our 28 Days of Heart Campaign to raise funds for, and awareness of, heart disease, All Romance is also taking the opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of the wonderful romance blogs that help make the eromance reading community thrive. Every day in February, our newsletter will be profiling some fantastic romance blogs that we know you’ll love as much as we do.

During the month of love, when everyone’s attention is focused on matters of the heart, All Romance eBooks (ARe) is helping to fight the number one killer of women, heart disease, with their 28 Days of Heart campaign.

Beginning February 1, 2010, ARe, the digital bookseller that owns All Romance (www.allromance.com) and OmniLit (www.omnilit.com), will release one new novella per day for twenty-eight consecutive days. All proceeds from the sale of these shorts, which will be offered exclusively on AllRomance.com and OmniLit.com as individual eBooks, will be donated to the American Heart Association.

The stories cover all the genres, from Gay to Interracial, Paranormal to Historical, Contemporary to Sci Fi. They were generously donated by both best selling and up-and- coming authors from some of your favorite publishers including Kensington, Berkley, Pocket, St. Martin’s Press, Ellora’s Cave, Cerridwen, Samhain, Total E Bound, Loose Id, Phaze, Liquid Silver, Torquere Press, Siren, Amber Quill and more!

The stories range between 10,000 and 20,000 words, so they are a perfect sweet (or more accurately spicy) Valentine treat. Each includes a forward by author Charlaine Harris (of True Blood fame) as a show of support for the charity the stories will benefit. Indulge yourself this year for Valentines Day—enjoy one of each, and know you are helping a worthy cause at the same time.

Though I haven’t been updating here about my reading, and actually took those widgets off my sidebar because they were populated by LibraryThing and I’ve been using Goodreads instead (link to my Goodreads account), I have been reading what I think is an impressive amount (for me). Considering that I’ve still been reading submissions, and that I’ve taken two trips in 2010 already (and I read very little when traveling), I’ve still managed to read 34 books to date in 2010.

As I said, I’ve been tracking my reads on Goodreads. I did a fairly decent job of it in 2009, but right around the time all of the upheavel happened in my professional life last fall, I also stopped updating Goodreads. However, since I read mostly digital, I was able to browse my Fictionwise, Kindle and Calibre records and fill in most of the gaps from September to December. When I was done, and knowing there were books missing because I hadn’t been diligant about keeping up my Goodreads records, I discovered I’d read at least 220 books in 2009.I was happy with not only that, but the variety of genres I’d read. I felt like I pushed myself last year to read a little more outside my comfort zones and I managed to do that. This year I’m also going to be specifically tracking the genres I read.

So what have I read so far in 2010? A lot of Charlaine Harris, apparently. Not the Sookie books, I’ve already read all of those several times, but I read the Lily Bard and Harper Connolly series. Neither of which I actually liked that much, but I found something oddly compelling about them. Weird when that happens. Also, true to form, I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy. Last fall I discovered Karen Chance’s Dorini Basarab series but had not read her Cassandra Palmer series, so I got to catch up on that these past few weeks. Also read Eileen Wilks’ and Nalini Singhs’ new books. Two of my favorite authors, and I loved these offerings.Oh, and I bought some Amanda Quick and Jayne Ann Krentz digital backlist titles from Fictionwise, so I’ve been indulging in those. I’m a little disappointed in the quality of the Amanda Quick books (they were obviously scanned from print and not proofread for scanning errors) but the stories remain good for me!

Now I’m patiently waiting for the next JD Robb book to release in 2 weeks. And the Patricia Briggs book in March. Another two of my favorite authors.

Right now I’m in between books (I was catching up on back episodes of Chuck last night). I have a significant list of books TBR but I can’t decide what to read. What are you reading?

As many of you know by now, the legendary Kate Duffy passed away this weekend. For those of you who read my blog but don’t follow publishing, I hope you’ll take a few moments to read about Kate. Her obituary is here, and if you have even a casual acquaintance with romance, you’ll recognize many of the authors she edited.

Kate’s passing is…devastating and her presence in the publishing industry is going to be missed. While I was not as close to her as many, many people out there, she was a champion of mine, a mentor, and I’ve had a hard time thinking to put into words what she meant to me. She did what so many authors and editors aspire to do: she left her mark on the romance industry and the people in it. Reading the tributes and memories of her left in various places, it’s clear that she did something amazing. She touched peoples’ lives in a number of tangible and intangible ways. An editor who has done that is an editor who’s succeeded at being brilliant at her job. I’ve always joked that I want to be Kate Duffy when I grow up. Reading the memories of those left behind hasn’t changed that. I can only dream of being as influential as she on so many lives across the industry. Even the readers who will never know she’s the one who brought them the astounding author talent she found. Kate Duffy was irreplaceable.

I know that there were people out there who didn’t like her: she was brusque, tough, critical, didn’t pull any punches and if you got on her bad side, look out. But many of us loved her for who she was, how she said it, her humor, her sarcasm, her practicality and her innate kindness when she sensed you were floundering or needed a boost up. She had a genuine enjoyment of romance and books, and never seemed to lose sight of what was most important: the readers. I’ve regretted her illness and her absence from conferences and most communication these past months, both for my own selfish reasons and for the publishing world in general. I especially missed her with all that’s happened in my professional life lately, because she was so pragmatic and gave great advice. As I write this, I still can’t believe that chapter is closed.

The first time I met Kate was several years ago at an RT conference. I was asked to do a panel for Judy McCoy’s beginning writer’s pre-conference. I walked in and discovered Kate was also on the panel. I had never before met her but knew of her and my first thought was “Oh my God I’m sitting next to Kate Duffy.” Next, “Oh my God, I’m going to sound like a blithering, inexperienced idiot next to her. Please don’t let me say anything stupid.” I was, quite frankly, as terrified as if I’d been pitching a novel to her. But Kate, being Kate, was awesome. She didn’t make me feel as though I had any less right to be sitting there than she, she agreed with, and highlighted much of what I said, and she gave me the “the Kate” look when, during the course of that panel, she revealed she’d been in publishing since 1975 and I ribbed her about the fact that was the year I was born. Our friendship started there and continued over the course of these past few years. I still quote her on certain things about writing and editing she shared with me. I’ll continue to quote her because, well, she was right then and she’ll still be right ten years from now.

At a later RT, I was sitting with her (laughing hysterically) when she filmed this video. If you never had the opportunity to meet her, it’s classic Kate. She was thrilled that her badge said “reader” because she said readers were the most important people in the industry and she was glad to be someone important at that conference, in the form of a reader.

Last February, she took me to lunch and we gabbed for way longer than lunch is supposed to last. We talked about my job, her job, and the possibilities of both. Those possibilities will never be realized now. The reality of this still escapes me.

At that same lunch, she told me I HAD to attend the Washington Romance Writers yearly retreat. “I will kick your butt at Romance Jeopardy and I won’t show you any mercy just because I like you.” Unfortunately, by the time WRW rolled around, she was ill. I was there, participating in Romance Jeopardy and thinking the whole time how much I wished she were there, because she was right–it was great and I did love it. I know that particular chapter will feel her absence keenly, which is a tribute to just how much she gave to authors.

2 years ago, we were at a party at RWA. She had introduced me to author Zoe Archer, whose work she was extremely excited about, and whose work she was still talking about a year later, at our lunch. At that party, Zoe and I riffed on the idea of insperoticals. “Jesus porn”. Mostly we did it because Kate was horrified, and anything that could horrify Kate, while still amusing her, was something to be gleeful about. Kate told us she was glad she was sitting on the other side of the table, as lightning was sure to strike us down at any moment. I’ve thought of that conversation many times these past two days.

Kate, lightning did strike us, in the form of your loss. You will be missed.

Which do you use, if either? As I’ve said previously, I won’t use Shelfari so let’s leave them out of this convo. They lost me when they first started, with the terrible spamming of email.

I’ve been using LibraryThing widgets in my sidebar, I can’t remember why I decided to use them instead of Goodreads. I belong to both. At the time, maybe LT’s widgets were more customizable in some way.

But I’ve been noticing that Goodreads seems to have a more active community, and I have people “friending” me there, there are conversations I’ve watched and taken part in, and there just seems to be more recommending of and chatting about books there. So I’m wondering, before my book list gets too long on Library Thing (it’s only at about 75 books right now) if I should switch to using Goodreads for my books and my widgets, so I can take advantage of the recommend to friends feature, and the sense of community there.

Anyone have any thoughts on the two? I know KristieJ did a wonderful comparison post a few months ago, as did someone else (who was it?) ETA: Bookseller Chick Does anyone have an opinion on the ability of either LibraryThing or Goodreads to catalog ebooks and allow for adding of covers?

Also, as an aside, can I just say that Calibre rocks my world?

Starting Sunday January 12th, for one week, Long Hard Ride by Lorelei James will be a free read via the Kindle. Now is your chance to read the first book in the red hot contemporary cowboy series that has readers dying for more!

One lucky woman-three sexy cowboys…she’s in for the ride of her life! Channing Kinkaid itches for a change; a wild western adventure with an untamed man. Determined to shed her inhibitions and embrace the steamier, seamier side of life, she sets her sights on hooking up with a real chaps-and-spurs-wearing cowboy. Enter Colby McKay — bull rider, saddle bronc buster and calf roper. From the moment he sets lust-filled eyes on the sweet and fiery Channing, he knows he’s found the woman who-s up to the challenge of cutting loose. What rough and rowdy cowboy could resist a no-holds-barred sexual romp with a sassy young thing starring as his personal buckle bunny?

Intrigued by Channing’s bold proposition of horsing around on the road, Colby impulsively sweetens the deal; sexual escapades not only in his bed, but in the bedrolls of his rodeo traveling partners, Trevor and Edgard.

Although Channing’s secretly longed to be the sole focus of more than one man’s passions, Colby’s demand for complete submission behind closed doors will test her willful nature.

Can Channing give up total control? Especially when not all is as it seems with the sexy trio? Or will the cowboys have to break out the bullropes and piggin’ string to break in this headstrong filly?

Warning: This title contains the following: lots of explicit sex, going strong long after the cows come home, graphic language that’d make your mama blush, light bondage with bullropes, menage-a-trois, and — yee-haw! — hot nekkid cowboy man-love.