Thursday, June 21, 2007

Little Known Favorites

I'm very bad. This meme (started by Jennie) was going around last month but lazy Renée didn't get around to it until now. Someone tagged me but I can't figure out who. Maybe Rosario but I can't figure out how to search through her archives (hey, Rosario, you need an archive link :) I guess it doesn't matter.

Rules: List and describe three of your favorite books that other people might not be familiar with. Then tag five people No one left to tag. See, easy!


Heart of Deception by Taylor Chase
I wrote a brief review of this book a year ago and was so impressed with it I thought I'd mention it again. It was one of those books that grab you from the first page and was incredibly hard to put down. The setting is Elizabethan England and Queen Beth herself makes an appearance. The history is not just wallpaper but an integral part of the story. The characters are three-dimensional and the story is fast paced and filled with political intrigue, betrayal, treason and murder. But these events are only a backdrop to an wonderful steamy romance. The heroine is queen of the underworld and the hero gains her trust only to betray her later resulting in some emotional scenes.

The Wives of Bowie Stone by Maggie Osborne
This is probably my favorite book by MO and that's saying a lot. This western romance set in 1880's Kansas tells the story of Rosie Mulvehey who marries a convict Bowie Stone to save him from hanging and to help her with her farm. Both have a dark past and are damaged individuals. This is a story about the healing power of love that sent me looking for a box of tissues but I love a good tearjerker. There are some good secondary characters too. This book was fast paced and hard to put down, so find a comfy spot and relax and enjoy. MO has written some wonderful books in her career but I hear that she has retired from writing. Damn. But there are lots of books in her backlist I haven't read yet so I'm set for a while.

Dream Fever by Katherine Sutcliffe
Australia/New Zealand is one of my favorite settings and this one is another good one to add to a couple of Candice Proctor's books (Whisper of Heaven, Night in Eden). This historical is set in New Zealand in 1861. Nick Sabre has been exiled to NZ after being tricked by the woman he loved into killing his rival in a duel. He now runs a sheep station and just wants to be left alone. Red-haired Summer O'Neile shows up at his door claiming to be his proxy bride. But Nick doesn't remember signing the proxy form since he was drunk at the time and has no use for any woman but he decides to let her stay until the sheep shearing when he can dispose of the wool and his unwanted bride. Summer struggles to be loved and accepted by him but Nick treats her very badly. Some reviewers complained that she was too much of a doormat but I didn't see that. I loved her character and shed some tears for her. Summer falls in love with Nick but he fights his feelings. Eventually, Summer worms her way into Nick's heart and it was an emotional roller coaster ride but I really enjoyed it.


Whew, one meme down. One more meme (maybe 2) to go. Cindy tagged me for the 7x7 music meme (no, Cindy, I hate country western.) Who knows when I'll get that done.

15 comments:

CindyS said...

Dream Fever is probably Sutcliffe's greatest book. She didn't squirm from the hardships and I loved every second.

I had the Taylor Chase book down before but it wasn't on my list so I have put it back. I know I have The Wives of Bowie Stone but I wonder if it got sent out on a purge.

I'll have to check the bookcases and if they aren't there then I know what I will be looking for at the UBS this weekend!

And I should have known my twin wouldn't care for country music. Phew!

CindyS

Kristie (J) said...

I have all those! I agree with you on 2 and 3. #1 is in the TBR pile so I'll have to read that one too!!

Jennie said...

Thanks for playing! I haven't heard of any of those, so that's good. Three more for my list. :)

Rosie said...

I'm in good company with you, Cindy and Kristie because I've read the MO (I love her books) and the Sutcliffe (I wish she was still writing). I hadn't heard of Taylor Chase before so I scribbled that one down to check out.

I loved this meme because it was intersting to see people's more obscure favorites.

Rosario said...

I just adore Heart of Deception. Brilliant book.

And check out my sidebar... just for you, a drop-down archives menu!*g*

Tara Marie said...

I, too, have all 3 of these on my keeper shelf :)

ReneeW said...

Cindy: If you can't find these two on your shelves, hope you find them on your shopping trip. Did I mention how jealous I am? :)

Kristie: I hope you read HoD soon. I want to hear your opinion.

Jennie: This was a great meme. I was trying to shrink my TBR but your meme shot that idea all to heck. :) So many good books added to my list but I think that's a good thing.

Rosie: I don't think Taylor Chase (aka Gayle Feyrer) writes anymore either. All good writers.

Rosario: Thanks, I need that link! You are my romance guru and I like to search your blog all the time. Blogger search sucks. I can never find anything with it.

Tara: We are in total agreement :)

Anonymous said...

I *loved* THE WIVES OF BOWIE STONE (big Maggie Osborne fangirl!), and I have the Taylor Chase and Sutcliffe books TBR. Guess I'll have to move them up in the towering piles. :)

ReneeW said...

KarenW: Isn't MO a great writer? Amazing how so many people agree with me about these books or already have them TBR. Definitely worth moving to the top of the pile.

Rosario said...

:-D I like that, romance guru!

I don't like the blogger search, either, and I hate how it looks on top of the page, so like you, I got rid of the bar on mine. BTW, if you want to search for particular titles on my blog, right under the archives drop-down menu you'll find a link to an alphabetical index. Much easier that way.

ReneeW said...

Rosario: I actually got rid of the search bar at the top by accident when I converted to this new template. It appears in my template layout code but doesn't show up in the actual view. So I added a Google search gadget at the bottom of my side bar (I was going to post about that). It works better I think.

I knew about your alphabetical index of reviews and have used them a lot but whenever you post about something not related to a specific review (like meme's) I could never find it using blogger search. I like the archive links better in this case because I knew what month it was posted.

Rowena said...

Wow, I don't have any of those books...but I'm very interested in reading them now after reading your post...thanks!

Unknown said...

You've listed all of my favorites as well. Wow. Agree with you 100% on those titles. I was going to break out The Wives of Bowie Stone to reread and review. If there are more favorites could you list them? Later? --Keishon

ReneeW said...

Rowena: I hope you give them a try.

Keishon: Cool! Ok, I'll work on it but I'm really behind on everything.

Unknown said...

No Rush. Like a Best of the Best list of books that you've read and graded B+ and up?---Keishon

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