There are so many fantastic books out there and not enough time to read them all. We love to share when we find a read that really stands out in the crowd. These are our favorites that we’ve read this month. We’d love to hear about yours!
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Maura

I loved After the Kiss by Suzanne Enoch. The heroine has just the right spunk and the hero isn’t your run-of-the-mill regency aristrocrat. Enoch gives us a twist on the society of the period while maintaining the things I love about the regency Ton. It all begins with a burglary and a memorable kiss . . . and then everything that comes after.
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Alice

In the course of July and the first week of August I read Bleach volumes 5 through 19. As soon as I get near a Hastings, which carries the books, I’ll be buying the next volume, and maybe the next couple. Bleach is Manga with both story and drawings by Tite Kubo. Each volume runs about 190 pages long.
The volumes are all part of a long, drawn out story line much like Suzie’s House. Only I pray I can do Suzie so well. I’m re-reading them now (something I hardly ever do) and finding clear and direct references in Volume 3 that are fleshed out in Volume 17. I found one hook at the end of 3 that has yet to be addressed, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
The series has a strong feel of Japan to it with ghosts that can turn evil and samurai elements to the hero’s alter ego. I’ve always been a sucker for a samurai. The hero’s name is Ichigo. He is the kind of crusty, cynical, angry teen ager that comes from spending a life sticking out like a sore thumb and suffering the tragedy of his mother’s death. He is determined to protect people, and will sacrifice himself with little regard for the pain in order to accomplish that.
In other words, the story underlaying the entire series has good bones. But that isn’t what has caused it to become an addiction not only to me, but to Mr. Al and the kids as well. It’s the sense of humor. Little things like the arrogant animated stuffed lion Kon, the big tough softy Chad who chases cute things like Kon, and the moment when Ichigo orders his female mentor to sit in a corner and act grateful while he rescues her from certain death as that death in the form of a flaming bird balances on the end of his sword. Between the humor, and the hooks - always a big one right at the end of the volume - and the the plot twists I’m completely drawn in.
I totally love the series, but I don’t know that I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. It is violent with one fight scene after another, even if the black and white blood is mostly from ghosts. It uses anime conventions like yelling out the name of a move before or while it is being executed - totally hokey. And it uses the word “Doom” like a sound track thing.
But what’s a little “Doom” in the face of a world class rescue?
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Renee

I’ve had little time for anything other than history, geography, science, driver’s handbooks, and reviewing classic literature books for the kids. Then there was a book on how to make window treatments that Mr. Scott kindly asked me to study.
I don’t mind it though. I went to a lady’s home the other day and sitting on her coffee table was a huge book of world history, I drooled.
My TBR pile is a mile long, all of them historical romance.
For the month of August, the only book I’ve completed is J.K. Coi’s Immortal Kiss, come back tomorrow for my review. I hope to also offer you an insight to her first release My Immortal.

I’ve started Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely. Thanks to K & M, I’m hooked.
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Terri

I just read, Killing Bridezilla by Laura Levine. She is the queen of comedic mystery. This is her latest in the Jaine Austen series and a page turner. Her pace is quick, wit is sharp and the take on life in LA can’t be beat. Need a fun beach read, try Laura Levine’s books. You can’t go wrong. Oh, and yes, Jaine does have romantic side stories told with a great amount of humor and warmth.
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Anastasia

My best procrastinating device is reading. I read whenever I can and go through so many books in a month that they all begin to mist in my mind and I can’t remember which was which.
But sometimes, there are those books that shine through the mist. This happened recently when I discovered Janet Chapman. There is nothing that I love more than to discover a great new author (to me) with a finished series. When this happens, I know I’m in trouble. It’s an addiction I’m very helpless to fight.
Although I usually always read Historical Romances, sometimes I do test the waters if a contemporary sounds tempting enough. And this one did. And I was not disappointed. YOU, will fall in love with each and every one of these heroes. Ms. Chapman gives you no choice.
Here is the list. Do like I did, get them all and cruise through then. But don’t forget. You will need a bib. I guarantee it!;-)
The Highlander Series by Janet Chapman
Charming the Highlander
Loving the Highlander
Wedding the Highlander
Tempting the Highlander
Only With a Highlander
Secrets Of the Highlander
Let me know what you think.
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Sindee

I haven’t done much reading this month, but I’ve just finished reading ‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy. I usually am not one for Romantic Suspense. This one is labeled “Mystery Romance,” which I feel is probably the same thing. It was very engaging and hilarious. I started reading it Monday at work and finished it Tuesday at work. The sequel is called Guns Will Keep Us Together, and the third, Stand By Your Hitman, will be out in August. Do you notice a theme?Anyhow, the books follow a family of Assassins. The first book is about a single mom/assassin. It was crazy fun.

I’d like to add a book to my favorite list. Only because it was completely different than the other book I mentioned earlier. Over the weekend, I read My Wicked Enemy by Carolyn Jewel. Can you say hot, fast, and a total roller coaster ride. There was nonstop action and adventure and totally sexy. After I was done, I wanted more. I mean that in a really good way!
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Sasha

I just finished reading Cathy Maxwell’s In the Highlander’s Bed. It was a quick read with characters that were easy to become involved with, and the ending left me anxiously anticipating Ms. Maxwell’s next book. The following blurb is from her website:
IN THE HIGHLANDER’S BED
They’re on the brink of ecstasy . . . Placed in the Young Ladies’ Academy by her well-meaning sisters, Constance Cameron feels smothered. She hates England and desperately wants to return to America. Since her sisters have found happiness with their new English husbands, they ignore her pleas. Constance decides to run away and locate a ship to take her home. Escaping into the night, she stumbles upon a handsome Scottish rebel who grabs her. After landing a few good punches, Constance discovers he’s attempting to kidnap her. She goes willingly, thinking she will flee once they get close to the coast.
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Laurie
I’ve read so many wonderful books this month but there are two which really stood out for me:
Christina Dodd’s Into the Shadow
Blessed—or cursed—with the ability to change into a sleek panther, and driven by a dark soul he’s accepted as his fate, Adrik Wilder abandons his family and his honor to pursue a life of wickedness. He excels at every vice, including kidnapping Karen Sonnet to use for his selfish purposes.
But Karen’s spirit and passion make him question the force of his family’s curse. And when a new evil emerges, Adrik must choose whether to enact revenge on his enemies and redeem his soul, or save Karen from a fate worse than death…
This book was a fantastic read with a mysterious, darkly seductive hero, an independent and admirable heroine, and a sexy fast-paced plot. The story grabbed me from page one and I just couldn’t put it down!
Suzanne Brockmann’s Into the Fire
Suspense doesn’t burn any brighter and desire doesn’t run any deeper than when Suzanne Brockmann takes the helm, opens the throttle, and takes readers along for a breathless ride as she breaks the thrill barrier — again and again. With Into the Fire, Brockmann lights the fuse on her most explosive story yet.
Vinh Murphy — ex-Marine and onetime operative for the elite security firm Troubleshooters Incorporated — has been MIA ever since his wife, Angelina, was caught in a crossfire and killed during what should have been a routine bodyguard assignment. Overcome with grief, Murphy blames the neo-Nazi group known as the Freedom Network for her death. Now, years later, Freedom Network leader Tim Ebersole has been murdered — and the FBI suspects Murphy may have pulled the trigger. To prevent further bloodshed, Murphy’s friends at Troubleshooters scramble to find him and convince him to surrender peacefully.
Murphy himself can’t be sure what he did or didn’t do during the years he spent mourning and lost in an alcohol-induced fog. He does know he occasionally sought solace from Hannah Whitfield, a former police officer and the very friend who’d introduced him to his beloved late wife.
But Hannah, still grappling with the deafness that resulted from an injury sustained while on duty, was fighting her own battles. For years Hannah had feelings for Murphy, and one painful night their suffering brought them together in a way neither expected — and both regretted.
But finally, Murphy is ready to rejoin the living. As always, he finds himself knocking on Hannah’s door, and as always, his longtime friend welcomes him back into her home. Yet even as Murphy slowly rebuilds his splintered life, he continues to fight his growing feelings for Hannah. Then he learned of Ebersole’s murder and comes to believe that the Freedom Network has targeted him — and Hannah — to avenge their leader’s death.
Now Murphy must face the terrifying prospect of losing to violence another woman he loves.
As the Troubleshooters desperately search for him, Murphy races toward a deadly confrontation with the Freedom Network and the ultimate choice: surrender his life in the hopes that Hannah will be spared, or risk everything to salvage whatever future they may have together.
I love Suzanne Brockmann. I love how she writes about a community of people that she continually revisits in each new story. Her characterizations are wonderful – each character is unique with definite strengths and weaknesses. Add a on-the-edge-of-your-seat plot, and it goes on my favorites list.
What was the best book you read in August?