Guest Post: Jessica @ Laugh Love Write

Good morning everyone. As you might of noticed last Thursday, I’m featuring guest posts & interviews this month from fellow bloggers that I love. I am so excited to do this and am thrilled all these fabulous ladies agreed to visit for a bit!

Today I have the lovely Jessica from Laugh Love Write  over for a guest post. Make sure to stop by her wonderful blog, after reading this of course. =) She has a lot of great reviews, interesting posts and even a giveaway. Thank you so much Jess for coming over! 

She's put together a post about romance novels for us that is absolutely amazing. I wish I had the knack to put my thoughts into words like Jess because she has managed to define why I love reading romance perfectly!

So without further ado, here she is…

(((Hiya Everyone)))

First and foremost I want to thank Crystal for having me over here at the Reading Between the Wines Book Club. I am so honored and excited. I brought something to share too. Sangria and a cheese platter with figs, fruit paste, goat cheese, dried apricots and pecans. Hope you like. I actually just found out about that cheese platter combo over Thanksgiving with the fam, but that is neither here nor there.

So romance books. Yay. I can’t think of anything better. They are the quintessential product of all the best libraries and aren’t called escapist literature for nothing. The greatest thing about romances is the power they hold to allow us, readers, to escape amidst the pages and travel to a world that is not our own. Now you might be saying, “Yeh, yeh Jessica, all books do that.” But, not all books can make you cry and laugh during the same novel, or give you butterflies, or make you feel like you need a cold shower. I mean c’mon, we all read romances for the hunks right? Well, if you don’t you can at least admit to loving romances for the love story. Some of the greatest love stories can never die, mainly because of how they make the readers feel. Now Romeo and Juliet is an obvious choice, as is Pride and Prejudice. Both stories captivate you with such an intensity that a part of you actually lives the story ride along side the characters.

Many people think this is a bad thing. That these romances give readers a false hope of love, of perfection that doesn’t exist. I disagree. Romances aren’t perfect. In fact romance novels are never perfect. Take J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood books for example. The Brotherhood consists of a bunch of huge, hunky, sexy, take-a-cold-shower-when-you-think-of-them, vampires that have many faults. One of the vamps; Phury, has only one leg, another vamp, the warrior king in fact, is blind. Now the women who love those imperfect men (or vampires rather) know that their life is not going to be perfect. There is sacrifices and compromises and everything in between. Sure there is sweaty love making that makes readers swoon, but there is also arguments and worries and things that need to be overcome. Often times, romance novels can teach readers how to overcome the stress of their own lives. “Heck if so-and-so character can do it, than I can bloody do it,” has become a favorite saying of mine. I live in books. Within the pages of a romance novel I learn to grow, to fight vampires and run free with were-wolves, I learn what can be done and what can’t be done and when that book’s ending comes and I have to turn the last page, I take a little bit of the book with me. A part of the characters, a part of the story line, a part of their gumption seeps into me while reading a novel, just as a part of me is left behind somewhere between Page 1 and Page 272.

Romances are not just fun fluffy reads, they are often deep and meaningful and entirely unforgettable. They inspire and help heal those who are broken. They are a place to escape to, a place to run to and a place that will never turn a reader away. I know the characters are always ready to tell me the story if I just take the time to open their book. So, basically that is why I love romances. G.K. Chesterton puts it better: "Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." Gotta love a good fairy tale.

I hope that makes sense, and I am sure you are all wondering who I am now. Who is this crazy girl talking about fluffy romance novels giving her courage to face the day…well let me tell you: I am a reader, writer, book reviewer, editor and everything in between. I am currently the proud blogger of Laugh Love Write where I write about the “Musings of a Reading Writer” as I like to say. I am also the Romance Fiction Feature Writer for the Suite101 online magazine, the Louisville Writing Careers Examiner for Examiner.com, the happy writer of hundreds of published articles and poetry and a freelance journalist who takes on darn near anything to do with the writing industry. God and family are also very important to me. They keep me grounded when I am at risk of flying away to another world amidst the pages of a book. No, actually they are more like… who I come back to when my feet hit the ground again. And I could go on for decades about my passion for traveling and the places I have been but I don’t want to bore you. If you want to chit chat about anything I am always available. I frequently comment here at the Reading Between the Wines Book Club and I am always around over at Laugh Love Write.

So, thank you again Crystal for having me over today and I will leave you with the words I use to get through any and everything…

Write ON!

"Waiting On" Wednesday (12/08): The Vampire Voss by Colleen Gleason

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

The Vampire Voss 

(Regency Draculia #1)

by Colleen Gleason

April 1st, 2001

Regency London - a dizzying whirl of balls and young ladies pursued by charming men. But the Woodmore sisters are hunted by a more sinister breed: Lucifer's own. Voss, also known as Viscount Dewhurst, relishes the sensual pleasures immortality affords. A member of the Dracule - a cabal of powerful, secretive noblemen marked with a talisman that reveals their bartered souls - the mercenary Voss has remained carefully neutral...until Angelica. Angelica Woodmore possesses the Sight, an ability invaluable to both sides of a looming war among the Dracule. Her very scent envelops Voss in a scarlet fog of hunger - for her body and blood. But he is utterly unprepared for the new desire that overcomes him - to protect her.

Colleen Gleason is one of my favorite authors and she has this amazing little series you might of heard called the Gardella Vampire Chronicles. Well that series is completed, for now, and she has started another vampire series that I just can't wait for! 

Teaser Tuesday (Dec. 7)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I tell you, and then you let me go?" He'd broken her out of jail. That had to mean something, didn't it? 

He held her stare. His expression never changed. "Of course."

And this time, she was the one who knew: lie. 

-pg 88-89

Eternal Flame by Cynthia Eden

Night Watch series #3

Mmm...Monday (12/6)

Good morning ladies, and if there are any gents out there!

Man, I think this time of year they need to add an extra day to the week or something. Craziness I tell ya'. Well I have some man candy to help get you through this Monday morning...

***IMAGES REMOVED***

I can lend a hand, or two, stringing those lights darlin'...

Quote of the Week:

“You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” - Paul Sweeney

New Releases Out Tomorrow:

• Blades of the Rose, Stranger by Zoe Archer 
• Need Series by Carrie Jones, Entice
• Right-Hand Magic by Nancy Collins 
• Alien, Alien Tango by Gina Koch 
• You Dropped a Blonde on Me by Dakota Cassidy 
• The Boyfriend of the Month Club by Maria Geraci
• Vampire Academy, Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead (I know you all are excited about this one!)
• The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
• Edges by Léna Roy

Around the blogosphere:

Book Bloggers Holiday Bash starts today over at Soap Box in My Mind. 18 different bloggers giving stuff away, woohoo!

AND Best I've Read 2010  with giveaways over at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer!

In Other Ramblings:

The Thea Jeanne Designs giveaway is still going on as well as the Christmas giveaway for a signed copy of Eternal Kiss of Darkness. 

We have a book club meeting this Sunday the 12th for The Iron Duke, yipee. Then I'll be participating in the Midwinter Giveaway Hop over at I am a Reader, Not a Writer on the 21st & 22nd.

And I am finding way too many reading challenges to participate in next year but I'm excited, it's my first year doing challenges. Oh and I finally organized my reviews by rating. *whew* 

Now, I need some suggestions for a new read. I want something romantic, western (sexy cowboys or gunslingers), historical (or maybe contemporary with something involving a rodeo) and steamy. Any ideas? 

Have a great week everyone! 

XOXOXO

Top 5 Sundays: Best Fiction Hotties I Want Under My Tree!

Top 5 Sundays is hosted by Larissa over at Larissa's Bookish Life

Best Fiction Hotties I Want Under My Tree!

Only five? Ahhh...so hard to choose....

1. Bones

Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series

Bones....*dreamy sigh* I vote for a CH32 sequel VERY soon! 

2. Vishous

JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood

Mmm-mmm-mmm...He's welcome to tie me up anytime he wants ;)

3. Hunter

Vicki Pettersson's Sign of the Zodiac series

I kind of picture him as Oded Fehr 

Or maybe a Viggo from LOTR. 

Both just a little more built & no facial hair.

4. Alcide (I changed my mind on this one *G*, sorry Eric)

Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series

Grrrrowl....

5. Captain Jack Sparrow

Pirates of the Caribbean - movie

I keep teasing my husband that I'm going to get his poster for our bedroom ;)

Hmmm.... notice a trend here?

Okay, I've been extra good this year so hands off ladies, these fellows are allllllllll mine =D 

XOXOXO

Book Review: Eternal Hunger by Cynthia Eden

Eternal Hunger

Night Watch, book #1

by Cynthia Eden

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Brava; Original edition (January 1, 2010)

ISBN-10: 0758234287

ISBN-13: 978-0758234285

Cynthia Eden delves into the dark realms of the Others, where desires and dangerous games await the unsuspecting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Assistant DA Erin Jerome has a secret. Make that two. One: She's not entirely human-she's Other, desperately trying to keep her supernatural strength under wraps. Two: she's got a killer stalking her-an Other rogue set on "gifting" her bloody corpses, not to mention nights lying awake in terror. Small wonder she's been having bad luck with men.

But the bounty hunter on her new case isn't worried about any of that. Jude Donovan is a shapeshifter himself, and the new DA's midnight hair and addictive scent tell him all he thinks he needs to know: She's gorgeous, she's definitely not human, and she's bringing out the animal in him in a really good way. He might have to track a psychotic Other stalker through half of Louisiana. But he might also get the chance to watch Erin's wild side come out and play.