Hi Barb! I discovered JR Ward last week. I mean I knew about her for some time but I always thought Vampires just wasn't my idea of a good read. Yeah, bad me. LOL... Anyway, JR Ward showed me the light. With every single romance reader getting hooked I figured I'd try Dark Lover last week. I ordered the print book and when it arrived about 3 weeks ago I read all the others and then there was this one left so I picked it up. Boy I knew I was right after reading that book. I didn't like Dark Lover at all! And then JRW sucked me in (no pun intended. LOL) and had the last laugh when she wrote Lover Eternal because I read the excerpt at the end of Dark Lover and could not tear myself away from the thought of finishing it. So now I'm the proud owner of the rest of the series on ebook. I'm 90 pages into the latest one "Lover Unbound". I'm so hooked. Vamps... I can't believe I love them now. Hehe... Happy Reading! Rika - www.bookadesign.com

Errr... I meant "tear myself away from the thought of NOT finishing it" Sigh...

Rika, I'm reading Lover Unbound now and it will be my book of the week next Friday. Welcome to the vampire universe. You'll discover a ton of excellent authors. Just keep watching the postings, they'll chime in.

Hi there! I just finished the new "Dexter" book by Jeff Lindsay, "Dexter in the Dark," which I just loved! It's not as bloody as the first two and more involved iwth Dexter's character (he's, basically, a very lovable serial killer), which is just fine by me. Now I'm knee deep in "Farewell, Shanghai" by Angel Wagenstein. Probably not something I'd have picked up by myself -- I was asked to review it -- but I'm so glad! It's a fascinating fact-based novel about the early days of the Holocaust, when Shanghai was one of the few "open" cities that would take in Jews. It follows several characters who are all about to end up there. What will happen in Shanghai (which was bombed by the Japanese and also, I think, by the Allies) we shall see. I'm completely caught up in it! - clea (www.cleasimon.com)

Hi Barbara, I recently finished reading Janet Evanovich's Twelve Sharp and now I want to read all of the Stephanie Plum novels (that was my first). I also read First Comes Love by Whitney Lyles, which was an amusing look at what happens when you are first married and everyone is now waiting for you to have babies, and then what happens when you are finally pregnant (which I thought she portrayed pretty realistically - at least according to my experiences! LOL). I haven't done the listening on tape/cd yet. Will have to give it a go. Michelle www.mgbraden.com

Since I'm about three weeks from deadline, my reading's been cut way back, but I've been managing a few pages of Lee Child's Running Blind before bed each night. Oh, and I just got some ARCs for Freefall and have to admit I picked one up to skim through and see how many changes got included (because of pub schedules, ARCs are never the final, final version) and, even though I know the story -- *g*-- I kept getting sucked in. It's also always funny to read things that I can't, for the life of me, remember writing. LOL

Hi Barbara, Next on my reading list is Terri Garey's DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY. Such a fun title with such a fun cover, I couldn't resist. Have a great weekend!

Barb! I need to get over to my MySpace account and invite you over for tea. Or something a little stronger. :) This week, I have a BUNCH of stuff going. In the car, I just finished Alan Alda's Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, and I'm about to start Noah Charney's The Art Thief. At home, two Harlequin SuperRomances--just finished Bobby Hutchinson's The Family Solution (and reviewed it for FreshFiction.com) and have started Debra Salonen's Love, By George, which is just charming. Like Clea, I'm about to dive into Jeff Lindsay's Dexter in the Dark, and I can't wait...gotta love Dexter. BTW, I just sold the sequeal to A MURDER AMONG FRIENDS - so thanks again for helping me out with that one.

Are you guys talking about Dexter from the TV show? There are books??? (How did I miss that?) If so, I gotta have them.

First off, congrats Ramona on the sale of your book and glad you're back posting. And as for all the Dexter talk, I don't know if the tv show and the books are the same character, I haven't seen it or read it...yet. Any else know?

Yes, "Dexter" is the same character (wonderfully played by Michael C. Hall). However the TV show and the books don't match as far as storylines, kind of like the show "Bones" and the books.

I just finished Emma Holly's latest otherworldly novel, "Fairyville," which I'd recommend to anyone who likes her erotica. Definitely, ummm, stimulating. Also catching up with Linda Palmer's mystery series about soap opera writer Morgan Tyler. These are fun and Morgan currently has 3 hunks pining for her.

I just finished updating my reading list on my MySpace, so I know what I've just read :)! Just finished THE HUNTRESS, by Susan Carroll. It's the fourth in a series and is Wonderful. On the iPod is THE MINISTER'S DAUGHTER by Julie Hearn, also very good. Have a nice weekend everyone! Shari www.sharianton.com www.myspace.com/sharianton

Thanks Christine; I just ordered the first one from Amazon. I've never been bothered by the fact that Bones, the show, and the books it's based on don't match, so in a way I think this Dexter separation will be better, because I won't start confusing the two. :D

Speaking of "Bones," I'm reading Kathy Reichs' latest book, Bones to Ashes. Then, Clea Simon's forthcoming book, Cries and Whiskers is up next, along with Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. It's the time of year I like to pick up that one of Bradbury's, along with The Halloween Tree. Lesa Holstine, www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com

I'm reading a few things at once, as usual. The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman is a nonfiction exploration about the possibility that a woman mentioned in two of the Icelandic Sagas really lived. The author, Nancy Marie Brown, feels strongly that she did. The book is both an exploration of the texts of the sagas, and descriptions of archaeological digs of ancient Viking sites that might prove her right. Quite interesting. In a coincidentally related ARC for young people, Runemarks by Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat), the same Norse Gods and Goddesses are living characters trying to regain some hold on the world after the end of the world in which Christianity (not identified as such, but obvious) has taken hold.

Hi, Barbara! Thanks again for coming over to the soapboxqueens blog this week and for mentioning my book here. I'm honored. The Soapbox Queens can hardly wait for you to come and blog with us on Halloween!

Hi Barbara, So glad to be your friend on myspace.com. Since BookExpo I've been knee deep in ARC's so I feel really lucky to have been able to read some of them. One I especially like that's coming out in November is a young adult verging on adult, The Luxe by Anna Godbeary (not sure if I spelled it right) about teens at the turn of the twentieth century in New York City. What an engrossing book, couldn't put it down - a fast and exuberant read. When it comes out don't miss it, if you didn't pick it up as an ARC. I just saw an ad for it in Borders and it's probably going to be huge. Remember you heard it here first.

In the past two weeks I have read a very special book...an ARC of Catherine Anderson's book Morning Light, due out Jan '08! What a treat that was. Can't wait for its release. Also am reading Fern Michaels' newest one in the Sisterhood series, Free Fall. Great read and I love this series.

These all sound like some great books! I'm keeping track... Lynda, I can't tell you how jealous I am about that one!!!!!

Work has been so chaotic lately that my already slow reading pace has become even slower :(...however, I will say that I got Lisa Kleypas' new release this week, Mine Till Midnight and I did finish it in a matter of hours, though not at one setting. Lisa Kleypas is one of the few authors I read who NEVER disappoints me in the least. I am on such a high right now from reading Mine Till Midnight that I doubt I'll even attempt another book in the next couple of days...besides I'll be busy at work, lol....

This week I have been listening to Envy by Sandra Brown.