Speaking of TBR piles, I thought I would show off mine.  (Note, this of course, doesn’t include my eBook TBR pile, which sits on my hard drive and on my eReader.)

What’s yours look like? Bigger? Smaller? I showed you mine, show me yours.

Grey’s Awakening by Cameron Dane

Buy It Here: Here (non-affiliate link)

Description: Greyson Cole needs to get out of Raleigh. Everywhere he turns, he sees people falling in love, getting married and starting families. It’s enough to make a grown man want to rip out his own hair. And for a cynic like Grey, one more employee getting engaged signals the need for a long overdue vacation. Grey owns a cabin in the mountains he has never even used, and he figures that’s just the ticket out of this nightmare of happily paired-up couples.

Grey doesn’t expect to be greeted by a belligerent, half-naked man the minute he opens his cabin door.

Sirus Wilder has known Grey’s twin sister for years, and she has given him permission to stay in the cabin while his residence across the lake is under repair. Sirus has never met Greyson Cole before, but he is thankful when the man lets him share the cabin for a few days. There is plenty enough room for them each to keep to themselves. Sirus has had his heart broken and isn’t interested in a hook-up, let alone something more.

Even so, Grey is, hands-down, one of the sexiest men Sirus has ever seen. Too bad he’s an arrogant ass and his eyes are so damn cold. Every once in a while, though, Sirus thinks he sees a hint of fiery passion in the controlled man sleeping one room away.

For Grey, one look at the roughly handsome Sirus puts Grey’s celibacy pact in serious jeopardy. One problem: Grey doesn’t believe in love, has even less patience for relationships, and he refuses to get mixed up in another messy romantic partnership that can only end badly.

Two weeks. Two hard men. Both running like hell from love.

Look out. Something’s gotta give.

Warnings:  This story contains male/male acts of sex and loving.

My Review: I’m someone that will read anything, regardless of genre or heat level. If it’s a story that catches my interest, then I will certainly give it a go. This is one of those books that I picked up on a whim and am very pleased that I did. The romance, and sex, between the two men is believable and I felt for both characters by the end of the book, something I am always looking for when it comes to reading romance. I want to care for the characters – and since I read romance – see them find their HEA, regardless of if they’re male or female. Love is meant for everyone, after all.

I fell very easily into the pattern of the writer’s words, something that is sometimes very hard to achieve when you read as much as I do. There is very little that I found negative about this book and look forward to seeking out more of the author’s other works. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of m/m romance or looking for something a little different to read that falls outside the “norm” (since this is m/m).

This review is based on a copy I purchased myself.

What: 2010 ERom Reading Challenge
Timeline: 01 Jan 2010 – 31 Dec 2010
Rules: To read TEN(10) Erotica Romance in 2010
Details:

* You don’t have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront then you can change them, nothing is set in stone!
* The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.
* If you decide to participate in this challenge please use the links I have set up below with the buttons to post on your sidebar, this way others can find their way back to this post and join in the fun.
* If you decide to join this challenge be sure to create a post telling others, please make sure you add a link back to this post so others can join in.
* If you decide to join and don’t have a blog and would like to join – Please leave details in comment.
* You can join anytime between now and the later part of next year.
* You must be 18 years or older to join.

1. Grey’s Awakening ~ Cameron Dane

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As you can see, I’ve not gotten my list together…yet.

I moved through romance novels like I was drinking water. Sandra Brown, Linda Howard and Nora Roberts. I still read my fantasies and sci-fi’s, but now I was noticing something was lacking from the stories that I would like to see. A sweeping love story somewhere in the stories. Not even necessarily with the main characters, just somewhere. I still wanted those “otherworldly elements” too, but I wanted romance, a love story, and sex. It was rare, at that point in time (the early 90′s) for me to be able to find what I was looking for.

In today’s book market, that’s a different story. Over the past few years, books have taken being classified into a category to an organizational art form. A listmaker’s dream – or nightmare, depending on how you look at it. No longer is there just contemporary romances like those I started out reading where the Alpha male came along and swept the stubborn leading lady off her feet with little protest from her. Today, heroines fight back. They kick ass with a wide smile painted across their perfectly shaped and painted lips. Sure, those contemporary romances are still there. But now they’re cataloged on the shelf next to the likes of Jeaniene Frost, Keri Arthur, and J. R. Ward in sub-genres of romance.

No longer is romance, just a romance. There’s paranormal romance, erotic romance, sci-fi romance, fantasy romance, shape-shifter romance, etc. Historical romances aren’t just limited to ones that took place at some point in history that isn’t now. There’s Gothic romance, medieval romance, Scottish romance, Irish romance, Western romance, etc. I’ve even seen horror romance, though I’ve not personally read anything in that sub-genre. There’s even time travel romance and don’t be surprised when you see steampunk romance showing up on your shelves next year.

The basis is all the same – at the most basic, a romance novel tells a story, one with a HEA or HFN. (Happily Ever After or Happy For Now) Be it vampire, cowboy, space alien, dragon or Highland warrior all of these stories have the development of a relationship between the characters.

Of course, then there’s someone like me.

Flash of Dark, my first release, has vampires, the Tuatha Dé Danann (the Fae), humans, a mystery, loud music and rope (after you read the next line, I’ll leave you to figure out the “rope” mention… ).

So, with all of these “sub genres” of romance, is that like a sub (paranormal) sub (fantasy) sub (mystery) sub (erotic) genre romance book?

In the meantime, I’ve dug back into my sci-fi romance (lovingly (I think) called sci-mance by hubs) that is currently a 27K short. It’s not enough to tell the story I want, so it needs expanding. Espesically since I jotted a bunch of stuff down yesterday that altered the back history I had for the main characters. This one probably won’t be my usual word count level (around 90K), but it does need lengthening to properly tell their story. This, of course, comes about when I’m trying to work on the next book in the Rebirth series. Isn’t that the way it always happens? It’s like my brain gets opened up working on something and something else just slips its way right on in. I’m not one to juggle multiple stories like that either, just like I usually can’t juggle multiple books to read – one at a time please. It’s not that I can’t focus on multiple stories, I just like to give my full attention to whatever it is that I’m reading and/or writing.

I see the RT Convention is open for registration. I’ve been entertaining the idea of going, but not sure yet. Still waffling more towards the “no” side, but, so far, it’s been changing hourly. It’d be a nine hour drive for me as far as driving goes – so that’s the biggest deciding factor, well that and call me silly, but I don’t want to go by myself. Rather have someone I know with me so at least I’d feel a little more comfortable, since I’m not – oh who am I kidding? I’m not very social at all. Had that displayed right in my face earlier this week at a work function I had to attend (where I was getting an award no less). The VP of my whole division sat at the table with me and aside from introducing myself, I didn’t say a word during the meal. Can you imagine if I had to speak?

That’s something I really have got to work on.

Most recently, this past week, I tore apart something I’ve been working on and have been in the process, in the little bits of time I have had, of piecing it back together. Also, I had time to read a post by Keri Arthur, over a the Deadline Dames. If you’re an aspiring author, like I am, you should check it out – wonderful advice.

I’ve always been a reader, even in my youth. Being an only child, I found escapisim in books. They gave me friends that were realiable and would always be there no matter what was going on in my life. I vividly remember reading Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High books when I was in 5th grade. When I was sixteen, it was L. J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries series. And so begins the “series pattern”.

I, to this day, still love series books. I enjoy reading beyond just one book about the characters that I’ve grown attached to. Hearing their story and seeing how they handle events as their life unfolds as I turn the pages. Don’t get me wrong, single title books have their allure as well, and I would never turn my nose up to them, however, if I’m well into a series and I’m given a choice between a single title and the latest in a series, I’m going to choose the series book.

For an example, here are some of the series books I follow: The Hollows series (Kim Harrison), the Signs of the Zodiac series (Vicki Pettersson), the Night Huntress series (Jeaniene Frost), the ..In Death series (J. D. Robb), the Weather Warden series (Rachel Caine), the Dragonfire series (Deborah Cooke), the Jax series (Ann Aguirre), the Guardian series (Keri Arthur), the Outlander series (Diana Gabaldon), the Merry Gentry series (Laurell Hamilton), the Fever & the Highlander series (Karen Moning) and the newest series I’ve been reading, the Southern Vampire series (Charlaine Harris).

Now that I’m embarassed myself as to just how many books I read (’cause don’t forget, this is just the series books – that doesn’t even include the single titles I read from other authors) I’ve got stuff around the house to get to and errands to run.

Happy 4th of July to America!

What always becomes interesting is when I’m editing something I’m working, recently being full length novels or short stories of the 30K word variety. While I embrace technology (love, love my touchscreen laptop) when it comes to writing, I find it hard to break old habits. Despite having a perfectly acceptable word processor to type with, I still cart around notebooks and pens in which to hand write things. After all, my philosophy? A wire bound notebook’s battery isn’t going to die on you. Sure, your pen may run out of ink, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to find a new pen sometimes than to find an outlet to plug into. Writing out things longhand also means, after all is transferred to electronic copy, pen editing is done by hand and red pen. So it’s not unusual to find me carting around an expandable binder that appears to have been bled all over. This means that I can work anywhere. Considering my daughter’s Irish dance hobby, that’s a Very Good Thing^TM. It also means that I often have complete strangers asking me what I’m working on.

This is where the whole “interesting” deal comes into play.

What exactly do you say to that? “I’m deciding if my lead male character kissing my lead female characters nipples is explained with enough explicitness for my tastes.” Er…yeah, somehow I don’t see that reciving the warmest of welcomes. Though, you never know. People can surprise you.

Late last year, my husband was busy with school so I had to take our daughter to her ballet lesson. I took along the story I was working at the time and my handy, dandy red pen. Half hour into the lesson and me fully enthralled in my edit – a mother of one of the dancers came along and interrupted me. You know the type – you’re working diligently along, head down in the that “I’m busy leave me alone” posture and they launch into a conversation with you despite your obvious concentration. I was polite and closed what I was working on, as my two characters were in a compromising position, and she asked question after question about what I was doing. Again, I was polite but to be honest I’m the last person you’ll find talking openly with someone I barely know about my stories in progress (okay, really, I’m not one to talk about my stuff anyway, regardless of where they are in the process). I skirted her questions as best as I could and I think I finally bored her sufficiently enough that she left me alone.

I think, just one time, when asked what I’m doing when they clearly see me working dilligently along, that I’d like to smile slyly and explain in great detail exactly what I’m writing. I figure a few things an happen at that point: 1) they’ll  run screaming or 2)  give me one of those “are you crazy?” looks or, lastly, 3) plop down next to me.

Apparently, this corruption knows no bounds. My daughter has become my latest subject. I shall refrain from *evil cackles* – for now. But their bubbling under the surface, just to let you know. ;^)

Back when I was teenager, there was a very, limited amount of vampire fiction out there. We didn’t have Edward and Bella. Or the Morganvilla vamps from Rachel Caine. Or any of the countless young adult vampire fiction that graces the shelves of Barnes and Noble today. Hell, we didn’t even have Barnes and Noble then. At that time, my reading was confined young adult thrillers, where a vampire fiction or two was slipped in. Christopher Pike, Richie Tankersley Cusick and a few others of their like still have a place on my shevles, though the editions are discolored and battered from multiple readings; they are obviously well loved.

There was a series of books, and an author, whose writing I cherished at that time as well. L. J. Smith’s The Vampires Diaries. The Awakening, The Struggle, The Fury & Dark Reunion were the four books that were all published in 1991. Which put me around mid-teens when they were released. Stefan and Elena were my Edward and Bella as a teenager. Though, there are marked differences between the two – L. J. Smith’s vamps actually had fangs and didn’t glitter blindingly in the sunlight.

Being a fan of vamp fiction across the board today – I’ll read adult or young adult, so it seemed natural for me to read the Twilight series when it came out. My daughter devours books, just as I do (she read The Lord of the Rings series over Christmas break and then watched all the movies – complaining about the changes, just as most fans did) so I handed over the Twilight series, knowing that she would like it. Luckily, I’m still “cool mom” to her, so she took my advice, though still hesitant. I mean – Mom? recommending a book? Can only be so good, right?

Like I thought she would – she devoured it as well. Made me take her to the movie last year with her best friend and since the DVD came out today; I’m sure we’ll have it in our DVD library shortly. Here’s where the corruption comes in – she didn’t have anything to read Monday night before going to sleep. I had picked up the re-prints of The Vampire Diaries, so my 1st editions could have a rest so I figured this would be a good time for her to read them. I did make sure she understood that these vamps were nothing like the Cullens. Needless to say, she is already in the middle of book 5 (The Return: Nightfall) which was just released last month.

I chucked her the rest of L.J.’s books that I have and have no doubt that she’ll tear through them as well.

So – the corruption spreads.

Cue the evil cackles.

This week, Tuesday in fact, signals the release of three – count ‘em, three – new books in series that I currently read. They are, in no certain order:

If that doesn’t show you the vast assortment of books that I read, I don’t know what will. Those three books couldn’t be any different from each other. You’ve got urban fantasy (Kim Harrison’s White Witch, Black Curse), futuristic romantic suspense (J. D. Robb’s Promises in Death) and sci-fi romance (Linnea Sinclair’s Hope’s Folly).

My husband and I read two of these series together and have been known to fight over the books since we only buy one copy. It will actually work out nicely with WWBC and PID being released at the same time. He can take one and I will take the other. Then, we’ll switch off. We used to take one Sunday after we’d read the same book and head off to breakfast to discuss it in depth. What we liked, what we didn’t and so on. Haven’t had time for that lately plus the discussion of books lately has been confined to my own instead. Sadly we have several barristas at several different Starbucks that know us because of this. Which, really, it a bit sad and I’m embarrassed that I’m admitting to it. *g*

I’m currently reading a historical romance (though only in so much as it takes place in the 1800′s and is about vamps & witches) which is something I rarely, if ever, read. Historical have a tendancy to showcase women in their mid twenties whom haven’t been touched in some form or fashion. That’s not something that interests me to be honest, it doesn’t mean they are bad. It was a spur of the moment buy however and isn’t horrible. Typical and predictable but something good to read before I dig in later this week to murder and mayhem.

Later this week will kick off the official St Pat’s season in this household which runs the entire month of March. Some may think this to be utterly awesome. I mean, how great would it be to celebrate a holiday that’s pretty much all about alcohol? Yeah – not so. For those that don’t know, my daughter is a competitive Irish dancer (think: Riverdance). She is also a member of a team that performs throughout our area; which means that right around St. Patrick’s Day, life gets a little crazy.

So, this week will, no doubt, end with a great big roar. It will start, however, with the Oscars! Some people have asked if I’m watching simply because I’m a Hugh Jackman fan (and have been for quite some time). The answer is no. I would watch the Oscars even if he weren’t tasked with the hosting duties. I watch them every year because I’m a closet movie geek. That doesn’t mean that I won’t still be sitting here on the couch with my handy drool bucket. *G*

Okay, my cat is sitting on me so that’s my cue.