Book Recommendation Redux

Okay, it is time for a lightning book recommendation fest!

In no particular order:

• Start Me Up, by Victoria Dahl.  I’ve basically loved every book Victoria Dahl has written and Start Me Up is no exception.   It’s got some of the best dialogue centered around sex that I’ve ever seen in a romance novel, and the book is just plain fun.  I particularly appreciated Quinn–who is nerdy in just the right way.  Which is to say, he’s hot, he’s absent-minded, he’s successful…but when he concentrates on Lori Love, whew, does it ever get steamy!
• What Happens in London, by Julia Quinn.  I am also a huge Julia Quinn fan, and I haven’t read a bad book by her yet.  But as with all my favorite authors, I like some books better than others.  With Julia Quinn this is the difference between finishing the book and hugging it tight, and finishing the book and hugging it tight and giving it a gentle kiss.  And I just loved this one–this one got a hug and a kiss!  I read this when my husband was asleep in the other room, and I woke him up three times because I was laughing so hard.  This book was hilarious, and yet touchingly sweet.  The bar is extremely high when it comes to Julia Quinn books, but this one is one of my favorites, ever.  It’s going to be read and reread.  A true keeper.
• Bound by Your Touch, by Meredith Duran.  I’ve been absolutely bonkers to read this ever since I read the excerpts on Meredith’s site, and I’m completely insane to have a copy right now–I’m moving (like, tomorrow), I don’t have space for more books, I don’t have time to read… and yet I picked up a copy at my local Borders, and I’ve been sneaking pages in between my mad dash for cleaning.  Meredith Duran’s first novel blew me away; there was something about her writing that just drew me in.  This book (so far) is reminiscent of The Duke of Shadows in the sense that the writing is so compelling and unputdownable, but as of chapter three, I can say that it’s even better.  Truly an amazing book.
• A Hint of Wicked, by Jennifer Haymore.  I feel like such a schlub, for not having promoted this book yet on my blog.  In my defense, I plead being busy (see: moving; also see: writing).  I read this book in one sitting, and it is an incredibly emotional journey.  I literally could not put it down.  Jennifer Haymore takes what seems like an impossible emotional situation–a woman whose husband, who she loved, returns from the dead, only to find her remarried–and makes that love triangle into one where we really believe that she loves both the men she is married to.  I could not stop reading this book, because I so desperately wanted all three of them to be happy.  This book is an example of truly fine writing: Jennifer Haymore took an insoluble conflict, pulled no punches, and got to a HEA at the end without cutting through the Gordian knot she’d created.  (Also, if you read the pages at the end for her next book, A Touch of Scandal….  I am already lusting after it!)
• I am also dying to read Loretta Chase’s Don’t Tempt Me. I’m not sure when I will have a chance to do that, as tomorrow I am hopping in a car and driving 2000 miles (with a cat and a dog–what was I thinking?), and I can’t read in a car without getting car sick…. but my guess is that I will just accept the nausea and go for it.  Loretta Chase never fails to deliver.  So you should read this one, too–just don’t tell me about it until you’re sure I’m finished!