It’s been months. I blame the deadline. For those of you who don’t know…it generally takes me 4-6 months to write a book. This last go around – with ENRAPTURED – things did not go as I planned. A family death, a minor surgery, a relative staying with us…it all messed with my writing schedule. I didn’t start ENRAPTURED until March and then spent the last three months writing day and night. I’m happy I finished the book and turned it in on time (and I LOVE the way it turned out) but writing a 100K+ word book in 3 months is not easy.
BUT…that’s not what this blog is about. This blog is about a book I read for the RITAs that I fell in love with. A book I swore I’d blab about. Since my writing schedule for ENRAPTURED (outlined above) prevented me from blogging much the last few months, I’m thrilled to tell you about this awesome book NOW.
I have to admit I wasn’t jazzed by the cover or title. In fact, when I got my box of RITA books, I looked at this one, frowned and stuck it on the bottom of the stack. Sooooo not my kind of book. However, this is a great lesson in “never judge a book by its cover”.
WHAT THE LIBRARIAN DID
Karina Bliss
Is Rachel Robinson the only one on campus who doesn’t know who Devin Freedman is? No big deal except that the bad-boy rock star gets a kick out of Rachel’s refusal to worship at his feet. And that seems to have provoked his undivided attention. Devin, the guy who gave new meaning to the phrase “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.” Devin, the guy who somehow becomes wedged between her and the past she’s kept hidden for years.
It’s up to this librarian to find out firsthand just how “bad” he really is. Because her secret—and her growing feelings for a man who claims he’s bent on redemption—depend on his turning out to be as good as he seems. Which is really, really good.
A rock star? A librarian? Ugh. I opened this book with zero expectations. Settled back to be bored out of my head. But instead…I flipped to page one and was…BLOWN AWAY. The prologue hooked me. The writing was snappy and fresh. I had to see where the story went from there. I ended up reading this book in one night. Absolutely LOVED it. Rachel is head strong, independent and smart. Devin is sexy, talented and sarcastic as all get out. Their interactions are not only charming and witty, they’re charged with sexual chemistry that all but vibrates off the page. I laughed. I nearly cried. Neither likes the other at first (love relationships that start out that way), but before long they can’t stay away from each other and I, as the reader, couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.
I’ve never been one for rock star books. Considering this was a Superromance, I expected the author to pull punches and make Devin a “good boy” rock star. But he wasn’t. He’d been around the block – several really. Had done just about everything there is to do. But at his core he was a good guy. And he didn’t need Rachel to “save him”. He was already on that path. Conversely, Rachel wasn’t your typical “librarian”. Sure, she looked the part, but there was much more to Rachel than met the eye. And Devin recognized it, right off the bat. I think that’s part of the reason I liked him so quickly. It’s a very rare book where the main characters are already tough, independent, confident people who don’t need to be “changed”. In this case, both characters just needed to realize life can be so much better if you open yourself to another person and take a chance on love.
I loved this book so much, I’m giving away a copy to one commenter today. I’ll have it shipped directly to the winner. Just tell me the name of the last book that surprised you – really surprised you.
June 8th, 2011 at 4:49 am · Link
That’s an easy question to answer (for me). I read an anthology called A BLAZING LITTLE CHRISTMAS last February while sitting in a clinic waiting room. The third story, DEAR SANTA, by Kathleen O’Reilly had me LOL over a dozen times – and in one instance, I had laughed and then four pages later had tears well up. To me, that was amazing, and I definitely want to read more of Kathleen’s books.
As for Karina’s books, I am anxious to read one of hers (too) so would love to win this. I definitely can understand how you can appreciate how well the book was written, even though the storyline didn’t grab you in the first place. Life is full of lovely surprises!
I’m raising a glass and hoping you and your readers have lots more lovely surprises in life.
June 8th, 2011 at 9:15 am · Link
The last book that really surprised me? Marie Sexton ‘s promises. A m/m romance? Not my usual cup of tea. But this blew me away. Like my discovery of Suzanne brockmann blown away. Like devoured the entire series in one week blown away. Bought her entire contemporary blacklist and devoured.
June 8th, 2011 at 9:26 am · Link
The last book that surprised me was Ashley March’s Seducing the Duchess, which was a random book I just happened to scavenge from my reading buddy’s bookcase. I’m not too big of an historical romance reader, my friend didn’t really remember reading it, and there was infidelity ( 😥 ), which is usually a dealbreaker for me. I went in quite cautiously, but I ended up LOVING it.
June 8th, 2011 at 9:35 am · Link
I think the last book that surprised me was Tina Folsom’s Samson’s Lovely Mortal. Okay, I knew it was about vampires, and you knew that there would be a relationship, of a sort. What surprised me was the depth of the backstory, the twists of the mystery surrounding the two main characters, how quickly they became inexorably involved in each other’s lives, and how much I wanted them to be happy together in the end. It wasn’t formulaic, it wasn’t bland in any way. I hate predictable, and though there were spots where I suspected what was going to happen, I couldn’t put the book down, nor could I stop myself from reading it again — twice! Also, I’ve already promised myself to read the other books in her Scanguards series, and I’ve recommended this series to a friend. Loved it.
June 8th, 2011 at 9:36 am · Link
And I love the idea of a librarian in a romance novel! I’m actually in grad school for my master’s in library science. We’re not all innocent marms with glasses and chignons. We have tattoos and pasts and devious thoughts. I’m glad someone wrote about it! 🙂
June 8th, 2011 at 9:37 am · Link
I’m a huge Patricia Cornwell fan. Her love interest was murdered in one book and I think it was 3 books later readers found out he was alive. I’m not at home to see the books on my shelves and I can’t remember the titles, but her novels are my favorites.
June 8th, 2011 at 10:03 am · Link
Cold Touch by Leslie Parrish. I was really nervous about this book because it was paranormal/suspence book. I have a read a few books paranormal books but not one where the main character can relive a person death. It was a GREAT book though. The emotions behind the characters were so real, that I felt drawn to the book, page by page.
June 8th, 2011 at 10:20 am · Link
I’ve already read this one so don’t enter me, but wanted to respond to the question. The last book I read and was amazed at was a Harlequin Presents Her Singapore Fling by Kelly Hunter. For a HP? – loved it !
June 8th, 2011 at 10:21 am · Link
The last book that surprised me? A Discovery of Witches. First, the jacket blurb is awful, the cover is meh, and it’s long. Really long. But I was bored at work one day and decided to give it a try. And could not put it down. It’s like Harry Potter and Outlander had a baby. I can’t wait for the next one in the trilogy.
June 8th, 2011 at 10:29 am · Link
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. A friend of mine picked it up at the library and kept telling me to read it. I was in the middle of another book and kept putting her off. I finally gave up on my book – which wasn’t really keeping my attention anyway – and read Outlander. The thought of a 600 page book was a bit intimidating, but WOW!!!! Amazing story … totally not what I expected but loved it!
June 8th, 2011 at 10:32 am · Link
The last book that really surprised me was Water for Elephants. It had not one, but two surprises at the end.
June 8th, 2011 at 10:35 am · Link
The last book that surprised me was the Lucy Valentine series by Heather Webber. I won these books through a giveaway and they’d been sitting on my TBR pile for a few months. I finally decided to pick up the first book and like you did – I devoured it in one night! I couldn’t stop at just one either – I read all 3 books in a little over 2 days. I’d read great things about them and I’m soooo glad I finally sat down and read them!
June 8th, 2011 at 10:54 am · Link
It was a YA book that just came out called ‘The Vampire Stalker’. The summary read like a Twilight fanfiction story, so I had zero expectations. In fact, I was hoping it’d be bad so I could ridicule it (I know, I’m an evil bee-och), but I was blown away. Not just because it had a plot, but because the character development was so good. So many YA books now are all about the Insta-Love, to the point where I can’t see any chemistry or reason they should be together. But now with TVS. It was really good.
June 8th, 2011 at 10:58 am · Link
Actually, you had me with “librarian and rock star” – the combo sounds quite appealing – the very thing that will lure me into picking up a book these days, so busy with my own writing. I love to discover a new, FAB book! Thanks for mentioning this one.
June 8th, 2011 at 11:18 am · Link
Honestly … I can’t remember the last book I read that surprised me. However, I love your stories (Rafe=HOT) and if you love this book, then I’m tempted to go out and purchase it. I will admit though, I’ve never bought a Harlequin in my LIFE and I’m embarrassed to do so 😉
June 8th, 2011 at 11:43 am · Link
A BITE TO REMEMBER threw me. I had the wrong person picked out as the villain. This was strange since I rarely get that wrong.
June 8th, 2011 at 12:22 pm · Link
I to fell in love with this book. It was the first Karin Bliss book that I read but the others quickly came after!! She has an awesome writing style. Another truly great writer whom I admire and definitely sent me for a loop is Sarah Mayberry. Her stories are all great but one of my fav’s is Home For the Holidays. I’m thinking when I picked this up a nice holiday story right?Wrong sooo much more to this!! I don’t want to give to much away but, you will need a big box of tissues!! A really great story
June 8th, 2011 at 1:27 pm · Link
I think the last book that surprised me was actually a Harlequin book as well. For so long I’ve only thought them to be the cheesy quick version of the romances that we all love. So when I was sent some I kind of passed them over. Then I got one called His Enemy’s Daughter. The book started off on a great note and I just kept reading after that.
June 8th, 2011 at 1:50 pm · Link
I love that you have proof of “Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover.” I’ve never read a Supperromance b/c I typically read historial romance, but would love to give this a shot. Thanks for the opportunity.
June 8th, 2011 at 7:23 pm · Link
For me it was JINXED by Inez Kelly. The depth of that book and the emotional pull, yeah this book blew me away.