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text 2015-09-03 17:59
Best 1st Book in Contemporary Romance Series
Mackenzie's Mountain - Linda Howard
How to Misbehave - Ruthie Knox
Rock Chick - Kristen Ashley
Once Upon a Rose (La Vie en Roses) (Volume 1) - Laura Florand
The Unsung Hero (Troubleshooters, Book 1) by Brockmann, Suzanne (2000) Mass Market Paperback - Suzanne Brockmann
Simply Irresistible - Rachel Gibson
The Dom Project - Heloise Belleau,Solace Ames
It Had to Be You - Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Head Over Heels - Susan Andersen
Imperfect Chemistry - Mary Frame

In order to get hooked on a series, I need a great first book. 

 

Here are some of my favorite first books in Contemporary Romance Series.  My lists are never in any particular order. Enjoy!

 

1.  Mackenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard 5 Star Read! 

 

Mary Elizabeth Potter is a spinster with no illusions about love. But she is a good teacher and wants Wolf Mackenzie's son back in school. And after one heated confrontation, she knows father and son have changed her life forever. Still paying for a crime he didn't commit, Wolf Mackenzie has a chip on his shoulder. But Mary Elizabeth Potter doesn't see him as the dangerous half-breed the town has branded him. She sees him as a good, decent, honest man. A man she could love...

 

2. How to Misbehave by Ruthie Knox

 

s program director for the Camelot Community Center, Amber Clark knows how to keep her cool. That is, until a sudden tornado warning forces her to take shelter in a darkened basement with a hunk of man whose sex appeal green lights her every fantasy. With a voice that would melt chocolate, he asks her if she is okay. Now she’s hot all over and wondering: How does a girl make a move?

 

Building contractor Tony Mazzara was just looking to escape nature’s fury. Instead, he finds himself all tangled up with lovely Amber. Sweet and sexy, she’s ready to unleash her wild side. Their mutual desire reaches a fever pitch and creates a storm of its own—unexpected, powerful, and unforgettable. But is it bigger than Tony can handle? Can he let go of painful memories and let the force of this remarkable woman show him a future he never dreamed existed?

 

3. Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley

 

Indy Savage, cop's daughter, rock chick and used bookstore owner, has been in love with Lee Nightingale, once bad boy, now the man behind Nightingale Investigations, since she was five years old. No matter what ingenious schemes Indy used to capture his attention, Lee never showed an interest and Indy finally gave up. Now Indy's employee, Rosie, has lost a bag of diamonds and bad guys are shooting at him. When Indy gets involved, Lee is forced to help. Complicting matters, Lee has decided he's interested, Indy's decided she's not. But she can't seem to keep Lee out of her life when she's repeatedly stun gunned, kidnapped and there are car bombs exploding (not to mention she's finding dead bodies).

 

Indy's best bet is to solve the mystery of the diamonds before Lee. Lee's challenge is to keep Indy alive and, at the same time, win back her heart.

 

 

4. Once Upon a Rose by Laura Florand

 

She stole his roses.

 

Fleeing the spotlight, burnt out rock star Layla—“Belle”—Dubois seeks refuge in the south of France. That old, half-forgotten heritage in a valley of roses seems like a good place to soothe a wounded heart. She certainly doesn’t expect the most dangerous threat to her heart to pounce on her as soon as she sets foot on the land.

 

He wants them back.

 

Matt didn’t mean to growl at her quite that loudly. But—his roses! She can’t have his roses. Even if she does have all those curls and green eyes and, and, and…what was he growling about again?

 

Or maybe he just wants her.

 

When an enemy invades his valley and threatens his home, heart, and livelihood, Matthieu Rosier really knows only one way to defend himself.

 

It might involve kissing.

 

And that might be just the start.

 

5. The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann

 

After a near-fatal head injury, Navy SEAL lieutenant Tom Paoletti catches a glimpse of an international terrorist in his New England hometown. When he calls for help, the Navy dismisses the sighting as injury-induced imaginings. In a last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his own makeshift counterterrorism team, assembling his most loyal officers, two elderly war veterans, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly Ashton. As the town’s infamous bad boy, Tom was always in love with Kelly, a sweet “girl next door” who has grown into a remarkable woman. Now he has one final chance for happiness, one last chance to win her heart, and one desperate chance to save the day.

 

6. Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson

 

Georgeanne Howard leaves her fiancé at the altar when she realizes she can't marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, no matter how rich he is. Hockey superstar John Kowalsky unknowingly helps her escape, and only when it's too late does he realize that he's absconded with his boss's bride. This bad boy isn't looking to be anybody's savior but his own. Still, a long night stretches ahead of them—a night too sultry to resist temptation.

 

Seven years later, Georgeanne and John meet again. She is on her way to becoming Seattle's domestic darling and he is past his hellraising days. Shocked to learn that he has a daughter, John's determined to be part of her life. Georgeanne has loved John since the moment she jumped into his car, but will he risk the wrath of his boss, and one final chance at glory, to prove that this time his love will be everlasting?

 

7. The Dom Project by Heloise Belleau

 

By day, Robin Lessing has a successful career as a university archivist. By night, she blogs about her less-than-successful search for Mr. Tall, Dark and Dominant. Living up to her handle "The Picky Submissive," she's on the verge of giving up and settling for vanilla with a side of fuzzy handcuffs when she discovers her best friend and colleague has a kinky side, too.

 

Sexy, tattooed techie John Sun is an experienced Dom who never lacks for playmates, male or female. If he can't satisfy Robin's cravings, maybe no one can—after all, he knows her better than anyone. So he offers to help her master the art of submission for one month.

 

Robin eagerly agrees to John's terms, even the pesky little rule forbidding any friendship-ruining sex. But rules are made to be broken, and once they begin their stimulating sessions, it's not long before she's ready to beg him for more—much more…

 

8. It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

 

he Windy City isn't quite ready for Phoebe Somerville—the outrageous, curvaceous New York knockout who has just inherited the Chicago Stars football team. And Phoebe is definitely not ready for the Stars' head coach, former gridiron legend Dan Calebow, a sexist jock taskmaster with a one-track mind. Calebow is everything Phoebe abhors. And the sexy new boss is everything Dan despises—a meddling bimbo who doesn't know a pigskin from a pitcher's mound.

 

So why is Dan drawn to the shameless sexpot like a heat-seeking missile? And why does the coach's good ol' boy charm leave cosmopolitan Phoebe feeling awkward, tongue-tied...and ready to fight?

 

9. Head Over Heels by Susan Andersen

 

Who said, "you can't go home again"?

 

In Veronica Davis's case, who'd want to—especially when you hail from Fossil, Washington? But now she's back among the kooks and crazies, the small-time losers and the jerks who think she's fair game just because she's in a waitress uniform.

The truth is, Veronica's the boss—at least until she can sell the family saloon and skip town again as fast as her pretty legs can carry her—and nobody knows that better than Cooper Blackstock. From his place behind the bar, the former Special Forces Marine sees everything. And his undercover agenda has made the feisty boss-lady's troubles his own.

 

And her troubles are considerable, what with a family in turmoil, a pseudo-bartender with dangerous secrets, a murder investigation and death threats. Though the town surprisingly rallies in support, it's still a good thing that Cooper will be there to catch Veronica if she stumbles—if he doesn't start falling himself.

 

10.  Imperfect Chemistry by Mary Frame

 

Lucy London puts the word genius to shame. Having obtained her PhD in microbiology by the age of twenty, she's amassed a wealth of knowledge, but one subject still eludes her—people. The pendulum of passions experienced by those around her both confuses and intrigues her, so when she’s offered a grant to study emotion as a pathogen, she jumps on the opportunity.

 

When her attempts to come up with an actual experiment quickly drop from lackluster to nonexistent, she’s given a choice: figure out how to conduct a groundbreaking study on passion, or lose both the grant and her position at the university. Put on leave until she can crack the perfect proposal, she finds there’s only one way she can study emotions: by experiencing them herself.

 

Enter Jensen Walker, Lucy's neighbor and the one person on the planet she finds strangely and maddeningly appealing. Jensen's life is the stuff of campus legend, messy, emotional, complicated—in short, the perfect starting point for Lucy's study. When her tenaciousness wears him down and he consents to help her, sparks fly. To her surprise, Lucy finds herself battling with her own emotions, as foreign as they are intense. With the clock ticking on her deadline, Lucy must decide what's more important: analyzing her passions...or giving in to them?

 

I am sure I missed your favorite.  Let me know!

 

Vote on my Goodreads list:  1st Book in Contemporary Romance Series

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text 2015-01-06 16:15
Cat's Best Romance Reads of 2014 That Were Not Published 2014
Painted Faces - L.H. Cosway
The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion
Geek with the Cat Tattoo - Theresa Weir
Control - Charlotte Stein
Coming Home for Christmas: A Christmas in ParadiseO Christmas TreeNo Crib for a Bed - Carla Kelly
Much Ado About You - Eloisa James
Skypirate (The Coalition Rebellion Novels Book 2) - Justine Davis
Hunting - Viola Grace
The Dom Project - Heloise Belleau,Solace Ames
Three Little Words (Fool's Gold, #12) - Susan Mallery

Yeah. This is the last list of 2014 Best of Cat's Booknest. I think...

 

I reread a lot but we are not even going to go there. I don't really pay much attention to when a book was published before I select to read it (barring the very old school). 

 

Here are my great new to me reads of the year. A mix of trusted authors that I just can't keep up with and the bliss of newly discovered writers. 

 

Click on the Stars to see the review and the book title for the Amazon link. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Contemporary Romance 

 

Painted Faces  by L.H. Cosway 5 Stars

The Rosie Project: A Novel (Don Tillman Book 1) by Graeme Simsion 5 Stars

Girl with the Cat Tattoo (Cool Cats Book 1) by Theresa Weir 4 Stars 

Geek with the Cat Tattoo (Cool Cats Book 2)  by Theresa Weir 4 Stars

Almost Summer (Fool's Gold series) by Susan Mallery 4 Stars 

Two of a Kind (Fool's Gold Book 11) by Susan Mallery 4 Stars 

Three Little Words (Fool's Gold Book 12) by Susan Mallery 4 Stars 

Talking Dirty With the Boss by Jackie Ashenden 4 Stars

Just One Taste (Recipe for Love) by Louisa Edwards 4 Stars

The Theory of Attraction by Delphine Dryden  4 Stars

The Principle of Desire  by Delphine Dryden  4 Stars

The Dom Project (LA Doms Book 1) by Heloise Belleau  4 Stars

Serendipity by Judith Mcwilliams 4 Stars 

 

Control by Charlotte Stein 4 Stars* (This should have made my best of list)

Rock Addiction (Rock Kiss Book 1) by Nalini Singh 4 Stars*

Taken with You: Book Eight of The Kowalskis by Shannon Stacey 4 Stars*

While It Was Snowing: a novella by Elyssa Patrick 4 Stars*

 

*a 2014 pub but not on my other lists)

 

Historical Romance

 

Coming Home for Christmas by Carla Kelly 5 Stars

Fool for Love (Duchess Quartet Book 2) by Eloisa James 4 Stars

Much Ado About You (Essex Sisters series Book 1) by Eloisa James 4 Stars

BOXING DAY by Jill Barnett 4 Stars 

 

Paranormal, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Romance

 

Hiding (Return of the Nine Book 3) by Viola Grace 4 Stars

Hunting (Return of the Nine Book 6) by Viola Grace 4 Stars

Designing (Return of the Nine Book 7)  by Viola Grace 4 Stars

Skypirate (The Coalition Rebellion Novels Book 2) by Justine Davis 4 Stars

Balm by Viola Grace 4 Stars

Entwined (Darkest London) by Kristen Callihan 4 Stars

Micro Lena by Viola Grace 4 Stars 

Flight and Fantasy by Viola Grace 4 Stars 

 

My Guilty Pleasure Read

 

Transcendence by Shay Savage 4 Stars

 

Time Travel Caveman Romance. Enough Said. Well, he is non verbal so really enough said. 

 

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text 2014-03-31 19:00
Best Tattooed Heroes of Contermporay Romance
Sheltered - Charlotte Stein
Beautiful Stranger (Intimate Moments, 1011) - Ruth Wind
Motorcycle Man - Kristen Ashley
Geek with the Cat Tattoo - Theresa Weir
The Dom Project - Heloise Belleau,Solace Ames
Just Good Friends - Rosalind James
The Professional: Part 1 - Kresley Cole
Fiancé by Friday - Catherine Bybee
Inside Out - Lauren Dane
What the Librarian Did - Karina Bliss

There are many reasons  (good and bad) to get a tattoo. Here is a selection of  Great Contermporay Romance Heroes with Tattoos for all sorts of reasons.

 

1. Sheltered by Charlotte Stein  The I am 18 tattoo. 

2. Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley Biker tattoo

3. Beautiful Stranger by Ruth Wind  Heritage tattoo 

4. Geek with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir Pet Tattoo

5. The Dom Project by Heloise Belleau and Solace Ames No office work tattoo

6. Just Good Friends by Rosalind James  Cultural tattoo

7. The Professional: Part 1 by Kresley Cole  Mob tattoos 

8. Fiancé by Friday by Catherine Bybee Military tattoos

9. Inside Out  by Lauren Dane Tattoo Artist 

10. What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss Rock Star Ink 

 

There are lots of other reasons to get a tattoo:  attention, self-expression, artistic freedom, rebellion, a visual display of a personal narrative, reminders of spiritual/cultural traditions, sexual motivation, addiction, identification with a group, drunken impulsiveness, memorial. 

 

Who are some Great Contermporay Romance Heroes with Tattoos that I have missed and why do they have them?

 

If you would like to vote for the best of the best, go to the Goodreads list: Best Tattooed Heroes of Contermporay Romance

 

If you feel the need to fill up on Tattooed Man Eye Candy and get even more recs visit- Tattooed Man: Best Romance Heroes Sporting Ink. 

 

 

 

 

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review 2014-03-01 00:00
The Dom Project
The Dom Project - Heloise Belleau,Solace Ames This is my sixth novel from Carina Press, and so far I am not really overwhelmed by this publisher's titles. Concerning "The Dom Project", I didn't really get in the authors' voice, but more important, I didn't like the BDSM style portrayed in it. As soon as the hero ordered one of his trainees to serve as a table, my eyes started rolling on their own, and discontinued.

There have been BDSM stories in my backlist much more hardcore, but I have little taste for certain aspects of the lifestyle and therefore decided to save myself some time. DNF
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review 2014-01-26 17:38
The Dom Project Review
The Dom Project - Heloise Belleau,Solace Ames

By day, Robin Lessing has a successful career as a university archivist. By night, she blogs about her less-than-successful search for Mr. Tall, Dark and Dominant. Living up to her handle "The Picky Submissive," she's on the verge of giving up and settling for vanilla with a side of fuzzy handcuffs when she discovers her best friend and colleague has a kinky side, too.

 

Sexy, tattooed techie John Sun is an experienced Dom who never lacks for playmates, male or female. If he can't satisfy Robin's cravings, maybe no one can—after all, he knows her better than anyone. So he offers to help her master the art of submission for one month.

 

Robin eagerly agrees to John's terms, even the pesky little rule forbidding any friendship-ruining sex. But rules are made to be broken, and once they begin their stimulating sessions, it's not long before she's ready to beg him for more—much more…

 

Review

There is a lot to like about this friends to lovers BDSM Romance.

 

John and Robin are really close friends. You can feel the history and closeness of that fact. Watching that change over to a lovers relationship and the risk that involves is a pleasure to read. John is a hot, tall, tattooed, relaxed, Asian American, and did I say hot? Robin is a archivist nerd, adventurous, and likable.

 

The setting of LA is great for me because I lived there and enjoy visiting exact places.

The BDSM part is well done, sexy and with a lighter more intellectual touch that makes it a bit more RAWR than it usually is for me. The first time they come together outside of a scene is awesome! It will make my list of greatest sex scenes.

 

I love Robin and John being far from cookie cutter characters. There are two major side plots that are engaging.

 

The romance has a HFN ending with a huge hint at a HEA. It is very enjoyable read.

Here is what I wish though...

 

I would have like John and Robin to clearly address in a more emotional way why he said no in the early days of their college relationship and why now--out loud. I wanted more emotionial intimacy between them. I want to see the time period between moving into a one and one relationship and the move in. There is real romance there. I would have like more sexy times within this blended time for them of their kinks and their love.

 

That being said, I will be reading more books by these authors and highly recommend this one.

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