Starting 2019!

Blogging in 2019:

So I'm pretty new to the romance game. I started with The Deal by Elle Kennedy in 2016 and slowly read a few other books that fit with my real love of stand alone HEAs. I guess I officially started the romance genera with Jamie McGuire and Silvia Day, but they didn't make me fall in love with it.

It took be about a year to read Elle Kennedy's The Mistake. Once I did, I read the rest of The Off Campus series in two days. After that I found Kristen Callihan, Kylie Scott, and finally Sarina Bowen. These four women were the catalyst to my romance genera loving self.

At first I was resistant. I don't really know anyone else who reads romance as much as I do. And one of my favorite things in the world is talking about the books I'm reading. As a teacher, I get to talk all day about YA. I make recommendations and kids bring me books to read. I've hosted a book club at my school for the past 5 years, and I don't even teach English!

So while I do have a friend that reads Nora Roberts, and my mom enjoys some romance, I no longer had anyone to talk with about what I was reading. Then I found Romancelandia- so many people talking online about what they read! I'm not sure that I'm actually a part of this amorphous blob, but I'm lurking. 

Two months ago I decided to start my own blog. This is more of a way for me to share my love of what I'm reading and explore what others are reading too! It's nice to be able to talk about books again, even if no one is listening. 

Books I'm the Most Excited for:

     


I'll keep it pretty short here. Three of my favorite authors are releasing books early this year!

Repeat: While I'm not the biggest fan of first listens on Audible, Repeat is getting released there first. I think I'll wait until the Kindle edition comes out in April, but I'm interested in the storyline. 

Overnight Sensation: The next installment in the Brooklyn Bruisers series, and if it's hockey hunks, sign me up! It was fun to watch Sarina post her progress on instagram. She and Elle Kennedy were the first authors that made me feel excited about a book release. (I mean, aside from J.K Rowling)

The Risk: I also loved all the guesses Elle Kennedy put us through with The Risk. She kept the hero a secret from us for months and fellow fans declared who Brenna's HEA should be. I mean, I knew it'd be Jake, but I was standing with a few other people in Hollis's camp!

Books I'm Secretly Hoping For:

I don't know if there is any official word for these books, but I'm going to speak my desire into existence. Take your time though ladies!

I saw Kristen Callihan tweet about working on VIP #4 as her work in progress. While I don't think it's  announced, it's a book I'm incredibly excited for.

I'd also love to see Will's story from my all time favorite hockey team: Toronto! So if Elle and Sarina have time for WAGs #3, I'll be fan girling all over the place. 

And finally, I'm hoping that Briar U #3 is Hollis's story. Honestly, nothing makes me happier than reading an HEA for a big, goofy, athlete.


Authors I'm excited about:

1. Christina Lauren! Holy Cow, the last book I read in 2018 was a CLo book, and I loved it. It was my first ever by the author and I instantly bought more. Usually, I'm all about my eReader, but I actually found a lot of Christina Lauren books in the "gently used" section of Amazon. The paper backs there were a little cheaper, so I ordered Roomies & Love and Other Words.

2. Emma Chase: I loved the royally books and I've got Tangled on the way. I found Emma after searching for some Rom-Coms. I'll add Getting Schooled to my list too. As a teacher, I cannot get down with student-teacher books. But Getting Schooled is about two teachers! And, as a teacher who married a fellow teacher... I'm here for it!

3. Amy Daws: I love Amy and I love that I can read her books via Kindle Unlimited. I burned through three of her Soccer romances in two days. I'm sure I'll come back to the Harris family this year, but first I'm going to tackle the Wait with Me series: Wait with Me & Next In Line.

My reading challenges:

I'm participating in two reading challenges this year. You can track my Contemporary Romance Reads Challenge here & and New Adult Reading Challenge here. Please feel free to make suggestions! I love a good recommendation.

What are you looking forward to in 2019?