I am very glad to say this is my first year in participating in several reading challenges. It is a wonderful experience, to be able to read books with fellow participants and it is also through this channel that I have known and made a lot of booklover friends around the world. :-) It is indeed a pleasure to read their reviews, exchange comments and share the reading pleasure through recommendations and all. What could I ask for more?
Besides this, another reason I participate in these challenges is, I want to see how far I could read in a year. It is more like a personal challenge for myself. Although I am very happy to say I have read more books as compared to last year, still I regret to say I am not able to complete these challenges even though I have tried my best. Thus, I would not take on too many reading challenges in the following year, although the temptation is so great.
Fall Into Reading 2007 ChallengeI would like to thank Katrina of
Callapidder Days for hosting this challenge.
My list:
2nds Challenge
I would like to thank Joy of Thoughts of Joy for hosting this challenge.
My list:
Hidden Agendas by Lora Leigh (Completed)In Search of a Distance Voice by Taichi Yamada (Pending)The Secrets of a Fire King by Kim Edwards (Completed)
Reading the Author ChallengeI would like to thank Verbivore of
Incurable Logophilia for hosting this challenge.
My list:
Books by Erin McCarthy
- Smart Mouth (Pending)
- My Immortal (Pending)
- Mouth to Mouth (Pending)
I am ashamed to say I did not even read any of these books for this challenge! I remember when I first signed up for this challenge, I was so excited and had looked through my TBR pile for an author to read. I decided on Erin McCarthy because I enjoyed her debut novel Bad Boys Online so much. Regrettably, with several reading challenges going on and in addition with my change of reading mood, I have kept these books aside thinking I would pick them up once more when my reading mood changes again, but by the time I feel like reading them, the challenge is almost over! I admit this is my fault for not able to complete this challenge, but still that doesn't mean I will give up these books.
On a different topic, comes the first week of January will be the Buy a Friend a Book Week (BAFAB). I will be posting a list of books to be won during that period so do look out for it. :-)
ISBN-13: 9780143112303
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA), 272pp
Pub. Date: May 2007
I picked up this book after reading Kim Edward's bestselling phenomenal
The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I really enjoyed reading that book, and I liked it so much that I have shortlisted for my
Book of the Year 2007.
There are a total of eleven short stories in The Secrets of a Fire King. Here in this fine collection, Kim Edwards has once again touches the readers' hearts through her well-crafted stories where she takes us around the world through the stories settings. Each story has a love element to it; and what I enjoyed about Kim Edwards' works is she managed to make the stories seemed to be a reality through her engaging characters, and of course not to mention her poetic prose through her writing. Some of her stories are thought-provoking; and my favourite was The Secrets of a Fire King, where coincidentally she has chosen this for the title as well. It is about a young performer (the protagonist who called himself a fire-eater) who gets involved in a love quadrangle and that one of them is a revival preacher. I was really intrigued by this story and the ending has really took me by surprise.
I would highly recommend this book if you don't mind reading short stories that is.
ISBN-10: 0312939930
Format: Paperback, 352pp
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pub. Date: June 2007
This is the fourth installment of Lora Leigh's Tempting SEALs series. This is one of my picks for the
2nds Challenge Read, and I had a great time reading this with
Julia.
Ever since Senator Stanton ruined drug lord, Diego Fuentes' plan, he had feared for her daughter's safety. In the past he had had several bodyguards to keep an eye on Emily, but due to her stubborness and her fierce independent character they didn't last, until Kell Krieger came along. However this time, Senator Stanton had came up with another strategy. He wanted Kell to pose as Emily's lover in order not to have his cover blown. Emily strongly objected to her father's plan, but Senator Stanton was firm about his decision.
Kell Krieger knew the Stanton's family for years, and he had watched Emily in between his missions. Haunted by his past, he vowed to himself that he would protect Emily at all costs but Emily didn't make things easy for him as she wanted to be in control of her life. It didn't matter even if she had loved him all her life when she was younger.
But the attractions they had for each other was getting on too strong, and little did they know that Diego Fuentes was slowing catching up on them as the latter had a spy who had been feeding him information.
I enjoyed reading this steamy romance suspense. It is always a joy to read those sexy Alpha male heroes and how they fell in love with their heroines during their missions. In this case, the hero had known the heroine since they were young so I could feel the strong and intense attractions they had for each other. I liked the heroine's never-say-die attitude even though there were times that her behaviour annoyed me. But nonetheless I still admire her bravery for standing up for herself and saying no under some circumstances.
There is a short excerpt at the end of the book so I knew there will be another installment featuring these sexy SEALs. I can't wait to read it.
Here is a list of Lora Leigh's Tempting SEAL series:
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