Five Books Everyone Should Read is a feature we’re running in 2015. We’ve asked some of our favorite authors, readers and bloggers to share five books that touched them or have stayed with them throughout the years.
Lillie is a blogger, proofreader and reader I connected with on Twitter some time back. We have similar reading tastes and she’s in my trust 
circle for recommendations.
Any time I’ve had a book-related conversation with someone new, it has started with “Have you read Julie Garwood’s historicals?” They are my biggest comfort reads and narrowing it down to one for this list was more difficult than choosing the other four. I finally went with The Bride
because it was my first romance. Lots of humor, beautifully romantic, an uber-hot hero in a kilt, and a heroine who takes no crap from anyone. It’s no wonder that it started my romance addiction.
By the king’s edict, Alec Kincaid, mightiest of the Scottish lairds, must take an English bride. And Jamie the youngest daughter of Baron Jamison, is his choice. From his first glimpse of the proud and beautiful English lady, Alec felt a burning hunger stir within him. This was a woman worthy of his fearless warrior’s spirit. And he aches to touch her, tame her, possess her…forever.
But with the wedding vows, Jamie pledges her own secret oath: She will never surrender her love to this Highland barbarian. He was everything her heart warned her against — an arrogant, brooding scoundrel whose rough good looks and seductive embrace fire her blood. But when strange accidents begin to threaten Jamie’s life and an old rumor that Alec killed his first wife spreads anew, something far more dangerous than desire threatens to conquer her senses.
I have to include some old school Linda Howard on the list, and again, it was difficult to narrow it down. Now You See Her isn’t one I hear come up in many conversations but it’s one of my favorites. It has a psychic heroine and a hero in hot pursuit. And the woo! Oh my goodness, there’s some hot and heavy wooing going one as Sweeny tries to resist Richard.
A talented painter in her early thirties, Paris Sweeney has achieved enviable success: her work sells at an exclusive New York City gallery, and her popularity is at an all-time high. Life is good, and Sweeney, as she prefers to be called, is content.
But lately, Sweeney’s dreams — lush, vivid, and drenched in vibrant hues — seem to echo a growing restlessness that has taken hold of her. Suddenly, impulsively, Sweeney falls into a night of intense passion with millionaire Richard Worth. Now, the true dangers of her all-consuming urges are about to be revealed where Sweeney least expects it: in her paintings.
After a creative frenzy she can barely recall, Sweeney discovers she has rendered a disturbing image — a graphic murder scene. Against her better instincts, she returns to the canvas time and again, filling out each chilling detail piece by piece. But when a shattering, real-life murder mirrors her creation, Sweeney falls under suspicion. With every stroke of her brush, she risks incriminating herself with her inexplicable knowledge of a deadly crime. And every desire — including her hunger for Richard — is loaded with uncertainty as Sweeney races to unmask a killer.
I’ve reread Conspiracy in Death many, many times and it still makes me cry with every read. With dozens of books in this series, this is the one that shows who Eve is at her core. Her vulnerabilities and spine of steel are highlighted beautifully. And it shows how desperately she is loved, even though it baffles her. Plus, Roarke punches someone in the face. A Roarke punch is never overrated. 😀
Streetwise cop Eve Dallas and her trusty sidekick Peabody face a methodical killer in this latest addition to the In Death series by J.D. Robb, better known as the bestselling author Nora Roberts. In the late 21st century, on the streets of New York City, a street sleeper is found murdered, his diseased heart removed with surgical precision. His death would typically drop to the bottom of a list of senseless and inexplicable killings, but Lieutenant Dallas, who “would stand for the dead and the living,” is not about to let that happen. When her research uncovers similar crimes in several cities that were dropped under mysterious circumstances, Dallas knows she’s facing a killer cruel enough to prey on the weakest in society and powerful enough to conspire an extensive coverup. To complicate matters further, Dallas faces an equally troubling threat to her career when she’s linked to the death of a fellow cop. Now she must fight to restore her good name as well as track down the killer.
Heart of Obsidian is one of best books I’ve ever read. Period. All the clues and intricate pieces Nalini Singh had woven into previous books came together flawlessly in a book that is full of heart. And I’ve found it impossible to discuss this book without giving away huge, honking spoilers. Just trust me. If you haven’t read this book, you’re missing out.
A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained bloodred.
A woman whose very existence has been erased.
A love story so dark, it may shatter the world itself.
A deadly price that must be paid.
The day of reckoning is here.
Sometimes you’re lucky enough to find that one book that combines everything you love. For me that is Blade to the Keep by Lauren Dane. I truly enjoyed book one, Goddess with a Blade, but Blade to the Keep blew me away. It has the amazing world building that I love with urban fantasy but it has plenty of romance and hot sexy times too. Rowen is kickass protag who has won’t hesitate to stab a deserving someone in the eye but has unwavering loyalty to those who hold her heart. My favorite thing about this series is the fact that there’s no throw-away characters. Everyone is integral to the world and who Rowan is, even if that character only has one line. This is the series I’m most excited about right now. I can’t wait to peek into the dark corners of this world that haven’t really been shown yet.
Canny and ferocious, with the power of an ancient Goddess in her belly, Rowan Summerwaite is the only person who can renegotiate the fragile Treaty between the Vampire Nation and the Hunter Corporation, the last line of defense for humanity. A meeting of this Joint Tribunal, as well as her new status as Liaison, sends Rowan straight to the last place on earth she wants to be, the childhood home she’d escaped so many years before–The First’s Keep.
Raised at the knee of The First–the oldest Vampire and leader of the Vampire Nation–honed into a weapon by the Hunter Corporation, wielding ancient knowledge from the Goddess within, Rowan must navigate bloodthirsty Vampires and Hunters alike. And she’s got to do it while managing a politically awkward but undeniably deepened romance with Scion Clive Stewart. Failure in her role as Liaison could mean all-out war, with humankind in the crosshairs. No pressure.
Walking the path between her two lives has already made Rowan a pariah. The choices she’ll have to make will mean she becomes something even more Other and as a result she may lose those last shreds of home she has left.
Lillie is a romance reader, former blogger at Novel Thoughts, and owner of Lillie’s Literary Services. She can found dishing books on Twitter under @lillie_80.
I enjoyed your five books list, Lillie. Linda Howard’s Now You See Her is a favorite of mine, too, and I re-read it only a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for sharing!
While writing the post I got the urge for another re-read. That may be next on the TBR pile.
All of my favorites.
Heart of Obsidian is my all time favorite on the your list..
Ooh, you’ve got some really good ones. I low key want to re-read Linda Howard’s Now You See Her. I remember reading and loving that one.