Welcome to Smugglivus 2009 – Day 7!
Throughout this month, we will have daily guests – authors and bloggers alike – looking back at their favorite reads of 2009, and looking forward to events and upcoming books in 2010.
Today’s Guest: Julie James, author of the most awesome Contemporary Romance novels. Her books are love letters to old screwball comedies full of strong female characters and great, witty repartee. Her first book was Just The Sexiest Man Alive, reviewed by Ana.
Recent Work: Practice Makes Perfect, reviewed here. You can read the author’s article about the inspiration and influences behind writing the book, here.
Dear all, Julie James:
***********
Relatively speaking, I’m a newcomer to romance.
As I’ve mentioned before, I began reading romantic fiction when Berkley bought my first book and my editor told me that I had, in fact, written a romance. (With a writing background in screenplays, I’d described Just the Sexiest Man Alive as a “romantic comedy.”) So for the past two years, I’ve been doing a lot of catch up. What a pleasure it has been to have found my way to this wonderful genre.
So as I sit back now and think about the books I’ve read this year, I realize that picking my favorites is nearly an impossible task. 2009 was a great reading year for me, and I know that as soon as this blog posts, I’ll remember a book—or several—that I forgot to mention. But here are a few that really stood out to me:
Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh: Newbie that I am to romance in general, I’m even more of a newbie to paranormal romance. But this book instantly turned me into a Nalini Singh fan. The world-building. The details. Just the descriptions of the angels’ wings alone are incredible. The hero. (Oh yeah, he’s an archangel.) And the climax. . . so visual and breathtaking, I think I was reading with my jaw on the floor. The next book in the series, Archangel’s Kiss, comes out in February and I can’t wait.
Fragile by Shiloh Walker: Dark, intense, and utterly compelling. Shiloh took the heroine and hero on one heck of an emotional roller coaster in this book, and I was right there with them. The hero’s twin brother’s book, Broken, comes out this March and—confession time—I’ve read it and think it’s just as gripping and suspenseful as Fragile. And it features a brooding, angst-y hero who definitely deserves a HEA.
Daring Time by Beth Kery: I’m such a fan of Beth Kery’s writing. Wicked Burn was the first erotic romance I read, and I was sold on Beth’s books after that. What I enjoy so much is that the stories, while sizzling hot, are incredibly romantic. The hero in Daring Time travels through time to save the heroine—what could be more devoted than that? Framing the story is a richly detailed setting—turn of the century Chicago—that made the book enjoyable on every level for me.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase: I know, I know, what hole have I been in that I just read this in 2009? I thought this book couldn’t possibly live up to all the hype. It did. The scene—and I’ll be vague here for the last two people in Romanceland who haven’t read it—with Jessica and the gun? Priceless.
Beyond the Night by Joss Ware: Okay, so I’m cheating a little with this one, since it doesn’t come out until January 2010. But a little birdie slipped me an early copy of this book and I can’t help but include it in my favorite reads of the year. The world-building is, in a word, incredible. Post-apocalyptic romance with zombies and a Heroes-like twist. Ha—if I had a dime every time I read that. I stayed up late to finish the book because I simply couldn’t put it down. For something off the beaten path, yet still romantic, this is a series worth checking out.
In addition to the above, there are two non-romance books that have to be included in my favorite reads of 2009. First, The Help by Kathryn Stockett—a poignant, sometimes bittersweet, but ultimately rewarding and uplifting story about three women from different walks of life who find unexpected strength in each other, and more important, in themselves. This is one of those books you want to tell all your friends about after finishing it.
Second, Labor Day by Joyce Maynard. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting much from this book. I got it for free at the RWA conference and picked it up on whim over Labor Day weekend. How glad I am that I did. It’s a quick read about love and adolescence and the human need to connect with others and, in the end, is sweetly romantic. This book is probably the one that surprised me most this year because it turned out to be so much more than I expected.
Which leads me to my question. . . of the books you read this year, which one surprised you most? (Hopefully one that surprised you in a good way.) In the spirit of Smugglivus, I’ll give away signed copies of both Practice Makes Perfect and Just the Sexiest Man Alive to one random commenter.
Happy reading!
Julie’s next book, Something About You, will be released by Berkley on March 2, 2010. To read an excerpt, visit Julie’s Website.
Thanks Julie!!
********
Giveaway details:
Go forth and comment! The contest is open to EVERYONE and will run until Saturday, December 12 at 11:59pm (PST). To enter, simply leave a comment here. ONE entry per person, please! Duplicate and/or multiple entries will be disqualified. Good Luck!
sharing is caring
73 Responses to Smugglivus Day 7 – Guest Author (And Giveaway): Julie James
Leave a Reply
Subscribe
The most surprising book I read this year was Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper. I picked it up because I’d seen it around the internet and I saw it at the store. I wasn’t too sure because I’m kind of burnt out on vampires but WOW, this book blew me away. I was laughing out loud (sometimes until I cried) through the entire thing. Great book!
The book(s) that surprised me most this year was Frostbite, and the entire Vampire Academy series it’s a part of. I had expected it to be a cheesy vampire read because it’s YA, and picked it up out of boredom and the fact that it was available to me at that moment. Boy am I glad it was, because it’s lead me to one of my favorite authors, Richelle Mead! Not only that, but I now love & gravitate towards paranormal fiction & romance. Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh is totally on my TBR list now, as are the others on Julie James list and I would love to win her series too!
The book that most surprised me was Bitten by Kelly Armstrong. I was burned out of paranormals – just couldnt bring myself to read them but tried this after a glowing review by SB Sarah. And I liked it. Really liked it. And that is one book I’m glad I liked it.
The books that surprised me the most this year are the Night World books by LJ Smith. I picked up the Secret Circle books because I’d read the first one as a kid, and it had made an impression (enough that after one read, I remembered it 15 years later), and was expecting to enjoy them for nostalgia’s sake. What I didn’t expect was the preview for the Night World books, which led to the author’s website and a free download of Secret Vampire, which led to an addiction. I still don’t think that these books are the greatest thing ever, but they are incredibly addicting, and the reissues are cheap and easy to find, thanks to the current vampire trend.
The book that surprised me the most was SALT AND SILVER by Anna Katherine b/c it was super fast-paced and very fun, much more so than I expected.
Hi, Julie! I haven’t read the others but Angels’ Blood was AMAZING, loved it!
The book that most surprised me was Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols in the sense that before I read it, I very rarely read young adult books but I loved it so much, it opened my eyes to this genre.
In the last three months I’ve started reading Contemporary Romance and I’m surprised at how much I like it! I’d shied away and stuck to paranormal or historical and my SIL lent me a Contmp and told me to give it a try. I’m so glad she did!
This year YA surprised me, I didn’t even read much YA 10 years ago when I was teh perfect YA age. But I picked up Scott Westerfelds Uglies which lead me to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and I was hooked. There is some great YA out there
I’d say that Demon’s Lexicon surprised me the most. I hadn’t read YA since I was a YA, and I was expecting to like it, because of you all’s review of it, but in a faintly patronizing way. Instead I full on LOVED it. As in started rereading it again immediately after finishing it. I still cannot gush about it enough…
Hi Julie
Thank you for sharing here today. That was an interesting selection of novels and I thank you for introducing me to a few new ones. EYES LIKE STARS by Lisa Mantchev surprised me: It had many literary allusions and characters and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It’s classified as YA but I know it would be appreciated by adults even more than YA.
All the best,
RKCharron
PS – To all fellow commentors Julie is on Twitter! She’s @juljames
I am very glad I gave Gail Carriger’s first book, Souless (The Parasol Protectorate) a chance after reading so many good reviews. I was reluctant because its genre of “steampunk” kept throwing me – what is that?!? — but it was a wonderful mystery/sci-fi/funny/romance story!
My Wicked Vampire (The Castle of Dark Dreams, Book 4) by Nina Bangs surprised me the most. I never thought I’d think of plants as characters! And I just loved the story and the action.
It was my first book by her.
The book that surprise me this year was Gods Behacing Badly. It was funny, witty and had an interesting plot to follow. At first I was hesistant but now I am recommending it to my friends.
The book that surprised me the most was Karen Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series. I really loved the first four books and can’t wait for the next one.
Thanks for running this contest. Every time I see her name mentioned it’s in the back of my mind to pick up her book but I always forget.
One of the things that surprises me is hwo different readers tastes are. I know that’s not what you were exactly asking, but it is in a way. I’ll read a blog and the person writing the review would not like the book, have real thought out reason that make sense on why the book didn’t work for them. I’ll read the review and put of reading the book. Yet, when I read the book, I see none of the issues they had with it and actually enjoy the book alot.
This has happened to me several times over the year. Covet by J.R. Ward (I’m not into her laters books and she stopped being a must have for me but I was shocked at how much I liked Covet when a lot of people didn’t) and Tempt Me At Twilight by Lisa Kleypas. Alot of people didn’t like the heroine thought she was a doormat and didn’t like her hero. I loved Poppy a lot more than her older sister and didn’t mind the hero.
Then their is the books were someone gives a glowing review and I read it and think what the heck were they thinking. But I won’t mention those titles.
On a side note, I just read LOS a couple months ago and while I enjoyed the book, I couldn’t see what the big deal was and why everyone thought it was the best historical ever. Maybe it’s because it was hyped so much, I was expecting more. It didn’t move me as much as reading Morning Glory or something like that.
So if anyone hasn’t read Morning Glory by LaVryle Spencer they defiantly should.
Wow – this is a fantastic giveaway!
Thanks for having it.
As for the most surprising book I’ve read this year… tough question. I was surprised by a number of category books – and yes, in a good way…
But I’ll go with Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas. I was apprehensive about it, but I loved it.
Biggest surprise for me this year: Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series. The surprise being, “How the heck did these get past me?!?!?”
The biggest surprise for me this year was Nalini Singh’s ‘Angels’ Blood’. I’d read her other books and didn’t think that there could be anything comparable to her Psy/Changeling series.
Well, I can’t pick just ONE book that was a surprise. But I will say that the author who I was most pleasantly surprised by was Victoria Dahl. It took me forever to get to reading her stuff and I am so angry at myself for all that wasted time! I started with her contemporaries and then, even though I despise historicals, because they were by her I read her historicals… SURPRISE! Loved them!!!!
The Book That Surprised Me The Most Was Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed Series. The Way Each Book Takes A Look At Each Individual Breed Warrior While At The Same Time Giving You Little Updates On Previous Breed Male’s (I.E. Their Own Story) Is Fantastic. A Lot Of Times A Series Will Focus On One Core Set Of Characters And That’s It But Lara Goes One Better In My Opinion. Other Ones To Rock My World Have Been Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy And Succubus Series,J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood Series,Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampire Series,Melissa de la Cruz’s Blue Blood Series,Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Intruments Series,P.C. Cast And Kristen Cast’s House Of Night Series,And Of Course Stephanie Meyer Who Re-Awakened My Vampire Love/Obsession.
I’d love to win this giveaway!
The book that surprised me the most was Dan Browns Da Vinci Code as i didn’t enjoy the film & thought the book would be uninteresting.
Boy how wrong was i, it blew me away with its fast paced action & had amazing twists and turns. 
Just goes to show books always beat the movies hands down.
Gee… am I allowed to mention that I read SOMETHING ABOUT YOU… and loved it… *G*
(don’t enter me in the contest…)
I absolutely love The Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine and also enjoyed Skin Game by Ava Gray!
Enter me, please
The most surprising book for me would be Demon Angel by Meljean Brook. The book is huge and a little confusing but I couldn’t put it down and now own all five main books of the series.
Happy Smugglivus everyone!!
Thanks so much to Ana and Thea for inviting me to join in the celebration! And thanks to all of you for all these great book recommendations… what’s really striking me are all the YA books. Another confession: I’ve never read a young adult romance. [ducks tomatoes]. Unless the Sweet Valley High books count.
But that’s just because I haven’t known where to begin, and now I have some great ideas. So keep them coming!
Actually, it was Practice Makes Perfect. I normally steer clear of contemporaries because most of them are so formulaic that I can guess what will happen next. Not so with Julie James’ books. I fell in love with her characters, her stories, and her humor.
The book that suprised me the most was The Thief by Megan Walen Turner. The book had a big twist at the end and I was shocked and I also really enjoyed the book. I will probably have to buy Angels’ blood after I have seen so many glowing reviews.
Oh, I’ve been wanting to read Just The Sexiest Man Alive since I read AnimeJune’s review.
I loved Angels’ Blood so much that I preordered Archangel’s Kiss! I’ll definitely be checking out the others on this list.
Please include me.
Lara Adrian was my biggest surprise this year! I loved Kiss of Midnight! Reading the whole series now. This was the dues vampire romance I have liked.
Dear Sir, I’m Yours by Joely Sue Burhart was my most surprising read. I could relate to the heroine more than any other book I have recently read.
The Kate Daniels series surprised me this year. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do. Magic Strikes is one of my favorite books.
Oops, that comment above is from me.
I read Karen Chance’s Embrace the Night and Loved it! She was a new-to-me author, now one of my favs.
The book that surprised me the most was Life of Pi by Yann Martel. The story (especially the ending) stayed with me long after I finished the book.
Everone I recommended the book and decided to read it, said: WOW! They felt the same as I did.
The most surprising book I read this year was Soulless by Gail Carriger because I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or not. And I LOVE it!!!
The most surprising book I read this year was Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey. The romance in that book was really unexpected but soo awesome. It is definitely one of my favourite reads this year.
Great post and giveaway!
I would love to be entered in your draw. Thanks.
I just read Vampire Academy and I have to say I was really surprised at how much I liked it.
I only started reading Jacqueline Carey this year and I’m cursing myself for being under such a big rock that I’m only reading them now. Grr tons of work I have right now that prevents me from reading more!
I have to say The Name of the Wind. I knew it was going to be good since both Ana and Thea were raving about it but I didn’t know it was going to be that good.
On a side note, I loved Angels’ Blood and cannot wait for Archangel’s Kiss. And I have not read Lord of Scoundrels yet. I really need to check that one out.
this is sad, its true, but the book that surprised me most was Angles Blood by Nalini Singh. Im was only recently introed 2 raomance, and im loving it.
I love reading everyone’s answers, and I completely agree with Lynette (comment#15)
It’s amazing how different everyone’s reaction to one book can be! It’s really been a crash course in learning how to read a book review, and how to decipher whether someone’s opinion fits my general tastes in books, and how to relay that into advice on what I should just get@library vs buying for my own.
I received an ARC of “Still Missing” by Chevy Stevens and was blown away! It’s a chilling horror story of abduction, abuse and betrayal that you won’t want to miss when it comes out in 2010!
the book that surprised me will be ‘ The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins.
It took me forever to finish the first chapter. Coz i think it’s kindda boring for the first – two chapters, but then after pushing my self to keep reading and finish what i had read..WOW..I HOOKED ! i just couldn’t put the book down. The story was so fast and Great. Now i’m waiting for the book three
The Help looks interesting, I think it might end up being a bit like The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella?
Jackie U: Whew! Glad PMP didn’t surprise you in a bad way!
Holly: I haven’t read The Undomestic Goddess, so I can’t necessarily say. Although I have read “Can You Keep A Secret” by Kinsella, and if that’s the same tone as TUD, I’d say The Help is more serious. I’d expected it to be a downer of a book–pleasantly, it was not. There are some bittersweet parts, however.
One book I read this year that really suprised me was Willow by Julia Hoban. I’m very squeemish about blood and this book dealt with cutting so was hesitant about reading this book. But I’m glad I did it turned out to be one of the best books I read this year.
YAY for Julie! I want to have babies with her books she’s such a good author.
One book that came out of nowhere for me was Deidre Knight’s Butterfly Tattoo. Talk about really opening a person’s mind to why people fall and love and why. Very beautiful and poignant read.