2012 Krazy Kleypas Reading Challenge

Like UTC, are you Lisa Kleypas' number one fan? Or are you wondering who the hell Lisa Kleypas is? Well, if you belong to either extreme or somewhere in between the Krazy Klepas Reading Challenge 2012 is perfect for you! 

Here’s the rundown: 

1. The Krazy Kleypas Reading Challenge runs from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. You can join at anytime during the year. This is a 2012 challenge, so books read before then will not count to your progress. 

2. Pick whichever category you like! You can get your feet wet and just do 1-3 books or develop a full blown obsession and try and read them all! You can change your mind at any time, if 1-3 books is not enough feel free to go on to the next category.
3. Re-reads are acceptable.  

4. Readers without blogs can still participate! Keep track of your progress with Goodreads, Shelfari or LibraryThing. 

To sign up: 

1. Make a sign up post announcement, listing the category you've chosen and a list of books you plan to read. If you don't have a blog, post on GoodReads or other site as a thread where we can access your list of books. 

2. Come back here and using the list below, add your entry with a link directly to that post so we can see what you'll be reading.You're done! Every month during 2012 we will make a challenge update post where you can come and updates us on how you're doing with your challenge. 

Category One 

1-3 Books 

Popping your Kleypas Cherry *gasps* You haven't read Lisa Kleypas yet?! Start here and pop your cherry! We promise she will handle your virginity with care... 

Category Two 

4-8 Books 

Komfy with KleypasTime to start searching the back list...she has you hooked! 

Category Three 

8-12 Books 

Kaptured by KleypasShe's caught you in her web...you're beginning to not want to escape, surely one more book won't hurt... 

Category Four 

12-16 Books 

Kleypas AddictionYou can't seem to help yourself...you need more, all other romances just don't compare to a good LK fix! 

Category Five 

16-20 Books 

Kleypas KrazyThe Kleypas Addiction has full control! You find yourself thinking about the books all the time waiting impatiently for your next fix, started calling all the heroines by your own name... You are beyond saving and loving every word of it! 

Category Six 

Read Every Lisa Kleypas ever published. 

Lisa's Number One Fan*moments silence* We bow before your greatness...Clearly, you are Lisa Kleypas' biggest fan! 

Happy Reading, Maidens!

Okay, I'll start off with Category 2 (4-8 books). I'll be popping my Lisa Kleypas cherry. *gasp* Well actually, Jamie Lynn popped my Kleypas cherry after sending me THEN CAME YOU half a year ago. Here's my list:

1. Scandal in Spring
2. It Happened One Autumn
3. The Devil in Winter
4. Secrets of a Summer Night
5. A Wallflower Christmas
6. Lady Sophia's Lover
7. Smooth Talking Stranger
8. Blue-Eyed Devil

If I get superly ambitious, I might add more books to the pile. I'll take it slowly and gently.

HOLY BACKLIST, BATMAN!!!!

Giveaway Warning: Massive Romance Reader SQUEE Moment Ahead

There comes a time in a romance reader’s life when something amazing happens. Something awesome. Something really, really cool that makes you emit a high-pitched shrieking sound which then causes everyone around you to gape and stare. That shriek often sounds something like SQUEEEEEEEEE.

Dear friends and fellow romance readers, you might have a SQUEE moment ahead in your future.

Five huge romance fans who just happen to be romance authors as well have decided that we want to give you the opportunity to receive complete, SIGNED backlists of one of your very favorite authors (and yes, that means EVERYTHING they’ve ever written).

The romance fans/authors who are participating are: Ashley March, Shana Galen, Lila DiPasqua, Vanessa Kelly, and Heather Snow.

The complete, SIGNED backlists they’re giving away are books from the following authors (henceforth known as “The Amazing Authors”):

Lisa Kleypas

Julia Quinn

Elizabeth Hoyt

Cynthia Eden

Julie Garwood

Before we can give these awesome prizes away, though, we need you to show how fanatical of fans you are. Since we know that you’re already following The Amazing Authors on Facebook (you are, aren’t you??), all you need to do is follow the authors who want to give away these complete, signed backlists to you. We all have to reach a certain number of followers; once that happens, then we will run a Facebook giveaway on our individual pages where you can enter to win the complete, signed backlists from the Amazing Authors.

(Please note, you must follow and enter on each of the five Facebook pages to be eligible to win each backlist. The giveaway won’t happen until AFTER the goals are met for ALL of us, and the giveaways will be open to US and international residents! All books will be in English as print books; if any books in the Amazing Authors’ backlists are currently our of print, used books will be purchased for those titles so that the backlist will be complete.)

Ashley March (must reach 2500 total “Likes” in order to give away Lisa Kleypas backlist)

Shana Galen (must reach 2000 total “Likes” in order to give away Julia Quinn backlist)

Lila DiPasqua (must reach 3500 total “Likes” in order to give away Elizabeth Hoyt backlist)

Vanessa Kelly (must reach 2000 total “Likes” in order to give away Cynthia Eden backlist)

Heather Snow (must reach 2500 total “Likes” in order to give away Julie Garwood backlist)

Those are the rules! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell any fellow romance fan you know. Soon, 5 lucky winners will win a complete, signed backlist from a favorite author that will make you SQUEEEEE!

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON ASHLEY MARCH'S BLOG

GO AND LIKE THOSE AUTHORS TODAY! HELP THEM REACH THEIR GOAL OF "LIKES" ON FACEBOOK AND YOU MIGHT BE THE LUCKY RECIPIENT OF LISA KLEYPAS, JULIA QUINN, ELIZABETH HOYT, CYNTHIA EDEN OR JULIE GARWOODS ENTIRE BACKLIST. 



SPREAD THE WORD!!!

HOLY BACKLIST, BATMAN!!!

Giveaway Warning: Massive Romance Reader SQUEE Moment Ahead

There comes a time in a romance reader’s life when something amazing happens. Something awesome. Something really, really cool that makes you emit a high-pitched shrieking sound which then causes everyone around you to gape and stare. That shriek often sounds something like SQUEEEEEEEEE.

Dear friends and fellow romance readers, you might have a SQUEE moment ahead in your future.

Five huge romance fans who just happen to be romance authors as well have decided that we want to give you the opportunity to receive complete, SIGNED backlists of one of your very favorite authors (and yes, that means EVERYTHING they’ve ever written).

The romance fans/authors who are participating are: Ashley March, Shana Galen, Lila DiPasqua, Vanessa Kelly, and Heather Snow.

The complete, SIGNED backlists they’re giving away are books from the following authors (henceforth known as “The Amazing Authors”):

Lisa Kleypas

Julia Quinn

Elizabeth Hoyt

Cynthia Eden

Julie Garwood

Before we can give these awesome prizes away, though, we need you to show how fanatical of fans you are. Since we know that you’re already following The Amazing Authors on Facebook (you are, aren’t you??), all you need to do is follow the authors who want to give away these complete, signed backlists to you. We all have to reach a certain number of followers; once that happens, then we will run a Facebook giveaway on our individual pages where you can enter to win the complete, signed backlists from the Amazing Authors.

(Please note, you must follow and enter on each of the five Facebook pages to be eligible to win each backlist. The giveaway won’t happen until AFTER the goals are met for ALL of us, and the giveaways will be open to US and international residents! All books will be in English as print books; if any books in the Amazing Authors’ backlists are currently our of print, used books will be purchased for those titles so that the backlist will be complete.)

Ashley March (must reach 2500 total “Likes” in order to give away Lisa Kleypas backlist)

Shana Galen (must reach 2000 total “Likes” in order to give away Julia Quinn backlist)

Lila DiPasqua (must reach 3500 total “Likes” in order to give away Elizabeth Hoyt backlist)

Vanessa Kelly (must reach 2000 total “Likes” in order to give away Cynthia Eden backlist)

Heather Snow (must reach 2500 total “Likes” in order to give away Julie Garwood backlist)

Those are the rules! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell any fellow romance fan you know. Soon, 5 lucky winners will win a complete, signed backlist from a favorite author that will make you SQUEEEEE!

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON ASHLEY MARCH'S BLOG

W...W...W

W...W...W...Wednesdays is a weekly meme MizB of Should Be Reading. 

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

So, here's my answers:

• What are you currently reading? I am reading The Rake and the Recluse by Jenn LeBlanc (yes, this book has been mention a bazillion times on my blog. But what is a girl to do? The pictures are amazeballs.) I've gotten past the whole flipping through the book several times just to oogle the pictures. The story is like Outlander meets Jane Eyre according to the author. I can see that. Of what I've read so far.

• What did you recently finish reading? Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas. What a story. I do enjoy a good single mother with secret baby book every now and then. This is my first Lisa Kleypas and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've got her backlist queued up.

• What do you think you’ll read next? Sins of the House of Borgia by Sarah Bower. Yep, I'm jumping on the Borgia bandwagon. I do enjoy historical fiction every once in a while. Last year I went through a Philippa Gregory phase. This year, it's the Tudors and the Borgias. Plus the cover is kind of red and sexy.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own WWW Wednesdays post, or share your answers in a comment here (if you don’t have a bl0g). Thanks! 

My First... Romance Novel

There's a first time for everything and I can remember my first romance novel like it was yesterday. I'm going to let you in on a little secret... I hate to read. Ok, well I use to hate to read. Now I don't think you'll find me without a book, Kindle or iPhone within my reach. So what changed my mind? Graduating college and finally having some free time just for me. Of course I've read books before but nothing that interested me. That is until I found Lisa Kleypas in a box.

I had graduated in May '07 from a little college in PA called Elizabethtown College. During my studies I got to study abroad in England for 6 months. It was the greatest time in my life and where my love of England started. As a present my parents bought me a plane ticket to go back and two of my friends came with. Now, this was my big break from school. I had ideas of relaxing in the beer garden just reading a book so I had to find a book. Enter my Nanny (grandmother) and her box of books.

As I dug through this box that was on her porch I found this book called Scandal in Spring. I glanced at the book cover and opened to the begininng of the story. It was set in England and that's where I was going so it was PERFECT! I found another book too: Out of the Mist by JoAnn Ross. So I packed my books and headed off to England.

Fast foward a few days later and I'm sitting in the back garden at my friend's house. The sun is out (surprisingly) and I'm relaxing in my chair with Ms. Kleypas enjoying the story when all of a sudden Daisy has locked herself in Matthew's room with him and threw the key down her dress. I was intrigued, I was enthralled and I was so into it. Oh the sexual tensions between was captivating, I couldn't wait to see where this would lead. Then I remembered... this came from my Nan!

I ran inside the house and found my friend Georgie and made her read it. Then I told her I couldn't believe that this is what my Nan was reading! Then she looked at me and said "I can. Everyone needs some romance in their life." I went back outside and finished my book. When I got home from my trip I went to the store and bought the rest of The Wallflower Series. I've been hooked ever since and I've never looked back.

So there you have it! The book that started it all! Unfortunately I never really got to thank my Nan for getting me hooked on romance. She had cancer and passed away in December that year but if it wasn't for her and her box of books I wouldn't be here talking about them or reading them. I wouldn't have meet so many friends who share my passion for them.

In the words of a very wise friend "Everyone needs some romance in their lives" and I agree! So what was your first book that made you fall in love with reading?