A Must Read

Debra gushes about the latest book in one of her favorite series.

We all have them. Those go-to authors and books that no matter what we buy as soon as they hit the shelves. I go so far as to write release dates in my planner so I don't miss the day. And with pre-ordering available, sometimes they get shipped to my door the day of and I don't even need to leave the comfort of my own house.

I read one of those this past week.

Last year around this time I did a post about fellow C-N author Julie Ann Walker who had debuted a new series earlier that year. The first three books had been in my TBR pile forever, and over Christmas break I finally got around to reading them. And I was hooked. Couldn't put them down. Read the first two back to back in one day and finished the third a few days later. Since then two more books have joined the series.

The fourth came out in Spring and the fifth last month. Now, you'd think that since I immediately purchased them that I would have read them right away. But that would have ruined it a bit. These books are like fine chocolates that need to be savored. The pleasure needs to be drawn out. Because if you dive into them too quickly, all of that anticipation comes to a screeching halt and you're left to wait months and months for the next release. So I tease myself by having the books in my house, but I save reading them for 'special' occasions. And these books aren't ones to carry over to another sitting. When I read, I make sure my schedule is clear for the day so I can go all the way from beginning to end.

The fourth book in the series, Thrill Ride, I saved for my first-read-of-the-summer. You know, that first book you read when you know you have nine weeks of vacation stretching before you and you can sit down on the front porch with a tall glass of lemonade and read to your heart's content. No getting up early. No lesson plans to do. No papers to grade. Just the joy of a good book and the promise of sunny days to come.

The fifth book, Born Wild, arrived on my doorstep back in December. I set it on my dresser. And let it sit. I saw it every day. But I didn't pick it up to read. The tantalizing temptation of knowing what was coming was kind of thrilling. But I was immersed in Christmas stories, getting ready for the holidays, and once they passed, working on edits and revisions on my own mss. I had promised myself I'd give myself a reward when I submitted it to my editor...what better reward than to sit down and read one of my favorite authors?

But the timing just wasn't right. Like I said, when I dive in, I have no plans for coming up for air until I get to 'the end'. My hubby was home with me for Christmas break, so I didn't want to cocoon myself upstairs alone when I could be spending time with him. He made tentative plans to be gone this coming Saturday, so I made tentative plans to sit down with my book. Then luck and fate smiled upon me. We were supposed to go back to school on Monday, but because of the bitter cold temps here in the Midwest (Wind chills were 40 to 50 degrees below zero!), it was deemed unsafe for children to be out. Thus, we were given two more days off. My hubby had already made plans to go back to work on Tuesday, so as I had the house to myself on Tuesday, I curled up on the couch and read.

Ah, it was blissful. Wonderful. Trilling. Exciting. Wild. Sexy. Everything I'd hoped it would be.

But of course by midafternoon I was finished. The story was over. The book had to be closed. And just like that I was back to waiting. I immediately checked the author's web-site and found to my delight the sixth book will debut in May and the seventh in December. Happy happy joy joy. So even though I'm waiting again, that anticipation is already there, and I know there will be plenty of things between now and May to distract me from obsessing too much. And, if I get too big of a craving, I have five books on my shelf just calling to me to be reread.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com