New York Times Best Sellers for April

(this is in order from 1-5)

Hardcover Fiction:

Hardcover Nonfiction:

Paperback Fiction:

Paperback Nonfiction:

Mass Market Fiction:

Childrens:

Caught! by Lori Foster

TAKEN

Things are heating up between security expert Dillon Jones and the notorious Virginia Johnson! They're trying to find out who framed Dillon's brother for embezzlement. As they search for the truth, Dillon can't help but draw closer to feisty Virginia. His code of honor is barely keeping him in check…but leave it to a take-charge woman to take what she wants!

SAY YES

After finding her—now former—fiancé in bed with another woman, Sara Simmons decides that love and marriage just aren't for her. What she needs is a hot fling. Enter hunky next-door neighbor Gavin Blake. But Gavin is playing for keeps, and he's vowed to hold out for more than sex. Begging isn't Sara's style…but she will if he won't!

This is another two book... book =) So it's double the pleasure and double the FUN!

Once again, I loved Lori Foster. She managed in such a short book to build a great foundation for the characters, giving them a realistic edge without overdoing it. The way she writes so simply, but... well, not is spectacular.

And so far... not two characters are the same. Sure they all end up the same way... tangled in bed sheets and sweating their skin off, but their stories, their passions, their values, how they get to that same ending... they're different. One thing I noticed in SAY YES was that she took the profession of the character and used that (and of course their upbringing) to form their thoughts and feelings and motives.

And just in case you didn't think that was enough of a praise, in TAKEN she made it easy for me to feel the love of a man when being overweight. I know you know what I mean girls ;). In all the romances (at least that I've read) and movies (besides maybe Shallow Hal) it's always the skinny chick who's being played down to be ugly, then all they have to do to show her "inner beauty" ignite is have her be her normal self... and that's just not all that realistic. That's why I stopped watching chick flicks too... well, part of it.

So I've mentioned the good, the great, and the excellent. Now on to the bad. This book is the size of a normal book, but it's a two in one. Meaning... they're very short stories. In fact...

TAKEN, though I loved it, was too long compared to the whole book size. It took me three (very busy days) to complete it and only one to complete SAY YES. I would have loved for SAY YES to be longer, even if the book had to be longer. That's why I'm only giving this one a four stars...

She's a very talented writer and I know she could have been exceptional with just a little more on Sara and Gavin.

Prey by Rachel Vincent * Release Date *

Scandalous by Lori Foster

Scandalized!

Can passion challenge cool, levelheaded reason? Knee-melting kisses spark more than hotelier Tony

Austin or boutique owner Olivia Anderson ever planned. He wanted an heir, not a

wife. She wanted a no-strings affair…and delicious memories. Scandalous? Perhaps. And it was all going perfectly—until love got in the way.

Sex Appeal

Shadow Callahan sizes up sexy, successful Brent Bramwell as perfect hunk material, ideal for her shopping mall's contest. But take-charge Brent is much more interested in gorgeous, irrepressible Shadow, whose Sex Appeal shop and its, uh, eclectic merchandise make this in-control guy realize he's been missing out. He's got a wild side. And Shadow makes him want to misbehave….

I have found a new writer to follow and study! I absolutely loved these stories by Lori Foster. And I'm so glad I bought some of her other work. Which I would have done anyway, but doing it in advance makes it that much sweeter.

Her writing was fluid and quick but it never left me needing more. It definitely left me wanting lots more, but there's a major difference in the two. It was wonderful. I liked "Scandalized" best of the two, but "Sex Appeal" is very unique in its own right. One thing that I loved is that she didn't fall into the standard cycle that many romances do. Even though I was never faced with what the characters were faced with, I could relate to them easily. (At least for the most part when it comes to "Sex Appeal"... you'll understand why after you've read it). And I could actually see the characters doing what they were doing. And that's a hard thing to do when it comes to romances. [ummmm... I mean more towards the story and plot part.... hehe, not the... things that make it a "romance"] Sometimes it feels like everything they're doing is impossible, but not here :D

I recommend these short stories to anyone who loves a romantic story with pizzaz and enough comedy to keep you smiling through the whole thing.

Mortal Instruments - City of Bones

Their hidden world is about to be revealed....

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.

Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

This is a MUST read. I think the only thing that is bothersome is that it's written in the third person. That takes a little while to get used to it. But it doesn't take long for you to get past it. Cassandra Claire creates a VERY different and fantastic fictional world based in the everyday society in New York.

You become entranced in Clary's situation. It's almost like a Harry Potter beginning but with Shadowhunters instead of witches and warlocks.

City Of Glass

Visit the official Mortal Instruments website!