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 Post subject: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 3:35 am 
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Greetings, fellow readers.

Over the years, there have been many books I've enjoyed and others I've really enjoyed, but, surprisingly, not a lot have been 5-star reads. For me, a 5-star read is that book with which I have no qualms regarding the writing, characters or scenarios.

My 5-star reads, in no particular order, are:

'Midnight Angel' Lisa Marie Rice (Douglas Kowalski is my absolute favorite hero)

'All Night Long' Jayne Ann Krentz (City gal falls in love with reluctant small town innkeeper)

'The Perfect Husband' Lisa Gardner (Woman in fear seeks help from drunken ex-marine)

'Manhunting' Jennifer Crusie (Corporate woman on vacation meets and falls in love with slacker)

'The Damsel In This Dress' Marianne Stillings (Small town newspaper editor locks horns with sexy cop turned author)

What are your 5-star reads?

HR


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 11:41 am 
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Location: NW Ohio
In no particular order:

1.THESE OLD SHADES by Georgette Heyer (read this one when I was 10 & must have checked it out of the library a dozen times before I was able to buy my own copy.) And I'd say I'd give her books THE DEVIL's CUB & FREDERICA a 4 3/4 star rating.

2. NAKED IN DEATH by J.D. Robb because this one started it all with Eve & Roarke. Wouldn't give any of the In Death books less than a 4 1/2 star rating!

3. BLUE MOON by Laurell K Hamilton because it was different from any I'd read to that point & was the first one I'd read of hers. I loved Anita, Richard & Jean-Claude so much I had to go out & buy the previous seven (I believe BLUE MOON was #8 in the series.) Unfortunately, the first 8 were the best in the series and some of the later ones are barely worth reading. I still get them from the library because I keep hoping she'll get back to what I loved about the first Anita Blake books.

4. AMBER BEACH by Elizabeth Lowell. Romantic suspense. Loved the Donvans!

5. THE FLAME & THE FLOWER by Kathleen Woodiwiss.

6. DARK LOVER by J.R. Ward (Intro to the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood....wow!)

7. All 7 HARRY POTTER books by J. K. Rowling. I resisted reading these for years; but when I started reading the fist one, I got sucked right in. What a complex & fascinating world she created!

Think I'll stop here for now...too many books to choose from...so I'll leave it with these "firsts" for me for now.

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"When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food & clothes." Desiderius Erasmus


Last edited by OHREADER on Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 6:13 pm 
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Posts: 1290
I'll label mine by genre. Most of the authors who I have 5 star books with also have a lot of 4 and 4.5. I highly recommend all of these authors. (Note: I did not rate books prior to 2010, so these are reads and re-reads from then, I know I've got several more I enjoy and I'll list them as I think of them)

Historical
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
Fall From Grace by Jill Barnett
Although I didn't rate them as 5s I really enjoyed Leigh Greenwood's Seven Brides, Jo Goodman's Denehey sisters and Elizabeth Lowell's Only series.

Contemporary
Born in Ice by Nora Roberts

Paranormal
Caressed by Ice & Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh
Lover Awakened by JR Ward
At Graves End by Jeaninene Frost (love this series)
The Mating by Nicky Charles (free series on Nook)
Although not 5s Lorann Dohner's New Species series is very good. Also, I would rate a lot of Sherrilyn Kenyon's early Dark Hunter novels as 4.5 or better.

Rom Suspense
Naked in Death by JD Robb (love most of the series)
Shadows at Midnight by Elizabeth Jennings
Midnight Angel by Lisa Marie Rice
All the Queens Men by Linda Howard (one of my all time fav books)

Erotica/Romantica
Gabriels Woman by Robin Schone
Ride by Cameron Dane (love a lot of CD's books, amazing)

Urban Fantasy
Magic Strikes & Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews (love this series)
Jim Butcher Dreseden Series (well worth the price to get these in audio, absolutely the best!)

Inspirational
Jennifer O Malley, Truth Seeker, The Protector by Dee Henderson
Christmas Child, Finding Her Way Home by Linda Goodnight

M/M
Fish & Chips, Divide & Conquer, Armed & Dangerous, Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux (love, love, love this series!!)
Frog by Mary Calmes
The Dark Tide by Josh Lanyon
Breaking Cover by Kaje Harper (very good series)


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 2:23 am 
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If my legs were a lot longer (and thinner :lol: ), I could kick my own backside for neglecting to list this book on my 5-star reads list:

'Public Displays of Affection' Rachel Gibson (H/h have anonymous encounter-- :oops: --and meet unexpectedly years later, with hilarious results)

HR


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:47 pm 
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Location: South Carolina
Love, Cherish Me by Rebecca Brandewyne
The Kadin by Bertrice Small
The Love Slave by Bertrice Small
The Devil and Ms. Moody by Suzanne Forster
Captive Flame by Patricia Phillips
Defiant Love by Maura Seger
Stealing Heaven by Marion Meade
Passion Moon Rising by Rebecca Brandewyne
Across the Starlit Frost by Rebecca Brandewyne
Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers
The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen Woodiwiss
Tara's Song by Barbara Ferry Johnson
Desert Hostage by Diane Dunaway
Dragon's Dream by Mary Gillgannon
The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss
Honorbound by Laura Taylor
Skye O'Malley by Bertrice Small
Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey
The Dragon Lord by Connie Mason
The Conqueror by Brenda Joyce
Summer of the Unicorn by Kay Hooper
A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux
Rose of Rapture by Rebecca Brandewyne


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~~rhiannon~~

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated... I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man." -- Mahatma Gandhi


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:47 am 
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Location: Bradenton, FL
Circle trilogy
Three Sisters Island trilogy
Key trilogy
all by Nora Roberts

Dark Lover - J. R. Ward
Night Play - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Dark Crescent Sisterhood series - Anna Windsor
Doomsday Brethren series - Shayla Black
Nightkeepers - Jessica Andersen
Midnight Breed series - Lara Adrian

79 Park Avenue - Harold Robbins
Above Suspicion - Helen MacInnes
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Drake Sisters series and Sisters of the Heart series - Christine Feehan
Witch World series - Andre Norton

Steele Street books - Tara Janzen
Last Man Standing - Cindy Gerard

Burning Water, Children of the Night, & Jinx High (the Diana Tregarde books) - Mercedes Lackey

I'm sure there are other books I've loved over the years which I just can't think of right now.


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 2:13 pm 
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Posts: 334
I thought perhaps I would go back over the books I have read in the past year and list the one I rated 5 stars:

From Thriller/Suspense:

New Author, Ben Coes ("Power Down" is the 1st book in the series -if you like Vince Flynn, you will love him) Have given all three books 5 stars.

Vince Flynn: Kill Shot

David Baldacci - The Hit

Have loved the entire Maya Banks "KGI" series but this latest one "Shades of Gray" I gave a 4 star - all the others have been 5 stars.


From "Western"

Ellen O'Connell - Dancing On Coals (love everything she has written - this was the latest) and have given each one 5 stars

From Historical:

Julie Garwood - Ransom and The Secret

Katherine Kingsley - No Greater Love

Lisa Kleypas - Devil in WInter

Sarah MacLean - One Good Earl Deserves a Lover


Contemporary:

Jodi Thomas - Every book in the "Harmony Series" She is one of my all-time favorite authors and never disappoints...


Highlander:

Maya Banks - 'Never Seduce a Scot" have loved every Highlander book she has written but not all are 5 stars.

Monica Mcarty - The Viper - have really loved her entire "Highland Guard" series, but have not given every one 5 stars.

I have a lot of 4 star books, but am really selective on the 5 stars!


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 2:51 pm 
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AGoodRead wrote:
Contemporary:

Jodi Thomas - Every book in the "Harmony Series" She is one of my all-time favorite authors and never disappoints...


I have wondered about this series--could you furnish a bit of background information, i.e. setting, characters, etc. Do I really want to get involved in yet another multiple-book situation :roll: ?

HR


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 3:36 pm 
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The series takes place in modern day Texas. Have you ever read a book by Jodi Thomas? She just can write - her characters are complex, not predictable, and always evolving and growing. This series has it all - romance, suspense, mystery, old, middle aged and young characters, and heart. I think that is the one thing that sets Jodi Thomas apart from most authors. Her characters always pull at your heart....always. She makes you laugh, cry, and above all, her characters give you hope. Can you tell I like her just a bit?

This series does not "wind down" and the next book continues to tell the stories of the lives in Harmony. I loved the first Robyn Carr books in the Virgin River series....and I still want to read them, but I have 6 waiting for me to read. But as soon as the next Harmony book is published I gobble it up....but then I regret that it's over and I'll have to wait for the next one.


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 11:21 am 
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Location: Pittsburgh, Penna
Here are some of my top 5's over the years.

TOUGH CUSTOMER-SANDRA BROWN
KISS ME, KIL ME-ALLISON BRENNAN
SARAH'S KEY -TATIANA DE ROSNAY
FRANKLY MY DEAR-SANDRA HILL (FUNNIEST TT EVER)
HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET-JACKI FORD
LOVE YOU MORE-LISA GARDNER
THE PERFECT HUSBAND-LISA GARDNER
THE APE HOUSE-SUSAN GRUEN
PREY-LINDA HOWARD
KILL & TELL-LINDA HOWARD
ALWAYS TO REMEMBER-LORRAINE HEATH (I RE-READ THIS AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.)
MAGIC HOUR-KIRISTIN HANNAH
THE HELP-KATHLEEN STOCKETT
INNER HARBOR-NORA ROBERTS (LOVED ALL 3 BUT THIS WAS THE BEST ONE FOR ME.)

I really love all the John Sandford Prey/Lucas Davenport books.
One book I remember laughing through the whole book was REVENGE GIRST BY CINDY CRUCIGAR. I must have been in a low mood and read this book and LMAO. Improved my mood greatly.

I know there are more but in the beginning of me keeping tabs on my books, I never rated them.


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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 12:01 pm 
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Hmm let's see...I'm kind of skimpy with my five stars, lol.
Masked By Moonlight, Chased By Moonlight, Captured By Moonlight and Bound By Moonlight by Nancy Gideon. I'm still in love with the hero lol.

Darkest Hour, In Bed With a Highlander, Seduction of Highland Lass and Never Love a Highlander by Maya Banks.

Phoenix Rising and The Janus Affair by Ballantine and Morris.

The Hannah Swenson series by Joanne Fluke.

Connie Feddersen's Amanda Hazard mystery series (those were hysterical. I was heartbroken when they ended).

Maggie Sefton's Kelly Flynn series.

Shana Galen's Lord and Lady Spy.

Sarah McCarty's Promises series (especially Asa's book).

Shannon Stacey's Taming Eliza Jane and Becoming Miss Becky.

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 Post subject: Re: What are your 5-star reads?
PostPosted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 5:05 pm 
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Gosh this is always so hard. I think I've forgotten more than I can remember of the books I've read so here are the 5 stars that I remember:

Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss
Cry No More and Kill and Tell by Linda Howard
Someone to Watch Over Me by Judith McNaught
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
The Witness by Nora Roberts
Nobody's Baby but Mine and Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
The Line between Here and Now by Andrea Kane
Lethal by Sandra Brown
Caught by Harlan Coben
Catalouchee by Wayne Caldwell
Hunger Games trilogy

I'm deliberately not getting in to my favorite vampire series/paranormals even though I've loved some better than others. Instead I'm listing them as a series because -- I think you need to take the series as a whole.

Charlaine Harris -- Sookie Stackhouse, probably my favorite is Dead to the World
J. R. Ward -- Black Dagger Brotherhood
Robyn Carr -- Virgin River series
Nora Roberts -- Chesapeake bay series, Chesapeake Blue being my fave.
Chloe Niell -- Chicago Vampire series.
Karen Marie Moning -- starting with her Highlander series and then the Fever series.

I quit! Years ago I did a 1001 books to read before you die (we did one here also). I need to update that! I haven't even thought about classics like Pride and Prejudice and To Kill a Mockingbird. Impossible!

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