Intrequing  love kniws no boundries
931333
These stories about love crossing society boundries catches your intrest. Very intense and emotional at times, fun easy read a person can relate to in real life.
973554
Romance, , loss.mystery .  Excotic locations. A lovely storie
3028091
Great read five star romantic relationship fun adventure calling imagery good spinning around world a must read adventurous types will enjoy
2944965
Any Way You Want It is the newest novel by Kathy Love. Kathy has written two wonderful series, but this is an unrelated new book (and maybe a new series?) about a recently jilted woman from Washington DC and a lampir from New Orleans. Maggie works researching and authenticating pieces of classical music, and has pushed fun aside after her recent breakup. Her friends bring her to New Orleans, where an old composition fosters a link between her and Ren, a singer in a Bourbon St. band called The Impalers. Ren had been a court musician and composer in the 1700s, and now he's a lampir - a vampire who feeds off energy rather than blood. He has been cursed by his mother, and exists in a world of singing cover songs and having one-night stands, afraid of love.

Kathy switches perspective frequently between Maggie and Ren, which fleshes out both characters, and leaves us with a little smile that we know more than they do. While we know that this novel is a romance, Kathy seems to take her cue from the characters, and lets them move slowly in the beginning. As they alternate between pushing away and pulling towards each other, you learn what is in their hearts and heads, and can feel the build up of emotions.

One of the things I liked best about her Young Brothers series was how truly unique each character was - no stereotype vampires, and the secondary characters aren't cardboard cutouts, either. The characters in Any Way You Want It continue in that vein, and right now I could easily imagine walking into a club on Bourbon Street and watching The Impalers play, complete with Ren singing the wrong line because Maggie distracted him. Maggie and Ren develop as interesting people, and the unexpected similarities in their lives draws them together.

Kathy's abilities to write steamy love scenes are very impressive - these words will absolutely keep you warm this winter! However, these are more than just sex, there's the sensual and truly romantic involved, too. Kathy has also done a beautiful job of writing how sensual and loving little gestures can be, and explores how you can make someone feel safe after they've been hurt. I hadn't read anything previously about the lampir, so I hope she will write further novels exploring them. I also want to learn more about the rest of the band...
2490788
Okay, this book can be summarized in one sentence: A collection of poignant poems celebrating the presence, or lamenting the absence, of a loved one. Its literary adventures are as diverse as the style employed in writing the poems its pages contain. From beautifully penned pieces like LOVE'S LAST LIGHT to dark renditions like LETTING GO, NOT, Author Wade Stevenson has succeeded in bringing together both the weird and the shine of poetry into one volume, or should I say, under one roof?

What struck me as I went through this book was the conspicuous dedication Wade put into these poems. Yes, some of them I couldn't quite grasp, but the majority I took something out of made me realize the kaleidoscopic nature of the book's main theme, which is love. For every two or three lovers out there having a wonderful time there must be one couple finding it hard to move on after betrayal and loss. The poems in this volume capture the tipping phenomenon of love. The scale balance analogy, which identifies a tipping point in any relationship. For example, a good showing from either or both partners would help keep their affair in healthy territory, and a bad call from either or both of them would likely destroy what they have built together.

Of course, for a project of this magnitude, grammatical errors and typos would be nonexistent, just as I discovered. The interior eBook design was also not a problem for my coffee reader, and I enjoyed the poems while the pages lasted.

And yes, the book cover is brilliant. I think it captures the absence of love, using a setting sun.
1063995
A Sea Change by Annette Reynolds

In her second novel, Reynolds had penned an elegant and flawless contemporary love story set in a Puget Sound art colony.  Meet Maddy and Nick, first neighbors then lovers too soon, and after healing and howling their real love can burst into bloom.  The Greeks promised us three flavors of love - passion, family and divinity.  All three are exercised and exorcised here, including a wayward brother beyond redemption.

The community of Salmon Beach comes alive in rich environmental detail.  Here beach homes hang on a cliff.  With the ocean as intimate neighbor, Maddy and Nick are drenched and buffeted to undergo a sea change of personal evolution.  Cue Jimmy Buffet to sing, "Mother Ocean I can hear your call."  Maddy, with camera in hand, communes  with a personal totem of renewal -- the mermaid on the rock. In the role of mentor and Madonna we have a grandmotherly tea-time potter whose nature is pure nurture.

At times I might have locked these two in the bedroom until they worked it out by wrinkling the sheets. Alas, human nature is often more frail than that.  Struggle is the compost than makes people strong, capable of enduring love.  If you're a mother, a lover or on the rebound, then this love story is for you.

With luck, human beings grow about as fast as house plants.  Reynolds enriches her characters with inner dialogs and revealing journal entries as they move through four  seasons of healing. Some need forgiveness; others must trust again or simply grow up.  Fractured and in emotional recovery, each gains a degree of solace before being brave to open their hearts anew. Oprah will love this book; Dr. Phil will ask what took you so long?

The lesson here is that love cannot be rushed. It must be nurtured through the elements, protected from sleet and sun, until it can bloom again with a scent that captivates the spirit. Old baggage must be unpacked, processed and let go.  Salmon Beach holds a wonderful community of folks with whom to do so.  Five Stars.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/A-Sea-Change/dp/B009ED2BJ2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">A Sea Change</a>
1941496
By far the crowning of T.S. Eliot's poetry. The evanescent equilibrium point between a whole set of couples of antagons. The present is such a point, but demultiplied by a myriad of other couples. Past-Future, Has-been-Might-have-been, and this point is movement, constantly moving between those antagons. It gives you a vertigo, the vertigo we feel in front of the present that is a constantly moving equilibrium point. Fascinating. Men are no longer hollow but they are unstoppable motion. They are some light, fine and fuzzy moving line between all the antagons of human nature, of nature as for that. Then a long and rich metaphor of life with the sea, neverending movement that ignores past and future but is pure present and nothing else. Men and women can only worship this everlasting  present motion, time and place that is no time, no place and no motion, just unstable energy burnt in its own existence.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
917789
Ive been reading Owain Glyn's work for over two years on the read-free website Wattpad and he is amazing.  This collection of his romantic sonnets will make your heart sing and revive your belief in love in all its phases.  There is no artifice in this poetry.  There is elegance without effort, lyrical perfection without egotism, and soul-bearing without self-pity.  It is truly accessible to those who say they don't like poetry. They will change their minds!  I hope some of his other collections will soon be in print.
496970
This is so PRETTY.

This is my favorite kind of world-building, where a quirky character is doing their thing and in bits and pieces you learn that islands float in this world... It's possibly the sweetest romance I've ever read. That's saying something because they're my favorite kind, so I read every one I can find. Emyr and Heilyn's meet-cute, friendship, upsets and so on are as endearing as a basket of kittens, and then this setting elevates it to art in words.
924737
No Baggage is better than The Accidental Tourist or Eat, Pray, Love--both of which I also loved.  Clara meets Jeff, a quirky college professor through a dating service. On a whim they decide to travel to Europe with no itinerary, no luggage.  They have only the clothes on their backs,(one change of underwear for Clara).a ticket to Istanbul, and a return ticket from London 21 days later.  Through their adventures, we discover that both are also trying to free themselves from personal baggage.  But how do you start a new relationship without acquiring more?  That's the true question.  With delightful characters, wonderful writing, and extraordinary insight, readers are in for a charming wild ride.
938633
Magdalena Ball's poems in this collection display a considerable interest in, and enthusiasm for, nature, both on this planet and in space. This is appropriate for "unconventional love poetry" as love for someone else often makes them seem to be everything (ie, the universe); it is also not what we expect since, on the face of it, love has no connection with outer space or the natural world on earth. This particularly appeals to me.

The awe in which we hold the cosmos together with its beauty and loneliness also make it ideal for poems about love. For instance, "Galactic Collision", one of my favourites, is about the virtually catastrophic fusing of two people in love with each other. The comparison of a human heart to a black hole is amazing, bold and apt: after all, a black hole is so powerful that nothing -- not even light -- can escape it. And true, deep love, draws us in and won't let go. She then goes on to underline this by going to the other end of the scale: light ("black hole/ expanded into a cartwheel blaze"). Love it.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, on the other hand, explores the inner recesses of the human world: the heart, the mind and the home, neatly complementing and counterpointing Ball's macroscopic world-view (or should that be "universe-view"?). As they say, "Home is where the heart is".

Howard-Johnson's skill is in choosing original settings for poems that address different sentiments from the expected. It is also evident in  her relaxed style, which cuts to the emotional crux of her works in a simple yet elegant way and embraces the real issues rather than the simplistic pseudo-sentiments of most commercial greetings cards. For example, the bittersweet "Dreaming Lilacs", primes the reader to expect a poem about intoxicating, fulfilled love through its vivid evocation of place and utilisation of all the reader's senses ("It's you who had me dreaming lilacs,/ breathing April's sweetest tears, tasting sugared lemon rinds,"), then reveals that it is really about expired or unrequited love ("... As if you/ were with me,/ as if you loved me."). Brilliant.

All in all, a superb collection: different yet not totally unfamiliar.

Roll on the next collection!

Mark Logie,

award-winning poet & short-story writer;

Author of "On the Road to Infinity" & "You Have No Power Over Me"
4434216
Each book captured the imagination and heart of this reader.  Whether placed in a large city, small town or in the middle of nowhere, love can be found.  No x rated tales, just good hope inspiring stories.
3725790
I just loved the story line. I love reading about any kind of interracial love. Love has no racial boundaries. Only people do.  Keep typing books like these out.
2388239
There are times when precisely what you most need is right there in front of your nose all along.  George and Libby both face dilemmas.  George is facing the dating scene once again  and considering that hes newly divorced, he has no clue as to what women want  from him.  Libby is famous for her magically woven Christmas romance stories.  As it happens, shes not feeling any magic this year  at all.

But what kind of magic could be conjured by putting these two together even if it is only for practice and inspiration.

Since Libby and George are neighbors, it seems the most natural thing for them to help each other out.  Libby can guide George back into the single scene by letting him be comfortable and practice by dating her.  George can help Libby find the romantic inspiration shes lacking this year.  What could possibly go wrong with such a fantastic plan?

Ummm maybe they could fall in love.

Snowflakes on Silver Cove is a delightful Christmas addition to anyones reading list.  The word pictures of the town is swoon-worthy in itself.  I love when an author allows me to see what they see as they imagine their locations for their couple.  And the winter and Christmas magic of White Cliff Bay captured my imaginative heart.  I could see the decorations, feel the brisk breeze  it truly makes a difference when Im taken right there with the characters.

George and Libby are simply adorable.  They are both looking for something that eludes them like a snowflake on the wind, yet when they look outside of what they had into what might be  thats when magic can happen.  I laughed with them, teared up at times and simply enjoyed my time spent with this couple.

If you are searching for a really good Christmas story to restore your sense of magic in the season, look no further than Snowflakes on Silver Cove.  I enjoyed this story immensely and I believe you will too.  So be brave like Libby and George and pick up a copy soon.  Youll discover a solid couple, a lovely setting and a story that could happen to a friend or even you.

*I received an e-ARC of Snowflakes on Silver Cove from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*
3612928
A beautiful and intimate glimpse into a couple's life, Love, Sex, and Other Miscommunications captivated me as a wife, a woman, and a lover.  Easy to read, and absolutely delighting in the moments of raw authenticity on how hard, and beautiful love is.  Intimate moments laid bare in their glorious beauty, acknowledging the difficulties that will inevitably also come.  Finding magic in every day moments, and stealing kisses in the hallway; detailing the transitions of a woman's constant evolution alongside that of her beloved.
2242643
Were dealing once more with a family of brothers, each one getting wedded to the woman they love. This one deals with the youngest in the family, Jamie Quinn.

Jamie gets infatuated with the lovely Regan Macintosh. Shes a little gun shy about love and marriage. Getting left at the altar by your drunken, would-be husband will do that to you.

The book deals with the two as they attempt to negotiate lust, domesticity, house-building and the gentle machinations of the loving, shrewd Ceci. Ceci is Regans grandmother and, in a genial twist on the romantic genre, she is rediscovering love again after losing her husband years ago. The book takes time to outline Regans attachment to this wonderful woman who is having fun again, dying her hair and taking trips (although it comes about because shes getting involved with a man againsigh). Some of their conversations aren't about Jamieanother surprisebut about whats to be done with Maple Point, a lovely bit of land that Jamie wants to use to build one of his Habikit houses on.

Jamies idea of houses for the homeless that can be erected by one person to live in temporarily before going on to more permanent abode is one that appealed to this reader. It occupied my thoughts even when they weren't focusing on the romance.

Jamies attempts to win Regan to his side, confessing his love and letting her decide if she wants him enough to try, were very touching. Theirs is a whirlwind romancetheyre involved less than a month before deeper feelings start to arisebut, unlike the majority of such romances in Harlequin novels, I could see this one working. Neither of them wants the other to give up their lifestyles, even though they will keep them apart very often. They respect and are willing to make room for the other person.

The novel doesnt end with the expected HEA and that, too, won my respect and my wholehearted approval. For a romance that seems more grounded in reality and is refreshingly contemporary in tone, this is one you should try.
3628687
Janet Peerys The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs tells the story of the sunset years of the marriage of nonagenarians Hattie and Abel and their children who even as they reach their own retirement continue to follow patterns established in childhood. Abel is a retired lawyer and judge. Hattie stayed home and raised their six children, the last one Billy a change-of-life baby who was doted on by his siblings and Hattie, though not so much by Abel.

The children have had struggles that mystify their parents, with drugs, alcohol, and prescription medications. They love and resent each other, all striving to be first in their parents affections. Billy is something of a holy fool. A gay man weakened by AIDS and drug addiction, he manages to hang onto life, constantly disappointing his family, but always happy to be alive, loving and approving of his family. He has none of the bitterness and resentment of the others and loves them for their faults as much as their finer qualities.

The story is bracketed by parties celebrating Abels eighty-ninth and ninety-first birthday. Billy falls asleep in the cake at the first one, setting his siblings off yet another intervention. Through the next two years, as both Abel and Billy draw on Hatties love, strength, and support, she feels conflicted, as though love for one robs the other.

Sibling rivalry is an ancient theme, probably because it is so real. Siblings often love without liking each other. They compete for the finite expressions of their parents infinite love. Peery seems to really understand how people can love and hurt each other. However, The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs is a compassionate, warm, and loving story. It is full of humanity and humor. These are people who are good on the fundamentals, no matter how bad they are at living.

I loved this story. There is so much beauty in the story. While I have never loved the vast, open prairies with wheat fields a golden blanket as far as the eye can see, Peery can make that stark landscape into something beautiful. Quietude has never been so beautiful. I fell in love with this family and maybe not in spite of, but because of, their pettiness and squabbling. The authenticity of their competition with each other gives them a humanity that is far more moving than perfect people.

This is a story that will grasp your heart and squeeze it, but not through manipulation. There is no ennoblement by suffering. The nobility was always there, tattered, worn-down, and maybe theres a foil-wrapped tuna can propping it up, but none of that takes away one scintilla of grace.

The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs was released this week. I received an advance copy from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.