My Favorite Podcasts & A Few Updates

It's been a busy week over here. I'm writing, writing, writing, which means I'm a little behind on everything else. :) But I wanted to pop up this afternoon to share a few things.

One, next Tuesday is release day for the Loving on the Edge novella boxed set! This is a set of all four Loving on the Edge novellas rolled into one. That's a lot of content, y'all, because I write long ass novellas. So I hope you'll grab a copy!

Next up, I've been reporting in on my choices each month from the Book of the Month club. So here's what I grabbed this month. In addition to the new release choices, they also offer some hand selected bonus choices of older books. So the first one I'm tackling, Ready Player One, is one of those. The premise grabbed me right away. It's the year 2044 and we're all living our lives through a video game (which frankly doesn't seem that far fetched with how we are with our phones now.) But the inventor of the video game dies and leaves behind a contest to win his billions. Players have to figure out a puzzle in the game to win, and the puzzle is all about 1980s references. So being a child of the 80s, I'm loving that.

If you're interested in checking out the Book of the Month club, you can get 30% off with my link and a free tote bag. (That's an affiliate link but it gets you a discount and me extra books, so win-win.) :)  

Next, I know I'm behind the curve on this one, but I've recently discovered the joy of podcasts. I generally try to avoid talk radio, especially with this insane election season, but I love information and learning new things, so podcasts are a great option because there's no news and minimal commercials. Also, you can pick specifically what you want to hear about and listen on your own schedule. I find them soothing to listen to while I get ready for the day or do dishes. And like I said, I'm still new to this, but here are some of the ones I've been enjoying. (Be warned, I'm a junkie for productivity, self-improvement, books, and writing, so these choices will reflect that.)

1. Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Y'all already know I love her books and have gotten a lot out of them. Her podcast sticks to her topics of happiness and habits, but goes more in depth. She does the podcast with her sister and they're a good team. Fun to listen to and helpful.

2. 10% Happier with Dan Harris

Like I mentioned earlier this week, I recently read Dan's book on meditation for skeptics and it really clicked with me. His podcast brings in interesting people who speak on the topics of meditation and happiness. 

3. Beyond the To List

This is more productivity focused but covers a range of different aspects. I've only listened to a few so far but I've enjoyed them.

4. This is Your Life with Michael Hyatt

This is another productivity one, and though it focuses on leadership and business stuff, Hyatt comes from a publishing background, so I find a lot of the advice helpful even though I work from home in a creative profession and not in an office.

5. The Minimalists

Minimalism has fascinated me for a few years now. I wouldn't call myself a minimalist yet, but I take lessons from it and try to apply it to my life. two years ago I did a full gutting of my house because of minimalism, lol. And recently after watching their documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, I ended up with three large garbage bags of clothes to give to Goodwill (even though I'm not even a clothes person and should never had had that much!) So I find listening to them helps re-inspire me when I fall off the wagon a bit. This is especially good stuff to listen to as we go into the holiday season.

6. Smart Podcast, Trashy Books

If you're familiar with the book review site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, this one will be familiar to you. If you love the website, you'll love the broadcast. All about romance reading. :)

7. Magic Lessons by Elizabeth Gilbert

I read Big Magic at the beginning of this year and got a lot out of it. The book was about living a creative life without fear. This podcast is more about the things covered in the book with interviews and special guests.

So how about you, are you a podcast listener? Have any recommendations? 

The Loving on the Edge Novella Boxed Set will be here in October!

Want to catch up on all of the Loving on the Edge novellas? Get FOUR of them all in one place, and these are not short stories. Lots of pages! And you get a little bit of everything: married couple romance, a menage romance, a m/m romance, and an dominant woman/submissive man romance. :)

*These can be read as standalones and don't require that you've read the other Loving on the Edge books. However, Forever Starts Tonight is direct follow-up to Melt Into You so if you *do* plan to read Melt Into You, read that first or you'll get spoilers. :)

Coming OCTOBER 18, 2016 but available for pre-order now!

From the New York Times bestselling author of Crash Into You comes four previously published Loving on the Edge novellas, together for the first time... 

In Still Into You, married couple Seth and Leila head to The Ranch, a resort where any sexual fantasy can be had. Seth hopes to put the spark back in their marriage and to show Leila why he’s the only man for her...

In Forever Starts Tonight, two Dominant men and one submissive woman attempt to jumpstart their relationship with a getaway at a mountain cabin. When they get snowed in, however, the heat between them reaches a fever pitch, and secrets come out...

In Yours All Along, two men, Devon and Hunter, shared a hot night in college, but an accident tore their relationship apart. Four years later, Hunter is a professional baseball player, engaged to a woman, and in Devon’s bar. Neither man can get that one night off their minds...

In Break Me Down, Samantha Dunbar and sexy executive Gibson Andrews are Dominants, and according to Gibson, that makes them incompatible. But after an attack shakes Sam to her core, Gibson finds himself unable to let her go...

PRE-ORDER THE BUNDLE:  Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

Need a fun October Read? Her Halloween Treat by Tiffany Reisz

It's almost October and that's one of my favorite times of the year. We don't get much Fall here in Dallas, but the two or three weeks we do get, I cherish. And as soon as October starts, I start thinking about Halloween. Not so much because I'm all that into the day itself, but because of all the things that come with it. Cooler weather, horror movies on TV, that signal that the holiday season is starting. Love it.

So this weekend (when it was still 90 degrees outside--ugh), I picked up Tiffany Reisz's Her Halloween Treat. It turned out to be the perfect read to get me in the mindset for fall--particularly because it's set in Oregon (the part of the country where I eventually want to live). But beyond the Halloween theme and fall mood, the book was a really fun, sexy read. I always enjoy the humor in Tiffany's books. The characters in the story are people who sound like my friends, which I love. 

So if you're looking for a quick, funny, steamy read, this one's a good choice. Plus, it's worth reading for all the 80s and 90s references alone. ;)

(Disclosure: I know Tiffany and we share an agent, but she didn't ask me to review this book and I purchased my own copy.)

About the book:

Trick…or wicked treat! 

It was a devastating dirty trick—Joey Silvia just found out her boyfriend of two years is married. What. A. Dick. Joey knows her best chance to get over one guy is to get under another. Of course, heading home to her family's remote cabin in Oregon poses some challenges in the "available men" department…until she discovers this cabin comes with its own hot handyman! 

Holy crap, Chris Steffensen. When did her brother's best friend turn into a hard-bodied pile of blond-bearded hotness? He's the perfect Halloween treat—and a surprisingly dirty rebound guy. For a couple of weeks, anyway. Except that Chris has other ideas…like proving to Joey that this blast from the past is a whole lot more than a naughty Halloween hookup.

Grab a copy: Amazon | B&N | Kobo

A Screw-With-Your-Head Read: All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

I was supposed to do a lot of things yesterday. House cleaning. Laundry. Run errands. Instead, I spent most of the day immersed in this book and only managed to go grocery shopping so we wouldn't starve this week. 

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood was one of my Book of the Month Club choices. It was actually a pick from last month (but you can choose old picks). I didn't get it the first time around because I wasn't sure I wanted to read the subject matter. But then I saw a number of people (whose reading tastes generally align with mine) recommending it, so this month I grabbed it.

I'm glad I did. This was one compelling read.

First, a warning. This is not an easy book to read. It doesn't hold back and is very dark. However, at its heart, there's also love. Love that will leave you with uncomfortable mixed feelings most likely. But isn't that the best part of a well-written book? It leaves you thinking. It leaves you questioning your own feelings about the story and the characters.

I won't go too deep into the plot, but I know most of you who are reading this are romance readers, so if you want to know if this is a happy ending or not, scroll to the bottom of the post to see under the spoiler heading. If you don't want to be spoiled. Avoid that. :)

I'm still processing my own feelings about this book, but I think my biggest takeaway is that we can't ever know what it's like to be in someone else's shoes. We make judgments. We know what's right unequivocally. Or we think we do. But is it always so cut and dried? I don't know. Hence the uncomfortable feelings.

It made me think about my days as a social worker. I did therapy with middle school aged children from very difficult backgrounds. Some had seen and been through so much, I could barely wrap my head around it. So reading about Wavy, I couldn't help but think, I met girls like her. Thirteen year olds who'd walk in my office with the eyes of a hardened adult. Ones who would often get involved with boys much older than them. They'd grown up too fast because they'd had no other choice. It was do that or not survive. Did they make bad choices? Often. Could I blame them? No. Would I have reported Wavy and Kellen to the police if she'd walked in my office? Absolutely. I did that very thing a number of times in that job. And I'd still do it every single time without pause if I were still doing that job.

So if I were in this book, I'd be one of the antagonists (like her aunt.) But the story made me root for Wavy and Kellen. So...yeah. It's a book that effs with your head. That's one reason I read dark books. I don't mind a book messing with my lines. Fiction gives a space for that. But I also know that's not for everyone. So, you've been warned. : )

But if you decide to pick it up, you're going to get one hell of a read. 

Here's the blurb:

A beautiful and provocative love story between two unlikely people and the hard-won relationship that elevates them above the Midwestern meth lab backdrop of their lives.

As the daughter of a drug dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. It's safer to keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight. Struggling to raise her little brother, Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible adult around. Obsessed with the constellations, she finds peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until one night her star gazing causes an accident. After witnessing his motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold.

By the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery. When tragedy rips Wavy's family apart, a well-meaning aunt steps in, and what is beautiful to Wavy looks ugly under the scrutiny of the outside world. A powerful novel you won’t soon forget, Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things challenges all we know and believe about love.

Grab a copy or you can still get it through Book of the Month Club (sign up with my link and code REFER 50 and get 50% off a three month membership.) I have to say the hardback version is lovely. Gorgeous cover and that nice soft feel to the jacket. (Yes, I pet my books. Don't you? ;) )

Has anyone else read this? What books have you read that screwed with your head or made you question your feelings?

SPOILER! SPOILER! 

This book has a positive ending. You have to go through hell to get to it though. :)

My Deep Love for Book Mail: The Book-of-the-Month Club

I don't have to state here that I'm a book nerd. There's not much I love more than a new book. But recently I realized that there is something super comforting and nostalgic about certain book acquisition methods.

First one that clearly comes to mind is going to the library. I would venture to say that most of us who love books discovered this love in the library first. We were the kids who would beg to go pick out new books every week or two. I can still remember browsing the shelves and desperately hoping they had the next installment of the Wrinkle in Time series but then also finding three other things I HAD to have too. I still get that warm fuzzy feeling walking through stacks in the library. 

Next is bookstores. I grew up with Waldenbooks and B. Dalton like I'm sure many of you did. No trip to the mall was complete without a trip to the bookstore (and the record store, lol.) And I still love walking through a B&N or small bookshop. It's just comforting to be surrounded by so many books.

But in addition to library visits and bookstores, I realized this week when kidlet came home with his Scholastic Books flyer from school that those book orders were where I first fell in love with book mail. I would skim through all those colorful pictures of new books and want them all. My mom would always buy me something even when I know her budget had to be super tight, and then I'd have that lovely wait until they came in. They used to stack the orders on the teachers desk but wouldn't give them out until the end of the day. I can remember being so excited that one of those packages was mine. New books!

Book mail was special. It was the promise of new stories, new worlds, new adventures. 

And though I get book mail constantly now with my Amazon Prime membership, that doesn't feel the same. I still get excited when a book arrives, but it's packed in there with my Lara bars and coffee filters or whatever, lol. It's less of an experience, more of a utilitarian method of receiving something.

But then I discovered the newly revamped Book of the Month club. It's been around for almost 100 years but was recently acquired by someone new and they changed a lot. Instead of mail order catalogs, everything is handled online with a very simple and streamlined process. I saw it mentioned on a blog somewhere and they had a discount code for a trial period. Even though it was books that are normally outside my typical reading zone and I rarely buy hardcover books, I thought--what the hell, I'll try it out.

And you know what? I LOVE it. It's brought back some of the ritual of book mail for me. You get to anticipate which books they're going to select each month (there are 5 picks each month and you can also choose from previous picks). It's like--ooh, it's the first of the month, I get to see what they've selected! And then you choose your book (or more if you want, which you get at a significant discount) and then they arrive in lovely packaging with a notecard from the judge describing why they selected it. Usually there's some little extra in there, too--a curly straw for summer, a wine koozie, etc. It's special. And I realized it has brought back that book mail feeling I used to get from the school orders. Plus, I've discovered this new love for hardbacks. Weird.

Here are this month's picks. I chose the Amy Schumer book and I added All the Ugly and Wonderful Things from the previous month because I've seen it recommended by a few people and need to read it.

Now, if you're interested in this, I do have a referral link that will get you a 50% off discount. I'm passing that along. If you want to get in for the September selections, they let you choose up until Sept. 15. Here are the details:

As a BOTM member, you'll choose from 5 new literary gems each month - powerful,  immersive books that you might not have heard of otherwise. We'll deliver your choice right to your doorstep. Use invitation code REFER50 for 50% off a 3-month membership. Join today and discover a better way to read.

And yes, that is a referral link which earns me extra books, but as I've mentioned before, I don't promote anything here that I'm not genuinely enthusiastic about. Plus, this one is a win-win because you get a great discount. :)

So now I want to hear from you. Anyone else nerd out about book mail? And what rituals/memories do you have near and dear to you about getting books? I'd love to hear them!

*In case you missed it, I have a new release this week! Grab your copy of Loving You Easy! :)