2013 Year End Wrap-Up

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone. I know we're cutting it a bit close but we couldn't ring in the new year without a small wrap up post for 2013. Below are some of Thuy and Liv's favorite reads of 2013. Thanks for making 2013 at Nite Lite a great one. We hope to have more posts and fun things to share with you all in 2014. :)

From Liv

2013 was a year of taking my love a reading to a new level.  I started blogging at Nite Lite and started keeping track of what I was reading. I managed to read 37 books over the course of the year and I hope to log in more next year.

Since I am still catching up with books/authors/series, not all of the titles below are from 2013.  However, here’s the breakdown from my year of reading (you can see all that I read on GoodReads, click here):

* 17 paranormal novels (vampires, shape shifters, angels, and more)

* 9 novellas (contemporary romance - 6 were holiday novellas)

* 8 Contemporary Sports Romance

* 3 New Adults (Contemporary Romance)

Favorite Holiday Novella:  A Rare Gift by Jaci Burton - I loved the relationship between Wyatt and Calliope.  A wonderful holiday story with just the right amount of sexy.

Favorite Novella: Try Me (Take a Chance #1) by Diane Alberts - Jeremy is one of those guys who can quickly become a book boyfriend.  And he was so perfect with Erica.

Favorite Sports Romance:  Playing to Win by Jaci Burton - Considering that I watch one football game a year, it seems odd that my favorite sports romance would be about football but I guess football players are hot?! I seem to enjoy the “not really a bad boy” story and Cole and Savannah were perfect for each other.

Favorite New Adult: Long After by Cheryl McIntyre - I loved, loved. loved Chase.  I think I could have read this one over and over again for a week.  Such a sweet love story.

Favorite Paranormal Romance: 

Obsession by Jennifer Armentrout - Hot alien sex?! I loved Serena’s snarkiness and the way she took on Hunter with all of his domineering arrogance.

Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood #2) - One word - Rhage!

Favorite Book Boyfriends: Chase from Long After or Rhage from BDB.

Favorite Series: Play by Play from Jaci Burton and the Sometimes series by Cheryl McIntyre

Five (early) 2014 Releases that I am waiting on:

Hope Flames by Jaci Burton (January 7, 2014)

Fighting for Irish (Fighting for Love #3) by Gina L. Maxwell (January 13, 2014) 

The Cowboy’s Mail Order Bride by Carolyn Brown (February 4, 2014)

All You Need is Love: Green Mountain Book 1 by Marie Force (February 4, 2014)

The King by JR Ward (April 1, 2014)


From Thuy

2013 was a crazy year for me. I read a lot of books though I fell short of my goal of 100 books (I think I made it somewhere in the 80s). But I read a lot of really good books this year and found some new to me authors and series. It was a good year.

Favorite Holiday Novella:  A Kiss Before Midwinter by Courtney Milan - Milan consistently writes well thought out, emotional novellas.

Favorite Novella: Beautiful Bitch by Christina Lauren - Loved this short follow up to Beautiful Bastard.

Favorite Sports Romance:  Seducing Cinderella by Gina Maxwell - I read very few sports romances in 2013 but this one was a fave. Great characters and very sexy.

Favorite New Adult: Losing It by Cora Carmack - This is the only NA book I read this year but I really enjoyed it. It's a very sweet story. I have a huge list of NA books to read next year, including more of Carmack's books.

Favorite Contemporary Romance: Love Irresistibly (FBI #4) by Julie James - I am not a huge contemporary romance reader but I am a big fan of the FBI series. Finally got to see Cade get his HEA.

Favorite Paranormal Romance: 

Lover At Last by JR Ward - I have been waiting for Quinn and Blay's story for so long, and this did not disappoint.

Winterblaze by Kristen Callihan - I love all of Callihan's but especially loved Poppy and Win's story.

Favorite Book Boyfriends: Lord, so many. I'll go with Adrian Ivashkov from the Bloodlines series and Jack Talent from the Darkest London series. Oh - and Curran from Kate Daniels. What can I say? I like moody book boyfriends.

Favorite Young Adult: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - I don't know how she did it but Scarlet is even better than Cinder. Runner up is Dark Triumph by RL LaFevers.

Favorite Audiobook: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - Fantastic story and narrator. Kristine Hvam really brought the book to life and I am itching to listen to Days of Blood and Starlight.

Favorite Urban Fantasy: Magic Rises by Kate Daniels - Gah. Love this series so much and I devoured this one after snagging an early copy at Comic-Con.

Favorite Series: Definitely the Kate Daniels series. I waited so long to start this series and it was just as good as everyone said it would be.

Five 2014 Releases that I am waiting on:

The King by JR Ward (April 1, 2014)

Cress by Marissa Meyer (Feb 4, 2014)

Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews (July 29, 2014)

Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh (June 3, 2014)

Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd (Jan 28, 2014)

Those are some of our favorite picks for this year. Did any of your faves make our list? Have a safe and happy New Years, everyone. We'll see you in 2014!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas...

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you all have a safe and lovely holiday filled with books, cookies, and lots of warm hot chocolate (or your beverage of choice). I can't wait to see if Santa brought me any books this year. Have an awesome day, everyone! I am not going to watch Die Hard because, well, it is Christmas. :)

---

'Tis the Season for Guilty Pleasures

source

Holidays bring out all kinds of emotions in people. It also reveals everyone’s favorite holiday traditions. Whether it is the types of food people eat for Thanksgiving or Christmas Dinner, when you can start playing Christmas music (before Thanksgiving or not until after), how you hang your stocking or what decorations go on your tree, most people have something they must do every year.

As a child, there were certain holiday cartoons and movies that I had to see every year. It just wasn’t Christmas if you hadn’t seen How The Grinch Stole Christmas or Charlie Brown Christmas Special. I still enjoy those specials but as I got older, I found myself getting wrapped up on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon watching a holiday romantic comedy or family movie with a mug of hot chocolate.

12 Dates of Christmas (2011/ABC Family)

Before I knew it, this turned into my holiday guilty pleasure. I am particularly fond of the romantic movies you find on the Hallmark Channel, but I will also search out what movies are showing on ABC Family or Lifetime. Some years, I start early in the holiday season and watch a lot of them. Other years, I am lucky to catch the reruns between Christmas and New Year’s. This year, I started early, really early. Hallmark started running the movies at the beginning of November. I had to get over the fact that these movies started a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Usually I wait until after Thanksgiving to start in on the Christmas movies. Not this year. 

The Christmas Ornament (2013/Hallmark)

What’s so special about these movies?

Christmas With Holly (2012/Hallmark)*

Everyone of these movies - funny or sad - are predictable. You know when you watch a holiday movie that it is going to have a happy ever after ending. When there is no guarantee in real life that there will be a happy ending, it is nice to know that the characters in the story will get their wishes fulfilled, or their damaged relationships repaired, or a new beginning. Sometimes, it is a bit of everything.

Twelve Trees of Christmas (2013/Lifetime)

Each of these movies make you smile, and laugh, and cry, and smile again.

Let It Snow! (2013/Hallmark)

And these movies remind us of simpler times, and small towns, and family, and what’s really important. They remind us that life goes on and that things can be good again.

Matchmaker Santa (2012/Hallmark)

Another thing I love about these movies, the actors and actresses are almost like old friends. I have often seen the same person playing Santa in more than one of these movies. Certain actresses will turn up as the mother or grandmother in several movies or the quirky wait staff/hotel owner/neighbor will appear in multiple movies. I even noticed the same music (and I am not talking about Christmas music) used in two of the movies.

Holidaze (2013/Lifetime)

As we lead up to Christmas and New Year’s, Thuy and I will be posting some reviews of our favorite Holiday Movies and Novellas. As we share some of our favorites, stop by and let us know what movies and holiday stories are your favorites and why?

Check out the upcoming movie schedules on the following channels:
Hallmark Holiday Movie Schedule:  http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/
It's a Wonderful Lifetime/Lifetime Holiday Movie Schedule:  http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/its-a-wonderful-lifetime
25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family: http://abcfamily.go.com/specials/25-days-christmas

*Random note from Thuy that Christmas with Holly is based on the book Christmas At Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas. You all know how much I love Lisa Kleypas. Therefore I recommend this one.

Thankful

Just a quick post today to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful to everyone who reads this blog and to all of the wonderful people I have met through it. Seriously, you guys make this whole endeavor worthwhile. I am thankful for my friends and family, who keep me sane.  And of course I am thankful for all the books and the fact that I live in a place where there is so much freedom to read what you want. So happy reading, everyone!

Now, time to eat some pie. :)

---

Trick or Treat!

Just popping in to wish everyone a safe and fun Halloween. I hope you all have some fun plans. I will be hanging out with my friends and their kid, which should be entertaining. That's my niece in the pic above. She's gotten so big! Kids with pumpkins = cute. Happy Halloween, everyone!

---

Baby, You're a Firework

You knew that blog post title was coming, right? Haha. This isn't a real post but more of a hi and check in. I haven't done nearly as much blog stuff as I thought I was going to do this week while on vacation. Nope, I've been too busy sleeping, eating, reading and hanging out with the family. We went to the beach yesterday where I managed to sunburn the backs of my legs and finish Dead Ever After.  Hopefully I will be posting a review on that one soon but it was pretty good. Definitely better than the previous book in the series and I am glad that I saw this series through to the end.

Hope everyone is having a fun and safe holiday (or just day if you don't celebrate). I am off to pick up some choice films from Redbox (The Great and Powerful Oz and Beautiful Creatures) before we BBQ this afternoon. Promise I'll be back with some fun things soon. Happy July 4th!

P.S. - The rose is a from my mom's garden. It's super bright and beautiful.

---

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

Happy Christmas Eve and Christmas, everyone. Where I am there are still a few hours left before it's actually Christmas. My family does Christmas Day so tonight we're just hanging out and watching Resident Evil: Retribution. Not very Christmas-y, I know. :)

I am still a bit behind on the blog but hope to be back on schedule with a review later this week. Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season, no matter what holiday you celebrate. Thanks for making this year so much fun. Happy holidays!

 

---

thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends. Even though Thanksgiving is a very American holiday, I like to think of it just as a day to remind myself to give thanks for all of the wonderful people in my life.  

It's been a crazy year. I can't believe that this blog is already over a year old (yay!). I wasn't sure if I could stick with it originally but, even though there are challenges and it's a lot of work, it's been extremely rewarding. I love being a part of this wonderful and imperfect community of book lovers. I am thankful for all of the new friends I've made this year (you know who you are) as well as those whose continued friendship makes my life richer and more fun (you also know who you are). 

Thanks to everyone who visits the blog and another thanks if you've ever left a comment. I know we all have busy lives and I really appreciate anyone who takes the time out of their day to visit. 

I hope everyone has a safe and yummy holiday. I plan on stuffing my face with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie (not all at once) and getting my fill of gingerbread lattes. I will leave you all with a scene from Home For The Holidays, probably my most favorite Thanksgiving movie (are there any other Thanksgiving movies even?). 

Happy Thanksgiving!

---

Holiday Kisses: A Holiday Romance Collection - Review

Holiday Kisses: A Holiday Romance Collection
  by Alison Kent, Jaci Burton, HelenKay Dimon, Shannon Stacey

Publication date: 05 December 2011 by Carina Press
ISBN 10/13: B005Z18F60

Category: Adult Romance
Keywords: Romance, contemporary, realistic, holidays, Christmas
Format: eBook, Kindle (e-ARC received from Netgalley)

From goodreads:

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Love!

A man gives the gift of trust and receives a second chance at love in return. A woman helps to heal the wounded heart of a soldier. A couple finds that true love knows no distance. And a young widow learns that there can be two great loves in a lifetime. Love, romance and passion come together in this collection of four seasonal shorts.

Anthology includes:
This Time Next Year by Alison Kent
A Rare Gift by Jaci Burton
It's Not Christmas Without You by HelenKay Dimon
Mistletoe and Margaritas by Shannon Stacey

Stories also available for purchase separately.
103,000 words

Thuy's Review:

I am on a total holiday reading train right now. I've read lots of holiday themed stories (that I still need to write reviews for). I picked this one up on Netgalley a couple of weeks ago hoping for some fun holiday romance and that's exactly what I got. I had a lot of fun with this one and hope you enjoy my review.

This Time Next Year by Alison Kent – 4 stars

I really enjoyed this story story about two very different people who find each other during the holidays . Dillon’s a true hero, a doctor who spent a good deal of time healing people during the war in Afghan. Retired now, he continues taking care of the people on his mountain, which is how he finds Brenna after her car crashes in the snow. Dillon still has a lot of guilt over what happened and what he saw in the war and has closed himself off emotionally. Brenna’s funny and compassionate and, as the week goes on, she gets Dillon to open up about himself. With her help, Dillon begins to realize that he needs to stop blaming himself for the decisions he made and the people he couldn’t save. Only then can he get over the guilt and move on with his life. An endearing and touching romance that had me sighing at the ending, This Time Next Year was a great read.

A Rare Gift by Jaci Burton – 3 stars

I am usually a fan of Jaci Burton but this one didn’t have quite the impact that her stories usually have for me. I liked Calliope a lot. She’s strong and independent and I loved watching her interact with the children at the day care center. Wyatt’s extremely closed off emotionally which isn’t unusual for males in romance novels but, in this case, Calliope’s relationship as his ex’s sister has made him even more wary of pursuing a relationship with her. Wyatt was also extremely stubborn and I wanted to smack him in the head several times. I am sure Calliope felt the same way. When they finally to succumb to their attraction, it’s hot like only Jaci Burton can write it. Though ultimately satifying, this story just wasn’t as compelling as what I usually expect from Burton.

It’s Not Christmas Without You by HelenKay Dimon – 4 stars

This is probably my favorite story in the anthology. Funny, sweet and totally endearing, I fell in love with both Austin and Carrie in this holiday tale about two people finding each other again. Austin is adorable as the (ex)boyfriend with a plan to woo Carrie back to their hometown. I loved his flirty and unapolgetic attitude and he had my laughing with his attempts to win Carrie back. I loved that Carrie didn’t give in to Austin right away and that she fought for her dreams and her career. There are no easy answers but Carrie and Austin work to understand each other in order to have a future together. A story about hope, understanding, and a love worth fighting for, It’s Not Christmas Without You is a wonderful story for the holidays.

Mistletoe & Margaritas by Shannon Stacey – 4 stars

This is my first Shannon Stacey story but it definitely won’t be my last. Mistletoe & Margaritas is fantastic story about love and second chances. Justin’s been in love with Claire for years but kept silent because she fell in love and married his best friend Brandon. A widow of several years now, Claire still misses her husband but finds comfort in her friendship with Justin. Suddenly Claire finds her feelings for Justin veering towards a more romantic nature. I loved watching their relationship at the beginning of the story – the pizza dates and holiday traditions. It’s obvious that they both love each other but they have to deal with the guilt they have about Brandon and moving on. This emotional story about two best friends falling in love really pulled at my heartstrings and I was really rooting for Claire and Justin to find their happily ever after.

I was really pleased with this collection of holiday romances. Anthologies are a great way to find new authors and that was definitely the case with this one. If you’re in the mood for a few fun, sexy and heartwarming stories to read this holiday, Holiday Kisses would make a great gift to yourself or anyone else.

Total Rating

  

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

---

Visit the Alison Kent, Jaci Burton, HelenKay Dimon and Shannon Stacey online.