Wonderful Winter Reads

One of the gifts I give myself every holiday season is time to read. I've been stockpiling books in anticipation, and the new crop of winter releases has been delivering one dazzler after another to my TBR.

We finally have the fourth Lords of Deliverance novel, Rogue Rider, by Larissa Ione, and it was worth the wait. As I've been following this series I've been especially impatient to read this one, which features the story of Reseph, the Horseman formerly known as Pestilence. Yes, Res is back, although he has no idea what his evil side has been doing for the last three books. He wakes up naked in a snowbank with zero memory, and is rescued by Jillian, who is living in a remote mountain cabin while she recovers from a demon attack. I'm not saying another word about the story because I refuse to spoil it for others, but man, I love this universe and Larissa's storytelling. I really love how she redeemed this protagonist, too. And if this is going to be the last book in the series, which unless there's a fifth horseman I think it is, it's a perfect wrap-up.

Shawntelle Madison wowed me earlier this year with Coveted, her debut novel about a werewolf struggling with OCD. Now that she's released Kept, book two, she's pretty much blown me away. This novel is builds beautifully from Natalya going on a search and rescue mission for her Dad to a series of quests and obstacles and surprises that culminate into a showdown to end all showdowns. You know how we say we can't put a book down -- I was practically glued to this one. I'm so impressed with this series I'm turning into a valley girl; every time I mention it to my friends I end every other sentence with totally awesome, dude.

Linda Howard and Linda Jones have teamed up again to pen Running Wild, the first book in the Men of Battle Ridge series (in my head I keep changing that to Battle Creek. But it's not set in Michigan, the story takes place in Wyoming.) If you love romantic suspense featuring cowboys this is probably your novel of the year. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and have been handing out gift copies to every romance reader I know around town. I think this team had better write faster to keep all their fans happy.

After I skipped reading the last book in Karen Moning's Fever series -- I just didn't want to go there -- I felt guilty. I like the first couple of books and I really prefer to finish a series. As a compromise I resolved to invest in the first book of whatever came next, which is Iced. Karen continues to smash the rules to smithereens by featuring Dani O'Malley, a fourteen-year-old protagonist, but this is not YA. Oh, no, not at all. It's fun, exciting, and reminds me a lot of what I liked so much about the earlier Fever books. I totally fell for Dancer, btw; hook/line/sinker. The story also filled me in enough on what I missed with the last Fever novel that I don't have to worry about it anymore. So I'm back in, and look forward to the next installment of Dancer's supremely amazing geeky coolness Dani's adventures.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it. In comments to this post, name an author or title you're reading this winter by midnight EST on Monday, December 10th, 2012. I'll draw three names at random from everyone who participates, and send the winners unsigned paperback copies of Rogue Rider by Larissa Ione, Kept by Shawntelle Madison, Running Wild by Linda Howard and Linda Jones, a hardcover copy of Iced by Karen Marie Moning, and a surprise. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.