I found the write-minded reader group when Jaci Burton officially closed her reader’s loop. I had been on that loop since the beginning, though I didn’t participate much. But I knew it when it was ending I wanted to keep up with Jaci, so I figured I’d check out write-minded. I’ve known Jaci since way back, pre-published days (gasp) which seems impossible considering all the kick-ass books she’s put out over the years.

I figured any group of writers she was involved with had to be good so I signed up and lurked. I started reading snip-its and excerpts and of course started buying books by new to me authors. I will admit I sometimes buy books I never plan to read, I just buy them to support writers. I did that with one of the WW authors. It started out that way, it really wasn’t something I planned to read in the beginning, but now I can say it opened a whole different reading world for me. I have sung the praises of Larissa Ione before and I’m sure I will again, reading Pleasure Unbound, took me out of my comfort zone reading wise. I knew it would but something about Larissa’s voice pulled me kicking and screaming into the story and the world she’s created. I cannot wait for the next books in this series to come out.

I had read Stephanie Tyler and Amy Knupp’s books prior to joining WW since I tend to read HQ Super’s and Blazes fairly often. They both have unique voices and have both created some great reads I’ve truly enjoyed. Sydney Croft is the writing team of Larissa Ione and Stephanie Tyler; I have a couple of the Croft books in my TBR stash and already know I will love them.

That brings me to Maya Banks, well she writes super sexy contemporary stuff (yes my true love) so buying her books didn’t take any thought it was just picking where to start. Since I have no concerns about reading series in order I just picked one and read it and found that she was able to do something no other author I had read before could do. First and foremost reading is an escape, a fantasy, something to take my mind off of everyday life. Secondly, my absolute favorite reads are ones that feel ‘real’ I cannot explain this further I don’t know how. I know that I have discussed this with other readers and writers and have disagreed with many about this. Some readers don’t want that ‘real’ feeling and some do. For me it makes or breaks a story. I think that is why I favor contemporary or historical romances over any other genre. Back to Maya, she is the first author ever to make a polyamorous relationship seem real and convincible for the characters involved. That was her book, Stay with Me. So when I read the blurbette of Be With Me – Three Men, One Woman, so much closer than just Friends. I knew I had to see if she could do it again. More on that in the next post J