Vacation Reading

by Bronwyn Jameson

Despite a succession of cold foggy midwinter days, I'm forcing myself toward optimism. Because winter is halfway done...or, if you're in the other hemisphere, the summer heat is halfway done.  We're all on our way out of the extremes and heading toward the enticements of spring and fall.  My favourite seasons.  Yay!

We all have our favourite season(s) and I've been pondering the concept of seasonal reading.  This was driven by the sharing, a month or two back, of several lists of recommended Summer (or Beach) Reads.  This year I garnered at least six new titles/authors for my TBR list, saved for possible purchase for my next vacation reading binge.

On holidays, whether that's a grand adventure with long plane trips (excellent for reading!) or a staycation (equally excellent for reading!), I do choose books that are a little different to my norm.  I want something absorbing, entertaining, unputdownable. Something that adds to the vacation feel by removing me from my usual pattern.  My usual mood.  My usual genre ... that being traditional romance, mostly category or shorter length titles, from trusted authors and/or series.

My vacation reads may include a dark thriller, a family saga packed with secrets and drama, a fun frothy chic-litty comedy, or a slice-of-life told with an engrossing voice.  There may be a once-a-year title by a favourite author, or it may be completely new-to-me, chosen from the blurb or title or buzz.

I've included a few covers from this year's Summer/Beach Reading recommendations and a couple of new titles by author favourites.  Have you read any of these?

Do you read different genres or types of books when on holidays?  

What does the term "Beach Reads" conjure up (apart from sand between the pages or sunscreen smeared on your Kindle screen)?

Sunday Smooch with Kandy Shepherd

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from Kandy Shepherd but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Tammy Y.


Can you please contact Amy Andrews at 

 amy(at)amyandrews(dot)com(dot)au

 to receive your copy of  Swept Away by the Seductive Stranger



And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Heart of the Bay

Their hearts are leading them...to home and to love.
 The Dolphin Bay trilogy: The Summer They Never Forgot, The Tycoon and the Wedding Planner, A Diamond in Her Stocking.

Scene set-up: There are three linked novels in Heart of the Bay all set in the fictional rural town of Dolphin Bay on the  south coast of New South Wales, Australia. This smooch is from the first story, The Summer They Never Forgot.

On her thirtieth birthday, running from betrayal, Sandy Adams has on impulse returned to Dolphin Bay the small coastal town where she spent her happiest teenage vacation ever with gorgeous, carefree surfer dude Ben Morgan.

Ben was her first love but thanks to interference from their families their romance never progressed. Twelve years later she finds a very different Ben, scarred both physically and emotionally from a tragic accident. The attraction is still as strong as ever but the barriers stopping them from taking a second chance seem insurmountable.

Sandy is in town for a few days to help out his injured aunt but Ben has made it very clear that there can be nothing more between them. At sunrise when she is walking along the beach she encounters him body surfing. Against all caution and common sense she waits for him on the beach.

Throwing driftwood for his dog Hobo they accidentally collide. Ben examines Sandy’s head for bumps to find she’s uninjured. But they’re close, so closer, closer than they’ve been for twelve years…

Smooch  - 
“His big, scarred hands moved from her scalp to cradle her face. He tilted her head so she was forced to look up into his eyes. For a long moment he searched her face.

‘I don’t want to hurt you, Sandy,’ he said, his voice hoarse.

She knew he wasn’t talking about the collision. ‘I realise that, Ben,’ she whispered.

Then, with her eyes drowning in his, he kissed her.

She was so surprised she stood stock-still for a moment. Then she relaxed into the sensation of Ben’s mouth on hers. It felt like coming home.

When Ben had lifted his head from the wave and had seen Sandy standing on the beach, it had been as if the past and the present had coalesced into one shining moment. A joy so unexpected it was painful had flooded his heart.

And here he was, against all resolutions, kissing her.

Her lips were warm and pliant beneath his. Her breasts were pressed to his chest. Her eyes, startled at first, were filled with an expression of bliss.

He shouldn’t be kissing her. Starting things he could not finish. Risking pain for both of them. Bit those thoughts were lost in the wonder of having her close to him again.

It was as if the twelve years between kisses had never happened.

He twined his hands in her shiny vanilla-scented hair, tilted her head back as he deepened the kiss, pushed against her lips with his tongue. Her mouth parted to welcome him, to meet the tip of his tongue with hers.

She made a small murmur of appreciation and wound her arms around his neck. His arms slid to her waist, to the smooth, warm skin where her top stopped, drawing her close. He could feel her heart thudding against her chest.

He wanted her. She could surely feel his arousal. But this wasn’t just about sex. It had always been so much more than that with Sandy.

The world shrank to just him and her, and the surf was a muted pounding that echoed the pulsing of their hearts, the blood running hot through his veins.”

What's your favourite setting for a romantic getaway? Beach? Country? Snow? Or somewhere else entirely!  For a chance to win a paperback copy of Heart of the Bay (worldwide) please make a comment!

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a special Christmas Message from Bronwyn Jameson will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver
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