Showing posts with label Book Bloggers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Bloggers. Show all posts

BBAW: Blogging Tools & Tips


It's the last day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week and I hope you've enjoyed the posts and hopefully found some new blogs to follow!

Today’s Topic:The world of blogging is continually changing. Share 3 things you are essential tried and true practices for every blogger and 1-3 new trends or tools you’ve adapted recently or would like to in the future.

Out of all the topics this week, I find this one to be the hardest because I think that different tools and tips work differently for each blog and each book niche. I'll share what works for me and you can give it a try to see if it works for you too!

3 Essential Tried & True Practices:

1. Post Regularly - Yes, I'm horrible at this! BUT, when I do post regularly I see my traffic go up and my readers engage with my posts more.

2. Leave Em With A Question To Answer - Give readers a reason to respond to your post or review. Reviews get some of the lowest comments and it's usually because readers haven't read the book yet to comment on! Instead, come up with questions about the trope, what they like about X storyline or plot point, etc. Give them something that they can actually engage with.

3. Respond to Comments - Again, I'm not always the best with this and we are all busy bloggers, but when I do respond to comments I find that those readers are the ones who typically stop by more often and comment again.

My 3 Tips All Have 1 Thing In Common: ENGAGE YOUR READERS!

Now, for the 3 tools or trends I've found recently:

1. Klout - I'm still learning how to use this little bad boy, and it certainly give me credit for knowing about things I've never discussed, but so far I've been impressed with it's twitter tracking stats. What your true reach is with a tweet, how much you engage others on Twitter, etc.

2. TweetChat - I've known about this one for quite some time, but it's seriously awesome for following a #hashtag  on twitter during an event or conversation. Plus, you'll see everyone in real time who's using that hashtag so you can connect with more people who are into the same topics as you are. Likewise, follow certain hashtags on twitter! I can't tell you how much I learn and how many readers and authors I connect with by doing this.

3. Good Old Fashioned Excel - Seriously, recently creating an organizational system for logging print books, ebooks and audiobooks is completely changing my blogging experience. It always me to not only keep track of what I have and haven't read, but what I've posted, if I've emailed the author/publicist, have I asked for an interview/guest post, etc. I'm still getting this all situated, but I can't stress enough how having a system that treats this like a real business is going to do wonders for your sanity.

Again, my best advice - ENGAGE, ENGAGE, ENGAGE.

What's yours? If you're a reader, what things do you think are most effective for bloggers to do to engage with you and keep you coming back and commenting?

BBAW: Why I Adore Other Romance Book Bloggers

Hi there and welcome to Cheeky Reads if this is your first time stopping by! It's kick-off day for Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW)! Cheeky Reads is a book blog that focuses on all romance genres with a few cozy mysteries thrown in for good measure. But I have to say, Cheeky Reads wouldn't exist if it wasn't for other book blogs.

A few years ago I stumbled across an awesome blog called Smart Bitches Trashy Books and I fell in love. Here was a community of people talking about romance! Romance, the genre that the world likes to ignore and pretend it's helping to keep book publishers in business.

None of my friends were reading romance and I'd finally found *someone* to talk to about the books I loved. It helped that the reviews were written with such a fun and distinctive voice. :)

The only thing that Smart Bitches was missing was well...the books I was reading around that time. To be honest, I wasn't reading the latest releases or the same authors. So I would search for other blogs that had read and reviewed those books. I found some, but no where near the number of romance blogs that are out there today.

You can guess what happened right? I started Cheeky Reads so that I could talk about the books I was reading. Like my own personal community of friends to tell "Holy cow you will love this hero!" or "That heroine got on my last nerve."

After creating Cheeky Reads I was amazed at how welcoming all the other bloggers were, especially on Twitter. I follow and frequently RT other romance book bloggers that I admire all the time. They are a fantastic group and it's always so interesting to see if we agree/disagree on a book.

So, I thought I would share some of their Twitter names with you so you can follow them and check them out for yourself! In no particular order here are some awesome book bloggers on Twitter I highly recommend:

@SmartBitches

@Jane_L

@SmexyBooks

@FictionVxn

@Leotine1976

@Season4Romance

@Janga724

@booksmugglers

@JoyfullyReviewed

@BooksandWine

@Lynette2Cents

@booksilove

I hope you find some amazing new book blogs to follow and will stop back by again to talk romance books with me!

Please Welcome The Newest Additions To Cheeky Reads!

Recently I posted that I was looking for a few good reviewers to add to the team here at Cheeky Reads. The blog had been a one-woman show since it started 2 years ago, and to be honest I was starting to feel completely overwhelmed.

I was so lucky to be receiving book review submissions from publishers and authors but as they kept coming I felt like my reviews were getting more and more behind as I struggled to keep up all by myself. That also meant that I didn't have time to make enhancements to the site, create community chats or write non-review posts for our readers. Now, I can say all of that will be coming soon!

I'm excited to say that I had a wonderful response to my help wanted post and I'd love to introduce you to the newest Cheeky Girls who'll be reviewing and posting here soon!  I asked them to write just a few sentences telling you a little about themselves and what they love to read:

Kerrie - I am constantly reading so my partner calls himself a book widower! I mainly read supernatural fiction and classics, but I'm am really looking forward to branching out into different genres. My fav authors are Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine and Jane Austin. I hope you like my ramblings!

Lauren - I've had my nose in a book since before I can remember, which motivated me to obtain my Bachelor's degree in English.  I remember my first romance novel - Christina Skye's Overboard - and I still have the battered copy on a bookshelf that I read every summer.  I also love Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, and Regency Romance.  Some of my favorite authors are Nora Roberts, Joanna Lindsey, and Kim Harrison...and unfortunately for anyone who has ever helped me move, I buy and keep almost every book I read.  I hope you enjoy my insights into the little worlds we call books. 

Meagan - I love to read and will read almost anything! My favorite genres are: romance, fantasy/sci-fi, young adult, paranormal, and I do read contemporary/literary fiction as well. I am the type of reader that reads just about anything you put in front of me. And I generally like it. Some of my favorite authors are: J.D. Robb, Anne Bishop and Laurell K. Hamilton. These are the ones I can think of right now, and only because I follow their series religiously!

Sharon - I have always loved to read, romance books in particular, any kind of romance, historical, modern, fantasy and everything in-between. Kathleen Woodiwiss is my all time favorite author and I really miss her. I think e-books are incredible because I like having a whole library with me at all times rather than just a single book.

Vicky - I love to read paranormal romance but I also really enjoy contemporary romances, UF and cowboys! I'm a big fan of a series as I enjoy getting to know all the characters as the series goes on. My favourite authors are Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lauren Dane and Dana Marie Bell to name just a few! 

Welcome Ladies - I'm so glad to have you as part of the team!

You'll start seeing reviews and posts from these ladies very soon and I hope you'll give them a warm welcome and chat with us!

A Comment Is All It Takes - Help Blogger Limecello Raise $$$ For Charity

Awesome Blogger Limecello is holding her 2011 Social Good Drive, a humanitarian charity drive, to raise funds for Save The Children which is helping with the current drought and famine around the Horn of Africa. Today and all you have to do to help is to leave a comment. ANY COMMENT!

Just saying "Thank you" is enough to help raise money for those in need. You don't have to contribute anything more than just a minute of your time. Less, you can raise money in less than a minute.

AND you could win prizes. Authors are donating books to be given away to commentors who help raise $$$ simply by commenting.

Seriously people - JUST COMMENT! It's so easy. And yet, that $1 can feed a human being starving to death. Just for spending less than a minute leaving a comment on a blog.

I feel pretty strongly about how doing something so simple should be a no-brainer for all of us. So, join the romance community in helping make this the most successful campaign yet. Leave a comment - share the link with others asking them to comment. That's it.

Here's the link to the post by Limecello where you can read more and leave your comment to raise money.

THANK YOU!

Operation Auction 2011 Is In Full Swing!

Some of you might remember when I posted this a few weeks ago:

Fellow Book Blogger Fatin lost her husband this past week to senseless violence. Her blog, RR@H Novel Thoughts & Book Talk are helping to organize an auction to help her and her four daughters. Here is the post from that site with all the current information. I will post any updates I find out about.


From RR@H Novel Thoughts & Book Talk:
Fatin has been an integral part of the romance community for years – she owns and runs this blog, is an administrator of the WriteMinded loop, an author assistant and a tireless advocate for romance novels. She is also a friend to many in this community. On Tuesday, March 8th, she lost her husband in a senseless act of violence, leaving her alone with four children. You can read more about the tragedy here: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9233067/

Operation Auction is now fully live and bids are being placed left and right on Ebay! There is amazing stuff to be found for both readers and writers and I really do hope you'll take the time to give it a look and see if there is something there for you.

Please remember that this is for a very important cause so go bid! Click here to go to the entire Operation Auction store.

I've Been MIA...At RWA!

So the craziness that is The Romance Writers of America National Conference snuck up on me fast and I didn't get a chance to pre-write some posts for while I was gone. So sorry, but being a stand-alone blogger can get overwhelming!


This was my very first RWA Conference and I had no idea what to expect or how open people would be to my being there as a blogger. I shouldn't have worried one bit - it was a blast from start to finish and I'm still recovering.


The best part of the event was meeting all the wonderful authors, editors and agents who love the romance industry and it was amazing to see the support and appreciation shared between all the attendees. For instance, I was waiting in line to get a book authorgraphed by none other than Lisa Kleypas when I realized that the lovely woman assisting her looked very familiar. This woman was unpackign books, handing them to Lisa to sign and also counting those last of us in line to make sure there were enough books for everyone. It came to me all of a sudden - this was author Christina Dodd! I had thought this was a publicist or editorial assistant helping Lisa out, but instead I learned that Christina and Lisa are very good friends and obviously very supportive of each other.


Saying that to Christina on twitter, she says that she just wanted Lisa to hurry up so they could go to lunch but I was there and thought it was obvious she was having fun helping Lisa out. :)


So if you know me, then you know I would totally dork out on a few fav authors. I did not disappoint! Upon seeing Victoria Dahl, I suddenly had no control over my mouth. I just kept talking and talking and talking. I have no idea what I even said. I do know it couldn't have been anything intelligent! Poor Victoria!


I also totally lost it - but this time at least my craziness was coherant - on meeting Vicki Lewis Thompson. She's an all-time favorite of mine and I just had to tell her so. At least she seemed very excited and happy to meet a reader who loves her books - she said I made her day. I hope so!


I can't talk about RWA and not mention all the other awesome bloggers I met. Wendy the Super Librarian rocks the house. Seriously. We met at a dinner put on for bloggers by Carina Press - more on that later in a special post - and I just wanted to talk to her about books for hours. If you aren't familiar with her blog (which I'm sure you totally are, but just in case) go check it out here.


Some of the other fantastic book bloggers I meat were Aztec Lady (such a lovely woman!) the awesome ladies from All About Romance, KristieJ from Ramblings on Romance, PJ from The Romance Dish. There were so many others, but it would be impossible to list them all!

I'll have more to say about my time at RWA in the coming days, including news on upcoming books that caught my eye, more about Carina Press and all they have in store for readers and more details on what's happening with your favorite authors.

So readers, have you ever made a fool of yourself in front of one of your favorite writers? Or did you manage to keep your cool? We want to hear about your own author sightings!

Happy Reading!

Sharing Some Info on the Book Bloggers & Authors Online Conference

Coming up in August there is going to be a very cool online conference for Book Bloggers and Authors to get together to talk books and book promotion. The conference is only $15 for Bloggers & Authors and you can find out more details and register at: http://bbpcon.blogspot.com/

Here are the details from Terry Kate from Romance in the Backseat:

Authors and Bloggers are both working together online to reach out to readers and spread the word about the books we read and love. We all face challenges with online promotion that can be alleviated by working together. By streamlining the process of co-operative work between Authors and Bloggers we can move forward using social media and online outlets to expose more readers to more books.


*** How this Conference works. The Book Bloggers and Authors Conference is an online event. It will be posted on a private Ning. The panels are live audio using blog talk radio. This allows for the interactive flow of conversation as well as allows for callers to ask questions. While each Panel goes on there is a set chat room allowing attendees to discuss the issue together as they listen. These recorded panels are available to listen to in archive during and after the conference.

We have the tentative schedule for the BBA Online Conference with the announcement of panelists to be added soon. Friday Night and all day Saturday August 6&7 radio panels and live discussions. All Times are EST

Tentative Schedule

FRIDAY 6th
6 - 7pm - EST Opening Event

7 - 7:30pm - Fix Your Facebook - Authors and bloggers, Facebook is important. It is an easy location to use for us to learn about each other. It allows you to use links, display info and get together with readers and other industry folk. Get yours set up the right way and get the biggest benefit from having a Facebook account.

7:30 - 8:30pm - The art of the Review - Hear how reviewers approach writing their reviews as well as authors weigh in on what they look for and appreciate.

8 - 9pm - Be a better guest blogger/how to guest blog - Learn what bloggers and readers are looking for. What is important to include when you guest blog. What is the blogger's part and what is the author's/guest's. How to bring more attention to your guest blogs.

9 - 10:30 - Should Authors Blog - A round table discussion on the benefits and downsides of authors having blogs and what other possibilities are open to them.

SATURDAY 7th
11am - 11:30 EST- Opening Panel

11:30-12:30 - Finding the Right Blogs  - What makes a blog a good match for what you write? How do you find them? What can you do to work with them, how to get in contact, SEO and web search secrets.

12 - 1pm - Approaching Authors and Publishers - Bloggers, how do you approach authors and publishers? What makes your blog stand out to them. ARCs, Authors, Interviews, the important parts and proceedures.

1:30 - 3pm - Time Management - Promotion - This is a good thing for all of us in life. We are bringing in some pros to talk about time management and the benefits it can have on your promotion.

3:30 - 4:30pm - Live Events and Happenings - Important to bloggers AND authors -We need to reach out as authors and bloggers - so lets talk about how to go about it. Book signings, conferences, libraries, book stores and more. Where to go and how to go about it.

5 - 5:30 pm - Get your books Reviewed - Authors roll in getting reviewed and why that is important. Is it all on your pub? What is the proceedure and what falls to the reviewers. Discussing why it is important to get reviewed.

5:00 - 6:00pm - Bloggers Working Together - Co-operation - Blog hops, memes, networking, and reaching out to fellow bloggers. Panelists - Rebecca - Dirty Sexy Books

6:00 - 7:00pm - Blog Tours Pros and Cons - Are they good for bloggers? Do they benefit authors? Hear from bloggers, authors, and those who organize the tours.

7:00 - 8:00pm - What makes a Great Interview- Authors Weigh in on what they like to be asked and bloggers what makes the returned answers stand out. Panelists - Ilona Andrews http://www.ilona-andrews.com/ - Stacia Kane http://www.staciakane.com

9 - 10:30 - How can bloggers and authors do it better? Wrapping up the ideas covered during the conference and discussing the future of Blogger author relations.

Carina Press Week @ Pearl’s World of Romance!

Carina Press Week
SO today I’m totally pimping for a fellow book blogger who is hosting a Carina Press Week at her blog that is so awesome I couldn’t pass up the chance to tell you about it.

Pearl at Pearl’s World of Romance (one of my fav book blogs!) hosted a very cool interview with Executive Editor Angela James yesterday, and continues the week with interviews and posts with Carina Press authors.
Like Pearl, I’m super excited about the launch of Carina Press and hope you’ll check out all their launch books here.

If you are looking for books from new authors and a fresh new publisher, make sure to Visit Pearl’s World of Romance this week!

The Traveling Story: The Story Continues...

I was so excited to post my portion of the Book Blogger Traveling Story last week and am happy to announce that (A) was the way you wanted the story to go.



Finally, head over to Twisted Fates Cafe to see how she keeps the story going!

It's a really fun story and I can't wait to see how it all ends up. :)

Book Blogger Hop! Find great new sites you'll love

It's Friday! Time for another Book Blogger HOP!!


Hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books, the Book Blogger Hop is an amazing place to find great new-to-you book blogs. Seriously, head over there and check out the list of links! 

From Crazy-For-Books: ABOUT THE HOP:

In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blogger Hop to give us all book bloggers and readers a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! So, I created this weekly BOOK PARTY where book bloggers and readers can connect to find new blogs to read, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start PARTYING!!

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun! This is a weekly event!

The Traveling Story: A Book Blogger Round Robin

I'm excited to be a part of The Traveling Story. I'm Part 2 - make sure to read to the end and vote on which way you want the story to go. Choose A, B or C and then I'll hand the story off to the next blogger. You've got three days to vote!

Part 1: From Romance In The Backseat

We have all read the books, and seen the movies, and dreamed them up in a passing cloud, but there is no such thing as dragons. Or so Eliza McKenzie thought. Then early Saturday morning the door to her apartment was set on fire. Just the door, one second a normal door, the next it looked like the flaming entrance to hell. Eliza might have been able to rationalize this. Fires happen, maybe arson, maybe spontaneous combustion, she would have come up with something after she climbed out the window and dropped from the second story into the bushes.


The explanation would have had nothing to do with a giant, green, winged, lizard knocking through the door and standing on the welcome mat surrounded by fire. Eliza’s eyes doubled in size as the massive beast (her mind had not come up with the word dragon yet) opened his mouth to suck in a deep breath.

Fire came rushing for her face just as the dragon, yes it was definitely a dragon, was pulled from the room by his tail. The wall shook, the ground quaked, and there was the horrible sound of wood breaking mixed with the screech of nails on a chalk board. The floor gave another bounce then the sound of the hallway window shattering held Eliza’s full attention.

Eliza’s window still looked inviting as heavy footsteps made their way back towards her apartment. The green shape, flashing golden wings gliding by outside changed her mind. Whoever was walking towards her had kicked a dragon’s ass, but hopefully would lack a muzzle full of sharp teeth. After the dragon a troll, wizard, or kilt clad Highlander would feel down right normal. Though if that actor guy walked in and started preaching Scientology Eliza would know this was all a dream.

Henry Howard her somewhat geeky next door neighbor stepping over the smoking door was a bit of a let down. Tall, slender, wiry, Eliza had often wondered how he carried victims out of burning buildings. Henry was a full time Fire Fighter for the city. His moving in down the hall three months ago had actually allowed Eliza to sleep better at night. She just felt safer for no reason, or at least not one she could pin down. Though the feeling now seemed more than justified.

Henry gave her his usual crooked smile, eyes flashing behind his soot covered glasses.

“You still have your eyebrows, or were they singed off? Can’t tell from here.”

The possible loss of her eyebrows was just too much to contemplate. Eliza’s temper began to simmer and boil as Henry calmly used his t-shirt to clean his glasses. “Who the heck are you anyway?” the question forced its way out between clenched teeth.

PART 2: Cheeky Reads

“A better question might be who are you? Since I believe it was your apartment I just had to keep a dragon from making an inferno out of,” Henry quipped with a lift of his brow.

“Listen here mister,” she sputtered as she placed her hands on her hips and tried her best to stand up straight and present an intimidating figure. Ok, so at 5’4 intimidating was pushing it, but hey, a little display of confidence could help a girl through a lot of messy situations. She watched as Henry’s lips twitched. A sure sign he was holding back laughter. No way was he standing there laughing at her!

Poking her finger in his chest she demanded, “How did you manage to chase off a…a dragon? I mean you have to admit you’re not packing any serious muscles. Unless you’re some sort of Superman/Clark Kent superhero? And seriously, a dragon? I think we are both inhaling some serious toxic fumes from this smoke and have lost our grip on reality. Dragons do not exist.”

This time he let a deep chuckle escape at her overflow of questions. “If you say so, but then what do you call the giant, green scale-covered creature I just ran off for you? You and I both know that was a dragon.”

“Exactly!” She exclaimed. “You want to tell me how come you aren’t freaking out about that. And how did you drive him away?”

“Now you’re asking the right questions. I think it’s time we had a nice long chat over a cup of coffee.”

Henry reached out and brushed a smudge of soot from her cheek. Instead of the irritation that had been welling up inside her, she felt a frisson of excitement as his fingers moved against her skin. Startled that she had just stood there staring at geeky boy next door; she backed away and turned to stare at what remained of her front doorway.

“I don’t think my apartment is in any shape for entertaining.”

She met Henry’s gaze and couldn’t help but smile. “How about we figure out something to do about my front door before we head over to Mel’s? Somehow I think a dragon trying to fry me to a crisp calls for something a little stronger than a cup of Joe.”

Walking over to Eliza’s phone, Henry checked for a dial tone and then dialed a number from memory.

“Dek, I need the team over here for a clean-up and containment job fast.”

Eliza watched as Henry ran his hands through his slightly wavy brown hair that was just a tad too long and wondered what he was going to say to his fellow firefighters when they arrived. Had he said containment?

“Yeah,” Henry murmured. “Apt. 303. I must have been right about this one,” he said and then hung up the phone.

“This one,” Eliza demanded feeling her previous agitation start to rear its head again.

“Hold off on that anger until we sit down to have our talk. You’ll have a whole bunch more questions and some issues to deal with after that. You don’t want to waste all your anger on me just now.”

Putting a hand on Eliza’s back, he attempted to start moving her toward the crispy doorway.

“Stop.”

A.) Growing frustrated with the situation and not sure if she should be trust him, Eliza felt her anger and frustration overflow. One minute Henry is touching her back. The next, he’s flat on the ground with her foot on his throat.

B.) Looking up into Henry’s eyes Eliza can’t believe how calm she feels by his side, even as her partially scorched apartment surrounds them. What is it about this man she thinks right before she lifts up onto her tiptoes to press a light kiss to his cheek? “Thank you,” she whispers.

C.) “A girl cannot go out looking like this. Give me five minutes to freshen up unless you want the whole apartment building to think I’ve been the victim of some horrible accident. Ok. They would be right, but I have the feeling this is something we might want to keep to ourselves,” Eliza questioned.

How do you want the story to continue?

UPDATE: You Voted for A - Now head over to Twisted Fates Cafe to read the next installment!

A Little Honesty

funny pictures of cats with captions

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

So if you are a regular visitor to Cheeky Reads you might have noticed that I haven't posted any reviews in the past week or so and that most of my posts have been giveaways or guest posts. There's a reason for that and I thought it only fair to be honest with my readers. I've been kinda down in the dumps lately. It didn't feel right to write reviews for books when I knew my dumpy attitude might have a negative impact on what I would say. I also stopped reading review books during this time. Again, I didn't want my mood to creep into my feelings about a book.

Now, I think there is an interesting side point in this. That is, that it's important to remember that every reader brings their mood, experiences, attitude, etc to the reading of a book. So no matter when I read something, it will always be regarded through the lens of all those things. These are things every reviewer and reader brings to a book. But, this time I knew that my circumstances would affect my reading and reviewing more so than ever before and wanted to be fair to those books and authors.

I'm still not feeling as cheerful as my normal self, which I have to say is usually pretty darn chipper. I do suddenly sense the black cloud lifting and can feel the need to find something awesome to read. That lets me know I can do a book justice again. So, I'm happy to say I'm back to reading and you'll start seeing reviews here again very soon along with great giveaways and guest authors.

Thanks for sticking with me and for allowing me a place to express my love of books. My followers kick ass and I always love to hear from you.

So, what do you do when you are feeling a little blah? Is there something that always cheers you up or helps chase away sadness? I could use the help!

The Friday Blog Hop!

It's Friday, so that means a great weekend ahead and the Friday Blog Hop!

The Blog Hop is a great place to go to find new book review blogs. Hosted by Crazy-For-Books, it happens every Friday and I always find some exciting new blog there. Head over to check it out!

Happy Reading!

You Love Me…You Really Love Me!

Ok, so I know that has been insanely over-used but it’s the best I got today. :) In the past few weeks Cheeky Reads has been shown the love and been given some awesome blog awards.
Huge thanks to Jillian at Random Ramblings for two awards – the Stylish Blogger Award and the Beautiful Blogger Award! Thank you so much.
awards3 Beautiful blog award
You are supposed to pass these awards on to 15 blogs you think are stunning, beautiful, stylish, etc. etc. LOL
Here are 15 blogs I totally envy their design savvy and pass these two awards to:
  1. All Things Urban Fantasy
  2. SciFiGuy
  3. Book Junkie
  4. Book Soulmates
  5. The Bookette
  6. My Overstuffed Bookshelf
  7. The Neverending Shelf
  8. Cindy’s Love of Books
  9. Erotic Romance Reader
  10. Lynette’s Two Cents
  11. The Daily Dose
  12. Fiction Vixen
  13. Seductive Musings
  14. Good Books And Good Wine
  15. Parajunkee’s View 
I’d also like to thank Steph from Paper Cut Reviews for the awesome “Over The Top” blog award!
overthetopawardI’m supposed to answer following questions and then pass this award on to 5 other blogs. So here goes:
  1. The Book Resort
  2. Book Faery
  3. Smexy Books
  4. The Book Vixen
  5. Marissa’s Booklair
These are all fabulous blogs that if you haven’t check out, you should head on over!

Looking For Awesome Book Blogs?

I’m excited that I found this awesome new weekly feature from Crazy-For-Books and I wanted to share it with you. Basically, it’s a list of all kinds of book blogs and what genres they cover so you can easily discover new sites you’ll love.

Head on over and check it out to see if you happen upon a new favorite blog!

Happy Reading!

Book Blogger Pre-Conference Panel: All About Covers

Are Covers Important?

Come hear what industry professionals think. This is a FREE Panel from the Book Bloggers and Publishers Online Conference. The Conference is March 19-20 wth a Special Authors Day Sunday March 21st. Find out more about the conference at http://www.romanceinthebackseat.com/bbpcon.html

Book covers pre-conference panel tonight 8:30pm EST

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/terry-kate/2010/03/13/covers

Authors and readers welcome.

Panelists:
Blogger - Book Junkie - Brande http://myfoolishwisdom.blogspot.com/

Cover Artist - Kendra - Creations by Kendra http://www.creationsbykendra.com/

Publisher - Renee Russo - Lyrical Press http://lyricalpress.com/

Bloggers, Writers & Readers: An Online Conference Just for You!

Book Bloggers and Publishers Online Conference


Head over to the Romance in the Backseat website (click on the image you see and you'll go right over there) and you'll see all the details about the online conference. I'm hoping to participate, and I'll have more details on that as we get closer to March.

The cool news is, they've added an author and reader portion of the conference! Sunday March 21st will be Author & Reader Day! Bloggers, Readers and Authors will have time to talk to each other and get details on how we can all promote and enjoy books and authors.

Wednesday Round-Up: Random Romance News You Can Use

There are lots of exciting things going on in romance land lately so I thought I would do a round-up post today.

First off, I'm excited to be counting down the days to the release of Heir of the Dog by Judi McCoy on October 6th! I reviewed the first book in Judi's Dog Walker Mysteries series, Hounding the Pavement, and loved it so much I gave it a 5 Heart Review. Judi herself says that the second book is even better, to which all I can say is hurry up Oct. 6th! You can read my review of Hounding the Pavement here.

If you are on twitter there is a great new hash tag you need to know and follow - #romrev. Started by Sue Grimshaw, the romance buyer for Borders, it will be used to help tag review links posted in twitter. What a great idea!

A while back I wrote a post about the new Lifetime show Drop Dead Diva - if you aren't watching it you are missing out! It's getting better every show and the lead actress is amazing! Today I found this super cute video about Guardian Angel Fred's Romance Rules.

I've added a new feature to the blog - check out the upper right hand side bar and you'll see a list of upcoming guest authors and dates for when I'll be guest blogging at some fantastic sites. I'll be updating this all the time so keep an eye on it. HINT - I'll even be teasing upcoming contests!

For those of you who love a good giveaway - and who doesn't - the fabulous blogger at Book Binge is hosting daily giveaways all month. These are fantastic giveaways with cool bags and great selections of books. Check out today's giveaway and see for yourself!

Whew - enough updates for now. Be back with some reviews soon! Happy Reading!



Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Blogs That Inspire Me


I'm so excited to participate in Book Blogger Appreciation Week this year because there are some truly fabulous bloggers out there sharing their experiences with reading books so I don't have to go out and spend money on a stinker of a read! What's more, many of these bloggers give freely of their time and do this service just for the fun and community of it. That's why I decided to start Cheeky Reads, to have a place to talk to other book lovers about the books that I read.

Today I wanted to mention a few of the book blogs that I love to visit and hope that you'll take the time to check them out!

My two biggies are the heavy hitters of the book blogging world. If you aren't reading Smart Bitches Trashy Books or Dear Author then you are seriously missing out! Each with a distinctive voice and a knowledge of the industry unmatched by other bloggers, they set the standard for book bloggers.

I'm a huge fan of author Heather Long's Book Blog about Fantasy & Romance called The Daily Dose. Every post is intriguing and easily pulls you in for discussion. If you're a Fantasy & Romance fan you should check it out.

Book Junkie is also a great book review site. I like that she tends to focus on small press books and her reviews are heartfelt and read like a friend talking to a friend - exactly what I try to do with my reviews.

I adore Royal Reviews! The ladies there know how to do great spotlight weeks and giveaways. Plus, their reviews are detailed and spot on.

There are so many other book blogs I want to rave about, but I could go on forever so I'll just say make sure you also check out Heather's Reading Romance and Leontine's Book Realm.