Linking up with I Will Bloom for Fab-ruary…A month of blog challenges to help you ‘find the fab’.

Books!!  You had me at books.  I hate to say it, but I did not like to read at all growing up.  In fact I hated to read. (that was actually hard to type, lol).   All during high school, I used Cliff notes for every book we had to read.  Except one.  I was a sophomore in high school, and we were assigned to read S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders.  This one only kept my attention because also that year, the movie came out, with a cast including some of the 80’s heartthrobs:  C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillion, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez and Rob Lowe.  It was a good story, and I did finish the book.

It was probably about 13 years ago that I began reading, and really enjoying it.  The more I read, the more I loved to read.  I especially enjoy reading books that are in a series.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Nikki Heat Series by Richard Castle.  This particular series is so clever, and they are well written.  It is based on the show Castle (one of my favorites).  In the show Richard Castle is an author, and Kate Beckett is a detective and his inspiration/muse to the books he writes.  I just love that a fictional character is the author of these books.  On the back of the books is a huge picture of Richard Castle played by Nathan Fillion.  The books are usually based on one of the episodes of the show, and are very well written murder mysteries.  I just think this is a very clever marketing tool as well.

The Fools Gold series by Susan Mallery.   Based in a small town with fascinating characters, especially the Mayor, who is female and California’s longest serving mayor.
 

The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy by Nora Roberts.  A detailed story about the renovation of an old inn.  I love how she describes tile patterns and fabrics, and furniture throughout the book, it’s like you are a part of the renovation itself.  The characters are fun too. Nora Roberts actually owns this inn and renovated it.  The Inn is located in Boonsboro, Maryland, and is absolutely beautiful.

Cedar Cover series by Debbie Macomber.  This series is based in a small town as well.  Each book is a different address, which I liked, and the first number of each address is the order in which it falls in the series.  I just like little details like that. 🙂  This was made into a series on the Hallmark channel, and I thought would be really good.  But I didn’t like who they chose to play the main character.  The stories are very good.

Friday Harbor Series by Lisa Kleypas.  This is also a series based on a renovation of an old Victorian (LOVE Victorian homes).  I have to share the first line of the first book, I had to read it twice:

The ghost had tried many times to leave the house, but it was impossible.

Very. good. stories.