Did you ever have one of those
days? Or a lot of those days? Days when you thought your head would explode at
the monotony of your life? You rise at the same time each day, go through the
same morning ritual, then it’s onto your job. Maybe you’re a corporate drone
and cubicle dweller as I was. Mind-numbing. Boring.
Many a morning as I drove to work,
I’d fantasize about something extraordinary happening to relieve the boredom. I
don’t mean any earth-shattering event, or anyone’s getting hurt. Just something
different. Like I’d come upon a bank robbery in progress and be taken hostage
by one of the robbers. Oh, wait, I could get hurt. I didn’t want to escape my
cubicle-dwelling world that badly. Maybe the robber is really a sexy undercover
FBI agent. That led to other kinds of fantasies I won’t go into. But you get my
drift.
Escape, romance, danger. Don’t we
all need a little of that in our lives? My life isn’t altogether boring, and of
course, I’ll take mundane over dangerous. But isn’t it fun to escape once in a
while?
That’s where reading comes in. It
gives me the escape I crave. As a child, I devoured everything I could find to
read – cereal boxes, billboards, clothes tags. It didn’t matter. If it had
words on it, I was hooked. Reading
opened a whole new world to me and allowed my imagination to soar.
Within the pages of a book, we can
be the FBI heroine fighting a deep secret from her past while trying to bring
the bad guys to justice. Or we can be the ordinary woman thrust into
extraordinary circumstances, caught up in international intrigue and murder. Or
we can go back in history and be a young, unmarried daughter of a duke who
wants freedom from the constraints of the rigid mores of her class.
And then there are time travels. I
love them. Don’t you? I love fantasizing about going back to a time before modern
conveniences and learning to deal with a more primitive way of living. I’d
probably fall apart if I time-traveled, but the heroes and heroines in the
time-travel romances I read always cope with their new environment. And they
find love along the way. Pure escapism.
Paranormal books and movies offer another
hot escape. There are the Twilight movies and books, Harry Potter, the vampire
shows on TV, and the very popular zombie apocalypse shows. Some pop culture
experts say the uncertainty in the modern world makes people gravitate toward
the supernatural. Maybe they’re right. Or maybe the paranormal taps into that
dark part of us that civilization can’t completely suppress. I enjoy reading
paranormal romances. I love witch stories and shifter stories and fallen angel
stories. Vampire stories—not so much. I’m afraid of vamps and believe they
exist.
Regardless of what sub-genre I
read, a good love story is central. I crave happy endings as much as I hanker for
escapism. If, in addition to the romance, the book also has twists and turns, a
mystery, maybe a murder or two, and a ghost, werewolf, or witch, that’s even
better.
Do you sigh when reading a hot
romance and imagine yourself in the arms of that handsome rake of a duke, that
sexy tortured werewolf, that pirate who wants to plunder your charms? Then you
know what I mean.
Do you ever fantasize about
escaping your routine world? And when you do, do you pick up a book and allow
it to fly you to exotic places? I hope you do.
If I feel like going to Regency
England today, I’ll read that book about the duke’s restless daughter. Tomorrow
I might want to sigh over a sexy werewolf. And after that, I may just meet that
hunky FBI agent who’s working undercover and takes me hostage.
What about you? What are you
reading?
To help you escape into danger and
other worlds, two of my books are on sale now for only 99 cents, for a very limited time.
Murder,
Mi Amore, multi-award
winning romantic suspense.
Italy. Danger. Desire.
Murder, jewel thieves and terrorists intrude on an American
woman's Roman holiday; can she trust the sexy, mysterious Italian man who comes
to her aid?
Lexie Cortese is in Rome to forget. The last thing she expects is to meet a sexy Interpol agent who suspects her of being part of a terrorist plot involving a stolen diamond. Suddenly thrust into a world of murders, muggings, and kidnappings, Lexie doesn’t know what to think—or who to believe.
Dominic Brioni’s assignment is simple. Befriend the American and bring her to justice. Only Lexie seems the most unlikely terrorist Dominic has ever met. Sweet, determined, and direct, she faces life with courage and fire, a fire that sparks his protective instincts and a longing for something more—something he allowed himself to hope for only once before.
But that woman betrayed him, and his boss isn’t about to let him forget it. With his career on the line and Lexie in danger, will Dominic learn to trust his heart before they both get killed?
Lexie Cortese is in Rome to forget. The last thing she expects is to meet a sexy Interpol agent who suspects her of being part of a terrorist plot involving a stolen diamond. Suddenly thrust into a world of murders, muggings, and kidnappings, Lexie doesn’t know what to think—or who to believe.
Dominic Brioni’s assignment is simple. Befriend the American and bring her to justice. Only Lexie seems the most unlikely terrorist Dominic has ever met. Sweet, determined, and direct, she faces life with courage and fire, a fire that sparks his protective instincts and a longing for something more—something he allowed himself to hope for only once before.
But that woman betrayed him, and his boss isn’t about to let him forget it. With his career on the line and Lexie in danger, will Dominic learn to trust his heart before they both get killed?
Cursed Mates, dark shifter romance.
Scorching. Suspense.
Sexy.
"What if
you were honor bound to kill the man you love?"
Nick Radford is a reluctant werewolf who’s been fighting the Beast within for nearly 500 years. He’s never killed a human, but the Beast is gaining strength and Nick may not be able to ward off his inner demon much longer.
Nick Radford is a reluctant werewolf who’s been fighting the Beast within for nearly 500 years. He’s never killed a human, but the Beast is gaining strength and Nick may not be able to ward off his inner demon much longer.
Kyla Yaeger is an elite were-hunter with a scarred past. Her life’s mission is to slay the werewolves that slaughtered her parents. Her quest has brought her to Maine, where she’s been summoned to destroy the werewolf terrorizing the quaint little village of Heavensent. The last thing she needs is to get distracted by her mysterious—not to mention hunky—new neighbor, Nick Radford.
By the time Kyla learns Nick is her target, she’s already fallen for him, making her task of killing him that much harder. She is torn between her love for him and her duty to kill her sworn enemy. Nick fights his forbidden love for Kyla, knowing she is duty-bound to kill him. Kyla and Nick must join forces to fight an even bigger threat—one that will destroy all humanity. Only by their combined powers, can they destroy the evil and bring an end to a centuries old curse.
http://www.caramarsi.com
https://www.facebook.com/authorcaramarsi
http://www.twitter.com/caramarsi
http://www.pinterest.com/caramarsi
Oh yeah, I've had many of those 'is-it-ever-gonna-end?' type days. Right now, I'm into government conspiracy entertainment - The Blacklist and Quantico, mainly. On another note, absolutely love The Family. If you haven't watched it yet, you should, but only from the beginning. It's compelling and heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I haven't read much lately. Too busy writing. By the end of nearly every day my eyes are blurry and my head's pounding. That's why I watch scripted TV. It's about all I can handle at that point. Soon as I take a break from my contracts, I'm going to indulge in books again. Rarely have I watched a movie or TV show that's as satisfying.
Hi, Tina. I love The Blacklist. Haven't seen Quantico or The Family, but will have to check them out. On the days I spend writing, there's not much I can do in the evening but veg out in front of the TV with my favorite shows. Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteI"m a reader, pure and simple. About the only TV I watch is Sixty Minutes and Steve Harvey on Little Big Shots. But I'm a non-stop reader. Love reading anything in print. Great post, Cara
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jean. I love to read too, of course. But I'm also a TV junkie. Can't help myself.
ReplyDeleteI love to read but I haven't had much time lately and when I do, I end up doing research. When I read for pleasure, I love mystery, paranormal and urban fantasy stuff. As for television, if you haven't seen Lucifer yet, check it out. The devil has escaped hell and he's one of the quirkiest characters I've seen, lately. My other favorite is Elementary because I'm a big old mystery junkie:)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Paris. I don't have as much time to read as I'd like. I love Elementary. I've been wanting to watch Lucifer. I think the lead character is gorgeous, and it looks like a funny show. I may binge watch it later.
ReplyDeleteHi, Cara! I'm with you. I like a good love story. I'm a huge TV fan and that's how Handsome unwinds. I love Survivor and The Amazing Race.
ReplyDeleteHi, Vicki. Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteLove a good romance. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janice.
ReplyDelete