My Summer Reads and Recommendations

Hello, I'm Pippa Jay, author of scifi and the supernatural. Once upon a time, I used to spend whole days devouring books. Back in the days when I didn't have to work, didn't have kids, when I could just disappear into the fields behind my home and find a warm, sunny corner to read without interruption. I'd read pretty much anything then, although fantasy and scifi were my main genres. Or once I was older and married with a home of my own and could spend summer weekends just lying in the garden to read, or stretched out on the sofa. Once the kids arrived, reading became more of a luxury. Then once I started writing again back in 2009, not only did my reading time lessen, but my inclination. I found myself becoming more demanding in what I read. In the last year, several books have gone onto my Did Not Finish shelf on Goodreads, because I don't want to spend time on a book I'm not enjoying when there are currently 244 titles waiting on my Kindle. Yes. 244. That damn pesky 1-Click and all the legitimate freebies I see on Facebook and Twitter are just too hard to resist. And my TBR list just keeps growing.

So these days I tend to binge read over a couple of days between edits, writing, and real life stuff. Things have to grab me fast to hold my attention--the blurb and the first page for a start. Most books I'll give a couple of chapters to hook me if the writing standard/style is good. If even that is lacking, then I quit. Because I write mostly scifi romance, and most of my author friends write it, a lot of my titles are in that genre. Last summer I got hooked on a zombie book, thanks to my friend and editor, and another author friend raving about a certain book called Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. I don't like zombies. I don't like horror. But the beauty of his writing, more like poetry than prose, and the fact that his story was different from the traditional zombie caught me. It takes a heck of a lot of skill to make me not only feel empathy for a brain eating monster, but for me to root for him to get a HEA! And now I've read three zombie romances, two by Marion and one by TA Brock (Fatal). I've even written one myself, now scheduled for release on the 20th August - Restless In Peaceville. The irony of that doesn't escape me.

And this year my time to read is even less. I have a scifi romance releasing on the 25th July (Tethered), my YA paranormal in August, another paranormal romance short releasing in October, another scifi romance novel to re-release (Keir), and potentially a superhero romance in October/November. When am I supposed to get time to read now?!

I have a holiday coming up at the end of May - in fact, at the time of posting this, it'll be just a week to go. A whole seven days with my husband and my three little monsters. We'll be staying in replica African mudhuts by the sea. I hope to have some time each day to whittle down that long list of books on my Kindle, or tackle the stack of print editions still untouched. What shall I be reading? Well, I won't give you the whole list. I want characters and worlds that capture my heart and my mind, make me think, make me cry for their sorrows and hope for their HEA. If you want to see what I've read and therefore recommend, please check out my bookshelves on Goodreads HERE. But on my to-read is more space opera by JC Cassels and CE Kilgore. If you like your scifi romance hotter, check out Melisse Aires and Jessica E Subject.

And if you like freebies and want to try out some scifi romance for yourself and find out why I love it so, you can download Tales from the SFR Brigade for FREE--an anthology of science fiction romance stories from eight authors including myself. Find all the download links right HERE. You could also check out this list of cheap/free SFR titles courtesy of The Galaxy Express HERE.

Experience love and adventure among the stars in TALES FROM THE SFR BRIGADE, a free digital anthology of eight Science Fiction Romance stories.

* A space captain discovers the cyborg she loves just might be her greatest enemy.

* A mind-wiped prostitute risks all when she recruits a dangerous stranger to help her escape a terrible fate.

* A prisoner-of-war confronts the comrade who loved her, then left her for dead.

* A space-obsessed physics teacher is kidnapped by a far-too-charming alien.

* An apocalypse survivor battles the biomech-enhanced hunter who seeks to capture her.

* A young artist must choose between her comfortable life on Earth or a war-torn space colony with her beloved.

* A daring thief is on the run from the alien law man who is determined to bring her to justice.

* A widowed rebel leader tries to save the last remnants of humanity, one stranger at a time.

From Earth to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, explore the worlds of Science Fiction Romance with stories from Linnea Sinclair, Marcella Burnard, Erica Hayes, Liana Brooks, Pippa Jay, Berinn Rae, Amy Laurens, and Kyndra Hatch.

Download TALES FROM THE SFR BRIGADE for free today. A TOP PICK by Night Owl Reviews!

The Reviewer said:
"I really enjoyed this compilation. None of them disappointed and most were downright stunning."