R is for Reading #AtoZChallenge

This year my A to Z Challenge is all about wellbeing - something I'm particularly passionate about. Whether it's physical, emotional, mental, spiritual or even the wellbeing of my business, I want to lean more! Today it's all about Reading :D

I LOVE reading. I always have. It's one of the best ways to relax. To dive into a book, into another world and live the lives of those characters that have developed in your head. It's magical, don't you think? 

I've read thousands of books over the years and my tastes often change - I suppose it depends on my mood too. When I first started getting serious about books, I guess I was about 11 or 12 years old, I would devour everything I could get my hands on - which wasn't easy considering we'd just moved to the Algarve and English books were few and far between. The charity shop was the easiest option. I read every Jilly Cooper novel out there back then and I learned a few things from her (wink, wink). Then I discovered Sweet Valley High, Mills & Moon (lol) and every book my mother and father owned at the time which ranged from Danielle Steel, Michael Korda (Queenie was one of my all time favourites), Jackie Collins (I wanted to be Lucky Santagelo)), Shirley Conran (remember Lace?) to horror books by Dennis Wheatley and Stephen King! Some of my more unusual favourites included Islands in the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke, Z for Zachariah by Robert C O' Brien, A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

Some of my old favourite reads... most from YEARS ago!!

But then I discovered Chick Lit and I was in my element. I loved the humour, the pathos, the unique quirky characters and ultimately: the love stories. So I read primarily chick lit until another genre presented itself to me: YA. Sigh... I was a grown up but it didn't matter, I just loved the innocence and the fantasy elements of these books targeted at young adults. Harry Potter and Twilight totally won me over. But I never forget my roots and I still find myself reading all manner of genres. Basically I just love a great story, although I prefer a happy ending. I can't be doing with books that'll make me cry my eyes out at the end (unless they're happy tears, of course). I don't mind a bit of sadness in the middle but the end needs to sparkle, which is why I write the books I write. I want my readers to be happy. I want them to close the book and be content with the finale and ultimately I want them to want to read more of my novels! And on that note, have you read any of them? I write YA and chick lit / contemporary romance. Check them out here. A couple of them are FREE you know? ;)