What I've been reading:
Check out my goodreads account as I start posting more of these quickie reviews. Trying to balance writing a story with writing full-length reviews is hard. I'm at about 7K words on my story and I don't want to lose steam. The two weeks of vacation did not help my productivity yet.
Fighting for Irish by Gina Maxwell
A sweet, sexy story with a lot of trauma and pain. The characters were emotional and vulnerable; not all that honest, but they felt emotionally available to each other; warm and caring and invested in each other from early on. I don't really care for all the MMA books lately; this hero's all beat up constantly. The number of injuries on this guy got out of control for me. Like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon - let me just pop my shoulder back in and I'm good - over the top. Maybe MMA fighters really do have this many injuries, but I have trouble thinking fresh bruises, open wounds, cracked ribs, but let's get the sexy on. Aiden and Kat were both integral in helping the other overcome their trauma and I thought the growth process was pretty solid. I liked how caring they were towards each other and even Aiden (alpha guy that he was) was able to express emotion in a tangible way. I found the bum loving a little capricious and whimsical and I couldn't help laughing at the overused cliche - we're as close as we can be, riding bare in your butt. This story was a bit more suspenseful than the other Gina Maxwell books I've read. People threatening violence, stories of rape and threats of sex-trafficking. It might be triggering for some. It was a nice romance, but with all the violence, I don't think I'd read it again. Seducing Cinderella is still my favorite from Gina Maxwell. If you're looking for a good one, I'd recommend that one over this one. 3-1/2 stars
Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl
So, somehow I missed out on ever reading a Victoria Dahl. I think I picked one up ages ago when I was still stuck in my puritanical phase and just couldn't get into it. Now that I've left most of that behind, I had to check out her books again. I found this one at a used bookstore and it looked good. Somehow I ended up with a bunch of romance novels with romance-writing heroines, so I might be going through a phase. Anyway, this one didn't disappoint. It was amusing and fun and very sexy. A very blatantly sex-positive heroine with an uptight hero. It was fun to see all the teasing. But...at the same time, this one had some creepy stalker stuff going on and for the last half of the book I had to keep reading just to find out what happened next. It's an odd juxtaposition to have such lighthearted teasing and sexy interspersed with so much creepy. But I enjoyed the book and I can't wait to read more. 4 stars
Fiancee For Hire by Tawna Fenske
I didn't really need to buy more books, but what can I say; it was on sale. First off, DO NOT start this book when you're eating. The amount of cat neutering details on the first few pages are on the disgusting side. This book had some tears, some playful happy times, and a bit of silly suspense too. I loved the way it was written. It didn't take itself too seriously most of the time and proved that it's ok for books to be silly. There were so many animal details; it was gross but also intriguing. It's the sort of thing you wonder...why would anyone know this? But you just can't stop reading. It gives me hope that silly and zany is ok. The editing was a little iffy in my opinion. A couple times I'm sure situations were mixed up from one page to the next, commas and words were off on occasion too. For the shorter length, I would have expected a bit better. But the story was so sweet and zany. I got a lot of enjoyment from it. 4 stars
What I've been watching:
I finally let my 8yo watch Sea of Monsters. He got through it with no nightmares. Hooray. Also, he kept the sound off for 3/4 of the movie. The boys would turn to me the whole time to ask what's going on. And what can I say, YOU TURNED THE SOUND OFF! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING. But I didn't yell. I only felt like it. Now the 8yo is convinced he could watch the Titan's Curse (if they make it) at the theater and I keep having to remind him, there's no mute at the theater. He has not graduated himself up to either of the first two at volume the whole time, so no I'm not taking him to the theater for number three. Also, I veto'd Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the theater. See above volume issue.
I took myself to see Lucy this week while the boys were in camp. The beginning part was a little iffy to me. The whole terrified female being tortured and stuff is very disturbing for me. I felt like the movie got a little preachy with the brain capacity/evolution thing; instead of being all action movie, it tried to intersperse the action with textbook-style lecture jargon. But I was invested in the storyline, even with the glaring inconsistencies (yes, she can kill without conscience, bang bang bang, they're all dead...except for that guy who could kill her later, she only tortures him before she walks out again). I had a lot of thinking time afterwards on the nature of humanity and emotion. It's interesting stuff. But when I got to the end and saw Luc Besson's name, it all made sense. Ah yes, the movie is the exact feeling of La Femme Nikita (minus the lecture). The terrified female segueing into emotionless killing machine. Yep, exactly. Even the ending had the same feeling as La Femme Nikita - it made sense, but wasn't an emotionally satisfying conclusion. So, I'd downgrade this one for the preachy feel, plus the inconsistencies; but I enjoyed my time watching it. 3 stars, plus a little bit.
Also, DH and I watched the first episode of Season 2 of The IT Crowd. I haven't seen DH laugh that hard in a while. We were very amused. Five more episode of that season to squeeze in sometime.
What I've been cooking:
We were gone two full weeks of this month, so I haven't made much. I got back into the groove and made a big batch of pancakes. No added sugar products (*whispers* except the chocolate chips) and the kids still love them. I've also got a batch of slow cooker risotto on right now. We'll see how it turns out.
What I'm listening to:
Oh man, this video is so 90's. But every time I listen to this song I get shivers up and down my spine.
Gratuitous Sky Picture:
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