Finally! The San Francisco Trip Post

Well it's finally here folks! The San Francisco Blog. For a while there I was wondering if it was gonna get up at all but alas, here it is.

Shhhhh. Stop. Listen. Do you hear that? You don't hear anything? Me neither...cuz that's the sound of an empty house! Yeah babeeeez! Kids are at Grandma and Grandpa's for the rest of the week, hubby's gone and having fun looking at old wrinkled biker chicks (yes, I keep telling myself that) and I'm home alone. Omg does it feel wonderful! It happens so rarely I can truly enjoy it when it does happen.

Anywho...So...as most of you know I took a little trip to San Francisco on Monday to meet up with some of my blogging friends and we had a fabulous time!!! You've seen this story a couple of times already on other blogs but I'll just recap and share pics.

So I started putting photos into blogger and kept messing it up so I finally gave up and did a photoshow! lol Yes, I know Lazy meet Tracy. You're not telling me anything I don't already know!

My plane was late on Monday so I had to wait in the airport longer than expected, but I had a book so the time flew. When I got to SFO I called Katie(babs) and she met me down at the luggage carousel. Big squee's and hugs commenced. We talked for a while and let me tell you, she's exactly like you would think from reading her blog! Fun, energetic, adorable! We then went to TGIFridays there in the airport where Alice had been waiting and we ate lunch. Eventually we got to the hotel, met KristieJ (yay) and went to the room where Kristie and Katie proceeded to hand out goodies. LOVE GOODIES. Of course the entire time we were together we were talking books, which I just freakin luuuuuuved!! Nothing like being with like minded women talking about the stuff you love.

We hung at the hotel for a while and then met with Ciara and Sula for a great Thai dinner. We had so much stinking fun. Everyone was exactly like I had pictured them and it was fantastic.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel, found a bar on the way and decided to go in for a drink and of course, to talk about more books! :) Come on! It's a book conference!

Between the bottle of wine at dinner and the cadillac margarita I had at the bar I must have been a little tipsy cuz I only took one picture that didn't come out at an angle and it was Sula! lol But it's a good one! Isn't she beautiful? (you can pay me later, Sula)

Ok - Tuesday came all too soon (with a friggin 5 am wake up call from Lisabea to tell us she was in Detroit. Ok, there's a time differnce...I get it! :)) and Kristie, Katie and I went and got breakfast at Mel's Drive-In. Is it a drive-in? No. It's in the middle of the friggin city - but whatever - there was no lack of customers so they're doin something right. Alice met us and then we were off for our 5 hour tour of SF.

Now the fun began. We started at the Ferry Building at The Embarcadero (have KB pronounce that for you - it's quite amusing! :)) and took a ferry to Sausalito. Dude...two words...wind blown. Holy shit - you get on the front of that ferry and it's like being in a wind tunnel. It was a beautiful day in SF with the sun shining so we could see both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate really well from the ferry. I get motion sickness so I was a little worried about hurling on someone's shoe (not that I told anyone that at the time), but it was fine. Despite the choppiness of the water it was great. Turned out the wind was good for something...blowing the sickness right outta me!

Got to Sausalito and roamed for about an hour, bought some t-shirts for the kiddles and had some great ice cream.

Then came the extra fun part of the day....meeting our tour guide. AKA The Tour Guide Nazi! Dear God in heaven help me from controlling tour guides! lol Now I know they need to keep everyone on a tight schedule so no one holds up the rest of the group but this woman was freakin scary with a capital S, let me just tell you! "You WILL be on this bus when you are told. You WILL not be in the bathroom or taking pictures or holding us up. You WILL be here!!" Fuck! This is a vacaction lady, lighten up! lol Despite the TGN the tour was great fun. We saw a ton of stuff - which didn't even make a dent in all the stuff to see in SF, I'm sure, but had a fabulous time. (My shin splints keep telling me that and I believe them! :)) We did Sausalito, Alcatraz (from a distance) the Golden Gate Bridge, The Presidio, Golden Gate Park, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Grace Cathedral, Chinatown, Lombard Street and a couple other things I'm blanking on but it was great.

So we get back from the tour and take the cable car to our hotel. We're exhausted but we've been keeping in phone contact with Lisabea, Wendy and Rosie so we meet them in the hotel bar and hug and squee and talk at a deafening level and talk, and talk, and talk! Omg - I talk A LOT but I think I talked enough for 2 weeks in 2 days! lol

So KB, Alice, Sula, Lisabea & her wonderfully tolerant hubby and I all went for sushi. It was wonderful. We had such a great time about books and sex - really loudly! Unfortunately I had to leave dinner early to catch my plane back to reality. Reality sucks! lol

I was thoroughly "done" by the time I got home that night...or should I say the next morning. I crawled in bed and thought I'd never warm up. haha. (SF is chilly!!)

Overall it was a fabulous trip and I can't wait to actually attend the RWA conference next year in DC!


Again - so sorry for the delay - I had a horrendous time with photos and power outages and oh dear heaven sheer frustration!

The Pre-Blog Blog

Hey there!

So I got back from SF last night! I was beat today but we had sooooo much fun all the leg aches are worth it. I have funny stories and pictures but I'm waiting til my mom brings her connection to her digital camera so I can download the pictures (my hubby took our camera to Sturgis with him so I had mom's).

So I'll get all that up in the next day or so! :) In the mean time you can get updates on Sula's, Lisabea's or Katibabs and KristieJ's blog. Fun times!

Friday Morning: Ok - having some (ok, a shitload) problems with the pictures so will get it up soon I swear!! grrrrr!

What I've Been Reading This Week

This has been a great week..well, if I don't count today! (lol - nope, not talkin about it!) I read some really good books, which is always nice, and life was just, well, normal. I like normal. I'm kind of a homebody during the week so it was nice to hang with the fam and not have drama.

I had a great time over at DIK this week, too. Sarai will be posting hot menz Mon-Wed. of this week so if you need to drool, head on over. :)

Tomorrow I'm off to San Francisco to meet some great blogging friends who will be there for RWA. I can hardly wait. I won't be attending the conference but I could hardly pass up the opportunity to fly up since I'm so close, even if it's just for a day or so.

My dad came and got the kids for a few days and my husband left for the incredibly crazy Sturgis bike rally in South Dakota. He'll be gone for a couple of weeks so it will be quiet around here.

Alright - first up was a novella called Gone with the Wolf by Loribelle Hunt. Interesting story with shapeshifters, witches, zombies and a Vegas casino. It was ok...let's just say I'm glad it was short.

Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione was up next and I loved this book. I have to say I let it sit on the shelf for a while and when I first picked it up I wasn't so sure about it, but it sucked me in. There were a few issues that I had with it but overall a really entertaining read. Can't wait for Shade's story.

I always try to mix up my contemporaries, historicals and paranormals so I don't get into a rut so next up I chose Never Trust A Scoundrel by Gayle Callen. This was an impulse buy at Borders when they were having one of their 4 for 5 romance book sales. It looked good but it did sit on the shelf for a while before I dug it out. It was really good. I was so pleasantly surprised at the story. It started out with the typical "let me make a bargain with you" type thing that always ends in sex but it was done in a great way and I thought it was charming. Towards the end it got a little too predictable but it ended well and I was very pleased with it. I hadn't read any of her work before but I will definitely be reading more of it in the future.

Into the Shadow by Christina Dodd was my next choice. I read the first two in the Darkness Chosen series but they were just ok reads for me. I really had no plans to read the last 2 books in the series but for some reason I caved when the 3rd book was published. I really enjoyed it. Yes, it had some completely unbelievable parts in it but overall I thought it was pretty entertaining.

Ready or Not by Anara Bella - a novella was cute. Boy thinks girl is a flake but likes her anyway. Girl has had crush on boy forever. It wrapped up pretty quickly for me but it was cute.

Last one for the week was Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann. You thought I was gonna go an entire week without reading a Troubleshooters novel? Yeah, right. I mean there are only a few left! What the hell am I gonna do then? Oh, yeah, move on to her other series! :) This was an interesting story. I thought the romance started off really well, but then it didn't develop as well as I think her others romances have. Still a great book.

Happy Reading!

What have you been reading this week?

Where's Tracy?

What do you mean you don't know where I am? Come on! People, people, people...let's put 2 and 2 together, shall we? If I'm not here I'm usually on DIK. You should know that by now! I'll be there for the next 3 days - July 24-26. I won't be posting here because let's face it, I'm draining my creative juices on those posts and the well ain't full enough to do 2 blogs at one time!

Come play!

What I've Been Reading This Week

Greetings and Salutations!


I've discovered that trying to get your kids in bed/asleep and working on blog posts is not something I should do at the same time. Yeah, I know...it seems so apparent that it can't work, but I thought I'd give it try anyway. Nope, not working. So - another post with no links - sorry! :)

The first book I finished this week...not necessarily the one I started first...was Heart of the Hunter by Tina St. John. I started another book but remembered the TBR challenge and read this one really quickly. It was ok. You can see the review a couple of posts back.




Read Jet Mykles' Tech Support. Really liked this novella. I hadn't read her before but I like the way she writes very much and am looking forward to reading more of her work.


Charlie's Bargan by Evangeline Anderson was next. Strangely enough the man in this story was considered "alien" but since it was sci-fi and they were already on another planet, did it bother me like the book below? Not at all. huh. Pretty good short erotica story. The wording on a few things was odd, but hey - it's sci fi.




Finished Season of Strangers by Kat Martin (the first book I started...see above). Review below this one. Alien Abductions - all I'm sayin.



Dangerous Ground by Josh Lanyon was next. Great little novella - enjoyed it a lot. Want to read more about these characters.






My love affair with Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters continued with Breaking Point. Oh my lord I loved this one! Just so good. I really love how she follows up with characters from previous books and there's always 3 or more stories going on at the same time. Loved it.



Mistress to the Beast by Eve Vaughn...funny name. Modern day beauty and the beast. It was ok. Not great, not horrible. Silly trivia...my grandma's maiden name was Vaughn and I always thought if I ever wrote books (which will never happen) that I'd want my pen name to be Vaughn. Now do I have to think of a catchy first name that starts with a J? :)




Lastly...Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward. Ok, I know this is like the 3rd time I've read it but it was calling to me! lol I just love this story - so stinking good. Simple parts of the book just get to me. Rhage in Mary's house after their date and she tells him he's really good friend material and he's so floored...in a good way. Or when John Matthew's having dinner with Wellsie and Tohr for the first time and Wellsie automatically gives JM the bowl of rice with the ginger. He's so moved that they understand him, and his stomach is full for the first time in his life. I won't even mention the end that tears me up every time. Yeah, I'm a sap. Love this book!

Happy Reading!

What have you been reading this week?

Review: Season of Strangers

TITLE: Season of Strangers
AUTHOR: Kat Martin
SERIES: No, but it is one of her paranormal books about ordinary women having extraordinary experiences.

REASON FOR READING: I read a blurb at The Book Binge and it looked interesting so I bought it. It sat there for a couple of weeks but it kept calling to me so I finally gave in.

SUMMARY: (From Goodreads)

Dedicated, driven real estate agent Julie Ferris is enjoying a day at the beach with her sister Laura when a strange, almost undetectable charge fills the air. Then, under the hot Malibu sun, time stops altogether.

Neither sister can explain their "lost day"—nor the blinding headaches and horrific nightmares that follow—but Julie chalks it up to the stress she's been under since her boss's son took over Donovan Real Estate.

Patrick Donovan would be a real catch if not for his notorious playboy lifestyle and matching attitude. But when a cocaine-fueled heart attack nearly kills him, Patrick makes an astonishingly fast—and peculiar—recovery. Julie barely recognizes the newly sober Patrick as the same man she once struggled to resist. Maybe it's the strange beach experience fueling her paranoia, but she can't help sensing something just isn't…right.

As Julie's feelings for Patrick intensify, she's about to discover how that day at the beach links her newfound happiness with her wildest suspicions.…

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
For me this was a hard book to get into. It was basically about Alien abductions and aliens studying humans to discover more about the race. There were some folks during the years, our heroine Julie being one of them, that were resistant to their mind invasion. One of their scientist end up being “inserted” into Patrick’s body (after Patrick has a heart attach and dies), to observe Julie and to try to find out why she was resistant.

Patrick, who is now alien, cleans up and becomes a different person then he was before his heart attack. Julie, who was always attracted to Patrick is even more interested in this new person he becomes and romance blooms.

Basically the conflicts include a shady deal that the “old” Patrick has gotten himself into by borrowing money from mafia types and the fact that he’s an alien. He can’t stay in Patrick’s body forever so he’ll have to leave Earth and Julie eventually.

Now tell me, I read about vampires, shape shifters, telekinetics, demons, guardians from other worlds, witches and huge cats with wings among other strange things…why do I have such a hard time with Aliens? I seriously rolled my eyes when I started the part where the aliens were revealed. As the book went on I kind of got used to the idea…and when Val (scientist from other planet) got put into Patrick’s body I had absolutely no problem with that at all. Was it because he now in a human body? Hmmm…no clue. These and other questions.

Anyway…the book was ok. I didn’t have a problem with the story, eventually, but I thought the ending was a little too perfect (seems like I keep saying that in my reviews). I guess it’s because what I expect to happen (and what should happen) doesn’t happen it throws me. It just seemed that the conflicts (and there were a couple) were resolved to easily. I think it was more of me not meshing with the authors style of writing. For me the feelings weren’t there. It was a very dry romance. Not sure how to explain it.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again?
Totally new to me. I might read another but only after it was highly recommended.

Are you keeping it or passing it on?
Passing it on

Did you enjoy the book? more or less

Would you recommend this book to others? No. Well, maybe if someone was seriously into alien abduction books.

SCORE: 2.75 out of 5

Anything else? nope

TBR Review Challenge: Heart of the Hunter

TITLE: Heart of the Hunter
AUTHOR: Tina St. John
PUBLISHED: 2004
SERIES: This is the first book in the Dragon Chalice Series
Book 2 - Heart of the Flame
Book 3 - Heart of the Dove

REASON FOR READING: My friend Stephanie had sent this to me a while back and since I needed a book for this challenge that was published 2007 or before this was a perfect choice.

SUMMARY: (From Goodreads)
Ariana of Clairmont would risk anything to save her kidnapped brother, a quest she knows is fraught with peril. Her only ally is Braedon le Chasseur, a formidable knight with a mysterious past, whose scarred face and brooding nature mask a soul filled with pain. Ariana fears this dangerous man and the secrets he strives to conceal—but Braedon’s touch is pure seduction, his kiss a potent lure that tempts her into a passion she is powerless to resist.

Once known as The Hunter, now haunted by a dark legacy he struggles to deny, Braedon lives in a world of shadow and isolation—until he is thrust together with an innocent beauty in need of his protection. Embarking on a journey that will lead them to a legendary treasure, Braedon will be forced to confront old enemies and the stunning secret of his true nature—or risk losing Ariana and the only happiness he has ever known. . . .

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
After reading that blurb for the book the last thing I expected was a paranormal element but strangely enough, it had one.

The book begins with a story from long ago of a mystical world, Anavrin, that is separated from ours. A woman from Anavrin, trying to help an injured man, takes a sacred chalice through the portal of the two worlds, which she is actually forbidden to do. The man drinks from the chalice and is completely healed and taken into the mystical kingdom. Now it is said that if the chalice leaves the kingdom that a terrible ill will befall Anavrin and that a dangerous dragon will be unleashed in the kingdom. The man ends up stealing the chalice and once it is in our world it more or less explodes and becomes four different chalices that are scattered over the land.

This leads into the story…Ariana’s brother, Kenrick, who was a Knight Templar has, unbeknownst to anyone, been doing research on where these four chalices are in order to find them and keep them out of the hands of evil Silas de Mortaine. Kenrick is kidnapped by de Mortaine and Ariana is contacted to bring the research in exchange for Kenrick’s life.

In her quest to get to Kenrick, Ariana meets and is helped by Braedon. Braedon is hiding from something that happened to him previously. Between Braedon trying to keep Ariana safe, save the brother and eventually try to find one of the chalices they fall in love.

What I liked:

*Ariana’s and Braedon’s relationship. Though it started off on the wrong foot I enjoyed the way they interacted with each other. Braedon was rough and tough and had had a lot of pain in his life but he was very gentle with Ariana which I loved. He cared for her deeply, as she did him, and eventually wasn’t afraid to tell her exactly why and how.
*Also, Braedon had these “hunting” senses that were amazing. I enjoyed the parts of the story when he was using them, it gave the story a whole different feel at those times.

What I didn’t like:
There were several things that I has issue with

*First was the fact that the legend from Anavrin stated the horrible ill and the dragon that would be unleashed if the sacred chalice left the kingdom. Neither the ill nor anything about the dragon was mentioned during the rest of the book. It was mentioned late in the book about Anavrin suffering, but it never stated from what....Ill? Dragon Attack? What?
*Next, during the story there were shape-shifters shifting at various times during the story. As freaky as this was to the characters it was kind of taken with a grain of salt and not explained that these were traitors from Anavrin till much, much later in the story. This story takes place in the year 1275 and the fact that the characters weren’t making more of the shifting didn’t sit well with me.
*Finally the epilogue. Ariana and Braedon were being hunted through most of the story. During the epilogue it was a little too happily ever after for me. Don’t get me wrong – that’s how it should have been and I loved how it was written…I’m just hopeless romantic. But how could they now live without fear? Why weren’t they still being hunted? Not to give too much away but they found one of the chalices…what did they do with it? Did they take it back to Anavrin? Just too many unanswered questions.

Overall I think it was a good book. It wasn’t great but it did hold my interest.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again?
Tina St. John was new to me. I’m not sure if I’m interested enough to read the next 2 books in the series. I’m still deciding.

Are you keeping it or passing it on?
I think I might pass it on.

Did you enjoy the book? Yes

Would you recommend this book to others? Sure

SCORE: 3 out of 5

Anything else?
FYI – Tina St. John is also known as Lara Adrian whose Midnight Breed series I absolutely love!

What I've Been Reading This Week

What a nutty week! With my little one's b-day and then the hair/make-up party yesterday...and the camera breaking and me not getting anything but blurry pics on my cell phone...I need a nap! We were everywhere yesterday! Chuck E. Cheese (yes, I finally caved), Sweet and Sassy salon for the "Glitter Glam" party, the mall, the ice cream shop...I could go on and on! All this fun also meant that I didn't read much - which was fine since I was having so much fun!

Flashpoint – Another great book in the Troubleshooters series by Suzanne Brockmann. Damn. It feels like I’ve been reading this series forevah! But it’s so good! I do have to say that although I really liked this story I think it’s the weakest link so far. I truly missed the WWII element that Brockmann had in her previous books and basically we only got a glimpse of Team Sixteen. A little taste of Cosmo (I’m sure in prep for the next book which is his) and just a flavor of the rest of the team, which they didn’t call by name. Tom Paoletti played a small part as well. As much as I liked the characters in this one I was disappointed to not hear more about the rest of the crew.

Magic and Mayhem by Cathryn Fox and Sylvia Day (RAW author) was a cute little novella. Spells, incantations, sex, hot neighbors (just like Shannon M’s)…good stuff.

Tangled Webs: A Black Jewels Novel by Anne Bishop was next. I enjoyed this one a lot. After reading the BJ Trilogy and then the Dreams Made Flesh anthology I was really looking forward to this book. It was nice to see the SaDiablo family again with Lucivar, Marian, Daemon (yum) and Jaenelle and of course Saetan and Surreal. The book started off and I kept thinking that it was all over the place…but it turned out that it all coalesced into a great story and there was a purpose to all the different places it was going at the beginning. Of course I was only about 60 or 70 pages in before I was hitting a touching moment and crying.

Hot Target – book 8 in Brockmann’s Troubleshooters was last on my list for this week. The book was great. I liked all of the many stories going on in the book. I didn’t think Cosmo and Jane’s story was quite as strong as many of the other relationships but I never doubted their love for each other at the end of the book.


Happy Reading!

What have you been reading this week?

The Front Fell Off

Is it just me or is this freakin hilarious???

Is no one watching this? Oh come on! :) It's a minute and a half!



This is actually the Australian comedy team of John Clarke and Bryan Dawe. Very funny.

My little one's b-day dinner

My youngest daughter's birthday was Tuesday, July 8. She turned 6! I can't believe it! I didn't get any older so I know she couldn't have. (Yeah, right)

Anyway, just wanted to share a few pictures from her b-day dinner. She's having 2 friends over on Saturday for a make-up/hair party and a sleep over.





Pre-party messing around






At the mexican restaurant that she chose for her dinner. It was either this or Chuck E. Cheese. Thank heavens she chose wisely. It might have had something to do the look on my face when she mentioned CEC's, IDK.






Opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa.






My oldest daughter who I caught with a chip in her mouth. Photographer extrordinaire I am not.





My dad. Isn't he cute?!! My mom was there too but wasn't feeling too hot and refused to let me take a picture.







This was after she's opened her Hello Kitty mp3 player that she's been asking for for at least a year. Can someone explain to me how a 5/6 year old even knows what an mp3 player is? lol






When they came to sing Happy Birthday to her they put a huge sombrero on her head and shoved whipped cream from her fried ice cream in her mouth. Of course the hat was so big my hubby and mom needed to hold it up so we could see her!





And last but not least my ever sarcastic 6 year old showed us visually what she thought about the hat! :) I'm pretty sure she inherited the eye roll thing from me.

It was a fun evening!!!

Review: Sam's Creed

TITLE: Sam’s Creed
AUTHOR: Sarah McCarty
SERIES: Yes, this is book 2 in the Hell’s Eight Series
Book 1: Caine’s Reckoning (a fabulous book and yes Caine is in my hut so you can all be jealous now)

REASON FOR READING:
After reading Caine’s Reckoning I couldn’t keep away.

SUMMARY:
Texas Ranger and Hell’s Eight member, Sam “Wild Card” McGregor has a reputation for killing and seduction. He has no room in his life for lasting relationships with women.

Sam comes across a shoot out with lone survivor Isabella Montoya. Isabella is being hunted by a local who is the epitome of the old west’s mafia. Tejala wants to marry Isabella and she’s on the run. Bella would rather kill herself than let Tejala get his hands on her.

Sam is determined to return Isabella to her home/ranch and move on his way. The problem is, he gets to know Bella and he definitely likes what he sees.

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
I was sooo looking forward to this book and Sarah McCarty did not disappoint. It had action adventure and lots of sex. Can you ask for more?

Sam is the hotness itself. He’s so laid back and is supposedly this hardened killer with no conscience. He is a killer, but he’s definitely got a conscience. He’s kind and gently with those he loves. He just only loves those of Hell’s Eight.

Sam’s out trying to find Desi’s (from book 1) twin and comes across Isabella. She’s mouthy but he likes that. I loved their verbal sparring and I loved that she just told it like it was. Very rarely did she hide what she was thinking. She’d just say what she was feeling at the time. Which wasn’t always a good thing, but it usually made Sam smile, which is always a good thing. She basically asks Sam to be her lover. He puts her off, but not for long, because he thinks the reasons she asking are wrong and also because he thinks she's too young to know what she wants.

Over the course of the book Sam finds himself falling in love with Bella but he’ll be the first to deny it. After he finds out what Bella’s been through in the six months she’s been running from Tejala he’s ready to take her back home, then go kill Tejala for causing her so much pain. Bella’s just sure Sam will leave her at her house and never return…either after getting killed by Tejala or just not coming back. But Sam’s more than smitten so he can’t keep himself away.

Ok…the sexin. There was a huge email discussion (that a lot of you were in on) about the whole giving the BJ on the horse scene that was in this book. After reading the book I say it was more than possible. He actually turned his body. So although they weren’t facing the same direction by the time he was turned and she was leaning over it was totally doable. (even though the email was totally hilarious! You can check out the entire email conversation on Katiebabs and Kristie J's blog here. Warning - do not drink while reading....you may spit it out while laughing!)

Also…about the jizz rubbed into the body thing. When Sam did that to Bella it had stated that they were near a pond. He had cleaned her up the night before (ok, a few minutes before) with water he had heated with a kettle. They were in this same location for 2 days so although they didn’t actually say that they cleaned themselves up I have to assume they did. If Sam wanted to clean her up after one day on a horse I can’t imagine that he wanted jizz jerky on her back. When he did this another time (yeah, he did it a couple of times) they were only on their horses for the rest of that day and then they were at a boarding house where she took a bath. Thank you Ms. McCarty for not having her keep that on her forever! lol

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again?
No she was not new to me. I’ve read Mac’s Law and Caine’s Reckoning and have Promises Linger in my TBR.

Are you keeping it or passing it on?
Definitely keeping it.

Did you enjoy the book?
Yes

Would you recommend this book to others?
Absolutely!

SCORE: 5 out of 5

Anything else?
Dammit! We have to wait until next April for Tucker’s Claim!!!

What I've Been Reading This Week

It was an interesting week this week. The kids were kind of off and anyone with children know that if your kids are feeling off then it kind of throws off the whole household. This happened to me. Also my dad, who lives about 20 minutes away from me and is watching my kids this summer, stayed the night a couple of nights this past week and he likes to talk. I thought I like to talk? I've got nothing on this man! lol But despite all of that it turned out very nicely and we had a nice leisurely holiday weekend. I hope you all had a safe holiday!

I started off the week reading yet another book in the Troubleshooters series by Suzanne Brockman. I feel certain that I'll finish this series by the time I turn 80! Actually, as you already know, I love the series so far so I like the fact that there are already a ton of books in it so I can just keep going with no interruptions! Gone Too Far was an exceptional book. The culmination of all that sexual tension and love between Alyssa Locke and Sam Starrett. Oooh baby - I loved it!



I started Someone To Watch Over Me (review below) right after that but kind of got distracted (remember kids throwing whole week off?) and started reading several shorts and novella's.


The first short...and I do mean short (19 pages)...was sent to me a while back by a friend. It was called Gideon's Bargain by Christine Warren. I can't find any mention of this on her website so I'm thinking it might have been one of those free stories that authors have on their sites from time to time. It wasn't very good, which was odd for me since I like Warren's writing so much.




Next was Hallow's Eve Hunk - a quickie from Ellora's Cave. I was reading something about M. A. Ellis and her new book Twisted Steel and Sex Appeal and started reading this quickie instead. I really liked it. I thought for such a short story it did a very nice job of telling it's story. The cover of this one is kinda freakishly weird...especially because in the story the guy has short hair.


Next was Twisted Steel and Sex Appeal. After reading the quickie it was just a natural progression! :) A cute story about a 30ish (never actually said his age) who gets involved with his 44 year old neighbor.

Since the DIK ladies were having Evangeline Anderson as a guest author I thought I'd read another of her books, Eyes Like A Wolf. I liked it. (added: yes, I did have some issues with the book but overall it was ok)





Next up was the 3rd novel in Gena Showalters Lords of the Underworld series, The Darkest Pleasure. I really enjoyed this book. I think she did well integrating several stories into 1. There are so many different Lords and she really trys to show all of them in the books and I like that.




Sam's Creed by Sarah McCarty was next. I loved this book! Look for a review on Tuesday.



Last on the list was Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was an impulse buy...the hardback was on sale for $3.99 and I couldn't resist. It sat on the shelf for a month or so but it was well worth the wait. I laughed out loud several times while reading this book. I loved the dry humor and sarcasm that was a staple throughout it. I will definitely be looking into reading more of Phillips' work.



Happy Reading!

What have you been reading this week?

Review: Someone To Watch Over Me

TITLE: Someone To Watch Over Me
AUTHOR: Lisa Kleypas
SERIES: I believe this is the first in the Bow Street Runner Series

REASON FOR READING:

I’ve heard great things about her historical romances so I wanted to check one out. It was a random pick off the bookstore shelves

SUMMARY: (From the Lisa Kleypas website)
She couldn't remember who she was...

A temptingly beautiful woman awakens in a stranger's bed, rescued from the icy waters of the Thames, her memory gone. Told that she is Vivien Rose Duvall, one of London's most scandalous beauties, she finds herself under the protection of enigmatic, charming Grant Morgan. Her life is in his hands. Deep in her heart, she knows he has mistaken her for someone else...

He was the only man she could trust.

As one of London's most eligible and unattainable catches, Grant Morgan is a man who has known every kind of woman. And the one in his arms now seems so innocent, so vulnerable, that he can't help but be enchanted. And as his love for this mysterious beauty grows, he's determined to unravel the secrets of her past and discover the truth -- no matter what.

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
Although this book was a really slow start for me it ended up making up for it. I really liked Grant and even though he had a score to settle with Vivien he was still very kind and gentle with her.

“Vivien” I liked from the minute she opened her eyes after almost dying. She had strength as well as innocence and I think in this story that combination really worked.

I think all around their love story was good. I can’t imagine that trying to build a relationship while one party has no memory of her past is an easy thing to do, but Kleypas really did a great job with it.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again?
Nope. I’ve read Sugar Daddy and Blue-Eyed Devil, but again my first historical by this author. I will definitely be reading more books by this author.

Are you keeping it or passing it on?
Keep

Did you enjoy the book? Yes

Would you recommend this book to others? Sure

SCORE: 3.5 out of 5

Anything else?

I know many of you love Lisa Kleypas so if there is another of her series or historicals that you think I would LOVE then please, let me know what they were!

Come Play with Evangeline

Evangeline Anderson is playing with us over at DIK...Thursday, July 3rd through Saturday, July 5th . She'll be giving away prizes and doing some sort of round robin thing that sounds fun!

If you haven't played with DIK yet, what are you waiting for???