Happy, happy day!
How are you? I’m very busy at work with Easter and Holy Week coming up (since I work at a church…and all of you who are wondering about church/my potty mouth? What can I say – I’m a one of a kind church lady. lol) and that has us all working out tails off. I’d like to say it keeps me out of trouble but…it doesn’t!
You’ll all be happy to know that we bought a refrigerator!!! Yippee-ky-yay motherfucker! OMG I’m just the happiest woman alive. I can’t wait for it to get here on Wednesday. You’re all wondering what happened with the hubby/Tracy fridge debate, aren’t you? Who won? Neither. We ended up going with neither fridge we looked at prior and bought a Kenmore from Sears that would knock your socks off. It was $1500.00 less than the original price and though that still made it a couple hundred more than what I was looking to spend, we got a nicer and bigger fridge. I’m just happy that the search is over!
Another exciting thing happened this past Friday. I got home from work and both my parents were there and gave me an early birthday present (when I say early I mean 6 weeks early) of a brand new laptop! Holy shit. My other laptop was a hand-me-down from my hubby and it was very slow with very little memory and disk space which was about 9 years old. The new one is a Dell Inspiron and is small, light, has lots of memory and a 500GB hard drive. I love it to pieces and couldn’t thank my parents enough. I have never had a new laptop – I felt so spoiled!
So enough about my life…let’s get on to the books!
I started off the week with As You Are by Ethan Day. This was the story of Julian and his roommate Danny. Julian’s had the hots for Danny for as long as he’s known him. Danny has steered clear of Julian because he doesn’t want to screw up their friendship. Julian’s like: screw with it, please! lol Just when Julian meets a great guy Danny makes a move and he and Julian fall into bed. But things don’t always work out the way you plan them and that is SO true for Julian. This was a wonderful and hilarious story. I loved Julian to death and his sense of humor was killer. He was snarky and sarcastic and a man after my own heart. lol The issue that I had with this story was that even though it was in the first person I really got to see the other side of the secondary characters – Julian’s mom & Julian’s best friend Gwen…but not so with Danny. I ended the story not really knowing who he was and though I could see the physical attraction that Julian had for the man I was a bit in the dark as to what the appeal was. Don’t get me wrong, I still wanted them together I just wanted to know Danny as well as I knew the two female characters. 4 out of 5
Next up was Midnight Remedy by Eve Gaddy. This story followed Piper Stevenson who gave an herbal remedy for dry skin to a friend. The friend ended up making it as a tea for her husband (what????) and ended up curing his impotence. Ok, weird. So, Dr. Eric Chambers heads over to talk to Piper to try and find out what was in the recipe for the dry skin so that he can pass it on to his friend who is doing research on impotence. But Piper isn’t willing to give up the secret – not that she doesn’t want to find a cure but she wants absolutely NO publicity for her and her son due to her past. The story was decent and the love story was very sweet. I did have some issues with it but you’ll have to read my review to find out what they were. lol I’ll let you know when it posts on The Book Binge. 3.75 out of 5
Be My Vampire Tonight by Renee Field was a free Kindle read that I downloaded. This is the first in a series and though we meet the characters from the next 2 books in this book we are really left in the dark as to what’s going on with them. I guess that’s supposed to intrigue you enough to read the next two. Anyway, the story was about a woman who recently inherited a boatload of money and heads to a charity auction with her friends. She ends up bidding on a masked man and later finds out not only is HE a vampire but wow, so is she (well a half-breed). The problem is is that masked man became a vampire by selling his soul to Satan so getting it back may be tricky. It was a good story but didn’t make me want to run out and read more by this author. 3 out of 5
Never Been Bit by Lydia Dare is 3rd in the Regency Vampire trilogy. This story followed characters that we’d met in previous books – Alec who was turned into a vampire and Sorcha the youngest witch of her coven. Sorcha is visiting England from Scotland and is looking to find a Lycan man to fall in love with. Her fellow coven witches did it and she thinks they are hotter than hell so she sets off to snare one. But Alec McQuarrie who is a family friend ruins her plans by kissing her and making her think of nothing but him. Unfortunately what Sorcha eventually thinks of as Alec loving her isn’t that at all. I have to say that Lydia Dare always provides me with an entertaining read. They blend the paranormal with the historical so well and there aren’t many of those that I like besides this authors. I will definitely be reading the next books by them that also have continuing characters (even though it’s a new series). 4 out of 5
One of my Tracy’s TBR Challenge Read for the week (the others were Never Been Bit and As You Are) was Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews was really good, I just wanted it to be longer! It’s a novella about a woman from a planet that has been at war for hundreds of years. She manages to get off planet as a refugee by shielding her mental powers. She begins work as a secretary for a man who’s mind is almost as powerful as hers. She imagines the guy in a million different compromising positions but holds herself back for fear of discovery of what she really is. I loved the story but as I said wanted it to be longer. Though I liked the romance we didn’t get to see much beyond when they finally got together and I wanted to see it all. I know, I’m greedy that way. lol 4 out of 5
Much Ado About Rogues by Kasey Michaels was a highly intriguing mystery/suspense/romance. This is the 3rd book in the Blackthorn Brothers series and it was good. Jack and his former lover Tess set out to find Tess’s father who has gone missing. You can read more in my review here. 3.75 out of 5
Trust in the Lawe by Stacey Joy Netzel was my next read . I read a short story by this author and really liked it so decided to get this book. The premise of the story is that Kendra and her brother Noah are on the run and hiding from her older half-brother (from her dad) who wants to kill them so that he can get all of his father’s money – like 15 million dollars – before Kendra turns 25 and gets control of it all. Kendra heads to Colorado to meet another half-brother (from her mom) who doesn’t even know that she and Noah exist. The ranch manager is skeptical for many reasons about Kendra and if she’s on the up and up. Colton and Kendra are attracted to each other but it takes them a while to act on it. So there’s the romance and then the wondering when the brother, Robert, will show up to kill her and her brother. The story was good and honestly I couldn’t stop turning page after page so the author obviously had a way with words that attracted me but Kendra and Colton really pissed me off. lol I understood the mistrust at first but they couldn’t stop slinging insults at each other and then they’d fall in bed. Ok, it was more complicated than that but it was frustrating to not see any of the good parts of the relationship and only be shown the bad. So there was good and bad. I certainly won’t give up on the author as I think she’s got something I like about her writing. 3 out of 5
Last up for the week was Winning the Wallflower by Eloisa James. This is a novella in the Fairy Tales series #2.5. The story follows Lucy who is tall and plain but engaged so, right on. But then her great aunt leaves her a great deal of money and now she’s an heiress. Her mother wants her to break off her engagement because the man is “beneath” Lucy now. Lucy really doesn’t want to but when she sits and talks to her fiancé, Cyrus, she realizes that she was just the best of bunch of titled women that he had to choose from – he never really SAW her. Well, when it’s brought to Cyrus’s attention he realizes what he’s missed and makes an effort to win Lucy back. This was a very cute story. It was short so I expected the I love you’s to come quickly but they came even quicker than expected. Despite that I thought it was lovely. 3.75 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!
I hate to say this, but you know you're getting old when new appliances are the highlight of your week. LOL But a new laptop is sweet. Enjoy.
I am torn on Ethan Day. Sometimes he's just too "much" for me. I find it overwhelming and it gets annoying for me. Like the character is always "on". Smaller doses work better.
It's all true, Tam. Of course my youngest read your comment and said, "NO…I'm not old and I'm REALLY looking forward to the fridge!" lol
I liked the Day but I can see how it would feel a bit overwhelming. I've only read a couple but they've been far apart. 🙂
Normally I'm behind the birthday ball, but this time I can be in early. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And the new laptop sounds amazing! I love my Dell computer 🙂
I’m a one of a kind church lady.
LOL! That you are 🙂 A lovely one! *hugs*
And YAH on the fridge! Sounds like a great choice!
I bet you make life that much more interesting at church LOL And woohoo, for the early surprise b-day pressie!!!! Unexpected pressies at unexpected times are the very best!!!
I had the same reaction to Silver Shark as you…the ending was a bit abrupt but aside that I want much more of that world. I fell in live when I read the first novella in the series. (of course I can't remember the title 😉
Yay for the new fridge and the new laptop!!! Have you named the laptop yet? 😀
My reaction to Ethan Day characters is pretty much the same as Tam – I find them a bit exhausting. But the books are funny. 🙂
Trace, congratulations on getting that new fridge! That might not be the coolest thing in the world to get, but boy can they make your life easier… AND, double congrats on the new laptop! Talk about a great gift for you! There's another gift you can really use. 😀
I really wanted a laptop (for me), but since my desktop just died, we had to get another one of those. I'm thrilled with it anyway. 😀
I'm so glad you enjoyed Silver Shark by Andrews. I love her world building in these novellas. Have you read the first one "Silent Blade?" That's a great one! I agree with you on this one, though. I really liked it too, but the ending was kind of iffy for me… I'm hoping that at some point the Andrews will write a whole novel in this SF world.
RE: Eloisa James series. I'm not reading this one. For some reason I couldn't get into the first book! 🙁 That's rare for me because I like her.
Orannia – Yep, when they made my mold, they threw away the key. Churches around the globe are celebrating. lol
Thanks for the advanced birthday wishes. I'll come back and read this in May. 😉
Leontine – I definitely make work a more interesting place at times. lol
The first book was Silent Blade and I loved that one too. I think I liked Silver Shark better but agree that it just ended too abruptly. I did like seeing the couple from Silent Blade in SS – that was cool.
Chris – Named my laptop? I wasn't aware I needed to. Hmmm…any suggestions?
The Day books are definitely funny which I love. 🙂
Hilcia – Oh yes the fridge is exciting. What I didn't mention in previous posts was that the fridge that we're using now is really old and the top freezer only has one hinge on the door. So…whenever we open the door we have to hold it with one hand while we try to get whatever we need out of the freezer. That reason alone makes me ecstatic! lol
Yeah, I've always had desktop computers as well. My hubby has had laptops for work and even got one for personal reasons a few years ago but alas I never got one. It's very cool. lol Now to keep my kids off of it. 🙂
Andrews' books are amazing. I LOVE the world-building that occurs in all of their books. The descriptions are always such that we learn as we go and I love that.
Eloisa James series: I didn't read book one but gave book #2 a 4.5. I liked the novella but as I said it was too short and the romance too quick – but that's what you get with a shorter format. The 3rd one was good too but not as good as book 3. I know some people had issue with book 3 so it's interesting to see the comments on Goodreads. 🙂 (FYI – I didn't have those issues myself)
Laptop names are very personal! 🙂
Congrats on the fridge! Kenmore is a good brand, so that's a total score in my opinion 🙂 And woohoo on the laptop! Okay, how can our birthday be in 6 weeks?!? where has time fly?! But that's really awesome. I love new computers, they're so nice LOL… and then, they get slow, ugh.
Very nice reading week as always, Tracy 🙂
I'm always in awe of how much you read in a week!
Great news about the fridge and the laptop. Two very different but very useful things. I got a new dryer a month ago (old one died) and I can't believe how happy I was when it arrived. You'd think I was getting diamond jewelry. LOL
Congratulations on the laptop! Wow, parents buying a laptop, are they computer savvy? So, have you broken in the fridge yet by growing something fuzzy?
And, Happy birthday!
Leslie – LOLOL I know exactly how you feel – new dryer's can make your day! 🙂 (That's next on my appliance wish list)
Honestly there are times I look at the list of books that I've read in a week and I ask myself – how is that possible. 🙂
SidneyKay – My mom is much more savvy than my dad but they are both pretty informed. My mom was gonna help me get my old laptop more memory and a new battery – this is WAY better! lol
The fridge comes in this evening so I haven't grown anything. And let me just say: eww. lol
Thanks for the birthday wishes…in advance. 🙂
Chris – I'll have to think up a good one.
Nath – Kenmore is a great brand. I have one of their washing machines and it's the best! It's like 20 years old and still works wonderfully well.
Yes, the new laptop is fabulous. I have to say that my old one was really good it just got so slow at times (completely unpredictably) and that's what made it so frustrating.