What I Read Last Week

Posted August 6, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 13 Comments

Good Morning!
Well it was a hell of a week here in Tracyland. First, last Monday afternoon/evening, my kids were walking our neighbors dogs and my oldest fainted from the heat – luckily they were on our street. My youngest was smart and ran to a house that had their garage door open and the woman helped and called 911. I met them at the hospital and thankfully everything was fine she was just seriously dehydrated. What a scary thing, especially after having my nephew’s girlfriend died from heat exhaustion just recently. I’m always trying to push fluids into my kids, especially during summer when they’re out playing and it gets damned hot here – they just don’t take me too seriously. My oldest is of the mind that nothing bad will ever happen to her and getting her to realize that it can happen to any of us is a difficult one. She’s absolutely OK now. They pushed several bags of fluids into her and her labs came back good. Phew – scary.
Then the next day my youngest who got a bad cold the Saturday I was at RWA woke up with pink eye. Ug. A trip to the doctor and in a strange move the doc didn’t even check out her ears and throat, which I found incredibly strange. As luck would have it the very next night she woke up with ear pain, of course, and it was back to the doctor for her to get amoxicillin. Now if the doc would have looked into her ears on Tuesday we probably wouldn’t have had to go back Thursday! Oh well.
My youngest, being the complete cuddler she is, and more so when she’s sick, gave Mama her cold. My cold, of course, turned into a sinus thing and I thought I would have to break out my teeth just to make myself feel better since the pressure was horrific. Luckily after having thought I was going to die on Friday I survived the weekend (of course my hubby left for Sturgis on Tuesday evening so he missed most of this, lucky bastard) and the girls were really great helping me. I’m still feeling crappy but no longer fear that I will perish at any moment.
Because of all of this – and of course the Olympics I read A LOT of novellas this week and only 1 novel. And the one novel took me almost 5 days to finish – yikes! That’s just crazy.
Speaking of the Olympics – my kids are absolutely LOVING them. For some reason they hardly remember watching the summer games from years gone by and they can’t get enough of it. My youngest is now throwing her arms in the air with her pike dismounts off of the coffee table. lol  Maybe after she gets her black belt in Taekwondo I need to stick her in gymnastics. 🙂
Alright on to what I read last week:
I started the week with Bossy and the Brat by Daisy Harris. This is the story of dorm mates – Calvin who’s in the closet and Tyler who’s absolutely not. You can read my full review of here. 3.5 out of 5
Next up was The Strength of a Man by Sara Winters that I read for Book Binge. This m/m story tells of college students Kurt and James. James is older but head over heels for Kurt. Kurt really wants James as well but he has a hard time trusting his decisions when it comes to men after being hurt before – both emotionally and sexually. You can read my full review here. 3.75 out of 5
Next up I ran through three stories in the same series – rarely something I do unless its yaoi manga. The first was The Beta by Annie Nicholas – which is book 3 in The Vanguards series. This was the story of the beta of the Vasi werewolf pack who is in charge while his alphas are on their honeymoon. He’s stressed out and gets even more so when he meets an assassin who is out to kill his vampire friend Daedalus. The story involved the romance of Robert and Esther but also a continuing story having to do with someone out to get Daedalus. It was a good novella and a nice addition to the series. 3.75 out of 5

The fourth book in the same series is Omegas in Love by Annie Nicholas. Two people from the original Omega pack (who are now the Vasi pack) were always attracted to each other and finally have made the move to a more permanent relationship. But Katrina hasn’t been completely honest with Tyler. Back in China she had been forcibly mated with someone and now he’s back to get her and get the heir he wants. Katrina’s taken and their home attacked. Sugar from book 1 is hurt and Tyler’s beside himself trying to get his woman back. Again, a continuing thread throughout the story that is just getting better with each novella. Tyler and Katrina were adorable together and while their already in love this incident strengthens their bond. 4 out of 5
Book 5 in The Vanguards is Sigma by Annie Nicholas. I’ll review this later this week and Annie will be a guest on Friday – along with a Sigma giveaway.
I finally finished Wild Texas Rose by Jodi Thomas on Saturday (after taking 5 days to read it with all those distractions). This was a really good western historical romance. She made it kind of community oriented as she does her Harmony contemporary series. The story is about Rose from Whispering Mountain who heads to Fort Worth to help a friend who is getting married. Victoria’s a mess and eventually disappears. Duncan, a Texas Ranger and Rose’s cousin by marriage and adoption, is keeping an eye out on Rose while riding back and forth to Dallas. The men Duncan is guarding have threatened Duncan repeatedly and Duncan worries that Rose will be hurt. The story has many different threads throughout and that includes a friends to much more romance between Duncan and Rose. I really liked this book and I’m so glad I read it. I read this one for Book Binge so I’ll let you know when it posts. 4 out of 5
Last for the week was Men of Smithfield: Max & Finn by LB Gregg. This is the re-edited story that was previously called Cover Me. It’s just as good as it was before. I wanted to hurt Max for being such an ass at the start of the book but about halfway through we see who he really is. 4.25 out of 5 (releases Sept.)
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!


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13 responses to “What I Read Last Week

  1. Tam

    Good lord. What a week. Glad you are all on the improvement side. How scary about the fainting. We've had some hot weather but they give lots of heat warnings for us because it's unusual so hopefully people pay attention. Kids don't notice things though and as you said, they are invincible. *eye roll*

    Hope this week is boringly uneventful for you all.

  2. Oh wait, I forgot that yesterday the hot water heater pilot light went out and I thought I was gonna blow the house to smithereens when I relit it. lol OMG it was comical, I'm sure.

    Tam – We have the heat warnings here too but she really does believe that she's invincible.
    Oh God, I LONG for boring & uneventful! lol

    Chris – I have. I used tape that wouldn't ever come off, I just keep refilling the bottle. 🙂

  3. Holy Crapola! Glad to hear the kiddos are OK now. Geez, what a fright!

    Oh to have gotten as much reading done as you did. I'm at the point that once I'm past some deadlines I may just lock myself in a closet with a pile of books….

  4. Sandy – Thanks. It was a weird and difficult week but I'm oh so happy it's over. 🙂

    Wendy – I KNOW! lol
    Well, these were mostly novella's so they didn't take all that long. I fear if I don't start revving it up again I'm gonna fall REALLY behind schedule. 🙂

    Kassa – I'm really pushing her and making sure she drinks plenty of water. Unfortunately when school starts on the 16th it will be out of my control during the day. Ug. lol
    Hope you're well! 🙂

  5. Awwww, Tracy, so sorry to hear you had such a bad week! Well at least, your oldest will now believe it may happen to her and will take your advice more seriously.

    And well, the good news is you only caught the cold right, not the pink eye ^_^;

    Yay on the Olympics!! I think this year is a good one too 🙂

    So glad you enjoyed Texas Wild Rose! 🙂 I'm going to read it soon… hopefully.

  6. Nath – Thanks honey. I think she's taking it a BIT more seriously but I think she still feels like she's indestructible. 🙂

    The Olympics are good this year, aren't they? I've been a tad disappointed in the gymnastics but even those are still exciting!

    I DID enjoy the Thomas! I probably wouldn 't have read it if Thomas herself hadn't talked me into it. lol But I'm glad I did.

  7. Hey Tracy.. I'm digging through your blog looking for back to school pics of your daughters–did you post any this year?

    Anyway, I realize this post is a month old already but SCARY what happened to your daughter! SO glad she's okay and major kudos for youngest for knowing what to do. Good girl! Also, so sorry to hear about your nephew's girlfriend. What a tragedy. I'm so sorry. :((

  8. The girls wouldn't let me take pictures of them on their first day – apparently that's just too babyish. I like to think I can browbeat them next year but you never know. lol I do have some photos that were taken in April that I need to post on my facebook acct. but I think you saw those. I'll try to pin them down soon. 🙂

    I know, what happened was scary but she learned a great lesson and has really been trying to be careful since then – thank God. lol

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