Hello there!
Here it is…Monday again. How does that happen so fast? The weeks seem to go by faster and faster. Remember when we were in high school and the time just crept by because you wanted nothing more than that bell to ring so you could be free? lol I could only wish for the time to creep by that slowly now. 🙂
I hope all the mom’s out there had a lovely Mother’s Day (if you were celebrating it). I had a lovely day with the family. My hubby took me to see Thor and it was good! Of course when they showed Chris Hemsworth with just the low rise jeans and no shirt on my hubby leaned over and whispered, “Don’t look.” My reply, of course, was, “How can I not???” That man is one fine specimen of the male anatomy. lol
Fitness and weight update: I am a lazy bitch. It’s true. I hate to exercise – I’m sure I’ve said this before. I hate changing into workout clothes when I get home, WORKING OUT…SWEATING!, having to shower yet again. I just hate the whole production! *sigh* but I did exercise this week – only twice, but I did do it. Between my birthday and Mother’s Day I only ended up losing 4 oz this week as I splurged a bit, but at least I still lost. That brings my total loss to 2.2. Not great but I’m happy. 🙂
Reading this week…I started off really slow and gained speed as the week went on. lol I read some really good books which made the week that much better.
I started off with The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis. This is book 2 in the Lucky Harbor series and it was a good one. With Tara the controlled and Ford the uber-relaxed it was quite a good story. I’ll let you know when my review posts on The Book Binge. 4 out of 5
Next up was This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost. I’ve read all 5 books in the Night Huntress series but I think it’s starting to die out for me. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Bones and Cat but I’m almost to the point where I just need to say – enough already! Enough has happened to them! And how many more freaky things can happen to Cat? I mean, really. lol This story had Cat and Bones and friends trying to find Apollyon who was trying to start a war between the ghouls and the vampires. I had very mixed feelings about this story. It started out great and then fizzled a bit for me…then got really good again and then fizzled again…rinse and repeat. Overall it was a good read, but not great for me. 3.5 out of 5 (read for The Book Binge)
Before the Scandal by Suzanne Enoch was one of my Tracy’s TBR Challenge reads and it was a good one. I really loved that none of the heroes in this series were actually titled gentlemen. This story tells us of Phin Bromley who takes leave from the army to rush home at his sisters request because supposedly their older brother is on his deathbed. Well, he’s not, which is great, but when Phin returns home he finds that there’s some hinky stuff going on with the family estate. Sets out to find out what’s behind it all and starts up a romance with former friend, Alyse. Just a really good story – the romance was good but Alyse bugged me at first. She definitely grew on me during the book, however, and I ended up liking her by the end. 4 out of 5
My next read was Precious Boy by KZ Snow. This story was about a man who catches his one night stand watching porn on the computer. He then thinks he recognizes the boy in the video and eventually realizes it’s his ex-lovers son who was only 10 the last time he saw him. Jonathan contacts Ethan and Jon tries to talk him out of the porn/escort lifestyle, along with contacting his father to try and help. It was a good story and her books are always well written. I personally had some issues with Jonathan and the way he acted with his ex. 3.5 out of 5
I figured I might as well finish the Notorious Gentlemen series so I picked up Always a Scoundrel by Suzanne Enoch as another of my Tracy’s TBR series reads. Besides, I just HAD to know what happened with Bram! Bram is the second son of a Duke. The Duke pretty much can’t stand the sight of his son and because of this Bram has made himself into a rake – a really bad one. Bram has decided that anyone that is friends with his father should pay and so he becomes the Black Cat – a burglar – and steals from his fathers friends. He gives all of the loot to a church. On one such expedition he overhears a family who is basically selling their youngest daughter into marriage to pay off their sons 10,000 pound debt. The man who she will marry is the evil man who pretty much made Bram who he is. Bram gets involved and eventually falls for Rose but he has to figure out how to get Rose out of the marriage so that he can have her for himself. I liked the story a lot. Bram fell a little more quickly than I thought he would – especially for someone who laughed at his friends who were married – but the story was done well and it was very enjoyable. 4 out of 5
Last for the week was Talker’s Redemption by Amy Lane. I read Talker back in November of last year and it was SO GOOD! This was a follow up with Briand and Talker and it was gut wrenching and highly emotional…but oh so good as well. The story revolves around Talker’s thoughts and him dealing with a certain incident in his past and how it’s affecting him, his life, his relationship with Brian and the resulting fall-out from the incident. Amy Lane is such a great writer and this one had me sucked in from the get-go. Just a great book. 4.5 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!
Well Heck!! You did pretty well in the reading department for such a busy time. Maybe the other project–you know, the losing the pounds that we keep finding project–was torpedoed because of that chocolate tower. Possibly?? You inherited the I-hate-exercise gene from both your dad and I. Sorry kid. Have a great week.
Birthdays put a kink in weight loss. Okay, breathing puts a kink in weight loss for me, or blinking or thinking or pretty much existing. 🙂
You were one of the ones who had issues with Jonathan huh? I wanted to smack him but it didn't bother me too much, does seem to be something that makes people crazy though. I haven't read Talker's Redemption because I know it's going to be a sniffle fest and I'm just not sure I can handle it. Now. Eventually I know I will.
Have a great week.
I'm like the only one that didn't care for Sweetest Thing. Tara kind of bothered me – eh, maybe it's my harmones.
OMG you lost 2 pounds what diet are you on?! I have about a billion pounds to go *big girl sigh*
crap, 'hormones' not harmones.
You had an excellent reading week! I have precious_boy and Talker's Redemption, but haven't read them yet. I will!
I hit that point for Cat & Bones a book or so back, so I understand.
Dr. J – Yes, it was a busy time but it was a pretty stress-free weekend so that helped.
The chocolate tower has been a great temptation but I've only had goodies when I can work it into my calorie count for the day! lol What a test of willpower!
Yes, the "I hate exercise" gene came from both parents but oh well – there are worse genes I could have gotten, right? 🙂
Tam – LOLOL OMG Yes! Breathing puts a kink in weight loss – I love it. And it does!
I did have issues with Jonathan. He seemed likable enough but he just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
Talker if very emotional but oh, so good – read it!
SHB – Tara kind of bothered me at times as well but I loved the opposites attract theme and loved Ford.
As far as weight loss…I'm keeping a food diary on line (myfooddiary.com) which watches all my calories, fat, carbs, sodium, etc. It's pretty cool and the most comprehensive online food diary that I've found so far. It's a pain to watch the calories but it works. I do that dreaded exercise thing too…sometimes. lol
Chris – It was a pretty good week – I enjoyed it. lol
Talker and Precious Boy were both good – read them! 🙂
Yeah, Cat and Bones – IDK…will I read the next book or not? I guess I'll have to wait and see. 🙂
Glad you had a nice Mother's Day, Tracy. How could you not with those precious daughters of yours!
Losing 2.2 lbs. is better than nothing and WAY BETTER than gaining, so focus on the positive! As for the 'I hate exercise' thing, you've got to stick to a routine for at least three weeks for it to .. well.. stick. You'll feel so good, you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner. Maybe. LOL. Can you try working out first thing in the morning to avoid the dread at the end of the day? Grasping at straws here… LOL
Hope you have another awesome week of reading! 🙂
So glad you liked the Enochs! And the Shalvis. I'm telling you – read the Lessons in Love trilogy. You must.
As for the exercise thing, I was starting to get into it, and them nmy mom went back in the hospital. Which has sucked any free time completely away. So haven't exercised since Thursday, which makes me very sad.
Happy belated Mother's Day and birthday again, Tracy!!
Cool about Thor 🙂 My co-worker went and says it's really good 🙂 Of course, eye-candy for him was Natalie Portman 🙂
I hate working out too! Why, oh why do we need to?!? Ugh. You did better than me… I only made it once last week, sigh.
Good stuff on the Enochs 🙂 happy you you enjoyed them 🙂
Losing 2.2 lb is definitely a good start IMHO! Slow and steady 🙂 And if you don't mind me saying, your hubby sounds so lovely!
I adored Talker's Redemption – it was amazing! Amy Lane writes SO well!
Christine – I've tried the whole work out in the morning thing but I'm pretty sure I hate waking up that early WORSE than working out at night! lol I'm trying to stick with it but it's so easy to talk myself out of it. 🙂 I'm still doing it at least twice a week though so that's a plus. 🙂 Thanks for the encouragement.
Lori – I have to get the Lessons in Love series as I don't have any of them! But I'll do it. You've not steered me wrong so far. 🙂
I hope your mom is better, honey. I'll send up some prayers. {{big hug}}
Nath – Thanks again!
Yes, Thor had some nice eye candy…and not just Hemsworth. lol
Exercise – ug. I really need to think better of it to get in the right frame of mind but it's HARD! lol
Orannia – My hubby is lovely, thank you! He puts up with me so I consider him a saint. 😉
I really liked Talker's Redemption as well. I'm kicking myself that I didn't read it earlier! lol
Congrats on the weight loss! I totally agree with you on the exercise "production". I've been lax myself lately.
As for your husband's comment, he sounds adorable. 😀
Have a great week!
I'm so jealous of your reading total! I've been a bit of a slump.
I think I need to reread those Enoch books, though. I don't remember them at all. And I'll second Lori's rec for the Lessons in Love trilogy. One of my favs!(The last book was one of the first romances I'd read about POWs and PTSD during the 19th century)
SVZ – I know the exercise is hard. I think of doing it every day but I don't quite make it. lol
Amber – I just ordered the first in the Lessons in Love trilogy so we'll see how it goes. I really liked the Notorious Gentlemen series. It was nice not reading about Lords and Dukes and Earls – just regular second sons, etc.