Here we are again! It doesn’t seem possible that a whole week has gone by since I wrote last Monday’s post. Time flies when you’re old! lol
I was totally correct last week – getting up early is killing me! lol It’s definitely not easy getting up early in the morning and it’s really hard to go to bed so much earlier than I normally do just so I can get a decent amount of sleep. Luckily this is only for 3 more weeks. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? Please say right. lol
This past weekend the fam and I headed down to San Diego to see my sister who was down there for work. We ended up going to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla and then having a picnic in Balboa Park in SD. The aquarium was small but there was a lot of interesting things for the kids to do and we had a lot of fun. The park was beautiful and the it wore the kids out so that was nice. lol
Here are a few pictures:
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| The view from the aquarium |
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| My sister |
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| My fam, my niece, her boyfriend and his kids |
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| Checking out the tide pools |
My reading wasn’t squashed as much as I thought it would be this past week. I did read shorter books in between the longer ones which was nice.
First up was Brightest Kind of Darkness by PT Michelle. This was a YA novel that I really loved. You can read my review here. 4.5 out of 5
Next up was book 2 in the Lessons in Love trilogy by Suzanne Enoch called London’s Perfect Scoundrel. This was Evelyn’s book and it was great! Evelyn decides that she’s going to volunteer some time at an orphanage that she passes all the time. But she finds that she must past muster with the Board of Trustees before she can do anything and that’s where she runs into the Marquis St. Aubyn. St. Aubyn is a rake and a scoundrel and no one that a proper lady should be associated with. St. Aubyn decides he wants to bed Evelyn but he gets much more than he bargained for when he decides to pursue her. This was a great book. Once I picked it up I had a very hard time putting it down. I loved that we got such a great deal of page time with St. Aubyn as I just loved his character. I did have a little bit of an issue with Evelyn’s family. She was seen as a total dimwit by her family but she was really pretty smart. I just couldn’t understand how they could view here that way – just because she went along with what they said all the time. That was just a little niggle and didn’t effect my overall enjoyment of the book. I can’t wait to read the next book. 5 out of 5
Next up was Muffled Drum by Erastes. This was the story of two men who fall in love and are almost torn apart by a case of amnesia. Good stuff. 4 out of 5 You can read my review here.
Next was Sympathy by Jordan Castillo Price. While delivering plants to a house in his neighborhood that always scared the bejeezers out of him as a kid Tony meets David, the new owner of the house. The story was of David and Tony getting to know each other and the strange connection David had with Tony. Good story. 3.5 out of 5
Addicted to You by Bethany Kane was my next read . This is an erotic romance but there was a great story involved here that I really liked. Katie heads to southern Illinois to try and help her friend Rill. Rill’s wife had died two years before and Rill had ended up drinking himself silly in a small town. Katie and Rill end up in bed together but during that time the two find out quite a bit about themselves. I liked the characters in this one a lot and loved seeing each of them grown during the story. 4 out of 5
Next was a short called Jennifer’s Lion by Lizzie Lynn Lee. The story was that a woman is drugged dumped in the Savannah by her so-called fiancé so that he can collect the insurance money. But Jennifer is found by a shape-shifting lion clan who takes her in. Of course the alpha wants to claim her and they’re having sex not an hour after she wakes up from certain death. I didn’t care for the story much at all – the instant sex was off-putting and there was no real depth to it at all. Then I got to the epilogue where the man goes down on the woman in his lion form – Oh heeeeeelll no. I didn’t bother reading further even though there were only 2 pages or so left. Not my cuppa, thank you. 1 out of 5
Slings & Arrows by Josh Lanyon was another short I read. This was about a college student who has a crush on one of his teacher’s assistants, Walter. He likes Walter but the pair is awkward around each other. It was very sweet and I really loved how the pair came together despite their huge communication issues. 4 out of 5
Last for the week was A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran. This was an unusual historical romance. Nell grew up in one of the worst parts of London. She finds out from her mother, right before her mother dies, that she is the daughter of an Earl. She thinks she’s a bastard daughter and goes to kill the man when she asks for money and is ignored. She finds out that not only is her father dead but she’s not the bastard daughter – she is the missing daughter who was kidnapped when she was 6 years old. The current earl wants to turn her into a lady so that she can be recognized as who she truly is as well as get the money that is due her and that they will split. Simon marries Nell but originally plans to annul the marriage if she isn’t recognized as the long lost daughter. The pair end up falling in love, but there are many people who get in their way of happiness, including themselves. A really good book that has Duran’s typical wonderful writing. The book almost had a kind of Pygmalion feel to it but it was so much more. 4.25 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!
I can only imagine how hard it is getting up that early. 3 more weeks, 3 more weeks. Start putting red X's on the calendar. LOL
Looks like you had a fun time in San Diego.
I did enjoy Jordan's and to be honest, I don't remember Slings and Arrows but I know I read it. Isn't that awful? I'll likely pass on Erastes'. Me and historicals. 🙂
Hang in there for the rest of th week.
You can do it!! How's your caffeine consumption?! 🙂
San Diego definitely looks fun.
Erm. That lion shifter thing – ewww!
Tam – Great idea! I'm starting the chant now…3 more weeks. 3 more weeks.
San Diego was a lot of fun. The best part was being with my family. 🙂
Slings & Arrows – the guy gets the box of chocolates and his friends tell him the serial killer story….ringing any bells?
Chris – Surprisingly my caffeine consumption has not increased. I've had to force myself to stop from drinking more coffee – but I've been good.
The lion shifter – totally disgusting.
We tried and tried to think of a way to go with you last weekend . . . but you know my schedule and it just didn't work. Loved the pictures . . . they're all my favorite people, too. Glad you had a good time and I was impressed that you got all that reading in. Love, Mom
Dr J – We would have loved to have you a long but from reading your blog I see that you were very busy already! 🙂
I still can't believe I got as much reading in as I did. I have a feeling it was a fluke for the week – we'll see this week what happens. 🙂
Hey Tracy!
It's so wonderful being able to visit family! Glad you had a good time :).
Amy – I'm pretty lucky that I have a brother & my parents very near – with my niece living a little more than an hour away. When my two sisters decided to move halfway across country it was hard. We were really lucky to see my sis while she was here!
Love the pics of San Diego. You're making me miss it. Need to get back there soon. 🙂
Great week of reading and family time!
It'll definitively make you stronger 🙂
And jeez, your oldest looks very happy in that picture 😛
Glad to see you enjoyed the Meredith Duran. It's on my list to read 🙂