The “Holy Shit, What a Monday” part of the post:

Last night (Sunday for those of you in a different time zone) my oldest got very sick.  I thought at first that her pain was cramps and so gave her an ibuprofen and moved on.  Well not soon after that she started throwing up and continued to do that throughout most of the night.  When she woke up this morning she was crying and complaining of severe abdominal pain and I finally figured that I should take her to the doctor.  I called top get an appointment and they said that based on her symptoms I should take her to the ER.  After 8 hours in the ER (only 15 min. of that was in the waiting room), 2 doses of morphine, lab work and a CT scan they figured out that she (probably) had a ovarian cyst that had ruptured.  We just got home a little bit ago.  They sent her home with prescription strength ibuprofen and said to check up with her doc in a couple of days.  Needless to say I’m thoroughly relieved that it wasn’t appendicitis, kidney stones or any of the other awful possibilities that the ER doc mentioned originally.  The worst of the pain has passed (I assume since she’s not hunched over howling) and we’ll just have to hope that she continues to improve.  It was a scary day – and tiring for everyone.  My oldest is really glad she’s home – although she did say the hospital bed was comfortable. Kids can sleep anywhere, I swear! LOL

Other than that my week was pretty normal which I’m incredibly thankful for! 🙂

If it’s up your alley don’t forget to enter into the giveaway to win a copy of The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin.  You can do that by clicking this link to get to the post.  Giveaway ends 7/21/11

Now to the “What I Read Last Week” part of the post…sorry if my descriptions are odd in any way or if I leave stuff out – my brain’s a bit sideways right now. lol

I started off the week with a book called A Dish Served Cold by Andrew Ashling.  This was a really interesting story about a  wealthy 17 year old boy who lives in a world where indentured servitude aka slavery exists.   He’s made aware of a plot that would send him into slavery for life so he finds he must act as he normally wouldn’t in order to save himself.  This was a really good book in lots of little ways.  At first I had a problem with the story being told to me rather than shown to me but near the end of the book that is explained in an unexpected fashion.  The book pushed some serious buttons in me and made me more than uncomfortable in quite a few parts of the story, but the actions of the characters and the characters itself were so compelling I couldn’t help but read on even when I otherwise would have put the book down.  It’s really quite an interesting story with a bit of romance involved as well.  4.25 out of 5

Next up was The Reluctant Vampire by Lynsay Sands.  The story takes us back to Port Henry – the location of an Argeneau pairing a few books back.  We have Harper who’s lifemate died while being changed from mortal to immortal and his guilty feelings about that; and Drina who knows that Harper is her life mate but is afraid once he finds out he’ll run screaming in the streets because he’s just not ready to deal with it quite yet.  Needless to say we do have tension but they deal with it as well as the person who’s trying to kill the person they’re guarding. Good story.  Not great on the “romance” but a good relationship none the less.  4 out of 5

Linnette, the Lioness by Lavinia Kent was next.  This was book 2 in the Real Duchesses of London series and it was as good as the first.  You can read my mini review here. 4 out of 5

Nightfall by Ellen Connor was my next read and it was great!  I really loved almost everything about it.  Yes, it was a bit bloodier than my normal romances but it totally worked for me.  It’s a post-apocalyptic romance about a woman who is a non-believer in the apocalypse and the man who is sworn to save her.  I read this one for The Book Binge and I’ll let you know when it posts.  4.75 out of 5

My Tracy’s TBR challenge read for the week was Rough Cut: Vincent Diamond Collected by Vincent Diamond.  This is a series of short stories of cops, ex-cops, ex-cons, current convicts and others who find love and/or sex.  There are some that connect and those were great as we got to see a bit more into the men who were involved. There were 7 (I think it’s 7) stories with the same characters and after they were over I just wanted more!  They were so great – Conrad and Steven sigh.  If you haven’t read this I’d definitely recommend it. 4.25 out of 5

Next up was book 3 in the Pennyroyal Green series by Julie Anne Long called Since the Surrender.  The book had Rosalind seeking help from Chase Eversea when her sister disappears after being arrested.  Chase doesn’t believe there’s a problem and kind of blows her off.  But strange events happen that make him think twice about that decision.  On top of that there’s the intense attraction that Rosalind and Chase have for each other that hasn’t dimmed in the 5 years since they’ve seen  each other. A good brooding romance that I enjoyed.  3.5 out of 5

Last up was Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.  This is a YA paranormal book about a girl who is a shapeshifting wolf and the boy she comes to love.  There’s just one issue – she’s scheduled to marry someone else on her 18 birthday which isn’t all that far off.  This was a great story about a girl who stands up for herself when she doesn’t like the decisions that are being made for her.  It also is the start of a mystery involving her “clan” of shapeshifters and the people they know as their masters.  Have they been told the truth about who they are and what they should be doing with their lives, or is it all a sham?  I really liked the story and can’t wait to read the second book (which I have sitting here waiting for me – yay!).  4.5 out of 5

My Book Binge review that posted this past week:
One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland
Flying Blind by Deborah Cooke

Happy Reading!