Tag: Family

What I Read Last Week

Posted July 21, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 2 Comments

Howdy from Tennessee!

I arrived here on Friday night after driving through a nasty storm. It then rained Saturday, was nice yesterday and is raining today.  I just woke up to sound of intense thunder. I never hear thunder like that in California!

It’s was great to see my sister, brother-in-law and niece last week.  We had a great time and I’m so glad I added that leg to my trip.  They ended up taking us to Mestizo which is a restaurant owned by Aaron Sanchez – a judge on the show Chopped.  My youngest adores that show she she LOVED being at his restaurant.

Now I’m at my parents home and I love it.  It’s so wonderful to see them again and see how they’re settling in to their new home.  The house is huge and beautiful. I love old homes and this being 88 years old it certainly fits the bill.

Yesterday my other sister (who lives about an hour away) her husband, my other niece and her husband along with their new baby – my grand-nephew – came over to my parents house.  I love my family cuz they’re just crazy and we had so much fun spending the day laughing.  Here’s a picture of my baby with James, my grand-nephew:

About what I read this past week?  Well, not much!  I’ve been so busy with family and traveling that reading fell by the wayside.  I did read one book for Book Binge:

Road of No Return by KA Merikan is the story of a man who’s an outlaw in an MC and he’s gay.  Of course he has no desire to classify himself as such.  He finds himself falling for the new tattoo artist in town and falling fast.  Zak, the artist, sees Stitch (the biker) as a fuck buddy  – not a relationship.  The pair has issues and Stitch ends up being part nice guy, part bastard.  I had some mixed feelings about the book and both loved and hated Stitch at different times.  It was a tad too violent for my liking but that’s personal preference – it may not be for others.  3 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Debutantes Don’t Date by Kristina O’Grady
The Longest Night by Kara Braden

Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted July 16, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

Hey folks!

Sorry this is delayed this week.  I traveled by car on Friday to Vegas, then on Saturday to Denver then on Sunday to Overland Park, Kansas (just outside of Kansas City) to see my sister, brother-in-law and niece.  It was a long drive but my youngest was with me and we had a good time.  She’s a really great traveling companion so the time didn’t seem all that long. We’ll be here for 4 or 5 days then we’ll be moving on to Tennessee to see my parents. 🙂

Beautiful Colorado mountains

Since then my sister and I have been busy catching up even though I just saw her in May when she was visiting San Diego.  She had breast cancer and had a double mastectomy last year.  Then just a few weeks ago had to have a complete hysterectomy as she had a football size fibroid in her uterus.  The poor woman has been through a lot in the past year and still she’s doing really well.  She’s now completely cancer free!  Yay!

My sister is also an interior decorator and since she’s not able to work due to her recent surgery I helped her business partner do an “installation” yesterday.  It was pretty cool helping to decorate a person’s living room.  It turned out really well.  

Congratulations to the winners of the recent giveaways:
Martha L was the winner of the print copy of The Longest Night by Kara Braden
Tish D. was the winner of the digital copy of Napoleon by JC Mells.

So what I read last week (which was very little):. 

First for the week was Pieces of Olivia by Melissa West.  The story was a really good one about a girl dealing with going to college and dealing with a horrible accident that changed her life.  You can read my review here. 4 out of 5 

Next was Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley.  This story was about a man who fights to save the life of a woman and ends up getting bitten by the creature he’s fighting and turns into a werewolf.  He has to deal with figuring it all out without any guidance.  He then sees the woman again and realizes that she is his mate and has to cope with keeping her safe.  It was a good story that I had a couple of issues with.  3.75 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Last for the week was Dangerous Territory by Emmy Curtis.  This is a novella that begins the Alpha Ops series.  The story is about two people who have a one night stand but then can’t stop thinking of each other.  Three years go by and then the man ends up having to save a reporter during a rescue and they get to meet again.  Unfortunately the man has no respect for reporters whatsoever and this causes a ton of friction between the two. It was a good story and I really liked it. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
One Night with a Quarterback by Jeanette Murray
Two for One by Ann B. Harrison
Poplar Place by Ellen Butler   

Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted July 8, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

It’s Monday again. I can’t quite figure out how the weekends are going so fast but they seem to be much shorter than say…2 days during the week? Do you feel that way? :0)

So last Sunday, the 29th, my oldest daughter went ice skating with some friends. She got her feet knocked out from under her when a kid decided to play human wrecking ball on the ice. She complained of pain so on Monday evening I took her for x-rays. They detected nothing but said sometime breaks in the wrist don’t show up until later. Two days later I got a call from the radiologist stating that she had a possible ligament disruption (?) and that she needed her arm/hand casted. While we were getting it casted yet another doctor looked at the x-rays and saw a hairline fracture. Wow – exciting times in Tracyland. lol She’s in some pain but doing well. They put a heavy plaster cast on her arm last Wednesday but she’ll get it off and have more x-rays taken by the orthopedist on Friday. Hopefully she won’t have to get another cast on but I’m not holding my breath. 🙂 

I have 3 giveaways going at the moment:
1 print copy of Where the Horses Run by Kaki Warner (Intl. ok)
1 print copy of The Longest Night by Kara Braden (US and Canada Onlyl)
1 digital copy of Napoleon by JC Mells

What I read last week:

I started the week with Then Came You by Jill Shalvis. This is a great book that takes place in Sunshine, Idaho and is part of the Animal Magnetism series. I’ll post my review of this one tomorrow.

Next up was Napoleon by JC Mells. This is a NA m/m romance that has to do with shifters so it’s kind of paranormal in that aspect…except they don’t actually shift so it’s more contemporary, if that makes sense. The story is about Napoleon and his attraction for a straight boy. It’s fun and funny and I really enjoyed it. There’s a giveaway going if you’re interested in it. You can read my review and enter the giveaway here. 4 out of 5

Next up was Fueled by Lust: Cato by Celeste Prater. This is the story of Cato who is an alien of sorts (but looks human) who is scanning the airwaves when he hears Luna. He doesn’t know her name but he can’t stop listening to her. At one point he tries to see her but he keeps missing her. When she tries to get away from her boyfriend she’s beat up and Cato comes to the rescue. Of course he’s not sure how he’s going to tell her about the whole alien thing but he’s hoping she’ll stick with him. It was an interesting book. I thought parts of it were really good and had problems with other parts. 3 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Last for the week (I know, I didn’t read much, did I?) was The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. This is Daniel’s story – obviously by the title you figured that out – and he is the son of Cameron who we read about in The Many Sins of Lord Cameron. Daniel has grown up and he’s a charmer. He’s a wonderful man with a good head on his shoulders. He’s highly intelligent and enjoys those who share his sense of wonder with the world. He meets Violet who is basically a confidence woman. Her and her mother travel around supposedly contacting those on the other side for people. They can’t really contact them but they do a great show and make money doing it. Daniel figures Violet out from minute one but he’s fascinated by her brain and attracted to her beauty. When she disappears he decides to follow and doesn’t plan on ever letting her go. It was a sweet story and I loved Daniel. He was so kind and calm with Violet who had been used and abused in a previous life and I loved how he took care of her – how he let her be herself which she needed so desperately. Just a great book. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Never Entice an Earl by Lily Dalton

Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted June 23, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

Hey folks!

Wassup? Hope you’re all well.

Last week was a bit crazy for me/us and our youngest daughter. She graduated from 6th grade which was awesome. I still can’t believe she’ll be starting Jr. High School in just a couple of month – yikes!

With her 6th Grade teacher

On Saturday she had another of her promotions in TKD. She was a little off her game but she still passed with flying colors.

Then on Sunday we attended her dance recital. She takes an intermediate tumbling class at a dance studio and as the studio was having their yearly recital she was in it. 🙂 She did a great job there as well and I was very proud of her…for everything she did last week! 🙂

While playing chauffer to my kids (and feeling like a mobile ATM) I got a little bit of reading in:

I started off the week with Men of Smithfield: Sam and Aaron by LB Gregg. A great story about Sam who is a Smithfield resident and pretty set in his ways. Aaron comes to town and mixes everything up – but in a good way. You can read my review of this one here. 4 out of 5

Next up was One Night With a Quarterback by Jeanette Murray. This is the story of Cassie and how she finds out who her father is when she’s a grown woman. They make contact and now Cassie is meeting her famous NFL coach father for the first time as well as his wife and 2 teen daughters. She also meets Trey who is one of her father’s players but she has no idea who he is and he doesn’t share that fact. It was a good read and I’ll post my review of this one this week. 4 out of 5

Rowan’s Lady by Suzan Tisdale is a medieval historical and book 1 in the Clan Graham series. This story follows Arline who has been wed to a horrid man, Garrick, who treats her like a prisoner. Her marriage contract states that if she doesn’t conceive in 1 year, 1 month and 1 day from the wedding he could get the marriage annulled – which he definitely plans to do. As he doesn’t have sex with her there’s no fear of getting her pregnant. Garrick then kidnaps Rowan Graham’s 4 year old daughter, Lily, and Arline takes care of her to save her from Garrick’s cruelty. Lily is rescued and Arline is set free after the annulment and ends up at Rowan’s keep acting as Lily’s governess. Rowan really likes Arline but isn’t sure he can share his heart again after the death of his wife. This was a pretty great story. There were quite a few times that Arline needed saving which got a little old, and a little long and slow a time or two, but overall it kept my attention and kept me reading. 3.75/4 out of 5

After finishing the previous book I picked up book 2 in the Clan Graham series – Frederick’s Queen by Suzan Tisdale. This story follows Frederick who was Rowan’s first in the previous book. Frederick won’t inherit the Lairdship from his father but would like to be a Laird. When given the chance to marry Aggie McLaren and become Laird of the clan McLaren when her father dies, he takes it. Aggie is mute and her father is beyond cruel. She’s had many horrible things happen to her in the past and has many secrets – including the fact that she can talk, just with a stutter. Aggie and Frederick end up falling in love but between her father, his first, a female clan member and an evil neighboring Laird life is dangerous and not exactly easy. FQ was another really good book by Tisdale. This one was slow in a few places and had some parts that were hard to read (a rape – but not complete details, and some nasty torture). Overall a good story though and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Too bad it won’t come out for another year or so. 🙁 3.75/4 out of 5 

Last for the week was A Tiger’s Claim by Lia Davis. Shayna, who is the adopted daughter of an Alpha, runs off after an argument with her father and ends up getting attacked by mutants – shifters that are stuck as half man half wolf. She is saved by Travis who takes her home to help her heal. She goes into heat and he takes care of her, of course, and discovers that she’s his mate. They end up with his daughter and mother back at Shay’s father’s compound but the danger from the mutants isn’t over. This was an OK read. I think this could have been a better read if it had been longer so that it could get a little more in depth with the characters as well as the background of how everything with the mutants started. It also needed a good editing as extra words and misspelled words became very annoying. 2 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Mended by Kim Karr 

Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted June 9, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

Hi folks,
 
I hope you had a good week. It was a week of lows and highs in our family. On Wednesday we had my father-in-laws service which was very sad. It was a very nice service however, and I think he would have liked all of the wonderful things people said about him.

Then just yesterday my girls played in church. They have been practicing Firework by Katy Perry for the past 4 months with the “adult” choir (I say “adult” but there are quite a few teens in it as well) and they finally got to perform it. They. Totally. Rocked. Seriously. I was just so proud of not only my two girls but the whole group.

 

The Youth Ringers also played Blessed Assurance yesterday. I’m not normally a fan of that song but I liked this arrangement.
 

 

FYI: My giveaway of Parts I & II of The Kraken King by Meljean Brook is still going until midnight on the 11th. You can enter here.

ALSO – Sandy James is giving away a 1 Kindle and 3 ebook copies of her book The Bottom Line. This runs until the evening of the 10th I believe. You can enter here.

So on to what I read last week:

I started off the week with Devil of the Highlands by Lynsay Sands (if you haven’t noticed I’ve been working my way through her historicals lately). As I was reading I thought to myself …wow, this sounds like another book I read once. Uh, yeah, it was the same book and I had completely forgotten that I’d read it. lol Anyway, despite it being a reread I had forgotten enough of it to make it worth reading. The story is about a woman who is placed in an arranged marriage to a man who supposedly/possibly killed 3 members of his family. She really liked the guy and wants to make the marriage work but he doesn’t know how to communicate – even when someone starts trying to kill her off. It was a little bit of a mystery and a fun romance. 3.5 out of 5 

Next was Burn for Me by Cynthia Eden. This is the story of Eve Bradley who is a freelance journalist who wants to bring down a project that is supposedly recruiting paranormals for testing when they’re really kidnapping the subjects. Eve meets Subject Thirteen who is really Cain O’Connor and it turns out that he’s a phoenix who can’t die. Well, there is one way, but no one can stand the fire long enough to get the job done. Eve tries to save all of the subjects, especially Cain as she feels an undeniable attraction to the man, but things don’t work out like she thought they would. The story has Cain and Eve running from the bad guys, getting caught, getting free a couple of times and that was a bit repetitive, but for the most part it was a good story. I like Cain and Eve together even though it certainly wasn’t a sweet tender type romance – and certainly not traditional. 4 out of 5

Backwoods by Jill Sorenson is book four in the Aftershock series. This book has Abby and Nathan’s story. Overall I liked the book but I did have a couple of issues with it. I’ll post my review this week.

Next was Mended by Kim Karr. The first two books in the Connections series gave us River and Dahlia. Now we have Xander who is River’s brother and Ivy who he is reunited with. They were together in high school and now 12 years later they are reunited with each other but there’s some major stuff to work through before they can be together. The story was good in parts and then other parts I wasn’t so fond of. I’ll post my review this week.

The Switch by Lynsay Sands was next. This is the story of twin sisters – one who is posing as a boy – who are trying to get away from their uncle who is trying to marry them off to horrible men. They escape and try to head to their maternal uncle’s house but are assisted by a man who ends up screwing up their plan. They end up in London under his protection posing as his relatives. Radcliffe is confused because he seems to be attracted to the boy, Charlie, but then sometimes he’s attracted to Beth. Turns out that Charlie poses as both Beth and herself and that’s what’s confusing him. The girls attempt to find husbands but Charlie wants Radcliffe. They’re also fighting a blackmailer who could ruin everything for them. This was a really cute story. It got a bit convoluted at times but overall a good read. 3.5 out of 5

Last for the week was a novella called Her Dragon Billionaire by Lizzie Lynn Lee. The story is about a woman who is in the witness protection program but is found and almost killed by the Russian mafia (who she testified against). She is found by Liam who is a billionaire and a dragon shifter. He immediately decides to save her life by bonding with her with his dragon blood. When she awakens she has no memory other than her name and he tells her that they’re married cuz he wants to keep her. She does ridiculous amnesiac stuff (but I probably would have too if the guy didn’t tell me the whole truth) and gets caught by the mafia again. The story had too many ins and outs to be as short as it was. It hinted at stuff that I wanted more info on and never got and it was a little too insta-love for me. Is there variations on insta-love? After reading this I think there are. In the end it was just an ok read. 2 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that have posted recently:
What Happens in Ireland by Whitney K-E
Reckless by Jessi Gage
Love and Shenanigans by Zara Keane
Dark Heat: The Dark Kings Stories by Donna Grant

Happy Reading!
 

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