Monday 30 April 2012

Challenge Recap April


How's it Been So Far:
This month's recap us a quick look at what happened this month in the forms of each challenge.  For the Yoga Challenge I failed miserably, I haven't touched my mat in months & I'm really starting to feel it, not just the guilt of not practicing but in how my body feels, I'm going to make time. I swear!!

As for the soda challenge, it pretty much was a given this month, I only had two days in which I needed the soda to help with some bouts of nausea. I know there are "healthier" sodas out there I see them in the Coop Market that I go to sometimes, & I might check into those as an alternative for the days I might need them. Other than that I did really well. Almost a perfect month of no soda, funny thing?? I didn't even feel the cravings the way I thought I would.  The other two days, where I craved somethings sweet, I'm apparently lactose intolerant now and can't have ice cream, or gods help me chocolate, so instead of getting those I got cherry coke, and it really helped.

Goal for the Month: 28 Books Read: 
Stats:Books Left: 10   Completed: 18  
You can see that I did waaaayy better this month than in March, With it being warmer now, I have been taking my books and heading to the green with a blanket and planting my butt beneath any of the beautiful oak trees to read. It both gets me out the house and helps me connect to the local rythms of the town. I read the following books: * you can click on the highlighted books to see the review*

Advanced Review Book List:
  1. A Sound Among the Trees ~ Susan Meissner ✔ 
  2. A Teaching Handbook for Wiccans and Pagans ~ Thea Sabin ✔ 
  3. Intuition ~ J Meyers ✔ 
  4. Intangible ~ J Meyers  ✔  
  5. Lust Plague ~ Cari Silverwood  ✔
My Own Review:
  1. Salvation in Death ~ JD Robb 
  2. Dark Curse ~ Christine Feehan ✔ 
  3. Dark Peril ~ Christine Feehan ✔ 
  4. Dark Symphony ~ Christine Feehan ✔ 
  5. The Lucky One ~ Nicholas Sparks ✔ 
  6. Heart of Darkness ~ Anthology ✔ 
  7. Undomestic Goddess ~ Sophie Kinsella ✔ 
Bonus & Kindle Freebies:
  1. The Life She left behind ~   Maisey Yates ✔ 
  2. Awake ~Jessica Grey  ✔ 
  3. Coexist ~ Julia Crane  ✔ 
  4. Wicked Mourning ~ Heather Boyd  ✔ 
  5. Shaken & Stirred ~ Sable Jordan  ✔ 
  6. The Lucky Penny ~ Catherine Anderson  ✔   
Goals For Next Month:

May's Book Challenge Post is Here. The Goal again is 28 books. 
As for the Yoga Challenge, My goal is 31 days of Compliance. 
I also have the goal of 31 days for the No Soda Challenge.


From the 1001 Things to do List, My Goal is to complete 25 items in the Month of May.


What are your goals for the month?? What have you complete this month?? Share in the comments.

    Sunday 29 April 2012

    In My Mailbox (12)

    In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at the Story Siren. It's a chance to showcase the books you have made their way into your home through the post, through email, from the library, as gifts, or purchased during the week. You get a chance to show off the books that you may not get a chance to review or read, but want your bloggie friends to see.

    This week I only received two books, one as part of the 1st annual World Book Night, which I posted about here. From that even I received:
    Inspired by her four grandparents (from four different countries), Krauss tells the story of a man who, 60 years ago in the Polish village where he was born, fell in love and wrote a book. And though he doesn't know it, that book survived, inspiring fabulous circumstances, even love.

    I also got for review this week:
    Every mom has felt the need to be perfect.

    MOMAHOLIC is one woman’s private, dramatic, and often comical invitation to peek inside a time in her life when everything fell apart, causing her to take an honest look at what she was doing right and what she’d been doing terribly wrong. With this discovery, her wacky family’s season of becoming unraveled found a new glue that would re-bond her family and unite them in a deeper and more functional way than ever before.

    The real life characters: A MOM who is literally the head writer of a network soap opera … at work and at home; A HUSBAND who can’t help but scratch his head in frustration as his family’s troubles seem to spiral out of his control; an autistic SON; a popular DAUGHTER who is suddenly pregnant; an ADOPTED DAUGHTER pulled from the jungles of Vietnam; and an ADOPTED SON rescued from the streets of Ethiopia.

    This is a story showing the speed with which a “normal” family can fall apart. With the family running around as the tornado sirens roared warnings to take cover, mom becomes the biggest mess of all and ends up finding a whole new freedom for her soul.
    Check out my weekly recap here, Well that's my haul for this week. What did you get?? Share in the comment and I will swing on over.

    In My Opinion:

    I give No F**ks about the drama going on this week. Yes it's harsh and kinda rude but this is my blog, my space to say what I want. Personally I just don't care enough to get this worked up over something that to me seems trivial. Here is what I care about this week: my next door neighbour, whose boyfriend decided her face looked like a good place to park his fist, several times over. That is important, this big hoopla?? Not important at least not to me because I really wasn't involved at all.

    Yes I get it; it's wrong, yes she did it and she will deal with the fall out of her stupidity, error, mistake, accident whatever the heck you want to call it. Personally, I feel bad for the women who were the original victims of the plagiarism, but as for the others who felt they needed to out Kristi and cause this big fiasco?? There is a special name for y'all and it's called instigators. In the end the instigators allways cause more trouble than the initial problem was truly worth.  If the victims made an agreement with Kristi and they decided not to out her, why all these months later did you feel the need to run in and scream bloody murder??

    And for those who have spent their days talking about how they always hated her anyway because she is (insert whatever here) and then have the nerve to say that she's  the one making the blogging world look bad?? Not your behaviour; not the things that you are saying on either side of the issue, the ones going after GG & the other victims, or the ones attempting to tear Kristi down. How about ALL of this is a cluster f**k and you all look petty as shyt?? How about that??

    If you don't like her actions and you have made your decision not to follow her COOL do you. As for those who came crawling out the woodwork showing your complete and whole asses and make extra fools of yourselves?? Y'all can crawl back into the holes you came out of & go kick rocks in flip flops,

    Here's how I truly feel, IMM is a way for me to meet new bloggers, Heck almost all my new book blogs that I follow are a result of IMM, I just started it in the last few months and I like the blogs I have found because of it. I love that my Lust lists have grown due to the books I have found on other people's blogs.  But you know what I'm not a follower either, so yeah maybe I was never a avid follower of Kristi's blog; but I love the IMM idea and will continue to do it, because I LIKE it. Since I never really went on there for anything else but the Sunday post, that's what I will keep doing. I'm not going to stop doing it because other people think we should do so.

    That's how it is 'round these parts, if you don't like it?? Feel free to unsubscribe. That's how I feel, for those who are still here, check out the IMM post later. For those of you who don't know what happened BE GLAD, this just allowed people to really let themselves be keyboard brave, knowing that more than half of them would never say any of these things to each others faces. But if your still curious simply click here for Rachel over at Parajunkee's breakdown of the events. You can also click here to hear from the real victims.

    Saturday 28 April 2012

    Stacking the Shelves (1)


    This is a new meme started by Tynga, as her way of not doing IMMs. I also like this idea and will run with it. Check out her page on how to start. This is also a way to show off your book loot for the week with bloggie friends.  Well here goes nothing.

    This week I only received two books, one as part of the 1st annual World Book Night, which I posted about here. From that even I received:
    Inspired by her four grandparents (from four different countries), Krauss tells the story of a man who, 60 years ago in the Polish village where he was born, fell in love and wrote a book. And though he doesn't know it, that book survived, inspiring fabulous circumstances, even love.
    I got for review this week:
    Every mom has felt the need to be perfect.
    MOMAHOLIC is one woman’s private, dramatic, and often comical invitation to peek inside a time in her life when everything fell apart, causing her to take an honest look at what she was doing right and what she’d been doing terribly wrong. With this discovery, her wacky family’s season of becoming unraveled found a new glue that would re-bond her family and unite them in a deeper and more functional way than ever before.

    The real life characters: A MOM who is literally the head writer of a network soap opera … at work and at home; A HUSBAND who can’t help but scratch his head in frustration as his family’s troubles seem to spiral out of his control; an autistic SON; a popular DAUGHTER who is suddenly pregnant; an ADOPTED DAUGHTER pulled from the jungles of Vietnam; and an ADOPTED SON rescued from the streets of Ethiopia.

    This is a story showing the speed with which a “normal” family can fall apart. With the family running around as the tornado sirens roared warnings to take cover, mom becomes the biggest mess of all and ends up finding a whole new freedom for her soul.
    Check out my weekly recap here, Well that's my haul for this week. What did you get?? Share in the comment and I will swing on over.

    Friday 27 April 2012

    Follow Up & Follow Friday:


    Welcome to this week's Feature and Follow Friday. This will be my sharing of the blogs, Youtube channels and websites I love.

    I'm a big cooking fanatic, sometimes I have a yen for watching good food videos from 'experts' which not all of them are, but they love their food and love to share.  Here are two of my favorite Youtube cooks:
    Here is Blog. As Chef John makes each video he puts detailed instructions on his blog and shares all the ingredients. I LOVE this website and it just makes me wish I was a better cook, which he makes seem so much easier.

    Did I mention I was a big foodie?? NO?? What my recipes every Wednesday didn't tell you?? Ok I'll stop now. I am a huge foodie, there's nothing I love more than trying a new recipe, learning a new technique; Well for the many foodies who are of the pagan persuasion there is a website that focuses on information and recipes for each of the many holidays that we love to celebrate, Check out the Pagan Foodie Blog, which shares recipes, and links to many other awesome blogs or recipes,

    This is a quick way for you to know just how well my Book Reading is going, Yes you can follow on the Reading Challenge pages but I figured a weekly recap is a good way for you to see some of the books & check them out for yourself. Each week will count from the Friday post until the next Thursday, that way anything read within that time frame will highlighted here.  I will link to Goodreads, as well as any pertinent sites for information on each book as well as my reviews if they are done.

    What I have Read So Far:
    1) Salvation in Death by JD Robb, review is pending, My thoughts on the book so far: I liked it, classic Dallas.
    2) Awake by Jennifer Grey which was a kindle freebie. and OMG I'm in LOVE with thsi series, I can't wait for the next installment. Review is pending.
    3) A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner, which was a wonderful book. Click for my review
    4)Intuition by J Meyers which is a great little teaser for her novel Intangible which I am also reading * I just started this* Review is pending

    What I'm currently Reading:
    Well that's my week so far in books, I have had a wonderful week and I am wishing you the best of today. Of Course it's TGIF, so enjoy the links, and let me know how you book week has gone so far,

    Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a free book

    Tuesday 24 April 2012

    Book Review: Dark Peril

    Book Title: Dark Peril
    Author: Christine Feehan
    Publisher:Berkeley Books New York
    Cost:$25.95
    Pages: 342
    How I got it:  Library
    My Rating: ★★★★☆
    Synopsis:
    Dominic, of the Dragonseeker lineage—one of the most powerful of the Carpathian lines—is desperate to go to the very heart of the enemy camp and learn their plans.  There’s only one way to do so: ingest the parasitic blood of a vampire.  He knows that it is a mission from which there is no return. With little time before the blood takes effect, he’ll get the information he needs, relay it to the leader of the Carpathians, and go out fighting.  There is no more honorable way to end his life.Solange Sangria is one of the last of the jaguar people, a royal pureblood, a dying species that cannot recover from bad decisions made over hundreds of years. She has long been alone, fighting to save the remaining shapeshifters from the hands of Brodrick the Terrible: her own father, who slaughtered her family and everyone she loved.  Wounded and weary, she plans one last battle, hoping to stop the man who has made an alliance with the vampires, accepting that she will not come out alive.They are two warriors who have lived their lives alone.  Now, at the end of their time, they find each other—an obstacle neither can ignore
    My Review:
    I so have to stop skipping around in this series, I really mean it this time. Omgosh I'm so sorry I read Dark Predator before I read this one; it doesn't excuse all of Zacarius' behaviour but it certainly explained it way better than Dark Predator did. Here we see the full scene of how very close he came to turning, how close he came to losing his lifemate and his honor all in one fell swoop.

    Okay moving on to Dominic and Solange, I read a review before I picked this book up who couldn't understand why Solange who was supposed to be such a hard ass fell so 'quickly' umm did you read the same book i did?? Because it says right there in the book, in the first few chapters.  This is one of the few books, where the action was secondary to the relationship being formed and I believe that for these two characters it was necessary.

    This is Dominic's story and I was in love right from the start, because I had read other story lines with him and he was a captivating figure who was seeking always seeking to know what happened to his sister. That kind of devotion endeared him to me from the start. Solange was a character we met before in the story of Riodarn and her cousin, it was lovely to see her again and learn her story. OMGosh her story is so painful, how can a man who should be King who should be the one looking to save his people be the one to tear them apart.  Dragonseeker Clan seems to be the Clan every Carpathian should want to be from, because no one in their Clan has ever turned vampire, which is why their plan worked so well.

    Dominic and Solange are two people who have chosen suicide missions so their people can thrive, survive and live past what their enemies have planned. Dominic has done something none other has ever done, he has gone into the enemies lair in an attempt to learn all he can and take out as many as he can before he leaves this world for the next, and it is in this hour of need of desperation that he meets his lifemate.  For years he has sought her and never once has he met her, finally at the end of his journey the only comfort he has is the woman of his dreams Literally. He has dreamed of and shared the essence of who he is with this woman for years, seeking and offering comfort when their respective battles have become too hard.

    I LOVED Dominic and Solange together, I loved everything about Dominc and his struggle to do what was necessary for his King while honouring the treasure that is his lifemate. Once he realised she existed he lived with the hope that there was someone or something great in the world that was just for him. Solange, a battle weary Jaguar, the last of the royal line is faced with the extinction of her people, she fights not for herself but for the countless women she stands for the women of the Jaguar race, whether they can shift or not, she fights to save them from those who seek to use and abuse them. Poor Solange has faced so much death and has been shaped into something she never should have been, yet she willingly takes up the cause.  And here is her reward, a man who loves both the woman and the Jaguar as well as the warrior, a man who respected her and was willing to wait until she was comfortable giving up control to him, submitting, allowing him close, a man worthy of her love.  Solange is a woman used to abuse and Dominic had to make her see that not all men where like that, her had to gain her trust, this took time, which made the book longer than most.

    I personally loved the action (what was there) the romance, the building of a relationship (including how they learnt to fight together) and the full reveal of the extent the vampires are willing to go to bring down the Carpathians.  Dominic Dragonseeker is one of the more amazing and alluring characters she has written, with Solange as a perfect counterpart to him.  I loved having Josef mentioned again, personally I would love for him to be Skylar's lifemate, but apparently she belongs to someone else.hmmm I want to read the book that lets everyone know that because I haven't seen that tidbit yet.

    I still have seven books left in the series, which will unfortunately bouncing around the Carpathian world going backwards and forwards, but I am enjoying a few of the stories and this one is going on the fave list, I will get a copy for myself that's how much I actually enjoyed it.


    Monday 23 April 2012

    World Book Day 2012


    Yesterday was the first annual World Book Night. I celebrated in full bookworm fashion by reading up a storm on like three different books. Including one I got while standing at the bus stop while going to  Magic Monday class. How awesome is that???

    It's called: The History of Love by Nicholas Cross

    There are twenty nine other books listed on the site that they were giving out. Frick if I had known I could pick titles i would have picked the Henrietta Lacks book or maybe Maya Angelou, on second guess, I'm glad they didn't tell me to pick I would grabbed the box and ran. LOL

    According to their website this is why they choose the day. Click on their website to sign up to join in on the festivities next year. I know I will.
    Why April 23?A. April 23 is the UNESCO International Day of the Book, chosen in honor of Shakespeare and Cervantes, who both died on April 23 1616. (It is also the anniversary of Shakespeare's birthday.) In the Catalan region of Spain, the day is celebrated by giving a book and a flower to a loved one. We also hope that it’s a lovely spring day perfect for spreading the love of reading in your community.
    Happy Reading my loves.

    Sunday 22 April 2012

    Happy Earth Mother's Day!!

    Happy Earth Day!!!! What are you doing today to make a difference for the planet??? Want some freebies and ways to save?? Click on the link to see some of the savings being offered for Earth Day acrros the country. Enter for a chance to win Cascadian Farms year of free goods.

    However you celebrate, have fun and enjoy Michael Jackson's Earth Song:
    Happy Earth Day!!

    In My Mailbox (11)

    In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at the Story Siren. It's a chance to showcase the books you have made their way into your home through the post, through email, from the library, as gifts, or purchased during the week. You get a chance to show off the books that you may not get a chance to review or read, but want your bloggie friends to see.

    I had only one bookcome in from Doubleday Book club, it's Nora Roberts newest book:
    The Witness.
    Daughter of a controlling mother, Elizabeth finally let loose one night, drinking at a nightclub and allowing a strange man's seductive Russian accent lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive. The events that followed changed her life forever.
    Twelve years later, the woman known as Abigail Lowery lives on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance programmer, she designs sophisticated security systems--and supplements her own security with a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. But Abigail's reserve only intrigues police chief Brooks Gleason. Her logical mind, her secretive nature, and her unromantic viewpoints leave him fascinated but frustrated. He suspects that Abigail needs protection from something--and that her elaborate defenses hide a story that must be revealed.
    With a quirky, unforgettable heroine and a pulse-pounding plotline, Nora Roberts presents a riveting new read that cements her place as today's most reliably entertaining thriller
    author--and will leave people hungering for more.
    from the library I picked up a book i saw in the catalog for Doubleday and I thought I wanted to read it but wasn't sure I wished to purchase it:
     The Accidental Bride
    Two high-school sweethearts, a wedding reenactment, and one absent-minded preacher. Is it a recipe for disaster or a chance for a new beginning?


    Netgalley:
    The Reverend's Wife by Kimberly Lawson Roby
    From New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby comes the ninth installment in her award-winning Reverend Curtis Black series. It's been months since Reverend Curtis learned that his wife Charlotte had affairs with two different men, and for now, he continues to be cordial and respectful to her. But he's also made it clear that once their son Matthew graduates high school, he will be filing for divorce. Charlotte, on the other hand, continues to do everything possible to make amends in hopes of saving their marriage. Unfortunately, Curtis is ready to move on and is being propositioned by a woman who desperately wants to become the next Mrs. Curtis Black. When the situation heads down a path that is frighteningly shocking, could it be the final blow to this once blessed union?
    OKay so I didn't realize this is book number nine, so I'm hoping this can be read as a stand alone. I saw that one of my other friends who blogs reviewed this and I wanted to read it. 

    I also got: 
    Overdressed by Elizabeth Cline
    Fast fashion and disposable clothing have become our new norms. We buy ten-dollar shoes from Target that disintegrate within a month and make weekly pilgrimages to Forever 21 and H&M. Elizabeth Cline argues that this rapid cycle of consumption isn't just erasing our sense of style and causing massive harm to the environment and human rights-it's also bad for our souls.
    Cline documents her own transformation from fast-fashion addict to conscientious shopper. She takes a long look at her overstuffed closet, resoles her cheap imported boots, travels to the world's only living-wage garment factory, and seeks out cutting-edge local and sustainable fashion, all on her journey to find antidotes to out-of-control shopping.
    Cline looks at the impact here and abroad of America's drastic increase in inexpensive clothing imports, visiting cheap-chic factories in Bangladesh and China and exploring the problems caused by all those castoffs we donate to the Salvation Army. She also shows how consumers can vote with their dollars to grow the sustainable clothing industry, reign in the conventional apparel market, and wear their clothes with pride.
    Even though I'm not the clothes horse I could be I am so fascinated by the fashion industry, I wanted to see what this was about and was it going to be like "Fast Food Nation: which made you eyeball ever piece of meat you purchased for a long time.

    Happy Earth Day my loves. What did you get in your mailbox?? Any fun reads?? Please share in the comments and I will fly on over.

    Saturday 21 April 2012

    Book Review: A Sound Among the Trees


    Book Title: A Sound Among the Trees
    Author: Susan Meissner
    Publisher: WaterBrook Press
    Cost: $14.99
    Pages:324
    How I got it: Blogging For Books Program
    My Rating: ★★★★☆
    Synopsis:
    A house shrouded in time.
    A line of women with a heritage of loss.As a young bride, Susannah Page was rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North, a traitor to her Virginian roots. Her great-granddaughter Adelaide, the current matriarch of Holly Oak, doesn’t believe that Susannah’s ghost haunts the antebellum mansion looking for a pardon, but rather the house itself bears a grudge toward its tragic past.When Marielle Bishop marries into the family and is transplanted from the arid west to her husband’s home, it isn’t long before she is led to believe that the house she just settled into brings misfortune to the women who live there.With Adelaide’s richly peppered superstitions and deep family roots at stake, Marielle must sort out the truth about Susannah Page and Holly Oak— and make peace with the sacrifices she has made for love. (from goodreads)

    My Review:
    How does the spirit survive when we have been subject to many levels of loss?? One of the main characters in this novel has faced loss on many levels throughout her ninety years, including the loss that started it all when she was eight.  Living a house that has seen the worst of humanity as well as the hope that remain within even in the face of the worst of the Civil War has shaped this house into a place that many fear and also admire.

    Holly Oak is one of the few homes to remain standing after the Battle of Fredricksburg and the women of Holly Oak are left to piece together their lives after the war has moved on. Perception has shaped the women, hidden truths and mental illness has lead to many of the tragedies which they have had to face.

    I loved reading this novel, it was engaging and sweet, this story really focused on thw women and their understanding of love, and the sacrifices they made for love.  Personally I couldn't and wouldn't have done what Marielle did, no way was I moving into the home that was your ex-wife's childhood home. Carson even though he intellectually knew he should move on truly wasn't ready but instead of moving on simply inserted his new wife in the empty slot in his life.

    He would have spent many years there in that mode simply because Marielle refused to push for a new home.  I'm sure there is something there that made Marielle love him, but as he was written in the book, not much to endear him to the reader.

    The book however was about the women, and what love is for them, how they view and shape their lives based on their perceptions of love. And it all started with the Civil War, and the forced sacrifices Susannah had to make for her love not of country but of family and her hearts desire.  Reading her letters was an insight that no amount of story telling by family members would have been able to convey, her personal take on the war raging around her made it more than an ideology it made it real.

    I truly enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from Susan.

    ** I'm required to say that I received this book  from WaterBrook Press's Blogging for Books Program in exchange for an honest review**

    Happy Reading

    Book Review: Undomestic Goddess

    Book Title: Undomestic Goddess
    Author: Sophie Kinsella
    Publisher: Dial Press
    Cost:$23.00
    Pages: 374
    How I got it: Library
    My Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
    Synopsis:
    Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She’s made a mistake so huge, it’ll wreck any chance of a partnership.

    Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer–and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope–and finds love–is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

    But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does…will she want it back? 
    My Review:
    I HATED this book, yes, ladies and gents you have finally heard me say it. I feel bad for the goodreads followers because I kept updating them about the book progress and how much I disliked Samantha less than half way into the first chapter.  I have very rarely hated characters, mostly I will put the book aside then go back to it when I am in a better mood, but this time I disliked this character from jump.  The premise sounded fun, until you realised she's a coward and a liar. In everything she does.

    Before the big 'mistake' there is her hint that she knows nothing about being domestic, heck she didn't even know how to work a vacuum cleaner.  Let me tell you when exactly I hated Samantha, she makes a comment on page 37-38 where she makes the comment that it's not 'feminist' to be domestically inclined because the next door neighbour asks her why she didn't sew on the button on her shirt.  Bitch?!?!?!!! Just because your incompetent doesn't make it un~feminist to know how to cook, clean or freaking feed yourself. That's when I started to despise the character.

    Let's start out with what starts the problem, she makes a mistake at her high profile corporate law position and she freaks out when she learns the bottom has fallen out and she has cost her company fifty million dollars.  Now I will say that would freak me the hell out too. I might pass out, but I will not in anyway shape or form just run away, not only run away but instead of coming back to the office to work it out and fix the problem she hides from her boss, jumps on a train and runs away.

    Then she goes to someones house for some help and there she gets mistaken for a housekeeper, it happens people make assumptions, which she NEVER tried to set right, especially when she realised that they weren't going to hire her at all.  This is where the lying starts and it just keeps rolling on from there. Page after page of her lying to her employers; she gets help lying from the gardener who's mom helps her learn to cook.  Even when the reporters showed up on her doorstep, she lied to her employers on page 315, the house is on fire but she still stands there pretending it's just warm.

    She has nothing that makes her a great female character, she hides from her problems, then lies, then hides from the outfall of the 'mistake' she doesn't try to clear her name, she doesn't take responsibilities and when she discovers that she wasn't responsible she doesn't take action, she goes to another person to fix the problem. YOU are the top of your class and you have no friends in high places?? Seven years in the business and you have no favours you can call in?? Your Mom is a top profile lawyer and she has all these favour she called in to get you a job and you don't think she may have some friends who would be interested in this??? How about going to the bar association? the UK version of the FTC?? There is no way I can accept that your this smart but so colossally stupid. Just no way.

    Because fraud, identity theft, lying to employers, and running away from your problems are the grown up thing to do. I'll admit I had laughs reading this book, but on the whole this book was and is trash. She's supposed to be a genius and a college educated woman who becomes one of the best on the fast track to being partner and she's a f**king moron.  I have four lawyers in my family who range in several different fields of law, and I can personally tell you from visiting their offices several times, there is no way in hell you would make partner if your assistant isn't top shelf, your office is spic and span and your organisational skills are on the top. No one would think you have it together if your desk is a clusterf**k every single day. 

    I'm well aware that need for suspended belief is what make romance novels and fiction books awesome, but there is suspended belief and then there is just sheer stupidity and this character??? Despite what the author kept saying about her 'genius' is an idiot at best. You literally needed to remove your brain for any of this to even be considered worth it.

    I thought this sounds awesome she'll find herself and become someone greater but this whole 'new life' is a freaking farce and she's lying to everyone. and NO one finds out?? Who in there right mind makes it through grad school and doesn't know how to make a sandwich??  Her best friend helps cover her butt and even makes her seem (okay i take that back there isn't much my bff(s) and I wouldn't say to cover each other but really though). Trish is an idiot you hire someone and don't do a reference check?? and your letting them in your home?? I'm sorry they are all idiots, this isn't chick lit, it's a moron book that the author expects us to swallow,

    Someone is looking at a brochure with your face on it and NO ONE recognises you ??? I freaking call bullshyt.  You go to the place you have worked in for seven years and managed to get inside when your supposed to be banned and not one person freaking recognised you??? And these are supposed to be the best and smartest.

    Man I bitched and complained about this book, but because I was so far in I didn't want to not finish it because then it would haunt me and I don't want Samantha haunting me.

    I star, and if i could give it less to show how much i hated it I would. I was severally disappointed because I loved "Can you keep a secret" by the author and I expected the same thing here.  I can't in good conscience say anyone should read this at all. Two whole days I won't be getting back.

    Thursday 19 April 2012

    Paranormal Telly: Angel


    Show: AngelSeasons: 5
    Run Time: 40 mins
    Air Dates & Time: Cancelled
    Reruns can be seen: Netflix, Hulu Plus
    Ohh man, I did a review about Buffy here. I loved this show, I watched Buffy and then went back and forth with Buffy and Angel once he got his spin-off. I'm so upset with my younger self for not watching these shows when they were on, but then again I got to watch all of them at once without the wait in between.
    The story arc is of course totally awesome. Angel is a bad ass Vampire who after eating & torturing a young gypsy woman is cursed by her family with his soul. This return of his conscience results in him becoming a tortured soul and he tries to live his life without creating more havoc. He meets Buffy and becomes her first love, and from there the action really starts, the curse states that should he have one moment of bliss that the curse will be lifted and his soul cast out.

    I loved watching the struggle between the Vampire Slayer who was born with the duty of slaying all those that prey on humanity and her new found friend and eventual love who just happens to be a Vampire.

    The storyline flowed extremely well, they tried pretty hard to answer many of the questions that fans had about Angel and Buffy, and even about Angel's past. The witty banter between all the characters, the scenes that made you talk about the episode even after you watched it. I enjoyed seeing Spike coming onto the show, he certainly added some very needed wit and banter to Angel's seriousness.

    I loved the show, the dilemma that Angel faced each episode, even when he was in the wrong, I particularly loved watching a vain character from Buffy become someone we could admire.  Cordelia always has something hilarious to say that makes you laugh and think 'man she's so right', especially in the first episode when she calls him out on the fact that he an old vampire but he is broke, because he didn't save any money. I laughed so hard at that.

    If you can please do check it out on the channels listed above or even at your local library.
    Happy Watching & Be Blessed

    Wednesday 18 April 2012

    KWW: Container Gardening

    Welcome back to another awesome week of Kitchen Witchin. This week I'm discussing my container garden and my plans for the little plot of land in front of my condo.

    For years I have had small plots of land, or even beds of flowers and herbs on my parents land; each year in the fall I would look through the Johnny's Selected Seeds catalogue looking for the seeds that I wasn't able to save from plants, and choosing what I would plant the next year.   This fall I wasn't able to plan and order ahead of time, and I haven't even started my seedlings yet (blaspheme I know).  This year, I'm using my book The Complete Book of Herbs by Lesley Bremness (which I have had for over seven years and have used it religiously) and I'm going to make the Witch's Garden that she talks about in the book. She lists several different kinds of themed gardens that you can have, even one for astrological signs, this year I'm using her inspiration plus the herbs I'm good at growing as well as those I know I can't wildcraft.

    She lists a few that are called the nine Anglo Saxon sacred herbs, which include:
    chamomile, chervil, crab apple, fennel. mugwort, nettle, plantain, sainfoin, watercress, which were believed to repel evil attacks.  Angelica was considered a sovereign remedy against enchantments and potions. We all know clovers, dill, garlic, houseleek were also planted in Anglo Saxon garden.

    For your astrological sign (I'm a cusp baby Scorpio/Sagittarius) so I have these plants as my best plants to have in a garden: basil, tarragon, wormwood, feverfew,mallow, sage, houseleek.  I have planted feverfew before but never really used it, so I'm not planting that again, wormwood is a sister plant to mugwort and I can wildcraft that from a safe location so I won't be planting that wither. I have no use for mallow, sainfoin, watercress, or crab apple.   So here's my list of plants that I'm going to do this season:

    • rosemary from my plant last year
    • mint (several including: peppermint & spearmint)
    • sage
    • escallions (or as some know it "spring onion")
    • thyme from a cutting in my mother's garden
    • Jamaican scotch bonnet pepper *from seeds of last years plants*
    • tarragon
    • basil 
    • lemon verbena
    • chamomile
    • chives
    • bay
    • house-leek * I'm actually taking several from my mother she has containers upon containers of these so she won't miss a few. lol
    • right now I have some garlic which has sprouted as well as some potatoes which I'm going to plant as well.
    For my window boxes, because I have five windows that I can place little gardens in I'm going to plant:
    • variety of lettuces,
    • beans
    • roses (from cuttings from my mother's garden).
    • ivy *which I'm also getting from my mother's garden*
    • aloe vera * because every Caribbean home must have at least one plant*
    • marigold
    Luckily for me my town gives out containers for composting, as this is called the Emerald City, they take being green very seriously. I will going to get one, then of course using it. I'm also getting some worms and a worm bin for the non compostable items. 

    I'm a member of Arbor Day Foundation and they send ten trees each year, this year I will put those into pots around my new home, as my parents no longer have any more room to plant them. I saw my maple tree recently which we planted about four years ago it has gotten way bigger; it's awesome to see all the plants coming back into bloom and the different trees that are awakening. 

    That's my plan for my garden, I will share on Wednesday's the progress, successes and failures of my plants, as well as recipes, tips and tricks I have learnt from my mother.

    Won't you share with me your comments, your own stories of success or failures, tip to tricks to avoid such failures as well??? What are you planting this year??

    Tuesday 17 April 2012

    Book Review: Dark Symphony

     Book Title: Dark Symphony
    Author: Christine Feehan
    Publisher: Jove
    Cost: $6.99
    Pages:324
    How I got it: Library
    My Rating: ★★★★☆
    Synopsis:
    Byron, a Carpathian male and hunter of the vampire follows the sound of compelling music to Italy. There he discovers his lifemate, Antoinetta Scarletti, heiress to the great Scarletti fortune. A renowned concert pianist, Antoinetta is the glue that holds the Scarletti family together. Blinded in an explosion that killed her parents, she nevertheless stands to run the family shipping business.Antoinetta lives in the palazzo della morte, the palace of death. There, like her ancestors, she finds someone wants her dead. Antoinetta has a few secrets of her own and together, Byron and Antoinetta face the killers and one out of control Carpathian youth. 

    My Review:
    I so have to do a separate review on the series itself because this makes no sense. Ok I liked this story. The romance of it, the mystery, the non vampire action, this book was pretty cool. I really need to stop bouncing around in the series and read it as they were printed but I can't get the books in order, so I'm gaining information about other stories as I go, while also knowing whats coming up ahead for the characters.

    Byron is one of the other warriors who wasn't meant to be a warrior but answered the prince's call. As a gem worker he isn't trained as well as those who are born to be warriors, and his rashness leads him into a trap by the vampires where he is tortured and becomes bait that leads several other Carpathians into the vampire's hands.  Punishing himself by banishing himself from his people & wandering the world as a hunter, he stumbles into Italy where the Scarletti family rules. It was nice to see the descendants of the Scarletti family still living in the palace, and knowing what I knew about their ancestor couldn't wait to see how this would play out.

    Byron slowly seduced his mate and let her get to know him, while trying to let her get to know him.  Toni Scarletti was a world famous concert pianist, who is in charge and knows her role in her life. Faced with being a lifemate she doesn't know her role  in this relationship, but she wants to find out. She wants to be more than the leader of her family, she wants to be something to someone.  She was at first uncertain and only wanted a lover and Byron had to show her that his people weren't like the jaguar=men who left their women.

    Into the blending of their two lives and the creation of a new Carpathian couple is the mystery of who is trying to hurt the Scarletti family.  Which one of her family members have betrayed her. which one of them was willing to do anything to gain it all.

    Cons of the story:

    • Toni's willingness to ignore the fact that several of her family members were more than willing to walk all over her
    • the stereotypical bitchiness of one of her family members, who was pretty but 'useless' and therefore found herself through men. ~~ Really though?? She couldn't just have daddy issues, she had to have all of the other issues as well?? Plus be an extra drama queen??
    • the in-law who was harsh to her kids but loved the Scarletti name more than she loved who her kids were. Yes she married up but really did she have to be so insecure that she was willing to throw it all away?
    • why do people feel the need to talk smack about rap?? Okay maybe the arena Josef choose wasn't the most appropriate time, but why throw shade on an entire genre of music??
    Okay even as I was typing these I realised many of these are normal human traits, I simply wished she didn't have all of these characters in one family that all live together at one time.  I do think it's the mark of a good book that after you put it down your still thinking about the characters. I enjoyed this one, it was nice to see old characters, meet new ones, and learn even more about the Carpathian world.

    Happy Reading