A Very Pink Cast That Book: The Temptation of the Night Jasime

~'Cast That Book' is a weekly meme created by moi. This is just something I came up with, to share everyone who I would cast if a certain book became a movie. I got the idea from storycasting.com, so check them out! My secret dream is to be a casting director and this allows me to live it for just an hour or two. Anyone can join! You don't have to pick thebook I picked. Any book, any genre! However, I would LOVE to check out who you casted, so share the linkie to your post down below.~

Happy late Saturday everyone! I know my posts have been, well, limited even though I came home Monday from Oklahoma. I've been stricken hard with allergies. I sleep the majority of the day and sit in misery the rest. Excuses, excuses, but I've been way to lazy and unmotivated to actually get up and get on. I'll be better, because I'm slowly but surely getting well.

Anyways, this week I'll be sharing my cast for The Temptation of the Night Jasmine. This is my second favorite of the series! Many of you are probably wondering "why are there so many of these" and "how come Carole has been so loyal to such a long series?" That is the beauty of this Pink Carnation series! Each book feels like your coming home! Each book is a new adventure. ^.^ In total there are 9 books and Ms. Willig still has a few more left. She does plan to end the series sooner or later. I'll cry when that day arrives. Here is my cast:

CAST

Charlotte - Emilie de Ravin

Robert - Shane Taylor

The Dowager Douchess of Dovedale - Susan Sarandon

Tommy Fluellen - Josh Hutcherson

Freddy Staines - Ryan Hurst

Penelope - Talulah Riley (brighter red hair)

Medmenham - Christian Bale

Miles Dorrington - Ryan Reynolds (light, brown hair)

Henrietta Selwick/Dorrington - Keria Knightley

Hope you like my cast. ^.^

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<3CR

Movie Reviews: The Lost Battalion

Length: 92 mins
Released: 2001
Genre: Action, Drama, War 
Rating: N/A (I would give it a PG-13)
Directed By: Russell Mulcahy
Where I Got It: Library
I watched this and reviewed this for the War Through the Generations WWI Challenge

The Lost Battalion follows Major Charles Whittlesey and his battalion of 500 men as they struggle to keep their position behind enemy lines in the Argonne Forest in October 1918. They are completely surrounded with no real chance for reinforcements.

 Ricky Schroder (Scrubs, Crimson Tide) plays Major Whittlesey, Jamie Harris (The Green Hornet, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) as Sgt. Gaedeke, Adam James (Last Chance Harvey, Mother of Tears) as Capt. Nelson Holderman, Anthony Azizi (Eagle Eyes, Transformers: Dark of the Moon) as Pvt. Henchman, and many more. 

When I was still in US History in High School, my teacher had showed us a clip of this movie. We were learning about WWI and he was one of those teachers that believed that having visuals helped students learn better. Since then I have been wanting to watch this movie!

Well, to be blunt...I probably will never watch this movie again. Yes, I liked it, but it's one of those movies you just watch once and you move on. It was rather interesting. I felt so bad for that battalion, because everything that could go wrong DID go wrong. From friendly fire to a sniper to their runners being eliminated to the lack of reinforcements. I would find myself growing rather irritated and yelling at the movie, because the top guns were idiots and making the battalion suffer so. GAH! Just thinking about it irritates me! I mean they force Major Whittlesey to go on a suicide mission to just land in the middle of the Argonne Forest surrounded by the enemy. Major Whittlesey took it with a grain of salt, but personally I was pissed off for him. No battalion should be asked to do such a thing. Whatever...

Sorry for the ranting above, but that's one of the great things about this movie. It sucks you in and doesn't let you go until the very end. It doesn't help that this is based of a true battalion and true historical events. I'm pretty sure that they gave it a good Hollywood-shining, but I feel like they did a good job with blending the two together. They also did a pretty good job on the visual effects and the action bits. For being an early 2000 TV movie I was rather impressed with how well and uncheesy the effects are. They were pretty cool. For example, this one man was hit by a grenade (or something) and he exploded right in front of Major Whittlesey. It looked so real! Horribly amazing.

Overall, this was a good film. I'm glad I decided to finally pick this up and watch it. I may never watch this again, but I did enjoy it! If you love war films watch this. You'll like it! Out of five stars I grant this 4 stars. ^.^

Favorite Character(s): Major Whittlesey and Pvt. Omer Richards
Not-so Favorite Character(s): General Robert Alexander and the other top guns

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<3CR

A Very Pink Cast That Book: The Seduction of the Crimson Rose

~'Cast That Book' is a weekly meme created by moi. This is just something I came up with, to share everyone who I would cast if a certain book became a movie. I got the idea from storycasting.com, so check them out! My secret dream is to be a casting director and this allows me to live it for just an hour or two. Anyone can join! You don't have to pick thebook I picked. Any book, any genre! However, I would LOVE to check out who you casted, so share the linkie to your post down below.~

These string of posts are in honor of Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series. This week I'll be sharing my casts for The Seduction of the Crimson Rose:

CASTS

Mary Alsworthy - Natalie Dormer

Lord Vaughn - James Purefoy

Lady Anne - Kate Hudson

Mr St. George - Sean Patrick Flanery

Jane Wooliston - Emily Blunt

Miss Gwen - Shirley Henderson

Geoff Pinchingdale - Ryan Tedder

Letty Alsworthy - Romola Garai

Eloise Kelly - Rachelle Lefevre

Colin Selwick - Jude Law

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<3CaroleRae

Book Review: A Song for Summer

Author:  Eva Ibbotson
Title: A Song for Summer
Genre: Romance, YA , Historical Fiction
Pages: 288
First Published: 1997
Where I Got It: Borrowed it from local library


"Ellen never expected the Hallendorf school to be quite so unusual. Her life back in England with her suffragette mother and liberated aunts certainly couldn't be called normal, but buried deep in the beautiful Austrian countryside, Ellen discovers an eccentric world occupied by wild children and even wilder teachers, experimental dancers and a tortoise on wheels. And then there is the particularly intriguing, enigmatic, and very handsome Marek, part-time gardener and fencing teacher. Ellen is instantly attracted to the mysterious gardener, but Hitler's Reich is already threatening their peaceful world, and only when she discovers Marek's true identity and his dangerous mission does Ellen realize the depth of her feelings for him - and the danger their newfound love faces in the shadow of war."


This is the first novel by Eva Ibbotson I've read. 


Okay...I really, REALLY wanted to like this novel. I was dying to have this in my hands and read it. I tried so hard, but it fell short for me. I'll admit it, I did a lot throughout this one. I couldn't really keep focused at certain points. I'll give a quick summary:


-There were so many fragmented sentences I thought my head was going to implode
-The characters were very 1D...they had no dimensions. I felt like they were made out of cardboard
-Ellen, the heroine, was so perfect and  had not one flaw I wanted to punch her
-Ellen and her POV was rather boring, because all she cared about was cleaning and being amazing. I couldn't wait for the POV to switch.


My favorite thing about the entire novel was Eva Ibbotson's descriptions and how she made the setting come to life. I could see the old castle turned into a school. I could smell the flowers in the fields while the wind was blowing. It was lovely. I really do applaud Eva Ibbotson and her way with words.  However, it would get rather annoying because she would give all these strong details on the setting, but she would skip over the action parts and then give a quick, little sum up of what happened. 


I wish I could say more, buuut that's all I got. I really wanted to love this book, but it wasn't my cup of tea.  I'll give this author another chance. Perhaps this was just a low-point in her writing. We shall see, won't we? 


Anyways, even though I wasn't a huge fan of this, don't let this sway you away. One man's trash is another man's treasure. I really did enjoy the descriptions on the setting and etc. She has such great potential to be a wonderful author! Maybe a little more editing should be installed. I have no choice to but to grant this one 1 star. :(


Favorite Character(s): Marek, I guess?
Not-so Favorite Character(s): Tamara (she was annoying)

PS - I won't be around much this week...I'm going to Oklahoma to visit family. I'm leaving Wednesday morning and I won't be back until Monday night. ^.^ 

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<3CaroleRae

A Very Pink Cast That Book: The Deception of the Emerald Ring

~'Cast That Book' is a weekly meme created by moi. This is just something I came up with, to share everyone who I would cast if a certain book became a movie. I got the idea from storycasting.com, so check them out! My secret dream is to be a casting director and this allows me to live it for just an hour or two. Anyone can join! You don't have to pick thebook I picked. Any book, any genre! However, I would LOVE to check out who you casted, so share the linkie to your post down below.~

Happy St. Patty's Day! I'm lame this year and not partying it up...oh well. ^.^ Anyways, this week's I'll be sharing my cast for my favorite Pink Carnation book: The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Ironically, the set of the book is in Ireland...and today is St. Patty's Day! Enjoy!

CASTS:
Geoff Pinchingdale - Ryan Tedder

Letty Alsworthy - Romola Garai

Mary Alsworthy - Natalie Dormer

Jasper Pinchingdale - Chace Crawford

Jane Wooliston (when she's wearing her blonde wig) - Emily Blunt

The Very Feared, Miss Gwen - Shirley Henderson

Eloise Kelly - Rachelle Lefevre

Colin Selwick - Jude Law

Pammy - Amy Smart

If this book did become a movie I would watch it everyday! hahaha. Anyways, I hope all had a great and fun St. Patty's Day :]

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<3CaroleRae

Next Movie of the Week

I've been slacking on movie watching, but I haven't had much time to spend two or so hours to watch a movie. School, work, and etc tend to overwhelm my freetime. That's a typical life a college student I guess.

Anyways, it's time to announce the next Movie of the Week! *cheers* And that movie is.......The Lost Battalion

Here's a trailer (don't mind the horrible narration...):

Have any of you seen this film? My American History teacher in High School simply adored this film and I hope I will too. ^.^

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<3CaroleRae

Book Review: Brother Number 3

Author:  Judy Serrano 
Title: Brother Number 3 (Lilly Series #2)
Genre: Romance, Drama, Action, Fiction, Suspense
Pages: ebook, 275
First Published: June 15th, 2011
Where I Got It: Given to me to read and review for Ever After Pr

"Coming in third place was something that was all too familiar to Hector Montiago. As his strength and grounding personality pushes him into first place with the woman he loves, lines are crossed and sides are chosen. 

In this second book of the series, Brother Number Three depicts family ties in a light unequal to any other. Lilly tells the story of how the brothers unite in the effort to recover her missing son, as blood becomes both the indestructible bond that holds them together and the opposing force that pushes them apart. Read on as they fight temptation while the enemies of the Montiago cartel unleash their wrath, only to discover that the true danger lies within."

This is the second book in the Lilly Series. I would recommend reading the first book first, because there are is a lot of back-story that isn't mentioned in here and is assumed the reading knows what is going on.

I thought I would be super excited, because Hector was going to get his own book, but no...this was in Lilly's POV, but Hector had more air-time. After getting over my disappointment, I began to enjoy reading this. It isn't as good as the first novel, but I did like this one. 

It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! There was so much uncertainty, drama, and a threat of some sort of attack the entire time. I loved it! There was a lot more drama, gun fights, betrayals, and romance in this one then the first novel of the series. Even though I wanted to shoot Lilly myself, I still enjoyed myself. There's something about these books that keep wanting me more. I am DYING to read the third book of the series, because Judy Serrano left us, readers, with a titanic sized ending. I kept trying to find another page, but there was no more. I wanted to fall on my hands and knees and scream, "NOOOOOOOOO!" It was a fantastic ending, however. ^.^

I'll say it...I hate Lilly. I don't know why the author made her the way she did; blond, dumb, and must be in possession of a love potion. Every single hot man wants her in some way, shape, or form. However, she's dumber than a pile of bricks. WHY?WHY must you torture me this way Judy Serrano? At some points I would just shut down my kindle and read my college textbooks so I could reclaim some of my IQ. 

Sorry about that...as you can probably tell I'm not a Lilly fan. I wish Lilly was different. Okay, I am rambling. Anyways, at certain points I felt like there was an overabundance of drama. Yes, it is a drama, but I feel like there is so much drama that it's unrealistic. I do love love triangles and drama, but sometimes it seemed over-the-top and the author was just adding it to add more pages.

Overall, this was more soap opera-ish than the first novel, but I liked it. If you are big into drama, romance, gun-flinging, suspense, and hot HOT Mexican men/gangsters then this is the novel for you. I certainly can NOT wait to read the next one. Out of five stars I grant this one 3 stars. It would be 3.4, but I rounded. 

Favorite Character(s): Hector (yummah), Regina, and Diego (He's such a good guy now...he certainly has redeemed himself)

Not-so Favorite Character(s): Max (I still don't like him), Johnny (At first I liked him, but he's...ugh), Jorge (a beast), and Lilly (I wonder why)

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<3CaroleRae

Linky Followers Blog Hop #1

(Sorry this is late...my auto-scheduler didn't want to work)

~Welcome to Linky Followers Blog Hop! This hop is co-hosted by Stressed Rach, Beauty Brite, Asha’s Butterflys, Its a Pen Pal World and Carole Rae's Random Ramblings.~

<a href="http://beautybrite.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/h472/beautybrite/67db5d34-1.png" border="0" alt="Linky Followers Blog Hop"></a>

Link up to our Linky Followers hop! Before linking up, remembering the following:

1. Don't forget to sign up for a Linky. You can sign up here.

2. Link up your blogs so we can follow you.

3. Visit and follow as many blogs as you wish!

4. Leave a comment below and a link to your blog!

4. Don't forget to share this hop on Facebook and Twitter, which in turn helps more bloggers find this hop and increase our followers!

~Linky is open all week, so visit often.~

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<3CaroleRae