Thursday, March 31

Book Review: Washington's Lady by Nancy Moser



Author: Nancy Moser
Titles: Washington's Lady (Ladies of History #3)
Genre: Historical fiction & Christian Fiction
Pages: 414
First Published: Junes 2008
Where I Got It: Borrowed from Library


When a dapper, young George Washington comes into her life, Martha Custis is a young widow with two young children. Their love and loyalty toward each other—and the new nation they fight for, lasts a lifetime and is an inspiration even now, after 250 years.



I’ve always loved Martha and George, so this was a no-brainer for me to read when I stumbled upon this at the library randomly. Martha, in real life, is so strong and George is so brave. They are one of the cutest couples in History. I always felt bad they never had children together, but it was so sweet that George adopted Martha’s children from her first marriage. Cute.

Now, to this novel….this novel begins with Martha just losing her husband and her baby. Super sad. She experienced a lot of death in her youth. She only has her two kids left, but at least she is nice and wealthy. Things were super slow until George came into her life. 

George was a complete gentleman, like I pictured, and they pretty much had insta-love and I am okay with that. Back then you didn’t have time to mess around. Goodness knows when you would get some disease or get killed in battle. 

In real life, I adore Martha, in this book I wanted to punch her. She was selfish, petty, shallow, and weak. This is NOT the Martha I “know” and love. I get everyone has weaknesses and tries to grow from them. She is only human…totally get it. BUT she never learned from none of her mistakes…ever….ever. She was a little better near the end with the Revolution sparking up, but the first half the book she needed a good bash in the head. Martha…are you for realz? Not punishing your kid when he draws on the wall? And begin the scene: 

George: WE HAVE TO PUNISH HIM!

Martha: Oh George….kids will be kids.

George: That is expensive shit lady! He needs to at least clean off the wall and apologize.

Martha: BUT BUT I CAN’T PUNISH HIM!!!!!! 

George: Why?

Martha: Because he’s my baby boy and I want him to love me as much as he can! If I’m mean to him I’ll regret it FOREVER!

George: No. We are making him clean the walls.

Martha: Fine. *makes the kid apologize, but allows the kid to convince a slave to clean the wall and take the credit for it* Wow…maybe I should of listened to George, because I don’t want my kid to be a punk.

*Two minutes later*

Martha: I CAN NEVER PUNISH MY POOR INNOCENT BABIES!!! *resumes coddling and ignoring George*

GAH! 

Other than Martha, the rest of the book was entertaining. I didn't realize this was a Christian Fiction until I checked on Goodreads after I was done. Which is saying a lot and that makes me happy I didn't notice. I can't stand books that are dripping with an overdose of God-ness. Also, I loved seeing a young and pre-Revolution George. I just wish Martha was the Martha I’ve read about in other books. 

In the end, this was just overall okay. The version of Martha in this one bugged me. She was opposite of every other novel and story I’ve read about her and George. Simply Gah. Out of five stars, I shall unfortunately stamp this with 2 stars. 




















Monday, March 28

Blodeuedd's Monday Review: Level Up by Cathy Yardley

Geeky introvert Tessa Rodriguez will do whatever it takes to get promoted to video game engineer– including create a fandom-based video game in just three weeks. The only problem is, she can't do it alone. Now, she needs to strong-arm, cajole, and otherwise socialize with her video game coworkers, especially her roommate, Adam, who’s always been strictly business with her. The more they work together, though, the closer they get…

Adam London has always thought of his roomie Tessa as “one of the guys” until he agreed to help her with this crazy project. Now, he’s thinking of her all the time… and certainly as something more than just a roommate! But his last girlfriend broke up with him to follow her ambitions, and he knows that Tessa is obsessed with getting ahead in the video game world.

Going from friends to something more is one hell of a challenge. Can Tessa and Adam level up their relationship to love? 






My thoughts:
Suddenly I have so many reviews to write, make it quick!!!

Nerds! YAY :D 

Tessa is a programmer who wants to write real code, not just stupid audio code. 
She meets some amazing women, and I am all, I want friends like that! Books, tv, movies, they could talk about it all. 

The book is about her wanting that better job, and helping her new friends.

And then there is the cute roommate Adam, and suddenly they start noticing each other.

Conclusion:
So there is romance, fandom and coding.
 
Cover
cute

ebook, 151 pages
Published January 3rd 2016 by Cathy Yardley
Fandom Hearts #1
Contemporary romance
own

Sunday, March 27

Joint Book Discussion: Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase by Louise Walters







This month Blodeuedd and I will be discussing "Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase" by Louise Walters. 



Author: Louise Walters
Title: Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: ebook
First Published: Feb 2014
Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Roberta likes to collect the letters and postcards she finds in second-hand books. When her father gives her some of her grandmother's belongings, she finds a baffling letter from the grandfather she never knew - dated after he supposedly died in the war.

Dorothy is unhappily married to Albert, who is away at war. When an aeroplane crashes in the field behind her house she meets Squadron Leader Jan Pietrykowski, and as their bond deepens she dares to hope she might find happiness. But fate has other plans for them both, and soon she is hiding a secret so momentous that its shockwaves will touch her granddaughter many years later...



B: Here we are again, we can never pick those amazing ones can we….

C: I feel like we have only had two successful ones we adored. You picked one and I think I picked the other. X___X

B: Which ones am I forgetting. Snow child and….

C: I honestly can’t remember. I think it was one of the first ones we picked. From the beginning so over a year ago now. LOLLL Soooooo….what did you think of the duo stories? Roberta and Dot?

B: I liked Dot’s story, but Roberta’s was soo boring. She was boring, she had a boring life. What a boring person. 

C: Yes. Roberta was a total meh for me. Granted she tried to shake-up her boring existence by being naughty and cheating, but still meh. I liked Dot’s story, but I hated Dot. 

B: Roberta even made cheating boring. She was all, I just do it, and I was all, at least love him. God you two are boring. As for Dot, I did not hate her...no, I did not. I can not say I liked her either, she, I can’t put my finger on it. So...tolerated her?

C: How on Earth can someone make cheating boring? I never thought I’d see the day. Don’t even love him, at least bc the sex is great and you can’t get enough. No, he was just there and she was just there. THAT was all. I hated Dot near the end, I liked her in the beginning, but at the end on how she treated Jan. I was SO upset.

B: The only time I cared for Roberta was at the end, that was good, maybe she can stop being boring now. And Dot, well, she had issues! I was all GO FOR IT! Damn you, just go for it. He is hot, young and wants you. I would totally have picked him.

C: Even at the end I was totally meh about Roberta. Well…..I get it-ish about Dot, but it was obvious Jan loved her and whatnot, but she was poop and wouldn’t do what I wanted. LOL.

B: LOL. She was poop. But yes, I ended that damn book with a DAMN! F that. What kind of ending was that. Tear at my heart again wont ya. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

C: Hahaha. I ended it with a silent glare. Luckily it was an ebook for me, so I couldn’t slam it on the table like I wanted. So - do you think the duo story worked? Or do you think it hindered the story?

B: Roberta with her constant letters and making a boring search for answers. I wish Dot had been more lucid, and told the story. That would have worked better I think. That would have made Roberta more interesting. Maybe draw some parallels between them and make it flow better. For now it was two stories that did not really belong together.

C: I agree. Honestly, I would have written the story completely different. The first chapter would introduce Roberta getting the letters and whatnot. Then for the next few chapters show Dot’s story and then leave it as a cliff-hanger. The last chapter would be Roberta digging and looking answers and whatnot. More of Dot, less of Roberta.

B: Also if Roberta is gonna find love make us FEEL it. I also did not like the dad and her mum thing. I guess I understand why she had it there, but it felt unnecessary and did nothing to the story.
So we agree, that the story could have been done differently. Would it have made me liked it more...eh. Who knows. They both would need more of a strong personality.

C: I can see your point about the parents, but it didn’t bug me too much. I believe we both can agree that a different way would have been better. 

B: I still thought it was a good book, that is 90% thanks to Dot. Even though the ending made me pissed. It did keep me reading cos I wanted to know, but that letter in the beginning did destroy my hopes. But a girl can still hope anyway!

C: Yes that damn letter! It was decent for me. Not horrible, but not wonderful. Just decent. I wanted more of Dot/Jan and less of Roberta and whatever she was doing. I had no hope, I wanted hope, but I had none. LOL. I’m a negative Nancy.

B: My bad for this book. I wish we could have read that other book (which we sure are gonna hate thanks to our luck), but I have hope! I guess you will have none left for that one ;)

C: Actually….I have a touch of hope. It sounds soooooooooooo good and there are a lot of wonderful reviews. :D My turn to pick right? I honestly can never remember.

B: Yes your turn. :) Pick a good one!!! ;)

C: 0_0 TOO MUCH STRESSSSSSSS! LOL

B: The end?

C: The end. :D



**CAROLE'S CONCLUSION**

In the end, the was decent for me. Roberta was a total meh and I couldn't have cared less with her story. Dot was okay...just annoying. I loved Jan and Dot made me mad about how she dealt with that whole issue. I believe if the story was told a little differently I would have liked it better. I do recommend it even though it was a meh for me. Out of five stars, I stamp this with 2. Damn near a 3, but not quite there. I feel like I am in a slump with these last few books. I NEED A GOOD ONE! LOL 






Thursday, March 24

Movie Review: The Ridiculous Six (2015)


Length: 2 hr
Released: 2015
Genre:  Comedy & Western
Rating: N/A
Where I Got It: Netflix

SUMMARY:

An outlaw who was raised by Native Americans discovers that he has five half-brothers; together the men go on a mission to find their wayward, deadbeat dad.











TRAILER:





REVIEW:
Oooooooh what a silly movie. It mixes silly comedy and a western into one. The movie takes place out in the wild wild west. Six half-brothers randomly find each other and decide to gang up to go save their ratskillian of a father who can't keep it in his pants apparently. 

The boys not only find each other, but themselves as well. They have a lot of crazy adventures and meet some crazy people as well. Like the guy who "invented" baseball. That scene made me die on the inside. Too funny and probably very accurate on how the sport was created. 

I remember when this film first was in production and there was a lot of controversy coming to light with Native American actors/extras being pissy and saying this was a racist movie. Sure there are some stereotypical roles in the movie and sure the roles of the Natives were stereotypical for the time period it was set in. 1) If you don't want to be part of the film NO ONE IS making you. 2) The movie made fun of every race, gender, and social class during the wild wild west 3) It is a comedy directed and written by Adam Sandler....what did you expect??

Anyways...

Some jokes were mediocre and made me roll my eyes. Again, though, its an Adam Sandler film....so what do you really expect...

I must admit the ending caught me by surprise. I didn't expect the twist. So that was good and I actually liked it.

Now this was a crazy cast. Some really good actors; a couple I didn't expect to see some in a film like this. I must admit that it was hilarious that the "hottie" like Taylor Launter playing the dumbass brother with gap teeth. However, the acting was medicore and just decent enough to make sure I kept watching.

Overall, this was a fun watch. The storyline had me hooked and I did have a few good laughs. The ending surprised me! It had a good cast, but I think some of the acting was just decent. I recommend this if you like comedies and westerns. Not film of the year, but I'd watch it again. Out of five stars, I stamp this with 3. 



Re-watch?: Sure.






Monday, March 21

B's Monday Review: First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley's Candies. Though her handcrafted confections-rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds-are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby- a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney's daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to...if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

My thoughts:
To be honest I have a dreadful memory (not that it matters, this works perfectly as a standalone). But I did read the first book 4 years ago, so that does explains it. I can not remember Clare's man, but I did remember after a while Sydney's Henry, well sort of, I had heard of him. I more remembered the general feeling of thing. The apple tree, the magic, them being on the outside of everyone else.

10 years have passed. Bay is a teenager, she has the magic to know where things belong.
Clare makes candy now, but is unhappy cos all she does is candy, and her heart is not in it. Even if the magic is.
Sydney is still cutting hair and making everyone's day with that magic, but she wants a baby, and is unhappy too.

First frost is coming and that is dangerous for the Waverly's. There is a stranger in town. Clare has a decision to make. Bay is in love. And Sydney must come to terms with her wish.

But it all works out perfectly. Magic is in the air, just, with this book I know the magic is there, totally, they totally have magic and that apple tree is totally magical.

Conclusion:
A sweet book.

Cover
nice

Paperback, 320 pages
Published January 5th 2016 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published January 20th 2015)
Waverley Family #2
Magical realism
Own

Sunday, March 20

Book Review: Danube Waves by Katharina Bordet



Author: Katharina Bordet
Titles: Danube Waves (Wiener Blut #2)
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, & Mystery 
Pages: ebook
First Published: 2016
Where I Got It: My shelf (given to me by the author/publisher for my honest and unbiased opinion)

The portals between worlds have been shut down, leaving king-to-be Maximilian Schindler-Krug trapped in our world in the form of a goat. An impending revolution, a murderer on the loose, recurring nightmares and a mad scientist stand between him and the throne. It’s going to take more than a talking swan, a fainting goat and copious amounts of coffee and cake to save the day.

Ten years since the murder of his mother, Max Schindler-Krug is having increasingly vivid dreams about the night that changed his life forever, but that is the least of his problems. His coronation as King of Neu Meidling is approaching fast, but revolution across the kingdom threatens the monarchy and the portals between the worlds have been mysteriously sealed, closing off all trade and splitting up families.

Karin’s peaceful life at the Alt Wien is turned upside-down when her daughter brings home a wounded swan, leading her to discover a lost family secret that will change her life forever. Her own husband’s place in events could rip their relationship apart.

Lily, a trainee Beschützer finds herself trapped in another world, torn between her duty to protect the Wächter line and coffee trade and her love for her future king. When she meets a man who could solve all her problems, she has to make a choice that could topple the monarchy, assuming she can get the young king back home alive.




This is the second book of the series. 10 years have passed and now Isabelle's young son is on the verge on becoming King of the other world. However, not everything is as it seems and there is trouble in paradise.

There is a lot going on in this novel. Between Max and Lily going off on an adventure, political turmoil, a possible Revolution stirring, Karin's lost family secret coming out, an evil genius causing havoc, and a man with his fainting goat companion. SO much is going on and I was worried at first that I wouldn't be able to keep it all straight. To my surprise, the author did a fantastic job keeping the reader on board and not getting confused. The POV switches were well done and it was clear and obvious when a POV was going to switch. 

I loved the fact that not everyone and everything was as it seemed. Even the "baddies". Were they truly bad? There is no black and white in this story and I liked that. The fact that even the baddies were complex made me extremely happy. 

Oh my was there some wacky moments that had me laughing! Especially Ludwig's goat! He's a fainting goat and later in the book *SPOILER ALERT* he gained the ability to talk and he was HILARIOUS! *END OF SPOILER* So cute! I wanted him as a pet! Also, Max turning into a goat was hilarious too. I did feel bad for him, because the goat life is not an easy life especially when your human girlfriend has to take care of you. 

There were some parts that seemed too easily fixed in my opinion. Or a little cheesy. It worked and moved the story along, but yeah. Especially the part with the decaff coffee beans. Sure, I had a chuckle, but it was an easy fix AND it was cheesy. That could just be me though. 

Also, the last couple of chapters seemed to drag on and on. As much as I loved the world and I want more, I wanted it to end a couple chapters earlier. 

My favorite part of the book was the beginning of each chapter! In the first book she started each chapter with a specialty coffee beverage. In this book, the author started each chapter was a special kind of cake known in the region! Each cake was tied to the story in some way and I simply LOVED that. However.....it made me really hungry! HAHA. 

In the end, I really liked this book. It was a good sequel to the first one. There were a couple of things I was meh about like the conclusion and some scenes, but overall this was really good. I loved the humor and the drama. It was all mixed together well. I especially loved the little snipbits of cake. Made me happy, but also hungry. This is a good sequel to the first book and I highly recommend it, BUT you need to read the first one first. I hope there is more! Out of five stars, I shall stamp this with 4 stars. 




















Saturday, March 19

Book Review: Assassin's Touch by Laurie London



Author: Laurie London
Titles: Assassin's Touch (Iron Portal #1) 
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, & Novella
Pages: ebook
First Published: November 2012
Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon Freebie)

Two worlds. Two enemies. 

Haunted by loss, Cascadian assassin Rickert D’Angelus is on a mission of vengeance. Determined to stop the Pacifican army from finding a portal to his world, he leads a group of warriors into New Seattle with one goal—to kill all Pacifican soldiers. 

Neyla Trihorn had the perfect life until a deadly accident revealed her latent para-abilities. Now, the former fashion designer is the Pacifican army’s hottest commodity in their fight against the invaders. 

When Rickert discovers a beautiful, unconscious soldier on a cold mountain ledge near the portal, he realizes she’s a Protection-Talent and cannot be killed. To prevent the army from using her skills again, he takes her as his prisoner instead. 

One fated touch…

But when he pulls her into his arms, a sexy and compelling vision appears, awakening something inside him. Something he can’t ignore.

Torn between duty and passion, Rickert must decide if the vision is a Talent trick designed to foil the enemy or the answer to his deepest desires...




Ooooooooooh. I am bummed by this one. I really wanted to like it. There are so many good reviews and it just SOUNDED good. However, I am left with a big MEH on this one. 

Honestly, I did a lot of skimming. True, it is a short story....about 185, so it was a quick read. Even so....I did a lot of skimming after the first 20 or so pages. 

The characters bored me. The story-like seemed interesting at times, but overall it bored me too. Also, there were times I was confused and nothing made sense. Like the whole idea of the portals. Maybe I am daft, but I couldn't wrap my head around this world and the rules. Maybe it just wasn't well explained, because the author was trying to keep it short and to the point? 

Also, the world was too all over the place for me. Was it modern? Was it suppose to be steampunk-like? Have of the world was modern, with modern weapons, cloth, and so forth. The other half had kilts, decently modern weapons, but with modern language. I couldn't wrap my brain around it and I wasn't a fan.

I will admit that I liked the fact that it wasn't insta-love, which is good, because they are enemies. 

That was the only thing I could approve of and like. The rest of the story was a failure for me. I didn't care about the characters and the story fell apart after the first 20 pages. Just a lot of confusion. So in the end, I shall stamp this with 1 star. 














Thursday, March 17

Happy St Patty's Day!

Happy green, orange, and booze to you all! :)

I have no idea if any of you use or have heard of the phone app called Snapchat. They, of course, have a fun filter for today which I used.



Again....HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY FROM YOURS TRULY!! :) 






Wednesday, March 16

Movie Review: Equilibrium (2002)


Length: 1 hr & 47 min
Released: 2002
Genre:  Action, Drama, & Sci-Fi 
Rating: R
Where I Got It: Netflix

SUMMARY:

In a Fascist future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.











TRAILER:






REVIEW:
I’ve seen bits and pieces of this film, but this was the first time I actually sat down and watched all of it. Well, I was forced against my will to give this film another chance by BF. 

Well……I can admit when I am wrong. 

This was much better and made much more sense actually watching it from beginning to end. 

This was a lot like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, but with more action and a badass main hero. There are a few people who complained about this, BUT I actually liked it since I hated those two books with a passion. I THINK it was better than both of those books. 

The main hero, Preston, was once a “baddie” who was an enforcement officer for the government. His sole job is to protect the country and help rid of anything that is outlawed and people who break the number one rule: expressing any feelings. What? Yes. This society anything that makes you feel “dangerous” feelings such as art, religion, literature, and so forth is banned. Along with that having emotions is a no-no. Why? Because these things are what caused wars, misery, and all the other horrible human things. To help with this, people are given daily doses of medicine to assist in this numbing of feelings that are bad. 

Of course our hero has his eyes opened by numerous events and unnecessary deaths. He decides to stop taking his medicine and fight for the end of this society. Which is a scary thing, because he is trained in a special martial arts and he is the top dog of this. Not a good thing. 

Okay…so this movie had more depth then what I thought. The character was more complex then I original warranted. He is a badass for sure, but he has so many issues that he didn’t realize he had until he got off the making-you-a-robot drug. This film and the character really made you think. Both sides have valid points. 

The dystopia society has good points? Why yes they do. For instance….more people have died in the name of religion then any disease or sickness. Religion is based solely on emotion, so cutting out emotion and religion will cut unnecessary wars. However….they kill puppies and burn beautiful art. NOT okay. If animals don’t hold a purpose in this society, then they are not needed. They don’t understand the concept of love and companionship, so they will be eliminated. Yes, there was a scene that Preston and his officers found a compound of contraband stuff and it is rule to eliminate it. And at that compound they had puppies. :( Luckily Preston was off the medicine….he managed to save one puppy. So cute, but sad. 

Now, the ending? I’m not sure. The final fight was pretty epic, but I don’t think it’s likely even with Preston badass skills. I’ll admit I didn’t see it coming since I am well verse in stories like this….so it was nice to see something different than the norm, but it seemed unlikely and impossible. However, it was nice. 

In the end, this was WAY better than I original thought. I liked it much better than other films/books in this genre. The acting was pretty good, the story thought-provoking, and there was some action to make it appealing to the eye. I recommend this if you like this genre with a touch of action. Out of five stars, I stamp this with 4 stars. One star for the cold-hearted murder of puppies LOL! 




Re-watch?: Yes