Phil, John, and Dance.

So, I went to empty my camera tonight and holy hell- there is so much you don't know! A lot has happened in the last two months, so I've got to catch you up.

Way back in November, I treated my mom and my Uncle Ron to a John Mayer concert. I have been wanting to see him since 2009 or 2010, whenever his Battle Studies album was being toured, but I didn't have money. I really didn't this time either, but to hell with it. I was going to make it happen because his opener? Phillip Phillips. Let me just tell you I love him. Wonky kidneys and all, love.

 And he's just so great live. You can tell he loves what he does and he loves his fans. I sang through everything. It's always nice to see the crowd appreciate an opening act.

 Then John came on. Which, I was a little worried how it would be since every thing I heard on the radio in regards to his tour said basically- no hits from the past.  His voice wasn't 100% recovered from surgery and all of that so he'd be sticking to his newer things. Which is fine, I actually loved his last two albums that most people didn't, but they are really pretty solid.

The good news is that those radio people turned out to be morons because he sang things from every album! YAY!

 Visually, it was a pretty stunning concert. It had almost a Smashing Pumpkins a la Mellon Collie years to it, but seeing as that's one of my favorite albums of all time, I'm all right with that.

 We of course, sang to every single song.

 I can't even tell you how much I loved this concert. If you have never seen John Mayer live, you need to fix that immediately. I was kind of bummed he didn't sing "Walt Grace", but that's OK. Next time, right? But it was nice because this broke my concert lull because I haven't gone to many this year. I did see Beyonce a few months back with my friend Amy and Beyonce is the queen. Seriously. I wasn't even a huge Beyonce fan before, but now that I have seen her live? I will bow down- she dominates every other female in the business.

So that was that.

 Oh yes, completely late now, but we decorate our house for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. The kids always get new pajamas so here they are modeling them. Stinking adorable.

Olivia had her winter dance recital too. I don't know if I have fully told you how much I love that she is in dance. I love how it's non competitive and it really is just to have fun, but part of me kind of wishes we could get all dance mom on people. HA! One of my favorite people, Andrea, is a fellow dance mom and she's there every Tuesday. I seriously think I would go insane without my Tuesdays. We haven't gone in like two weeks now and I'm going through withdrawals. Anyways.

 So yes, Olivia's recital. Isn't she just the god damn cutest??

 It's her knobby knees that just kill me. I love it.

I was trying to get her to do a dancing move for me, and this is what she does. You'll notice it's exactly what she did in her "strike a pose" part of the routine. Every time I watch her, I'm laughing, but I'm kind of crying, and I am usually screaming like a maniac. I don't care, I just love that she loves dance so much.

So that was basically my November and part of December in a nut shell. More soon loves.

Heartbeat Trilogy

Raise your hand if you like a book trilogy? Keep them up if you like a romance trilogy that keeps you on the edge of your seat thinking things can't possibly get ANY crazier, but then they absolutely do?

Good. We all look like morons with our hands in the air at home or at work, but it's all for a good cause.

Heartbeat - Faith Sullivan

Katie and Adam are afraid of love. She carries the scars of a first kiss gone terribly wrong. He uproots his life to flee the stinging betrayal of an ex. When trust is no longer an option, all romance is suspect. As a young paramedic, Adam rescues people for a living but cannot save himself. Katie, just out of high school, struggles with a tortured home life she cannot escape. Everything changes when Katie hops into the front seat of Adam's ambulance. Overwhelmed by what they are feeling, neither possess the confidence to make the first move. They walk away from each other, full of regret. To find her, Adam risks his future. To be with him, Katie sacrifices her security. Little do they know, what little time they do have, is being measured by a heartbeat that is slowly dying out.

I'll be honest, when I first started this book it felt wonky. I wasn't getting into it right away and Katie was a little too naive for my liking. She kind of gives off the "I can't even help myself at ALL" vibe and anyone who knows me this is the type of girl I'd like to kick in the girl parts. Like, grow a set of balls you hot mess. But then like any die hard romance novel fan, I pretty much start to love it. I see where it's going and I know there are two more books so I'm thinking this is going to be an epic love story. 

AND THEN THE ENDING HAPPENS. 

Again, I was *thisclose* to firing off an email to the author asking her what in the bloody hell is happening? Mostly because as we've discussed before, I read at night before bed. But I was so close to the end I stayed up well past midnight and then that ending happens and I am waving my fist in the air. The dog mistakenly thought I was like, "let's go pee" and so I'm angry, holding a dog's leash at 12:45 a.m. hoping he pees fast, because it's freezing. Like for real freezing out, and I'm talking to my dog Twinky about this ending. 

Immediately, I had to start book two because what in the mother hell is happening?? 

*word to the wise: buy all 3 books at once. You'll thank me later.*

Come What May - Faith Sullivan

Adam is through with love. He unravels blaming himself for what happened with Katie. His final moments with her echo through his nightmares. She owns him body and soul. To dull the pain, Adam invites a string of women into his bed. Fueled by alcohol and desperation, his meaningless hook-ups provide little comfort. When he closes his eyes, it's Katie he sees. The only one who helps to ease his guilt somewhat is Jada. But as his new ambulance partner, Adam considers her off limits. He doesn't want to get seriously involved with anyone, much less her. Yet he can't stop fantasizing about the feel of her caramel skin against his. Despite his intentions, Adam's bond with Jada deepens as they respond to a series of emotional calls. Their mutual attraction becomes undeniable. But how can he give his heart to Jada when it still belongs to Katie?

So now I'm confused because is Katie not real? I thought she was real? I find myself re-reading chapters and I'm so stinking confused. These moments of confusion make me think maybe I can't read literature for a living and scrutinize it if I can't even figure out if a character was real or not. This was my issue with Wuthering Heights, once I realized there was two of some people it was like, game over, I'm not that smart. 

But maybe Katie is real and this is like a really bizarre form of post traumatic stress? Jada enters the picture and she's kind of awesome. Adam is being a giant douchebag in this book which is the exact opposite of book one where he was just this little sensitive cuddle bug of love. When he says he's over it, he means it. But dammit if Jada isn't falling for him anyways, albeit reluctantly. Then I get to the point where I don't care if Katie is real or not, Jada is the real deal and Adam needs this in his life. Clearly. 

BUT THEN. 

He finds out that he may or may not be a baby daddy, his brother is unexpectedly getting married, and then oh yes- Adam decides to get high and drive an ambulance. You know, just another Tuesday. 

I'm just getting over this and then? BOMBSHELL ENDING. 

Oh yes, because Katie is real? 

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW???

I Am Yours - Faith Sullivan

Adam is at a crossroads. He has Katie on his mind and Jada in his bed. Now with the ultimate choice before him, he must decide between fantasy and reality. Katie's his dream girl, but Jada's his best friend, his partner. As a paramedic, he's supposed to save lives, not wreck them. Yet his failure to commit leaves a trail of heartache in his wake. Things come to a head at his brother's wedding when a surprise announcement leaves Adam scrambling to pick up the pieces. Sure, women find his shaggy blond hair and aquamarine eyes irresistible. But to him, sex is nothing more than a means of escape ... until it turns into a psychological trap. His mind is telling him one thing, while his heart is beating another. He's not sure what he wants when it comes to a serious relationship. Sorting out his feelings, he finally comes to a startling realization. He is capable of love. But what if it's too late?

I am telling you what, I spent one evening on book one. The better portion of a day on book two between taking breaks for mental anguish. Today is day three and I started this before bed last night and forced myself to stop. I finished it this afternoon. My house is a god damn mess right now, and I am sad this series is over but at the same time, THANK GOD because I feel emotionally unstable at this point. If I were a smoker, my lungs would be waving a white flag. 

Anyhoodle. 

So now Katie has come back (or has she???), Jada is upset because she finally realizes that oh hello- she loves Adam. Too bad he has been pining over a dead girl this whole time who apparently isn't dead. And he's going to be a father to his brother's fiance's baby and it's just so damn crazy. Jerry Springer couldn't even make this up. So basically, everything is going to hell. 

Katie is just as confused as Adam over their bizarre love connection because she has no recollection of meeting him. Like, at all. He is insistent she has died, which obviously would freak any girl out. Yet they are both having dreams/nightmares about the other and they both feel like this is fate's way of pairing them up. We've got a weirdo pregnant lady, a really pissed off brother, and then poor Jada who is in love with Adam and he could care less and essentially tosses her to the wind. 

BUT THEN. 

Woah- there's a sinister plot involving psychological test subjects, mind control, and declarations of love. 

I feel like when I read Faith Sullivan's book, I should have a blood pressure cuff on me to monitor myself because I can actually feel my blood pressure going up. When I say you have no idea what to expect but you are always going to be blow away? I mean it. She can weave a story like you won't believe. But I was Team Jada the whole time. I really don't like Katie. Or new Katie, whatever. I don't like either of them. 

And Kelly? The pregnant cousin of Katie's?? Can we say PSYCHO? She's nuts. She is several shades of crazy. I can't even comprehend it. It's just too much and I didn't like her from the word go. Thank god Jada also picked up on it because I think between her and Brian (Adam's brother)? They basically saved the day. 

Anyways. I liked the ending! Can I say that without giving it away? I think so. I'm not kidding, I feel like I need a nap after this. I don't know if I even have it in me to cook dinner- I'm that emotionally spent. 

I am highly suggesting these books and I am suggesting you buy all three at once because otherwise the delay is going to really eat at you. Just do it it now. Swearsies. 

Perfect (and giveaway!!)

Here's a book that makes you say... "hmmmmm".

Perfect - Rachel Joyce

A spellbinding novel that will resonate with readers of Mark Haddon, Louise Erdrich, and John Irving, Perfect tells the story of a young boy who is thrown into the murky, difficult realities of the adult world with far-reaching consequences.

Byron Hemmings wakes to a morning that looks like any other: his school uniform draped over his wooden desk chair, his sister arguing over the breakfast cereal, the click of his mother’s heels as she crosses the kitchen. But when the three of them leave home, driving into a dense summer fog, the morning takes an unmistakable turn. In one terrible moment, something happens, something completely unexpected and at odds with life as Byron understands it. While his mother seems not to have noticed, eleven-year-old Byron understands that from now on nothing can be the same.

What happened and who is to blame? Over the days and weeks that follow, Byron’s perfect world is shattered. Unable to trust his parents, he confides in his best friend, James, and together they concoct a plan. . . .

As she did in her debut, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce has imagined bewitching characters who find their ordinary lives unexpectedly thrown into chaos, who learn that there are times when children must become parents to their parents, and who discover that in confronting the hard truths about their pasts, they will forge unexpected relationships that have profound and surprising impacts. Brimming with love, forgiveness, and redemption, Perfect will cement Rachel Joyce’s reputation as one of fiction’s brightest talents.

I'm going to put this up there with one of the strangest books I've ever read. Normally I write my review right after I finish a book while things are still fresh in my mind, but I had to wait on this one. Mostly because I was left with what I would assume is a question mark on my face. 

Let's give you the quick and dirty. It starts in 1972, England. Byron and his friend James worry about a news report saying that in order to fix time essentially, they are adding two seconds to one day, one time. These highly intelligent boys fret about this and all of a sudden- Byron believes he sees this two seconds. But in the course of this two seconds, just as he worried something would happen, something does happen. An accident that propels all of the characters into chaos. Byron is worried for his mother, his father is clueless, his mother has buried secrets and combine that with the accident she's off in la-la land, and James? James is kind of a peculiar person. 

The book flip flops between the past and the present. The present being James, not coping well with life and his obvious OCD, among other issues. He had been institutionalized for years and it's heart breaking to know what institutions in the 70's and 80's were like and then to read about what his life is like now, it terrible. 

And every body's lives are all connected because of two seconds. That's all that it takes. 

Overall, the book is strange. You feel for characters, the story pulls at you and you won't be able to put it down. You suspect the ending, but the author goes a different route and it's fitting. It's not what you would expect but in the end, it's what was needed. Some of the dialogue is a bit strange, and there is some French thrown in there so I'll be honest- I have no idea what I read for sentences in some paragraphs, but it's OK. It's not to the point where you don't know what's going on, it's just strange that it's included. 

But man- the mother? Wow. I can't really tell you what happens because that basically ruins the second half of the book for you, but damn. I felt kind of terrible for her. It kind of makes you think if she had remained blissfully unaware- what would have happened? You just don't know. 

I do suggest you read it only because I found it to be so odd that you end up liking it. Definitely different from what I would normally read, but in a good way. It's not the type of book I would gush about and recommend and buy randomly for people. But it's the kind of book that keeps you thinking about long afterwards. 

If YOU want to win a copy (US/Canada only), leave me a comment on this post! I'll draw a winner on Friday, January 3. Please be sure to have your email in the comment so I can contact you easily. Good luck!!

First Position

I hope you all had an awesome Christmas. I have lots of pictures to share and stories of course, but I have a book review for you right now. And no, the title doesn't refer to a sexual thing- it's a ballet thing. But there is sex. So, best of both worlds?

First Position - Prescott Lane

Emory faces life’s challenges at the one place that never failed her, the ballet barre. But even the barre can’t steady her when fate brings her face-to-face with her old college flame, Mason, who’s hoping to return to the NFL after a career-threatening injury. Before they can surrender to their sexual desires and find salvation in each other’s arms, they need to come to terms with their past. Mason must confront the demons that have set him on a path of self-destruction, while Emory must decide whether to keep her painful secrets locked away, or expose them and risk losing the love of her life. But nothing can prepare Mason for what Emory has kept hidden, or the possibility that he himself may be to blame for the very secrets she keeps and why they continue to haunt her. 

Purchase your copy at AMAZON 

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE 

I'm just going to start by saying I really liked this book. I'll be honest- there are some religious aspects to it, but if you aren't into that (like me), you won't be turned off. They aren't all over the place and you'll be fine. 

I really want to tell you what Emory's big secret is but I can't because it will absolutely ruin it for you. Totally ruin it. But let's just say- her hesitancy about sex makes absolute sense once you get to the end. She makes the comment that the only person who ever hurt her was herself and you're left wondering what the hell that means, but once you get to the end and you learn of her secret, it all comes together. You see how she blames herself and then you realize why she is the way she is at that point in her life. Totally makes sense. 

I'll just say it- I loved Mason. He's kind of a self centered moron who finally gets that he was a self centered moron, and that's just the best. He makes real strides to do better for Emory than he did in college and his decisions are thought out, if not flawed. I also LOVED his mother. Sure, she's meddling and she wants the wrong things for him for the wrong reasons. But she calls another woman a cunt in a really epic smack down and I thought- bravo to this author for going there. For going there, and going all the way. Anything less would have felt contrived. You get the sense that the mother is a true Southern mother and she isn't afraid to lay the law down when it's needed but that she also always knows what's going on. 

Without giving too much away, I would have really loved an Alexis versus Emory showdown. You don't get one, and it doesn't ruin the book, but it could have been great. You're shaking your fist at Alexis the whole time because she's clearly a terrible person, but in her final meeting with Mason- you almost feel sorry for him. You get the impression she actually loved him but could never come up to the standard Mason set with Emory. To live in another woman's shadow is rough, and so I felt sorry for her. For like a nanosecond, but it was still there. 

Oh! And Wesley. I loved Emory's gay room mate, Wesley. He's like the gay friend you wish you had. I also loved at one point in the book where Emory, Olivia, and Wesley are with Mason's mom and they are all ribbing the mom. Her response that she's not above a homosexual hate crime, cracked me up. Which it shouldn't because hate crimes are bad and wrong. But you could almost picture Wesley's face and know that the point came across to him. 

Overall? I'd give this one 4/5 stars. I flew through it, it had romance, it had sex without being vulgar (if you like vulgar, you'll be disappointed), it had thoughtful relationships and the dialogue didn't make you want to roll your eyes. It also had just enough humor to make it almost feel like a novel by Dorothea Benton Frank. Which is huge, because I really like her too. So if you are looking for a solid romance that isn't over the top with ball gags, this is a good fit for you. 

The Seduction of Miriam Cross (GIVEAWAY

It's crunch time! I've got lots of reviews coming up so expect to see these popping up in your feed the next few weeks!

The Seduction of Miriam Cross - W.A. Tyson

A sordid sex tape.

A venture capital firm.

A secret society of women.

A Catholic nun.

Miriam Cross, author, feminist and philanthropist, disappears from her Philadelphia home.  A year later, a lonely recluse named Emily Cray is brutally murdered in her bed in a small Pennsylvania town.

 The police discover that Emily Cray and Miriam Cross were one and the same, but if they know who killed Miriam, they’re not sharing.  Miriam’s niece wants answers.  She turns to the one woman she knows she can trust – private investigator Delilah Percy Powers.

As Delilah and her staff of female detectives – a militant homemaker, an ex-headmistress and a former stripper – delve into Miriam’s life, they become submerged in an underworld of unfathomable cruelty and greed with implications that go far beyond the gruesome death of one woman or the boundaries of one country.  Eventually Miriam’s fight for justice becomes Delilah’s own . . . and Delilah’s obsession with finding the truth may prove just as deadly.

You really shouldn't judge a book by its cover because this cover is terrible but this book is really great. I have seen it pegged as a romance/suspense novel and for me, it's not that at all. It's more thriller/suspense because the romance element isn't huge and it's not at all what you expect for romance. So go into it knowing that. 

Second, this book was all over the map because whereas I can typically figure out the twists and turns- not at all the case in this one. Well written, complex and complicated, this one was hard to put down. The basics of it is that Miriam gets murdered. She's beheaded, and while that's awful, the entire thing is seemingly being covered up. Enter Delilah and her bizarre crew of private detectives. I can tell this is likely going to turn into a series because each detective is complicated and while you learn a little about them, you're kind of left wanting more. Delilah herself is kind of a mess, what I would call a controlled, refined mess. Instead of grieving the loss of her fiance, she is instead throwing herself totally into her private investigator agency. 

The crew of detectives are trying to figure out what really happened with Miriam but none of the puzzle pieces really click together towards the end. And holy buckets- it's kind of a sordid tale. I did like the book, and I found myself enjoying it far later than I should have because I have early days this entire week. My only complaint is that I feel like so much time is spent sorting clues, talking about things, that at the end- I sat there thinking, well duh. All of that, and this is it? I wanted a big bang. There is a bang at the end and people die but I expected it to have more of a punch. 

Admittedly, when I got to the end I was exhausted and maybe some of the flair was lost because I could barely stay awake. 

With that said, I did like this book. I am excited to see what comes next for Delilah and her crew. Does Anders stay on (you'll have to read to find out who that is), what about Natasha? She seems a bit of a loose canon. I don't know how I feel about Barb/Margot. Maybe if we got more of their story I would be more interested... but maybe that's for the next book?

The good news, as an early Christmas present to yourself, you can enter to win a copy! Leave a comment on this blog post (include your email address) to win! Drawing will be held on Friday, December 20. US/Canada only, please!

Secrets & Lies

Hello, Lambs! It's time for a book review and it's Friday the 13th. Woah.

Secrets & Lies - Christine Armsden


Cassie Scot,still stinging from her parents’ betrayal, wants out of the magical world. But it isn’t letting her go. Her family is falling apart and despite everything, it looks like she may be the only one who can save them.

To complicate matters, Cassie owes Evan her life, making it difficult for her to deny him anything he really wants. And he wants her. Sparks fly when they team up to find two girls missing from summer camp, but long-buried secrets may ruin their hopes for happiness. Book 2 in the Cassie Scot Mystery series.



I had completely forgotten that I read the first one until I got this one, and then I was reminded on how much I liked the first one. Which is always a nice bonus. Basically, Cassie is from a magical family- except she has no magic. Nobody knows why, but this lack of magic essentially gets her disowned from her family because she's a liability basically. But that leaves her unprotected in a town of dangerous people with varying degrees of magic, so Evan saves her and now she owes him a life debt. Evan is her friend from when they were really young. The kicker twist is that with the life debt, she basically has to do whatever he tells her to even if it's against her will. Evan isn't a jerk though and you know that he does love her- except she doesn't believe that because she thinks the life debt is clouding things and that he has a hidden agenda.

Then all hell breaks loose because two girls go missing from camp and everything is indicating foul play with magic.  Then in the entire midst of this, Cassie is fighting feelings that she doesn't know if they are even real or not. She sees a seer who basically tells her "he will break her heart and soul" and in hindsight- I wonder if the seer means Evan or someone else? Because as pointed out in the book, the confession of a seer isn't always what you think it means, basically it's like a riddle. After I finished the book, I'm torn whether I want her to be with Evan or not. You get a confession from her mother, which explains a lot, but then her father confesses something else to Evan and it's a game changer. I'll be interested to see how the author wraps it up in book 3 Mind Games, when that comes out next year.


Excerpt:

I faced my former father for the first time since he had announced his intention to disown me. He looked just as he always had, with straight dark hair, brown eyes, a long, angular face, and a wide, curving mouth – curving downward into a frown, that is.

If Victor was the last person I had expected to see in the diner that morning, then my former father was the last person I wanted to see. Even now, with Victor explaining my part in his unusual scheme for revenge, I didn’t want my former father nearby. I didn’t want his help. I only hoped Nicolas and Juliana hadn’t broken their promise and told him about the life debt, or I would never hear the end of it.

The air crackled with visible tension. Sparks of shimmering red fire danced around my father’s head. Behind the counter, Mrs. Meyers twisted her hands together anxiously, as if afraid her diner might burn down. Her fears were not unjustified.
I stepped boldly between them, facing my father. “What are you doing here?“

“We need to talk,“ he said.

“I have nothing to say to you. You disowned me, remember?“

The color seemed to drain from his face as he stared past me, at his oldest enemy.
Victor raised his water glass in a mock toast. “I’ve known for some time. If it makes you feel any worse, so does everyone else in town who hasn’t been asleep for a week. Or at least, they guess.“

“I don’t care what you think you know. Stay away from my daughter.“With that, he grabbed my arm with a hand hot enough to leave a reddened imprint on my skin, and dragged me through the kitchen to the employee room at the back. Only then did he release my injured forearm.


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Dogs masturbate. <-- life lesson.

So the other day I posted a short video on Instagram of Twinky essentially humping a stuffed dog. He is not neutered yet, but he will be once Christmas is over and I can afford it. But since we got him back in July, it actually hasn't been a problem. Once, months ago, he tried to hump this same dog and he clearly was inexperienced.

But now that he has gotten a little bigger, and clearly practices a lot when we are gone, things have come to a new low. Or high, depending on who you are in this house. The only thing I can be appreciative of is that at least he isn't humping our legs, it's just this particular stuffed dog.

OK- and he occasionally tries to sit on our only girl cat's face. Poor Lola has resorted to just laying there and taking it. It's like they are a married couple or something.

The worst part about this is trying to explain it to the kids. I think Olivia knows what's going on because she made the comment that it's a good thing the stuffed dog can't have puppies. I chose silence as the appropriate response here because anything else would have prompted a larger conversation about sex and reproduction than I was willing to have with an eight year old right now. Jackson response has been a bit more animated. The first time he saw it he just stared. The second time he saw it, he tried to take the stuffed dog away but Twinky growled at him so he dropped it. The third time he saw it he started crying and wondered why our dog was broken.

Keep in mind that all three of these times happened within one hour.

Twinky is a machine. But he's a sensitive machine because he will snuggle with the stuffed dog, lick it, hump it like mad, sometimes lick it again, and then walk away for awhile. Then he comes back with a vengeance.

Matt says we should discourage this but I say, if we take the stuffed animal away he'll start on our leg. I'd rather have a sex toy on the floor than be a sex toy.

Then someone who has a sibling of Twinky says that even after her dog was neutered, it has not slowed his roll. Basically- I believe my dog is a chronic mastubater.

Because why wouldn't he be??