Excursions are Booked - Alaskan Cruise Countdown Begins!

To say I am excited about our summer cruise to Alaska is an understatement.  Those who knew me when I was a child, heard me chatter incessantly about visiting Alaska and seeing the snow and mountains.  I used to study maps.  MAPS!  If Google Earth would have been around during my obsessive map phase, you would have never gotten me off the computer.  I digress.  Finally, approaching the age of 40, I am making it happen.  The Dunlop family is going on a Disney Cruise! 

Our cruise is 7 nights with a round trip route out of Vancouver, Canada.  Our trip begins in early June right after the kids get out of school for the summer.  We literally fly out the first day of summer break.  We have three stops on our cruise: Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.

I did some research this week and finally decided on our shore excursions.  I planned what I wanted to do, as no one else in the family had an opinion.  (They usually leave all the planning to me, and it usually ends up a win-win for everybody!)  I pretty much used trip advisor to research the most popular things to do at each stop.  I did not book through the cruise for a couple of different reasons.  One, it is usually cheaper to book directly with the travel company itself and two, this way I can read customer reviews and make sure what I purchase is well recommended. 

First stop:  Skagway, Alaska.  I decided on a train ride/bus tour up to Lake Bennett, British Columbia through Chilkoot Charters & Tours.  They will pick us up at the cruise dock and take us to the train station which is a 28 mile ride up to Fraser, BC.  Once we get to Fraser we then have to go through immigration and customs.  We will board a different train which will take us up to Lake Bennett.  Once in Lake Bennett, we get to have lunch and visit a dog musher camp.  We get to pet the husky puppies.  On the way back to the cruise ship, we take a tour bus and get to stop at several scenic photo op places.  The whole trip is supposed to take about 8 hours.  It's going to be a long day, but so worth it.

Second stop:  Juneau, Alaska.  For Juneau, the big attraction is the Mendenhall Glacier.  Mendenhall Glacier is a part of Tongass National Forest and has a visitors center, as well as many different walking trails.  I booked a city and glacier combo tour with Juneau Tours.  We start out with a bus tour of downtown Juneau and then head up to Mendenhall Glacier.  We can stay for 45 minutes and then return with the bus, or we can stay as long as we like and then take one of the shuttles back to the cruise ship when we are ready.  The shuttles leave every 30 minutes and are included as part of the tour.

Third stop:  Ketchikan, Alaska.  Our third stop is the one I am most excited about.  I decided to splurge and book a Misty Fjords Flightseeing Tour with Taquan Air.  For this excursion we get to go up in a little float plane and fly over the wilderness and view waterfalls, wildlife and even land in the middle of the fjord.  This is going to be amazing!!!

We also have one full day in Vancouver before we get on the cruise.  I haven't planned out what we might do there.  I'll have to figure that out at some point.  104 days and counting!

Review: Beautiful Player

Title: Beautiful Player
Author: Christina Lauren
Publishing Date: 2013
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B
Sensuality: Smokin' Hot
Book Disclosure: I purchased an ebook.

Beautiful Player is the third book in Christina Lauren's Beautiful series.  Hanna Bergstrom has been spending too much time in the lab and not enough time being a young twenty something.  Her brother wants to make sure that she has an appropriate balance in her life between school and a social life.  He insists that she call up his best friend Will Sumner since they both live in the city, and meet some people and have fun.  Once upon a time Hanna had a crush on Will, her older brother's bad boy friend.  It's been years since she has seen him and once they start hanging out, it turns out that attraction Hanna had as a teenager is still there, only it's not one-sided any longer.

I really enjoy reading Christina Lauren's books.  Beautiful Player was no exception.  If you have enjoyed other Christina Lauren books, then I think you will enjoy this one too.  In this book, I really liked Hanna.  She is the type of person I could see myself wanting to be friends with and hang out together.  She is very direct and forthright in her behavior.  She is a "what you see is what you get" type of person.  Will finds this very intriguing as he has "dated" a lot of different women and they tended to be more superficial.  He finds Hanna refreshing.  It's obvious from the beginning that Will is attracted to Hanna, but she is clueless about reading the cues.  This leads to some misunderstandings between them.

I would say that much of the relationship between Will and Hanna is driven by their physical attraction to each other.  There is a lot of focus on sex in this book.  The good news is that I felt that the author used the sex scenes to build Will and Hanna's relationship.  But after a while it was like, here we go again.  Fortunately, Christina Lauren uses a lot of dialog to tell the story, rather than mental lusting.  There is some of that going on, but not so much that it detracts from the story.  All in all, I would give this a thumbs up.

Week 6: Getting Back on Track!

Let me tell you, after the January Report Card post, I felt like I had let myself down.  Having written about my progress, or lack there of, has helped to motivate me this week.  I definitely don't want a repeat.  I felt like I did a little better this week.  Whoo hoo!! 

I am definitely making progress with my running program.  I am using the Running for Weight Loss app.  I have it set for beginner and it is an 8 week program that has three workouts a week.  I am up to the seventh week now and was able to complete all three workouts this week.  The workouts keep getting progressively harder, but I am feeling so proud that I have been able to come this far without giving up.

I am still struggling with the diet piece of the plan.  I didn't do that great Super Bowl Sunday, but the rest of the week I did pretty good.  I have decided not to weigh myself until the end of the month.  I don't want the scale to influence my motivation.  If I don't see the numbers go down I am worried I'll get discouraged.  I figure I will give myself some time to see progress.

I finished Susan Mallory's Someone Like You on Sunday.  Then I moved onto Beautiful Player by Christina Lauren.  It took me all week to read it and I finally finished it on Saturday.

It was a busy week with me having to do back-to-back grower trainings.  I was in Live Oak, Florida on Monday and Tuesday and then was back home the remainder of the week to train in Lake Alfred, which luckily is only 30 minutes from my house.  I was able to sleep in my own bed for a change!

On Saturday, I had a Junior League mobile food pantry event to volunteer at in the morning.  Later, we took the kids to see The LEGO Batman Movie.  Everyone enjoyed the movie.  There actually was cute a storyline.  Batman keeps himself emotionally closed off from everyone and this was his journey to finding a family.  There is plenty of humor for everyone and lots of pop culture references.  If you enjoyed the first LEGO movie, then I'm sure you would enjoy this one.

That about wraps up my week!

Review: Do You Want to Start a Scandal

Title: Do You Want to Start a Scandal
Author: Tessa Dare
Publishing Date: 2016
Genre: Historical
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I purchased an ebook.

Do You Want to Start a Scandal is the 5th book in the Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare.  While you can read this series out of order, it would still be my recommendation to read in order.  Only because the characters continually reappear in each of the books, but each book does have its own stand alone romance. 

In this installment Piers Brandon, who is a spy for the crown, is investigating a potential recruit at a garden party.  While snooping through the home owner's study, a young woman, Charlotte Highwood takes him by surprise.  One thing leads to another and they are found alone together.  To minimize the scandal, Piers agrees on an engagement to her.  He really is taken with her and finds himself wanting to convince her, marriage to him is a good thing.

I found Do You Want to Start a Scandal to be just what I needed at the moment.  It's lighthearted, charming and sweet.  Tessa Dare once again delivers another delightful addition to the Spindle Cove series.  Charlotte is adventurous and outspoken without being brash and rude.  She really is rather sweet and the reader quickly falls under her spell just as Piers does.  She feels bad that Piers is getting saddled with her all because they were found together alone.  Piers on the other hand, thinks this might be his lucky day and sets out to make sure he seals the deal.  What follows are a series of fun scenes. 

I really don't have any complaints about the book.  Its not very deep or heavy, but I think that is in its favor.  I would highly recommend this one if you need to escape from reality for a while.  I mean who wouldn't need that right about now!  Another enjoyable story by Tessa Dare.

Week 5 2017: January Report Card

I made it through the first month of 2017.  I got the idea to do a report card of my resolutions for January from my friend Mary Beth over at Tutus and Tennies.  So how did I do?

1.  Lose some damn weight!
Well, I am disappointed to report that I did not lose any weight this month. Although, it really isn't surprising, since I didn't try that hard. Grrrr! I did pretty well exercise wise.  I managed to run 3 days a week, 3 weeks out of 4.  Where I really did bad were my eating habits.  I did well the first week, but then slowly went back to my old habits the remaining weeks.  I really need to do a better job here.  It's just that I really don't feel like counting calories or points. My motivation is seriously in the crapper.  Any words of encouragement would be appreciated.  I have got to get my head in the game!  Grade C-

2.  Post regularly to my blog.
My goal here was to post at least once a week to my blog.  I managed to get 5 posts in this month!  I did miss last week, but one week I posted twice.  Grade A-

3.  Read 75 books this year.
That means I would need to read about 6 books each month.  I didn't quite make that pace.  I read 4 books this month.  Grade C

1. Kiss Me, Annabel by Eloisa James  Grade B
2. Bloodspell by Amalie Howard  Grade C-
3. And Then She Was Gone by Christopher Greyson  Grade C
4. Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare  Grade B+

Last week brought about news that will bring change to our household.  The Hubster received a job offer to work at a local hospital and he has accepted.  This will be his first time changing jobs in 15 years.  Since it is a hospital, he will be doing shift work.  It will be quite a change going from 5 days a week, 8 hours each day to 3 days a week, 12 hours each day.  And he will go from Monday - Friday to working Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  He starts Feb 20th.

What would be one of the first things you would do upon getting a new job?  Would it be to run out and buy a new car?!?!  If you answered yes, then you would have done the exact same thing the Hubster did!  He traded in his 10 year old Honda Accord for a Chevy Camaro.  Can you say midlife crisis?  Should I be worried???

I will say, it is a pretty sweet ride.  I got to drive it home from the dealership because Jeff was throwing up.  We are still not sure if it was the flu or food borne illness.  Only by the grace of God, did we manage to make it home without a mess in his brand new car!

Week 3 2017: The Struggle is Real

I'm a little late with this post.  Already, we are into week 4 and I am just now getting to how my week 3 went.  This week started out with more travel.  This time, instead of heading to New Orleans, I was headed to Woodland, California.  I serve on a technical committee that reviews research proposals for produce food safety research.  Whoo hoo!! That sounds really exciting, doesn't it?!?  Well, for the nerdy, scientific side of myself, I do find it pretty interesting.

Monday was spent flying out to Sacramento.  Woodland is only 15 minutes from the airport and I was able to get a hotel shuttle to take me to the hotel, where our meeting would be.  I had dinner out and then was off to bed.  The time change wasn't too bad, but I did wind up sleeping like a rock.

Tuesday I spent from 8:00am - 8:00pm in the meeting.  This year we had a record number of research proposals and it took all day.  Then off to bed, because I had to be up at 4:00am to catch my flight home.

I thought Wednesday would never end.  My flight out that morning was delayed.  And wouldn't you know it, it wasn't until the plane was fully boarded that a warning light came on in the cockpit.  Lucky us!  We got to sit on the plane for an hour before we were given the thumbs up to hit the sky.  I missed my connecting flight home.  The nice thing is that when I landed in Dallas, my missed connection had already been assigned to another flight.  I was only delayed by a few hours and I didn't have to do anything, other than show up.  I made it back to my house after 9:00pm and everyone was in bed already!! So much for rushing to get home to see everyone.

I had book club on Thursday.  Lilly had chosen And Then She Was Gone by Christopher Greyson.  This was a prequel to the Jack Stratton series.  The book is about Jack when he is still a teenager before he enlists in the army.  I haven't ever read this author before.  I enjoyed the story.  It was short and fast-paced.  However, it did seem a little unbelievable some of the decisions that Jack would make.  He was very impulsive and it was a theme throughout the story.  I did like his character, though and wouldn't mind reading some of the other books in the series.  Most of the others in book club felt similarly about the book.  There were a few who hadn't finished it, so we tried not to talk about the ending too much.  Didn't want to give away spoilers!


I also received my ipsy bag this week.  I received these five products:

Manna Kadar Cosmetics: Paradise Blush - This blush is really too dark for my skin tone.  I tried and bam - I thought I looked like a Lady of the Night, or a clown.  Not a good look for me.

H2O + Beauty Oasis Ultra Hydrating Cream - This is a nice thick hydrating cream, just like the name says.  It doesn't have any scent attached to it and if you have dry skin, especially in the winter time, this cream is nice.  I'll be using it when I am in dry climates.

Trust Fund Beauty: Lip Gloss in Blame Game - Hand down, my favorite product so far, from my ipsy bags.  I love the color of this lip gloss.  It's not very dark, and has just enough color to tint your lips for a nice natural look for daytime.  You can add layers to darken the color.  The consistency is creamy and has a good amount of shine.  Love it!  The only complaint I have is that when applying it, there is a chemical smell.  You don't smell it when wearing it - only on application.

Naked Cosmetics: Mica Pigment in Desert Sunset #2 - I wasn't even sure what this product was, so I headed to the website to find out how to use it.  Wow.  I was surprised at all the things you can do with it.  You can mix the pigment with lip balm and make a lip gloss or eyeshadow with it.  You can mix it with face cream and make a sparkly highlight for your cheeks.  Or you can mix it with body lotion and create a shimmer for your body.  They even showed how you could mix it with clear nail polish to create a sparkly, tinted polish.  Very versatile.  I haven't tried any of it yet, but I look forward to experimenting with it.

5. Caite London: Gelology Top Coat - This is just a clear nail polish.  I haven't experimented with it yet.  I'll let you know how it goes.

My weekend was spent trying to relax and catch up on housework I wasn't able to do because of traveling.  I did see the movie Split with DH and DD.  This is an M. Night Shyamalan movie about a guy with a multiple personality disorder who kidnaps a group of girls.  It was pretty good.  James McAvoy plays the kidnapper and he does a phenomenal job with all the different characters.  I enjoyed it, but there is a brief cameo at the end with a character from another Shyamalan movie and I didn't get the reference.  I am not sure if this was sequel bating or not.

I am really disappointed that I was not able to get any exercise in this week.  Not a single run or yoga class was attended. Ugh!  The struggle is real.  On the plus side, my eating choices were a little better than normal.  It would be nice if I could manage do both at the same time. Well...there is always next week!

How was your week?

Review: Bloodspell

Title: Bloodspell
Author: Amalie Howard
Publishing Date: 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Rating: C-
Sensuality: Kisses
Book Disclosure: I received this book for free at the RT Convention 2016.

Bloodspell is the first book in the Cruentus Curse series.  Victoria Warrick has experienced some very strange happenings within her own body around the time of her seventeenth birthday.  On her birthday, she receives a music box from her late Grandmother, that help to provide answers as to why these strange experiences have been happening to her.  She comes from a long line of witches, as she happens to be a direct descendent from one of the most powerful.  Victoria moves to a new school and meets Christian Devereux.  There is something unusual about him that Victoria can't help but be drawn to. But because of Victoria's power, other supernatural beings are after her and she is in danger.

I really struggled with this book.  It took me over a week to read it and it just couldn't hold my attention.  I think some of it was because of the plot.  It just felt all over the map, with the world building.  Establishing the witch and vampire lore for this storyline took up some space and it just wasn't all that interesting.  It was also hard to like the main characters.  Victoria is not a warm and fuzzy heroine.  She is darn right prickly and standoffish.  It was hard to feel empathy for her and the same with Christian.  Then some of the adversary characters felt like comic book bad guys.  Also, I felt the romance with Christian and Victoria was not very believable.  First, Christian and Victoria had such a difference between their ages, that it was hard to believe that a romance would be possible.  Also, they spent quite a bit of the book pushing each other away.  And then the piece de resistance, when Victoria is in grave danger he realizes his true feelings. 

The saving grace for this book would be the action packed ending.  The last quarter of the book, boy do things really pick up and I enjoyed the battle at the end.  But other than that, there wasn't much that I would recommend.  I most likely won't be continuing on with the other books in this series.

Week 2 2017: Travel Screws up my Routines!

This week sort of kicked my butt.  After returning home from Savannah on Sunday last week, I didn't have much time to get things in order before I was traveling again. 

My week started out fine on Monday, with me heading into the office for a meeting.  I was out of there by noon, so that I could take my daughter and I to the dentist.  I managed to get in a run that night before dinner.  But then things got a little crazy. 

I had to rise super early on Tuesday morning in order to catch a flight to New Orleans for a meeting that day.  That means the alarm went off at 3:25 am!! Ugh!  I knew this was going to be a long day.  And it was. I had hoped to get a yoga routine in and that did not happen.

A couple good things, though.  One, on my way to New Orleans, the flight had TVs on the back of each seat and they had free movies you could watch.  I watched Bad Moms and I thought it was hilarious.  I was laughing out loud while watching it and the gentleman sitting next to me would lean over to see what I was laughing at.  I am sure I was annoying him.  If you want a funny, girly/friendship movie, watch it.  I'm telling you, it had me in stitches. 

Two, I got to eat at Deanie's that night.  I have been to New Orleans before and eaten at Deanie's.  It's very well known and been around forever.  It was on Man vs Food, I think, or one of those travel channel shows.  If you ever get the chance you have to try Deanie's.  They are known for their barbeque shrimp dish, where the shrimp have their heads on and they are swimming in this delicious barbeque sauce.  It's really messy, so I didn't get it this time and instead ordered the crawfish etouffee and it was delicious!! 

Wednesday is was back up at the crack of dawn to head back home.  I didn't make it back home until the evening.  I was supposed to run and all I wanted to do was relax on the couch.  So that's what I did.

Thursday I had to head back to the work office for a training.  I did manage to get in yoga that night.  We had a new teacher and I liked her routine.  It was different from what I was used to doing and it felt great. 

Friday was a work from home day.  I finally managed to catch up on my emails and take care of some things that were burning out of control.  I also managed to get a run in at the end of the day before we headed out to eat and darn it if I didn't order chicken wings.  Once again, I did not do very good this week, diet wise. 

Saturday I spent the evening with a couple of girlfriends catching up over dinner and drinks.  It was nice to catch up with them as it had been a month since I had seen them last.

Today I managed to get in a yoga workout and a run.  As far as my reading goes, I wasn't able to get much read this week.  I am reading Bloodspell by Amalie Howard.  I have to confess that it isn't holding my attention.  It has taken me over a week to get halfway through it.  I am debating whether or not to continue.  I have book club next Thursday and need to start that book.  Ugh! 

How was your week?  Are you keeping to your resolutions or struggling like me?

Week 1 2017: New Year's Resolutions

I have a confession to make.  I am one of those people who love to make new year resolutions.  Yep.  I am very goal oriented... have been pretty much my whole life and I like to plan every thing out.  I am sure for those who have spent any amount of time with me, have probably figured this out.  Therefore, every year, when the first of the new year roles around, I am ready to set some goals and embrace a new me. 

Right now, I am calling her Jilly 2.0.  She is going to be the skinnier, healthier, better blogging, more informed version of Jill 1.0.  Its going to be great!  Fantastic!  Terrific!

What do I have in store for 2017?

1.  Lose some damn weight!! 

Well, I have already begun a running for weight loss program.  Basically, it is an app that you can download for free.  You choose your fitness level and it will map out an 8-week running program for you.  I chose beginner and each week I run 3 days.  If you follow me on Facebook, you have probably seen my updates.

I also am taking a yoga class at my gym twice a week.  The stretching does a body good and they usually throw in some core/stomach exercises.  Now my diet is a whole other issue.  I need to cut back on the wine and fried foods.  Every time I eat out, I somehow seem to zero in on the fattiest, most caloric dish on the menu.  This will be my biggest challenge!!

2.  Post regularly to my blog!!

I managed to make a blogging comeback in 2016.  I started out strong, but the posts quickly seemed to taper off.  Yikes!! That is not a good track record.  I have decided that I need to post at least once a week.  My goal will be to at least write one post on Sunday.  Maybe it will be a recap of the week or a book review.  I am going to try real hard to stay consistent with my blogging.

3.  Read 75 books!!

I have decided to challenge myself to read a little bit more than I did last year.  I managed 60 books last year and I am hoping to move that up to 75 for this year.  That means I need to read about 6 books a month.  So far I have read 1 book for this year.  Can I get the pacing right?!?

On reflecting back on the week.  I started out strong.  I managed to get in two runs and two yoga workouts at the beginning of the week.  But then I had to leave for a work conference in Savannah, Georgia on Thursday.  Things took a serious nose dive when faced with many yummy seafood dishes and glasses of wine.  Good news is that I managed to write this post!  You have to take your victories where you can get them, LOL!

I hope you all have had a great start to your 2017.  How have you fared with your resolutions?

A Year in Review & Best and Worst Reads of 2016

Hi all!  Now that the holidays are over I am back to wrap up the year that was 2016 and my reading statistics.  I love statistics so I am going to recap the books I read last year.  First, lets start with the grand total... I read a grand total of 70 books!!  Whoot, whoot!!  My goal was to read 60 and I am pleased to report I was able to meet that and more!  Now lets break it down even further. 

By Genre
Contemporary: 28
Fantasy: 1
Historical: 12
Historical Paranormal: 1
Mystery: 7
Paranormal: 3
Romantic Suspense: 7
Urban Fantasy: 4
Young Adult: 7

Clearly, I tend to lean towards contemporary romance.  However, I am surprised by how low are my Urban Fantasy/Paranormal numbers.

By Rating
5 Stars: 6
4 Stars: 43
3 Stars: 17
2 Stars: 2
1 Star: 2

This does not surprise me.  I am pretty stingy with my 5 star ratings.  I only give 5 stars if the book is damn near perfect and I would consider reading it again.  Most of the books fall under the 4 star range, because they entertained me and I enjoyed them.

By How I Obtained the Book
Bought: 11
Library: 15
RT Book Convention: 44

Yes!! My goal was to try and whittle down my TBR pile that I have obtained over the years from attending the RT book convention.  I am very happy to see that the majority of the books I read, were the ones I received at RT.  Not to mention that I only bought 11 books.  I feel that this is a SERIOUS VICTORY!!

Best Book I Read

Kiss An Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Loved this one.  Takes place in a circus of all places and had me in absolute stiches.  LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!  You can read my review here.








Worst Book I Read

Rainfall by Melissa Delport

I read this for book club and was seriously disappointed.  I feel that it was advertised as a romance and a romance it was not.  Beware.... No HEA.  Now you can understand why I was very unhappy with the outcome! I will also mention, the writing was hard to read.  My impression would be that English was not the author's first language, or that maybe they were not American.  There were subtle language nuances that felt strange.   Really though, my big beef was the ending, so I can't go into details without giving spoilers.


How did you all do?  Did you meet your reading goals for 2016?

Review: One with You

Title: One with You
Author: Sylvia Day
Publishing Date: 2016
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: C+
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I purchased this book at the RT Convention 2016.

Note***  If you haven't read the other books in this series, DO NOT start with this one!!!

One with You is the 5th book in Sylvia Day's Crossfire series.  It is the final installment of the sweeping saga between Gideon and Eva.  I originally thought this series would be a trilogy.  Imagine my surprise after the reading the third book and everything was not wrapped up!  Gideon and Eva's relationship can best be described as intense.  Everything about them is amped up to the maximum levels.  In this book, we finally see them learn how to deal with that intensity without wrecking themselves emotionally.  After their marriage, they have some damage to control as they inform their families and the public.  Plus, how will their marriage survive when they are unable to give in to the other in regard to certain issues?

I am on the fence with this one.  I really am.  It is very hard for me to give this book a rating.  On the one hand I enjoyed seeing Eva and Gideon work through their issues and learn to compromise without loosing a piece of themselves.  I liked that they became a team to face adversity when the world threw it at them.  There are some very tender moments between Eva and Gideon.  There is enough change and maturity in them to see that they are willing to do what's necessary to make their marriage work.  I can believe in their happy ever after.

On the other hand, there were a few problems I had with the book.  I felt like there were a few plot lines that were not wrapped up by the end of the book, and it was a long book, almost 500 pages.  I felt that the whole issue with Gideon and his mother was left open ended, as was the storyline with his childhood therapist.  Then due to spoilers I won't go into details but something very tragic happens to one of Eva's family close to the end of the story.  What!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?  This was just crazy to me and there is so much happening with that, but it is totally swept under the rug.  Ugh! I can't really say more than this, but if you want to vent, just comment or email me. 

Interview: Sophia Henry, author of Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Hello everyone!  I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to my good friend and author, Sophia Henry.  I have invited her to my blog today to share with you a little bit about her recently published romance book Unsportsmanlike Conduct, which is the 4^th book in her Pilots Hockey series. 

I would classify Sophia’s books as New Adult.  I’ve read the first two books in her Pilots Hockey series and enjoyed them.  They are not overly hockey-centric.  The characters are young and the stories focus on their growth and development as they emerge into adulthood.  Henry’s books are written in first person usually from the heroine’s point of view, but in Unsportsmanlike Conduct she also writes from the Hero’s point of view.  Her books lean towards sweet, not steamy romance.

As a side note, can I just say that the book covers for this series are seriously yummy!

Finally, we are getting Pasha’s book and I for one am so excited.  Since the first book Delayed Penalty, I have been looking forward to this!!  Finally, Pasha gets his story!

Sophia, tell us about Unsportsmanlike Conduct!  What inspired you to write this story?

The song “I Lived” by One Republic and Bryan Warnecke, the teen with cystic fibrosis (CF) who is featured in the video for the song. The first time I heard “I Lived” I fell in love with the lyrics and the message behind it. Then I saw the video. Around that same the time, I’d been thinking about how I could write a diverse heroine—in my own way. Bryan inspired me to write a strong heroine with CF who has the courage and drive to live life to the fullest.

Yes, about your characters, tell us a little more about Kristen and Pasha!

Kristen Katsaros is an upbeat, fun-loving, free-spirit with cystic fibrosis.  She has just graduated from college and works as an event coordinator for Motor City Bar Management, a company that owns a group of bars in Detroit.  Pavel (Pasha) Gribov is a hot Russian hockey player hiding a painful past behind his cocky demeanor.   They meet when Kristen runs into Pasha on the running track on a cruise. *Literally* run into each other when Kristen turns quickly to avoid the guy her parents are trying to set her up with.  Together they’re snarky, sweet, sexy and fun. :)

What was the biggest challenge in writing Unsportsmanlike Conduct?

The hardest part was writing a heroine with cystic fibrosis and doing her justice. All the people fighting for their lives every day deserve a kick a$$ representation of how strong and amazing they are, so I didn’t want to get it wrong. It was very important to me to show how Kristen LIVES. I don’t have CF, so I don’t know what living with it is like. I did a lot (A LOT) of research and I spoke with people who have it. I wanted to write a strong, normal, amazing person who has to work hard to stay healthy.

Can you give us a little sneak peak of Pasha and Kristen from the book?

Yes!  This is one of my favorite scenes because it’s so unexpected—for the readers and the characters! :) While Kristen and Pasha are dancing, they share details about their individual backgrounds, which gives them common ground and allows for them to get closer in a very subtle way. Here’s a snippet:

As I put weight on my back foot, rocking away from one particular creepy dude, someone caught my hand and tugged me forward into his hard chest. What kind of guy had the audacity to grab me when I obviously hadn’t been giving off those vibes?

To brace myself, I pressed my palms against a soft black button-down shirt. Pasha stood in front of me with an adorably arrogant smirk on his face. Instead of speaking, he held his arms up in a formal dance position. I took his hands and he immediately led me in a succession of smooth salsa steps.

It wasn’t intricate choreography that only two dancers who had practiced together would know, just a series of basic Latin dance steps. He led and I followed. But nobody else on the dance floor knew that. To them it probably looked like a scripted routine straight out of a musical.

And damn! Pasha could move.

~ From UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT by Sophia Henry

This is awesome!!  If I wasn’t chomping at the bit to rush out and get the book before, I sure am now.  Thank you so much for stopping by Sophia!!  Where can readers go to find your book, Unsportsmanlike Conduct?

My books can be found at Amazon, iBooks, BN, Kobo, Google Play, and BAM.   When someone buys a Sophia Henry book, they are automatically supporting a charity. I donate the first $500 of the royalties from each book before I take a penny for myself. I’m proud to say that my generous readers have already allowed me to make the donations for the first three books. I also plan on doing a yearly contribution based on book sales each year.

The charity I selected for Unsportsmanlike Conduct is the CysticFibrosis Foundation. To learn more about the organizations I chose for each book, please visit my website.

***Thank you so much for having me on your blog! I truly appreciate it! ~ Sophia xx***

Movie Review: Dr. Strange

My daughter and I went to go see the latest Marvel movie, Dr. Strange this weekend.  Before I get into the review, I want to share with you a funny conversation at the concession stand.  I ordered a drink and popcorn and I could upgrade to a souvenir cup for $0.50 more.  No brainer, sure.  Let's do it.  But then the attendant drops a bomb on me.  Do I want the Dr. Strange cup or the Star Wars Rogue One cup?  Annabelle and I both immediately and turned to look at the other not having a clue which to choose.  Tough choice, right?!?!  We ended up with the Dr. Strange cup because we were informed that they would probably still have the Rogue One cup around for a while.  I'm thinking we will get it next time.

Before they showed the movie, of course we were inundated with previews.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 trailer played.  OMG!!  Looks awesome.  There was a clip of baby Groot, not the tiny baby Groot from the end of the first movie, more like adolescent Groot.  Incredibly cute, though!  It comes out next summer and we can't wait.  If you can't tell, my family and I love the Marvel universe.

So onto Dr. Strange... If you aren't familiar with the storyline, Dr. Stephen Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, is a cocky neurosurgeon.  The best really.  But tragedy strikes and he is in a bad accident which injures him so severely that he can no longer perform operations.  He goes in search of a cure where he finds himself immersed in a world of sorcery.

My daughter loves Benedict Cumberbatch (OMG, I love this name.  It's so fun to say!!)  She has watched him in Sherlock and other entertainments - says he has a very soothing voice.  I haven't ever seen him in anything.  At first, you don't really like Dr. Strange.  He is pretty much an arrogant jerk face.  But eventually he hits rock bottom and realizes he has to change.  He is sort of thrown into this world of sorcery and magic.  His way of dealing with the bad guys becomes comedic because he is not a fighter, but much more cerebral.  It makes for very unusual and entertaining fight scenes.   

I wondered if the movie was able to live up to her expectations.  When I asked her if she liked the movie, her response was, " I bloody loved it!"  Her favorite thing about the move was the Cloak of Levitation.  It reminded us of the rug in Aladdin.  For me, the Cloak stole the show, but Annabelle said she wished there would have been more with the Cloak in the movie.  Either way, we both loved the Cloak. 

Final verdict: Another great addition to the Marvel Universe.  Highly enjoyable!

NOTE**  Stay all the way until the very end of the credits.  There are two extra scenes, one in the middle of the credits and one all the way at the end.

Review: Falling for Gracie

Title: Falling for Gracie
Author: Susan Mallery
Publishing Date: 2005
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: A
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I received this book at the RT Convention 2016.

Falling for Gracie is the second book in the Los Lobos series.  (Come to find out I own the first of the series and hadn't read it.  Ugh!  I hate it when I read books out of order!)  But it didn't really matter too much.  It's just that the characters from the first book are in the second, but the romance is definitely stand alone.  Gracie Landon, a successful cake maker, comes back home after 14 years for her sisters wedding.  When she was a young girl she had this massive crush on the neighborhood bad boy, Riley Whitefield.  She made such a mess of things that her mother sent her a way to live with her Aunt and Uncle.  Gracie has done a lot of growing up since then, however fate keeps throwing her and Riley together again.

I chose to read Falling for Gracie because I wanted something light-hearted and fun to read to take my mind of off things going on in my real life.  I am happy to say that I couldn't have chosen a better book!  Falling for Gracie was just what the doctor ordered!!  It was funny and sweet.  Gracie is such a genuinely nice person and goes out of her way to help her ungrateful sisters.  As Gracie tries to help her sisters it often puts her at a disadvantage and causes her lots of problems.  The thing is, Gracie is really strong.  Even when life beats her down, she doesn't stay down for long. 

It doesn't take Riley long to notice all the wonderful attributes Gracie has.  He is drawn to her positivity and determination and begins to become a better person because of her.  I love that.  He stands up for her when her own family won't.  I adore the ending and how Riley expresses his love for Gracie.  Heart-melting!!  I loved this one!

Review - The Devil You Know

Title: The Devil You Know
Author: Jo Goodman
Publishing Date: 2016
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I purchased this as an ebook.

The Devil You Know is the second book in Jo Goodman's McKenna Brothers series.  Goodman is an auto buy for me and I will read pretty much anything she writes.  She has been sticking to westerns for the last few years now, but I really love her regency set books too.  I feel like not to many westerns are published these days.

This story features the older brother Israel McKenna, who is a bit of a trouble maker.  The story begins with Israel unconscious, badly beaten and left for dead.  He is found by a young girl, Annalea Pancake.  She goes back to her ranch to get help and they bring Israel back where they nurse him to good health.  Israel doesn't remember much about the attack.  He knows that he isn't exactly an upstanding citizen and he seems to be running from his past.  He decides to stay on at the Pancake ranch and make a change for the better.  He finds himself falling for Willa Pancake, Annalea's older sister and manager of the ranch. 

The Devil You Know is another solid story by Jo Goodman.  I found Israel to be more of a Beta hero.  He tends to stand back and let Willa run the show.  He only takes a stand when it really matters to him.  He is protective of Willa, and he knows he might be a danger to her.  For that reason, he tries to distance himself from her, but he can't make himself stay back for too long.  The book keeps you turning the pages to find out more about Israel's past as he slowly begins to remember.  Willa has a secret too, that I did not see coming.  I must be losing my touch!  And to top it off there are a couple of secondary characters such as Annalea and Happy that suck you into the story, as well.  This is another good addition by Jo Goodman.

Out of My Reading Slump... Maybe

Yay!!! Thanks to Tiffany Snow's Power Play, I am finally out of my reading slump. It was not looking good for a while there.  I have been struggling the last couple of months to even be interested enough in the books I'm reading to pick them up.  On average, I can usually finish a book in 3 to 4 days depending on how busy I am and my interest level in the book. 

My slump started about maybe the end of August.  I was reading Untamed by Sara Humphreys.  This is a paranormal romance, the first in a shape shifter series.  I hate to say this, but I was bored to tears with this book.  I made it about halfway through before giving up on the book after a week of trying to read it.  Meanwhile, I was listening to Unmasking Kelsey, by Kay Hooper on a road trip. 







The next book I read was Rogue with a Brogue by Suzanne Enoch.  I also found this book boring and I have read Enoch before and enjoyed her.  It took me about a week to get through this one too.  Was it me?  Why are all these books falling flat? 








I decided that I had to go to one of my tried and true authors to pull me out of this slump, so I went for the latest Kelley Armstrong, Betrayals.  Yes!  The latest installment of Armstrong's Cainesville novel was great.  I read it in a few days.  More of Olivia, Gabriel and Ricky and finally Gabriel is realizing his feelings for Olivia!!!





But then I had to read Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline. Ugh!!! This book was terrible. It had major plot problems. Only one person in book club liked it.  And just like that bam. My book slump was back. 










I made a mistake of trying a new author.  I read Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.  It took me about a week to get through it.  I liked the lead characters but the mystery part was ridiculous.

Then I tried Power Play by Tiffany Snow. Whoot whoot!!  I loved this book.  I just powered through it in a day and a half.  Bam!  There is a love triangle between the heroine Sage and her executive boss and a detective.  I know so many people hate the love triangle plot, but I am such a sucker for them.  Sage cracked me up with all her antics and sass.  I was highly entertained.  My only heartbreak is that the book ended on a cliffhanger, so I will be forced to rush out and get the second book!  Oh those brilliant marketers!!

I really don't know if my slump is over, but I sure do hope so!!  What do you do in a reading slump and any recommendations for books to keep me out of it?

Review: Unmasking Kelsey

Title: Unmasking Kelsey
Author: Kay Hooper
Publishing Date: 1988, rereleased 2012
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: D
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I was making a long car trip and I needed an audio book for the trip.  This was about the only thing that was available for immediate check out.

I really only listened to this because I was desperate.  I have read Kay Hooper before and I have liked her books, but I had a feeling that this would seem very out dated to me since it was originally published in 1988 and then rereleased in 2012.  Here is the new cover, but the one I have posted below is the original cover.  They send quite different messages don't they?!?!  You can imagine how someone would feel if they picked up the new book cover, only to find its not quite a suspense, but a category romance.

On to the review... Unmasking Kelsey is the 6th book in Hagen series.  This series is about a team of operatives for some special unit that solves crimes that other government agencies can't touch.  The mastermind behind the special unit is Hagen and he is a bit of an unintentional matchmaker.  All his operatives have ended up in love and then leave his team.  One of remaining few is Kelsey.  He is sent to the town of Pinnacle to investigate a manufacturing company called Metatron.  Something shady seems to be going on and his investigation leads him to the stunningly, beautiful Elizabeth.  Elizabeth has been raising her sisters on her own since her parents death and seems to be in over her head.  Kelsey can't resist coming to her rescue.

Mainly, its just that the book is really outdated and is an extremely old school romance cliché.  The beautiful, helpless woman needs rescuing by the emotionally, distant operative.  Of course, once he sets eyes on her, he can't help but be taken in by her beauty and everything he has ever known changes in the blink of an eye.  The book was just very silly to me.  The plot had lots of holes and was overly ridiculous.  At the end, the heroine puts herself in danger on purpose, which sets me on edge.  Also, the narrator of this book did a southern accent because the book takes place in South Carolina, and let me tell you, not good.  For some characters it was like nails on a chalkboard when she did their voices.  Steer clear people, steer clear!!

Movie Review: Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

 

Howdy all! I am deciding to switch things up here a bit.  Since, I haven't been reading much these days (I am in a bit of a slump - which does not bode well for my book club book that I need to get read this week) I thought I would do a movie review.  I just got back from taking my children to see the movie Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  This movie is directed by the legendary Tim Burton, who is known for movies such as Edward Scissorhands and The Corpse Bride. 

The movie stars Asa Butterfield as Jake, who grew up on fantastical stories about odd children told by his grandfather, played by Terence Stamp.  After Jake's grandfather is attacked in the woods outside his home and suffers a heart attack, Jake decides to travel to an island off the coast of the British Isles, where his grandfather's tales originate at Miss Peregrine's home.  Once Jake finds the home a series of events are set in motion to bring about a great adventure that will change Jake's life forever.

First, let me disclose that I am a big fan of Tim Burton.  I really enjoy his odd, quirky sense of style.  I have always enjoyed his costumes and make up and the weird characters.  Miss Peregrine's definitely delivered in all those areas.  As the movie began, the pacing seemed a little slow.  Burton had to set up the storyline and I wished we could have gotten to the Home much quicker than we did.  But I understand that the story had to unfold for the audience. 

Once Jake discovers the home and meets the children, things started to pick up a little more.  I will say that there was definitely a creepiness to the movie that I worried might bother my son.  He is 9 and a little sensitive to monsters and scary things.  I would keep looking over at him to make sure he was doing okay.  He was fine though, and I will say that by the time we get to the big climax of the movie, which is basically a battle of the children vs the bad guys, he was totally getting into it. 

One of the best parts of the movie, was the big epic battle.  Samuel Jackson, plays the bad guy and he was pretty funny.  Burton found a way to interject quite a bit of humor towards the end of the movie and children and adults alike will enjoy the big climactic scene.   I and my children were definitely entertained for a couple of hours.  If you like Tim Burton movies, this will not disappoint.  It's a little slow in the beginning, but the end makes up for it.  I give this a solid B.

Loot Crate: September 2016 Speed

September's Loot Crate shipment arrived today!  This months theme is SPEED!  All things fast are featured in this crate.  It's like Christmas in our house when the Loot Crate is delivered!  Everybody is so excited to see what is in it.

Here is what we got:

1.  Stark Industries racing t-shirt (from Iron Man 2)

2.  Batwing keychain - (heavy metal)

3.  Titan vinyl Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider, Scar

4.  Flash hood ornament-style figure (magnetic).  Others may have received an Arrow hood ornament.

5.  Gone in 60 Seconds "Eleanor" die-cast car

6.  Loot Year Tire pin

The box turned into a little car.  We received a green one, but it also comes in red and blue.  Interestingly enough DD favorite color is green.  It's like this company knows her preferences!


DD was so excited that she didn't even notice me taking her picture (she hates to have her picture taken).  Ha ha, sneaky of me, I know!!  She is reading the little magazine that comes in the crate.  It gives little facts about the featured products and associated movies/comics/etc.

Review - Sweet Little Lies

Title: Sweet Little Lies
Author: Jill Shalvis
Publishing Date: 2016
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I checked this one out from the library.

Sweet Little Lies is the first in a new Jill Shalvis series, Heartbreaker Bay.  Just to give you a little bit of background if you are not familiar with Jill Shalvis (shame on you!), she writes awesome contemporary books set in small towns.  She gained well deserved popularity with her Lucky Harbor series, which is where I fell in love with her writing.  So back to Sweet Little Lies... Pru, a captain of a tourist boating operation, has made it her life's mission to right the wrongs her parents caused when they chose to drink and drive.  Her last operation is to make sure that hunky, bartender Finn is happy in life.  She sets out to make sure he finds happiness by falling in love, however, she certainly didn't intend for it to be herself!

What I liked.  I am super excited about all the new characters introduced in this book.  I love the little community set in San Francisco that theses characters have been able to carve out for themselves.  You have the brooding/man whore Jake, who has taken in upon himself to protect Pru.  There are several guys friends with Finn and then several girls friends with Pru.  I smell lots of sequel baiting!! Sweet Little Lies also has plenty of funny scenes where either Pru or Finn ends up in some sort of predicament. 

Why didn't I give this one a higher grade?  Well, I had a little trouble buying into Pru and Finn's romance.  I was much more interested in everything else going on in the book that the romance was secondary to me.  Also, for most of the book Pru withholds some important information about her history from Finn and that was looming over the story.  The reader is on pins and needles waiting for the big bomb to drop.  When it finally does, it is fairly predictable how Finn reacts.  It all seemed very anti-climactic and unnecessary.

Sweet Little Lies was not my favorite by Shalvis, but I am definitely interested in reading more in this series.