Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Wednesday Reads--It's BAAAACK!

I’m sad to say that Blind Temptation did not win either the judges or readers award in Judge a Book By Its Cover (**heavy sigh**). But maybe I’ll get lucky and some of the judges will like what they saw and buy my book! I can hope, right? Anyway, I’m back to reporting books and here’s what I read this week:

Feb 14: “Witchlight” by Sonya Clark. #2 in the Magic Born series, a paranormal romance at 240 pages. Blurb from Goodreads: In 2066, the Magic Born are segregated in urban reservations. The laws do not protect them, or their allies. Councilwoman Elizabeth Marsden is a powerful player in New Corinth politics, but a closely guarded secret could destroy her life—she's a hidden Magic Born. Her family has gone to great lengths to erase all her magic-related records, until a trancehacking outlaw discovers the last remaining one… Vadim Bazarov smuggles Magic Borns through the underground railroad and threatens to reveal Elizabeth's secret unless she helps him access blank ID cards. Elizabeth wants to hate him for having a stranglehold on her life, but can't help being attracted to someone so sure of who and what he is. Vadim initially sees her as a political ice queen, but is intrigued by her suppressed magical abilities. He trains Elizabeth to use her magic, and before long finds himself falling for her. But their newfound love may be shortlived; an anti-magic ordinance forces one of them to make a choice that will change both their lives for good. This one read a little slower for me than the first one did. The pace would pick up and then get bogged down, sort of like a roller coaster. I still enjoyed the story, and the ending was upbeat (this is a romance after all), even though the world projected here is a very sad one. Won't stop me from reading the next one in the series, though.  

I started the taxes yesterday, but didn’t finish. Apparently there’s this other form we have to complete and I’m not at all familiar with it (and of course the software doesn't take care of it, either). Have I mentioned how much I. HATE. TAXES??? I’m tempted to send hubby and his company to an accountant and let them deal with it. Ugh!

So… Have you watched “Lucifer” yet? It kind of reminds me of “Castle,” but with a supernatural bent. I think it’s funny.

Happy Reading!

Stacy

6 comments:

JeffO said...

Taxes suck.

And the funny thing? You go through all those forms and jump through all those hoops, and if you make a mistake (in your favor or theirs) they know it and they tell you. So, why am I doing all this if you already know what I owe you/what you owe me?

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jeff - I remember the first time I had to file taxes. There was a spot on the form that said "stop here if you want the IRS to figure out your taxes." Wanting to know what I was due, I filled out the complete form and came up with owing them. So hoping to delay the inevitable, I filled out the form and stopped where it said. I got a refund! I sure wish they'd do my taxes now.

Maria Zannini said...

If my house sells this year, I'm going to try to convince hubby to use a tax consultant next year. It's complicated enough as it is and I don't want no trouble.

Stephanie Faris said...

We have an accountant--we have to, with me working as a freelance writer. It's just WAY too complicated for my little brain! I tried using TurboTax in my early years as a writer, but it said I owed thousands of dollars. I took the same information to an accountant and I only owed $100 or something...I asked the accountant what I did wrong and he said he didn't know, but he did say that TurboTax isn't a reliable tool. Of course, that was more than ten years ago, so maybe it's better now.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Maria - Up until I became a writer, I did our taxes by hand. That included when we sold one house and bought another. I'm sure I cursed a lot (I do that regardless of what kind of taxes), but I don't remember it being any different. It wasn't until I started my own business that I knew doing it by hand wasn't going to work. Hope your house sells, though. I know how much you want to get rid of it.

Stephanie - I would have used TurboTax, if there was a copy available when I was buying. But only H&R Block was available so I bought that. Now it's easier to just keep using the same one (since it finds the previous returns easily enough), although next year I might have to upgrade to the one above sole proprietor (because hubby's business is a LLC). Or break down and find an accountant. I may have a degree in accounting, but not taxes. I knew early on I didn't want anything to do with them. The rules change too often!

The Happy Whisk said...

Sorry it didn't win :-(