Wednesday Reads and I'm an Idiot!

Well, I went and did it. Really messed up my knee. I could kick myself (if I was able to bend my knee, that is!). Whatever made me think I could walk fast? I should have known better, but my knee was feeling great. No pain. Well, no pain until after I passed the 1 mile mark. Shortly after, my knee pretty much gave out.

I quickly turned around and headed home, limping. About half-way there, my knee was feeling a little better (I wasn’t limping as much), so I walked over to the polls and voted. Figured I was already out and it wasn’t really all that much out of the way. Probably a good thing I did, too. Once I got home and sat down? Yeah, there was no getting up. Not easily, anyway.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I only hope I didn’t sabotage the rest of my exercise routine. But if my knee isn’t feeling better by the end of the week, I guess I’ll go back to the doctor and see about that cortisone shot. It certainly couldn’t hurt.

Here’s what I read this week:

Oct 31: “Let the Dead Sleep” by Heather Graham, first book in the Cafferty and Quinn series, a supernatural thriller/romantic suspense at 331 pages. Blurb from book: It was stolen from a New Orleans grave—the centuries-old bust of an evil man, a demonic man. It’s an object desired by collectors—and by those with wickedness in their hearts. One day, its current owner shows up at Danni Cafferty’s antiques shop on Royal Street, the shop she inherited from her father. But before Danni can buy the statue, it disappears, the owner is found dead…and Danni discovers that she’s inherited much more than she realized. In the store is a book filled with secret writing: instructions for defeating evil entities. She’d dismissed it as a curiosity…until the arrival of this statue, with its long history of evil and even longer trail of death. Michael Quinn, former cop and now private investigator, is a man with an unusual past. He believes that doing the right thing isn’t a job—it’s a way of life. And the right thing to do is find and destroy this object weighted with malevolent powers. He and Danni are drawn together in their search for the missing statue, following it through sultry New Orleans nights to hidden places in the French Quarter and secret ceremonies on abandoned plantations. Cafferty and Quinn already know that trust in others can be misplaced, that love can be temporary. And yet their connection is primal. Mesmerizing. They also know that their story won’t end when this case is closed and the dead rest in peace once again. Well, I guess getting this book as a freebie at RT worked. I liked it and I’m interested in reading more (there are two more in the series now, no idea how many to expect). It’s got a bit of a supernatural bent, but mostly some kind of thriller/suspense thing (and I’m a sucker for those!). There is some romance going on, but it’s not really a “romance” (no happily ever after or happy for now ending—where it concerns the couple, at least). Still, I like the characters a lot and I want to read more, so I guess I have another series on my radar now. J

Nov 3: “Bared to You” by Sylvia Day, first book in the Crossfire series, an erotica romance at 319 pages. Blurb from book: He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily… Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private wounds…and desires. The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart… I got this book free at RT. I don’t read a lot of the freebies I get, but I’ve been curious to read something by Sylvia Day and I now had a book. But as I was in Goodreads to mark it as my current read, I saw a friend mention it had a cliffhanger (and we know how much I loathe those). Then I noticed it was in first person (ugh!). I seriously wondered if I should read it. Well, I’m glad I did. I enjoyed it a lot. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down. And that cliffhanger? Well, there really wasn’t one (thank goodness). I still wasn’t crazy about the first person (doesn’t make it a real romance for me anyway, I like to know what the guy is thinking/feeling), but it’s not that off-putting to keep me from the next book. If you like steamy books with two damaged characters, this book is for you. Hot stuff!

So… Have you ever picked up a book and almost let the reviews keep you from reading it, but read it anyway then found out it was pretty darn good? I think this was a first for me.

Happy Reading!

Stacy