Wednesday Reads

I found another way to scale back. I’ve changed some of the Yahoo groups I’m in so that I will now get the e-mails in batches instead of individually. It was do that or unsubscribe, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go that far…yet. Just that little bit has really reduced some of the stress I was feeling. Who knew e-mails could do that to a person?

Here’s what I read the past week (another 2-book week!):

Book #1

Dates read: March 24-29
Title: “How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days”
Year of publication: 2017
Author: Kerrelyn Sparks
Genre: Fantasy romance
Series: Book 1 in The Embraced series
# of Pages: 394
Paper or plastic: Mass market paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Book: As one of the Embraced—one born with magical powers—the beautiful, innocent Luciana escaped certain death after her father hid her away on the Isle of Moon. Now, nineteen years later, her father has returned with a frightening request. He will be executed unless Luciana returns to the mainland and marries a man feared throughout the land: a terrifying brute known as the Beast..
   Luciana accepts her fate and agrees to wed the Beast—Lord Leo—in order to save her father. Soon she learns that her betrothed is also one of the Embraced. With the ability to wield lightning, Leo’s immense power strikes fear into the hearts of men…and his mere touch can put an end to a woman’s life. But Luciana cannot deny the passion that burns between them. How can she resist the man who scorches her soul and makes her feel intoxicated with desire—even if surrendering to him could destroy them both?
My thoughts: Set in a world without technology or any kind of power (except for the magical kind), this book read like an historical. I enjoyed it very much, though (lots of danger and suspense), and will continue to read this series.

Book #2

Dates read: March 30-31
Title: “The Education of Dixie Dupree”
Year of publication: 2016
Author: Donna Everhart
Genre: Fiction
Series: N/A
# of Pages: 299
Paper or plastic: Trade paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Book: In 1969, Dixie Dupree is eleven years old and already an expert liar. Sometimes the lies are for her mama, Evie’s sake—to explain away a bruise brought on by her quick-as-lightning temper. And sometimes the lies are to spite Evie, who longs to leave her unhappy marriage in Perry County, Alabama, and return to her beloved New Hampshire. But for Dixie and her brother, Alabama is home, a place of pine-scented breezes and hot, languid afternoons.
   Though Dixie is learning that the family she once believed was happy has deep fractures, even her vivid imagination couldn’t concoct the events about to unfold. Dixie records everything in her diary—her parents’ fights, her father’s drinking and his unexplained departure, and the arrival of uncle Ray. Only when Dixie desperately needs help and is met with disbelief does she realize how much damage her past lies have done. But she has courage and a spirit that may yet prevail, forcing secrets into the open and allowing her to forgive and become whole again.
My thoughts: For fear of saying too much about this book, I’m finding maybe I shouldn’t say anything at all. A lot of disturbing things happen (in detail) and could be triggers for some people (it wasn’t for me, but then I’m used to reading horror). So if you want to know what, e-mail me and ask. I’ll tell you. Otherwise, I’ll just say… While this is not the type of book I normally read, it intrigued me (especially since some people compared it to To Kill a Mockingbird—which this is not like, let me say that now) and once I started reading…well, I couldn’t put it down (as you can see, I read it in two days). Dixie is an interesting young girl, but this is a very dark book and I’m not so sure the blurb portrays that.

Since mentioning my Facebook Group in my newsletter (which went out last Friday), membership has picked up. Yay! If you’d like to join, just click HERE!

So… What are you reading now? Anything good?

Happy Reading!

Stacy

A Nice Surprise

I spent a portion of my time Sunday cleaning out my e-mail box. I was trying to find an e-mail I opened and before I could save it, the computer crashed (because of course it did). I tend to keep older e-mails NEW until I no longer need the information from them, and I usually (USUALLY) save them in another folder, for just this case.

Did I do it for this one? Of course I didn’t!

Problem is, AOL (at least my software) is acting wonky. All e-mail software acts wonky in one form or another. I really hate them all, but I hate AOL the least, so that’s why I stick with it. Anyway, I clicked on Incoming/Saved e-mail and was told it had over 90,000 e-mails and would take a while to sort.

Apparently it only wants to sort 50% of the e-mails. What’s up with that?

See—wonky!

So I set out to delete e-mails I don’t need, hoping to finally get to 2017 and find the e-mail I DO need. But then I got distracted.

Don’t we all?

I found a set of e-mails from 2010 from an e-mail address that looked vaguely familiar, and it had to do with critiquing her work. I opened one, but it didn’t display her name. But a character’s name (Isleen) jumped at me. Hmmm… I recently read a book with that character name. Coincidence? I wasn’t sure. So I kept clicking on the e-mails and then I found her name: Abbie.

No, it couldn’t be. But then I saw another character’s name (Xander). They were both from that book. And now her e-mail address looked MORE familiar, so I went to my COFW membership roster (because I’m the treasurer and keep track of that sort of thing) and found the name I know her by now and there, listed beside it, was her other name. Her real name. The name on the e-mail address.

And the funny thing is, I was reading her second book.

I had actually critiqued Abbie Roads’ first book. Well, at least 10 pages of it.

Gosh, I hope I said good things!

Oh, and I still haven’t found that e-mail I wanted. After all that, I wanted to finish reading her book. And I did!

Hubby is getting his port inserted (installed?) today. Don’t know when I’ll get back to my computer. I’ll most likely have to drive him to class tonight (not sure I want him to drive after having anesthesia). Fun, fun, fun!

So… Do you save your e-mails? How far back do yours go? Am I stupid to keep mine? I know a lot of people delete e-mails after reading them. Mine automatically get saved to that Incoming/Saved folder anyway and I just can’t seem to get myself to hit delete on all of it.

Happy Monday!

Stacy

Wednesday Reads and Boy, Am I Embarrassed

After I woke up yesterday and got dressed for the gym, I checked my e-mail on my iPhone to see if anything good popped up. I found a new e-mail from my publisher mentioning the cover to Ghostly Liaison. Ecstatic, I ran to the computer in the living room (because it’s always on), only to find out that it’s not connected to the network, thus not connected to the Internet (of course, that’s because I wanted to use it!), so I turned on my laptop. Ten minutes later, I was able to access my e-mail, but wait! There’s no cover attached. I e-mailed my publisher to let her know only to get an e-mail back saying it was the final cover COPY. In other words, the blurb. Oops. I’m thinking I should wait to check my e-mail until AFTER my first cup of coffee. What do you think?

Here’s what I read during the week:

Aug 6: “Phantom Instinct” by Meg Gardiner, a suspense/thriller. Blurb from cover: When shots ring out in a crowded L.A. club, bartender Harper Flynn watches helplessly as her boyfriend, Drew, is gunned down in the cross fire. Then someone throws a Molotov cocktail, and the club is quickly engulfed in flames. L.A. Sheriff Deputy Aiden Garrison sees a gunman in a hoodie and gas mask taking aim at Harper; but before he can help her, a wall collapses, bringing the building down and badly injuring him. A year later, Harper is trying to rebuild her life. She has quit her job and gone back to college. Meanwhile, the investigation into the shoot-out has been closed; the two gunmen were killed when the building collapsed. Certain that a third gunman escaped and is targeting the survivors, Harper enlists the help of Aiden Garrison, the only person willing to listen. But the traumatic brain injury he suffered has cut his career short and left him with Fregoli syndrome, a rare type of face blindness that causes the delusion that random people are actually a single person changing disguises. As Harper and Aiden delve into the case, Harper realizes that her presence during the attack was no coincidence—and that her only ally is unstable, mistrustful of her, and seeing the same enemy everywhere he looks. Man, this book grabbed me from the get-go and held on tight. Super suspenseful—my kind of book! I had trouble putting it down—really had trouble—and kept turning the pages even when my eyes were too tired to focus. I love these kinds of books and gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.

So… What embarrassing thing have you done lately? J

Happy reading!

Stacy