Wednesday Reads and Will BigRed Turn On?

Hmmm… Last time my hard drive conked out on me the Wednesday after I installed the new hard drive. And I had forgotten to post my blog. Well I didn’t forget to post this (but I’ve backed up my data), so here’s hoping BigRed turns on in the morning. I’ll keep you posted in the comments. Meanwhile, here’s what I read last week:

Mar 24: “Wish in One Hand” by B.E. Sanderson, first book in the Once Upon a Djinn series, an urban fantasy at 282 pages. Blurb from Goodreads: ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ In hindsight, Jo Mayweather should’ve taken those words seriously back in 1926. Of course, spoiled brat, flapper-girl that she was, Jo probably would’ve made the not-so-clever wish that turned her into a genie anyway. Being endowed with phenomenal power may have its perks but, for the most part, life’s been a pain in her tiny hiney. After running into a ‘slash first, ask questions never’ genie, her problems only worsen. Some demented thing is making wishes that can’t be granted and djinn are dying. Now, instead of freeing her brethren from their bonds, Jo has a killer to neutralize. If she’d kept her mouth shut ninety years ago, she wouldn’t be in this mess. But she’s got a job to do despite some reject from a bad B-movie trying to ruin everything she’s worked so hard for. Too bad this time doing her job might get her killed. Or worse—enslaved again. Entertaining story, but not what I expected after reading the first chapter (because I don’t always read the blurb!). Now, if the first chapter said “Prologue,” I would have been okay (I know, picky me). This being the beginning of a series, not all the plot lines are finished, but the major one is wrapped up. If you’re looking for a different kind of paranormal without any romance, give this one a try.

Mar 29: “Time’s Best Friend” by Jennette Marie Powell, third book in the Saturn Society series, a romantic time-travel adventure at 343 pages. Blurb from book: In 1939, time-traveling, Appalachian farm woman Florie LaBeau fell in love with an 18th-century frontiersman, and vowed to cross time to be with him again. Then war broke out, forcing her to wait four years to travel back two hundred. But when she arrives in 1756, she finds her frontiersman doesn’t know her, Nazi soldiers occupy her historic home, and her only friend a mysterious dog who just might be their spy. Ousted from his home by strange Hessian soldiers, fur trapper Zeke Allen can’t believe his luck when his new hunting dog brings him a woman. Knowledgeable in the ways of pioneer life, the lovely Miss LeBeau could make the perfect wife, if not for her crazy tales of time travel, a club called the Saturn Society, and an impossible war in the twentieth century she insist she comes from—and to which she must return. Slowly, Zeke begins to believe Florie’s crazy stories as his fondness grows into a love she returns. But the men she calls Nazis tear her away from him, plunging her into a future where she must deliver information that could change the outcome of the war. Finding her way back to Zeke proves difficult. Harder still: convincing others of the truth—and saving her canine rescuer and herself from the Saturn Society, the very people she thought would protect her. Time travel stories sometimes really mess with my head. I guess that’s the fun in reading them and I enjoyed this story very much (kind of reminded me a little of Dean Koontz’s Lightning). I loved Damon. Heck, I love dogs in books. You don’t have to read the others in the series to enjoy (or understand) this one, since this one has different characters with different times. If you like time-travel books, I highly recommend this one. I think it's the best in the series.

So…  Are you looking forward to baseball starting up? Or are you still hot and heavy for hockey? Or do all sports just turn you off? I’m hot and heavy for the Penguins (since they’re hot right now), but I am looking forward to baseball, too. I love this time of year!

Happy Reading!

Stacy

Finally… Some GOOD News

That’s right. GOOD news.

On Friday, Hubby got the call we’ve been waiting for. His surgery has been moved up to the earliest possible date: April 4 (that’s because his surgeon is on vacation this week). That’s 21 days earlier than before. Three weeks this stupid cancer won’t have a chance to grow anymore.

Right now Hubby is enjoying all his favorite foods, because after the surgery… he’ll probably have a feeding tube down his nose for a few weeks. Doesn’t sound like fun, but if it means they got all the cancer, he doesn’t care. I guess I wouldn’t either.

So… Yay! Thanks for all the good vibes. I truly believe they helped.

In other news… We stuffed ourselves silly yesterday. Found out that fresh ham tastes a lot like pork (has the same consistency, too). Very good, though. But then, I love pork. Haha!

Did anyone here see the Batman vs. Superman movie? I haven’t heard anything good about it, so I didn’t bother. Maybe I’ll watch it when it comes out on DVD. Which reminds me, I still want to get the DVD of The Martian. Now that looks like a fun movie.

Have a great Monday!

Stacy

Really?!?

BigRed is on its way back to me. In fact, I should receive it via FedEx today. I went on Dell’s site to see exactly what they did to it this time. Remember, BigRed has gone through THREE hard drives since December (when I purchased it).

According to their site, Dell replaced the hard drive.

REALLY? How is this hard drive going to fair any better than the others?

I've had people tell me the mother board should probably be replaced. Or that I just have a lemon. Because no laptop should be eating hard drives as many as mine has in such a short amount of time.

Now, it’s possible Dell did more and just didn’t post it on their site. But I doubt it.

I wonder how long the new hard drive will last? The previous one only lasted a few days. Dell hasn’t kept BigRed with them for more than two. How would they even know if it will last or not without putting it through the wringer?

Grrr…

I have a feeling I’ll continue to work from my flash drive for awhile.

In the meantime, I got an e-mail from Dell asking if I want to extend my warranty for $63. I don’t think I want to give them any more money for a laptop they should have replaced by now.

So… Got any plans for Easter? We’re going to our Columbus friend’s house. She’s smoking a ham. Sounds yummy! I’m sure she’ll have plenty of sweets, too. She always does!

Have a great weekend!

Stacy

Wednesday Reads – 2 Weeks’ Worth

Didn’t get to post my reading last week because of computer difficulties, but at least I was able to save my file! Here’s what I read the past two weeks:

Mar 13: “Runaway Vampire” by Lynsay Sands, #23 in the Argeneau Vampire series, a paranormal romance at 349 pages. Blurb from book: Dante Notte has heard it said that love hurts. He just wasn’t expecting it to run him over in an RV. Still, a punctured lung and broken ribs are nothing compared to the full-body shock he feels whenever he’s near the vehicle’s driver, Mary Winslow. He needs to keep her safe from their pursuers while he rescues his brother. Most challenging of all, he needs to claim this smart, stubborn woman as his life mate. The naked, injured, insanely gorgeous younger man who clambered into her RV insists they belong together. If Mary wasn’t feeling their incredible connection in every inch of her being, she wouldn’t believe it. But now that the men who took Dante’s twin are after her too, trusting her gut means risking her life for an immortal who’s the very definition of a perfect stranger. These books are so much fun to read and this one is no exception. One of these days she’ll end the series. That will be a sad day for me.

Mar 19: “Entwined with You” by Sylvia Day, #3 in the Crossfire series, an erotica at 356 pages. Blurb from book: From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. Something I couldn’t resist. I also saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside—so much like my own. I was drawn to it. I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat No one knows how much he risked for me. How much I’d been threatened, or just how dark and desperate the shadow of our pasts would become. Entwined by our secrets, we tried to defy the odds. We made our own rules and surrendered completely to the exquisite power of possession… Normally, erotica in first person doesn’t interest me, but I like Eva, and she’s hooked me. Gideon’s not so bad, either. Haha! There are two more books in this series. I own the next, but the last one doesn’t come out until April 6 (I have it on preorder). This series has intrigued me and I want to know how it all ends. Good thing I’m enjoying the ride.

Mar 20: “Captivated by You” by Sylvia Day, #4 in the Crossfire series, an erotica at 356 pages. Blurb from book: Gideon calls me his angel, but he’s the miracle in my life. My gorgeous, wounded warrior, so determined to slay my demons while refusing to face his own. The vows we’d exchanged should have bound us tighter than blood and flesh. Instead they opened old wounds, exposed pain and insecurities, and lured bitter enemies out of the shadows. I felt him slipping from my grasp, my greatest fears becoming my reality, my love tested in ways I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to beat. At the brightest time in our lives, the darkness of his past encroached and threatened everything we’d worked so hard for. We faced a terrible choice: the familiar safety of the lives we’d had before each other, or the fight for a future that suddenly seemed an impossible and hopeless dream… Oh man, when I opened this book up and started reading, I nearly squealed in joy. I was reading Gideon’s point of view! I finally, FINALLY, got to see what he was thinking. Now, the whole book isn’t Gideon’s—the chapters alternated between him and Eva—but that didn’t matter. It was great and I loved it and now I have to WAIT until the next book comes out. Arrgh!

Last week I actually stopped reading a book after 70 pages. I just couldn’t see me reading the next 400 (yeah, it was a monster, plus, the type was small and tight making for a really hard read). I refused to mark the book DNF*, though. Instead, I just deleted it from my Goodreads list as if I’d never gotten it. No reason to give it a low score; I just wasn’t the audience for this book (I now know why women’s fiction doesn’t appeal to me—nothing really happens). I feel a little bad because I had won it (I was trying to broaden my reading genre), but those are the risks an author takes, right?

 

So... How often do you try to broaden your reading genre?

Happy Reading!

 

Stacy

*DNF = Did Not Finish

Need Some Good Vibes

Hubby got a date for the surgery… April 25. That’s too far out. Even the doctor thinks so. But finding an OR that’s open for 5 hours, plus making sure the robot they’ll be using is available, isn’t all that easy, I suppose. However, the nurse will be checking every day for cancellations. We need some good vibes for that to happen sooner rather than later. We really don’t want to wait that long.

Other than that… I had a nice weekend. Penguins won both Saturday and Sunday (making it a 6 game winning streak), putting them second in their division. Whoo hoo! They are HOT and it’s so nice to see. Wish I lived closer to Pittsburgh. I’d love to go to a game there.

Meeting with my writer’s group on Saturday was fun, even if we didn’t talk much about writing. Sometimes it’s just nice to talk to other writers. We can all commiserate how bad sales are. Haha!

I also spent a lot of time this weekend reading. Oh, I did some revising, too (which I don’t normally do on the weekend, but probably SHOULD), but I got hooked on this book and just had to keep reading.

HAD. TO. I tell you. J

My beta readers got back to me (all two of them). They both loved A Vampire Wedding (whew, I was really nervous about that), so it’s now with my daughter for copy editing. This should have been a quick turnaround, except she’s got two jobs in front of me. Figures. I may not be able to release this novella until May after all! Ugh!

So… Spring arrived on Sunday. Did you feel it? It felt more like winter to me! What happened to our warm weather? I want it back!

Have a great Monday!

Stacy