Wednesday Reads and Game 2

Tonight is Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I don’t know what the heck the Penguins did on Monday, but I sure hope they don’t do it again. Only 12 shots on goal for the whole game (and none during the second period)? Sure, 5 went in and they won 5-3, but still… Too frustrating for this viewer. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, at this point I don’t know), I won’t be able to watch the game tonight. I’ve got a Dragons game to go to. Doesn’t mean I won’t be keeping track of the hockey score. Let’s go Pens!!

Here’s what I read the past week:

Book #37

Dates read: May 24-26
Title: “Wild Man’s Curse”
Year of publication: 2016
Author: Susannah Sandlin
Genre: Romantic suspense
Series: Wilds of the Bayou #1
# of Pages: 276
Paper or plastic: Trade paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Book: While on an early-morning patrol in the swamps of Whisky Bayou, Louisiana wildlife agent Gentry Broussard spots a man leaving the home of voodoo priestess Eva Savoie—a man who bears a startling resemblance to his brother, whom Gentry thought he had killed during a drug raid three years earlier. Shaken, the agent enters Eva’s cabin and make a bloody discovery: the old woman has been brutally murdered.
   With no jurisdiction over the case, he’s forced to leave the investigation to the local sheriff, until Eva’s beautiful heir, Celestine, receives a series of gruesome threats. As Gentry’s involvement deepens and more victims turn up, can he untangle the secrets behind Eva’s murder and protect Celestine from the same fate? Or will an old family curse finally have its way?
My thoughts: I’ve read her vampire series and enjoyed them very much, so when I saw she wrote a romantic suspense, I had to give it a try. Good read. Kept me riveted during a time I really needed it, too. No paranormal stuff in this book, if that matters to you.

Didn’t read as much this past week. Started a few books that were on my Nook, but they didn’t interest me at all. I hate when that happens.

So… Do long weekends mess with your internal schedule? I just don’t want to do anything! Which is bad, because I have stuff to do. Like post this on time, which I didn't. Ugh.

Happy Reading!

Stacy

My Weekend at Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave National Park is awesome!

Note to self: Do not scheduled two cave tours on the same day again.

Why is that, you ask? Well, it’s not because it’s a lot of walking, even though it can be for some people (not me, particularly). It’s mainly because of all the climbing. On Saturday my Fitbit recorded that I climbed the equivalent of 36 flights of stairs. I also walked over 19,000 steps (over 9 miles).

But let me tell you, those two cave tours were pretty awesome.

We took the early 8:00am Gothic Avenue tour. I highly recommend the early tour. It was nice and quiet. And small. Maybe 40 of us. And we were the only tour going on at the time. When we were departing, we ran into all the people coming into the cave. Noisy! Crowded! Ugh.

Our second tour that day was the Starlight Tour (another small tour), which started at 6:15. We walked through the same cave (again, nice and quiet as we were the only tour going on), but with lanterns (not the electric lights we got in the morning). Pretty cool. It would have been cooler if it wasn’t raining cats and dogs. Got a little soaked hiking to the cave opening (not to mention running from the car to the meeting point). After two hours in the cave, I was getting dry again, only to discover upon the end of the tour that it hadn’t stopped storming.

A hike back to the starting point (uphill!) and I was wet, hot, sticky, and my feet hurt. I was ready for a shower. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. The storm knocked out the power. Talk about dark! And hot (no air conditioning). Power wasn’t restored until late Sunday (at least we got a room discount for Saturday night).

Sunday wasn’t quite as strenuous. According to my Fitbit, I walked only (only!!) a little over 13,000 steps (over 6 miles), but still managed 33 flights of stairs. Walking down to the river and back helped some with the stairs (it was quite a hike back). And the cave tour we did included something like 280 stairs (don’t know the equivalent there).

Oh, and that cave tour? Awesome again (although with a larger group—something like 114 people). The Domes & Dripstones tour required us walking down those 280 steps through some twisty-turny openings (Would you believe a contractor charged them $3000 per step? Worth every penny if you ask me). We walked through another large cavern and then ended at the Frozen Niagara—huge stalactites and stalagmites. I really wish I could show some pictures, but you’re not allowed to use flash and the light level is too low for my camera(s) to really capture the wonder of it all.

But there’s a reason it’s called the Mammoth Cave. It’s over 490 miles long (the longest in the world) and they have yet to find the end. They really have no idea how long the cave actually is. And it’s not a bunch of small caves connected through tiny passageways (like some caves are). Imagine walking into a domed arena. Yeah, portions of it are that big. Maybe bigger. Yep, mammoth!

On Sunday evening, with the power now back on (and the air conditioning—yay!), the frogs got a little friendly. At least one was on our door making all sorts of noise (wanting in, maybe?). I’m thinking maybe I’m not all that cut out for staying in a National Park, even though it was certainly convenient.

But as we tend to say whenever we go on an outing: always an adventure! And it was certainly that.

Today we’re headed down to the Corvette Museum before driving back home. And I did take some pictures, I just haven’t downloaded my camera(s) yet. It’s been a great holiday weekend and I’m really glad we came.

So… Have you ever been to Mammoth Cave? If not, think you might want to go now?

Happy Monday!

Stacy

Favorite Movies of Each Sport and We’re in the Finals Again!!!

Oh. My. God. Double Overtime (and it’s a good thing I wrote most of this post earlier)! I think my heart gave out. But the Penguins did it. They’re going to the finals two years in a row. I’m so HAPPY!!!

I saw this request go around on Facebook and thought it would make a nice blog post, especially since I’m so gung ho on hockey right now. What am I saying… I love sports (well, most sports), so of course I would love movies featuring a sport.

So… Here are my favorite movies of each sport:

• FOOTBALL: Necessary Roughness; The Blind Side; The Replacements; Remember the Titans; Jerry Maguire; The Longest Yard (w/Burt Reynolds)
• BASEBALL: Bull Durham; A League of Their Own; Major League (I & II); Field of Dreams; The Natural; The Rookie
• HOCKEY: Mystery, Alaska; Slap Shot
• BASKETBALL: Finding Forrester
• BOXING: Rocky
• GOLF: Caddyshack; Tin Cup
• SOCCER: Bend it Like Beckham
• SURFING: Soul Surfer
• OLYMPICS: Cool Runnings; Chariots of Fire

As you can tell, I love football and baseball movies. Basketball? Not so much, but then I’m not a fan of that sport (except during March Madness). I tried to find a tennis movie, but there wasn’t one I watched.

Out of all those sports, though, want to know which ones I played in? Baseball (softball, actually) and golf. I think if my high school had a softball or golf team for girls, I would have been on them. But they didn’t exist way back in the dark ages. J

Wednesday night we were hit with some major storms. Actually, our phones went off with a tornado warning. Never got that before. Quickly turned on the TV just as their live feed showed a tornado touching down…in my daughter’s town! Which is next door to our town. We’re all fine; her work place suffered minor damage, though (2 blocks away from her apartment!). But dang… That was just too close.

So… Doing anything fun this weekend? I’m gonna go see some caves. Hope to take some pictures and share. And it’ll be a fun weekend, too. Because the PENS WON!!! Yay!

Happy Friday!

Stacy

Wednesday Reads and Another Game Seven???

I hate game 7s. HATE. THEM. It shouldn’t have gone this far. Penguins should have won it by now. But no. They didn’t. And now I have to go through the torture of game 7. Ugh.

Here’s what I read the past week:

Book #34

Dates read: May 12-18
Title: “The Chosen”
Year of publication: 2017
Author: J. R. Ward
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #15
# of Pages: 521
Paper or plastic: Hard back
How obtained: Borrowed from daughter
Blurb from Book: Xcor, leader of the Band of Bastards, convicted of treason against the Blind King, is facing a brutal interrogation and torturous death at the hands of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Yet after a life marked by cruelty and evil deeds, he accepts his solder’s fate, his sole regret the loss of a sacred female who was never his: the hosen Layla.
   Layla alone knows the truth that will save Xcor’s life. But revealing his sacrifice and his hidden heritage will expose them both and destroy everything Layla holds dear—even her role of mother to her precious young.. Torn between love and loyalty, she must summon the courage to stand up against the only family she has for the only man she will ever love. Yet even if Xcor is somehow granted a reprieve, he and Layla would have to confront a graver challenge: bridging the chasm that divides their worlds without paving the way for a future of even greater war, desolation, and death.
   As a dangerous old enemy returns to Caldwell, and the identity of a new deity is revealed, nothing is certain or safe in the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, not even true love…or destinies that have long seemed set in stone. My thoughts: Fifteen books in this series and still so much story left to tell. Yep, lots of open ends to tidy up for future books. But the main story here was wrapped up just fine. Lots-of-happy-tears fine.  

Book #35

Dates read: May 19-22
Title: “Wicked Burn”
Year of publication: 2016
Author: Rebecca Zanetti
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: The Realm Enforcers #3
# of Pages: 266
Paper or plastic: Trade paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Book: Simone Brightston knows she can beat the rap her enemies are pinning on her. An Irish witch is nobody’s fool, and she didn’t get to her position on the high council without serious power. But her cousins want her to hide out—and they somehow convinced her arch nemesis to play getaway driver.
   Of all the men she’s known, Nikolaj Veis is the hardest to intimidate. With his demon-dark eyes and his inscrutable beauty, he’s as desirable as he is dangerous. And he knows better than to underestimate Simone. So when he pulls up on a roaring bike and tells her to climb on or fight it out, she grabs a handful of jacket and holds on tight. Running from the law may not be the smartest plan. But when it comes to Nick, hot pursuit and a blazing fast ride are exactly with Simone’s looking for…

My thoughts: The covers on this series make them look like MC books (which is why it took me so long to read these), but they aren’t MC books. They’re about the witches looking to rid the making (and distribution) of a deadly drug. Probably why the publisher has since changed all the covers. Good move. I’m really enjoying this series and happy to see Simone finally got her own book (she’s been in other books from this series and from The Dark Protectors series). Lots of action. Lots of romance. I eat this stuff up.

Book #36

Dates read: May 22-23
Title: “Talen”
Year of publication: 2016
Author: Rebecca Zanetti
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Dark Protectors (tie-in to the Realm Enforcers series)
# of Pages: 77
Paper or plastic: Trade paperback (at end of Wicked Burn)
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from Goodreads: She’ll love him forever . . . but he can’t make her obey . . .
   The war is over. Danger has passed. Cara Kayrs is healed after decades of illness and ready for a break.
   Too bad her brooding, alpha vampire husband can’t seem to change gears. In their twenty-five years together Talen Kayrs has learned to sense every shiver of her body, to ignite her desire with a word or a look. She would think he could learn she’s not some fragile damsel in distress.
   But Talen is on edge, watching their backs, treating her like she’s made of glass. Like there’s something following them, a deadly threat that somehow none of their intelligence has uncovered. It’s enough to drive a woman crazy, and Talen has plenty of those tendencies already.
   But what’s even more maddening is that he seems to be right . . .

My thoughts: Talan and Cara started the whole Dark Protector series in Fated and I find it funny that it was my least favorite of the series. This one is no different. I just don’t like Talen. Good thing he didn’t stop me from reading the rest of the series or I would have missed some good reading. Still, Talen is just TOO alpha for this reader. If you’re into that kind of character, you’ll enjoy every bit of him, but to read this book you should read the rest of the series first.

So… What sport drives you nuts?

Happy Reading!

Stacy

So Close, So Close, So Close…

One more win and the Penguins are in the Stanley Cup Finals!!! For the second year in a row. This season is nerve-wracking, what can I say.

But oh, yesterday’s game was so much fun to watch. No stress whatsoever. Whoo hoo! They should be playing that way ALL THE TIME!

I have nothing else to say today. Except… Let’s Go Pens!!

Happy Monday!

Stacy