A Letter From Fibromyalgia

A LETTER FROM FIBROMYALGIA

Dear Miserable Human Being,

Hi, my name is Fibromyalgia, and I’m an invisible chronic illness. I am now ‘velcroed’ to you for life. Others around you can’t see me or hear me, but YOUR body feels me. I can attack you anywhere and anyway I please. I can cause severe pain, or, if I am in a good mood, I can just cause you to ache all over.

Remember when you and Energy ran around together and had fun? I took Energy from you and gave you Exhaustion. Just try to have fun now! I also took Good Sleep from you and in its place gave you Fibro Fog (a.k.a.) Brain Fog. I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when everyone else feels normal. Oh yeah, I can make you feel anxious or depressed, too. If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take that away too. You didn’t ask for me. I chose you for various reasons: that virus you had that you never quite recovered from, or that car accident, or childbirth, the death of a loved one, or maybe it was those years of abuse and trauma.

Well, anyway, I’m here to stay! I hear you’re going to see a doctor who can get rid of me. I’m ROTFLMAO! Just try! You will have to go to many, many doctors until you find one who can help you effectively. In fact, you’ll see many doctors who tell you ‘it’s all in your head’ (or some version of that). If you do find a doctor willing to treat this ‘non-disease’, you will be put on pain pills, sleeping pills, and energy pills.

You will be told you are suffering from anxiety or depression, given a TENS unit, told if you just sleep and exercise properly, I will go away. You’ll be told to think positively, you'll be poked, prodded, and most of all, you will not be taken seriously when you cry to the doctor how debilitating life is for you every single day!

Your family, friends, and coworkers will all listen to you until they just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and that I’m a debilitating disease. Some of them will say things like “Oh, you’re just having a bad day”, or “Well, remember, you can’t expect to do the things you used to do 20 years ago,” not hearing that you said “20 DAYS ago”! Some will just start talking behind your back, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity, trying to make them understand, especially when you are in the middle of a conversation with a ‘normal’ person, and can’t remember what you were going to say next!

In closing, you’ve probably figured out that the ONLY place you will get any real support and understanding in dealing with me is with other people with Fibromyalgia! They are the only ones that will understand your complaints of unrelenting pain, insomnia, fibro fog, the inability to perform the everyday tasks that ‘normal people’ take for granted.

Remember, I’m stuck to you like Velcro – and I expect we’ll be together for the rest of your life. Lucky you!

Author Unknown

COMING IN FEBRUARY 2014 FROM GINGER SCOTT: "BLINDNESS!!!!!"

It takes a while to know who you really are. And when you lose your way, sometimes it’s hard to find it again.

Charlie Hudson was on the verge of figuring that out when her dad—the only parent and friend she ever had—died suddenly. She was barely 18, and she was alone. So she went for easy—playing life safe, running away from a home that harbored nothing but bad memories and challenges and loving a man who would take her away from it all forever.

It’s funny how chance takes over when you need it most. And that’s exactly what brought Cody Carmichael into her life. A former motocross super star, Cody was now happy to be living the blue collar life, spending his days finishing up school and his nights under the hood of some classic car, just trying to keep everything his father taught him alive. Cody and Charlie were living parallel lives, until they finally collided. And the moment he smiled at her, Charlie knew he was the one who would change everything. But was she willing to take the risk?

Cody saw through it all. He saw her—all of her. But would letting him in be too much to take? And if Charlie let herself love him—really love him—could he love her back?

14 Reasons Why It’s Not Okay to Out Someone as Trans – A Public Service Announcement From Your Friendly, Neighborhood Trans Person

“Reblogged from AmericanTransMan”

"Recently, a well-meaning friend of mine disclosed my trans status to a friend of his, someone I hadn’t known previously. I don’t know that I ever would have found out that he had done so if his friend hadn’t slipped up and referred to me as “she” in front of a group of people.

He quickly corrected himself and moved on with whatever he had been saying, but for me, the damage had been done.

That one little pronoun ripped away my confidence and left me stunned and confused. Although it still happens once in a while, being seen as female has been a rare occurrence for me over the past six months, so I asked myself why this person whom I had just met would confuse me with a woman? Was it obvious that I was trans? Was I kidding myself, walking around in the world thinking that I no longer appeared female to most people?"

http://americantransman.com/2012/04/18/14-reasons-why-its-not-okay-to-out-someone-as-trans-a-public-service-announcement-from-your-friendly-neighborhood-trans-person/

Book Review: Crashing Into You by B.D. Rowe

"Bookish college sophomore Sydney Baker wants Evan Taylor with every ounce of her being. The hottest stud on campus, Evan is six foot four, ripped, stacked with muscles. He's even easy to talk to. 

There's just one problem: he's her roommate Melanie's boyfriend. 

But when Melanie tragically dies after a night of wild partying, Sydney and Evan turn to each other in a time of intense grief. And it doesn't take long for their close friendship to blossom into something more. 

Unfortunately for Sydney, secrets from the past soon put her relationship with Evan to the test. Especially when a sexy blonde freshman makes her way into Evan's life, and tries to rip away everything Sydney holds close to her heart."

The above is the blurb I read that made me want to read this book.  Unfortunately, it's misleading.  Sydney and Evan don't just turn to each other after Melanie dies, they were already friends.  Their close friendship doesn't just blossom into something more, Sydney was already obsessing over Evan before Melanie died.

Unlike other reviewers, I actually disliked Sydney more than I disliked Evan.  Evan went through his grieving period and wasn't going to feel guilty over his feelings for Sydney just because Melanie died.  Sydney, on the other hand, couldn't seem to let go.  The fact that she has an issue with binge drinking and drinking and driving makes her worse.  She's completely all over her friends, including Evan, about drinking a single drop of alcohol.  But she also acts like it doesn't bother her at the same time.

The whole thing with Sydney's issue with drinking was off the charts and sometimes not even realistic.  Anybody who feels THAT strongly about drinking and partying is NOT going to be peer-pressured into going to a party and drinking if they don't want to go.

And then there's this whacko climax and then it ends on a CLIFFHANGER.

The book is a total mess and should have ended after a longer period of time for Sydney and Evan to grow to love each other.  The mysterious blonde isn't a bad story twist.  How Sydney reacts to her when she realizes who she is, is like, Psycho Sidney.  I think it could have been wound into the story with more flair and less throwing it in our face.

I also noticed a lot of reviewers have presumed the author is a FEMALE.  However, before I actually go and look up the author to find out, I'm banking on the author being a MAN.  I found myself thinking, "a man wrote this" through the entire read and I can't figure out exactly why but I KNOW B.D. Rowe is a MAN.

Overall though, I give it three stars and rate it as a good book.  Especially for a debut book.  I have to give respect to anyone who writes and publishes a book.  If there is a sequel to the book, and I hope there is, I hope it's more fine tuned than this one.  I'd be curious to see where Evan and Sydney wind up.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Book Review: "Hard To Handle" by Jessica Lemmon

ONCE BURNED
Sadie Howard never dates a guy more than once-but Fate has other plans for her when it comes to Aiden Downey, the one that got away. Aiden loved her, left her, and broke her heart. Yet suddenly she's bumping into him at every turn, driven to distraction by his wicked grin and rock-hard body. Now she can't resist finishing what they started-as long as she doesn't let herself fall in love . . .

TWICE AS TEMPTING
Aiden Downey threw away the best thing he ever had when he let Sadie go, and now he's determined to win back the woman he's always wanted. Sadie agrees to let him into her life-and her bed-as long as there are no strings attached. But Aiden's not about to make the same mistake again. Can he convince her to take a second chance on a once-in-a-lifetime love?

Sadie's best friend, Crickitt, is marrying Aiden's cousin, Shane, and it's at their wedding where we start off in this book.  With Crickitt and Shane gone, off to their honeymoon, we find a plastered Sadie and a well buzzed Aiden staying overnight at the reception site.  It's here where Aiden takes Sadie off to her room and puts her to bed where we find out through their thoughts what happened to make Sadie despise Aiden.  They dated a year prior and Aiden, when his mother went to a holistic cancer center in Oregon, broke it off with Sadie and went to be with his mother, hoping she'd beat the cancer.

A couple of month's later, we find Sadie working her butt off as a sales rep for a motorcycle parts company and she's off to land her biggest potential client before the owner hires another Parts Manager.  To Sadie's shock and chagrin, the owner has hired Aiden for the job.  With Aiden feeling guilty and still in love with Sadie, he gives her the account which wins her a big bonus at work and the number one sales position.

Now she sees him daily at the shop as she changes over the inventory, the displays and sells off the older, lesser quality competition products.  At this point, just about anyone can guess where THAT'S going to go.

Aiden is a wonderful hero in this book.  He's changed a lot after his mother's death.  He has goals and purpose and he knows what he wants his future to be.  And he wants Sadie to be a part of that future.  For a big, badass biker dude, he's a sensitive guy.  And of course, he's a little bit stubborn too because, well, he's a man.  "Nuff said.

On the other hand, Sadie is whiny and kind of a bitch when it comes to how she treats Aiden.  I mean, if I got this right, Sadie and Aiden had THREE DATES.  Now maybe there's a lot more to their previous relationship in the novella that precedes this book but by all accounts, it was THREE DATES.  I got the impression that they both fell in love with each other, most likely at first sight the first time around, and maybe that's why Sadie STILL won't let it go.  But she's also completely not understanding at all as to why Aiden broke if off.  The man's mother was dying of cancer and he chose to go be with her.  So, from this point of view, Sadie really appears to be the self-absorbed one of the two.

I had no trouble reading the book, it was a page turner.  But I got all sorts of annoyed at the back and forth that led to nowhere.  But I liked the end and the epilogue.  It just felt like there was a middle missing. A missing piece. There's all the back and forth and then the ending and epilogue comes real fast.

One of the things in the book that nagged at me was Sadie's fear of riding on a motorcycle.  Her backstory obviously includes a family and friends who ride. She has extensive knowledge of cycles, riding and the parts she sells.  So there's this story that carries through the book of this fear because her dad had an accident and Aiden had an accident.  As far as I can tell, nobody she knows has died in a motorcycle accident.  It seems irrational.  At one point, I thought the turning point (the missing piece) would be Aiden has another accident and Sadie finally sees that she really cannot live without Aiden.  After finishing the book, I kept asking myself if Jessica Lemmon may have even written that in and for some reason, took it out.

Overall, it's a good book.  Readers of romance novels will enjoy it, especially if they enjoy reading romances that go "off formula."  That being said, I'm extremely interested to read the first book which is about Crickitt and Shane and the novella which gives us the whole backstory on Sadie and Aiden.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Book Review of "Second Chance" by David Perry

"Pharmacist Alex Benedict’s career and personal life are collapsing around him. Battling his own exhaustion, a powerful physician, and an unforgiving boss, he fights to uncover the reason behind a series of mysterious deaths in his hospital while preparing for a life-altering crisis. The suicide of a colleague thrusts Benedict into a hunt for clues leading to the ultimate, improbable answer. In the end, Benedict discovers the unthinkable, and in a climactic, unforgettable scene must make an agonizing, life-defining choice that will haunt him forever."

Alex Benedict works as the lead pharmacist in a hospital that's primed for a takeover.  By accident during the code of a cancer patient, Alex discovers a suspicious IV bag.  The IV bag has been laced with a mysterious ingredient and turns out to responsible for at least two other deaths in the hospital.  Alex's wife is also fighting an ovarian cancer battle of her own and decides to stop treatment once and for all, which will speed up her transition to her death.  Alex's colleague, working under duress, commits suicide and leaves Alex a mysterious CD loaded with a scavenger hunt of sorts.  It is then up to Alex to solve the riddles, find the pieces of a recipe that cures people of all sickness and find the last dose of a successful preparation of that recipe so that he can save his wife's life.

At first, I thought a three-part book with forty chapters was going to be ultra long, dragging in spots, and hard to read.  It was the exact opposite. This book moved really fast!  It was fast-paced and kept me awake all night long.  The medical and pharmaceutical knowledge in the book was top notch.  I expected it to be "dumbed down" but as a nurse, I could easily tell it wasn't.  David Perry does a great job tho at describing what medicines were for and what they could do.  There are some fake medications in the book as well but it was creative to say the least.

The examination and speculation of what a discovery of a cure for all human ailments would do to the world's population is astounding without taking sides and really makes the reader think while being entertained by an excellent book.

We do meet another character named Angel in the book.  The introduction of Angel gave me a huge aforethought to a possible ending of the book and I was right.  But, you'll have to read for yourself to see if you can figure it out and to find out if you're right.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Trial of Dr. Kate by Michael Glasscock III

This is the second book of a four part series set in Round Rock, TN.  While set in the same town with some of the characters from the first book, Little Joe, it is now some years later.  Dr. Kate Marlow is going on trial for murdering her best friend, Lillian.  She insists that she didn't do it but has no recollection of the day her friend died because she blacked out.

Seeing the news of the trial on the AP teletype, expat of Round Rock, Shenandoah Coleman, now working as a reporter for a Memphis newspaper, decides to return home to Round Rock to cover the trial and after seeing her old friend Kate, decides to help Dr. Kate by interviewing everybody who knew her to find character witnesses for her.

Along the way, Shenandoah meets up with her old friends and her old foes, she meets new people along the way and makes new friends as well.  Including, Bobby, a handsome mechanic who happens to work for Lillian's husband, Army, and they develop a romantic relationship with each other. The fact that Bobby and Army are moonshine runners isn't exactly favorable to Shenandoah but she seems to understand that the activity goes along with all of the other unfavorable activities of the time.

The book covers just about every topic associated with the deep South in the early 50's including racism, sexism, classism, corrupt politics, etc.  There is a trial and we get a good picture of just how differently the court systems worked back then.  Michael Glasscock made it all very real.

A verdict is rendered.  What really happened that day comes to light.  There's even an epilogue that details what happened to each of the characters years later.

What I liked about the book was how Shenandoah held her head up high in the faces of those who once looked at her as poor white trash and still see her as that even though she's been a WASP pilot in WW2, college educated and doing well for herself.  I also liked how she kept her promise to Dr. Kate and visited her everyday to see how she was doing and to keep her up to date on how her interviews were progressing.

We also get to see the good things too.  Like Southern hospitality and how the town protects each other (this is a bad thing too when it turns into people covering for each other).  The book is written really well, it's not hard to follow and you can get caught up in it quickly.

What I didn't like was how the trial ended and the reaction to the verdict just seemed to fall flat.  I'd expect, in this particular case, that ANY verdict would spark outrage and outcry.  But it was just nothing.  Even finding out what really happened was just flat.  Then out of what seems like nowhere, we are given this shocker of an ending with Bobby, whom Shenandoah has fallen in love with and wants to be with forever.  Frankly, I *hated* how Bobby's ending was written.  It seemed incredibly unnecessary and I still don't understand why Glasscock decided to go in the direction he did what him.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the book.  Honesty, I dropped it to 4 stars because of that ending.  In fact, I can't think of another book ending that I disliked more.  Overall, it's a good book and a good read.  I plan to read the next two books in the series.

Book Review of "Safe In His Arms" by Renee Rose

Safe In His Arms is a steaming hot novella that packs a lot of punch into what amounts to just over 100 or so pages.

Becca meets Zac over the weekend of her sister's wedding and she winds up having a weekend fling with someone she believes is a Marine.  After that steamy weekend, she finds out that Zac went off to war and was killed.  Shortly after, she finds out she's pregnant.

Fast forward seven years and we find Becca coming home from work to find her son's nanny in mortal combat with a man who is the man she believes died seven years before.

Becca finds out most of the truth, that Zac is a Black Ops agent, which means he doesn't actually exist anywhere.  But he has been watching over Becca and their son for all of these years.  Now he's back because he believes Becca and their son to be in danger.  It becomes difficult quickly for Zac to stay away from Becca and their son.  On the flip side, Becca and Zac's short-lived Dom/sub weekend are not forgotten and Becca's desires to have her Dominant man back in her life set off a lot of fires.

Overall, it's a really good little book.  If you don't mind reading sexual scenes containing BDSM, you'll probably enjoy the book.  The love story is good and it makes sense.  The decisions that Zac has to make over the course of the book and in the end are all natural and unforced.

The relationship between Zac and his son is sweet. And I like how Renee Rose writes these characters so that there is some tension between Becca and Zac when Becca is all like, "uh, excuse me, you show up after seven years and want to just be part of raising our son?"  How they work that out in the bedroom is something you just have to read for yourself.

I'm not a huge reader of Erotica but when combined with romance and when written tastefully, I do enjoy them.  The only thing I may have wanted (because I can't say I disliked it), was less of the spanking.  It seemed to get to where every sexual encounter was relentless punishment spanking and after a while it begins to feel like there's some abusiveness going on.  And it gets redundant after a while.  There is some non-consentual spanking that occurs as well and I didn't like it even though I knew prior to reading that it would be there.  Renee Rose writes it well so I was fine to just not like it and keep going.  The story around all of the spanking is why I kept reading  and why I liked the book.

If you like a good, well-written, hot, steamy, sexy, erotic story with romance and spies, you'll like this book.

Publisher’s Note: Safe in His Arms is an erotic romance novel that includes both consensual and non-consensual spankings, anal play, graphic sexual scenes, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.

Book Review of "Little Joe" by Michael Glasscock III

I don't know if others bothered to read the Q&A with the author at the end of the book or if they simply didn't notice it at the end of the book, but I noticed that some of the reviewers who didn't like the book as much as I did seemed to think Michael Glasscock did a lot of research to write this book.  What we find out in the Q&A with the author was that a lot of these characters are based on real life people and the grandparents are based on his own maternal grandparents who he lived with for nine months out of the year.  He also wrote most of the book from his own memory.

The other thing I noticed about many (not all) who rated and reviewed the book a little bit lower were either from a much younger generation (basically anybody who didn't have WW2 era grandparents) OR, they didn't know a whole lot of their WW2 history or what American culture was like during that time.  The reaction to the grandparents from younger readers find the grandparents harsh or uncaring.  What they either missed or don't seem to know is that it was the 1940's, it was during WW2 and one's elders spoke to children much differently than they do today.  That's because they were more strict.  Seems to me the younger generation readers don't know that entitlement, or that the world owes you something was not taught back then.  If you wanted anything at all during that time, you worked for the money to buy it or you built it yourself or you did some kind of work for trade.

But, the story follows Little Joe Stout who goes to live with his grandparents in Round Rock, TN in the early 1940's during WW2 after he and his parents are in a car accident from a blown tire.  Both of Little Joe's parents die in the accident and a new life (and lifestyle) is thrust upon the young boy.

His grandparents are what I would describe as "tough old birds."  LIttle Joe's grandmother, who becomes Mommy Washington to Joe, is your basic, older Southern woman, who cooks everything in bacon grease, reads a lot, smokes a lot and is your traditional church-going wife.  At the same time, even though she lost her only daughter, she's a tough old bird.  She may be strict and she might appear to be pushing Little Joe too quickly to "get over" the death of his parents but I think that's just how it was back then.  These would be people who lived through The Depression and then they have to live through a war.  What we don't get to read about, presumably because the story is about Little Joe, is that Little Joe's grandmother probably spent quite a few nights in her room, by herself, grieving for the loss of her only daughter and thanking God for sparing her grandson.  So yes, she's tough and strict and makes Little Joe do chores but she's not mean or evil or nasty.  Country life is different than city life and when she tells Little Joe that he'll get used to country living and country food, she's not being mean, she's being strong.

At first, one might think Little Joe's grandfather, Daddy Washington, is a total milquetoast.  Not at all.  He's a quiet Southern gentleman who probably lets his wife think she rules the roost while he goes out and makes a living as the town engineer.  He's got his man-cave (the garage), he sits down and eats what his wife puts in front of him and we don't see the grandparents argue.  Just because we don't see it, doesn't mean they don't.

And then there are Little Joe's friends.  Sugar is a bit of a tom-boy but still wears her hair in girly pigtails and talks about who likes who on the school bus.  Bobby is a "colored" boy from the "colored" part of town.  Most of the action we see with the three of them is at Little Joe's farm although we do see them going to other places in the book.  Sugar can kick a shin that'll put tears in your eyeballs and Bobby is just a fun little boy.  It doesn't take long to figure out that these three are no doubt friends for life even though the book spans the first year of Little Joe's life in his new home and environment.

We get a look at racism in this book when Little Joe's grandmother stands up to the local "white trash" bullies who try to beat a Chinese man traveling through on the way to see his son who is leaving for the war.  The town bullies seem to be all adult white men who believe he's a "Jap" and think he should be in one of the camps with the rest of the "Japs."

Little Joe quickly learns that his grandmother doesn't like people who don't like people who hate "colored people" or anyone who is different (i.e. not white).  This is a time where Jim Crow laws are in effect and there are separate water fountains, separate schools, etc.  And she's not this way to be all political or to make statements.  She is how she is because she respects all human beings.  Little Joe comes to his grandparents already uncorrupted but his grandmother strengthens that attitude by leading by example.

The only thing I could not figure out was the age gap.  If Little Joe's grandfather is 70 years old, then surely his grandmother is in her mid to late 60's. How do they have a 9 year old grandson and they only had ONE child?  Since everybody had children so young back in that time, I would have guessed Little Joe's grandparents to be in their 40's, perhaps late 40's.  When I was 9, my own WW2 era grandmother was well into her 50's but she had 11 children.  So when I was in my early 20's, she was in her early 70's.  It was just something I noticed but it doesn't take anything away from the book.

Overall, this an A+ book that I loved and I'm looking forward to reading the other three book in the series.  According to the author, the 4th book returns to Little Joe in his late 20's so I can't wait until it's published.  I'm dying to know if Little Joe goes on to be a Veterinarian.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review in return.  I'm looking forward to recommending this book.  It's for anybody who can read.

Book Review of "A Darkness Ascending" by Christobel Kent

This book from Christobel Kent is a part of a series of books that feature Sandro Cellini, a former cop turned private detective.  My first thoughts while delving into the book was that I probably should have read the preceding books first.  I had a hard time grasping who all of the characters were but I'm not sure if this was because the book simply moved too slow to get to the action or if reading the earlier books in the series would have sped that up for me.  There are a bunch of characters all introduced in the early chapters one on top of the other and I had a hard time connecting them to each other.

We do get a prologue that introduces Silvano Niccolo and his partner, Flavia.  It's a fairly simply prologue. Flavia is obviously putting down their newborn infant to bed.  And embedded in the chapter upon chapter of character introductions that follow, Silvano Niccolo is at a political rally or meeting of some sort and he collapses on the stage.

Then Flavia disappears and we find out she's committed suicide.  Or did she?  It's a weird plot of sorts and it is in some ways, a thriller.  Cellini is pulled into the case by Giuli, who as far as I can gather, is some type of foster daughter to Cellini.

This was a tougher mystery for me to read when I typically have no trouble getting drawn in quickly to mysteries in general.  I would not call the entire book flat but there really wasn't what I would call a "climax" here either.  It all kind of goes at one pace, and stays at one level.

I also didn't feel like I was in Italy either.  This could have taken place in the underground halls and alleyways of anywhere.  Except for the names of the characters and places which are in Italian, I didn't get any feel for any of the Italian political culture.

Overall, I would still recommend the book.  But, I would tell potential readers to start with the first book in the series as I think I would have had a better experience if I had done the same.  I gave it 4 stars because I thought it was "very good" with 3 stars being "good" and 5 stars being "excellent."  And I only subtracted a star because of the slow moving feeling.  I couldn't subtract stars for other things because it felt not fair since I hadn't read the other books that came before this one.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review of this book.

Review of "Playing by the Rules" by Imelda Evans

"Kate Adams expected to return home from Paris with a ring on her finger. Instead, her French boyfriend, Alain, breaks up with her right before she leaves for Australia.  Unwilling to show up at her high school reunion desperate and dateless, Kate asks her best friend's brother, handsome Josh Marchant, to pretend to be her fiancée.  Josh has always had a soft spot for his sister's friend and happily takes on the role. And as they spend time together, the lines between fact and fiction blur and they're soon struggling to remember it's all just an act."

Kate is someone who is what I would call an "extreme planner."  If she doesn't have it mapped out step by step.....well, let's just say "spontaneity" is not Kate's middle name.  Kate works for the Sorbonne, she was planning on her hot Frenchie boyfriend proposing so she could plan a wedding and a life for herself.  On the opposite side of the coin, Josh is definitely not stuck in one spot.  His job allows him to travel around the world to different hotels every couple of years or so and up until he comes home for a visit and agrees to be Kate's date to her reunion, he wasn't exactly looking to stop moving around from place to place nor was he looking to settle down.

I copied the teaser above to point out a few things about it.  First, Josh doesn't have just a "soft spot."  People who read the book are going to figure out what Josh thinks of Kate early on in the book. Kate is Josh's sister's best friend and they've known each other for many years but Josh's feeling go a little deeper than that.  If Kate were the homely best friend, I could see the "soft spot" description being a fair one but in this particular case, it's not.

The point that they're struggling to remember it's all an act refers to the reunion in the book.  That's misleading as well.  I get that it's a teaser to get people to read the book and it worked on me as well but it's also not exactly a fair description.  These two don't struggle at all.  At least not to me.

I liked this book.  I liked the story and the ending as well.  There wasn't anything I particularly disliked either.  However, I thought the book spent too much time at the reunion and too little time with Kate and Josh getting to know each other again.

I also thought everyone was so nice.  Too nice.  Kate's Frenchie ex shows up at one point int his book and it's really not much of a spoiler.  Kate gets some closure from it.  But she's way too nice to him.  Or, maybe Australian women are just more polite????

Overall, I recommend reading it if you like a good, solid straight romantic book.  If you don't want retching agony and a nicely wrapped happily ever after, then definitely read it.  It's something I'll definitely recommend.

(I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review in return)

Book Review of "Borderline Personality Disorder: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed" by Alexander L. Chapman, Kim L. Gratz

Overall, the book isn't bad. However, because I'm already a nurse and have worked with psych patients, I already knew most of the information in the book. It was a good refresher but it was obviously written for someone who is newly diagnosed with BPD. But even for someone who is newly diagnosed, I still thought it was too basic.

The style of the book overall was good. It describes what BPD is, it describes various treatments that include talk therapy and medication therapy. I did like that it was recommended that talk therapy be included if one is also in medication therapy. In my opinion, it's crucial for every patient with a mental health disorder receiving mediation therapy to seek talk therapy.

Some of the things I would have liked to be included in the book was more description of the different medications. Almost to the degree that they different types of talk therapy were described. Not to the degree of a drug guide perhaps but just a bit more detail of each one instead. I would have like more description of the symptoms, more information about onset of symptoms and when would be a good time for someone to seek help. I would have like more case study examples where the patients are NOT self-harming or suicidal as well. As it is one symptom of nine, and one needs to have five of the nine, there must be many case studies available where patients don't have this symptom at all.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review. One other thing I will include in the notes to the publisher and author which I think people should know in advance is that this book comes in PDF form and not an ePub form. I personally read everything on my iPhone where PDF books are difficult to read even after increasing the font. One still has to increase the size of the page with every page turn which slows down the reading process. I was able to convert the PDF to an ePub file. However, the file converted to a badly formatted ePub book. It might be good if NetGalley actually increased the options for the readers or of NetGalley made it so all books are in ePub form for non-Kindle users.

I give it three of five stars. For me, three stars signifies a rating of "Good."

Book Review of "Lake Thirteen" by Greg Herren

Scotty is a teenager who has just come out to his parents. Prior to going on an annual vacation with two other families that Scotty and his parents do every year, Scotty also comes out to his lifelong friends over email. Scotty is really nervous about how those friends are going to react during this vacation because no one replied to his email. Shortly after arriving, Scotty finds out that his friends still think he's the same Scotty.

Staying at a resort in a small historical town in upstate New York, during the off-season, Scotty and his friends, one of whom is into ghost hunting and the paranormal, decide to wander down to an old nearby cemetery. What they discover is that the town has some dark secrets that have been hidden for almost one hundred years. What seemed like a boring week in the mountains gradually turns into a wild and crazy ghost story.

As this is really the first "paranormal" style novel I've ever read, I have to say that Greg Herren knows his stuff. He's obviously done research about what those who seek to learn about the paranormal do. I liked how Scotty's friends reacted to him. They see him as the same old Scotty who is still their friend so the level of awkwardness is graciously reduced in that area. However, the fact that Scotty is gay is all tied up in this story. As Scotty and his friends reluctantly set out to find out what happened to one of the decedents in the graveyard, weird things begin to happen to Scotty. And then they begin to happen to his friends too. Like getting cold when a ghost is nearby. Scotty's dreams turn out to be clues from the ghosts themselves. It also becomes obvious that one ghost is trying to find final rest and another is trying to keep Scotty and his friends from finding out what really happened.

The story aligns with Scotty's relationship with Marc, his boyfriend back home, and Scotty begins to worry that something is wrong back home and that Marc is in danger.

This book was a page turner. I could not put it down. Greg Herren takes the paranormal and makes it believable. There are weird visions, eerie sounds of a ghost crying out the name of another ghost.

If you like a good mystery and books about the paranormal, you will enjoy this book. I wondered all the way through how this was going to all come together and end up. I was pleased with it overall. What I would have liked to read was Scotty returning home to Marc to see their interaction after everything that happens in this book. Maybe in the form of a Epilogue. But, I don't think it takes away from the book as a whole which is why I kept it at the 5 stars that I gave it when I finished the book.

Definitely a good book for teens and adults alike.

This book was provided by Net Galley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Review of "Starry Night" by Debbie Macomber"

"Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge: She can cover any topic she wants, but only if she first scores the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author.

Living in the remote Alaskan wilderness, Finn has written a megabestselling memoir about surviving in the wild. But he stubbornly declines to speak to anyone in the press, and no one even knows exactly where he lives.

Digging deep into Finn’s past, Carrie develops a theory on his whereabouts. It is the holidays, but her career is at stake, so she forsakes her family celebrations and flies out to snowy Alaska. When she finally finds Finn, she discovers a man both more charismatic and more stubborn than she even expected. And soon she is torn between pursuing the story of a lifetime and following her heart."

I absolutely LOVED this book! It is 100% pure romance. I loved Carrie and what she willing to do for true love. I never disliked Finn even though I thought he was a teeny bit stubborn. But he's willing to do what he has to do for true love as well.

There are some minor characters in here like Carrie's co-worker, Sophie and Carries mother. Finn's mother appears in this book as well. But this story is dead centered on Carrie and Finn. Every time one of their hearts fluttered, my heart fluttered with them. I rooted for both Carrie and Finn the entire time and I could not put this book down. In fact, I read it in a couple of hours. I was entranced.

I'm currently working my way through Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series but it was nice to take one of her stand-alone books and just enjoy it knowing this was going to just be a good romance with a happy ending. It was sweet, it was lovely and it was most definitely romantic. I wish there was a sequel just so I could read more about Carrie and Finn.

It's a great Christmas book. Definitely a book to get one into the Christmas spirit!

(ARC provided through NetGalley for an honest review)

"I Will Heal...Then WE (?) Will Heal" WTF?

I've written different kinds of Notes on Facebook and I've blogged in the past. I've written about turning 40, about life without the ability to have a child and about life growing up with no father because he was murdered. The latter was more reality intertwined with my dreams of what life would have been like if he'd lived.

But now, another pending matter (and there always seems to be SOMETHING) looms.

I've recently hit a strike of another possible abandonment in life. It comes in big ways and smaller ways but this one might actually be the result of ME walking away this time.

First, my birth mother abandoned me and my brother when were about 11 and 10 years old. She was a drunk and a junkie and from all accounts, she still is.

My aunt adopted me legally when I was in my 20's. I finally had a real mother. And, I was so happy. I felt liked I belonged to someone...finally.

Then, 7.5 years ago, my aunt-mother stopped talking to me over a rift that I can barely recall the details to. But I do remember that I apologized, answered every question she had truthfully and left the door open to come to me anytime. Eventually, on the advice of a professional, it came time to stop trying and move along with my own life.  I can't make her not angry with me and I can't worry about it anymore because she's angry with me.  She's angry with me because she can't be angry at someone else because it won't affect that person.  So, I'm the target.  Fine, moving on.

Other abandonments have probably come as a result of circumstance. I'm sure I haven't heard from some of my BFF's because they've had babies in their late 30's and I have no children. It's heartbreaking. These were the children who were supposed to have me in their lives and I refuse to impose myself on them. I figure if I'm wanted, they'll tell me.

I suppose there is some overall punishment hanging over me for all time for some reason, maybe a lot of reasons...I just don't know.

But now I have a friend of 20+ years who, after being hospitalized from a psychotic break after discontinuing medication, has decided she needs to heal so WE can heal.  The only problem is: WE are not broken.  At least not in my reality where there isn't a diseased mind.  Her mind, on the other hand, has completely flipped interactions between us in the past in a 180 degree direction.  Basically, she's seeing the exact opposite of what actually took place.  And I cannot even begin to describe the horrific, nightmare experiences my friend put me and her family through before she was finally hospitalized.

So, I'm thinking it might be high time to say goodbye to that friendship.  I've given a lot over the years to those who are the closest to me.  Sometimes giving to the point where I allowed advantage to be taken willingly because I was being helpful.

I'm now at the point where even the smallest courtesy asked for has become suspicious.  I never expect reciprocation when I give to another.  But now the whole "give an inch, take a foot" thing is out of hand.  And I suppose there shouldn't be a "give an inch, take a foot" thing when it comes to those closest to you but eventually, one grows weary.  Eventually, you do start to wonder, not if they'll give back but, if they'll even acknowledge what you gave.

I can accept that relationships have their time. Some are for life, some are for only a little while maybe for some unknown purpose and most fall somewhere in the middle. But maybe it's time I did some "friend cleaning" in other places other than just on Facebook.

Review of "The Rainy Day Killer (Fourth Novel in the Donaghue-Stainer Crime Novel Series)" by Michael J. McCann

A man in a business suit offers the protection of his umbrella to an unsuspecting woman ... and several days later she turns up dead on a river bank, raped and strangled. The terrifying serial killer known in the press as the Rainy Day Killer is now hunting new victims in the city of Glendale ... whenever it rains.

Homicide Lieutenant Hank Donaghue leads the investigation as the killer begins to communicate directly to him through phone calls and grisly packages containing body parts of his victims. Assisted by FBI profiler Ed Griffin, Donaghue and Detective Karen Stainer pursue an elusive predator who leaves no physical evidence behind.

The timing couldn't be worse, however, as Karen Stainer's attention is divided between the investigation and preparations for her upcoming wedding. Distracted and uncertain about her future, Stainer is furious when she learns that the Rainy Day Killer has followed her to Virginia, where the wedding will take place, and that he intends to make her his next victim!

I love a good mystery/crime novel. I love reading the characters as they work their case. Michael McCann does a great job here with lots of knowledge of how cases are worked from start to finish, even acknowledging that some cases remain open long term and sometimes they're put on a back burner so active cases can be solved before going back to a pursuit that requires the finding of more leads, etc. The author also shows us how politics works throughout a case, he shows how organizations battle over jurisdictions and how uncooperative jurisdictions can be to each other. It is all extremely real.

I enjoyed Lt. Donaghue and Detective Stainer. Their characters work enormously well together, complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses. These two have each other's backs in all things. FBI profiler Ed Griffin was also a great addition to the team. He puts away the psychobabble and profiles from the perspective of law enforcement. I loved the pacing of the story. The clues came as a result of tracking down leads and good police work. I liked that both main characters are hero and heroine. Detective Stainer is tough and she's good at her job. Lt. Donaghue respects his partner and her abilities. The fact that Detective Stainer is marrying an FBI agent and he is assigned to assist in the case bridges a lot of possible gaps in communications between the GPD and the FBI, making the processing of evidence a bit better.

The whole relationship initiated by the Rainy Day Killer with Lt. Donaghue is brilliantly done. The RDK did the same in all of the previous states he's killed in and he seems to "like" Hank the best. I think the RDK's relationship with Hank does eventually cause him to slip up. He has to show off for Hank and let him know how crafty and smart he thinks he is. He's so arrogant, he even tells Hank when he decides his next kill will be Detective Stainer. And the climax is fantastic.

I usually use this part of my review to talk about what I didn't like about the book or how the book can be improved in some way. As nobody's perfect, I think the book is so well written, I have no real criticism of anything. I will use this part to note that the ePub file was "off." The number of pages left in a chapter was never right, the Table of Contents listed pages instead of chapters and the formatting throughout showed many half-filled pages. I think it's the file itself as none of my other ePub books in the app don't have this issue. It did not make reading difficult. Just a little note.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My honest review overall is that the book is excellent. I see it's part of a series. I'd like to read the three books that come before this one.

Review of "Two Of A Kind" by Susan Mallery

Felicia Swift never dreamed she'd hear a deep, sexy voice from her past in tiny Fool's Gold, California. The last time Gideon Boylan whispered in her ear was half a world away...on the morning after the hottest night of her life. Her freaky smarts have limited her close friendships, and romance, but she came to Fool's Gold looking for ordinary. Gorgeous, brooding Gideon is anything but that. 

Black Ops taught Gideon that love could be deadly. Now he pretends to fit in while keeping everyone at arm's length. Felicia wants more than he can give-a home, family, love-but she has a lot to learn about men...and Gideon needs to be the man to teach her. 

As these two misfits discover that passion isn't the only thing they have in common, they just might figure out that two of a kind should never be split apart.

What I really liked most about this book in the 12th book of the Fool's Gold series was the heroine.  She's a total genius.  She doesn't know exactly how to fall in love and when she realizes she is in love, her thought process on how that happened is fascinating.  She almost seems so smart that she lacks common sense but that's not the case at all and we see that develop throughout the book.  I liked Gideon as well.  He's a hero in every sense of the word.  Served his country, was held captive by the enemy and rescued and accepts Felicia for who she is.  But I really enjoyed a good, strong heroine.  She's not the only one who wants a happily ever after and Felicia helps Gideon get there.

Where I think the book could have been better was for Gideon to not have a secret teenaged son just pop up out of nowhere.  I felt like it forced Felicia and Gideon together when they could have gotten there all on their own.  It did give Felicia's motherly instincts a chance to kick in and it confirmed that she could eventually make a decent mother but I just didn't like it.

I give it 4/5 stars and I dropped a star for the secret teenaged son.

Review of "Season For Scandal" by Theresa Romain

***SPOILER ALERT***


This is my first try with a Historical Romance novel.  I wasn't sure I'd like it or that maybe it wouldn't be my cup of tea.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Jane TIndall isn't rich, she's not exceptionally beautiful but she's attractive by the standards of the late 1800's in London.  She happens to be the cousin of a Baron but se kind of the "black sheep."  Edmund Ware, Baron Kirkpatrick is Jane's Baron cousin's closest friend and he's known Jane most of her life.  To him, he's just his friend's cousin.  So when Edmund blows Jane's "cover" one evening in a card game with some men of questionable morals, they have to come up with a way to get Jane out and, pay her large debt.  Quickly, they come up with a way: Kirkpatrick will marry Jane, get her dowry and pay off the debt.  Edmund promises to pay off his "fiancee's" debt, and marries Jane out of convenience.  But Edmund has some conveniences of his own he needs to fulfill.  Edmund needs to create an heir to hold on to his title and the future of those he serves.  Edmund also has some secrets of his own and Jane lets something slip on the night of their wedding that Edmund was never expecting to hear.

To see the transformation of Jane to that of a nobody who wants to be somebody, we see how she self-educates herself in becoming a proper Baroness.  From botching up a proper greeting at a ball to learning how to dress appropriately, Jane learns.  She also knows that her slip of the tongue on her wedding night has changed her physical relationship with Edmund, taking it from hot to cold on the first night.  And Jane wants more.

I enjoyed reading how their relationship transformed.  A marriage of convenience doesn't start out on the foundation of friendship and love.  And while Jane and Edmund are friends of sorts, Edmund gets to see a different side of Jane throughout the book.  I like how Theresa Romain didn't just make this a one time second look for Edmund and all of the sudden he realizes he loves Jane.  She makes Jane and Edmund work for it.

Along the way there *is* plenty of SCANDAL.  Preventing a scandal is what sets up the marriage of convenience, leaving Edmund starts a whole other scandal and figuring out how to not make Edmund's secret go public is a scandal gone undercover.

In the end, Jane helps Edmund with his huge problem, Edmund realizes his kindness to everyone makes Jane feel no different than anyone else and Edmund also realizes why he's been holding back true love for so long.

I thought Theresa Romain did an excellent job with writing the dialogue to match the times.  I also enjoyed how she showed what was considered proper and not proper for the times.  I was surprised that there were certain protocols even within the noble classes with how different titles were addressed or not addressed.

This is a great book.  Part of a series.  It left me not only satisfied but interested in checking out the rest of the books in the series.  Definitely an A+ read for me.

(I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review)

Review of "Going Long" (Waiting on the Sidelines 2) by Ginger Scott

***SPOILER ALERT***

I have been a bookworm for as long as I can remember. I can't rightly say exactly when I read my first book but I do know I went to Kindergarten knowing how to read so it was probably that long ago. Of the possibly 1000's of books I have read in my entire lifetime, THIS book, Going Long, has one huge distinction that sets it apart from all of the others: Going Long had me bawling my eyes out like a baby. And it was definitely a happy cry.

Going Long picks up where Waiting on the Sidelines ends. Nolan and Reed are both in college. After four years of falling for Reed, being in love with Reed and continuing in a relationship with Reed after high school, Nolan has certainly come a long way. Because Ginger Scott opted to write from both Nolan and Reed's point of view in this sequel, we find that Reed has come a long way as well.

While Nolan and Reed have made big strides in their relationship, the problems that develop from not communicating with each other find Nolan and Reed trying to get over an enormous life changing bump in their relationship. The pressure is on Reed to take the next step in his football career by entering the draft. Nolan's deliberate procrastination to discuss the issue adds to Reed's pressure. He knows he wants to be with Nolan forever and Nolan's insecurities keep her from maintaining the open lines in their relationship. The pressure on Nolan to discuss the issue becomes even more terrifying when she finds out that she's pregnant. The resulting early miscarriage of that pregnancy leaves Nolan feeling isolated and full of guilt. These two major life experiences collide for Nolan and her relationship with Reed begins to erupt and fall apart.

Can Nolan and Reed get it together and put the misinterpretations aside long enough to set things right? Are they mature enough to bypass the minutiae and find a resolution to their potential relationship destroying challenges?

I would LOVE to tell you how this book ends but, because I want you to experience this book for yourself, that's one spoiler you won't get here.

Ginger Scott floored me again. She did it with her debut novel Waiting on the Sidelines and she's done it again with Going Long. I was sent on an emotional rollercoaster again. There were times I wished I could grab Nolan and Reed and shake them while screaming, "TALK TO EACH OTHER!" But this is really a story about love and how love grows through commitment and trust. It made me think back to my own long term relationship in college. I rooted for Nolan and Reed, I couldn't put the book down and I knew I would read both of Ginger Scott's masterpieces again. I don't know how much of Nolan and Reed's story is similar to Ginger Scott's experiences and how much is creatively compiled from Ms. Scott's creative imagination but she nailed her second book just like she did her first.

Every high school kid and every college student should have to read these books. They have so much to offer to the reader.

If I could only assign limited words to how I feel about Going Long, I'd have to go with "entranced" and "emotionally captivated." We cry tears of joy when we connect to something that elicits an emotional response. Going Long connected for me like Robbie Gould's 49-yard game-winning field goal that sent the Bears into the NFC Championship Game in 2006 (had to get a Chicago Bears football reference in here).

As I said when I reviewed Waiting on the Sidelines, I'd have purchased this book the second it came out. I was honored when I was offered an ARC of the book from Ginger Scott herself in exchange for an honest review. I could go on forever and ever about every single detail of this book and the effect it had on me but that would be taking away from the other readers who MUST experience it for themselves.

Where does my review go from here? Other than my own blog, Goodreads, etc., I'm sending an email to TheArts@NYT.com and recommending this book be considered for review. And then I plan to nag as many people as possible to read it and do the same.

I'm giving it five stars on Goodreads because that's the highest amount I can give. But I would seriously give this books all of the stars in the sky. Ms. Scott, I don't care what your next book is about, I'm reading it!

Review of "Poor Little Dead Girls" by Lizzie Friend

***SPOILER ALERT***

Sadie Marlowe is an ace lacrosse player who is recruited to play at one of the country's finest boarding school's: Keating Hall. She's the "scholarship" from Oregon. Her schoolmates are from wealthy families who come from big business, politics and her two roommates are actual British royalty. The "brother" school to Keating Hall is DeGraffenreid Academy. Sadie's newest friend, Jessica, who she met a summer lacrosse camp, describes the brother school's guys as "terrible-they're like mini corrupt politicians in training."

Just as she's getting settled in, Sadie is "kidnapped," complete with black covering thrown over her head and being drugged. She wakes to find herself tied to a chair in the center of a mysterious group of robed strangers who chant in Latin and a male who threatens Sadie to never speak of the experience of she dies. There she finds out she's being initiated into a secret society. Think Skull and Bones meets Freemasons meets The Illumninati.

Supposedly, their goal is to perform good works for the less fortunate and it appears they do sponsor some different organizations that do just that. However, what Sadie finds out is that their real goal is to create a completely new generation of wealthy, connected people who all have the "right genes" who can oversee the government, the country, the economy and even the world.

Sadie learns that her mother attended Keating Hall and that she was indeed part of a wealthy family. Also a huge question is what really happened to Anna, the student who mysteriously disappeared and was found dead the year before Sadie got there.

This story is about Sadie, her acceptance into a secret society of teenagers with wealthy parents who are also members of the society and how she deals with the strange experience of being accepted by her wealthier classmates who wouldn't look at her twice but for the society membership.

POOR LITTLE DEAD GIRLS is full of mystery and intrigue. Sadie even finds their secret laboratory where she finds her own eggs harvested and frozen for creating embryos. I have to admit, that seemed to be more creepy than learning about the mysterious death of Anna.

Sadie meets Jeremy early in the story and they become a couple. He also happens to be the other newest member of the secret society.

What this all finally boils down to is that the secret society members are responsible for the death of Sadie's mother and Anna's death who turns out to be related to Sadie and her mother. With the help of her friends, Sadie finds a way to make sure the secret society is brought to the public eye.

Overall, I give this book 5 stars because it's not the typical YA type of story I would read it kept me completely on my toes. I couldn't put it down. Sadie goes from shy and reserved to determined to find out the answers to all of the secrets. Lizzie Friend goes out on a different limb here to paint a darker story without the use of science fiction or sparkly vampires or medieval fantasy. There are places in the story where you might expect something to be more climactic but the story has an intense flow that takes you up to a really high peak and then lets you hang there for a while. Lizzie Friend doesn't give you the regular peaking escalation followed by the resolution. She takes up to the peak and lets you sit and squirm for a while. I kind of liked that difference.

I enjoyed Sadie's friend Jessica. She's not a member of the secret society but she stuck by Sadie throughout the whole book and was understanding when she finds out not only what Sadie has gotten herself into, she's a kick ass friend knowing the danger involved just by knowing the society exists. She along with Jeremy come up with a plan to get these these people exposed.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The ARC I received was a PDF to read instead of an ePub book. It was a little bit more difficult to read because of the format. However, I can't take away stars for that. ARC's are sometimes given out in PDF form and you make adjustments. However, when this book publishes, you won't have any of these issues. So, I recommend you place it on your "to-read" list. The expected publish date is December 18th.

Review of "A Courtroom Massacre" by Mark Porto

I chose this book because the story idea fit right into one of my favorite genres to read: crime/drama/mystery.

I also abandoned this book because I couldn't go on with it.  I received this book in trade for an honest review from NetGalley and like every other book I received from NetGalley, it gets an honest review as well.

The book's premise, a man's family are victims of a robbery by gang members and what takes place in Johnny Bellows' life after he shoots the gang members, sounded like a good premise for a story.  It is still a good premise for a story.

However, this particular book, because of major issues concerning use of tense, punctuation, sentence structure, a lack of flow in dialogue and a whole host of other issues made this book impossible to complete.  As a reader, if one finds themselves having to go back and mentally correct what should be an easily read sentence, it'll eventually drive you crazy and frustrate you to the point that you can't continue to follow the story.

Anybody who writes a book gets some credit for being able to even accomplish that feat. And I do have respect for anyone who writes a book.  However, if you can't do a simple proofread or read what you write out loud to hear what it sounds like to everyone else, then don't bother to go through the effort of publishing it.

After finally abandoning the book, I took to Goodreads to see how others reviewed this book.  I also checked out Amazon to see what those reviews looked like.  What I was surprised to find was the author "correcting" one of his readers.  The author was actually explaining to the reader what he supposedly read incorrectly.  I thought books were for the reader to draw their own impressions, their own conclusions and to experience the story with the gift of their imagination.  But to correct a reader and tell them they're wrong about what they've read?  Perhaps it was that I picked up on the defensiveness of the author.

Don't spend money to attempt to read this particular book.  It's a mess!

Book Review of "Red" by Allison Cherry

Felicity St. John has everything a girl in high school could hope to have. She's popular, she has two fabulous best friends, she's got a hot boyfriend and she's got artistic talent. What she also has is a huge secret: Felicity's hair comes straight out of a bottle.

As a resident of Scarletville, redheads are the "it" kids and are not in the minority. In fact, the blondes and brunettes are the outcasts and redheads hold all of the power. Scarletville is so "red," it even has it's own Miss Scarlet Pageant. Felicity is practically a shoe in to win the pageant this year. It's the 75th anniversary of the pageant and her mother was Miss Scarlet 25 years earlier for the 50th anniversary of the pageant.

And then Felicity suddenly gets the anonymous note, "I know your secret."

While the premise may seem like the author is trying to draw a parallel to some other group, I think the author, described a "natural redhead," simply wanted to write a story where the "ginger" isn't the outcast.

I enjoyed reading this book and it was a page turner that I couldn't put down. It's not a typical mystery but there is mystery and intrigue that makes the reader need to know what happens next.
I liked Felicity a lot and how she dealt with all of the usual teenage issues in addition to dealing with being blackmailed and dealing with feeling like a "fake."

When Felicity finally gets around to disclosing the blackmail to her mother, she's absolutely shocked when her mother tells her she has to go along with the blackmail that results in lying to and hurting her two best friends.

I loved Ivy, one of Felicity's best friends. She's got gumption. Not only does she think the whole pageant thing is stupid and only enters because her friends entered her, she's defiant. Like refusing to wear high heels that hurt her feet and opting for flats, which are apparently a "no-no" for proper pageant competing.

Allison Cherry gives us a glimpse into teenage peer pressure and the pressures parents put on their teens in order to live vicariously through them. For instance, Felicity's mother, Ginger, a former Miss Scarlet herself, is probably worse at putting on the pressure than any of Felicity's friends. From what I could calculate, Ginger is probably closer to my own age and if she were my friend doing this to her daughter, I might smack her silly.

Hayley, Felicity's other best friend, is indeed, BFF material. However, I found her to be whiny, spoiled and a brat. I didn't like her but I did like how she was written as an opposite to Ivy.
And while I can't disclose how this ends up, I was mostly happy with the ending. I would have liked an epilogue that jumped ahead to some time in Felicity's first year of college where she'll find the world doesn't revolve around redheads. 

I received an ARC of this book in trade for an honest review from NetGalley. The most honest thing I can say about the book as a whole is that it's worth getting once it's published. It's a good story with a lot of learning moments for teenagers. Expected publish date: October 8th.

Book Review of "Deceived" by Julie Anne Lindsey

Elle's father is a single dad, working in corporate insurance, and is constantly traveling for work.  Elle gets moved to another boarding school for her senior year.  She expects her night terrors might stop with the change and is disgusted when the night terrors continue.  If that were not enough, Elle thinks she's going crazy. She believes she's being followed. She finds a black ribbon, a signature hair decoration of her deceased mother, in her locker.  Not only has she seen someone in the shadows who appears to smoke, she finds cigarette butts piling up on her doormat. Elle meets Bryan at a flea market prior to the start of school and then finds out he's a new student at her school.  And even though they enjoyed each other's company at the flea market, he acts like he doesn't know her at school.  So is Elle crazy?  Why is Bryan such a mystery and why does Elle's father keep relocating himself and her?

Julie Anne Lindsay has put together a true mystery.  At the beginning, I thought this whole story would lead to an ending where Elle is in some hospital somewhere restrained to a bed and hallucinating.  When the story began to get its momentum and pick up speed, there was no putting the book down.  Once you're on this ride, you must know who Bryan really is, you must know why Elle's father keeps moving and you absolutely, positively need to know if Elle is being stalked or if she's just paranoid.

I give it 5+ stars.  Deceived is chilling, suspenseful and a real nail biter.  Not everyone is a suspect but there are well placed red herrings and there are just enough.  Some mysteries go on forever chapter by chapter where everybody is a suspect and there's a red herring at every turn.  Julie Ann Lindsay was careful and deliberate with her choices in Deceived.

I like that there IS a love story intertwined with the mystery.  But it's balanced out well without the love story overpowering the mystery or vice versa.  The  mystery is fast paced and intriguing.  The love story goes the opposite and is told slowly while the foundation is built.  The blend is highly favorable for me since I love mystery books and I enjoy a good love story.  To read both and have them moving at the right pacing is a HUGE plus for the story but also for the reader.

Another character in the book, Elle's roommate Pixie, is also in this book and I would call her a major character.  However, at a certain point, I wondered why she was in the book.  Her character is concluded before the book ends.  I figured it was probably necessary for Elle to have a roommate to play opposite Elle's quieter demeanor and to relay to the reader that there was at least one other person in the book who saw the cigarette butts. She seems to be the buffer that makes you think that Elle might not be crazy.  Pixie is also the one character that is completely on Elle's side without any questions asked.

Overall, a chilling, thrilling and suspenseful read.  A must read!

(I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for a fair, honest review)

Book Review of "Waiting On The Sidelines" by Ginger Scott

Nolan Lennox is, when this book begins, a Tomboy. She's athletic and doesn't mind wearing her brother's second hand clothing. She resides in a mobile home and while she's not ashamed of her family or even her home, she's not broadcasting that she lives in a trailer. Then Reed Johnson arrives at her school. From the first awkward interaction, Nolan realizes she likes the new boy. He's also legendary on arrival before he has a chance to show his skills as a football player because his father and brother were football stars during their time at Coolidge High School.

Reed gets himself hooked up with another girl in school, Tatum, who is openly snobbish and cruel. Especially to Nolan. Nolan struggles to take the high ground from one cruel act to another. I couldn't help but root for Nolan because she's not a pushover, she's got class. Her closest friends are there to support her as well. It didn't take long to figure out that Nolan and Reed were meant for each other. They do become friends and Nolan even begins to date Reed's friend and teammate. But the butterflies Nolan feels just by being in Reed's presence don't come when she's with someone else.

Nolan and Reed eventually begin to spend time together. They travel on the same bus to athletic events and work together as lifeguards over the summer. When Reed decides to take Nolan on a special "date," she arrives at Nolan's house to find Reed and his ex in a shocking pose.

Nolan and Reed spend quite a bit of time not together and Nolan avoids him in every way she can including changing her work schedule so she doesn't have to lifeguard at the same time as Reed. Through Reed's cruel, drunken rant at the Friday night desert party, Nolan finds out news that crushes her, breaks her heart.

Through all of this, every single misunderstanding that can happen, does happen. The fact that Nolan refuses to speak to Reed and Reed begins to drink and lose control leads to more lack of communication.

Eventually, the truth about the news from Reed's drunken rant comes out. Nolan and Reed still have a long way to go. A driving accident threatens Reed's champion throwing arm and his potential for college recruitment. Reed grows distant and nosedives.

These two go through every emotion imaginable before they're finally able to settle up with each other. These two love each other madly. And Ginger Scott set it up magnificently. She established the friendship as the foundation early on.

This story ends and there is a second book coming out that will hopefully take us through Reed and Nolan's college years, but this book can absolutely stand alone. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review but if I found out about this book through some other source, I'd have scooped it up. And while I'm more than willing to receive the second book through NetGalley in trade for an honest review, I'd happily pay for it. This book should be required reading for YA readers, especially those in high school. 

Parents with teenagers could learn a thing or two from Nolan and Reed as well. Ginger Scott keeps it real and honest. She's not giving you a typical YA novel, she's giving you real life, real situations, real teenage experience and real love. She lines this book up absolutely perfect in letting every reader know just how much work real love requires. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars here. I give it 10 stars and it's going on my "Must Read Again" shelf! A++

Revised 02/14/2014

Review of "Love Hurts" by Beverly Scudamore

** spoiler alert ** Mel is in love with Dustin but she lost her chance at a relationship with him last year, now he is with someone else and she is heartbroken.

The book starts with Mel being late to school and hurrying, she witnesses a fight and pushes Dustin to break the fight. He does, and everything begins. She has to go to the Principal's office and there she meets Colter. She gets punishment and he helps her with it. The story of Colter and Mel begins here.

This book was quite good. It felt real. The author did her research on bad relationships and what the red flags are that a relationship can potentially become controlling and possibly dangerous.

Mel was a likeable character. She was nice, friendly, but had her fair share of problems, which threw her in the arms of Colter. And I can imagine a new boy, a bad boy at that has its merits and might seem fun, especially if you are trying to forget a boy.

Colter, well when we first see him in the book, I liked him, he was interesting and from the description, quite good looking. I can imagine girls falling for him. But while the story progresses, you start to notice things that are off. His parents, his house, and a whole lot of other red flags. I really liked that it wasn't immediate scariness, but that it slowly spirals from good to bad.

Colter, while nice in the beginning became really scary at the end. Psychotic and totally different than when we first meet him.

Luckily, Mel is a smart girl and notices things are wrong and talks about it a little bit. I was kind of worried she would end up like most of the girls in a situation like this. You know, dead or forever stuck to this creep.

I would have liked a different ending where Mel doesn't run off on a plane. Yes, there are victims of domestic violence who do need to flee for their lives and go into hiding. I don't think Mel needed to do that and I think she decides to go so that her mother doesn't need to give up a job she loves so Mel can stay where she is. Although, it's a mature and thoughtful decision for her to make.

I give 4.5 stars.

***Received via NetGalley for a fair and honest review.*

Book Review: "Good In Bed" by Jennifer Weiner…..Definitely Much More Than Your Average "Chick Lit"

Second read. Definitely much more to it than your average chick lit.

I'm not exactly Jennifer Weiner or Cannie Shapiro. Combine the two and we have a TON in common. Jennifer is based in Philly and Cannie lives there. I was born and raised there. Jennifer worked for the Centre Daily Times in Central PA. I live in State College, PA and was at Penn state when she began working there. I still live in State College. Jennifer and Cannie are overweight. I stopped giving a crap about it after hitting 40 years old. I'm tall, with a large frame and will never weigh 100 pounds. I'm not exactly carrying a Michelin tire around my waist but I'm no model either. There's a bunch of other stuff too.

It bothers me that some women have reviewed this book and called Cannie's story, "whining." Sounds to me like Cannie is just being Cannie. I don't think she's a perpetual victim, I think she's just trying to figure out years of bad things happening to her. Keep in mind that JW can't take you through every step of Cannie's growth. The book would be way too long. I think the fact that she's left Cannie under the care of a shrink tells you she's not done fixing the way she reacts to bad things that happen to her.

I have to wonder how many readers who wrote that Cannie was a "whiner" are really, really thin and have nooooo problem frolicking down the shore because they can wear some boob stickers and some string and call it a bikini?

Well, truth be told, there are more of us than there are of you. I'm not as big as a 16 but I'll never be an 8. And for the not so thin ones who said the same, do you envy Cannie because she got a lot of good things in one quick swoop? Because again, it's a book. It kinda has to be really kind of fast or you'll get bored.

The book was amazing, plain and simple.