~Last Movie I Watched- IN BRUGES~

3.5 stars
IMDB Synopsis: London based hit men Ray and Ken are told by their boss Harry Waters to lay low in Bruges, Belgium for up to two weeks following their latest hit, which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander. Harry will be in touch with further instructions. While they wait for Harry's call, Ken, following Harry's advice, takes in the sights of the medieval city with great appreciation. But the charms of Bruges are lost on the simpler Ray, who is already despondent over the innocent death, especially as it was his first job. Things change for Ray when he meets Chloe, part of a film crew shooting a movie starring an American dwarf named Jimmy. When Harry's instructions arrive, Ken, for who the job is directed, isn't sure if he can carry out the new job, especially as he has gained a new appreciation of life from his stay in the fairytale Bruges. While Ken waits for the inevitable arrival into Bruges of an angry Harry...

~REVIEW of Toni Blake's WHISPER FALLS~

SOME GREAT IDEAS BUT ULTIMATLY A STRUGGLE TO  GET THROUGH

Star read

Opening Line: "Meow,"Tessa Sheridan frowned at the grey-and-white cat perched next to her on the sofa."

A lot of people really liked this book, and it’s received a ton of 5 star ratings, which is of course why I bought it, unfortunately though I struggled through this. I mean it was a real effort to finish, plodding through long drawn out repetitive scenes and way too many introspective conversations that added nothing to the overall story. Even with a hunky outlaw biker hero to drool over, sizzling love scenes, and several LOL moments I still came away kind of meh about the whole thing.

That’s not to say I hated it, because I didn’t, in fact there were several things that I really enjoyed, Toni Blake’s writing style for example and the way she incorporated random ideas into her characters and story; like dancing with Ellen and the numerous classic rock songs mentioned. I also liked the issue of our heroine dealing with Chron’s disease; this was a unique affliction and dealt with very well.

I think one of my favourite things though would have to be that Lucky as a “bad boy” biker actually speaks like a biker, he swears a lot and listens to AC/DC and Metallica. He has armloads of tattoos and a realistic past considering his gang ties. It was also obvious that Blake put some research into Harley motorcycles, specialized paint jobs and the MC language and lifestyle in general. But overall at almost 400 pages this felt like a VERY long drawn out Harlequin and would have held my interest a whole lot more and benefited with about 100 less pages.

In this 3^rd instalment from the “Destiny” series Tessa Sheridan has returned to her quaint hometown of Destiny (lots of that going on in romanlandia these days) She’s had to leave her career in the big city because of a chronic illness and now all she wants to do is recover, spend time with family, and embrace life. Tessa wants to be a bit wild and experience things the old Tessa would never dream of, like skydiving, and having commitment free sex with her delicious biker dude neighbour.

However Lucky Roma may be a little more then the shy, sweet Tessa can handle, he not only looks the biker part but comes complete with a gang past and more skeletons in the closet then any woman should have to deal with. Still, Lucky has a way of making Tessa feel alive again and she just can‘t resist; he’s dangerous, sexy and exactly what she needs. What starts out as a fling soon becomes much more until Lucky’s past finally catches up with him and Tessa learns that this bad boy is in fact dangerous too and she may not know him at all.

~7 LITTLE WORDS- Thanks WARDen~

"Favorite line in Tohr's book so far: "Why the F**K are you on Youtube."

SO over on facebook today J R Ward wrote a little something that got me pretty excited  considering it was only 7 words long and its fruition is over a year away. But it appears that she has begun writing Tohr's book, YAY!!

Just when I was starting to come back down after Lover Unleashed, the anticipation and speculation starts again.

She also says she has finished Envy;

"*crawls out from underneath rock with ENVY spray painted on it* Book is onde- um, that would be "done". Of course now I have a week to review the last 200 pages- I vaguelly remember sleeping sometime around Thursday? Yup, I think that's it, but I'm sure folks know what that's liek- like, I mean. Can't type right now!"

I just love the WARDen, keeping us all updated

Something else that made me smile today and I don't know why because I'm really too old to care but I guess since Breaking Dawn filming is wrapping up this week our paparazzi-stalked little Twilight couple have decided to go public with the worst kept secret ever at the Water For Elephants premiere (great book BTW).

                                                                     Awwwww

~LAST MOVIE I WATCHED- WAKING UP WALLY: The Walter Gretzky Story~

-Mmmmm Kris Holden-Ried

 I like him better with a beard but I'll watch him in anything.-ANYTHING

 This movie was an interesting little bit of Canadiana I watched late night on CBC. I'm sure it will only apeal to other Canadians, I mean its about Wayne Gretzkey's dad Walter, lots of hockey involved here and in one scene they even go to Tim Ho.

Just in time for the Playoffs though. Here's Kris as Wayne

 

And here's my boyfriend (in my mind) not looking like Gretzky, with his beard.

God I can't wait for the return of Lost Girl!

~REVIEW of J.R Ward's LOVER UNLEASHED~

                                   ~ ALL I WANTED AND MORE V THEN I EXPECTED~

**Spoiler Free** and  big stars

Opening Line: "Xcor saw his father killed when he was but five years past his transition."

Ah yes, how sweet it is to be back with the Black Dagger Brotherhood. It was with some anticipation (understatement) that I cracked open the 489 pages I’d waited almost a year on, and it was with baited breathe that I began. Wondering exactly what direction JR Ward was going to take this 9th instalment in? Well I can tell you that with this one she does not disappoint, giving us fans exactly what we've been waiting for and then some.

Starting where LOVER MINE left off and with her usual flair (the first 4 words will have you smiling) we get; multiple POV’s, evolving story lines, ass-kicking action and major injuries to most of the Brotherhood. We revisit past characters while being introduced to new ones, including (among others) the intriguing ‘Band of Bastards’. This group of 6 is around to stay and with them comes an endless supply of future story possibilities.

-Band Of Bastards

With blasts of tension, humour, romance and way erotic love scenes we witness a couple of characters fall apart, see unrequited love, get major hints of things to come, and while laughing with Rhage and Fritz in the billiards room we also worry about the future of the King. Even though our main love story here is not as dominant as in past books, I have no complaints as Ward manages to include and give us moments with each and every member of the Brotherhood mansion in one way or another. And while I ached for Qhuinn and Blay, then there was V. And oh the V. True?


-Vishous

 As much as this is pegged as Payne and Manny’s book LOVER UNLEASHED really belongs to Vishous and isn't it great (understatement) to be back in his, intricate, messed up, dirty lil mind. Along with Butch and Jane this trio goes to some very dark places, taking us right along for the excruciating ride and finally putting to bed (so to speak) Butch and V’s relationship once and for all. I loved revisiting V and through him, hearing from the Cop again as well as getting to know Jane better-who has at last stopped feeling like a ghost ( I may forgive Ward yet for killing her) And in the afterward, those quiet moments spent between Butch and V well … in his words, “I have no words. Sixteen languages, but no words.”

All this awesomeness has of course been wrapped up with Ward’s unique style of writing although this time there’s a different vibe to it and it took me a while to put my finger on what it was. The multiple f-bombs, rap references and Wardisms are still here but she’s managed to tone the product placement and riddle filled sentences (i.e.“A gust of wind went Nike across the flat landscape" Making this feel more like one of the original books from the series then the urban fantasy-ish instalments of late.

We also don’t jump around as we did in LOVER MINE with Ghostbuster storylines and Old Country flashbacks, plus with less 'Lessers' to contend with here (much like in LOVER UNBOUND and with them operating without a visible leader the entire story flows better and you don't find yourself grumbling, wanting to skip ahead.

Regarding Payne and Manny; I enjoyed this couple, verily I did. I’ve loved Manny from the first time we met him and enjoyed getting to know him here. His interactions/revelations with Butch are hilarious as is his discovery of Jane and the whole BDB world. Payne wasn’t as tough as I was expecting although she does manage to rescue herself while spending a considerable amount of time paralyzed. Manny’s method of healing her is...very Marvin Gaye and although their actual HEA is kinda corny I liked how Ward found a way to keep them together.

-Manny

In the end Ward leaves us smiling with contentment (although I had been hoping for a mating ceremony and not the one you’d expect) and with events wide open for future stories that I can't wait to discover. I just wish it wasn't so far away because after spending just a few days with the BDB I'm not ready to let them go yet. See ya next year boys, stay safe. True.

Oh I've also just learned that book #10 will be Tohrment’s story. Wow that's bound to be a tearjerker.
Cheers

~LOVER UNLEASHED IN MY HANDS~

Finally, finally got Lover Unleashed in my hands. Now I almost don't want to read it, oh the anticipation. A year between books is just too long. I am liking this new "band of Bastards" though, opening up so many new possibilites for Ward's world and then there's V and of course I cheated a bit and read chapter 37.....

~REVIEW of J.R Ward's LOVER MINE~

                                                      DEDICATED TO YOU...

**Spoiler Free** and BIG stars

Opening Line: "He wished he had more time."

In trying to review LOVER MINE two words keep popping into my head; Amazing and Damn… just damn. How can I honestly put into words how much I loved this story and how sad I am that it’s over? Following a year long wait JR Wards 8th instalment of the Black Dagger Brotherhood finally made its way into my eager little hands. At 512 pages LOVER MINE is huge (with a fantastic cover) and I’m happy to report that it does not disappoint, in fact with John Mathews long awaited story the WARDen positively shines.

Fans are given exactly what we’ve been waiting for with ever evolving storylines, multiple POV’s, surprises, tragedies, plot twists, ass-kicking action,(Xhex much) humour and oh the romance. Completed here with erotic, blush-worthy love scenes and of course the inevitable struggle and heartache. I can tell you that this story brought me to tears more than once and not for the reasons you might expect. All of this awesomeness has been wrapped up with Wards unique style of writing, complete with product placements, rap music, unique street language, multiple f-bombs and a whole new batch of cool Wardisms I can’t wait to start using, you feel me.

The series is brought full circle within this book with loose ends cleverly tied together and resolutions brought to story threads we’ve had growing and brewing since the beginning. Sadly I realized that even with Ward continuing indefinitely JM/Darius will be the last of the original brothers to have his story told and that with this book being red, just like book 1 (Dark Lover) she’s given us book ends of a sort.

With us since the beginning, in this instalment we finally get John Mathew (and Darius‘s) story. Of all the characters John is the one we have the greatest sense of and have invested the most time in, having watched him change from a scrawny, neglected and abused pre-trans into an enormous, and angry male with a ton of fricken baggage. His pairing with the half Sympath Xhex has been in the works for some time now and with her abduction in the end of (Lover Avenged) we have the perfect place to begin their story. (Which I’m not going to give away) I will say however that I was pleased to see reflections of the sweet, sensitive John we remember (only now oozing sex appeal) and witness a softer side of Xhex. As always their path to HEA is not an easy one but its fun and sexy as hell watching them open up to each other and get there.

As a whole the storyline blew my mind. With three very separate and distinct running plotlines, (which at first had me wondering, where the hell is this going?) Ward manages to merge all the puzzle pieces together into WOW, bringing us deliciously full circle. Darker and more serious than past books my only real complaint would be the lack of banter between the Brothers and the Brothers as a whole. The moments that we’re given are excellent and while they’re all represented to a degree (some more than others) I insatiably craved more and truly missed them. Qhuinn and Blay, each now with their own POV manage to somewhat fill the gap who along with Saxton bring a different degree of heartache, sexiness and hot mess to the mix. Lash is also back as the Lessening societies leader and surprisingly awesome here as he takes things to a whole new gooey level of evil.

In the end Ward leaves us smiling with contentment, with new characters emerging and events opening up for future stories that I can’t wait to discover. I just wish it wasn’t so far away because I find that after getting just 3 days with the BDB its already time to leave them again and I’m not quite ready to let them go yet. See ya next year boys, stay safe Cheers!

Oh, and in case you were wondering Ward dedicates this book to John Mathew himself (which was what started my first crying jag)

 

~REVIEW of Suzanne Brockmann's TALL, DARK AND DEVASTATING~

~ADDICTIVE NAVY SEAL'S ROMANCES GET A 2-IN-1 REISSUE~

  Star read

Opening Line: "This was wrong. It was all wrong."

This is a fun, sexy, exciting series with larger then life Navy SEAL heroes, capable of anything it seems except falling in love easily. TD and Devastating contains books 5 & 6 from Brockmann’s Tall Dark and Dangerous series which is being re-released as 2-in-1’s with way better covers.

Using proper military jargon Brockman gives us delicious alpha-male heroes and just the right amount of action, suspense and sweet romance to keep you coming back for more. And with each story just different enough from the last that it feels fresh and unique while still connecting the series as a whole, these well written quickie romances are totally addictive. While each can be read as a stand-alone I recommend trying to read them in order due to the continuing and evolving story arcs, and I dare you not to fall for any member of SEAL Team Tens alpha squad.

Both of the stories here are super good, with fast paced plots, memorable characters, searing love scenes and sigh worthy endings. I couldn’t really choose a favourite although because I have a thing for tortured heroes I’d have to say Crash (Hawken’s Heart) is pretty dreamy.

First up was HARVARD'S EDUCATION and while I will admit this was a bit slow to get started by the end however I really felt like I knew our heroes and was completely wrapped up in their lives. When Harvard and the team take on an experimental training assignment no one expects a girl to be among the FInCOM recruits. After all with the type of life and death situations they face the SEAL’s are exclusive boys club and that’s just the way Harvard likes it. Enter PJ Richards, sharpshooter, most capable recruit, Harvard’s perfect intellectual match and of course all woman. With his sexist attitude these two have problems from the start. Harvard just doesn’t believe women belong in a combat zone, it’s too dangerous, too brutal and she would be far too distracting.

The ending chapters here were fantastic as a planned out of country “training” mission goes horribly wrong. Leaving me hanging for quite a while as to whether the mission (and fatalities) were real or in fact a training op. Pinned down by hostiles, armed only with paint ball guns, and with their Captain severely injured and held hostage it’s going to be up to PJ and Harvard to save the day. Will he be able to set his prejudices aside long enough to let PJ do her job and help rescue their team mates?

With HAWKEN'S HEART we get Billy “Crash Hawken’s story and Jeez did I ever fall hard for him. A member of the elite “Grey group” Crash is aloof, loyal to a fault and oh so sexy in his secretive, lethal sort of way. He’s a man of few words and even less emotion, or so it seems. Told in two distinct sections each taking place a year apart Brockman encompass one of my favourite themes with this one; that of reunited lovers, made even better here as they’re on the run and that always guarantees a good time.

When Crash becomes the prime suspect in the assassination of his commanding officer he is charged with treason, conspiracy and murder. Stripped of his commission he awaits the death penalty. The last person he expects to visit him in prison is Nell Burns; I mean things didn’t exactly end well between them and he hasn’t spoken to her since, avoiding any contact by accepting multiple overseas missions. Her faith in him is unwavering though and as she tries to clear his name Nell unwittingly becomes a target, forcing these former lovers on the run. When it becomes evident that Crash is going to give his life to keep Nell safe and find the man responsible for killing the Admiral SEAL Team 10 enters the picture to back up our boy.