Jan 27, 2014

Tonight is the Beginning of Their End

My favorite romance series is coming to an end. It is very sad when an author says “I’m sorry guys; this will be the last one.” Tonight at 9:00 pm PST I will begin to devour the final book in the Night Huntress series written by Jeaniene Frost. Thank you Amazon once again for the magic that is whispersync. Instead of waiting for a store to open with the book on the shelf I will receive it automatically at midnight on the east coast. Which is still early enough for me to start reading and not stop until… well… who needs sleep? I can even read it on my phone under the covers when it gets too late! Book hangovers are better than the alcohol induced.

Who wouldn't stop
and look at this one?
I first discovered Cat and Bones after Twilight. I know and I’m sorry. But Twilight was my first vampire series and like most of its following I realized I needed more bite in my life. Well at Target, my home away At Grave’s End. A story about a half vampire female who was a vamp assassin sounded right up my alley. I very belatedly (halfway through the book) realized I wasn’t reading book 1 in the series and with much effort made myself stop. This was pre-kindle days so I had to go to the book store and find the first: Halfway to the Grave. This did affect the reading experience for book 1 and 2 slightly. I knew some important facts that I wasn’t supposed to know, having said that, Jeaniene Frost is such a great writer that her books were still wildly entertaining. Let’s not gloss over the fact that they’re “steamy” as well.
from home, I liked the cover of

Steamy = sex. WHAT? Yes, they have sex in the book. This baffles some people. I don’t see why. How many movies have you seen with love scenes? Full frontal nudity? It happens. Is that the best part of this series? It is definitely not. Cut those pages out and it’s still a hell of a series. There’s well described fight scenes, plot twists, friendships, betrayals, secrets, misunderstandings, cursing… all things I want in a book.

One of my favorite things about Cat is her “potty mouth”. I relate to that. Sorry that I’m not sorry for it. Even better is her inner monologue. She thinks things that are just so hilarious and it’s even more amusing if someone near her reads her mind. Cat was wronged early in life and finds her way by carving through bad bad vampires. Of course she gets thrown for a loop when she meets her match, Bones.

Oh, Bones. His character is just too good for his own good. If a fictional character makes you smile thinking about them, please hand the author an award. It’s not about the way he’s described physically. It’s his characteristics. Jeaniene Frost dangles him out there with the traits a good amount of women look for in a partner: loyalty, strength, brilliance, and a fierce need to protect. Don’t we all want to feel so cherished that our partner would do ANYTHING to protect us? Frost could tell me he has mismatched eyes (which admit is kinda cool) curly purple hair and polka dot skin. It wouldn’t matter. When a character is described my mind materializes its own image and sound for their voice based on the characteristics that are expressed in the story. That’s what makes Bones my favorite lead male in any book I’ve read so far.

I am excited and terrified of the release of Up From the Grave tonight.
The story has become so special to me that you’d think I knew them in real life. It’s no secret that when I read, I dive into the story and live there for a while. It explains why I want to force my friends to read my books and demand they report back to me. Sorry girls, I’m just so enthusiastic when I really love a good story. Four out of five friends I recommended this series to loved it and follow Cat and Bones with me. That sounds like a fake dental statistic for commercials but I swear to you that the numbers are real.

Jan 16, 2014

No Year's Resolution!

The last post was in November 2013?! Has nothing in my life amounted to a blog post in the last two months?

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I'm one of those super cool people who think they're super cool because they don't need a new year to make changes. Some 8% of resolutions are actually kept. The gym is packed every January - February before it burns out. So why mention it?

For years I've said, "I'm going to run a marathon one day." You can imagine where this is going. I haven't ran a marathon yet. In December I started paying more attention to my food choices and daily water intake. I also started doing yoga again almost everyday. I even tried to do it while the baby was still awake simply because my daughter wanted to do yoga with me. Look how that turned out.


Today after work I'm going to start "running". I've downloaded an app with a plan to get me to the Shamrock Run in March, a 5k. I have friends with the same goals so if the app doesn't get me there, I know them dragging me along will. I didn't make this plan anywhere near the new year holiday so it is NOT a resolution. Remember, I'm cooler than that. ;)