New digs finally!

Day five in my new digs, all moved in - now I just have to sort everything and find a place for it, at the moment the kitchen and one of the bedrooms is full of boxes. I don't know how I have all this crap, but hell if there ain't some treasures just busting for the pool room - I'll have to take photos and share.

Apart from that, everything has gone well, Sam has settled in, my clothes are in the wardrobe and I even managed to read a few chapters of Corralled by Lorelei James. It's part of the Black Top Cowboys series. And so far, so awesome, which I'm happy about, I've been waiting ages for it to arrive.  I just wish I could stay awake long enough to finish more than a chapter at a time!

Just a quick update, as this is Sam's first full day alone, although I did go home at lunch time to check on her, so it's back to the unpack. Le sigh.

C.

DVD Reviews - With something for everyone!

Prom - This wasn’t too bad, but I think I’m getting too old to watch these movies.  They don’t shine quite as bright as they used to.  Or maybe I'm turning into a horrible cynic!  It was terribly predictable, I’m pretty sure I managed to work out the major plot points and what was going to happen to each character before I watched it.  But what the hell, I love a cheesy movie and it was the perfect movie to watch for NYE.   

And hello new eye candy – although I’m almost 99% sure I’m old enough to be his mother, come on down Thomas McDonell!  He’s Jesse, the angsty hotness counterpart to Nova, the good girl who’s got it all worked out.  This will obviously get compared to High School Musical, and while yes, it is set in a high school, there are teenagers, there are no dance numbers and the storyline is a little older.   

I guess the best way to sum this up is: don’t judge a book by its cover, follow your dreams and don’t rely on others for your happiness.  Don’t lie and cheat – because karma’s a bitch.  And most importantly – bro’s over ho’s.

Fanboys - I’m not a fan of Star Wars by any means, but this was a fun way to pass the afternoon.  And really who doesn’t love a road movie, with awesome cameos – it’s William ‘F*cking’ Shatner and a very scary Seth Rogan.   

Overall this was a lot of fun, I'm a fan of road movies – but it’s still not good enough to make me watch the first Star Wars movies…and nothing will EVER change my mind on that!  I thought the epic fight between the Star Wars / Trek fans was awesome and I loved George Lucas' 'house' was brilliant, I'd make my security dress up as storm troopers if I could!

Eight Legged Freaks - I remember this film from way back, it’s still as silly as I remember.  It’s too ridiculous to be really scary, but it still had me jumping and checking my sheets before I climbed into bed that night.  I do love a good ‘dumped toxic waste or leaked steroids/chemicals that can create mutant wildlife’ story – who could forget the awesome ‘Ticks’ movie? (The link takes you to ‘Infested’, which is what it was called in the US, but ‘Ticks’ on IMDb has the correct movie poster, but the wrong synopsis.  

 My favorite bit is still the jumping spiders as they chase guys on motorbikes through the desert.  Really silly, but the perfect way to forget everything, unwind and have fun for a bit.

 Eden Lake - Ok this wasn’t exactly what I expected.  I enjoyed it yes (as much as one can enjoy a movie like this), but I didn’t think it would be so good.  It had me thinking about it for the next few days – both how I felt about the movie and what I’d do if that was happening to me.  Maybe good isn’t the right word – terrifying perhaps, scary even.   

For those faint of heart, this isn’t the movie for you.  While there is some swearing, compared to the gore and violence it’s nothing.  This had me cringing, biting my lip and hiding my face.  And I think it’s made all the worse because the violence is steeped in reality.  I could see this really taking place – something, not quite as violently has happened in my town. 

This was far from a perfect movie in terms of plot, or actions of some of the characters.  At times I got frustrated by some of the characters actions, and I will never get why Jenny and Steve didn’t just leave, although there was that, I don't think that detracted too much from the story.  When the final credits rolled I was left staring at the screen, thinking ‘What? That’s it? Seriously.’  It was a tightly wound, perfectly combined thriller/horror film.


C.

Pack Mistress 1 & 2

After my vow to not buy any new series in 2012 and to finish as many off my Mt. TBR - what did I do - I went and bought a new series.  Kind of!  After reading a review of the second installment in the series on Awesomesauce Book Club, I was all "I just have a little peek" on Amazon.  What I found was an interesting take on on a book series.  The author, Evelyn Lafont is releasing her new book in serial format.  What does that mean fearless reader...it means that Pack Mistress #1 was released in late December, PM #2 in January and from February onwards another installment will be released every second month.

Huh?  I hear you say.  Which was kinda my thoughts at first.  When I love a book, I just want to read it all, in one big gulp.  But what if I could extent the fun over the year?  And that's what Lafont has done, taken a normal length book and split it into bite sized pieces, each around 30 pages.  With all the other things I had to do over the weekend, (rather than pack all my stuff - I'm tempted to chuck it and start again!), all I managed to read were the two excepts.  So this was perfect for me. 

So just what are you in for if you decide to read Pack Mistress...some very sexy werewolf action - in and out of the bedroom, an angry phone stalker, some forbidden love, one tired pack mistress, (I'm not sure how she does it!), and a little art appreciation.

All werewolf packs need a sexual outlet. For south Florida’s Red Wolf pack, the sexy, liberated and infertile werewolf Lorena is it.  Not your average Were, Lorena satisfies the males like no other wolf can. But as much as she enjoys her role as pack mistress, she longs for something she’s never had. A mate she can call her own…

I enjoyed both of these, read one after the other.  Lorena is a well written character and I look forward to seeing how she progresses as the book unfolds.  It's an interesting premise, having a 'pack mistress', something that I haven't come across before and while Lorena is supposed to be subsurvient, Lafont has written her as a strong woman, which I like.  Yes there is a lot of sex for such a small book, but it's creative and well written.  I'm hanging out for more of the art gallery and another encounter with R.W - who I'm guessing is going to become somewhat of a fixture for Lorena.  Roll on February, I need a pack fix!  Until then a reread wouldn't go astray - always a sign of a good book.

As you can see, I got the pics of the covers from Amazon.com and here's a link to Evelyn Lafont's site, where you can read an excerpt of Pack Mistress.

Until next time, enjoy.

C.

One down, fifty one to go...

I can't quite believe that the first week of January 2012 is almost over.  It's gone past in a blur and I feel like I haven't really done anything - but hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll have finished AT LEAST one of the books I've started over the past week and a half.  I've been in a reading funk, I want to read, but don't know exactly what I feel like, so I've started a few different books, but none have hit the spot. 

What has everyone else been reading?  Have you found that magical book to kick off the new year with?  What ever the case may be, I hope that the weekend gives you time to relax, kick back and enjoy this lovely summer weather, (unless of course it's Winter where you are, then look on the bright side - you have snow!).

C.

Posts on the fly

Just a lil' update, I'm all excited as I can now blog via email.  Fingers crossed this makes it a litte easier to post.

C.

Happy New Year!!

Wow 2012 already, it felt like 2011 has just flown by.  I hope everyone had a lovely and relaxing Christmas and New Year break.  It's my first day back at work today, (I'm not counting that I had to work Christmas and New Years eve's).  I gotta say, I'm not really feeling it yet.  Maybe it's 'cause I wasn't really in the holiday spirit this year, I was over it before I started. 

But I am glad it's January, it means that I only have 10 days until I move into my new house.  That I'm excited about.  I can't wait until I have a place all my own - even if I don't own the house.  It will still be mine, with my thing surrounding me.  To celebrate, I've bought myself some new housey things, new sheets, towels, and I'm planning my gardening planting - a little veggie patch and some colourful flowers to brighten things up.  But I'm trying to not get too far ahead of myself as I already have a storage shed full of stuff.

I'm not sure what the new year will bring, changes yes, big and small.  I'm hoping to get back into studying and not waste my time anymore,  I'd love to get my degree finished this year, but I'm thinking, it'll be next year at the earliest.  I have a big box of new DVD's to watch and an even bigger Mt. TBR that I need to start reading. I'm going to start planning the next big holiday - I'm looking at starting with a round the world ticket, so I can visit the Brits again, but lookout Americas - I plan to storm your shores at my earliest possible convenience!  Then there's my butt - I'm hoping to decrease the size of it in 2012.  Not 100% sure what my plan of attack is just yet, but I know there is going to be one.  I hesitate to call them 'resolutions', as I kinda feel I'm setting myself up to fail, I prefer 'lifestyle changes', that way it's about changing something permenently, rather than for the first couple of months.

What about you guys??  Any big plans for 2012? Small ones?  No changes at all?  Either way, I hope that 2012 brings you everything and more of what you need and want.

C.