hippieed perceptions

Since it's been a while since I've shared...

This is actually my daughter's favorite song by the Doors, when she'll admit to liking them.  It's off their 3rd studio album Waiting for the Sun which was released in July of 1968. It was largely considered a "disappointment" at the time, only peaking at 16 in the US (but 1 in the UK).  Jim was headlong into his alcoholism and drugs, so this was kind of pieced together however they could.  The song itself was written by the band as a whole, but you can obviously hear Jim's contribution through the heavy Native American influences throughout the song. This was a commonality for a lot of the songs that Jim wrote himself due to his belief that the spirt of a Shaman traveled through him after witnessing a car accident when he was 4 years old.   

"Germany's proclamation outraged President Wilson; on February 10, 1915...warned that he would hold Germany 'to strict accountability' for any incident in which an American ship was sunk or Americans were injured or killed.  He stated, further, that America would 'take any steps it might be necessary to take to safeguard American lives and property and to secure to American citizens the full enjoyment of their acknowledged rights on the high seas."

I'll admit to not knowing more than the basics about the Lusitania, but I am already seeing exactly how huge it's implications are going to be.  I'm really curious to see the ideas that are going to be presented by Larson.  

This serial was HILARIOUS! Absolute ridiculousness, unbelievable hijinks and questionable intsa-love, but not a f*ck is given because I could not stop laughing. I'll definitely be checking out further books from this author!

FYI, this boxed set is currently $0.99 on Amazon, also including a Christmas short.

Holy crap that ending!  I need book 2 to happen right now.  

In all honesty, I'm not up for reviewing because I feel the need to read as much as humanly possible between now and Wednesday before I have to drag myself back into textbook world.  This semester is kicking my butt.  

So, to keep this short and sweet.  

I loved the world building that happened toward the end.  I loved the relationship development between Noa, Callum and Judah, toward the end.  I loved the twist and turns that happened, again toward the end.  Seeing a pattern develop here?  Shattered Blue started off incredibly slow, even for someone who doesn't really mind the slow burners.  There was just enough to keep me going, but nothing that really made me fully commit. Until it did.  Judah entering the scene turned the corner of the story for me, and not because of the whole love triangle thing that I'm sure he was meant to be.  It was more that the characters seemed to be a little superficial until he popped up; adding his story line allowed the other characters to fully break the surface that they were originally lingering just below.  But given the character and storyline development in the last quarter of the book, I'm expecting good things from the last two books of the series. Really good things.  

So, thankfully Karina timed the release of this book to perfectly coincide with my week off of school. Coincidence? I think not. (I'm lying, it totally was but just let me lie to myself.)

Before I get into the actual book, I'm going to discuss a couple of things.

One is that Tom Hardy is the muse for Lachlan. Tom Hardy. TOM HARDY!

God, I heart Tom Hardy so freaking much.

I'm not normally obsessed with actors (I'm more of a musician kind of girl) but something about him just flips my skirt. Literally and figuratively.

Two is that Karina not only committed to donating $1 of all her presale profits to various animal charities, but she also decided to donate 100% of her release day profits and extend out her $1 of her profits until her original goal of $10,000 is reached. As someone who only has every had rescue pets and has spent countless hours volunteering at rescues, this is something that only makes me love her more and I was already pretty obsessed. So, if you are on the fence on buying this for whatever (insane) reason, that alone should make you just want to take the step over the fence. You know you want to save the puppies.

So, onto the actual book.

The Play follows along with the previous two books within this series. Yes, it can be read on it's own without you being completely lost, but it helps to read the previous two. This book, however, has a slightly different feel to it. Lachlan is an entirely different beast that his McGregor cousins all together. He doesn't automatically draw you in with his charm and charisma. Yes, those of us who have had months of joy from being bombarded with Tom Hardy gifs/pics such as above had the outstanding mental picture of his outward charms, but it took me a while to really understand the kind of person that he is. It was the same with Kayla for me. Kayla is first two books never really made me want to just love her. I liked her, but she never really just stood out for me. This is one of my favorite things about how Karina writes her characters though, sometimes it takes a while for me to fully warm up to them but when I finally do it was worth the wait. Maybe it's because I'm one of those people that generally needs the warming up process for others to really handle my personality, but whatever the reason it is what makes me love Karina's writing and characters. They may not be immediately lovable, but it makes them all to more realistic and human and I'd much rather have human than ridiculous fantasy.

Anyway, I got off on a tangent there.

I loved this book, mostly because of the above mentioned rantiness. Neither Kayla or Lachlan were perfect, actually they could be downright frustrating. But they found something they needed in each other and that gave them the willingness to fight for each other, even when they didn't want to at times. That is what love is though, fighting for each other even when you don't want too at times. It's being willing to battle with demons, yours and your love's. It's also knowing when you need to not battle those demons and allowing your partner to realize that they need to find the strength to want to fight for themselves. It's also seeing through initial impressions and other people's superficial thoughts into who that person really is. That is what this book is for me. Both Kayla and Lachlan went into this story with preconceived notions about themselves hanging over their heads. I mean, they both got respective warnings about the other about what to expect. But the both were able to see through all of that and really see each other..

"I can see all your cracks and your darkness and your flaws and I fall in love with it all. And I hope you can fall in love with everything that I am, all that lurks in my dark, all that shines in my light. I want you to love every little piece of me, because it all belongs to you.”

Kayla and Lachlan's story wasn't all wine and roses. They are both two flawed people who are struggling with their own demons. But doesn't that make for the best happy endings when they finally get it together? Maybe I'm just feeling all sappy and emotional, but every part of this book made a little part of me sigh with joy.  Maybe I felt my black heart had a kindred spirit with similarly black-hearted Kayla. Maybe I was riding the high of mentally picturing Tom Hardy is oh so many interesting scenes, but whatever it was, it worked in a big way for me.  

Hey, it's another Kristen Ashley book that follows the same exact storyline as 48 out of 49 of her other books.  I want so badly for her to do something new and exciting.  So badly.  

The plus side for this is that, despite being the same storyline, it's still entertaining.  One scene actually got me seriously choked up because the emotions were just spot on.  Seriously spot on.  Kudos for KA for absolutely hitting the nail on the head with that one.  It isn't terribly often lately when her books can do that for me anymore, they've just become too repetitious.  So, I have to give credit when credit is due.  

The downside is obviously the fact that we are just getting the same thing over and over again.  I say this again and again when I review KA's newest releases, so I'm sure everyone is tired of seeing it almost as much as I am tired of saying it.  It's frustrating all around that I keep hoping that something will change and it never happening.  I wish I could just convince myself to stop reading her books.  But I'm a masochist and I just can't do it.  I hope that once she finally starts a new series that it will actually be new series.  Please Kristen Ashley, for the love of Jim, write a NEW SERIES with a completely NEW STORYLINE.  See this (somewhat rectangular, but go with it) box ----> []?  STEP OUT OF IT and see what else you can do.  

I thought I'd take some time from staring longingly at real books in between studying to share pics of my kitties on this National Cat Day.  I love my babies, even if they both  spurn my love for the husband who doesn't like cats.  Probably because he doesn't insist that they cuddle with him and take numerous pictures. 

I'll admit that I only made it to book 2 in this series prior to reading this and it was a struggle to actually finish book 2 for me. I'm unsure if book 3 and the other novellas would have changed my opinion of this book entirely, but honestly I came for Criminy and Tish. I don't care about anyone else, however I may check out Demi's book at some point now.

Anyhoo. I loved getting this final glimpse of Criminy and Tish. And Criminy. Did I mention Criminy? No? Well, Criminy Stain. He is one of my favorite Bludmen/Vampire characters ever. Dawson does amazing things with his character, to the point that even when you hate Tish, you still love her a little because he loves her so much. The love, the snark, the vicious, the smarts...you just can't go wrong with his character.

Now on to the downside. I don't generally don't care for Tish unless she is with Criminy. Thank god, she usually is. There is just something about her character that I can't bring myself to love. So, the entire storyline with her and her Nana just bored me senseless. You understand the reasons behind the entire storyline, but at the same time it annoyed me how THAT storyline was what finally spurred the advancement of Tish and Criminy's relationship. So, you lose some you win some I guess.

Overall, you won't really enjoy this if you aren't already accustomed to the awesomeness that is Criminy Stain, but even then (for me at least), some of the magic that was Wicked As They Come was lost in this book. However, even if wasn't the same, Criminy was still capable of spinning his own wicked brand of magic in this book as well that makes it more than readable. A definite must read for fans.

School is still sucking all life out of my book reading time.  As in I haven't even been able to start a book in weeks.  It's horrible and makes me want to punch people.  

HOWEVER. 

Karina Halle's latest work, The Play, is up for preorder and she's donating $1.00 out of her profits from all of said preorders to animal rescues to be determined via FB vote closer toward the release date of October 27th.  So far she's up to $1600 to be donated, with a goal of $10,000.  So, if you are down for a contemporary romance and helping to save the kitties and doggies, the preorder links are below! 

Amazon--http://www.bit.ly/ThePlay-Kindle

iBooks--http://bit.ly/ThePlay-iBooks

B&N--http://bit.ly/ThePlay-NOOK

Anyone that has been following my reviews for a decent amount of times know that I have a bit of an unhealthy relationship with Kristen Ashley.  She's like that boyfriend that you know is bad for you but you just keep giving him one more chance.  I have no self control. 

That being said, Hold On was a welcome throw back to a day when her books made me actually feel something more than frustration over reading the exact same story over and over again. The 'Burg series is my least favorite of all of KA's series (with the exception of At Peace because JOE) but Hold On definitely served to cap this series off on a high note.

The best part of this book was above and beyond Cher.  She was a good mother, bent over backwards to make sure everyone she loved knew it and she knew what she wanted and had no problems fighting to keep him.  KA has a habit of having female characters who wanted someone but they fight tooth and nail to keep them at a distance.  It's no surprise that my favorite female characters are the one who have no qualms "holding on" to who they want.  Cher, of course, goes in understandably wary given their respective histories but she never once plays the I don't actually want you games.

Merry, though...Well, I just wasn't really a fan.  He was another in a line of KA alpha's that just don't live up to the characters who made me love KA once upon a time.  I finished this last night and I'm sitting here trying to nail down specific characteristics but I just don't have any.  He was boring.  Boring.  

And on to the worst.  The main reason why The Burg is my least favorite series is just that the crime storylines of this series are weak.  All of them.  Even the serial killer storyline is weak.  I mean, Dennis Lowe hacked people to death with an axe and it was still boring.  And the extension of his storyline is this book was downright laughable, not to mention the smaller storyline that was mixed in. However, I knew going into this that I needed to just skim the attempts at a crime story so it wouldn't bog down the book for me.  

Anyhoo.  I know tons o' people still obsessively love KA books, even I've read and reread some of her older books an embarrassing amount of times.  Hold On doesn't hold a candle to those (and KA fans will know which ones I'm talking about) but it's still better than most of what she has put out in the last year or two.  If you have already read the Burg series, it is worth reading at least the epilogue of this book. If you haven't read the Burg series, just stick with At Peace and thank me later.  

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Talk about a loss to the world.  =( 

This is me every time I go to pick up a book and then remember that school has started back and I have to do tons o' homework and study instead.  (This is also me at pretty much every Saints game, except Rob's hair is so much more thick and wavier than mine.  I'd be jealous if he hadn't completely sucked it up with the Saints' defense.)

I love school, and I especially love it now that I actually started the actual Respiratory therapy program and the end of school is nigh.  I don't love severely cutting into my non-school related reading time though.  Hopefully once I get back in the swing of things, I'll have more reading time.  It's really for the best for everyone.  

And here's a pic of Jim Morrison and some random dog.  You are welcome! 

But really.  I do actually have a dog, Bear as in Bear Bryant, because you aren't truly from Alabama unless you have a pet or a kid named after Bear Bryant.  He even has a houndstooth-esque pattern on his chest.  Or he used too before everything started going gray, the poor pup.  Living with sociopathic cats ages him fast. 

I have a love/hate relationship with Stephen King.  I love his books, but man can they be hard to read.  But I digress. 

Christine definitely isn't my favorite King to date and oddly enough part of that reason was because of the movie.  I say that not because the movie was a miraculous work of art, but rather because I just found it scarier how the relationship between Arnie and Christine was portrayed in the movie.  A car as a sentient being in a warped possessive kind of love with her owner is, in my mind, far creepier than one that is possessed by it's epic douchebag of a previous owner determined to get back at all of the shitters.  

However, I really liked how in depth King took the possession storyline in the book.  The level that it was taken, the imagery behind some of the scenes was everything that I love about reading King's books.  I generally have a very vivid imagination, but I love that I really can't think of much creepier than those of the images that he can portray though his books.  It makes me all happy inside to get genuinely disturbed by some of the mental pictures a person can invoke.  

Anyhoo, so overall.  Not terribly scary, better and worse than the movie for different reasons but there were still moments where I wondered if I'd be able to look at a Fury the same way now.  So it's still a win, even if it isn't as much of one that I would have hoped.

Now I need some more horror to read.  I want to not be able to sleep well at night after I finish... 

I read this in one sitting and I am now filled with regret for not waiting until closer to the release date for the next one.   Thank Jim that the Andrews duo do not follow in GRRM's writing footsteps.

 This book wasn't quite as strong as the last couple that I have read.  There were moments where it dragged* ever so slightly, but it was nothing that really detracted from the overall story line.  We still had all of the awesomeness that you've come to expect from this series in general.  My only issues that I missed more of the boy wonder and I'm really, really ready for Kate and Curran to move on to the next level.  The little hints we got toward the end helped ease some of that pain though.  I'm just ready for the next one already.  

If you aren't already, read this series, people!   

*Do you use dragged or drug?   Growing up Southern, I heard drug used much more often than dragged but drug just doesn't sound right to me.  I had one of those moments where you forget exactly what word you should use, so had to google to find out for sure, lol.   

This is like a vain persons dream post!  

Tis me, while the husband and I went on our post-deployment kidless vacation.  He had a birthday, Christmas, Valentine's, Mother's Day, & 8th Anniversary to make up for, so on to San Francisco we went.

 I'm the unimpressed redhead on Audrey's right, if there was any confusion, lol.  Madame Tussad's was not my thing.