I, of course, had to watch this movie since Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are in it. I love both of their acting. Netflix tagline for the film: Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Noah Baunbach directs this incisive and compassionate look at … Continue reading
It Started With a Click by Estelle WilkinsonWith the emergence of the internet came amazing connections of people.“It Started With a Click” is another extremely romantic, comedic, and realistic showing of how it feels step by step to bond with someone you’ve never met…over the internet.
In this sweet and convincing account Catherine and Damien meet when she decides to purchase some tickets to a rugby game and subsequently begins a conversation with the seller. This book provides a fascinating look at the behaviors, emotions, and antics on how we communicate and develop something from a friendly chat into an intense and deeply moving relationship.
I was instantly hooked by the preface alone. The author promptly draws you in, shows you how ‘real’ this all is. The relationship and its desirable bond of the two main characters is read via emails and instant messages. Don’t be fooled by the supposedly mundane tête-à-têtes; instead see it for what it is really is…what you yourself experience when beginning a relationship. Sometimes…instant connections don’t always start with a bang…but I promise…there are quite a few bangs in the book.
I really appreciated this book in an entertaining manner but also in a psychological approach. (Sorry, it’s the therapist in me). I opened the book…and dived right in. I had been reading only a few seconds (or so it felt) when I realized I was already on chapter 3. This happened throughout the entire book.
I can totally relate to the writer…how she could get so completely pulled into Damien’s words. He had me blushing and flushed at moments and it was so easy to fall for his quirky antics I had to momentarily look over and kiss my husband to remind me of where I was.
Another thing I really liked about this book was how I kept applying my own previous relationships to how this one was going. I actually had to stop reading for a time and say…”You go girl!” at certain parts and flush because I was amazed at her braveness here and her shyness there. I can’t write more otherwise I’d give something away…and you know me…no spoilers allowed!
My verdict: 8/10
I would totally have given this novel a 9 or 10 if the author had included more sidebar comments. I loved reading how she felt…but the small snippets of how she felt, what her thoughts were, and so on…it just wasn’t enough. Left me wanting for more….which is good…and bad. LOL (Imagine me stomping my feet and screaming…more! I want more!) Yup just what I did. But guess what folks? More is coming. Watch out for book 2!
It all started with an innocent download onto my Kindle Fire. I didn’t even have to pay for the first book in her Jolie Wilkins Series. But of course…isn’t that how addictions are created? Ha! So I must admit this first novel is either a big hit or a big miss and you either love or hate it. For those who love it…the books keep getting better. (But I must stay on book one.)
If you keep up with the site I had opened the book as a FIRST & LAST experience in which I reviewed the first and last sentences. Even in my orginal review I was eager to propel myself into the story. I wasn’t disappointed in the least.
Jolie is your basic run of the mill tarot card reader and psychic. She operates her business with her best friend and she isn’t making mad money with her skills but she does know that her skills are real. And oh how real they are! Continue reading
I remember, back in the day of newspapers, turning to see the NOW SHOWING IN THEATERS page and reading over the reviews of current films. You’d often see a star rating or even a thumbs up/down rating. I never allowed … Continue reading
Up To Me by M. Leighton
The Bad Boys Series by M. Leighton welcomes the second installment Up to Me. If you remember, my review of Down to you was given rave reviews on this site. I was thrilled with the novel. So I was very much the eager woman when I learned book two was finally available.
We left off in book one where Olivia Townsend learns the truth of the Cash/Nash ordeal (the hot and bothered, sexy bad boys). M. Leighton left us with a mysterious stalker like presence in book one.
Up to Me opens the scene with Olivia and Cash, still in that stage of ‘can’t get enough of each other’ and still, Olivia deals with her unfortunate history of getting way too involved with the wrong types of men. She doesn’t trust herself and she is constantly doubting Cash. And yet she is head over hills for him. Continue reading
An army veteran is sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms after he assassinated a number of high-profile government figures. He is locked away in solitary confinement which, he actually prefers. He counts the days of his imprisonment by the number of times he is allowed to go outside. As the number of days continue to grow he finds it odd that everyone around him is changing but he himself remains the same.
He is not alone however. Others have noticed his inability to change; to age. Soon, the army veteran is visited by a doctor who takes numerous blood samples and then leaves abruptly. For the longest time, he does not see another doctor and things remain the same. Until one day, he is visited by a different doctor. One who puts him to sleep. When he awakes he is in an entirely new solitary confinement. Continue reading
The Song of an Innocent Bystander by Ian Bone (2004)
When Freda was nine years old she and her family goes to eat out. Freda is psyched because normally her mother Nancy would never agree to such a place as Family Value. So when her kids meal doesn’t include the sticker she so badly wanted she talks her dad into letting her go back in to get her sticker. With determination, Freda walks straight to the front counter unaware of the man who is standing on top one of the tables holding a gun.
Ten years later, Freda is still haunted by the ghosts of her past, by the unspoken secrets, and suffers under the protective arms of her mother who is hellbent on making sure corporations don’t allow such victimization to continue. The tragedy she endured however is brought back to surface when she begins to receive phone calls. Someone knows about one of her unspoken secrets. And then there is William, a college student who wants to interview her. His styles of interviewing are unlike anyone Freda has ever spoken to and she doesn’t know exactly what to make of him or his questions. Continue reading
(The Girl in the Box Series) Book 1
Sienna Nealon is seventeen years old. She has lived in her house with her mother since she was five years old. Her mother, who never ever let her outside of the house has a few rules. Some of these include: stay dressed at all times, wear your gloves at all times, don’t go outside ever, among others. She is punished whenever she breaks the rules her mother sets. When Sienna breaks a rule, her mother punishes her.
One day her mother disappears after punishing Sienna. After many days of no return, Sienna is forced to break a lot of rules when she finds two strangers in her home. On the run and in a world she’s never seen before, Sienna is uncertain of who to trust or where to go. But when she comes up against Wolfe, who’s in the mood to play with his prey before he finally does the job he was sent to do, Sienna finds herself nearly dead on the concrete ground one minute and in the care of the Directorate the next. Continue reading
Maddy, Christine, and Amy have come to support their best friend, Jane Redding, who has just recently published her first book, “How to Have a Perfect Life”. They are amazed and just super thrilled for Jane but are also a bit envious that Jane has somehow done what they have yet to do, which is to have the perfect life.
The three of them get to talking and of course being best friends, they are quick to point out the other’s fears and obstacles. They decide to risk it all after Jane’s success and use her book to propel them towards their own perfect lives. In this first book, which by the way this is a trilogy, Maddy Hills is the main character.
Maddy turned away from her first love, Joe, when she was in high school thanks to winning a full scholarship to an awesome art school. She didn’t look back or regret her choice either. At least, that’s what she tells herself every day. After meeting an accountant and marrying him, she suffers through his slow death thanks to cancer. In the midst of caring for him and making sure his business was always a constant success, she ended up turning away from her passion of art. Continue reading
Have you ever been asked “if you could have any superpower…” and then you mentally begin listing off all that you can think of? Telepathy is always one of those that’s listed (but rarely ever chosen). Well, Mark Tullius doesn’t treat telepathy as a superpower in his book Brightside. In fact, the world is afraid of those who can hear others’ thoughts. So much so, that those can are hunted down, rounded up, and sent to live up in the beautiful mountain town of Brightside. Although they are told Brightside is just like anywhere else, perhaps even a nicer place compared to lots of others, it definitely has its down falls. As in millions of miles down! They are isolated and the only way out is to jump off one of the cliffs.
Joe Nolan opens his world to us. He explains how he and others like him are called ‘Thought Thieves’ and how none of them ever had the choice of being the way they were. He has been at Brightside for 100 days but it’s going to be the last day he spends there. He talks of escape for some of his friends; others aren’t so fortunate. But before he can go further with his life sharing, he has to take us back; Back to day 39, back to events in his childhood, back to the people in his life because there is a lot of explanations and even more questions. Continue reading
