Read Drink and Be Bloggy

Howdy again, folks!  J R Ward just released the latest Black Dagger Brotherhood book this week: Lover Reorn!  YUM!  Although I have some favorite (and some not-so-favorite) books in this series, I am still actively following the series.
I have mixed feelings about reading this book; mainly because it tells the story of Tohrment.  For those who have read some or all of the series, Tohrment has already had a "love of his life"/mate - Wellsie. I LOVED the character Wellsie - and I was utterly HEARTBROKEN when she (*SPOILER*) died a few books into the series.  Really - it was a sad moment.  So, I am not sure if I will like a mate v2.0 when previous lore in the Black Daggerhood series made it clear that Tohrment and Wellsie loved each other fully, utterly, and passionately.
This book is on my uber current to-read list - as in, I will be reading it over the weekend.  Once I have it all read I will let you know my overall thoughts in a new post: Bookshelf of Holding :: Lover Reborn Review.  It will contain spoilers, so you have been warned!

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Rhianna (Check me out at Good Reads to see what is on my bookshelf!)

"In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. The city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Now back in the Brotherhood - and unrecognisable as the vampire leader he once was - Tohrment is physically emaciated and heartbroken beyond despair. When he begins to see his beloved in his dreams - trapped in a cold, isolating netherworld - Tohr turns to a self-serving fallen angel in hopes of saving the one he has lost. When he's told he must learn to love another to free his former mate, Tohr knows they are all doomed...

Except then a female with a shadowed history begins to get through to him. Against the backdrop of the raging war with the lessers, and with a new clan of vampires vying for the Blind King's throne, Tohr struggles between the buried past, and a very hot, passion-filled future...but can his heart let go and set all of them free?"

     Imagine being thrown in to a lab study course with absolutely zero training, no tried and true lab books, and no real professor. That's what it’s like to be a parent. Sure, there are books aplenty but what worked for one parent may not work for you, and what worked for ten parents most likely gives you a headache, and you better believe that if it worked for every other parent you have ever met you can forget it having a snowballs chance in hell with you. You'll try every suggestion and your kid will still look at you in such a way that makes you positive that if your precious little angel could talk they'd be saying "ha! Yeah right, ya dummy, better luck next time!"

     The best part is that what one day was a gummy smiling little bundle of happiness will the next become a raging, teething, nonsleeping kick your kidneys till they are black and blue ball of fury (should you do what I did and keep the baby in bed with you). As we speak its 1030 pm and I firmly believe that the db's insistence at giving baby a couple sips of coke at the 8pm dinner has caused baby to be laying T-boning me and repeatedly using both feet to try to kick in my liver. I know of course that in about 10 minutes he will pass out and become Mommy’s little angel once more, but in the mean time I'm writing to keep my frustration at a minimum.
     The Dh may not always be around to hand baby off to, and I may get called in to take over when he decides he no longer knows what to do with baby, but at least he’s there! These single moms I know... well they are quite simply amazing. How DO they do it?! And I have an easy kid!! I mean, I have the world’s easiest going child! What I consider throwing a fit is equivalent to some of my friends kids minor fussing. My mom reminds me hourly how lucky I am and how abnormally mellow tempered my son is. Still, to me, we have our hair pulling moments, too. Typically it’s him pulling my hair though, as opposed to me pulling out my own. We couldn't both do it or I’d have no hair left.
     The point, of this rather pointless entry, is that there IS no studying for being a good parent, there's no perfect parent (though there are definitely really crappy ones out there), but we all do what we can and for THAT we should give ourselves a pat on the back... Or better yet, grab your best mommy friend and pat her on the back…preferably while sobbing outyou’re your frustrations, cause you all know none of us would make it without each other to lean on.
     One thing you can be sure of: there's always someone that's going to judge you... just don't let that person be yourself! Unless you're one of those crappy parents, but, since you're reading this, you probably aren't one of those. Love you all my mommy friends. You get me through the tough times.

    

Howdy!  I'm Rhianna and I'll be regularly guest posting on Read, Drink, and Be Bloggy. I am hoping to bring a new paranormal romance book review (or general post on romance novels) once or twice a month!


Night Play
by: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Night Play is one of my favorite books in the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon.The book tells the love story between Bride McTierney (a human) and Vane Kattalakis (Sherrilyn Kenyon's version of a were wolf).  I really liked the fact that Bride is described as being a size 18 bombshell. Yeah, you read correct: a size 18!  And, that her hero, Vane, loved that about her.  Their story is scrumptious; it includes a mating bond, just desserts on an ex-boyfriend, and even some time travel!  It's an easy, nice read and a great addition to the Dark Hunter series.  This is one book I read over and over again because I genuinely enjoy the story and characters.



Keep Reading!
Rhianna (Check me out at Good Reads to see what is on my bookshelf!)

A Little Drink for Mommy
   the Opinion of an Alcoholic Natural Disaster by Angie (@angiedjw on twitter)

   Being a mom is hard, kids are the best things that can happened to someone ever, also the worse. It's fun & entertaining but it's also difficult, stressful & exhausting, basically it's chaos in diapers. How do I know this? Simple, I'm a Mom. Not just any mom, a mom of 3. My kidlets, as I commonly refer to them, are 8 and 4 years old and then there's the 15 month old. With needing to get 2 kids to 5 different activities and their associated practices and rehearsal times, as well as us both having full time jobs, and being active members of our church, we spend a LOT of time in the car, hurrying around, stressed, and plain simply tired. True we bring it all on ourself but hey we're molding little minds into active healthy members of society. No wonder Mommy needs a drink every now and then. Mommy's drink of choice, a mudslide! Yes MUDSLIDE, a drink made of alcohol named after a natural disaster, fitting for motherhood wouldn't you say?

Making a mudslide is easy (single serving recipe taken from here):

• ¾ oz Kahlúa
• ¾ oz Bailey's Irish Cream
• ¾ oz Absolut vodka
• plenty of ice

   Put it in a blender and let it spin, or put it in a shaker and shake, shake, shake senora, shake your alchy right. Or you can just pour the yummy stuff over ice and drink it like that, which is how I do it.
   I ran out of the Kahlua & Baileys not too long ago and asked Hubby to stop by the liquor store to buy another bottle of each, this was a mistake. Not because he doesn't know what the stuff is but because my empty bottles happen to coincide with New Years. Boy do people like to clear out the liquor for that. Instead of bringing me home the actual liquor he brought me home these:



I took this picture, not sure why these are sideways, maybe the bottles are drunk. I doubt it though.

    Not exactly the same. These are those pre-made drink mixes, that when drank straight from the bottle taste mostly like syrup. You've probably seen similar things like this in a 7-11 or local grocery for margaritas, pina coladas, & daiquiris but those have a lower alcohol %. But same deal, you MUST make these by pouring them over ice into a blender and making them frozen drink style.

Here's an honest review of each of the three:
My Mommy Drink:
  I use a modified version of recipe I found online 3 years ago (sorry can't point you to it since I lost the paper after I memorized it).

• 2 parts (or shots depending on how you chose to measure it) Kahlua
• 2 parts Baileys Irish Cream
• 1 full cup (yep 8 oz) 2%milk (you can also use cream if you'd like it really thick)
• 1 part vodka 

I don't blend it, but yes it is all over ice just as it is, so there is usually a lot of ice in the cup. As I mentioned, I use milk (and count it towards my daily dairy serving). What? It counts if I consume it right?

Baileys Mudslide:
  I made this one first when I ran out of the "real" Mudslide ingredients. I'll admit, I like those frozen drinks when you buy them at a restaurant, maybe they add an extra shot of one of the ingredients to make it extra yum. This didn't taste at all like those. When I made this I felt it was definitely lacking from the mudslides' I'm used to drinking that I make myself. It really should be noted it doesn't taste like the ones at the restaurants, at least not to me. Also, I'd probably have to drink about half the bottle before I felt any sort of effect from the alchol in it. Over the last two months I've mostly made them using this stuff, with no extra shots since again, I'm out.

Kahlua Mudslide:
  I am currently drinking one of these, as in, while I type this review out. See, look:



Woo are you drunk? Cause this cup is totally sitting upright.

   Taste wise it is very similar to the Bailey's one. This one does have a bit more of a syrupy kick to it though. I love syrup, you know, on pancakes. In my drinks, not so much.  I may have become immune to the it's-not-directly-from-the-bottle alchy effect or something. Again I'm thinking half a bottle later I may feel a tingle.
   For both of the pre-made mixes I fill my blender to the 1/4 mark and add twice the ice as the liquid level. It took about 1/4 of the Bailey's bottle before I found a good Ice-Liquid ratio that removed the syrup taste, this is where I got that equation...experimentation.
   Overall the drink mixes are not bad, just not my taste I'd say. If you are a big fan of the mixes from stores, then I suggest giving them a go. Just make sure you have a working blender. The best part of these drink mixes is that my kids "help" me make them by pushing the blender button. What? We're bonding, and I swear Mommy does not drink that much. Yea, I know, setting a bad example, bla bla bla. Hey FIVE activites, rehersals, practices, church activites, work AND they think Mommy's drink looks like chocolate milk so they are allowed to have that while I have my one drink.
   Sadly until those two bottles are empty I'm not allowed to buy the "real" mudslide ingredients.Sad for me of course. Can't waste money or liquor, afterall there is liquor in there and we've got "healthier" sport related activites to spend on. It's an unfair but understandable compromise between Hubbs and I. Next time though, I'm hittin the ABC store myself, otherwise Mommy might be A Big Crank!

A Real Mudslide, see it's not laying over drunk.

 Have you ever drank an alcoholic natural disaster? How was it?

     So I’ve now finished Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep and have moved on to Kiss of Frost (the second book in the series). My feelings about this series, thus far, can be summed up in one word: conflicted. On the one hand Touch of Frost reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Do you remember that one? Harry was such a winey little turd in that book that I found myself yelling at the pages and even threw my book into the laundry basket once or twice. So here’s the breakdown of the story before I go on: Gwen Frost finds herself at a new school, knowing no one, shortly after her mother dies in a car crash caused by a drunk driver (though I have a sneaking suspicion that’s not at all what really happened… only time will tell). This is a pretty basic set up for a very basic story, but, the awesome part of this story is that Gwen is what’s known as a Gypsy. Not the card reading vagabond type, but she has special powers: when she touches things she can see and feel everything an object has been through; whether the object is alive, dead, or inanimate.







By the way, all of these books have been out for a while, I have a serious problem starting series in the middle. If you don't, though, check out By A Thread, which was just released and has gotten FANTASTIC reviews!


Check out all of Jennifer's books at http://www.jenniferestep.com/

For my readers: Have you ever been conflicted or addicted to a book or series? Which ones and why? Please leave comments!

     Have you ever read a How To book? Did you get anything out of it? I’ve tried to read a couple of them over the years and I’ve always been pretty disappointed.