Read Drink and Be Bloggy

This is, sadly, the last book in Angela Knight's Megaverse series that is a new spin on the King Arthur myth. Although this series isn't as strong as others in the paranormal romance category it is a series I have read start to (soon to be) finish and is a good way to pass the time. Characters from previous books make appearances in others, which is always nice. I am sad to see this series ending with this book, but that makes me anticipate this last book all the more!

"In the final book of "New York Times" bestselling author Angela Knight's Mageverse, two werewolves must save humanity from a madman, despite their mutual distrust--and growing passion...
Miranda Drake is the daughter of Warlock, a werewolf sorcerer and sworn enemy of King Arthur. Like her father, she's a werewolf with magical abilities, but after years of abuse from the Alphas in her family, she is determined to stop Warlock from spreading his poison throughout the werewolf population.
Born to a long line of cops, William Justice thinks that protecting Miranda is his chance to redeem himself for not being able to stop Warlock's manipulation of the werewolves into war. But despite Justice's insistence, Miranda has no interest in trusting another dominant Alpha, even if the sexual tension between them is enough to set her aflame.
As Warlock rallies his forces and sets out to destroy Avalon, Miranda and Justice will need to learn how to trust each other--before the spark between them dies along with all of Magekind.."

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

I have mixed feelings about this book: hope and dred. I ADORED the dark hunter universe and series up until Bad Moon Rising. I feel like everything after that hasn't held my interest and isn't as good as those books that came before it. Please understand that Acheron and Night Play are two of my favorite books - but are just so much better than the Dark Hunder universe books that have been coming out more recently (in my opinion). So, I am hoping this book is better, but dredding that it wont be and that eventually I'll give up on the Dark Hunter universe and stop reading the books all together. I guess we'll see...

"The Mayans aren’t the only ones with a 2012 prophecy…
Long before recorded history, there was a warrior so feared that everyone trembled before his wrath. Only a brutal betrayal by the one closest to him could defeat him. But not even death was the end of a man so strong.
The Time Untime approaches…
Kateri Avani has been plagued her entire life with dreams she doesn’t understand. Images of places she’s never been and of a man she’s never seen. Her quest for answers has driven her to Las Vegas where she hopes to finally silence the demons in her mind.
What she never anticipates is coming face to face with the warrior who has haunted her her entire life.
Ren Waya came back from the dead to keep the prophecy he began from coming true and ending the world. For thousands of years, he has fought the same evil that once possessed him. But now that evil has brought back the one person he can’t fight. The one person who once held the most sacred part of him.
His heart.
But if he doesn’t kill Kateri, the deadliest of evils will reemerge and destroy everyone else on the planet. It was a sacrifice he made once.
Will he be able to make it again?"

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

        Warning: HUGE spoilers for those who have not yet read Third Grave Dead Ahead      

     When we last saw Charley Davidson things were not looking so wonderful: Reyes (the Big Bad and oh so yummy son of Satan) had used her as bait to bring Earl Walker out of hiding leading to Charley being tied to a chair and tortured within an inch of her sanity, and, as if those two things weren’t bad enough, while she was laid out in a hospital bed healing from said torture her own father has her arrested for aiding and abetting a known escaped convict (can you guess who?), AND to top it all off we almost lost Garrett Swopes to the other side – yes, the other side. However, Charley did receive her official Guardian: the very ferocious and yet oddly lovey-dovey, Artemis (the Rottweiler pet of the also

This is my kind of guy

 drool worthy Donovan, leader of the biker gang The Bandits)… so I guess that’s my silver lining.

     That was the breath taking, and might I add most annoyingly cliff hangie, ending. So you can well imagine my frustration at having to wait MONTHS until Fourth Grave was due to come out. But, as the Goddess of literary fate would have it, Darynda asked me to do some beta reading for her *SQUEEEEEE*!! I couldn’t believe it! Not only was I going to get to read Fourth Grave before it even hit the email of her editor but I was going to be able to give my opinions on the book! It was going to be my job! W.O.W.    

      I’m gonna digress a moment: Darynda has become such an inspiration for me as a writer and just a wonderful light of guidance in my life; I cannot express enough what this opportunity meant to me. It has given me a new direction and goal in life, and I can tell you all my life was seriously in need of direction and light. I’m now attending college for an English degree with a concentration in writing. I’m going to do what I can to become a professional beta reader. I’m not at all certain I have what it takes to be an actual editor, but just to be able to read for a career and have my opinions matter would be like a dream come true. Okay… and now for what you’ve all been waiting for… 

     Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet picks up with our girl, Chuck, having developed a teeny tiny case of agoraphobia and a huge case of Shopaholic: ensconced in boxes and boxes of Home Shopping Network goodies (*Ahem* things Charley will never use… like cookware) and glued to her TV set watching infomercial after infomercial interrupted by a story on the mysterious bank robbers who have been dubbed “The Gentlemen Theives” She’s also packing heat (no, Reyes is not packed away in one 

of the boxes, ladies – jeez hold your horses) a gun, appropriately named Margaret. Cookie soon reveals to Charley that she has blown through all of their money, even the emergency mocha latte fund is

 dangerously depleted, the two of them run through all of their former clients who they still need to collect money from and come to one conclusion: Reyes Farrow. Oh! Charley and Co. have also vacated their former offices, seeing as how it sits above her traitorous father’s bar.  

     Charley meets Harper a girl who is tormented by a stalker and fears for her life, not having anywhere else to turn Charley brings Harper to a “safe house” and does a little bit of digging into her case. After finding a stuffed rabbit in a cabinet that has been made to look as though its neck has been broken, Charley realizes that Harper may actually be in quite a bit of danger and that this stalker may not just be a cry for attention like her step-mother believes. Charley decides to officially take on Harpers case and get to the bottom of the situation.    

     Headed out again to find Reyes and make him pay up the big bucks, Charley finds herself in a warehouse district, after emptying her wallet of mocha latte cash she looks into a room of men watching cage fighting… that’s right, Reyes Farrow is cage fighting! Moreover, when Charley confronts him about the money she finds out he’s living with Elaine Oaks! Elaine Oaks for goodness sakes! You remember her, she was the obsessed fan of Farrow who paid the guards at the prison to steal things from Reyes and basically had a shrine for him (I really hope she took that embarrassing stuff down before he moved in. AWKWARD!)     After a rather steamy argument Charley notices that Reyes’ next opponent looks a little… disturbed, he’s literally foaming at the mouth and coming right at her! Until Reyes stops him the demons shadow pops out of the man and claws hungrily towards Charley!

     

     That seems like an appropriate place to leave you all hanging at! But, I have been granted the most wonderful privilege of all: I get to choose a snippet from Fourth Grave to share with you! While I could have chosen a love scene, or I could have picked a heart warming scene between Charley and a boy she rescues, oooor I could have chosen to reveal where the hell Garret has been through this whole blog post (!) I chose to, instead, stay true to my inner Chuck and give you… a drunk scene. Enjoy! 
    

     “I’m going to sleep with you,” Gemma said, as she eyed the concoction and rationed in a little more powder.
“You’re not really my type, but okay. How kinky are we talking?”
“Do you think it needs more?” she asked Cookie, studying the bowl.
“One can never have too much powdered sugar,” Cookie said. Then she pointed a whisk at me. “I think you should bottle Reyes and sell him on the black market. We’d be rich.”
I stepped closer. “Dude, what are you whisking?”
“Having recently been in the same room with hottest man on the planet, I'm probably whisking my virtue.” She chuckled. “Get it? Whisking my virtue?”
Gemma laughed as she measured in more powdered sugar. I took a gander at Cookie’s bowl and scooped out a dollop of white heaven. “So, icing?”
“Yes, we’re trying out your new cake pans.”
“I bought cake pans?” That was so unlike me.
She wriggled her brows. “And you bought a margarita mixer.”
Uh-oh.
 
     I soon found out Gemma had ulterior motives in hanging with me and drinking like a fish on dry land. I could read it in her body language, in the shifting light in her eyes, but mostly when she said,       “I have ulterior motives.”
She was determined to help me sleep if she had to get me plastered to do it. So she and Cookie were trying out a frozen margarita mixer I’d ordered during a low point in my downfall. For one week, all I could think about was drinking margaritas—well, that and running my tongue along Reyes’s teeth—but I didn’t have salt—or Reyes’s teeth. I’d also lacked the energy to leave my apartment to get some—or the desire to stoop low enough to beg Reyes to let me lick his teeth after what he did—so I could only wish for a margarita. And dream of Reyes’s teeth.
I’d secretly hoped a margarita would magically appear in my hand, but that would mean I would have to put down the remote and God knew that was not going to happen.
It was a vicious circle.
But Gemma rarely drank. Maybe a glass of wine with dinner. And I drank only on special occasions. Like Fridays and Saturdays. Cookie on the other hand . . .
“Wooooooohooooooo!” Cookie raised her arms in triumph. No idea why. “I haven’t had thith much fun thince . . . thince . . .” She seemed at a loss for coherent words, but she recovered quickly and pointed toward the door. “Thince Reyeth Farlow walked through that door!” She turned back to me, her expression full of awe. “And, my god, doeth that boy know how to walk.”
Cookie stood on the other side of the breakfast bar, trying to bake brownies in my new electric pressure cooker. While the apartment smelled really good, I didn’t have high hopes for a chocolate fix anytime soon. The cooker beeped and she turned to check it right before she disappeared. It was weird. She was there one minute and gone the next. And her disappearance was quickly followed by a solid thud, the sound echoing off the kitchen floor. I thought about hurrying to her rescue, but didn’t trust my own legs at that point. Gemma was draped over the arm of my sofa—which might or might not go by the name of Melvin—and Aunt Lillian, who swore those were the best margaritas she’d had since that beauty pageant she entered in Juarez, was face down on my floor. No idea why.
“You’re missing out, Mr. Wong. I don’t know what Cookie put in these, but they’re pretty amazing.” I saluted the boxes that surrounded him, downed the last sip of margarita—or Cookie-a-rita, as they’d been recently dubbed—and decided to get a jump on my letter writing Gemma insisted upon as a form of therapy. Usually therapists stuck to journaling, so letter writing was an interesting twist.
I figured I’d write a letter to Santa. Christmas had come and gone, but I’d missed it as I was not talking to anyone except for the sales people for the Buy from Home Channel at the time, and they didn’t seem to want to spend Christmas with me.
I’d had Christmas dinner with Cookie and Amber, of course, and Gemma and Uncle Bob had both come by bearing gifts and a special, sticky kind of depression, but I really didn’t remember much beyond that. Though there was an incredible chocolate cheesecake somewhere in there. The rest was a blur.
I took out pen and paper and jotted down my thoughts.
 Dear Santa,
What the fuck?
 That was about all I could manage, and it got me nowhere fast. I felt no better for the effort. Gemma’s therapy techniques sucked. I still couldn't get Reyes out of my head. The image of him letting Amber hug him was too precious. And not what I wanted. I wanted to be angry with him, to shake my fists and snarl, but he’d been fighting demons for me. To keep me safe. It was so freaking hard to stay angry with a guy who was secretly fighting a war in your honor. Damn it.
I herded Gemma to the bedroom and lay down beside her only to stare at the ceiling for two hours straight. Then the wall. The nightstand. The skull clad tissue dispenser. After hours of nothing but frustration, I eased Gemma’s arm off my face and slipped out of bed. I was really hoping that margarita would help me sleep like it had Gemma and Cookie, but it didn’t. When I was trying to stay awake for weeks at a time, all I could do was drink copious amounts of coffee just to fight it off. Now I wanted to sleep and couldn’t.
The sandman was an ass.    

      Fourth Grave Beneath my feet is, to date, my favorite of the Grave novels. Darynda Jones never ceases to surprise, scintillate, and enthrall me with her literary charm, whit, and kick ass chick, Charley Davidson.
  The rest, my friends… you’ll just have to wait for 

"She's a mortal with dark powers... After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude...until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire...
He's the Prince of Night... Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames."

Have to say, although I enjoyed reading this book I didn't feel like it held up as well as the Night Huntress series of books. Our main man, Vlad, read Leila's mind 99% of the time, so there was little dialog. Other than that complaint, I enjoyed curling up on the couch to read this book and I'll be running out to buy the next in the series. Like the Night Huntress books it is obvious the next Night Price book will leave off where this started and keep with the same two main characters: Vlad and Leila. This current book, also like the Night Huntress books, didn't have a nice "everything is wrapped up story wise" ending to leave room for the next book. I'll enjoy reading more about Leila giving Vlad a run for his money by refusing to listen :)

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

You're most likley to know Jeaniene Frost from her awesome Night Huntress series featuring Cat and Bones. This book is yet another spin off case; this time pulling the character Vlad into the forefront and giving him a woman of his own. I am looking forward to finding out more about Vlad, as I thought his time in the Night Huntress series' books was funny and I enjoy him as a character.

"She's a mortal with dark powers... After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude...until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire...
He's the Prince of Night... Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames."

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

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

So after much thought and termoil I have decided that I must go on a June Hiatus so that I can attempt to write my first novel. You see, I am perticipating in June's http://campnanowrimo.org/ ! I am going to be attempting to write a 50,000 novel in one month! EEK! Anyway I will occasionally write updates and have a few sneak peaks... but be on the look out for some REALLY great stuff coming up. Including something possibly REALLY exciting from most fabulous author friend Darynda Jones. *big grin*. Love you all! Oh and in the mean time keep me posted on what you're reading. If you'd like the oppertunity to make a guest post about a book you have read I would LOVE to post it. Just write it up and send it on over to readdrinkbebloggy@gmail.com .

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

Cash into the Trash




Mama's Chocolate

    A chocoholic's new addiction! 

   
   That's right, THREE different types of chocolate. My Soon-To-Be-Sister-In-Law and I decided to get it for her, along with a nice bottle of ChocoVino. I was pretty excited about both of course. Especially because I've never had chocolate wine. So after a yummy home-made pizza night we let the kids play and then sang Happy Birthday to Mom.


   It was a long day so I was definitely in need of something with a little bit more kick than milk with my cake. Admittedly I was skeptical about ChocoVino. I mean, chocolate with WINE?! Yea it doesn't really sound appealing to me. Maybe because I'm not really a big wine drinker (my preference here) to begin with. Or maybe because I'm a chocoholic that doesn't like to dilute the yumminess of my addiction. Who knows? Either way, I sliced up the cake & poured some glasses for my STBSIL and I (Mom doesn't drink).

Me on the right & STBSIL Cheryl on left

   STBSIL was very excited to have some vino with me. Now I know why. Can we say YUM?? Not only was that cake as light, fluffy, and delicious as it looks but the wine was just as yummy as the cake. Who knew fusing together two such different flavors would work so well? But they did, at least to me and STBSIL. We didn't finish the bottle that night, after all we had party stuff to finish prepping for. I did however eventually finish it. It was good to the very last drop. 
    I credit the STBSIL for the suggestion of the ChocoVino. Thanks Sis! I raise my glass to you!

My sister blog, Bag of Holding Blog, and I have gotten together to offer an amazing book lot catering to pregnant mommies! Take time out to enjoy and learn about your pregnancy and then a few quiet hours to read for fun!

   

     I love reading, I love seeing the words unfold on the page and feeling the paper between my fingers. I love the smells and textures that come with books. I also enjoy being able to read in the dark with my EReader while the baby sleeps beside me. What I've recently fallen in love with, though, is audio books. Though expensive, audio books allow for unlimited possibilities for the multitasking maniac: yours truly.

     When I turn on my audio book I can rock the baby or play with the baby, or if they baby is sleeping I can crochet or knit. When I’m having trouble sleeping I can put on my audio book and close my eyes and just let the voice actor lull me to sleep. Of course there are problems with this: Audio books don’t save your place, they just keep on playing until they reach the end so losing your place is common if you’re listening to fall asleep. Also, you’ll miss things if your attention drifts away, something very common with the ADD mind.

     It’s one of those things you have to weigh the pros against the cons. The only real con I think might hinder my going audio book crazy is the price: 34 dollars for a book that, honestly, I can listen to in just one day if I wanted to, is extremely irresponsible. So I joined Audible’s little club and promised myself I wouldn’t listen to a book in one sitting. My life is crazy right now so it’s pretty easy to keep this promise. With one free book a month and discounts on the other ones I think it’ll be worth it! Of course I can’t stop my Amazon addiction: I saw a book in Costco that I thought looked interesting but it was 12$. I found it on Amazon for .98 cents 4$ for expedited shipping and bam! I got a book for 4.98$. I think I’ve mentioned that I actually have an Amazon allowance: if someone doesn’t monitor my book addiction I’d spend our entire savings on books. There’s just SO many! I’ve given up on going back to my old favorites over and over, but I think with my Charley Davidson audio collection I can easily relisten to all of them while I’m waiting for a month to pass so I can get my free audio book, and I’m sure you know by now about my addiction to Charley… I’m thinking of renaming this blog Addicted to books. But didn’t you know that already? I mean this is Read Drink Be Bloggy!

     I’d like to hear more about YOUR reading addictions and I’m missing having comments from my readers! So go comment crazy!! I’m excited to hear from you all!



     And as always, Keep Reading!

Voice Or Choice?      
      The topic of transgender teens has, and unfortunately, probably always will be a pretty touchy subject with most people. Tonight's Glee did a fairly tasteful job of doing an episode containing this issue. I can't help but wonder, though, does putting these teens struggle on television give them a voice or does it offer a choice to teens who feel uncomfortable in their own bodies?
     Let’s face it; no one did High School gracefully. I wasn't so much popular as notorious: people still recognize me and I often have no idea who they are. I'm pretty good with faces but I chalk it up to having been in the dramatic spotlight one too many times throughout my youth. Still, having dramatic friends and being look at as somewhat as a freak in high school is nothing compared to these teens who don’t even identify themselves as the sex of their body parts. I can't imagine going through my life with girly bits and always feeling like I was a man.

As I said in my preview, I was not looking forward to this book and, to be completely honest, I was prepared to hate it.  But, I am happy to say, I ended up really loving it.  I think what I enjoyed best was seeing that the other previously paired couples were having issues in their relationship.  JR Ward seems to make it a point to show that although these mated couples are in love, they still have relationship issues they need to work through.  This isn't the first book she has shown this concept in, either.  I like that "happily ever after" doesn't mean "ridiculously and unrealistically 100% perfect bliss" it means that love is there, but so is life and life brings issues, problems, and growth within a relationship.

** SPOILERS **

This book seemed really long - but in a good way.  It really focused on Thorment getting passed the loss of his mate (and unborn son). It was torturous to read his journey in dealing with such a huge loss. Having such a monumental issue to deal with would have been ridiculous in a shorter book, so the length was a huge plus. I wish that No'One had more of a backbone earlier on in the book, but you could see her growth as well (just not on as large of a scale as Thorment's).

** END **

Overall, I think this book pulled me, successfully, back on the Black Dagger Brotherhood train. I was starting to waiver with the last few books, but I enjoyed this one so much that I am looking forward to the next one!

Rating: 4 stars (should read)

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

Hi again friends!

I've been working on a post about Alice In Wonderland (my favorite story of all time) for a bit to post for you. Since it's unfinished I thought I would post an honest bookworm's thoughts of the e-reader vs book debate.
    I've had a lifelong love of books, I blame my parents for that. When I was a little kid growing up in Brooklyn we had almost weekly trips to our local library. To this day I can remember it! The gleam of the tile floors as you enter the building, the way your shoes clicked and squeeked as you walked over them to the stairs. The sound of us pounding the steel steps on the way up to the children's floor because, well why on Earth would we walk NORMALLY over such fabulous noise makers? Most of all I remember the smell, you know what I mean, the rich Earthy smell of hundreds of books of various ages, lined up on wooden shelves. It is such a wonderful smell. Then there was the feel of the books. The texture of the old pages, the slickness of the new ones. There is nothing like having a book in your hands. 

  

Me & my Baby w a new book!

   This mad love of that place, that smell, those textures followed me into adulthood. Naturally I've been passing that on to my children. My son, who is 8, used to LOVE to sit and read with me. Since he now is required to do it for school, his love of books is somewhat diminished. I remember that phase, it will pass. Right? Right?! My two little girls also really love books, even if we aren't the ones reading to them. So now that books are so rampantly available on electronic readers, what's a book worm to do? How do we make the next generation understand the excitement that comes with getting a new book in our hands? Where does the love of the actual written page go?


   The new era of electronic reader has pushed many, if not almost all, brick-and-mortar book stores out into the void of space and bankrupcy court. The closing of the local Borders store brought an actual tear to my eyes. My son even commented how he will miss going there with me. My kids and I loved to go to book stores to get a new book, just as much as they love the library visits they take with their Grandma. We didn't get to go there often but we did get to go, it was a special treat for us all. Are libraries next up on the list of businesses to be destroyed by all things e-? I hope not.
   But I digress. Here is a link to a good review site of the many different kinds of e-readers (here). I myself was hesitant to get an e-reader, I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon of just anything, especially electronics when they get "updated" so often. However last year I got my darlin Hubby a Kindle for Christmas. I wasn't sure on this since he, like me, is a big book person. He loves it though! Granted we didn't run out and toss all the books in our house but we did go through and make a few piles of books where the actual book itself is sentimentally preferred over an electronic version of it. The rest got donated to our local library.
   Each of our kids has a three-shelf book shelf in their room, all overflowing with books. We plan on keeping it that way. Children need the joy of reading a book, with pages to turn & the whole bit. That's is our stance on it and you can't convince either of us to change it. Go ahead and try... Eventually we will get an e-reader device of some kind of course for the kids, as they age and get into the real good stuff. For now they can have books, and the messes that accompany them.
  I myself have an e-reader on my cell phone. I just finished my first book on it too. I just read "First Grave on the Right", as suggested by the Fabulous Cait. (Link to Author Here) I loved it, the book & the reader on my phone! I don't get long breaks at work so it was convient to have the reader on there. I loved how easy it was to just grab and go, the reader keeps my place. Which I LOVE. I'm notorious for losing bookmarks & so I would then bend the page of the book...gasp!