Book Review - All He Ever Needed

All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey sounded like such a good book to me when I read the blurb.  Technically, the writing in this book is good but it is a bit more redundant than I like. How many times do we need to be told the last name of the main male protagonist? And how many times must we be told that he is a reformed bad boy? This got tiresome fast. Also, since it is supposed to be a romance, I would think the couple in question should have kissed before the book was half done.

I'll give the author another chance, but I'll see if I can check the book out from the library. This book had such promise but really fizzled for me.

Teaser Tuesday's - All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Nook page 71 of Shannon Stacey's All He Ever Needed:

Dragged around from place to place growing up, Paige had always been the new kid in school.  There had always been a new man of the house, some who became stepfathers and more who didn't. 
 

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2013 is wonderful for all!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of my readers.  I hope 2013 is filled with happiness, health and bright possibility for all.

Merry Christmas Everybody

Have a happy, peaceful and blessed Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday - Treetop Dancer

Teaser Tuesday's - Sweet Magik by Penny Watson

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Nook page  of Penny Watson's Sweet Magik:

Each step away from the Lahika library was bittersweet, propelling her closer to "home," which could change on any given day.  A tent on the beach, a hammock behind a bar, sometimes curled up under a palm tree.

Teaser Tuesday's - The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 69 of The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts:

The smell of honeysuckle drifted over her.  But this time she didn't feel the hand stroke her

hair.

NaNoWriMo 2012

It's no secret to any long time readers that I ama big fan of the craziness known as National Novel Writing Month - or as it is commonly known, NaNoWriMo.  The idea is to write a 50,000 word first draft og a novel during the month of November; that's 1,667 words per day.  This challenge has been such a wonderful thing in my life as a writer.  I have had the fortunate pleasure of meeting other writers, challenging myself in more ways than one and being a part of something really wonderful. 

I am about to conclude day two and already I've written 4,000 words.  SO far, I am really happy with what I've written, too.  If you have a novel waiting to be written - I highly recommend this challenge.  It's not too late to staqrt, either.

Teaser Tuesday's - Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 3 of Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews:

I'd been up at dawn cruising the still-darkened lanes of Savannah, trying to beat the trashmen to the spoils of the town's leading lights.  I looked like hell.

Teaser Tuesday's - Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 5 of Joshilyn Jackson's Backseat Saints:

She saw me whole, inside and out, as if my skin was made of glass.  She laid her tarot cards for me, and that reading...it was like she took my life and ran it through a Cuisinart.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

Today is the day for the Autumn edition of Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  I am sadly late in getting started.  I just was not able to face a five a.m. start time, though.  I've been reading for a little over an hour now - so I missed a quarter of the event.  That's all right though.  I fully intend to make the most out of the time I have left.

Right now I am reading Joshilyn Jackson's gods in Albama.  It's a really good book and I hope.  I am slos starting Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.  This one I am reading to and with my children.  Here is a picture of the stack of books I have sitting on my side table:

The second book from the top with the plain black spine is actually my Nook.  Of course it is loaded with lots of good reads.  So, I am really looking forward to the rest of the readathon.

Oh, and my youngest daughter just asked me for nachos.  That sounds like a yummy, indulgent snack.  I think there may just be a plate of them in our near future.

Wordless Wednesday - Seashells at the Seashore

Teaser Tuesday's - gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 16 of Joshilyn Jackson's gods in Alabama:

"I'm asking you to introduce me to your family.  That's all.  I'm asking for a commitment, Lena.  We've been together two years now. 

Musing Monday's - Series

Musing Monday's is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. This week’s musing, — courtesy of http://ladywithbooks.wordpress.com– asks…
Do you have a favorite series? Do you have a favorite book out of that series?

My favorite series is J.D. Robb's In Death books.  I was rather late getting into this series, too.  I have been a huge Nora Roberts fan since college but had always been afraid to try her In Death series as JDR.  I'm not really a fan of gruesome books and I thought this one would be like that. 

WHile I was pregnant with my first child, she released a book called Remember When.  The first half of the book is written as NR and modern; while the second half is written as JDR, in the future In Death Manhattan.  I devoured the first half f the book and was left hanging for the resolution and cautiously read the second half.  That was all it took and I've been a huge fan of the series ever since.  I went back to the beginning and read the series in order.  It took me a while to catch up but now I chomp at the bit waiting for the next installment to come out.  In fact, I'm currently number two on the library waiting list for the latest.

As for a favorite in the series - Vision in Death.  I have to say though that the characters and the love story between the Eve and Roarke are definitely what keep me glued to and happily invested in this series.  The homicide cases are very interesting and well done but it's the relationships that keep me coming back for more - time and again.

Teaser Tuesday's - The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 47 of J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy:

Simon's aversion to naming his home bordered on the superstitious.  He not only disliked visitors - invaders of his privacy and possible despoilers of his property - but he saw Hilltop House as inviolate, immaculate, a world apart from Yarvil and the crashing, grinding, printworks.