Fandom Friday (1) Pride and Prejudice

Hey y’all, thanks so much for stopping by my FF! 

Fandom Friday is a weekly meme that highlights, various fandoms. Typically those that I am definitely a part of, sometimes those that I am not a part of but do feel strongly should have a fandom surrounding them.

Published in 1813 anonymously Pride and Prejudice has withstood the test of time and yet it almost didn’t. It took 16 years for Pride and Prejudice to be published, rejected repeatedly until Sense and Sensibility was a hit. Jane never put her name on any of her novels, instead publishing with “By a Lady”. 

Adapted into various movies, re-told by various authors it by far my favorite fandom. Having sold over 20 million copies it is safe to say I am not the only fan of this book. Often required reading in a senior English class at the high school level this is also a book that may have tortured many students. 

Why am I a fan?

There is a huge Pride and Prejudice fandom out there. How can there not be with so many different adaptations and re-tellings. 

Pride and Prejudice polls and quizzes one can take such as:

Which "Pride And Prejudice" Character Are You? 

Which Pride And Prejudice Man Should You Marry?

There are festivals that you can attend:

Jane Austen Festival 

A bunch of merchandise you can buy such as:

Pride and Prejudice Memes

Pride and Prejudice Gifs

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

I am not a Janeites though- this is the one book of hers that I consider myself a fan of.  Yes, I do have a character fandom but that is on hold for another day!

Review: Muffin Top

Author Avery Flynn 

Format e-book

Print Length 320 pages 

Publisher Entangled: Amara 

Published October 29, 2018 

The only thing about me that’s a size zero is the filter on my mouth. I’ve got a big personality, a big rack, and a big number on the scale. And I’m perfectly fine with that.

But when some random guy suggests I might not be eating alone if I’d ordered a salad instead of a hamburger I’m shocked silent, which is a feat, trust me.

That brings us to one sexy fireman named Frankie Hartigan. He’s hot. He’s funny… And he’s just apologized for being late for our “date” then glared at the fat-shaming jerk. Next thing I know, he’s sitting down and ordering himself dinner.

I have no problem telling him I don’t need a pity date… unless of course it’s to my high school reunion next week. Oops where did that last bit come from? And what do I do now that he’s said yes?!

Because this is no make-over story, and I think Frankie is using me for something. I just have to figure out what… 

My Opinion 

As a successful publicist, Lucy can spin any tale around any situation. She is extremely self-aware. She knows she is not stick figure thin and she is okay with that. As an adult she is okay with that, when she was in high school not so much and it doesn’t help that her high school reunion is right around the corner. As she is thinking about the reunion waiting on her friend to show for dinner-some random dude comes up and tells her she wouldn’t be so lonely if she lost some weight. Frankie overhears this and comes to her rescue right after being told by his boss he has to take time off. What better way to spend time off than with a beautiful gal at her high school reunion is his way of thinking. Lucy’s way- what is Frankie up to? 

Lucy is a realist. She doesn’t sugar coat things, calls a spade a spade and has no problem forgoing ordering a salad. Really though, what gal would have a problem skipping the salad and ordering the burger? Her childhood was not all rainbows and stars but honestly who’s is? She isn’t going to dwell on it too much. She just doesn’t really want to go to the reunion because in her hometown she wasn’t the confident business woman that she is now. Instead she was the insecure about her weight teenager-who isn’t though when they are a teen? 

Frankie is a man-whore. No one is going to put it that way but he is. He makes no attempt to cover it up and the woman that he chooses to tangle beneath the sheets with know this. It is because of his love-them-and-leave them ways he has decided that he will never find the one. That special person who will introduce him to their folks. When he sees Lucy (his brother’s fiancés bestie) getting bullied by a not so good-looking guy he steps right in and pretends to be her date. The reunion coming up is a way for him to take time off and get outta town otherwise he may attempt to fix something (usually leading to spending more money later on). 

The chemistry between Lucy and Frankie is off the charts. He accepts her for who she is and honestly doesn’t consider her weight an issue. She does though and it really is the repetitive background noise in her brain. (He can’t like me because I am bigger- since I am bigger there are a million other girls he will like better.) This is on repeat throughout the book, and honestly it is the major reason that this book gets a four star review. 

The story-line is good. The interaction between Frankie and Lucy is great. Lucy’s internal monolog honestly takes away from the story a lot. This was also the case in Butter Face for me though. I am guessing that it will be the case in Tom Boy as well when it is released. The comedy in this book is funny- the romance is real. The chemistry is on point. The one-liners from Frankie make the book. Who am I kidding Frankie makes the book. I do feel that the please forgive me scene was done by the wrong person. The other person totally overreacted and should have been the one to apologize. Then again this is probably why I am a reviewer and not the author. 

A sweet romantic comedy that may have you yelling at the heroine for a bit but the hero will turn you into a puddle of silly putty. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, Tomboy that releases Feb. 18. This one is about Fallon Hartigan one of Frankie and Ford’s sisters. I am really hoping the one after Tomboy is Tess’ story. If anyone deserves a story it is this meek florist. 

My Rating 4 stars of 5 stars 

Favorite Quote Why was it socially unacceptable to shame anyone for anything except their weight? 

Other People 

Gina- Lucy’s bestie 

Ford- Frankie’s brother 

Tess- Lucy’s other bestie 

Finn- Frankie’s twin

Waiting on Wednesday (1) Spartan Promise

Hey y'all, thanks so much for stopping by my WoW! 

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine which spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

Hunting for the bad guys has never been so dangerous . . . 

My name is Rory Forseti, and I attend the Colorado branch of Mythos Academy, a school of warrior kids, powerful artifacts, and mythological monsters.

I’m a student, a fierce Spartan warrior, and a member of Team Midgard, a group of kids and adults tasked with stopping the evil Reapers of Chaos. There is one Reaper I’m determined to hunt down above all others: Covington, the man who murdered my parents.

So when the Midgard gets a tip that Covington is going to try to steal a dangerous artifact, I’m ready to fight. But the situation is far more complicated than it seems, and the Reapers aren’t my only enemies.

I’ll have to use all my Spartan strength and skills to survive this. And even then, it might be my blood that gets spilled . . . 

Why am I waiting? 

Spartan Heart was a great start to a spin-off series, this being the second book. I am excited to be back in the world where Romans, Vikings, Valkyrie, Spartans and Samurai’s all intermingle. I really want to see what is up with Rory and the rest of her peeps are up to.

2018 End Of Year Survey

**2018 READING STATS** 

Number Of Books You Read: 77 new books

Number of Re-Reads: 10 re-reads

Genre You Read The Most From: Paranormal Romance 

1. Best Book You Read In 2018? 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? 

House of Darken by Jaymin Eve (who you should know is on my auto one-click). This one was good just not as great as some of her other series. 

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Torment by Scarlett Dawn (something happens in this book that I wasn’t expecting and let’s just say it really upset me). 

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)? 

Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep (I am at six people having read it and loving it.)

5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018? 

Series starter- Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston 

Best Sequel- Sightwitch by Susan Dennard

Series ender- Undercover Attraction by Katee Robert 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018? 

Shelly Laurenston ended up binge reading her Pride series, her Magnus Pack series and started the Honey Badger Chronicles by her all this year. 

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? 

 I don’t normal read contemporary romance. 

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? 

9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year? 

Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep the sequel comes out in 2019 and so of course I will have to re-read it before that happens. 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018? 

11. Most memorable character of 2018? 

Blayne Thorpe in Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston. She had me laughing just about every two pages. 

Here is a teaser as to why: 

“You're not going to kill me, skin me, and wear my head as a hat?” 

Yeah she really did ask that to someone. 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018? 

Not really sure what you are asking for here as I try to leave serious books behind in favor of things I actually like. 

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018? 

I try to leave serious books behind in favor of things I actually like. So unless you consider that all of the books I read have allowed me to escape reality I am going to pass on this one. 

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read? 

Undercover Attraction by Katee Robert. I had been waiting for this one in 2017 like is was nobody’s business. Then in late October, I had a baby and forgot it was coming out. Babies will do that to you. 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018? 

“What is life except perception?” Sightwitch by Susan Dennard 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018? 

Shortest book Belonging to the dragon by Kara Lockharte 123 pages 

Longest book Magic and Alphas by various authors 2,182 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most 

Torment by Scarlett Dawn- something happens that broke my heart and crushed it to the ground. 

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) 

Evie and Sullivan in Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep 

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year 

Taran and her sisters in Of Flame and Fate by Cecy Robson 

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously 

21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.: 

Pride Mates by Jennifer Ashley (Val from Stuck in Books recommended this one). 

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018? 

Ric Van Holtz from the Pride series by Shelly Laurenston 

23. Best 2018 debut you read? 

Ummm… not really sure I read one this year… 

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? 

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? 

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018? 

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year? 

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? 

Gone Hunting by Cecy Robson but in a good way… had no clue what she was planning with prequel and it just crushes your soul but in a good way.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018? 

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? 

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2018? 

SHE'S GOT BOOKS ON HER MIND 

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018? 

I really like my Book Trailer Saturday posts. 

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2018? 

Ummm...I didn't...

4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, etc.)? 

I really like pre-order campaigns such as the one for Bloodwitch right now by Tor Teen. 

4. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018? 

I love it when @entangledpub tweets questions and then replies to my answers-makes me feel important. 

5. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? 

Responding to other blogs- we moved our two oldest girls into where our office use to be and now my desk is in the master bedroom. I feel guilty if hubby is sleeping and I am trying to type. So I kind of let it fall off this year. It is my goal for 2019 though. 

6. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)? 

Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway 

7. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love? 

All the Book Trailer Saturday posts, I love book trailers and hope that authors/publishers keep making them. 

8. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? 

I added a few more book related youtube videos to my list but that is about it.

9. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? 

My reading challenge was to read 75 books- which I technically did although the Goodreads challenge is only recognizing 77 of them. My personal challenge was to review a 100 books, which I did not do. Having kids sometimes does hinder reviewing time. 

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019? 

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)? 

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? 

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019? 

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019? 

To respond more to other blogs- I really stink at this. 

6. A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable): 

Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet here is the link to my review and guess what? It released today! 

Teaser Tuesday (1) Hunting Season

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “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 Lists if they like your teasers

Teaser One

"Why do you always have to be so difficult?” he asked, because really… couldn’t they just get married and work the rest of it out in bed?

Page 15 Hunting Season

Yager is just so Yager! I love that he wants to take their relationship to the next level and she has it on hold.

Teaser Two

He looked at her like he’d never seen anything so beautiful or amazing before. She hated that look. It completely confused her and made her all sweaty.

Page 33 Hunting Season

Neecy has some serious issues when it comes to guys. With her past though, who can blame her. Hopefully, Yager can get past her walls.