I suck! Plus book review of Taste Me by Tamara Hogan

OK so it's been waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too long since I posted. Anyway today really kinda sucked but I don't really want to get into it.

Anyway, I've been thinking of starting to review books for awhile but just never made myself sit down and do it. But I just finished this book and I must review it.

So here goes:

Taste Me by Tamara Hogan
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

I think I'm going with a frog rating system. 0-5 Frogs with 5 being the best. With that said, I'm going to have to give this one 3 Frogs.

Blurb from back cover:

He Wants Her So Badly He Can Taste It...
Ever since their tempestuous fling years ago, incubus Lukas Sebastiani has known that siren Scarlett Fontaine was meant to be his. But when you're a sex demon with an insatiable desire, relationships are way more than complicated...

Her Siren Songs Bring Men to Their Knees...
Rock star Scarlett Fontaine desperately needs a break after a grueling tour. But with murder and mayhem surrounding her band, and the one man she never thought to see again put to the task of protecting her, life is going to be anything but peaceful...
Every encounter between them creates more turmoil-and heat-until Scarlett pushes Lukas to the boiling point, and unleashes forces that go way beyond anything she can hope to control...

First off, you find out who the killer is in the very first chapter. This type of thing can work but you have to find out and understand what the killer's motivation and reasoning is. With this book in some way I ended up feeling like I had way more questions than answers.

The relationship part of the book was good. And overall I did like the book, but the first couple chapters made me feel like it was a couple books into a series and I had missed the first few. If you can stick it out it does get better a few chapters in. I did get involved in the story and read it all the way through to the end. But, instead of being satisfied at the end I was left wondering "What the heck?". I'm also not sure there was enough world-building in this one. If you are all about the romance and the rest is just filler then this book is fine. But I want it all to be cohesive.

SPOILERS from this point. Stop now if you don't want them.



Sure they get together at the end and the killer is caught, it is a romance after all, but I have absolutely no clue what half of the killer's story line was supposed to tell me. At the end I have no clue why the killer did what he did or how he did it other than he was supposedly from another planet (but possibly crazy), possibly possessed (or crazy) and able to shoot electricity at people (but no one has any clue how). See what I mean? There are these story threads throughout the book but with no payoff.

Again, overall I did like the book, I just don't like unanswered questions, it pulls me out of the story. Plus, I want to be able to say "I would read this book again" at the end, and I just can't say that with this one.

I suck update

OK. So I really suck at keeping this thing updated. It's been a pretty bad month. My Grandfather died on March 15, 2009. A friend of mine has to have emergency brain surgery next week. And I have to have a colonoscopy.

So basically life has kinda sucked for the last couple months. On the bright side, it was bad circumstances, but I did get to see some relatives I haven't seen in a really long time.
Dad and I are doing good at the new house. The back deck is all screened in now and it's great when the weather cooperates.

Here's a picture of Dad's dog Hawkeye when he was about 3 months old. He's about 5 1/2 months now. Just got nuetered yesterday!

A Year!

Wow, OK so it's been a year since I posted. I can't believe I went this long.

Let's see what I can tell you about the last year...

My Dad moved in with me. Long story but essentially he got kicked out of the nursing home he was living in. My car died so I got a new (to me) one. It's a 2005 Saturn Vue. It's an automatic so that's a switch for me. I've mostly had sticks. Dad and I bought a house. Our closing was Friday, and we will be moving over the next month. It's easier on us if we spread it out. After we move Dad's going to get a dog. Here's a picture of the puppy he picked out.

We'll be picking him up after Christmas. Dad has decided on the name Hawkeye. He's a Brindle and White Boston Terrier.

I'm still working like crazy in addition to the moving so it's been interesting to say the least. I did manage to get some good pictures of Bogie and Saucy...Here they are:

Bogie's picture is after he got groomed so he has short hair. Guess that's it. I better get back to work!

Catching up

Ok, so it is obvious by now that I really suck at remembering to sit down and post stuff. In my defense I've been working 55 hr weeks since the end of July. Kinda hard to get everything done on only one day off per week!

So, let me recap at least some of what has been going on with me since I last posted in July (YIKES!!). I started class in August. I'm taking Geology to get my lab science requirement out of the way. I mostly like the class but there are a few things that I wish were better... Oh well! Next semester I'm going to get my Computer and Social Science requirements out of the way by taking Info Processing Systems (basically a class on using Office) and Geography. Hopefully neither one will be to intensive since tax season is fast approaching.

The local Celiac chapter has had a couple meetings. Since I'm the secretary I knida have to go...Most of the time I like it just for the opportunity to try different gluten-free foods! At one of the meetings, one of the ladies had just returned from a conference in Denver that is called a food summit...Evidently it's all sorts of chefs, etc and you get to try lots of food and get lots of free samples. It sounded really neat so I'm going to try to go next year. I'm even going to drag along a friend and one of my cousins with me. When I have more details I'll post a link. The food is good enough even normals like it! ;)

Let's see... What else? Well, I had my first mammogram on Friday. There's a history in my family plus I have increased risk because of other things so my doctor wanted to go ahead and get a baseline... It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And I'd rather go thru that than end up with undetected breast cancer. I haven't told my dad about it since it's just the baseline screening.

Oh yeah! Other medical news. In July I found out that I have a Vitamin D deficiency. The normal range is between 32 and 100. I was at 12! So my endocrinologist put me on 50,000 units of Vitamin D twice a week (100,000/week). I had another blood test a couple weeks ago and I'm up to 51. Yay! So now I get to reduce my dosage and only take one pill a week. Turns out all my fatigue and muscle weakness was caused by the lack of Vitamin D.

I've been watching some of the new shows this season. A couple I'm still deciding on, a couple I like, and some I like but I don't mind missing...

Still deciding:

Moonlight

Journeyman

Like:

Bionic Woman

Reaper

Torchwood (on BBC America)

Like but don't mind missing:

Gossip Girl

Chuck

Favorites that returned:

Heroes

Bones

Smallville

Supernatural

Ghost Whisperer

I now have digital cable with DVR and I love it! Through On Demand I was able to watch the first season of Dexter on Showtime and now I'm hooked! The second season has started and I watch every week... It's definitely one of those shows you get hypnotized by...Especially if you don't mind dark comedy.

Oh! I got my kitten. Her name is Saucy and she's almost 5 months now. She gets spayed and declawed this month... Those are the pictures you see...

What I'm recording tonight: Chuck, Heroes, Journeyman

Book I'm reading: Howl at the Moon by Christine Warren

What's in my DVD player? Doctor Who Series 2 Disc 5

Question of the day: What new shows are you watching?

Maintenace

The maintenance people came back today. He got there while I was in the shower. Of course! Luckily I figured something like that would happen (being my luck) so before I took my shower I unchained the front door and I made sure the bathroom door was shut and locked and I took my robe in the bathroom with me.

This is just the way things happen...It was funny though. The guy came and left to go get something before I was dressed. So when he came back he was all embarassed that he hadn't knocked. He hadn't even realized I was in the house the first time he was there! But he fixed the pipe so that it no longer leaks. And I was able to leave the door chained since he had already come and gone. Yay! Now all I have to do is get through the rest of my workday and I get my 5 day weekend. Woo-Hoo!

Talk to you later!

Question of the day: Has maintenance (or anyone else) ever walked in on you when you were in the shower?

I used to work for a property management company and some of the properties we managed were being sold. So I was taking the buyer around so he could inspect the properties. Well, at one of the places he walked in on one of the residents in her bathroom. She had just gotten out of the shower. He was so embarrassed. Both residents (the woman and her boyfriend) thought it was funny. But the buyer turned so red! I was laughing my ass off!

Book I'm reading: After Glow by Jayne Castle
What I'm recording tonight: Nothing
Next in my DVD player: Ghost Rider (same as yesterday)

5 day weekend and other misc ramblings

Woo Hoo! I only have to work 2 days this week. I have a 5 DAY WEEKEND! Yay!!!! I'm really looking forward to the time off. 3 days of paid time off without using any of my personal PTO. It's always great to be lazy on the company dime! ;)

A couple weeks ago my work made me upgrade to Windows Vista. So far so good. I've had a couple problems but they've been resolved. Most were caused by programs we use here not being fully compatible yet. By default I'm doing a lot of beta testing both for my company's products and the products we use (our network, etc...) I've been pleasantly surprised so far. Here's hoping it will stay that way. Before I upgraded I'd heard some bad things but I'm reserving judgement for now.

I called my landlord Saturday to report my sump pump pipe leaking. My sump pump works, but the pipe leaks which results in about half the water that it pumps ending up on my basement floor. Luckily, the room with the pump in it is plain cement so it's not ruining any carpet. My landlord is not the best about fixing things quickly...or even at all sometimes. So, of course, the one time they work quickly, I forgot to leave the chain off the front door. Isn't that always the way it works. They couldn't get in and I got a phone call...Now I have to remember to leave the door unchained tomorrow and hopefully they'll be able to come back out. I don't like leaving it unchained, and I don't really like them being there without me. I guess I don't really have much of a choice this time. I'll probably end up going home on lunch to check on the house...Tonight I'll leave them a note explaining what I'm talking about. Hopefully they'll get it fixed.

I went to go see my kitten yesterday. One of these times I'll remember to take a picture... She is now 2 weeks old and her eyes are open. She's so cute! She's a calico that I have decided to name Sascha. I will be calling her Saucy. She should be ready to come home around mid-August. Then the fun really begins. I get to introduce Saucy to Bogie. It'll be okay after they get adjusted but I'm sure it will be interesting until then.

I found out Saturday night that my aunt and uncle from PA will be in town starting tomorrow night. It will be nice to see them. The last time they were in town was 4 or 5 years ago. They'll be here about a week, so I'm happy about that.

I also got the result of one of my blood tests. Evidently, I'm very vitamin D deficient. I have another Dr appt next week and he'll probably start me on supplements. Guess we'll see how it goes. Ok, I guess that's it for now.

Question of the day: What are your plans over the 4th? The only plans I have are for Sunday. Food at my place and then some friends and I are going to go see Transformers. It looks good. Hopefully we won't be disappointed.

The book I'm reading: After Dark by Jayne Castle
What I'm recording tonight: Kyle XY
What's next in my DVD stack: Ghost Rider (yes I've seen it before)

I'm alive!

Wow! It's been a really long time since I've posted. I haven't really been doing all that much. I've been enjoying my weekends off while they last. A friend's cat had kittens, so when they are old enough I get one! Yay! I've missed having a cat.

Right now my fingers hurts. I mowed the lawn this morning and after I was done I was pulling weeds from along the side of the house...Well some of the weeds had stickers. Not fun. Luckily I was wearing gloves so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I guess whoever lived in the house before me never used a weed wacker, cause some of the weeds I pulled were actually growing up underneath my siding.

This was the first chance I've had to do the trim this year and now I'm glad I did. This weekend I'm going to spray the house for bugs (inside then outside). When I got rid of the weeds I also got rid of the hiding places for a lot of bugs. And I really don't want them to make their way inside. Unfortunately I'm out of bug spray and won't have time to get more until this weekend. What I'm actually going to do is spray for bugs and then spray weed and grass killer all along the side of the house. Then I'll use the rake (another find this weekend - Thanks Rhonda!) to create a buffer area where nothing grows. Hopefully that will prevent problems like weeds growing into my house. Plus it will allow me to not have to weed wack as often. I am so not a gardening or yard work person...But it just didn't look good so I have to do it.

I finally got notification that my tuition reimbursement for the fall semester was approved...So I'll be taking a class in the fall, and I should get my reimbursement in time to pay for winter classes...So that will be cool...Unless I up my class load I will be paying for all my classes with my reimbursement. Nothing out of pocket. My company even reimburses for books and lab fees!

OK, I guess that's it for now. As soon as I have pictures of the kitten I'll post them. Now I just have to come up with a name!

Question for the day: How do you choose your pet's name?

Book I'm reading: The Barbed Rose by Gail Dayton
What I'm Recording Tonight: Kyle XY
What's next in my DVD player: Gilmore Girls Season 2 Disc 3.