Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 11/21/2021: Book Updates and Happy Thanksgiving

• 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists….

---

Good morning everyone, happy Sunday. I hope this post finds you well. I’ve been MIA from blogland these few weeks but it’s the same old story, just busy with life and work as usual. I’ve been mostly working fully remote lately and will be remote through most of December which is nice. On the days I drive into the office it’s been cold and frosty in the mornings and the traffic has been awful. Thank you for commenting on my last updates and wishing my step-dad well with his surgery recovery. He is getting better now and has been getting back to his daily routine slowly but surely.

Also, Happy Thanksgiving this week to those who celebrate. We’re having a quiet one at home. My daughter helps me cook the meal and desserts and my parents come over. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Also, Otis had a lovely Halloween last month and as promised his costume pics are at the end of this post.


Onto my bookish updates….

---

recently on the blog:

I hosted a book giveaway for Last Stop on the 6 by Patricia Dunn. Congrats to C. Lee for winning a copy. C. Lee please email me your mailing info naida1276@yahoo.com.


Author Ruth A. Casie stopped by this past week for a chat and a gift card giveaway. Please check that out and enter to win if you’re interested there’s still a few days left for that.

in my mailbox:
Alot of crochet these few weeks!

Modern Crochet Style: 15 colourful crochet patterns for your and your home, including fun sustainable makes came via Netgally and the Publisher.


Anyone Can Crochet Amigurumi Animals: 15 Adorable Crochet Patterns arrived via NetGalley and Fox Chapel Publishing. How cute.

coming soon:

I sound like a broken record but my review of Simple Tryst of Fate: Some Rules are Meant to be Broken by D.M. Barr will be up this week.


Up next is Our Trespasses: A Paranormal Thriller by Michael Cordell.

watching:

OMG Midnight Mass. I binged this one in a few days and it was fantastic and terrifying and crazy. I recommend if you enjoy horror. Have you watched it?

We also finished American Horror Story: Double Feature which was very good.

---

crochet:
I started this Christmas ripple blanket in late October because I wanted to have it done in time for Thanksgiving. This took me 3 weeks and I worked on it every day and I like the result. I started bringing some of the Christmas decorations out already and will put up the tree this week.




I took on 3 commissions this month so I’m working on those now. It’s 2 hooded scarves and an ear warmer so I’ll share pics when those are done.

---

That covers my updates, happy reading this week! Thanks for stopping in. Let me know what you’ve been up to in the comments. I’ll be doing some blog hopping today. I’m curious to see what everyone’s been up to.

I’ll close with the Halloween pics. Here is Otis in his costume as Obi-Wan Kenobi. I dressed up as Princess Leia with him 🙂

“Use the Force, Luke.”





++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. Some of these links are affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. The photos in this post are my own and not to be removed from here.

Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 10/24/21: Another busy week and book updates

• 

• 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists….

---

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope this post finds you well. How is October flying by so fast? Fall is definitely in the air, it’s 55 degrees here today. I’m enjoying my Starbucks hot chocolate and toasted croissant as I type this.

It’s been a very busy last couple of weeks. I wanted to blog last week but just could not make any time for it and last Sunday I was bedridden with a migraine from the morning into the late evening. I think that was my body’s way of telling me I needed a break. I also put in 5 hours of community service at a church this past week packing bags of food for those in need then helping distribute them. It feels nice helping out and I do this once a year. Although it’s a drop in the bucket compared to those who volunteer on a regular basis or those who run these charities…they do so much. We packaged and handed out a little over 100 bags of food to people last Tuesday.
And to top if off, my step-father surgery last week so it’s been a week of hospital visits since he was admitted for 7 days. He’s okay, recovering at home now from a complicated gall bladder surgery and we’ve been helping my mom with things while he gets better. Needless to say I’ve been physically and mentally exhausted these few weeks and my reading time has been put on the back-burner unfortunately. I hope this upcoming week will be easier and less stressful.


On another note, Otis’ Halloween costume arrived a few weeks ago so I’ll be sharing pics next updates post 🙂 Can you guess what he will be? Hint: the first film came out in 1977.

onto my bookish updates…..

in my mailbox:

A copy of Our Trespasses: A Paranormal Thriller by Michael Cordell came via the author for a November review. This sounds like a good one, I like the paranormal twist.

coming soon:

I’m behind on my reviews but I’m aiming to get my thoughts on Simple Tryst of Fate: Some Rules are Meant to be Broken by D.M. Barr up this week.


watching:

We’ve been watching the new season of You on Netflix which is really good. Also, I re-watched Alias Grace on Netflix which was worth the re-watch. And we watched the very popular Squid Game. What are you watching?


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

crochet:
I recently crocheted two sets of these, one for myself in grey and one for my daughter in blue. These are scarves with a matching ear warmer.







That wraps up my updates, thank you for stopping in. I’ll be blog hopping this week and catching up. Enjoy your weekend!

---

Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. Some of these links are affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. The photos in this post are my own and not to be removed from here.

Dark Prince by Christine Feehan

source: own
title: Dark Prince (The Dark Book 1)
author: Christine Feehan
pages: 314
published: 1999
genre: paranormal romance
first line: He could no longer fool himself.

blurb:
Enter the enchanting world of the Carpathians, where dark adventure, mystery, and love await, and the desires of two daring hearts unite in one irresistible passion.

A telepathic hunter of serial killers, Raven Whitney helps catch some of the most depraved criminals. But her work keeps her from getting close to others, and has drained her body and spirit. In need of rest and rejuvenation, she embarks on a vacation far from home.

Mikhail Dubrinksy is the Prince of the Carpathians, the powerful leader of a wise and secret ancient race that thrives in the night. Engulfed by despair, fearful of never finding the mate who can save him from the encroaching darkness, his soul cries out in loneliness. Until the day a beautiful voice full of light and love responds, softly soothing his pain and yearning.

From the moment they meet, Raven and Dubrinksy are helpless to resist the desire that sparks between them. But just as fate unexpectedly brings these life mates together, malevolent forces threaten to destroy them and their fragile love. Yet even if they survive, how can these two lovers — Carpathian and human — build a future together? And how can Dubrinksy bring Raven into his dark world without extinguishing her beautiful goodness and light?- quoted from the author’s website.

---

My thoughts:

Dark Prince is book 1 of 35 in the Dark Series. There are 35 books in this series so far! That’s impressive. I read this one after my daughter read it. She’s been on a reading kick lately and sometimes we like to read the same books so we can discuss. We bought this one a few summers ago at a used book shop while on vacation.



I wanted to like Dark Prince, I really did. I’m just glad this book didn’t put me into a reading slump because that’s what happens when I’m struggling with my current read. While the writing was entertaining, this just didn’t work for me, mainly because of Mikhail.

Who is Mikhail? Well. Mikhail Dubrinksy is the Prince of an ancient race of vampire shapeshifters called the Carpathians. As the story begins, Mikhail is depressed because he can’t find his soulmate. However, enter an American woman named Raven Whitney and viola! Love at first sight. Raven is in Budapest (I think that’s where this is set) taking a break to recover emotionally from her line of work helping the police find serial killers. She is telepathic and uses her abilities to help the police. That is actually a pretty cool job and I wish there was more mentioned about it in the book.

As the story moves along there’s a group of vampire hunters in town so Mikhail and his Carpathian family are attempting to stop these people. In the midst of the danger from the vampire hunters, central to the storyline is whether Mikhail and Raven can truly be together.

Mikhail is one of the most toxic and controlling characters I’ve ever read because he manipulates and gaslights Raven throughout the entire book. His attitude is that the knows what’s best for her. He’s also telepathic because why not and he’s constantly inside Raven’s mind reading her every thought. He has zero boundaries and honestly I think he should have been arrested. In real life someone doing what Mikhail was doing needs to go to jail for it. Among many other things, he drinks Raven’s blood without her permission and later justifies this by saying:

“The ritual demands the exchange of blood. It is not feeding hunger; it is purely a sensual exchange, a beautiful, erotic affirmation of love and trust. The first time I took your blood, I inadvertently took too much because I felt such ecstasy. I was out of control.
I was wrong to tie you to me without your understanding of what it all meant. But I allowed you to make the choice. You cannot deny it.”-Dark Prince by Christine Feehan p. 185



Raven is a strong independent woman and she reminds Mikhail of this all the time. Unfortunately her words don’t quite match her actions. She should have either left him or held him accountable for his actions, she did neither. Instead she continues enable Mikhail’s toxic ways. Also, I would have liked to have seen more character development with her background story.

Once the main plot issue was pretty much resolved the story took a different twist and it almost felt like I was reading a second book. At this point the book started to drag on somewhat. Other characters are introduced so I’m imagining they make appearances in some of the other books.

I’m not trying to bash this one, this series seems to be popular and I actually enjoyed some of the dramatic writing. I would read author Christine Feehan again but maybe some of her more recent work instead. Her latest book in this series called Dark Tarot comes out on November 9.
I know this book is dated being published in 1999 but I just could not get over Mikhail’s toxic actions. Even for romance written a few decades ago that is too much.

Oh and the ending was crazy-sauce but was somehow perfect considering everything else….lol. I’ll close with a few snippets from the book.

“Mikhail lifted her easily with his enormous strength, slid her slowly, erotically down his clenching belly until she was pressed against his raging velvet tip. Her heat seared him, beckoned. Raven’s arm slid around his neck, her legs around his hips, opening for him. Slowly he lowered her body over his, impaled her on the thick length of fire…” -Dark Prince by Christine Feehan p.88


“The mixture of his tenderness and wild nature was so impossible to resist, Raven knew no other man could ever touch her as he had. There would only be Mikhail for her.”–Dark Prince p. 84

Have you read Dark Prince? What do you think of these types of older romances?





++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer: This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any kind of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. I purchased Dark Prince (The Dark Book 1) by Christine Feehan. I am under no obligation to write a positive review. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission.

Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 9/19/21: Reading, Crochet etc.

• 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists….

Happy Sunday all. What an absolutely gorgeous weekend we are having here, the weather is perfect…sunny and high 70’s. I was going to get this post up earlier but we ran a few errands this morning and then I was out enjoying the weather afterwards.

This past week flew by so fast. It was a good week, I met my work deadlines, I got a yearly doctor’s visit out of the way on Monday morning and I got my flu shot over with also. After the side effects from the Covid vax over the Spring, the flu shot was a piece of cake lol.

Onto my weekly updates…..

recently on the blog:


I did a Top Ten Tuesday after so long. The topic was Books With Numbers In the Title.

in my mailbox:

I have a great mailbox this week and can’t wait to read these.


I am beyond excited about cuddling up in bed at night with my hot coco while reading Where They Wait by Scott Carson. This came via NetGalley/Atria Books It’s about a haunted sleep meditation app, what a great idea for a scary book.


I also received Simple Tryst of Fate: Some Rules are Meant to be Broken by D.M. Barr via Book Sirens which looks good.

---

crochet:
Here are a few photos of one of my latest projects. This is Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas. This was a fun pattern I found on ETSY from a crochet designer. I don’t usually follow other people’s patterns since I make my own, but this one caught my eye and I’m glad I found it.







The smaller one went to an Aunt who asked me for one.

---

Well, that wraps up my weekly updates. What are you doing? What are you reading? Enjoy your week! Thank you for stopping in 🙂

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. Some of these links are affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. The photos in this post are my own and not to be removed from here.

Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 7/11/2021: Summertime Updates

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog…
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists….

Hello all and happy weekend. I haven’t posted an updates post since May and time is flying as usual. I hope you are doing well and enjoying your summer. Summer tends to get busy for us because both my kids and my husband have birthdays back to back, and it seems like each weekend we have plans, then we try to fit in a vacation trip as well. I can’t complain, I love the summer months and enjoying the sunshine as much as I can.

Maybe TMI but in the midst of being busy with work and family these past few months, I had to have a root canal. A painful complicated one that involved two one and a half hour long visits to a specialist who gave me THREE shots of Novocain per visit, a round of antibiotics and prescription painkillers which after taking just one pill I decided to stick to Advil forever. I’m glad it’s over and done with and I hope to never have to go through that again in this lifetime or the next.

Anyway, on a good note, work announced the hybrid schedule is permanent so I am happy about that. It’s great working from home a few days a week then driving into the office a few days. I’m finding it a nice balance.

And I was finally away on vacation recently doing alot of this which was very relaxing:


Onto my bookish updates…..


recently on the blog:

I shared my thoughts on Sarana and the Dark King by Ivy Keating.


I reviewed The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.

In my mailbox:

After loving The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah I ordered The Great Alone by the same author.

I received The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham via Bookouture, The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews via St. Martin’s Press and Neon Gods by Katee Robert via Sourcebooks Casablanca.



I purchased The Power by by Naomi Alderman and this fun bookish tote at the coziest little Indie bookstore I found while on vacation. It was a little book cabin and the owner was very nice.






crochet
I crocheted a coffee cup coaster and cozie for my cubicle.



I finished up my son’s blanket. I made this for him as one of his birthday gifts in May.



watching:
We watched all 3 Thor movies and are watching the Avengers films next so we can watch the new Loki series. Have you watched any of these?

That wraps up my updates, what are you up to? What are you reading? Otis says enjoy your weekend and stay safe 🙂



++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. Some of these links are affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. The photos in this post are my own and not to be removed from here.