Tome Thursday: Santa Daddy

Hello everyone!

And here we are with our final Christmas-themed book review!

Although to be fair, I'll probably be recapping and talking about some other holiday-related books, but for the time being the four-week episode of picking one author and working my way through her seasonal stories has come to an end.

Of course I have to go out with a bang, at least book-wise.

I saved this years holiday novella for last, even though I pretty much read it first.

Keira Andrews certainly has a way with words though and I highly recommend any and all of her books if you haven't read any of them yet.

Me personally, I still have a soft spot for Valor on the Move, but I feel like that's probably because it includes the Secret Service.

Anyway, let's dive right into Santa Daddy, shall we?

Tuesday: Merry Christmas!

xx

*image not mine

Saturday Snippet: Christmas Wreath

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: If Only in My Dreams

Hello everyone!

Time for book three in our countdown to Christmas (and to the end of December as well) and can we just say how fast time flies, again??

Like, didn't December just start last week or something?

How is it almost Christmas already?!

But okay, fine, Christmas is almost here for us and it's time to write another blog post about a book.

When it comes to this one, bear with me a little please, because sadly I had no time to read it again yet and so I'm punching it out of my brain from memory.

Hopefully I got the gist of it right!

Although I mean, it's not rocket science.

It's happily If Only in my Dreams, by Keira Andrews.

Talkie Tuesday: Welcome to Christmas

"I just took out Santa."

Hello everyone!

Back to Christmas movies, and this one actually took two tries, but I was apparently not in the right mood when I originally wanted to watch it. Because when I sat down for the SECOND time in a row it definitely went much better, even if it's not one I plan on rewatching.

Some are like that though.

You enjoy them while they last but aren't as memorable or as completely fresh for you to want to watch again and again (like with certain others).

This one falls into that same category which is a bit of a shame since it has an actor I highly respect and enjoy watching otherwise, but this story just didn't sit so tight with me that I'd want to go through it more than once.

However, that doesn't mean it's NOT worth watching, because it is!

So without further ado ... Welcome to Christmas!

Saturday Snippet: Christmas Lights

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Where the Lovelight Gleams

Hello everyone!

It's time for my second book blog in this Christmas themed blogging experience, and as I've already said I'm taking four books of the same author this year and putting them up one by one, though not perhaps in the sequence I read them in.

I mean, to be fair, a lot of these are short, sexysweet and to the point, which means I don't need that much time to read them anyway.

And that's okay!

I love the fact that you don't have to spend weeks gnawing through thousands of pages, even though I will happily do just that if the proper book occasion calls for it. But when it's about Christmas stories, it kind of makes much more sense that you'd go through them fast and easy and with a sharp staccato beat that makes you smile.

Keira Andrews doesn't usually disappoint in her delivery of humour, romance, and sexy times, so chances are any book of hers you pick up will be worth your while.

So why don't we start talking about Where the Lovelight Gleams?

Talkie Tuesday: Christmas at the Palace

"They really love Christmas here."

Hello everyone!

Time for Christmas movie number two in my four-week Christmas extravaganza here on the blog, and unlike the one from last week during which I clearly enumerated reasons I will probably not be watching it again, this one is a big positive. 

I mean, in general, when it comes to Christmas, most of it is positive.

But unforunately with some movies, the dialogue is just bordering on absurd and you can't ever relax into the story when you keep thinking 'who even SAYS that?!'

For this week, however, I picked a movie that looked and sounded promising to me when I first saw the previews airing online, and I have to admit I liked both the leads.

Sometimes, actors really do make or break a movie, no matter if their side kicks are fun to watch.

Christmas at the Castle, here we come!

Saturday Snippet: Home Alone

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: In Case of Emergency

Hello everyone!

As you may have gathered, just as I'm doing Hallmark Christmas movie reviews for my Tuesday blog posts, I will be doing a series of them for my book ones as well.

Last season, I picked Serenity Woods as my holiday author of choice.

This year, while I still have a few left by Ms Woods to get through, I chose someone else.

Keira Andrews is one of those writers I always pick up when I'm feeling a bit down and need some extra cheer, because not only are her character relatable, she also delivers guaranteed happy endings. So what more could you want from a book?

For these four weeks leading up to Christmas I'll be reading and reviewing her holiday-themed romances, though of course four blog posts is hardly enough time to get through them all.

I'll just do the four that I grabbed before holidays started.

And no, I'm not starting with her latest one, either. I think I'll leave that for next week. For this week, let's go with In Case of Emergency.

Talkie Tuesday: Christmas in Love

"People go mad for Christmas every year."

Hello everyone!

It's that time of the year again!

The month of shopping sprees, crazy drivers, and Hallmark's Christmas movies.

Well alright, that last bit's actually been going on since around the middle of November, or at least somewhere there-ish.

But you get what I mean.

And like I did last year, when I decided all my December blog post would be Christmas-themed, I'm repeating the motif this year, despite the fact that it's unnaturaly warm in my home town, the sun is out and the grass is greener than in spring time!

To kick us off for our month-long Christmas-theme extravaganza, I decided I'd pick one of the movies I'd already watched.

It was an eenie-meenie-miney-mo kind of thing.

Let's start it off with Christmas in Love!

Saturday Snippet: Work and more Work

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: City of Stars

Hello everyone!

Back with book number two in the books series Mary Hoffman wrote about teenagers who can somehow move through space and time and end up in a different world altogether.

It was something that I found as a high school student (and thus a teenager) myself, and I could honestly relate at that point.

I can relate less now that I consider myself an adult, but that being said it isn't exactly rocket science to sit down and enjoy a book you know you liked back in the day! Which means I'm definitely going to be munching through the rest of the series.

Except ... as this is the last blog in November, I'm going to be doing more Christmas-y or seasonal blog posts through December.

Probably not Vlogmas, like so many others do, but the flare and flavour of my posts will certainly be other than what you see during the rest of the year.

But to finish us off in this last autumnal blog post - City of Stars!

Talkie Tuesday: Skyscraper

"If you can't fix it with duct tape ... you ain't using enough duct tape."

Hello everyone!

So by now you've probably noticed I have a thing for Dwayne Johson's movies. 

Or at least his recent ones, though I have to admit that the Scorpion King was also an entertaining thing to watch, way back when.

More to the point, however, the Rock just brings something to his movies that I don't often see with other actors, and that's saying something.

So a week or so ago, I managed to start tonight's blog topic.

And by start I mean I watched about half an hour (maybe twenty minutes) before my sister decided I needed to focus my attention on her. I can watch the movie later, right?

Right!

So then this weekend I FINALLY managed to sit down and finish this thing.

It's called Skyscraper, and no, Demi Lovato doesn't have a cameo in it.

Saturday Snippet: Silmarillion Primer

A link tonight, but I found this today and haven't been able to stop reading!

https://www.tor.com/series/the-silmarillion-primer/

xx

Tome Thursday: City of Masks

Hello everyone!

Time flies when you're having fun. I can't believe it's Thanksgiving already for the Americans! It's like someone wound the clock to go faster and faster.

I'm now allowed to watch Christmas movies AND listen to Christmas music, and I can admit I've already taken GOOD advantage of this. After all, I have a heck of a lot to catch up on with Hallmark's countdown!

That being said, however, I still really enjoy picking up books that I may remember reading when I was younger but then unfortunately losing sight of.

This is what happened with me this week.

When I was in high school (and before that, and still later, and today), I tended to devour anything that my local library had to offer. Among those was a series of books about an alternate universe Italy, which I completely forgot about.

Well, no more! Let's start it with City of Masks.

Talkie Tuesday: The Meg

"Meg versus Man isn't a fight ... it's a slaughter."

Hello everyone!

I hope you appreciate this blog post because, lemme say this loud and clear, I will NOT be doing this again.

No, seriously. 

Although, 'never say never' is probably one of those sayings you should learn to live by, and I remember when I was a kid I tended to even follow it, but it seems I managed to forget since becoming an adult.

Of course I said never to this movie. Any SANE person would say never to this movie! I still have nightmares about the bloody In the Heart of the Sea.

And then what happened was I had to eat my big, fat never, because once the movie actually rolled around, I couldn't get up and walk away even if I tried.

I'm talking about the one and only, of course.

The Meg.

Saturday Snippet: Movie Night

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: 9 From the Nine Worlds

Hello everyone!

I'm back with another Rick Riordan book review, because, well, I really enjoy reading his books.

Some people argue that he's beginning to repeat himself and that Percy Jackson was the best book series he pushed out, but I disagree.

I think the humour remains just the same, you just have to be willing to absorb and accept it!

And of course, you really need to be prepared for just about anything. So far as that goes, we've seen freak griffins, talking rivers, ships built out of fingernails, and of course there are the gods that keep popping up all over the place.

You'd think they'd have something better to do than bothering us mortals, but nope.

Especially if it means getting us into all sorts of trouble and mischief. Including waging war against other gods or, you know, accusing us of stealing some of their priceless artifacts.

9 From the Nine Worlds delivers just what you want, if you're open to receiving it.

Talkie Tuesday: Love at First Dance

"Sing like no one is listening, love like you'll never be hurt,
dance like no one is watching, live like it's heaven on Earth."

Hello everyone!

For this blog post I'm pulling out an oldie but a goldie, since it was probably one of my favourite summer movies that I ended up watching while away at the seaside. There's just something about a good, quality Hallmark channel movie that lifts the spirits. 

And also, it helps if the two leads are at least likeable!

With the Countdown to Christmas already in progress, I'm currently still forbidden from watching any Christmas movies, which should change after November 15th.

After all, nobody does ANYTHING Christmas-y at our house before my sister's birthday.

It's a given!

Although what she'll say when she sees the latest purchase our parents made and I left on her bed ...

Anyway, I'll stop babbling about unimportant things and move on to the actual blog post! Love at First Dance, here we go.

Saturday Snippet: Movie Time

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Brooklyn House Magician's Manual

Hello everyone!

It's back to basics this week with books, and with that I mean that I want to review one of the so-called guide books you sometimes get with a book series or a single book (if it warrants it).

Of course it's also just because I'm a big Rick Riordan fan.

Every once in a while, I'll sit down and make sure I read through some of his books, and while I was busy reviewing his Kane Chronicles about a month ago, I almost completely forgot about a new publication he was releasing into the world!

Since every magician needs a trusty sidekick and a guide to ensure that they don't accidentally set themselves on fire, or turn their helpful baboon into a statue, I thought we might take a look at this.

And I mean, I love how every series is getting a manual of how-tos.

Percy Jackson and Magnus Chase having done their job, it's now time for the Kanes to take centre stage.

Let's take a look at the Brooklyn House Magician's Manual, shall we?

Talkie Tuesday: Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom

"What could POSSIBLY go wrong?"

Hello everyone!

Back for another week and another movie review, and as you can see from the title, it's going to be a whopper.  

Then again, any movie in which dinosaurs chase you around is bound to be.

I've had a thing for Jurassic Park since I saw the first movie, way back when. I think one of our television stations had a marathon and all three of the originals aired on the same day/night, so it was quite a treat to sit there and watch the T-Rex chomp his way across the screen.

Of course when they announced a reboot, or sequels, or whatever you'd like to call them, I was all in.

I was a little apprehensive about the nature of the sequels proper, considering you only have so many shots at a masterpiece - but I needn't have worried, because Jurassic World was honestly one of the best movies that year.

So when the time came for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (knowing they'd gotten Jeff Goldblum to do a cameo and some promo stuff), I was stoked!

Saturday Snippet: Baldwin, pt 2

Annoyed older brother, part deux ...

(Baldwin: "I'm getting too old for this sh*t.")

xx

*screencaps mine

Thursday: All Saints'

xx

*image not mine

Talkie Tuesday: Hallowe'en Party

"Old sins cast long shadows, Madame."

Hello everyone!

One day before Halloween evening on the 31st, and a big, big holiday in my country which has nothing to do with Halloween and everything with the Reformation period in Europe, and here I am with a VERY witchy, Halloween-y movie review. 

I think the only thing that could be more on-point would be the Addams Family.

As it happens, however, I have quite the fondness for a certain Belgian detective.

Yes, he's BELGIAN people, he's NOT French!

And of course Agatha Christie was more than kind to focus one of her books right around the time of Halloween and the festive period.

Then it got adapted and the marvelous David Suchet portrayed the detective in question, so what more could you ask for at this time of year?

Let's dig our teeth right into Poirot's Hallowe'en Party!

Saturday Snippet: Baldwin

Let's take a proper look at the "I'm the annoyed older brother" figure.

xx

*screencaps mine

Tome Thursday: The Book of Life

Hello everyone!

I'm here with the final installment in the witchy-vampire-y trilogy!

Alright that made almost zero sense, but you'll see what I mean as soon as you start reading the actual blog post, I promise.

Two weeks ago I decided to read and review the first of Deborah Harkness' worldwide bestselling All Souls trilogy, A Discovery of Witches, and then of course I couldn't just put the book down and let the other two rest.

I can do that with certain other series, but this one made it virtually impossible.

There's something about these characters and the world that sucks you right in, which means you're unlikely to resurface before you've made it all the way through and it spits you out the other side.

I did take my time and made it a weekly thing per book, however, otherwise my eyes (and probably my brain) would have gone on strike and fritzed out. But I'm finally finished with the original trilogy now!

So without further ado, let's dive right into The Book of Life.

Talkie Tuesday: Good Witch Tale of Two Hearts

"True love always finds a way."

Hello everyone!

Finally, the wait is over, and I can honestly say this was probably one of my most anticipated Hallmark productions yet - mostly because I fell in love with Cassie ten years or so ago when she first moved to Middleton and made everybody think she rode in on a broomstick. 

I kid you not.

Anyway, Good Witch as a series is better suited for audiences than the long movies that only air once a year or so (but they're still pretty awesome to watch!), and I can't WAIT for the actual season.

This was just a taste of things to come and an interesting preview, not to mention, hello, who can do Halloween better than a witch?

Or, a couple of witches, actually, or a trio, depending, since you have Cassie, Grace AND Abigail on the job.

A Tale of Two Hearts is full of Halloween magic, some mystery, and happily ever after for some.

Sunday: Reunion

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Shadow of Night

Hello everyone!

I'm continuing my witchy trilogy this Thursday, and remember how I always say the second part in any trilogy whatsoever is always the weakest? 

Basically, it's not an introduction, and it's not the finale, so it's just a bridge leading from one to the other, and as such it will inevitably suffer from writer ennui or something of the sort while readers try to plod on.

Well, not THIS book.

Seriously, when I started reading A Discovery of Witches, I thought I'd seen it all and that nothing could top it. Especially in a trilogy, you have to be extra careful because you go in with such high expectations for the second and third books, and sometimes (a lot of times) they fall flat on their faces like pancakes dropped from high above.

So I honestly opened the second book up with trepidation and a little flutter of hope somewhere.

I needn't have bothered.

Shadow of Night not only meets its predecessor, but it surpasses it with flying colours.

Talkie Tuesday: The Perfect Bride Wedding Bells

"Who's ready to get married in six weeks?"

Hello everyone!

It's time for another movie review and YES, I know, I know, this one isn't very autumnal either, but it connects back to last week's and I couldn't just do one without the other, right? 

Right.

In any event, Hallmark has pretty much been showing all the extra special fall movies that will apparently more or less wrap up with the Good Witch Halloween Special (which I am VERY excited for!), and then it's off to count down until December.

Yes, that's also super fast, but it's Hallmark. 

Back to the topic at hand, however, this is going to be one of those wedding movies again, but I'm telling you it's probably one of the stronger sequels I had the chance to watch.

Normally, second movies are the weakest link. The Perfect Bride: Wedding Bells, while not a masterpiece, certainly wasn't bad, either.

Sunday

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: A Discovery of Witches

Hello everyone!

Once again, I'm late to this bandwagon.

I swear I get this feeling that I'm ETERNALLY late to everything when it comes to fans and fandoms and stuff.

But anyway.

I discovered this particular book series through sheer accident - aka I saw a post on Instagram in which Matthew Goode was sitting on a big black horse and Teresa Palmer was beside him on a gray one.

My interest sat up with a vengeance.

Firstly, Teresa Palmer is a bae and I've loved her in pretty much everything. Secondly, Matthew Goode is notoriously underappreciated. Which means I was obviously paying attention to the #ADiscoveryofWitches tag anywhere I could get it, as the show loomed near.

Meanwhile, in the BOOK version of A Discovery of Witches ...

Talkie Tuesday: The Perfect Bride

"There's no such thing."

Hello everyone!

So while our powerplant is sending out smoke signals into outer space - because why the heck else wold there be such a big cone of smoke there? - I'm sitting here watching the monstrosity and typing up my blog post. 

As it's October, I figured I could probably do something autumn-related, but instead I found this cutesy movie review I'd done a little bit ago.

I'll be doing a Halloween themed post, I promise, but I'm waiting for the premiere of Good Witch for that one.

In the meantime, though, Hallmark does indeed provide a viewer with HEAPS to watch even when you think there may be nothing.

You may think so, but they'll prove you wrong.

As they did with The Perfect Bride.

Saturday Snippet: Matthew Clairmont

There comes a time when danger wears a face.

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: The Kane Chronicles

Hello everyone!

As we cheerfully start our way into October and the first week of it is drawing to a close, I figured I could probably dust off some oldie-goldies when it came to books.

Let's face it, there are some that you pick up and read again and again.

If they include hilarious teenage-god encounters, that happens even more often!

The only thing better now would be to have Lucifer on speed-dial for the sarcastic remarks, but I suppose if you can't get him then any old god will do.

In this post, I continue my trek through Rick Riordan's books, as I tend to do every once in a while when I'm feeling especially down about something, because inevitably it'll be one of his deity representations that makes me giggle like a lunatic and feel better.

Tonight, that honour falls to Horus & Co.

Please turn your pages to The Kane Chronicles.

Talkie Tuesday: A Summer to Remember

"A new lease on life."

Hello everyone!

Well, that's it. Summer as officially said goodbye, because on the TV this morning, we could already see that some higher-lying cities in Austria have been graced with snow. 

Some cameras were completely snowed-in!

As far as that goes, I'm quite happy to live in a place where we can have a bit more of autumn before we transition to winter again, but that being said, I thought I'd celebrate with a really summer-y movie review just because.

It's one of those things I plucked off a list of Hallmark movies and ended up enjoying, despite the fact that I don't really see myself watching it again this season. Maybe next year, but by then I'm sure there'll be a long list of other summer movies to watch!

The movie I'm talking about is aptly named A Summer to Remember and stars Catherine Bell and Cameron Mathison.

Saturday Snippet: The Kiss

Excuse me, I'm still a puddle somewhere on the floor.

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: As Timeless as the Sea

Hello everyone!

As September draws to a close, so too does my trilogy of reviews for one of the last summer-y themed books I'll probably read this calendar year.

Because, let's face it, when the frost creeps in and the leaves turn from green to red, you want to cosy up by a fire with a cup of something hot and a REALLY good, occasionally scary, comforting read that takes you into the seasonal feeling.

I mean who doesn't want to read about Halloween when it's just around the corner?!

Alright, fine, I have to admit that Halloween and I have never been friends - dressing up as someone else just isn't my thing - BUT I really DO enjoy reading some of the stories that pop up at this time of year.

But for right now, as we finally bid adieu to the last taste of summer, let's head into the wrap-up post for Serenity Woods' Blue Penguin Bay trilogy.

The last book is titled, pretty neatly I think, As Timeless as the Sea.

Talkie Tuesday: Pacific Rim Uprising

"Fire everything you've got!"

Hello everyone!

As promised last week, it's time for the sequel to the awesome movie that was Pacific Rim. Aka, the movie in which Idris Elba and Charlie Hunnam got to kick some serious Kaiju butt. 

If you don't know what a Kaiju is, let's just say it's a big monster.

Looks a lot like Godzilla but at the same time it's a hell of a lot uglier and WAY meaner, considering Godzilla always worked FOR the people, not to eat the people.

Well. Mostly.

Anyway.

Before I digress any further, there's time to backtrack and return to my original point: the point of the sequel.

Pacific Rim: Uprising promised to deliver everything and more that its predecessor did. Whether or not they succeeded, however, you'll have to read in this post.

Saturday Snippet: A Discovery of Witches

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: As Beautiful as the Bay

Hello everyone!

In between being hard at work on a translating project, I found some spare time to type this blog post up and return to the gorgeous setting of New Zealand.

I mean, come on, is there any place on Earth more beautiful?

My sister would probably say Malta, but at the moment she's kind of biased and this might change to a different location soon - she knows why haha.

But yeah, for me, New Zealand is one of those places on my bucket list to visit, not only because of Peter Jackson's movies which were filmed there, but also because it reminds me a lot of my home country and I feel like it could be home away from home.

And reading Serenity Woods books just makes me want to go, alright? That, too.

Last week I started this trilogy reviews and I'm following up on my promise to stick to book two this week, so here we go, lovely readers.

As Beautiful as the Bay, coming right up.

Talkie Tuesday: Pacific Rim

"Fortune favours the brave."

Hello everyone!

So a little while back, I was convinced, in my dawdling, by a good friend to finally sit down and watch Pacific Rim Uprising, but of course after I ACTUALLY watched it, I decided I needed to go back to the roots and remind myself what it was all about. 

Aka, long story short, I dug up my copy of Pacific Rim (which had also been showing on television for a number of times that week, and the week after) and popped it in to watch.

Now, I will admit, I originally watched this on a whim five years ago, thinking it was just going to be a lark to pass the time with.

Little did I know I'd be proven wrong on all counts.

There are of course things that could always be improved in every movie, but for Pacific Rim, especially, you can probably say there's very little of it.

Without further ado, let's go check out what the Breach is doing, shall we?

Saturday Snippet: Weekend Vibes

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: As Deep as the Ocean

Hello everyone!

I'm back with another book review, and starting this week I'm launching into a trilogy of books which I read while away on vacation.

Honestly, they were the PERFECT books to take along to the seaside with me (among many, many others) and there's something about the idea of a vineyard overlooking a beautiful bay, that just makes your heart sing.

For those of you who don't know, my admiration for Serenity Woods as an author goes right back to when I first picked up The Perfect Gift from her Three Wise Men series.

Since then, I've pretty much devoured any Woods book I can get my hands on. Multiple times.

So it should be to the surprise of no one that this new trilogy I'm about to review for you all was also penned by Ms Woods.

Titled as the first of the Blue Penguin Bay series, a fictional bay, by the by, As Deep as the Ocean plants us smack dab into the gorgeous New Zealand - with handsome men, obviously.

Talkie Tuesday: Black Panther

"The wise build bridges, but the foolish build barriers."

Hello everyone!

Well, it looks like I'm finally jumping back onto the Marvel Universe band wagon.

I know, I know. It took me long enough.

I feel like, after the disappointment I felt with the Spiderman remake, I needed to step back a little and reassess what I like and dislike when it comes to Marvel. They have many more hits than they do misses, but every once in a while they make a miss so spectacular you just can't help but goggle at them.

Anyway.

A couple nights ago I FINALLY sat back to watch the movie that's been talked about all summer long and which brought in a heck of a lot of green with dollar signs.

I have to admit, that alone made me wary.

But Black Panther stood and delivered.