Very Late Saturday Snippet

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*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Golden Christmas

Hello everyone!

Okay, okay. You can say it.

What in the name of all that's happy am I doing reading a CHRISTMAS book just after Easter and right before May 1?

I'll tell you.

During the holiday season, I stumbled upon a short stories compilation which included Christmas, pets, and kisses (not necessarily in that order, however), and I fell in love with some of the stories in there. In particular with the very first I read, which was why I dusted off the entire thing yesterday and decided, why not?

It's currently cold and unpleasant outside what with all the rain we have going on, but that being said I suppose the festive cheer is what I've been missing.

And I could dearly use some pick-me-up these days.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce Helen Scott Taylor's Golden Christmas!

Talkie Tuesday: Downton Abbey (season 1)

"I am a caretaker, not an owner."

Hello everyone!

Alright, so. Once again, this Tuesday blog is going to be a bit different, as it will not, in fact, be about a movie of any kind. And there really is a perfectly simple explanation for that. 

That is, more or less.

See for a time now, one of my best friends has been badgering me (gently, of course) to start watching Downton Abbey. The thing was, with all the regular shows in season, and everything else I generally watch in between, I just never found the time. More accurately, I never made it, really.

Then a few weeks back, I finally decided to bite the bullet, for one thing because I hate not being able to deliver, and for another because I had been told, in no uncertain terms, that Dan Stevens is pretty wonderful in this show.

Dan Stevens? THE Dan Stevens, aka the Beast?

Scuse me while I find the popcorn and get my groove on.

Ahem. So, finally capitulating, I managed to run through the first season of the show since then, and boy, am I thankful for the constant persuasion!

Saturday Snippet: Downton

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*video not mine

Tome Thursday: Roman Crazy

Hello everyone!

Back with another book blog in between watching Downton Abbey (yes, I finally caved in and started this, and I have to admit I'm loving it so far) and catching up on random shows before the regulars return from their last pre-finale breaks. I did have to take some time off, however, because even that can become a bit tedious if you don't mind me saying so.

So, instead, yesterday when the weather here turned windy and completely icky, I pulled out all the stops and went for the author that always, always makes me laugh.

Humour, thy name be Alice Clayton.

I believe I've reveiwed all of her Cocktails series here on my blog, but just in case, I'll look it up and the links will, as always, be down at the bottom of the page. For this installment, Roman Crazy, which seems to be the first in what I suspect will be at least a trilogy, she teamed up with another writer, Nina Bocci, and honestly it made for some great fun.

What could be better when you're trying to pretend it's warm outside than reading about sunny, sultry Rome in the middle of summer?

Talkie Tuesday: The Fate of the Furious

"Dominic Toretto has gone rogue."

Hello everyone!

Did I foreshadow my own Tuesday blog post back on Saturday? And did I, maybe, almost definitely, foreshadow it on Friday night when I posted on Instagram? 

Why yes, yes I did.

See, here's the thing: I love the Fast and Furious franchise. 

Sure, a lot of people complain that it's gone on FOREVER and it should end already. But then, a lot of people say the same thing about Supernatural, and look where that's got them. In plain facts: there are movies which will always make money, and this series with Vin Diesel at the helm is one of those.

Besides, it's already been announced that this current trilogy, eight, nine and ten, will be the last, bringing the whole number to ten movies which, collectively, have brought more money into the treasuries than a couple of other franchises combined.

So when one of my best friends suggested we go see The Fate of the Furious on Friday, just a day after the premiere, I was on board that train faster than you could say 'Ride or die'!

Saturday Snippet: Rhythm

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*video not mine

Tome Thursday: The Chosen

Hello everyone!

So, two weeks ago (almost at this point) another book by author J. R. Ward dropped, aka, it was released to the general public, and in case you don't know by now, I have a lot of respect and appreciation for the Warden, as she's called online.

Basically, her series of vampire warriors have gotten my attention from the moment a very good friend of mine recommended them and I met with HRH Wrath, son of Wrath.

Since then, there have been fifteen books in the main series and two now in the accompanying series, Black Dagger Legacy, which is a spin-off for the training center and the trainees that are becoming warriors under the main characters' tutelage.

Honestly, if you look at me and my love affair with the Black Dagger Brotherhood even on this blog, you'll notice that I've pretty much read and reviewed a whole lot of the books - read more than reviewed, actually, since I have yet to put the final dot on the lot of them. But I do believe it is safe to say that I have passed the halfway mark, especially with this blog I should thing.

So without further ado, allow me to introduce the newest Warden book, titled The Chosen.

Talkie Tuesday: Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

"Hoist the colours!"

Hello everyone!

Or should I say arrrrr? 

These past two weekends, AXN decided to premiere Pirates of the Caribbean, introducing the first four movies into its regular program, which delighted me to no end because, one, these movies are amazing, and two, you can never, and I mean never, have enough of Captain Jack Sparrow.

Now to be frank, me and Johnny don't really go well together. I admire him for certain of his roles - but definitely not all - and I will admit I can see the appeal he has for women.

Sadly, not for me.

That being said, however, I thoroughly enjoy his portrayal of Jack, and without the iconic character these movies would certainly not be as successful as they are today. And while it's been on choppy seas since the first trilogy, Jack saved the day and prevented the subsequent movie from being a complete disaster, despite the fact that there were very few original characters who returned for the telling.

And as I'm definitely in the pirate vein just before Easter, and also because this year marks its tenth anniversary, I figured to myself: whyever not? Why shouldn't I do a blog post about the third (and at the time final) Pirates movie, At World's End?

Late Saturday: At Wit's End

xx

*video not mine

Tome Thursday: Dragon Rose

Hello everyone!

I apologise in advance if there will be typing errors in this post. A little bit earlier I managed to nick a finger and, as you all well know, fingers tend to bleed like you lost at least an inch of them even though it's just a teeny, tiny scratch! So I had to improvise a bit with a bandage as a normal one just didn't cut it, ergo ending with some sort of stump on top of said finger which makes typing ... difficult.

But anyway.

I did in fact finish quite a few books in the last couple of days, and any one of them would have probably been quite a good cut for this week's blog post, but I need to cool off from one of them (I'm looking at you, Warden) so I decided to go for a lighter reading material today.

Turns out, I'm a Beauty and the Beast nut for certain.

Lo and behold, I found yet another retelling of the story, although truth be told the more I look at this, the more it sounds like it might be a combination of a lot of things, not just one particular fairytale or even legend, actually.

In any event, however, I fell in love with the author's writing style and the pretty much non-drama issues in the book, a realistic approach to the main heroine, and so, without further ado, allow me to present Dragon Rose.

Talkie Tuesday: Warcraft

"Is war the only answer?"

Hello everyone!

Okay.

I will admit. I'm a bit of a fantasy nut.

I can honestly HEAR people who know me going 'Oh, REALLY?' in the most sarcastic tones ever, but really, I haven't actually sat down to write something very, very fantasy-like in a while now.

And then I remembered this gem I decided to watch some time ago.

The movie itself is already a year old, so to be honest I'm out of the loop and definitely late into the game, and it's been a while since I've seen it so there's been a lot of back-and-forth for me to remember just what, precisely, was going on back in the thing itself.

Also, I have to be honest with you: my main reason for trying this on for size was the fact that Travis Fimmel was cast in one of the lead roles.

I mean, have you seen Vikings? You probably have. If you've seen the show, you know you NEED to see anything and everything Fimmel does in his career, because he's just that good. And, yeah, okay, I wanted to see if his accent would be different to the one he had as Ragnar.

Ergo, without further ado, allow me to introduce Warcraft!

Saturday Snippet: Why is the Rum Gone?

xx

*video not mine