Outlander: The Ballad of Roger Mac

"There is the law - and there is what is done."

Hello everyone!

Well, we're now halfway, or even more than halfway through the Outlander season, and we FINALLY got to see the big season battle, or at least one of them. I don't really remember just how it went in the books, but I think nothing that big happens again until later on in the story, though I could be wrong of course.

I'm only now re-reading The Fiery Cross so it's safe to say that the finer details escape me.

The thing is a behemoth! I honestly don't remember ALL of it.

That said, it was probably the best episode of the season, and I'm not exaggerating. If you look across the internet, fans are pretty much in agreement about that one. Season five has been pretty good throughout, but at the end of the day it's the great episodes which make the show fantastic.

It probably doesn't hurt that both Heughan and Balfe helped produce the second half of the season.

You can tell that the chemistry suddenly just clicks back on screen like someone flipped a switch, but enough about me blathering on and on. Let's dive right in, shall we?

The Ballad of Roger Mac awaits.

Saturday Snippet: 911 Lone Star

Entertaining and heartwarming!

xx

*video not mine

Tome Thursday: The Shield of Nike

Hello everyone!

I'm coming to you live from a VERY snowy country, because our Alps decided they can't keep out everything that Austria's been getting in the recent days, ergo it's a very good thing I haven't taken my winter tires off to exchange them for regular ones.

At least now I'm generally safe!

The roads aren't snowed in, but they ARE slick and freezing, which means driving is a nuisance if you have to go somewhere (like the grocery story or a pharmacy).

Thankfully, I have more than enough books to keep me occupied during this time, and if I ever ran out, I know all I have to do is turn to BookSirens and they'll have something new waiting for me, fresh and interesting.

This is what happened when I randomly stumbled over tonight's blog post topic. I hadn't been looking for the book, but I certainly wasn't going to turn it down once I saw it.

A. P. Mobley isn't an author I'm familiar with, but the topic she covered in the novella I picked up from her certainly is. Greek mythology just so happens to be my absolute favourite, after all!

So let's take a look at The Shield of Nike, shall we?

Outlander: Better to Marry than Burn

"Speak of the Devil and he appears."

Hello everyone!

Droughtlander might be coming closer, but it isn't THAT close yet, so we still have something to look forward to every Sunday, and escaping into 18th century North Carolina sounds like a pretty good deal, all things considered.

After all, even if we'd be dealing with locusts, wouldn't that mean we're at least outside AND communicating with other people?

With quarantine now pretty much all around us AND upon us, it's best if we leave real life to its own problems for a while, and escape three hundred years or so into the past.

After all, it's a whole lot more fun watching Jamie Fraser deal with all the problems heading his way (and the hilarities accompanying them), not to mention the fact that he just ALWAYS seems to end up in some kind of trouble.

Some people have all the luck - or no luck at all, depending on how you look at it.

Better to Marry than Burn is the sixth episode of Outlander this season, and it's absolutely worth taking a look at.

Saturday Snippet: More Odyssey!

There was a free weekend playing this game this weekend!

xx

*video not mine

Tome Thursday: Black Moon Witch

Hello everyone!

Once again, I hope you're staying safe, and staying at home.

I know this has been said pretty much everywhere and anywhere by this point, but please, stay alert, not anxious, practice as much social distancing as you can, and make sure to be careful about washing your hands and using disinfectant whenever possible.

It's the only way we'll be able to successfully combat this without too much loss of life.

That said, hopefully at least some of the vlogs and blog posts going up at this point in time are keeping you entertained or marginally amused if nothing else.

I myself am back with another book review this week.

And since we started in with our witches last Thursday, it's time to keep going with them!

Serenity Woods ventured out of her usual field of writing with the Murder of Crows series, and having talked about the prequel last week I think it's time to sink our teeth into the actual first novel.

Black Moon Witch sounds ominous enough - let's dive right in!

Outlander: Perpetual Adoration

"Sometimes the truth really does hurt."

Hello everyone!

I hope you're staying safe, wherever you are. A lot of people still seem to believe this is some sort of time for vacation and visiting with friends you haven't had the chance to see because of work and other family matters, but, really.

It ISN'T.

It's the time to practice social distancing, washing your hands often (for 20 seconds if at all possible), using hand sanitizer when you can (as often as possible) and just keeping to yourselves so everyone can stay safe.

Please, PLEASE listen to the guidelines given by health care providers and officials! They're there for a reason, not to wave your hand at and say 'eh, I'm healthy as a horse'. It doesn't work that way. What if you just become the carrier, and pass it on to someone elderly, or someone with an autoimmune disease?

Think about it. And stay at home.

While you're there, a good way to pass the time is Outlander; if you've caught up with all the old seasons, check out the newest episode, Perpetual Adoration.

Saturday Snippet: Just Some Laughter

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Hunter's Moon Witch

Hello everyone!

This week on my book review list comes one that I actually wanted to read much earlier but somehow got too distracted by every other book thrown my way.

And yes, there's a lot of those!

But I can never stay away from Serenity Woods for too long, no matter what else I'm doing, and I'm blessed to have been granted the chance to read and review this particular prequel to a new paranormal mystery romance series!

If that sounds like a lot of adjectives, you're right. There's a bunch.

But they all convey the message they're supposed to!

If you've been following Ms Woods and her career for a bit, you'll know she's usually more of a contemporary romance writer, but let me tell you, that's not stopping her from making this book absolutely fantastic.

So let's check that the cauldron's bubbling, and see what Hunter's Moon Witch is all about!

Outlander: The Company We Keep

"Actions have consequences, Sassenach."

Hello everyone!

So last week, we were keeping company with our favourite Fraser couple as they dealt with their house of horrors and ended up with one dead adult, one missing adult, and one baby on their hands.

It's really only the two of them who manage to get themselves into these kind of conundrums, honestly.

Meanwhile, if you'll recall, Himself, aka Jamie Fraser, tasked Roger and Fergus to take the militia on to Brownsville and start conscripting there while they waited for their colonel to catch up.

In this particular episode, we get to see exactly what happens with the mice when the cats are away, aka what goes on with the kids while their parents are occupied elsewhere?

Jamie and Claire might not be the biological parents of either Roger or Fergus, but they're definitely their parents by marriage to the both of them, and they expect a certain kind of result from them, at that. Meanwhile Roger and Fergus are ... well.

Let's see The Company We Keep and discover what they are, shall we?

Saturday Snippet: Oatmel Pancakes

Delicious!

@TheCookingFoodie

xx

*video not mine

Tome Thursday: Angel Off Limits

Hello everyone!

Do you remember sometime right after New Year's when I posted a review on here about a book that shared the story of a guardian angel and his charge?

Well, I found the sequel!

Or, in more precise terms, I found the first official book in the series after the prequel I read through BookSirens.

If you've ever had the chance to read that other review of mine, you'll know that I absolutely LOVED the idea of guardian angels, and that the author, Veronica Conley, did a fantastic job at creating an environment for these angels to live and thrive in, giving them personalities and quirks, and on top of it all some really good backbones for a further story.

Imagine my surprise and delight, then, to see that the first book of The Greater Angels of the Empyrean was ALSO on BookSirens!

I snatched that ARC up so fast like you wouldn't believe.

Then I gobbled up Angel Off Limits in one day.

Outlander: Free Will

"Stephen Bonnet is alive."

Hello everyone!

We're checking in with the Frasers again this week, and by that I mean we are ACTUALLY tagging along with the main Fraser couple.

If you've been watching Outlander for at least a little while, you've seen there's a lot of characters to go around, and not always enough room to make everyone shine, which means that certain episodes are focused a bit more on this person or that, and then others on the rest.

It's understandable, given the sheer scope and size of the show at this point in time, not to mention the storyline which takes us into 18th century America right before the Revolution.

There's lots of room to fill, and boy, do these producers fill it!

But it's always a treat when we get to spend the majority of any episode with our very favourite couple who started it all. Claire and Jamie might work fantastically when doing their own independent tasks, but together, they're a force to be reckoned with.

It's a good thing, too, because in season 5 episode 3, Free Will, they need all that combined strength that they can get.