Friday, November 30, 2012

Cover Reveal: Beth Ciotta - The Trouble With Love

Release Date: March 2013
Pre-order: Amazon

Book Blurb:  THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE
BETH CIOTTA

Rocky Monroe’s bad luck is legendary. So it stands to reason that during a quick trip to New York on behalf of the Cupcake Lovers’ forthcoming book, she winds up in the arms of the one man she never wants to see again. So what if he’s also the man she can’t stop dreaming about?

Mouth-watering Jayce Bello has always been Rocky’s biggest mistake, and she’s not going to let history repeat itself … unless she gets a new taste of his delicious kisses.

When Jayce Bello left Sugar Creek ten years ago, it was the right thing to do—for him and for Rocky, his best friend’s little sister. But one passionate night with gorgeous, reckless Rocky is enough to prove that she’s the missing ingredient in his happiness. Now, with scandalous secrets souring the sweetness of the Cupcake Lovers’ club, Jayce needs to convince Rocky that their love is something to savor …

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Christmas Brings Out The Worst In People

I ordered a book from Barnes and Noble.

I have their membership card, so  I get a discount and expedited shipping. The book should have been delivered today, but it never made it inside my house.

UPS claims they delivered it at 11:45 a.m.

I think someone took it off my porch.

I hope they enjoy it.

Bastards!

On a happy note, Barnes and Noble will replace it. So Barnes and Noble gets bonus points from me!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

When Cute Guys Wear Bad Clothes

Simon Le Bon is probably the only man married to a Super Model that can get away with wearing horrid clothes. Unlike some of my other cute guys, Simon usually looks ridiculous though Case in point!
And again..
Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran at Pacific. Photo: Steven Georges, for the Register.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Cover Reveal: Fiance By Friday

Release Date is May 21, 2013!

Isn't this a gorgeous cover?

This is Book 3 in her Weekday Brides Series.

I'm reading Catherine's Not Quite Dating now, and I'm really loving it!

I can't wait to dive into this series too!

I just love the dress!

If you want to read my review of Not Quite Dating, stop by A Chick Who Reads tomorrow.

http://achickwhoreads.blogspot.com

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Movie Review: Arthur Christmas



Blurb: How CAN Santa deliver billions of presents to the whole world in just one night? With an army of one million combat-style Field Elves and a vast, state-of-the-art control center under the ice of the North Pole! So how could this incredible operation have MISSED one child?! To Santa’s young son, Arthur, it threatens to end the magic of Christmas. With retired Grandsanta, a rebellious young elf, an old sleigh and some untrained reindeer, Arthur sets out in a crazy mission to deliver the last present! Deck the halls with excitement, fun and wonder in this new Christmas classic!

Review: There's always a new crop of Christmas movies, some good, some bad and some stellar. Arthur Christmas is one of the stellar ones.

Maybe it is because of the great cast, Bill Nighy voices Grandsanta and Hugh Laurie is Steve, the new Santa in waiting.

The film reminds me a bit of Doctor Who meets Santa Claus, something that never happens in one of that show's Christmas specials. The film opens with Steve directing Santa on a very high tech, unbelievably sci-fi Christmas Eve toy run.

It is totally unbelievable. And everything goes well...until one little girl gets skipped!

That's when the real action starts.

Arthur and Grand Santa go into action and nothing goes right, except maybe to get everyone to remember what Santa is supposed to do.

This is a feel good movie for young and old, the kind you want to watch each Christmas. Totally sweet and totally funny and full of all the things you need to get into the spirit!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter



Blurb: In 1818, Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) lives with his parents, Nancy (Robin McLeavy) and Thomas (Joseph Mawle), who work at a plantation owned by Jack Barts (Marton Csokas). There, Lincoln befriends a young African American boy, William Johnson (Anthony Mackie), and intervenes when he sees Johnson being beaten by an overseer. Because of his son's actions, Thomas is fired. That night, Lincoln sees Barts break into his house and attack Nancy. She dies shortly afterwards. Thomas tells Lincoln that Barts poisoned Nancy. Nine years later, a vengeful Lincoln attacks Barts at the docks, but Barts, who is actually a vampire, overpowers him. However, before Barts can kill him, Lincoln is rescued by Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper). Sturges explains that vampires exist, and offers to teach Lincoln to be a vampire hunter. Lincoln accepts and, after a decade of training, travels to Springfield, Illinois. During his training, Sturges tells Lincoln that the vampires in America descend from Adam (Rufus Sewell), a vampire who owns a plantation in New Orleans with his sister, Vadoma (Erin Wasson). Sturges also tells Lincoln of the vampires' weakness, silver, and presents him with a silver pocket watch.

In Springfield, Lincoln befriends shopkeeper Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson), and meets Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Though Sturges warned him not to form any close relationships, Lincoln develops romantic feelings for Mary. Lincoln successfully finds and defeats Barts. Before dying, Barts reveals that Sturges is also a vampire. Lincoln confronts Sturges, who reveals that, many years ago, he and his wife were attacked and bitten by Adam. Adam turned Sturges and killed his wife. Now that Sturges was a vampire he could not kill Adam or any other vampire (since "Only the living can kill the dead"). Sturges has since been training vampire hunters, hoping to destroy Adam.

Disappointed, Lincoln decides to abandon his mission. However, Adam learns of his activities and kidnaps Johnson to lure Lincoln into a trap at his plantation. Adam captures Lincoln and tries to recruit him, revealing his plans to turn the United States into a nation of the undead. Speed rescues his friends, and they escape to Ohio.

Lincoln marries Mary and begins his political career, campaigning to abolish slavery. Sturges warns Lincoln that the slave trade keeps vampires under control, as vampires use slaves for food, and if Lincoln interferes, the vampires will retaliate. After Lincoln's election as President of the United States of America, he moves to the White House with Mary, where they have a son, William Wallace Lincoln (Cameron M. Brown). William is later bitten by Vadoma and dies. Confederate President Jefferson Davis (John Rothman) convinces Adam to deploy his vampires, and this impacts the first day at Gettysburg. Lincoln orders the confiscation of all the silverware to produce silver weapons. Speed, believing that Lincoln is tearing the nation apart, informs Adam that Lincoln will transport the silver by train.

On the train, Adam and Vadoma, who have set fire to the upcoming trestle, attack Lincoln, Sturges, and Johnson. During the fight Adam learns that the train holds only rocks. Speed reveals that his betrayal was a ruse to lure Adam into a trap, and Adam kills Speed for this. Lincoln wraps his silver watch around his fist and punches through Adam's chest, killing him, and Lincoln escapes the exploding train alongside his allies. Meanwhile, Mary and the ex-slaves have transported the silver to Gettysburg through the Underground Railroad - it is here that Vadoma is killed by Mary.

The now leaderless Confederate vampires stage a final, massive assault and are met head on by the Union. Armed with their silver weapons, the Union soldiers destroy the vampires and eventually win the battle. Nearly two years later, on April 14, 1865, Sturges tells Lincoln that the remaining vampires have fled the country. Sturges tries to convince Lincoln to allow him to turn Lincoln into a vampire, so that he can become immortal and continue to fight vampires, but Lincoln declines and leaves for the theater with his wife, apparently implying he is soon to be assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. In modern times, Sturges approaches a man at a bar in Washington, D.C. as he once approached Lincoln. (from Wiki)

Review: This movie intrigued me from the very beginning. I love the idea of a mash up of real historical events and some creepy paranormal activity.

Lincoln as a vampire hunter is totally badass. He wields an ax like no one else can.

I was really expecting a film that was more on the cheesy front, but that wasn't what you got here. Ok, maybe the vampire part was a little bit cheesy, but come on, this is a mashup. You were expecting maybe, thoughtful cinema?

If you were, I feel really sorry for you.

This is an action/adventure. The vamps don't really get scary, at least not in a horror movie kind of way. They just are there.

Though this movie certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, it is worth a viewing. You get a funny twist on history, and yes, the writers try not to destroy history too much, in their addition of the fanged bad guys.

Its like history meets Demons, only no one is smiting anyone.

The best parts of the film are those of Lincoln kicking vampire ass. Benjamin Walker makes the young Abe look very sexy.  This film does a good job of making Mary Todd Lincoln look like a dazzling debutante. Go ahead and google her, you'll see she was anything but.

But people don't want to see ugly people in movies, so we'll forgive them that.

This movie was fun.

Nothing more and nothing less.

It has made me want to hunt down the book too.


Thursday, November 22, 2012

My Final Twilight Rant


I absolutely hate the whole Twilight franchise. The first two books drove me insane. I never got around to Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, and I don't know that I ever will.

I tried to read the books with an open mind, because I really can't understand why women my age (late thirties) and older get their panties all in a bunch about this series.

The writing is mediocre if best. (Serious, the gals writing for Harlequin Nocturne do so much better) The characters are annoying.

I could go on, but I won't.

I want to rant about the movies.

I've not seen them, because they scare me. Not in a frightened kind of way but in an OMG how did they cast these people kind of way.

What do people see in Robert Pattinson..and more so, Kristen Stewart...and while I'm at it, what did those two see in each other?

She's so meh...

And he's just not what I pictured Edward to look like when I read the first two books.

Of course, he's not as awful a casting as say Tom Cruise as Lestat. That was the worst. To this day I refuse to watch that film because of it.

I hate Tom Cruise.

The only good thing about Breaking Dawn Part 2 coming out, is that I hopefully won't have to hear much more about these books and maybe the two stars will fade into obscurity, as they are both pretty lousy actors/actresses

Bye Bye Twilight. I won't miss you!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Bake Baby Bake

Its that time of year when I get glued to the kitchen.

I am a cookie making fiend.

I love making cookies.

The more the merrier.

So far I've made date nut pinwheels and chocolate peanut butter cookies.

Next up are apricot jewels.

I've found a lot of these recipes in old cookbooks and magazines.

Here's where I found some great recipes




I've found the older cookbooks have the best tasting recipes. All three cookbooks here are from the 80s.






Thursday, November 15, 2012

If Bon Jovi Were Country

I know Jon Bon Jovi did that great song with Jennifer Nettles awhile back, with Who Says You Can't Go Home.



But if Jon did a real rock/country song it would sound more like Kip Moore's Beer Money




Listen and see what  you think

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

I Want This Book!!!

I discovered the Royal Spyness series when the last book came out. I was part of the book tour, and the story was fab! The next book in the series is a holiday mystery!!

Must have!!


Book Blurb: On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me—well, actually, my true love, Darcy O’Mara, is spending a feliz navidad tramping around South America. Meanwhile, Mummy is holed up in a tiny village called Tiddleton-under-Lovey with that droll Noel Coward! And I’m snowed in at Castle Rannoch with my bumbling brother, Binky, and sourpuss sister-in-law, Fig. 

So it’s a miracle when I contrive to land a position as hostess to a posh holiday party in Tiddleton. The village is like something out of A Christmas Carol! But no sooner have I arrived than a neighborhood nuisance, a fellow named Freddie falls out of a tree, dead…. Dickensian, indeed.

Freddie’s merely a stocking stuffer. On my second day in town, another so-called accident turns up another mincemeat pie—and yet another on my third. The village is buzzing that a recent prison break could have something to do with it… that, or a long-standing witch’s curse. I’m not so sure. But after Darcy shows up beneath the mistletoe, anything could be possible in this wicked wonderland.  

Sunday, November 11, 2012

An Open Letter To Starbucks

Dear Starbucks,

You've managed to make me love and hate you so much in the last few weeks.

You changed the rewards program giving me a free drink faster. Yay! But you took away the free soy and free syrups. Boo!

You make the pumpkin spice latte iced now! Yay!

But what about the holiday coffees.

I want an iced peppermint mocha!

I'm sure I'm not the only one that loves iced coffee even in the cold weather.

I think after screwing me out of my ability to have the peppermint mocha long after Christmas is gone at no charge, is reason enough to allow me to have my peppermint mocha on ice!

Sincerely,

Andrea

When Cute Guys Wear Bad Clothes

I had to do a Johnny Depp edition sooner or later. So I thought, why not sooner?

Johnny is one of those guys that can wear anything no matter how ridiculous and still look gorgeous. He's lucky like that.

Example:


Uh, yeah Johnny what's up with ...uh everything?


Again...Mr. Depp got dressed in the dark?

But he doesn't always dress this way.

He can clean up nicely when he wants to.


Monday, November 5, 2012

Movie Review: Hallmark's Christmas Song

Natasha Henstridge and Gabe Hogan play music teachers in the Hallmark movie Christmas Song. The two teachers work at a newly merged private school and though they share some things in common they couldn't be more different.

Natasha, who looks a lot like Mrs. Bobby Flay, Stephanie March, plays Diana. She's the more staid of the two. For her it is all about the classics. Gabe plays Ken, a more fun loving guy. A pop prince.

The two teachers are challenged to win a contest with the best rendition of a Christmas Carol. Any Carol will do.

Now considering that Ken is more a pop kinda guy, I was a bit disappointed in his choice of The First Noel. That song was just as traditional as Diana's choice of Angel's We Have Heard On High.

What keeps this Hallmark movie from becoming too boring are the teenagers. There's a good kid and a not so good kid in each group, and of course by the end of the movie they've all come together so that neither teacher loses their job.

I have to admit, I have a soft spot for these cheesy movies. Its that same soft spot that still reads Harlequin romances. I love getting warm fuzzy feelings, and this movie definite delivers them!

Granted this isn't one of Hallmark's more memorable offerings (Like Mrs. Miracle) it is a good way to get into the holiday spirit.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Must Read Series: The Cottage Tales Of Beatrix Potter


There are 8 books to this cozy mystery series that stars Beatrix Potter and a host of other little animals.

I have to get them all.

It is because of this series, that I renewed my love for Potter. And not Harry.

Blurb: Beatrix is eager to marry her fiancé, solicitor William Heelis. But with remodeling work at Castle Cottage, their future home, going at a snail’s pace, Beatrix finds frustration when the building contractor fires his best carpenter, Mr. Adcock, for stealing. At the same time, Will is investigating thefts on other construction sites—an inquiry that comes to a screeching halt when Mr. Adcock is found dead. Besides the construction debacle, there’s another hurdle for Beatrix and Will to overcome: the Potters have yet to give their blessing on the marriage. And when Beatrix’s brother decides to tell their parents about his own decade-long secret marriage, Miss Potter knows that any chance she had of finding her own happy ending is about to be destroyed

Thursday, November 1, 2012

When Cute Guys Wear Bad Clothes

OK, Justin Hayward is the king of bad clothes, or rather bad shirts.

Example


This pink atrocity took forever to go away.



The canary yellow jacket was pretty horrid too!


This one is just well...I think he might have borrowed it from Graeme!