2019

Wowzers where has the time gone?  I still don’t have wifi working at home and thus the pitiful excuse for posting so seldom and even though I barely do posts for quite some time now with any kind of regularity doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten this blog.

So I’ll say what I always seem to say and hopefully it won’t be as long between posts.


‘TIL later

Thought for the Day

 

 

 

 

I’m going to be quick here and maybe none of them will even notice this wee little post But this is a plea to all authors.

 

Please, please do not send daily emails.  I follow a few authors for new releases and updates and a few, thankfully a very few, seem to think it’s their duty to send daily emails.

 

DON'T!

As a reader I don’t want to hear from you every day.  In fact if you are one of those who do send daily emails, I WILL NOT read any more of your books.   

The emails are like a weed that keeps coming back every day.  I delete it without even opening it and sure enough the next day there is another one. 

I think 1 email a week is more than enough but my preference is just to send me, the reader, an email when something is happening; you have a new book coming out soon, the release of a book is being delayed for some reason, your bestie is having her first book published soon and you want to share the good news.  That’s the only kind of thing I want an email sent to me.  If I want closer contact, I will follow you on Facebook – that is until I get mine deleted, or Twitter or Instagram.  Sending me daily emails is pretty much the last thing you should do.

 

Now speaking of author emails, I just now got a good example of an author who does it right; Julie Kriss.  Anyone who comes here on a regular basis knows I vacuum up her books like a brand new Dyson – cordless don’t know you. 

 

She sends emails when a new book is coming out and she sent one this morning.  I’d barely finished reading the email before I jumped on over to Amazon to pre-order it.   Nice cover eh? Should be out in just a few days and the minute it's uploaded is the minute I'll start reading it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 She also announced that Drive Me Wild,

the first book in this series is on for 99 cents.  Warning, I’m about to use some subliminal messaging here.




Buy it, it’s great book.  Buy it today.  Buy it. Do it, do it now.  Order this book

'til later

Ponderings

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a pondering post.  I’ve pondered a lot – I always do as my mind never really lets me sleep.  So here goes

I REALLY, REALLY hate not having wifi at home.  I can only do posts or review while at work and my inner worker bee is really bothered that I do.  Mind you I only do it when I’ve nothing else to do, like now, but still since I’m a magnet for guilt, I’m feeling it.  That’s one of the main reasons I haven’t been posting as much as I’d like to.

I went to RWA in Denver a few weeks ago.  I plan to do a long post but in the meantime have things ever changed since when I first started going.  The biggest change is the number of books I bring back with me.  When I first started going I would ship 4 or boxes home with me not to mention the books I could fit into my luggage.  This year I brought home 11 and that seemed like a lot.  I never thought this would happen, I thought I’d be one of the last to do this, but I read almost exclusively on my IPad now.

Getting to Denver was a treat and half!!!!!  NOT.  Before I start this rather long explanation, I’ve taken procrastination to a whole new level.  So keeping that in mind, the Sunday before I planned to leave the city (the following Monday) I thought I better double check to make sure my passport was still current.

Much to my horror it expired April 2017 which left me a week to get a new one.  No problem I thought, they don’t take as long to get as they used to.

Monday: I went to CAA to get my picture taken.  It’s in the same mall as the passport place.  When I showed them my CAA card so I could get the pictures for free, my CAA card had expired June 2017.  So in order to get free pictures which probably cost $5 or so, I paid $120 to renew my CAA + membership.  Pictures taken I headed over to the passport place.

Passport guy told me since it had been expired over a year I would have to start all over again with forms and everything.  He gave them to me and then I headed to work (which is also very close thank heavens)

I filled out the forms including having someone as a guarantor and headed home at the end of my shift (8:00 pm so passport office closed)

Tuesday: Headed to passport place with everything I needed – or so I thought.  After waiting about 2 hours I finally went to desk to see how much longer it would be and was told they called my number a long time ago but I didn’t show up at window. Somehow I got numbers wrong.  I finally went to teller to get everything going but was told that my guarantor didn’t sign picture, a requirement.  I quickly headed to work (which is also very close thank heavens).  By this time it’s around 3 and passport place locks up at 4.  My guarantor left at 2 that day.  My job share partner printed off new forms and I went up and down 3 rows at work trying to get someone to be my guarantor but no one had the passport with them and they needed it for passport number.  Finally my job share partner – who we shall call Krista – said she’d do it in the evening and bring everything in the next morning.  As the passport place was closed by this time that worked.

Wednesday: got up nice and early and headed to work to pick up all my paperwork (which is close to passport place thank heavens) and then headed to passport place.  Everything was good – or so I thought.  When I got to teller window, they wanted to see my health card as additional ID. I have an old version which doesn’t have photo on it so they asked for my drivers license.  When I showed it to them, it turns out it had – you guessed it – expired in 2017 so they couldn’t use it.  I asked what I should do and they said to get it renewed at drivers license place (not at all near passport place).  As one can imagine, I’m becoming more and more frantic.  I’m leaving Monday and it’s now Wednesday before.  After a lengthy drive I got to drivers license place and when I said I needed my license renewed she asked if it have been over a year.  Not 100% with it by now I said yes at which time she replied I’d have to start all over again including road test.  Breakdown begins.

Then there is the good news/bad news.  Good news, my license hadn’t expired that long ago so I didn’t have to start from scratch.  Bad news, my license was suspended.  Turns out I had an outstanding ticket for driving with expired license plates.  I remember when it happened and I drove right away to the drivers license place to pay it off but they said I couldn’t as it wasn’t overdue and nowhere on the ticket could I find where to send a check to pay for it.  I tried, I really did.  But I couldn’t find out and just kind of forgot about it.  So I paid the suspended license and for a new license.  And if things weren’t already bad enough, it was the year I had to have my picture takes.  I don’t even want to think about what I look like once I get my license in the mail. Shudder.  I was stressed, almost in tears and probably looking like shit, no makeup and bad hair day.

But still I got it done and headed back to the passport place (not at all near the license place)  But finally I had all my ducks in order and everything I needed.  Of course I had to pay extra to get my passport expedideted and fast tracked.  They told me it would be ready by noon on Friday. 

Thursday: A day of waiting

Friday: I went over on my lunch (which is very close to work thank goodness and thankfully it was there.  I was all set to leave on Monday.  Or so I thought……

That turned out to be a long more than a pondering didn’t’ it?  It’s more like a short story and not only that but it’s too be continued as there were still some bumps in the road.

 

'til later

 

I. AM. CANADIAN

Yes!  I am Canadian and damn proud to be one.  And I’m even more proud today. 

You see, we don’t’ have an evil thing as head of our country.  We don’t have evil sycophants who work for a malignant narcissist thing that leads OUR country.  I can’t call it a human being as I don’t believe that real human beings do the kind of thing that it does. 

We don’t have toadies for said evil, malignant narcissist go on national TV and announce there is a special place in hell for the leader of another country, supposedly a good friend of theirs. 

We don’t have bootlickers who claim our leader stabbed their leader in the back because our leader had the colossal nerve, the NERVE to say that he found it rather insulting that the evil, malignant narcissist thing claim we are a security risk for his country and the proceed to put on tariffs because of said risk

We don’t’ have a leader who makes enemies out of friends at the same time as cozying up to an evil dictator who has no qualms in starving his own people or murdering relatives or sending a young man just beginning his life, one who was visiting this country with said evil dictator coming home as a vegetable just in time to die. 

We don’t have authorized thugs who trick and lie and use other despicable tactics on people who only want a chance for a better life, like that which is written on the Statue of Liberty.

We don’t have a vicious little elf man who gets his greatest, almost gleeful joy when he devastates the lives of others.

We don’t have a leader who also refuses to condemn the leader of another country who murders opponents of the head of their country, who sends people to other countries to poison his rivals, a leader who will not admit that this other leader tampered with recent elections in the evil, malignant narcissist thing.

We don’t have an evil, malignant narcissist thing who has determined the best way to keep people from other countries fleeing as their very lives are in danger is to steal very young children away from their parents and then lose track of those children making it impossible for those fleeing death and oppression to reunite with their children, No, the head of Canada instead welcomes those from other countries knowing that in time those from other countries will be valuable contributors to the economy of Canada.

We don’t have a government made up of cowards who refuse to do anything to stop this evil, malignant narcissist thing even though it’s putting the entire world into danger.  Instead former leaders from other parties are standing alongside of our current leader in condemning this evil, malignant narcissist thing as he goes after Canada, Germany, France, Mexico, Australia etc.

We don’t have authorized thugs who trick and lie and use other despicable tactics on people who only want a chance for a better life, like that which is written on the Statue of Liberty.

We don’t have a vicious little elf man who gets his greatest, almost gleeful joy when he devastates the lives of others.

So, am I proud to be Canadian?  Damn straight I am

And if in any way, shape or form you support this evil, malignant narcissist thing, then get the fuck off my blog because to me you are as evil as he is.

I’m fortunate though.  I have a lot of American friends and they are just as appalled as I am at what’s going on their own country.  These are sad times for the world but sadly they are the saddest for those who have to live with all of the above.

Etc Time

Life is a roller coaster ride isn’t it? 

We go from high to low in the blink of a minute.  My high is the house is coming along great in its transformation from hoarder home to happy home.  We did the bedroom this past week and that went so much easier than I feared it would.  For any who haven’t been with me long term, my husband died of cancer over 10 years ago now and I still hadn’t dealt with his person items, clothes, personal items and so on.  They have been haunting me but I couldn’t do what’s been needed to be done for a long time now.  But with the help of my organizer, we did the bedroom.  And it was in bad shape overall let me tell you.  I couldn’t even see the floor, it was so covered in clothes and boxes and stuff.  I can’t remember the last time I made the bed.  It was only 1 layer, not a drastic case like you might watch on Hoarders, but for someone who suffers from frequent falls like I do these days, getting up in the middle of the night in the dark, to use the washroom, was quite an exercise.

But I ended up going through Ron’s things very quickly with only a few very emotional moments but also with some amusing ones.  Because I had the dresser and Ron had the chest of drawers, I never checked the dresser until the other day.  He had 3 drawers full of socks – THREE.  One full of white socks, one full of dark socks and one full of work socks.  I donated most of his clothes and a lot of personal items.  The only things I have of him now are his leather jacket, his ID bracelet and 2 jars FULL of pennies.  We don’t have pennies in Canada anymore.

My floor is now completely clutter free.  I’ve been making the bed the moment I’m out of it – except this morning since I forgot to set the alarm clock and woke up late.  Because the comforter is black and I have two cats who love to sleep on it when I let them in there, I found myself using a clothes brush on it until I wash it.  That might take a while as I have a huge backlog of clothes to wash and my dryer needs some work.

So now I have 3 rooms that don’t look like the others – until we get to the others and as the clutter gets cleaned up, it seems my shoulders are lifting higher and higher.  We’ve had bags and bags of junk lined up outside along the driveway.  We have a 3 bag garbage bag limit and there are a heck of a lot more garbage bags than 3 so yesterday I had 1-800-GOTJUNK  to come and take them away.  There was also a lot of yard trash they took and now the outside is looking real good.  I have lawn maintenance people and so the grass is properly maintained – I had major landscaping done also last fall – so it’s looking good outside and inside – main rooms anyway at the moment.

So. That was the high.  Now for the low.

My work world came crashing down on my head on Friday.  One of the reasons I’m still working and don’t plan on retiring next year – YIKES – next year when I turn 65 – good thing I don’t look it – is for the social aspect of the job.  I live alone with 2 cats – 2 happy cats now they have clean kitchen counters and a bedroom they can hang out in.  So I need the interaction with people I have at work.  It sure helps that I adore the people I work with and I love the job.  It’s in non-profit health care and there are many times a day when I’ve helped someone that I get that inner happiness.  Most of the people I work with are so much fun.  While I mostly work, as long as long as there is work to do, at times the social aspect of the job win out.  Of course there are those who are difficult to work with – NOT team players. You’re going to get that wherever you work and as long as I keep in mind that’s just who they are, I can get along quite cordially with them. 

But on Friday I learned all the people I interact with the best are leaving the department.  There have been a flurry of openings in other departments and they’ve all bid and got positions in another area.  Even my job share partner said she was leaving and knew I wouldn’t want to.  She told those around me that she had emailed me – since the very nature of the job is we don’t work together – but I didn’t get one.  These are the people to the right of me, people to the left of me, people who make it a joy to come in and work.  One has already left and the other ones will be leaving within the next several weeks.  While not letting it show on the outside and wishing them well, on the inside I’m devastated.  The guy I sit beside I’ve worked with for 8 or so years and he’s one of the most funny and fun people I’ve worked with.  And the coworkers who has left, she moved to a different city altogether as it’s a 45 minute drive from where she lives and a 5 minute drive from her new location, is one of the sweetest, kindest person I’ve worked with.

So now all that remain will be the difficult coworkers, the ones I have had run ins with, the non team players, the ones that make me grit my teeth and let out steam when I’m tired and the ones I don’t really have conversations with.  Yes, the others will be in the same building but it’s a large building with many employees and when they leave it’s never the same again.  I’ve experienced it many a time during the years.  A couple of years ago they moved me from where I was and it took a long time to get over it and the relationships are different now.  It takes me a while to let my guard down in many cases and get involved in conversations so even though we will be having others replace them, it’s like starting over again.

This is the kind of thing that triggers a depression and it’s like I’m on the edge of that cliff, whirling my arms around in order to not fall in.  I know I won’t, I’ll get past it and be OK but in the meantime I was up crying the other night at 2:30 in the morning as I don’t want them to leave me (that’s how it feels though I know it’s not true).

See, roller coaster?

*** update***

The roller coaster hadn’t quite hit bottom yet.  We had a meeting this afternoon whereupon we found out that all our caseloads had changed for better balance numbers.  The case manager I’ve worked with since I started in this department and I are no longer paired.  And of all the many,

many care coordinators I’ve worked with over the years, she is right up there very close to the top.

‘til later

 

PS – but then on the roller coast going up again side

, I found the jar of homemade blueberry jam I’ve been trying to find for months now.  Now since we went from almost winter, straight to summer, I just need to find the little girl fan I bought in the winter. 

I have room on the end table in the bedroom for it now.

 

Series Spotlight - Bad Billionaires Series by Julie Kriss - Part II

Rich Dirty Dangerous

The hero of this book is Cavan, older brother of Devin from the first book.  You don’t have to have read the previous two books to read this one, but they are both most excellent so I’m thinking you should anyway.  Bit of a backstory.  Devin and Cavan had terrible childhoods.  Their father disappeared early in their lives and their mother went from boyfriend to boyfriend until finally she was murdered by the last one.  Eighteen year old Cavan took off leaving behind sixteen year old Devin.  Devin and Cavan inherited a huge amount of money from an unknown grandfather.  Devin got his share in the first book and has been looking for Cavan to make sure Cavan gets his.  Cavan gets a brief chapter at the end of the second book and now this one is his story.

Cavan is associated but not part of a vicious motorcycle gang.  He’s their tattoo guy.  While he has some autonomy, when they want something, he is expected to do it.  So when the gang leader expects Cavan to do a tattoo on his old lady, Cavan really has no choice but to comply.  He really figures he’s screwed and the president is a violently jealous guy and one finger in the wrong place could lead to serious trouble for Cavan.  He’s left briefly alone with Dani and in that short amount of time she pleads with him to help her get away.  Cavan is most reluctant to help, mostly because of the danger to them both, but she brings out the big guns and tells him she knows that people are looking for him and that’s he a new billionaire.  Cavan agrees and thus begins their road trip to escape.

Before we learn the why, it’s been easy to not like Cavan.  He left his younger brother alone at a time when Devin really needed him but we learn the why when Cavan begins telling Dani his story, we get to see why he did what he did and feel for the choices he made and why he made them. 

And we learn some unexpected things about Dani’s past too while the two of them are trying to escape the gang that has a long reach.

As with the first two books, I loved this one.  Cavan is a deliciously good hero and once he commits to helping Dani, he is all in.  While he is very attracted to her, considering who she was involved with, he is patient and when the barriers do come down, very tender with her.

Dani is wickedly good as a heroine.  Though a number of years younger than Caven, about six or so, she is unusually mature for her age.  She knows how incredibly stupid she was in getting involved with this nasty gang of criminals but is determined to get free.  She feels bad for the pressure she put on Cavan but was desperate to get away before she was killed.  She really does appreciate what she has in Cavan.  I’m not a fan of millionaire/billionaire books and tend to pass on them very quickly when one comes up.  But because these guys came late into their money, it’s not like they have any sense of entitlement or are spoiled in any way.  They are rough and that’s the kind of hero I much prefer.

There is one more books left in the series, then I’m done.  I’m going to be sad then as these books are so readable and so enjoyable and I’m quite impresses with the author Julie Kriss.

Grade: A

Outline: The stripper who came to my door got the wrong apartment.
I was planning to tell her. But she kissed me first.

Max

You’d never know I’m a millionaire. I wear jeans and t-shirts. I’m a recluse. Afghanistan left me with scars inside and out. All I want is to be left alone.

I sure as hell didn’t order the stripper who showed up. All I know is that the hottest, sweetest woman I’ve ever seen is naked in my lap.

I don’t even know her name, but I want her. No good can come of this. And suddenly, I don’t care.

Gwen

I strip for money. It’s just a job. Until I meet Mr. Wrong Apartment.

He’s big and dangerous. Grumpy and damaged. Biceps that make me want to cry. One wrong house call, and suddenly I’m breaking my own rules.

Things are spinning out of control. We’re both broken. Maybe we can’t be fixed. Together we’re fire and gasoline. But I might let everything burn if he’ll just touch me one more time…

Grade: A

Back in Black

And alas, with so many good things, we come to the end with this book.  This one is Ben’s story, the lawyer who was introduced to us in the first book.  He’s a bad boy type hero who has woven in and out of all the previous books.  His father was a very distinguished lawyer and Ben feels such guilt that he never measured up.  He’s a lawyer like his father but his clientele is mostly criminals and he’s quite well acquainted with motorcycle gangs as he’s their go to lawyer when they run afoul of the law – as motorcycle gang members tend to do.  But when one of his clients inherits over $1billion, he scales back a lot of his other unsavoury clients to focus on Devon and then Max and following that Kaven.

It’s been hinted throughout that Ben was married and things blew up and the marriage and subsequent breakup turned ugly.  Thus it seems he’s not a good candidate for any kind of lasting relationship.  But since this is a romance, THIS IS WRONG.  He’s perfect.  And his match to be turns out to be Charlotte.  They meet when her younger brother gets into trouble and is in jail and insists to his big sister that Ben is the only lawyer who can help him.

The previous books have an interesting blend of light and dark, serious and amusing and this is the cutest of them.  Both Ben and Charlotte are such a hoot.  Charlotte is one of those “managing” kind of people.  In order to help pay the lawyer bill, she agrees to be his office manager and boy does his office need managing.  In some ways he’s very precise, but in others completely disorganized.  One of the funniest, cutest scenes is when Ben is in court, Charlotte doesn’t like the location of his office.  It’s in a run down, sleazy strip mall area. It was ok when his clients were mostly criminals, but now that he’s coming up in the world and working with billionaires, she decides and Devin, his main client agrees, that location, location, location is what it’s all about and WHILE HE IS IN COURT she moves his office to a better part of the city.  That just really tickled my funny bone big time.  There were so many scenes in this book that may have passed over my head the moment I was reading them, but then came back only moments later and cracked me up.  There was a scene where Ben’s sister is telling Charlotte how into her Ben was because he told his sister “I have an assistant”.  That amused me to no end.  While not necessarily laugh out loud funny, this book had so many charming scenes.

It wasn’t all light and fun.  There were certainly serious moments.  It does deal with motorcycle gangs after all.  But I know for absolute sure I’m going to be reading at least this book, if not all the rest again.

So, in finishing, I’m sad the series is done.  I loved all the books in this Bad Billionaire series and the best I can say is – Buy Them.  They Are Good.

Grade: A+

Outline: I've never been a hero. I'm the lawyer every third-rate criminal calls when he's been arrested - again. Or I was, until one of my clients became one of the richest men in the country. Now I'm supposed to clean up my act.

It isn't so easy. I dress more like a biker than a lawyer, and I have friends in low places. As for women, ten years ago the divorce from hell left me scarred - I live alone, I sleep alone. Trust me, it's for the good of womankind.

Then Charlotte showed up on my doorstep. Willing to work as my assistant to pay off her brother's legal bill. Beautiful and determined, even against the men trying to hurt her. She tells me I drive her crazy. She drives me crazy right back.

I hired her.
I watched her turn my life upside down.
I saved her.
I knocked her up.
And then I fell for her.

They say a bad boy can't be a good man. But they've never met me. And they don't know how determined I can be.

Final Thoughts:

 This has been a wonderful series.  As I read it over time, not back to back.  I’ve gone on to read other books by this author and I know I’ll be doing this for other series.  She’s in the middle of writing another one and if the third and fourth books are as good as the first two, well it will just solidify even stronger what a great author I find Ms. Kriss to be.

This has been a wonderful series.  As I read it over time, not back to back.  I’ve gone on to read other books by this author and I know I’ll be doing this for other series.  She’s in the middle of writing another one and if the third and fourth books are as good as the first two, well it will just solidify even stronger what a great author I find Ms. Kriss to be.

This has been a wonderful series.  As I read it over time, not back to back.  I’ve gone on to read other books by this author and I know I’ll be doing this for other series.  She’s in the middle of writing another one and if the third and fourth books are as good as the first two, well it will just solidify even stronger what a great author I find Ms. Kriss to be.

Series Spotlight - Bad Billionaires Series by Julie Kriss - Part I

 

In continuing with this series highlight theme, this is another series I have to share.  I’ve been almost obsessed by this author recently.  I’ve been reading all her backlist and rereading many I’ve already read.  I discovered her with this series a while ago and after somehow losing track, I rediscovered her.  But this is where the love started.

Bad Billionaire - Book 1

I tend to avoid any millionaire/billionaire/CEO type book as I'm much fonder of a blue collar hero. Added to that, there’s nothing like a bad boy eh? So at first glance when I read the title, considering how many books I have yet to read, it was a pass. But when I noticed the hero was a car mechanic who had spent time in "the joint", I thought ‘hhhmmm’ and decided to have a go. Good thing. I liked this one. A lot. Devon, a loner with a sad past met and connected with his neighbor Olivia. But Devon is involved in criminal activities. It's not that he wants too, but he's kind of being forced into it to protect a friend. He's caught before he can really establish anything with Olivia and spends the next couple of years in jail.

Just before he's released he finds out from his lawyer that he’s inherited a fortune from a grandfather he'd never met. Once he's out, he wants to really get a relationship going with Olivia but his newly discovered wealth changes the dynamics of things.  She hasn’t forgotten him over the years after his mysterious disappearance.  So once he explained where he’d been and that he hadn’t forgotten about her either, after some hesitation on her part, she’s ready to reestablish their relationship.

As I said, I enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. Both Devon and Olivia were interesting and believable people.  Devon is very far from perfect.  He did what he went to jail for but still he’s very easy to like.  Olivia is a bit on the naive side but other than that she’s a good match for Devon.

I quite appreciated the fact that while Devon is now super rich, he doesn't have that mentality, having lived on the streets and on his own for so long.  Thus he doesn’t act like your typical billionaire, instead he’s quite rough and dirty – but definitely dirty in a good way.  This is a great introduction to a new to me author and I look forward to more books.

Just to make this even more tempting to try, it’s free on Amazon.  I originally gave this book a B but after rereading it, I uppped the grade to a well deserved

Grade: A-

OUTLINE:  I’m no one. A mechanic. A getaway driver. A thief.

I was born on the streets, and I like it rough — life, sex, everything. My job is dirty. My past is dirty. So is my future.

Until I get out of prison and discover I’ve inherited a billion dollars.

I’m not a good billionaire. I don’t care about penthouses, fancy dinners, or private jets. I don’t care about life and death. Hell, I don’t even care about money. I’m willing to spend every penny of it on one thing.

Find the woman who gave me one unforgettable night before I went down. The woman who is too good for me. The woman I can never have.

Dirty Sweet Wild - Book 2

 

I really enjoyed the first book, in fact reread it all over again, bought this one, didn’t get around to reading it and then forgot about this author and her books.  Bad me, bad, bad me.

So this one is the story of Max who is best friend of Devon from the first book.  They met as young lads and have been friends ever since.

Towards the end of Bad Billionaire, Devon who came into a pile of money, gave five million to Max and Max is not happy, not happy at all with this gift.

Max is my kind of hero.  He’s a broken down war veteran.  He was wounded pretty badly in Afghanistan, lost a leg and suffers from PTSD.  He’s a loner and grouchy as all get out. He doesn’t handle change well and being given $5 million is something he struggles with.  He can use some money sure as he doesn’t have enough to continue his therapy for either the loss of his leg or his PTSD but other than that he wants no part of the money and $5 million is overkill.  He lives in a rather dangerous section of town and is perfectly fine living there.  Other than Devin he bothers no one and no one bothers him.  So he’s a bit surprised one evening when there is a knock at his door, he doesn’t get visitors, and this gorgeous young woman comes in and starts taking her clothes off.

Turns out she does strip-o-graming and she got apartments mixed up and went to the wrong one.  Eventually Max gets around to telling her, but not before she does strip down some.

Gwen, who coincidentally is the sister of Olivia, Devon’s love interest from book #1, is rocked by her attraction to Max and though it’s very much against her style, she may strip for a living but she doesn’t ‘give it up’, she can’t resist Max.  And being the hermit that he is, it’s been a long time and Max is open to work with her.  After a blistering hot encounter, Gwen leaves. 

But I really get a kick out of her because she can’t forget and comes back several days later to tell Max she’s not a slut and she just doesn’t do that kind of thing and Max believes her.  Because the chemistry is so strong, they continue to see each other as Gwen slowly begins breaking down his walls.  She’s a catalyst for Max starting to heal.  And Max is equally good for Gwen.

This book has more humor and less angst than the first book.  I really enjoyed the first book with its intensity and I really enjoyed this book with its wounded characters, especially grouchy bear Max.  While I kind of lost track of Ms. Kriss and this series, I sure am glad I found them again.

Grade: A

OUTLINE:

The stripper who came to my door got the wrong apartment.
I was planning to tell her. But she kissed me first.

Max
You’d never know I’m a millionaire. I wear jeans and t-shirts. I’m a recluse. Afghanistan left me with scars inside and out. All I want is to be left alone.

I sure as hell didn’t order the stripper who showed up. All I know is that the hottest, sweetest woman I’ve ever seen is naked in my lap.

I don’t even know her name, but I want her. No good can come of this. And suddenly, I don’t care.

Find her. Get revenge on the man that hurt her. And make her mine.

Gwen

I strip for money. It’s just a job. Until I meet Mr. Wrong Apartment.

He’s big and dangerous. Grumpy and damaged. Biceps that make me want to cry. One wrong house call, and suddenly I’m breaking my own rules.

Things are spinning out of control. We’re both broken. Maybe we can’t be fixed. Together we’re fire and gasoline. But I might let everything burn if he’ll just touch me one more time…

Series Spotlight – Preload by Scarlett Cole

Part 2

Since I got rather wordy in my enthusiasm for this series, I thought it best to break it into two parts so as not to overwhelm anyone reading this whom might be interested in reading this wonderful series.

(Be interested, Be Very Interested)

 

Nikan Rebuilt

 

I wanted to start my reading year of 2018 with a bang.  I was reading a different book and while I was enjoying it well enough it didn’t have the wow factor I was looking for.  So when I got notice this book had downloaded, I put the other book aside and picked this one right away.  Based on how much I enjoyed the first two books in this series, I thought Nikan Rebuilt would be a winner.  And boy was it ever.

This is a second chance at love story.  Nikan and Jenny both grew up in the foster care system, both in group homes.  While their lives before they ended up in the system were horrendous, Nikan was fortunate to end up in a very good group home with very caring staff and fellow residents he bonded with to the point where they became more than best friends, they became brothers and formed the band Preload which has gone on to become an extremely famous heavy metal band.  We have already seen 3 of the band members get their story, now it’s Nikan’s turn.  He and Jenny meet in high school when Jenny is being bullied and Nikan saves her.  From that moment, they become a couple and though both very young, they were very much in love and thought they would last forever.

Fast forward a number of years, Nikan and the band are very successful and one night while on tour, Dikan makes a mistake that changes the course of his life and Jenny ends things and disappears.

Now it’s current time and eight years later.  Jenny has returned and is temporarily head of the group home that Nikan and the rest grew up in.  Because they all are still very much involved with the home and the boys living there, Nikan runs into Jenny again and his feelings for Jenny are just as deep and all encompassing as they ever were and Jenny is still greatly in love with Nikan but what he did devastated her and she is doubtful she can forgive him.  Nikan knows how badly he screwed up and how much he lost and he just wants a chance to show her who he is now.

That’s the outline of the story and now I have to start the raving and rave I will do.  This book is incredible.  Every woman should have a Nikan.  Yep he screwed up and badly.  But his explanation for what happened was believable and makes the reader much more sympathetic.  As the oldest, he’s always been the mother hen of the group and does what’s best for them rather than himself.  For example, he doesn’t really like doing heavy metal and would like to change it up but he knows another member of the group uses it as an outlet for his rage.  It’s Nikan who arranges for them all to live in the same house as it’s something that Jordan needs because of his issues.
But now Nikan has to look after his own problems and concentrate less on the other members, especially since getting Jenny to forgive him and give him another chance.  He’s at a turning point in his life and the author does such a great job in letting reader ‘feel’ his confusion and frustration and his longing for Jenny and his guilt for what he did that split them up.  He’s one of the best heroes I’ve read in a while – and I’ve read some really good ones.

I would say that Nikan makes the book but Jenny is such a wonderful heroine that she deserves as much credit for this being such a great read as he does.  She’s still very deeply in love but she’s clear with him that she doesn’t trust him, that he needs to earn it back if that’s even possible.  One thing that sets this book higher than many they talk things through.  The both realize that they have to be open and honest if there is any hope for them.  There’s no big misunderstandings, they are both mature and intelligent people.

I say this in each of the Preload reviews but something else that really sets these ones above for me is they take place in Toronto, a city I’ve visited many a time.  One scene takes place at Rogers Centre (though it will always be Skydome to me) and as a family we would go there 4 or 5 times a summer to catch the Jays.  Eaton’s centre is mentioned and as I’ve been there quite often I can close my eyes and see it.  And most of all Ms. Cole mentions Tim Horton’s a lot.  Now not many people outside of Canada know this probably but there is almost a symbiotic relationship between “Timmies” and most Canadians.  It’s the go to place for coffee – though I myself stop at Mickey D’s to pick up my morning coffee on the way to work.  But EVERYONE knows about Timmies.  The author married a Canadian and lived in Canada for a while so she really ‘gets’ things.

Something else that gets mentioned in this book that puts it way up high is her referencing the struggle that Indigenous  People went through for many years and are still struggling with to this day to what was done to them.  The Canadian government, in their unbelievable and unconscionable arrogance stole the children away from their parents and put them in ‘schools’ were they were stripped of their culture, their language, everything that made them an important nation.

A great deal of thanks goes to the late Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip for letting the average Canadian know about this great dark part of Canada’s history.

The inclusion of this storyline makes this a very emotional book.  Nikan father was First Nations and after ignoring his heritage for most of his life, this is something he starts considering.  I felt this really added something special to the book.  It wasn’t done in any kind of preachy tone at all, but more of an added feature to the story.

Grade: 5 out of 5

Lennon Reborn

And now we come, sadly, to the final book of this amazing series about the heavy metal band Preload.  They started with The Purest Hook which was actually part of a different series and then carried on as their own series with Jordan Reclaimed.  I am SO going to miss these guys though I can go back and ‘see’ them again in rereads, but it won’t be quite the same.

Lennon McCartney – yep, he knows, is the youngest band member and the jerk of the group.  Throughout the series, he’s been the one to say stupid and crass things and he hasn’t fully engaged with the other four.  But despite this, the others still consider him their brother and ad the drummer, a very vital part of the group.  But every so often in previous books Ms. Cole would drop just the smallest of hints that that who we were seeing wasn’t the real Lennon so anticipation for his story has been building.  By now he’s the only one who hasn’t found a love interest and it’s not long into the story when we find out why.

Lennon had such a sad and traumatic childhood that he doesn’t understand the concept of love and as a result of being completely ignored by this young teenage mother, he is unable to really connect with anyone which explains why he isn’t as close to his ‘brothers’.  He also constantly expects them to reject him so he self-sabotages himself.  He’s always been more of a loner but with all his band members finding the love of their lives, he’s even more isolated and envy has crept in.

And his mind never gives him a rest.  It’s constantly racing, telling he’s no good, everyone will leave him and he’ll all alone.  It’s heartbreaking reading his inner dialogue thoughts.  The only thing that really gives him any real happiness is his drumming

This is where his head’s at when his whole life is turned upside down.  The band is involved in a bus crash and Lennon is hurt in a life altering way.  Dr. Georgia Starr is a legendary neurosurgeon who happens to see the crash and she jumps into action trying to save the victims.  When it’s Lennon’s turn, he pleads with her to just let him go.  But from the moment she touches him there is an almost electric current between them and Georgia know she will do whatever it takes to heal Lennon from his demons.

Georgia has her own battles to deal with.  She’s the only girl in her misogynistic family and despite her incredible talent as a doctor, her father and brothers are constantly judging and belittling her even though she’s the best neurosurgeon in the family.  Added to that is the fact her father and brother resent her since her beloved grandfather left the apartment building she lives in to her and no one else.  So both of these two people are struggling.

I don’t think I have enough words to say how much I enjoyed this book and indeed, this whole series.  The reader can feel the pain Lennon went through in his childhood and how it’s affected his whole life.  Even the good things are tainted with his self-doubt and low self-esteem.  Although it takes him a while to let Georgia know the particulars, she still sees he is in a great deal of pain tries to help him and reassure Lennon that she is there for him.

Lennon in turn, wants to show Georgia that there is more to life than just work.  While he is really impressed with her talents as a doctor, he wants to see her life more balanced.  They are really the exact person the other needs and both need the other.  They are simply wonderful.

This isn’t meant as a criticism, as much as a wish though.  The other books in the series take place in Toronto, a city I know, while not that well, still well enough to know many of the locations the author mentions.  Lennon Reborn however, takes place mainly in NYC.  This is the city Georgia works in and close to the accident.  Lennon has had to stay behind to recuperate and sent the rest of his ‘brothers’ home to Toronto and their families even though he does need them.  This is just another example of his tendency for self-sabotage.  But Georgia keeps him holding on. But it was real nice to almost have ties to the setting.

I also with there were a few more scenes between the band members, Dred, Jordan, Elliot, Nic and Lennon.  The bond between these five is one of the real gems of this series.  But again there aren’t as many as Lennon is off by himself for the majority of this book.

The third wish is some kind of feedback on their music.  As the members find love, their pain is directed into heavy metal and as they each find happiness, some of them want to change the tenor of their music.  It would have been nice to have an epilogue to the epilogue to see how Preload change of direction fared.  But other than those wishes, this book is simply a wonderful read about overcoming hardship and tragedy.

Jordan Reclaimed is my favourite book of all of them, but this one is a very close second and the whole Preload series gets huge kudos and recommendations from me.  As I said at the beginning, I’m really going to miss these guys.

Grade: 5 out of 5

Final Thoughts: I do believe that of all the series in all genres I’ve read over the years, Preload is the best I’ve ever read book for book.  There have been other series I’ve loved, but the love has varies over the course of them. One or two might have been A books and then a couple of others may have been B or B- books.  But Every. Single. Book in this series is an A or A+ read for me.

Every one is an emotional wringer in a totally wonderful way and I loved seeing each one of them overcome their broken childhoods with the help of the women they love.  I know this is a series I’ll be reading over and over again and it gets the highest recommendation that I can give.