PJV QUICKIE: What do you get when you mix a smart, headstrong cowgirl and a totally alpha businessman?  A wild ride, my friends, a very wild ride… 

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Review (Warning, some adult language included in review)

Keely McKay is the youngest child and only daughter in a family of boys.  She knows she’s loved, but sometimes she feels…suffocated.  Known as the resident “wild child”, she’s got a secret – she recently bought an old building and is planning to renovate it and start a physical therapy clinic.  She’s been working for other doctors, but wants a place that’s all her own.  Now, the only thing standing in her way is the approval of the local historical board.

Jack Donohue has worked hard at building his career, and has had to overcome personal and professional tragedy, but a new project he’s bidding for will finally turn things around.  The only problem is that they’re a company with “traditional” values and are looking for someone who is married.

Jack and Keely have spent years arguing back and forth and driving each other crazy.  The one time they almost got together ended…badly.  But they both have something the other needs; can they put aside their differences for a few short weeks to achieve their goals?

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First, a confession:  I am one of those people who has to read a series in order.  It drives me nuts to flit around randomly in a series.  Lorelei James’ Rough Riders series is an exception to that rule.  I don’t know why, but I haven’t been able to manage to read this series in order.  Basically, what this means is that I’m not up on all the characters and their histories.

I loved Keely and Jack!  These two both had strong personalities and when they got together it was like trying to mix oil and water, which we all know is impossible – until you add a third ingredient (in this case, sex. Hot, hot sex.).  (Okay, that’s enough science today, lol)  

There is a history between them that is hinted at, but we don’t find out until later in the story why Keely is so mad at Jack.  One of the things I loved about the story is that as we read along, Keely and Jack uncover little bits about each other and they begin to view each other in a different light and a genuine relationship develops.  That’s not to say there aren’t any bumps, or that their personalities don’t clash, because they do:

“Aw.  And I so give a flying fuck what kind of bad day you’ve had when I’ve been here alone for the last three goddamn days, fielding questions about our supposed relationship.”
“For Christsake, it wasn’t like I was on vacation.  I’ve been in Iowa.  In cornfield hell.”
“Did you say you got cornholed in Iowa?”
Jack actually growled.
She grinned.  Keely one; Jack zero.  (page 85)

The dichotomy between Keely’s folksy, country lifestyle and Jack’s driven, professional one was interesting to read.  Keely certainly had her hands full trying to mingle in Jack’s world, and Jack had quite a few “WTF” moments dealing with Keely’s people.  The way these two characters support each other without losing themselves is a trick not all authors can accomplish, but Ms. James does it well. I’ve read about five of the Rough Riders books, and I have to say, this one is my favorite so far.

Recommendations:

Highly recommend for fans of the ‘Enemies to Lovers’ trope.  If you also like sexy cowboys and hot lovin’ then you can’t lose with this one!

Like This, Like That:

Montana Glory by RC Ryan

Corralled (Blacktop Cowboys) by Lorelei James

I wonder if Keely’s brothers and Jack look like these sexy cowboys? They probably lost their hats and shirts wranglin’ a wild bull.  Or doing something else… sweaty. *rowr*

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Romancing the Weekends: All Jacked Up by Lorelei James

I am literally doing a dance because of the awesomeness that is this cover…

And without further ado…

I want to roll around in this cover and declare my undying love to it….

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, land choked with toxic pollution, wildlife ravaged by mass extinctions.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary beast, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows thunder tigers have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a hidden gift that would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

Stormdancer is released September 18 in the US through Thomas Dunne books/St Martin’s Press.

And you can win an ARC of this steampunk goodness!

But first I have a random questions for you…

Stormdancer is the first book in the ______ series.

Stormdancer on Goodreads

Jay’s blog

Jay’s Twitter

Now enter the contest. Usual rules apply. Domestic shipping only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Cover Reveal & Giveaway for STORMDANCER

Welcome to the Twitter & Facebook Hop on Parajunkee’s View.

Today we are linking up our Facebook Fan Pages & our Twitter accounts so we can earn more followers and likes. Social networks are an integral way to get more exposure for your blog, so click away!

Rules To Participate

• As a courtesy please follow & like your host — me Parajunkee!
• When you follow or like someone @ them and let them know so they can follow back
• Be nice about it! Don’t just send the same message over and over again!
• Leave a comment and tell me if this meme is a keeper.
• As a courtesy if someone follows you be sure to follow back.
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• Have fun!

********** Please Remember *********

1. This is for Facebook FAN pages – not your friend account, like with your Friend account, but list your Fan pages!
2. This is also not for your Blogs – if you want to add your blog – please join the #FF Hop

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Social Hop #22

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers — but you have to know — the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools — keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to WordPress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don’t have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

All features are chosen randomly to be the feature. They are not chosen by content or name.

When did you start blogging?
I started blogging back in February 2012.  The lovely and talented Cat from Addicted2Heroines, who was a friend of mine on GoodReads, asked if I would be interested in blogging on her site.  I immediately agreed and have been blogging with her ever since.  How lucky am I?

What is your favorite part of book blogging?
My favorite part about blogging is meeting fellow bloggers and readers who share the same interests as I do.  I’ve met a lot of smart, funny and all-around awesome people in the last few months.

What is your favorite book(s)?
This is a tough one, but I’ll narrow it down to my top three series.  Downside Ghosts by Stacia Kane, Fever by Karen Marie Moning and Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost.  My favorite YA series right now is Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments.

What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?
The best thing about blogging is that I have the opportunity to review, interview and collaborate on guest posts with my favorite authors.  I would have never had this opportunity had I not started book blogging .

Q: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?

I think I might want to go to Sedona — I’ve never been there, doesn’t this look like a fab place to read:

We have a new button, so update your blogs if you are used to doing this meme!

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Feature & Follow #97

Fifty Shades of Grey Chapter Eleven

Hello contract! Yeah like I read all that crap…legal text makes my brain turn to mush. I figure the Submissive must do whatever the fuck the Dominant says. And dress cute/slutty/in costume whenever the Dominant says it and eat whatever he wants her to eat and exercise and go to the potty at this time…blah blah blah.

Ok I read part of it. But, most of it was stuff that Christian and Ana had spoken about. The Obedience, the sleeping, the eating and the fact that she has to wear clothes he chooses for her. Then on top of that he gets to choose her personal trainer, the beauty salon she will go to…those type of things.

Failure to comply with any of the above will result in immediate punishment, the nature of which shall be determined by the Dominant.

Ooh spank me!!! Please? Ok sorry.

Then it goes over Hard Limits and Soft Limits.

Hard Limits, are limits that are unchangeable, they will never be crossed…real fun stuff like urination and defecation, medical instruments, piercings, auto-erotic asphyxiation…electrical, fire etc. Yeah, some really kinky stuff, but this is stuff Christian will not do. Fun to see he has limits.

Soft Limits can be pushed around and changed and set by either party, it’s something they will agree on along the way and can actually be moved around as the game changes.

Again interesting things like Vaginal & Anal fisting (yes! Sign me up for that *sarcasm font*) right be the consent to use a few toys, then what type of bondage the submissive consents to, rope, leather cuffs, shackles etc. Then restraint, blindfolding, gagging, spanking, whipping, genital clamps (whoah!), paddling, caning, nipple clamps and —- ICE (stop the press people).

That about sums up the contract. How does our very eloquent heroine sum it up?

Holy fuck.

And then begins the inner Ana debate of whether she wants to participate in this very interesting relationship she has gotten herself into.

Oh, I wish I’d never met him. My inner goddess shakes her head at me. She and I know it’s a lie. I have never felt as alive as I do now.

If you are curious...

The next morning Ana awakes to find the next extravagant Christian gift waiting for her and I’m jealous, because it’s a MacBook Pro. *Drool*

But, really it is just another way for Christian to control her and keep in touch with her, via email. And this begins the email narrative of the book. It’s quite extensive…and I think it’s cute how they go back and forth…but there are a lot of emails. It is given to her as a pretense for her to research the BDSM lifestyle and to be able to ask him any questions privately. Ana rather resents the computer and again thinks it’s extravagant and should only be loaned to her. Me I would have been like “Thanks! Later!”

The emails shows another side of Christian, what Ana terms his playful side. And they are the clincher for her I think. With a playful man comes someone that can joke with her, laughter can be tantamount to love in the fact that it evokes the same positive responses in people. Happiness. And that is all that Ana is really looking for. She is this naive little girl, searching for someone she can trust and love. She’s never even come close to desiring someone and this man comes into her life. When he is stoic and dominant he scares her, but when he jokes with her or shows kindness he is approachable and lovable. There are always different sides of people, the good side and the bad side and Ana just hopes that his good side shows a lot more than his bad side…or at least that is what I’m getting out of the book so far.

Gah! Jose shows up again for coffee at Ana’s work and she acts like nothing. Oh no, he didn’t just accuse you of getting with Christian for his money in the last phone call you had. Dick weed, I would kick him in his whiny balls instead of going to coffee. But, I’m not a pleasant person. Ana seems to be a pleasant person.

But, really — she describes him with another happy SAT word:

He comes bounding into the show like a gamboling dark-eyed puppy.

The only thing that comes out of that coffee is that Ana forgives Jose and of course leads him on some more.

Work ends, Ana goes home and of course there are more emails from Christian. They again are very playful. He urges her to do a lot of research…starting with Wikipedia. Which I’m assuming is where Mrs. James got all her information from.

I type “Submissive” into Wikipedia.
Half an hour later, I feel slight {book error not mine} queasy and frankly shocked to my core. Do I really want this stuff in my head? Jeez-is this what he gets up to in the Red Room of Pain?

Yes, yes Anastasia — it’s going to be more than in your head in a bit.

On to Chapter 12 of Fifty Shades of Grey

The exercise bit must have gotten to her, because Ana goes for a run. Something she’s never done before. Ok — sure, let’s go for a run. Hmmm.

Through the run she decides she does want him, but she just doesn’t want THAT much and thinks she can put more terms on the contract. She also wants to know what makes him tick, probably assuming that if she can find the root of the problem she could probably eradicate it and bring him back to the Vanilla side of life.

All it takes is one Fashion Show via her friend Kate to ruin Ana’s self-confidence and have her questioning her adequacy. She wants to show off her new bikinis she bought for her trip to Barbados it makes Ana feel quite terrible. She rushes right into her room and emails Christian what she thinks is a joking email:

Okay, I’ve seen enough.
It was nice knowing you.

Ana

For some reason she believes he’ll think it is funny. Most likely she did it because she wants him to fight for her, isn’t that what any girl wants? A little chase?

He doesn’t respond via email though, he shows up at her apartment a few hours later. Why not right? And isn’t he doing exactly what I think she wants? Chasing her. Better in person than via email. Romance points right there.

Vaguely, I’m aware that I’m still in my sweats, unshowered, yucky, and he’s just gloriously yummy…

More reason for Anastasia to feel insecure.

    “Well, I thought I should come and remind you how nice it was knowing me.”
Holy crap. I stare at him openmouthed, and his fingers move from my ear to my chin.
“What do you say to that, Miss Steele?”
His eyes blaze at me, his challenge intrinsic in his stare.

Ana does what any self-respecting woman would do in that situation — she throws herself bodily at him and they commence to reacquainting themselves with each other.

    He reaches done, and from his pants pocket, he takes out his silver-gray silk tie…that silver-gray woven tie that leaves small impressions of its weave on my skin. He moves so quickly, sitting astride me as he fastens my wrists together, but this time, he ties the other end of the tie to one of the spokes on my white iron headboard. He pulls at my binding, checking it’s secure. I’m not going anywhere. I’m tied, literally, to my bed, and I’m so aroused.

Without even signing a contract, it would seem Christian is introducing her to bondage.

    “If you struggle, I’ll tie your feet, too. If you make a noise, Anastasia, I will gag you. Keep quiet.”

Then he walks out of the room to get a drink. It is a punishment for the email. He has already begun, even though she hasn’t even agreed to anything. It is made worse by the fact that she doesn’t know what he considers “getting a drink” – leaving for the bar, going home etc.

But, he isn’t far and he comes back with wine and sets to do a bit of “light training”. It really is light, nothing off the charts, but they still haven’t discussed any limits and he is using the sex as a form of punishment on her. I think this is kind of a shame, because really she has no idea what he has in mind, or what the lifestyle entails. And frankly Anastasia is more obsessed with his past and inner hurts that she isn’t thinking about what he wants her to do.

She is especially obsessed with the woman she’s dubbed Mrs. Robinson and is supremely pissed/jealous/grossed out when she finds out he is still in touch with her.

“I see.” My voice is tight. “So you have someone you can discuss your alternative lifestyle with, but I’m not allowed.”
He frowns…
“…If you’d like, I can introduce you to one of my former subs. You could talk to her.”

Brilliant Christian. Brilliant work.

“I don’t want to talk to one of your ex-girlfriends…slave..sub…whatever you call them.”
“Anastasia Steele – are you jealous?”
I flush, crimson.
“Are you staying?”
“I have a breakfast meeting tomorrow at the Heathman. Besides, I told you, I don’t sleep with girlfriends, slaves, subs, or anyone. Friday and Saturday were exceptions. It won’t happen again.”

I would have thrown his 14K book at his head, right after I kicked his ass out of the door! But, poor Ana only feels like shit.

But now I feel like a receptacle-an empty vessel to be filled at his whim.

Men! But, even after that. The fact that he tore her down and made her feel cheap after he just screwed her — he gives her a bit of hope at the end of it.

He leans his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, his voice strained.
“Anastasia,” he whispers. “What are you doing to me?”
“I could say the same to you,” I whisper back.
Taking a deep breath, he kisses my forehead and leaves. He strolls purposefully {again} done the path toward his car as he runs his hand through his hair.

The hands running through his hair become a clue to his demeanor, one hand, slightly distraught, two hands through his hair, totally beserker. They become his tell.

Poor Ana. Again I couldn’t imagine having to deal with a man like this with very little knowledge about relationships and sex. My first relationship was with an older guy and he bowled me over and that was just a matter of three years and we were both in high school. I couldn’t imagine dealing with this kind of crazy. Oh well, it is what makes this book so good, because you can put yourself in both spots, or at least I can. I can register my past self with Ana and oddly, my present self with Christian. Not that I want to dominate anyone or that, but I guess this book brings out the inner deviant in you!

She does manage at the end of all of this to get her list of changes she wants made to the contract and things she refuses to bend on. Go head, girl. But, again, she’s obsessed with him and his past and the No Touching rule when it comes to him. It just shows you how deluded girls can become with men and the fact that they just might be able to change them. Look, I’m right there with you girls. I thought I could change those few pesky problems that my husband had before we got married. I tried. I put down “Hard Limits” — did anything change? Nope. In fact it usually gets worse. At some point you just have to accept them or move on. Either get on your knees Anastasia and accept those Nipple Clamps, or find yourself a nice meat and potatoes boy…

And that concludes Chapter 12 of Fifty Shades of Grey.

You know you want to buy the book and support the cause!!

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Fifty Shades of Grey Read Along Chapter 11 & 12

Congrats to the winners!

• Insatiable Booksluts – Adult Fiction
• Sophisticated Dorkiness – Adult Nonfiction
• Nerdy Book Club – Young Adult & Children’s
• Writer Beware Blogs – Publishing Industry

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Independent Book Blogger Awards

Someone is doing this to me also, telling me that I have spelling errors all throughout my posts and would I like them to check it for me. I’m assuming if I contact them they’ll propose a fee or something. It is most likely spam. My askimet plugin catches it, but it is very annoying. But, I can’t see any way to stop it, besides the SPAM filters. Luckily Blogger is catching them.  No one likes to be told that they have problems in their posts. Or at least not through comments. Whether spam or a real person, the best way to handle if you see errors on someone’s blog is to email them and do it as tactfully as possible. My suggestion would be to not allow anon comments for awhile and see if that cuts them out entirely. Or just resign yourself to the fact that you’ll have to see them in a Spam folder.

You would have a Tax ID # if you were a business. If you are just doing it as a single sole proprietor and not a business, then you would just use your Social Security number. This is how Amazon would actually send in info to the IRS if you make over a certain amount. Because you are technically making income money.

You can email the site and ask them to take it down. They are giving you credit so there is technically no violation of copyright and I haven’t been able to narrow down the exact Amazon TOS that states it, but I’ve heard that Amazon does allow some sites to republish their reviews and you can’t do anything. It’s what you agree to when you publish on their site. But Amazon does have a copyright violation area that you can email them about if you believe you are being violated.

I am so guilty of this Twisty. I usually wait until I have built up a few books to send to go to the post office. So it will probably take about a month for people to get the books they win from my sight. I am never upset if someone emails me to check on it. I’ve also shipped a book and had it get lost in the mail. It was an international ship too, which made it even worse. Because I felt so helpless about the whole thing. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I probably should have gotten a tracking # — but the difference was about $25 in shipping. The whole point of this, is if the blog that ran the giveaway has honorable intentions, your emails will not be considered a nuisance. More of a reminder. Just email them privately, never call them out publicly, because that can be embarrassed and make them get POd at you.

My suggestion is I would email them, probably after a month and then if you still haven’t received it in a few weeks email again. There is no real etiquette as long as you keep it professional, if they are replying and saying they just haven’t made it to the post office, give them time…if they aren’t responding at all to the emails, I would then maybe take it to their site with a comment like “Hey, I’ve sent you a few emails regarding the giveaway I won, can you please email me back.”

Nothing over the top and accusatory.

If you still haven’t heard back, I would bet they aren’t honoring their giveaway. Then I would probably stop entering giveaways on their site and probably stop following them all together. But, the best bet is to email…you never know what has happened.

It’s really funky to think that people will hosts giveaways with no intention of honoring their winner. But, I’m sure it happens. It’s happened about four times to me actually.

I use iMovie for my vlogs – and the Windows version is the Windows Movie Maker, I believe. Adobe software also has a few great ones that are relatively affordable. I would recommend just going into your local electronics store and asking a clerk, they probably know the best one that will work with your camera or built in webcam – that is the best way to do the research, because you don’t want to purchase software that can not import the kind of video your camera puts out.

Thank you for the compliments – I still haven’t figured out why these are so popular. LOL

Any “social” program is only as good as its popularity. While I have noticed a lot of people using it, it is not GFC yet, but maybe give it time. The GFC widget is failing on a lot of blogs, I have a feeling Google will either bring it up to speed or just slowly faze it out. Only time will tell.

Melissa you have to install Google Analytics into your Blogger blog in order to check your unique visits. It is just installing a string of code into your template if you go to the Google.com/analytics site they have a walk through.

Nice fake url there Kelly. I usually don’t post ignorance like this, but I thought the DWW thing should probably be brought up. First things first, I never said um…”it’s cheating or plagarism or whatever to take a Meme without permission”

I said: “If others were coming up with memes like My Mailbox or similar titles, with a similar graphic, yes I would claim that as plagiarism…but if they have original graphics, original titles…the claim of plagiarism is only to distract from the real issues. The real issue being it’s a matter of etiquette.”

Creating a similar meme is NOT cheating or plagiarism (notice spelling) it is bad etiquette.  Am I at fault for this?

Maybe. Probably.

My ‘Desperately Wanting Wednesday’ is because I loved to do the WOWs but I wanted to feature books that weren’t necessarily going to be released. I’m not trying to disguise it as anything, especially not an original idea; the WOW is like a staple of the blogging world. I’m still lost to figure out how I’m not following what I preach. If I was doing a meme called Waiting on Wednesday and claiming that I created it, then I would be cheating or plagiarizing. Once again, I guess I’m just a perpetrator of Bad Etiquette, even though I did email ‘Breaking the Spine’ when I started it – just didn’t get a response.  Granted I probably should create a DWW main page and credit the original meme inspiration. So, thanks for prodding me into it. But, calling me daft and saying my meme is cheap and a way to grub followers – well that is just being ugly, incendiary and again just trying to detract from the whole point of the post. NOT TO CONFUSE PLAGIARISM with BAD ETIQUETTE. Which obviously flew right by you…along with spell check. And out of the three memes I run — that one is definitely not a follower grubber LMAO — Have a good day.

I can’t get to all the questions, but please ask your BB101 Questions here…bring it on.

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Book Blogging 101: Question & Answers

Fifty Shades of Grey Chapter Nine

Good morning Anastasia! Look at her little hooker self waking up all thoroughly devirginized (a few times).

Then comes the stereotypical stare into the mirror and see if anything looks different about herself. Did you do this after losing your virginity? I really don’t remember checking for changes in the mirror…it’s such a silly thing to do. It’s like checking in the mirror to see if you look different after you’ve had your first beer, or run your first marathon. Not gonna reflect on the outside people! Sorry, I digress.

But, with this reflection in the mirror comes a shift in the book. There has been some mention of Ana’s subconscious, but now three parts of Ana begin to take shape and actually get like little forms. There is Ana, there is Ana’s subconscious, which from what I can tell dresses like a librarian and wears glasses, then there is Ana’s Inner Goddess who is the slut version of Ana, is very athletic, since she seems to like to do gymnastics a lot. I understand that James created these characters to perpetuate Ana’s struggle to find herself, but it’s straight-up over the top…

My subconscious has weaken. She’s staring at me with pursed lips, tapping her foot. So you’ve just slept with him, given him your virginity, a man who doesn’t love you. IN fact, he has very odd ideas about you, wants to make you some sort of kinky sex slave.

ARE YOU CRAZY? She’s shouting at me.

Indeed.

But after her inner whatever lectured her, Ana decides it’s time for breakfast, so time to cook for Christian. They have breakfast and there is a lot of innuendos in their dialogue that I found funny and even after all this, they continue to call each other, Ms. Steele and Mr. Grey.

Yet, soon the talk returns to the whole agreement, the NDA and Christians predilection for a little slap and tickle. We find out that Christian’s family has no idea about his hobbies, he doesn’t want her talking to her best friend at all about their arrangements, especially now that she is “making the beast with two backs” with his brother. I have never heard that before — oh yeah, British slang term. No wonder.

We also find out that he considers the nookie they had last night “vanilla” and it’s a first for him. Seems Christian has been a bit freaky since the get-go.

So what do they do next? Let’s have a bath…and he wants her to:

“…become well acquainted, on first name terms if you will, with my favorite and most cherished part of my body. I’m very attached to this.”

Boys and their wieners. I’m surprised it doesn’t have a name, Like Mr. Spanky…

Ana’s reaction is again, priceless…

It’s so big and growing.

Alright. That’s something. Now on to Ana’s first Blow Job…dun dun duh…and low and behold she doesn’t have a gag reflex. And this of course, would make any man fall head over heels in love with a girl, so he is instantly begging her to seal the deal:

“Say yes,” he whispers fervently.
I frown, not understanding.
“To what?”
“Yes to our arrangement. To being mine. Please, Ana,” he whispers pleading…

Proves the point that men are easy…but Ana is not agreeing to that so easily, she needs a little more prodding. So, let’s have more oral sex…

What does Ana do when confronted with her first time??

“Aargh!” I moan as my body bows and convulses at the touch of his tongue.

They are just getting done and Christian is still trying to talk her into submitting to him when there is a commotion in the hall…the chapter ends with this line:

“Shit! It’s my mother.”

I was snickering all over the pages…too funny.

Chapter Ten of Fifty Shades of Grey

Ana is gonna meet Christian’s mother! With hardly any appropriate clothes and looking like she just, well had sex with her son…isn’t that fun? The screwed up thing about the whole mess is that Christian actually seems excited about it. A man that hasn’t introduced a single woman to his mother is pretty much demanding that she dress in HIS clothes and present herself.

Again, mixed signals Christian.

The mom seems pleasant. And during all this Ana accepts a phone call from Jose, who solidifies himself as a whiny ass from the way he acts. Any man that is described as whining at someone looses a big estimation in my book. I think the sole purpose of this character is to bring out Christian’s jealous streak. Which it does.

“I don’t like to share, Miss Steele. Remember that.”

And then back to Portland with a few memorable quotables along the way.

In the elevator:

“Stop biting your lip, or I will fuck you in the elevator, and I don’t care who gets in with us.”

Yes please.

On the way to Portland they stop at a restaurant and Ana continues to grill Christian. She is intent to find out more information from him. What she finds out:

Is this what Mommy thought Christian was doing on the weekends?

1. His mother thought he was gay
2. He never introduced her to anyone, even 1 of the 15 relationships he’s had that were BDSM agreements
3. He was fifteen when he had his first encounter, it was one of his mother’s friends who lured him into the BDSM lifestyle
4. He was actually the woman’s submissive for six years
5. He’s never really dated anyone
6. He actually is still in touch with the “older woman” and considers her a good friend

This opens up all kinds of thoughts with Ana. She now considers Christian abused, which is true. If I were to find that my friend was sleeping with my fifteen year old son I would have her arrested and if it would come to light that she was using instruments of torture on my child I would push for a predatory sexual charge or sexual abuse. That’s just me. If it was a man doing it to a 15 year old girl, people would freak out…why is it different for a 15 year old boy? Because they want to have sex more than 15 year old girls?

Bah!

Let’s get back to the story though. Ana has had a lot to digest in her little trip. She know, well kinda knows how bossy Christian will be if she submits to him, but she also has hopes that she can maybe change him, mend his wounds or whatever. She finds out he’s always monogamous, but he expects full obedience from her. Ana is going to have to do a lot of thinking until they meet again on Wednesday. But, now she has to confront Kate as she does the walk-of-shame back into her apartment.

Of course, she is immediately jumped by the ever inquisitive Kate. Ana manages to elude to what they did without giving out details. It’s not very hard, Kate seems to like to talk about herself.

Jose makes an appearance again also, whining and apologizing at the same time. Gah! What a horrendous character. He sort of insults her, but then grovels, it’s rather ridiculous.

We close the Chapter in a blissful, post-coital reverie…with Ana. She comes to the conclusion that even though Christian is a little messed up, she still wants more and doesn’t want to end their “relationship”.

My mind drifts to last night and this morning…and the incredible, sensual sexuality I’d experienced. Do I want to say good-bye to that? No! screams my subconscious…my inner goddess nods in silent Zen-like agreement with her.

You know you want to buy the book and support the cause!!

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Fifty Shades of Grey Read Along Chapter 9 & 10

A few special publisher offers have come out that you need to know about! Click on images to be taken to the Buy pages.

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Super Hot Kindle Deals You Gotta Know About!

There is one book that I’ve been waiting for that I would probably commit some sort of heinous crime to get my hands upon. In fact when Ms. Ann Aguirre gave out an ARC at her RT panel the girl that got a copy — well let’s just say, she’s lucky that I lost site of her in the hallway…

Deuce’s whole world has changed. Now living topside in a community called Salvation, she has a whole new set of problems. Down below, she was considered an adult, and she contributed to the whole. Now, topside, the people of Salvation think she’s a brat in need of training. She hates school, and she doesn’t fit in with the other girls. They’ve spent their lives learning to cook and sew–suitable woman’s work. Deuce only knows how to fight. To make matters worse, Fade keeps her at a distance, and the band of four has broken into fragments.

Stalker presses for a closer relationship, but Deuce sees him as a training partner, and she’s busy trying to find her place in Salvation. She refuses to accept that she’s wrong for being who she is, but tensions rise as she struggles against the status quo. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.

Once she’s free from school for the year, Deuce pursues a chance to serve in the summer patrols–those responsible for making sure the growers and planters can work the fields without danger of Freak attack. It should have been routine, little fighting, but things have been changing on surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks are smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it will take a girl like Deuce to turn the tide.

What book would you STEAL to get your hands on a copy?

If you want to participate in a Desperately Wanting Wednesday, you are more then welcome to join in, you don’t even have to answer the question, that is just in case you are at a loss. Here are buttons and a link-up list to leave your post URL:

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Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Desperatly Wanting Wednesday: The Book I would Commit a Crime for…

Fifty Shades of Grey Chapter Seven

We now stand with Ana as she is rendered speechless by the Red Room of Pain.  We’ve got … well first we have ambient glow ?? and a womb-like effect ??? and then a big wooden cross on the wall ?? Not impressed yet, I’m thinking Church?

You can purchase this bad boy at www.leatherbeaten.com

Ok, no sorry, there seems to be restraining cuffs on the cross, iron grid system suspended from the ceiling, ropes, chains, even some glinting shackles. Poles, spindles, paddles, whips, riding crops and feathery implements.

“It’s called a flogger.”

I’m in shock. What is the appropriate response to finding out a potential lover is a complete freaky sadist or masochist?

So, what should she do, run, walk, or jump into those shackles? You would think at this point he would give her a good excuse that she should slip into some leather and bind her hands behind her back…maybe a little sweet talk? But, no, not Christian…

    “It means I want you to willingly surrender yourself to me, in all things.”
I frown at him as I try to assimilate this idea.
“Why would I do that?”
“To please me,” he whispers as he cocks his head to one side and I see a ghost of a smile.

And that seems to be what she wants. She wants to please Christian Grey. I would have told him where he could stick his flogger…

    “In very simple terms, I want you to want to please me,” he says softly. His voice is hypnotic.
“How do I do that?” My mouth is dry, and I wish I had more wine. Okay, I understand the pleasing bit, but I am puzzled by the soft-boudoir Elizabethan-torture setup.

"Quiet Submissive" Image courtesy of Doomsday Dawn via Deviant Art

And then the scene is set and Christian shows her exactly what he expects of her. He brings her around and points out fun things like where her room will be (Friday through Sunday), where his room will be and the fact that the won’t have any sort of relationship out of the whole dominant submissive routine. It really is such a bummer, but through the whole thing, he gives her little tidbits…makes her think that he might want more even though he’s saying that he only wants a certain thing.

Typical male…so while he is mentioning contracts, separate sleeping arrangements, fucking only, he also says other things to confuse Ana and make her HOPE:

“Anastasia, I’ve told you. There’s something about you. I can’t leave you alone.” He smiles ironically. “I’m like a moth to a flame.”

But, of course, before they can go any further…they have to go over the Rules. I’m not going to go into them in detail. But it’s a lot of Dominant does this, Submissive does that…Dominant says this, submissive, wears this, eats this, exercises this way…we are introduced to Hard Limits and Soft Limits.

It’s quite an eye opener, especially for a girl of Ana’s experience and then Christian is so clinical about it. That is until the revelation comes out, when he asks her details about what she likes and doesn’t like:

“You’re a virgin?” he breathes. I nod, flushing again. He closes his eyes and looks to be counting to ten. When he opens them again, he’s angry, glaring at me.

Ready to move on to Chapter 8 of Fifty Shades of Grey?

Right off the bat it is obvious he’s going to drag her away and boink her…but of course we have to find out why she’s a virgin…and get another S.A.T. word!

My subconscious has reared her somnambulant head.

And that subconscious of hers has decided to come up for air just in time for Christian to so romantically sweep Ana off her feet:

“Come,” he murmurs.

“What?”

“We’re going to rectify the situation right now.”

“What do you mean? What situation?”

“Your situation. Ana, I’m going to make love to you, now.”

Now isn’t that romantic?

Well, there goes the fact that he doesn’t make love. Christian, you sure know how to give a girl mixed signals! But, of course Ana is ready and willing and full of her usual:

I flush…oh my…wishes do come true.

And what follows is a sexy, but rather tame love scene that you can read in most romance novels. With a startling revelation for Ana at the end of it that, well, more of her usual absurdity…

Oh my. That was extraordinary. Now I know what all the fuss is about.

Light Bulb! <– sound effects

And more sex…and some more. It’s like quick bursts of multiple orgasms….

Ana wakes to find him playing the piano, another ‘Twilight’ companion scene and there is a very warm exchange between the two of them. Christian has just given Ana the biggest lead on that she could ever hope for. Even after that he joins her in bed…something that he also said he never does. It gives Ana the impression that he cares more for her than the other women he’s had as his subs. She’s also glimpsed a part of him that he keeps hidden and bottled up, its one of the first clues that Christian Grey is not a happy person, no matter how much wealth or toys he has. Granted from his lifestyle, most could probably guess that happiness was few and far between in his life, but Ana and her inexperience will take awhile to figure it out.

I still haven’t figured out why I like these books. Especially as I do these recaps. Even the parts that I’ve marked as my own little “oh mys” on reread, I’m all like “huh?” It is crack. You know it’s bad for you…but you keep sucking on that glass pipe. *Sigh*

You know you want to buy the book and support the cause!!

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Fifty Shades of Grey Read Along Chapter 7 & 8

New Fiction Releasing May 15, 2012

Because none of us have enough books to read! It looks like it’s a YA kind of day…

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix Publisher: HarperCollins YA Fantasy	Bad Girls Don’t Die: As Dead as It Gets by Katie Alender Publisher: Hyperion Book CH YA Fantasy	The Mask of Destiny by Newsome & Duddle (illustrations) Publisher: Walden Pond Press Middle Grade Fantasy

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Books Releasing May 15, 2012

PJV Quickie: This little paranormal romance reader is not faring well by reading the classics.

Review

My experiment is over. I think I shall just stick to current reads, because going back and hitting all the first in the series is not working well for me. I know I’m going to have to duck for this one, but Gena Showalter’s first Lords of the Underworld book, ‘The Darkest Night’ just left me confused and in need of a shower.

The hero, the overbearing, Maddox, is our first Lord and a bit on the tragic side. Left to die every night by being stabbed by his buddies, he goes to Hell each night and then rises in the morning to start again. His curse, placed on him by the gods, because he killed Pandora. The heroine, the also somewhat tragic Ashlyn has a curse of her own, she can hear everything that people have said in one spot at any given time. With the masses of people, you can see where that gets a bit on the insanity inducing side.

Marvelous plot set-up and world creation, fabulous writing as only Showalter can do, but the characters were horrendous. All of these boys were just straight up beasts, beating and breaking and screwing and then rather ignorant, expect the Plague guy, he seemed to have a bit of smarts. They would just barrel through scenes, ripping a part things as they went. No wonder they had a league of crazies trying to kill them. Even though I didn’t get the point of that either, since if they killed these men their demons would get out and wreak havoc on the world. Did they not get that memo?

Then there was Ashlynn, who was like this little child, she spent the majority of the book either clinging to Maddox or vomiting. Really, two-thirds of the book she is in his room, waiting for Tylenol to cure her poisoning (yup) and clinging to him when he is there — until finally something happens and she shifts into this strong character and the book goes to it’s sudden climax. Literally and figuratively.

Look, this book is loved by most that read it, so obviously I’m in the minority on this, but there is so much better more well-rounded characters out there. This is what I consider the old-school take on PNR. That Alpha man that is six-foot ten, huge everything, busting skulls, but still making-love like a gentle giant, who meets the delicate flower, virginal heroine, who at first cowers at her big supernatural mate — but then succumbs to his straight-up sex-appeal and forgives him for murdering the whole village where she grew up. Sorry, I’m ranting, but stuff like this isn’t for me. I’m more of an Alpha meets Alpha and they beat each other senseless until they end up having sex sort of PNR fan. Bring that on, any suggestions folks?

Recommendations:

Recommended for fans of paranormal romance and Showalter’s writing. There are some very steamy scenes, along with violence and language so adults only.

Like This, Like That

Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon
A Hunger Like No Other (Immortals After Dark, Book 1) by Kresley Cole

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Review: ‘The Darkest Night’ by Gena Showalter

We have now made it to Christian Grey’s Bed!

Hallelujah!

Well his hotel room. And we now begin the slow descent into Christian Grey’s fucked up world.

Odd Obsession #1: His preoccupation with eating.

Christian gives Ana hell for not eating the night before, and actually gets rather mad about it.

     “Are you going to continue to scold me?”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“I think so.”
“You’re lucky I’m just scolding you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if you were mine, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for a week after the stunt you pulled yesterday. You didn’t eat, you got drunk, you put yourself at risk.”

The food obsessions are everywhere — especially in the beginning, that first breakfast when he orders her the whole breakfast menu!

Also, now I’m going to start a new thing called spot “S.A.T. WORD”, because from this point on they pop up everywhere:

Ana: “That’s very profligate of you,” I murmur, bewildered by the choice, though I am hungry.

Profligate – recklessly extravagant…hmm learn a new word every chapter.

During breakfast, the anxiety is now amped up to the max, you know they just want to tear their clothes off and boink right on the counter. But — we can’t play that game with controlling Christian. Because of this Ana and Christian make a date for that night after she goes to work and there is some references to paperwork. Yup, paperwork and the fact that they can’t progress until she’s signed the paperwork! He’s actually going to fly her in a helicopter to Seattle, just so she can sign said paperwork. And then they can boink. Speaking of extravagant. This makes Ana even more self-conscious about the difference between the two of them. But, she is very excited now and I believe she has made up her mind that it is time to pop her cherry and Christian is going to be Mr. Lucky (after the paperwork of course). She hasn’t quite picked up on all of his possessive and controlling behavior and how it will translate into a relationship, or from what I can tell she just doesn’t care. Ladies…if your potential dates act the way Christian is acting with Ana — run for the hills! But, like anything, stuff like this is learned through dating different people and finding out what is GOOD and what is BAD. That is my dating advice 101…

Even with the oodles of warning signs, Christian is so damned sexy, which is probably why Ana is very much looking past his crazy behavior…especially with all the tension and the anxiety, especially in elevators.

Let’s talk about Christian’s next obsession now, Ana and her habit of biting her bottom lip:

I bite my lip.

“Oh, fuck the paperwork,” he growls. He lunges at me, pushing me against the wall of the elevator. Before I know it, he’s got both of my hands in one of his in a viselike grip above my head, and he’s pinning me to the wall using his hips. Holy shit.

But, this display of affection leads to more WOWs from Ana, like she just can’t believe that a man like him would want a reject like herself. I’m starting to realize this girl has a bit of self-esteem issue and a crazy penchant for saying Oh my. Being of sound self-esteem and mind I usually lack respect for characters of this sort, but I’ll give Ana some cred and hope that she gains it through the book:

Oh my…He wants me. Christian Grey, Greek god, wants me, and I want him, here…now, in the elevator.

And while the critic in me is screaming to rip it to shreds, I have to admit the whole thing was certainly very hot.

Moving on to Chapter Six of Fifty Shades of Grey

Exiting the elevator and entering into another ‘Twilight’ reference, which is Christian Grey’s obsession with Audis, he has like five of them. He drives her back to her home and in the midst of the drive makes more cryptic comments to the fact that he has weird relationship issues.

“What happened in the elevator—it won’t happen again, well, not unless it’s premeditated.”

Talk about control issues!

Then, he takes her directly to her house, without her showing him the way, so it’s obvious he has her completely stalked. WARNING SIGNS (click here for vague humorous associations). Between the cell-phone trace from the bar and now the fact he knows where she lives…something like this would worry me. But, our dear Ana is all-obsessing over if he will kiss her again, not if he has her house bugged.

I forgot to mention that there is also a side romance playing out with Kate and Elliot, Christian’s brother. He seems to be a Grey that has his head on straight – from what you can tell. Ana returns to her apartment and finds that Elliot has made himself comfortable and hooked up with Kate. They are quite engrossed in each other and Ana becomes immediately jealous of their behavior as a couple. And it’s true, her thoughts, why can’t Christian kiss her like Elliot kisses Kate? Why must everything be premeditated and off the wall?

Yet, as he leaves he does copy his brother and shows a little bit of humanness…

He tucks a stray strand of my hair that has worked it’s way free from my ponytail…

… “Laters, baby,” he murmurs.

That would be a swoon moment.

But, then off to more mundane work and anticipation of the night, with much preparation by Kate and Ana to be perfectly shaved and prepped in case they will be doing the deed.

Personally I was thinking, she’s going to work a whole shift in a hardware store, how prepped can she get? Talk about crotch sweat, on your feet all day long in a hot hardware store! But, whatevs that is just in my head. I guess she wet-whiped in the bathroom before he picked her up promptly at eight and then whisked her to his BIG BIRD, then even BIGGER apartment.

Again Ana is in awe of his wealth and extravagance. Crystal glasses, baby grand piano and sweeping views of the city. It’s like Pretty Woman, but instead of a whore, she’s a virgin.

Ana finally asks him about the books and why he sent her two copies of Tess.

   “It seemed appropriate. I could hold you to some impossibly high ideal like Angel Clare or debase you completely like Alec d’Urberville,” he murmurs, and his eyes flash dark and dangerous.

“If there are only two choices, I’ll take the debasement.” I whisper, gazing at him.

This is where my subconscious screams with her own, because if I’m not mistaken, didn’t Alec d’Urberville rape the heroine? Fun! We can all aspire to get raped (sarcasm).

Yet, Ana is all about Christian. She is even willing to sign his nondisclosure agreement, without even reading it. She knows what he is going to reveal is bad, but she’s ready for it. She is craving it. This whole time, I’m rebelling against Ana doing all this, but the book is still compelling me on, wanting to know what happens next, making me read and I’m still all into the Christian/Ana dynamic, it works, even though I think she is making a BIG mistake. DON’T do it chick! No, he is like Psycho 101! Ok fine, he’s hot! Have sex so I can read about it…I’m like a walking advertisement for bipolar, I can imagine what our little virgin would be feeling.

After she signs she literally looks him in the eye and asks if he is going to make love to her tonight, which he horrendously replies:

“No, Anastasia, it doesn’t. First, I don’t make love. I fuck…hard. Second, there’s a lot more paperwork to do. And third, you don’t yet know what you’re in for. You could still run for the hills. Come, I want to show you my playroom.”

After that there is some dumb comment from her, which literally had me rolling my eyes:

“You want me to play on your Xbox?”

WTF? I kind of lost any remaining respect for her character right there…but I want to see the playroom. C’mon…show me the playroom. *chanting* Playroom…playroom…playroom…

“Just open the damn door, Christian.”

My sentiments, exactly.

Taking a deep breath I walk in.

And it feels like I’ve time-traveled back to the sixteenth century and the Spanish Inquisition.

Holy fuck.

And to see visual representation – there are people that actually create The Sims pictures to correlate with the scenes. Yes, I know. Check it out.

But, other than the fact that I’m all agog over the fact that people take pictures of their Sim lives and post on Tumblr, I’m actually rather pleased with the book. I’m in that happy pre-coital moment in a romance where I know it is just about to happen…I hope it’s good! Even though I still have reservations about Christian’s issues.  Because let’s face it, you come to the realization after dating for a bit, that you can’t really change a man. Only a man can change himself and it usually comes with age or prescription meds, maybe a traumatic event….those sort of things. But, a woman alone, might get a man to stop boinking every girl that moves, or he might stop only stocking his fridge with Pabst Blue Ribbon, but their base nature will remain intake and it might get even worse as they become more comfortable in a relationship. But, I guess that is why women like romance, because even though they know it’s probably not true, one can only fucking hope that maybe some girl out there will stumble into THAT man…that man that we all only dream about.

Christian Grey is going to need a lot of prescription meds to work through his control issues and become THAT man.

XOXO Laters, baby…

Support this Junkee — if you are thinking about buying Fifty or another book, click my associate links. No books will be harmed, only purchased with the money made…

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Fifty Shades of Grey Read Along Chapter 5 & 6

PJV Quickie: You can’t get any better than this! Apocalypse, shifters, magic, sexy-time…

Review

Written by the powerhouse author team Ann Aguirre and Carrie Lofty, Ellen Connor is the combination of Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor, two of the most powerful women of science fiction. Lofty and Aguirre strove to embody these strong women in their Dark Age Dawning novels and … They Achieved It.

Darkly compelling, ‘Nightfall’ begins with a sudden onslaught of adrenaline and doesn’t let go. The hero, Mason is larger than life and his heroine is ten times more.  I was in love with both of them from the beginning and their transition, fight for survival and fall into love didn’t disappoint. I can’t stop shouting about this book. It’s a must read and warmed my end-of-the-world loving heart.

Apocalypse, Demon Dogs, Shifters, Magic – it’s like a paranormal junkees cup-o-tea.

It all begins with a promise. A promise made by Mason, to protect Jenna when the apocalypse strikes. The promise leads to him kidnapping her and bringing Jenna to a cabin in the woods, where they are almost immediately inundated with dogs that stink of death and their eyes hold a canny intelligence.  They are intent to feed, to destroy and kill anything that they come across. A new age has come, a Dark Age, one where those that don’t shift turn inside out and magic has a new foundation in people’s lives.

‘Nightfall’ is a must read in my estimation and one of the best books I’ve read all year.

Recommendations:

Recommended for fans of apocalypse fiction and paranormal romance. There are some very steamy scenes, so adults only.

Like This, Like That

‘Aftertime’ by Sophie Littefield
‘Darkfever’ by Karen Marie Moning

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Review: Nightfall by Ellen Connor

Here is my gift to you…a laugh.

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Happy Mother’s Day – A Video To Brighten Yours!

EL James left me in sort of a tizzy at the end of Chapter 3.  Ana was all like “Kiss me” and Christian was all like — “are all your limbs in place?”

Will they kiss?? **waiting with bated breath***

Then I’m all like disappointed with Christian’s evil teasingness and then his cryptic phrases:

“Anastasia, you should steer clear of me. I’m not the man for you,” he whispers.

Puh-lease Christian…thanks for dashing our dear heroines hope and left her feeling insecure. Men! Ana rushes home, tear-a-pouring and has to deal with Kate the Inquisitor, which leads to some Ana side-stepping and lying. The guy already has her lying to her friends and they haven’t even kissed yet! Kate does try to talk her into the fact that Christian is hot for Ana but she is just not feeling it and we are left with a lot of self-doubting and weird dreams.

Tess of the d’Urbevilles, First Edition. There were 1000 printed and copies in good condition are estimated at about 4K

The next day is Ana’s final exam and the end of her college career. It is also the day she receives Christian’s first extravagant present. Ana has quite an obsession with classic English literature, especially, Tess of the d’Urbevilles, which James “sort of” uses as a road map for Christian and Ana’s relationship. Much like ‘Twilight’ used ‘Wuthering Heights’ references.

The first editions are charming for Ana, but she knows she can’t accept such gifts. But, not tonight. Tonight is for celebrating — so Kate and Ana venture out to do some drinking for a college career well-done. Drinking, does lead to a loss of inhibitions and a bit of drunk dialing…

Ana: I giggle. I have no idea what the time is; maybe I’ll wake him. Perhaps he can tell me why he sent me those books and the cryptic message. If he wants me to stay away, he should leave me alone. I suppress a drunken grin and hit the “call” button. He answers on the second ring.

“Anastasia?” he’s surprised to hear from me.

But drunk Ana didn’t realize the scope of Christians protective streak and her drunk dialing ends with him rushing to the bar to her rescue. Can’t be drunk in public because it might lead to frisky friends name Jose trying to put the moves on her outside the bar just in time for him to witness it.

“Jose, no,” I plead. I don’t want this. You are my friend, and I think I’m going to throw up.

“I think the lady said no,” a voice in the dark says quietly. Holy shit! Christian Grey , he’s here. How? Jose releases me.

“Grey,” he says tersely. I glance anxiously up at Christian. He’s glowering at Jose, and he’s furious. Crap. My stomach heaves, and I double over, my body no longer able to tolerate the alcohol, and I vomit spectacularly on to the ground.

It was a strangely crafted scene, but it did have a fab outcome of Ana puking all over the place and Christian holding her hair — now that is love. Then some dancing…which really after a bout of spectacularly vomit, every girl feels like getting her boogie on. Dance dance, Christian can dance — whooh.

Then she passes out.

I’m a bout to pass out… and there was one quote in there, something about Ana’s mom telling her don’t trust a man who can dance — well I think mommy is wrong, unless of course you want to end up with some guy who is really terrible in bed. Rhythm really has a lot to do with it *snicker*

Laters, babe. It’s the weekend, we’ll check back in with Chapter five tomorrow.

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Fifty Shades of Grey Read Along Chapter 4

Since the massive amount of influx because of RT, my book buying and receiving is at a minimum but, heck — I’ll do a vlog — you know you want to see me again!

Check out Tynga’s Meme at Tyngasreviews.com and join in…

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Stacking The Shelves #2

PJV QUICKIE: A very dark read with a difficult premise; not for easily offended readers.

_____________________________________________

Review

Kiera and Denny have been dating for two years.  Now that Denny has graduated college, he’s gotten a dream job in Seattle and Kiera is transferring schools so she can finish her last two years there.  They move in with one of Denny’s best friends, Kellan.  Kellan is a musician in a popular local band, and a notorious womanizer.

All seems well at first, until Denny’s job sends him out to Arizona for a few months and he leaves Kiera behind.  While Denny is gone, Kellan and Kiera start spending time together, and there is an attraction and some flirting, but no lines have been crossed.  Denny’s calls are getting further and further apart, and then one evening Denny calls to say he’s staying in Arizona and when Kiera graduates in two years she can come out to be with him.  Kiera freaks out and breaks up with Denny on the spot.  Then, she pours her broken heart out to Kellan.  After a few drinks, they act on their attraction to each other and it’s absolutely amazing… until Denny shows up the next morning and tells Kiera he loves her and gave up the job for her.

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WARNING – SPOILERS:  This book is not for the faint at heart – it’s dark and angsty and the hero/heroine cheat on the heroine’s boyfriend.  If you don’t think you would enjoy this type of story, I’m not going to encourage you to try it.  BUT, if you’re looking for something a little different, a story that tests your own personal reading boundaries, this might be the book for you.  By the very nature of their deception, it felt wrong to want a HEA for this couple, but I did.

You know how much I love stories with an internal conflict – no bombs or mysteries, only character interaction creating the conflict, so Thoughtless fit that niche for me.  I liked the setting and secondary characters, especially the band.  I felt like I was sitting in class with Kiera, or  hanging out in the smoky bar with the band.  It’s good storytelling, if a bit long.

As much as I’d like to hate them, Kiera’s boyfriend Denny was not without his own issues. He had a tendency to make decisions without talking to Kiera first and expecting her to accommodate him, which led to the turning point in the story.  Would Kiera and Kellan have embarked on a physical relationship if Denny hadn’t made that decision?  Was the relationship Kiera and Kellan had before that cheating if there was no sex?

For as much as I liked this book, there were a few negatives – I found Kiera to be annoying and wishy-washy a lot.  She’s also a crier.  (I told you – lots of angst in this one, lol).  Kellan is pretty much a man-whore but I really liked him *winks*.  The way he handled himself after Denny came back was painful to read.

I have to add, that for some reason, this book kind of reminded me of Twilight – if you added a band, sex, and infidelity, and took out the sparkles and fangs.  Why?  It’s set in Washington State, Kiera was so ‘innocent’, she blushed a lot, didn’t know her own beauty, and didn’t see what Kellen or Denny saw in her.  Kellan chuckled a lot, had a perfectly sculpted body, and women of all ages could not help staring at him and hitting on him.

I recently finished the follow-up to this book, Effortless.  I really enjoyed it, and think after you finish Thoughtless you’ll be wanting to know what happens next.

Recommendations:

Romance readers who enjoy reading high emotions, college-aged characters, some pretty good “angry sex” scenes, and who don’t give up on heroes/heroines with serious faults.

Like This, Like That:

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Rock Hard by Olivia Cunning

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Romancing the Weekends – Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens

This is a ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ read along, posted as I read the book. There will be tons of spoilers…and a lot of naughty talk…if you’ve read the book, please join the discussion, if you haven’t read it already, be warned.

Chapter 2 is broken up into weird choppy scenes, which are rather unnecessary. They could have just been eluded to. I can understand now why people were thrown off by the time they made it this far, since Chapter 1 started off so strong.  Makes me wonder how many times James rewrote the first chapter. I can already imagine how Christian and Ana will be reacquainted – will he be visiting her hardware store for some pulleys and leather straps??

On a personal note, Ana’s mother reminds me of my own mother, which is fun. Latest money making schemes and husbands/boyfriends. “Hi mom! XOXO” Then off to seeing how man times James can use besieged…

What happened? Chapter One was great, where did that flow go? I feel like I’m in a Sookie book and she won’t leave the damn garden..c’mon you know what I’m talking about.

Oh. Oh! Ouch!

Ok, I’ll stop my complaining – they meet again at the end when he shows up in her Hardware store. I guess it’s not pulleys (which is what I predicted earlier) but cable ties – I have to go Google what that is!

From all the finger zapping is one of them going to turn out to be a vampire or witch? I hadn’t heard that, but you never know, right? Would explain his need for dominance, those pesky vampires are always trying to exert their control over the lesser species.

By the end of the chapter I think I have it figured out. It’s the interaction between Christian and Ana that is so very powerful, that when they are not in a scene together the book just flounders. In the last part of the chapter it is all anxiety filled and I’m holding my breath because I have no idea what is going to happen.

“What is your thing, Anastasia?” he asks, his voice soft, and his secret smile is back. I gaze at him, unable to express myself. I’m on shifting tectonic plates. Try to be cool, Ana, my tortured subconscious begs on bended knee.

“Books,” I whisper, but inside, my subconscious is screaming: You! You are my thing! I slap it down instantly, mortified that my psyche is having ideas way out of its league.

Maybe he was hoping she wore this to work?

So, I’m wondering, did he come to that hardware store because he knows she worked there?  And now with the looming photo shoot and third meeting, we know why James introduced us to Jose – which I’m guessing will be the photographer and the reason for Christian to maybe get a bit possessive. This is all me speculating though because it would be obvious plot devices.

“Good. Until tomorrow, perhaps.” He turns to leave, then pauses. “Oh–and Anastasia, I’m glad Miss Kavanagh couldn’t do the interview.” He smiles, then strides with renewed purpose out of the store, slinging the plastic bag over his shoulder, leaving me a quivering mass of raging female hormones. I spend several minutes staring at the closed door through which he’s just left before I return to planet Earth.

   Okay–I like him.

We are now entering Chapter 3..

While James has this odd habit of breaking up a chapter into weird scenes, which I don’t like, what I do like is that she sure does know how to leave you hanging at the end of one.

I’m still wondering if Grey is stalking her…probably. Kate is smart too…

Kate: “But what was he doing at Clayton’s?” Her curiosity oozes through the phone. I’m in the depths of the stockroom, trying to keep my voice casual.

“He was in the area.”

Yeah right…(that’s my thoughts LOL)

Yet, by this point I’ve kind of had enough of the flushing/blushing…the girl is going to need to beef up on her iron pills if all the blood stays in her cheeks.

Ana: “Oh, kate, you know I blush all the time. It’s an occupational hazard with me. Don’t be ridiculous,” I snap. She blinks at me with surprise–I very rarely have hissy fits–and I briefly relent. “I just find him … intimidating, that’s all.”

For the photo-shoot, I did hit the nail on the head with the Jose photographer gig, but they didn’t get all testosteronie filled in a boy standoff, that is probably just me reading too many paranormal romances. But, a girl can hope. Nothing sexier than two men growling over each other. So, I’m assuming Jose is supposed to be Jacob at this point?

In chapter 3, instead of the usual anxiety, James has returned us to a clipped style of writing again with little explanation. That telling instead of showing technique which can get very bothersome in novels. I’ve also realized that Ana is trading in a dominant female (Kate) for a dominant male (Christian). Not a big Kate fan.  There is not a lot of the inner monologue that I liked so much in regards to Ana in these chapters. It has gone from more of a witty, self-deprecating humor to, “OMG I can’t believe he’s looking at me, OMG I can’t believe I’m having coffee with him, OMG he smells like expensive stuff…Christian Grey, Christian Grey, Christian Grey”

Ana: I am going to have coffee with Christian Grey…and I hate coffee.

As far as things that stand out in these chapters …the fact that she used “Keen” in a sentence.

Ana: “I’m not keen on coffee.”

He got a leaf in his coffee which distracted me and made me think of the Green Hornet movie and the fact that I always wanted someone to make me a cappuccino with a leaf in it, so I must investigate local coffee shops…and then she almost gets run over by a wayward bicyclist. Cue the ‘Twilight’ comparisons again in my head. But these comparisons are so slight it’s only because I’m looking for them.

That ‘Carrier of the Mark’ book wasn’t fanfic and you could line it up with ‘Twilight’ and the only differences you would find would be the character names…

It all happens so fast –one minute I’m falling, the next I’m in his arms and hes’ holding me tightly against his chest. I inhale his clean, wholesome scent. He smells of freshly laundered line and some expensive body wash. It’s intoxicating. I inhale deeply.

Content copyright 2011 Parajunkee's View. Original content taken from > Parajunkee's View> Fifty Shades of Grey Read Along Chapter 2 & 3