RIP

Our budgies died today after a prolonged illness. I’m totally gutted.

RIP

To read or re-read…..

Jen gave me a row and told me to get my arse in gear and get a new post up, asking about what I have been reading in the interim.

To be honest I had a couple of shaky weeks. I have still been reading, but not really enjoying it much. I’ve been kind of twitchy. I want to re-read some old comfort reads and my eyes keep lingering over the BDB books (but I just re-read them all in June…) or Marjorie M. Lui’s Dirk & Steele series.

But then, my eyes fall on the TBR pile and I can’t. I little voice inside my head says, ‘You can’t re-read those books, look at all those books you’ve bought and you haven’t read yet.’ I start to feel really guilty that I have spent all this money on these books and haven’t looked at them twice since bringing them home and hoisting them up to the summit of the ever-expanding pile.

This friggin’ pile of books is starting to loom over me like some kind of gigantic monolith casting its cold, dark shadow over my reading pleasure. It’s such a silly thing to feel guilty over, but there you have it. Every time I start to glom a new author (This week it has been Laura Lee Guhrke – Thanks Sarai!) I think…YOU HAVE ENOUGH! NO MORE UNTIL YOU GET RID OF THIS LOT!

It’s even more difficult keeping track with the e-books. (Probably because I can get my hands on almost anything and if you know the right places, it’s free! *cough* )

It just keeps growing and growing and growing….it’s starting to remind me of the Trapper Keeper on South Park. One day I’m going to wake up to find it has absorbed me into it’s hellish bowels.

With all this guilt hanging over me, I haven’t been enjoying anything much, so I think, ‘Fuck it, let’s just read ….’ but I. just. can’t. make. myself.

Am I destined never to re-read anything ever again? Will my frugal Scottish roots forever barr me from re-visiting the wonder of Matt Farrell or what about my favourite Dakotan ranchin’ family, The McKays! Or my favourite gay bookseller, Adrien?

I want to have a happy relationship with my TBR pile, but it seems I will have to bear the emotional blackmail and the many recriminations it sends my way when I look towards an old friend. It’s not cheating, is it?

Is there a twelve step program out there for people like me? People with an obsessive need to keep. reading. new. books.

HELP *whimper*

Noooooooooooooooooooooo!

Can you feel my pain?

It’s here. It’s finally here, after an interminable wait and I can’t AFFORD to buy it!

FUCK!

Of course all of you who know what I’m bemoaning are laughing your asses off right now.

For those of you who don’t Josh Lanyon’s ‘Death Of A Pirate King‘ is finally released and I have to wait a further two weeks until I get paid before I can purchase me a copy of this fine, fine book.

Ahh Adrien, Jake, I’ll be pining over you, waiting impatiently, sobbing uncontrollably, feverishly trying to avoid spoilers.

I hate myself and my inability to budget right now. *pout*

In other unrelated news, catch me guest blogging over at DIK.

Pooter hates me

I have been having pooter problems. So I did my usual, took a hairy fit and decided to re-format my hard-drive.

Everything is back to normal except for my internet access which is non-existent at the moment and my Cybook has stopped working altogether. (Damn updates!) I’m so frickin annoyed.

However, there is a silver lining to all this. We updates our computers at work and I now have internet access. At work. While on the till! I can serve someone and surf the web at the same time. I know this may be small potatoes to all you veteren work surfers but it’s completely exhiliating for me. Woot. A new way to waste time at work. YAY!

Now I can keep up with blogs at work and save my precious free time for other things!  JOKE! But it’s so cool!

I might not have access at home but at least I can keep up with everyone at work! Heh.

What a week

So last week kicked my ass.

Work is hectic at the moment. We have a new boss and while I am feeling energized and focused, I am annoyed at some of my colleagues and their less than professional attitude towards him. I always like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt when coming into an established team. Having been there myself I understand the stresses and pitfall of trying to integrate and facilitate a positive change in the process.Until he does something to prove to me he is TSTL he has my support. It’s how I am.

Retail is an ever-changing beast. It never stays still. Processes, tasks etc are always changing. Companies are always looking for the fastest, cheapest way to hoover money from their customers. So I always find it irritating when colleagues hold on like grim death to a certain job or function saying ‘We’ve always done it like this.’

What they really mean is, ‘I have always done it like this.’ There really is no place for inflated egos in retail and I am sick of trying to manage other peoples. ARGHHHHHH! Being obtuse and obstructive. Always seeing the negative first. Never bringing anything useful to a conversation. Maliciously gossiping about a man they don’t even know, just because he wants to change a few things. Things that will bring in more money and enable these people to keep their frickin jobs.

[/rant]

On the plus side we had an AWESOME cherub event this weekend in the kids dept. Around 40 kids attended although 70% drifted off before or during the event. Some were shy and some were a little too old. We did gear the tasks for the younger end of the spectrum, not expecting the older kids to come. I thought it would be too unfashionable for them. My bad. However, we sold a ton of books, recruited more kids to our monthly bookclub and generated a lot of interest in next weeks event which is Roald Dahl day.

I had a blast. Cat and I (who are both massive Cherub fans) had such a laugh and chatted and gossipped with the kids about the books and what character they loved best and what their favourite book was and why. Some of them were lucky enough to attend the Cherub event at the Book Festival this year and we managed to persuade them to write a little piece for our monthly newsletter. Fantastic fun.

I have been watching ‘That 70’s Show’ to fall asleep to this past week. That show still makes me laugh so hard. DUMBASS!

On the book front, I have picked up a little more speed again. Read a heap of Blazes.

Amorous Liaisons by Sarah Mayberry. Set in the world of ballet this time (her last one was female boxing!) it’s the tale of Max and Maddy. It a ‘friends become lovers’ story which I love. The twist is that it’s Max who has the unrequited love and Maddy who is clueless. I loved this. How can I not, it’s Sarah Mayberry. Even though it’s a Blaze and it’s law that 40% of it must be sex, she always manages to get the emotional impact across. Her guys are always great and her heroines are not usually TSTL.  Bliss.

Lethal Exposure by Lori Wilde. After a shaky start with the other two installments of this series, Lori Wilde managed to finish with a bang. It was hot and sweet. Although I did figure out who the big bad was well before the end. There is such a thing as TOO much foreshadowing.

Ms Match by Jo Leigh. Sublime, sublime, sublime. Great concept, great hero, great heroine. Horrible family. Paul is pretty but shallow and Gwen is smart but plain. Sparks fly. Misunderstandings are had. Sweet love is made and they all lived happily ever after. *sigh*

At Her Pleasure by Cindi Myers. Ridiculous tat about uncovering a female pirate’s buried treasure (I SHIT YOU NOT) and canoodling in hammocks on a desert island. It wasn’t as fun as it sounds. Trust me.

Next up was a Silhouette special edition by Susan Crosby called..wait for it…’The Single Dad’s Virgin Wife.’ Awesome. Title aside I loved this book. I adore it when the kiddies conspire to get the adults together. (Not one for you Jen though, I know.) Noah was great as the dad who was struggling to connect with his kids after the death of his wife. It gets me right here. *thumping chest* I just can’t resist a man who loves his kids. It’s part of a series called ‘Wives For Hire.’ The first one was good too. (It had a cute kid in it too….stay away Jen!)

Following that was ‘Mad Dogs‘ by Robert Muchamore. Gang warfare and teenage romance. I loved it. I’m not saying too much more because I do intend to wax lyrical about this book and the rest of the series in the not too distant future.

And Finally this week ‘Hostage To Pleasure‘ by Nalini SIngh. It was everything all the reviews said it was. I finished it with a sigh of satisfaction. Dorien was a great hero and after having doubts about Ashaya while reading excerpts, I was glad to be disabused of my worries. One niggle. I think Amara was wasted. The conclusion of her storyline was somewhat anti-climactic. There was so much more scope for terror there. She was set up as this horrific spectre and failed to deliver on the final push. But other than that…loved it. Nalini says there is going to be a pregnancy in the next book, anyone taking wagers on who is going to have the first set of pups? Sascha and Lucas? Faith and Vaughn? Judd and Brenna? Clay and Tally? Dorien and Ashaya? maybe even Mercy and Riley?

AND I won a book from Nalini Singh over on DIK. How cool is that. Plus Ann Aguirre took pity on my fangirl squeeing and sent me a copy of Wanderlust as well. LUCKIEST WEEK EVER!

Weak

Work is kicking my ass at the moment.

Can’t. Post. To. Tired. And. Sweaty.

National Nalini Day!

So to celebrate the release of Hostage To Pleasure (Book 5 in the Psy/Changeling series) I have declared today National Nalini day on this blog.

Nalini is running a competition to win $75 of book vouchers. I’m in! Do you know how many books I can buy with that! Sweet!

So all we have to do to be in with a chance to win is to answer the following questions. Easy-peesy!

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* Which fictional hero (from books, tv, movies…) would you most like to hold hostage?

It’s got to be Dean Winchester from Supernatural. I’m a total DeanGirl. I’m so in love with him. I’d happily tie him up and keep him hostage so I could just look at him all day long. Hopefully then he would get some of that Stockholm Syndrome and we could have a mighty fine time. What can I say, I just can’t get enough of those tortured, emotionally crippled, smart-ass guys!

* Which fictional hero would you most like to be held hostage by?

It’s got to be Butch from the BDB. So he and V can put on a little show for me……heh. Cause that’s my kinda torture. Watching but not getting to touch.

* Which fictional world would you most like to be held hostage in?

Ohhhh this is a tough one but it’s probably Robert Jordan’s ‘Wheel of Time’ simply because I would be a total kickass Aes Sadai of the Green Ajah, or an Aiel. ( Also, I would totally mac on Lan. Cause he is hot. He’s the silent but deadly type….rwoar!))

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So there you have it. Questions answered. Now I’m off to read some more of Hostage To Pleasure. (Although I think some of my answers might be changing after I finish. Dorian is one hot dude.)

Also check out the new excerpts for Branded By Fire (Book 6 in the Psy/Changeling Series) and Angel’s Blood, Nalini’s new Urban Fantasy series. Warning! The Branded By Fire excerpt has a HAWT rating of SUPERNOVA. On the basis of that one sneek peek I can guarantee you Riley is going on my Top Ten list of Heroes for next year!

All joking aside this a fantastic series, well worth your money and time. Nalini has never failed to deliver the goods. Fantastic story, intricate but solid world-building, swoon-worthy heroes and strong heroines.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Stop the press! Special Announcement!

Ann Aguirre is a classy lady.

Therfore you must all go forward and buy her amazing work entitled Grimspace and the new installment Wanderlust!

If you don’t then you are just silly. With no taste. And your brain will never forgive you for denying it such a tasty treat as these books!