Thursday, September 29, 2016

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [115]


This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

If you could change one thing from book 4, what would it be?


That's such a tough question. The problem is, that I enjoyed quite a lot with Goblet of Fire and it was actually the 4th movie that fell flat for me in that aspect. It has more things that I would alter to make more similar to the book.

There were so many new things with the Quidditch World Cup, new house elf, new wizarding schools and modes of transportation. It was such a neat book for all the new experiences that it gave us. 

Now that I come to think about it though, and the Triwizard Cup, I would change Ron's reaction to Harry's name coming out of the cup. I just wish Ron would've stuck by Harry's side and been a tad more loyal in that aspect.




What would you change? 

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Review: Business With Pleasure (Empathy in the Preternatural PNW #2) by Olivia R. Burton


Published: June 3, 2016 by Peacock Deceiving a Suitcase
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: Sent for honest review
Goodreads Summary

There's an assassin in town trying to catch a murderer, a lovesick werewolf trying to get lucky, and Gwen Arthur still has a mysterious magical marauder stealing her sugar stash. On top of all that, Gwen's estranged ex-husband Stanley’s in town asking for a favor. She’s got to help, of course, if only to ease her guilt over how they left things a decade earlier. Too bad she’s got no idea how to deal with a rogue admirer writing him weird letters, sending gifts to his home, and threatening to show up at a convention full of his beige-clad, sugar-eschewing fans.

Once again, Gwen’s got to step out of her comfort zone to confront strange situations, learn closely held secrets about her friends, and—worst of all—hit on her worst enemy. Gwen thought her life couldn’t get any stranger, but things are getting hot now that summer's hit Seattle.


The Good


Gwen knows she's not the normal heroine of a story, in fact she considers herself the quirky sidekick. The ones that we would think are the sidekicks are the more ninja-like companions and really very heroic. Chloe is one that we were given even more clues to a secret life yet no more concrete information of why she's such a great fighter and knows so much about supernaturals. There is something there, and I'm looking forward to figuring out exactly what it is (I have a guess for sure!). Then there's Owen who is new on the scene in this one. He's definitely helpful in rounding up the baddies and saving the day.

The plot of Business With Pleasure follows Stan, Gwen's ex-husband coming to town and the awkwardness that ensues due to that. He asks for Gwen's help with a stalkerish fan. It was quite fun watching Gwen while she visits a Con that is dedicated to Stan's characters in the books that he writes. On top of that, we have succubus drama along with poor Mel who has lost his werewolf mojo.

I love Burton's humor and find myself laughing throughout the story. The pace is spot on and there is plenty of action mixed with fun dialogue.

The Bad


There's only minor niggles and nothing that takes away from the enjoyment of the story.

The Romance


Mel lost all of his werewolf mojo in this one so his sauve, womanizing ways had flown the coop. Gwen actually enjoyed his company a little better this way, but there was just too much pity there at the same time. Gwen's ex-husband was here and we found out what split them up, but there was no romance to speak of. Then there was Owen. Just there for a good time, but Gwen made good use of that time.

Conclusion


Business With Pleasure was a solid follow up to Mixed Feelings. I love Burton's humor and the way that Gwen's powers are slowly building over time. Her ninja like friends are fantastic and oftentimes seem more like the hero/heroine than Gwen. The pacing is well done with action and dialogue plentiful. We were introduced to different supernaturals this go round and I can see this series having so much potential. Definitely recommended.




Sunday, September 25, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [185]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.



Sunday, September 18, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [184]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.



Thursday, September 15, 2016

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [114]


This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

Favorite Quidditch Moment? From the matches, practices or even the Quidditch cup.


Quidditch was such a fun addition to this series. I love everything about the Quidditch World Cup and how Harry describes the experience as 'Quidditch like he'd never seen it before'. My favorite parts though were of the Bulgarian mascots the veela.

     But a hundred veela were now gliding out onto the field, and Harry's question was answered for him. Veela were women...the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen...except that they weren't - they couldn't be - human. This puzzled Harry for a moment while he tried to guess what exactly they could be; what could make their skin shine moon-bright like that, or their white-gold hair fan out behind them without wind...but then the music started, and Harry stopped worrying about them not being human - in fact, he stopped worrying about anything at all.
     The veela has started to dance, and Harry's mind had gone completely and blissfully blank. All that mattered in the world was that he kept watching the veela, because if they stopped dancing, terrible things would happen...
     And as the veela danced faster and faster, wild, half-formed thoughts started chasing through Harry's dazed mind. He wanted to do something very impressive, right now. Jumping from the box into the stadium seemed a good idea...but would it be good enough?
     "Harry, what are you doing?" said Hermione's voice from a long way off.
     The music stopped. Harry blinked. He was standing up, and one of his legs was resting on the wall of the box. Next to him, Ron was frozen in an attitude that looked as though he were about to dive from a springboard.
     Angry yells were filling the stadium. The crowd didn't want the veela to go. Harry was with them; he would, of course, be supporting Bulgaria, and he wondered vaguely why he had a large green shamrock pinned to his chest. Ron, meanwhile, was absentmindedly shredding the shamrocks on his hat. Mr. Weasley, smiling slightly, leaned over Ron and tugged the hat out of his hands.
     "You'll be wanting that," he said, "once Ireland have had their say."

Then later -

     "Look at the referee!" she said, giggling.
     Harry looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his mustache excitedly.
     "Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"
     A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself; Harry, watching through the Omnioculars again, saw that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous.
     "And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said Bagman's voice. "Now there's something we haven't seen before....Oh this could turn nasty..."



What's your favorite moment?

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [183]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.




Thursday, September 8, 2016

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [113]


This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

Who would you want as Common Room Dorm-Mates at Hogwarts?


OK since this says who would you WANT, I'm going to throw out those pesky little rules like being in the same year and being in the same house. I'm even getting rid of being at the school in the same time frame :D

Luna Lovegood
Ginny Weasley
Hermione Granger
Nymphadora Tonks

Can you imagine? These four to spend all the free time with in the common room would be amazing to me.


Who would you want as Common Room Dorm-Mates at Hogwarts?

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [182]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.




Thursday, September 1, 2016

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [112]


This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

Would you rather be friends with Hermione or Ginny?


While I adore Hermione, I'm going to have to go with Ginny on this one. Being someone a little shy at first when meeting people, I like to surround myself with the more outgoing, fun types of people. I want to spend time with someone that can make me laugh and bring me out of my shell. I also prefer a more laid back, chill friend. Ginny would be a blast to be BFF's with and honestly with her comes being friends with Hermione and Luna not to mention all the fun times at the Burrow which I'm convinced would be my favorite place other than Hogwarts to be.



Which one would you rather be friends with?