Book Review: Love's True Second Chance by Jeff Dawson

Normally, most of the books I read for review are genre fiction, but when I had the chance to read a memoir about a second chance at love, I couldn’t pass it up.

Jeff Dawson’s Love’s True Second Chance is a poignant glimpse at love and redemption. The author’s conversational style sweeps you into the story from the first moments. Dawson’s anecdotes about the time spent with his high school sweetheart are heartwarming. If you are a fan of real-life love stories, I recommend adding Love’s True Second Chance to your reading list.  

You can find Jeff Dawson on Amazon.  

 

From the Author:

After Debbie passed, I asked her girls if they would like for me to chronicle the short time their mom and I spent together. In thirty years, the total time was twenty-five months. But it was an amazing twenty-five months. They agreed to the idea. They thought it would be a wonderful tribute to their mom and they might even learn a few stories about her. And learn they did.

I'll admit, it was tough reconstructing our years in high school. Everything was going well until I went off to college. Our relationship went downhill rapidly. Despite not being very happy, no, really pissed off, I never could forget her. 

One of the most important lessons I learned when we reunited was, we were brought together when we needed each other the most. I will always cherish and remember the short time we were allowed to share each others lives. 

 

 

 

Friday Free For All: Like a Moth on the Pavement

Happy Friday! I've decided to start sharing some of my short stories and poems I've been writing in my degree classes, and at the same time I've been itching to try out Wattpad, so I am killing two birds with the proverbial one stone and posting a new short or poetry piece every Friday. I think short stories are a great way to get my creative juices flowing, and also to provide you with a taste of my writing style.

This week's offering is about a college-aged girl, Colleen who finds herself in a position she didn't expect.

Here is the few sentences and if you would like to read more click the link below:

“What the hell is wrong with the doors?” Jace tossed his usual Marlboro Menthols on the register belt and stared, interrupting my Friday night penance at the express register.  Most nights Jace left me alone, and I ignored that he watched me from the office’s one-way glass. 

His green eyes flicked over me, settling on my name tag. “I’m calling maintenance, but hell if I am waiting around. Neither are you

The stifling air seeped into the temperature controlled purgatory, making the automatic doors stick. I was melting; from the humid air or the heat radiating from his gaze I couldn’t be sure.

Read more...

Book Review: Thirteen by Kevin S. Hall

It’s a rare treat to receive an advanced review copy of a manuscript before it’s been published. I’ve had the privilege of peering into the mind and writing of Kevin S. Hall in his soon to be published book of short horror stories, Thirteen: A Collection of Horror Stories.

If you are new to reading in this genre, Thirteen is an ideal choice. The short stories and quick pacing of stories like “Pumpkin” and the bonus story “14” provide you with a heart-racing, riotous, spine-tingling glimpse into the heart of what makes for a great thriller.

Kevin S. Hall offers a variety of tales in his tome, with something sure to please everyone. My favorites are “Pumpkin”, “The Heartbreaker”, and “14” if I had to choose just a few.

This collection is well penned and suitably creepy. Mr. Hall’s descriptive writing skills come across clearly in each tale. In my opinion, Thirteen will be an excellent addition to your collection.

 

Please visit Kevin S. Hall’s Facebook page or find him at Twitter.

 

Who Knew Pi Could Be Sexy?

Today is a day when geeks around the world celebrate the number Pi, approximately 3.14.  That is why March 14 - 3-14 is Pi Day. What's more, Albert Einstein was born this day.

A quick refresher for non-geeks: Pi is defined as the distance around a perfect circle, or the circumference, divided by the distance across it, or the diameter. It also involves calculating the area of a circle, the volume of a sphere, and many other mathematical formulas you might need in the sciences.

Math may be scary, but pi is not -- as evidenced by the widespread revelry on Pi Day. One might even say -- gasp! -- it's cool to like pi these days. Even the House of Representatives supported the designation of March 14 as National Pi Day in 2009.

This year, to celebrate Pi, I will be thinking of the incredibly hot Liam Stone from Lisa Renee Jones’ Escaping Reality, and his inked and very sexy homage to Pi. Apparently permanently emblazoning approximately 3.14 on your body is a trend. Who knew numbers could be so sexy?

 

Here's some inspiration:

 

Very Liam-esque with Pi in an interesting pattern on the lower abdominals. Very sexy geek indeed.

 

 

For those of you who want to express both your love of math, and love in general this one is fitting because just as no one knows how long Pi goes on, love is endless too... -sigh- Geek Girl Fiction perfection-

 

 

It's the End of the World As We Know It...

It’s the end of the world as we know it… this morning R.E.M.’s earwormish tribute to the end of the world played on the radio and sparked a thought. I quite liked The Hunger Games trilogy and the film adaptations. I’m in the midst of reading Divergent.  I love post-apocalyptic television shows like Revolution.  I am also really moved by this short film “Love 2062” or love after the end of the world,  directed by Roman Demongeot in collaboration with musicians De Andria & Ghisal. A dark, futuristic and post-apocalyptic short film in which humanity is using drugs and virtual reality to share moments of pleasure…

Love 2062 from romain demongeot on Vimeo.

 

But, I am a reader first. I much prefer the story to be told on the page first, and there is something missing for me in the Young Adult post-apocalyptic novels. I need something more. I have a hard time finding something more adult. It might just be me, but I need some clash of bodies while worlds collide and the earth ends as we know it. I would love to read about two characters who come to find each other and love at the end of days.

So I am asking. Do you have a favorite New Adult or Adult post-apocalyptic book that is flying under the radar? If so, help a geek girl who needs a passion filled post-apocalyptic fix. Please leave me a comment with the title and author so I can read it. I’ll also compile a list and post it here.

Prince Charming is a Sociopath?

I watched Disney’s Frozen last night. I’ve wanted to see it because everyone was raving about it, and rightly so. It’s well done. But Disney takes a bit of a different approach with its villain this time. Usually you can’t miss the malevolent expression and awesomely terrifying LBED (little black evil dress) on Snow White’s Maleficent. You know that special evil gleam in the eyes of Jafar and Captain Hook. When Gaston starts waxing poetically about his glorious muscles, we were all with Belle in realizing he couldn’t be trusted. Even in Tangled, you know Mother Gothel was the evil antagonist right away. But that’s not the case in Frozen.

In my opinion, Frozen is one of those movies that goes against the natural norm of what you would expect from a movie studio. To describe the film, Frozen is a deconstruction of the usual Disney film. It's a fairy tale in which reality ensues. Since this was a Disney film, Anna was a firm believer in love at first sight. I mean, why shouldn't she, considering that she's in a movie where this trope is played nearly all the time with Disney? And it seems that her philosophy is correct, because she meets the gentlemanly Prince Hans who seems to really like her too. And they seem to have absolutely everything in common; a matched pair.

In a dramatic twist (which is to say, SPOILERS), the handsome prince who sweeps the princess off her feet in the course of a single day turns out to be a bad guy who is only pretending to love our heroine to get his hands on her inheritance. Just when we think he is going to save Princess Anna, he reveals himself to be a greedy, throne-usurping would-be killer. Hans leans in, about to give her that kiss…then he sneers, “Oh, Anna, if only there were someone who loved you.”

But there is more to it than that. It seems our evil villain is more evil than we could have thought. Hans didn’t seem like the evil guy, but for me, he’s the scariest Disney Villain, because he is the bad guy you won’t see coming.  He’s the person you trust, the one who seems so kind and helpful and loving.  You let him into your life, into your heart and you think everything is okay, not knowing he’s manipulating you, not knowing he’s leading you into a world of hurt. Prince Hans seems to be a bit of a sociopath/psychopath. Disclaimer here: I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist and from the little I’ve read thanks to the Internet, these two terms are sort of interchangeable and that’s what I am going with. What especially chilled me after seeing Frozen was the article “10 Ways to Know Very Quickly IfYour Man is a Psychopath” and how many can be applied to Hans. Seriously, it’s horrifying. There’s no tell, no obvious sign that he’s a Bad Guy and the Scary Thing is that’s how it is in Real Life.   

 

 

Despite the 500+-Year-Old Spoiler, I Still Wanted Mary to Choose Bash

Anyone with access to Google, could have seen what was coming last night on the CW's Reign. Mary, Queen of Scots chooses Francis over Sebastian. She insisted she loved them both, but loved Francis more. Despite the smoldering chemistry building between Bash and Mary, CW's creators decided their drama "loosely based" on needed to stick to the historical accounts in this aspect. Really?

In my humble opinion, Bash would have proven much more interesting a choice for Mary. He is more dark and brooding,  and he seemed to not necessarily give a darn what anyone except Mary thought.

Which brother would you have chosen for Mary?

Hump Day Hunk: Alright, Alright, Alright

I think after Sunday night's Oscars everyone can agree on two things. One: Matthew McConaughey is an incredibly talented actor. Two: Matthew McConaughey is incredibly attractive.

We might agree to disagree on which role he is hottest in. Some might like his Eddie from his chick flick moments with Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner. Some prefer his role as Ben in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

This is where we have to agree to disagree. I am most attracted to Matthew McConaughey when he is playing gritty or offbeat roles.  I  lust over him as Mickey Haller in The Lincoln Lawyer, but the role that really does it for me is David Wooderson in Dazed and Confused. There - I've admitted it. I "heart" Wooderson, the creepy, pink jeaned wearing, Ted Nugent shirt plastered, older guy who never gets over being in high school. Now that I've admitted my darkest secret, I can proudly say, its not because of all the creepy, but because of all of the confidence he projects. What's not to like about a confident man?