Happy Sunday

So last night I invited a couple of my daughter's friends over to celebrate her birthday. It was a surprise for her. She said she had fun. Once they arrived I headed upstairs to my room and they fooled around watching stuff on the computer and giggling. We had cake a bit later. This is the cake I got a bee in my bonnet about when we talked cakes at KB's place. I decided to go with a black and white theme. I dyed plain white cake mix black for two layers and then bought fondant icing and made some black. I was going to go with a tribal pattern but it doesn't cut as easily as they show on TV so I made these stretched flowers (amoebas?) which worked. I bought a black and white balloon bouquet and some streamers and the girls came dressed in black and white. A good time was had by all. I should invite someone over more often because I was up at 6:30 cleaning my house like a mad woman. I was in bed at 10:30 and didn't hear the last kid leave. I slept until 10:00 this morning. Whew. I wouldn't have been so tired if I'd spent more time doing what I was supposed to be doing and not reading but .... Where's he fun in that?

MIA Case Files: Wolfsbane by KC Burn (175 pages)

Lachlan and his partner work for a secret government agency that goes around finding portals to other dimensions and closing them. Lachlan is ex-military and has some kind of extra-sensory perception that helps him find these portals. They are in a small town investigating when he almost runs over a guy on a skateboard. He's instantly attracted but in all his 28 years he's never been willing to risk his career to be with someone. Adam is a Ph.D. student who had to drop out when his parents both got advanced Alzheimer's. He now works at the coffee shop to pay for around the clock nursing. Lachlan's partner recruits Adam to help them despite Lachlan's freaking out. Eventually he can't resist and he and Adam get together, with Lachlan admitting he's a virgin. When Adam suggests a longer term relationship Lachlan says no because he doesn't know about Adam's reasons for not having a "real" job and figures he's just a slacker. Oh yeah, and seems werewolves are what the open portal has set free, one of whom has an obsession with Adam and is determined to change him. I did enjoy this but I thought it a bit weird that neither Adam nor anyone in town mentioned the sick parents, although everyone kept giving these cryptic comments about Adam. I did like Adam a lot, he was coping with ailing parents and having to give up school and live in a town where everyone shunned him (more or less). Lachlan was your typical uptight military who was totally thrown by being attracted so strongly to Adam but when he let his guard down was enjoyable. I was a bit confused at first by what they were looking for or what kind of "danger" these portals posed but that sort of comes to you as they go and they have to reveal more to Adam as he gets more involved. Since it says this is case 1 I'm curious to see what case 2 will be and if it sticks with Lachlan and Adam or if Lachlan's partner will be the focus of the next or how it will work. I enjoyed reading this one and stayed up way too late doing so (see exhausted point above).

Betweentimes by Jordan Castillo Price (11 pages)

Jon is upset a business deal didn't go through at work when his sexy free-spirit neighbor Owen decides to take him out for dinner at the local Mexican place. After consuming a few fast paced margaritas Owen dips under the long table cloth just as the service staff arrive being told that it's Jon's birthday, complete with sparkler topped cupcake. Jon is trying to act casual as Owen gets busy. It was just a little scene of two guys who seem to be opposites finding maybe they have more in common than they thought and typical of JCP's writing quality. I won this on Jordan's site, so thanks Jordan it was a fun read. I'll never look at those singing waiters the same again.

Heaven Sent shorts by Jet Mykles (8-17 pages)

These are basically 4 little sex scenes set around each set of guys at different times of the year:

Pretty Red Ribbon - Tyler comes home to find Johnny has wrapped up a special gift for him in red ribbon.
Rites of Spring - Luc comes home to their new house to find Reese drawing out in the garden on the first day of spring and smexin' ensues.
Feisty Little Firecracker - Brent races home (see a theme here) to their new home on the lake and knows Hell is going to be pissed he's late for the fireworks. He's "punished" after begging forgiveness accompanied by lights in the sky.
Sly Spectral Trick - Darien comes home with the pumpkins to find Chris being weird and writing on the windows in mud to ward off ghosts. He gets kind of freaked and then a ghost seems to attack Chris. He's NOT impressed when he finds out it's a Halloween trick.

They are okay, they really add nothing to the story except to show that they all now live together and have gorgeous houses and are still hot for each other.