Special thanks to Leontine from Leontine's Book Realm for the super header.


Friday, June 17, 2011

Finally Friday

Boy it seemed like a long week, even though I was off work Wed. afternoon. Why was I off work? Because I had to take the kidlet to the DMV to write her driver's test. Ack! My baby is old enough to drive. It's a rather long process of hurry up and wait there, but she passed with 100%. Now we have to find a very large empty parking lot for her to try driving. She's never driven ever so I think we better start somewhere with no people or cars. LOL She's not allowed to drive without someone in the car for at least a year. It's a very strict system here, learner permit at 16 for one year, license with restrictions for one year and then another test for a regular license. It's kind of weird.

Oh and why do so many people at the DMV smell bad? And why do they always seem to sit next to me?

What else? My friend Nathan and his sister came and stayed with us for a few days. I spent Sun. evening with them but they were busy the other days with friends and family so I didn't really see them. To say thanks he went all the way to the gay bookstore to buy me a book because he knows what I read. He had no clue what he was, buying so he saw something with a sexy cowboy on it and picked it up. Later when they were looking at the book with friends, they discovered he somehow managed to grab the only book in the entire gay bookstore that is m/f. LOL It's a Samhain book called Cowboy Fever. Why on earth they had an m/f book in there I have no clue. Anyway, today after work I'll head over and see if I can exchange it. It was too funny.

That's about it for the week. I only read one long book, and I've had it in my TBR for about 2 years. Sheesh. Blah, still no work on the job front but some options kicking around. Same old same old. Have a great weekend.

Warrior's Cross by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux (302 pages)
Dreamspinner Press

Cameron has the same client every Tuesday at his restaurant. He's crushing but the guy doesn't even talk, until one night, after work they hook up and before long they have a semi-regular thing, however Cameron has no idea what Julian does. It's all mysterious and people are afraid of him. We know Julian kills people, but we don't know why or for whom. Eventually it comes out that Cameron could be in danger because of his relationship with Julian and finally Cameron says it's too much, not knowing if Julian will come back or not. Eventually after breaking up, a man shows up looking for Julian and when he threatens Cameron, basically Julian lets himself get into a show-down, leading to his death. Or is he? When the bad guy comes after Cameron six months later, the truth comes out. Well, half-assed truth. It was an okay story, I liked it and yet I  had issues. Cameron NEVER asks what the hell Julian does. Who pays him, why he kills people, etc. And Cameron feel soooooo guilty because he told Julian to take a hike. Umm, the guy lied to you about EVERYTHING, you wouldn't be in danger if he hadn't hooked up with you, he let you think he was dead for 6 months and would have forever if you hadn't been kidnapped. WTF? YOU feel guilty? And you forgive him after one punch and an "I'm sorry"? Uh no. So I'm torn because as I said, I liked it, but I was left really mystified how any sane person would just accept all the "trust me, I can't tell you" when you know the guy lied his ass off to you, and you feel guilty when calling him on the bullshit. Twisted.

13 comments:

Jenre said...

Yay for the kiddo! Have fun with the driving lessons.

*mutterratheryouthanmemutter*

I've not read Warrior's Cross and after reading this I don't have a major urge to do so, although I generally love the stuff from this pair of authors.

Tam said...

It should be interesting Jen. LOL If interesting means terrifying.

While I liked the style and writing I just has issues with Cameron beind such a pushover. When Julian says he can only spend Tuesday night and all day Friday with him, and then Cameron confronts him and says "are you married, or living with someone?" Julian is all offended and his feelings are hurt that Cameron didn't trust him. Umm. Right. YOU'RE the one offended and Cameron apologises for not trusting you? Something is deadly wrong with this scenario. LOL

Chris said...

Wow, driving?!

Good luck on the book exchange - too funny about the m/f book.

Warrior's Cross was not a favorite, for the same issues you had with it.

Tam said...

It was funny. He said they nearly killed themselves laughing when later they looked at the back and saw it was m/f. LOL

It wasn't a bad book, I like their writing, I just felt it was a bit skewed from my perspective.

Michelle M. said...

How exciting for Kristen. Is she learning stick or automatic? I think I'm still recovering from my mother trying to teach me to drive stick!

Tam said...

Definitely automatic Michelle. I told her that her Dad will have to teacher her to drive stick shift, especially if she wants to move to the UK. LOL

Average Reader said...

Tam, big congrats for your kid! I like the idea of a big parking lot. I still have to find a big parking lot someday if it ever snows significantly down here, and learn how to drive in snow. I do have the stick shift down, though. :)

Felt the same as you about Warrior's Cross. That makes me crazy with impatience when characters don't ask questions. Of course they'd ask in real life. So it becomes an artificial way to create suspense.

Tam said...

Thanks Val. I guess you're probably safe, unless climate change really goes wild. :-)

I think that was it Val. Unless it's a paranormal or sci-fi or something that explains unusual behaviour, I expect characters to act like normal humans, and that kind of behaviour feels artificial and "off". Of course there are some people who wouldn't ask in real life, but not most who could put up with that kind of vague lifestyle.

NathanV said...

Sorry again about the book. It's the thought that counts, right?

Lily said...

I had pretty much the same reservations with him but overall I enjoyed it.

Driving, huh? I remember those days. Since my husband no longer drives it was up to me to teach all three. It's a wonder I lived thru it. lol

Although it's a good idea about the parking lot. That's actually how my Dad first taught me.

Have a great weekend.

Tam said...

Of course Nathan, I appreciated the effort since that store is rather off the beaten path. :-)

That's the odd thing Lily, usually with my reservations I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much, but on the whole I did. Go figure. LOL

I think we'll give Sunday a try if there is nothing going on at our big arena.

orannia said...

I remember having to learn to drive...I had to learn. And when I finally got my restricted licence (means I could drive by myself or drive others if one of them had a full licence) I had to take my father out. I was so petrified about what he might say that I said I would only drive him if he didn't say anything to me at all (apart from directions). So he took a pen and paper with him...and had written a swear word before I'd even turned the key!

Tam said...

LOL Hopefully no swear words today, but we'll see how it goes. :-)