It was a birthday party!!!!

I think the fomatting on this post sucks but I didn't want to re-upload, so my apologies.

My friend Wende had her 40th birthday this year and we decided that those of us who have been posting for about 7 years together on a board would get together to have a celebration. She rented a huge house in Flint Hill, Virginia and eleven of us managed to make it. We sorely missed the seven or so others who weren't able to make if for a variety of reasons.

We drank, we ate and god we laughed. No one really got drunk but it was just a continual all day kind of thing. And to make enough margaritas for 13 people (two of Wende's friends joined us) you need a LOT of alcohol. So it looked pretty frightening but wasn't that bad. Some stayed up until nearly 5:00 one morning but I'm way to old for that. I think 2:00 was my limit. We spent most of our time laying around or in the pool and then going inside to check the internet and read. EVERYONE had a book in their hand at some point and even though the house had no internet (WTF?) someone's husband let her bring the mi-fi so we could get on-line. I hope his bill isn't TOO outrageous. We tried to be good.

This is Bogart. Bogart has been travelling the world for nearly two years now. We send him from home to home, take pictures and post them. He's been to Europe a couple of times, on a cruise and everywhere from Baltimore to San Diego. So of course Bogart was very popular and even got to ride a stone chicken. What more could a stuffed frog want?

This is the whole gang. We had people from Alabama (2), San Diego, St. Louis, Baltimore, Winston-Salem, Richmond, Delaware, Denver, Chicago and Canada of course. :-) We ranged in age from 33 to 54.

The birthday girl was a crazy woman with the Blackberry. Even in the pool she couldn't give it up. Sigh. But she never dropped it.

Even though it was freaking hot, most nights we had a fire down in the fireplace by the pool and sat and laughed and talked and got goofy. I missed the bra slinging incident of the 5:00 in the morning event. LOL

We usually ate dinner on the patio. You can see the sunburned face there.

Here we all are madly on-line with the mi-fi. It worked like a charm. Not sure why Paulina is wearing the tiara. LOL

This is looking from the patio down to the pool. Unfortunately there was no stairway or path so you just had to skitter down the hill and then drag you ass back up. But it was beautiful and that big tree in the corner always had shade for us with the ghostly white skin and the water was very warm.

Looking back up toward the house you can see it was pretty steep and you can see the top of the fireplace on the right where we had our fires at night. (After we found 7-11 and wood.)

This is just the view from near the house. You can see the mountains in the distance but it was so humid it was always very hazy.

The place we stayed used to be a working vineyard but now we're not sure what they do with the grapes but there were still a few vines around and the maintenance guys were working on them. They said they are not having them next year though.




Some people went for a walk and found the "river". The trees are SO lush there. The road we had to take to get to the house sometimes had trees meeting over the top so it was like a tunnel. Just thick and green everywhere.




You can see how green it is here.



It really was beautiful all the way down. Quite different than where I live or even Manitoba where I used to. Also if someone said to me "Is Pennsylvania hilly?" I would have said "No. Flat." Wrong. LOL And just the lushness of the greenery is beautiful. It was HOT, the first night I opened the window in the den where I was sleeping and it felt like someone had a dryer vent hooked up and blowing in the window. Whew. We get some humidity up here but not quite that level. Friday ended up being less humid but the house was air conditioned so if you got too hot you just went inside for a while. We divided up the cooking chores, with a couple of each taking a night and lunches and breakfasts were sort of free-for-alls. I did BBQed chicken and veggies in foil the second night so then I got to sit back and relax and have other cook for us. We were there four nights most people.

As I said we were FAR from anywhere. We thought about going to Monticello or Mount Vernon but they were a good 90 minutes away. I drove to the airport a few times to pick people up and that was 45-60 min. We had a small town about 25 min. away with the grocery store, liquor store and 7-11 so that was our main destination as every day we had to buy food since our fridge was jammed to the limit. But it was nice to just relax and get to know everyone in real life. We know everything about everybody from the board but getting to hear voices and really see personalities come through was nice. And I think those with small kids GREATLY enjoyed the time with no responsibilities, no getting up at 4:30 to deal with them, napping when you want, just looking after yourself. A few "I miss you" phone calls but if I hadn't phoned mine I don't think she would have contacted me. LOL Oh how it changes when they get older. She was pretty much glued to me last night when I got home though. I did miss the earthquake here, which was not that big of a deal but there was some damage, so the biggest one since I've moved here.

I actually bought the kidlet a lap top. Sigh. A small Dell, bigger than a netbook, smaller than a lap top. We need another one for vacation this summer and it was cheaper there than here. But I got it at Best Buy so hopefully if something goes squirrelly they can help us.

We are planning now for two years from now. Something on/near the west coast because some of the ladies couldn't afford the air fare, so maybe Vegas or San Diego. We've had a couple of offers. Something fun to look forward to. I highly recommend meeting your on-line friends in real life. I actually got a bit teary when we left Sunday. I was sad to leave everyone, we all got along, no whining and sure I'm sure some of us likely drove the others a bit nuts at times, it was an amazing time.

The Puntabulous World Tour Continues

I know not all of my readers here are familiar with my other life as a poster on Puntabulous, but I've been posting on Craig's site for a couple of years and met some amazing people because of that. I've had the pleasure of meeting 7 (?) I think, of the other commenters and the illustrious Craig himself and am looking forward to meeting some others this summer as well. So while the main purpose of my most recent trip to the US was to celebrate my friend's 40th birthday in the wilds of Virginia (post tomorrow), I could not pass up the opportunity to meet up with VUBOQ and I got the chance to stay with my friend Polt on the way down and returning to break up the trip and I met Mama Polt. Squee.

So Sunday after dropping a couple of ladies off at Dulles airport I high tailed it over to the other side of DC to have brunch with Vuboq. We met at ... some egg place (I'm useless) and I had waffles. Yum. We talked a blue streak and it was so great to meet him. He's funny and since we both work for federal government have a lot of frustrations in common. :-) I even got the bowl below as a gift. It's BEAUTIFUL and made with his own two lovely hands. I'm going to put it on my desk at work and show it off. We didn't have much time since I was moving on to the next leg of my journey but hopefully we'll get to chat some more when we see each other at the amazing Puntabulous Pool Party (or P3) later this summer.

After we finished brunch and I tried to find a single envelope at Office Depot (who only sell them in packs of 10), I hit the road back to my friend Polt's place where I was going to spend the night before heading home. I had stayed there going down but we didn't have much time as I arrived around 5:00 and left the next morning. But the best part (well, almost :-) is I got to meet the famous Mama Polt. I had dinner there twice and she is a super cook and just an amazing lady. She's very funny, I know where Polt gets his sense of humour and she's just exactly like you would imagine from the things Polt posts about her. Super super lady.


Of course the first night we had pie and she was kind enough to send it home with me to take on to the house we were renting. I knew with 13 women there someone would eat it. First we forgot it at her house so she brought it over, then about an hour after I left I had this fleeting though "PIE!!!!" Of course it was still in the fridge and I'd already forgotten my phone and had to go back so Polt got extra pie last week.

To further the pie story, I had commented that pie was my daughter's favourite dessert and she'd be jealous, so what does the woman do (at Polt's request)? She made my daughter a cherry pie from scratch that I brought back today. How freaking amazing is that? When my daughter opened the box she was stunned. "She made a pie? For me?" Yep. And a delicious one if I do say. So thanks again Mama Polt for making me completely welcome in your home and to Polt for letting me use his new house (which is lovely and full of books) as a free hotel on my trip. Can't wait to see you again in Long Island this summer.


Polt always says Labatt's is his favourite beer so this is straight from Canada via the trunk of my car. :-) Not sure it tastes different than the stuff you buy down there, but it's got my love to make it more tasty.

And this is Angel. Mama Polt's little dog. She is cute and very active and does love that Dallas Cowboys football of hers. She was a real wiggler and go-getter.

So there is the update on my most recent round of Puntabulous meet-ups. Although Polt and I are practically living together we've seen each other so much since we first met. LOL Toronto next year baby. ;-)

I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting the new ones in person at the P3. Tomorrow I'll post about my 4 day food/alcohol/laughter binge with my girlfriends. But I'm NOT showing some of those pictures. Sheesh.

Yaoi Update and end of vacation.

Well, the vacation is almost over. Too much alcohol, too much food and too much laughter. Wait. That's not possible. :-) I am tired though. Lots of late nights and sleeping on an air mattress don't make for great rest but it was worth it.

I'm staying at a friend's house in Pennsylvania tonight and head home tomorrow. I also had a super brunch today with someone else I met on-line. I'll post some pics and details about the vacation when I get home. It will be a long day.

I did a fair bit of reading while I was away. It was not uncommon to find 5 of us curled up in the living room with a book or Kindle ... or on-line of course. :-) I thought I'd do a quickie of the yaoi I read and let you know tomorrow it will be on it's way to it's new homes (at a significantly lower rate via US Post than Canada Post.)

The First Class is Civil Law 1 by Fumi Yoshinaga

Tohdou and Tamiya are law students in the same seminar. Tohdou is the son of a politician and a real flamboyant guy. He makes a move on Tamiya who denies being gay but they become friends. When a professor makes a move on Tamiya he wonders if maybe he is gay and he and Tohdou give it a whirl. I didn't really get a lot of the inside stuff as I don't understand how law school works in Japan and the signficance of certain things the students have to do except for the bar exam. It was an okay story of Tamiya figuring out he's gay and had the usual reluctant gay story-line.

The first Class is Civil Law 2 by Fumi Yoshinaga

This skips ahead and Tamiya is now a law professor and Tohdou is studying science and told his rich opinionated father he refuses to be a lawyer. There are still issues for the couple when Tohdou starts his own gaming company and is working crazy hours and they hardly see each other. Also Tamiya gets a crush on a young smart student who turns out to be Tohdou's younger brother. It then skips to his story and his relationship with an insecure older professor. This was a bit more disjointed because to be honest the professor looked a lot like Tamiya and at times I wasn't sure who's story I was reading. It was okay though and kind of nice to see Tamiya and Tohdou 7 years later. As a duo of books it's okay.

An Age Called Blue by Est Em

Billy and Nick are roommates and band mates. Billy spends most of his time drunk, late for shows, high and partying although he's a brilliant writer. The band is getting pissed with Nick's behaviour and the end comes when in a rush to get to a show, he steals a car and hits someone while still drunk. He ends up in prison and Billy goes on without him as a solo artist as the band breaks up. I found this a bit confusing as Billy and Nick don't really get together until later although Billy loves him and there is this overlay with an old rock band that Nick idolizes and somehow they get hooked up with a band member as a manager and Nick's sleeping with a member who kills himself. I don't know. I was confused most of the time and I didn't care for the style of drawing in this one. It just didn't work for me although I think it takes place in England for a change. It's a western story without the Asian overtones.

Some things I read before I left

So the vacation is going well. Considering there are 12 of us in the house no one has killed anyone yet. :-) Far too much alcohol, think I need a break today. We are truly in the middle of no where, it's an hour to an hour and a half from anywhere. It's beautiful here though and the pool is lovely and at night the fireflies look like twinkle lights in the trees. Hot though. Ack. High humidity which for some of us is a shock.

We have a mi-fi that someone is letting us use but our access is intermittent. But I'm here. Yay. I have zero pictures, but I'll load some from other people's cameras later.

Hit by Love by Cassandra Gold (28 pages)

Scott is mugged on his way to a club and paramedic Mateo comes to the rescue. As he's leaving the hospital Mateo is waiting and offers him a ride home. When he confesses he's interested Scott invites him to come up and ..... At least he'd only had a smack on the head before he had sex and not a broken leg like that last book. It was just a short slice of life for these two guys just starting out. It was a cute little read.

Pump Me Up by Andrew Grey (115 pages)

Warning - stalker Chris. :-) Maddoc decides to check out the gym with a trial membership. Seems he's got a stalker and he'd like to feel more confident. His coworker Dan goes to the gym and invites him to join them for a workout. Later he'd invited to dinner by Dan's friend and Ivan comes along. Ivan is a former Marine who is hot. When Maddoc's car dies Ivan gives him a ride home and he explains about the stalker and Ivan offers to teach him some self-defence. Things go well for them although Maddoc wants to go slow until a show-down with the stalker. It was an okay story and to be honest I didn't know who the stalker was but a few possibilities were thrown out that had me guessing and Ivan were both older (30's? 40's). This is a follow-up to Dan and Gene's story Spot Me.

Straight as an Arrow by Sean Michael (90 pages)

Hunter travels a lot for work and kills time with on-line porn. One night he discovers a D/s chatroom and has an encounter with Sir T. He's freaked out and when it happens a few times he confesses he's going to tell his partner Kyle because he feels it's like cheating. When he confesses, Kyle also has a confession to make. How convenient. Kyle is thrilled his vanilla lover might want to try some kink but Kyle is totally freaked out by the idea but eventually comes around. To be honest I find the coincidence of your lover being an on-line mystery man a bit too pat. I think it would be more honest if it was with a stranger which allowed them to explore something new. I know, I know, less romantic, then there is no question of "cheating" but the odds are slim I'd say of finding your man amongst the billion on-line entities. I also find SM books seem to have very similar narrative style or the way people talk. Many of them "sound" the same, just different names/occupations. It was a typical SM read but with slightly more plot than some.

Seeing Red

Nope, not having a hissy fit, although you never know with me. After my "boys in blue" I thought I'd do some color themes. Some tasty colored cookies and a related song. I'm supposed to leave tomorrow morning on my vacation. We don't have wireless at the house we're renting (gasp - internet withdrawl) so I won't be around much, but I'll try and get to a coffee shop now and then to log-in. So enjoy the cookies and I'll check in when I can with vacation updates. No drunk posting. I promise.

Oh and happy first day of summer!

I don't know if this video was made specifically for the song. It's not an "official video", there doesn't appear to be one but the animation matches really well. It's by Bowling for Soup which is a Texas band my daughter and I both enjoy quite a bit.

A couple of shorties before I get motivated

Yes, yes, I should have been packing and organizing for vacation. Meh. I still have 48 hours. PLENTY of time. Today. Really. (Considering I have to work tomorrow as well.) We have to go to the mall today. My daughter agreed, finally, to go shopping for some shorts and she needs a bathing suit. She is one of the few teen girls on earth who would rather scrub toilets than go shopping. She HATES it. Must take after her mother. But once in a while you have to upgrade. So looks like today is it. So I'm girding my loins to deal with a surly child for the afternoon because she WILL be surly, I guarantee it.

Yesterday I read a few shorts I picked up. So this might be my last book post for a bit. Not sure I'll get much reading done on vacation. We'll see. I have a bunch of manga I have to get finished and passed on so I'll focus on that but I'll try and update with some vacation fun when I can. Have a great Sunday.

Sadie's Kiss by Sophia Tithenia (68 pages)

Casey works at an LGTB (is there no standard letter designation?) hot-line and shelter in San Francisco. He also happens to be psychic who can see in people's heads. He senses someone being attacked and it's really strong so he and his colleague set out to find the guy. They find Evan gay bashed with his dog. He doesn't want to go to the hospital but they insist and Evan is blind so Casey takes the dog. Evan is as surly as they come. He didn't want to go the hospital but has a broken leg. Hello, that doesn't just heal up on it's own you know. Anyway, he's totally rude to Casey who is strangely drawn to him. At home, Evan comes on to virgin Casey and a virgin he is no more. Afterward Casey leaves because he felt Evan pushing him away. Casey's his friends give him shit so he goes back and convinces Evan to let them try a relationship. Few things. The guy has broken ribs and a broken leg and they have sex three times in 24 hours. The magical healing cock? Or is he just that much of a nympho. It was insta-love for Casey but I'm going with some kind of supernatural thing because of the way they connected psychically. Oh and the blurb made it sound like the dog was a big part of the story (I feared the dog's POV from the blurb) but the dog liked Casey. I would have loved to see this drawn out, dealing more with why Evan was so prickly and slept with so many guys and Casey breaking through the walls.

Martin and the Wolf by Anne Brooke (41 pages)

Martin goes to a party at his friends' house and meets Lucas. Before he knows it they are "mating" in the bushes as Lucas calls it. He's strangely drawn to Lucas but he's a bit weird. They start dating and while Lucas is still odd, Martin is strongly drawn to him and within 3 months or so are practically living together. Then one month Lucas comes home dirty and injured and Martin is freaked but Lucas says it was friends fooling around. The next month it happens again. He still won't spill. The next month Martin decides to follow and gets in he middle of a pack fight as they do NOT like Lucas mating with a human and aren't about to let him leave the pack. Oops. I have to give Martin credit for just accepting Lucas' explanations because I'm not sure I'm so patient and I thought he seemed a bit oblivious but later you find out he wasn't as blind as you thought, his little brain was working even while they shagged their brains out. I would have liked to have known more about the wolf pack and the mythology of them if you will because the description was different than you sometimes read, but it was a smexy little romance and I loved that it was definitely set in Britain. A nice change from generic locales.

Angels and Airhead by Anne Brooke (11 pages)

Wow, I'm on the Anne Brooke diet. :-) Ricky and Jez have been friends for years. Ricky figures Jez is everything he's not, handsome, good job, nice apartment, savings account so he's never made a move despite both being gay. They're hanging out one day when suddenly angel appears. Ricky does NOT believe in angels but the angel is here to help him get his shit together and realize that Jez loves him. The interactions with the angel are quite humorous and after he leaves Ricky has no memory of it but is suddenly compelled to make a move on Jez which is very welcomed. It was just a cute little short and I did like the angel muchly and his way of talking to Ricky.

Woohoo, I read something!

Fancy that. I actually read two books in the last week. I think the world has stopped spinning on it's axis. I'm finally starting to freak slightly that I leave on my vacation Tuesday morning. Hmm. Should get on some prep stuff like laundry. I did buy a new bathing suit today. Ugh. Angelina Jolie I ain't. More like Cathy Bates. Oh well, we have a pool at the house I'm staying at and if nothing else, I know not all of the attendees are skinny minis so I'm going to suck it up and expose my ghostly white skin to the elements. Oh and I bought beer to take. See, I have the important stuff done, I have money, a passport, a swim suit and beer. It's good. Laundry tomorrow, or soon.

Double Shot Cappuccino by Stephani Hecht (76 pages)

For the last year Nash has been dealing with the death of his brother in Iraq and running the coffee shop they co-owned. Out of the blue his brother's best friend Tyler shows up, now out of the military himself. They start a no strings attached affair that within days becomes all strings for Nash as he's been in love with Tyler since they were kids, however Tyler treats him as just a good time. When he finally confronts Tyler about wanting more it doesn't go well. This was a sweet story and while it moved quickly the fact they knew each other for years helped make that more plausible. Tyler was a jerk though and I wanted him to suffer longer. I'm mean that way. I think Nash should have made him wait at least a week before he forgave him. Maybe two. :-P Nash's young clerk Colby seems to be set for a story which I'd love to read too. A good entertaining read.

The Gentleman and the Rogue by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon (157 pages)

Yes, I read an historical. *gasp* Sir Alan is home from the war and suffering from depression, he figures his last hurrah before he offs himself will be some hot smexin' with a whore. Jem completely throws Alan off his game. He's got a smart ass comment for everything, tells outrageous stories and calls Alan on his morose behaviour. Strangely Alan is attracted and manages to keep Jem hanging around and offers him a position as valet although he's not comfortable with his own sexuality which Jem finds frustrating. When the daughter of one of Alan's men is endangered by her psycho guardian (the military Dr. from the war), Alan and Jem head off to see if she's okay and rescue her if necessary, putting Jem in danger. Okay, Jem was the most adorable thing ever and I was in love with him from the first page. He was funny, smart, sexy, loyal and stood up for the underdog despite being raised on the streets. I think I remember Erastes (the expert on all things historical) saying this was very accurate historically and it may be, no clue, but it was damned entertaining. While it was historical and they had to be careful about being found out, it wasn't all consuming. By having Jem as his valet they were able to be together in ways that no one questioned, so it wasn't all mega-paranoia. So if you're not a fan of traditional historicals but love a spunky little fighter of a hero, I highly recommend it.

Boys in Blue

I actually got nuthin'. I haven't read anything the last 3 or 4 days, I've been busy writing away on something that has gotten away on me. But I thought I'd give you some lovely blue cookies to kill some time until I'm back reading again. Enjoy.

He's in blue water, that works for me.


And to get you bopping along.

Sunday Sunday

Time to catch up on some of the stuff I've been reading.

Staking His Life by Kiernan Kelly (50 pages)

This is set in a time when paranormal creatures are out and more or less accepted in society. Seth is a vampire who was turned against his will and he lives with werewolf friend Mark. After a rough day at work, Mark convinces Seth to go to a club. There Mark sees his rogue sire who turned him and then ran, he tries to get Mark out of there but Valerian tries to get him to join with him. Finally Mark gets Seth to realize he wants a relationship with him (typical oblivious room mate routine) but then Valerian capture Mark to blackmail Seth who has to save him despite being clueless as to his vampire abilities. It was interesting to see a world where paranormals are out and even they have a pecking order (zombies are out) and Seth just wants to be a normal guy and not deal with his vampire abilities but is finally forced to. I enjoyed it.

I Fell In Love With A Zombie by Sean Kennedy (75 pages)

The flu pandemic finally hits leaving people dead and eventually a type of zombie. They don't eat brains but when they find humans they freak out and kill them. Jay's boyfriend died during the crisis and he's been hiding out in his house. He finally decides to get out of town. After some adventures on the way he ends up in the town of his ex Dave. Just as he's about to be killed by a zombie mob, he's saved by another zombie, Dave. He goes home with Dave who seems to be some kind of a different zombie who still has his humanity. When the town zombies figure out Dave's not "normal" they go on the run, hoping to find other humans who survived. It was a great story, seeing how Jay coped with being nearly the last human in his area and then dealing with his feelings for Dave and was Dave Dave or is he something else now. There was some humour, some gore, some sweetness. A great mix although I'm not sure I think the remaining humans were going to be as welcoming as Jay hoped. I've seen too many "evil government" movies. :-)

Gemini: The Wicked Things by Pepper Espinoza (164 pages)

Travis left his life in London to care for his increasingly addled mother in a small village. In her state she warns him about a legendary black dog that roams the hills. One night he goes for a walk and holy hell, comes across a giant black dog. It doesn't harm him and escorts him home. He starts to look for the dog and some weird stuff starts happening. He later finds out the dog is the trapped soul of a man who was convicted of murdering his wife a few hundred years ago. The dog can become a man and finally convinces Travis that an evil witch is causing his mother's illness, as she's a former fairy and all manner of magical creatures are involved. At first Travis thinks it's nuts, but he finally believes after a troll attack and is determined to break the spell on his mother and free her mind. It's quite complicated with lots of characters and the why and how of the witch stuff (some of which I probably never quite got) but I really liked Travis and he was plucky and would do anything to save his Mom and he gets to know John and they grow closer. John was interesting because although he's been around he really doesn't understand modern people much. It was very interesting for me and I really enjoyed it.

Out of Balance by Stephani Hecht (76 pages)

Trevor works as an assistant manager of a small bank branch when sexy Drake comes in to open an account and asks for him specifically. Drake owns a restaurant with his family and has been crushing on Trevor since he noticed him at the bank. Trevor's life is less than stellar, his ex left him for the mailman, his roof leaks and his job kind of sucks so he agrees to a date with smokin' Drake an they hit it off. Things at the bank and at his apartment get worse as he and Drake get to know each other. It's a sweet little romance and Trevor has some funny interactions with his "roommate" Rocky. It's an enjoyable light read.

Saturday Update

Happy Saturday. Click on the cutie and his pup above and check out my post on pets in m/m at Wave's place today. I got some reading done this week but was feeling a bit blahbitty blah.

Gay Man Seeks Same by Kim Dare (45 pages)

Craig is looking for a guy like him, one who wants to settle down and have a normal life. One day at work he's heading out for an on-line lunch date. Who shows up? His colleague who he's been crushing on but is into the leather scene and sleeps around, not what Craig wants. He gets upset but back at work Donovan corners him in the bathroom and a hand job in the stall ensues. Craig agrees to go home with him and finds all the toys at Donovan's disconcerting as Donovan is a Dom and he wants Craig as his sub. Craig sneaks out when Donovan's on the phone and the next day they have it out about what Craig and Donovan both want in a relationship.

I mentioned that I think I need to take a Kim Dare break. There is nothing inherently wrong with the story, it's typical of the author's work, which is the problem. The whole "frozen in place and unable to move even in a situation like the public bathroom at your work where you could be fired if caught" frustrates the hell out of me. How old are you? 12? Grow a freaking backbone. Being a sub doesn't mean freezing like a deer in the headlights as soon as a guy looks at you. Then on the way out of the office he figures he "owes" Donovan because he got an orgasm and Donovan didn't. Oh please. I literally made a scoffing sound out loud while reading. So I don't think there is anything wrong with the conventions this author tends to use, but I've just come across them too often and I've lost interest and sympathy for the characters because they are all the same. And the smug Dom also annoys me, and Donovan was oh so smug. So I think I just need a break and maybe when I go back to the author's work it will be fresh for me again.

Gracie by BK Wright (7 pages)

Chris bought this one for me. Why? Because somehow Khris decided I should be the one to read this and review. Why? Because it's told from the kitten's POV, which Chris hates so I volunteered to take one for the team. Aren't I a good friend?

Gracie is a kitten who was rescued by Cameron and Drew. She basically talks about her Daddies and how much they love her and goes through her morning routine with you as she wakes them up and gets cuddles and attention. She tells you a bit about Drew and Cameron, their personalities and how they met. That day they are being interviewed by a newspaper who's doing a story on gay dating. Gracie hangs out with them napping (she naps a lot) while the interview is going on. Okay, Gracie's voice is typically kittenish and self-centered when she's talking. She's a baby, she thinks she's the centre of the universe, probably as it should be for a kitten. However because she naps a lot she doesn't tell the whole story, after the reporter leaves there is a sex scene but she's not in the room. However the tone of the story doesn't change all that dramatically. It's still told as if a third person is observing the action and while on a scale of 1-5 Gracie's voice is a 5, the narrator when Gracie's out cold is a 4. So it still sounds like Gracie a bit which is freaky when describing a sex scene. Like as if your kid was watching you. There wasn't really much story, just how they met and how perfect they are and how happy they are and how adorable Gracie is. So I didn't hate when Gracie spoke but I would have loved to see a more distinct change when she wasn't speaking to make it clear "cat done, human takes over".

I'm not sure who the Beau to Beau publisher is. It was set up weirdly with the picture, immediately followed by the blurb, followed by the address and copyright and the word "Book Content:". Each separated by one line. At the end there is just the author's name. No bio. So I'm not sure if they are self-published, but it was very "basic" and certainly didn't follow the standard e-book conventions (which are similar to paper books). Oh and value for $? No so much. Chris splurged $1.50 for this, that's .25 per page. Put that into perspective, Sindustry II was $7 or .02 per page. Hmmmmm.

Pool Hall Green by Sara Bell (113 pages)

Drew is a former pool shark who gets a call from his estranged family. His gambling addict brother got himself $250K in debt and as usual they call on Drew to fix it. But they guy he owes doesn't want money, he wants Drew. He threatens to call in the debt, bankrupting Drew's parents if Drew won't play in a pool tournament for him to get revenge against another player. Drew reluctantly agrees but on the condition his brother goes to rehab. When his brother checks out and threatens suicide Drew's father beats him and nearly breaks his arm. He finally admits that his family will never love him (kicked him out when he came out) and he says his brother has to fix it, he's done. Meanwhile he's started a bit of a relationship with the blackmailer Evan but Evan is too fixated on revenge so Drew leaves to go back to Phoenix. While it seems like a set-up for a blackmail story, it's really a relationship story about enabling an addict and taking advantage of someone who so desperately wants the love and acceptance of his family and who finally has to admit to himself it's never going to happen. Drew's Aunt (his Mom's sister) who raised him after he was kicked out was great, she was a good Mom and funny too. So I really enjoyed this one.

Especially for KZ Snow and Castanet Feldman

Hope you ladies enjoy the show and it counteracts the schmoop over at that Aussie site. ;-)

I wanted to embed this one but it won't allow it. Stupid EMI. Anyway, if you click on the lovely below you'll get my third choice for the girls.