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Evvie Drake Starts Over
Evvie Drake Starts Over
Linda Holmes | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh goodness, what can I say about Evvie that hasn't been said before? Nothing, I'm sure. This is such raw, real, funny, and lovely read. Evvie Drake lives alone in her small Maine town. She's recently widowed and the entire town--including her best friend, Andy--thinks her solitude is due to her grief. Meanwhile, in New York, pitcher Dean Tenney is a national joke. He's struggling with the "yips" --Dean can no longer pitch properly, and he has no idea why. Dean is also Andy's childhood friend, and so he accepts an invitation to stay in Evvie's back apartment. She needs the money, and he needs a place to get away. They make a deal: he won't ask about her husband, and she won't ask about baseball. But, even so, the two form an unlikely friendship.

Oh yeah, you say, I can see where this is going. They'll form a "friendship" and it will bloom into something more and yeah, yeah. Well, maybe. But this book is so much more than a typical romance. Evvie is not a romance caricature at all. There is true grief that screams across the pages in this novel--Evvie's and, yes, Dean's too. Dean is not just a celebrity love interest tossed in for fun. You root for him--and for them.

This story, this book. It has these funny moments and cute sections. It's sweet and tender, but there is no schmaltz. And Holmes weaves in pop culture quite seamlessly, too. Evvie and Dean will seem like people to you, your friends, and they will break your hearts, and yet, in the end, maybe mend them too. This is a wonderful read, and I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.
  
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.1 (14 Ratings)
Book Rating
Perhaps the most famous of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries, in which the super-sleuth investigates the supposed Baskerville family curse of the hell-hound on the moors.

What else can I say? Originally serialised by Arthur Conan Doyle, there's been many attempts to adopt this for TV, film or stage over the years, right through from the classic Basil Rathbone 1939 classic (and which many - myself included - still envisage Holmes as) to the more modern BBC Benedict Cumberbatch TV series, one of which has an episode largely based on this story.

Mysterious deaths, ghostly hell-hounds, escaped convicts and the marshy moors all play a part in this ...
  
Coup: Reformation
Coup: Reformation
2013 | Bluff, Card Game
Fixes Classes (2 more)
Adds Teams
Inexpensive
Doesn't make significant changes (0 more)
The Fix for Coup
If you wanted to play Coup with more people, this is for you.

Reformation is a necessary expansion for an already great game. It replaces the Ambassador class, which was the only broken class in the original expansion. It also adds teams, which can be changed on the fly, and add a completely new dynamic to the game.

If it was more money, I would say that this expansion doesn't change enough to be worth it. But for around $10, it is completely worth fixing some of the problems from the original games.
  
Take Me (2017)
Take Me (2017)
2017 | Comedy, Crime
You can take me at my word as I've not been kidnapped by Pat Healy and forced to say this, I'm writing this under my own free will, that Take Me is highly entertaining and is a fun ride of a movie. I'm talking a tied up in the back of a van with no seatbelt or stuffed in a trunk and taken up a mountain road kind of fun ride. Pat Healy is one of the best actors out there right now in my opinion, and I highly suggest you let him take you for a couple of hours with his feature directorial debut Take Me.
  
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
1991 | Crime, Drama, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Edward Yang died way too young. Everything he did was wonderful, including Taipei Story and Mahjong, but these two are especially staggering. In both films he somehow manages to say just about everything you can about life without ever getting high-minded about it. Talk about an incredible craftsman! All of the stories being told in Yi Yi are kind of unremarkable—it’s the telling that is so remarkable. And A Brighter Summer Day is just an amazing gangland epic. I don’t know how you watch it without becoming convinced that you’re watching the greatest movie ever made. It’s like The Godfather in that way."

Source
  
40x40

Ari Aster recommended Yi Yi (2000) in Movies (curated)

 
Yi Yi (2000)
Yi Yi (2000)
2000 | Drama, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Edward Yang died way too young. Everything he did was wonderful, including Taipei Story and Mahjong, but these two are especially staggering. In both films he somehow manages to say just about everything you can about life without ever getting high-minded about it. Talk about an incredible craftsman! All of the stories being told in Yi Yi are kind of unremarkable—it’s the telling that is so remarkable. And A Brighter Summer Day is just an amazing gangland epic. I don’t know how you watch it without becoming convinced that you’re watching the greatest movie ever made. It’s like The Godfather in that way."

Source
  

"This anthology is like one of those fateful 20-something nights where you met a boyfriend, a best friend and got a lead on a job. It introduced me to Jim Shepard and Donald Batheleme. I often think of Amy Tan’s introduction of Molly Giles’ story, Pie Dance. Tan writes that upon hearing Giles read the story, she felt she didn’t yet have what it took to be a writer but she “also knew — as deeply as you can know something about yourself — that it would be worth a lifetime to try.” That’s one of the most genuine things I’ve ever heard a writer say about another writer."

Source
  
Fireworks at Midnight (A Witch’s Night Out #3)
Fireworks at Midnight (A Witch’s Night Out #3)
Tara Quan | 2014 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the third book in the Witch's Night Out series and the best part for me is that each story is individual, whilst following a familiar idea. This way means that you get a fresh story each time, whilst the world and character building can move on from where it last left off. This means that you end up with a rich and detailed world with characters that are three-dimensional and you can relate to, without having a massive back-story or information dump going on.

Sweets and Mikal deserve to be together, they have crushed on each from afar long enough. The time is now to make a move - but who will move first, and what does fate have in store before they can? This is a quick and light-hearted read that will satisfy your need for a steamy coffee break book. Whilst it is the third in a series, I would say it could be read as a standalone, but reading the other two will definitely help give you a more enriched view. Definitely recommended for all fans of paranormal romance.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Dec 21, 2015
  
Touch Of A Yellow Sun (Colors of Love #2)
Touch Of A Yellow Sun (Colors of Love #2)
V.L. Locey | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
not quite as good as book one
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Marek has been sent a lower league after one too many outbursts on the ice. He knows this could be his last posting. After yet another outburst, Marek is forced to try to lower his anger levels and who better than the most lovely neighbour of his, Shey, who just happens to be the owenr of a yoga studio? Helps that Shey pushes all of Marek's buttons, but does Marek push Shey's? Can Marek get his temper under control enough to help Shey when his past comes back to haunt him?

I really enjoyed this one second book in the Colors of Love series, not quite as much as book one though! My only gripe (and this WILL make you laugh once you read my review for Lost In Indigo!) was that only Marek has a say!

Told ya!

I'll explain. In my review for Indigo, I said that Ms Locey has a way of negating my dislike of single point of view but strong voiced characters. And while Marek has a strong voice, it's not AS strong as Matt in Indigo, and here, I really missed that! I have NO clue why Marek isn't up to muster cos the man has a LOT to say: about his hockey, his career, his attraction to Shey, his feelings (once they hit him square in the face!) for Shey, and just how he feels about that cat! It's maybe just Marek himself, who didn't push MY buttons, maybe it's just me, I dunno! I hate not being able to say!

I did enjoy the way Shey's home crept up on Marek, very quickly, he was calling Shey's apartment, HIS home. I loved Shey's history, and his grandma! The twist with the past was a surprise, and I loved how Marek handled that, even if it cost him so much. Shey really is his whole world!

Other than the hockey theme, and the colours in the titles, I'm not sure I see a common thread, but is Arn, Marek's agent, the same one that is Matt's agent?? The name rang a bell, is all!

I'm sorry this is far shorter than my usual fayre, I'm not doing so well with my reading at the moment, and my reviews are few and far between.

A very VERY good. . . .

4 star read

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**