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Filtration Play (Leather and Lattes #4)
Filtration Play (Leather and Lattes #4)
Katherine McIntyre | 2025 | LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
steamy and emotional
I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 4 in the Leather and Lattes series, but you can read it as a stand alone book. Reading the other books will give you the bigger picture of Whipped and the people who work/live/play there and their kinks and the relationships between them, but it's not necessary. HOWEVER! I loved them and I think you should, if only cos I said so!

Ollie is newly single, and a bit in the closet about his bi-sexaulity. He finds himself dragged by his brother to Whipped, and is smitten immediately by Fin, who gives him an offer he cannot refuse. There follows a wonderful story about two people finding their own place in the world, not in anyone's shadow or on anyone's coat tail.

I really enjoyed this, I can't quite love it and I hate that I cann't say why! (insert wailing!)

I liked that Fin and Ollie get a say. I loved the immediate and powerful connection between these two. It burns bright and hot from their very first meeting, and does not let up. It sets the page on fire at points and I lovevd that Fin was able to let themself go with Ollie and just BE, you know? They needed someone like Ollie in their life, their bed and most importantly, in their heart.

I loved that Ollie walks into that first playnight knowing full well what might happen, and it does, but with Fin at his side, he revels in the attention. Ollie loved that Fin and ONLY Fin would be taking him that night: Ollie know and Fin knew it and I think that's why they both enjoyed themselves so much.

The emotioanl connection comes fast and furious, but it's Fin who runs when things get tough. Having their business trashed by a bitter excuse of a woman was almost what broke their relationship with Ollie but it's Ollie who says the magic words to Fin and they make their way HOME, to Ollie.

What didn't work, I've no idea so I'm leaving it at that, but I will continue with this series, cos I love the whole set-up at Whipped and I *LOVE* the people in it!

4 very VERY good stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
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If I Stay (If I Stay, #1)
If I Stay (If I Stay, #1)
Gayle Forman | 2009 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.9 (24 Ratings)
Book Rating
Mia is a typical 17 year old girl. She has a great family, plays the cello, has good friends and an incredible boyfriend. On a very non-typical day in her home of Oregon, a dusting of snow keeps the whole family home from work and school. Her family decides to take a drive and visit some family and friends. Unfortunately, on this journey, tragedy strikes. Mia's family is involved in a car accident. As Mia's life hangs in the balance, she reflects on all that has happened in her short time on earth and what would or could happen if she decided to stay.

I thought this was going to be a tear-jerker, but it wasn't so much. The events that took place are sad for sure, but I didn't find myself crying like I thought I would. Imagine if everyone in your immediate family is killed in a car accident and you are the only survivor. What do you do? You watch your whole family laying in pools of blood and then you watch yourself being operated on and see the looks in the eyes of your friends and family as they try to make sense of it all as well. In the book, the movie Ghost is referenced, and this book does remind me a bit of that movie. Patrick Swayze is dead though, and Mia is just trying to figure out if she should stay with the living, or go and be with her parents and her brother. It's a hard decision to make and I'm not sure if it is one that I could make. For me or for any other member of my family. How can you make the decision to let someone live or die? How do you make that decision yourself? Are we really able to make that decision?

My favorite part of this book, is looking back into Mia's life. Getting an understanding of who she is and who her family was. I love the fact that her family was so close and most of her life treated her like a little adult instead of a child. They were encouraging and always there for her. Her boyfriend and her best friend were the same way. They may not have always agreed on everything, but they were always understanding and willing to give a listening ear. I'm not sure if the series follows Mia along the rest of her journey, but I would like to know what her decision was.
  
Mad Punx and English Dogs by English Dogs
Mad Punx and English Dogs by English Dogs
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This was an EP. They're also from Grantham. Actually the the singer Wakey, he came to the Coventry gig on the tour last year. It was fucking incredible, and he was fucking pissed as well. Him and his wife were pissed out their heads. They live on a narrowboat and apparently that night they went home and both of them fell in the river. I want to get him on a record. I meant to but I'm quite selfish and I forget. But I thought he was a great singer. He did this EP and an album, called Attack Of The Porky Men. I bought that on CD and it cost me £30, an import from America, because it's not on CD really, I think someone just burned it. I didn't start listening to English Dogs until about 2006. I liked trawling through old punk stuff on YouTube. Discharge, GBH, Exploited: stuff I wouldn't have listened to as a kid even though I was never an English Dogs fan. And then I came across that EP and I thought it was brilliant. You can tell it's a Grantham accent. That was brilliant, mind blowing almost. And also the lyrics were just crap, ""Psychokiller rah rah rah..."" It's just rubbish. He's got this diluted Lydon-esque approach, but that's what I love about it. A lot of that new wave punk, around the 80s, it's all crap isn't it. It kind of reminds me of Roachee, it's all crap. People like them are similar in my eyes. So it was a really big honour when he came backstage. He was off his nut. He had a can of cider in his pocket and he came in and was talking to me and looking at all the beer on the side. I said he should just take it. He was like, ""You're joking, can I?"" And was putting all this beer in his pockets, him and his missus, ""Right, mate, mate, I'm going alright."" And the thing is, he knows. He knows. He said, ""When you went out there and you just looked at the crowd and went 'FUCK OFF' this is what I'm going doing, you know, don't you, you know."" Even though, on the hierarchy of punk he's like, down here, he believes in it and he can identify that kind of spirit. And I thought that was really quite touching. I've got his number, I should text him."

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Cryptid
Cryptid
2018 | Deduction
If you are a fan of the lore behind the likes of the Cthulhu, Sasquatch, Loch Ness, and El Cucuy, then you will love the theme behind this next game. Cryptid is a board game that basks in these old tales of years long past and puts you on the hunt for the infamous “Cryptid” snake/dragon-like monster. You are in a race against the other players to determine who can catch the infamous Cryptid first. This snake-like dragon is slippery and likes to hide just out of reach of the players though. It will take a bit of strategy, some social deduction with other players, and well, a bit of luck to find it! Good luck adventurers!

Upon setup, each player, up to a max of 4, will take a hints booklet and tokens of any of the 4 colors. The booklets provide each player with one, and only one, hint as to where the “Cryptid” could be hiding on the game board. The game board has 4 different terrain types, and a few landmark spots such as bear dens, towers, and cougar hideouts, where the monster could be hiding. Once each player has read their clue, they will go around the table a total of 2 times placing small cubes in places where the “Cryptid” is not. This serves two purposes, to assist the game from taking more than the time necessary to have fun, and to allow the players a little early game strategy to throw other players off the scent.


From this point forward, it is up to the players to start deducing what clues they think the other players have. A list of all possible clue types can be found in each booklet to give the players an idea of what to be considering. This also assists the game experience from taking too long. Players will now have 2 options on their turn. They can ask for information from any other player, or they can take a guess as to where they think the “Cryptid” might be. There is NO penalty for guessing the correct answer, but in doing so, if you are incorrect, you are identifying a space to the other players of where your clue may indicate where the “Cryptid” could be located. So guess carefully! As you venture forth to ask clues of other players, they will place either a cube on the space you inquired about, indicating the “Cryptid” could not be in that spot based on their clue, or they will place a disk, indicating that the space could be the space as to where the monster could be hiding. As the board begins to fill with cubes and disks, you will begin to triangulate (just a fun word I LOVE using) where you think the monster may be hiding. When you feel like you’ve got it, then take a guess. If all other players place a disk on the spot you have guessed, then you have located the “Cryptid”!

What I love about this game is its simplicity, but immersion. The game does a great job of creating that on-the-edge-of-your-seat feeling that you are about to get another clue. As I mentioned above, the designers have included some very non-intrusive, but key elements, into the game that prevent it from becoming a waiting game while other players who may be stuck trying to over-analyze the clues and accidentally hijack the time. From the simplistic clues, to the initial cube setting, the game board will fill with clues fairly quick, giving you the opportunity to make some key guesses early on.
It’s this fast paced organization of “Cryptid” that allows for multiple plays, and hopefully multiple winners. Or, if you are my 12 year old son….the winner EVERY time. Don’t ask me how he does it! My wife and I think he has special powers. We may be on to something here! Anyhow, “Cryptid” is a wonderfully whimsical game that will take you on about a 30-45 minute adventure with your friends and family. You will furiously be on the edge of your chair trying to figure out the next clue. The gameplay feels satisfying and smooth, and will leave you wanting to trek across the island again someday to find the ever illusive “Cryptid”! For these reasons, and many more, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an illusive 19 / 24.
  
Cate is quite different. She love to read and is reading something. Her father make a edit that the oldest must do everything before the youngest can even court. Both girls do not like this rule at all. Cate want nothing to do with this rule though their no way out of it.

Betsy has suitors though out and quite attractive. Pete Treager comes to Lancaster County for a job. While he there, Marvin and Martin in all trying to get Pete to court Cate. Cate though has her suspicious and it get in her way a bit. She jump to collusion and when she finds out about her little sister Betsy problem. I am not going to tell you for I do not want to spoil the ending the surprises that come though out.
  
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Nicholas Sparks recommended Pretty Woman (1990) in Movies (curated)

 
Pretty Woman (1990)
Pretty Woman (1990)
1990 | Comedy, Romance

"My number one top love story would be Pretty Woman. This film wins because unlike so many films, this wasn’t a romantic comedy, it was a romantic drama, and yet there’s humor, the performances were unbelievable, the chemistry between Richard Gere and Julia Roberts was palpable onscreen. It hearkens to fantasy, like “I can be struggling but someone’s gonna see my true me inside.” And it captures all of that in a way that, at the time, felt utterly fresh and original, and you throw in the ending, wonderful. Of these movies, truly, this one is really the only happy one. Patrick Swayze was gone, Leo, sorry, he didn’t make it. Rick doesn’t get the girl. And Baby goes home with her parents at the end of the summer."

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