Search

Search only in certain items:

    Cake Recipes for You!

    Cake Recipes for You!

    Food & Drink

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    We offer to you a lot of tasty cake recipes: chocolate cake recipes, fruit cake recipes, sweet milk...

Crushed Ice (Hockey Ever After #4)
Crushed Ice (Hockey Ever After #4)
Morgan James, Ashlyn Kane | 2024 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Russ fell for Liam, but hadn't been able to put a name to the feelings.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 4 in the Hockey Ever After series. I have only read book 1 and 2, and missed book 3. It's not necessary to read those books before this one. Dante and Gabe play a part here (from book 1) but neither Ryan and Nico (book 2) or Max and Grady (book 3) play a part except there is a wedding.

I really liked book 1 and I loved book 2. I can't say I loved this one, but I did, for the most part, enjoy this. It was great to catch up with Gabe and Dante!

Russ is already playing for the Caimans when Liam joins them. There is attraction, right from the start, but Russ is not fully out and Liam is his rookie. I loved how Liam set Russ off kilter. The one-liners from Baller made me chuckle. It gets the point across, that Russ fell for Liam but hadn't been able to put a name to the feelings.

It's on the sweeter side, and fairly low angst. There is an age gap, but not a massive one. It's emotional, though, in places, but I didn't get that sucker punch I got from book 2, Scoring Position. Steamy and smexy in palces, but fade to black in others and I did like that.

So, what didn't I like? There are detailed hockey match descriptions. I know, I KNOW this is a hockey romance, but books 1 and 2 didn't have the long descriptions of the matches like there are here. Or I don't think they did. I said in my review for book one, that I liked that book because there were not huge long descriptions of hockey matches. So, for ME, and I stress the ME, those matches that are here were too much for me. I'm a UK native, and ice hockey is not the massive sport it is on the North American continent.

Still, an enjoyable read, that was on a par with book one, but not book 2, which I gave the full 5 stars.

So, 4 very good stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Pomegranate Kiss (Charmed In Charleston #2)
Pomegranate Kiss (Charmed In Charleston #2)
Katherine McIntyre | 2025 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
so sweet, how Lex fell first!
I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in the Charmed In Charleston series and I have not read book 1, Taking Root. My only thing to say would be, other than massive spoilers for THAT book you don't need to have read it before THIS book. I want to, though. Lex is Adrian's sister, and Cam is Danny's best friend.

Lex and Cam hook up, and neither can forget the event. When thrown together for Adriana dn Danny's wedding as maid of honour and bridesmaid, they quickly set a time line for the interlude. More pressing, Cam is in the closet and her parents want her to marry a nice man of their chosing. Returning to college looks better and better for Cam. But how can she tell lex, when this was only supposed to be a fling?

I liked this, I liked this A LOT. I couldn't quite love it though, but I haven't been able to love anything at the moment due to ill health, so take this review as a very good one, please!

I loved that Lex, the love em and leave queen, falls first. She knew Cam was special after that one time, and having tasted her once, she wants more. Far more than she ever wanted before, with anyone. Cam has more pressing issues. Her parents wants her to marry a nice man of their chosing and their faith is very against same sex relationships. She doesn't want to lose them, but things move at a pace she doesn't see coming and flips.

But I loved that the flip comes AFTER she returns to college, after she and Lex break up. And I loved that Cam didn't immediately run to Lex. Oh she wanted to, she really did. But she waits for Lex to come to her and that scene, on the harbour, where it all began, was amazing.

It's steamy, and smexy. Some drama and full of the found and realted families that McIntyre is so good at! I did find it kinda sweet, too, how Lex fell. She really did NOT see that coming!

4 very VERY good stars (my apologises!)

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
His Mate by Allegiance (Lunetti Pack #3)
His Mate by Allegiance (Lunetti Pack #3)
Mel Aitchess | 2025 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
HIS MATE BY ALLEGIANCE is the third book in the Lunetti Pack series. I haven't read them all as I missed book one, but fell in love with book two, and jumped at the chance of reading book three. What can I say? I'm hooked! I love this world that the author has given us.

To show the Council that they're all playing nicely together, Marco and Blaze have arranged a wedding between the MC and the Pack. Emilio is the one taking the fall for the Pack, and Rocco for the MC. Emilio was quite happily planning his future husband's demise when the worst thing (for him) happens. He realises Rocco is his fated mate, and he really, REALLY, doesn't want one of those! As for Rocco, well, he's planning on being as in-your-face as he can be to push Emilio away. So you get that neither of them is on board with this, right? Yeah, well, that all changes once they meet. Trust me, they burn up the pages!

The story is more than just their relationship, and I loved how the story progressed. For me, though, it was all about Rocco and Emmy. I loved these two so much. One of the best parts was the slow and gentle realisation from Emmy that it would be okay to bond with Rocco. They really were a perfect fit! I loved how it wasn't some big bang realisation, but rather one that crept up on him, no matter how hard he fought it.

If there was one thing I wanted more of, it would be Emilio topping Rocco! It only happened once, and although it was off-the-charts hot, I would have liked it at least once more. But then, that's me being greedy and wanting more than I was given, which was absolutely good enough! And that is why I've rated this as 5/5. I'm certainly not going to knock a star, or half-star, off for something that would have been a bonus!

I can't wait for the next book and hope that Marco gets his HEA too at some point. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me.

** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **

* 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!
Jul 14, 2025
  
The Hangover Part II (2011)
The Hangover Part II (2011)
2011 | Comedy
It has been two years since writer-director producer Todd Phillips unleashed the mother of all benders on audiences with The Hangover. The film about four buddies on a lost weekend in Vegas was a comedic tour de force that left audiences laughing from start to finish and went on to be the highest grossing R-rated film in history. Naturally when a film does this kind of business, thoughts turned to a sequel and Phillips has returned with the original cast and crew to follow up this comedy classic.

Plot of the film mild-mannered dentist Stu (Ed Helms), who is getting married in Thailand to the girl of his dreams. Undaunted by the fact that his fiancé’s father despises everything about him, Stu convinces his best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), and Doug (Justin Bartha), to take the 16 hour flight to attend the ceremony. When news reaches them that a crestfallen Alan (Zach Galifianikis), is waiting for his invitation to the ceremony, Stu is reluctant because he does not want a repeat of what happened in Vegas.

But despite their misgivings, the friends decide to include Alan in the ceremony and embark to the airport for the long flight to Thailand. They’re joined at the airport by Stu’s future brother-in-law Teddy (Mason Lee), a child prodigy who was already attending Stanford at 16 and has designs on a future medical career. As Stu’s fiance explains later in the film, Teddy is their father’s “most prized possession.”

Alan takes an instant disliking to Teddy and sees him as an outsider in their “wolf pack” and doesn’t miss an opportunity to try to exclude Teddy. Upon their arrival in beautiful Thailand, the friends get through a somewhat awkward dinner with the future in-laws and relax on the beach for a bonfire and bachelor party. Phil makes sure to be extra careful to avoid any of the issues they had in Vegas and selects bottled beer that was given to them by the hotel staff and makes sure that every one of them only gets an unopened bottle to drink.

Despite these precautions, Stu, Phil, and Alan wake up the next morning in a seedy hotel with absolutely no memory of how they got there and what happened the night before. Stu now sports a fresh facial tattoo while Alan has a completely shaved head. Matters are further complicated when the group realizes that Teddy is missing and that what appears to be his severed finger is found to be floating in a bucket of water.

As if things were not bad enough, matters take an even extreme turn for the worse when a monkey and Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), show up and add even bigger complications to the already complex situation. The group learns that Doug is safely back at the resort and waiting for their arrival at breakfast after having left the bonfire early, leaving Stu, Alan and Phil to piece together the forgotten events of the night and locate Teddy before the wedding. Along the way they run into criminals, the sleazy side of Bangkok, upset monks, and much more as they race against time to solve the mystery and locate Teddy.

What follows is a comedic adventure complete with jaw-dropping sequences that leaves the audience shocked at just how far they push the envelope. The cast works well with one another and there are some truly funny moments in the film. The biggest issue with the movie is that it must walk a fine line between using the established formula of friends trying to remember and deal with the consequences of their lost evening while not repeating itself.

This is a very tricky proposition as the film essentially follows the same plot line of the original film: a group of friends are trying to remember the previous night and locate a missing member prior to a wedding. There are also similar jokes such as Stu dealing with a tattoo instead of a missing tooth and Alan’s constant nonsensical bantering and plethora of useless information.

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel director Todd Phillips instead focuses on the relationship of the cast and allows the unique and exotic setting to be the new character and foil for the comedy. Many times in the film it is established that Teddy must be located before “Bangkok gets him” and as such the city offers endless opportunities for the cast.

The film does drag at the three quarters mark but recovers nicely, leading to a predictable finale. While the film was not as thoroughly funny as the original, in terms of humor and storytelling, but there are still plenty of laughs and eye-popping scenes that make it an enjoyable comedy. There are rumors that Phillips has plans for third film in the series to complete the trilogy. If this is indeed the case I would welcome a third film with the understanding that more care be put into the plot to avoid rehashing previous jokes and situations.