definitely, possibly, maybe

the story continues after the jump. catch up with parts 1 , 2 , and 3 at the links.

via GIPHY i have a problem. when i have a lot of work to do i don't get anything done. i'm a master avoider. i procrastinate like it's my job. it's not my job. my job isn't super glamorous or high pressure in the grand scheme of things, but it is a good job. i like to do it well. lately i just feel like i'm doing it badly. really i feel like i've been doing it badly since i had my third kid. intellectually i know that i actually haven't been doing a bad job. i just feel like i have. i feel like i take too long to do things. but it's more that i'm being a normal person about things and not the super efficient highly focused person i used to be. i've felt this way about work before. i think it's something that cycles through. and we've had a massive transition that has changed how i get my job done, so i'm sure that it feeding into it too. but ugh. i don't like not being the best at something. i don't feel like i...

when i first heard about carry on  i was super not interested. i read fangirl  and i did not read any of the fan fiction bits really. i skimmed them. i kind of hate when authors insist on putting quotes or interstitial material between chapters. i want to read the story, not little hints about what the chapter might be about. i'm already reading the damn book, so obviously i don't need a spoiler. anyway, so i was totally on the fence about it. but then i accidentally didn't cancel my audible membership and i had this extra credit and i figured i might as well try listening to it. and it was the best thing ever. i hated getting out of my car, because all i wanted was to spend more time with simon and baz. in fact the only problem with the novel is that it takes so freaking long for baz to show up. but once he does it's like magic. everything just works. after i listened to the audiobook i decided to read a physical copy of carry on . and it was still as amazing as ...

i only recently stumbled upon the beneath series by meghan march. and then i binge-read them in two days. it was a bit obscene how into these books i was. i am. there are still places to go with this series, with at least three characters who deserve books of their own. the series kicks off with beneath this mask . charlotte is a girl on the run from her past and simon is simply swoon-worthy. he falls for charlie no questions asked. he knows she's hiding things but he goes out of his way to prove that he'll do anything for her. all he wants is for her to trust him, but she is so hurt by her past, so scared of the secrets she is hiding that the trust doesn't come easily. often it's the guys in romance novels who are unsure about the relationship, who aren't 100% committed because of #randomtrope but here the convention is turned on its head. simon is all-in from the get-go. charlie is the one who must learn that what she shares with him is something real and tru...

to have and to hold  launches lauren layne's new wedding belles series. this novel focuses on brooke, the latest employee of the wedding belles wedding planning agency that serves as the framing device for the novels. brooke has recently moved to new york from california, after being humiliated on her wedding day by having her groom arrested at the altar for fraud. in spite of her disastrous wedding day, brooke refuses to let anything get her down. she isn't cynical about love or relationships. her partner in the story is seth. they meet when seth's sister maya hires the wedding belles to plan her wedding after a whirlwind courtship and engagement. seth is brooke's polar opposite when it comes to believing in happily ever afters. we get alternating points of view, and one of the things that is slightly bizarre is to be in seth's head and then see seth through brooke's eyes, because it's almost like he is two different people. he is such a jerk from bro...

after i requested this is what goodbye looks like  from netgalley, i had second thoughts. the pretty cover drew me in but the more i thought about the description the more worried i was that i wouldn't like it. i don't like to read novels that i won't like. i'm not the kind of person who wants to write a negative review. and this isn't one, necessarily. i didn't love this book, but i didn't hate it either. Lea Holder watched a boy die in the same DUI accident that ruined her legs and threw her little sister into a coma. As the only eye-witness to the accident, if Lea tells the truth in court, the drunk driver will go to prison and the dead boy's family will have justice. But Lea lies. Telling the truth would have put her own mom in prison for causing the accident. With the trial over and her mom set free, Lea attempts to rebuild her shattered life as she waits for her little sister to wake from her coma. When Lea transfers schools, she finds herself ...

today was my eldest daughter's first dance recital. and since it was just about the cutest thing ever i'm subjecting the world to a short video.

and another chapter posts. here are links to parts  1  and  2 . part 3 begins after the jump.

the more I read about them the better it gets. #hiddleswift #truelove #socliche

every once in a while i do get away from the world war ii historical novel, somewhat fittingly i read radio girls   in between reading  the summer before the war  and everyone brave is forgiven  i say fittingly because this book takes place in britain between the wars. it is the earliest days of the bbc and at a time where women were beginning to work outside the home regardless of class, in professional environments. it's difficult to fathom now, but europe post-world war i was marked by a generation of young men lost. women had opportunities they wouldn't have simply because there weren't enough able-bodied men left to fill in every space. between maisie musgrave is a nursing veteran of the war, she lied about her age (she was only fourteen at the time) to do something to help the cause. since the war ended she's completed a secretarial school and finds a job at the british broadcasting corporation, yes that bbc . it's the early days of radio, and people are st...

i first discovered kristen callihan off a riffle email. her first book in the game on series , the hook up , was for sale and since i have a soft spot for sports romances i decided to give it a try. then i proceeded to buy the remaining books in the series. and since then i've stalked her facebook page and website in the hopes for more books in the series. what i discovered was that before more game on books, we'd be treated to the kick off of a new series. idol  is the first book in the vip series and, well, now it seems that i'm hooked on a new series and am destined to stalk the author on social media until i know when the next release will be. sometimes i wish i discovered all series after they closed so i could binge on all the books at once. i'm not one for savoring. which is not to say that there isn't plenty to savor while reading idol . one of the things that impresses me about callihan's writing is how much research she puts in to the world she is ...

sex and the city  definitely made the cosmopolitan a trendy drink. and with its blush pink hue, it's also a pretty drink. but it's also incredibly delicious. the key is the fresh lime juice. i'm convinced that fresh lime juice makes everything taste better. i'm the kind of girl who prefers limeade over lemonade. i love its tart freshness. and basically anything and everything that has fresh lime juice is amazing. the best cosmopolitans in my opinion aren't the ones that are super pink. the cranberry juice shouldn't be the star here. i love cosmos with the barest hint on cranberry juice. the original cosmopolitan recipe only includes a splash or two of cranberry. try it served in a chilled martini glass. on a hot day there is nothing quite like it. original cosmopolitan recipe (adapted from the ultimate bar book ): 1.5 ounces vodka (my vodka of choice is ocean vodka) 1.5 ounces triple sec 1 ounce fresh lime juice 1 to 2 dashes of cranberry juice lime...

i don't know what it is about summer, but as soon as it's camp fire weather all i want are some damn s'mores. here's the weird thing, i don't actually like marshmallows. i mean, texture-wise i think they are one of the most disgusting things you could eat. however, roasted marshmallow is another story. and then smashed between a graham cracker and a bar of hershey's chocolate and well, nirvana. most of the time, when i do get to eat s'mores i'm usually getting the marshmallows my kids have roasted and do not want to eat. so i never get to try the many variations on the tried and true standard. one day i'd like to buy some really fancy gourmet chocolate and try it on a s'more. i'm also intrigued by the peanut butter and chocolate variations i've read. there was a menu going around on pinterest or facebook last summer that i definitely need to look at again for inspiration. really what i should do is organize my own damn camp fire. ...

i've been on a world war ii historical fiction kick lately. it all started when i read all the light you cannot see , which was wonderful. and since then i've read the nightingale , life after life , code name verity ,   rose under fire , a god in ruins , and now   everyone brave is forgiven . set for the most part in london between september 1939 and june 1942, and tells the story of mary north, a young 18-year-old at the start of the war who signs up for service as soon as it is declared; tom shaw, a 24-year-old educator who stays behind to run the schools; alistair heath, tom's roommate, an art restorer who also enlists as soon as war begins; and zachary, a young black student rejected as undesirable by england's countryside during the evacuation of london. we see the start of war in the alternating view points of our main characters. and it is terrible. war is terrible and life-changing. everything is felt more intensely. love, hate, sadness, pain, laughter. this...

so i have been doing some editing to these stories. not a ton, but i can definitely see where i lacked some maturity as a writer when i was writing them. of course, i doubt they are perfect even with all the editing i'm doing. i know that one of the biggest problems i have as a writer is that i am not good at establishing setting. and also i'm kind of a disaster when it comes to commas. if there are misplaced commas in this, know that i am aware of the problem. and with that, part two can be found after the jump. if you need to catch up with part one a handy link has been provided for you.

i've said before that i can be ridiculous about celebrity pairings. for whatever reason, for no good reason, i find myself down a rabbit hole of google searches reading the same information and seeing the same pictures on a zillion different websites. it's a compulsion i can't help. taylor swift is always a prime candidate for this kind of behavior from me. i wouldn't call myself a swifty or anything. i enjoy her music and feel guilty about it. but the fact that she also writes and sings about her relationships is one of my favorite things about her. i mean "we are never getting back together" or "i knew you were trouble" so freaking juicy when you know all the back story gossip. so taylor recently broke up with her boyfriend calvin harris. and just today the sun got photos of her and tom hiddleston cuddling up on a beach together. now calvin has deleted his original break up tweet about how it was just two people who loved each other re...

the earl's betrothal  by karen tuft is your standard regency fare. a young man is returned from the peninsular wars, his father's health is failing, his elder brother died and he is now the heir. while he was away at war his mother has acquired a hired companion, a vicar's daughter seemingly of little consequence. now that he is returned he must find his social footing and deal with the aftereffects of war. one of the parallels between regency novels and the novels of today are the effects of war on returning soldiers. at the time there was no way to describe post-traumatic stress disorder. this is clearly what lord halford is suffering. and miss amelia clarke is the perfect balm to soothe his troubled soul. there aren't any real surprises in the novel, but that isn't a bad thing. the reason to read novels like this is to enjoy a sweet love story while enjoying the atmosphere of a different time. it reminds me of the books my grandmother loved to read, the books...

My wife’s the reason anything gets done She nudges me towards promise by degrees She is a perfect symphony of one Our son is her most beautiful reprise. We chase the melodies that seem to find us  until they’re finished songs and start to play When senseless acts of tragedy remind us  that nothing here is promised, not one day. This show is proof that history remembers We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger We rise and fall and light from dying embers  remembrance that hope and love last forever. Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside I sing Vanessa’s symphony. Eliza tells her story. Fill the world with music, love, and pride.  --Lin-Manuel Miranda #PrayforOrlando #loveislove #WeAreOrlando

i wanted a quick, sweet romance read, and in anything but love  i got exactly that. jessica bullock and ben taggart have known each other their whole lives, but in high school jessica turns her back on their friendship and ben has resented her ever since. but when she is left at the altar on her wedding day, his old feelings of concern and friendship and maybe a little more rush back. somehow he convinces her to go on her honeymoon with him. and as they reconnect the years of distance fade, and soon their connection is deeper and more real and beyond anything they ever expected to encounter. there are some hidden depths, but this isn't the kind of novel that should dwell on them. and it doesn't. but this as sweet and light as this romance is, it's not entirely superficial and that's worth noting. it's not a terribly long novel either, i think i read the whole thing in an hour and a half. but i got a happy ending and some beautiful images of bermuda and beaches to ...

imagine a world where no one was allowed to own books. but unlike, say fahrenheit 451 where all books are burned, in ink and bone  we exist in a world where books are held sacred. they are not burned. they are kept in one library, the great library of alexandria, their original bindings not to be touched by the hands of regular people. of course, such lofty ideas often run amok of basic human feeling. we crave ownership, power. if someone is keeping something from us we can't help but want it more. and that's the world jess brightwell lives in, and he has it worse than many, because he lives surrounded by smugglers and thieves. money and self-interest instead of love and affection shaped him. that and the one night he saw someone eat the last remaining copy of an original work, an ink-licker who eats books to keep them away from anyone else. it's the sickest kind of hoarding. jess is intimately familiar with the ugliest human emotions, and still as cynical as he is about...

the suffragette scandal  is the last full novel in the brothers sinister series, i've read the previous three books and liked them, but none of them moved me as much as this one did. i think because i've been thinking a lot about women's rights these past couple of days--the stanford rape case and the white male privilege that earned a rapist 6 months in county jail and 3 months probation because a harsher sentence would impact his future adversely with no consideration given to the woman he raped while unconscious and how his acts had violated her future? or hillary clinton essentially securing the democratic presidential nomination and still having to face opposition from a white man who claims a system is rigged. when the fact of the matter is she is a woman of more political savvy as well as a politician who has earned more than 4 million votes cast  than he has! No candidate is perfect, but the misogyny that clinton deals with on a daily basis because she has chose...

this story is again about michael and liz. most of my roswell fan fiction involved my imagining various ways for them to get together. i have no idea why i rooted so hard for this couple, i honestly don't think the show ever thought of trying these two characters out together. in any case, this story takes place within the show's universe, i can't pinpoint what episode it takes place after because it's been way too long since i watched it. michael is in a motorcycle accident and as the first one of the group on the scene, liz gets pulled into taking care of him. that forced closeness brings them together in ways they didn't expect. without further ado, you can read accidents happen  after the jump.

regardless of politics, as a woman, i think this is pretty cool: i love the jaunty dancing lady emoji. it's about damn time. us women can do anything. even be possibly be president. 

"it's a hell of a day at sea, sir" i have a confession to make—and i totally own my terrible taste in movies—one of my favorite movies of all time is overboard  starring real life couple kurt russell and goldie hawn. i can't explain why i love this movie so much, it feels almost anti-feminist for me to like it as much as i do. the movie is filled with tropes and stereotypes galore. plus the plot in general makes absolutely no sense. rich woman is condescending to backwoods hick and then when she washes ashore as an amnesiac he falsely claims to be her husband as petty revenge and then mistreats her until she falls in love with him and chooses to stay with him even when her memories come back. i mean, it is a garry marshall movie, so take what you will from that. you have to wonder who was in the pitch meeting that greenlit this movie, right? and it did totally bomb at the box office. because how do you word of mouth this? everything about this movie is preposte...

i don't realize how much i like vanilla ice cream until i think about it. like part of me feels like i should like chocolate more. and i definitely have a soft spot for strawberry. though on principle i will tell you here and now that i dislike neapolitan ice cream. even if you stick to the one flavor there's never enough of it in a container. i feel like it's the ultimate gyp. anyway, so vanilla ice cream is basically the ideal ice cream, because it is the perfect base. and i appreciate that more now that i've actually made my own ice cream. so far i haven't ventured off my tried and true favorite recipe *, but i'm starting to think that maybe it's time i get creative. one of my favorite ice cream shop flavors of ice cream is oatmeal cookie ice cream. this is vanilla ice cream with oatmeal and cinnamon sugar swirls. and it is so good. i'm also a big fan of cookies and cream. and i'm considering the possibilities of smashing a bunch of oreo cooki...

in the author's note for defending taylor , miranda kenneally explains how hard she's worked for everything and how it took taking a risk to realize she wasn't enjoying her life to the fullest. her goal in writing this book was to show that you can't just work so hard for things in life, you have to want them, you have to enjoy them. while i think she accomplished this to an extent, i also think that perhaps the deeper message of her novel was limited by its format? ultimately, defending taylor is a nice contemporary ya read. the main character taylor lukens comes from privilege, but she's been raised to work hard and to do the right thing. when she gets busted for drug possession and kicked out of her swank y public school her life spirals out of control. suddenly her parents don't trust her. she's feeling alienated from her friends. she was supposed to be the captain of her school's soccer team and now she finds herself starting from scratch at a ...

so this is the third and final book of lane's texas kings series. i had not read the two earlier books before reading i knew you were trouble , but i did not find this problematic. the novels can obviously stand alone, and the only reason to read them in order is if you are opposed to seeing characters settled into their happily-ever-afters without witnessing firsthand all the sturm und drang that came before it. i have no such qualms so this did not bother me. this book is about the oldest king brother, nate, and his relationship with faith, his best friend's little sister aka the woman he swore he'd never touch. she shows up on his doorstep asking for asylum after her most recent relationship takes a bad turn. so here's one thing that weirded me out about the book, these characters are kind of violent. in one scene nate calls a guy, who then basically asks if nate needs someone killed. it's a little weird, right? and then later nate actually kind of considers...

i've known matt farley for about 15 years, my husband has known him for much longer, since together they form the super rock group you've never heard about, moes haven . the first time i met matt i went up to his apartment in manchester, new hampshire for a 24 hour album listening party. since i've known them, and it's not just matt, it's also tom, charlie and the other matt. the guys have released these high concept albums. i didn't know at the time but there would also be shock marathon viewing parties--which amounts to an insane amount of movies to pack in a single weekend. a year's worth of albums, and then a best of from those albums. books recapping their insane horror movie watching habits. long walks that turn into the inspiration for a newsletter that is published monthly. movies that they write , produce , act and direct themselves. basically matt is the kind of guy who believes that if you are going to do something, you must do it to the p...

and so it ends. hope you enjoyed it. i've certainly enjoyed re-visiting this one. and there's more to come. i have to look and see what i'll post next in this series. i have quite a bit of material to get through. and i just would really like to have it all in one place. anyway before we can move on, we must close this story out after the jump. links to all chapters in the story can be found here: parts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , and 8 .

i love a good bad boy. and val, the hero of duke of sin , is more than a bad boy. he is a villian. he really is. but he is so damn likeable. he does not care what the world thinks of him. he will blackmail and murder and kidnap and do everything in his power to get his way and what he wants when he wants it. he's a freaking duke, he can get away with all of it. except. he meets bridget crumb, his housekeeper who has finagled her way into his household in order to protect others' secrets. a woman who sees beyond the dangerous and immoral aristrocrat and sees the wounded soul beneath the layers of tarnish and evil that has surrounded him. to some extent val has been created to be as self-indulgent and uncaring as he is. and when bridget pierces that armor, he doesn't quite know what to do with himself. he behaves outrageously as always, but for the first time considers what someone else might think. because of his past, the abuse and neglect his parents dealt him, valen...