TRUST ME, it's another Sunday Salon

It's Sunday again and while I may not have been posting as regularly as I'd like I have been reading. And reading. And reading. As it stands, I am currently engaged in 3 books, each one quite different from the last.

The book I currently have grasped in my not-so-grubby little hands is the newly released TRUST ME by Brenda Novak; a romantic suspense by one of the genre's greatest.

Four years ago Skye Kellerman was attacked in her bed by a knife wielding rapist. While she was able to defend herself and wound her attacker, the trauma that was caused has stuck with her ever since. Now Sky, along with two friends--other women who are also survivors of tragedy and pain--, runs an organization dedicated to helping other victims of crime. But Sky's past still haunts her and with the news that Oliver Burk, her attacker, is to be released from prison in just a matter of days, Skye can't manage to grab a decent nights sleep. Luckily for Sky she's not alone. Detective David Willis, the investigator who was assigned to her case, still believes Burk to be a danger to society as well as a mass murderer. With both Skye and him digging into Burk's past, how may more secrets will surface before he's put away for good?

So far the novel is enjoyable. Novak has created a very in-depth plot with twists and turns that don't leave one lost or confused. Her story telling is consistent (Un-consistent story telling, plot lines, and tone tend to drive me nuts!) and her characters are well defined. While not as suspenseful as most, TRUST ME is keeping me intrigued enough to keep reading. In fact, I keep forgetting this is a romantic suspense so when those little romance novel nuances pop up they annoy the hell out of me.
I'm currently on page 218 of 435

Before this I was, and I guess still am, reading next month's ETERNAL PLEASURE by Nina Bangs. This one is a paranormal romance with an emphasis on sex.

When Kelly Maloy is offered a rather handsome sum to drive a man around town for a couple of weeks, she jumps on it. Her career at a local zoo may be emotionally fulfilling but it doesn't offer much in the way of pay and college isn't going to pay for its self. But she wasn't expecting the oh-so-sexy Ty Endeka or the terror and desire he stirred in her. What she also didn't expect was that Ty had the soul of a prehistoric menace or that he was the eleventh in a group of defenders who may be humanity's last chance at survival.

This one started out very intriguing but quickly devolved into a paranormal with the soul of an erotica. Sure, the call for sex and "bone deep" desire when paired with a great story telling can create a very moving story, but when it becomes over powering? Yah, not my cup of tea. Besides, it tends to weaken the plot. Another thing that annoyed me was Ty. Ok, so he has the soul of T. Rex. Got it. His boss, Fin, has given him the knowledge of man kind. Got that, too. What I don't get is why Ty doesn't understand emotion but understands everything else perfectly well. *sigh* So damn annoying...
I'm currently on page 160 of 308

Lastly, the book that I started with, TEMPTATION OF THE WARRIOR by Margo Maquire. A historical romance that is borderline paranormal fantasy. I guess.

To save his people from destruction, Merrick Mac Lochlainn has traveled through time into the 19th century in search for a magical jewel. He knows it won't be easy but he never expected trouble would find him so quickly. Trouble would be Jenny, the orphan turned teacher who is being accosted by bandits. When the handsome and powerful stranger saves her only to be injured himself, Jenny feels a deep need to help him despite her rush to track down the woman who stole her last family heirloom. And with a band of gypsies calling him her husband, she sees no desire to disagree. At least not until the handsome stranger who stirs her maiden blood can take care of himself.

It's at this point, when Jenny is thick in the gypsy caravan, that the story slows. I mean really slows. Despite her innocence and jaded look towards men, Jenny finds herself deeply attracted to Merrick. So attracted that she's finding it hard to fight off his advances . But Jenny won't let herself get too close to him because she believes, quite adamantly, that he's married. Merrick, despite his memory loss, believes he is married to Jenny (as he would, since everybody around him says so and the attraction they feel for each other just screams "We are married!"...). Throw in some jealousy and you have 50% of the novel. All of which occurs in the caravan. There is some magic thrown in at the end, but I haven't seen much of it yet. I just hope this one gets better, not worse.
I'm currently on page 80 of 375

So that's it for my Sunday. That's also it for my week, basically. I did receive my very first yaoi manga, but that's a post for another day.

Manga and Sunday Salon...

... a good combination? I think so (of course, manga and anything is a good combination. Especially manga and iced mochas!). If you haven't read a manga yet, do so! They are so very addicting it's scary. As of right now I'm reading Absolute Boyfriend ( 絶対彼氏 Zettai Kareshi) by Yuu Watase and it's a keeper! The art isn't the very greatest (it's like everything else out there, I would say) but I like it, and sometimes it's hard to tell one male character apart from another, but the story line, characters, and hilarity are just too intriguing and fun!

Absolute Boyfriend is the story of an average high school girl who, for the life of her, can not get a boyfriend. Honestly, the poor girl is like an anti-boyfriend magnet! It is hinted (ok, bashed upon us) that the reason she can't attract a boy is because of her rather small chest size (let me warn you now, this manga does... insinuate quite a lot and is rated 16+). So what does she do? She orders one on a trial basis. If she fails to return him in 3 days she'll have to pay 100 million yen (roughly 1 million bucks!). Ouch. You know what happens, right? You guessed it; she keeps him. So how does that work? She has a robotic boyfriend living in her apartment, still has to attend school, oh, and did I mention an old school friend who has had a crush on her forever is living next door! What happens? You'll just have to read it and find out.

So far I've enjoyed vol 1 and 2, vol 3 was a bit repetitive for my tastes ("Have sex! Have sex! Let's have sex!!") but the story was saved in vol 4 by a new twist. Vol 6 is a kicker, folks, so brink a hankie (and if you're like me, buy it last!!).

Now, I'm off! If you have any questions about it, just ask. Happy reading all.

Yes, yes, yes! The covers link to the amazon store so you can check out each volume and perhaps buy it ^_^ Come on, I know you want too!! Besides, if you don't you wont read a great story and I wont get payed!

From 3rd Grade to Japan?

I've been thinking for a while now that I wouldn't mind becoming a teacher. Notably a teacher of 3rd grade as I'm very good with younger children. I can talk to them, encourage them, play with them, and teach them without looking down at them or letting them run all over me. I also think they feel comfortable in my presence (which was again confirmed the other day when two young boys walked up to me and just started chatting away despite my black nails and black eyes). So why not? There aren't enough teachers that can stand children as it is. And me? I'm nothing more than a big kid at heart.

Now, before I ever got fully settled with this decision, I looked at my writing and the huge stack of books on my desk and thought: but I really want to be a writer! What am I thinking? I LOVE writing. I want to be published. I want to be a professional, sitting in my little corner looking out at the world. I want to go down to the local coffee shop or the park and just sit back, day dream, and write! Teaching would just get in the way. So I pushed the teaching idea aside and focused on my writing. Yes, I know. Little good that is doing me as I have yet to FINISH a single damn thing...

Which brought me to my current path. Research can be such a wonderful thing sometimes; a pain in the ass at others. I believe I spent 4 hours looking up upper-secondary schools in Japan for my current novel. Conclusion: Uuugg... For those in a similar boat (really, though, who but me is this nuts?) here's some links: Secondary Education In Japan (wiki), Another Wiki (with a really long name!) , and The JET Program.

Now, that last one brought the 'Why not be a teacher' in me out again. The JET Program is a pragram (duh) for anyone who would like to teach English in Japan and make money doing it with no previous teaching or Japanese language knowledge. I've known of this program for a while now and have been considering it for just as long. It was probably the whole "How can I get to Japan with out it costing me so damn much?" mentality. That or the "Ug! I have to wait half a year for the next season to be fan subbed?!" Anyways, I found them again and started thinking. Why not? I'd love to visit Japan, I wouldn't mind teaching, and hey, I'm young. Four years getting a degree in English (or something) with being a TA interspersed then I'd be set.

Of course that just puts me back at my 'I want to be a writer!' but for now, this is more interesting. So I'll be thinking about it. It is 4 1/2 years away. At least! That means I'll be 30... Hum... that seams a little old to be an 'exchange teacher'... Well, I'll still think about it. You never know, I may be published by then and going to Japan for research.

Some more links for those interested: A current JET teacher, A former JET, Lucky Isle-a current JET, BigDaikon (a JET forum).

Boy, I really do ramble, don't I? And what the heck is up with all the italicizing?! As usual I don't apologize for any misspellings, grammatical errors, or views of opinion. I wrote it knowing it was going to be seen. I can live with the criticisms.

Vampires and another Sunday Salon

It seems like forever since the last time I bloged on Sunday. It seems like forever since I actually read, too, which really isn' like me. Perhaps I need my head examined... or a nice, extra large iced mocha.

This Sunday I'll be reading VAMPIRES ARE FOREVER by Lynsay Sands. I recently finished THE ACCIDENTAL VAMPIRE (also by Lynsay Sands) and I'm not really looking forward to V.A.F. due to the fact that T.A.V. was simply to... well, lame might be too harsh of a word, but I honestly can't thing of another word that fits. The story was just to mellow and unexciting for a novel not marketed as such. Character development was very thin, the ending was extremely anti-climatic, and the town of Port Henry?! Mayberry reincarnate. Sugary sweet is all well and fine, but come on! There are 6 vampires in town and somebody trying to commit murder, spice it up a bit!!

Perhaps it's the fact that I've come in at book 7 that it seems so week, but I seriously hope not. I still have to read VAMPIRE INTERRUPTED after V.A.F.

That would be another thing that makes me twitch. The titles. I'm sure Mrs Sands came up with her titles to be witty and cute, but shesh. Vampire Interrupted=Girl Interrupted, Vampires Are Forever=Diamonds are forever, A Bite To Remember= A night to remember, Bite Me If You Can=Catch Me If You Can... get my drift? She hasn't used One Bite Stand yet, but I'm sure that's either because Nina Bangs beat her to it or it's in the works and just hasn't been published yet. Ug, I hope not.

What Ever

Long time, not post. Don't ask me why, as I don't have a viable excuse. I don't have any excuse really, save for perhaps I'm lazy. But I felt like I needed to vent, to re-leave pressure, so here I am.

I've been terribly depressed lately and I don't really know why. Perhaps it's the fact that I have no direction in my life, or perhaps it's my lack of ambition, my lack of friends, or my lack of self, my lack of money, my lack of... Needless to say, I look at my self and see nothing I would be proud of. Yes, I admit that I'm nice and friendly, but how far does that get you in life when you don't have anything to back it up? I don't have a job, am too self conscious to get one, and don't have the skills beyond a fry-cook even if I had the nerve. I've put in some applications (at the library, at Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, etc) but don't have the drive to push.

Remember the quiet girl in the back of class who smiled when she was spoken too, was helpful and nice to everyone, but ended up walking home alone to sit in solitary until the next day? That would be me, and right now i feel it. Perhaps I just haven't found my direction in this world and this depression is just everything compressing together. I don't know. It's just horribly annoying.

I'm still in my Japanese snit. It's been roughly a year now, and It's finally escalating. I've started my 'Trip to Japan' jar, my MP3 player has more JRock on it than anything English, I've started learning Japanese (speaking and writing), and I've been watching JDramas so much I have been neglecting my reading (if it wasn't for the one hour load time, the lack of online sources, my small hard drive, and the fact that JDramas are only roughly 10 episodes long, I probably wouldn't function at all.) And before you say 'I do that too,' imagine that it's been roughly a 15hour/day thing for the last month. I'm 26, for goodness' sake! I need to get a life!!

Perhaps I'll go cry my self to sleep and dream I'm rich enough not to have to worry about all this, but instead worry about other things. That way when I wake up in the morning my life won't look quite so bad.