Reading Challenge: 2020 A-Z Challenge

The Weekly Recap (151)

Posted August 31, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

It’s been a quiet week for me. Work kicked my ass because I was covering an additional 4 offices for my work best friend who was out on vacation all week. I’m so glad that she’s back to work today because gah…my region alone is a lot of work but her region was extremely busy this past week so she can have her region back. 🙂 I did manage to get out and hang with my friends for a little bit before our bestie, Mulu, went back to Utah. And then I hung out with my friend B Nice and we took a trip to Fountain Valley to try the brown sugar milk tea from The Alley, that I saw in my Korean drama, The King: Eternal Monarch. It was super tasty even though I hate boba. I can’t wait to try something new next week with B Nice. Our weekly night drives are always full of adventures.

Now, let’s get into all of the things that I did last week…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (151)Iron and Magic
by Ilona Andrews
Series: The Iron Covenant #1
Published by NYLA on June 18, 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 394
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 A-Z Challenge, 2020 Goodreads Challenge

No day is ordinary in a world where Technology and Magic compete for supremacy…But no matter which force is winning, in the apocalypse, a sword will always work.

Hugh d’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers, served only one man. Now his immortal, nearly omnipotent master has cast him aside. Hugh is a shadow of the warrior he was, but when he learns that the Iron Dogs, soldiers who would follow him anywhere, are being hunted down and murdered, he must make a choice: to fade away or to be the leader he was born to be. Hugh knows he must carve a new place for himself and his people, but they have no money, no shelter, and no food, and the necromancers are coming. Fast.

Elara Harper is a creature who should not exist. Her enemies call her Abomination; her people call her White Lady. Tasked with their protection, she's trapped between the magical heavyweights about to collide and plunge the state of Kentucky into a war that humans have no power to stop. Desperate to shield her people and their simple way of life, she would accept help from the devil himself—and Hugh d’Ambray might qualify.

Hugh needs a base, Elara needs soldiers. Both are infamous for betraying their allies, so how can they create a believable alliance to meet the challenge of their enemies?
As the prophet says: “It is better to marry than to burn.”

Hugh and Elara may do both.

So far, this one is pretty good so I’m hoping Hugh and Elara keep the party going. I’m pretty anxious to see the link between the beginning of this new series and the Kate Daniels series. I haven’t gotten to that part yet, it’s still early days but I’m definitely interested in where this book is going.

What I Read

Magic Binds (Kate Daniels #9) by Ilona Andrews | 4.5 out of 5

I read a book, yall!

I heard that Julie is going to get a book and that Derek is in it so I’ve got some catching up to do because I WANT THAT BOOK! So I dug back into the Kate Daniels series so that I can wrap that one up and be ready for Julie and Derek. Kate Daniels is such a bomb ass character and even though she scared me from time to time in this book, I still completely adored her and already jumped into the next book in the series, or actually, I started Hugh’s book because that’s what I was told to do.

What I’m Currently Watching

Train

Starring: Yoon Si Yoon, Kyung Soo Jin, Shin So Yul
Year Released: 2020
Genres: Sci-Fi, Drama

A hard-hitting detective who fearlessly dives into his work, Seo Do Won (Yoon Shi Yoon) is relentless when it comes to bringing criminals to justice. Willing to take on any case, no matter how hard, Do Won has made a name for himself as a man who gets the job done. But when the woman he loves becomes the latest victim of a serial killer, his world completely changes. Literally.

Mysteriously able to move between parallel universes, Do Won now lives in both worlds as a man who must pay for the sins of his father in one, and as a man forced to live a precarious life because of those sins in the other. As if the duality of his life wasn’t hard enough to deal with, he soon learns that his deceased love may be gone in one world, but she’s very much alive in the other. Vowing to track down her killer in one universe, while simultaneously trying to protect her in the other, Do Won is quick to acknowledge this is not something he can do alone.

Seeking the help of his colleagues in both universes, Do Won asks Han Seo Kyung (Kyung Soo Jin), an honest, yet reserved prosecutor with a big heart in one world, and a cold and emotionless detective in the other, to help him out. Together with Lee Jung Min (Shin So Yul), a tenacious member of the scientific investigation unit, they’ll do whatever it takes to track down the killer in one world and protect his love in the other. But will their efforts in either universe really be enough?

A suspenseful thriller with a sci-fi twist, “Train” is a 2020 mystery romance drama directed by Ryu Seung Jin.

This show came across my radar while browsing the selection on Viki. It looked interesting so I started it and I’m two episodes in and already I’m hooked. There’s so much going on and I’m so ready for the story to come together.

What I Watched

Thirty, but Seventeen | 4.25 out of 5
The Hospital Playlist | 4 out of 5
A Company Man | 4 out of 5

Eye Candy Friday

Ko Dong Man
Fight for My Way

What I Reviewed

The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil | 2 out of 5
Love Alarm | 3.75 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (150)
The Monthly Plan: September 2020
Eye Candy Friday: Ko Dong Man

What’s On My Radar for This Week

Prison Playbook
One Spring Night
The Table
Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels #10) by Ilona Andrews

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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The Weekly Recap (145)

Posted February 10, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

I’ve been a busy bee in the last couple of weeks so blogging has taken a backseat to all of that. Work’s been kicking my butt, but I’ve also had just a bunch of things going on. On top of work kicking my ass every single day, Caiden and his new baby sister Baby Matalasi have been visiting us in California so I’ve been spending a lot of time with the family. Lots of family dinners, family game nights and five crowns.

Caiden, Lasi and their parents are driving back home to Utah right now and already, I miss them tons. It’s been a loud and awesome couple of weeks with them in town but real life hit them hard in the last week so it was time for them to return home and help bury Markus’ brother. I miss that face on the left so much!

I’ve also been really busy with work. I’m a staffing manager at my job and I’m in charge of making sure each job that comes in for my regions (I cover all of the central states all of the states in the middle from Idaho to Kentucky and down to Texas). We get hella jobs in so I’m busy from the time I start work for the day until I clock out. I only have about 24 hours to make sure each job is staffed so I’m constantly mapping projects, checking project manager schedules, checking each PM’s monthly billing and just all manner of crap. I deal with all kinds of people throughout the day from pissed off PM’s to upper management trying to squeeze more work out of us and for the most part, I’m happy with my job. I’ve gotten to know a lot of people, I communicate with people across the country all the time and most of those people are nice and I enjoy making things work. On the other hand, it’s a lot of work. I work a lot. I’m salaried so I can work as much or as little as I want and still get paid the same but I find that I’m constantly wondering about jobs long after I’ve logged out so I’m still trying to find a healthy work and personal life balance. It helps that my bosses are happy with my work and that I’ve gotten another raise so woo hoo for that. It’s a consistent effort on my part to walk away from work so fingers crossed that I figure that shit out because my blogging life has dragged a bunch because I work so much. I miss yall.

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (145)One Last Chance
by Therese Beharrie
Series: One Day to Forever #3
Published by Harlequin, Carina Press on February 17, 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 262
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 A-Z Challenge, 2020 Goodreads Challenge, 2020 New to Me Challenge

Of all the charity events in all of Cape Town, Zoey Roux had to bump into her husband at this one

Six years ago, Zoey Roux secretly married her best friend Sawyer. But all that did was destroy the best relationship she’s ever had. They went their separate ways, but Zoey never could go through with a divorce. Seeing him again at her sister’s charity event is a shock, but also enlightening: no matter how much she still loves him, it’s time to let him go.

Zoey was Sawyer Wilson’s first love. She broke his heart, but his feelings never died. Love was never their issue—only timing. Seeing her again is a shock: in a perfect world, she would run back into his arms. Instead, she’s asking for a divorce.

But a lot can happen in twenty-four hours: old wounds can heal, first loves can be reunited. And a second chance might just lead to happily ever after.

This book is approximately 74,000 words

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

I’ve never read anything by Therese Beharrie but I need to fix that because I’m finishing this up and should be done by end of the day and I really liked this best friends to lover, fake relationship, and second chance romance. She mixes the tropes really well and I adored Zoey and Sawyer so much.

What I Read

The Witness by Nora Roberts (eBook) | 4.25 out of 5
Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers #1) by Christina C. Jones (eBook) | 4 out of 5
The Kissing Game by Marie Harte (eARC) | 2.5 out of 5
I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford #2) by Lauren Layne (Audio) | 4.25 out of 5
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa (eARC) | 3.5 out of 5
Yes No Maybe So by Becka Albertalli and Aisha Saeed (eARC) | 3.5 out of 5
Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6) by Lisa Kleypas (eARC) | 4.25 out of 5
P.S. It’s Always Been You, Pt. 1 by Lauren Blakely (Audio) | 3.25 out of 5
House Rules (Uptown #3) by Ruby Lang (eARC) | 4 out of 5
The Upside of Falling by Alex Light (eARC) | 3.25 out of 5

I included all of the books that I read in the weeks since my last weekly recap post and of this bunch, my favorite read was Chasing Cassandra and my least favorite read was probably The Kissing Game. There’s a lot of good stuff in this bunch so you guys should definitely add them to your TBR piles because they’re good stuff.

What I Reviewed

The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan | 4.75 out of 5
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn | 3.75 out of 5
Headliners by Lucy Parker | 4 out of 5
Heartland by Sarina Bowen | 4.25 out of 5
Getting Schooled by Christina C. Jones | 4 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (144)
My TBR Pile: January 2020

What I Got

Devious Lies (Cruel Crowns #1) by Parker S. Huntington
I Think I Might Love You (Love Sisters #1) by Christina C. Jones
I Think I Might Need You (Love Sisters #2) by Christina C. Jones
I Think I Might Want You (Love Sisters #3) by Christina C. Jones

What I Got for Review

First Comes Scandal (Rokesbys #4) by Julia Quinn
Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
Temporary Wife Temptation by Jayci Lee

P.S. It’s Always Been You, Pt. 1 by Lauren Blakely

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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The Weekly Recap (144)

Posted January 13, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Happy Monday, everyone!

I hope you guys had a good week last week and that this week treats you well. My week was pretty busy at work and then I had some social things that I needed to attend over the weekend so I didn’t get to read as much as I wanted. I still got some reading done so it wasn’t too bad. I went to a baby shower over the weekend and was able to see one of my best friend’s younger sisters who came down to L.A. from Arizona and it was so good to see and catch up with her that it made my entire weekend.

But you know what made my entire week? CAIDEN’S A BIG BROTHER NOW!!

Chloe (Caiden’s Mom) gave birth to Baby Lasi two weeks early and Baby Lasi doesn’t even look like a premie. She’s a big baby already but oh man is she adorable. Everyone has said that Baby Lasi looks like Markus (her Daddy), Caiden but to me, she looks dead on like her Mama did when Chloe was a baby. Baby Lasi is just a little darker than Chloe was and Lasi doesn’t have a strawberry on her forehead the way that Chloe did either. She’s super cute and everyone has already met her except for us California folks. Grandma Blanche and Aunty Blue drove out to meet Baby Lasi yesterday but us folks that couldn’t take the time off have to wait until the end of February to meet her when they come to California for Baby Lasi’s first trip to her California home. I can’t wait!

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (144)The Witness
by Nora Roberts
Published by Penguin on April 17, 2012
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 492
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 A-Z Challenge, 2020 Goodreads Challenge

Daughter of a controlling mother, Elizabeth finally let loose one night, drinking at a nightclub and allowing a strange man's seductive Russian accent lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive. The events that followed changed her life forever.

Twelve years later, the woman known as Abigail Lowery lives on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance programmer, she designs sophisticated security systems -- and supplements her own security with a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. But Abigail's reserve only intrigues police chief Brooks Gleason. Her logical mind, her secretive nature, and her unromantic viewpoints leave him fascinated but frustrated. He suspects that Abigail needs protection from something -- and that her elaborate defenses hide a story that must be revealed.

With a quirky, unforgettable heroine and a pulse-pounding plotline, Nora Roberts presents a riveting new read that cements her place as today's most reliably entertaining thriller -- and will leave people hungering for more.

I’m about halfway through The Witness by Nora Roberts and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve got to read it for book club next week and it was my choice so I’m glad that so far, it’s good. Even Therese is enjoying the book and she doesn’t enjoy very many of our book club books.

What I Read

The Rebel King (All the Kings Men #2) by Kennedy Ryan (eBook) | 4.25 out of 5
Heartland (True North #7) by Sarina Bowen (eARC) | 4.25 out of 5

What I Reviewed

Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne | 3.5 out of 5
The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole | 4 out of 5
The One for You by Roni Loren | 5 out of 5
Grand Theft N.Y.E. by Katrina Jackson | 4 out of 5
Grumpy Jake by Melissa Blue | 4.25 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (143)

What I Got

Pulling Doubles (The Wright Brothers #2) by Christina C. Jones
Bending the Rules (The Wright Brothers #3) by Christina C. Jones
Christmas with the Wrights (The Wright Brothers #4) by Christina C. Jones

What I Got for Review

Heartland (True North #7) by Sarina Bowen
Forbidden Promises by Synithia Williams
One Last Chance (One Day to Forever #3) by Therese Beharrie

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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