Tag: Movies

Item: A Duke by Default
Author: Rowena

The Weekly Recap (96)

Posted July 30, 2018 by Rowena in Features | 10 Comments

I’m changing Week in Review to The Weekly Recap so that it matches my Monthly Recap post that I do up every month. I’m a person that needs things to match and I didn’t even realize that they didn’t match so I’m fixing it now. Better late than never, right? I’m not sure who to credit for the feature name The Weekly Recap but I know that Nick uses it over at The Infinite Limits of Love and so does Ari over at The Romance Corner.

Anyway, I got my new bed!!! I’m super excited since this is the first bed that I actually bought for myself. My parents bought my last bed and I’ve had it for forever so this new purchase was all me and I just love it to pieces. I also love that I’m not sleeping on the floor anymore. Woot!

Also, our family pictures came in so here is one of my favorites of everyone:

Our photographer was super great so if you’re looking for someone to do your pictures at an affordable rate, check out Drew at Lokeni Productions.

This week was also the week that we laid our friend David to rest and I thought his family did such a great job with his funeral services. It was evident how much he was loved and how many different sets of friends he had. Rest in peace, David!

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading

A Duke by Default
by Alyssa Cole
Series: Reluctant Royals #2
Also in this series: A Duke by Default
Published by Harper Collins, Avon on July 31, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher, Edelweiss
Add It: Goodreads

Award-winning author Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series continues with a woman on a quest to be the heroine of her own story and the duke in shining armor she rescues along the way

New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and—most importantly—herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she’s capable of. Turns out she excels at aggravating her gruff silver fox boss…when she’s not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr.

Tavish McKenzie doesn’t need a rich, spoiled American telling him how to run his armory…even if she is infuriatingly good at it. Tav tries to rebuff his apprentice, and his attraction to her, but when Portia accidentally discovers that he’s the secret son of a duke, rough-around-the-edges Tav becomes her newest makeover project.

Forging metal into weapons and armor is one thing, but when desire burns out of control and the media spotlight gets too hot to bear, can a commoner turned duke and his posh apprentice find lasting love?

I’m almost done with this book but most of last week was for my friend’s funeral and when I did read, I picked up To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, P.S. I Still Love You, and Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han to read all of my favorite Peter Kavinsky parts. Brenna is reading this series so I’m following along with her and we’re discussing the books every day so I haven’t fully moved on from these guys yet.

I finally picked A Duke by Default up last night and read through about half of the book and then did some reading at the doctor’s office this morning so I should be finishing it up soon. Wish me luck.

What I Read

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han | 4.5 out of 5
P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han | 4.75 out of 5
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han | 4.75 out of 5

It was a week of re-reading for me. I’m reading and discussing these books with Brenna and I’m super thrilled that she’s loving these books as much as I am.

What I Reviewed

The Kissing Booth (2018) | 3.25 out of 5
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han | 4.75 out of 5

What I Posted

Week in Review (95)
Can’t Wait Wednesday: Forget You, Ethan by Whitney G
Throwback Thursday: Saying Goodbye to David

What I Got

I didn’t get anything new this week. I haven’t had a chance to see what came out and what’s on sale. I’m sure that will change this week.

What I Got for Review

Nothing. I haven’t been on NetGalley or Edelweiss in a few weeks. I’ll need to check those sites out soon.

What Movies I Watched

What TV Shows I Watched

I’m all caught up on Take Two and Suits and I’m enjoying what I’ve been watching so far on those two shows and I binge watched the heck out of both seasons of Kims Convenience. That show cracks me up because the parents remind me of my parents and I adore both Janet and Jung.

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my weekly recap. How was your week?

10 Comments
Tags: Books, Movies, The Weekly Recap, TV Shows

Review: Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom

Posted July 10, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda
Director: J.A. Bayona
Release Date: 22 June 2018
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 2:08
Movie Type: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Three years after the Jurassic World theme park was closed down, Owen and Claire return to Isla Nublar to save the dinosaurs when they learn that a once dormant volcano on the island is active and is threatening to extinguish all life there. Along the way, Owen sets out to find Blue, his lead raptor, and discovers a conspiracy that could disrupt the natural order of the entire planet. Life has found a way, again.

This week’s Tuesday $5 movie was for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and it was another fantabulously enjoyable movie. Not even the entire row of tweens that sat in front of us that were rude, loud, disruptive and got on my hot damn nerves from the time the movie started until the very end, could ruin my enjoyment of the movie. It was that much fun for me. I enjoyed the dinosaurs so much and even though my heart hurt for that long neck dinosaur, I still liked the movie.

The human stuff in this movie was a lot more interesting than the last one and the dinosaurs were off the chains great. It was good to see Claire and Owen back in action again and I was surprised with how much more I liked Claire this time around. Owen was still the same goofy but dinosaur caring person that I adored in the last movie so his addition to this movie was great for me.

My favorite part of the movie was Blue comes to Owen and Maisie’s rescue. What a smart dinosaur Blue was and he’s my absolute favorite thing about these movies. I loved Baby Blue and Grown-up Blue is just as great for me. The bond he has with Owen is real and I enjoyed seeing them together again.

The action and the dinosaurs really made this movie for me. I laughed, I got mad and then I rejoiced throughout this movie so overall, it was a solid movie in my opinion. The characters were charming and there were plenty of them to like and seeing what Claire wanted to do for the dinosaurs was sweet. Seeing her and Owen try to right the wrongs of the humans to give these dinosaurs their freedom was something that I could get behind. From beginning to end, I was invested in what was going on and while there were some parts that I thought were cheesy or flat out dumb, I still enjoyed the movie and would recommend.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

4 out of 5

2 Comments
Tags: 4 Reviews, Action, Adventure, Chris Pratt, Jurassic World Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies, Science Fiction

Review: Good Kids

Posted July 5, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Good Kids (2016)
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Nicholas Braun, Mateo Arias, Israel Broussard
Director: Chris McCoy
Release Date: 21 October 2016
Rating: R
Run Time: 1:26
Movie Type: Comedy

Four overachievers, eager to shake off their high school labels, set out to reinvent themselves following graduation.

I had one of those lazy weekends where I didn’t do much but read and watch movies. This movie was one of the many movies that I watched this past weekend. I thought it was going to be one of those mindless, dumb movies that only young folks would like but surprisingly, I enjoyed this one. I didn’t LOVE it but it was a solid movie.

This movie follows a group of friends who nerded out in high school and didn’t make time for young people things like partying, drinking, trying drugs and messing around so after they graduate, they decide that their last summer together is going to be spent turning up. The four friends are Andy, Nora, The Lion, and Spice. Andy wants to do it all, Nora wants to experience being in a relationship, The Lion wants to try all of the drugs and Spice just wants to hook up so they make a pact that for the entire summer, they were not going to say no to the fun. High school was spent studying and getting good grades and staying focused. They wanted their last summer to be lit and they wanted to experience everything together so that’s what they did.

Throughout the movie, each kid is going through something. Andy is boinking all of the tennis Moms who want private lessons and getting all of the hooking up lessons he can ever want. Nora is dating an older guy from work who is all kinds of sexy, the Lion is teaching some kind of martial arts class and getting high at every turn while Spice is…still just Spice. I liked seeing each of the kids figure themselves out and throughout the whole movie, even when Andy was being a completely douche canoe, I low key wanted him and Nora to hook up. That’s the romance reader in me, always trying to hook people up. Still, I wanted them to be together because they made sense.

Anyway, this movie packed in laughs I wasn’t expecting but enjoyed. It also brought character development that was enjoyable without being completely corny and when all was said and done, I wasn’t mad that I watched it. Sure, it’s not the best movie in the world but it entertained me for a couple of hours so I was a happy camper.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

3.75 out of 5

4 Comments
Tags: 3.75 Reviews, Compadre Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Movies, Nicholas Braun, Reviews, Zoey Deutch

Monthly Recap: June 2018

Posted July 3, 2018 by Rowena in Features | 9 Comments

June was for Chach coming home from her mission, Bren and Ken being gone in Utah with Chloe and spending as much time as I could with Baby Caiden. Summer has begun in So Cal and the weather has been pretty great so I can’t complain. Above, you’ll see a picture from Bren and Ken’s trip to Utah. They’re huge High School Musical nerds so they made Chloe take them to the high school where the movies were filmed and this was one of the pictures they took from there. Pretty cool and cute baby alert!

On with the books and other stuff…

What I Read

1. Burn for You (Slow Burn #1) by J.T. Greissinger | 4 out of 5
2. I Flipping Love You (Shacking Up #3) by Helena Hunting | 4 out of 5
3. I Think I Love You (Oxford #5) by Lauren Layne | 4.5 out of 5
4. The One You Can’t Forget (The Ones that Got Away #2) by Roni Loren | 4 out of 5
5. Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley | 3.25 out of 5
6. Hot Single Dad (Book Boyfriend #3) by Claire Kingsley | 4 out of 5
7. Her Best Friend (Book Boyfriend #3.5) by Claire Kingsley | 4 out of 5
8. The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient #1) by Helen Hoang | 5 out of 5
9. Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy #1) by Ilona Andrews (re-read) | 5 out of 5
10. Ocean Light (Psy-Changeling Trinity #2) by Nalini Singh | 4 out of 5
11. More than Words by Mia Sheridan | DNF
12. Wicked and the Wallflower (Bareknuckle Bastards #1) by Sarah MacLean | 4.25 out of 5
13. One Small Thing by Erin Watt | 4.25 out of 5
14. The Fragile Ordinary by Samantha Young | 4.25 out of 5
15. Hard Sell (21 Wall Street #2) by Lauren Layne | 4.75 out of 5
16. The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen | 4.25 out of 5

My favorite read of the month goes to The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang because it was such a damn good story. I completely adored Stella and was obsessed with Michael. Together they were a fantastic couple and their romance blew me away. So, so good.

My least favorite read of the month goes to the book that I couldn’t bring myself to finish because it was boring. That book is More than Words by Mia Sheridan.

What I Listened To

These are the four most played songs of mine in the month of June. As you can see, it was kind of a Dan + Shay month but that Shawn Mendes song is fire too.

What I Watched on TV

I’m kind of surprised that I didn’t watch ANY TV Shows in the month of June. Not one. I used this month to really try to get caught up on my review pile and thankfully that happened so sorry, tv shows…maybe next month.

What Movies I Watched

How was your month of June? Read any good books I should know about? Watch any movies that I should add to my watch list? I’d love to hear from you!

9 Comments
Tags: Books, Monthly Recap, Movies, TV Shows

Review: Incredibles 2

Posted June 27, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Eli Fucile
Director: Brad Bird
Release Date: 15 June 2018
Rating: PG
Run Time: 1:58
Movie Type: Animation, Action, Adventure

While the Parr family has accepted its collective calling as superheroes, the fact remains that their special heroism is still illegal. After they are arrested after unsuccessfully trying to stop the Underminer, their future seems bleak. However, the wealthy Deavor siblings of Devtech offer new hope with a bold project to rehabilitate the public image and legal status of Supers, with Elastigirl being assigned on point to be the shining example. Now having agreed for now to stay at home to care for the kids, Mr. Incredible finds domestic life a daunting challenge, especially with baby Jack-Jack’s newly emerged powers making him almost impossible to manage. However, Elastigirl soon has her own concerns dealing with the menace of a new supervillain, Screenslaver, who is wreaking havoc with his mind control abilities. Now, Elastigirl must solve the mystery of this enemy, who has malevolent designs on the world with the Parr family and friends key targets of this evil.

Every Tuesday, my family chooses a movie and heads to AMC’s $5 Tuesday movies and last weeks movie was Incredibles 2. I’m not even going to lie, I’ve been looking forward to this movie all freaking year and I’m happy to report that it was everything that I hoped it would be and a little more.

So, we’re back in the Parr’s world and they’ve come to terms with their superhero powers but they have to keep everything under wraps because superheroes are illegal. They’re staying in a motel and trying to figure out their next move after an undercover superhero save goes bad. They need to get back to work, the kids need to get back to school and they need to find a more permanent place to live. When ElastiGirl is offered a superhero job that will help change the world’s view of superheroes, ElastiGirl goes to work and Bob becomes a stay at home Dad.

Most of the movie is set around ElastiGirl trying to save the world without making a huge mess and Bob trying to figure out how to be there for his kids and handle the home life. Their worlds are flipped on their heads because Helen is usually the one that stays home with the kids but I really enjoyed seeing the two of them figure things out as the movie progressed. Seeing Bob realize that Helen’s Mom gig is hard was funny and it was heartwarming to see him develop relationships with his kids. And seeing Helen kick ass at every turn was fantastic.

I loved seeing everyone again and it’s hard to pick a favorite because I adored them all…well, except for the bad guys.

Jack Jack seriously stole the movie though. He had me laughing in every single scene that he was in and finally seeing what his powers were was freaking great. I loved seeing Violet again and seeing her be a hormonal teenager was great fun, especially seeing Bob deal with that on top of Dash’s commo core Math problems and his overall billy bad ass tendencies, it was all just one laugh out loud moment after another and I was so here for it. When the movie ended, I was super happy with the entire thing. I loved seeing the Parr’s kick ass again and take down the bad guys. I loved seeing FroZone, meeting the new Supers and just everything. I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

5 out of 5

6 Comments
Tags: 5 Reviews, Action, Adventure, Animation, Disney, Movie Reviews, Movies, Pixar, Reviews, The Incredibles

Tag: Movies