Really Sorry!

I am so sorry. I know I have only just begun the Book Of The Week feature and have missed several entries. I will have to skip tomorrow's as well and I can only apologize. The first time it was because my computer crashed and last week and this week it is because I am recovering from a really bad concussion. As most of you know I am epileptic. Well, I had a seizure two weeks ago and cracked my head into the wall. I am very slowly recovering and am just not able to sit at the computer all that long. I am not sure about next week's update but I promise, no matter what I won't skip the Goddess Of The Written word update. I'll let you know next Friday though if I will do the book of the week. I can only apologize for this and ask you to please bear with me. I WILL get back to them just as soon as I am physically able to.

Book Of The Week!

This week's book is my favorite of Lynsay Sands' Argeneau series, Bite Me If You Can. This is book six in the series and it's fantastic. It's about Lucian Argeneau, the patriarch of the entire Argeneau family. Lucian is the longest lived of all the immortals. The loss of his lifemate and daughters when Atlantis fell has left him bitter and cold. His long-time service as both a member of the ruling council and an enforcer have made him hard and without mercy. But his well-controlled world is about to be knocked out of its orbit.

On a routine mission to take out a nest of rogue vampires, Lucian finds his curiosity picqued for the first time in thousands of years when he witnesses the rogues' carrying in a young woman. Leigh turns out to be a newly turned vampire. Because she hasn't yet had a chance to cause any harm, Lucian and his two associates save her. But, loving the idea of Lucian out of his element, his family decides to abandon him so he'd have to train Leigh in her new status. This is made all the more difficult when he realizes that Leigh is his lifemate.

Leigh is a bar owner who escaped an abusive husband. But, to her dismay, a former co-worker turned vampire has decided he wants her for eternity. Rescued by rogue hunters, Leigh finds herself falling for the aloof yet devishly handsome Lucian Argeneau. But, past lessons and her own fear of making another mistake make Leigh cautious. Lucian has to not only overcome his own arrogance stemming from years of indifference, but he must also convince Leigh that he's worth taking a chance on.

Bite Me If You Can is hilarious. There is nothing more funny than a guy who is used to getting his own way, used to doing things a certain way, and used to solitude suddenly having his world turned upside down. Bite Me If You Can by Lynsay Sands is a fantastic book and is this week's book of the week.

Apologies!

I know I didn't do the book of the week on Friday and I completely apologize. My computer crashed and it took me all weekend to fix. However, as you can tell, I finally got the problem rectified and this Friday the book of the week will be back. I hope you all have a good week and try to stay cool. For the first time this summer we are in a heatwave. I'm eagerly waiting for winter.

I Don't Know What I'd Do Without Her!

My mom is probably going to kill me for putting up this picture of her, but believe it or not I am not trying to tease her. I just think it's an utterly adorable picture of her. I snapped this pic of her with our oldest kitty, Pudge crawled up on her back. I just think it's sweet.

Having said that, this blog entry is about my mom and is actually also for my mom. I love you Mom more than I can ever adequately express. You are more than a mother to me, you are my best friend, my confidant, and yes, I say it again, my hero. You are the strongest, most courageous person I know. I know, like me you are struggling with recent events and what they have brought back to us. But the fact that you not only survived what we went through, but came out such a giving and loving person is amazing. This world would be a very sorry place without you.

As you know, there are times when I feel like a weight around your ankles, dragging you down. Because of the seriousness of my seizures and several other health problems, much of the daily responsibilities have fallen to you even though your own health is far from perfect. It pains me when I see you limping like you were yesterday because your back, which was injured in that car accident back in 2001, is bothering you. I just want to break down and cry when I see you hurting. And it is made worse knowing that I can do nothing to help.

That's why I like it when I can do something really nice for you. I know you feel like you are getting the lion's share of our bonus money this year, but I want you to get a new computer. You deserve it. I know you feel guilty every time you ask me if you can use mine. I loved being able to get you all those things back after I got my workman's comp settlement. I so rarely get to do something really nice for you. I so rarely can afford it. But I would gladly give up everything I own just to make you smile. Well, except for the cats. I won't give them up.:-)

I love you, Mom. I would die for you. And I would take on the world for you. You will always come first with me. No one else is more important, and no one else's battles will ever come before yours as far as I am concerned. I let my own battles slide. I get tired of fighting them, but for you I would go to the wall. No one picks on my mom and gets away with it. That's just the way it is.

Goddess Of The Written Word!

Happy August everyone. I hope you are enjoying your summer. This month's Goddess of the Written Word is none other than Kresley Cole. I talked earlier about the book that got me hooked on her Immortals After Dark series, but I have since become a major fan of her books. I totally love all the books in the Immortals series.

The books are about many groups of immortals. They are on the cusp of what is called the Accension, a time when immortals war against each other and many die. It's nature's way of keeping a balance in the levels of immortals. For as long as anyone can remember, the Horde, a ruthless group of vampires has gone through the Accension with the least amount of casualities. But that may be changing.

Various groups of immortals, including a splinter group from the vampires called Forbearers, are aligning together. This unsual occurence is being brought about by unusual combos of couples falling for each other and deciding to ensure the survival of those they love.

Book one is an anthology called Playing Easy To Get and introduces us to immortal enemies Myst and Nickolai Wroth. Myst is a Valkyrie and is known as Myst the Coveted. She is the most beautiful of her warrior sisters and has been imprisoned in a Horde stronghold by a vampire known as Ivo the Cruel. Nickolai is a general in the Forbearers' army. When he and his fellow soldiers invade and take over the stronghold, he finds himself falling for a woman who could never accept him, a woman who hates all vampires.

Book two is called A Hunger Like No Other. Lachlain MacRieve is king of the Lykae who has endured 150 years of torture at the hands of the Horde. Scenting his mate above him, he takes drastic matters to escape only to become enraged at discovering his true mate is half vampire. Emmaline Troy is a sheltered half-vampire half-valkyrie who has never seen another vampire or even a Lykae. In Paris to discover the truth about her heritage, Emmaline is horrified to find herself kidnapped by an insane Lykae who hates her kind.

Book three is No Rest For The Wicked. Kaderin is a Valkyrie known as Kaderin the Coldhearted. Gifted by a benevolent source years ago to have no emotions, Kaderin is a stone cold killer of vamps. Her hatred, though not felt any longer, still runs deep. A vampire she had shown mercy repaid her kindness by killing her two blood sisters. The only pleasure in life she feels is the Talisman's Hie, an immortal scavenger hunt that can be very deadly. Sebastian Wroth is a vampire who wants to claim Kaderin, a woman who hates what he is. To win her over, he enters the Hie.

Book four is called Wicked Deeds On A Winter's Night. Bowen MacRieve, the Lykae cousin to the King has entered the Hie to win the prize. It signifies his only chance of resurrecting his long dead mate, Mariah. He will be ruthless to win, but finds himself angry and disgusted when a fellow competitor, a witch, draws his interest. He is convinced she has cast a spell over him and seeks to punish her. Mariketa The Awaited is fated to become queen of the witches, if she can ever learn to master her haywire powers. But when a Lykae traps her and several others in a cave of cursed incubi, Mariketa who is not yet immortal might not live to fulfill her destiny.

Book five is my favorite one and is called Dark Needs At Night's Edge. If you'd like to know what it's about, scroll down to the entry I did about the whole story. Book six is called Dark Desires After Dusk. Cadeon Woede is a rage demon who through inaction lost his brother his crown. He finds himself falling for the only type of creature who is forbidden to his kind, a human. But the human turns out to be a Valkyrie and also something called the Vessel. The Vessel is a woman born just before an Accension and is fated to give birth to a child whom, depending on the father, will either be the ultimate soldier of good or of evil. To claim a weapon of great power to get his brother's throne back, Cade must betray the woman he loves to an evil sorceror. Holly Ashwin never knew she was a Valkyrie until the day a group of demons decided to kidnap her. But, though Cadeon seems to be on her side and teaches her to fight, she has a feeling that she might not be able to trust him.

Book seven is the newest installment and is called Kiss Of A Demon King. Rydstrom Woede lost his kingdom due to his brother's inactivity. Determined to win it back, he goes on a quest to accquire an ultimate weapon only to be kidnapped by the usurper of his crown's sister. Sabine is Queen of Illusions and she is determined to save her people by getting pregnant by Rydstrom. However, when he manages to escape he turns the tables and imprisons her. If she can't win Rydstrom's love, then Sabine will end up dead because her brother, the one who stole Rydstrom's throne, has insured that she will either serve him or die a painful death along with her sister Lanthe.

In October, a dualogy with Gena Showalter called Deep Kiss Of Winter will come out. Kresley's contribution will be about Murdoch Wroth, a vampire soldier in the Forbearers' army, and Daniela, a Valkyrie who cannot be touched by anyone but members of her own species. Any who touch her will feel freezing pain. Now, to claim the woman he loves, Murdoch and Daniela must search for a way to cure her icy skin. January of next year will mark the next full installment of the series and will be called Pleasure Of a Dark Prince. Garreth MacRieve, the brother of Lachlain the Lykae king will finally claim the Valkyrie who has stolen his heart. Lucia is a great archer cursed to feel excruitiating pain whenever she misses a target. I can't wait.

I truly love this series and I really hope Kresley gets to do Annika's story soon. Annika is the Valkryie who is currently head of the New Orleans coven. She became foster mother to Emmaline and is the only reason her fellow Valkyrie, who hate vamps, didn't kill Emma but instead learned to love her. I really hope her story gets told. Kresley Cole is August's Goddess of the Written Word. Congratulations!