Fuzzy Nova

The Last Sacrifice by R. M. Putnam
Review by Jessa Larsen

Rosilda has been banished to the swamps and cut off from all civility for a past crime. She has been left there to live the remainder of her life along with her best friend Saba and her daughter Donait. She had previously been accustomed to the life and privileges of high court and thus spends her time wishing to return to such a life as well as wondering how her daughter will ever learn to be a proper lady. Donait has no such concerns and spends her time in the muddy swamp, catching frogs and treating them like baby dolls. Rosilda and Saba look on warily and begin to plot their revenge on the one who banished them to such a dreadful place.
Donait, much to her dismay as she rather likes her carefree life with her frogs, is given a very important role in Rosilda’s plans. She must be taught the ways of a proper lady and trained the ways of a murderer. Donait is given the most important role and when she succeeds, the three women can not only return to court, but claim the throne for themselves and rule as they please. The plan goes fairly smoothly until disaster befalls the trio. Donait finds herself in a whirlwind of trouble and things continue to spiral out of control. She must use her wits to survive and not allow her naivete and uncontrolled emotions get the best of her. Donait MUST succeed and carry out the plans if any of them are to survive the ordeal.
The Last Sacrifice is the second book in the Destiny’s Warriors series which follows the lives of ancient Irish people and includes sci-fy, mythology, and fantasy which happen to be my favorite genres. There are mortals and immortals, faeries, elves, warriors, bogeymen, and many others.The various characters are very fascinating and have a great complexity and depth to their personalities. You never know what their next decision and/or choice of action will be. I fell in love with each and every character in the book and can’t wait to see what’s going to happen to them next.
If you read The Last Sacrifice, get comfy and cancel all plans you might have as you won’t be able to put this book down. There are so many twists and turns and its is wonderfully written. I am now a big fan of R. M. Putnam and I’ll definitely be picking up her next copy as soon as it’s available. The Destiny’s Warriors series is a must read that everyone will love.

Originally posted on www.luxuryreading.com

Gemma by Meg Tilly
Review by Jessa Larsen

Gemma is the classic misfit. She comes from a broken home and gets by in school due to the fact that she’s known to throw a good punch if pushed too far. For the most part, Gemma finds it easiest to slide through life by being as invisible as possible. You see, Gemma has a dark secret that nobody must ever know about. She has something about her that invites her mother’s boyfriend to her bed every night. She can’t tell anyone or she’ll be in very big trouble. So it’s best if she stays invisible. That way nobody will ever ask any questions and risk hearing her dark secrets.
“Gemma” is the telling of a dark story that seems all too familiar these days. It tells the tale of a twelve year old girl who lives her life being physically and sexually abused. Her mother doesn’t stick around long enough at one time to care and mom’s boyfriend is around all too often for nightly visits to her bed. The tale turns even darker when her abuser takes it one step further and pimps her out. The pimp’n’ho lifestyle doesn’t last too long due to an even more unfortunate kidnapping. Who knows when the pain will end or if it will ever end well at all for poor Gemma.
This book seemed to be written in two parts. The first half of the book switches between the narrative of Gemma and the narrative of her abuser and kidnapper. This chronicles the tale of her abusive family at home as well as her kidnapping and what happens to her until eventually they’re found out and she’s taken into state custody. The second half of the book gives us the story of what happens to her kidnapper after his arrest as well as what happens to the victim. The second half isn’t as well written and rather slow, but I much preferred it to the first half. The first half is have interesting psychological insight and half what I would call erotica for pedophiles. I’ve read various books with this type of situation and they never went into as much detail. I had to skim a lot of the first half as it was disgustingly graphic. I have nothing against a good erotica, but when dealing with abusive pedophiles, I definitely don’t want the gritty details. The second half gets rid of the erotica, but gets a bit too slow and boring for my taste. I did enjoy the continued psychological insight of the abuser’s point of view and what he thought was going to happen to his life.
I would never recommend this book to anyone especially if you have any sore spots regarding traumatic abuse. I continually had to put the book down and walk away for a while due to the nature of its content. Various reviews from other readers and publishers stated that it was a great balance between abuse and a happy ending, but I would very much agree. I would never read this book again nor am I interested in reading anything else by this author.

Originally posted on www.luxuryreading.com

Freya’s Child by Alvin Franzmeier
Reviewed by Jessa Larsen

Albert Frietag lives in a quiet little town in Minnesota and as the deputy sheriff, it’s his job to keep it that way. Unfortunately, his past work as an undercover agent for the FBI has kept him a person of interest to both the FBI and the group of local Nazis he’d previously infiltrated. The FBI simply wants to keep an eye on him and recruit him as a field agent once he finishes his schooling, the Nazis have more dangerous work in mind. The local Nazi leader brings Albert back into the fold and gives him the task of working as a double agent for the FBI in order to rid the Nazis of competition as well as regain an artifact of interest. With war on the horizon for the United States, Albert now has to leave very pregnant wife and travel to northern Minnesota with an attractive German woman and try to keep the Nazis happy to keep his family safe as well as do what he should as an officer of the law.
Albert soon finds that things are not quite as clear cut as he had previously been thinking. It turns out that the woman he is to meet is named Hulda and she, as well as some of the German Nazis, believe in the Old Norse Gods. Albert finds himself feeling more and more unclear about the tasks at hand and whether or not it is all real when Hulda spins tale after tale of the Old Gods as well as the agenda of the Aryan nation. The job takes a dangerous turn when Hulda reveals that she believes the goddess Freya will manifest herself in human form and the form she has chosen is none other than Albert’s soon to be born daughter. Albert must makes some quick decisions and try his best to outsmart the witch-like Hulda to keep him and his family safe before it’s too late.
Freya’s Child is the third book in The Spiral Bridge Mystery Series and I would suggest reading the first two before picking up Freya’s Child. You can pick up the story just fine, but I found myself wondering about past events and wishing I’d read them so I would know a little more about how the characters got where they were. The story is fairly interesting, but it doesn’t have as nice of a flow as I would prefer. Hulda goes on a lot of tangents about Norse mythology and the Old Gods as to explain her beliefs and actions to Albert. She believes herself to be a high priestess and believes that the Gods speak with her and have give her tasks to carry oit personally. The background information is helpful, but I felt it just went on and on and disrupted the flow of the main story. The story also ended a bit abruptly for my taste.
I did enjoy Freya’s Child, but as I mentioned before, I would recommend reading the previous books in the series before picking up this one. I am also curious as to whether or not a fourth book will be published. It would be interesting to see how the events in this book play out and what happens to Albert and his family. Is he going to join the FBI full time? Is Hulda going to be captured? Will the Nazis realize Albert’s true goals and be angry about it? What will happen when the United States join the war? I guess I’ll have to hold my breath and wait for the next book.

Jessa lives in Utah with her husband, 2 sons, 2 cats, and 3 dogs. She is a full time mom and likes to blog and write short stories and poem in her spare time. She also likes anime and reading books and playing video games.

*Freya’s Child was a free review copy given to read and review.
Originally posted on www.luxuryreading.com

Countess of Scandal by Laurel McKee
Review by Jessa Larsen

In the beginning, Eliza Blacknell and William Denton enjoy the luxuries of youth and indulge in frivolous puppy love. The two constantly steal time together as well as innocent kisses. The two children don’t look further than the present and swear the loyalty of friendship that young children do. Soon they find that as they age and mature, they must fulfill duties to their family and their countries which lead Eliza and William into completely separate directions. Eliza is married off to become a proper Irish countess and William leaves for England to join the military.
Years later, Eliza is a widowed Countess and William has become a major in the military. William has returned to Ireland to quell the uprising natives and Eliza has joined the rebel cause to bring back the truth and simplicity which is Ireland. The two meet up and wishfully dream of their innocent childhood where things were simple and carefree, but of course they cannot realistically return to that time in life. Eliza finds that she still loves William, but she is torn between what she believes to be right and what William stands for as well as the reason he is back in Ireland to begin with. Both William and Eliza are confused as well as full of lust for each other, but can their lustful reunion ever blossom into something more meaningful, or will the war in Ireland be the death of them all?
Countess of Scandal is primarily a typical romance novel. There is the action and suspense of an uprising and beginnings of a war, but we are constantly brought back to the struggle of our main characters and their inability to deny the lust as well as love they have for each other. They are stubbornly firm about the stance they have taken during these times in their country, but are constantly confused and rethinking their beliefs. (I will warn you; if you’re squeamish about sex scenes, this book is not for you. This is a romance novel after all and there’s plenty of “romance”. )
Laurel McKee is an excellent author and blended her romance and action well. You really get to know each of the characters and can really feel for them. This is a book you won’t want to put down and you’ll find yourself wishing the best for Eliza and William. The characters are so lovable, you can’t help crossing your fingers for the two in hopes that things will work out and they will at last be able to stay together forever and fulfill their childhood dreams.

Jessa lives in Utah with her husband, 2 sons, 2 cats, and 2 dogs. She goes to school full time as an English major with a focus in creative writing. She likes anime and reads books and plays video games in her moments of spare time.

Originally posted on www.luxuryreading.com

Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase

Merry MacKenzie is a 25 year old nurse who has just moved out of her family home in Rhode Island to live the single life in the big city of Boston. She moves into what seems to be the picture perfect apartment and things only appear sweeter when she meets hunky landlord Jason Falco. The scene immediately gets more complicated when she turns down what she thought was going to be a carefree single life to immediately start dating said gorgeous landlord who happens to also be a star baseball player.
Merry’s new life gets even more interesting when she runs into the rest of the tenants. There’s Jason’s nosy aunt, his laidback uncle who does maintenance, the broody mortician, a mysterious Nordic looking man, two sexy ladies who seem to have a very enthusiastic relationship with each other, and the strange man who doesn’t seem to live there, but hangs out on the property at most times. Is Merry’s seemingly picture perfect life too good to be true, or is there more than meets the eye?
Strange Neighbors is the first book I’ve heard from Ashlyn Chase, but when I did a little more research, it turns out she’s fairly well known for her more erotic writing. Strange Neighbors definitely has some juicy love scenes, but I assume it’s tamer than her usual style of writing. I really enjoyed all the paranormal activity she included in the characters and story line as well as her twist to a well known government conspiracy. I didn’t particularly like the fact that she made the two main characters, Merry and Jason, so very love-y dove-y and perfect. Whenever a chance came to get a really good climatic moment, it fixed the situation much too quickly.
I also wish she’d kept the story focused on Jason’s unique situation and kept the conspiracy story for a sequel. That way we could’ve gone into more detail in either story and gone into more detail. The book is a uncorrected release as well and I noticed that on the back as well as on Ashlyn’s personal website, there are a few teasing tidbits that turn out not to match the other story.
I did enjoy the book over all and greatly hope that more books are added to make this a series. There are definitely great possibilities for intriguing storylines with the other characters. I would love to know more about various characters, what their stories are, and where they end up. I would also like to know how Merry & Jason’s relationship turns out. I will be keeping my eye on further titles from Ashlyn Chase with the possibility of grabbing a few other books from her existing sets.

Jessa lives in Utah with her husband, 2 sons, 2 cats, and 3 dogs. She is a full time mom and likes to blog and write short stories and poem in her spare time. She also likes anime and reading books and playing video games.

Originally posted on www.luxuryreading.com

My last poem was re-written by my friend Milton. So I took a poem of his and rewrote it. This is his:

Scarecrow

Feast upon me you uncaring carrion crows.

Tear at my hands-
Hands weary of tossing breadcrumbs
Tired of mending black broken wings.

Rip at my ears-
Ears deafened by constant cawing
Numbed from frivolous flapping

Claw at my shoulders-
Shoulders tattered and torn from talons
Stained and soiled with shit.

Feast at my heart-
Heart stilled and silent with solitude,
Drain and drip it dry.

Feed, fatten and fly
Flee the frozen fields
Seek the southern summers.

This is my version:

crows
dark scavengers
feasting on my flesh

my hands are torn and bleeding
having nothing left to offer up
they are weary
no long able to mend your broken wings
they fall to my side
useless
pointless
dead

my ears are unable to hear
deaf to the noise of the world
they cannot hear
my cries
or yours

my shoulders fall
the talons claw
ripping me to shreads
tattered
torn
they are stained with blood
tears
sweat

my heart is bare
my chest now an empty hole
exposed
stilled
silent
the solitude has drained me
left me dying
dead

they feed
fattening their bellies with what was once whole
they flee
unconcerned with my plight
i’m left alone
they move on
different times
different victims
same story

a thought
a dream
a wish
a life
a story
a memory
they’re not mine
they never belonged to me
but I steal them
all of them
all for me
wrapped myself in them
i indulge
i devour
i caress
i destroy
if you wanted them
if they were secret
private things
you should not have misplaced them
take better care of these things
these things you cherished
they have been stolen
grand larceny
they are mine now
i will guard my treasure
i will not treat them so foolishly
lock them up tight
mine
forever
and always

(I was having a conversation with my good friend Milton and ended up writing this poem. I think the two of us may try a new idea where we toss the poem back and forth. We’ll end up hacking it to pieces and reconstructing it. I guess we’ll see what happens. I’ll probably post the results.)

This is Milton’s version:

Life
Memory
not mine
Accessible.
You neglect
Mishandled, misplaced,
Mine to take
you must care
you must cherish
your secret self
your soul center
Fool.
Silently stolen
all of them
all for me
wrangled away
wrapped in them
I indulge
I devour
I caress
I destroy
Mine
I lock
Mine only
I guard
Mine always
I treasure.
Mine forever.

The Utah Jazz’s wing position they’ve been thinning out is being filled back up. Othyus Jeffers of the Iowa Energy has been called up from the NBA Development League and will sign a 10-day contract with the Jazz. Jeffers is a 6-foot-5, 200-pounder, who played college ball for Robert Morris University in Chicago. He will bring the Jazz up to the required roster minimum of 13 players. Utah had until Thursday to sign a replacement for Ronnie Brewer, who was traded to Memphis for a future first-round draft pick two weeks ago. Jeffers will be the fifth D-League player signed by the Jazz, following Sundiata Gaines, Rusty LaRue, Mikki Moore and Louis Amundson. Coincidentally, Jeffers began this basketball season playing in Italy with the same team NGC Cantu squad that Gaines played for last year. Jeffers will not meet up with the Jazz in Phoenix, where Utah faces the Suns on Thursday night. He is expected to sign his contract in Salt Lake City on Thursday and will join the Jazz when they return Friday. He will wear jersey No. 6. The 24-year-old Jeffers is averaging 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists with Iowa this season. Jeffers is shooting 51 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point territory. He averaged 21.0 points and 9.0 rebounds and was a D-League All-Star last season.

THBlogNetwork: Complete Sports Coverage

My Section

The NBA has announced that Jazz forward Carlos Boozer was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for the games he played during February. Boozer topped the Western Conference in rebounds (13.0 rpg) and added 21.2 points on .604 shooting from the field, leading Utah to a 10-3 record. Boozer, who ranks fourth in the league in double-doubles (38), recorded nine in 11 games (all starts) played in February. On February 21, Boozer scored 22 points and added a season-high 23 rebounds in a 93-89 win at Portland. He also hit a game-tying buzzer-beater in that game to force overtime and complete the Jazz’s 25-point second-half comeback. Boozer is one of five NBA players averaging at least 19 points and 10 rebounds. This is the second time Boozer has been named the NBA’s Player of the Month in his career and the 10th time overall a Jazz player has been selected. In 52 games (all starts), Boozer is averaging 19.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The Alaskan native is one of only four players in the league averaging at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3.3 assists (a career-high) per game.

Some stats for Boozer this month:
Feb. 9 @ L.A. Clippers: Recorded 34 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals in a 109-99 win over the Clippers.
Feb. 16 @ Houston: Posted 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a 104-95 win over the Rockets.
Feb. 17 @ New Orleans: Scored 16 points to go along with 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 98-90 win over the Hornets.
Feb. 19 @ Golden State: Totaled 30 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 100-89 win over the Warriors.
Feb. 21 @ Portland: Recorded 22 points, 23 rebounds and five assists in a 93-89 overtime win over the Trail Blazers.
Feb. 24 vs. Charlotte: Posted 33 points, 16 rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 102-93 win over the Bobcats.

THBlogNetwork: Complete Sports Coverage

My Section