Kylie Scott – Deep (Stage Dive #4)

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Incredible book in an incredible series.  I’m not just saying that because the main character’s name is Liz.  She is perfectly imperfect.  Yes, she falls for the bad boy rock star, befriends him, beds him, but is strong enough to walk away when she’s tolerated enough.  Ben struggles with commitment.  He has many yo-yo moments of pulling Liz in close then pushing her away.  He can say the most perfect thing. “Sweetheart, you’ve been important since day one.  Only girl I kept coming back to.  Didn’t matter how far I ran, I couldn’t get you off my mind.  Never been this way about another woman.”  As beautiful are his words, it’s not enough.  Actions can outweigh words.

As an aside, in a female bonding circle, Liz brags to the other women about the erotic benefits of Ben’s beard.  To beard or not to beard?  I can’t really weigh in on this because of lack of experience.  I’ve never even kissed a man with a goatee or beard.  However, it does beg the question, what is the hottest amount of facial hair? None, 5 o’clock shadow, 1-2 day, Goatee, Full Beard.  Purely from a visually appealing opinion, I’ld have to pick a 1-2 day growth.  (just an opinion)

See other related posts:

Kylie Scott – Lead

Kylie Scott – Play

Kylie Scott – Lick

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Christina Lauren – Beautiful Secret (Beautiful Bastard #4)

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Praise to the art of taking things slow.  Sometimes it almost seems like a lost art, but this book is packed from start to finish.  The awkward humor is refreshing and keeps you laughing.  Although I did get caught laughing a bit too loud while reading in a public place.  Oops.  Niall is a the kind of man that you can get behind and cheer for.  It is like rooting for the underdog at a sporting event.  Niall struggles with his confidence and identity but continues to try his best at making a go at a relationship with Ruby.  This is a fantastic series – don’t miss out.

See other related posts:

Christina Lauren – “Dirty Rowdy Thing”

Favorite Spin-off Book Series

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Tie-Dye Cupcakes

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What an easy way to show a little team spirit.  Obviously, I was going for a yellow and green theme here (the colors of my son’s tennis team).  For the 1st cupcake I tinted half the batter yellow and half green.  I swirled the two together to make a tie-dye cake.  It was very easy and definitely showed that the cupcakes were not store bought.  My kids are very spoiled and won’t touch a store bought dessert.  I’ve been wanting to try different techniques for tie-dying frosting.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl.  For the 1st cupcake, I painted the inside of the piping bag with yellow and green gel die and filled the bag with white frosting.  The piped colors were very vibrant – perhaps a little too much so and colored everyone’s tongues.  For the 2nd cupcake, I placed white, yellow, and green frosting in a single piping bag.  This only took a little extra time to fill the bag carefully.  I was pleased that the colors didn’t completely blend together.

In the future, I would use these techniques for holiday occasions as well.  Remember when mixing two colors of cake batter that is looks better if you use a bit more of the lighter colors than darker colors.

Tennis Ball Cupcakes

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Unlike real tennis balls that are empty, these cupcakes are filled with vanilla buttercream.  Besides using a golden yellow frosting on top, I dipped each cupcake in yellow sugar so that it would have a “fuzzy” appearance like a real tennis ball.  It was fun baking these for my son’s tennis team, but nothing is better than playing tennis with my kids.

Tiffany Reisz – The Virgin (The Original Sinners)

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The original sinners are the most compelling characters!  They are beyond any realm of typical, but what is overwhelmingly brilliant is their commitment to each other on multiple levels.  Their enduring love for each other is accentuated in this story, which covers a one-year time period where Nora, Soren, and Kingsley are separated from one another and then return to each other.  Their ability to forgive one another is profoundly moving.  As you find out through the story, sometimes it takes time to recognize all aspects of oneself and learn to appreciate all sides of those you love.  In addition, I would be remiss if I didn’t include some of my favorite quotes (that don’t contain spoilers):

“Ignorance is a poor excuse for bliss.”

“She survived the end of the world and found at the end a new beginning.  And if she’d survived the end of the world, surely she could survive anything now.”

Did you think I forgot about the sex?  Hell No!  It is a Tiffany Reisz book – it is always sinfully delicious.  Nora takes the virginity of a novice nun in a convent.  Kingsley chains his lover to a bed for an entire week.  And, Soren makes Eleanor forget her safe word and then pushes her to the point to where there is nothing she can do but safe word out.

Other posts about Tiffany Reisz’s books:

Tiffany Reisz – “The King”

Megan Hart & Tiffany Reisz – Captivated

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Book Boyfriend Boards 4/22/2015

Pinterest Book Boyfriend Boards

Great romance authors make the reader fall in love with the characters. The descriptions of their build, the way in which they speak, and their prowess in bed electrify the characters and make them hot and desirable.  Enjoy these pinterest boards that celebrate some of the most titillating characters and combine both provocative images and amazing quotes.

Original Sinners by Tiffany Reisz

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/kyo31/original-sinners/

Rosemary Beach by Abbi Glines

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/natapou/rosemary-beach-series-by-abbi-glines/

Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/mamawnurse/black-dagger-brotherhood/

Rough Riders by Lorelei James

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/twopervs_inapod/rough-riders-by-lorelei-james/

Chaos Novels by Kristen Ashley

13_pinterest  https://www.pinterest.com/holyhotness/chaos-series-by-kristen-ashley/

Wicked Lovers Novels by Shayla Black

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/vibrantbride/shayla-black-wicked-lovers-series/

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/catarinafsilva2/fifty-shades-of-grey/

Sea Breeze Series by Abbi Glines 

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/billanddallas/sea-breeze-series-by-abbi-glines/

Kellan Kyle in Thoughtless Series by S.C. Stephens

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/wallinmt/thoughtless-kellen-kyle/

Drew Evans in Tangled Series by Emma Chase

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/mariskabell/emma-chase-%7E-tangledtwistedtied/

Remy by Katy Evans

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/lilyslibrary/real-mine-remy-by-katie-evans/

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

13_pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/beckybookworm/travis-mad-dog-maddox-3/

Favorite Spin-off Book Series

Spin-off series are the best!  Essentially they are a booklover’s dream.  The stories continue with tangential characters, giving the reader a sense that they haven’t lost touch with previous characters.  At the same time, the story stays fresh and new.  Do you have any favorite spin-off series?  My favorites include:

Lauren Dane’s Brown Family – Delicious – The Hurley Boys

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Kristen Ashley’s Dream Man – Chaos

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Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful – Maddox Brothers

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Christina Lauren’s Beautiful – Wild Seasons

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J.R.Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood – Black Dagger Legacy(coming out in Dec. 2015 – I have high expectations)

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Colleen Hoover – Confess

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Confess has an amazing intertwined set of characters in an heart wrenching novel.  Both and Owen and Auburn refer to holding their fist tightly above their heart signifying how devastatingly they can miss someone and how much it hurts their heart.  Well, this book not only makes your heart hurt, but makes you feel completely gutted.  I was crying before I finished the Prologue.  The silver lining is that the greater the pain in a romance book, the more rewarding the happily ever after.

True to form, Colleen Hoover makes the story very unique and unpredictable.  I absolutely love how the artist takes written anonymous confessions and turns them into art.  Very cool concept!  I don’t want to spoil the book but you have to read it to see how this concept weaves itself into the plot.

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Should desserts that center around a holiday be limited to those dates?

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Should desserts that center around a holiday be limited to those dates?  Is that what makes the dessert special – the fact that you know you will only get the dessert once a year?  Do the desserts add to the nostalgia of the holiday, creating memories for years to come?  Would you want to eat Xmas shaped cookies in May?  What if it were your absolute most favorite cookie?  Would you make an exception in that case?

As I’ve mentioned before, I am equal opportunity celebrator of holidays if they include fun and tasty desserts.  My daughter’s favorite springtime dessert are these jello eggs that I make for Easter.  Unfortunately, these jello eggs require that I am at home for 7 hours straight.  Each layer must be added precisely one hour after the preceding layer.  If not, the layers will not adhere to each other and will fall apart when separating the molds.  This year, I just couldn’t manage my time to make these on Easter.  Is it wrong to be serving/eating these weeks after Easter has past?  It doesn’t seem to bother my daughter at all.  In fact, I’m grateful that she was understanding that I couldn’t get these done on Easter.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Lauren Dane – The Best Kind of Trouble (Hurley Boys #1)

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Wild rock-star heat with a real relationship to beat.  There’s no denying that Paddy is incredibly sexy and passionate.  He insists on perfection in the music that he creates. He takes charge in the studio to ensure it even it means occasionally brawling with his brothers.  He is also dominant when Natalie and he are going at it.  Natalie is a proper librarian and bit of a control freak by day but a dirty salacious girl in private.  This balance culminates in hot passion between the two.  But their strong personalities and stubbornness make it difficult to iron out real issues in their relationship.  Paddy feels an entitlement to Natalie’s trust because he worked hard to gain it.  Natalie struggles with a difficult past that makes her extra sensitive.  This results in a clash between the two.  Trust is truly the crux of all relationships and Natalie sums it up very poetically:

“if I can’t trust you, this isn’t worth the energy.”

“I can’t be honest if I can’t trust you not to be mad when I tell you how I’m feeling.”

This is a great start to a new Lauren Dane series.  The Hurley Boys follows after Lauren Dane’s Delicious Series, which followed after the Brown Family series.  FYI, you don’t have to start out with the Brown Family series and read in order, but the books are phenomenal and are a must read.

See other Lauren Dane posts:

Lauren Dane – “Laid Bare”

Lauren Dane – “Making Chase”

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