Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Someday It Will Be by S.A. McAuley Roseanne. Shows about zombies have been popular for a while now. But what about a show that’s something of a zombie itself? That’s what ABC’s asking with its resurrection of Roseanne , which first saw life 30 years ago, survived several seasons past its sell-by date and finally keeled over in 1997. Now the show’s back, and nearly everyone’s back with it—including characters who supposedly died (Roseanne’s husband Dan Conner, specifically) and cast members who’d been recast. (Both the show’s Beckys, Lecy Goranson and Sarah Calke, return, though Calke plays a new character.) Yes, Roseanne is back from the grave—in Dan’s case, quite literally. And the result is about what you’d expect from any zombie worth its salted innards: the same, just messier. All’s Well That Ends … Someday? This is not to say that Roseanne was squeaky clean to begin with. The show, starring the famously crass comedian Roseanne Barr, officially launched in 1988 to wild critical and commercial acclaim. Roseanne was the sharp-tongued materfamilias for the working class Connor family, and her titular show was seen as the antithesis of more aspirational, traditional-family sitcoms on the networks then, such as the feel-good wholesomeness of The Cosby Show or Growing Pains . The Connors weren’t rich. They weren’t at all aspirational. And those qualities formed a good chunk of its charm. Here’s a family that looks like mine , many viewers said. And they said it in droves. Roseanne became the highest-rated program on television in short order, snagging a 23.8 Nielsen rating score in just its second season. (For comparison’s sake, the This Is Us 2018 finale banked a 2.7 Nielsen rating.) Over its nine-season run, it won four Emmys and a Peabody Award. And in 2002, when TV Guide unfurled its list of the “50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,” Roseanne logged in at No. 35. But for such a supposedly grounded show, Roseanne took some surreal flights of fancy toward the end. In the ninth season, the Conners apparently win the lottery and struggle with their newfound wealth. Then, in the final episode, the show tells us that the big lottery win was made up : Roseanne herself created the fiction to help her cope with the death of husband, Dan, who suffered a fatal heart attack at the end of season eight. Oh, and Jackie, Roseanne’s longsuffering sister, was outed as a lesbian. Aaaand, that’s a wrap. Except not! Now, 20 years later, the whole ninth season has been expunged from memory with the exception of a few knowing nods. (In the opening episode, for instance, Dan picks up an unpublished novel Roseanne apparently wrote, joking, “It would’ve sold like hotcakes if you hadn’t killed off the most interesting character.”) It’s a hard reboot where everything reverts to form (not unlike NBC’s recent reboot of Will & Grace ), right down to the colorful afghan on the Conner couch. This is not to say that the Conner family has been frozen in time. Both Roseanne and Dan are older, if not much wiser. Daughter Darlene is living with Mom and Dad again, along with her own kids—daughter Harris and son Mark—though the latter wears makeup and fingernail polish and is, his mother explains, “exploring” with his sexual identity. Son D.J. also has a kid in tow, Mary. Oldest daughter Becky seems apparently kid-less— but is plotting to be a surrogate mom to new character Andrea (played by former Becky, Sarah Chalke. “Look at us!” one says to the other when they meet for the first time on screen. “We could be the same person!”) Roseanne has never been afraid to explore controversial subjects, and the new show follows suit. Obviously, issues of gender identity take a central role in the reboot, given Mark’s uncertainty over his own. And Becky’s surrogacy leads, in the very first episode, to debates stamped with the abortion-rights mantra “my body, my choice.” While Jackie is apparently straight this season, Roseanne’s lesbian friend Nancy Bartlett will give the show “LGBTQ+ representation,” according to Pop Sugar . (On the flip side, perhaps it’s worth noting that Roseanne is perhaps the most sympathetic Trump voter you’ll see on television.) And, of course, the sitcom continues to show the blue-collar “reality” of the Conner family: Dan still drinks beer by the case in the garage. Kids and parents scream at each other. The new Roseanne is no more aspirational than the old. But for all those faults, the strengths of the show remain, too. Roseanne and Dan may fight with their kids. The decisions made by their progeny may frustrate, infuriate and flat-out mystify them. But in the end, they love their children, and their children love them right back. And that makes them a sight better than most zombies. Episode Reviews. Roseanne: Mar. 27, 2018 “Twenty Years to Life” As the show tries to erase its bizzaro ninth season and catch viewers up on what’s been going on with the Conner clan for the last two decades, Darlene tries to heal the rift between her mother, Roseanne, and her beloved aunt, Jackie. Meanwhile, Becky announces her plans to be a surrogate mother for money—using her own eggs as part of the surrogacy procedure. Both Dan and Roseanne feel as though Becky’s decision amounts to “selling” a grandbaby. Jackie’s fully supportive, however, saying that because it’s Becky’s body, it’s ultimately her choice how to use it. Roseanne reluctantly agrees. “Dan, it’s her body, her decision,” she says, and Dan storms out to the garage. It’s obvious that Jackie and Roseanne had a falling out over politics: Jackie calls Roseanne a “deplorable,” and Roseanne ends a dinnertime prayer with this: “Most of all, Lord, thank you for making America great again,” echoing Trump’s prominent campaign slogan. They eventually reconcile, agreeing to disagree. Roseanne tells Jackie that her support of government-supported health care just shows that she’s “a good-hearted person who can’t do simple math.” Mark, Darlene’s son, wears makeup and nail polish, much to the chagrin of Roseanne and Dan. “He’s exploring,” Roseanne tells Dan. “May the winds fill his sails and carry him to the boys’ section at Target,” Dan adds. Dan and Roseanne get suggestive in bed, with Roseanne suggesting that he “pleasure” her. Elsewhere, Dan doles out his and Roseanne’s prescription drugs, calling himself the “Candy Man.” They make light of taking the drugs, and when Roseanne accepts her pain meds for her bad knee, she exclaims “Oh, my babies!” Dan tells her that all the antidepressants are hers: “If you’re not happy, I have no chance of being happy,” he says. Dan goes to the garage to drink. We hear joking references to “drunk clowns,” bondage, wizards and suicide. Darlene hides some uncomfortable truths from her parents. Characters say “a–” twice, “d–n” twice, “crap” and “sucks” once each. Speed Dating Bibliophile Style: February (Catherine) Okay, I’ll admit it: I am a bad, bad book blogger. Ninety-nine per cent of the time when I finished a book, I don’t want to blog about it. If it was a good book, I want to ride that sweet high while I scour my To-Be-Read pile looking for the next awesome story that is going to make me laugh or cry or blush furiously before I melt into a giant puddle of lust and hormones. If it was a bad book, I need something to wipe it from my memory STAT – like chasing a shot of cheap tequila with a really good imported beer. Alas, blog posts do not write and post themselves (no matter how much I sometimes wish this were true). Still, I know me, and I’m not going to magically turn into the person that reviews every book I read. So, for those times when I absolutely cannot tear myself away from finding and reading the next shiny book right this second , Runell suggested writing a ONE sentence book review to tide over the bookish hordes (uh… I guess that’d be you guys). Surely even I can manage a single sentence between books, right?! Right. So I dubbed these mini book reviews Speed Dating Bibliophile Style and there you have it. I hope you enjoy these bite-sized morsels! 1. Sixty-Five Hours (Sixty-Five Hours #1) by N.R. Walker: This gay-for-you/out-for-you MM romance novel may not be entirely memorable, but it’s a sweet, sexy, fun book that is way too good to be free. [3 smooches] 2. Sixty-Five Hours: The Twelve Days of Christmas (Sixty-Five Hours) by N.R. Walker: This super short story was sugary sweet, completely over the top Christmas cuteness and I loved every Diabetes-inducing word of it. [4 smooches] 3. The Nothingness of Ben by Brad Boney: A great book that took me through a wide range of emotions but ultimately left me feeling buoyed and optimistic. [4 smooches] 4. Newton’s Laws of Attraction by M.J. O’Shea: The friends-to-lovers trope is one of my favourites, and O’Shea always seems to find the perfect balance of sweetness and bittersweetness for her novels. [4 smooches] 5. The Flesh Cartel #1: Capture by Rachel Haimowitz & Heidi Belleau: Objectively, this was a well-written start to what many tell me is a compelling and addictive series, but I only found it sickeningly violent with a beginning so abrupt it left me feeling disconnected from the main characters. [1 smooch] 6. Way Off Plan (Firsts and Forever #1) by Alexa Land: This book was one giant, cheesy, endearment-filled insta-lovefest with an entirely improbable plot and a laughable conclusion, but I read the whole thing with a big, stupid grin on my face. [3.5 smooches] 7. Broken Pieces by Riley Hart: My feelings about this deeply moving book are difficult to articulate, but it has probably become one of my favourite of all time – one that I know I will be drawn to re-read and recommend to friends for many years to come. [6 smooches. That’s right, 5 smooches just wasn’t enough!] 8. Fire Balls (Balls to the Wall #2) by Tara Lain: This horribly titled novella was an awful combination of cheese and sleaze (with the added bonus of cheating and main characters that sound like 13-year-old girls). [1 smooch] 9. Learning to Feel by N.R. Walker: This book about the unlikely love that blossoms between a workaholic doctor and an artist in small town Maine is a sweet, fun tale of self-discovery that gets a little gooey towards the end. [4 smooches] 10. Totally Covered by Sean Michael: A deliciously spicy BDSM short about an injured cop and the two growly Doms who just want to tie him up and looooooove him. [3 smooches] 11. All In by Alexa Land: This book had a way, way over the top Days of Our Lives-esque melodramatic vibe to it, but between the gooey insta- love that this author seems to favour and the curiously PG-rated BDSM scenes, the whole thing fell kinda flat for me. [2 smooches] 12. Hot Ticket (A Serving Love Story) by K.A. Mitchell: I loved the dynamic between the alpha male and the naive virgin in this hot short story, but the story itself both began and ended rather abruptly. [3.5 smooches] 13. Tag Team (Guards of Folsom #2) by S.J.D. Peterson: A definite improvement over the first Guards of Folsom novel, Tag Team is a sweet novel that’s more about the depth of the bond between its main characters than it is about three-way sexy times. [3 smooches] 14. Smartass (part of the Love Has No Boundaries anthology) by Lynn Lorenz: A free short story about a veteran and a t-shirt maker who’s more damsel-in-distress than smart-ass – not a lot of sugar or spice. [2 smooches] 15. Getting Rowdy by Lori Foster: This book was the classic case of “it’s not you, it’s me”; I really enjoy this author’s work and the previous books in the series, but I found that given my newly discovered love of M/M, the M/F romance just couldn’t hold my interest this time around. [3 smooches] 16. Saving Sam (Zero, Ohio #2) by Megan Slayer: A sweet (but not entirely memorable) short story about old friends who get a second chance at love. [2 smooches] 17. Queers by A.J. Rose: A slow-building story with multiple story lines, complex characters living complex lives, and a hard won (but completely satisfying) happily ever after. [4 smooches] 18. Lazy Valentines (Lazy Days #2) by K-Lee Klein: This totally cute (and free!) short story picks up just four days after Lazy Sundays ends and manages to bring a wonderfully surprising amount of emotion and character development in so brief a story. [3.5 smooches] 19. The Proposal (A Valentine BDSM Story) by Nik Valentine: I was exactly in the mood for something naughty, short and not too serious, and this story delivered all of that. [3.5 smooches] 20. A Better Man (The Men of Halfway House #1) by Jaime Reese: A book about second chances and being true to yourself that is both sweet and incredibly romantic. [4 smooches] 21. The Accidental Cupid (A Valentine Rainbow) by Xavier Mayne: An adorably quirky Valentine’s Day short story with a kickass narrator; Josh (a.k.a. Cupid) is bold, snarky, and refreshing. [4 smooches] 22. Unintended by M.J. O’Shea: No one writes about those first blushes of young love and self-discovery quite like O’Shea – her stories always get me right in the feels and leave me smiling like a dope. [4 smooches] 23. Blah Blah Valentine’s Day by Kyle Adams: Though not poorly written, this short story was not particularly sweet, sexy or snarky, and it ultimately failed to hold my interest. [2 smooches] 24. Elements of Retrofit (Thomas Elkin #1) by N.R. Walker: Another smart, sexy short story from Walker with a fun May-December twist and plenty of panty-dropping architectural jargon. [4 smooches] 25. Clarity of Lines (Thomas Elkin #2) by N.R. Walker: There’s nothing not to love about this second helping of dreamy Thomas Elkin and his sassy boy toy Cooper Jones – it’s smart, funny, and feels-filled. [4 smooches] 26. Sense of Place (Thomas Elkin #3) by N.R. Walker: A fantastic conclusion to Walker’s Thomas Elkin series that was even funnier and sweeter than the first two combined, with plot points that just made my heart sigh. [4 smooches] 27. One Good Deed by Andrew Grey: A wonderful book about risk, reward, guilt, grief, forgiveness, and love (so much love). [3.5 smooches] 28. Being Chase (Chase #1) by J.J. Scotts: The first in a series, Being Chase has a unique premise and a lot of potential, but not as much interaction between the two main characters as I had hoped for/would have liked. [2.5 smooches] 29. Paper Planes by M. Jules Aedin: This book was equal parts poignant, deliciously filthy, and unexpectedly funny – I loved it! [4 smooches] 30. Heat of the Moment (Out of Uniform #1) by Elle Kennedy: This short story was well-written and the naughty bits were plenty entertaining, but the plot and characters were wholly unoriginal. [2 smooches] 31. Pole Star by Josephine Myles: A free short story filled with two sexy main characters and tonnes of fun British-isms. [3 smooches] 32. Southern Winterland (By Degrees 0.5) by Taylor V. Donovan: A sweet, sexy introduction to the By Degrees universe that made me feel for the characters and want to get to know them more. [3 smooches] 33. Ten in the Bin by N.R. Walker: Classic Walker, this short story was sinfully sweet and left me with a massive case of the warm fuzzies. [4 smooches] 34. Quid Pro Quo (Market Garden #1) by L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov: The first in a series of short stories about rent boys, Quid Pro Quo was scorching hot. [4 smooches] 35. Three’s Company by N.R. Walker: This super sexy menage novel felt like a brand new Walker too me; more raunchy than sweet, it took a little getting used to. [3.5 smooches] 36. Str8te Boys by Evangeline Anderson: A super fun, super hot, way over-the-top short story about two “str8te boys” playing “gay chicken” and falling in love. [3.5 smooches] 37. Someday It Will Be by S.A. McAuley: This short story was beautiful – poetic, even – but it fucking destroyed me emotionally. [5 smooches] 38. Taxes and TARDIS by N.R. Walker: Another solidly cute, opposites attract-type novella from Walker, but it was missing just a little bit of the spark that I love about her work. [3 smooches] 39. Physical Chemistry by Jana Downs: For me, this short story blew hot and cold so often in the beginning it gave me whiplash and the whole thing ended up feeling amateurish and clunky. [2 smooches] 40. Professor’s Keeper by Nicole Dennis: A cute short story about an unlikely couple, but between the insta-love and the fact that the voice of Rhys was inconsistent (flip-flopping between extremely proper and good ‘ole boy), it had some definite issues. [2 smooches] 41. The Boy Who Belonged by Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock: A delicious second helping of Lane and Derek that was incredibly loving and sweet, but spicy enough to push me out of my comfort zone as a reader (unsurprisingly from these two talented authors). [4 smooches] 42. Red Dirt Heart by N.R. Walker: A fantastic novella that transported me to the heart of the Australian Outback, introduced me to two amazing new men, and wrapped me up with warmth and acceptance and love. My favourite N.R. Walker title to date. [5 smooches] 43. Cinder: A Cinderfella Story by Marie Sexton: This fantastic twisted fairy tale was a light, sweet, FUN retelling of an old classic that gave me the expected happily ever after in a completely unexpected way. [4 smooches] 44. The Broken Road Cafe (The Broken Road Cafe #1) by T. A. Webb: In terms of plot, characters, and writing, this book was a bit of a mess (and the “cliffhanger” ending was both lackluster and frustrating). [2 smooches] 45. The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick: A wonderfully written YA novel about high school, bullying, identity, the consequences of our actions, love, and forgiveness, this book is at times confusing, funny, heart-wrenching and inspiring. [4.5 smooches] 46. Sno Ho (Sno Ho #1) by Ethan Day: A charming short story that had tonnes of laughs, throw-me-up-against-a-wall sex, and some surprisingly sweet moments. [4 smooches] Someday It Will Be by S.A. McAuley. March 28, 2016, 5 years ago. news hard rock cage9. Los Angeles-based rock band, Cage9, has released their new video, “Everything You Love Will Someday Die”, the first single from their upcoming album Illuminator, out June 10th via EMP Label Group, the label founded by Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, distributed by eOne in North America, and SPV in Europe. The video can be seen below. Cage9 main man Evan Rodaniche had this to say about the track. “This song is dedicated to my father, who passed away about a month ago after a two year battle with cancer. But even when I first wrote these lyrics at the onset of his terminal diagnosis as a sort of comforting mantra, in the back of my mind I believed my dad was indestructible. I never thought I’d be adding an “in loving memory” dedication at the end of this video. But then he was gone. And that’s what this is all about. We spend our modern lives wrapped up in our first world problems, completely disconnected with the natural cycles of the planet around us." He continues, "We shot the video DIY with a couple Canon DSLR cameras, a black sheet in our rehearsal room and about forty non-actor friends, fans and family who showed up one sunny Los Angeles afternoon in 2015 to mouth the lyrics to a song they’d never heard. We aimed to bring home the message that no matter who you are, we’re all in this together. “Everything You Love” is also the track that caught David Ellefson’s attention and ultimately inspired him to sign us to EMP. After a few conversations with our A&R guy Thom Hazaert, he brought it to David, and he got it. The rest is history." Says Ellefson, "Cage9 is definitely the real deal. When I first heard “Everything You Love Will Someday Die”, it instantly struck me as the closest I've heard to a song with a true Metallica/Megadeth core, with the radio accessibility to really connect with a modern rock audience. And with the band's history, and everything they've accomplished, they were a perfect fit for what we are doing at EMP." Rodaniche continues, "As for the song, itself, it's a little bit of old school thrash mixed with something more melodic and a little piano and acoustic guitar wankery to push it over the 6 minute epic-metal-song mark. (Yes, there’s a radio edit.) I was the 14 year old kid running around with a worn out cassette of Peace Sells in his Walkman, so having the dude that brought us pretty much THE most recognizable bass riff of my, (and half the planet over 30’s) youth, dig our band is a HUGE honour.” “Cage9 originated in Panama where I grew up playing in a band yet having pretty much never experienced famous bands performing live to learn from, not to mention any of our idols like Megadeth or Metallica. This definitely makes getting this chance to work with David in a mentor/label situation that much more amazing. Very excited to be releasing our new album Illuminator with EMP this summer." Eventually the band moved to Los Angeles, and with no outside help, has released almost 100 songs over six albums (including one in Spanish), sold 25,000 plus physical copies worldwide, toured the US (over 50 dates last year alone), Japan and Central America, as direct openers for Ozzy Osbourne, Bad Religion, Seether, In This Moment, and have also shared bills with Sevendust, Hellyeah, Karnivool and many more. Band mastermind Evan Rodaniche (who writes and produces all Cage9 material) also spent a few years on guitar with sci-fi metal purveyors Powerman 5000 and helped co-write, record, mix and produce their last few albums along with ex-Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm’s new solo album, Boy Hits Car and more. The quartet now includes San Diego native Brian Sumwalt on drums, Michigan transplant Matt Borowski on guitar, and Leslie Wyatt on bass and backing vocals. Someday vs. Some Day—Don’t Confuse Them! Someday and some day are easy expressions to confuse because they differ by just one space. Learn how to keep them straight in this article. What Does Someday Mean? Someday is an adverb. It refers to future events that will occur at an indefinite time. Here are two examples of someday in a sentence: What Does Some Day Mean? Now, let’s look at some day with a space between the two words. We have an adjective (some) and a noun (day). Some means “unspecified” in this context. When it describes day, it means a single day that is unknown or unspecified. Let’s clarify with two examples of “some day” in a sentence. Review: Safeword by A.J. Rose. Book Blurb (from Goodreads): Everywhere Detective Gavin DeGrassi looks he’s reminded of his attack by the Breath Play Killer. It’s in the house he lives in with his partner and Dom, Ben Haverson. It’s in the sympathetic yet pitying looks he receives from his fellow detectives when he returns to the force after a year-long hiatus. It’s in the suffocating coddling of his entire family, and the relentless reporter demanding an exclusive of his ordeal. Most of all, it’s in his lack of submission to Ben, who isn’t convinced Gavin’s recovered enough to trust the power exchange between them. The miraculous recovery of two teen boys from a twisted kidnapper gives him heart, and Gavin’s determined to prove he can handle anything despite increasing strain between him and Ben, painful nightmares, and panic when anyone touches him. But his next case is too close for comfort: a friend and colleague found raped and murdered in a fate chillingly similar to what could have been his own, and this killer isn’t stopping with one cop. As the body count rises and taunting souvenirs are being hand-delivered to Gavin, he faces a frustrating lack of leads, a crushing need to prove himself, and a sinking suspicion the imprisoned kidnapper’s reach is further than originally thought. A miasma of uncertainty and fear threaten to suffocate him when he asks a question with which he’s overwhelmingly familiar: what happens when a victim is pushed too far? My Thoughts: No, that is not the ungodly hour I had to get up this morning; it’s the time that I finally made it to bed, bleary eyed and exhausted after staying up all night to finish reading A.J. Rose’s Safeword (the second installment in his Power Exchange series). And it was so, so worth it. Safeword picks up in the aftermath of the trauma left by the Breath Play Killer in Power Exchange and to say that it’s an unsettling place to be would be a gross understatement. Ben and Gavin have been through hell together. They’ve had their sanctuary invaded, their bodies abused, and the foundation of their relationship ripped apart. Somehow they’ve come out the other side, but that trauma is like a permanent black mark on their lives – colouring their reactions to everything that comes after. But, as A.J. Rose said every time I railed at him via Twitter for putting some of my favourite characters through hell: “ The bigger the catastrophe, the bigger the catharsis.” And he was right. Rose did a fucking fantastic job of showing the struggle that these characters went through during this novel. The anger, the pain, the guilt, the fear, the frustration, and the never-ending tension that stretched and stretched until you just knew something or someone was going to snap – it was all there on the page. And through all that – or, perhaps more accurately, above all that – was the love that Ben and Gavin felt for one another. I never doubted that the love was there, but the struggle was written so realistically that there were points in the novel when I worried that the characters may not recover enough to make it together. Those were the moments when my gut clenched uncomfortably and tears prickled behind my eyes. I know I’m a giant sap, but this book moved me. As strong as Rose’s characterizations of Ben and Gavin are, the novel’s secondary characters shouldn’t be overlooked. Cole’s great and Gavin’s partner, Myah, is one of the best supporting female characters that I have come across in a long while. She’s complex, intelligent, intimidating, intensely loyal and protective. She’s also witty and thoughtful and capable. I love that she’s a compassionate human being who hasn’t let what she’s seen on the job make her jaded, but she’s also tough as nails when she needs to put scum (and homophobic a-holes) in their place. In other words, she’s an admirable character regardless of her gender (though her gender is worth noting simply because so few female characters of her depth and ability exist in the romance genre). It probably says a lot that if Myah existed in real life, I both would never want to meet her in a dark alley AND I would want to be friends with her. In terms of the mystery at the centre of Safeword, I thought that it was extremely well done ( much more complicated, unique, and realistic than the one in Power Exchange ). The pace of this case was slow and the results of Ben and Myah’s legwork often frustrating and coming to nothing, but the tension and urgency were palpably building under the surface the whole time. When the serial killer is revealed and then tracked across the city, I wasn’t left yelling “it’s about damn time!” at my Kindle the way I did with Power Exchange . No, this time I was swept along for the ride, wishing I had an “oh-shit” bar to hold onto. My only real complaint about the mystery aspect of the novel was that while I thought Rose built a plausible case for why the serial killer did what they did (and their motive seems authentic given what we knew about them), I still felt like the sexual aspects of the crimes were never fully explained to my satisfaction. Regardless, it was interesting to see how another character responded to trauma in a completely different way than Ben and Gavin did. It was like a glimpse into how Gavin’s recovery could have gone had he not had such an incredible support network or been as strong as he was. (FYI, it is incredibly difficult to write about the serial killer without giving away major spoilers, so please excuse my vague language.) Bottom line: I loved this book (and the series as a whole). Power Exchange and Safeword combine cops, BDSM, sexy men who love other men, thrills and suspense, genuinely emotional moments, and a whole lot of other stuff that I love to read about all in one nearly perfect package. So perfect that I wish that there were a third book in this series. I know, I know – I’m being incredibly selfish. Ben and Gavin deserve to put all of the murder and mayhem behind them and enjoy their hard-won happily ever after, but my heart wants what it wants (and it wants more Ben and Gavin). They are one of my favourite couples in the MM genre, so even though I’m grateful that Rose gave these characters a satisfying end without making it into a sappy Hallmark event, I’m sad to see the last of these boys. I guess I’ll just have to re-read it. If you don’t pay attention to any of my other book recommendations, pay attention to this one: Read the Power Exchange series. You won’t be sorry. My Rating: Speed Dating Bibliophile Style: February (Catherine) Okay, I’ll admit it: I am a bad, bad book blogger. Ninety-nine per cent of the time when I finished a book, I don’t want to blog about it. If it was a good book, I want to ride that sweet high while I scour my To-Be-Read pile looking for the next awesome story that is going to make me laugh or cry or blush furiously before I melt into a giant puddle of lust and hormones. If it was a bad book, I need something to wipe it from my memory STAT – like chasing a shot of cheap tequila with a really good imported beer. Alas, blog posts do not write and post themselves (no matter how much I sometimes wish this were true). Still, I know me, and I’m not going to magically turn into the person that reviews every book I read. So, for those times when I absolutely cannot tear myself away from finding and reading the next shiny book right this second , Runell suggested writing a ONE sentence book review to tide over the bookish hordes (uh… I guess that’d be you guys). Surely even I can manage a single sentence between books, right?! Right. So I dubbed these mini book reviews Speed Dating Bibliophile Style and there you have it. I hope you enjoy these bite-sized morsels! 1. Sixty-Five Hours (Sixty-Five Hours #1) by N.R. Walker: This gay-for-you/out-for-you MM romance novel may not be entirely memorable, but it’s a sweet, sexy, fun book that is way too good to be free. [3 smooches] 2. Sixty-Five Hours: The Twelve Days of Christmas (Sixty-Five Hours) by N.R. Walker: This super short story was sugary sweet, completely over the top Christmas cuteness and I loved every Diabetes-inducing word of it. [4 smooches] 3. The Nothingness of Ben by Brad Boney: A great book that took me through a wide range of emotions but ultimately left me feeling buoyed and optimistic. [4 smooches] 4. Newton’s Laws of Attraction by M.J. O’Shea: The friends-to-lovers trope is one of my favourites, and O’Shea always seems to find the perfect balance of sweetness and bittersweetness for her novels. [4 smooches] 5. The Flesh Cartel #1: Capture by Rachel Haimowitz & Heidi Belleau: Objectively, this was a well-written start to what many tell me is a compelling and addictive series, but I only found it sickeningly violent with a beginning so abrupt it left me feeling disconnected from the main characters. [1 smooch] 6. Way Off Plan (Firsts and Forever #1) by Alexa Land: This book was one giant, cheesy, endearment-filled insta-lovefest with an entirely improbable plot and a laughable conclusion, but I read the whole thing with a big, stupid grin on my face. [3.5 smooches] 7. Broken Pieces by Riley Hart: My feelings about this deeply moving book are difficult to articulate, but it has probably become one of my favourite of all time – one that I know I will be drawn to re-read and recommend to friends for many years to come. [6 smooches. That’s right, 5 smooches just wasn’t enough!] 8. Fire Balls (Balls to the Wall #2) by Tara Lain: This horribly titled novella was an awful combination of cheese and sleaze (with the added bonus of cheating and main characters that sound like 13-year-old girls). [1 smooch] 9. Learning to Feel by N.R. Walker: This book about the unlikely love that blossoms between a workaholic doctor and an artist in small town Maine is a sweet, fun tale of self-discovery that gets a little gooey towards the end. [4 smooches] 10. Totally Covered by Sean Michael: A deliciously spicy BDSM short about an injured cop and the two growly Doms who just want to tie him up and looooooove him. [3 smooches] 11. All In by Alexa Land: This book had a way, way over the top Days of Our Lives-esque melodramatic vibe to it, but between the gooey insta- love that this author seems to favour and the curiously PG-rated BDSM scenes, the whole thing fell kinda flat for me. [2 smooches] 12. Hot Ticket (A Serving Love Story) by K.A. Mitchell: I loved the dynamic between the alpha male and the naive virgin in this hot short story, but the story itself both began and ended rather abruptly. [3.5 smooches] 13. Tag Team (Guards of Folsom #2) by S.J.D. Peterson: A definite improvement over the first Guards of Folsom novel, Tag Team is a sweet novel that’s more about the depth of the bond between its main characters than it is about three-way sexy times. [3 smooches] 14. Smartass (part of the Love Has No Boundaries anthology) by Lynn Lorenz: A free short story about a veteran and a t-shirt maker who’s more damsel-in-distress than smart-ass – not a lot of sugar or spice. [2 smooches] 15. Getting Rowdy by Lori Foster: This book was the classic case of “it’s not you, it’s me”; I really enjoy this author’s work and the previous books in the series, but I found that given my newly discovered love of M/M, the M/F romance just couldn’t hold my interest this time around. [3 smooches] 16. Saving Sam (Zero, Ohio #2) by Megan Slayer: A sweet (but not entirely memorable) short story about old friends who get a second chance at love. [2 smooches] 17. Queers by A.J. Rose: A slow-building story with multiple story lines, complex characters living complex lives, and a hard won (but completely satisfying) happily ever after. [4 smooches] 18. Lazy Valentines (Lazy Days #2) by K-Lee Klein: This totally cute (and free!) short story picks up just four days after Lazy Sundays ends and manages to bring a wonderfully surprising amount of emotion and character development in so brief a story. [3.5 smooches] 19. The Proposal (A Valentine BDSM Story) by Nik Valentine: I was exactly in the mood for something naughty, short and not too serious, and this story delivered all of that. [3.5 smooches] 20. A Better Man (The Men of Halfway House #1) by Jaime Reese: A book about second chances and being true to yourself that is both sweet and incredibly romantic. [4 smooches] 21. The Accidental Cupid (A Valentine Rainbow) by Xavier Mayne: An adorably quirky Valentine’s Day short story with a kickass narrator; Josh (a.k.a. Cupid) is bold, snarky, and refreshing. [4 smooches] 22. Unintended by M.J. O’Shea: No one writes about those first blushes of young love and self-discovery quite like O’Shea – her stories always get me right in the feels and leave me smiling like a dope. [4 smooches] 23. Blah Blah Valentine’s Day by Kyle Adams: Though not poorly written, this short story was not particularly sweet, sexy or snarky, and it ultimately failed to hold my interest. [2 smooches] 24. Elements of Retrofit (Thomas Elkin #1) by N.R. Walker: Another smart, sexy short story from Walker with a fun May-December twist and plenty of panty-dropping architectural jargon. [4 smooches] 25. Clarity of Lines (Thomas Elkin #2) by N.R. Walker: There’s nothing not to love about this second helping of dreamy Thomas Elkin and his sassy boy toy Cooper Jones – it’s smart, funny, and feels-filled. [4 smooches] 26. Sense of Place (Thomas Elkin #3) by N.R. Walker: A fantastic conclusion to Walker’s Thomas Elkin series that was even funnier and sweeter than the first two combined, with plot points that just made my heart sigh. [4 smooches] 27. One Good Deed by Andrew Grey: A wonderful book about risk, reward, guilt, grief, forgiveness, and love (so much love). [3.5 smooches] 28. Being Chase (Chase #1) by J.J. Scotts: The first in a series, Being Chase has a unique premise and a lot of potential, but not as much interaction between the two main characters as I had hoped for/would have liked. [2.5 smooches] 29. Paper Planes by M. Jules Aedin: This book was equal parts poignant, deliciously filthy, and unexpectedly funny – I loved it! [4 smooches] 30. Heat of the Moment (Out of Uniform #1) by Elle Kennedy: This short story was well-written and the naughty bits were plenty entertaining, but the plot and characters were wholly unoriginal. [2 smooches] 31. Pole Star by Josephine Myles: A free short story filled with two sexy main characters and tonnes of fun British-isms. [3 smooches] 32. Southern Winterland (By Degrees 0.5) by Taylor V. Donovan: A sweet, sexy introduction to the By Degrees universe that made me feel for the characters and want to get to know them more. [3 smooches] 33. Ten in the Bin by N.R. Walker: Classic Walker, this short story was sinfully sweet and left me with a massive case of the warm fuzzies. [4 smooches] 34. Quid Pro Quo (Market Garden #1) by L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov: The first in a series of short stories about rent boys, Quid Pro Quo was scorching hot. [4 smooches] 35. Three’s Company by N.R. Walker: This super sexy menage novel felt like a brand new Walker too me; more raunchy than sweet, it took a little getting used to. [3.5 smooches] 36. Str8te Boys by Evangeline Anderson: A super fun, super hot, way over-the-top short story about two “str8te boys” playing “gay chicken” and falling in love. [3.5 smooches] 37. Someday It Will Be by S.A. McAuley: This short story was beautiful – poetic, even – but it fucking destroyed me emotionally. [5 smooches] 38. Taxes and TARDIS by N.R. Walker: Another solidly cute, opposites attract-type novella from Walker, but it was missing just a little bit of the spark that I love about her work. [3 smooches] 39. Physical Chemistry by Jana Downs: For me, this short story blew hot and cold so often in the beginning it gave me whiplash and the whole thing ended up feeling amateurish and clunky. [2 smooches] 40. Professor’s Keeper by Nicole Dennis: A cute short story about an unlikely couple, but between the insta-love and the fact that the voice of Rhys was inconsistent (flip-flopping between extremely proper and good ‘ole boy), it had some definite issues. [2 smooches] 41. The Boy Who Belonged by Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock: A delicious second helping of Lane and Derek that was incredibly loving and sweet, but spicy enough to push me out of my comfort zone as a reader (unsurprisingly from these two talented authors). [4 smooches] 42. Red Dirt Heart by N.R. Walker: A fantastic novella that transported me to the heart of the Australian Outback, introduced me to two amazing new men, and wrapped me up with warmth and acceptance and love. My favourite N.R. Walker title to date. [5 smooches] 43. Cinder: A Cinderfella Story by Marie Sexton: This fantastic twisted fairy tale was a light, sweet, FUN retelling of an old classic that gave me the expected happily ever after in a completely unexpected way. [4 smooches] 44. The Broken Road Cafe (The Broken Road Cafe #1) by T. A. Webb: In terms of plot, characters, and writing, this book was a bit of a mess (and the “cliffhanger” ending was both lackluster and frustrating). [2 smooches] 45. The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick: A wonderfully written YA novel about high school, bullying, identity, the consequences of our actions, love, and forgiveness, this book is at times confusing, funny, heart-wrenching and inspiring. [4.5 smooches] 46. Sno Ho (Sno Ho #1) by Ethan Day: A charming short story that had tonnes of laughs, throw-me-up-against-a-wall sex, and some surprisingly sweet moments. [4 smooches]