TTT - Things That Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book!

This top 10 weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and can be found HERE.  Each week they focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading. This week I'm sharing with you things that make me instantly want to read a book!

So what makes you instantly want to read a book???

I Need More Bandit and Driller - Descenders Vol. 2 Review

TITLE: Descenders Vol. 2
AUTHOR: Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PUBLISHING DATE: May 4, 2016

FROM GOODREADS: Young robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all the androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet.

MY THOUGHTS:  This is a great continuation to Vol. 1 and I'm really enjoying this science fiction tale.  TIM-21 and TIM-22 escape with Telsa and Dr. Quon to Hardwire, except they are forced to leave Driller and Bandit which just happen to be my two favorite characters.  TIM-21 still just wants to find Andy and the reader finally gets to meet Andy, who once he learns TIM-21 is still alive, starts his search for him with the some help from Bandit and Driller, who he rescues.  This volume also introduces the reader briefly to Andy's ex-wife who is an interesting character to say the least.

The artwork continues to be great and in this volume, some of the panels are done with a texture which resembles watercolor paper which is a really nice effect.  I have to admit I enjoyed Volume 1 a tad more than this one but it's still a strong series and I plan on continuing on with it as soon as I can locate the next volume at my local library.

RATING: 3 PAWS

Duels & Deception Blog Tour

Duels and Deception
Cindy Anstey
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: April 11th 2017
Genres: Historical, Romance, Young Adult

Miss Lydia Whitfield, heiress to the family fortune, has her future entirely planned out. She will run the family estate until she marries the man of her late father’s choosing, and then she will spend the rest of her days as a devoted wife. Confident in those arrangements, Lydia has tasked her young law clerk, Mr. Robert Newton, to begin drawing up the marriage contracts. Everything is going according to plan.
Until Lydia—and Robert along with her—is kidnapped. Someone is after her fortune and won’t hesitate to destroy her reputation to get it. With Robert’s help, Lydia strives to keep her family’s good name intact and expose whoever is behind the devious plot. But as their investigation delves deeper and their affections for each other grow, Lydia starts to wonder whether her carefully planned future is in fact what she truly wants…

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

Author Bio:
Whenever she is not sitting at the computer, throwing a ball in the backyard, gardening or reading, Cindy can be found–actually, not found–adventuring around the world with her hubby.
She has lived on three continents, had a monkey in her yard and a scorpion under her sink, dwelt among castles and canals, enjoyed the jazz of Beale St and attempted to speak French.
Cindy loves history, mystery and… a chocolate Labrador called Chester. Love, Lies and Spies is her debut novel.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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MY THOUGHTS: I found "Duel & Deception" to be a really cute read and am so glad I picked it up.  Lydia's father passed away a few years ago and although she is not quite 18 yet, she is basically in charge of the family estate.  While her drunken uncle has been named executor until she becomes of age, he is the brightest of chaps and left alone, would quickly run the estate into the ground. Lydia is set to marry Lord Ashterton, a neighbor who doesn't necessarily have the money, but does hold the status, and together run both neighboring estates.  However, while this plan was fine with Lydia in the past, once she meets her lawyer's new apprentice, Robert Newton, she starts to question if she is marrying for all the wrong reasons.  In addition, throw in a kidnapping, a lot of deception and foul play, and a few ornery and despicable characters and Anstey creates a fun historical romp.

One of my favorite things about "Duels & Deception" is the characters.  Lydia is definitely not the quiet, passive refined individual someone in her position should be and she almost always speaks her mind.  She is also as smart as a tack because she manages to accomplish things yet maintain propriety and make it look like she is the mild-manner lady-in-waiting society expects.  I loved the interaction between her and Mr. Newton as well.  I will say that I quite easily figured out the main mystery part of the novel, yet so many other things were playing out that it was just as exciting even though I was aware.

If you enjoy historical novels and don't mind a little bit of romance, then you'll probably find "Duels & Deception" to be of some interest.  Anstey's writing is smooth and easy and every time I set the book down, I found myself picking it back up to read just a little bit more.  I haven't yet read her first book, "Love, Lies & Spies" but definitely plan on doing so in the future.

I received a copy of "Duels & Deception" from Xpresso Books Tours and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 4 Paws

Weekly Reads (04/14/17)

Hope everyone who celebrates the Easter holiday has a nice weekend ahead of them.  We aren't doing anything on a grand scheme but hope to enjoy some family time.  I have a three day weekend so I'm hoping that I can get a little more reading in than usual.  You will see coming up that I have an ambitious stack planned.  Mr. Barb has three more weeks until graduation so he's on the homestretch with classes.  Also, Booker T and Cass are enjoying the Spring weather we've had this week and I'm hoping to get some pictures taken of them over the weekend (especially since they are getting new Easter toys).

I'm still watching "13 Reasons Why" on Netflix and have 3 episodes left.  I think it's really well done and am amazed at how deeply it looks into how far bullying in high school can go and the results of such acts.  Mr. Barb and I watched "The Get Down: Part 2" last weekend. It was only 5 episodes and I didn't really like them as much as I did the first 6.  In fact, we kind of felt like we were watching two different shows.  We also rented "The Bye Bye Man" and man, it was a colossal waste of time in my opinion.  There were a few jumpy parts but on the whole, we should have just skipped it.

So by now everyone who read my review for the new Prince book yesterday knows how much I loved it and how quickly I devoured it.  Since then, I've moved on to a few new books so here's what's up next on the stack.  I really can't hold off on reading "About A Dog" much longer and I should be able to knock out the graphic novels as well.

So everyone be safe this coming week and hope you get to spend lots of time doing what you want to do.  As always, I appreciate you stopping by The Farm.

So Prince Wasn't Perfect, But I Still Love Him (The Most Beautiful Review)

TITLE: The Most Beautiful: My Life With Prince
AUTHOR: Mayte Garcia
PUBLISHER: Hachette Books
PUBLISHING DATE: April 4, 2017

FROM GOODREADS: In The Most Beautiful, a title inspired by the hit song Prince wrote about their legendary love story, Mayte Garcia for the first time shares the deeply personal story of their relationship and offers a singular perspective on the music icon and their world together: from their unconventional meeting backstage at a concert (and the long-distance romance that followed), to their fairy-tale wedding (and their groundbreaking artistic partnership), to the devastating losses that ultimately dissolved their romantic relationship for good. Throughout it all, they shared a bond more intimate than any other in Prince's life. No one else can tell this story or can provide a deeper, more nuanced portrait of Prince--both the famously private man and the pioneering, beloved artist--than Mayte, his partner during some of the most pivotal personal and professional years of his career. The Most Beautiful is a book that will be returned to for decades, as Prince's music lives on with generations to come.

MY THOUGHTS: So I have to be honest here. Going into this book I had a preconceived notion that Mayte Garcia was only writing this book to capitalize on Prince's death and to taint his legacy in some way because anyone who knows anything about him knows he never would have allowed this book to come out if he were still alive. After quickly devouring this book and actually being sad to see it end, I can honestly say I think I was pretty much totally wrong.

"The Most Beautiful" really isn't a book about Prince. It's a book about Mayte who just happens to have fallen in love with one of the enigmatic celebrities of all time. Mayte grew up as an accomplished dancer. She perfected belly dancing and also took lots of ballet and was basically supporting herself financially by the time she was 14. Her parents were very supportive of her, but were dysfunctional at best. When she was young, she saw Prince on TV and in concert and immediately commented that she would one day marry him. Strangely enough, Prince made the same comment to someone when he first saw Mayte. Mayte started a friendship with Prince, centered around her dancing and his music, when she was young and once she became of legal age, it slowly developed into a relationship. Many aspects of their relationship are truly beautiful and they share quite a love story. However, like most relationships, things weren't always easy. Mayte and Prince tragically lost their son when he was born due to a horrible genetic disease and later on, Mayte miscarried again. Neither recovered from this loss and it did set the path for the destruction of their marriage a few years later.

So basically after reading this, I do believe Matye and Prince were soulmates. There is a lot of discussion in the book about previous lives and fate and the such and I think in their case, they may have had a point. However, even though Prince was Mayte's soulmate, I think he had one that took precedence over her - his career and persona. I do think she came a close second and I can't help but feel they still loved each other when he died (I know she did), but she was never able to fully compete with Prince himself for Prince's attention (confusing). I learned a few surprising things while reading this. First of all, Mayte wasn't the pushover I expected. She stood up to Prince several times in her lifetime and wasn't just some starstruck little brat. Secondly, her dog Mia saved her from overdosing and taking her life following the death of her son which is why she is so heavily involved in rescue work. And finally, Prince could be a jerk. Now I love Prince so that pains me to say. But in reality, he was only human so it's really no big revelation. Also, even though their marriage failed, it don't think it tarnished the beauty of their relationship for fans. Lots of celebrity marriages fail and I think it's often too much pressure for people in the limelight to endure.

I really did enjoy this book. I have a new respect for Mayte and while some of the book wasn't necessarily pretty, she didn't slam Prince of talk negatively about him - and believe me, she probably had reasons to do both at times. And I still love Prince just as much. This book showed me some of his flaws and I'm pretty sure that no matter how much I adore the man, given the chance (and come on, there was NO CHANCE!) I would have never started a relationship with him - gee, now my husband can sleep better at night ;) He was too controlling and he was a perfectionist. Everything in his life had to be perfect and I think it was physically painful for him when things and often people, didn't measure up to that standard.

If you are someone who likes Prince, this is a great book to pick up. Just go into it with an open mind. You'll read about a beautiful love story and I hope that if there is some justice in this world, Prince and Mayte will eventually meet up again and be able to continue their love story without all the other stuff thrown in and without millions of eyes watching.

RATING: 5 PAWS

 

Can't Wait Wednesday (102)

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

FROM GOOREADS: Being shunned by Society gives Charlotte Holmes the time and freedom to put her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. As “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” aided by the capable Mrs. Watson, she’s had great success helping with all manner of inquiries, but she’s not prepared for the new client who arrives at her Upper Baker Street office.

Lady Ingram, wife of Charlotte’s dear friend and benefactor, wants Sherlock Holmes to find her first love, who failed to show up at their annual rendezvous. Matters of loyalty and discretion aside, the case becomes even more personal for Charlotte as the missing man is none other than Myron Finch, her illegitimate half brother.

In the meanwhile, Charlotte wrestles with a surprising proposal of marriage, a mysterious stranger woos her sister Livia, and an unidentified body that surfaces where least expected. Charlotte’s investigative prowess is challenged as never before: Can she find her brother in time—or will he, too, end up as a nameless corpse somewhere in the belly of London?

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  I loved the first Lady Sherlock book, A Study in Scarlet Women, and am thrilled about the next installment.  Plus, isn't that an awesome cover??? 

What book can't you wait for this week???

Wildwood Cover Reveal

I was contacted by a publicist asking if I was interested in doing a cover reveal post today and while I was initially hesitant because it seems like I've done quite a few lately, I couldn't resist once I saw the cover.  So I'm pleased to present "Wildwood."

Tanzy Hightower is not crazy. At least that’s what she tells herself. She also tells herself that the shadows stalking her in the woods aren’t living, murderous beings. 

On her father’s death, Tanzy is swept up by the woods and the shadows that took him. She quickly realizes those monsters lurking in the dark now have their sights set on her. Neither Tanzy nor life as she knows it escapes unchanged when she is introduced to a world…unseen. 

Two strangers seem too willing to help her navigate her new reality: Vanessa Andrews, a doctor’s trophy wife with a southern drawl, and Lucas, a quiet, scarred man with timing that borders on either perfect or suspect. But Tanzy has secrets of her own. Desperate for answers and revenge, Tanzy must put her faith in their hands as her past comes calling and the shadows close in.

With wild blood coursing through her veins, will Tanzy’s choices shed light on the shadows of her past, or will they bring forth the darkness within her?

About Jadie Jones: 

I wrote my first book in seventh grade, filling one hundred and four pages of a black and white Mead notebook. Back then I lived for two things: horses and R.L. Stine books. Fast forward nearly twenty years, and I still work with horses, and hoard books like most women my age collect shoes. Its amazing how much changes... and how much stays the same.

The dream of publishing a novel has hitch-hiked with me down every other path I've taken (and there have been many.) Waitress, farm manager, road manager, bank teller, speech writer, retail, and more. But that need to bring pen to paper refused to quiet. Finally, in 2009, I sat down, pulled out a brand new notebook, and once again let the pictures in my head become words on paper.

As a child, my grandfather would sit me in his lap and weave tales about the Cherokee nation, and a girl who belonged with horses. His words painted a whole new world, and my mind would take flight. My hope - my dream - is that Tanzy's journey does the same for you.

Confession time: Jadie Jones is not my name. It's a pen name I created to honor two fantastic women who didn't get the chance to live out their professional dreams. First, my grandmother - a mother of four during post World War II America, who wanted to be a journalist so bad that even now when she talks about it, her blue eyes mist and she lifts her chin in silent speculation. And second, a dear friend's mother who left this world entirely too soon. To Judy Dawn and Shirley Jones, Jadie Jones is for you. It's been a pleasure getting to know her.