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Sunday, November 27, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Movie Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
Directed By: David Yates (II)
Written By: J.K. Rowling
Nov 18, 2016
132 minutes
Rating: PG-13 (for some fantasy action violence.)
Genre: Action & Adventure , Kids & Family , Science Fiction & Fantasy
Rating: PG-13 (for some fantasy action violence.)
Genre: Action & Adventure , Kids & Family , Science Fiction & Fantasy
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton The magic of Harry Potter lives on in this Warner Bros. spin-off penned by {J.K. Rowling}, and intended as the first chapter in a whole new fantasy film franchise. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
I've read the Harry Potter books and seen all the movies, but I haven't read the Fantastic Beasts book. So I went into this movie without expectations. I went with my husband, 15 year old daughter (never read the books or seen the movies! I know, right?!) and her boyfriend (big Potter fan).
It started slow...lots of CGI and crazy looking creatures. I felt like they tried to hard, but then it went dark...quick and things got interesting. By the end of the movie I was ready for the next one and invested in the characters. The movie will make you cheer and tear up. The acting was excellent and there is a surprise actor revealed in the end who I assume wil be in the next film. Maybe you've already heard who this is, but I'm not giving it away.
This film is one that is worth seeing in the theater. We saw it in IMAX, but not 3D. You don't have to be a Harry Potter fan to enjoy the story and characters.
Our ratings:
Holly & Hunter: 5 sheep
Don: 4 sheep (because of the slow start)
SharonS: 4.5 "fantastic" Sheep
I've read the Harry Potter books and seen all the movies, but I haven't read the Fantastic Beasts book. So I went into this movie without expectations. I went with my husband, 15 year old daughter (never read the books or seen the movies! I know, right?!) and her boyfriend (big Potter fan).
It started slow...lots of CGI and crazy looking creatures. I felt like they tried to hard, but then it went dark...quick and things got interesting. By the end of the movie I was ready for the next one and invested in the characters. The movie will make you cheer and tear up. The acting was excellent and there is a surprise actor revealed in the end who I assume wil be in the next film. Maybe you've already heard who this is, but I'm not giving it away.
This film is one that is worth seeing in the theater. We saw it in IMAX, but not 3D. You don't have to be a Harry Potter fan to enjoy the story and characters.
Our ratings:
Holly & Hunter: 5 sheep
Don: 4 sheep (because of the slow start)
SharonS: 4.5 "fantastic" Sheep
Friday, November 25, 2016
Book Review: The Haunting of Hotel LaBelle by Sharon Buchbinder
by Sharon Buchbinder
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Fantasy
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
November 16, 2016
Print ISBN 978-1-5092-1153-1
Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-1154-8
Number of pages: 198
Word Count: 48,000
Cover Artist: Rae Monet
The past meets the present when a curse turn-of-the-century man meets a feisty modern day woman.
When hotel inspector, Tallulah Thompson, is called in along with her pug, Franny, to investigate renovation delays, she meets an extremely annoyed and dapper turn-of-the-century innkeeper. The only problem is he’s in limbo, neither dead nor alive, and Tallulah and the pug are the first to see him in a hundred years.
Cursed by a medicine woman, “Love ‘em and Leave ‘em Lucius” Stewart is stuck between worlds until he finds his true love and gives her his heart. When he first sees Tallulah, he doesn’t know what he’s feeling. Yet, her stunning beauty, and feisty attitude pull him in.
With the fate of Hotel LaBelle on the line, Tallulah with the help of a powerful medicine woman turns Lucius back into a flesh and blood man. She and Lucius team up to save the hotel, but Tallulah can't help but wonder if he will ever let go of his past love and learn to love again.
Tallulah Thompson is a hotel consultant with a sixth sense. Called to Hotel LaBelle in Billings Montana by its fledgling proprietor, Tallulah and her pug companion set out to discover why the historic hotel is an ever-expanding money pit. Tallulah soon finds the Hotel LaBelle is supernaturally inhabited by its original owner, Lucius Stewart, who disappeared from the hotel in 1905. As Tallulah attempts to assist both owners, past and present, she finds herself romantically drawn to Lucius, a presence only she can see…and feel.
This book is a quaint little tale with a lot of heart. Tallulah and Lucius’ love story is charming and romantic. The author’s diligent research into Native American customs and lore comes across beautifully throughout story. I liked how Lucius’ life, and demise, was interwoven with the indigenous people of area. I recommend this book to anyone who likes their paranormal romance on the sweet, slightly chaste side. The humour and dialogue was a little corny and Tallulah a little too prim for my taste. I just can’t relate to someone who wears flannel nightgowns and shawls. Her attire catches Lucius’ lustful eye, but he’s like, 150. Because I prefer my books with a little more grit and grind, I didn’t wholly connect with the characters and their story.
Three Sheep
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
November 16, 2016
Print ISBN 978-1-5092-1153-1
Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-1154-8
Number of pages: 198
Word Count: 48,000
Cover Artist: Rae Monet
The past meets the present when a curse turn-of-the-century man meets a feisty modern day woman.
When hotel inspector, Tallulah Thompson, is called in along with her pug, Franny, to investigate renovation delays, she meets an extremely annoyed and dapper turn-of-the-century innkeeper. The only problem is he’s in limbo, neither dead nor alive, and Tallulah and the pug are the first to see him in a hundred years.
Cursed by a medicine woman, “Love ‘em and Leave ‘em Lucius” Stewart is stuck between worlds until he finds his true love and gives her his heart. When he first sees Tallulah, he doesn’t know what he’s feeling. Yet, her stunning beauty, and feisty attitude pull him in.
With the fate of Hotel LaBelle on the line, Tallulah with the help of a powerful medicine woman turns Lucius back into a flesh and blood man. She and Lucius team up to save the hotel, but Tallulah can't help but wonder if he will ever let go of his past love and learn to love again.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/OB-RseyCWyM
Tallulah Thompson is a hotel consultant with a sixth sense. Called to Hotel LaBelle in Billings Montana by its fledgling proprietor, Tallulah and her pug companion set out to discover why the historic hotel is an ever-expanding money pit. Tallulah soon finds the Hotel LaBelle is supernaturally inhabited by its original owner, Lucius Stewart, who disappeared from the hotel in 1905. As Tallulah attempts to assist both owners, past and present, she finds herself romantically drawn to Lucius, a presence only she can see…and feel.
This book is a quaint little tale with a lot of heart. Tallulah and Lucius’ love story is charming and romantic. The author’s diligent research into Native American customs and lore comes across beautifully throughout story. I liked how Lucius’ life, and demise, was interwoven with the indigenous people of area. I recommend this book to anyone who likes their paranormal romance on the sweet, slightly chaste side. The humour and dialogue was a little corny and Tallulah a little too prim for my taste. I just can’t relate to someone who wears flannel nightgowns and shawls. Her attire catches Lucius’ lustful eye, but he’s like, 150. Because I prefer my books with a little more grit and grind, I didn’t wholly connect with the characters and their story.
Three Sheep
Bianca Greenwood
Excerpt:
A book flew at his head—and sailed through him, bouncing off the wall and landing on the floor.
Mouth agape, the woman stared from him to the book and back to him again. “You’re a ghost.”
“Not exactly. Shall we start over?” He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “After a hundred years of being invisible to everyone except you, I’d like to know who you are and what you’re doing here.”
“Of course. Why not? Could today get any weirder?” She sank into the desk chair, shook her head, and sighed. “My name is Tallulah Thompson. I’m a hotel inspector, hired by the current owner as a consultant to find out why the renovations are delayed and what he needs to do to fix it. He’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.”
“What tribe are you?”
She jerked her head up and those doggone lapis lazuli eyes of hers sparked as if she’d strike him with lightning and kill him with one look. “No one asks that. It’s not politically correct.”
“Well, I guess you haven’t been talking to the right people. And I don’t know what you mean by that last part. I’ve never been involved in politics.”
“Nowadays, it’s considered rude to ask about another person’s national origins.” She threw her hands up. “Why am I giving a ghost an etiquette lesson? What am I thinking?”
Mouth agape, the woman stared from him to the book and back to him again. “You’re a ghost.”
“Not exactly. Shall we start over?” He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “After a hundred years of being invisible to everyone except you, I’d like to know who you are and what you’re doing here.”
“Of course. Why not? Could today get any weirder?” She sank into the desk chair, shook her head, and sighed. “My name is Tallulah Thompson. I’m a hotel inspector, hired by the current owner as a consultant to find out why the renovations are delayed and what he needs to do to fix it. He’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.”
“What tribe are you?”
She jerked her head up and those doggone lapis lazuli eyes of hers sparked as if she’d strike him with lightning and kill him with one look. “No one asks that. It’s not politically correct.”
“Well, I guess you haven’t been talking to the right people. And I don’t know what you mean by that last part. I’ve never been involved in politics.”
“Nowadays, it’s considered rude to ask about another person’s national origins.” She threw her hands up. “Why am I giving a ghost an etiquette lesson? What am I thinking?”
About the Author:
website-FB-Twitter
Instagram-Pinterest
Blog-Goodreads
Newsletter
Sharon Buchbinder has been writing fiction since middle school and has the rejection slips to prove it. An RN, she provided health care delivery, became a researcher, association executive, and obtained a PhD in Public Health. When not teaching or writing, she can be found fishing, walking her dogs, or breaking bread and laughing with family and friends in Baltimore, MD and Punta Gorda, FL.
Instagram-Pinterest
Blog-Goodreads
Newsletter
Sharon Buchbinder has been writing fiction since middle school and has the rejection slips to prove it. An RN, she provided health care delivery, became a researcher, association executive, and obtained a PhD in Public Health. When not teaching or writing, she can be found fishing, walking her dogs, or breaking bread and laughing with family and friends in Baltimore, MD and Punta Gorda, FL.
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Thursday, November 24, 2016
Spotlight: The Time Series by Lily Morgan
Time Eternal - Book One
by Lily Morgan
October 2, 2014
Hartwood Publishing Group
227 pages
Time Eternal is the story of Skyla Gray, a TSCAA agent in the present day, and Rei Dusan, the crown prince of the sixteenth-century Serbian Empire, who has traded his soul to the gods so he can travel through time to find his one true love, Elizabeth Magini.
The story opens with Agent Gray time-ported to an underground bank vault. Her mission is to retrieve a device, but someone else has gotten there first. More maddening is that she recognizes this man’s voice even though she cannot remember ever having met him before. Sent back to the present day by this stranger, she finds the life she knew slowly beginning to unravel…and learns that the stranger is not the only one who has been looking for her these past five centuries.
At the Last Battle, Rei Dusan lay dying alongside his father, his brothers, and his countrymen, when a handmaiden from the gods offered him a bargain: his soul and his eternal pledge to do the gods’ bidding in exchange for immortality. With his life, he will avenge his family, his country, and his beloved Elizabeth, who sacrificed her life to save his. He accepted the bargain with the gods only to later discover Elizabeth did not perish in the fire.
Will Skyla remember who she really is? What Rei meant to her—to Elizabeth? Will she accept Rei in her present life, where she is no longer a helpless young girl needing rescue from an evil Medici lord, but an ass-kicking agent fighting terrorists for a living? And how will Rei answer to the gods when they find out he has defied their orders? Will there be a happily ever after for Rei and Skyla?
Time Eternal is the first book of the Time series, which tells the story of the men and women who are part of a secret government agency, fighting not garden-variety terrorists but the gods and their enemies, who are facing off in a final showdown. Should their wars not be contained, the world will go up in flames—literally.
Time Untamed - Book Two
Hartwood Publishing Group
227 pages
Time Eternal is the story of Skyla Gray, a TSCAA agent in the present day, and Rei Dusan, the crown prince of the sixteenth-century Serbian Empire, who has traded his soul to the gods so he can travel through time to find his one true love, Elizabeth Magini.
The story opens with Agent Gray time-ported to an underground bank vault. Her mission is to retrieve a device, but someone else has gotten there first. More maddening is that she recognizes this man’s voice even though she cannot remember ever having met him before. Sent back to the present day by this stranger, she finds the life she knew slowly beginning to unravel…and learns that the stranger is not the only one who has been looking for her these past five centuries.
At the Last Battle, Rei Dusan lay dying alongside his father, his brothers, and his countrymen, when a handmaiden from the gods offered him a bargain: his soul and his eternal pledge to do the gods’ bidding in exchange for immortality. With his life, he will avenge his family, his country, and his beloved Elizabeth, who sacrificed her life to save his. He accepted the bargain with the gods only to later discover Elizabeth did not perish in the fire.
Will Skyla remember who she really is? What Rei meant to her—to Elizabeth? Will she accept Rei in her present life, where she is no longer a helpless young girl needing rescue from an evil Medici lord, but an ass-kicking agent fighting terrorists for a living? And how will Rei answer to the gods when they find out he has defied their orders? Will there be a happily ever after for Rei and Skyla?
Time Eternal is the first book of the Time series, which tells the story of the men and women who are part of a secret government agency, fighting not garden-variety terrorists but the gods and their enemies, who are facing off in a final showdown. Should their wars not be contained, the world will go up in flames—literally.
$.99 Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.to/2fLiOPG
by Lily Morgan
September 3, 2015
170 pages
Hartwood Publishing
Benjamin "Butch" Stone, a member of TSCAA Team Mu, is a former US Marine who has no family, no love except for his country, and his missions until he meets Savannah Green by chance at a bar in Germany. His attraction to her is instantaneous and combustible. They spend a gorgeous night together. When Savannah gets pregnant shortly after, he doesn’t hesitate to marry her. He thought this was his fairytale ending—a beautiful wife and rambunctious son—until a house fire, rips them away from him. The tragic news reaches him while he is in some godforsaken place, saving his country when he can’t even save his wife and young child. His heart and soul died that day.
Savannah Sabbah, also known as Savannah Green, is a part of an ancient order of assassins historians believe ceased existence in the thirteenth century. Her first assignment is to seduce a US serviceman for military secrets, but she falls hopelessly in love with her mark instead. When her father recalls her back to the family, she is ordered to destroy all evidence of her existence in her husband's life. She defies her family's orders and hides her son away. Yet this secret could be the end of her, her husband, and possibly the world.
Once again, TSCAA must go back in time to stop an alteration of history, to prevent a "contract to kill" on Jack Evans when he is still a boy. Jack will grow up to be the lead passenger, staging the counter attack inside UA Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Should Butch and his team fail in protecting Jack, the present they know will be drastically different. World War III is almost guaranteed. But how can he trust the woman he loved with all his heart and soul when she deliberately deceived him, not only about who she really is but also about their son?
Will Butch and Savannah be able to overcome their distrust of each other? Will they be able to fight against their still-sizzling connection in order to remain cool-headed against her ruthless father and powerful family?
Amazon-FB-Twitter
Instagram-BookBub
Goodreads
Lily has spent her entire adult life working for several Fortune 500 companies, but has always dreamed about being a writer. Her first encounter with “Anna Karenina” in college was love at first read. Throughout her corporate career, Lily never truly let go of that first love and eventually garnered enough courage to try her hand at writing. And it was the most amazing and fun experience she’s had in a long, long while. As any happily-ever-after story should go, the rest is history.
September 3, 2015
170 pages
Hartwood Publishing
Benjamin "Butch" Stone, a member of TSCAA Team Mu, is a former US Marine who has no family, no love except for his country, and his missions until he meets Savannah Green by chance at a bar in Germany. His attraction to her is instantaneous and combustible. They spend a gorgeous night together. When Savannah gets pregnant shortly after, he doesn’t hesitate to marry her. He thought this was his fairytale ending—a beautiful wife and rambunctious son—until a house fire, rips them away from him. The tragic news reaches him while he is in some godforsaken place, saving his country when he can’t even save his wife and young child. His heart and soul died that day.
Savannah Sabbah, also known as Savannah Green, is a part of an ancient order of assassins historians believe ceased existence in the thirteenth century. Her first assignment is to seduce a US serviceman for military secrets, but she falls hopelessly in love with her mark instead. When her father recalls her back to the family, she is ordered to destroy all evidence of her existence in her husband's life. She defies her family's orders and hides her son away. Yet this secret could be the end of her, her husband, and possibly the world.
Once again, TSCAA must go back in time to stop an alteration of history, to prevent a "contract to kill" on Jack Evans when he is still a boy. Jack will grow up to be the lead passenger, staging the counter attack inside UA Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Should Butch and his team fail in protecting Jack, the present they know will be drastically different. World War III is almost guaranteed. But how can he trust the woman he loved with all his heart and soul when she deliberately deceived him, not only about who she really is but also about their son?
Will Butch and Savannah be able to overcome their distrust of each other? Will they be able to fight against their still-sizzling connection in order to remain cool-headed against her ruthless father and powerful family?
$2.99 Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.to/2eO3kK9
About the Author:
Instagram-BookBub
Goodreads
Lily has spent her entire adult life working for several Fortune 500 companies, but has always dreamed about being a writer. Her first encounter with “Anna Karenina” in college was love at first read. Throughout her corporate career, Lily never truly let go of that first love and eventually garnered enough courage to try her hand at writing. And it was the most amazing and fun experience she’s had in a long, long while. As any happily-ever-after story should go, the rest is history.
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