#katie bookshelf tour when

[nataliedanovelist]

GF & MvsM - Wanna Talk About Dinos?

This crossover was inevitable. It just works too well. Maybe one day i’ll write a fic about how the folks at Gravity Falls handled the robot-apocalypse. Probably shrugged it off. “Eh. We’ve had worse.” Haha! What if Stan and Ford, cuz they were out sailing, had no clue what happened and when they came back they were like, “Wait, what?”

For now, please enjoy this fic of Aaron making a new friend...

(credit goes to @stephreynaart for her OC Jacob) ~~~~~~~~~~ “Hi, would you like to talk to me about dinosaurs?”

Aaron asked this question more times than he could keep track of, but that wasn’t going to stop him from asking it. It started as a dare from his big sister two years ago, but now it’s a fun hobby. When fifth grade isn’t overwhelming him, scaring him with mountains of homework and horror stories about how hard middle school is going to be, and when he’s run out of YouTube videos to catch up on, he is on the hunt for fellow giant-lizard-lovers like a hungry Ceratosaurus.

“No, okay bye.” But it did get a little tiring to always cross out names and phone-numbers on the phone book with red ink. Hey, a dinosaur of a way to find phone-numbers was appropriate. He read the next number, dialed it, and after a ring or two he asked, “How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs? No, okay thank you.”

Aaron crossed out another name and sighed, taking a break since he reached the end of a line of numbers. Maybe he should just be grateful for Abbey and accept that no one else wants to talk about the Jurassic Period. Or the Cretaceous Period. Or the Triassic Period. But then a big, old, gray-tinted ad distracted him. He grinned, thinking it would at least be fun to give them a call, and he dialed the number.

Private home phone-numbers were fun, but businesses were also fun! Poor, bored workers would gladly talk to him rather than crabby Karens, and they got paid for it! So Aaron smiled as the phone rang, and he grinned when someone picked up.

“Thanks for calling the Mystery Shack, you’re talking to Mr. Mystery himself! How may I befuddle or bewilder you?”

“Hi! How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs?”

“Oh, dude! I’d love to, but I’m scheduled for a tour of the Oddity Museum in three minutes.” The man said, and Aaron grinned continuously, because it sounded like Mr. Mystery really wanted to talk with him about dinosaurs. “But hey! Can you hold on for one minute, I think I know a guy!”

“Yeah, sure mister!” And Aaron was greeted by the sound of a catchy jingle about buying t-shirts and mugs and snowglobes. He smiled and wiggled his feet along to the music as he looked outside at the beautiful late-fall afternoon, entertained while he waited.

~~~~~~~~~~

Soos was on the hunt. He planned out the house in his head. Abuelita was taking a nap upstairs, Melody was organizing the upcoming tour, and Stan took Jacob out for ice cream, so he might be…

The owner of the Shack grinned when he stopped at the doorway and saw the man he was looking for, sitting in Stan’s chair, reading a book.

“Uncle Ford!”

The old sailor smiled up at the young man. “Yes, wh-...”

“Do you think you could answer the phone for me? I have a tour and I think this customer’s request is right up your alley.”

“Uh… sure, but w-...”

“Thanks, you’re the best!” And Soos was gone before he could address Ford’s confusion.

Ford was a bit lost, having little to no business with business, but he had learned at this point to trust Soos, so he picked up the phone beside him and was immediately greeted with a sweet, “How would you like to talk with me about dinosaurs?”

Ford grinned and closed his book. “I would love to! All three periods are equally as fascinating to study, but the Triassic contains some of my favorite dinosaurs!”

A young voice gasped on the other line. “Mine, too! Everyone thinks the Jurassic period is so great, and it’s pretty cool, but the Triassic gave us Plateosaurus and the Brachiosaurus!”

“That’s very true! You know, it’s very interesting, maybe depictions don’t include feathers at all, which is a bit frustrating, but perhaps after the news has spread they will incorporate more feathers on merchandise and textbooks.”

“YES! That’s what I wanna do when I grow up, help draw better-accurate dinosaurs!”

~~~~~~~~~~

The phone rang on Sunday. The Shack was closed today, so Stan lazily answered it and was greeted with, “Wanna talk about dinosaurs?”

“Sixer, phone for you!”

Ford ran into the living room, elbowed his twin out of the chair, and took the phone. “Hello again, Aaron! Now, where were we? Right, so Australopithecus. … No, I don’t think… Oh! No, homo habilis was erect, Australopithecus was never fully erect.”

“Maybe he was nervous.” Stan groaned, getting to his feet.

Ford shot him a look as thankfully the young boy on the other end didn’t catch that and happily shared some more fun-facts about homo habilis.

~~~~~~~~~~

While most college students were excited for Spring Break so they could get drunk or lose their virginity, Katie was excited because her family had planned a special secret roadtrip. She was careful to keep up with her family and talk to her parents and brother frequently, but Aaron had a hobby he wasn’t talking about that his parents found out and were thrilled about. Aaron had made another friend.

Rick and Katie did some research and the tourist attraction sounded right up their alley! In the middle of the woods, tons of weird stuff, and a fun roadtrip filled with diners and attractions. They decided to surprise Aaron, and they made up a lie that they would spend Spring Break in California with Katie so she could show her family around San Francisco, when in actuality they would be traveling up the state to the Redwood Highway and see the oddity place, and maybe even allow Aaron to meet his new pen-pal. Or, um, phone-pal.

So after bombarding Katie with hugs the Mitchells threw her luggage into the car and drove off. Aaron turned to Katie and excitingly asked, “So where are we going first? Can we go fix the Golden Gate bridge by painting it gold?”

Katie laughed and ruffled his hair. “Maybe later, right now I wanna show you guys this fun store right outside of town. Here, check out the videos I made for my classes!” And she pulled out some airpods and gave one to Aaron.

“Cool!”

Rick and Linda smirked at each other as they drove north. By the time they reached a little diner in Redding, CA, it was very clear to Aaron that they weren’t in San Francisco anymore. “Come on, just tell me where we’re going!” The boy begged as he fed Monchi a fry.

“The best kind of prizes are the surprises.” Linda quoted.

“Eric, Deborahbot5000, where are we going?”

“Sorry, Aaron, we cannot give that information.” Eric said, he and the other robot sitting politely in their seats, happy to be a part of the social interaction.

“Yes, Mother will bury us if we disobey.” Deborahbot said matter-of-factly.

“What?! No I won’t, sweeties.”

“Won’t you ground us?”

The family laughed and Aaron let the topic go; if he was honest, he loved a good surprise. The big family stopped in a motel just at the California-Oregon border, and the next morning after muffins and coffee and orange juice they were on the road again, passing dozens of trees that made Rick feel at home. Katie happily recorded the trip, trusted to be the documenter for another fun roadtrip, with hopefully not as much mortal peril.

Aaron watched as they left the highway for a simple road, and they passed a big sign. The boy gasped and caught what was happening. “No WAY! Really?!”

“You know, I hear this Mystery Shack even has a Sasquatch.” Rick commented while Linda pulled out a pamphlet from the glove box.

“It says here it’s full of odd things you’ll never see anywhere else, even a dinosaur footprint…”

“Wasn’t there a rumor of there being a Bottomless Pit?” Katie asked, pointing her camera at Aaron to get his reaction.

“Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!” Aaron cheered, hugging his Dad’s neck and kissing his Mom’s cheek.

“Hey, no worries, buddy.” Rick eased, fixing his shewed glasses. “We wanted to see this place, too!”

“Why don’t we eat a quick lunch and then we’ll take the backroad for the attraction? There’s a coupon in here for a diner made from a giant log!”

And so after being served by a pretty blonde teenager at Greasy’s, they drove through town to get to the backroad. Signs made them confident that they were going the correct way, as well as Eric and Deborahbot5000’s GPS. Then as they turned a corner, a big triangle-shaped building came into view. Aaron grinned at the giant sign with a missing letter. People were already leaving, arms full of souvenirs and one or two already wearing their new hats or t-shirts. Once Rick parked in the Free Parking Lot, Aaron spilled out of the car and ran for the shack, but he stopped.

Katie caught up to him and patted his back. “You cool, man?”

Aaron shrugged, holding his hands in front of him and his shoulders up to hide his face a bit. “I-I dunno… What if… What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Hey, I get it.” Katie admitted. “When I first met my friends I was really nervous. I had talked to them online for weeks and I was worried it wasn’t gonna be what it was all cracked up to be, but it was. Your system worked! You found another dino-lover! You earned this moment. Just take in a deep breath and be yourself, cuz you’re a pretty cool dude.”

Aaron smiled up at his big sister. “Thanks.”

Trusting Eric and Deborahbot5000 to watch Monchi and make sure he used the bathroom, the Mitchells went inside the shack. On the porch there was an ice cooler, a sign reading schedule times for tours of the Oddity Museum, a Help Wanted sign, and two rocking chairs with a game of checkers between them.

Inside the store a few customers filled up the gift shop, alongside t-shirts, snowglobes, a vending machine, a door beside ti that read Employees Only, a bookshelf full of comic on one side and old newspapers claiming alien sightings on the other, a fish tank holding a monkey-mermaid, and barrels full of spaceship keychains and dino claws. A new section called Camping Stuff caught Rick’s eye, selling backpacks, lanterns, flashlights, batteries, canteens, and compasses. Katie opened a comic called Lil’Stanley and laughed at the swears, taking a pic and sending it to her friends’ group chat. Linda looked into the barrel full of patches and grinned at all the fun designs, while Aaron stared happily at the mer-monkey.

The Employees Only door opened and closed and Rick watched as a man in a suit, fez, and eyepatch walked up to the lady at the register and kissed her cheek. The woman smiled lovingly and left while the guy who resembled a gopher checked a customer out. Rick waited until the buyer left to approach the register, leaning an arm on the counter.

“Welcome to the Mystery Shack, dude!”

“Thanks! So, this is gonna sound weird, but my son Aaron talks to a guy here about dinosaurs…”

“No way!” The owner interrupted excitedly. “Good to see you, dudes! I’m Mr. Mystery! Wow, you guys came a long way, huh?”

“Nah, only from California. My daughter is attending art school there.”

While the men chit-chatted and Linda joined them, Katie noticed a guy walking up to Aaron and looking at the mer-monkey. She smiled and tried to read the comic without being too nosy, but she kept her senses on her brother.

“Hm, quite fascinating, isn’t it?” The man in the blue hoodie said. “But I think my favorite is the fossilized footprint. Could be Nanuqsaurus hoglundi.”

“The Polar Bear Lizard?” Aaron clarified, touching his chin as he looked at the dino-print, his back to the man he was talking to. “Maybe, but they’re from Alaska. It’s possible plate tectonics did cause some fossils to be relocated here, but it could also be a Nanotyrannosaurus lancensis footprint.”

“The Dwarf Tyrant? Could very well be. Would you like to talk about dinosaurs after your tour?”

Aaron’s eyes widened as the voice was finally familiar to him. He turned and looked up to find an old man smiling up at him. He had fluffy gray hair with a white stripe running around his scalp, wrinkles by his eyes due to smiling, a cleft chin, glasses, and wore a blue hoodie with a maroon sweater underneath. His hands were behind his back and he smiled down at Aaron warmly, while the boy was jittery and overly-excited. He took in a sharp breath and had to fight every muscle to keep from leaping through the screen door. 

“H-H-Hi…” He peeped. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Y-Yeah, sure! I’d love to! I’m Aaron! Er, wait, you already knew that.” And he held out a hand to shake.

His phone-pal, Ford, chuckled and got on one knee to be eye-level. “Greeting, Aaron! It’s nice to formally meet you.”

Aaron shook his hand and noticed something. He had six fingers on his right hand. A quick glance told Aaron he also had six fingers on his left hand. Aaron grinned with sparkling eyes at his new friend, while the old sailor smiled warmly at the boy that reminds him of his niece and nephew when they were young.

[ucflibrary]

For the month of December, the UCF Libraries Bookshelf celebrates the favorite books of employees of the UCF Libraries. And you know a major thing about librarians? They love talking about their favorite books. The books listed below are some of the favorite non-fiction books we read in 2019.

Click on the link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the favorite non-fiction titles read in 2019 by UCF Library employees. These 30 books plus many, many more are also on display on the 2nd (main) floor of the John C. Hitt Library next to the bank of two elevators.

And if you find someone has checked the one you’re interested in out before you had a chance, did you know you can place an interlibrary loan and have another copy sent here for you? Click here for instructions on placing an interlibrary loan.

 A Mind at Play: how Claude Shannon invented the information age by Jimmy Soni In their second collaboration, biographers Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman present the story of Claude Shannon—one of the foremost intellects of the twentieth century and the architect of the Information Age, whose insights stand behind every computer built, email sent, video streamed, and webpage loaded. Claude Shannon was a groundbreaking polymath, a brilliant tinkerer, and a digital pioneer. In this elegantly written, exhaustively researched biography, Soni and Goodman reveal Claude Shannon’s full story for the first time. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 Battles for Freedom: the use and abuse of American history by Eric Foner In this collection of polemical pieces, Foner expounds on the relevance of Abraham Lincoln's legacy in the age of Obama and on the need for another era of Reconstruction. In addition to articles in which Foner calls out politicians and the powerful for their abuse and misuse of American history, Foner assesses some of his fellow leading historians of the late 20th century, including Richard Hofstadter, Howard Zinn and Eric Hobsbawm. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

 Because Internet: understanding the new rules of language by Gretchen McCulloch Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 Consider the Fork: a history of how we cook and eat by Bee Wilson Since prehistory, humans have braved sharp knives, fire, and grindstones to transform raw ingredients into something delicious--or at least edible. But these tools have also transformed how we consume, and how we think about, our food. Bee Wilson takes readers on a wonderful and witty tour of the evolution of cooking around the world, revealing the hidden history of objects we often take for granted. Blending history, science, and personal anecdotes, Wilson reveals how our culinary tools and tricks came to be and how their influence has shaped food culture today. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 Dopesick: dealers, doctors, and the drug company that addicted America by Beth Macy Through unsparing, compelling, and unforgettably humane portraits of families and first responders determined to ameliorate this epidemic, each facet of the crisis comes into focus. In these politically fragmented times, Beth Macy shows that one thing uniting Americans across geographic, partisan, and class lines is opioid drug abuse. But even in the midst of twin crises in drug abuse and healthcare, Macy finds reason to hope and ample signs of the spirit and tenacity that are helping the countless ordinary people ensnared by addiction build a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities. Suggested by Jeremy Lucas, Research & Information

 Elbert Parr Tuttle: chief jurist of the civil rights revolution by Anne Emanuel This is the first—and the only authorized—biography of Elbert Parr Tuttle (1897–1996), the judge who led the federal court with jurisdiction over most of the Deep South through the most tumultuous years of the civil rights revolution. By the time Tuttle became chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, he had already led an exceptional life. He had cofounded a prestigious law firm, earned a Purple Heart in the battle for Okinawa in World War II, and led Republican Party efforts in the early 1950s to establish a viable presence in the South. But it was the inter­section of Tuttle’s judicial career with the civil rights movement that thrust him onto history’s stage. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

 Ex Libris: confessions of a common reader by Anne Fadiman This witty collection of essays recounts a lifelong love affair with books and language. For Fadiman, as for many passionate readers, the books she loves have become chapters in her own life story. Writing with remarkable grace, she revives the tradition of the well-crafted personal essay, moving easily from anecdotes about Coleridge and Orwell to tales of her own pathologically literary family. As someone who played at blocks with her father's 22-volume set of Trollope ("My Ancestral Castles") and who only really considered herself married when she and her husband had merged collections ("Marrying Libraries"), she is exquisitely well equipped to expand upon the art of inscriptions, the perverse pleasures of compulsive proof-reading, the allure of long words, and the satisfactions of reading out loud. Suggested by Christina Wray, Teaching & Engagement

 From Here to Eternity: traveling the world to find the good death by Caitlin Doughty Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty set out to discover how other cultures care for the dead. In rural Indonesia, she watches a man clean and dress his grandfather's mummified body, which has resided in the family home for two years. In La Paz, she meets Bolivian natitas (cigarette-smoking, wish-granting human skulls), and in Tokyo she encounters the Japanese kotsuage ceremony, in which relatives use chopsticks to pluck their loved-ones' bones from cremation ashes. Doughty vividly describes decomposed bodies and investigates the world's funerary history. She introduces deathcare innovators researching body composting and green burial, and examines how varied traditions, from Mexico's Dias de los Muertos to Zoroastrian sky burial help us see our own death customs in a new light. Doughty contends that the American funeral industry sells a particular -- and, upon close inspection, peculiar -- set of 'respectful' rites: bodies are whisked to a mortuary, pumped full of chemicals, and entombed in concrete. She argues that our expensive, impersonal system fosters a corrosive fear of death that hinders our ability to cope and mourn. By comparing customs, she demonstrates that mourners everywhere respond best when they help care for the deceased and have space to participate in the process. Suggested by Katy Miller, Textbook Affordability

 Human Compatible: artificial intelligence and the problem of control by Stuart Russell Russell begins by exploring the idea of intelligence in humans and in machines. He describes the near-term benefits we can expect, from intelligent personal assistants to vastly accelerated scientific research, and outlines the AI breakthroughs that still have to happen before we reach superhuman AI. He also spells out the ways humans are already finding to misuse AI, from lethal autonomous weapons to viral sabotage. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 In Pieces by Sally Field With raw honesty and the fresh, pitch-perfect prose of a natural-born writer, and with all the humility and authenticity her fans have come to expect, Field brings readers behind-the-scenes for not only the highs and lows of her star-studded early career in Hollywood, but deep into the truth of her lifelong relationships--including her complicated love for her own mother. Suggested by Katie Kirwan, Acquisitions & Collections

 Inside of a Dog: what dogs see, smell, and know by Alexandra Horowitz Although not a formal training guide, this book has practical application for dog lovers interested in understanding why their dogs do what they do. With a light touch and the weight of science behind her, Alexandra Horowitz examines the animal we think we know best but may actually understand the least. This book is as close as you can get to knowing about dogs without being a dog yourself. Suggested by Kimberly Montgomery, Cataloging

 Life 3.0: being human in the age of artificial intelligence by Max Tegmark This book empowers you to join what may be the most important conversation of our time. It doesn’t shy away from the full range of viewpoints or from the most controversial issues—from superintelligence to meaning, consciousness and the ultimate physical limits on life in the cosmos. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 Longitude: the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time by Dava Sobel Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations hung on a resolution. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. This is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Suggested by Larry Cooperman, Research & Information

 Mindfulness: an eight-week plan for finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams and Danny Penman

The book is based on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). MBCT revolves around a straightforward form of mindfulness meditation which takes just a few minutes a day for the full benefits to be revealed. MBCT has been clinically proven to be at least as effective as drugs for depression and is widely recommended by US physicians and the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical. Suggested by Tina Buck, Acquisitions & Collections

 Oh, Florida!: How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country by Craig Pittman Florida. That name. That combination of sounds. Three simple syllables packing mixed messages. To some people, it’s a paradise. To others, it’s a punch line. As award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Craig Pittman shows, it's both of these and, more important, it’s a Petri dish, producing trends that end up influencing the rest of the country. This book embraces those contradictions and shows how they fit together to make this the most interesting state. Suggested by Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

 Packing for Mars: the curious science of life in the void by Mary Roach The best-selling author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. From the Space Shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule, Mary Roach takes us on the surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 Shortest Way Home: one mayor's challenge and a model for America's future by Pete Buttigieg Interweaving two narratives―that of a young man coming of age and a town regaining its economic vitality―Buttigieg recounts growing up in a Rust Belt city, amid decayed factory buildings and the steady soundtrack of rumbling freight trains passing through on their long journey to Chicagoland. Inspired by John F. Kennedy’s legacy, Buttigieg first left northern Indiana for red bricked Harvard and then studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, before joining McKinsey, where he trained as a consultant―becoming, of all things, an expert in grocery pricing. Then, Buttigieg defied the expectations that came with his pedigree, choosing to return home to Indiana and responding to the ultimate challenge of how to revive a once great industrial city and help steer its future in the twenty first century. Suggested by Jeremy Lucas, Research & Information

 Such a Lovely Little War: Saigon, 1961-63 by Marcelino Truong This riveting, beautifully produced graphic memoir tells the story of the early years of the Vietnam war as seen through the eyes of a young boy named Marco, the son of a Vietnamese diplomat and his French wife. The book opens in America, where the boy's father works for the South Vietnam embassy; there the boy is made to feel self-conscious about his otherness thanks to schoolmates who play war games against the so-called "Commies." The family is called back to Saigon in 1961, where the father becomes Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem's personal interpreter; as the growing conflict between North and South intensifies, so does turmoil within Marco's family, as his mother struggles to grapple with bipolar disorder. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

 The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis Michael Lewis’s brilliant narrative takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its own leaders. In Agriculture the funding of vital programs like food stamps and school lunches is being slashed. The Commerce Department may not have enough staff to conduct the 2020 Census properly. Over at Energy, where international nuclear risk is managed, it’s not clear there will be enough inspectors to track and locate black market uranium before terrorists do. Willful ignorance plays a role in these looming disasters. If your ambition is to maximize short-term gains without regard to the long-term cost, you are better off not knowing those costs. If you want to preserve your personal immunity to the hard problems, it’s better never to really understand those problems. Suggested by Brian Calhoun & Richard Harrison, Research & Information Services

 The Library Book by Susan Orlean On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who? Suggested by Rachel Mulvihill, Downtown

 The Life and Loves of E. Nesbit: Victorian iconoclast, children's author, and creator of The Railway Children by Eleanor Fitzsimons Edith Nesbit (1858–1924) is considered the first modern writer for children and the inventor of the children’s adventure story. Award-winning biographer Eleanor Fitzsimons uncovers the little-known details of her life, introducing readers to the Fabian Society cofounder and fabulous socialite who hosted legendary parties and had admirers by the dozen, including George Bernard Shaw. Through Nesbit’s letters and archival research, Fitzsimons reveals “E.” to have been a prolific lecturer and writer on socialism and shows how Nesbit incorporated these ideas into her writing, thereby influencing a generation of children—an aspect of her literary legacy never before examined. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson This classic work remains as fresh today as when it first appeared. Carson's writing teems with stunning, memorable images--the newly formed Earth cooling beneath an endlessly overcast sky; the centuries of nonstop rain that created the oceans; giant squids battling sperm whales hundreds of fathoms below the surface; and incredibly powerful tides moving 100 billion tons of water daily in the Bay of Fundy. Quite simply, she captures the mystery and allure of the ocean with a compelling blend of imagination and expertise. Suggested by Christina Wray, Teaching & Engagement

 The Sex Lives of Cannibals: adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost This book tells the hilarious story of what happens when Troost discovers that Tarawa is not the island paradise he dreamed of. Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles through relentless, stifling heat, a variety of deadly bacteria, polluted seas, toxic fish—all in a country where the only music to be heard for miles around is “La Macarena.” He and his stalwart girlfriend Sylvia spend the next two years battling incompetent government officials, alarmingly large critters, erratic electricity, and a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis); and contending with a bizarre cast of local characters, including “Half-Dead Fred” and the self-proclaimed Poet Laureate of Tarawa (a British drunkard who’s never written a poem in his life). Suggested by Katie Kirwan, Acquisitions & Collections

 The Source of Self-Regard: selected essays, speeches, and meditations by Toni Morrison The Source of Self-Regard is brimming with all the elegance of mind and style, the literary prowess and moral compass that are Toni Morrison's inimitable hallmark. It is divided into three parts: the first is introduced by a powerful prayer for the dead of 9/11; the second by a searching meditation on Martin Luther King Jr., and the last by a heart-wrenching eulogy for James Baldwin. In the writings and speeches included here, Morrison takes on contested social issues: the foreigner, female empowerment, the press, money, "black matter(s)," and human rights. She looks at enduring matters of culture: the role of the artist in society, the literary imagination, the Afro-American presence in American literature, and in her Nobel lecture, the power of language itself. And here too is piercing commentary on her own work and that of others, among them, painter and collagist Romare Bearden, author Toni Cade Bambara, and theater director Peter Sellars. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services

 The Collected Schizophrenias: essays by Esme Weijun Wang An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” but to those who wish to understand it as well. Opening with the journey toward her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, Wang discusses the medical community’s own disagreement about labels and procedures for diagnosing those with mental illness, and then follows an arc that examines the manifestations of schizophrenia in her life. In essays that range from using fashion to present as high-functioning to the depths of a rare form of psychosis, and from the failures of the higher education system and the dangers of institutionalization to the complexity of compounding factors such as PTSD and Lyme disease, Wang’s analytical eye, honed as a former lab researcher at Stanford, allows her to balance research with personal narrative. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services

 The War on Normal People: the truth about America's disappearing jobs and why universal basic income is our future by Andrew Yang Yang imagines a different future--one in which having a job is distinct from the capacity to prosper and seek fulfillment. At this vision's core is Universal Basic Income, the concept of providing all citizens with a guaranteed income-and one that is rapidly gaining popularity among forward-thinking politicians and economists. Yang proposes that UBI is an essential step toward a new, more durable kind of economy, one he calls "human capitalism." Suggested by Jeremy Lucas, Research & Information

 Trick Mirror: reflections on self-delusion by Jia Tolentino Jia Tolentino is a peerless voice of her generation, tackling the conflicts, contradictions, and sea changes that define us and our time. Now, in this dazzling collection of nine entirely original essays, written with a rare combination of give and sharpness, wit and fearlessness, she delves into the forces that warp our vision, demonstrating an unparalleled stylistic potency and critical dexterity. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services & Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

 Two Cheers for Democracy by E. M. Forster Essays that applaud democracy's toleration of individual freedom and self-criticism and deplore its encouragement of mediocrity. Suggested by Christina Wray, Teaching & Engagement

 Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: chasing fear and finding home in the great white north by Blair Braverman By turns funny and sobering, bold and tender, this book brilliantly recounts Braverman’s adventures in Norway and Alaska. Settling into her new surroundings, Braverman was often terrified that she would lose control of her dog team and crash her sled, or be attacked by a polar bear, or get lost on the tundra. Above all, she worried that, unlike the other, gutsier people alongside her, she wasn’t cut out for life on the frontier. But no matter how out of place she felt, one thing was clear: she was hooked on the North. On the brink of adulthood, Braverman was determined to prove that her fears did not define her—and so she resolved to embrace the wilderness and make it her own. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

 When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. This book chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. Suggested by Pat Tiberii, Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery Services

[collectorscorner]

CC Blogger - New Arrivals @ Collectors Corner : Wednesday 1/15/2020 Complete list of items shipping to the stores, some items may be limited in availability. If you see anything you want to purchase on the list and are not a subscription member at Collectors Corner, just contact us and let us know if you want an item held at the stores. email - collectorscornermd@comcast.net Subscription Membership & Free Membership Card : Collectors Corner's No Obligation (FREE) Membership Card or FREE (In Store) & ONLINE Subscription Membership saves you 10% Off ALL Bagged & Boarded Comic Book Back Issues, Board Games, Graphic Novels, Manga & Special Orders. Plus Never miss a comic again! Computerized and organized + you can add and cancel titles on your subscription list from home on your own time, or in the store when you pick up your comics at : Maryland's Coolest Stores! Since 2001. 3 Convenient Locations - CC PARKVILLE HQ 7911 Harford Rd Parkville, MD 21234 CC BALTIMORE - OUTPOST 403 North Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21201 CC BEL AIR - OUTPOST 17 N. Main St. Bel Air, MD 21014 www.collectorscornermd.com NEW ARRIVALS : Wednesday 1/15/2020 ABSTRACT STUDIOS Five Years #7, $$3.99 AC COMICS 21st Centurions #1, $$5.95 ACTION LAB ENTERTAINMENT Adventures Of Mickey And Maj Volume 1 Time Space Magic GN, $$8.99 Miranda Fantasyland Tour Guide GN, $$11.99 Nutmeg Volume 5 Spring The Good Dine Young TP, $$11.99 Princeless Volume 9 Love Yourself TP, $$14.99 AFTERSHOCK COMICS Descendent Volume 1 TP, $$16.99 Killer Groove Volume 1 TP, $$16.99 Midnight Vista #5, $$3.99 Orphan Age Volume 1 TP, $$16.99 AHOY COMICS Second Coming #6 (Of 6), $$3.99 ALTERNA COMICS Adventures Of Mr. Crypt And Baron Rat #3 (Of 3), $$1.50 Alterna Giants Blood Realm Volume 1 Dark Covenant, $$4.99 Alterna Giants Blood Realm Volume 2 Shadowed Kingdom, $$4.99 Alterna Giants The Mighty Mascots Volume 1, $$4.99 Cyko KO Volume 2 #3 (Of 3), $$1.50 Gods And Gears #2 (Of 4), $$1.50 ICYMI #11, $$0.99 ICYMI #12, $$0.99 It Came Out On A Wednesday #10, $$1.99 Midnight Mystery Volume 2 City Of Ghosts #4, $$1.50 Void Walker #2 (Of 4), $$1.50 Wicked Righteous Volume 2 #4 (Of 6), $$1.50 AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY PRODUCTIONS Rocky And Bullwinkle Seen On TV #2 (Cover A S. L. Gallant), $$3.99 Rocky And Bullwinkle Seen On TV #2 (Cover B Retro Animation Variant), $$9.99 Underdog And Pals #3 (Cover A Matt Hansel Hero Variant), $$3.99 Underdog And Pals #3 (Cover B Retro Animation Variant), $$9.99 ANDREWS MCMEEL Baby A Soppy Story GN, $$14.99 ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS Archie #710 (Archie And Katy Keene Part 1)(Cover A Laura Braga), $$3.99 Archie #710 (Archie And Katy Keene Part 1)(Cover B Francesco Francavilla), $$3.99 Archie #710 (Archie And Katy Keene Part 1)(Cover C Emanuela Lupacchino), $$3.99 Archie #710 (Archie And Katy Keene Part 1)(Cover D Paul Renaud), $$3.99 Archie #710 (Archie And Katy Keene Part 1)(Cover E Billy Tucci), $$3.99 ASPEN COMICS Michael Turner Art Edition The Best Of Michael Turner Featuring Fathom Soulfire Ekos (Cover A Michael Turner), $$5.99 Michael Turner Art Edition The Best Of Michael Turner Featuring Fathom Soulfire Ekos (Cover B Michael Turner), $AR AVATAR PRESS Warrior Nun Dora #3 (Cover A Daniel Gete), $$5.99 BIG FINISH Doctor Who Rose Tyler The Dimension Cannon Audio CD, $$63.99 Doctor Who The Eighth Doctor Ravenous 4 Audio CD, $$63.99 Doctor Who The Monthly Adventures Volume 257 Interstitial Feast Of Fear Audio CD, $$24.99 Torchwood Torchwood One Latter Days Audio CD, $$41.99 Torchwood Volume 31 Vigil Audio CD, $$16.99 BOOK PALACE Illustrators Magazine #28, $$24.99 Illustrators Special #5 (The Art Of Commando Comics), $$34.99 Illustrators Special #6 (The Art Of Brian Bolland), $$34.99 BOOM! STUDIOS Folklords #2 (Of 5)(Matt Kindt 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Ghosted In L.A. #7 (Cover A Siobhan Keenan), $$3.99 Ghosted In L.A. #7 (Cover B Sina Grace), $$3.99 Hellmouth #4 (Cover A Jenny Frison), $$3.99 Hellmouth #4 (Cover B Steve Morris Hellmouth Connecting Variant), $$3.99 Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal Age Of Resistance #5 (Cover A Mona Finden), $$3.99 Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal Age Of Resistance #5 (Cover B Kelly Matthews & Nichole Matthews), $$3.99 Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal Age Of Resistance #5 (Cover C Christian Ward), $AR Red Mother #1 (Danny Luckert 3rd Printing Variant Cover)(not verified by Diamond), $$3.99 Red Mother #2 (Cover A Jeremy Haun), $$3.99 Red Mother #2 (Cover B Jeremy Haun Red Variant), $AR Red Mother #2 (Cover C Toni Infante), $AR Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #27 (Cover A Eleonora Carlini), $$3.99 Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #27 (Cover B Amelia Vidal Album Variant), $$3.99 Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #27 (Cover C Miguel Mercado), $$3.99 Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #27 (Cover D Johanna The Mad Social Variant), $AR CAPSTONE PUBLISHING Stan Lee Get To Know The Comics Creator SC, $$7.95 CHAPTERHOUSE PUBLISHING Pitiful Human-Lizard Volume 3 Almost Getting There TP, $$19.99 CHARMZ Amy's Diary Volume 3 Moving On GN, $$9.99 CINEBOOK Route 66 List Volume 2 Missouri GN, $$11.95 Thorgal Volume 0 The Betrayed Sorceress And Almost Paradise GN, $$19.95 Valerian Volume 23 The Future Is Waiting GN, $$13.95 COMIC SHOP NEWS Comic Shop News #1700, $AR COMICMIX Ha.i.ley GN, $$19.99 His Name Is Savage Volume 1 GN, $$19.99 DAIKAIJU G-Fan #126, $$6.95 DARK HORSE COMICS Aliens Vs Predator Thicker Than Blood #2 (Of 4), $$3.99 Disney Frozen True Treasure #3 (Of 3)(Cover A Eduard Petrovich), $$3.99 Disney Frozen True Treasure #3 (Of 3)(Cover B Tommaso Renieri), $$3.99 Dragon Age Blue Wraith #1 (Of 3), $$3.99 Hellboy Winter Special 2019, $$3.99 Skulldigger And Skeleton Boy #2 (Of 6)(Cover A Tonci Zonjic), $$3.99 Skulldigger And Skeleton Boy #2 (Of 6)(Cover B James Harren), $$3.99 Steeple #5 (Of 5)(Cover A John Allison), $$3.99 Steeple #5 (Of 5)(Cover B Robert Ball), $$3.99 Tales From Harrow County Death's Choir #2 (Of 4)(Cover A Naomi Franquiz), $$3.99 Tales From Harrow County Death's Choir #2 (Of 4)(Cover B Tyler Crook), $$3.99 Trout Volume 2 The Hollowest Knock HC, $$19.99 DC COMICS Aquaman #56 (Cover A Brad Walker & Andrew Hennessy), $$3.99 Aquaman #56 (Cover B Skan), $AR Batman The Golden Age Volume 6 TP, $$39.99 Batman's Grave #4 (Of 12)(Cover A Bryan Hitch), $$3.99 Batman's Grave #4 (Of 12)(Cover B Jee-Hyung Lee), $AR Birds Of Prey Black Canary TP, $$19.99 Crisis On Infinite Earths Giant #1, $$4.99 Detective Comics #359 (Facsimile Edition), $$3.99 Dollar Comics Batman Adventures #12, $$1.00 Flash #86 (Cover A Rafael Sandoval & Jordi Tarragona), $$3.99 Flash #86 (Cover B Dustin Nguyen Card Stock Variant), $AR Flash Forward #5 (Of 6)(Cover A Evan Doc Shaner), $$3.99 Flash Forward #5 (Of 6)(Cover B In-Hyuk Lee), $AR Freedom Fighters #12 (Of 12), $$3.99 Green Lantern Legacy GN, $$9.99 Hellblazer Volume 22 Regeneration TP, $$29.99 He-Man And The Masters Of The Multiverse #3 (Of 6), $$3.99 Justice League Odyssey #17 (Cover A Jose Ladronn), $$3.99 Justice League Odyssey #17 (Cover B Ken Lashley), $AR Legion Of Super-Heroes #3 (Cover A Ryan Sook), $$3.99 Legion Of Super-Heroes #3 (Cover B Jim Cheung Card Stock Variant), $AR Low Low Woods #2 (Of 6)(Cover A Sam Wolfe Connelly), $$3.99 Low Low Woods #2 (Of 6)(Cover B Jenny Frison), $AR Lucifer #16, $$3.99 Nightwing #68 (Cover A Travis Moore), $$3.99 Nightwing #68 (Cover B Alan Quah), $AR Nightwing By Peter J. Tomasi TP, $$29.99 Question The Deaths Of Vic Sage #2 (Of 4)(Cover A Denys Cowan & Bill Sienkiewicz), $$6.99 Question The Deaths Of Vic Sage #2 (Of 4)(Cover B Eduardo Risso), $AR RWBY #4 (Of 7)(Cover A Sarah Stone), $$3.99 RWBY #4 (Of 7)(Cover B Stanley Artgerm Lau), $AR Scooby Apocalypse Volume 6 TP, $$16.99 Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #7 (Of 12)(Cover A Steve Lieber), $$3.99 Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #7 (Of 12)(Cover B Ben Oliver), $AR Teen Titans #38 (Cover A Bernard Chang), $$3.99 Teen Titans #38 (Cover B Khary Randolph), $AR DIAMOND PUBLICATIONS Diamond Bookshelf #31, $AR DRAWN AND QUARTERLY Kitaro Volume 7 The Trial Of Kitaro GN, $$15.95 DYNAMIC FORCES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #100 (Kevin Eastman Variant Cover), $AR Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Secret History Of The Foot Clan #1 (Of 4)(Kevin Eastman Variant Cover), $AR DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover A John Royle), $$3.99 Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover B Scott Chantler), $$3.99 Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover C Jerome K. Moore), $$3.99 Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover D Matt Gaudio), $$3.99 Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover E Photo), $$3.99 Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover F Photo Virgin Variant), $AR Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover G Matt Gaudio Black & White Variant), $AR Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover H John Royle Black & White Variant), $AR Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover I Jerome K. Moore Virgin Variant), $AR Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover J John Royle Virgin Variant), $AR Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover K John Royle Black & White Virgin Variant), $AR Bettie Page Unbound #9 (Cover L Scott Chantler Virgin Variant), $AR James Bond #2 (Cover A Jim Cheung), $$3.99 James Bond #2 (Cover B Jim Cheung Black & White Variant), $AR James Bond #2 (Cover D Jim Cheung Black & White Tint Virgin Variant), $AR James Bond #2 (Cover E Jim Cheung Pencil Variant), $AR James Bond #2 (Cover F Jim Cheung Vintage Paperback Variant), $AR Nancy Drew The Palace Of Wisdom HC, $$17.99 Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover A Julian Totino Tedesco), $$3.99 Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover B Babs Tarr), $$3.99 Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover C Ben Oliver), $$3.99 Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover D Leonardo Romero & Jordie Bellaire), $$3.99 Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover E Shannon Kingston Cosplay Variant), $$3.99 Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover F Drew Moss Then And Now Variant), $$3.99 Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover G Roberto Castro Bonus Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover H Sergio Davila Black & White Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover I Drew Moss Black & White Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover J Drew Moss Black & White Virgin Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover K Drew Moss Blood Tint Virgin Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover L Leonardo Romero & Jordie Bellaire Virgin Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover M Leonardo Romero Tint Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover N Leonardo Romero Black & White Virgin Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover O Drew Moss Virgin Variant), $AR Vampirella Red Sonja #5 (Cover P Leonardo Romero & Jordie Bellaire Black & White Variant), $AR FULL MOON FEATURES Deadly Ten Presents Femalien Cosmic Crush #1 (Cover A Daniel Pascual), $$3.99 Deadly Ten Presents Femalien Cosmic Crush #1 (Cover B Dan Fowler), $$3.99 GALLERY 13 Strange Ones GN, $$19.99 GHOST SHIP Saki The Succubus Hungers Tonight Volume 1 GN, $$13.99 Yokai Girls Volume 9 GN, $$12.99 Yuuna And The Haunted Hot Springs Volume 8 GN, $$12.99 GOLDEN BOOKS Disney Frozen I Am Anna Little Golden Book HC, $$4.99 Disney Frozen I Am Elsa Little Golden Book HC, $$4.99 HUMANOIDS Strangelands #5, $$3.99 IDW PUBLISHING Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Volume 27 HC, $$44.99 Disney Comics And Stories #9 (Cover A Marco Mazzarello), $$5.99 DuckTales Faires And Scares #2 (Of 3)(Cover A Marco Ghiglione), $$3.99 DuckTales Faires And Scares #2 (Of 3)(Cover B Marco Ghiglione), $$3.99 DuckTales Faires And Scares #2 (Of 3)(Cover C DuckTales Creative Team), $AR Dungeons And Dragons A Darkened Wish #4 (Of 5)(Cover A Tess Fowler), $$3.99 Dungeons And Dragons A Darkened Wish #4 (Of 5)(Cover B Tess Fowler Character Sheet Variant), $$3.99 Dungeons And Dragons A Darkened Wish #4 (Of 5)(Cover C Ibrahem Swaid), $AR Dungeons And Dragons A Darkened Wish #4 (Of 5)(Cover D Tess Fowler Black & White Variant), $AR From Hell Master Edition #9 (Of 10)(Cover A Eddie Campbell), $$7.99 Gears Of War Hivebusters #4 (Of 5)(Cover A Alan Quah), $$3.99 Gears Of War Hivebusters #4 (Of 5)(Cover B Pierre Droal), $AR GLOW Vs The Babyface #3 (Of 4)(Cover A Veronica Fish), $$3.99 GLOW Vs The Babyface #3 (Of 4)(Cover B Nicole Goux), $$3.99 GLOW Vs The Babyface #3 (Of 4)(Cover C Catherine Nodet), $AR Marvel Action Avengers #9 (Cover A Jon Sommariva), $$3.99 Marvel Action Avengers #9 (Cover B Siobhan Keenan), $AR My Little Pony Omnibus Volume 5 TP, $$24.99 Napoleon Dynamite #3 (Of 4)(Cover A Sara Richard), $$3.99 Napoleon Dynamite #3 (Of 4)(Cover B Photo), $$3.99 Napoleon Dynamite #3 (Of 4)(Cover C Jorge Monlongo), $AR Rising Sun #1 (Of 3)(Cover A Martin Coccolo), $$4.99 Rising Sun #1 (Of 3)(Cover B Chieh Ying Yu), $AR Rom Dire Wraiths #1 (Of 3)(Cover A Luca Pizarri), $$4.99 Rom Dire Wraiths #1 (Of 3)(Cover B Corin Howell), $$4.99 Rom Dire Wraiths #1 (Of 3)(Cover C Guy Dorian Sr. & Sal Buscema), $AR IMAGE COMICS Hit-Girl Season Two #12 (Cover A Declan Shalvey), $$3.99 Hit-Girl Season Two #12 (Cover B Declan Shalvey), $$3.99 Hit-Girl Season Two #12 (Cover C Eve Mae Roman), $$3.99 Lazarus Volume 6 TP, $$16.99 Lucy Claire Redemption #2 (Cover A John Upchurch), $$3.99 Lucy Claire Redemption #2 (Cover B John Upchurch), $$3.99 Outpost Zero Volume 3 The Only Living Things TP, $$14.99 Over My Dead Body GN, $$16.99 Pretty Violent #6, $$3.99 SFSX Safe Sex #5, $$3.99 Spawn #304 (Cover A Francesco Mattina), $$2.99 Spawn #304 (Cover B Todd McFarlane), $$2.99 Spawn #304 (Cover C Todd McFarlane Black & White Variant), $$2.99 Undiscovered Country #2 (Giuseppe Camuncoli 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Undiscovered Country #3 (Cover A Giuseppe Camuncoli), $$3.99 Undiscovered Country #3 (Cover B Greg Capullo), $$3.99 INSIGHT EDITIONS Harry Potter Film Vault Volume 5 Creature Companions Plants And Shapeshifters HC, $$16.99 Harry Potter Film Vault Volume 6 Hogwarts Castle HC, $$16.99 J-NOVEL CLUB Animeta Light Novel Volume 2 SC, $$14.99 Archdemon's Dilemma How To Love Your Elf Bride Light Novel Volume 3 SC, $$14.99 Infinite Dendrogram Light Novel Volume 4 SC, $$14.99 Magic In This Other World Is Too Far Behind Light Novel Volume 6 SC, $$14.99 KODANSHA COMICS Hitorijime My Hero Volume 6 GN, $$12.99 If I Could Reach You Volume 3 GN, $$12.99 Yamada-kun And The Seven Witches Volume 19 GN, $$16.99 LITTLE BROWN BOOK FOR YOUNG READERS Deep And Dark Blue GN, $$12.99 Deep And Dark Blue HC, $$24.99 Plain Janes GN, $$18.99 Plain Janes HC, $$26.99 LO SCARABEO Morbus Gravis Deluxe Edition HC, $$77.99 MAD CAVE STUDIOS Over The Ropes #2 (Of 5), $$3.99 MAGNETIC PRESS Infinity 8 #18, $$3.99 MARVEL COMICS Absolute Carnage Immortal Hulk And Other Tales TP, $$29.99 Absolute Carnage Lethal Protectors TP, $$15.99 Absolute Carnage Miles Morales TP, $$15.99 Absolute Carnage Scream TP, $$15.99 Acts Of Evil TP, $$34.99 Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Volume 25 Maximum Carnage TP, $$39.99 Avengers #29 (Cover A Ed McGuinness), $$3.99 Avengers #29 (Cover B Emanuela Lupacchino Marvels X Variant), $AR Conan Barbarian The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Volume 4 HC (Cover A Frank Cho Book Market Variant), $$125.00 Conan Barbarian The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Volume 4 HC (Cover B Gil Kane Direct Market Variant), $$125.00 Contagion TP, $$15.99 Crazy TP, $$19.99 Incredible Hulk #180 (Facsimile Edition), $$3.99 Incredible Hulk By Peter David Omnibus Volume 1 HC (Cover A Steve Geiger Book Market Variant), $$125.00 Incredible Hulk By Peter David Omnibus Volume 1 HC (Cover B Todd McFarlane Direct Market Variant), $$125.00 Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover A Pete Woods), $$4.99 Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover B Simone Bianchi Connecting Variant), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover C Superlog Heads Variant), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover D Ron Lim), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover E In-Hyuk Lee), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover F Khoi Pham), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover G Nick Roche Party Variant), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover H Pete Woods Premiere Variant), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover I Herb Trimpe & Barry Windsor-Smith Hidden Gem Variant), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover J Christian Ward Marvels X Variant), $AR Iron Man 2020 #1 (Of 6)(Cover K Gear Design Variant), $AR Jessica Jones Blind Spot #1 (Of 6)(Cover A Valerio Giangiordano), $$3.99 Jessica Jones Blind Spot #1 (Of 6)(Cover B Martin Simmonds), $AR Marvel Masterworks Daredevil Volume 14 HC (Book Market Edition), $$75.00 Marvel Masterworks Daredevil Volume 14 HC (Direct Market Variant Edition Volume 285), $$75.00 Marvel Tales Ravencroft #1 (Cover A In-Hyuk Lee), $$7.99 Marvel Tales Ravencroft #1 (Cover B In-Hyuk Lee Virgin Variant), $AR Marvel's Black Widow Prelude #1 (Of 2), $$3.99 Marvel's Spider-Man The Black Cat Strikes #1 (Of 5)(Cover A Sana Takeda), $$3.99 Marvel's Spider-Man The Black Cat Strikes #1 (Of 5)(Cover B J. Scott Campbell), $AR Marvel's Spider-Man The Black Cat Strikes #1 (Of 5)(Cover C Todd Nauck), $AR Marvel's Spider-Man The Black Cat Strikes #1 (Of 5)(Cover D Adi Granov Game Variant), $AR Oz The Complete Collection Volume 1 Wonderful Wizard Marvelous Land TP, $$15.99 Revenge Of The Cosmic Ghost Rider #2 (Of 5)(Cover A Scott Hepburn), $$3.99 Revenge Of The Cosmic Ghost Rider #2 (Of 5)(Cover B Logan Lubera), $AR Revenge Of The Cosmic Ghost Rider #2 (Of 5)(Cover C Superlog), $AR Revenge Of The Cosmic Ghost Rider #2 (Of 5)(Cover D Ron Lim), $AR Ruins Of Ravencroft Sabretooth #1 (Cover A Gerardo Sandoval), $$4.99 Ruins Of Ravencroft Sabretooth #1 (Cover B Mico Suayan), $AR Runaways #29, $$3.99 Savage Sword Of Conan Conan The Gambler TP, $$19.99 Star Wars The Original Trilogy The Movie Adaptations TP, $$34.99 True Believers The Criminally Insane Gypsy Moth #1, $$1.00 True Believers The Criminally Insane Mandarin #1, $$1.00 Valkyrie Jane Foster #7 (Cover A Mahmud A. Asrar), $$3.99 Valkyrie Jane Foster #7 (Cover B Kris Anka Marvels X Variant), $AR Venom The End #1 (Cover A Rahzzah), $$4.99 Venom The End #1 (Cover B Adam Warren), $AR MYTHOS COMICS Vamp #2, $$3.99 ONI PRESS Courtney Crumrin Volume 6 The Final Spell TP, $$12.99 Fights GN, $$19.99 Rick And Morty vs Dungeons And Dragons Chapter II Painscape #4 (Cover A Troy Little), $$3.99 Rick And Morty vs Dungeons And Dragons Chapter II Painscape #4 (Cover B Kendra Wells), $$3.99 Rick And Morty vs Dungeons And Dragons Chapter II Painscape #4 (Cover C Troy Little & Jim Zub Character Sheet Variant), $$3.99 OSPREY PUBLISHING D-Day Storming Fortress Europe GN, $$26.00 PRINTERS ROW Disney Sweet Dreams Mickey HC, $$9.99 QUIRK BOOKS Comic Quests Knights Club The Buried City SC, $$9.99 REBELLION / 2000AD 2000 AD Prog #2161, $$6.99 2000 AD Prog #2162 (X-Mas Special), $$7.99 Judge Dredd Megazine #415, $$13.00 Ken Reid's World-Wide Weirdies HC, $$24.99 Third World War TP, $$24.99 RED 5 COMICS - STONEBOT Machine Girl #3, $$3.95 ROTHIC Ancient Dreams #9 (Mike Krome 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Southern Nightgown #8 (Sabine Rich 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT Arifureta From Commonplace To World's Strongest Volume 5 GN, $$12.99 Magical Girl Site Volume 11 GN, $$12.99 Sorry For My Familiar Volume 6 GN, $$12.99 SILVER SPROCKET Fanlee And Spatzle Make Something Perfect GN, $$12.00 Teenage Condition Lizard Daddies (One Shot), $$3.00 SKYHORSE Betty Boop Guide To A Bold And Balanced Life HC, $$19.99 STONE ARCH BOOKS DC The Amazing Adventures Of Batman Bane Drain SC, $$5.95 DC The Amazing Adventures Of Batman Reptile Raid SC, $$5.95 DC The Amazing Adventures Of Batman The Big Freeze SC, $$5.95 DC The Amazing Adventures Of Batman The Terrible Twos SC, $$5.95 STRANGER COMICS Niobe She Is Death #1 (Hyoung Taek Nam 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $$3.99 Niobe She Is Death #2 (Cover A Hyoung Taek Nam), $$3.99 Niobe She Is Death #2 (Cover B Jae Lee), $$3.99 Niobe She Is Death #2 (Cover C Jae Lee Virgin Variant), $AR SUBLIME Liquor And Cigarettes Volume 1 GN, $$12.99 TITAN COMICS Life Is Strange #12 (Cover A Claudia Leonardi), $$3.99 Life Is Strange #12 (Cover B Game Art Variant), $$3.99 Life Is Strange #12 (Cover C T-Shirt Variant), $$3.99 Oscar Martin's Solo The Survivors Of Chaos Volume 1 HC, $$29.99 Sherlock A Scandal In Belgravia #2 (Cover A Alice X. Zhang Sherlock Variant), $$4.99 Sherlock A Scandal In Belgravia #2 (Cover B Photo), $$4.99 Sherlock A Scandal In Belgravia #2 (Cover C Jay), $$4.99 Sherlock A Scandal In Belgravia #2 (Cover D Marguerite Sauvage), $$4.99 TOHAN CORPORATION Hobby Japan December 2019, $$20.00 Megami November 2019, $$20.00 Newtype November 2019, $$20.00 TOKYOPOP Goldfisch Volume 3 GN, $$10.99 TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING Best Of Draw Bundle TP, $$39.95 UDON ENTERTAINMENT Stravaganza Volume 2 TP, $$19.99 VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT Bloodshot #5 (Cover A Declan Shalvey), $$3.99 Bloodshot #5 (Cover B Billy Tucci), $$3.99 Bloodshot #5 (Cover C Leonardo Colapietro), $$3.99 Bloodshot #5 (Cover D Dave Johnson Pre-Order Edition Variant), $AR Rai #3 (Cover A Raul Allen), $$3.99 Rai #3 (Cover B Michael Walsh), $$3.99 Rai #3 (Cover C Adam Pollina), $$3.99 Rai #3 (Cover D Dan Brereton Pre-Order Edition Variant), $AR VERTICAL COMICS Knights Of Sidonia Master Edition Volume 4 GN, $$34.95 VIZ MEDIA Case Closed Volume 73 GN, $$9.99 Homestuck Epilogues 2-In-1 Novel SC, $$34.99 Legend Of Zelda Twilight Princess Volume 6 GN, $$9.99 Ooku The Inner Chambers Volume 16 GN, $$12.99 Persona 5 Volume 1 GN, $$9.99 Pokemon Sun And Moon Volume 6 GN, $$4.99 Radiant Volume 9 GN, $$9.99 Sleepy Princess In The Demon Castle Volume 10 GN, $$9.99 Splatoon Volume 8 GN, $$9.99 Yo-kai Watch Volume 13 GN, $$9.99 Yona Of The Dawn Volume 21 GN, $$9.99 YEN ON Asterisk War Light Novel Volume 12 SC, $$14.00 Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody Light Novel Volume 10 SC, $$14.00 Strike the Blood Light Novel Volume 14 SC, $$14.00 YEN PRESS Angels Of Death Volume 9 GN, $$13.00 Certain Magical Index Volume 20 GN, $$13.00 Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon On The Side Sword Oratoria Volume 10 GN, $$13.00 Karneval Volume 9 GN, $$20.00 Reborn As A Polar Bear The Legend How I Became A Forest Guardian Volume 2 GN, $$15.00 Teasing Master Takagi-san Volume 7 GN, $$13.00 ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT Robyn Hood Vigilante #3 (Cover A Drew Johnson), $$3.99 Robyn Hood Vigilante #3 (Cover B Sheldon Goh), $$3.99 Robyn Hood Vigilante #3 (Cover C Alfredo Reyes), $$3.99 Robyn Hood Vigilante #3 (Cover D Igor Vitorino), $$3.99 TOYS - T-SHIRTS & COLLECTIBLES 30 Minute Mission Optional Portanova Armor Set (Dark Red Version), $AR Ace Combat 7 Skies Unknown X-02S 1/144 Scale Plastic Model Kit, $AR Ace Combat 7 Skies Unknown X-02S 1/144 Scale Plastic Model Kit (Model Edition), $AR Amazing Spider-Man #347 Poster, $AR Archie Comics Archie ReAction Figure, $AR Archie Comics Betty ReAction Figure, $AR Archie Comics Jughead ReAction Figure, $AR Archie Comics Reggie ReAction Figure, $AR Archie Comics Veronica ReAction Figure, $AR Batman The Animated Series Batman ARTFX+ Statue (Opening Version), $AR Bearbrick 24 Piece Blind Mystery Box Series 38, $AR BOOM! Studios Short Box, $AR Carbotix Getter 1 9 Inch Die-cast Light-Up Figure, $AR Cowboy Bebop Vicious S.H. 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[vivalaskristie]

Chapter 4  Meanwhile, Back at the Palace

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

Series Premise: Parallel, behind the scenes, Madeleine and Bastien

A/N: This is my first series, my first AU, because Madeleine and Bastien needed to smash.  I posted and then pulled it because it wasn’t quite right.  It’s still a work in progress.

Warnings for this series: The first sex scenes I’ve ever written, bad language, sneaking around, alcohol, general mischief and the occasional academic symposium.

Permatags:  @speedyoperarascalparty @burnsoslow @dcbbw @stopforamoment @emceesynonymroll

Chapter 1 Prelude

Chapter 2 Drinks on a Yacht

Chapter 3 A Dark and Stormy Night

Three months later, Bastien walked down to the track at the nearby high school, just after dusk. It was finally cooling off, and he was looking forward to having a run outside. The treadmill in the palace gym just wasn’t the same, and it never felt right to be in there with the nobles and courtiers anyway. Either they ignored him because of the differences in social stations, or they talked to him and most of the time he didn’t have a lot to contribute to the conversations.

He hopped the chain link fence around the track instead of using the gate 50 yards away. He dropped his towel on a bench, checked his shoes, and turned when he heard the sound of someone running behind him. It was her. Madeleine was here, and based on her flushed face and sweat-soaked shirt, she’d been here a while. She slowed for a couple of steps as she recognized him, but she hit her pace again almost immediately. He hadn’t seen her since the yacht. He’d watched her disembark and get into her limo and he figured that was the end of that story.

He jogged to the track and started his workout. She was about a third of the way around in front of him. As he warmed up, his pace increased. By the end of his 2nd lap, he was next to her. She had earbuds in, so there was no conversation. He matched her pace and they ran kind of together for a few laps, separated by a lane or two. She eventually slowed down as her run came to an end. He was aware of her stepping off the track finally, and she sat on the bench where his towel lay. He kept running. She remained on the bench, cooling off and drinking her water and scrolling on her phone. A couple of times he caught her watching him. A couple other times, she caught him watching her.

When he finished his final lap, he sat down beside her on the bench. 

“Hello Bastien,” she said, in that wonderful scratchy voice that he’d heard in his dreams for three months now. “It’s good to see you.”

“And you as well. Please accept my congratulations on your engagement,” he said. There was no point in ignoring the fact of her impending nuptials.

“Thank you,” she answered. “I figured you’d be on the bachelor party world tour with the rest of the boys.”

“Not this time. I’m taking a couple weeks off before we have to start implementing security measures for the wedding.“  

“Ah. So you’re not the one making sure that Leo and his American girlfriend aren’t discovered.”

Bastien was stunned. What did she know about Katie?  How did she know about Katie?  This was bad. Only Leo’s inner circle was supposed to be in that loop. Madeleine gave a low laugh when she saw his reaction. He looked at her, and his questions obviously showed on his face.

“Please. I’ve been playing this game for years. I pay attention. He never liked going to the States, until suddenly he liked going very much. And he’s a terrible liar.”

“And you’re still going through with the marriage?” Bastien asked. 

“Of course. I’m going to be the Queen. She’s a mistress. That’s nothing new for people in Leo’s position. He’ll get tired of her, replace her. My place is secure.” It was brave talk, but her tone didn’t match her words. She sounded like it had been rehearsed, like she’d been coached… 

“I see Adelaide’s been helping you come to terms,” he said coldly. She looked up sharply, her expression showing the hurt he heard in her voice. “I’m sorry. I overstepped.”

“Don’t be. You’re right. Mother has been making sure that I know that my duty is to remind Leo of his.”  

He took her hand. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to be Queen.”

“No. That’s not what I meant. What do you want your life to be?  Married in name and title only? That will be enough?” He wasn’t sure who the hell he thought he was, all of a sudden, asking the future Queen of the Realm about her personal thoughts on her marriage and future. He couldn’t help himself. Somebody needed to ask her, and nobody else seemed to be doing it.

She was still for a few seconds, considering her words carefully, and then she smiled. “Bastien, have you been reading fairy tales again?  You know how this works. Leo doesn’t love me. I don’t love him. But we can be good with each other, and good for Cordonia.”

“Well I guess you’ve got it all figured out..” His eyes were on her, and no humor showed on his face.

“I always have,” she said softly. “Shall we go back?”

They rose, and walked together, Madeleine a step ahead of him as dictated by royal protocol. They didn’t speak again until they were inside the palace gate. 

“Good night, Bastien.”

“Good night, Lady Mad.”

She blinked, remembering the note he left on the yacht and the hours they spent together. Her cheeks flushed, and he smiled faintly before he turned to walk away.

Later that evening, Madeleine was reading in the sitting room in her suite. Her quarters were well-appointed and positioned near enough to the Royal Family to establish her as one who belonged there. The balcony doors were open to allow the cool sea breeze to fill her rooms. Her phone buzzed. She picked it up to read the text:

You deserve better, Lady Mad.

She considered it for a moment, and then replied:

Yes, but Cordonia deserves the best

Within a minute her phone buzzed again in her hand. She smiled.

Can’t argue with any part of that.

She paused, wondering if she dared…

It’s certainly worth discussing further in person.

Bastien was lying on his bed as her last text flashed across his phone. As he read her words, heat filled his body. He’d been sure that their night together was a one-off, something that happens occasionally between nobles and palace staff but never lasts beyond a weekend. He stood up. Of course he was going to go to her. He pulled on dark clothes, something that wouldn’t draw attention if he were seen. He started to open his door and then shut it again. It wasn’t a good idea to just walk through the palace and show up at her suite. There was no way to explain that away. No, he’d need to take a different route.

He walked to his office and entered a code on the wall panel next to the bookshelf. The bookshelf swung open. He’d take the subway.

Fifteen minutes later, he was standing in a dimly lit narrow passage three floors above his own. I should warn her, he thought. 

Go to your dressing room. You’re going to hear a knock.

She’d set her phone down after he hadn’t replied to her insanely bold text. She’d been disappointed, but not surprised. What was he going to do, skulk around the palace for a booty call?  But now this was interesting. She stood up and walked through her bedroom to the dressing room. There was a single knock on the wall to her left. Before she could do anything, the wall became a door and Bastien was standing there.

The look on her face was priceless. “What…?”

“I thought it best to be discreet,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “May I come in?”  

She smiled and walked back to her sitting room. She closed her book after marking her page, put it on the side table, and gestured for him to sit next to her on the sofa. They sat half-facing each other. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting. Quiet evenings alone are rare around here.”

“No it’s fine. I was just reading. One of my mentors from school sent me his new book. He’s trying to get me to come back for my MPhil.”

His attention switched from the memory of the last time they were on a sofa to what she’d just revealed. She’d gone to Oxford, but he didn’t know much about what she’d done there. “Are you considering it?  What did you study?”

“History and Economics. My honors thesis was about how a small traditional monarchy in the European Union can leverage its strategic geography and outsized capital to become an equal partner in the global economy. I may go back at some point in the future, but I have things going on here right now.”

What the hell did she just say?  What just happened? He was riveted. 

“You did academic research about Cordonia’s economy.”

“I did. Nobody really had before, so it was a blank slate.”

His mouth was literally hanging open. She smiled, knowing she had just taken control of the situation back from him after his little “meet me in the closet” stunt.

“Well, you see Cordonia’s location on one of the most lucrative trade routes in Europe has benefited us for centuries. The coastline allowed us to build ports that were accessible and still protected.”  She stood up and began to pace in a circle as she talked. “We’ve had one of the most generous tax structures for imports and exports ever since the idea of tax structures for imports and exports was conceived.”  She looked at him and saw that she had his undivided attention. The heat of his gaze was unmistakable. Was he … was he turned on? She decided to just go with it. With a twist. “When we opened the casinos in the middle of the 19th century”– she pulled her shirt over her head, revealing a simple black bra–”we became the leading tourist destination for the new wealthy class of commoners. We welcomed their presence, and their money, like nobody else in Europe.”

Holy hell, what was she doing?

“Since then, Cordonia has been able to parlay its geopolitical position to its advantage through two world wars.”  She approached him and knelt between his outstretched legs, resting her hands on his thighs. “We took a risk not staying neutral like Switzerland, but it’s always been our international policy to do the right thing. Our well-chosen strategic alliances resulted in strong positions with much more powerful nations.”  She put her hand on his crotch and felt his erection. He looked like he was about to pass out. She stroked him with her finger.

“Today, we have one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world.”  She unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, looking him straight in the eye. “My conclusion was that we could, and we should, do more.”  She pulled his cock out and appraised it with the same expression she wore as when she’d been talking about economics. “Don’t you agree?”

He swallowed and cleared his throat. “I do. I like more. More is amazing.”

She rose to her knees and licked the underside of his penis from base to tip. “I think so too.”  Her lips closed around the head of his cock and he groaned as she took him further into her mouth. She made a sound low in her throat that he felt all the way up his spine. He felt her nails rake over his balls as she slowly raised her head. She dipped again, not breaking the suction between her soft hot lips. Her free hand snaked up under his shirt and over his chest, then she ran it down the length of his body, down his side to his thigh before bringing it to clasp her other hand as it worked the base of his cock.

Bastien’s muscles clenched from head to toe. He was close, so close and he didn’t want it to end but it had to. He ran his hand over the back of her head, not pushing, just feeling her move against him, around him, all over him. And then he broke, letting loose in her mouth. She kept going, not slowing down until he was still. His eyes were closed, but he knew exactly where she was as she raised her head one last time and released him.

She folded her arms and rested them on his thigh, laying her cheek on her forearms. She watched him as he breathed deeply a few times.

“I hope my seminar didn’t put you to sleep,” she remarked with a sly grin. Bastien hooked his hand under her arm to bring her onto his lap. She settled in the circle of his embrace. “I don’t get the chance to talk shop very much lately."  He laughed softly.

"I have an entirely new respect for economic theory,” he said. “You really have a way of making it relatable."  She flushed, but not out of embarrassment over the topic or the blowjob, quite frankly. She knew she was good at both.

They sat like that for a while, talking about whatever came to mind. This wasn’t small talk, or the usual chatter that happened inside the palace. They both had to work at that, and neither enjoyed it. This was different and comfortable and easy.

The balcony doors were still open and the room grew chilly. She nestled in closer, unconsciously seeking his warmth. They kept talking.

"Would you like to stay?” she asked after an hour more. “Can you? Do you have to be somewhere?”

“Technically I’m on vacation. I can be wherever I choose. I can stay."  Bastien knew that this was happening on her terms, that every minute with her was stolen. He wasn’t about to leave if he had anything to say about it.

He stood up, lifting her with him. He carried her to the bedroom, leaning her toward the light switches so she could turn them off as he passed them. He set her on the bed, walked back out to close the balcony doors, and returned.

"Just in case we get loud,” he said and her smile became a laugh. He crossed over to her and kissed her. She pulled him down so he sat beside her, and he leaned in for more. They were already partially undressed–his pants were still undone and her shirt was in the other room. They slowly finished pulling each other’s clothes off, exploring with their hands and mouths.  He kissed a faint thin line that crossed her belly on the right side where her appendix had been removed while she lived in England. She found scars shaped like stars, from gunshot wounds he received during the attack that killed Drake’s father. He ran his finger across her apple tattoo, which he had seen in his mind every day since that night on the yacht.

“Talk,” he said with a laugh. She rolled her eyes and blushed.

“Before I left for university, I went on vacation with Hana and Olivia and Penelope. We were close in school, before all of this… whatever it is, palace nonsense became important and got between us. We were on Ibiza, doing the rich Eurotrash thing, and Olivia got this idea that we should all get tattoos.”

Bastien’s eyes widened. All four of them?! 

“Right. So we spent the day drinking and deciding what to get. It had to be meaningful, y'know?"  She laughed at the memory. "It was our version of a blood vow. Penelope was on probably her tenth appletini and she had this amazing idea:  we should get apples! The famous Cordonian Ruby! It was perfect! Hail Cordonia! We found a place that could take us all at once, and …” she pointed to her own apple on her abdomen.

Bastien’s expression was priceless. He looked about to burst.

“Go ahead, ask away.”

“Are they… are they all the same?  In the same, uh, location?” He was laughing now.

Madeleine slowly shook her head, smiling wickedly. “And that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

Those were the last words they spoke for the rest of the night.

They slept late. Neither had anywhere to be the next day, so they lazed in bed, achy from the night’s adventures. They had gotten loud indeed. Bastien didn’t realize how badly he wanted to bite her, to grab her, to leave some sort of mark on her like an animal until he realized that he couldn’t. It was enough that she was covered in beard burn, some places more than others, he realized with no small amount of possessive pride.

Madeleine, however, had not hesitated to leave a trail of bites and scratches and handprints all over him. She knew that he’d been careful; she made up for it.

She rang for a late breakfast  while he was getting into the shower so it would be on the table when they got out. And it was. It was cold, but it was there.

Leo was scheduled to return late that night. Neither of them mentioned it, but as they filled the hours with sex and words and silence and even a nap tangled around each each other, they both knew they were racing the clock. They made love once more as the sun disappeared over the sea. Afterward, Bastien got dressed as she watched from the bed, uncovered and unconcerned by it.

He sat down and kissed her again, memorizing her taste and scent, and how she touched him as she leaned toward him. “Bye, Lady Mad”

“Goodbye, Bastien”

They didn’t speak of what would or wouldn’t happen next. It didn’t matter.

Chapter 5

[jeeproute2-blog]

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5 Outdoor Decorating Trends That Will Be Huge This Year

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[heidiandherbooks]

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[b-blushes]

hi guys, a couple of people have asked if i'd film a room tour, so here it is! 

 If you'd like to know what a particular thing is/where something's from, let me know! I'll try and list some of them though:

 - i painted the big wave painting + took the photos on the cork pinboard 

- the 3 photos in the white frame are mine too, taken in zell am see, austria, when i was in secondary school (so long ago...) 

- the postcards/note cards pegged onto the fairy lights are from paperchase (quite a while ago though!) 

- i made the 'you could be brilliant but you're a coward' canvas - i saw the quote online somewhere but it's originally from 'Black Swan' apparently! I'm not sure what it's meaning is in the film (and lots of people have told me that they think it's a mean thing to say to yourself!) but i took it as meaning 'fear holds you back' so it feels encouraging to me!! 

- the ghost print is by Darla Okada, her Etsy store is called TwoBlackCatsStudio! 

- set of 4 ghost postcards are by The Sad Ghost Club! 

- the bear on the left in one of the nooks is a Tedmund Ted, the middle one is a Jellycat Polar Bear, and the guy on the left is Tigger by Rainbow Designs 

- the maidenhair tree and black floral postcards are from the box of Botanicum Postcards by Katy Scott and Kathy Willis, and the bee postcard in the middle of those is from Kew Gardens (i couldn't see an artist on it!) 

- the 'protection + healing' drawing was sent to me by my penpal (i love it!!) 

- i made the 5 crocheted creatures on my tall bookshelf using the crochet book 'Edward's Crochet Imaginarium' by Kerry Lord 

- 'it's always like this' letter painting was made by a friend when i was at sixth form (!), and is lyrics from the Bombay Bicycle Club song 

- i made the 'have courage and be kind' watercolour lettered postcard -i believe the quote is credited to Disney?! 

phew! i think those are the main things! Like i said though, if there's anything else you're curious about i'm happy to let you know where i got it :D hope you liked this sneak peak into my life! (:

[blurrypetals]

Stand by A.L. Jackson - blurrypetals review

originally posted dec. 30, 2017 - ★★★☆☆

Finally, I'm at the bottom of this big dumb stupid rabbit hole that I began my descent into back in June, when I read Stay, then perpetuated from July through to August when I read A Stone in the Sea and Drowning to Breathe, then became so frustrated that same August reading Where Lightning Strikes that I immediately decided to re-read 28 of my favorite novels for my Greatest Hits Bookshelf Tour 2017 and avoid reading anything so shitty again, but somehow, earlier this month, I dove straight back into the metaphorical romance novel portal to hell from whence I came and read Wait and finally landed here. I genuinely do not know why I did this to myself. I really, genuinely enjoyed Stay and it will be an almost-treasured guilty pleasure of mine for a while, I predict. Maybe I kept throwing my empty, soulless husk of a body onto this literary pain train (and not the good or fun sort of pain that usually comes with these schmaltzy, melodramatic romances à la Colleen Hoover or Katie McGarry) in hopes that hey, maybe the next one will be as good as Stay was! The reality, of course, was that no, the next one was never as good as Stay. This (thankfully) final installment came the closest to making me feel the feelings Stay did, but the amount of absolute assholery Zee put Alexis through made me just roll my eyes. I also couldn't help but get stuck on how strange it was that Zee saved Alexis from a terrible crime, just like Willow saved Ash from a terrible death in Stay. It was also really obvious at a certain point that A.L. Jackson was just as tired of writing these melodramatic insta-love scenarios (as well as trying to cram in some "big reveal" that was always forced, dumb, or obvious) as I was in reading them. Also, it felt like Jackson got to drafting this book and thought to herself, "Oh, I called my series Bleeding Stars, didn't I? There's no reason for that name yet, is there? Okay I'm gonna make Zee and Alexis say the words STARS, BLEEDING, and BLEEDING STARS as often as possible. That'll justify something." Anyway good riddance I guess.

[inuashnar1]

ATLANTIC TOUR

We were in St.johns.

And no one knew each other. We were not friends - yet. We were co-workers.

And this house we were set up in, it was all 7 of us. So Shay, our boss, actually wasn't here on this tour - Aiden was his role.

Now, this house was huge. It could be best described as a Mansion. Gothic Manor maybe. It had dark sheeted wood plats, black coated acrylic blinds and forest green accents that towered and shimmied up it’s exterior. In the row of jellybean houses, this one was a dark liquorice drop.  

At the front, Winding green shrubs that were shaped like skyward daggers dwindled past the height of the tallest street-lamps and gold trim laced itself around the main door and adjourning windows. There was a gargoyle hiding in-between the rising shrubbery and the Black metal gated fencing. Eyes morphed into crescent moons from it’s piling grin as it’s stoney skinned body rattled when each gust of Atlantic breeze.  The fall air was fierce. Whipping past and buffeting the houses in the lane, creaking and pulling at their foundations. But this manor... 

It has these Gregorian lamps that bled out warm light. 4 in total - two were perched around the front door, and two were situated around the front bay window. Each time the wind bristled past, it seemed to flicker the electric lamp’s light, making it impossible to clearly, objectively, do anything outside if it was just past 5pm - try finagling the front door code pad if you can barely make out the numbers. Braille be dammed.  But when the evening sucked away the daylight, it was the only house on the lane that made any attempt at front porch lighting, making it the only homestead on the block that was ‘ready for business’. Even if that business was the business of having poor lighting. 

The front door was archaic. Double the height of our tallest member - Aiden - and weighing enough that you had to shove your shoulder into the door, ramming it open with a defensive stance similar to an American football linebacker. It wasn’t painted black like the rest of the Manor, but rather a smokey charcoal. If you touched it, an oily stain would stick and shine from it’s matte exterior. Sometimes the front door wouldn't let us in, even if it was unlocked. Luckily on our first entrance, the door swung wide open, as if it were the maw of a fantastic beast, ready to swallow us one by one into it’s warm acidic interior. 

Inside. It was this dusty, ancient, heavy, gothic mansion. A spiral staircase greeted us upon entry, and to our right was the living area. 

Cracked, leather furniture. Cavernous ceiling. 

Candles everywhere

And bookshelves filled with the art of H.R Geiger

(H.R. Geiger is the concept artist who created the xenomorph

He would have these night terrors and he would wake up and have to draw them)

There was also this large suit of armour, perched upon a mantle sitting on the highest bookshelf - precariously placed, next to a matching sword. 

A few heads of game animals that were mantled - a deer and a buffalo. 

The lobby/living room (where the books were etc) connected to the kitchen with a large chandelier and a massive kitchen with ‘working’ appliances.

The back door was next to the kitchen - it was a sliding panel window. The one and only note we received from the airbnb owner was to not open the back door

So we opened it. 

Well, Aiden opened it. Taking the charge as the youngest of us, and the least likely to suffer from ‘curse-like’ symptoms due to his flagrant athleticism, and general flightiness.  As he un-cautiously slid the partition open,  a cascade of dead wasps showered down upon him and onto the floor. He recoiled, disgusted, ran through the lot of us, fled past the kitchen, through the living room, and up the staircase.  Upon closer examination the wasps looked as if they were like just exterminated. Dried out, like bacon bits from a glass bowl you would find at a salad bar at your local buffet. 

We never opened that door again, but... I think after we did that, that was when the house got mad at us. Dead wasps continued to show up in nooks and corners if you looked for them, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this house was... very good at getting rid of things it didn’t like. 

The airbnb informed us that there was a basement where apparently someone lived full time - But, there was no visible door. So we were asked to be as soft in the mornings as possible and as gentle as we could in the night, as to respect our faceless guest that apparently resided below us. 

There were five floors, excluding the main lobby/kitchen. A grand mahogany staircase that spiralled, landed, jutted, crept, up forever it seemed, was the entirety of the rest of the Manor. A smooth railing polished by years of human hands, caressing it with pressure, seemed too slick to be of support to anyone over the age of 70. And with each staircase landing, the staircase seemed to change direction, almost at random. Sometimes, on the second floor, you would need to take a right turn to ascend to the third, even if you turned left to get up to the third floor every other time. 

Seemingly by chance, there would be added, or subtracted steps, particularly on the 3rd floor. As if the Mansion were toying with us. Taunting our already disorientated minds. I found myself tripping on the 3rd floor plateau every time I passed through. It was never the same. Sometimes It was 8 steps, Other attempts were 13 steps. I remember taking a final step down, my 8th, but realizing there were 7 steps my knee buckled and my inner ear fluid screamed in alarm as my hands would surface from my zombie-like decent to cling for any form of life vest. I realized why the railing was so slick with every corner I took. My clammy hands refused to leave the mahogany line the entirety of my downstairs and upstairs travels. 

It was getting late so, we decided to pick rooms - first come first serve. 

The first floor has this massive bedroom where two king sized beds sat. And they were beds of kings with chains adorning the walls at the head of each, with large bedposts and mantles punctuating the dueling sleep arrangement. The feet of these beds were pointed towards each other and in-between, there was this massive circular rug. At least 7ft across in diameter, it was a deep rose red colour with a 70s style psychedelic spiral that mixed brown and gold highlights into a oroborrus of LSD-type imprint. The fabric was plush and ripe, a bosom blooming from the floor it adorned.  It was also installed lower than the hardwood floor it sat within. Mis-steps occurred where-in by viewers transfixed by it’s lustful sensuous warmth, would fall face first into it, attempting to breathe in the luscious volume of ruby sweetness, so promised by it’s perversions.  A daily occurrence. Calder and Aiden went to camp out in this room.

Then on level two, there was a lovely little bedroom with a room that was so small it was as if it were a closet. Like a bedroom for someone living in Hong Kong. Lilac everything. A long pillar window at the head of the bed casted a blue overcast shadow misting up the room with a cool glow. The bedroom seemed to be living in a misty morning inside a deep forest in Northern Wales. 

Odile picked this room.

The next level up didn't have a bedroom, just a landing. The 3rd floor landing.

Then level 4 there was a nice well-to-do sized bedroom. The only normal looking bedroom truthfully. It was clean, wasn't dusty, had the nicest bed. It had the only window that was facing the sunset. Every other room in the mansion had either North or South facing windows. Sun was rare.

But this room was warm.

The only peculiar about this room was it’s connected bathroom with a copper toilet. You had to pull this valve hanging from the ceiling to flush it. And when the house creaked, a guttural moan would emit from the mouth of the copper seat. Vomit inducing from pure ‘sound to gag’ pavlovian response at around Noon every day.

Katie picked this room.

We finally made it up to the fifth floor.

There was nothing left after this. No more levels to explore. So, me Isak and Keiran had to figure out our arrangements in the scarce pickings of what was left.

There was one bathroom that was connected to a master bedroom - the bedroom in question was a gold themed master suite. Cream coloured sheets, and drapes flowed like a fresh blanket of snow. Gold edging adorned practically everything in sight.  The room’s ceiling was peaked, meeting into a triangle and the window itself was a triangular panel that overlooked all of st.johns. You could see signal Hill and the cove from where the city spilled around.

Keiran picked it because it connected to the bathtub - and he doesn't do showers.

The last room was for me and isak.

And it was similar to odile’s closet. A small window peered to the backside of the house where you got to see all the jellybean houses st.johns is so famous for.

But there was a bunk bed

It was wooden and creaky

I had brought a suitcase.

Isak had brought a briefcase with a cast iron skillet. He has one pair of underwear. One pair of socks. Two shirts and the pair of pants he wore.

I had missed the room assignment because my s/o had called me in a panic, so I went outside to call her and calm her down - yes, everything is good. I had a great trip thanks for - oh. Are you okay? oh. okay okay…

And Isak, had been in a huff since we left on tour, constantly missing from the group and never really around for any big group decisions.

So we got lumped, literally, together and given the final room - two twin bunks with a small florescent bulb on brown hip height drawers. His briefcase was small enough to be opened and unpacked fully on the white desk table by the land facing window.

I left my suitcase in the hall. There was no floor space in the room for it. There was barely enough space for Isak and me.

I chose the top bunk because isak insisted.

He said,” oh I'll wake you up. I have a feeling that I don't like this house'

Truthfully, isak and I were both in the midst of...

The first night passed uneventfully enough.

I remembered hearing yelling at one point, but it also seemed as if it came from the back courtyard. Distance and shrill. the voice of a woman yelling at the timbre of a man groaning in pain. There seemed to be sharp noises similar to the sound of butcher meat being slapped onto a chopping block. loud punctuating rhythmical slaps, into groans, into wailing echoes. The wind - I dismissed. I slept with the pillow over my head, muffled buzzing and shrieking filling my dreams with Wasps and hollowed out women on the frigid ocean wharf - shrieking for lost loved ones from years before. Men, groaning into the night. 

*************************************************************************************

When I woke up at 8, Isak was missing. I hopped out of my bed, and made my way 2 flights down, stumbling on the 3rd floor, then gripping my way down to ground level, noticing that no one else was awake - the smell of burnt bread was filling my nose.

As I made my way down the final flight, old polished mahogany creaking with every step, I heard gentle humming from the kitchen - Isak had been cooking. His eyes were baggy and his voice was softer than yesterday. I realized he had stayed up all night.

Isak was a very sensitive sleeper, as we would find out travelling with him more and more. But during this first trip, it was unnerving that one of our company was so diligently avoiding us without reason. At the time, it confused us - we were a fun loving group! Positive and upbeat. But he seemed avoidant and moody. Guarded against us like a mussel guarding against entry from prying, eager, hungry fingers.

This was the first time that I had realized that Isak was human. He practically didn’t exist in the tour previous in Goose Bay - save an emotional outburst on stage with a fit of anger. But - here he was. Domestic and baking.

Apparently, last night Isak had left to go to town and found a convenience store open at 5am. He purchased butter, eggs and flour, and was baking. As people trickled down from their slumber, everyone had similar thoughts and musings - too cold! did you wake up because of the smell of bread? Isak you can cook? I’ll have some honey. No - I didn’t hear anything. Must just be the wind. This house seems older than I think we were told. does your wifi work on the 5th floor? Maybe we should go visit the town today? Does anyone want to come to - Oh, I need coffee. The toilet was making these sounds? Did you sleep well? Did YOU sleep well?  For breakfast we all munched on slightly brown/burnt croissants and proceeded about our day, still perplexed as to who Isak was and why he would bring a cast skillet to the airport.

_____________________________________________________________

Night two.

We returned from our day, spent and well worn from trying out the stage. Katie, our fearless leader, took three attempts to open the mansion’s door - it was getting harder to enter. Earlier in the day, Aiden and Keiran returned from an outing with a similar reprieve - the door refused to open. 4224? Isn’t that the code? I’m sure its the code - do you have wifi? Shit. Theres no reception out here… I’m sure it was 4224. Oh - look here comes Odile…. thanks for letting us in. The door- something’s wrong with…. Hey - are you guys playing cards? Can we join?

This evening was odd. I wasn’t intoxicated, but it everyone else was. I remember having to flee upstairs to the 5th floor to tend to my s/o who was complaining about her job in Toronto. Something about work conditions. Something about hating being misunderstood. Something about missing me…. I remember just gently cooing to her. Attempting to soothe whatever I could soothe in what ever capacity - our way of soothing was through fysical means, and since the long distance occurred, it was becoming clear to me that this person I was ‘with’ was not who I thought they were - and I was changing into something completely foreign to even myself. The cracks were showing. In me, and in them. It felt like holding together an earthquake damaged building with duck-tape. Red-Green Style.

By the time my phone call ended, I couldn’t tell you what time it was but I was starving. The group had ordered pizza, and had apparently gone to get liquor. I was in no mood to socialize, but when I arrived at the bottom of the mahogany staircase rancorous laughter boomed around the lobby and was rolling in waves from the kitchen. The company, completely boozed out, were all seated around a rapid game of uno?president? ace? thief? (aiden yelling SHA-POOPY over and over and over again) I couldn’t say… As soon as I entered the room, I felt a haze wash over me. As if I had 2nd hand intoxication from the giddy-fairy-like-Dionysus-pleasure that filled the room.

I do remember finding these empty beer bottles - the ones that are used for edward 40hands - and filling them with water at different levels to whistle at their spouts. I just wanted to hear some music that wasn’t deep thumping ballroom house beats. I quickly devoured a slice of cold pizza. it didn’t satisfy my hunger, but I was too lazy to eat more.

As the evening wound down, the energy dissipated but the curiosity of the group was heightened. Everyone’s eyes seemed to finally be taking in the lobby. We left the kitchen from which we were all seated and started scanning the book shelves. unlocking cabinets filled with little children type puzzles and books. Ancient lamps that filled the space with this yellow dusty glow painting the wooden ceiling with fiery warmth and hitting the mantles in different ways. The buffalo head was softer and less demanding in the nighttime versus the daylight.  

In the daylight hours, the buffalo head was the first thing you saw when you entered into the lobby. Giant. Dour. beastly. The overcast lighting of St.John’s in the fall just emphasized it’s mantle. This dead creature was, dead, and mounted, on display. But in the warm evening lamp light…It was seemingly growing in size by the minute, breathing in cool air and fogging it out through wet nostrils.  It was cushiony to the touch. You could practically fall asleep on its pillowy beard. It’s beady eyes were full of life, versus overcast glazed agony. The deer was on the opposite end of the bookcase. Deers are scary. the horns are too sharp. No one really took notice of it anyways - it seemed to be more of a wallflower type of animal.

“Oh - theres a suit” said Calder. Eyes upwards to the top of one of the shelves. His happy little moustache bristled with excitement. Odile was uncontrollably smiling and holding her drink as if it were a lit french cigar - the epitome of sophistication. Katie was fiddling with one of the puzzles with her right hand, drink in her left, and eyes scanning all around constantly - an expert multi-tasker. Aiden and Keiran left to go hunt. Isak was, once again, missing.

Calder climbed up one of the leather couches, and with his two lanky hands, managed to nab the breast plate. The armour seemed to be real - not just armour for LARP or Cosplay. It had grooves and dents in it indicative of battle. I think there was also a sword, but Calder was too fascinated by the breastplate that by the time he had put it on, we had all forgotten there might have even been more to the armour.

Sir. White. sharply voguing around the lobby to Ballroom beats. dipping in the breast plate. Duck walking in the breast plate. runway in the breast plate. selling the breast plate. us bowing to calder, calling him, ‘my liege’ whilst he strutted in the breast plate.

I can’t remember much after that - except for when I went to bed, Isak’s bed was empty.

_______________________________________________________________________

Morning 3

When I arrived downstairs, I had finally felt like I procured a restful night. I was worried about Isak, sure. But he had proven himself to be resourceful enough to survive on his own without anything for the past 5 days. And without his insomnia keeping both him and I awake, I was finally finally able to sleep for more than 6 hours. So, I wasn’t worried.

I sat at the table, sifting through my mind for something gratifying to eat - fruit? didn’t buy any. Bread? burnt and stale. I don’t know. Calder arrived down the stairs with the same blown out eyes as last night - but this time there was a shifty point of tension every time something loud in the kitchen shifted. His pupils darted (drifted?) as his neck swayed forward with every step like a bird in slow motion gait. Feet deathly soft with each step, his hips stretched and yawned side-to-side with each gait as if willow tree in a gentle spring storm.

The fridge opened, and Calder reached inside the cool container to withdraw a single yogurt capsule. I felt my mouth instantly salivate. The feeling was similar to that of instant arousal - sudden, all encompassing. I couldn’t focus on anything else besides that small perfectly palm sized pill of milky probiotic vanilla 0% sugar free silver skinned top pearly white lined creamy so creamy i felt myself start to drool silver spoon breaking penetrating the perfect cool gelatinous surface tension i caught my drool with my left hand spoon tip breaking the virginal expanse of -

“aiden talks in his sleep”

Calder was sitting up straight. Too straight. His eyes grew a bit wider as he started devouring his breakfast - yoghurt. “I was almost asleep, and Aiden was already passed out. I’m sure he was out. But he spoke - so loudly and abruptly - ‘There are too many people in this house’” Calder’s eyes flickered over to the staircase as if imagining Aiden rushing down the stairs proclaiming the same words. “Aiden was passed out cold. Everyone was asleep. I didn’t know what to do. What do you do? Wake him up? I dont know!... I .... I haven’t asked him about it yet…” Calder’s grip on the spoon was tight. Eyes just a touch spastic, pulling at the red bags under his red vein stained whites. There was a bit of yoghurt lining his moustache mimicking the foamy mouth that a rabid animal would posses mid viral induced rage fest.

“Isak knocked at my door last night”

Calder and I both flinched. Calder withdrawing both of his hands, fingers grip-grip-gripping the grip on his spoon and the open air with a bit of a gasp. I did a double take.  Odile appeared out of nowhere, just pouring herself some coffee at the kitchen bar. Neither Calder nor I heard her make her way down. The sunlight hit the side of her head sprinkling her crown with a soft morning halo emphasizing her ethereal entrance even more than her silent offerings. Odile seemed… tired as well. Shoulders a bit sagged. Lips pouted and parted. She didn’t look at us when she spoke. All we sa was the slow movement of her hands mechanizing into a coffee making stupor.

“What did he do?” sputtered out Calder. His focus trained on Odile now. Yoghurt forgotten by him. My breakfast-less stomach curdled and growled at me to steal his food. Sweet creamy sugarfree - Maybe when he’s not looking i’ll -

“It was so early,” odile yawned widely. Eyes pursed closed and gentle whine escaping her lithe frame.

Then, Odile said, ”Tia, does Isak sleep?”

“I - uh,” I re-focused back to the two of them. Calder’s eyes were trained on me now - Odile’s morning stare was feeling less curious and more investigative. I was the only one who had spent extended time with Isak. He was my bunk-mate. Literally. And yet, I had barely seen him.

“I don’t think so?” I admitted. I thought back to last night. When I went to sleep, he wasn’t there. The light was on when I arrived on the 5th floor, but Isak was missing. His briefcase, was still unpacked and his phone charger plugged into the wall.

I knew nothing about him yet here I was. The roommate. The resident expert on our mysterious nomad - a Research Scientist in Enquist Behavioural Studies.

I shrugged, “When I got up to our room he wasn’t there. I just assumed he was out walking or something.”

“I think he knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to smoke a cigarette - In french.” Odile’s eyes were finally on me and Calder. A bit stupefied, but nonetheless playful.

“So odd.” whispered calder, as he hungrily postured himself to spoon feed more yoghurt into his mouth. My stomach growled in frustration. No yoghurt stealing. I would have to find breakfast elsewhere.

“Odile, how is your room?” Calder inquired, softly swallowing his mouthful. Lips bunched into a questioning furl, moustache curling with the corners of his frown, yoghurt dewing on his whiskers.

“Oh, it’s good? Its right next to yours Tia.”

“hm? no it’s not? You’re downstairs?” Calder swallowed.

“No, kieran and I switched,” Odile finished stirring.

“When did that happen?” I inquired. 

“The first night. He couldn’t sleep. Was feeling super uneasy about the master bedroom. Asked if I could switch with him.” Odile stirred and slurped her brew - winced at the bitterness of it, and clanked the cup down to retrieve some milk from the fridge. 

“Oh… okay.” I muttered my stomach now whining at me. Well, everything felt like it was whining at me. My ‘fight/flight’ senses felt like they were on 8 cylinders running at full throttle. I hastened to snatch a stale piece of croissant that Isak baked the first night - crunching into it’s burnt base and feeling at least, relieved that my stomach would feast on something, anything, at this moment and just shut up. 

My mind drifted back to the room switch. How odd. Keiran wasn’t the type to give up the bath. He was stubborn and exuberant - invincible at times. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the most ‘impervious’ member of our company, getting the ‘heebie-geebies’ and having to switch with Odile. I mean. It’s a good thing he switched with Odile. She was pretty impervious herself. But still... a nagging feeling of annoyance nibbled my body during the day, itching and gnawing at strange smells, bizarre visions, and hazy sunlight architecture. I ended up sticking with Odile and Calder as we prepared for the show - I dont think any of us wanted to be alone. 

*****************************************************************************************

When I saw Keiran later in the day, he was getting warmed up. Bouncing his heels he had over-ear headphones in, blasting wildly melodic deep-bass pop, as he gently lounged in a flat middle straddle. I inquired about his room switch. He paused his music, took a moment to settle with my question, and gave me a shrug,

“I had a spooky feeling the very first night, and I switched with Odile then. You didn’t know?”

“No. I didn’t know - I didn’t at all. Is it easier? In Odile’s old room?”

“Yeah? Still... This whole city is a bit...”

“-Old?”

“More-or-less.” he shrugged again his large shoulders and his normally goofy facade faded to one of uncertainty, echoing Calder and Odile’s exhaustion from this morning.

The nagging of something haunting us, just kept growing larger and larger. The wasps that were these nuggets of death hiding in the dusty decrepit Gothic Mansion corners. The H.R. Geiger books that were in plain sight and inviting us to open their pages and gape at the nightmares brewed from the terrors of this Swedish man. The goddamn suit of armour. The mysterious 3rd landing. The stubborn front door. Aiden potentially getting possessed by a ghost ( “I think Aiden was possessed by a ghost” - Keiran Drew Bohay). Isak’s incessant insomnia. The animal mounts. 

The gothic mansion became more and more alive every second we lived there - as if sapping our own energies and fueling its own hidden agenda. And we had one more night to get through.

_____________________________________________________________________

Night 3

The show went well. As well as it could have, given it became a site specific work in a hockey rink. We zombied out of the lobby, particularly proud of ourselves, as our second show ever as a company went swimmingly well. No injuries. No bruised egos. And certainly no choreographic blunders - nope nadda zlitch zippo. I guarantee it, or your money back. Full refund. Buy one show, and get the second one, free! call now. 

It was on this evening that our tour manager Brent decided to join us. Apparently flying in from Belize, he was struck with how ‘young’ of a company we were and promptly decided that ‘drinks were in order!’. We lumbered down to an area in St.John’s were locals were known to frequent - Water St. A cobblestone alley-ridden area, well tended by pubs named after various maritime fares- Bridie Malloys’, Trapper John’s Museum and Pub, and Lottie’s Place which is where we found ourselves. I remember, the seating was sparse. The pubs weren’t expected to be open this late, and for a crew of around 13, it was a stretch to ask the kitchen to stay open, so we had to call ahead of time to secure seating. Our ‘secured seating’ ended up being two booths that could sit, 4 people, and 6 people, respectively, and then a single table in-between, with enough for just 2. I don’t know how it happened, but I ended up by myself at the table for two, eavesdropping on both conversations at once, while simultaneously failing to participate in either. Katie, at one point, was with me for a while, but then her food got cold, and she migrated to the booth of 4, which became a booth of 5. 

It was my 3rd tequila shot in, when I realized that, I felt lonely. Sure, I had been making new friends. Work colleagues are the friends you get to make. You get to bond over the collective experience of accomplishment and teamwork. But here I was, sitting in-between tables, unable to even bring myself to look at either group. The only person that sat down with me left me to go with the table of 4. Was I really that bad of a conversationalist? Should I have told her about my fascination with stickers? Or maybe, I could have asked her about her favourite salad leaf? Romaine? or Spring? She did eat a salad… well, didn’t finish eating the salad, just left the caesar there. All knifed and soggy. My stomach grumbled, but I shushed it. We can’t afford food, but we can certainly afford alcohol I bemused annoyingly. 

I found myself suckling the rind of the last lime that I bit into after hoofing my 3rd shot. I felt cold. A curdling sensation of numbing and prickling began to ooze into my hands. Covering them. Coating them in paralytic ice. And as if my eyes were a pin hole camera, the lights in my vision dimmed and focused in. I was only seeing a fraction of my entire vision. Peripherals gone. A soft haze that only occurs when my glasses are off, teased every object my telescope lens witnessed. My mouth was hungry. I felt myself salivating for something, anything, to satiate me. I felt my stiff hands gently prying salt off the table, petting it onto the already milked lime wedge, and at a glacial pace, my hand was aiming it for my lips. 

My phone pinged - ah. A message from…. oh. The s/o… Honestly, tonight was not a night where I wanted to partake in listening to her ramblings of a shitty-job where she doesn’t get fairly treated, even though it was full time pay with benefits, and creation, touring and a stable contract. Sure sucks that you don’t feel appreciated, I wonder what that must feel like. 

Ah - I felt the bile in my stomach rise, and I felt myself reach for the dewey glass of water, and swallowed some to quell my potential upheaval. I tucked my phone into my pocket. Better not tonight. Better not tonight. You can deal with it tomorrow. You won’t be annoyed with her by tomorrow. Right? You won’t. You won’t. You won’t. 

The table of 6 laughed. Then the table of 5 laughed. Then - I laughed. Laughter! I should laugh, I will seem to be a part of the group? Maybe? hopefully? I looked to my right, to the group of 6, and saw odile casting a sympathetic gaze at me - or a least what I thought was a sympathetic look. Her face seemed to be just a bit too wide to be ‘her’ face. Like one of those generic caricatures that you pay for on holiday to Hawaii when you’re 12? And the cartoonist just draws your mouth a bit too big, and your eyes a bit too small, and you look like every-single-other-caricaure he’s drawn. I fucking hate those. It’s just a plumber doing his job. I don’t know if that’s could be called art. I certainly wouldn’t call it Art. My god. When I see people getting their portrait drawn I always want to walk up to them, hand them a pencil and a mirror and say JUST FUCKEN DRAW YOURSELF. JUST TRY IT. TRY SOMETHING. 

It was at this point when I knew I was drunk. 

[samuelmmarcus]

2021 New-construction Home Trends

  Located in Naperville, Illinois, this new-construction home by M House Development shares plenty of inspiration and home trend ideas that will make it through to 2021 and beyond.

The exterior of this new home exudes plenty of curb appeal with its impressive architectural details where an arched portico with painted brick is beautifully complemented by a black window tower, board and batten siding and a combination of shingles and a metal roof.

When it comes to the interiors, more trendy interior design ideas can be found. Board and batten is once again found and wisely used as wainscoting. A neutral, but far from boring, color scheme is found in the main rooms of the house. Soothing colors are accentuated with cabinet colors that will continue to be popular in 2021, such as blue grays, light greys, moody greens and of course, the ever classic; black and white.

Find a comfy spot to enjoy this house tour and feel free to pin your favorite pictures and share this post with those you think would enjoy seeing it!

  Make sure to see these other popular house tours built by M House Development:

 – Modern Farmhouse Tour.

– Modern Farmhouse Home Design.

– New-construction Modern Farmhouse.

– Modern Farmhouse House Tour.

– New-construction Farmhouse-style Home.

– Modern Farmhouse with Wrap-around Porch.

– Beautiful Homes of Instagram: New Modern Farmhouse.

– Black and White Modern Farmhouse Exterior.

– Dark Siding Farmhouse.

– Interior Design Ideas: Small Lot Modern Farmhouse.

  New-construction Home

On the exterior, timeless architectural details are complemented by trendy Modern Farmhouse influences.

Shingles: GAF Timberline Pewter Gray Shingles.

Metal Roof: Pac-Clad Weathered Zinc Metal Roof.

Garage Lighting: Barn Light Electric – similar here & here – Others: here & here.

Siding

Siding: James Hardie in Sherwin Williams Passive.

Exterior Trim: James Hardie Arctic White Trim.

Windows: Pella Windows.

Dark Accents

Window Tower, garage doors and windows are in Sherwin Williams SW 7069 Iron Ore.

Outdoor Furniture: CB2 Sofa & Chairs.

Chair Pillows: CB2 (indoor).

Brick

Brick is Acme Monte Vista, Queen size painted in Sherwin Williams SW 7064 Passive.

Lighting: Troy Lighting.

Front Door

Front Door: Simpson Door & Co. 3’6″x8′ front door 3/4 glass with 1 crosspane and 1 shaker panel at the bottom with 3’6″x2′ transom above. Paint color is Sherwin Williams SW 7067 Cityscape.

Porch Ceiling: Beadboard in Cabot Dark Gray Stain.

Entry Hardware: here.

Doorbell: Rejuvenation.

Planter: here – similar.

Doormat: here.

Rug: Novograts – Other Fun Outdoor Rugs: here, here, here & here.

House Number: here.

Foyer

How gorgeous is this home, right?! And I am so happy to be sharing it with you!!! The front door is also painted in SW 7067 Cityscape on the interior. The Home Office is located on the right.

Study Glass Sliding Door: Sherwin Williams SW 7069 Iron Ore.

Rug: Local store – Others: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Lighting: Visual Comfort – similar here.

Board & Batten

Board and Batten & Interior Trim Paint Color: Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White.

Interior Paint Color

Paint Color Throughout the House: Sherwin Williams SW 7070 Site White.

Great Room

Featuring asymmetrical shelves with White Oak detailing, this Great Room feels inviting and connected to an equally beautiful Sunroom.

Color Scheme

In this space, the neutral color scheme gets a hint of drama with some black and white decorative items.

Wall Paint Color

The Great Room walls feature board and batten in Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White.

Sofa

Sofa: Available through the designer – Other Comfy Sofas/Sectionals: here, here, here, here & here.

Modern Pillows

A pair of modern black and white pillows add some interest to this neutral sofa.

Trendy Pillows: here, here, here (leather), here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here.

Fireplace

Fireplace Shelves Top & Fireplace Mantle: Chunky White Oak “Beam” with white stain sealer and lacquer finish.

Fireplace Tile: here – similar – Others: here, here, here, here & here.

Fireplace hearth- Soapstone.

Sconces: here.

Accent Chair

Accent Chair: Local store – similar here – Other Trendy Chairs: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here.

Side Table

Side Table: Four Hands – Others: here, here, here & here.

Bookshelf Decor

Artwork: Target.

Mango Wood Links: here.

Board and Batten

Board and batten paneling gives some interest to this Living Room.

Knot Figurine: here.

Swivel Chairs

Swivel Chairs: Available through the designer – Others: here, here & here.

Coffee Table

Coffee Table: Noir Molimo Coffee Large Table – Other Best Sellers: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Textures

Sideboard: Available through the designer – Others: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Beautiful Artwork: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Faux Stems

Faux Olive Stems: here.

Kitchen

This kitchen is really beautiful, isn’t it? I am loving the amount of natural light it gets and the colors on the cabinets.

Kitchen Hood: Custom Hood with Board & Batten Trim.

Cabinetry throughout the house is by Trim Tech, Inc.

Chandelier: West Elm.

Backsplash

Kitchen Backsplash Tile: Soho Tiles – similar here (great brand).

Kitchen Lighting & Counterstools

Kitchen Pendants: Rejuvenation 24″ – Other Beautiful Lighting: here, here, here, here, here, here & here.

Counterstools: here & here (they’re currently out of stock – everywhere!) – Others: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Sconces over Sink: Rejuvenation.

Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood Flooring – White Oak, Custom stained in  50% Minwax Weathered Oak and 50% Minwax Country White– similar here – Other Beautiful Options: here, here, here & here.

Sink & Faucet

Kitchen Faucet: Delta Kitchen Faucet.

Sink: Kohler.

Dishwasher: Asko Built-In Dishwasher Panel Ready.

Countertop

Countertop: London Sky Quartz.

Microwave Drawer: Sharp Microwave Drawer.

Artwork: Target.

Island Paint Color

The island paint color is Benjamin Moore 2131-30 Lead Gray.

Dimensions: 54″ x 108″.

Perimeter Cabinet Paint Color

White Kitchen Cabinet Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Extra White.

Hardware: Knobs, Pulls & Latches.

Range: 36″ Wolf – Others: here & here.

Pantry

The Pantry entry door features shiplap with x trim detail.

Dimensions: 45 3/4″

Refrigerator: Panel-ready Sub-Zero Side-by-Side Refrigerator.

Appliance Pulls: Top Knobs 12″.

Pantry

Pantry Paint Color: Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White.

Bar

The Kitchen Bar features upper cabinets with x details and floating shelves. Paint color is the same as the island; Benjamin Moore 2131-30 Lead Gray.

Beverage Center: Avallon Beverage Center Stainless Steel.

Bar: 72″.

Kitchen Runner

In my opinion, affordable runners are the way to go in a kitchen. An affordable runner means that it can be changed more often – think different colors for different seasons – and you don’t need to feel stressed when a few dirty spots start to appear.

Kitchen Runner: Local store – Others: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here.

Island Pulls: Top Knobs 5″.

Naturally Beautiful

The simplicity of a floor-to-ceiling window steals the show in this kitchen.

Refreshing Kitchen & Dining Decor Ideas:

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Window

“I always want the kitchen to feel more like the living room so naturally I love this large-scale window lounge spot right in the kitchen.” – Elizabeth Mathieson (Builder/Designer)

Window is by Sierra Pacific Windows.

Chair: Four Hands.

Table: Noir Furniture.

Fiddle Leaf Tree: here & here – similar.

Dining Room

I absolutely love this Dining Room! A round table allows an easy flow between Kitchen and Great Room.

Dining Table: Available through the designer/builder – similar here – Others: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here.

Dining Chairs: Four Hands – similar: here, here, here & here.

Chandelier: West Elm.

Home Office

Painted in a deep forest green paint color, this Home Office seems to clear and calm the mind.

Chandelier: Savoy House.

Chair: Four Hands.

Paint Color

Paint Color: Sherwin Williams SW 6209 Ripe Olive.

Green & Brass

The green cabinets, in Sherwin Williams SW 6209 Ripe Olive, are beautifully accentuated with brass hardware.  Isn’t it a very chic look?

Beautiful Dimensional Artwork: here, here, here, here & here.

Pulls

Cabinet Pulls: here – similar.

Powder Room

What a gorgeous little bathroom! Board and Batten Wainscoting and custom vanity are in Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White.

Countertop: MSI Cashmere White Quartz.

Vanity: 36″ Custom – Others: here, here, here & here.

Wallpaper: Brewster Savvy black geometric wallpaper.

Lighting: Katie Globe Pendant.

Faucet: Delta.

Sink: Kohler.

Toilet: Kohler.

Mirror: here – Other Best Sellers: here, here, here, here & here.

Hardware: Top Knobs Pull with Backplate & Knobs.

Staircase

Staircase Wood Newels, Wood Handrail, Risers, Rungs & Board and Batten Paneling: Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White.

Treads: 50% Weathered Oak and 50% Country White to match floor.

Chandelier: Serena & Lily.

Landing

Upstairs Landing was kept simple and airy.

Console Table: here.

Mirror: Birch Lane.

Hall

Board and Batten Wainscoting Paint Color: Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White.

Bench: Serena & Lily.

Sconce: Wrought Studio – in Matte Black.

2nd Floor Laundry Room

Paint Color: Sherwin Williams SW 6192 Coastal Plain.

Countertop: Daltile Imperio Carrara Quartz.

Sink: Elkay.

Faucet: Delta.

Hardware: Anthropologie.

Floor Tile: White & Black Mosaic Tile – design set by hand.

Daughter’s Bedroom

Featuring board and batten wainscoting and a black and white floral wallpaper, this bedroom is dreamy for any age!

Wainscoting & Window-seat: Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White.

Bed: Crate & Barrel – similar here (twin).

Ceiling Fan: Fanimation.

Wallpaper: here.

Jack & Jill Bathroom

This Jack and Jill bathroom is one to inspire! Paint color is Sherwin Williams Site White.

Vanities

The custom 51″ vanities are in Sherwin Williams Extra White.

Countertop: Rocky Mountain Quartz.

Hardware: Pulls & Knobs.

Faucet: here – similar.

Sink: Kohler.

Mirror: here.

Floor Tile

Bathroom Floor Tile: here.

Shower Curtains: Parachute – Other Beautiful Shower Curtains: here, here & here.

Tub Tile

The designer got really creative with the floor tile and tub surround. They complement each other.

Tub Tile: 4×12 Subway Tile & Pencil Liner – similar look.

Tub: Kohler.

Son’s Bedroom

Paint Color: SW 7070 Site White.

Bed: Crate & Barrel.

Barn Light: Laurel Foundry.

Wallpaper: Home Depot.

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom Paint Color: Shiplap: Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White. Other walls: Sherwin Williams SW 6525 Rarified Air.

Wallpaper: Thibaut Journey Robin’s Egg.

Bed: Available through the designer – similar: here.

Nightstands: Noir Furniture – Other Popular Options: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Bedding: West Elm.

Cozy Bedroom Vibes:

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Vanity

In the Master Bathroom, large custom vanities face each other. Paint color is Sherwin Williams SW 7626 Zurich White.

Vanity: Custom, 84″.

Hardware: Schaub & Co.

Artwork: here.

Faucet: Mirabelle – similar here.

Sink: Kohler.

Towel Ring: Anthropologie.

Lighting: Hudson Valley.

Mirror: Crate & Barrel.

Countertop

Vanity countertop is Slate Mist Quartz by Vadara.

Paint Color

Paint Color: Sherwin Williams SW 7063 Nebulous White.

Mirror: Crate & Barrel – Others: here, here, here & here.

Floor Tile: The Tile Shop – similar here & here.

Shower

Shower Tiling: The Tile Shop – similar: Accent Tile, Large Subway Tile & Shower Pan Tile.

Shower Seat: Slate Mist Quartz by Vadara.

Plumbing: Mirabelle.

Basement Bathroom

Vanity paint color is similar to Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black. Walls are in Sherwin Williams Site White.

Countertop: Calacatta Original.

Mirror: Renwil Greer Square Wall Mirror.

Faucet: Delta.

Sink: Kohler.

Toilet: Kohler.

Shower Base: Kohler.

Lighting: here.

Hardware: here.

Tile: here.

Desk Area

Counter-height Desk Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Drift of Mist.

Countertop: London Sky Quartz.

Hardware: Pulls & Knobs.

Mudroom

Mudroom Cabinetry: Sherwin Williams Drift of Mist.

Lighting: Rejuvenation semi-flush with Black Pinstripe shade – Others: here, here & here.

Washer & Dryer: Electrolux.

Hooks: here.

Runner: Target.

Tile: here – similar – in Herringbone Pattern.

  Many thanks to the builder for sharing the details above.

Builder & Interiors: M House Development (Instagram)

Photography: Margaret Rajic.

    Click on items to shop:

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Thank you for shopping through Home Bunch. For your shopping convenience, this post may contain AFFILIATE LINKS to retailers where you can purchase the products (or similar) featured. I make a small commission if you use these links to make your purchase, at no extra cost to you, so thank you for your support. I would be happy to assist you if you have any questions or are looking for something in particular. Feel free to contact me and always make sure to check dimensions before ordering. Happy shopping!

  Wayfair: Home Decor and Furniture Sale.

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  Joss & Main: Large Rugs for under $200.

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“Dear God,

If I am wrong, right me. If I am lost, guide me. If I start to give-up, keep me going.

Lead me in Light and Love”.

Have a wonderful day, my friends and we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

with Love,

Luciane from HomeBunch.com

from Home https://www.homebunch.com/2021-new-construction-home-trends/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[taylorfennersbookishworld]

Hey Bookdragons! Today I'm part of the ONLY A BREATH APART Blog Tour. Before we get to my review, here's a little bit about the book... Only A Breath Apart (Standalone) by Katie McGarry YA Contemporary Romance eBook, Hardcover, Audiobook, 368 pages January 22, 2019 by Tor Teen BLURB Would you dare to defy destiny?Are our destinies written in stone? Do we become nothing more than the self-fulfilling prophesies of other people's opinions? Or can we dare to become who we believe we were born to be?“A gorgeous, heartfelt journey of redemption and love” (Wendy Higgins), ONLY A BREATH APART is a young adult contemporary novel from critically acclaimed Katie McGarry. “Haunting, authentic, and ultimately hopeful” (Tammara Webber), order your copy of ONLY A BREATH APART now! Bestselling author Katie McGarry’s trademark wrong-side-of-the-tracks romance is given a new twist in the gritty YA contemporary novel, Only a Breath Apart. Jesse Lachlin is cursed. So the town folklore says, but while Jesse’s had his fair share of tragedy, the only curse he believes is in his grandmother’s will: in order to inherit his family farm he must win the approval of his childhood best friend, the girl he froze out his freshman year, Scarlett Copeland.Scarlett Copeland is psychic.Glory Gardner tells Scarlett she has hidden psychic abilities, but Scarlett thinks Glory is delusional. What is real is Scarlett’s father’s irrational fears, controlling attitude, and the dark secrets at home. Scarlett may have a way to escape, but there’s a hitch: she’ll have to rely on the one person she used to trust, the same boy who broke her heart, Jesse Lachlin.Each midnight meeting pushes Jesse and Scarlett to confront their secrets and their feelings for each other. But as love blooms, the curse rears its ugly head… Amazon: https://amzn.to/2K4poUy Kobo: http://bit.ly/2M7Sn7f Google Play: http://bit.ly/2M6S24K B-A-M: http://bit.ly/2M2na5h Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2tnkyXZ Apple Books: https://apple.co/2K0iAE4 “Gritty and real, Only a Breath Apart is a story of hope conjured from pain, strength drawn from innocence, and love earned from self-respect. Beautiful, poignant, and fierce.”―Kristen Simmons, critically acclaimed author of the Article 5 series Add it to your Goodreads today! ~Excerpt~ ~SCARLETT~  “I thought you said you were meeting Camila.” I jump at the sound of Dad’s voice and spin in his direction. “I am.” Dad studies me, and I hide my hands behind my back to conceal the slight quiver that could announce my guilt. When I left him, he was in good spirits, but his moods can quickly shift. There are two patched up holes in my bedroom that can testify to this. Dad replaced the drywall, covered it with fresh paint, but the perfection can’t take away the memory of the way my heart pounded through my chest as he drove his fist through the wall. He inclines his head toward the booth of balloon animals. “Camila appears to be working.” “She’s getting off soon,” I say too fast as I bite back the need to ask why he didn’t go home like he said he was. “Why did you leave us if she’s still working? You said Camila would be done by five-thirty.” My mouth dries out, and the tremble in my hands travels to the rest of my body, but I force out a cleansing breath. Show no fear. Don’t give him any reason to doubt a thing I say. “She was supposed to be off by now, but her parents asked her to work a few more minutes.” “If Camila isn’t getting off until later, you should have told me,” There’s a subtle sharpness to his tone that causes hurricane warnings in my brain. “I was showing you a great deal of trust by letting you find Camila on your own.” “She’s only running a few minutes late. Her parents are watching me so I’m okay.” Out of the corner of my eye, I glance over and my heart lifts when I notice Camila’s mom watching us. Her stare gives credibility to every falsehood rolling off my tongue. She’s not watching because she thinks I need a babysitter, but probably because she’s mentioned to Camila that she’s perplexed by my father’s strict rules. I touch the crystals on the table as if I’m interested in them. It’s difficult to act normal as Dad looks at Camila’s mom then studies me. Please believe me, please believe me. Please. I’m so stupid. I should have never left Dad early. I should have never lied. But I did. Dad was having fun at the fair, Mom was having fun and my sister, Isabelle, was having fun. They were all laughing and smiling. They’ve forgiven him, and I haven’t. I can’t, not again, and this is one of the many ways life is no longer simple. I want to peek at him in an attempt to understand my fate, but I don’t. Eye contact doesn’t help when he’s angry. It only makes it worse. Being in public won’t soothe his temper. He’ll just be more discreet. Like last year when Dad had arrived early to pick me up at a football game and saw me heading to the bathroom by myself. After I had returned to my friends, he called me away with a smile on his face. He had placed a seemingly loving arm around my shoulder, but his fingers dug into my arm as he severely whispered in my ear how I was irresponsible and that it was time to go home. Dad didn’t cause a scene at the game. The yelling started the moment we were alone in his car and continued until he left me in my room. I stayed on my bed for hours, curled up in a ball and sobbing. My throat swells as I think of how this will play out. Will it be like Christmas? Will he throw a lamp and force Mom to clean it up as I watch? Or will it be like this past spring and he’ll flip the kitchen table, breaking all the dishes that had been placed there for dinner? Dad steps closer to me, and I’m filled with dread. “Next time, in a situation like this, you return to me and have Camila text you when she’s done working. I don’t like the idea of you being alone.” All I want is to be alone, for my thoughts and actions to belong only to me. But he’s not angry, he’s believing me, and I release a breath I had unknowingly held and take the small win. My Review: I love Katie McGarry's books, but this one is a bit of a departure from her usual writing style - and I have to tell you, I LOVED IT! Yes, there's still romance, yes it still had the ability to make me feel strong emotions and even cry a little, but the whole idea of curses and psychic characters was up a different but equally awesome alley than McGarry's usual books about trauma and kids-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks-falling-for-a-good-girl/guy.  Up until now Echo and Noah were my favorite of McGarry's couples, but Jesse and Scarlett were pretty fantastic. I couldn't get enough of them together - their past, their reconnecting at Jesse's grandmother's funeral, their chemistry, and the potential for their future together... just gah. So good! Overall, I highly recommend this book for both those familiar with this authors books and those just reading her for the first time. It's gritty, emotional contemporary romance... with a twist!  About the Author KATIE MCGARRY is the author of the PUSHING THE LIMITS series, THUNDER ROAD series, SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME, and the upcoming YA novel, ONLY A BREATH APART. Her novels have received starred reviews, critical acclaim and have won multiple awards including being a multiple Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for YA Fiction, multiple RT Magazine's Reviewer's Choice Award Finalist for Best YA Fiction, including a win in the category, and she was a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick.Links:Website: www.katielmcgarry.comTwitter: @katiemcgarryFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/katielmcgarryGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4575371.Katie_McGarry?from_search=truePinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/katielmcgarry/Tumbler: https://katiemcgarryauthor.tumblr.com/Instagram: http://instagram.com/katielmcgarry a Rafflecopter giveaway DIRECT LINK: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9172c1a0415/? 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[starringemiliaclarke]

Press/Gallery: Emilia Clarke Solo Flight

  VANITY FAIR – It may be another year before Daenerys Targaryen appears on HBO, but Emilia Clarke has wrapped up shooting for the final season of Game of Thrones and is prepared for the big screen.

  On a rainy April afternoon, Emilia Clarke enters the bright, airy Egyptian galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art the way so many movie-lovers before her have: quoting Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally. Adopting the unsourceable accent Crystal uses opposite Meg Ryan in a famously improvised scene filmed in this very room, Clarke starts stuttering, “Pah-pah-paprikash.” Our amused if bewildered guide, too young to get the reference, adds the 1989 rom-com to her list of movie recommendations from Clarke, who has already gushed about the 2017 religious drama Novitiate. Chuckling over this unlikely double feature, Clarke assures her, “You have two incredible movies coming your way.”

  One reference the guide does get: Game of Thrones, the HBO juggernaut which stars Clarke as its most unstoppable heroine, Daenerys Targaryen. In fact, the very tour we’re taking, put together by a company called Museum Hack, is based on the series, and offers a fan-friendly survey of the sometimes inscrutable displays of the Met. You don’t have to be an art historian (our guide is an aspiring actress) to understand what Greek fire, Damascus blades, heraldry, mutilated men, samurai kamon, the dragon-born St. Margaret of Antioch, and an early female pharaoh have to do with wildfire, Valyrian steel, house words, and Clarke’s world-famous alter ego.

And yet, despite her fame, Clarke has managed to spend a full half-hour in the museum sponging up our guide’s trivia without being spotted. For years, Clarke’s brown hair let her hide in plain sight, but she recently bleached it an icy Targaryen blond. So, why the invisibility? Maybe it’s her height. “We both have a thing about our stature not quite being what people expect,” says her co-star Kit Harington, who, at five feet eight, has six inches on Clarke. Maybe it’s her outfit—the gray overcoat, cream sweater, and jeans are a far cry from the cloaks and armor of Thrones. Or maybe it’s her bright, decidedly non-intimidating personality. “When I’m goofing around with my pals, I’m unrecognizable,” she says. Harington calls Clarke’s humor “naughty,” and it’s certainly true that her informal, expletive-laced banter is a far cry from Daenerys’s imperious tones. “Sometimes, if I’m in a really bad mood,” Clarke notes, “people are like, ‘Khaleesi!’ ”

  Finally, the spell of anonymity breaks, thanks to a display of competitiveness worthy of Game of Thrones. Our guide has challenged us to photograph as many birds and dragons as we can find in the paintings and sculptures on the tour, and Clarke is approaching the task with her usual effervescent zeal. Standing in the shadow of a stone Hatshepsut, one of patriarchal Egypt’s first female pharaohs, she triumphantly displays one of the winged targets she has captured on her phone. “This little birdie: Boom!” she shouts, her voice ricocheting off the stone walls. A pair of young men look over, then descend, and, in thick French accents, ask for a photo. Clarke’s triumphant grin tightens into a polite, distant smile.

  There it is: the face of Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, who, over the course of seven seasons, has climbed from powerless pawn to resolute conqueror, forcing one rival after another to “bend the knee” or burn. As Daenerys has risen, so has Clarke, morphing from a struggling actress and part-time cater waiter to an international superstar and symbol of feminine fierceness. That journey is “important and inspiring—particularly now, in our climate,” says her close friend Rose Leslie, who played the wildling warrior Ygritte in early seasons of Game of Thrones. “She’s at the forefront of representing independent women.”

  We still don’t know if, as many expect, Daenerys Targaryen will win the right to rule the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, but we can be assured that Emilia Clarke will hang up her platinum wig for good when Game of Thrones ends its eight-season run, in 2019. There’s still a lot of filming and post-production work to be done, but Clarke has already shot her character’s final on-screen moments. “It fucked me up,” she says. “Knowing that is going to be a lasting flavor in someone’s mouth of what Daenerys is . . .”

  Clarke has good reason to feel unsettled. Letting go of a culture-defining television role can be liberating, to be sure, but it can also be deflating—or worse. Jon Hamm may always be seen as Don Draper; Sarah Michelle Gellar is forever Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Jennifer Aniston will never not be Rachel. Fortunately, Clarke approaches this pivotal transition with a stubborn insistence on behaving like a normal, grounded human being. And her upcoming credits suggest that she’s greatly in demand beyond Westeros.

  This month, Clarke, a self-described “achievement junkie,” joins the rapidly expanding Star Wars universe in Solo, a highly scrutinized origin story for Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. Her well-honed gift for concealing every detail about her work—“Everything in my life is a spoiler,” she says—helped her get into character. Director Ron Howard, a Game of Thrones fan, explains that Qi’ra, Han Solo’s childhood friend turned unreliable ally, is secretive, slippery, and morally questionable—“a much different sort of a character” from Daenerys.

  If Solo becomes a major hit, it will give Clarke a rare chance to leap cleanly from one spectacularly successful genre franchise to another. But even if it doesn’t, she has no shortage of options. An active participant in Time’s Up, she has ambitious plans to write and produce her own material—and create new opportunities for other women in the industry. Discussing those issues, she begins to sound more like the fiery Daenerys. “It becomes harder to separate you from the role when you’ve been with it so long,” she admits.

  Eight years ago, Dan Weiss and David Benioff were in trouble. Their pilot for Game of Thrones, an adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s popular A Song of Ice and Fire book series, was a disaster. Along with re-shoots, the pair were looking to re-cast a few key roles, including the pivotal part of Daenerys Targaryen. Tall, willowy, and fair-haired, Tamzin Merchant, the actress originally cast as Khaleesi, was a far more conventional match for the character on the page. The second time around, Weiss and Benioff took a fresh look at the character.

  “Emilia was the only person we saw—and we saw hundreds—who could carry the full range that Daenerys required,” the pair explained in tandem via e-mail. “Young actors aren’t often asked to play a combination of Joan of Arc, Lawrence of Arabia, and Napoleon.”

  When Clarke started on the series, Daenerys was downtrodden, occasionally objectified, and stranded in a subplot that kept the character geographically distant from the main story and the actress isolated from most of her co-stars. “I was cut off from the rest of the cast,” Clarke says. Over the years, as the famously cutthroat Thrones has thinned its sprawling ensemble, Clarke has risen in the ranks, snagging the show’s flashiest, most empowering moments.

  In an era when network and streaming platforms alike are struggling to get anyone to tune in, Game of Thrones has become one of the last surviving holdovers from the must-see TV era. For a handful of weeks every year, HBO owns Sunday nights, with devotees watching live to avoid spoilers at the office Monday morning. Clearing its own very high ratings bar, Thrones commanded an average of 32.8 million viewers in its 2017 season. Its 38 wins make it the most-awarded scripted-TV series in Emmy history.

  That glaring spotlight has made Daenerys a cultural touchstone—not to mention a costume-party staple, with Madonna, Katy Perry, Khloé Kardashian, and Kristen Bell among her many famous impersonators. At a recent charity auction, Brad Pitt offered six figures to spend an evening with Clarke and Harington, only to be outbid. Last year, Daenerys finally powered into the heart of the series, earning long-awaited screen time with Harington and the rest of the surviving stars. Clarke, who has been nominated three times for best supporting actress at the Emmys, may soon be gunning for lead honors. “Everything in my life is a spoiler,” Clarke says.

  Clarke’s upbringing in the bucolic countryside an hour outside of London couldn’t be farther from the dysfunctional family dynamics that forged the orphaned Daenerys. Emilia’s mother, Jennifer, is a businesswoman who currently runs the Anima Foundation, a charity aimed at raising awareness of specialty brain-injury care, and her father, Peter, was a theatrical sound engineer who prized education above all else. “Your bookshelf should be bigger than your TV,” he liked to remind Emilia and her older brother, Bennett. “My mum, my brother, my dad, and I would sit around a table, and my happiest place was just discussing stuff,” Emilia says. “I really value intelligence. I’m one of the very fortunate few people who really likes their family. I just like hanging out with them.”

  Clarke isn’t the first woman in her family to engage in high-stakes identity juggling. Her maternal grandmother wore light makeup to disguise the fact that she was half Indian, owing to her mother’s very secret affair with a mysterious man from the colonial subcontinent. “The fact that [my grandmother] had to hide her skin color, essentially, and try desperately to fit in with everyone else must’ve been incredibly difficult,” Clarke says. “So, yeah: history of fighters.”

  Emilia’s parents saved up to send her to a pair of upper-crust boarding schools—Rye St. Antony and St. Edward’s, both in Oxford—but she never felt at home with her much wealthier classmates. “I didn’t really fit in, like everybody who ever went to school ever.” So she channeled her energy into performing. She was rejected the first time she applied to acting school, but eventually Drama Centre London claimed her from the waiting list when another student broke her leg and dropped out. There, she finally found the “artistically inclined” friends who would keep her grounded amid the circus of international fame.

  The jet-setting Clarke clings tightly to her roots even as her life and career take her ever farther from the Home Counties. For one thing, she recently got her brother a gig in the Thrones camera department. “This job can be so alienating,” she says. “You’re in a trailer by yourself. You’re in a car by yourself. You’re in a plane. You’re in a plane. You’re in a plane. That’s what success looks like if you’re an actor. Success looks like being alone.” Clarke stays sharp by devouring “nerdy” podcasts on a range of topics from politics to science. “She’s so informed,” says Rose Leslie. “She has an opinion on every topic.”

  Clarke’s father passed away in 2016 after a long battle with cancer. At the time, Emilia was in the U.S. shooting the upcoming thriller Above Suspicion and couldn’t break away to say her final good-byes. “It still sucks. Grief sucks. He doesn’t know what I’m doing now,” she says. “That’s it before I start crying.” After a couple of romances with famous men—first, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, then, reportedly, actor Jai Courtney, a brief souvenir from her Terminator Genisys shoot—Clarke swore off dating actors. In fact, she hasn’t been romantically linked in some time. When Solo premiered at Cannes, in May, she had hoped to walk the red carpet with her brother, and her goal in general is to keep her relationships out of the news. “The guys that I’ve met in my life that are dicks, I voluntarily walk the fuck away from them,” she says. “That’s just bad taste. People shouldn’t know about those choices.”

  Clarke usually appears in public with various non-famous “mates” from her drama-school days. Her “perma-plus-one” is Lola Frears, daughter of director Stephen Frears. “I ain’t got me no celebrity friends,” Clarke says. “My squad? They don’t let me get away with anything. There’s not a lot of actors I relate to.” Leslie, a rare exception to Emilia’s rule, confirms that Clarke’s longtime friends keep her in check: “There would be a ticking off or a bollocking if they felt she was no longer the lovely lady that they have always known.”

  The Star Wars tradition of featuring morally upright heroines, among them Carrie Fisher’s General Leia, Daisy Ridley’s Rey, and Felicity Jones’s Jyn Erso, was part of what drew Emilia Clarke to the role of Qi’ra in Solo, but it was the chance to break the mold that really sold her. “We’re going to hit you with a character that could very easily well be a dude, because you question her motives,” she says, sitting in a back corner of the Met’s no-frills cafeteria snacking on a pear and sipping English-breakfast tea from a paper cup. “That’s really fucking exciting in the Star Wars universe, because that has never happened.”

  Before accepting the Solo role, Clarke had to ask Game of Thrones show-runners Weiss and Benioff for permission to complicate their plans for a final season by adding a demanding Star Wars filming schedule to the mix. They didn’t hesitate. “Solo felt like a great fit that would let her show off her versatility,” Weiss and Benioff explained. “Also, we figured she’d probably get to shoot a ray gun. Ray guns are something we just can’t offer, unfortunately.”

  Swapping dragons for ray guns, Emilia Clarke was eager to prove her mettle in a whole new galaxy. But that plan hit a snag when the Solo production fell spectacularly and publicly apart. “I’m not gonna lie,” Clarke says. “I struggled with Qi’ra quite a lot. I was like: ‘Y’all need to stop telling me that she’s “film noir,” because that ain’t a note.’ ” Frustrated by the lack of direction, she turned to Solo’s father-and-son screenwriters, Lawrence and Jon Kasdan, for support. Then, four and a half months into shooting, co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller exited the project, citing “creative differences.” Production was put on hold until they were replaced by Ron Howard, a longtime friend of franchise creator George Lucas’s. With a brand-new director and an ambitious re-shoot schedule—Clarke reluctantly agrees when I call those first months “a high-budget dress rehearsal”—Solo still had to hit its opening date, in May of the following year.

  Clarke says Howard’s arrival “saved” the movie: “All hail to [Lucasfilm president] Kathy [Kennedy] for hiring Ron.” Slipping into a mocking impression of herself, Clarke re-enacts a self-pitying therapy session with Howard over a private meal they shared before resuming production. “He even feigned enthusiasm!” she says. “I know for a fact he had that discussion with everybody. I think we all came to set feeling like his favorite. It makes for a really happy load of actors, with our egos.”

  Howard recalls that dinner a bit differently. The former child star of The Andy Griffith Show saw in Clarke “the kind of pragmatism and a can-do spirit that often comes from people who have cut their teeth doing television.”

  “I know some of how tough it was for her,” Harington says. “But she’s pretty tough as well.”

  Clarke wasn’t privy to everything that led up to the director swap, but she wasn’t entirely surprised, either. “When it comes to that amount of money, you’re almost waiting for that to happen. Money fucks us all up, doesn’t it? There’s so much pressure. Han Solo is a really beloved character. This is a really important movie for the franchise as a whole. It’s a shit ton of money. A shit ton of people. A shit ton of expectations.”

  Solo wasn’t the first troubled blockbuster to test Clarke’s resilience. If anything, the production of 2015’s Terminator Genisys was more chaotic. She watched frequent Thrones director Alan Taylor get “eaten and chewed up on Terminator. He was not the director I remembered. He didn’t have a good time. No one had a good time.” When the film underperformed at the box office, she was “relieved” to not have to return for any sequels. News of the rocky production traveled, and Clarke says the crew on the famously disastrous Fantastic Four, which was filming nearby, even had jackets made that read, AT LEAST WE’RE NOT ON TERMINATOR. “Just to give you a summary,” she says, laughing.

  Rumors spreading between film sets is one thing, but the Solo tumult was covered exhaustively in the trades and on fan sites, adding another layer of pressure to an already pressurized project. “I hope we did it good, then, because people have all this gossip,” Clarke says. “I don’t want people to go, ‘That’s the bit where it all went wrong. That’s the bit, I know it.’ I just really hope that people have a good time, that it’s good, and, you know, selfishly, that I’m not shit and that people don’t write reviews going, ‘Oh my God, that’s, like, the worst acting I’ve ever seen in my life. Wow. How did they give her the part?’ ”

  For all her anxieties about how her performance will go over, Clarke and I are both energized by the Solo footage we’ve seen. Clarke’s easy chemistry with Donald Glover, who plays fan favorite Lando Calrissian, is evident from their very first on-screen meeting. And though her shifting allegiances mean she has to play a range of emotions opposite Alden Ehrenreich’s Han Solo, she endows every twist with an undercurrent of romantic possibility. Tonally closer to the Indiana Jones movies than to, say, Rogue One, Solo marks the franchise’s return to lighthearted, fast-paced capers.

  Clarke—who spends most Thrones battles on the backs of her C.G.I. dragons—was eager to jump into the fray with some hand-to-hand combat. “She had to deal with quite a large sword and some pretty elaborate fight choreography, and she made it look easy,” Ehrenreich says. With all the re-shoots and reconfigured plotting, she also had to fight to keep some of her favorite moments in. “That is going to be badass as fuck,” she told the filmmakers of a showstopping Qi’ra moment that made the cut. “Don’t forget your audience.”

  Long before they shared a scene together, Clarke and Harington had become friends thanks to their time on the Game of Thrones promotional circuit. It was through Harington that Clarke met Rose Leslie. An adept mimic, Clarke impersonates a “smitten” Harington mooning over his on-screen lover and future real-life fiancée in the early days of the show: “There’s the best human in the world. She’s called Rose.”

  Clarke has a teasing relationship with Harington. “I’ll tell him, ‘Kit, stop being a dick—stop being so grumpy.’ Like I would with my brother.” And as the two transition in these final seasons from real-life friends to partners in TV’s biggest romance (albeit one complicated by incest), the ribbing has only increased. “If you’ve known someone for six years, and they’re best friends with your girlfriend, and you’re best friends with them,” Harington says, “there is something unnatural and strange about doing a love scene. We’ll end up kissing and then we’re just pissing ourselves with laughter because it’s so ridiculous.”

  “She’s goofy,” Weiss and Benioff confirm. “We have tried to let some of Emilia’s humor and light seep into Daenerys whenever possible. Who says conquerors can’t be funny?” A memorable Season Four conversation between Daenerys and her right-hand woman, Missandei, concerning a eunuch’s “pillar and stones,” for instance, is much more Clarke than Targaryen. Sadly, it’s unclear how much space there will be in the show’s climactic final season for bawdy, Clarke-ish humor. “I’m doing all this weird shit,” Clarke says. “You’ll know what I mean when you see it.”

  In the final episodes of a show with a body count as high as Game of Thrones’, Clarke never really knows when she might be filming her last moments with a member of the cast. She’s also shooting for the first time with several of the show’s top stars, including Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, who play the formidable Stark sisters.

  Clarke is well aware that the strong women of the series are leaving some kind of imprint on the culture, but she’s saving up all her big-picture reflections on Daenerys for later: “This is going to be a Band-Aid that I’m going to rip off.” To help with that process, she started keeping a daily journal of her last season. With cell phones banned from the set due to security concerns, it’s her best hope of chronicling the final days of Daenerys. Selfies are off limits, but Clarke has asked set photographer Helen Sloan to snap the occasional behind-the-scenes photo. Both the journal and the photos, Clarke hints, may be available to the show’s fans someday.

  Clarke is unsurprisingly, and contractually, evasive when it comes to specifics of the concluding six episodes. Heavy hints in the most recent season indicate that, in addition to contending with the usual climactic end-of-the-world crises, Daenerys will also be grappling with more intimate parenthood and family issues. Here, Clarke and her on-screen alter ego may have something in common. Friends like Leslie and Harington are settling down to build their own families (“Their wedding is going to be siiiiick,” Clarke says), and an old schoolmate recently made Clarke godmother to a highly photogenic baby boy who makes regular appearances on her Instagram account. She lights up when talking about him.

  Talking about her own parents evokes other emotions. The wounds from the loss of her father are still fresh, but her mother remains an inspiration. If all goes according to plan, it’s Jennifer Clarke who will provide the map for Clarke’s very first post-Thrones steps. After the show ends, Clarke plans to re-create a road trip her mother took in 1972 to Yosemite and the redwoods of Northern California. With best friend and scriptwriter Lola Frears by her side, Clarke intends to spend part of the trip working on ideas for new projects. Her agents offered to take these ideas to “guys” with writing experience, but her answer to that was pure Daenerys: “No, I’m going to take it to me.”

  Citing Reese Witherspoon, Greta Gerwig, and other actresses turned creators as inspiration, Clarke says she wants to work with as many female filmmakers as she can. As for the conventional industry wisdom that women can’t work together without infighting? “It’s fucking bullshit. It’s so annoying.” An active member of Time’s Up, Clarke negotiated with Weiss and Benioff in 2014 to ensure she maintained parity with her male counterparts. She and four co-stars—Harington, Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister)—reportedly each landed $300,000 per episode, a dazzling figure that skyrocketed to half a million per episode for the final two seasons. “I get fucking paid the same as my guy friends,” Clarke says. “We made sure of that.”

  And while Clarke would be thrilled to have her own Lady Bird or Big Little Lies, that’s not all she’s after. She says she’s “desperate” to make documentaries and shine a light on underserved causes. “That’s the shit that gets me going personally.” Inspired by her father’s cancer ordeal, Clarke is especially passionate about the risks Brexit poses to the U.K.’s National Health Service, and she was recently named ambassador to the Royal College of Nursing. “That’s something I have in common with Dae-nerys,” she says suddenly, after several hours of explaining all the reasons she and her character are nothing alike. “I really feel for people and I want to help them. Not to sound too much like Oprah Winfrey.” She pauses, and thinks again. “Fuck that, I’m gonna sound like Oprah and I’m going to be proud of it.”

  In the midst of the twin tornadoes of Star Wars and Game of Thrones, Clarke acknowledges that most of her choices these days are “studio choices.” And if Solo is a hit, Clarke could be working for Lucasfilm for years to come. But Harington sees something else in her future: “She’s done, far more than me or most people in the cast, these very high-budget, big-hitting blockbusters. Hopefully Star Wars continues for her and she does more of them. But I think she’s an incredibly talented actor, and I would love to see her do something which is a more focused character piece, because the ones she’s done are brilliant.” Clarke’s effervescent performance in 2016’s romantic weepy Me Before You—a surprise hit at the box office—hints at what she’s capable of.

  Clarke wants to stretch herself, and explore a new-media landscape where creators no longer have to rely on large companies in order to get their projects made. “Everyone can. Get your iPhone out. Let’s do something. You know what I mean?” And with 17 million followers on Instagram, Clarke has the power to make and launch her own projects. Her recent Thrones-themed fund-raising Instagram video for the Royal College of Nursing Foundation racked up more than seven million views in just three days.

  All that takes some of the heat off Clarke as she decides how to follow up roles in two of entertainment’s biggest franchises. She doesn’t necessarily need another monster hit. She can afford to take her time, listen to herself, and do something that feels true to who she is—whoever that may be.

  The most obvious evidence of the blur between Daenerys and Clarke is the relatively new shock of blond hair on her head. “I did this, which was frigging stupid,” she says, fingering the blunt-cut ends of her bleached hair.

  When Kit Harington trimmed his famous curls in 2015, fans were led to believe his character, presumed dead, wouldn’t be returning to the show the following season. (He did.) But Clarke swears her decision to go blonde has nothing at all to do with Daenerys’s fate. “I got to a point where I said I just want to look in the mirror and see something different. So I was just like, ‘Fuck it, it’s the last season. I’m going to dye my hair blond.’ ” Clarke jokes that she immediately felt remorse and bought nine baseball caps online. “But they don’t go with your outfit, so I don’t wear them.”

  Clarke’s brown hair had always been her shield. The blond hair makes it harder to slip back into her pre-fame life. Partying with her old friends is tricky because their friends get “weird” about it, and she misses the mundane pleasures of, say, running errands for her mother. “What I get most heartbroken about is that those opportunities are almost completely gone.” Then she catches herself, and apologizes for moaning about the “champagne problems” of fame. “If I were reading this, I’d be like, ‘Cheer the fuck up, love.’ ”

  Back underneath that statue at the Met, Emilia Clarke cranes her neck up to get a closer look at the ancient pharaoh’s smooth granite face. Hatshepsut wears a false beard that allowed her to pass more easily through the male-dominated world. Our guide points out a faint piece of carved string running up the pharaoh’s jawline holding the disguise in place. Thinking about it later, Clarke, who knows a thing or two about disguises, passing, alter egos, and powerful women, shakes her head in astonishment. “That is some fascinating shit right there.”

  A towering granite Daenerys statue may never find its way into the hallowed halls of the Met, but it’s not clear Emilia Clarke wants that anyway. As we duck out of the Met a bit behind schedule, only to find that it’s raining and our sleek hired car is nowhere in sight, Clarke gamely suggests we rush out into the downpour and dive into the back of a yellow cab. Our driver doesn’t recognize Clarke, either, which puts her at ease. Unsure how to get to where we’re going, he passes his smartphone to her so she can type the hotel’s address into his G.P.S. “Don’t worry, mate,” she announces. “Your little app will get us there!” A satisfied smile plays on her face as the taxi twists, turns, and bumps along. She looks happier than she ever has riding a dragon.

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    Gallery Links:

PHOTOSHOOTS & OUTTAKES > 2018 Vanity Fair Magazine

MAGAZINES > 2018 > 2018 Vanity Fair – Summer

  Press/Gallery: Emilia Clarke Solo Flight was originally published on Enchanting Emilia Clarke

[poisonbooknerd]

BOOK BLOG TOUR!!!!!!!!

From critically acclaimed author Katie McGarry, comes SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME—a story of two people from different worlds pushing themselves, and each other, to get what they deserve!

SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME is now available. Grab your copy today!

SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME Synopsis:

“Doesn’t matter who did it. Not anymore. I did the time. It’s over.”

When Drix was convicted of a crime–one he didn’t commit–he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the Second Chance Program, the governor’s newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while.

Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor’s daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn’t may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means.

When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle’s parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix’s messy life.

But sometimes love can breach all barriers.

Fighting against a society that can’t imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves–Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence–and each other to finally get what they deserve.

Order SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME here!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Google Play | B-A-M | Kobo

Add it to your Goodreads Now!

Excerpt:

~Ellison~

The sights and sounds of the midway fade, and all I hear is buzzing. I close my eyes as more pissed-off tears fill my eyes.  Why won’t they go away?

“You okay?” a guy asks.

I open my eyes and focus on the ground. My eyes are red, I know they are. I can feel the puffiness of my skin. I take a deep breath, look up to explain I’m okay, and freeze.

Holy hell. It’s the boy from Whack-A-Mole. He’s so much more breathtaking this close, and I have no idea how that’s possible.

“Are those guys bothering you?” he asks.

My forehead furrows.  Yes, they are, but telling him the truth and inviting him into my problems seems wrong.  

“Since you’re so talkative, I’ll start the conversation,” he says. “If you want to get rid of those guys then stand here and talk to me, and I’ll stand here and talk to you. You can smile like you know me because it’s tough to make me smile, and it will seem fake. Then I can try to win you a stuffed animal. Won’t be a snake, but it will do. Those losers will catch on we’re friends. Eventually, they’ll keep walking, and then they’ll return to their loser frat house where they’ll play with themselves for the rest of the night because they don’t know how to properly talk to a girl.”

I blink because all thought processes have taken a mini break. Either that or I’m having a stroke.

“Just a smile. Maybe a few mumbled words. Tell me anything. Doesn’t have to be poetic. Just your lips moving in my direction without your current blank expression.”

I blink again, many times, as the sights, sounds and smells of the midway blast back as if someone had pushed the play button on my life. I flash the perfectly practiced public smile I’ve used too many other times in my life.

“I don’t know how to get them to leave me alone.” I pause, then the bitterness leaks out as well as a grim grin. “At least not without a baseball and a well-placed throw. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to continue their genetics.”

The right side of his mouth tips up, and my eyes narrow on him. “I thought you didn’t smile easily.”

“I have a twisted sense of humor, and I didn’t think a girl like you could make me laugh. You’ve done it twice now. That’s a record for the past year.”

I bristle, still on the dangerous edge of anger. “A girl like me?”

“Yeah, one that’s out of my league. Listen, if you want to get out of this situation without it escalating, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll take a step back, and you can do whatever you need. I’m all about helping, but I’m not looking to get into a fight. Your call on how this goes down, but if it’s violence, you’re on your own.”

He says he doesn’t want to partake in violence, but there’s an essence about him that says he could drop anyone at any time and do it without breaking a sweat.

He’s looking at me, I’m looking at him, and the flutter in my chest returns.

Order SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME, register and you will receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER, a novella that features your favorite Pushing the Limits and Thunder Road characters!

From the Pushing the Limits series, Noah, Beth, Isaiah, West and Logan are all grown up. Catch up with your favorite characters as one of them finally says, I do.

Pigpen, Eli and Addison from the Thunder Road series: Three separate personalities who still needed to find love…and still had someone important to meet.

This is a limited time offer! So hurry! Registration ends on February 3, 2018! You must register your order to receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

https://a.pgtb.me/4tLZSM

Katie McGarry’s SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME – Tour Schedule:

January 22nd

A Book Fanatic Obsession

Books, Coffee & Passion

Feed Your Fiction Addiction

Girl Plus Books

Lattes & Paperbacks

Read more sleep less

Sanaa's Book Blog

Tales of the Ravenous Reader

The book slayer

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Boyfriends

January 23rd

Book Twins Reviews

E-Romance News

Kim's Reading Nook

Milky Way of Books

phishbowl reads

Read. Eat. Love.

Resch Reads and Reviews

The Book Hammock

The Lovely Books

TSK TSK What to Read

January 24th

Actin'Up with Books

Binding Addiction

Booknerd1107

Ficwishes

Kindle and Me

Literary Misfit

Red Hot + Blue Reads

Star-Crossed Book Blog

The Book Maven

The Start of Something New

January 25th

Beyourselfbebhaltair

Books first work later

Broc’s Bookcase

Dazzled by Books

Eye in Bookland

KDRBCK

Movies, Shows, & Books

Reads and Thoughts

Sister Sister Book Blog

Taylor Fenner’s Bookish World

January 26th

Ali's Reviews and More

Beneath The Covers Blog

BookWorm221

Collector of book boyfriends

Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

Little Read Riding Hood

MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It Book Reviews

Rad Babes Read

The Bookish Sisters

The Reading Faery

January 27th

An Asian Chick & Her Cat Walk into a Book Blog

Angel Reads

Becky on Books

Book reader addicts

Brittany's Book Blog

Contagious Reads

Geronimo Reads

Less Reality More Books

Romancing the Laser Pistol

The Escapist Book Blog

January 28th

Book Bitches Blog

Bookishly Yours

KatyaRath

Lo's Lo-Down on Books

Mary Had a Little Book Blog

Not the Path to Narnia

Reese's Reviews

Stuck In YA Books

The Butterfly reads

We Live and Breathe Book

January 29th

Adventures in Writing

Boundless Bookaholic

Book Boyfriend Reviews

Confessions of a Wordaholic

Rants and Raves of a Bibliophile

Reading with Jessica

Roasted Romance

The Heart of a Book Blogger

The Readdicts

Tween 2 Teen Book Reviews

January 30th

All Things Dark & Dirty

Book Reader Chronicles

Crazii Bitches Book Blog

Desert Divas Book Addiction

Dirty Girl Romance

Nerdy Soul

The Book Hookup

The Wandering Bookaholic

Total Book Geek

January 31st

Alotabooks13

Bookishly Nerdy <-------(This Is ME!!!!!)lol

Fictional Rendezvous Book Blog

Greyland Reviews

Jen's Reading Obsession

Little Bookworm Reviews

Mundie Moms

Readers Live A Thousand Lives

Recommended Reads

The Cover Contessa

February 1st

A Literary Perusal

Bibliobibuli YA

Book Hoarder Mom

Bookaholics anonymous

Ceres Books World

Dorothy Gale Reviews

In Between The Pages

Katy and Zetti’s Book Ramblings

Miss Riki

Perspective of a Writer

The Bookish Introvert

February 2nd

Angie and Jessica's Dreamy Reads

Bookalicious Babes Blog

BookCrushin

Bumbles and Fairy-Tales

CJR The Brit

Crazy Chaotic Book Babes

Do You Dog-ear?

Jax's Book Magic

Mean Girls Luv Books

The Book Avenue

February 3rd

Bookgasms Book Blog

Books & Tea

Chapter by Chapter

Defiantly Deviant

G & T's Indie Café

Live Read and Breathe

Midnight Book Girl

Ms. Me28

The Book Addict's Reviews

Vera is Reading

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Katie McGarry:

Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine’s 2012 Reviewer’s Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.    

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumbler | Instagram

[recentanimenews]

Monthly Manga Review Index: August 2017

August was a month of transitions: here at Manga Bookshelf, our long-time colleague and friend Ash Brown announced that he would be retiring his blog at the end of 2017. Though Ash’s reasons for stepping back are understandable, I selfishly wish he’d continue Experiments in Manga. As his recent reviews of My Brother’s Husband and A Small Charred Face attest, he’s a perceptive, elegant writer with a unique voice, and a unique point of view. Here’s hoping that he finds his way back to blogging again!

Further afield, Joe McCulloch just posted his final “This Week in Comics” round-up at The Comics Journal — sad news for anyone who cares about good comics criticism. Joe was always erudite and funny, peppering his writing with memorable turns of phrase and incisive comments. Even when TCJ didn’t have much manga content, Joe tirelessly dug into his own private vault to write about oddities — how’s pachinko manga grab you? — classics — hi, Golgo 13 — and titles that cry out for an English language edition. I can’t imagine who TCJ will enlist for “This Week in Comics,” but that person has a big pair of shoes to fill.

My August yielded a modest crop of reviews: I Hear the Sunspot and She and Her Cat, two coming-of-age dramas about twenty-somethings teetering on the brink of adulthood; Melody of Iron, the latest Tezuka title to be Kickstarted to press; and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, a good-natured comedy about a salaryman who gets a second chance at life as a slime monster. I have a number of reviews in progress for September, including MB favorites Queen Emeraldas, Otherworld Barbara, After Hours, and My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, as well Jiro Taniguchi’s most recent books Venice and Furari. I’m also in the process of gathering my thoughts on Hergé a Québec, an exhibition I saw at the Musée de la civilisation in Québec City last week. Stay tuned!

REVIEW OF THE MONTH

Stop the presses–The New York Review of Books deigned to publish a manga review! The title in question is Ichi-F: A Worker’s Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which was released earlier this year by Kodansha Comics. Ryan Holmberg’s assessment of Ichi-F is markedly different in tone than most early reviews, which praised Kazuko Tatsuya’s meticulously detailed drawings, and his emphasis on the day-to-day routines of Fukushima workers. In particular, Holmberg takes issue with the fact that the author used a pseudonym, making it difficult to fully assess his political (or economic) motivation for writing Ichi-F:

We know, through press reports, that Tatsuta was in his late forties when he drew Ichi-F, so one assumes a fairly extensive resume of past comics work; what would that oeuvre reveal about his politics and associations if we knew his real name and could look it up? Alas, all we are really shown about Tatsuta is that he earnestly believes in what he sees with his own eyes, in the merits of hard work, and in the good intentions and dedication of his workmates and their employers. And he seems to be adverse to any of the personal or political reflection that transforms a report or recollection into a worthwhile memoir, or for that matter into a persuasive work of journalism.

At the same time, however, Holmberg argues that Ichi-F provides a measured counterpoint to “the superficial, fear-mongering nonsense that infects so much post-Fukushima reporting and art, both inside and outside Japan,” by showing what the clean-up entails, effectively “mak[ing] the threat visible and knowable and, if not controllable, then at least navigable.” Holmberg’s analysis is further bolstered by a thoughtful primer on nuclear politics in Japan, providing some badly needed context for understanding where Ichi-F fits into that discussion.

FROM THE TOP: DEBUTS AND FIRST VOLUMES

Appleseed Alpha, Vol. 1 (David Brooke, AiPT!)

Beyblade Burst (Teh Ooi Sherene, Star2)

Cosplay Animal, Vol. 1 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)*

Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Vols. 1-2 (Sarah, Anime UK News)

Don’t Be Cruel: Plus+ (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Dragon Ball Super, Vol. 1 (Tyler Goulet, All-Comic)

Dragon Ball Super, Vol. 1 (Thomas Maluck, No Flying No Tights)

Girl’s Last Tour, Vol. 1 (Faith Orcino, Anime Ushi)

Haikyu!!, Vol. 1 (Julie, Manga Maniac Cafe)

Haikyu!!, Vol. 1 (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)

Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler, Vol. 1 (Matthew Alexander, The Fandom Post)

Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler, Vol. 1 (Keith Hendricks, NerdSpan)

Love & Lies, Vol. 1 (Jordan Richards, AiPT!)

Love & Lies, Vol. 1 (Aaron, Manga Energy)

Love’s Reach, Vol. 1 (Michelle Smith, Soliloquy in Blue)*

Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga (Anne Ishii, The Comics Journal)

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY, Vol. 1 (Ben Leary, The Fandom Post)

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers, Vol. 1 (Kate O’Neil, The Fandom Post)

My Brother’s Husband, Vol. 1 (Ash Brown, Experiments in Manga)

My Girlfriend Is a T-Rex, Vols. 1-2 (Faith Orcino, Anime Ushi)

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness (Katie Skelly, The Comics Journal)

Otherworld Barbara, Vols. 1-2 (Michelle Smith, Soliloquy in Blue)

Please Tell Me! Galko-Chan, Vol. 1 (Al Sparrow, Comic Spectrum)

Plum Crazy! Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, Vol. 1 (J. Caleb Mozzocco, Good Comics for Kids)

Plum Crazy! Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, Vol. 1 (Helen, The OASG)

Sekirei, Vol. 1 (Matthew Alexander, The Fandom Post)

She and Her Cat (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Spirits & Cat Ears, Vol. 1 (Matt Morrison, No Flying No Tights)

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 1 (David Brooke, AiPT!)

Vampire Knights Memories, Vol. 1 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

Waiting for Spring, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)

ONGOING SERIES

7th Garden, Vol. 5 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 7 (Nick Creamer, Anime News Network)

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 3 (Gabe Peralta, The Fandom Post)

Attack on Titan, Vol. 22 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 4 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Bleach, Vol. 70 (Cold Cobra, Anime UK News)

Bloody Mary, Vol. 7 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

Bloom Into You, Vol. 2 (Helen, The OASG)

Complex Age, Vol. 5 (Helen, The OASG)

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 2 (Keith Hendricks, NerdSpan)

The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 9 (Kate O’Neil, The Fandom Post)

The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 8 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Dimension W, Vol. 7 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)

Erased, Vol. 2 (Helen, The OASG)

Erased, Vol. 3 (Eric Cline, AiPT!)

Food Wars!! Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 19 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

Food Wars!! Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 19 (Keith Hendricks, NerdSpan)

Girls’ Last Tour, Vol. 2 (Aaron, Manga Energy)

Girls’ Last Tour, Vol. 2 (Keith Hendricks, NerdSpan)

Goodnight Punpun, Vol. 6 (Keith Hendricks, NerdSpan)

Goodnight Punpun, Vol. 7 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)

Haikyu!!, Vol. 12 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

Hunter x Hunter (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Vol. 4 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Kaze Hikaru, Vol. 25 (Anna N., The Manga Report)

Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World, Vol. 2 (Matt Morrison, No Flying No Tights)

Log Horizon: The West Wing Brigade, Vol. 5 (Helen, The OASG)

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, Vol. 4 (Aaron, Manga Energy)

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vols. 7-8 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

My Hero Academia, Vol. 9 (Nick Creamer, Anime News Network)

My Love Story!!, Vols. 12-13 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

My Neighbor Seki, Vol. 9 (Matthew Warner, The Fandom Post)

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Jordan Ramee, Gamer Professionals)

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Kenyth Mogan, Huffington Post)

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Vol. 2 (Jordan Richards, AiPT!)

No Game No Life, Vol. 6 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault That I’m Not Popular, Vol. 10 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

One Piece, Vols. 27-28 (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)

One Piece, Vols. 49-51 (Renay Williams, B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog)

One Piece, Vol. 83 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

One-Punch Man, Vol. 11 (Elizabeth Lotto, The Outerhaven)

Otherworld Barbara, Vol. 2 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Platinum End, Vol. 3 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

Real Account, Vol. 3 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Queen Emeraldas, Vol. 2 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

School-Live!, Vol. 7 (Gabe Peralta, The Fandom Post)

Sherlock: The Great Game, No. 1 (Todd Young, AiPT!)

Skip-Beat!, Vol. 39 (Anna N., The Manga Report)

Sweetness & Lightning, Vol. 3 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Ten Count, Vol. 4 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 12 (Elizabeth Lotto, The Outerhaven)

Twinkle Stars, Vol. 3 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Umineko, Vol. 10 (Kate O’Neil, The Fandom Post)

Until Death Do Us Part, Vol. 8 (Matt Morrison, No Flying No Tights)

Until Death Do Us Part, Vol. 9 (Matt Morrison, No Flying No Tights)

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 5 (Jordan Richards, AiPT!)

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Vol. 12 (Terry Hong, Book Dragon)

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 7 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 7 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 7 (Anna N., The Manga Report)

FROM THE VAULT

3 x 3 Eyes (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

The Drops of God, Vol. 1 (A Library Girl, A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)

Hell Girl, Vol. 1 (Greg Hackman, The Fandom Post)

Hell Girl, Vol. 2 (Chris Beveridge, The Fandom Post)

Minima!, Vol. 1 (Sakura Eries, The Fandom Post)

Moyashimon, Vol. 2 (Matthew Alexander, The Fandom Post)

My Heavenly Hockey Club, Vol. 3 (Matthew Alexander, The Fandom Post)

Tower of the Future (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (Faith Orcino, Anime Ushi)

* Denotes a digital-only release

By: Katherine Dacey

[krystisyaandwine]

I love me some sweet and swoony contemporary, so I am so thrilled to be participating in the blog tour for Katy Upperman’s debut novel Kissing Max Holden! I had so much fun reading this book. Katy is definitely going to be an auto-buy author for me in the future!

About the Book

Title: Kissing Max Holden

Author: Katy Upperman

Pub. Date: August 1, 2017

Publisher: Swoon Reads

Pages: 304

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Kissing Max Holden was a terrible idea…

After his father has a life-altering stroke, Max Holden isn’t himself. As his long-time friend, Jillian Eldridge only wants to help him, but she doesn’t know how. When Max climbs through her window one night, Jill knows that she shouldn’t let him kiss her. But she can’t resist, and when they’re caught in the act by her dad, Jill swears it’ll never happen again. Because kissing Max Holden is a terrible idea.

With a new baby sibling on the way, her parents fighting all the time, and her dream of culinary school up in the air, Jill starts spending more and more time with Max. And even though her father disapproves and Max still has a girlfriend, not kissing Max is easier said than done. Will Jill follow her heart and allow their friendship to blossom into something more, or will she listen to her head and stop kissing Max Holden once and for all?

Amazon || B&N || iBooks || Kobo

Wine Pairing

I’ll paired Kissing Max Holden with this Kissing Tree Shiraz! This wine is every bit as swoon-worthy as this wonderful new contemporary novel. It is also a product of the long hot summers of Australia, so what better wine to pair with this summer read!

*All wine recommendations are strictly for those of legal drinking age only.*

My Review

If you like swoony reads and broody book boyfriends then Kissing Max Holden is definitely one summer read you are not going to want to miss!

I expected some pretty swoontastic kissing scenes in this book just from reading the title, and Katy Upperman more than delivered. There is a lot of kissing in this book, A LOT. And those scenes are just oh-so-sweet and absolutely adorable.

There is so much emotional depth in this story from the difficult family situations both Max and Jill find themselves in to the pitfalls of everyday teenage life and the massive pressure that comes with having to make those big life decisions that impact your entire future.

This book is the perfect balance of sweet and sentimental, and it is one seriously fun read that will be an instant hit with YA contemporary readers.

About the Author

  Katy Upperman is a graduate of Washington State University, a former elementary school teacher, and an insatiable reader. When not writing for young adults, Katy can be found whipping up batches of chocolate chip cookies, or exploring the country with her husband and daughter. Kissing Max Holden is her debut novel.

Website || Goodreads || FacebookFacebook || Twitter

Enter the Giveaway

Tour-wide giveaway (US/CAN)

Print copy of Kissing Max Holden by Katy Upperman

Follow the Blog Tour

Thanks so much to Xpresso Book Tours for hosting this tour! Be sure to check out their website here as well as the other amazing posts on this tour!

–underneath the covers >> Excerpt –Book briefs >> Review –YA and Wine >> Review –Tales of the Ravenous Reader >> Guest post

August 1st –Swoonworthybooks >> Review –My Fangirl Chronicles >> Review –Movies, Shows, & Books >> Guest post –Whoo Gives A Hoot >> Review

August 2nd –The Avid Reader >> Interview –Novels & Necklaces >> Review –The Heart of a Book Blogger >> Review –Actin’ Up with Books >> Review –Padme’s Library >> Interview

August 3rd –Just Us Book Blog >> Excerpt –Dani Reviews Things >> Review –Freeing Fantasy >> Review –Wonder Struck >> Review –Lisa Loves Literature >> Interview –Smada’s Book Smack >> Review

August 4th –Girl Plus Books >> Review –The Readers Den >> Review –Ali’s Bookshelf >> Excerpt –CBY Book Club >> Review

Have you added Kissing Max Holden to your TBR yet? What is your favorite sweet and swoony summer read?

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KISSING MAX HOLDEN: Review and Giveaway! I love me some sweet and swoony contemporary, so I am so thrilled to be participating in the blog tour for Katy Upperman's debut novel