The Saucy Wenches Book Club

"Oh, Clay darling, if you had told me you were feeling irritated because of your...problems, I wouldn't have made a fuss." She knew very well the changelings around her could hear every whispered word. "Tally." It was a warning growl. "I mean it must be embarrassing for you...being that you're such a big man." her tone implied all sorts of things. "Last night was an aberration, I'm sure. And if not, there are always the pills. Mine to Possess ~~Nalini Singh

These books came highly recommended when Wench Zee told me that I had to read a book by Lisa Kleypas. What can I say except that she has great taste! Plus we both share a weakness for Regency/Historical Romances. There is just something about them that I can’t resist. Whether it's the eventual happily ever after or the magnetism of the leading men, I love binge reading historical romances. Lisa Kleypas has wonderful heroes and heroines that you can't help falling in love with. Plus some of her characters wouldn't exactly be called "respectable" by societal standards of their respective settings. At least, not initially. Nevertheless, that just happens to be part of their attraction for this reader. Not your usual period romance. So I picked up Then Came you and Dreaming Of You ! Click through to see what I thought of The Gamblers!

Once a man has seen a dragon in flight, let him stay home and tend his garden in content, someone had written once, for this wide world has no greater wonder. ~ A Dance with Dragons , George R. R. Martin Source

“It wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else.”  ― John Waters

'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.' 'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice. 'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I've loved ballet for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl I dreamed of being a ballerina, with no idea what it would take to achieve that goal, but after one year of ballet class my family couldn't afford to keep sending me and I had to let the dream go. But I still love ballet many many years later. The first romance I remember reading was a pair of ballet-themed Silhouette novels that were in my mom's collection. I actually found those two novels sold together in one book years later and snatched that baby up.  But I hadn't read a ballet novel in years. Until... I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and Alisha Rai (Zee told you about her books here ) mentioned wanting to read ballet novels, to which one of her followers suggested the District Ballet Company series by Katherine Locke. Ballet, you say? I added the first one to be TBR right away. A few weeks later I was finally easing out of my Paper Swan book hangover and wanted something light,...

My Fangirl Friday is about Facebook. Yes, Facebook. Actually, I must warn you, this isn’t all fangirling. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook, and we are going to explore this after the jump.

Because those are all the things we're not supposed to do, and yet inside of me was a kernel of the inexplicable from which dark things bloom, something I couldn't understand or justify. I knew better than to romanticize my captor, but there it was--sick and twisted and disgusting as it was. And it scared me. It scared me because I saw a glimmer of all the terrifying things we're capable of, because the human psyche is such a fragile thing, a yolk contained within a brittle shell--one crack and out it spills: a neighbor goes on a suicide mission, tribes massacre tribes, countries turn their faces away from injustices. And it all starts within, because within is where all things begin.  The Paper Swan ~~Leylah Attar 

​"What are you doing, why are you walking like that?”  Andy sat up from the bed as I was wobbling my way back from the closet.  “Nothing, go back to sleep.”  “Seriously, what are you doing, you look ridiculous?”  “Nothing. Jesus, stop stalking me,” I snapped.  “Just move your legs apart,” he insisted.  I stood glaring at him from the entrance to our walk-in closet and slowly moved my thighs apart. There was a series of weird puckering sounds, and with a light thud, the balls once again dropped to the floor.  “Did you just shit on the carpet?” he screamed.  “No, God! They are exercise balls for my vagina; do we have no boundaries anymore?” I cried. Fat Girl Walking by Brittany Gibbons

I was browsing the Urban Fantasy tag on Goodreads, looking for something new, fantastical, gripping, and came across The Harvesting by Melanie Karsak. One glance at the blurb, and this went on my "READ NOW" list! While Layla Petrovich returns home to rural Hamletville after a desperate call from her psychic grandmother, she never could have anticipated the horror of what Grandma Petrovich has foreseen. The residents of Hamletville will need Layla's cool head, fast blade and itchy trigger finger to survive the undead apocalypse that's upon them. But even that may not be enough. With mankind silenced, it soon becomes apparent that we were never alone. As the beings living on the fringe seek power, Layla must find a way to protect the ones she loves or all humanity may be lost. It's all fun and games until someone ends up undead! So, I picked it up immediately! Click through to see what I thought! (No major plot spoilers!)

“There’s lots o’ bad things ’appen in this world. Lots o’ bad things what ’appen, and lots o’ folks what do bad things. But there’s good, too. Lots o’ good. Me mum, before they put her on that ship for Botany Bay, she told me never to forget that. She said that things like ’onor, and justice, and love are the most important things in the world and that it’s up to each and every one of us to always try to be the best person we can possibly be.”

From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived. ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

"It wasna right, but I couldn't think what else to do. And I didna want the lad to go back wi' him. It wasn't only I'd promised his grannie, either. Jenny told me about the lad's back." He hesitated. "I'll tell ye, Sassenach. My father whipped me as often as he thought I needed it, and a lot oftener than I thought I did. But I didna cower when spoke to me. And I dinna think young Rabbie will lie in bed with his wife one day and laugh about it."   Jamie is our hero. ~Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This is not your typical love story.  It’s not so black and white. Lines are crossed.  Walls are smashed. Good becomes bad.  Bad becomes very, very good. I've been talking about The Paper Swan for over a month now, a book that completely knocked me on my ass and gave me one of the most severe books hangovers I've had in a long time. I tried the usual tricks to move on: something completely different, old favorites, non-fiction, pure smut. Nothing worked. Finally I picked up Leylah Attar's first novel, 53 Letters For My Lover , and that did it! I was finally able to let go and move on. I had originally avoided this one, thinking it couldn't possibly stack up to Paper Swan and I wanted to preserve my awe for a little while longer. I also wasn't keen on the main plot of the story, but being unable to let go, I finally picked up 53 Letters and was surprised at how it swept me away. Come with me through the jump and I'll tell you about 53 Letters For My L...

There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people for a purpose which is unattainable. Howard Zinn. The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy

It will come a surprise to exactly no one that I was quite the bookworm when I was a little girl. I've loved reading for as long as I can remember, rarely going anywhere without taking a book along. One of my favorite things about summer was the summer reading program at my local library. I could read as much as I wanted, and I got prizes for it! I probably still have one of those t-shirts around here somewhere. Well, this summer I have read a lot, and my prize is having discovered some amazing stories. I have read 32 books since mid-May, not counting books I reread immediately after finishing them the first time (four of them) or audiobooks I listened to during my commute (three of them). I haven't read that much in one summer in quite some time, and it feels great. To give some comparison, I read a total of 44 books in all of 2014.  Some of my summer reading was rather meh, but a lot was simply spectacular. Come with me through the jump where I'll tell you about t...

She said softly, “You make me want to live, Rowan.   Not survive; not exist. Live.” He didn’t have the words. Not when what she said hit him harder and deeper than any kiss. So he climbed into bed and held her tightly all through the night. Queen of Shadows , Sarah j. Maas

“Regrets are the most useless form of guilt. They always arrive too late to do any good.”    Tempting Danger by Eileen Wilks

Three Alisha Rai Mini-Reviews I was browsing through Netgalley looking for something that would catch my eye. And I stumbled across this cover : Yeah.. pretty great cover. But it had a couple of things that made me sit up, A woman of color on the cover........ you have no idea how rare that is, for a WOC to be a main character. ESPECIALLY on mainstream erotica (or any genre really) book covers. Two guys, TOTALLY my guilty pleasure to read.. if I felt any actual guilt over it.  I read  Glutton For Pleasure  fast! It was short and sweet. I'll be honest, it didn't really.. get to me. But, there was just SOMETHING about the author's writing that made me want to read something else by her. Maybe it was the INSANELY hot, knicker melting, off-the-charts sex. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't want to give up on an author writing diverse men and women and changing up the erotica game a little. But something made me head to my Kindle and one click buy  A Gentleman I...

When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.

Source Books to the ceiling, Books to the sky, My pile of books is a mile high. How I love them!  How I need them! I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. ― Arnold Lobel Click through to see what we're reading this week! 

"Taxi's expensive. We should wait for the minibus." "Which could come in five minutes, or in fifty minutes. Do you feel lucky?" He elbowed Brodie as they descended. "Do ya, punk?" "Punk?" "It's a line from an old Clint Eastwood film. Have you not got televisions up north?" "Just the one in the meeting hall," Brodie deadpanned. "We villagers take turns hiding in the box and making the voices." "Ooh, maximum interactivity." "Aye, it's a right 3-D entertainment experience." Avery Cockburn - Play On

I adore Devon Monk and was so excited to read the conclusion to The House Immortal trilogy. I love trilogies, so thank you Devon for concluding this series on book 3, Crucible Zero .  From Goodreads: Matilda Case never thought of herself as a hero. But because she is galvanized—and nearly immortal in her stitched, endlessly healing body—she doesn’t have much of a choice. Even if she doesn’t want to save the world, she’s the only one capable of traveling in time to do so. But her rescue attempt hasn’t gone as planned. She’s stuck in an alternate universe, and her world is in danger of disappearing. Worst of all, an unfathomably powerful man who can also travel through history doesn’t want her to put things to rights. He’s willing to wage bloody war to stop Matilda, unless she surrenders control of time to him. Now, with the minutes ticking, Matilda must make impossible decisions, knowing that one wrong choice will destroy her—and any chance of saving everything she loves.. ...

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley showed up on my iBooks bookshelf recently. I had forgotten that I pre-ordered it in April after Diana Gabaldon mentioned it on her Facebook page.  After reading it, I was just so impressed, I wanted to know more about this writer, whose research skills has impressed the research queen herself, Diana Gabaldon.  The two authors appeared together on April 6, 2015, at The Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona. Come with me through the jump and I'll tell you a bit about the fabulous Susanna Kearsley, including mini-reviews of her books.

I was in love with Damian, completely, utterly, desolately. I had told myself that as long as I stayed with him, he had leverage, a bartering chip to negotiate his safety. Without me, he was an open target. But the truth was, I wanted to stay with him for me , because he had always, always been a part of me. I wanted to stay with him so I could put together all the dented, shattered parts of him, because I could never be whole where he was broken. The Paper Swan ~~Leylah Attar 

​[12:04] JPL: We’ll get botanists in to ask detailed questions and double-check your work. Your life is at stake, so we want to be sure. Sol 900 is great news. It’ll give us a lot more time to get the supply mission together. Also, please watch your language. Everything you type is being broadcast live all over the world.           [12:15] WATNEY: Look! A pair of boobs! -> (.Y.)       The Martian by Andy Weir

I just finished up listening to one of the latest best sellers, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I had heard some IRL friends talking about it and decided I didn't want to be left out. So, this was my break book in between Outlander #1 and #2. The Girl on the Train has been touted as the next Gone Girl . And, I will say, it is somewhat similar in tone and thematically. But, I wouldn't quite put it on the level of Gone Girl , though I did enjoy it. Here's the summary for the book, before we discuss this any further. Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minu...

“She wielded it easily, lightly. She carried it swinging like a baseball bat, only with more poetry to it. It was a frightening thing to watch, this small shadow of billowing grey fabric and sprawling, wild hair splaying out behind her, the axe held at the ready with both hands, poised and prepared.”

Source “Stories you read when you're the right age never quite leave you. You may forget who wrote them or what the story was called. Sometimes you'll forget precisely what happened, but if a story touches you it will stay with you, haunting the places in your mind that you rarely ever visit.” ― Neil Gaiman, M Is for Magic Click through to see what we're reading this week, Saucy Readers!

"I'm asking the questions tonight." One day I was going to write a book: How to Dictate to a Dictator and Evade an Evader, subtitled How to Handle Jericho Barrons. He snorted. "If an illusion of control comforts you, Ms. Lane, by all means, cling to it." "Jackass." I gave him a look modeled on his own.  He laughed, and I stared, then blinked and looked away...For a moment there he hadn't looked dark, forbidding, and cold, but dark, forbidding, and...warm. In fact, when he'd laughed he'd looked...well...kind of hot. ~ Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

by: Zee the Terrible and Barbara Bones I stumbled across this going through the erotica tag on Amazon looking for something that would be next during my smut-only phase (I go through that sometimes, and nothing but smut will do.) I saw the word Priest , and the cover, read a bit of the sample... and bought it. Because yes, I have a thing for hot priests in books and movies, and I had a feeling I would enjoy the ever living fuck out of this one.  Is it hilarious that I'm a Muslim and have a thing for men in white collars? Apparently so. Barb thinks it might have something to do with me having gone to Catholic school. Who knows. But yeah, I have a weakness, and this was like porn written specifically for me.  Halfway through it I knew just what to say to Barb to get her maybe a tiny bit intrigued by the book, at least enough to give it a shot. And it worked!  Click through to see what we thought! 

"Right." She picked up her cinnamon roll and pulled off the outer ring. "Well? Go ahead. Try my buns." "Are you going to keep up this play on words going for a while, or..." "Yes. Because I'm emotionally twelve, and I giggle every time I say the word buns." She widened her eyes. "Guess what happens when I meet a man named Richard? Oh, man. So many dick jokes." Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai.

Demelza and Ross Poldark, 2015 One of my very first book boyfriends came back into my life over the summer! And even after almost forty years, he still set my fangirl heart all aflutter on fire!! Yes, I’ve been in love with Ross Poldark for about 2/3 of my life — long before even Jamie Fraser — and it feels like a dream come true that he’s finally back! Poldark was the show I COULD NOT MISS, way back in 1977. It was my first serious fangirl obsession, an important early step along the path that eventually led to the Saucy Wenches. I loved that show to distraction. I planned every Sunday night around it, much like I’ve planned my Saturdays around Outlander more recently. (Once an obsessed enthusiastic fan, always an obsessed enthusiastic fan!) So I was quite nervous when I sat down to watch the new series. Like first-date jitters! Would I still be in love with Ross? And Demelza? And all the colorful characters of County Cornwall? As it turned out, yes! In no time at a...

Anyone can be brave for five minutes or an hour or  two. The bravery no one talks about is the hardest bravery of all. When you get up in the morning even though you'd rather be dead, that's brave. A Song for Issy Bradley ~~Carys Bray

“Every white knight needed a deadly black sword at his back.”  Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh

Throne of Glass, Sara J. Maas Last May, I received a new book called A Court of Thorns and Roses ( A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by author Sara J. Maas, which promised an intriguing story blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore. Well, I was not disappointed. It delivered a rich world of faerie courts, magic, danger, and romance. I read some book reviews, and almost every one mentioned Sara J. Maas’s wonderful Throne of Glass series. Of course, I had to look for that series. So far there are 3 books and 5 novellas in the series. The 4 th book is coming out this September. I picked up the first book, Throne of Glass , and found myself in another excellent, high-fantasy story with intriguing world building. This time, a medieval-like world, full of political agendas and wars, dark magic, and tons of action. Again, the idea for this story came from a classic fairy tale that we all know: Cinderella . The author said, in one of her interviews: “What if ...

I’m traveling 90 kilometers per day as usual, but I only get 37 kilometers closer to Schiaparelli because Pythagoras is a dick.

Some of us are a little book (and tv series) hungover this week, but still trying to read through it! A lot of us are reading each other's favorite series for the first time! And some of us are trying to change up the genres we've been into lately, which can be hard to do sometimes! Pirates, Scots, vampires, wizards, shifters, and of course some very sexy humans, are all on our reading lists! A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.   William Styron Click through to see what we've been up to this week!