The Saucy Wenches Book Club

"Now say yes," he urged, nuzzling at the corner of her lips. "Hardly," she huffed. "I am not signing away my independence on the basis of one kiss, as delicious as it may be. Remember, Your Grace, I was a married woman. A happily married one. You, sir, will have to demonstrate ability beyond kissing to persuade me to the altar." Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas.

Jamie Fraser, King of Men (rdmickey1989) ...The Visual Edition I’ve got a bit of a dilemma, Saucy Readers. I’ve been working lots of overtime, and not doing nearly enough fangirling. So what could I possibly fangirl about today, other than not working too much?? Time for fall gardening?? Time to read?? Aaaccckkk… Let me just scroll through Facebook while I ponder the situation.... Well, lookee there. It would appear that my fangirling interests are written all over my news feed. Problem solved! When I’m stressed, it probably isn’t a surprise that I like to read about Jamie Fraser. And, when I’m stressed and don’t have time to read, I like to look at Jamie Fraser. Which means I’m also looking at Sam Heughan, who brings Jamie to life in front of the cameras for the Starz Outlander series, and lives a pretty interesting life himself off camera. So today I’d like to dedicate my fangirl post to looking verra closely at these two favorite men of mine. Sam Heughan, King...

"…I looked over my shoulder…Then several things happened within mere seconds, though I saw them in super slo-mo: 1 . A man was standing right behind me. 2 . He was holding a basket. 3 . The basket contained some lovely walnuts. 4 . I shrieked, because he was standing right behind me. 5 .  I dropped my pan. 6 . Snap peas shot out in all directions. 7 . Some peas landed on his working boots. 8 . I looked above the boots. Jeans. 9 . I looked above the jeans. Vintage Fugazi concert tee. Green flannel shirt. 10 . I looked above the flannel. Two weeks’ worth of shaggy blond beard. Mmm.. Country hipster. 11 . I looked above the beard. Lips. 12 . I looked at the lips. 13 . I looked at the lips. 14 . I looked at the lips. 15 .  COME ON . 16 . I looked above the lips. 17 . I was glad I looked above the lips. 18 . The eyes and the hair were a package deal, the hair was falling across his eyes in a careless way that said “Hey, girl. I’ve got...

There are some lines you just can't let another person cross. They don't always make sense, they might not always seem like the most important things, but only you can know what they are, and when you butt up against one, you have to defend it. Bloodfever ~~Karen Marie Moning

Christopher Lee as Dracula in the 1972 movie. All Hallows Eve or more commonly known these days as Halloween. It's when the veil between the living and the dead weakens and spirits walk amongst us. Or so it's said. You never know for sure. Perhaps this All Hallows Eve you should leave an offering for the departed to partake in the festivities. Celebrated on the 31st October, it's become in many countries more a celebration of how much candy children can collect, hasn't it? There seems to be a part of us that is attracted to the ghoulish and the scary. One year I naively, (remember I'm the woman who can't read or watch horror. Which begs the question why am I doing this post?) thought that I would take two of my children plus a friend and his two children to Olde Hallows Eve celebrated at Motat . I thought to myself, how scary can this be? Yeah the most freaked out person was the mother. When I screamed going through one of the attractions the children though...

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.

“I was born on the night of Samhain, when the barrier between the worlds is whisper-thin and when magic, old magic, sings its heady and sweet song to anyone who cares to hear it.”  ― Carolyn MacCullough, Once a Witch

Colin MacDuff never said no to a challenge. That's why he was currently standing on his head, sucking down a two-liter bottle of Irn Bru through a jumbo pink curly straw. There were other motivations, of course. Truth, for instance - busting the myth that one could get hammered by guzzling "Scotland's other national drink" whilst upside down. Or curiosity - how would it feel to consume suck a massive amount of sugar, caffeine, and orange food coloring at once? Or even simple economics - hey, free Irn Bru! But mostly he did it because his mates dared him. He had a reputation to uphold, after all. Playing to Win , by Avery Cockburn

If you're like me, you're going to be looking forward to Halloween and alllll the scary movies that will be on TV, all the Halloween-themed episodes of your favorite shows, and best of all, the books. Rereading my favorite horror reads on All Hallow's Read is one of my favorite things.  I talked about my favorite classic horror must reads here . And now I'm going to tell you about some authors who make scaring you into an art. You'll have plenty of time to get these books in time for Halloween!  Click through... if you dare. heehee

Last week Barb told you about the very attractive men that populate the hit TV show How To Get Away With Murder here , and this week we decided to give the women equal treatment. It's only fair, since this show clearly has one of the most attractive casts to ever grace our TV screens!  Sexy, and they know it.  If there's one thing Shondaland has taught the world, it's that there's no one way to be a woman. That strong women don't fit any one box (Although many TV and movie writers clearly think the only "strong" women are those that kick ass in leather and remain largely poker-faced throughout every ordeal). The women of How To Get Away With Murder are complex, broken, manipulative, sometimes tragic. They love, they hate, they're loyal, and capable of betrayal. And they are awesome. And it doesn't hurt that each and every one of these women is absolutely gorgeous!  Click through to read. *Will contain minor spoilers for season 1*

But people's eyes should never be so different that you no longer recognized their souls; they should never turn so hard that they shut all the doors to the past. The Paper Swan ~~Leylah Attar

There's no shame in fear, my father told me, what matters is how we face it. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin Source

Alisha Rai's The Karimi Siblings Series So I've already talked about Alisha Rai and her unbelievably amazing erotica, Glutton For Pleasure , Serving Pleasure , and A Gentleman In The Streets in my review post here . And I mentioned how I am slowly making my way through everything she's written or recommends because I think I may love her.  (Minus the creepy serial killer cannibal part) Diversity, interracial relationships, portraying different cultures without judgment or ridicule (so far she's hit three of 4 cultures my parents and their parents are from, and it's been ACCURATE without being offensive in ANY way), a pretty accurate depiction of being the children of immigrants in a culture vastly different from the ones their parents came from. I mean, really, I could go on about all the things Ms. Rai gets right. And then some. But instead I'll just stick to reviewing The Karimi Siblings books! Click through to read more!

“The cow-shaped cookies have a beef flavoring, the turkey-shaped cookies have a poultry flavoring, and..." Jane held up one of the cookies. "Human-flavored?" Meg stifled a sigh. That would be the first thing on her feedback list: don't make people-shaped cookies. The Wolves were way too interested and all of them leaped to a logical, if disturbing, expectation about the taste.”

“October knew, of course, that the action of turning a page, of ending a chapter or of shutting a book, did not end a tale. Having admitted that, he would also avow that happy endings were never difficult to find: "It is simply a matter," he explained to April, "of finding a sunny place in a garden, where the light is golden and the grass is soft; somewhere to rest, to stop reading, and to be content.”  ― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 4: Season of Mists

I love being on my knees in front of such a powerful man, him telling me what to do as he loses himself in me; I want to be the one who gives him the pleasure he demands.  ~ HATE Sex by Billy Storm

Source:www.photobucket.com I don't like being scared! I've never, ever been able to handle reading or watching scary, horrors. I can usually handle watching/reading horror it if it's based on an other worldly element. Hey, you know there ain't no way that stuff can be real. C'mon sorry to dash your dreams, but werewolves or vampires, they are not true. No matter how much you fantasize about them. But if it's based in the real world, then sorry I'm running for the hills and I'm going to read some light, and fluffy romance to calm down.  Or drink a lot of wine. I just can't face the fact that in some horror that situation could really happen. You just know I can't sleep after watching/reading something with horror in it. I'm not made to sleep with every light on in the house and checking every nook and cranny of my house. I'm not a Mindy Lahiri who can sleep with a knife under my bed. It just ain't safe! That sound hitting the sid...

But then he got to drinking and talking to some man from the True Americans, who said maybe we ought to try out the Reverend Davis's new flock. Daddy said no at first, because he ain't no Baptist, but this fellow (I can't think of his name, but it was Haint, or Hamp, something like that) said it didn't matter, because it was supposed to be a meeting of like-minded men, and anybody who wanted to hear the word straight from the Bible with a patriotic Southern bent ought to come on out to Chapelwood for Sunday services. I didn't want to go, because I know what it means when somebody says "patriotic Southern." That just means it's made for angry white men, and to hell with everybody else, me included. Cherie Priest's Chapelwood : The Borden Dispatches #2 

Many months ago Zee told me that I should be watching How To Get Away With Murder , but the season was far enough along that I couldn't get all of the episodes on Hulu, and it wasn't yet on Netflix, so I decided to wait until I could watch the whole season in one shot. When Netflix finally got the first season, I did, indeed, watch the whole thing in one shot--four days to be exact. And now I am completely, utterly hooked. It is my favorite thing on television at the moment. HTGAWM is such a spectacular, flawless show that there are a million posts we could write, each about different facets of its perfection, but today I'm going to focus on the shallowest of reasons that this show is amazing--the stellar Man Candy. Whoever does the casting for this show is a person after our Wenchy hearts, because not only are the men gorgeous (you'll see) but their characters are smart, funny, flawed, and just all-around great. Even when they're despicable they're still g...

As I gathered my things, a wave of sadness washed over me. I couldn’t fathom tying a bandana in his mouth. Who could do that to anyone, let alone someone they loved? I would do anything to have my parents back, to tell them all the things I just assumed they had heard enough. The “I love yous,” the “thank yous.” Do we ever say those phrases enough? Speaking in Tungs, Karla Jay

  “We don't go to the ocean for anything as simple as happiness, do we? We go there to feel alive. Like life, the ocean holds chance and change, grief and terror and beauty. It promises mortality, not peace.”    ~ Tempting Danger by Eileen Wilks

I had been anticipating A Red Rose Chain  (October Daye #9) by Seanan McGuire all year. You know that feeling. It was one of those books I just had to read! I've been thoroughly enjoying the story of a changeling trying to make it amongst the fae. Especially when changelings tend to be frowned upon by many within the fae realms.  I've always loved that October Daye was a kick-ass heroine. She would do whatever it takes to solve a case. This time around there was just something missing for me. From Goodreads: "Things are looking up. For the first time in what feels like years, October “Toby” Daye has been able to pause long enough to take a breath and look at her life—and she likes what she sees. She has friends. She has allies. She has a squire to train and a King of Cats to love, and maybe, just maybe, she can let her guard down for a change. Or not. When Queen Windermere’s seneschal is elf-shot and thrown into an enchanted sleep by agents from the neighbori...

For it's not what you've lost that counts, it's what you do with what you have left, concentrating on the good things, so while we still are, we can still hope.

“I believe we have an obligation to read for pleasure, in private and in public places. If we read for pleasure, if others see us reading, then we learn, we exercise our imaginations. We show others that reading is a good thing." [The Guardian, 15 October 2013]”  ― Neil Gaiman

Becky whistled and began to laugh. “He’s pretty.” Zane clucked his tongue, mentally echoing her. The man welcomed them to a night of debauchery and decadence, and almost immediately he began to pick people out of the crowd and insult them. Zane was surprised at first, but the packed audience was eating it up. The man turned his attention on them with an appreciative whistle. “Well hello, beautiful,” he said in a deep voice as he took a few steps toward their table. “Where have you been all my life? Where are you from, gorgeous?” Becky laughed and sat forward. “Austin, Texas.” “Yeah, wait your turn, honey, I’m talking to your boyfriend.” Becky cackled and covered her mouth with her hands, looking at Zane as the audience laughed. Touch & Geaux ~~Abigail Roux

This Fangirl Friday I want to take the opportunity to share with the readers some amazing women who have really changed the stories that I've been enjoying both in print and on screen. I already did a fangirl Friday post on women on our TV screens I've been loving here . Regular readers know that I'm forever ranting about something or the other. (Hence, the Wench Rant tag.) The lack of diversity in our books and TV series, flat, stereotypical characters, terrible tropes in romances and erotica that set women back a hundred years, etc. There's just so much for this Wench to rant about! But everyone will be happy to know, that recently I've found more to fangirl about than bitch about!  Click through to read more!

He shook his head. "Years of bruises and scars. You must be exhausted." I'd fought every day of my life--even the days it seemed futile--and I'd been tempted to piss Michael off enough for him to kill me. "Thank you." Lifting the sheets higher, I smiled, though I wanted to bury my face in the pillows and cry. Not for myself. Not for the scars. Not even for what Nick'd said so much as from relief that someone finally understood, finally saw the real me behind the mask I'd been forced to wear. Such a cathartic realization, it made me want to crawl inside of him and stay there forever. "Surely, strong women aren't wrecked with bruises and scars." "You're a fighter. Your scars aren't about the rounds you've lost. They're about the ones you walked away from. The ones you survived." Ricochet ~~Kerri Lake

“Aye, well, he'll be wed a long time," he said callously. "Do him no harm to keep his breeches on for one night. And they do say that abstinence makes the heart grow firmer, no?" "Absence," I said, dodging the spoon for a moment. "AND fonder. If anything's growing firmer from abstinence, it wouldn't be his heart.”  Voyager by Diana Gabaldon   Source

“Don't join the book burners. Don't think you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book...”  ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The Bible just said ‘Thou shalt not kill’, then told hundreds of stories of people killing each other and becoming heroes, like David with Goliath.”

Kit Devigny could have loved rock guitarist Noah St. John. Their friendship burned with the promise of intense passion and searing tenderness...until the night  Noah deliberately shattered her heart.  Noah knows he destroyed something precious the night he chose to betray Kit, but  he’d rather she hate him than learn his darkest secret. All he has left is his music.  It’s his saving grace, but it doesn’t silence the voices that keep him up at night.  Chasing oblivion through endless one ­night ­stands, he earns a few hours’ sleep and  his bad boy reputation.  When a media error sees Noah and Kit dubbed the new “it” couple, Kit discovers  her chance at the role of a lifetime hinges on riding the media wave.  Wanting—needing—to give Kit this, even if he can’t give her everything, Noah  agrees to play the adoring boyfriend. Only the illusion is suddenly too real, too  painful, too beautiful...and it may be too late for the red...

There's still a need inside me. A need to feel close, to feel intimate, to feel desired, keeps me trying again and again. Even now, I highly doubt it will ever happen, but I still miss having a man in my bed. The way my sheets smell like a man, the feel of a man's rough hands on my skin, burn from five o'clock shadow on my chest or between my thighs--I miss it all. And if I really am honest, I miss the look in a man's eyes when I'm on my knees with his cock between my lips.  That's control, that's power, and I crave it like a fucking drug. Literally, having a man by the balls. Oh, oh, or when he's behind me and just to tease him, I lay my chest on the bed and spread my legs giving him the view he wants so badly. Fuck. Every time I look over my shoulder and watch his reaction. I crave it all. I like sex, I love sex--even if I don't climax. It's the power a woman holds in the bedroom, a power that I hold in the bedroom.   ~~ HATE Sex by Bi...

As you may have noted, the Wenches enjoy a wide variety of different genres. So let's look through three of our recent YA reads that we have enjoyed. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole and The Duff by Kody Keplinger. As you can tell though, we do sometimes find it difficult to step away from urban fantasy.

As of late, I have pondered the great astronomers and their great debaters. I have heard the arguments on both sides, and I feel that they wildly miss some larger point - that these are only the same things our ancestors asked, when the church told them to stop asking. The question is no longer, does the sun revolve around the Earth? The question has become, does the universe revolve around our solar system? Or our celestial neighborhood? Or our galaxy?   Stupid, stupid, stupid - the insatiable demand to be at the center of something .   Better to stay at the fringes, I say; rest on some outer ring or spiral of some small, insignificant corner of the infinite. And if we are very lucky, and if there is a greater space than infinity to hide us, then perhaps the terrible things on the other side of the universe will never take notice of us at all. Chapelwood: The Borden Dispatches by Cherie Priest.

So, ages ago, Wench Angela did a post on her Laminated List . It occurred to me that, you know, I don't think I've ever shared my laminated list. Sadly, I don't think I can ever really laminate it, 'cause there's too much shifting. Anyway, click on through to see who makes the list! With both video and photographic evidence to support my choices. You're welcome.

I found the easy-going comfort of his company seductive,  like a lazy current drawing me downstream, and  every now and then I’d lose my grip upon the shore and float a little further down before remembering I ought to swim against it. The Firebird, Susanna Kearsley