The Saucy Wenches Book Club

"But a kiss is about being in sync with someone. The decisions are often thoughtless. Without words, you are choosing which angle your head will tilt, to open your mouth, let someone take over with tongue and teeth or fight it out.  I wasn't just kissing her. I want a wordless conversation. I want to be in sync with her. I want to be thoughtless with a woman who is intent on revenge fucking me." Dakota Gray's  Perv .

This is a British baking tv show . You watch ordinary people baking the most delicious treats in the world. You learn something new, your waist line seems to expand just by watching them bake, you get a desire to learn how to bake (if you are like me and know nothing about baking), and you conclude that baking must be some kind of alchemy . For this fangirl Friday I've decided to write about (and fangirl) about the Bake Off. There are a quite few reasons why I love it.

“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.”  An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir

Click through to see what we're reading this week! 

“Have you ever met someone and felt… I don't know how to describe it, felt a chance at having something that eluded you? I don't know… Forget I said anything." I knew what he meant. He was describing that moment when you realize that you are lonely. For a time you can be alone and doing fine and never give a thought to living any other way and then you meet someone and suddenly you become lonely. It stabs at you, almost like a physical pain, and you feel both deprived and angry, deprived because you wish to be with that person and angry, because their absence brings you misery. It's a strange feeling, akin to desperation, a feeling that makes you wait by the phone even though you know that the call is an hour away. I was not going to lose my balance. Not yet.”  Kate Daniels #1 by Ilona Andrews

Show me a man or woman alone and I’ll show you a saint. Give me two and they’ll fall in love. Give me three and they’ll invent the charming thing we call “society.” Give me four and they’ll build a pyramid. Give me five and they’ll make one an outcast. Give me six and they’ll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they’ll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home. ~ Stephen King, The Stand

Out of bed, we're a storm. In bed, we find the eye. The detritus of our world, of our complex and difficult personalities, gets swept up into the various supercells eternally raging around us and vanishes. Burned ~~Karen Marie Moning

More than a day after being cooped up with Sidewinder, Zane sat with his hands over his eyes, listening to them argue over dinner. Dinner! They argued over everything!   “Shut up!” he finally hollered.   Everyone froze, staring at him in shock.   “Pizza,” Zane grunted, pointing at Owen. “Order it. Just cheese. Now.”   The silence lasted a few more seconds. Then without a word, Owen shrugged and took out his phone to search for a pizza place, and the others all dispersed to go do whatever the hell Sidewinder did when they weren’t trying to kill each other. How the hell had these men all lived in one house for years?   Ty patted Zane on the shoulder as he passed by, giving him a wink. Zane had to just roll his eyes. No fucking wonder the Marines had ousted these yahoos. Crash & Burn by Abigail Roux

The Wenches have been doing what we do best and reading all sorts of books this week! Some of us are doing more than a book a time, which is always adventurous! And some of us spent time with one book at a time.  There are a few new reads, brand new releases, some classics, and some old faves on our lists. Basically, a little bit of everything! You're welcome! Click through to see what we've been reading! 

“In the name of the Pizza Lord. Charge!”

I didn’t sleep much after that. I was too mad. I’m not even sure who I’m mad at. I just kept thinking about our country and the whole world and how screwed up it is that people don’t do more for each other. I don’t know when humans started only looking out for themselves. Maybe it’s always been this way. It Ends With Us ~~Colleen Hoover

Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic #1) by Devon Monk sees a change of pace from Monk's earlier work. The novel is small town, urban fantasy set in Ordinary, Oregon. Delaney Reed is the police chief and it's up to her to keep law and order in Ordinary. Yet the name is very deceptive. Ordinary is anything but ordinary. It's the place where gods go to vacation. The three Reed siblings have a unique ability to meet the requirements of living in this usual town. There's a murder to solve and the Reed sisters are up to the task. From Goodreads: Exciting new urban fantasy series by national bestselling author, Devon Monk Monsters, gods, and mayhem... Police Chief Delaney Reed can handle the Valkyries, werewolves, gill-men and other paranormal creatures who call the small beach town of Ordinary, Oregon their home. It’s the vacationing gods who keep her up at night. With the famous rhubarb festival right around the corner, small-town tensions, tempers, and godly t...

“How many lovers?” He could have given her a straight answer. Dozens. Or, more specifically: Thirty-seven. Thirty-seven, if you counted mutual versions of the conduct he’d just engaged in, and Sebastian did. But what he finally said was, “Too many. And not enough.”   Her face was in shadow. He couldn’t tell if she was disgusted by him, or if this was just a matter of idle curiosity for her.   She exhaled. “How many would be enough?”   He smiled sadly. “One more, Violet.” He looked over at her—at her arms folded around herself, at her head, turned from his, as if that would be enough to distract him from the ferocity of his want. “I’ve only ever wanted one more.”    Courtney Milan's The Countess Conspiracy

I knew I had a Fangirl post due, but was running low on inspiration. I happened to go through a bunch of old DVDs to find something cheerful to rewatch and came across Coupling . Which is probably one of my favorite TV shows ever, and something I have the happiest memories of watching with my best friend over the years, and after introducing it to my siblings and other friends, more rewatches than most other comedies series I've watched.  Click through so I can tell you just a few reasons why Coupling is something you should definitely at least TRY watching, especially when you're in the mood for some top notch comedy.  Follow us through the jump!

If God and Satan got together on a sunny day to create something, I imagine they would have come up with something similar to the savage perfection that was Lord Tremaine‘s face. Shadow Born, Jasmine Walt, Rebecca Hamilton

"My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I've come unequipped with the ability to disarm them." "The Raven Boys" by Maggie Stiefvater 

Happy Hump Day, readers! The Wenches have been reading quite a bit this week! Hopefully, we'll be reviewing stuff for you and gently persuading you to give our recommendations a go! Lots of series, a few old favorites, a classic or two, and even a couple of new releases! We've got it all covered!  Click through to see what we've been reading! 

“I wish I shared your confidence.” He blinked, the two stars of his eyes vanishing for a moment, then said, “May I entrust you with a secret, regarding confidence?” “Of course.” “Bravery, as I am sure you are well aware, consists not of the absence of fear but in the taking of action as though the fear were not felt. Confidence, likewise, consists of the presentation of assurance as though there were no doubt as to a successful outcome. Such presentation, however false its origin, is remarkably efficacious in its effect both on others and on oneself.” She smiled in the darkness. “Is this, then, the secret to a successful captaincy? Pretense?” “It is perhaps the only such secret.” ~ Arabella of Mars , David D. Levine

Life is full of toil, sacrifice, and pain, and from the time we stop growing, we know that we've begun dying. We watch helplessly as year by year, our bodies age and fail, while our survival instincts compel us to keep on going - which means living with the terrifying knowledge that ultimately death is inescapable. Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, Book 13) by Jim Butcher

Saucy Readers, I've been in a reading slump this summer, and that always sucks. Last summer I tore through almost 40 books in three months. This summer I've read twelve books, which doesn't sound too bad, but I only read one book in August and three in July. I've been needing a jump start on my brain to get me into the reading mood again, and I think I finally found it! Leave it to Colleen Hoover to write a book that is completely unexpected, that defies genre labels, and that I'm still thinking about days later. I've read a few of her New Adult books and while they are good, it's just not my cup of tea. Her one other truly adult book, Ugly Love , on the other hand, rocked my world last year. So when I saw that It Ends With Us had released early in August, I grabbed that baby and started it right away.  Come with me through the jump and I'll try and explain why you should buy, download, or borrow this book right away. Without giving anything away, o...

I was compelled forward. Without explanation, every atom in my body was intent on moving to meet whatever was emerging from the fog of falling ash. That move could have been deadly, but I didn't care. I kept walking. And when the fog cleared, brilliant green eyes stared back at me. Tears sprang to my eyes. My knees suddenly trembling, I ran toward him.  Drink Deep ~~Chloe Neill

"​I love you, Kelly.”     Kelly took a deep breath and sighed it out slowly, kissing Nick’s chest, eyes drifting shut as Nick held him close. After a few seconds he realized that Nick was holding his breath and his heart was racing. He raised his head to meet Nick’s eyes, searching for a hint as to why.     Nick was silent, letting him look.     “What’s wrong?” Kelly asked.     Nick shook his head, smiling sadly.     “What?” When Nick spoke, his voice had gone hoarse. “It’s just . . . someday I hope you’ll say it back again." Part & Parcel  by Abigail Roux

Source Click through to see what we're reading this week! 

“Holy shit," I breathed. "Hellhounds." "Harry," Michael said sternly. "You know I hate it when you swear." "You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”

You want to know somebody? I mean, really know somebody? Take away their comfort zone and see what happens. Faefever ~~Karen Marie Moning

An elegant and erudite Dracula saga Despite the title, The Historian is a book about vampires. Dracula, in fact, the big bad granddaddy of vampire mythology. Oh, there are several historians, as well as other flavors of scholars. And the titular historian is a singularly compelling character. You might change your mind several times about who it is. But don’t be misled by the subject matter. This is not campy pulp fiction or an urban fantasy romp with spandex and swords. (Not that there’s anything wrong with those!) It is a meticulously crafted, artfully layered, and slooooowly revealed masterpiece. I say this so that, should you feel compelled to seek out this book, you choose a time with minimal distractions when you can properly savor it. The scope of The Historian is breathtaking. The prose is eloquent and precise. The tale is an ingenious blend of history and fantasy that is relentlessly fascinating. This book was originally published in 2005 and became a best s...

He pulled away. His eyes were glazed with lust, underscored by something that looked an awful lot like... resignation? "Of course. I knew from the moment I heard your name."   Skeptical, she cocked her head. "Before you even saw me? How'd you know I didn't gain three hundred pounds and a hunchback over the last decade?"   His lips twisted. "I met you when you were chubby and had frizzy hair and acne."   A gasp escaped her lips. So she'd had a bit of an awkward phase. Bringing it up now was hardly gentlemanly. "Shut up, Caine."   "My point is, I wanted you then. I still want you now. When I walked away from you all those years ago, I knew that wanting would never stop." He tucked a strand of hair - sleek, not frizzy hair, thank you very much - behind her ear. "Prettiness helps, Tatiana, but you and me? It's always been more . We're like a moth and a flame."   "Who'...

Okay, so it's summer. Wonderful, warm summer. Even better, it's summer in Canada, so the thought is... well, rather springlike, right? How warm can it really get? How warm is thirty-seven degrees anyway? I'm originally from the Chicago suburbs. It got toasty, sure, but not horrible, and certainly not bad once you factor in having A/C. Then I moved. I moved far away to SW Ontario. I moved in 2004. I lost central air. I had no air conditioning at all for several years, then had a single window unit for the bedroom for several more. Then we moved to where we are now, and learned that while we could have an A/C in the bedroom and one in the kitchen, we couldn't do both and still have electricity. Imagine, if you will, how this went down: It's brutally warm out (85*+) and I'm sitting in my sunny living room trying to coax a breeze through the house, and the mailbox goes thunk. Fine. I check the mailbox, and it's a notice from the complex... they're replac...

Here I am again! Bringing you delicious Man Candy from Wench favorite, Game of Thrones . I've already featured Game of Thrones men still among the living. Check that out here ! This one features characters that have gone on to the great beyond. Dead on the show, I should clarify. None of us know, yet, what will happen in the last two books. Did you hear that George RR Martin? We don't have the last two books yet! Keep writing! Anyway, stay with me after the break to see some yummy Game of Thrones actors. And, here is your obligatory spoiler warning. This post will reveal some details of this past season! Wench Angela, you've been warned.

“You should know whatever game you're playing, you can't win. Not against all of us. If you leave now, you won't be hurt. If you stay, we'll break you so bad that you'll be crawling away." Paper princess (The Royals #1), Erin Watt