Jenuine Cupcakes

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.  This is book 2 in the Dead Beautiful series and while I'm still not a fan of the Undead/Zombie world, I have to say I did enjoy the action and adventure in this one. At the end of book 1, Renee and Dante (take second w/your thoughts...Dante...) have become "soul mates" but in order to keep her safe, he leaves her which is of course, how you prove to someone that you want to spend forever with them, right?  In his defense, he IS trying to keep her safe while he looks for a way for them to be together. There's a  new school, with new friends and rivals as well as a new mystery to solve that could result in Renee and Dante finally being able to be together.  There's also a new guy, Noah, to complicate things for Renee and put her relationship with Dante to the test.  Not only is Noah a Monitor (and a cute one too) he's interested in helping her solve the mystery of...

If I ever have to suffer a head injury with memory loss (and I pray I don't!) this is how I'd want to do it.  Alice's story made me laugh, cry and I laughed until I cried - it was that good. When we first meet Alice, it's 1998 and she is waking up to another lovely day of life in her fixer upper with her charming and somewhat goofy husband, Nick, teetering on the edge of 30 while expecting their first child together.  Life. Is. Good.  The only problem?  That's not reality.  She's actually waking up on a sweaty gym floor surrounded by people she doesn't recognize with a massive headache she can't explain.  Once she fully comes too, she's shocked to learn that it's actually 2008, she's almost 40, her life is not exactly as she thought it was AND she can't remember the past 10 years of her life.  One of the funniest things (in the beginning) is how upset she is to learn that she's a) so skinny, and b) in.a.gym! - she loathes exer...

Hurricane Irene Preparations: Bottled water - check Non Perishable food items - check Flashlights/batteries - check Candles/matches - check Electronic devices charged - check Playing outside during the hurricane - check...wait...what?! I know, I know, that last one doesn't sound normal but I don't know that others would describe me as "normal" so there ya go.   We survived Hurricane Isabel boarded up in a beach house on stilts on an island in NC with the hubs, his brother and wife and my then 3 yr old.  My SIL and I even went out onto the beach to take pictures DURING Isabel just to "see what it was like" because we're just that crazy (or stupid depending on who you ask). So today as I was looking at the ominous skies above and thinking... OK, I was thinking, Crap!  If Irene really does hit us then I'ma be stuck inside with no power for who knows how long with the hubs and two kids who think living without electronic d...

*Spoilers*  OK, so I have mixed feelings about this book which I will do my best to explain.  I rated it 2 out of 5 stars because while I'm not opposed to books about death and dying, this entire book is about the subject which borders on the morbid.  I'm also not a big fan of the Undead, Soulless, Zombie types even if they are tall, dark, incredibly beautiful and irresistibly romantic.  I DO think this book was extremely well written and I actually enjoyed the inclusion of the Latin and Philosophy the likes of which I hadn't seen since my college days. Renee is sent away to boarding school in Maine by her grandfather after the sudden and mysterious death of her parents on her 16th birthday.  At the Gottfried Academy, she encounters many new people, classes (Latin, Philosophy, Horticulture and Crude Sciences) and experiences.  Her roommate, Eleanor is a popular girl and a gossip who seems to know everything about everyone thanks in part to her older b...

This was a really good read!  I have to admit it started out a bit slow for me but I'm so glad I stuck with it.  Intriguing, suspenseful, terrifying, exciting and heartbreaking all at the same time. In "Before I Go to Sleep", we meet Christine, whose woken up (like every day) and doesn't know where she is or worse, who she is.  She also doesn't expect to be as old as she is.  Christine suffers from a rare form of amnesia and can only retain memories from the day she is living in because once she goes to sleep each night, she forgets everything and everyone.  Her husband, Ben, tells her every morning the story of her life, their life together and about her amnesia which is the result of her accident that she had at 29. She is now 47.  She has no choice but to trust him and the memories he tells her they've made together, until one day when she receives a call that could change everything. When Dr. Nash calls and tells Christine that they've been meet...

Have you ever wished you could go back and do things differently?  Maybe tell a younger "you" who to be friends with, who not to date or what fashion trends to skip altogether?  I know I HAVE!  I've said many times that I if I could have the chance to talk to my teenage self again I would in a heartbeat! Devi Banks is almost through her Senior Year of High School and is having quite possibly the worst day of her life when the she accidentally drops her cell phone in a fountain at the mall.  After retrieving it she discovers that it still works (thank goodness!) but there's a problem...no matter what button she pushes, she keeps getting the same girl who claims to be her, Devi Banks.  What. Is. Happening?! Devi (the first one) quickly realizes that right before her cell phone fell into the fountain, she "wished" there was way she could talk to her Freshman self - tell her how not to screw up her life to the point that it is now in her Senior year. ...

I went to see the Glee movie in 3D last night with 2 friends from high school and while the movie itself was fun, I'm finding that what happens around the actual "outing" is more entertaining the older one gets. One of the nice things about riding in cars alone is getting to listen to whatever I want too, however LOUD I WANT TOO! (I'm sorry, was that too loud?)  The draw back to riding alone is that I am also the one responsible for the directions which can be a challenge when A) the GPS takes me the wrong way and B) the music is SO LOUD that I'm momentarily distracted (LL Cool J does have a way with words) and I end up in an area that I don't readily recognize. After we loaded up and said goodbye to the cutest little redhead (my friend's son) we were on our way to the theatre.  It took us awhile to find a parking space because there were easily a million people waiting in line for something outside.  As we circled the parking lot and tried to remain c...