Open Book - A Memoir

Open Book by Jessica Simpson

Narrated by: Jessica Simpson 👍💓💋
Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins Unabridged Audiobook
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When it felt like Jessica Simpson had walked off the face of the earth hiding behind alcohol. she's back writing her autobiography. Good gracious! If anyone's life is worth living, it's hers. I mean she's managed to live through so much and come out holding her head up high. I have a much deeper appreciation for her after reading her book. I mean God loves her and so do I.

She's in grade 8 and a cheerleader. Her boobs are a size D cup already! She was bullied by some girl saying Jessica touched her inappropriately which wasn't true. She just took Jessica's story about being sexually abused by her parent's friend's daughter. Everyone thought she was a lesbian.

She talked about her life with Nick and behind the scenes of The Newlyweds. Her love of working on the set of the Dukes of Hazards as Daisy Duke and her attraction to her co-star Johnny Knoxville. Her marriage was falling apart on the pinnacle of her career.

Whatever you are going through, the sun will come. After her marriage to Nick was over and they got a divorce, she moved into a gated community in Beverly Hills and bought a mansion of her own. She called it the Hansel and Gretel home.

She was 25 and wanted to have fun. She told her dad she would make the money she paid Nick Lachey after her divorce, back, and billions she did make. It happened that her mother noticed every time Jessica wore something, it sold out, so they embarked into the fashion business. Shoes are a big commodity. She dated John Mayer on and off again and is still writing songs and making albums. It was then she started to drink. She had nothing good to say about John Mayer lol.

Her hit song I Belong To Me released.

Then she dated an athlete, Tony Romo and wrote Come on Over and You're My Sunday. She could make the music she wanted with the benefits of the Jessica Collection. I was just happy to see her clothing line available at Winners and that it was affordable!

She developed body dysmorphia after being humiliated with pictures of her in mom jeans (Death by Mom Jeans) even though she was a size 4 because everybody wanted to see her in daisy duke shorts forever. She'd become a punchline for weight jokes. She met Isabelle Caro who battled with anorexia and died at age 28 making the docu-series The Price of Beauty

Providence may have put the 6-ft Eric Johnson and Jessica together in 2010. Jessica always had faith in Jesus Christ and God was always there for her through thick and thin. Her drinking and her parent's divorce. If there is anything I want to take away from listening to her story, it is her habit of writing and keeping a prayer journal. I also didn't know that she moved into Ozzy Osbourne's house to make room for her growing family.

I hope she can make music again whenever she's ready. I wish her and her family all the best.

Damsel - A twisted and dark fairytale

Damsel

by Elana K. Arnold
Narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden
Audiobook: 7 hours
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After ripping his heart out of his chest she ought to have said: Fuck you I'm a dragon!

This book was most likely written to mimic and ridicule a world dominated by men who think they have the upper hand over the weaker sex like they are nothing but a vessel. Hmph. However, I'm not bothered because Ama remembers what she really is before she ties the knot with King Emory, the gross egotistical LIAR! UGH!

Publisher Summary:

A dark, twisted, unforgettable fairy tale from Elana K. Arnold, author of the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of 

The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: When the king dies, his son the prince must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been. When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon or what horrors she faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome young man, the story he tells of her rescue and her destiny of sitting on a throne beside him. It's all like a dream, like something from a fairy tale. As Ama follows Emory to the kingdom of Harding, however, she discovers that not all is as it seems. There is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows, and the greatest threats may not be behind her, but around her, now, and closing in.

The Rain Watcher

The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A family of four arrive on holiday in Paris and is caught up in rainy weather that produces the Seine River to overflow its banks.
Paris' citizens are captives in a flood.
What is more frustrating and annoying (IMO) is the father suffers a stroke and the mother catches pneumonia. Ugh. really? Tilia the daughter has big hangups with hospitals for having been the sole survivor of a car accident. She spent six months in hospital having a hip replacement and she can't step foot in a hospital to be with her dad.
Linden appears to be the glue that will hold this family together except he has his worries about coming out to his father that he is gay.
Paul Malegarde and his family have a lot of secrets, they probably should've gotten therapy for, jeesh. Was his babysitter raped and murdered while he was all safely tucked up in a tree?
Paris could use a few good trees in case of MONSTER floods.
I found the story's raison d'être quite puzzling.

Where Winter Finds You: A Caldwell Christmas (Black Dagger Brotherhood #17.5)

Where Winter Finds You(Black Dagger Brotherhood #17.5) by J.R. Ward

Narrated by Jim Frangione
9 hours, 37 minutes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Summary:

#1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward is heating things up this winter with a holiday novel featuring some of her most iconic Black Dagger Brothers.

When Trez lost his beloved to a tragic death (The Shadows, Black Dagger Brotherhood #13), his soul was crushed and his destiny seemed relegated to suffering. But when he meets a mysterious female, he becomes convinced his true love has been reincarnated. Is he right? Or has his grief created a disastrous delusion?
Therese has come to Caldwell to escape a rift with her bloodline. The revelation that she was adopted and not born into her family shakes the foundations of her identity, and she is determined to make it on her own. Her attraction to Trez is not what she's looking for, except the sexy Shadow proves to be undeniable.
Has fate provided a grieving widower with a second chance...or is Trez too blinded by the past to see the present for what it really is? In this sensual, arresting book full of the themes of redemption and self-discovery, two lost souls find themselves at a crossroads where the heart is the only compass that can be trusted...but that may require a courage that neither of them possesses.

My Review:

In the words of Lassiclaus "I'm a sucker for true love, what can I say." Lassiter performs his first miracle in Where Winter Finds You with the reincarnation of Selene. Trez Latimer's Shellan.
Therese learns the truth that she is adopted. She was left on her adoptive parents' doorstep by Lassiter when she was a baby.

Fate and all that jazz will have these two souls meet again.

The Infernal Devices Re-Readathon ~ Clockwork Angel

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos. Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own. Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

#TIDreadalong RE-READATHON

I have a better appreciation for the term Infernal Devices- Mortmains automaton creations. Don't blink because the clockwork angel Tessa wears around her neck is the most fantastic imaginative piece of the author's fabric! and there is a lot of clever pieces of fabric in Cassandra Clare's masterpiece, such as the Iratze's and the swords shadowhunters fight with. As you will discover, Mortmain is the enemy and Tessa, Will, Jem, Charlotte, Jessamine, Sophie, Thomas and Henry all live inside the London Institute of Shadowhunters.

Tessa Gray travels from New York to London on a steamship hoping to meet up with her brother Nate. Instead, she falls victim to a pair of dark sisters who serve Mortmain the magister. They seem to know all about her and insist on training Tessa on how to use her power. She doesn't know anything about what she is until she is forced to become someone else for the first time.

Downworlders are creatures with a supernatural abilities such as warlocks, vampires, faeries, and werewolves. Shadowhunters are part human and part angel. They have angel blood coursing through their veins. They primarily fight and kill demons and are bound by Clave Law and The Accords to live peaceably with downworlders and their mandate is to kill demons. Tessa seems to have escaped the Dark House into their world. On a bright note, her romantic involvement with Will is tasked with their mutual fondness for books. I'm sure avid readers will appreciate that aspect.

QUOTE

"Is it dreadful, being so evil? Are you worried you'll go to Hell?" She leaned closer to Tessa. "What do you think the Devil's like?"
Tessa set her fork down. "Would you like to meet him? I could summon him up in a trice if you like. Being a warlock, and all."

Brother Enoch says Tessa is an Eidolon. A Shape-changer but not one that is familiar to him. There is no demon's mark on her.

The following review was first published on my blog in 2011 @Jackie's Forget Me Nots
I just finished reading Clockwork Angel, and it was incredible! I found this mock book cover at DeviantArt. We learned Tessa’s little angel necklace was surprisingly helpful to her. I was astonished more than Tessa was to see that little fiery fairy thing come to life buzzing around her neck when she was being attacked by automatons in the Institute. It saved her life. This may be a spoiler post but I don’t care, considering I am always late when it comes to reading books, so I am assuming everyone in the world has either heard of it or read it.

Alex Mortmain, french for ‘hand of death’ is the head of the pandemonium club. The Magister! OMG!!! :p NOT DeQuincey like everyone was fooled into believing.

Magnus Bane is a very interesting character who I feel has a lot more to do with Tessa’s family than we are aware of. He is a very old warlock. Speaking of characters, I hate Nathaniel Gray! what a dick!

My 2020 top anticipated releases continues...

In all seriousness, I forgot to mention a couple of books I've been anticipating to read in 2020 in my initial post. Needless to say, sometimes I jump the gun and if I were in the Hunger Games I would be dead as fuck!

Rage and Ruin (The Harbinger #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout. 

Releases June 9th, 2020. 

How did I ever forget to mention this one? Storm and Fury was the most entertaining paranormal fantasy of 2019! I can't wait for the sequel.

Night of the Dragon (Shadow of the Fox #3) by Julie Kagawa. 

Releases April 2nd, 2020. 

OMG! Another HIT and I can't wait to dive back into the fantasy world because I love Yumeko and Tatsumi!

The Adventures of A Time Spinner

Secrets of the Chocolate House by Paula Brackston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is close to Christmas and Xanthe and Flora's little antique shop is open for business and they are making friends with the tea shop owner Gerri, next door. Liam is also helping out whenever he can. He likes Xanthe, a lot, but she hasn't gotten over her feelings and relationship to Samuel of the seventeenth century.

Xanthe finds out she is a Spinner whose role in travelling through time is to help people. She can hear certain objects sing that beckon her to answer the call. So far her adventures have been fraught with danger. I just hope she will get to experience joyful ones.

Upon finding a copper chocolate pot she gets the impression Samuel is in danger so she goes back in time to save him and is caught up with the secrets of a chocolate house, where she learns there are others just like her: Mistress Louisa Flyte and one dangerous Benedict Fairfax!
This fascinating time travel is an adventure in proportion to witchcraft and I enjoyed every little detail. I love that Xanthe was able to use her talent for singing in the past as well as the present. I also love that she was chosen to be the bearer of the spinner book, just as Mistress Flyte was.