As the Weather Turns…

I start thinking of the dreaded “s” word that will soon be drifting down it’s lacey, lazy way.  Slowly at first maybe, accumulation not until later; possibly as soon as mid-November.  I look around myself as I take inventory of the book stash and projects on hand for those days that just going to the mailbox will be a chore.  Even now, I’m slightly bundled up with  a thermal, cardigan sweater and with socks on no less.  And those who know me well enough, knows that I’m a barefoot kind of gal.  I have yet another cup of mocha creation of Almond Swiss Mocha coffee and Dark Hot Chocolate mix… yummm. There ain’t nothing like it on a brisk day of a temp. 53*.

On inspection, I find that I’m not short of quilt related things to do this winter.  Maybe I'll finish some of these projects on hand.  One can never tell about these things,  you know. I have projects in many different stages just waiting for me.  I rejoice in the fact that I have made the smart move for getting  my little Sony PS-300 e-reader.  And as long as there is internet access, I can download to my hearts content.  When all else should fail like the power in some wild snow storm, I have squirreled away 2 large brown bags of paperback books to read by candle light.   To keep my fingers nimble, I have plenty of hand stitching laid away.  I even have some yarn bits put aside for making my knitted pin cushions.  An ongoing crochet blanket that only comes out on the coldest of days as I have been working it with dual  yarns that would have me sweating like I was in sweat lodge any other time of the year.  It’s a massive piece, a super generous King size that is about 10.5’ wide and only about a third of the way done. 

In the floor hoop this week, we have Ms. D’s baby quilt.  I’m using simple black Coats & Clarks All Purpose thread.  The reason is black will pop against the white and the block colors.  I’m pleased with the results so far.   This, of course; is being hand quilted in a simple running stitch.  This photo shows just Sunday’s afternoon /evening work.  I had the 1st three Lee Child’s books on cd going as I stitched the time away.

 

I went off and made two triangle pin cushions for a couple of gift boxes.  I had to hide them as the cats try to steal them to play with.  Silly Kitties! 

I worked on many things this week.  I finished the Harlequin Halloween quilt top.  Come next Wednesday, I’ll be sandwiching all together.  I also finished the Lemon RedWork block before moving onto Beets.

I went back and revisited FWS and have come up another 3 blocks.  This week i made #6 – Big Dipper, #19 – Checkerboard and #9 – Box.  Which is in the pictures below.  But I realized yesterday that I had already made the Box block.  Uggg!! I hate when that happens, but it’s not a big issues as I will needed an additional  34 blocks to make the King size quilt.

     

Then I spent time with the e-reader as finding out it’s actually easy to deal with while laying down.  I find that I don’t have to fight with it like I would the larger books.  Up for review is “Escaping Reality-The Secret Life of Amy Benson#1” written by Lisa Renee Jones.  This ARC e-book comes to me via NetGallery for the purpose of reviewing & giving my honest opinion.  This book was published by Julie Patra Publishing on July 22, 2013. As always the thoughts that follow are of my own mind and not associated with any of the parties in the making of this book.

Overview:

ESCAPING REALITY

Infinite possibilities....
Infinite passion.....
Infinite danger....
His touch spirals through me, warm and sweet, wicked and hot. I shouldn't trust him. I shouldn't tell him my secrets. But how do I not when he is the reason I breathe? He is what I need.
At the young age of eighteen, tragedy and a dark secret force Lara to flee all she has known and loved to start a new life. Now years later, with a new identity as Amy, she's finally dared to believe she is forgotten-even if she cannot forget. But just when she lets her guard down, the ghosts of her past are quick to punish her, forcing her back on the run.
On a plane, struggling to face the devastation of losing everything again and starting over, Amy meets Liam Stone, a darkly entrancing recluse billionaire, who is also a brilliant, and famous, prodigy architect. A man who knows what he wants and goes after it. And what he wants is Amy. Refusing to take "no" as an answer, he sweeps her into a passionate affair, pushing her to her erotic limits. He wants to possess her. He makes her want to be possessed. Liam demands everything from her, accepting nothing less. But what if she is too devastated by tragedy to know when he wants more than she should give? And what if there is more to Liam than meets the eyes?

I really enjoyed this book as it caught my attention from the first page with the first sentence with the mysterious envelop.  I could feel the  fight-or-flight  reflex as it gripped our leading lady “Amy” .   The author uses her 1st person writing so that  we see things progress in “Amy’s” eyes.  The fear the letter that is from her “handler” has her on the run again from her “life”  and onto the airport as her instructions tell her to do.  There as she waits for her flight, her eyes connect with him - who is tall, dark & handsome who is so-o-o focused on her. 

Him - he’s name is Liam.  He is the epitome of women dreams, with hints of bossiness that sends tingles up your spine.   And “Amy”  finds him to be seated next to her in first class on the airplane and looks like he can chase away all of Amy’s boogieman back to the closet from which it came.  He causes her to forget everything around her and has the voice that is soothing.  From there things get all hot & steamy as Amy allows Liam to take her places she hasn’t experienced before.  But as the book goes on, Amy begins to wonder if Liam is her “protector” or  is he her “handler” . 

The cliff hanger that we are left with has us panting for more.  This book will have you rethinking what you think you know as it’s equal parts of suspense, mystery and erotic.  I must give a word of caution: this book has been given a PG -17 due to the adult sexual contents.  I personally would give this a hearty 5 stars rating as it left me wanting more just like a my favorites shows do with their cliff hanging season finale!!  Ms. Jones… I’m so waiting for the next book & I’m hunting down your other books too!!

Well I was going to add a couple more book reviews to this post but I think I’ll just do a “Reads & Review”  later in the week.  Hope to see you there. Thanks for stopping in.  Please feel free to leave me a comment. The Girls also thought they needed a picture this week – so here they are on the freezer watching me stitch up those dragonflies on Sunday.

Toodles,
Tricia