Lenni Reviews: “Bones and Bourbon” by Dorian Graves

16 Saturday Mar 2019

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

*This review is cross-posted to Otakus and Geeks.

Retz is tasked with bringing some escaped exhibits for Lady Delight, a lamia who runs a menagerie of captured supernatural creatures. Lady Delight is a former acquaintance of Nalem, an entity who shares Retz’s body and mind so he agrees to the mission not knowing his Retz’s brother, Jarrod, has been hired by the escaped funaribi to protect them from Lady Delight. Retz and Jarrod have been estranged for 10 years and their reunion occurs under the pall of their conflicting missions as well as a horde of homicidal unicorns.

With all the stuff going on, this book is difficult to pin down. I get some Supernatural vibes (I haven’t watched more than a couple episodes of that but even I could see the similarities) but it is a superficial connection that didn’t take away from the story as a whole.

The characters are lively, well written, and have some great chemistry; particularly Retz and Nalem. The dynamics of having to share a body with some ageless entity of dubious morals is conveyed very well. Jarrod and his boyfriend Ferris have a great relationship and Jarrod is a great character who happens to be transgender instead of being transgender being the entire focus of this existence; as it should be. And with a relentless army of killer unicorns in the mix, this is a cool dark urban fantasy. I really enjoyed it. 3.9 out of 5.

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Overdue March Writing Update

12 Tuesday Mar 2019

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Being home with a sick kid and all has left me with some time on my hands. So, I’ve been working pretty heavily on Emma’s book the last couple of days. I will likely have a rough draft of that ready before the summer and I’ll be posting little snippets over on my Patreon! 😀

I also have a bunch of reviews headed for the blog soon so look forward to those.

This is mostly just to remind my followers that I’m still alive and working on things. More upcoming later this week!

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Runner 5 down! Sorta…

05 Tuesday Mar 2019

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Other than that shot being super awkward… I finally had that lipoma removed from my shoulder and the doctor was very damn clear that there will be no running for at least 2 weeks.

I won’t go into super detail about how fucking strange it is to have someone digging out a fat glob from your flesh but you don’t feel it but I did ask about my desk bike and as long as I don’t over do it, the bike should be fine.

I also have this nifty tiny peddler under my work desk.

One good side effect is I will have more time to write and do needlework. I’m off running for at least 2 weeks and I have no desire to completely lose the progress I’ve made. But, as long as I don’t go flailing my arms around, I should be able to churn out more content and sale items.

I’ll be careful and heal up properly. I did sign up for the Zombies Run! Spring virtual race but I should be healed up by then!

Too bad I didn’t get to keep my lipoma. I would have kept it in formaldehyde and named it Gregori…

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This week’s best run!

26 Tuesday Feb 2019

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I managed to finish day 1 of week 12 on the first try! Here’s the mile by mile breakdown:

  • Mile 1 – 14:40
  • Mile 2 – 29:26
  • Mile 3 – 44:28
  • Mile 4 – 58:49

I wanted to make sure to get this week started because I have some very minor surgery next week that will keep me from running for at least a week. I have my stationary bike to keep in shape but since this is to remove a lipoma from my shoulder and you need shoulders to run, my dermatologist said no running until it’s healed.

Not to mention the stupid, annoying, uncomfortable lipoma is right on my shoulder where my bra strap sits. There’s no way I’ll be able to bear the thick, heavy sports bra strap until it’s healed.

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Today’s Run: Week 11 Completed!

21 Thursday Feb 2019

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I haven’t posted a run in a while mostly because I’ve been annoyed with myself for not finishing C210K. So, I got out of my own way and finished day three! Here’s the breakdown:

  • Mile 1 – 14:56
  • Mile 2 – 29:49
  • Mile 3 – 44:47
  • Mile 4 – 59:20

I am still shocked by my ability to make it to 4 miles at all despite all the training I’ve been doing. I still usually crap out in the third interval but man, I powered through and finished it!

I have started using my old P90X DVDs as a cross training tool. I read blogs from other runners stating they’ve done the program and it did improve their overall running performance but I am not willing to stop running in order to do the full P90X program. I’m just replacing their cardio and yoga days with C210K.

Time will tell if that’s worth it.

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Lenni Reviews: “Beast” by Jamie Sullivan

09 Saturday Feb 2019

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Beau thinks he’s got a hot story when he gets a tip that rock star Gabriel Fletcher, who has been out of the limelight for a year, is hold up in a remote mansion. What he finds there seems inhuman.

As a parody of Beauty and the Beast, this book hits all the beats of the original fairy tale ok. But where this book misses the mark is the relationship between the two main characters. They jump from learning to tolerate one another right into boning and proclamations of love. I couldn’t get to know them well enough to buy them as a couple so it falls flat when they get together. Maybe if it had more time to develop, it would have been more enjoyable. 2.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Murder at the Second Chance Ranch” by L.J. Hamlin

08 Friday Feb 2019

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Looking for a fresh start after being released from prison, Tommy secures a job at the Second Chance Ranch. Hoping only to keep his head down and lead a quiet life, he tries to resist his attraction to Cash and Red; two ranch hands who have obvious feelings for one another as well as Tommy. As the three of them grow closer, a much darker threat emerges as a dead body is found at the ranch.

This story was ok. Our three main leads have distinct and well written personalities but given the short length, nothing feels tight and contained; just underdeveloped. Everyone is just all in love right away and the mystery is very basic, more of a frame to hang the three way relationship on to. One good point I feel the need to mention is how the cops don’t immediately demonize Tommy because he’s an ex-con. It would have been so easy to use that trope and thankfully it wasn’t. A bit of a hollow experience overall. 3 out of 5.

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Trying out Voracious Readers

07 Thursday Feb 2019

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In my ever going quest to get more readers and reviews, I’ve listed my first book in the First Brood series on Voracious Readers. If you’ve found your way here via them welcome and I hope you enjoy the book!

I’ve found some interesting books on there (which I will be reviewing) so I figured I’d offer my stuff on there, too.

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Today’s Run: Almost there…

31 Thursday Jan 2019

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Today turned out to be a kick ass day! The first interval I went at 3.2 mph, the second and 3.5 and the third at 3.2 again and my only extra break is when I slowed down to check and see if my app crashed because it repeated a scene twice and I was about to lose my shit because I lost an hour’s workout. I’m not counting that as a real break, though since it was only 10-15 seconds before I got back up to speed.

I am noticing a much faster recovery time after my workouts but I’m also noticing that now my body does not like to be still. As a librarian, my job is pretty sedentary and; as I’ve said before, now I get extra stiff if I don’t move around enough during the day. I have been incorporating more strength exercises during the week and I may have to stop using my desk bike as a clothes rack and actually get on it. I have this suspicion that spending my off days on the bike will help me as the runs get longer.

Week 11 is almost complete!

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