This far into the crisis, and having listened to the grim news from Sweden, we've become more nervous and wary about being infected. My mom is quite old, even if she's very healthy. And my sister and I are a bit overweight and used to have high blood pressure after our pregnancies. Not anymore though. The last time I had my blood pressure checked it was as low as ever, before getting pregnant (and suffering from pregnancy toxicosis). I think maybe I had a touch of white coat hypertension, since testing at home, lying comfortably on a sofa doesn't show anything like as high results as they used to when I went to a clinic.

We try to keep our spirits up in different ways. My mom got a set of balls of yarn and a crochet needle, but she says she'd prefer to knit. I would too, but right now I'm doing other things. My sister and I have been exploring in Second Life and will now try to get our homepages/blogs up and running. Well, mostly we'll start over but even that will take a bit of work. New themes or not, for instance. And since I finally have access to my new/ish computer, I have started downloading free e-books. Unfortunately, my children have massacred my old Bookeen Cybook Odyssey. :/Even if anyone could find spare parts, this time it's beyond salvation. And we need to keep an eye on our expenses right now, so no Kobo (which is what I want this time) for me. My mom needs a new phone because - you guessed it - the children smashed her old one as well. Besides, it was a faulty phone to begin with.

At least ordering food online has worked out quite well. From one company. Another won't deliver in this city. Very odd since it's quite big. Another one just cancelled our order today, when they were due to deliver for the first time. Wrong address, they say. Ha. I wonder if it's because this used to be an ancient storage building where no one has ever lived? My sister has been in a chat with them and we'll see how that goes. We just found out that one of our favorite chocolates are sold by the company we get regular deliveries from. So naturally, we'll need to get some of that as well. Unfortunately, Denmark doesn't seem to have our very favorite brand available online. Typical. There's always something. But in the grand scheme of things, I guess that's nothing much to get worked up about. Just like our favorite beverage (if you can call flavored mineral water a beverage) is only sold in Sweden. It's completely delicious. Mineral water with real fruit or berries added. Our favorite is strawberry, closely followed by raspberry. I wonder if we could import it. There are other things we'd like to get as well, but maybe the tea shop delivers to other countries. I have developed a craving for Ahmad's strawberry and apple teas. And I found out that they have raspberry tea as well. At least Denmark sells my other favorite tea brand Pickwick. They have a delicious strawberry tea too. Can you tell that I love strawberries? :) There's also the kind of candy you take for a sore throat. We call them throat tablets. There are several different flavors but we prefer strawberry.

This must be getting boring so I guess I'll stop now. How are you hanging in there, my friends and followers?

I Can Make You Scared - Dangerousnotbrok...

A well written fanfic in which Dean meets Castiel at a low point in his life. Dean finds relief in the bdsm that dom Cas practises.

I enjoyed this gritty British detective story. Kay Hunter is a very interesting character. While the tale starts off in the midst of this gripping kidnapping, it was really Kay’s character that drew me into the story. She’s recently been through the ringer and we get hints of that as we move forward through this mystery. I wanted to know more about her throughout the entire story.

The mystery itself was worthy. First, we have a kidnapped teen (Melanie Richards) whose body is later found. The manner of her corpse gives Kay clues but a murdered man later in the story muddies the waters for her. For us readers, we get these scenes from the murder’s point of view. So it’s a delicious cat and mouse game. Later, a second girl is kidnapped and this ups the stakes for Kay.

My one quibble is that near the end of the book Kay acts out of character, rushing in. Without saying too much, this was an extremely stupid move and so didn’t fit with her actions throughout the story. I felt it was there just to add drama to the story and it wasn’t really necessary.

I liked the teen bullying angle and how other teens react to the kidnapping of the first girl. The parents have a different reaction to the kidnapping, of course, but then to learn about the bullying surprised them. It was a nice touch and it also showed that even after the mystery is solved, there are still things to address with the teens.

I have to mention Adam, Kay’s husband. He’s a veterinarian and a very supportive man. We only get a few scenes with him but he appears to be a very solid loving man that is devoted to Kay. That made me happy because she has so much on her plate, has recently been through quite a bit, and everyone needs someone in their corner. All told, an enjoyable read. 4.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Alison Campbell made a very good Detective Kay Hunter. She captured all of her numerous emotions throughout the story. Campbell also had regional accents throughout and her masculine voices were believable. All around, it was a very good performance with no technical issues. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Rachel Amphlett. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Heh. Poor Mattie doesn't have an easy time of it, does she?

During a blind date with the OCD William-not-Bill, Mattie is called out on a dead body call. Shannon Tolliver was found dead in her front yard, amongst the Halloween decorations. When Shannon's estranged husband Erik is arrested, Mattie knows he's not the killer, so the real question is: who killed Shannon and why?

This was a great followup to the first book; thoroughly entertaining and completely engrossing, it was full of hilarious cringe moments (I laughed out loud through the whole scene when they were recovering the rich couple!) lots of intrigue and one creepy suspect (am I the only one who thought he was creepy at the get-go?) The main plot, Shannon's murder, leads Mattie far and wide in her search for suspects, uncovering quite a few and introducing a few new characters I hope to see more of (the gay bar scene? Loved it!)

Just one thing, I've got a Dropped Thread Alert!

Overall, an excellent second in this series and it made me excited to read more.

A good quick read. There were a few convenient tie ups but overall I enjoyed the story. It's part of a series so I'm guessing we'll get to know more about Detective Kay in the rest of the series and clear some things up.