- Narrator: Michael Lesley

 SWEET MOLASSES!!! (Yes, I capitalized it) This was AMAZEBALLS (And I capitalized this again)!! So now it's real.... 

You know, the books I love so much are the ones that are so hard to review!! I feel like everything I would say would be so inadequate!!! So I hope my updates will be enough. I quoted the hell out them....

All the love for ALL the characters!! A special thanks for Michael Lesley. I have never listened to an audio that perfect!! It was like listening to a radio play. I had so much fun with this audio!!

I'm absolutely in awe of him. 

I can not wait for the sequel and hope we won't have to wait that long for the audio.

Now, I'm afraid for the bookhangover. Always happens after such an amazing book!!

“He’s her mate and he dipped his stick in several other … actually many other oil tanks. So she dumped his furry player ass, snuck away in the middle of the night and hadn’t really planned on ever going back there again.” – Dwayne

Last night was “cleanse the palette” night. After some difficult reads, with deep thought processes needed, it was time to pull up a “freebie” from an Indie author. Ground rules: the author’s first book in a series (I had thought this was actually her first book, then I got a gander at the whole NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author thing – ah well!), a ‘light’ read with a female lead, and it has to promise to have some humour.

What I came up with was Ready to Were: Shift Happens, Book One. Originally appearing in Three Southern Beaches, which I haven’t read, this novella extends a short. Essie McGee is an agent with WTF – the Werewolf Treaty Federation. Her job is, basically, to go out and kill things. Quite a bit different from her life on Hung Island, Georgia, where her main interest was her sexy Alpha Hank Wilson. That all ended when Hank couldn’t keep it in his pants – who wants to be barefoot and pregnant and at the beck and call of a player – but when Essie gets marching orders back to go back to Hung Island on a case, even though she would rather chew off her own paw, well. Hilarity happens.

Dragging her gay 300 year old Vampyre best friend along with her for moral support, Essie blows into Hung Island to all the things she left behind. Including Grandma Bobby Sue – and the dreaded Hank the Cheater. But as Dwayne says, “you’re far too beautiful to be hung up on a goober.”

There are missing women, strangers in town, and a desperate rush to find the women before it is too late. All well written, paced and plotted. But the best part? I am lying in bed with my Shih Tzu, Koda, and I laughed so hard when we met Grandma Bobby Sue that he leaped up off my stomach and started barking at whatever made his mom blow up!

I loved this book! As I said, it is free on Amazon, so grab your copy and sit back to enjoy yourself! Published November 25, 2014, I guess I will have to wait a bit for the next installment. Bummer!

I laughed while reading this. I mean really laughed, out loud and then started quoting parts to everyone, including my 67 year old mother who’s now reading it (and laughing). So if you’re a fan of Denis Leary then I can’t recommend this part memoir, part self help tirade enough. Surprisingly there were even sections that helped me, specifically when it comes to understanding how men’s brains work and why they do (or don’t do) what they do. And if you ever need a recipe that calls for 6,000 potatoes he’s got you covered.

The middle part of the book moves away from the bio angle and becomes more of an observations about life; raising drug free kids (or not?), sports, his love of dogs and why cats are satanic spawn, guy friends and nicknames, politicians, pop icons, double standards, racism and why he loves Oprah so damn much.

Some parts that stood out for me were his hilarious tirade about Starbucks, how to interpret guy speak and what men are really thinking when you ask the question “What are you thinking?” (You don’t want to know) This section comes complete with an image of the male and female brain, broken down into compartments for importance of thought. Theres also 8 pages of photographs which include shots from his childhood, his wife and kids, Domina Patrick the race car driver (?) And a comparism between him and Willem Dafoe. Hmmm.

Like I said this made me laugh and yes at times it does come across like a comedy routine but it’s also a whole lot more. Besides anyone who’s been with the same woman for 25 years, obviously still adores her, has raised normal children and phones their mum regularly can’t really be an a-hole

Opening Line: "He needed a woman."

Opening Line: “I am dead, but it’s not so bad. I’ve learned to live with it.”

I absolutely loved the first half of Warm Bodies. Meeting "R" was just a joy, I mean he's hilarious in an unassuming and very undead sort of way and I can't say that I've ever read anything quite like him or this before. Dubbed a "Zombie romance" my initial thought was come-on how the hell is that going to work? I mean ewww but it does, in an innocent and sweet sort of way.

We meet "R" in an airport hangar, riding the escalator up and down (when the power is on) and doing pretty much nothing the rest of the time. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but lately he has been feeling a bit different from his fellow dead, having thoughts and dreams and speaking with more than 6 syllables.

One day R and the rest of his groaning, stumbling hoard go out for lunch in the city and its there that he meets Julie. Julie is different and for reasons he can't understand, he decides not to eat her but to save her and take her back to his place. (he does however eat her boyfriend and his delicious brain begins to change everything)

So Julie and R get to know each other and the plot takes on a bit of a Romeo and Juliet vibe as the "Boneys" (evil leader zombies) don't like this arrangement. Julie and R decide to go back to her place (a survivor city in one of the sports domes) but that's not exactly a great idea either. Julie’s dad wants to kill him and the makeup he's forced to wear keeps coming off, plus he still can't walk or talk very well but he is changing, slowly coming back as something new.

It was about here that the story lost me a bit. It just seemed to lose its sense of humour and get a little out there for my tastes, as the two worlds collided and a new future was born. I enjoyed the vision of the world inside the dome but R’s connection with Perry and all his dreams lost me. The Boney's didn't make much sense either and it just kinda went into fantasy land, not that a zombie romance isn’t there to begin with. Can’t wait to see the movie. Cheers

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