#and have to reevaluate why martin might not like HIM

[bananonbinary]

theres so many ways to write how jmart interact off-mic in season 1, but my lowkey favorite is “jon genuinely doesn’t realize what a huge asshole he’s been and thinks he and martin have ‘professional differences.’ he sees no reason they cant be friends right up until martin is like ‘you literally wished i was dead’“

#the magnus archives #this one makes most sense to me bc he was at martin's birthday #and i think s1 jon's Problems all come from being too caught up in his own head to notice everyone else around him #so it makes sense he'd sorta...forget his words and actions have consequences #also its very very juicy to imagine jon experiencing the sting of rejection here #and have to reevaluate why martin might not like HIM #because i love pain

[fakerbatch]

Sorry, I know this has been talked about. But I do not quite understand. My question is: How did Amanda and Martin end their relationship? What exactly happened? They were very suspicious. In less than a year, they had been flirting for months. Of course, at The Hobbit, Martin did not treat Amanda as friendly, as if something had happened, and three years later their relationship ended!😶

In fact, Sherlock changed everything, Martin and Benedict's fame and relationship changed completely, they became more famous, then they ended their long relationship, Benedict with Olivia and Martin with Amanda 😶

And then once Benedict meets a woman who looked like his sister (they look alike) and they get married and have children. All of this happens in less than a year. 🙄

I've even heard that Amanda does not watch Sherlock because it reminds her of bad times.☠️

Excuse me, can you explain these topics to me? Thank you for your good blog🙏🏻♥️

Well I will try to give you my perspective, which is just what I knew and remember, and my assumptions. Amanda yea had been making lots of comments about Martin not doing his part with the kids, in interviews for several years around Hobbit time (so 2013 ish). It was clear even then she was very bitter his career came before hers when conflicts came up (but once one makes that much money money Um duh). And even Martin made some more respectful marriage is hard statements, perhaps a little later.

I’m not going to remember dates (so this is all 2014-2015ish) but Martin’s mum died, spent time in a hospice where he visited a lot. Her death might have made him reevaluate because not too long after there was a time he didn’t work for many months, maybe focusing on his relationship (they’ve made it very clear, both even recently, that they were never married) and helping with the kids? He also started working out (it was clear he rarely had previously in his life) and has looked amazing since then.

January of 2016 he went to Puerto Rico to film StartUp She visited once with the kids and there were some super bitter tweets from her. December 2016 Martin confirmed it in an article that they’d broken up when he got home from there just before Sherlock filming. A group of us suspected by summer that they had been broken up for months, due to multiple sightings of him off alone getting food during filming, repeatedly alone in Soho at non filming times, Amanda’s tweets suggesting she was alone driving to filming, etc. It was mostly her constant whining that was the clincher though and showing off how tight she was with her bestie Rebecca doing tons of stuff with her. And the group of new piercings/tattoos and I think an intense hair cut by the fall had us totally convinced. Also Martin did one of his product pictures and you could see something on the wall that used to be in his house but was clearly in a new place. So anyway we were completely sure by fall but barely mentioned it at all here because of the hate we’d get. And sure enough two or so days before his interview where he admitted it dropped (and maybe that’s why they waited, get Sherlock promo done?) they had that screening and a few of us pointed out they were sitting separately. No not hating just observing and oh man did the nasty trolls jump on us about how hateful we were and how wildly in love they were. 🙄

Anyway they have both mentioned how hard that filming was so I can imagine she doesn’t watch Sherlock (but I never thought any of them were too into going back to watch it tbh and she also could not watch it because she had shown many signs of being jealous of Ben, yes even if he and M were only friends). We can’t know why exactly they broke up, it’s usually long-term and complicated reasons. She has OTT hinted many times he was cheating (and possible he was maybe in PR) but she also can really be an attention seeking liar and everyone always just assumes the more famous one, or the man, or both, cheated. What I don’t think it was was anything to do with fans or Enty’s BI. Famous couples have learned how to just ignore that noise and not let it affect their relationship.

Hope that helps, but my memory isn’t great so might have missed out something! Also yes fame can change things for couples generally, although It was newer for Ben and he dove into it.

[dickwheelie]

This is a little specific so feel free to give it a pass if you're not into it, but would you like to like to do season 2 Lunch Date Era jonmartin with the 'friendly hugs' prompt? Thank you, and have a good day!

specific prompts are actually really nice, they give me something solid to work off of, so this was actually perfect! I had a lot of fun writing this one. thank you and enjoy, anon!

____________

Jon can't stop bouncing his leg.

He keeps forgetting that he's doing it, and then noticing again, and then forcibly stopping himself, but it never lasts long. The cafe is crowded and loud, which is distracting enough on its own, but Martin is also there, sitting across from him and tucking into a sandwich, gamely trying to engage Jon in conversation even though Jon keeps getting distracted and bouncing his leg.

"Jon? You there?"

Martin's voice fades back into Jon's awareness, and he shifts his gaze back to him. "Sorry," he says for the fifth time that lunch hour, "um, say that again?"

He feels bad. He does. Ever since he found out about Martin's CV, Jon's been kicking himself over how paranoid he'd been, thinking that Martin was out to get him, shouting at him over what turned out to be nothing. Jon doesn't want to be that sort of boss, that sort of person, but he'd just been so overwhelmed. He could hardly believe it when Martin asked him to join him for lunch, after all the things Jon's said to him. Still, he's grateful for the olive branch. It's too bad he keeps messing it up by forgetting to listen to Martin when he talks.

Speaking of--

"Oh, damn," Jon mutters, interrupting whatever it is Martin is trying to tell him. "Martin, god, I'm so sorry, I just got--"

"Distracted?" Martin says, and to Jon's surprise he doesn't seem annoyed, just . . . concerned. "I've noticed. Jon, are you feeling alright?"

"What? Yes, I'm fine." Jon eats the last few bites of his salad so he doesn't have to meet Martin's eyes.

"Sure? Because you seem really anxious." Martin's voice has that soft, worried lilt to it that Jon used to get annoyed by. It doesn't bother him so much anymore. It's . . . sort of nice, really, to be worried over, sometimes.

Not now, though. Because right now Jon doesn't need to be worried over. "I'm not anxious. Just . . . it's distracting in here. It's loud."

"Oh, well, let's go then," Martin says, finishing up his sandwich and standing up to gather his coat. "It's not too cold out. We can walk around downtown until lunch hour is over."

"I--" Jon wants to protest, but he realizes that yes, getting out of this small cafe would be very welcome. "That's . . . that's a good idea, actually."

His leg can't bounce when he's walking, and the early winter air is cold but not biting, and the walkways aren't crowded. Jon can feel himself calming down by the time they get a block away from the cafe. Maybe he had been a little anxious, after all. This was a very good idea. Martin has very good ideas, he thinks.

"If that cafe was too much," Martin is telling him, and thankfully Jon is actually able to listen to him now, "there's another place we could try next time. New Indian place, right around the corner from the Institute. Tim says he goes there whenever he has a PT appointment, to treat himself."

Jon wants to go back to the fact that Martin wants there to be a next time, but for now there's something more pressing to address. "Tim's still doing physical therapy?" he says. He'd thought he was finished weeks ago.

"Yeah, he says it's just follow-up appointments. He's mostly okay, they just need to make sure he's improving, I guess." Martin shoots him a sidelong look. "I thought you and he were close."

"Not, um . . . not so much anymore." Jon stuffs his hands into his coat pockets, ducking into his collar. "We don't really . . . talk."

"Oh," Martin says. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah." Jon doesn't want to get into it. Thankfully, Martin doesn't press the issue.

"Are you still going to PT?" Martin says instead. "You don't have to tell me, obviously. I just . . . I never see you outside the archives anymore."

Jon bites the inside of his cheek. "I, um . . . I sort of . . . stopped going. After the second appointment."

Martin stops short in the middle of the sidewalk, and Jon has to double back. "Christ, Jon!" he says, not angry, but aggravated. "You can't just skip out on that stuff, you could do permanent damage--"

"Martin, I'm fine," Jon says. "See, I'm walking around and everything. Trust me, if it was bad, I'd have kept going, but the whole thing was a waste of time and I had work to get done--"

"Your health comes first," Martin says, with finality, before his demeanor softens. "I'm not an idiot, Jon, I notice you staying late and coming in early, I notice when you skip meals. You're running yourself ragged. It's a job, Jon, and trust me, I know how important this work is, I get it, but none of it, alright, none of it's more important than you."

Jon blinks at him. He wants to protest, but every half-formed rebuttal sounds either defensive or outright silly. Martin is right, after all. Jon just wishes that he weren't, because then he wouldn't have to reevaluate everything he's been doing for the past two months.

Martin goes on, taking a step closer to him. "Just . . . you don't need to keep throwing yourself at a wall, Jon. At least give yourself a break every once in a while."

"I can't just walk away, Martin. O-Or, I don't--" Jon's voice has gone shaky. He clears his throat and tries again. "I--I don't really know how. There's just . . . there's so much, and I don't know where any of it leads, if it's leading anywhere at all, and . . . I just . . . I've no idea what I'm supposed to do about all of it."

Martin gives him a look that Jon doesn't know how to place. It's not pity, or condescension, which Jon would expect from most everyone else. He just looks . . . sort of sad. His hands are clasped in front of his chest, tugging restlessly on his fingers. "Jon, would you . . . um, that is . . ." Suddenly Martin thrusts his open arms out towards Jon and blurts out, "Would you like a hug?"

Jon's speechless. What a thing to be asked, he thinks, and especially by a coworker, no matter how well they know each other, it's completely unprofessional, and even if Martin were his closest friend, which he isn't, but even if he were, why on earth would Jon of all people need a hug? Sure, he's not doing all that great, but Martin doesn't need to know that, and anyway how is a hug supposed to fix anything, especially a hug from someone who doesn't know the half of what Jon's been going through lately, or how scared and confused he's been, or about Jon's very serious problems that are complicated and terrifying and can't be fixed with something as childish and simple as a--

"Yes, please," Jon says, the words coming out in an exhale of pent-up tension, and he all but collapses into Martin's open arms. His face lands just under Martin's chin, half-tucked into his shoulder, and he's just barely able to wrap his arms around Martin's midsection as Martin hugs him back tightly, squeezing him against his chest, and Jon had never known how strong Martin was, how much he had been hiding beneath those soft jumpers of his. His arms, all muscle beneath fat, feel as though they could fight off an army if they really wanted to, and despite his nagging paranoia, Jon can't help but feel utterly protected by them. He feels himself relaxing, bit by bit, sinking into the softness of Martin's chest, letting him hug him closer, just tight enough to be secure without hurting. As he leans into the hug, he doesn't feel any concern about Martin losing his grip or slipping backwards. Martin can take his weight; he knows this. He is as solid and reliable as a wall, and just as stubborn, and he will not drop Jon. Jon lets out a deep sigh, his breaths evening out and slowing, tension seeping from his limbs until he feels entirely relaxed. He feels cared for. He feels safe. It's been so, so long since he's felt safe.

He doesn't even notice that he's closed his eyes until Martin's arms shift around him, and Jon realizes they've been hugging for probably way longer than is normal. His eyes snap open and he backs off, hands sliding away from Martin, clearing his throat awkwardly. He tries not to miss the gentle security of Martin's arms.

"Um," Martin says, sounding like he's about to apologize, but Jon interrupts him.

"Thank you," he says, trying to keep his voice even. "That was--I, um. I needed that." When was the last time he'd hugged someone? Jon can't even remember. "It was really nice," he says quietly. Another one of Martin's brilliant ideas.

Martin nods, looking relieved, and perhaps a little fond, though it may just be Jon's imagination. "Anytime," he says, and Jon thinks he might mean it. He hopes he does. "What are friends for, eh?"

Jon blinks. Are they friends? How long has that been the case? He looks at Martin, hands stuffed into his coat pockets, a small smile on his face, and he thinks that yes, maybe they are friends. It would be nice to be friends, anyway. If Martin says they're friends, Jon won't correct him. "Yeah," he says, and he's very glad to see Martin's face brighten at the word. "I, um," and Jon needs to clear his throat again, "I-I'll try. To have a break once in a while."

"Promise?" Martin says, and Jon can't help but laugh.

"I promise."

Martin nods. "Okay. Good."

"This, today, lunch I mean, this was nice. I'd . . . um. I'd like to do it again."

"Oh! Um, sure. Definitely," Martin says, smiling.

"We can go to that Indian place," Jon says.

"Sure," Martin says. "Tomorrow?" His look is hesitant, but Jon's answer is immediate.

"Yes," he says, letting a smile run over his lips. "Yes, Martin, I'd like that very much."

#tma #the magnus archives #jonmartin #martin blackwood #jonathan sims #gwyneth writes

[askmarietheapprentice]

Fan Theory Friday: Takuto Murki is a future Ren Amamiya. Part 2

First off I forgot to add an obvious Adult Confidant... Chihiaya since it looks like he’s going to do something similar to what she did but more complex and dispensing with symbols to deal with what (Or should I should say who?)those symbols represent. The student has surpassed the teacher. 

All the newly arranged  Persona songs for Smash Brothers aren’t battle songs and have to deal with uncertainty of having a true identity when you can change into multiple ones at the drop of a hat. (Beneath The Mask)  The Sea of the Soul/ the Collective Unconscious. (Aria of the Soul) And finally accepting yourself completely. Nasty and nice obvious and secret. Listening to yourself to become a happier and better person. “ I’ll Face Myself “  Perhaps Ren will do this literally in  Persona 5 Royal? If my theory is true yes.  I mean it defiantly foreshadowed Joker’s in game use of a grappling hook. 

If he’s Ren Takuto is just an other persona to be discarded when he has no further use and speaking of persona his initial persona Arsene is a master at disguise. He also studied psychology. 

 Now I have to get serious. It looks who ever Takuto Murki is he’s going to blur the line between therapist and friend while ideally it should have none/very little overlap. Otherwise it risks the therapy being ineffective at best to actively harmful at worse. These are considered the basic rules.  (From Psychology Today)

1. No physical contact with a patient.

2. No relationship with a patient outside of the consulting room. 

3.   The therapist should not treat close relatives or friends  of the patient. (Emphasis mine.)

4. No practical advice to a patient.

5. Maintain objectivity and neutrality toward the patient and avoid excessive worrying/thinking about the patient.

6. Seek supervision if you are tempted to, and before you do, violate any of these rules.

“Although not every violation will lead to disaster and some flexibility may be harmless or even appropriate in certain circumstances, the failure to take seriously the potential for disaster from any boundary violation is a grave error. Trouble happens most often when the therapist is tempted think she is above these rules, not subject to temptation or can handle this particular situation.” ( https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychoanalysis-unplugged/201709/sorry-your-therapist-can-t-be-your-friend) 

The reason he take that risk? It may be the only way for Ren to open up and accept therapy he so desperately needs. (If Takuto is Ren he might believe he’s the only one that will be able to outfox him into actually doing his part as the patient instead of trying to be the therapist. Doctors make the worst patients after all.)

 I believe Ren is going to have parallels with Frasier Crane the protagonist Frasier. While Takuto is going to have parallels with his brother Niles. ( Like how Niles didn’t exist in Cheers. Fraiser was an only child. And Takuto didn’t appear in Persona 5 vanilla.) A show about psychiatrist Frasier returning to his hometown of Seattle building up his career as a radio advice show while reconnecting with his father Martin  and brother Niles and making new friends. Here is the full ending theme from the soundtrack .

“Hey baby, I here the blues a-calling” This has been said by the composer and colyricist to represent the callers that ask  for advice for their “Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs”  the mixed up things in their life. Don’t know what exactly the tossed salads are but I’m pretty sure scrambled eggs are the mind scrambled up with some metal issue or illness and the mixing of both noble and ignoble(Or at least selfish) motives/desires. (good eggs and bad eggs.)  “But maybe I seem a bit confused” “-Fraiser’ s personality was a bit ????” 

 “Maybe but I got you pegged.” “Fraiser does understand these people and helps them.” 

“But I don’t know what to do with these tossed salads and scrambled eggs” I think he’s talking about his own problems. It’s a lot easier for both Frasier and Ren  to help other people with their problems then even understanding his own and how to solve them. (Most of Frasier's mistakes happen in his personal life or because he mixed the two in an questionable or unethical way.   

“They’re calling again”  Often times he thinks he has a problem solved just to see it get worse. 

“Scrambled eggs all over my face. What’s a boy to do?” His own mental problems and character flaws lead him into embarrassing situations and he doesn’t know how to get out of them.

“Not let me see if I understand you the problem is, I think... And maybe I’m misconstrued but ,baby I’ll never pull your leg. ” Frasier often gets advice from his brother Niles who is also a psychiatrist  to mixed results. His most successful advice is when he tells him to examine what he’s feeling and why and decide from that what to do. While Niles often teases him and makes jokes at his brother’s expense. He’s sincere in his advice giving for the most part. 

“Mercy.” He either doesn’t entirely believe his brother. Or this is a comment on how inconsistently sound his advice is.    

“Just don’ t know what to do with those tossed salads and scrambled eggs. They’re calling again.”   His brother is the same boat.  

“Quite stylish.” This is a sarcastic barb. His solution wasn’t as elegant as he thought it’d be. 

“What do you do with tossed salads and scrambled eggs? A world full of circles and those square pegs. The blues are always calling tossed salads and scrambled eggs.” So they go back to the beginning and reevaluate their  previous judgments. (I’ve got you pegged.)

“A world full of circles and those square pegs.” really fits Ren and his confidants but they weren’t alienated and displaced by accident but by malicious intent by people in power. So Ren and his Phantom Thieves often change the hearts of those deliberately making the square holes round. And if you max out the confidants they help undo the damage Shido and others originally did to Ren.

#Fan Theory Friday #On a Sunday #Takuto Maruki #Ren Amamiya #Persona 5 Royal

[evangelineartemiasamos]

do you mind elaborating on why you are anti bri/jame? no worries if you don't want to talk about it. i myself first read their riverlands arc as a redemption arc for J and an internal honor arc for both of them rather than a romantic one, then i saw that a lot of people shipped it. so i'm always interested in seeing why people have stronger opinions on the ship (both pro and anti) than i do. - maxine

Don’t worry, this is fine. Indeed, I’d like to talk about them, so thanks for asking.

Note that my opinions are based on when I read the books 7 years ago, so a) my memories are bound to be vague, and b) I never gave the show version of them a shipping chance.

My foremost reason why I don’t ship them is because Jaime treats Brienne like shit. He insults her aloud and in his head and I don’t abide this kind of bullying, least of all the concept of from bully to lover. No bullying victim deserves this, and I think only someone who wasn’t bullied can imagine not only to forgive a bully, but also to fall in love with them. But that’s just me. I don’t think a bullying victim can ever fully trust their bully (again) which is necessary for love. It’s hard for bullying victims to trust people in general, and Jaime cuts into the very same wounds Brienne already had to deal with for years. So it’s good that he changes, but that is only basic human decency, not romance. I mean, look at Tormund in the show. He admires Brienne from the start and supports her. I don’t remember for sure if his behaviour is always appropriate (ID, whether his behaviour borders on sexual harassment), but his affection is what I think someone like Brienne needs. So this is why I couldn’t see Jaime and Brienne in a romantic light from the start.

Another point, which is somewhat different to the first, is that I think their morals are incompatible. Their contrast is well-written and was a good idea for the story and character development, but I see it mostly as this: a plot device. I like how Jaime and Brienne display different aspects of chivalry to explore its meaning and, in my opinion, to undermine it. Jaime is seen as the perfect knight because he comes from the right family, has the right job, great fighting skills and looks good. But all of these traits are shallow and have nothing to with chivalry and moral behaviour or with Jaime as a person, who is indifferent, self-serving, biased, weak-willed, ruthless and living in an adulterous, incestuous (and traitorous) relationship. And while he is praised for his superficially “good” traits, he is reviled for the one thing he did out of convinction it was the morally right deed for the greater good - killing Aerys. I find him very interesting for this, because he embodies so well the main message of moral ambiguity in ASOIAF. Jaime follows his own opinions, but the problem is that he has so few. He could be willing to subvert Westerosi conventions if he cared enough and dared to act, but like everyone else, he is still bound by rules too. Or rather he lets himself be ruled and manipulated by Cersei and Tywin as he’s too coward to really go his own way and rather remains in toxic relationships. But as the story progresses, the image the reader can make of him is quite fluid because he has a lot of potential that is used in the story. And then, not only our image of him changes, but also Jaime himself.

Brienne, on the other hand, behaves according to the actual chivalric code and is willing to follow it no matter what. She doesn’t let herself be stopped by conventions saying no to her and for that, she faces a huge amount of backlash. Brienne is how a knight should be, but society doesn’t accept her because she doesn’t fit the perfect, superficial image like Jaime (for being female in a misogynistic world). You might think that is admirable, and in a way, I agree. But it also means that Brienne behaves in a very dogmatic way, refusing many ways act right from the start because she can’t unite them with her naive dream of ideal chivalry. It doesn’t exist, and so Brienne fails. Often. The world throws rocks at her again and again and she hardly thinks of changing and adapting.

Chivalry is the most important thing to Brienne but it is also what harms her as society has lost and forgotten the meaning of chivalry. I can understand that she holds on to it to keep going, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like that. In my opinion, Martin is trying to say that chivalry is dead because it’s lost its meaning, so people have to find their own ways to do the right thing instead of clinging to something outlived. That idea appeals to me a lot, I have to admit. Brienne isn’t willing to reform her concept of chivalry although it’d would help her to protect herself. This might be my petty streak, but I would’ve respected someone more who realizes the flaws fo their beliefs and yet finds a method to integrate them into a more prolific way of life. Brienne’s behaviours irks me.

I think the dynamic of Sansa and Sandor deals with similar fallible assumptions of knighthood, but displays more nuance in the way Sansa reacts to her fracturing beliefs and learns from that.

I believe an appeal of Brienne and Jaime’s dynamic lies in changing him and less her. In a way, Jaime slowly learns to care for a stranger he starts with being as indifferent to as to nearly everyone else. That is pretty big for Jaime amd sparking his further development, but not a future romance (losing his hand also plays a role here of course, as it means that he too loses his perfect knight image and has to reevaluate how to embody knighthood). Brienne works as a role model he needed to change, but this development is unequal. IDK, I think their characters arcs are more about finding themselves instead of the other. So far as the books go, this dynamic doesn’t evolve. They’re two people who came to respect one another, nothing more. I don’t see him and Brienne suddenly walking down the romantic route together because they’re going in different ways. Of course, you might say they are going in similar ways because Jaime takes Brienne’s chivalry to heart, but that doesn’t erase all the shit he has done. He’ll have to face the consequences without hiding behind his family and his image and I don’t believe Brienne will follow there. She might listen, but I rather see her as his (fair) judge than someone who falls for him despite everything.

And all in all, I hate the sheer heteronormativeness of the ship. “Oh, we have a woman and man going through a quest and many dangers together and while they quarrle and get to know and grow fond of each other, so surely it has to mean they’ll fall in love!!” Eww, no thanks. As I elaborated above, Jaime merely learns not to be an arrogant ass and to treat someone who isn’t part of his esteemed disgusting family with decency and respect. Furthermore, Jaime isn’t even ready to be in another romantic relationship because while he doesn’t know how he feels for Cersei, he does know that he still feels too close to her. When I read the books, I tried to ignore any hints there might be a romance between Brienne and Jaime, and that worked because their interaction is platonic and should be allowed to remain so. Being an anti is more about many in the fandom wanting to see them together while I can’t stand the idea.

#ask #a song of ice and fire #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #anti brienne x jaime #analysis #gosh i really needed a prompt to write this down finally^^°

[thecatsaesthetics]

I've come across this post recently gendrie(.)tumblr(.)com(/)post/164423624545/we-might-have-lost-all-even-so-it-was-a-close ,and do you think it's possible this might actually come back and bite her (to say) in the ass?

I’m not in the business of doing this, cause I really don’t care what Arya stans really say (cause yeah their fave is perfect) honestly they all seem so childish and have such a clear hatred of Sansa, which strikes me as plain odd. 

The majority of those quotes come from Cersei, who is half insane if you are siding with book Cersei Lannister you need to reevaluate your choices in this series. Cersei’s a misogynist, she hates women, she hates Sansa for being a woman.  

Tyrion is a man who is misogynist and is blaming a 12-year-old girl for what adults did. Again why are you siding with him? 

Sansa was 12, think about that she was a 12-year-old. She had been raised to believe marrying the crown prince would be the highest achievement she could have. When Ned took that from her, without explaining to her anything she tried to prevent Ned from taking the goal in her life that she had been told she should want. 

I mean jesus fucking christ, if you honestly think a 12-year-old should be punished because she didn’t know about Lannister’s intentions and the situation Ned was in then you need to reevaluate. Even if you want her to be punished, she has been, she witnessed her father’s head coming off, she was forced to look at his rotting head, she was beaten by the Kingsguard on daily bases, suffered rape threats, was molested by Tyrion, forced into a marriage she didn’t want, she was taken to the Vale by a sexual predator, she was nearly raped again, she was nearly pushed out the moon door by her aunt after she was sexually assaulted by her husband. Jesus Christ if you think Sansa needs more punishment you might have a bit of an issue here. 

The OP is a 25-year-old adult acting like a 12-year-old girl should be capable of understanding the complicated and perilous political situation Ned was in.

Martin’s quote is about Sansa, in the books Sansa is struggling with what happened, not that she herself caused Ned’s death. It was about Sansa feeling like she did. We feel sympathy for Sansa because we know it wasn’t her fault when she thinks it was. Honestly how truly sexist of this fandom to blame the 12-year-old female child over the fucking adults who caused the situation to begin with. 

#personal #Nonny

[fmlfpl]

Lineup Lamentations - GW19

Our Transfers, Captains, and Starting 11s for the week!

Sorry for the super super late boxing day lambs this week I (Alon) was just hanging in Slack and panicking and yeah whatever here we go lol...

—

WALSH

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Son, Rashford, Kane

IN (for -4 points hit): Salah, Agüero, Benteke

Out with the old in with the new. A Christmas hit for my shit ass team getting rid of fucks who I hate for some lovers.

Happy to be rid of the Harold Kane shaped and sized millstone around my neck in this moment.

Mo speaks for himself, pretty easy move in and it feels nice to have him back in the squad again.

Kun is certainly premature and dumb but fuck me if I'm going to sit here with Kane in my team wanting to kill myself for another week. Kun haven't owned all year and I didn't want to dither and find reasons not to get him (there are many). Just getting the Chef Kun in and will enjoy the few minutes he happens to play.

Rashford similarly just made me want to cry watching United with 9m invested in him up top. I'm sure he'll bang against Newc but whatever. I'm going nowhere fast this season so meh.

People thought I was just taking the piss with the Benteke chat I think so piss straight into your face with him directly into my team. Genuinely think he's looked really good and at his price with the next few games looking good who knows. Probably keeping Neal's place warm for this little short run but I was having the feels for Bentekkerz so he's in.

GK:

Schmeichel (LIV)

Schmikes came in with almost as many points as Pope again...what a guy. Been a disaster since I binned down a handful of points to Pope in addition to spending more money and using a transfer. Yay. At least they have a good run after the Livp game.

DEF:

Alexander-Arnold (lei) & Pereira (LIV)

Trent and Ricardo face off tomorrow - expecting 0 cleans but maybe an assist between both? Wouldn't mind that. Still going to just ride the tide with these two expensive fucks while everyone around me gets free / cheap cleans from other players. Going great this season.

Kelly (WHU)

Kelly has home Wet Spam and I really am not expecting a clean in this one for some reason. They've had an extended break and have been preparing for us for a while now. Hopefully they are just off the pace with such a long break and suck? Not sure, but not feeling hugely hopeful. Still a good on paper fixture so will roll with Kelly again.

Lundstram (WAT)

Pointstram has a good home fix against Pearson. They've looked okay on the counter but they are still bad to me. Last game before Sheffu have a really rough 4 of their next 5 games so hoping for a parting gift from Pointstram before he hits my bench.

MID:

Martial (NEW)

Tony M was actually good last game after some time dulled my emotional fury towards my team. Unlike Rash, he's actually pretty cheap, and so the blanks are easier to take for me. I also actually like Tony a lot so I'm going to stick with him for a little more. He's always had a good understanding with his french friend Paul so maybe he'll start to bang with his friend back.

De Bruyne (wol)

Kevin still just doing Kevin things. At Wolves I still don't know what Wolves are up to. They were disgusting against Norwich and if they play that way against City they will probably lose 0-4.

Salah (lei)

Last mid is Mo. Good guy Mo is back in and feels nice to have in.

FWD:

Agüero (wol)

Kun back in for the first time this season just feels incredible to look at my team and see his name in there as it always has and always will. Who knows how many games he'll start or not start in this near term, Pep bald lying fraud certainly won't tell us, so I'm just going off blind faith in this moment. Maybe he'll be nice and fresh off this injury break and be a god.

Vardy (LIV)

Vardz still in there. Hasn't blanked in 10 gameweeks don't even know what life is with him anymore.

Benteke (WHU)

Lastly is other new friend Benteke.....

CAP:

Benteke (WHU)

Benteke baby. It's all happening tomorrow.

Gotta cap the 0g 0a man who is certainly due - that's how this works, right? 

Realistically everyone else has big problems to me and while Benteke's big problem is his name is Christian Benteke..at this point I'm just going with a gut feel. I think we could bag a few against West Ham tomorrow so just going with it. I fucking blank my life away on cap every week all season this year anyway so what am I really doing here. Dunno. Just having some fun so fuck off.

—

ALON

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Hayden

IN: Cantwell

A lot of this and a lot of that and I landed with the most passive move possible and floating my other free for next GW.

Isaac Hayden will finally NOT find his way into my team for the first time it feels like all season... That’s cool...

Norwich are still bad but by my eye they’re back to playing nice stuff and Todd is back being cocky and doing dances and shit and with Aston Villa this week there should be goals there. Hoping Todd can forgive me for binning him a long time ago and get back to the good stuff.

I ended up keeping Kane (for lots of ~reasons~) and not getting Liverpool mid *yet* and just laying low. Giving Kane and Alli and Pulisic their great fixtures and seeing what’s what for next GW.

GK:

Ryan (tot)

Don’t make me type about my keeper every week. Good god... Gonna just pretend there’s a chance of getting save points or bones or something cool that other keepers get... Brighton have mostly good fixtures for the next like 11 GWs so I’m just hoping holding will yield points. Works for everyone else. Why not me?

DEF:

Lundstram (WAT)

Lundy banker.

van Dijk (lei)

VVDong always VVDue.

Clean is unlikely but also Liverpool held Leicester to two shots at Anfield so if it’s that one-sided again this time a clean could be on the cards.

Kelly (WHU)

Good fixture for Palace and Kelly... Feel similarly to Walsh that this will just eventually fold via sustained West Ham pressure but who knows sometimes they’re just dog shit also... Come on Martin.

MID:

De Bruyne (wol)

Kev’s a good pick.

Pulisic (SOU)

Lol.

Cantwell (avl)

Todd in ahead of Maddo I think is a no-brainer this week. Repay the faith Todd. Do it. And let the English see you do it.

Alli (BHA)

Alli kinda exploded at first and had his anomaly massive insane match against Bournemouth - well I’m hoping it wasn’t an anomaly because he’s been utter shit the last two. Come on Alli.

FWD:

Kane (BHA)

I’m too lazy and it’s 2am so I’m just copy/pasting what I wrote in our Slack:

"a bunch of reasons i back those stats i posted in #statzz i also just have a gut feel. feels like every time me and walsh have unanimously banished someone to FPL hell this season it's backfired so i'm trying to find reasons... why not to do that? it does seem particularly bad timing with the fixture run and those #s and gut feel and i'm just like hmm maybe i'll keep actually... and also another part of it is i think i still want 3 forwards. in the future his spot might be kun or jim or aubz or someone like that and i feel like i want to keep that slot and reevaluate soon. starting every match isn't a bad thing either... just a buncha reasons i guess."

Vardy (LIV)

Whatever.

Abraham (SOU)

Comparing Tammy’s numbers pre-injury and post-injury they’re actually still totally elite and in some specific areas his underlying stats are even BETTER.

Just need him to find his finishing boots... Is this the week?

CAP:

Kane (BHA)

Fuck it man. I don’t know.

I DON’T KNOW!!!

Very tough crazy week for cap and here I am.

I’ve made my bed and now I’m gonna wet it and then I’m gonna lie in it. Seems good!!!

#lineup lamentations #lineup lambs

[theswiftreview]

Snake charmers: Medusa, Taylor Swift, and the prevalence of the serpentine woman

With the end of the Rep era upon us I figured I’d make my flagship post an essay I wrote about Taylor, Medusa, and the power of the snake woman.

Where were you when Kim Kardashian called Taylor Swift a snake?

In case you were living under a particularly large, particularly remote rock during this seminal moment in pop culture lore, here’s a refresher:

It’s July 2016 and Taylor Swift is fighting a war on two fronts. Her Instagram comments are flooded with snake emojis after a public breakup and copyright battle with Scottish DJ and producer Calvin Harris. Harris publicly accuses Swift of “trying to bury” him by revealing herself to be a co-writer on Harris’s hit “This Is What You Came For”. Meanwhile, in another corner of Twitter, Swift is fighting a second battle over Kanye West’s song “Famous”, where he claims “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that bitch famous”. Swift maintains that, though West contacted her before the song was release, he never disclosed the full lyrics, namely the “bitch” line. West’s wife, Kim Kardashian West, gets involved and on July 17, National Snake Day, she administers a final blow in the form of a tweet: “Wait it's legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!” Kardashian West ended her tweet with a slew of snake emojis. Immediately concerned citizens began leaving thousands of snake emojis in Swift’s Instagram comments and, though Swift employed a St. Patrick-esque filter to drive the snakes out of her social media comments, the damage was done; the name Taylor Swift had become synonymous with “snake”.

Kardashian West’s tweet is probably the closest the 21st century will ever get to experiencing the Shot Heard Round the World. The tweet didn’t even mention Swift but it tapped into a collective understanding that Taylor Swift was a snake.

Snake imagery and folklore has existed in Western tradition in some form or another for millenia, though the meaning is as slimy and elusive as the real-life reptile. Each culture seems to have its own take on what serpents represent, whether they’re virtuous or evil, poisonous or benign.

But what does it really mean to be a snake?

Swift has reclaimed the snake motif and incorporated it into promotional material for her 2017 album reputation. Fans can buy snake rings from her website. They can wear snake t-shirts and buy concert date posters of snakes slithering through the skylines of America’s largest cities. During her reputation Stadium Tour shows, snake imagery was everywhere, from the snakeskin detail on her costumes to the giant inflatable cobras that appear periodically during her performance.

Swift has leaned into her public image as a snake woman, though she is hardly walking on new ground. Swift’s branding as a snake woman, as well as the circumstances surrounding that branding beg a comparison to the mother of all snake women, Medusa.

Even before Snakegate, Swift’s ~reputation~ was veering in a Medusa-like direction. Over the years, Swift’s tendency to write—sometimes critical—songs about her famous exes has made her a target of constant criticism. Her albums have been portrayed in much the same way Perseus describes the walk up to Medusa’s abode: eerily populated by a group of unsuspecting men frozen for all to see in the very moment they had the misfortune of coming into contact with her.

The tale of Medusa is famously recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, though, of course different versions exist. In Ovid’s telling, Medusa is one of three sisters and the only mortal among them. Medusa’s beauty—bolstered by mythically great hair—catches Neptune’s attention and he rapes her in Minerva’s temple. This angers Minerva, who takes revenge upon Medusa. Medusa’s beautiful hair is “woven through with snakes”. She lives in solitude, accompanied only by her snakes and statues until the day Perseus arrives and decapitates her in her sleep. For modern readers, the myth’s blatant victim-blaming is hard to ignore, especially now in the midst of the #MeToo movement.

Medusa is the western canon’s premiere snake woman, but her relationship with the scaly creatures is intriguingly complicated. Medusa is dangerous, yes, but it is not her scalpful of snakes that makes her so. Medusa’s true weapon is her stare, which turns men into solid stone. The snakes, therefore, do not represent danger or violence or even death. Instead, they represent a loss of status and a lapse in justice.

Indeed, Swift’s reputation is built with these same materials. “My castle crumbled overnight...they took the crown but it’s alright,” she sings in “Call It What You Want”, acknowledging the massive hit her popularity took in 2016. Earlier in the album, on “I Did Something Bad”, Swift laments the unfairness of the public trial that played out on the internet, “They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one.” The bridge of reputation’s lead single “Look What You Made Me Do” blatantly showcases Swift’s estrangement from the world: “I don’t trust nobody and nobody trusts me”.

With reputation Swift gives us something completely missing from Metamorphoses: the snake woman’s perspective. Notably in Metamorphoses, Medusa’s origin story is told from the perspective of her murderer for the entertainment of others. Medusa’s rape is merely a plot point designed to bolster Perseus’s heroic narrative. Medusa is never allowed the opportunity to speak for herself or take control of her own narrative. On reputation, however, Swift turns the tables on the one-sided snake woman narrative and allows for a more fair interpretation.

Recently, there has been a feminist push to reevaluate the stories and circumstances of the women who populate Greek myth. This charge has been led by Madeline Miller, author of Circe, and Emily Wilson, the first female translator of The Odyssey. Miller and Wilson have repeatedly analyzed the role of translatorial and reader bias in our understanding of mythological women like Medusa.

Since most 21st century readers can’t read Homer in the original Ancient Greek, they lack the tools to critically assess semantic choices influenced by the translator’s own cultural moment and personal biases. These scruples may seem small, but they quickly add up. And, as Swift has reiterated, a bad reputation is hard to shake.

In her detailed translator’s note, Wilson gestures many different places in her translation where she has attempted to correct established misogynist language that has been present in translations of Homer’s poetry for centuries. “I try avoiding importing contemporary types of sexism into this ancient poem, instead shining a clear light on the particular forms of sexism and patriarchy that do exists in the text,” Wilson writes.

In her note and in public appearances, Wilson has particularly mentioned her handling of the scene where Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, executes women accused of sleeping with Penelope’s suitors. Previous translations have described them as maids or servants but Wilson chose to translate the term as “slave” in order to reiterate the lack of agency and freedom the women had.

In a way, reputation is doing the same work. Like Miller and Wilson, Swift is reevaluating an established understanding of an ancient myth, in this case Medusa, and presenting it from an entirely new perspective.

reputation shows that Miller and Wilson’s efforts to cast a critical eye upon the ingrained misogyny we’ve taken for granted in ancient texts are able to expand outside the realm of classical studies. We can apply this same framework to contemporary pop cultural narratives with the same result.

Though the parallels between the Medusa myth and reputation are most likely coincidental, they should prompt us all to ask, “Why?” Why is it so damaging to be labeled a snake woman? Why is that a symbol that must be reclaimed? Why have we allowed this to go on for so long?

Works Cited

Homer. The Odyssey. Edited by Emily R. Wilson, W.W. Norton Et Company, Inc., 2018.

Ovid. Metamorphoses. Edited by Charles Martin, W.W. Norton & Co., 2005.

Swift, Taylor. Reputation, Taylor Swift. 2017. 

#Taylor Swift #Reputation #Medusa #Ovid #Metamorphoses #Madeline Miller #The Odyssey #Homer #Emily Wilson #Snake lady

[calzona-ga]

The cast of the ABC medical drama gathered at PaleyFest Sunday afternoon for a panel moderated by EW’s very own Henry Goldblatt. Ellen Pompeo, Justin Chambers, Kevin McKidd, Caterina Scorsone, Jerrika Hinton, Kelly McCreary, Jason George, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr, Jessica Capshaw, Jesse Williams, Sarah Drew, Martin Henderson, Giacomo Gianniotti, and executive producer Debbie Allen revealed scoop about the upcoming Ellen Pompeo-directed hour, whether there’s hope for Jackson and April, if Meredith will finally take the next step with Riggs, and much, much more. Here are the highlights:

Pompeo’s directorial debut: After screening the upcoming Pompeo-directed hour, the actress credited Allen with getting her to direct her first episode. “This force of nature wouldn’t take no for an answer, and I’m forever grateful to her for that,” Pompeo says. Though this was the actress’ first time directing, she notes that she wasn’t nervous about landing the emotional weight of the Maggie-centric hour, but rather just the technical aspects. “I have the best cast in the world,” Pompeo says. “I wasn’t really afraid of anything.” However, Pompeo adds directing herself was “not fun, but I was lucky to have Debbie Allen right with me every step of the way, so when I was tired or confused, she jumped in.”

Maggie’s mom returns: LaTonya Richardson Jackson returns as Maggie’s mother ahead of the Pompeo-directed episode, therefore setting up the episode to heavily feature her treatment for breast cancer — so yes, Maggie will finally be in the know. However things shake out, her mother’s illness is certainly going to affect Maggie. “Major life events like this enable you to shift your perspective and reevaluate what’s important to you,” McCreary says. “For a long time, being one version of herself was the right way to do things.” Judging by this comment, it sounds like she may try to shake things up soon.

The future of Meredith and Riggs: While it looks like the duo might be heading toward an actual relationship, the question remains how Maggie will feel about that since she’s harbored feelings for Riggs since last season’s finale. “Women have to stick together,” Pompeo says. And if Mer did choose her sister over Riggs, Henderson says he’d understand. “I would respect it, but I think it would be sad because all men know that it’s impossible to be a great man without a good woman by your side.” Whether Meredith and Riggs explore a relationship or not, Henderson hopes we’ll get much more information about his character soon. “It’s been wonderful to play a character that’s polarizing,” he says. “There’s this mystery and enigma as to, ishe a good guy, is he a bad guy? … As an actor, after a couple seasons on the show, I’m looking forward to the opportunity for Nathan to be a in a relationship — whether it’s platonic or not  — to see who he is deep down.”

Will Jackson and April reconcile? After a steamy hookup in Montana, there’s hope that Japril might get back together, but Drew stays relatively coy about the future. “I honestly think the main takeaway is that these two people, there’s so much love there, there’s so much respect there, they know each other so well, so whether it continues toward romance or stays platonic, we know these two people are going to be OK,” Drew says. As for whether Jackson’s father, Robert Avery (Eric Roberts) will return, Williams says, “I hope so.” Adds Allen: “We planted a lot of seeds this season, and that’s one that could resonate in a lot of ways, but there’s more coming.”

Can Amelia and Owen’s relationship survive? Their relationship status is currently marked “it’s complicated” since Amelia now no longer wants to have kids, which is basically the one reason the relationship between Owen and Cristina (Sandra Oh) didn’t survive. “He desperately wants a baby,” McKidd says. “Owen’s really struggling. He’s a very tortured guy — he thinks the thing that’s going to fix him is to have a family with this woman, but she doesn’t want to right now. He’s waiting and he loves her and he’s tortured and we’ll see what happens.”

What’s next for Jo and Alex? Though the two have been on the outs since Alex beat DeLuca within an inch of his life, now that Alex knows that Jo was married to an abusive man, he understands why she was hesitant to marry him. “He wants to marry her,” Chambers says. When asked whether he’d like Alex to end up with Jo or with — twist — Meredith, Chambers says, “Anything is possible, especially on Grey’s Anatomy. Who knows? He might end up with Catherine. I’d like to see how it fleshes out, the relationship with him and Jo.”

The relationship at the center of “Civil War”: Ever since the show introduced a replacement for Webber, the hospital has been at odds over Dr. Minnick (Marika Domińczyk) — well, except for Arizona, who has found romance with the new doc after ex-wife Callie (Sara Ramirez) moved away last season. “It’s been interesting, it’s been new,” Capshaw says, explaining that the show got to a point last season where viewers could “happily permit both of them to be happy without each other,” hence paving the way for Arizona’s new romance with Minnick. “I find myself at a point where there’s something exciting happening for her, there’s a newness. This season I feel like is the beginning of creating something new.” However, Capshaw hedges, “I have no idea if she’s the one.” For what it’s worth, when asked what her favorite ‘shipper name on the series was, she says, “I think I have to go with Calzona.”

The future of Grey’s? When asked what she thinks about the future of the show and where she’d like to see Meredith end up, Pompeo says, “Maybe why I’ve been able to do this show for so long is because I try not to have expectations. I do the same thing in my life, I try not to look down the road too far because we’re going to miss what happens right now today… I try to enjoy every moment with an open heart and an open mind… Life will tell me where I”m going. I don’t want to think about what’s next, I want to enjoy this moment.”

#Grey's Anatomy #ew #scoop #Ellen Pompeo #arizona robbins #callie torres #Calzona #jolex #jo wilson #alex karev #Owen Hunt #omelia #amelia shepherd #japril #jackson avery #april kepner #Meredith Grey #nathan riggs #maggie pierce

[huahsu]

I have always found Isaac Hayes’ twelve-minute version of “Walk on By” entrancing. It carries a sense of tragedy that the lyrics don’t warrant--and it’s irrationally long. At some point I learned that Hayes had recorded it after taking a year-long hiatus early in his career. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination--which he almost witnessed first-hand--had drained him of any desires to create. It’s not that I began hearing Hot Buttered Soul as an elegy but it made sense to me that this album full of unusually long, meandering, beautifully redemptive songs had been produced under such awful circumstances. And then I remembered that a sample of “Walk on By” (and Hayes himself) provided the spine for “I Can’t Go To Sleep,” one of the Wu-Tang Clan’s most paranoid songs. Ghostface sobs; the record gets spun back, violently, as though trying to return to sometime else; Hayes is spectral, a guiding star. And there was King, too, in RZA’s half-lunatic, half-prophet verse: I can't go to sleep, I can't shut my eyes They shot the father at his mom's building seven times They shot Malcolm in the chest, front of his little seeds Jesse watched as they shot King on the balcony Exported Marcus Garvey cause he tried to spark us With the knowledge of ourselves and our forefathers Anyhow, both are songs I listen to on MLK Day (now that it’s way too creepy to listen to Bill Cosby’s “Martin’s Funeral”). Here are a few pages of a talk I gave like ten years ago where I tried to enunciate that sense of history and aspiration that I heard in “Walk on By”: *** "Walk on By” is the lead track off Isaac Hayes’ 1969 album Hot buttered soul. There is something unnerving about how long it is, by how it manages to be so deeply anguished and pained, yet how it manages to avoid feeling overwrought. There are no wasted gestures over the course of these twelve minutes, nothing that doesn’t sound completely and utterly essential to the full logic of the song. Perhaps this is why “Walk on by” has been sampled so frequently by hip-hop artists big and small, for it expresses so much in its shuddering organ riffs, swan-like glide of strings and shrapnel blast of guitar.

In the late 1960s, Hayes was a highly successful songwriter for Stax, the famed Memphis soul label which was the only real challenger to Berry Gordon’s Motown empire. While the label was never, like Motown, black-owned, Stax was a beacon of multiracial cohabitation, at a time when such a thing was still unusual, from its staff to its integrated backing bands, and they all toiled away in a tough, tough town.

On the afternoon of April 4, Hayes, who was primarily a songwriter, was on his way to the Stax studios to work on a Sam and Dave recording session. He had initially planned on fetching Sam and Dave’s sax player, who was staying at the Lorraine Motel, on the way to Stax. But at the last minute, his wife needed to use their car, so he called a cab instead and instructed the sax player to do the same and just meet him at the studio. Hayes heard about King’s assassination in the cab on this way to the studio. When he arrived, he heard the news. Devastation. That night, a curfew was imposed in Memphis, but those who were already at Stax were allowed to work through the night.

For his part, Hayes lost his ability to work at all. “It affected me for a whole year,” he later explained to the historian Rob Bowman in Bowmans’ remarkable Soulsville USA. “I could not create properly. I was so bitter and so angry. I thought, What can I do?”

Hayes took an indefinite hiatus, toying with the idea of retiring altogether. In 1969, after thinking about how becoming a successful artist would empower him to make a difference, he returned. But he did not pick up where he had left off, with the tepid jazz-inflected soul of Presenting Isaac Hayes, his 1968 solo debut. Rather, Hayes’ comeback album reimagined the process and craft of soul music, as well as the possibilities of the soul economy. Stax, as with all soul labels of the time, relied upon the seven-inch vinyl single. Soul albums were generally cobbled-together collections of previously released singles.

Hayes shuddered at the idea of constraining his craft to the two to three minute song form and he created an album which flaunted the convention of the single. Released in the summer of 1969, Hot buttered Soul featured Hayes and the Bar-Kays on only four tracks: an eighteen minute version of Glen Campbell’s 1967 hit “By the Time I get to Phoenix,” a twelve-minute version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Walk on By,” a nine minute track "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic” and a five minute track by his musicians called “One Woman.”

Hayes explains: “When I did Hot Buttered Soul, it was a selfish thing on my part. It was something I wanted to do. I didn’t give a damn if it didn’t sell because I was going for the true artistic side, rather than looking at it for monetary value. I had an opportunity to express myself no holds barred, no restrictions, and that’s why I did it. I took artistic and creative liberties. I felt what I had to say couldn’t be said in two minutes and thirty seconds. So I just stretched (the songs) out and milked them for everything they were worth.”

In a very basic way, “By the Time” and “Walk on By” were characteristic of the trends of the time—most soul records at the time featured cover versions of songs one might today consider schmaltzy or safe—anyone who has browsed sixties albums knows of the ubiquitous funky cover of “Wichita Lineman.”  But Hayes’ choice to make half of the songs on his comeback album these covers was bizarre, as was their expansive sitcom-length. What Hayes and the Bar-Kays did to these songs was an act of creative destruction. The songs were torn apart, note-by-note, limb-by-limb, and in place of the quotidian pop heartbreak of “Walk on By,” we are left with a nine minute exorcism that smolders and writhes, an epic mourning of a lost love supreme.

Hayes explains: “What it was, was the real me. I mean, okay, the real me had written those other songs but they were being written for other people. As for me wanting to express myself as an artist, that’s what Hot buttered Soul was. Although I was a songwriter, there were some songs that I loved, that really touched me. I wanted to do them the way that I wanted to do them. I took them apart, dissected them, and put them back together and made them my personal tunes. I took creative license to do that. By doing them my way, it almost made them like totally different songs all over again.”

Again, Hayes describes the songs as attempts to communicate something about form. These songs were a radical departure from mainstream R&B at the time, and Hayes essentially created the idea of the modern soul album, the hourlong statement of purpose-slash-dream world, with Hot Buttered Soul. These liberally defined “covers” swabbed these safe recognizable tunes in a historical moment of depression and longing, of a profound kind of heartbreak far grander than what most young lovers might recognize.

Drawing back, Hayes’ statements nest within a larger context of black and white ownership, for mere days before King’s assassination, Stax had been finalizing a deal to sell its assets to a Los Angeles corporation called Gulf and Western, which already had diverse holdings in the film and music industries. In the aftermath of King’s assassination, Hayes observes that he became more “rebellious. I was militant. When Dr. King was killed I flipped and I just did a lot of reevaluating…” Hayes spearheaded an effort to hire more local African Americans and to improve the working conditions of longtime Stax employees.

And implicit in all of this, I think, is a rejection of the trajectory of pop music as it then existed. The final instrumental breakdown takes five minutes—as long as two sturdy pop singles—and  Hayes’ own vocals are probably the least memorable ingredient of the song. Instead, one is stung by Michael Toles’ savage guitar in the first ninety seconds, and haunted by the way Marvell Thomas’ triumphant, almost rapturous organ solo over the song’s last five minutes tries unsuccessfully to vanquish the song’s darkness. The song ends with a whimper, Thomas seemingly collapsing at the keys and Willie Hall banging out a stiffly efficient drum break that rattles to a weary close. The history of culture is made solid through objects, records, books, speeches, but the image of a band in a recording session, that vision of democracy, of a struggle triumphant, is where the recovery of King began for Hayes--when depression was not a force that crippled but rather one of possibility, a pause for patient yet forceful deliberation. Over the previous twelve minutes, Hayes and the Bar-Kays had poured themselves into the moment, and “Walk on By,” was an act of formal resistance smuggled within a safe pop title, changed everything. It imagines the possibility of resolution, partly because the song is allowed the space to meander and veer off path, to deal with both the beauty and hostility of the moment. There is the logic of the music itself—the interlocking of notes, the tightness of the rhythm section, the texture of the melody. And then there is the sense one gets, as a listener or as someone who has played in a band, that everything just feels right.

[johnchiarello]

Corinthians 13-14

Corinthians 13-14

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  1ST CORINTHIANS 13:1 ‘THOUGH I SPEAK WITH THE TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS, AND HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM BECOME AS SOUNDING BRASS OR A TINKLING SYMBOL’ Over the years I have seen how the church can ‘have a voice-make noise’ without actually effecting change. Last night I watched some Martin Luther King stuff. Without ‘sucking up for political purposes’ I must admit that Martin is at the top of my list of personal heroes. Martin spoke with a revolutionary purpose in mind, he was not ‘delivering sermons’. One time I spoke at a friends church, I only spoke for around 15 minutes [much like my radio show] and the pastor said ‘no wonder John doesn’t have a church/ preach regularly, you have to at least speak for 45 minutes’ [something like that]. Though after the message I had good comments from the people, the sincere pastor felt like we didn’t ‘put the time in’ in order to fulfill the Sunday morning practice of ‘church’. Were did we get our modern sermon from? [The actual format]. If you go to Bible College you can take a course called ‘homiletics’ this course will teach you the structure of speaking and putting a message together. If you study Greek rhetoric you will find that this science existed in the Greek intellectual world before Christians embraced it [the actual format and structure taught in homiletics comes right out of the Greek system of rhetoric, to the tee!]. I find it funny how many modern pastors seem to measure a persons degree of ‘being scriptural’ by this measuring rod. ‘Well brother, didn’t they preach in scripture’ you bet they did. We see Jesus reading from the scroll in the synagogue. Paul and Peter were master ‘preachers’ if you will [though Paul himself was no ‘golden tongue’] basically the biblical concept of preaching/teaching was more of a spontaneous thing. It’s certainly not wrong to borrow the sermon from the Greeks [which we did do] but we don’t want to fall into some mindset that sees modern ministry [pastoral] as being a professional speaker. Here Paul says there is a danger of believers becoming like ‘sounding brass and tinkling symbols’ we can lose the reality of simple communication. We also can lose the prophetic edge of speaking into society over issues of justice. If we become too mundane and ‘professional’ then the world simply views us as another program to simply pass over when clicking the remote. Both Martin Luther King and Charles Finney were known for their social activism. One of the charges [actually true] made against them was that they held to liberal theological positions. Finney was effected by the higher criticism of his day [the trend in the universities to deny the supernatural elements of scripture] he embraced certain doctrines that could be viewed as heretical [things on the atonement and mans sinful nature]. King’s critics make note of the fact that he also accepted certain types of bible interpretation that viewed some of the miraculous stories as ‘myth’ [not fake, but simple allegorical stories that were not literal but simply meant to convey a spiritual theme]. Things like Jonah and the whale, or Ballams talking donkey [or the talking snake in the garden!] Some intellectual brothers view these stories this way. Is there any validity to these views? Actually yes. I personally hold the ‘literal’ view with stuff like this, but ‘literal’ does not mean the bible does not contain different styles of writing. You do have poetry, allegory, symbol and other types or forms of grammar in scripture. Even the strong literal brothers will contradict themselves when they fully accept the ‘Lamb on the throne’ as not being a literal Lamb! [or when they interpret the scorpion like demons in Revelation as Black Hawk helicopters] So scripture does use allegory and symbol. But why did Luther and Finney associate with the more liberal trends in theology? I feel it was because of the strong anti social gospel that the fundamentalists embraced. The more conservative thinkers who rejected the liberal trends in teaching, would also reject social activism. Luther and Finney simply gravitated towards those who were like minded in their concern to speak into society. Basically they didn’t just want to be theologically correct [though they might have been in some of there views] but they wanted to be able to effect change in society. They wanted to be more than just a tinkling symbol that could tickle your ears.

 (1002)1ST CORINTHIANS 13: 2-3 ‘and though I have the gift of prophecy [Pentecostal, prophetic expressions] and understand all mysteries and all knowledge [Orthodox, Reformed, intellectual creedal churches] and though I have all faith that I could remove mountains [the Faith camp] and have not charity [Agape- love] I am nothing’. Whew! Thank God us mission/outreach type guys are not in there. ‘And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor [ouch] and have not love it profits nothing’. I love the various expressions of the church, I feed from the Reformed brothers teaching, Love reading and studying Orthodoxy and Catholicism. I of course favor the outreach/hands on type ministries, but according to this text we can have all these things and still be missing the mark. Our intellectual type brothers are engaging the culture and defending the faith, but without love we don’t even put a dent in the culture. The apologists are great at refuting the new atheists, to be honest about it the Christian intellectuals are head and shoulders above the atheists [Craig Lane and men like him] but I have noticed that we don’t really change that many minds even when all the proof is on our side. And I cant tell you how many well meaning missions and soup kitchens I have been too, but often times there is a disconnect between the people being served and the ‘servers’. You get the feeling sometimes that the well meaning helpers are simply punching a time card. We all need to reevaluate our motives. People can tell when we are in ‘ministry’ for the love of the business. Or for the self glory and adulation that comes with our service. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they truly were in it for the recognition of men. They wanted others to see that they were ‘successful in the ministry’ so they could receive recognition in public. Paul tells the Romans ‘he that shows mercy, let him do it with love [cheerfully]’. It’s easy to fall into a rut and simply be functioning out of a sense of duty. Now duty can be a good thing, there are times where we just need people to report for duty! [The harvest is plenteous, but the workers are few] but we need to examine ourselves and make sure we are functioning out of the Love of God. Often times the various ministries and expressions of the church are simply God ordained ‘places’ where we can connect with people. As we interact with the lost world, lets do our best to win the arguments, give proof for the legitimacy of Christianity. Combat false ideas and mindsets that are imbedded in our culture, but lets leave room for the other side to get in with us. Understand that they have a ‘missing piece’ [Augustine’s hole in the heart] and we are the only ones that can show them how to fill it.

 (1003)CORINTHIANS 13:4-10 Okay, what exactly is this love that we need? Paul has told us that all religious activity apart from it is vain. Paul here simply gives us a picture of the way it acts. You can read this section and substitute your name for the word love ‘love puts up with stuff and is kind’ ‘John puts up with stuff and is kind’ [ouch] ‘It does not boast or show off’. ‘It does not seek its own benefit’ a ‘what’s in it for me’ type mentality. Love is being just like Jesus. James tells us ‘if you fulfill the royal law of scripture, you do well’. The law is to love thy neighbor as yourself. Paul also shows us why love outshines the other gifts of tongues and prophesy and knowledge. He says ‘we know in part, prophesy in part. But when we are made perfect and mature at the appearing of Christ the partial gifts will no longer be distinguishable. Only love will rule’ [my paraphrase] I find it interesting that Paul says knowledge itself will cease. Will actual knowledge cease? What exactly is ‘knowledge’? When we use this term in society what we usually mean is the degree of ones learning/education compared to someone else. If you have a masters and I have a high school diploma, we see a difference. We measure knowledge by the amount we have as compared to others. Now, at Christ’s appearing when we all ‘shall know, even as we are known’ this fine distinction will ‘pass away’. We still will have knowledge, but as a tool that we use to measure one another, it will cease. It wont make a difference how much of the ‘knowledge pie’ [know in part] you possess, at that time everyone one will have ‘all pie’. Knowledge is a funny thing, our understanding of it has developed thru the centuries. During the enlightenment era the concept of ‘what does it even mean to know’ was tackled. One of the famous sayings was ‘I know/think, therefore I am’ [Descartes? Hey, I forget sometimes] the study of ‘how we learn/know things’ is called epistemology. The enlightenment produced a way to approach knowledge that can be called ‘modernism’ mans modern way of knowing stuff. In essence, there exists real truth that a person can know and learn. There is/was a challenge to this mode of thought. Many in the Emergent church movement would grasp on to another theory of ‘knowing’ loosely defined as being in the category of ‘post modernism’. Some challenged the actual ability to know a thing. The emphasis is on who is actually viewing/learning the thing. The terms ‘metta- narrative’ are sometimes used to describe this dynamic. There is some truth to the fact that our context, who we are and where we are coming from, can shape the actual stuff learned. But the question is ‘does our perspective actually change the thing, make it real or not’. Some in the field of Cosmology have grasped on to this post modern theory and have surmised that the very act of human beings studying and examining a thing can in and of itself cause the thing ‘to be’. You can see how this theory would be helpful to the atheist. ‘Where did every thing come from?’ ‘it is a result of human kind’s thoughts and inquiry’ [Ouch]. This sounds a lot like the metaphysical cults that espouse that reality is a product of what you think, confess. That man has the power to create reality simply by the act of studying a thing. Well this is of course a challenge to the truth of God. Jesus and the Cross aren’t ‘real’ because men ‘put their mind to them’. They are real whether or not man ever thought about them. ‘Let God be true, but every man a liar’ Romans. Paul tells us that all these varying degrees of knowledge will some day ‘pass away’. We will all stand before a self existent God and give an account of our lives. This day is coming whether you ‘think about it or not’.

 (1004)CORINTHIANS 13:11-13 WHEN I WAS A CHILD I UNDERSTOOD AND THOUGHT AND SPOKE LIKE A CHILD, BUT WHEN I GREW UP I PUT THOSE THINGS BEHIND ME-  Paul shows us that we presently see and understand things thru ‘a glass’. God gives us insight and glimpses into Divine truth, but we need mercy because we all have limited sight. Over the years I know I have ruffled some feathers. Whether it be our teaching on what the church is, tithing, end times stuff. How New Testament believers should view the nationalistic promises made to Israel under the Old Covenant. I have found that the problem usually isn’t solved by simply proving something from scripture. For instance someone might become convinced by an ‘avalanche’ of information, they might actually see what I am saying. They can even articulate it to a degree [sometimes better than me!] but at the end of the day the answer to the problem is we all need to ‘grow up’. We need an overall change in the way we view things thru a legalistic lens. For instance, the tithe issue. Over the years I have taught the concept that believers are not under this law. Those of you who have read this site for any length of time know this. But I have also taught that it is fine to put 10% of your money into the offering on Sunday. It’s okay to support those who ‘labor among us’. But there are also many examples in the New Testament warning Gods leaders to not be in it for the money. Now, if we took seriously the mandate in Malachi to tithe. If we want to actually bind the believer’s conscience in this way ‘how are you robbing God? By not bringing in the tithes!’ Then we need to also look at the context. Israel as a nation was mandated to ‘tithe’ of their goods [not money] in three ways. They gave to support the Levites, also for the poor, and then they gave a tithe for religious feasts. In essence this ‘tithe’ was a total of around 30 % of their annual income, not 10%! [This by the way is right around what I spend on a monthly basis for the ministry stuff I do]. So, if we were telling people ‘you are going to be cursed if you don’t pay 10%’ we are actually misreading this verse. Also, how many believers think they are going to be cursed if they don’t ‘tithe to the poor’? Most modern preaching on the tithe simply puts it in the category of the Sunday offering. Most of this type of giving goes to support salaries, building upkeep, light bills, insurance for staff. I could go on and on. A very minute portion of this money [in general] goes to the poor. Certainly not a third! Also the portion that went to the Levites could not be used to purchase anything that would be owned by the Levite. They were forbidden to own any type of personal inheritance as Levitical priests. How often does the modern concept of tithing include this? The whole point is if we are going to bind peoples consciences in this way [which we shouldn’t] then we need to make sure we are at least teaching it right! Why bring this up? This is simply a good example of what Paul is saying. ‘When I understood in a limited way, I spoke and acted in a limited way’. The answer to the problem is simply ‘becoming mature in our thinking and speaking’. Recently I read an article from a U.S. congressman, he was speaking about the situation between Israel and Palestine. He sided with a military interpretation of the Old Testament promise to Abraham to ‘posses the land’ and used that to influence his political activism for war. How ‘mature’ is this type of thinking? Did any of the JEWISH apostles do this? No. So instead of trying to ‘crisis manage’ every single doctrinal problem, we really need to mature on an overall basis and view these doctrines thru the paradigm of Jesus and his life and work. Are we imitating his ethos when we do these things? Was this the primary message and life of Jesus when he walked the earth? How did he respond to Roman oppression and unjust govt.? Did he advocate military action in defense of the promises of God made to the nation of Israel? If we as the 21st century church do not ‘rightly divide’ these things, then we are of all men ‘most miserable’ [1st Corinthians 15].

 (1006)CORINTHIANS 14:1-20 Lets deal a little with ‘Tongues’. I have written before on the various ways believers view this gift. Much has been taught over the years that can be seen as extreme from both camps [the Pentecostals and the non charismatics]. Is Paul speaking about the same gift as seen in Acts 2? If not, then does that mean the only legitimate ‘tongues’ are the Acts 2 expression? If a distinction is made, then Paul obviously put his stamp of approval on the second type of tongues by actually writing about it here! Ecstatic utterance was not exclusive to the early church. Paul earlier taught that the pagans engaged in this type of speech when worshipping false idols. This does not mean that true spiritual worship has no ecstatic type elements to it. The gifts themselves are seen as divinely inspired speech [the speaking ones]. Isaiah 8:1 says ‘TAKE A LARGE SCROLL AND WRITE ON IT WITH THE PEN OF A MAN’. God was telling Isaiah that he would use his actual writings as inspired instruments from him. Scripture also speaks of ‘the tongue of a ready writer’ we are called ‘living letters’ by Paul himself. Paul doesn’t challenge the legitimacy of this type of gift, but he does stress the importance of approaching all the gifts from a standpoint of unselfishness. If when the believers are gathered, they are all functioning in self edifying gifts, then they are making the same mistake that Paul rebuked earlier with the Lords table. The purpose of the gathering and gifts are for the building up of others and not for self gain. So Paul warns them of the selfish use of the gifts. He says it’s better to use Prophecy or Teaching because others can learn and grow. Some Pentecostal groups make a distinction between the prayer time and the ministry time. They practice tongues during corporate prayer and then treat ‘a tongue uttered’ during the service as something that needs interpretation. I see some merit to his, but it should be noted that here Paul does say ‘when you bless with the Spirit’ [prayer over a meal or something like it] that your prayer is fine, but still the other person doesn’t benefit. So Paul actually includes both ‘prayer tongues’ and ‘a word in tongues’ as needing to be tamped down during the public gathering. Of course we will see the teaching on private tongues as being fine, the point I am making is Paul includes ‘prayer tongues’ along with the other type. The main thrust of Paul’s teaching on Tongues is that the gift itself is legitimate [definitions of the gift vary!] but that all the gifts of the Spirit should be used unselfishly. ‘Well brother, Paul himself says it’s fine to pray in tongues to build yourself up! Got you now!’ well actually you don’t! ‘Building ones self up’ in a private setting can be considered beneficial to the overall corporate group. I just prayed/mediated for around an hour before writing, this was personal ‘self building’ for the purpose of corporate teaching. No matter where you personally come down on the various gifts of the Spirit, it is important to do all things with the benefit of others in mind. I hate to stick this example in here, but heck I just came up with it! Last night I was watching the news. I channel surf from CNN, MSNBC, FOX and even hit the PBS station every now and again [plus the big 3 networks]. Its still the first week of President Obama’s presidency and I couldn’t help but notice the unbelievable amount of ‘slobbering’ [yes, I borrowed it from Bernie Goldberg] that was taking place. I actually clicked the channel from Hannity to CNN. Hannity just finished talking about the embarrassing amount of gushing that the media were doing over Obama. As I clicked to Anderson Cooper, they were showing clips from the first media interview that Obama has given since being in office. It was a very good interview to an Arab language station. As Cooper was asking the reporters on their first thoughts of the interview, one actually said ‘it is so unbelievably outstanding that I am actually ‘giddy’. Now, I don’t subscribe to the Hannity/Limbaugh stuff 100%, but this really was too much. The media are putting such a high expectation on the poor man that no human being could possibly fulfill their image of the man. It was also reported that George [Stephanopoulos-?] actually cried during the inauguration. Of course Chris Matthews will go down in history for describing a ‘feeling going up his leg’ during coverage of an Obama speech. What’s wrong with this picture? I understand that the average white man feels self affirmed when he engages in  public displays of support for Black advancement. I too like our President and do pray regularly for him. Not too long ago I met a black homeless friend, he actually has a little apartment but he was at the free mission so I sometimes refer to all these brothers as homeless. He was under the impression that I ran some type of ministry that took in money [I never take any offerings, for radio or anything else] so as I offered to by him some groceries and stuff, he kinda went a little overboard. I really didn’t have any ‘extra money’ but I bought it any way. I didn’t get mad or feel bad about it. I still see the brother every now and then and am still willing to help him. Now, is it better to show your love for the black man by publicly crying and gushing and describing sexual type feelings when listening to the new president speak, or to actually go out and find some black person in need and meet the need? I don’t want to get into the whole political scene at all, sometimes it gets me mad. I have actually ‘cussed’ [yes, I admit it] at the screen at times. [Little curse words, not the big ones!] The point being we all need to heed the admonition in scripture to show our love by our deeds and actions. To simply put on a public display for the world means very little.

 (1007)CORINTHIANS 14:20-33 Paul instructs the church that when they are gathered together they should do things ‘decently and in order’. God is not the author of confusion. Notice the ‘order’ of the early church meeting. It is participatory in nature, those who give a word should take turns, those who give ‘a tongue’ need to let someone interpret. But there is no sense of ‘a pastoral speaking gift’ in this mix. Some teach that here Paul was giving directions to ‘the home group’ but they still had a regular ‘church service at the building’. This of course has no support at all from scripture or 1st century church history. Paul was simply telling ‘the church’ how to act when they met. I don’t see any hard and fast rules in which Paul is dictating some type of mandatory liturgy to the people. He is giving them some basic guidelines that are in keeping with the idea that God’s people are ‘a body’. He encourages open participation in the group. He shows how someone could be sharing and another who is ‘sitting by’ can also have a revelation. The idea is people grow and mature when they function. People become co-dependant when they simply observe. The modern church service for the most part has believers as spectators while one person speaks. While there are times where one person speaking/teaching is fine, what we have done is exalted this very limited format of ‘church’ and made it the criteria of what church is supposed to be. Note how Paul does allow for the gift of tongues to be used in the gathering, but only when there is an interpreter. He even ‘lifts’ an obscure verse from Isaiah that says God used ‘the languages of foreigners’ as a sign of judgment against unbelief. This verse has been used by the strong anti charismatic crowd to kind of say that the whole tongues thing is ‘of the devil’. Basically Paul was applying this Old Testament verse to show that when languages are spoken that people don’t understand, then unbelievers and judgment can be present. In Acts 2 there were those who said ‘what is this strange thing [tongues] are they drunk or what’. Yet others heard the ‘wonderful works of God’ in their native tongue. The lack of spiritual discernment among those who thought they were drunk was a sign showing their ignorance of Gods Spirit at work. Grant it, you could hardly blame them for thinking this, but the point Paul is making is that unknown languages being used in a setting where unbelievers can walk in does act as a sign of judgment. Paul wasn’t teaching that the gift of tongues was itself a false gift. I think this chapter is important for the present day because very few places in scripture actually deal with the way believers should meet. This chapter gives some of the basic guidelines of what our meetings should look like. I think we could all learn from the Corinthian experience.

 (1008) CORINTHIANS 14:34-40 ‘Let your women keep silent in the gathering, for it is not permitted for them to speak. If they have any questions let them ask their husbands at home’. As a practical matter, when me and my wife attend church, I bring one of those little note pads with me. You never know when your wife has a question! [This is a Joke! But now you can see why I don’t take offerings]. What is Paul saying here? In chapter 11, verse 5, he also told the women not to ‘prophesy’ with uncovered heads. Some think Paul is forbidding women to operate in the speaking gifts, specifically tongues. Here he seems to be addressing a specific issue at Corinth. He says ‘if they have questions let them ask their husbands’. It’s possible that the wives were interrupting the meetings, or taking an authoritative role that was beyond their calling. I already discussed how Corinth had a form of idolatry that incorporated ‘temple prostitution’. Paul did not want the churches to go the way of the culture at Corinth! Paul is not forbidding women in general to never ‘talk in church’. He closes this chapter with the admonition to do all things decently and in order. Paul has a special relationship with these believers. He spent quite a long time in their city [18 months] he launched another very effective ministry while at Corinth. Do you know what that was? He began his ‘writing ministry’ while at Corinth. He wrote his first 2 letters to the Thessalonians from the city. Paul was very hard on this church, but he did not yet challenge their basic identity as believers because of all their misgivings, he still treated them as Gods holy people. In the next chapter he will question whether or not ‘they are in the faith’. He will challenge them on their unbelief in the resurrection of Christ.

VERSES-

1Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

1Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

1Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

1Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

1Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

1Corinthians 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

1Corinthians 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

1Corinthians 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

1Corinthians 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

1Corinthians 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

1Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

1Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

1Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

 1Corinthians 14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

1Corinthians 14:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

1Corinthians 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

1Corinthians 14:4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

1Corinthians 14:5 I would that ye all spake with tongues but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

1Corinthians 14:6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

1Corinthians 14:7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

1Corinthians 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

1Corinthians 14:9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

1Corinthians 14:10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.

1Corinthians 14:11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.

1Corinthians 14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

1Corinthians 14:13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.

1Corinthians 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

1Corinthians 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

1Corinthians 14:16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

1Corinthians 14:17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.

1Corinthians 14:18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

1Corinthians 14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

1Corinthians 14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

1Corinthians 14:21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

1Corinthians 14:22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.

1Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

1Corinthians 14:24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:

1Corinthians 14:25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

1Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

1Corinthians 14:27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.

1Corinthians 14:28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

1Corinthians 14:29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.

1Corinthians 14:30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.

1Corinthians 14:31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.

1Corinthians 14:32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

1Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

1Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.

1Corinthians 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

1Corinthians 14:36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?

1Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

1Corinthians 14:38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

1Corinthians 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

1Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

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[zhudolet]

The killing of a sacred deer

So, even though I really enjoyed the “Lobster”, not for dinner but the movie I had certain doubts whether or not I am ready to undertake 2 more hours of the same director’s intriguing but at times slow and exhausting pace of vision. I admire his aesthetic but I personally don’t enjoy the unexplained surrealism if it is only used to fire up conversations between audiences of pseudo-philosopher moviegoers. These guys then get other people talking about the movie and in no time it goes viral but it had nothing to do with the quality of the picture. I took a dare and had zero expectations of truly understanding it, but it came off quite simple after seeing it. Sure I could dive deeper by google-ing some of the facts that I picked up on, but the movie had a very clear message in terms of what it wanted to translate to the audience. So to dive straight to the point “The killing of a sacred deer” is a perfect - Revenge movie. The motive behind the revenge is clear - Collin Farrell's character killed the young boy’s father due to his own negligence (alcoholism), and he tries to make up for it by befriending the boy (almost adopting him and spending most of his free time with the boy (Martin) buying him expensive gifts, while that same boy has been plotting his revenge even before the first scene hit the screen. He “killed” the wrong person. The premise of this movie is no different from the one in John Wick, only in this case, they killed the wrong boy’s father. Martin, however, didn’t go out on a murder spree, in fact, he offered Dr.Murphy a deal. The deal is that he has to sacrifice one member of his family or the rest of his family will die. Let us get back to the premise of the movie just for a second before this plot unfolds. While accidents do happen in medicine, most of the times the doctors aren’t held accountable. Just look at all the waivers they make you sign before you go get that surgery (just so you don’t sue the hospital if something goes haywire), even if its a routine operation. Can a doctor make a mistake? Surely they are not gods. Are doctors being held accountable for their mistakes every time an operation goes wrong, and who is to say it was their wrongdoing? So many questions and that’s why this is such an interesting movie exploring the ethics (rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of conduct in workplaces or principles in religions) and the moral (an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong) of “playing God”. I can understand sometimes it comes down to “a matter of bad luck” even though two words that best describe medicine are “exact” and “science” when compared with any alternative treatment. Sometimes I understand there is no real way of knowing how the body will react to a certain surgical procedure and there is always that factor of “unpredictable” that happens when something is “larger than life”, or as doctors tend to describe it: “There was just nothing we could do, we tried everything”. But did you? We can’t help but ask ourselves this question every time a procedure goes wrong. Could the outcome be any different? How do we distinguish and isolate the human factor, and can we? Are doctors even allowed to make a mistake when in control of a human life? This movie raises a hell of a lot of questions, one of which is heavily depicted: How is it that its always somebody else’s fault when it comes down to the procedure going wrong. It’s either the patient, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon or God. You can maybe get to the bottom of it, by being really creative with extracting information from somebody that was present during the operation; Aside from God. Even though I believe surgeons suffer from a God complex, I’m also sure they are not gods. The feeling of being in control of a person’s life, (which is heavily referenced in this movie) is an unprecedented one. In fact, this movie is packed with so much religious context, even the title heavily suggests it. The director’s name is Yorgos Lanthimos which is a Greek name so it makes sense that the guy pulled reference from Greek mythology which I think was very cool. In ancient Greek mythology the leader of the Greeks, Agamemnon, accidentally kills a deer in a grove sacred to the goddess Artemis. She punishes him by interfering with the winds so that his fleet cannot sail to Troy. The seer Calchas reveals that to appease Artemis, Agamemnon must sacrifice his eldest daughter, Iphigenia. It’s interesting to see where the director found inspiration but its an interesting topic to explore on its own. However, our entire culture is based on the principle “an eye for an eye” so exploring this concept makes you want to reevaluate your actions or should I rather say reactions to certain situations where we tend to take it upon ourselves to go out and seek justice in your own right not taking into consideration all the elements that took place. Is it ok to act out as judge and jury everytime we feel there is injustice? There is an interesting scene when Collin Farrell’s character watches a movie at Martin’s house with his mom played by Alicia Silverstone. They are watching “Groundhog Day”, and it immediately cuts to a scene where Andie Macdowell’s character tells Bill Murray that he is not a God. This movie explores a lot, from the aspects of religion to social and family values as well as existentialism. We see this “perfect family” where there is, in fact, total emptiness in the aspect of relationships and emotions. Kids worship mp3 players, the wife is empty from the inside out and the father can’t get off by having normal sex instead his wife needs to play dead in order for him to reach an orgasm. This blatantly depicts the emptiness of modern day society and how estranged we have become. Further down the movie, it is terrifying to watch how each family member is fighting for their own life by trying to make themselves look worthier than the other. In this family, like in so many others, there is no “we”, there is only “I”. We see that when each of the family members tries their utmost to please Dad so he doesn’t choose them for the sacrifice. Most shockingly at one point, even the mother suggests to her husband that they can always have new babies as long as they don’t lose themselves, in other words, she is afraid she might be chosen for the sacrifice. The kids express the same existentialism behavior. So the big reveal you’ve all been waiting for, even though it’s maybe the least important thing about this movie as it only serves as a vehicle for the entire plot unfolding. How did Martin make them all of go sick? Is he a God? No. But the feel of the movie and the directors choice to mystify Martin’s character by him acting really weird and unworldly strongly suggest it. And this is what I love about this movie, it made me feel very confused at times, but the director was honest (just enough) about his methods of how he was doing it, and in the end, he didn’t leave the movie unresolved. It only leaves you in its own right to pick a side. Let me get back to how they got sick. Remember the first time Martin was at their house? He brought gifts, more precisely he brought key chains for each of Dr.Murphys kids (Colin Farrell). I believe, the keychains were exposed to a radioactive material and since the kids most likely wore them in their pockets they suffered from radioactive poisoning which affected their limbs along with other side effects (such as loss for appetite, bleeding eyes, etc.) all of which are quite common with radioactive poisoning and were overseen by the medical staff since there was no obvious reason to suspect that radioactivity could be causing them to get sick. Martin held it a secret until he “smote” Dr.Murphy for killing his dad. He made it so by making him go through what he did by sacrificing an immediate member of his family just so Dr.Murphy gets to experience what it's like being on the other side of playing God.

[theseventeenthcentury-blog1]

Option Jan/Feb 1988

FELT THE PAST TENSE OF FEEL

BY JOY PRESS

Lawrence is sitting in a cramped little office drawing stickmen on someone else's stationery. They are mindless stickmen, each grinning madly. Since Lawrence is the ringleader of a band called Felt, and since I'm in the room to interview him, I watch closely. (I might learn.) He doesn't look up as he answers my question.

Do you draw? "No, I only draw stickmen. I'm an expert at stickmen."

You could, I suggest, draw bubbles and have them speak to one another ...

"I know. These are the silent types. They have nothing to say." He draws a lone frowning stickmen on the end and reevaluates: "They are a pretty moronic gang." We sigh I fondly over the poor alienated frowner and I turn our attention, more or less, to Felt.

Poem of the River (Creation US/ Relativity) is Felt's seventh LP, though it's the first released in America. For seven years, they've flitted about the periphery of British indie heroism, every so often unleashing singles like "Penelope Tree," "Primitive Painters," or "Ballad of the Band," which cause critics to fall over themselves with gentle praise. But gentle is the key word. If Lawrence could have exaggerated and crystallized his confusion and cynicism into, an accesible drama, he might be where Morrissey is today. The point is, Felt are to subtle for their own good.

Lawrence looks up earnestly when I ask: do you care about what people say about Felt? "We've always had good press ... It doesn't matter. No. No. Not at all." He later asks, "What are you going to write?" Exactly as it should he.

The band members live in the industrial city of Birmingham, northern England's version of Detroit. Lawrence (who claims no surname) avoids leaving the house other than to do his shopping. He formed the band with now-departed guitarist Maurice Deebank. According to Lawrence. "He was a lad. He was also a classical guitarist and I wanted him in the band. He wasn't into it at first, went through his stages — drinking in pubs and that. I never did. I knew what I wanted."

Did you have friends at school? "I did, surprisingly! Well, not surprisingly. But when I was 15, I just changed, I didn't want to be like them. I stopped going out. I didn't have any songs but I knew I could write; well, maybe I can't ..." He looks sheepish here, "But I thought I could write well then, and it was a skill, maybe the only one I have, so I did it."

Gold Mine Trash, a Felt 1981-1985 compilation which former UK label Cherry Red has released (and which is slated for American release at this writing) can only begin to hint at Felt's history. It opens with their debut single, "Something Sends Me To Sleep," all guitar-brushed innocence, and ends with lush "Primitive Painters," throwing the glittery and glib between. A suggestion of Lawrence's penchant for slipping high romanticism into a pop format, as well as his adoration of dry humor and the Velvet Underground, is present on the collection, but just as the barest of introductions.

In retrospect, Felt seem as if they've always been more musicianly, more studious than their pop peers, littering even their earliest albums with startlingly serious instrumentals. Yet the early eighties music scene was made sympathetic to precious, sensitive songwriters by the Postcard Records stable. Cute, clever bands such as Orange Juice and Aztec Camera created tuneful guitar pop on Scotland-based Postcard while Felt found a home on London's more adventurous Cherry Red. A few years later, a post-Postcard resurgence, urged on by the Smiths and Lloyd Cole, came to focus on Alan McGee's Creation Records (with several Scottish bands once again dashing in and out of the spotlight). Felt, perhaps instinctively compatible, jumped over to Creation (as did ex-Orange Juice leader Edwyn Collins).

Between Felt's 1981 debut LP, Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty and the second, The Splendour of Fear (complete with "Chelsea Girls" graphics), three years elapsed. This period produced singles like "My Face is On Fire" and "Penelope Tree," full of confidence and wistful optimism, lyrics pleading. "Oh no, don't let them break you down." "The World Is As Soft As Lace" offered a sort of manifesto for delicate post-adolescent sensibilities, saying on one hand "if I could I would change the world" and on the other, "all my great plans get blurred, by the softest touch, the gentlest word."

The Strange Idols Pattern & Other Short Stories, also released in 1984, found Felt's sound further refined, divided into smart, catchy jangles like "Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow" and "Dismantled King is Off the Throne," and lovely instrumentals such as "Sempiternal Darkness," all co-written by Deebank, showcasing his musicianship. Ignite the Seven Cannons, produced by the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, continued this musical progression, expanding childhood memories and bittersweet ambitions into finely-woven tapestries. The single, "Primitive Painters," which included Cocteau Twins singer Liz Fraser on supporting vocals, was a swirling and enthralling pop tour de force.

In 1986, "Ballad of the Band" and Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Reads to Death signaled a new era: not only did Felt switch over to Creation, but guitarist Decbank departed. Martin Duffy's organ took precedence on Let the Snakes and continues to remain important on the two most recent albums, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word and Poem of the River.

"Ballad of the Band" documented inner-band strife ("Where were you when I wanted to work? You were still in bed, you're a total jerk") and Lawrence explains, "It goes. 'you know, I feel like giving in,' not I will give in. It was just telling how bad things were, I just wanted it to stop, but I'll never give in. It was definitely disruptive, really sad ... We're not so together, you know, as if we'd been together since the start." Fans, like Lawrence, cling to the romance of the band through it all. "We have real fanatics. A lot of them want to be your friend. And you get to be friends and they just think, 'Oh, he's not so special.' I'd rather be alone and ... adored."

So are Felt's members good people? "No, we're horrible. There are so many evil people around you in the music business, there's no way you can escape it."

Much of Poem of the River seems to escape Lawrence's usual caustic tongue. reveling instead in the softly psychedelic organ.

He describes it as "late-night listening" and worries that it may be "too introspective" for an American audience. It is an altogether less accessible record than an LP like Ignite the Seven Cannons, but still contains that dizzy mix of the starry-eyed and the defeated. The one-and-a-half minute opener, "Declaration," flatly proclaims: "I will be the first person in history to die of boredom." As idealized as a song like "She Lives By the Castle" may sound, there is always a sharp poke of consciousness, where pride and defenses kick in.

Felt lyrics generally work within plain speech, because, Lawrence says petulantly, "Why say metamorphosize if you can say change?" The stunningly simple completeness of Felt at its best, like "Primitive Painters" or even the "Final Resting of the Ark" single released this past summer, strips away the most frustrating aspects of their world until indelible images scamper out.

"It's always the same kind of sound, but it's progressing melody-wise. If you were just a casual observer, you wouldn't notice so much and you might say, 'They all sound the same.' But they're getting stronger all the time.

"Every time we make a record, though, it does feel like a new band, because we've always got different members. 'The Final Resting of the Ark' is completely different from any other Felt you've ever heard, and Gary [Ainge, drummer), who's been in the band since the beginning, said it figures the best Felt record ever is the one he's not on! It started off as a list of things I liked, but I couldn't finish it ... It's just emotional, it makes you cry."

As for the subject of isolation, Lawrence shrugs his shoulders. "That's just the way I work. I write alone, and then the band just ... colours it in." With such highly visual music, the precision of the band is crucial. "There are pictures flashing behind the music in a way. Like the song 'Nazca Plain' is about this strip of land — it looks like an airstrip, but back in the times before Jesus they didn't have airplanes, it's one of those mysteries ..."

The album which contained that song, Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death, was completely instrumental, with oozing organ pieces outnumbering the guitar and piano songs. "That is my favorite record. Do you know any other pop band to put out a record like that? I really don't think there has been one, but people just ignored that and pretended we were crazy."

Felt is always the moment after the one where you would have laughed or screamed, when you've found the space to rationalize and wise up. I once wrote of Felt, "They might've been messiahs — if only they didn't have to think about it." So why bother risking public humiliation?

"It's a way of making money, and money buys freedom. But yeah, if someone connects to something in our music, like some of Kerouac's stuff ... When I was a kid riding in the car, I used to put my hand out when I was bored and pretend to he chopping mountains. And he did that too! Or when I was walking, I'd pretend I was the best footballer and the best everything all at once. He did that too! I thought I was the only one, and that's amazing when you connect with someone like that."

I get the feeling Lawrence used to think of Felt as some sort of poem. Does he still think they make a difference? "No, There are a very small number of bands that will ever matter. You can fool yourself, but the truth is maybe one band in this decade are going to be important — and I've realized it's not us. It was quite depressing to realize."

Does this mean Felt aren't messiahs?

"Yeah, I'm not a god after all."

#felt #lawrence #option #1988

[marjaystuff]

Interview with Lisa Scottoline by Elise Cooper

Damaged                                               Exposed

Rosato & DiNunzio Novel Book 4          Rosato & DiNunzio Novel Book 5

Lisa Scottoline                                        Lisa Scottoline

St. Martin’s Press                                   St. Martin’s Press

August 1st, 2017                                     August 15th, 2017

Lisa Scottoline deserves a high five for her latest novels Damaged and Exposed. These back-to-back homeruns hit at reader’s heartstrings with her gripping and riveting storylines and characters. In Damaged, a ten-year-old child, Patrick, has fallen under the radar of the government agencies. His needs are not being met regarding dyslexia, abuse in a public school by a teacher’s aide, and having to endure classmates’ bullying. Law partner Mary DiNunzio is hired to fend off a lawsuit accusing Patrick of attacking a teacher’s aide, while at the same time threatening the public school to pay for Patrick’s education in a private school.

Even when things come to a solution in Damaged, the next book, Exposed, has Mary facing more problems.  Childhood friend, Simon Pensiera, who is more like family, requests her to file a wrongful-termination case against his employer, OpenSpace. His boss,Todd Eddington, fired him when his daughter Rachel’s medical expenses rose into the stratosphere. The problem, her partner, Bennie, represents Dumbarton Industries, OpenSpace’s parent company, so there’s an obvious conflict of interest.  The suspense increases after a major plot twist that has both partners reevaluating their respective stances as the case heads into an unexpected direction that includes a dangerous cover-up.

Elise Cooper:  Both books have at the heart of the plot children’s issues. In Damaged Patrick has dyslexia and is abused while in Exposed Rachel needs a bone marrow transplant?

Lisa Scottoline:  I love to write about children. Sometimes in fiction children are not really differentiated; although, today we are more aware of children’s disabilities and illnesses.  I think these children need to be given the spotlight with my job making sure that the issue is as real as possible.  In essence blurring the line between fiction and non-fiction.  

EC:  Why dyslexia?

LS:  Patrick became an introverted and inward little boy because the dyslexia became an important aspect to his development.  I want readers to imagine what it is like for a child when he does not get the programming that he needs or is entitled to within a public school.  More and more I have come to this saying, which I put in my books, ‘If you have a hammer everything looks like a nail.’ I think Mary had come to the situation with fresh eyes and was able to think outside the box.  

EC:  In Exposed you talk about the bone marrow transplant issue?

LS: The research I did was amazing and heart breaking. I wanted to honor the parents and children who are going through this.  I want readers to understand families’ feelings as they watch their loved one go through it.  It is so important to get the details right and not gloss over anything.  I hope maybe I can educate a little without hitting people over the head.

EC:  Your books always give glimpses on how the justice system works?

LS:  Yes.  I want to give the real true view of what the justice system is like, and not sanitize anything.  Does law lead to justice?  With both books I wanted to show if you really follow the law it might not lead to the result you want. In Exposed the two law partners, Mary DiNunzio and Bennie Rosato, had what appeared to be a conflict of interest.  Bennie represented the parent company and Mary was suing the subsidiary.  I thought there must be an easy straight ethical answer until I started doing the research. The case featured in Exposed is based on a real ambiguity in the law regarding what constitutes a conflict of interest when dealing with large conglomerates with numerous subsidiaries. I called a lawyer friend of mine, Larry Fox, who teaches ethics at Yale. He allowed me to talk to the class and even made it their semester project to find out if a lawyer like Mary could actually defend someone if the client of the firm was the parent company.  All of the nuances I learned were put in the book.

EC:  Describe Bennie and Mary?

LS:  Mary is vulnerable, warm, fuzzy, and cuddly. Bennie is the direct opposite and much more ambitious.  She made herself and is very direct.  She doesn’t do people pleasing, and is a not a compromiser.  I did not always appreciate gruff people until I started writing about her. Yet, inside she is a very caring person, but will not utter the words.

EC:  Who are you more like?

LS:  People think I am more like Bennie, but I am really more like Mary.  I am not as tough or direct as people imagine.  I am actually a little 5’2 cupcake.  

EC:  Did you base Mary’s family and community on yourself?

LS:  It is in my memories now that my mom and dad have passed.  I did have in my family what Mary has, complete unconditional love.  In fact, Mary sometimes has the problem of not being able to cut the cord and declare independence. I also knew my parents thought the world of me.  My mother loved me so much where everything I did was great.  My dad even came to my book signings. Somebody in the audience once asked him if he was proud of having his daughter a writer?  He responded, ‘I was proud of her the day she came out of the egg.’  They just wanted me to be happy in life, which is what Mary’s family wants for her. They are very supportive. We have to understand the characters’ backstory and maybe borrow a little liberally from our own life to do it.

EC:  In both books the antagonists are lawyers who are jerks?

LS:  They are very similar.  Both are bombastic and want to be personally feared and not loved.  They are arrogant, sexist, harassing, and egocentric. Nick in Damaged has a last name of Machiavelli and believes the end justifies the means. Nate in Exposed follows that philosophy.  What is most important to them is to win and they don’t care how they go about it or who is hurt in the process. It is easy for a lawyer to misconstrue and turn aggression into a no holds barred.

EC:  What do you want the readers to get out of both books?

LS:  I hope they understand that the core of the series is how Mary and Bennie change over time and also change each other. After being around Bennie, Mary has more guts and is more secure at being able to take people on, while Bennie is softer. Both in the two latest books stepped up and helped each other.  It is about how women yield power.

EC:  What about your next book?

LS:  It is called Feared and is a Bennie and Mary book.      

THANK YOU!!

[neverendingbookbasket]

It is officially 2017 y’all!!

*whoop whoop*

And before you say it, yes I know this post is so beyond late since we’re already 4 months into 2017. (I’m sure y’all were all waiting on baited breath for this post, right? hahaha!) Life’s craziness has kind of gotten the better of me these past few months, but I knew I wanted and had to do this list to share out my Top Reads because even though I hate picking favorites, I couldn’t not pick favorites. That makes sense, right? Right.

I must say making this list each year is equal parts fun and hard. It’s so much fun to look back on all of the books I read and loved in a year, but each year I think it gets harder and harder to narrow down my list of favorites. (That’s probably why this list seems to be getting longer and longer each year, haha!) There are just so many good books out there, and I think this year of reading showed me that more and more.

2016 overall was a pretty amazing, crazy, and wonderful year for my little blogger self. It brought some lows, but mostly highs, and I for one couldn’t be more thrilled with the books that I had the chance to experience, read, and love this year. This year I found myself reading and loving soooooo many books I had been meaning to read for ages. I loved being able to finally read them all, and getting to know exactly why all my friends said I needed to read them. (They were so damn right, by the way!)  This year also brought some new authors into my reader heart that I’m keeping forever, while also giving me some incredible books from my all-time favorite authors that were utter perfection and continued to show me why they’re my favorite authors in the first place.

I ended up reading 243 books in 2016, and I would honestly recommend any of them to y’all. (If you click that link it’ll take you to the full list of books I read in 2016.)  These 243 books represent so many different stories, characters, genres and subgenres (though the vast majority are some kind of romance), and authors. Some of these books made me cry my eyes out, others had me laughing my ass off on just about every page, while they all had me swooning something fierce and feeling the love and lives of these characters. Some of these books hurt and broke my heart in the best way, while others filled it up in ways I never knew possible. Some had the best feels, others had the most consuming heat, but they all shared the fact that they gave me one helluva read.

Some of the books on this list are a part of series, others were standalones, but they all stuck with me in some way, shape, or form. I HIGHLY recommend all of the books on this list, and I am telling y’all that you will LOVE them. You will feel these authors’ words, you will fall head over heels for the distinctive characters these books have, and you will experience, love, live, and breathe every ounce of their stories.

So without further ado, here is my Top Reads of 2016 list! I hope 2016 was as good to you and your reader life, as it was to mine! Here’s to a 2017 filled to the brim with the best books, and more wonderful crazy than you can shake a stick at!!

**All books selected were read by myself in 2016. Scroll below to read and find out more about them all (they aren’t listed in any kind of order), and as always, thank you for visiting The Never Ending Book Basket.**

~The Tristan & Danika Series: Bad Things, Rock Bottom, & Lovely Trigger by R.K. Lilley~

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“I want you to let go. i want you to submit. I want to make you lose your mind. I want you to be so far gone that the only word left in your vocabulary is my name.”   ~Bad Things

“She was the one. If I’d ever had a doubt, I didn’t now. She was the one I’d be thinking about, longing for, until I took my last breath. If I lost her tomorrow, I’d pine for her like a lovesick fool. This was the kind of love that only hit you once in your life.” ~Rock Bottom

“Love doesn’t let you walk away clean. Love is messy. Love takes a fucking piece of you before it’s done.” ~Lovely Trigger

The Tristan and Danika Series by R.K. Lilley is one of the most intense, all-feeling, and heart wrenching series I have EVER read. To say these books squeezed my heart and made it ache something fierce it putting it too mildly. These books shook me to my core. They eviscerated my heart again and again, and I just kept going back for more because that’s how powerful and consuming Tristan and Danika’s love was. This series is proof that while love might not be easy, and while it might bring you to your very knees more than you ever thought possible, it is well worth the fight to get it. This series will stay with me forever, and Tristan and Danika’s emotional and sensual fight for their forever is one that you should read as soon as humanly possible…just have the tissues and wine ready.

Read My Review of Bad Things, Read My Review of Rock Bottom, Read My Review of Lovely Trigger

~Knot by M. Mabie~

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“Sometimes I thought we were both cats hunting the same mouse named Love. Other times we were both mice scrambling, both trying to avoid being eaten alive by a monster with the same damn name.” ~Knot

If you know me, then you know my love of M. Mabie’s writing is fierce, and you probably know that my love affair with one Reggie Warren has been going strong ever since I met him for the first time in Bait two years ago. To say that I LOVE that man is probably the understatement of the century, and while it ain’t easy to share him, if there was one person I’d want to share him with it’d be Nora. Knot follows Reggie and Nora’s emotional, mesmerizing, and breathtaking story that spans years of time as they explore the literal explosiveness that’s between them. This is a story that shook these characters to their cores, made them reevaluate what it is they actually wanted, and pushed them to their very limits, and along the way I felt it ALL with them. This book was EVERYTHING I needed and wanted, and it just goes to prove that Reggie Warren and his special lady friend Nora know how to make one helluva lasting impression that still holds a piece of my heart.

Read My Review of Knot

~The Retrieval Duet: Retrieval & Transfer by Aly Martinez~

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“I’d lived twenty-six years of life before that night. But, suddenly, I was alive for the very first time. I knew absolutely nothing about that man. But I knew he was mine. And I was meant to be his. ” ~Retrieval

“I don’t believe in wishes, but somehow, I’ve found myself in a situation where a silly wish is all I have left. If I’m lucky enough to catch 11:11 again tomorrow, it means we’ve survived another day.” ~Transfer

If you are looking for a duet that is bursting with the best amount of gripping suspense, all-feeling romance, and fiery heat that will literally have you on the edge of your seat the entire way through, then you NEED The Retrieval Duet in your life this very second. Retrieval and Transfer are two of the most incredible reads I’ve ever read. They told the interwoven stories of characters who had been through so much, who had struggled, who had felt and breathed and lived every emotion under the sun and were still fighting with all they had to get to where they needed to be.  These books will grip your heart and take you through every emotional twist and turn this duet has to offer, and you will bask in every word of it as it all unfolds in front of your eyes. Your heart will race, squeeze, melt, and fall so totally for these characters, and that is just part of what makes this duet so unforgettable and thrilling to read.

Read My Review of Retrieval    Read My Review of Transfer

~Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros~

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”We stood on the edge of something I couldn’t fathom, and I had no clue how to bring us back. Not without him fighting for us equally as hard.” ~Hallowed Ground

I don’t think I have ever cried as much reading a book as I did with Hallowed Ground. (I actually cried writing my review for this book because that’s how much I was so consumed in the emotion of it all. That has never happened to me before in all of my blogging, and it hasn’t happened since.) This book, and really this entire series just hit me on another level. These character engrained themselves in my heart so deeply, I felt their struggles and their own journeys so truly, and I was invested in every humanly way possible in their story. Maybe that’s why this story affected me so much, and maybe that’s why I still think back on it often, either way, Rebecca Yarros’s Flight and Glory Series is amazing. Hallowed Ground was literal perfection, and even though it tore my heart to shreds from time to time, I loved every single second of being encapsulated within Josh and Ember’s story. Those two had a story of loss, fight, and a deeply felt love that was trying with all it had to pull them through, and I can’t say enough how much I loved and felt their journey in this book. It’s something I know I will NEVER forget. Ever.

Read My Review of Hallowed Ground

~Shameless by Lex Martin~

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“I’m a pale canvas next to his tattoos. Something about our juxtaposition makes me feel bland. Like I’m whatever nameless piece of art that’s mounted next to the Mona Lisa. I’m a little girl from Texas, and he’s this beautiful tattoo artist from Boston. He’s edgy and biting and brisk, and I’m all Southern hospitality and polite welcomes. Except nothing about my legs dangling open on either side of his face is polite.” ~Shameless

Lex Martin continues to be one of my favorite authors, and all of her books just remind me of that again and again. The way she creates the best blend of banter, laugh out loud humor, fun, with the perfect dose of romance and connection is the everything. Shameless was such an incredible read that had everything I’ve come to know and love about a book by Lex Martin. It was phenomenally written, it had some good feels and one heck of a romance, all thrown in with this effervescent spark that was felt on every page of the book. Shameless was a story that tugged at my heart, just as much as it made me blush and swoon, and it was that perfect combination that had me falling fast for Brady and Kat, and wishing like crazy that those two would be able to figure it all out. If you’ve never read a book by this author, then that must be fixed this instant, and I am telling you, Brady and Kat, their authenticity, their connection, and the feels they give you will sweep you up with all they have in the best possible way!

Read My Review of Shameless

~Porn Star by Laurelin Paige & Sierra Simone~

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“You know me. Come on, you know you do. Maybe you pretend you don’t. Maybe you clear your browser history religiously. Maybe you pretend to be aghast whenever someone even mentions the word porn in your presence. Maybe you even wish you didn’t know my name, just like you wish you didn’t have that drawer with the lotion or the toy. Everybody knows Logan O’Toole, world famous porn star. ” ~Porn Star

I have LOVED each and every one of Laurelin Paige and Sierra Simone’s books’, so when getting the chance to read what these two phenomenal authors wrote together was fantastic in every way. This book thrusts you right into the world of two porn stars, embarking on a new series, who soon find themselves feeling much more for one another than they ever expected. What I loved about this book was that Sierra Simone and Laurelin Paige do such an incredible job of putting you right into the thick of this world. They show you its nuances, what it’s like to be in this industry, and they show you the intricate dynamics that make up what it really means to be in the porn world. Their attention to detail and how real they made it feel set this book apart for me, and truly let me understand a world I didn’t know much about. That coupled with the phenomenal and fiery love story between Devi and Logan had me blushing and melting with all I had for these two and all that they shared. If there’s one book you should take a chance on, I vote you do it with this one!

Read My Review of Porn Star

~The Bridge Series: Into the Fire & Over the Edge by Meredith Wild~

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“Vanessa was different. Everything about her revved me up. The way she moved, the way she brushed me off because even if she might have wanted me, she didn’t need me….She took every inch of me, over and over. It was an erotic sight. Satisfying and arousing. Enough to push me over…Her hands were everywhere. Every desperate touch spread fire over my skin, tugged somewhere in my gut as I fought the urge to bring our bodies closer. It was all too much. Something triggered inside of me.” ~Into the Fire

“Thousands of pretty girls in New York, but the irrefutable truth was that no one could hold a candle to Olivia Bridge. She wasn’t a diamond in the rough. She was just a fucking diamond— beautiful, refined, smart. A prize for any man. Except she was Darren’s sister …and Will’s new fucktoy.” ~Over The Edge

The Bridge Series is one of my all-time favorite series, and Meredith Wild brought it to a close in the most outstanding, fiery, and amazing way with Into the Fire and Over the Edge. These books told the stories of Darren Bridge and Olivia Bridge and their own individual searches for love. Each of their stories were jam packed with the most sensual heat, the most mesmerizing amount of connection, and enough twists and turns to have you beyond ready to see how it would all play out. While each of these books are standalones, I definitely recommend reading them in order starting with On My Knees and then jumping into these two books. The Bridge siblings definitely kept me on my toes through both of their books, and had my heart feeling it all with them along the way. Meredith Wild’s incredible writing keeps you hooked into every word, ready for what each new page will bring. Through every word of these books you will love what you get with these dynamic characters as they push themselves and their own boundaries in their unforgettable searches for love.

Read My Review of Into the Fire    Read My Review of Over the Edge

~So Much More by Kim Holden~

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“Life blooms in second chances.” ~So Much More

Oh Kim Holden and her incredible words…..there are not enough words in the dictionary to accurately capture how much I love this woman’s books. They are unforgettable, emotional, real, raw, and beautifully written. Her books are in a league of their own for me, and So Much More was another book that proved that again. This book isn’t easy. It tells they very real and difficult story of what can happen when your life is completely upended, when you have no idea how you’ll make it through, and when each new day seems to bring on a new set of challenges waiting to tear you down…yet in the same breath how those challenges and difficulties might ultimately bring you to the exact place you need to be. So Much More is all about second chances, letting go, and the unforgettable and amazing things that can happen when you embrace the love and life around you for what they really are and for what they can give you. I promise that you will love this book, these characters, and their emotionally breathtaking journey of second chances…you’ll even love Miranda. Trust me.

Read My Review of So Much More

~It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover~

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“It ends with us.” ~It Ends With Us

If there is one book in the world that I could recommend everyone read, it would be It Ends With Us. Every man and woman, no matter what age they are, no matter where they come from, no matter what their background or relationship status is, NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK. I can’t say that enough. This book brought me to tears and shook me to my core. It changed me. It made me cry like a baby in the middle of a Red Robin as I told my mother about it, how much it struck me, and how much it meant to me. It evoked so many thoughts and feelings and discussions that I will never forget feeling or thinking or experiencing. This book is EVERYTHING. And I can’t tell you anything about it really because you need to go into this book blind and just live it. Live it, breathe it, and feel every ounce of it. I have read all of Colleen Hoover’s books, and this is by far the most powerful and emotional book of hers to date. Lily, Ryle, and Atlas will change you in this book, and their story will stay with you long after you close that last page. That’s how unforgettable it is. That’s how unforgettable they are. If there is only one book you read this week, this month, this year…it NEEDS  to be this book.

Read My Review for It Ends With Us

~The Beautiful Series by Christina Lauren~

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“If only he would keep his mouth shut, he’d be perfect. A piece of duct tape would do the trick. I had some in my desk that I’d occasionally pull out and fondle, hoping someday I could put it to good use.”   ~Beautiful Bastard

“So?” she said, giving me a slow, wicked smile when we accelerated forward. ” You told Will you found a woman who likes to have sex in public?” “Not in my cab!” the cabbie yelled so loud we both jumped and then broke into laughter. He pumped the brakes, jolting us. “Not in my cab!” “Don’t worry, mate,” I told him. I turned to her and murmured, “She doesn’t let me fuck her in cars. Or on Tuesdays.” “She doesn’t,” she whispered, though she did let me kiss her again. “Shame,” I said into her mouth. “I’m good in cars. And especially good on Tuesdays.”   ~Beautiful Stranger

“See, the problem with boobs is if you have big ones, you can never look thin. You get these burns on your shoulders from bra straps, and your back hurts. And unless you’re using them for their intended purpose, they’re always in the way.” “In the way of what? My hands, My face? Don’t you blaspheme in here.” He looked up to the sky. “She didn’t mean it, Lord. Promise.”   ~Beautiful Player

“Ruby?” “I’m having a moment, just give me a second,” “Was I too forward?” “No, I just had an out of body experience. Niall Stella just took off my shirt and admired my chest.” “Do you need to text someone?” “I just need to remember to add it to my spreadsheet of Niall Stella Moments,” ~Beautiful Secret

I have never been more grateful for a humongous winter storm because that’s what finally allowed me to devour the Beautiful Series by Christina Lauren. This series is equal parts fun, equal parts sexy connection, and equal parts amazing. With interconnecting characters, this series brings you one unforgettable group of friends who all find themselves smack dab in the middle of some pretty unforgettable love stories. This series gives you every kind of love story you could want and need from enemies to lovers, to sweet and heart melting, to the playful back and forth banter and sass all these characters seem to have. I LOVED every word of every novel and novella in this series. This series showed me exactly why I love series in the first place. The way Christina Lauren’s spark filled writing allowed me to connect in with all these characters, the way they invested me in them all and their stories, and the way they allowed me to see what happened after the last page of each book with the novellas was outstanding. This is a series that gives you a bit of it all, and you will eat it all up and love the blush and swoon it gives to your heart.

Read My Review of  The Beautiful Series

~The Cranberry Inn Series: Room for You, Room for More, Room for Just a Little Bit More by Beth Ehemann~

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“Brody, are you sick?” asked Piper. “Yeah, do you have a fever?” Lucy asked, tugging on my shirt. I bent down to her level as she felt my forehead. “Nope, not sick. Why?” They looked at each other and shrugged. “Mom was on the phone with Auntie Alexa and she said you were hot. If you’re hot, you have a fever. Do you need medicine?” ~Room For You           

“You are my future, Kacie. You’re my present and my future and if I could figure out a way to invent a damn time machine, you’d be my past.” ~Room For More

“You called God’s name so many times last night that either you were enjoying yourself or you were having a massive prayer session while in bed with me.”   ~Room For Just a Little Bit More

The Cranberry Inn Series by Beth Ehemann is one of the sweetest and most swoonworthy series I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It also has me wishing with all I have that The Cranberry Inn will become a real place as soon as humanly possible because I NEED to be able to visit that magical place. This series has it all: a heart meltingly sweet and good looking hockey player, a single mom with a heart of gold, two little twin girls with more charm and sass than you can shake a stick at, and a plethora of other supporting characters that bring it all home. I could not put these books down from the very first page of them, and I was immediately swept up into the sweet and beautiful love story of Brody and Kacie. Those two owned my heart through every word, swept me up so truly into everything they shared, and let me experience the literal magic that happened when they were together. This series is the epitome of a honest to goodness amazing love story, and it is one that made me fall in love with this world, its characters, and Beth Ehemann’s incredible writing. I’d pay the toll a million times over just to get into this world more because it is that incredible, and that damn sweet.

Read My Review of Room for You    Read My Review of Room for More

Read My Review of Room for Just a Little Bit More

~The City Limits Series: Roots & Wings & Sunshing & Rain by M. Mabie~

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“He’d magically turned all of my rough edges to silk when he touched me. Made all of the empty and lonely spots full with his attention. When his fingers moved over me, everything male in him spoke to everything female in me, and I felt beautiful. Fragile and vulnerable.”   ~Roots and Wings

“I wanted to kiss you last night and all day today.” He ran his fingers over my hair as I pulled back to look at him, my confession making my cheeks flush hot. “I’ve wanted to kiss you my whole damn life. I win.”  ~Sunshine and Rain

The City Limits Series by M. Mabie is a world of sweet, damn good, small town love stories that show you the magic and wonderfulness that small town life can bring you. These stories are easy reads that are low on angst and drama, but high on love and some serious feels. These books give you the wonderfully distinctive dynamic that exits in the small town of Wynne, and it gives you all the authentic and easy to love characters that make this special place what it is. M. Mabie brings her dynamic writing out in these books, and allows you to fall heart first into a world of fishing, campfires, water towers, radio stations, and real-life romance that is going to have you feeling all of the butterflies as these stories unfold. Whether it’s with Vaughn and Mutt as she welcomes him to small town life and he helps he find the balance of her roots and wings, or whether its Sunny and Rhett as these two see what really could be if they gave up their pre conceived notions of one another…Wynne is the place to be. I can’t accurately describe how good these books felt to read and how right they were, so grab yourself a sweet tea and park a spot outside, and get to loving these books.

Read My Review of Roots and Wings   Read My Review of Sunshine and Rain

~The Spiral Down by Aly Martinez~

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“The ground was shaking and my decade-old walls were starting to crumble. I could lose myself trying to rebuild them while the super storm known as Henry Alexander ominously hovered over me. Or I could sit back, relax, and enjoy the thunder. Even the strongest hurricanes had to die out eventually. Maybe Henry was mine. Or, more likely, he’d be the earthquake that was going to break me down before swallowing me whole. Either way, I wasn’t going to be left standing.” ~The Spiral Down  

Oh Henry and Evan…those two still own a piece of my heart even a later after reading their unforgettable and all-consuming love story. To say I loved these men with my whole heart is the understatement of the century. These two OWNED me and my heart through every word of this book. They owned my breaths, my feelings, my heart, my blushes, my very soul as their breathtaking and highly emotional story unfolded in front of me. This book was perfection for me. With its heavy feels, deeply emotional journey as these two men tried to pull their heads out of their butts and feel what they so needed to feel, all thrown in with the BEST back and forth and personality, The Spiral Down gave me it all. It was probably only the third male/male romance I’ve ever read, but it just showed me through every word that I need to read more in this series like I need my next breath. Once you read Henry and Evan’s story I think you’ll feel the same way. You’ll also have a heart that is bursting for those two and all that they share as they try to shed the labels, the past, and the walls keeping them apart…and let me tell you, the spiral down through it all never hurt so good.

Read My Review of The Spiral Down

~The Gabriel’s Inferno Series by Sylvain Reynard~

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“Look at me. Look into my eyes.” His eyes fixed on hers as they fluttered open. “I’ll give you anything. My body, my soul, Take them. Take everything.” ~Gabriel’s Inferno

“I wandered in the darkness looking for something better, something real. I found you, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose you.”   ~Gabriel’s Rapture

“For you, my love, I would endeavor to pluck the stars from the sky, only to shower them at your feet.” “How do you do that?’ “Do what?” “Say things like that. That’s beautiful.” “I’ve spent years studying poetry, Mrs. Emerson. It’s in my DNA.”   ~Gabriel’s Redemption

The Gabriel’s Inferno Series is one that has been recommended to me for years, and every time I had to admit that I hadn’t read it, I always expected some serious side eye because I know how much fellow readers have loved this series. It was that push that finally had me diving into this series, and let me just say that I couldn’t be happier that I finally gave this series a chance. It was INCREDIBLE. So outstandingly written, with beautiful and flowing writing, that told a love story for the ages. What Julianne and Gabriel shared as their story unfolded was intense, very real, and had my heart aching for all that those two go through. I love me a good series, and this series captured that a million times over as it let me become fully invested in this story with Julianne and Gabriel. I also have a major soft spot for student teacher romances, and this is by far one of the best one of those, and series I have ever read. With a story that felt poetic, breathtaking, and deeply emotional, this series paints a beautiful portrait of what love and redemption can give you if you only open yourself up to it.

Read My Review of Gabriel’s Inferno    Read My Review of Gabriel’s Rapture

Read My Review of Gabriel’s Redemption

~The Love is War Duet: Breaking Him & Breaking Her by R.K. Lilley~

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“Love is never satisfied with half-measures.  It won’t take parts of you.  It will own all of you, every single, longing piece.  “Love will make you its slave,” I stated venomously.  “It will ruin you.  Grind you under its heel until you don’t recognize what’s left.   “Love will take your soul.”  ~Breaking Him

“Love changes you. No matter how strong you are, it makes you stronger. No matter how weak you are, it makes you weaker. No matter how hard you are to conquer, it will bring you to your knees.”  ~Breaking Her

Having loved every single word of the angst and emotion filled Tristan & Danika Series, it is no surprise to me that I LOVED  the This is War Duet as much as I did. I mean I think R.K. Lilley puts the angst in angst with what she puts her characters through, and I absolutely freaking love it because it gives me one helluva read that has the most intense emotion and connection and fire weaving their way through it. Dante and Scarlett’s story ain’t easy y’all. In fact it’s probably one of the most hard fought love stories I have EVER read. It pushed my heart to its very limit, right along with Dante and Scarlett. Breaking Him and Breaking Her follows Scarlett and Dante as they go from lovers, to enemies, to some kind of messed up version in between. Told with alternating past and present, this story fills in how these two came to eviscerate one another and their hearts, and lets you know exactly why they seem to always come back to more….It’s all a puzzle, and when it all comes together you will be left with one helluva intense, breathtakingly emotional, and mesmerizing picture.

Read My Review of Breaking Him     Read My Review of Breaking Her

~The Cocktail Series: Wallbanger & Last Call by Alice Clayton~

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“Fucking Wallbanger,” I hissed, frozed on the spot. His grin slid off as well as he played place-the-face for a moment. “Fucking Pink Nightie Girl.” ~Wallbanger

“Early the next morning, I drove him to the airport, kissed him good-bye, told him I wasn’t wearing any panties, and then kissed him once more while he tried to push me back into the car to see if I was bluffing. I was not. Kissing him a final time, I told him I loved him and I’d see him in two weeks. No one ever tells you to remember these moments. To photograph them in your mind, develop them into memories, to have them easily accessible and on instant recall when you’d need them later. To try and replay and re-create the last time you see someone.”   ~Last Call

Wallbanger and Last Call and the rest of the Cocktail Series by Alice Clayton were books I had been meaning to read for like ever. I had heard such great things about these books, plus with a title like Wallbanger, who could really resist this series. What I got in these books was a laugh out loud funny story that had my cheeks hurting from how much I was laughing and smiling at the antics of these characters. Simon and Caroline’s story definitely starts off in the most memorable of ways, with her hearing him with other women through her bedroom wall, and what ensues in their story is a charming, memorable, and perfectly outlandish story of what happens when two seemingly opposite people start to fall for one another. The banter and humor of this book is off the charts and had me almost peeing my pants I was laughing so hard. (I’m not afraid to admit that.) This book and this entire series kept me beyond enamored, but there was just something about Simon and Caroline and their push and pull that really spoke to me. Their fun and memorable love story made Wallbanger and Last Call two great, well written, and highly enjoyable reads with more crazy ridiculous and wonderful moments than you can count!

Read My Review of Wallbanger     Read My Review of Last Call

~The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon~

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“Swallow Daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ’til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ’til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heav’n or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, daughter. Stay alive.” ~The Bird and the Sword

Now let me start this by saying that I am not normally a fantasy reader. I am pretty much a strictly romance reader who sometimes dives into other subgenres, but that being said I have LOVED every single book I have ever read by Amy Harmon, so there was no way I was going to not read this book. The Bird and the Sword completely changed the game for me. It opened me up to an entirely new genre to read, and it swept me up in what felt like a mixture between and episode of Game of Thrones and the sweetest fairytale. This book gave me a love story intertwined with the fight for power, and it was incredible. The magical world that Amy Harmon creates in this book feels so real, it was as if I was actually in that world while I read this book. This book perfectly encapsulated Amy Harmon’s magnificent and beautiful writing, and gave me a story filled with magic, twists and turns, light and dark, and one little girl who holds all the power. It was incredible in every way, and I am so glad I took a chance on this book because it was so so good.

Read My Review of The Bird and the Sword

~The Beauty Series: Beauty from Pain, Beauty from Surrender, & Beauty from Love by Georgia Cates~

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“We’re heart to heart and he fades into me until I don’t know where I end and where he begins.” ~Beauty from Pain

“Every song I write from here on out will be about Jack Henry. That’s how our tale will go on and on forever—through my music. He will always be every song I sing”   ~Beauty from Surrender

“You were once my beauty from pain, before you became by beauty from surrender. Now you’ve adapted into something different again.” “And what is that?” “My beauty from love-both of you. Forever.”   ~Beauty from Love

The Beauty Series by Georgia Cates is another series I had been meaning to read for so long, and am so glad I finally took the chance to read these books. This a series about Jack Henry and Laurelyn, that spans continents, separations, and heart squeezing moments that threaten to tear these two apart. What starts as a simple proposition soon becomes so much more for these two as they soon realize that they might have just stumbled upon the exact person they need, even though that throws them both for a serious loop. I loved the whole premise of this story, I loved that it took place for the most part in a place that I had never been before, and I loved that it pushed these two to be real with each other and themselves about what they really wanted. These books weren’t the easiest on Jack and Laurelyn, and they both have their share of struggles, but this series is all about the glorious feelings and moments you can have if you try to heal from the pain, surrender to what you feel, and embrace the love that the right person wants to give you.

Read My Review of Beauty from Pain    Read My Review of Beauty from Surrender

Read My Review of Beauty from Love

~The Vixen and the Vet by Katy Regnery~

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“And I’ll tell you something else. I’m not worried that you’ll find someone else, because there isn’t anyone else on the face of the earth who could ever love you as much as I do. It’s impossible because no man has ever loved a woman as much as I love you. And I’m not worried about me finding someone else, because you brought me back from the dead and gave me a second chance at life. You’re my miracle, Savannah, and I will always belong to you.”   ~The Vixen and the Vet

The Vixen and the Vet is a re imagining of Beauty and the Beast, and that fact alone had me knowing that I would love this book. With a story bursting with meaning, struggle, and a love story between a girl with some serious fire and sass, and one stubborn as all get out man, this book gave me a love story that felt magical. Asher is a veteran who returned home looking and feeling different than when he left, which has led him to withdraw from the small Virginia town he calls home. Savannah is a reporter who returns home after being forced to leave her old writing job behind. He wants to stay hidden in the shadows, and she’s looking for a story that could put her right back where she needs to be with her career, and the thought of bringing Asher into the light suddenly becomes very intriguing for Savannah. What you get in the Vixen and the Vet is a story of healing, connection, and what happens when you meet that person who might just bring you to exactly where you need to be. With some seriously swoonworthy moments, this book had my heart the whole way through!

Read My Review of The Vixen and the Vet

~The Legacy Series: Point of Origin & Ignite by Rebecca Yarros ~

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“There’s no ignoring the fact that I know you better than almost anyone on this planet, Emerson. That I know exactly how it feels to have you under me, so deep inside your body that I’m pretty sure I left a piece of my soul there. There’s no ignoring what we had, or how badly I fucked it up.”   ~Point of Origin

I pulled back slowly, scared to see what lingered in her eyes, and prayed it wasn’t disgust. What the hell had I been thinking to kiss her like that? We’d never shown any signs of crossing the line, and I’d just jumped across it. Her eyes were closed, giving me no hint of what she was feeling.

“Avery?” I asked softly. Her pulse raced under my hand. Her eyes fluttered open and there was no anger, just surprise.

“You want me?”

“I have always wanted you.” With a soft cry, she met my mouth, opening hers in a hungry kiss. My tongue swept inside the mouth I’d dreamed of for years, and holy shit, she tasted even better than I’d ever fantasized. She tasted faintly of the peppermint tea she loved and pure, sweet Avery.   ~Ignite

It’s obviously no secret that Rebecca Yarros is one of my favorite authors. I mean 2 of her others book are on this list, so it’s pretty easy to say that I LOVE that woman’s writing and storytelling with all that I have. Her Legacy Series is one that is full of fire, both literally and figuratively, and it is one that I can’t wait to get more of. Point of Origin and Ignite follow two of the firefighters of the mountain fire crew that is coming back together. This series will continue with more of these intense and adrenaline filled books, and I for noe am beyond excited for more. Point of Origin is a second chance romance of Bash and Emerson as she and him fight to get back the crew that took their parents, yet is still a huge part of their soul. Ignite gives you the friends to lovers story of Avery and River who are struggling with their feelings, coupled with the expectations placed upon them both. These books have the best amount of heat, and I don’t mean those fires they fight. What these characters share is raw, powerful, and consuming in every way possible. These books will have you wanting to hightail it to Colorado ASAP because that’s how alluring and wonderful and consuming these characters and their stories are. Legacy is all about family, friendships, past, and present, and it is a series that I know will continue to deliver!

Read My Review of Point of Origin     Read My Review of Ignite

~Edge of Chaos by Molly E. Lee~

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”Dash and I were the same, pulsing with a calling in our blood to stand on the edge of chaos.” ~Edge of Chaos

Fun fact about me: I am fascinated by extreme weather and storm chasing, so when I found out Molly Lee was writing a book that included that, and one killer romance, I was beyond sold. This book was equal parts adrenaline and adventure, and emotional heartfelt romance that swept me up with all it had. Dash and Blake’s story was as intense as the storms they were chasing, and Molly’s incredible writing allowed me to be there through every word of that. She let me get right to the heart of those storms, and the emotion and connection that Dash and Blake were sharing and it was phenomenal. It was real, raw, impactful, adventurous, and made for one wild ride that starts this series off in the most amazing way. This book takes love to the edge, and I am telling you, what you get on that edge and what you get with these two will hook you into this series and this incredible author’s writing with all that you have, and will have you even more ready for that next adventure she has in store for you!

Read My Review of Edge of Chaos

~Franco by Kim Holden~

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“I don’t know if it’s just the accent, but I get the feeling she’s the type of person who could tell you to, Fuck off, and you’d take it as a compliment and respond with, Thank you very much.”   ~Franco

Franco was a fun, lively, and vibrant meeting of two incredible characters with two very memorable personalities. Franco and Gemma had that spark that could not be denied, and that coupled with the humor and fun that ensued every time those two were together had me loving the antics, the connection, and the pull those two shared. This book is the third book in the Bright Side Series, and I really can’t say enough how phenomenal it was to get back with the gang of Rook and to be in a place where my heart is damn happy. This series means the world to me, and getting more of it was something that was just the icing on top of the best damn cake in the world. Franco and Gemma’s story in this book was about just how far you might be willing to go when it really matters, and it exemplifies that the heart truly can know no distance. This book was a perfect addition to this series, and though I will probably always want more of this world, if I never got another word from these characters, my heart will still love them all fiercely and will LOVE what they gave me in this series with their charm, their wonderful distinctiveness and their music, lives, and loves.

Read My Review of Franco

~Aced by K. Bromberg~

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“Rogue, rebel, reckless. Those words still apply to him. As do so many others that would make him blush, roll his eyes, and play them off because they make this stoic man uncomfortable. My rock is the one I can’t seem to get out of my head. Because that’s exactly what he has been to me. My everything.” ~Aced

Rylee and Colton have got to be one of my favorite literary couples that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Their story has torn me and my heart to shreds, and put me all back together again through every emotional and breathtaking word of their journey together. Those two have stuck with me in so many ways, so getting more of them was something I loved. Aced was their story of what happened in the in between of the ending of Crashed between the different epilogues. It filled in so much of that gap and all of the questions I had about what had happened to those two, and it was glorious. In true Rylee and Colton fashion, those two didn’t make this book or what happens to them easy. They made it damn hard, damn emotional, and gut wrenching at times as these two struggled, yet in just as they always do, Rylee and Colton kept me with them through every word and breath and feeling as they tried to put themselves back together again. Aced is their story of struggle, triumph, and happily ever after, and it was the perfect conclusion to everything from A to mother effing Z that those two had shared.

Read My Review of Aced

~Sweet Thing & Sweet Little Thing by Renee Carlino~

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“You have to teach your heart and mind how to sing together… then you’ll hear the sound of your soul” ~Sweet Thing

“I learned that you can’t predict your future, there’s no crystal ball or formula for happiness. You can’t control the weather just like you can’t control the way others behave, but what you can control is how much love you give. Surrendering to this crazy thing called life is hard, but we don’t have to be the soulless sheets of paper tarrying along in the wind. We can find our people, love, respect them, and then hang on for dear life because it’s not where you go on this journey but who you’re with that matters the most.”   ~Sweet Little Thing

After reading Sweet Thing and Sweet Little Thing, Renee Carlino has solidified herself as one of my favorite authors. The way that she wove together an emotional, angst filled, and lyrical story in Sweet Thing between Mia and Will showed the power of music, family, friendship and love. This book and Mia and Will’s journey tugged at my heart so much as those two put each other through the wringer. I felt it all with those two as they went back and forth, as they pushed each other to their limits, and as they tried to figure out what in the world they were doing with one another. This story was a phenomenal coming of age romance that pushed Will and Mia to see what they really wanted, what they were willing to fight for, and how far they were willing to go for the one they wanted. With the most incredible sense of build and push and pull, Renee Carlino kept me right in the thick of it during every word of this book as Will and Mia got closer and closer to where they’d fought so hard to get.

Read My Review of Sweet Thing     Read My Review of Sweet Little Thing

~The Game On Series: The Hook Up, The Friend Zone, & The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan~

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“Why won’t you let me kiss you, Anna?” I can’t breathe. “Why, Anna?” “It’s too much,” I rasp. “Not when I want everything.” He says it so deep and strong, a staking of a claim. “And I want everything with you, Anna.”   ~The Hook Up

“GrayG: Just to clarify, putting the perfectly reasonable and technically correct name aside, shenanigans are a go? Laughing now, I lean back more comfortably in the ugly plastic airport seat and answer. IvyMac: All night, Cupcake. I can’t wait to taste your frosting. A couple seconds pass and then, GrayG: Mac, you sent a dirty text. I just shed a tear of pride. I also have a hard-on. I think the little old lady sitting next to me is checking it out.” ~The Friend Zone

“Not necessary. Man-buns are hot. I blame Jason Momoa. There was only so much watching him bang Khaleesi the female population could take before they wanted their own Khal Drogo.” ~The Game Plan

Now I love me a good sports romance, and The Game On Series by Kristen Callihan delivers three distinctive, personality driven, and completely wonderful sports romances. Each of these books has a couple you won’t soon forget with their memorable personalities, back and forth, and the charm that bursts out of all of them. These interconnected standalones are so fun, so enjoyable, and are full of some serious heart and heat. They fantastically weave together everything you love about a good sports romance, while also making you smile and blush on just about every page. I loved how fun and light these books were, yet at the same time I loved how much meaning they had as well. Kristen Callihan exceptionally balanced bringing out the fun and the heart in these books, and I finished all 3 with a full heart and one big old smile on my face from these couples. With some serious charm and personality, these books are not to be missed… trust me on that!

Read My Review of The Hook Up   Read My Review of The Friend Zone

Read My Review of The Game Plan

 ~The Legal Briefs Series: Overruled, Sustained, Appealed, & Sidebarred by Emma Chase ~

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“Young love is strong. First love is powerful. But what you don’t know when you’re young—what you can’t know—is how long life actually is. And the only dependable thing about it, besides death and taxes, is change.”   ~Overruled

“I want her – this fearless, stunning woman. And I want the kids. Those perfect, awful, amazing children – whom she loves with every inch of her soul. I want them to be mine. Mine to hold, mine to protect and teach. Their joy, their laughter, their love. I want to come home to it, bask in it, be the reason for it. But even more than that, I want to deserve them.”   ~Sustained

“What if the reason I’ve never let myself fall in love with a woman is because I didn’t have anything to give? Because I’d already given my heart to her when we were seventeen years old? And all these years…I’ve just been waiting for her to come back to me with it.”   ~Appealed

“She’s my love, my home, the solace to my soul, the keeper of my heart, the center of my entire fucking world. The only reason I really believe in my own goodness is because I see it reflected in her eyes.”  ~Sidebarred

Emma Chase wowed me last year with her Tangled Series, so when I jumped into her Legal Briefs Series, I knew that I would most likely love it…and as it turns out, I was so right. This series was brought to life by Emma Chase’s sparkling and vibrant writing. I swear that woman is the queen of the male point of view, and the way that she continues that in this series with the males of the legal world was phenomenal. She made every moment of reading this series distinctive. She made it fun, charming, dynamic, and lively in only a way that she can, and I loved every single second of getting to be a part of that. This series let me fall in love with a whole new set of characters, and these interconnected standalones kept me loving them through every new book. I laughed, I smiled, I felt my heart fall something fierce, and I just enjoyed these well written, personality driven reads that gave me a whole new world of characters to root for. If you loved her Tangled Series, you will love these books so much!

Read My Review of Overruled    Read My Review of Sustained

Read My Review of Appealed   Read My Review of Sidebarred

~Him & Us by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy~

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“I have the same damn weakness I’ve always had. It’s still there as I stare up at the big screen. As I watch up at that big screen. As I watch Jamie Canning stop another dizzying slap shot. As I admire the grace and deadly precision with which he moves. My weakness is him.” ~Him

“There’s an old quote my mother once painted on a ceramic platter. Love is friendship set on fire. I get it now.” ~Us

Him and Us by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy are the books that popped my m/m cherry. These books were AMAZING. They were heated and sensual, they told a story of heart and discovery, and they gave me Jamie and Wes, two men who will always own a part of me. Those two guys shared something so real, so intense, and so worth it. Him and Us explores their journey to one another, and while it isn’t easy on either of them, and it pushes them both to realize what they truly want, it is their story all the way through and it just seared my heart to these two incredible guys. Both Jamie and Wes owned my heart through every word of these books. Those two made me blush, they had my heart feeling like it was beating out of my own chest with all that they go through, and they had me rooting with all I had that they would figure out a way to make it all work. This book isn’t just an m/m romance, it’s a story of second chances, and finding your true self and the love you deserve. This duet is beautiful, meaningful, and did I also mention that it was really freaking hot?!?!

Read My Review of Him   Read My Review of Us

~Fighting Solitude by Aly Martinez~

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“She entered my life during a brief period when all the stars had momentarily aligned. It wasn’t until it all exploded, throwing my entire world out of orbit, that I realized she was the greatest gift I’d ever been given.”   ~Fighting Solitude

Oh those Page Brothers….how they continue to wow and awe me. I loved every book in Aly Martinez’s On The Ropes Series, but I have to admit that the Page brother I was most excited to get my hands on was Quarry. That foul mouthed little instigator was who I NEEDED in my life, and boy did his story pack some kind of emotional punch. Quarry and Liv’s story in Fighting Solitude is raw and intense and consuming in every way. I think I cried reading this book more than I did any of the other books in this series, and the vulnerability and openness I got with these two seared them to me in ways I didn’t even know was possible. Fighting Solitude is a story of overcoming the darkness that threatens to consume you, it’s a story of second chances, it’s a story of what your heart and soul hears, and it’s a story of pushing out from the solitude you’ve found yourself in to end up in the exact place you were always meant to be. Quarry Page was a bundle of personality and vibrancy, and Liv James was no wilting flower with her fire and determination. Getting to experience these two fight for it all was everything… and then some.

Read My Review of Fighting Solitude

~First Touch & Last Kiss by Laurelin Paige~

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“He was always rough. Always raw. He fucked me however he wanted— fucked my tits, my mouth, my cunt. He’d tell me when he wanted my ass in the future, he’d take that too. And then sometimes, rarely, in the middle of the night, he’d be sweet. Pulling me into his lap, kissing me, caressing me. Letting me fly but anchoring me with his eyes. Speaking words he’d never dare say in the light of day. Words that I’d never dare say in return. It was these times that I felt the most connected to him. It was these times that he scared me most.” ~First Touch

“Whoever had decided that damnation was fire and brimstone was wrong. Hell was cold and ice and emptiness. Hell was watching the one I’d grasped to so tightly slip through my fingers. Hell was realizing the one I’d come to love would never choose to love me.”   ~Last Kiss

First Touch and Last Kiss was a provocative, dark, and sensual story of romantic suspense that had me on the edge of my seat through every pulse pounding word. Laurelin Paige delivers and incredible duet with these books, and she had me in awe of what was going on with these characters. Emily is a person on a mission searching for her oldest friend when she hears a message with a hidden signal in it, and that message is what leads her to Reeve, a dark and mysterious billionaire who’s got some serious mystery and darkness surrounding him. The more Emily digs and the closer she gets to Reeve, the more she finds herself entwined within a dark and pleasurable web of everything surrounding Reeve. As much as she knows she should fight it, she can’t help but be drawn to it, but the closer she gets, the more tangled she gets. This book is filled to the brim with twists and turns, the most sensual heat, and two characters who shouldn’t have ever met, yet still can’t help but feel what they do for one another. Be prepared to read these books in one sitting because you will not want to put them down!

Read My Review of First Touch     Read My Review of Last Kiss

~The Family Justice Saga: Unchained & Unforgettable by Suzanne Halliday~

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“Loving her was his salvation, but that didn’t mean all those feelings and the inner agony he felt over the whole fucking war was going to magically go away.” ~Unchained

“His masterful kiss set her on fire and unleashed a heady mix of desire and ecstasy. She surrendered instantly. His firm, insistent mouth demanded a response so she kissed him back with a ravenous hunger. Raising his lips off hers, he gazed into her eyes and brushed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Don’t give up on me, counselor,” she whispered.

“From your first day angel baby, our souls have been connected. I could never let you go.” ~Unforgettable

The Family Justice Saga continues to be a series that fills my heart and gives me it all. To say I love these characters isn’t enough. I feel so beyond connected to them all and their stories, I feel as if I am a part of their family, and I feel like I will never get enough of their stories. Suzanne Halliday has woven such intricate and interwoven stories together in this series with all of her distinctive and memorable characters, and Unchained and Unforgettable continued my love of all things Justice. These books gave me more with all of the characters I love, had me feeling once again like I was a part of the big and loveable Justice family, and had me already ready for more with this crew. This series will continue to be one of my all-time favorites. If you’re looking for series that truly invests you with a group of characters, puts you through it all with them, and has you falling and loving and laughing and just enjoying every second you get with them, then you NEED  these books in your life. Stat.

Read My Review of Unchained    Read My Review of Unforgettable

~Dark Notes by Pam Godwin~

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“I wouldn’t need words, just her awareness of my body, my intent, and my confidence to give her what she craves. She may not know it but she needs clearly-defined boundaries, discipline, and a man she can trust to push her beyond her comfort zone. She may not yet recognize me as that man, but she will.” ~Dark Notes

Dark Notes is the first book I’ve ever read by Pam Godwin, but it will certainly not be the last. This book pushed my boundaries. It was dark and raw and intense as all get out. It gave me a story that wasn’t easy. It told a story that was gritty and messy and hard, but yet oh so good in the same breath. Emeric and Ivory were one helluva couple, with a dynamic and pull that I felt in my bones. Those two had a fire that could not be denied, despite the fact that they were teacher and student. This book isn’t for the faint of heart, but I am telling you, it will give you EVERYTHING. It will grasp you, shock you, break you, and make you, and in the end you will be damn glad you gave this book the chance it so rightfully deserves. Dark Notes was a pulsating read that had me needing the closest fan I could find, all while I fell damn hard for what Emeric and Ivory shared as they explored that dark and very real fire between them.

Read My Review of Dark Notes

~Me Before You By JoJo Moyes~

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“Hey Clark’, he said.’Tell me something good’. I stared out of the window at the bright-blue Swiss sky and I told him a story of two people. Two people who shouldn’t have met, and who didn’t like each other much when they did, but who found they were the only two people in the world who could possibly have understood each other. And I told him of the adventures they had, the places they had gone, and the things I had seen that I had never expected to. I conjured for him electric skies and iridescent seas and evenings full of laughter and silly jokes. I drew a world for him, a world far from a Swiss industrial estate, a world in which he was still somehow the person he had wanted to be. I drew the world he had created for me, full of wonder and possibility.”   ~Me Before You

Would you like to read a book that will rip your heart out and that you will never get over, yet you’ll find yourself loving every emotionally masochistic word of it?! Well come on down because Me Before You is the book for you. This book broke me. It made me sob and break and cry like there was no tomorrow. It was emotionally gut wrenching across the board, yet in the same breath it was one of the most powerful and meaningful stories I’ve every had the pleasure of reading. JoJo Moyes completely allows you to understand her characters, their motivations, their reasons, and their hearts with every page in this book, and even though this book still broke me (and I’m pretty sure there is still a part of my heart broken from it) I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH. It isn’t light and it ain’t easy, but that’s what makes it what it is, and that’s what sets it apart. This book is perfection. It will take a chunk of you, but you’ll gladly give it for what Will and Lou give you, and in the end you’ll be damn glad you gave this book what you did.

Read My Review of Me Before You

Read My Review of Falling

~All That Jazz by Natasha Boyd~

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“You’re like a hurricane, Jazzy Bear. You would have changed everything. If you’d asked, I’d have given up my plans and dreams.” ~All That Jazz

The Eversea Series by Natasha Boyd is wonderful, southern, and charming series with the most phenomenal writing. I have loved every single book in this series, and I had been waiting for Joey and Jazz’s story ever since I met the two of them and had felt that there was one helluva story between those two. All That Jazz fills in all the questions you have about those two, all while putting you right back in the heart of Butler Cove with all its personality, charm, and warmth. The back and forth between Joey and Jazz had me on edge through every word of this book, and had me NEEDING for those two to figure it all out. What Joey and Jazz share is built on a past and present that collide in this book, and every heart melting and pulling word of this book will have you rooting for those two. Throw in the best dose of southern charm, and you have a book that is as vibrant and authentic as the south. If you have loved the Eversea Series, then I promise you will love this book so so much!

Read My Review of All That Jazz

~Dark Lover by J.R. Ward~

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“I’m going to talk to her.” “And how’s that going to go? You’re just going to walk up to her and say, ‘Hey, I know you’ve never seen me before, but I’m your dad. Oh, and guess what? You’ve won the evolutionary lottery: You’re a vampire. Let’s go to Disneyland!”   ~Dark Lover

So I will admit that paranormal romance is so not my typical genre of romance that I like to read. It’s not that I haven’t loved the paranormal romances I’ve read, it’s just that they’re not the books I typically lean towards. I was told by a friend of mine that if I didn’t read this series, I would be disowned, so with that push I finally decided to give it a go. I had heard such incredible things about this series from so many of my friends, but I’ll still admit I wasn’t sure if I was going to love it or not. That being said, I LOVED every single word of Dark Lover by J.R. Ward. This book was all kinds of consuming, and I found myself so entwined with this brotherhood of vampires and the phenomenal world J.R. Ward creates. I couldn’t get enough of Wrath and Beth’s love story that was interwoven into all of the action of this book, and I have since read almost half of this series. I am hooked and addicted and everyone who told me to read this series was so fucking right because these books are soooooooo good. They’re romances with the best amount of paranormal to them, and I can’t get enough. (So you were right Aly & Ashley, okay?! hahaha!)

Read My Review of Dark Lover

~Wilder by Rebecca Yarros~

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“I knew why everyone got sucked in. He was magnetic, hypnotizing. It wasn’t just the body, the face or the tattoos. He made me feel anything was possible, like there was a whole shiny world waiting for me to step inside and explore. He was everything I wasn’t, but he made me feel like I could be.”  ~Wilder

Wilder is the first book in Rebecca Yarros’s Renegades Series, and this book was packed to the brim with action, adrenaline filled moments, and a love story of two seemingly opposite characters who couldn’t help but be drawn to one another. This book spans continents and countries, sets your pulse and your heart on fire with the action and antics of these renegades, and still gives a love story that is bursting with heart and feels galore. I loved and experienced every word of this book because of Rebecca Yarros’s exceptional writing. She puts you right in there with her characters, she lets you get them, she lets you understand their motives and fears and questions, and she lets you be with them as they fight to overcome what holds them back. Getting what I did  with Paxton and Leah in this book set my heart on fire, had me feeling it all for those two, and had me wishing like hell I had done Semester at Sea. The Renegades give you one wild and heart filled ride, so be sure to jump on their train…or boat, this very second!

Read My Reviews of Wilder

~Forever Rockers by Terri Anne Browning~

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“I love you. That is all that matters, do you hear me? I love you and all I need is you.” ~Forever Rockers

The Rocker Series by Terri Anne Browning is a series that I will never get enough of. I have been with this series since the very beginning. I have been through it all with these characters. Their highs and lows, their fights and wins, their losses and heartbreaks, and every twist and turn and up and down these books have brought them all. It’s safe to say I love these books with all that I have, and while I can’t pick favorites…yet it’s pretty safe to say that Shane and Harper have a special place in my heart. Their story is very special, very emotional, and so easy to understand and feel. Those two have struggled and been through it all, and the events of Forever Rockers gives you one last little bit with them as they try to create the family they’ve always dreamed of. In true Rocker Series fashion, there are forces and people out to get the rockers and the ones they love, and this book is jam packed with so many twists and turns that will have you dying to know what happens. I loved every word of this series and every word of Forever Rockers brought this series to a close in the most fitting and all-feeling way.

Read My Review of Forever Rockers

~One With You by Sylvia Day~

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“I hadn’t known Eva was out there, had been afraid to even dream of finding the one person in the world who would accept and love every facet of me.” ~One With You

The Crossfire Series is one of the first romance series I ever read. This book is part of the reason I love romance so much. Gideon and Eva’s emotional love affair is what showed me I loved me a good love story. Their sensual, emotional, and very raw love story told through Sylvia Day’s phenomenal writing is what made me love these two as strongly as I did. To say I was anticipating the conclusion to this series is putting it lightly, and I didn’t know what this last book for them would bring, but what I got with them was a beautiful, meaningful, and powerful story of love. This was the best conclusion I could have asked for with this series, and even though I am so sad to say goodbye to these two, their love and their fight to overcome the demons of their past will stay with me forever. Gideon and Eva’s love may not have been perfect, but it was real and it was theirs, and this series brought that love to life in the most incredible way.

Read My Review of One With You

~The Quantum Series: Valorous, Virtuous, Victorious, Rapturous, & Ravenous by M.S. Force~

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“The more time I spend with her, the more I want her. I want her to be mine. It doesn’t matter that I might not be good for her. I can be someone different for her. I’ll be anyone she needs me to be if it means I get to have her in my life.”  ~Virtuous

It had come down to a choice — her or the lifestyle. I’d chosen her. I’d choose her every time. I need her more. It’s that simple. She’s everything I didn’t know I needed until she literally slammed into me and turned my life upside down….” ~Valorous

“People don’t understand that it’s not all about the sex. It’s much more about the emotion. When two people are fully invested in a scene, it can be the most intensely emotional experience you’ll ever have — and that’s before anyone has sex.” He cups my face and slides his thumb over my cheekbone. “That’s magnified a thousand times when you’re in a scene with someone you love.” ~Victorious

“I’m her partner. Me. No one else. I realize tears are running down my face, and I don’t care that I’m crying for the first time in my adult life in front of someone I barely know. My heart breaks at the thought of her doing those things with anyone but me.”  ~Ravenous

“My body ignites at the images that scorch my brain in the scope of five seconds. Holy shit. Have I gone blind, deaf and dumb, or is Jasper Autry telling me he wants to have sex with me— and make a baby with me?”~Ravenous

The Quantum Series by M.S. Force is my new guilty pleasure. This series explores the themes of BDSM, friendship, and love and how all three can combine when given the right set of circumstances. This series has captivated me from the beginning with Natalie and Flynn, it continued with Hayden and Addison, and it got even stronger with Jasper and Ellie. The Quantum Series is so mesmerizing, and explores the love lives of a group of friends who also have a proclivity to the BDSM scene. This series explores their attempts at finding love, every emotional up and down, and every twist and turn that comes their way as they try to figure out exactly what they’re doing. This series is addicting, perfectly heated and sensual, and bursting with a group of dynamic characters I can’t wait to get more of!! M.S. Force has created a world where love has no boundaries, where there is power and submission, and where there is unyielding friendship and loyalty bursting from the pages of these books. I love this series so much, and I am beyond ready to see where this gang is headed next!

Read My Review of Virtuous        Read My Review of Valorous     

Read My Review of Victorious    Read My Review of Rapturous

Read My Review of Ravenous

So there you have it folks! My Top Reads of 2016. (If you’ve stuck with me all the way to the bottom of this uber long post, you deserve a gold medal. Seriously.) All of these books were AMAZING, and they blew me away with everything they had. I hope you take a chance on any or all of these books because I HIGHLY recommend them all. So please, do yourself a favor and check them out. Trust me. You won’t regret reading any of these books!

My Super Ridiculously Late List of Top Reads from 2016! It is officially 2017 y'all!! *whoop whoop* And before you say it, yes I know this post is so beyond late since we're already 4 months into 2017.

#favorite author #favorite reads #Great Books #Love Story #top reads