Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Easy A to be released June 3 from loveyoudivine Alterotica!

It’s not hard to get an A in Professor Richards’ class, but it’s easier if YOU are.


Blurb:

Male students who have Professor Richards’ English literature class discover that it’s not difficult to pass his courses. Of course, it involves special tutoring, many late night hours ‘studying’ and working hard. But the effort pays off with special credit and some of it may even involve English lit.


Excerpt:

Peter put the last graded paper onto a stack with the rest of the tests. He glanced at the clock on his desk.

“4:30,” he muttered. “Maybe I’ll leave in a few minutes and get an early start on the weekend.” He leaned back in his chair and thought about his wife, waiting for him at home. “Or is she dreading when I come home?”

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. Alan Bradford stood in the threshold.
“Professor Richards, can I talk to you a minute?” He seemed almost bashful, standing in gym shorts and a tank top.

Peter ran his eyes over the lean body and lingered on the slight bulge in Alan’s shorts. He swallowed hard. “Sure, come on in.” He motioned to a chair in front of his desk.

The chemistry major stepped inside and took a seat.

His shyness makes him even more adorable, Peter thought. “What’s on your mind?”

“Um,” Alan looked away. “Brian told me that you gave him an ‘A’ on the test so he can play tomorrow.”

Peter sucked in his breath. “Yes,” he said, hoping the young man wouldn’t notice his sudden fear.

“He also told me what he did to get it.” Alan still didn’t look up.

Peter held his breath and waited.

Alan glanced up. “Do you think I could get an ‘A’ too?”

The professor exhaled slowly. “Yes, but are you sure? His cock began to swell in anticipation.
Alan nodded. “I have to get an ‘A’ in this course if I’m going to graduate summa cum laude next semester.”

“So are you ready to do this?” Peter smiled with a leer.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Deadly Gift by Heather Graham



Contrary to other reviews, I found Deadly Gift, the third installment of Heather Graham’s Flynn Brothers trilogy to be much better than the second, Deadly Harvest. The first, Deadly Night, remains the best of the three. The second and third delved deep into the supernatural but Gift wasn’t as evil and disturbing as Harvest. Perhaps fans of horror will find Harvest more to their liking.

In Deadly Gift, the youngest Flynn brother Zack is called to Ireland to escort a long-time family friend back to the states. Sean O’Riley has been like a father to the Flynn boys so when Sean’s daughter pleads with Zack to fetch him after he falls ill, Zack doesn’t give it a second thought.

Sean planned to spend Christmas in his native country with his new bride, who is the same age as his daughter Kat. But the minute they land in Dublin, he succumbs to a mysterious affliction resembling food poisoning. The doctors cannot find out what happened. Kat charges Zack to bring him back to the states at once. She believes Amanda, her new step-mother, is somehow involved in her father’s sudden illness.

Compounding the situation is the mysterious disappearance of Sean’s business partner Eddie. Both Sean and Zack are eager to return to the U.S. and find out what happened to him. To Zack’s pleasant surprise, Sean’s beautiful nurse Caer Cunningham will accompany her patient back to Rhode Island for the holidays.

Zack is delighted to have her along but senses she’s not all she claims she is. Sean’s aging Aunt Bridey also appears to see more in Caer.

The investigation into Eddie’s disappearance and Sean’s sudden illness is going nowhere until another more blatant attempt is made on Sean’s life and a witness comes forward with a startling revelation.

Zack begins to suspect that these strange events may not have any connection to Sean and Eddie’s business but rather have something to do with a large fortune in buried treasure from the Revolutionary War.

Graham dives deep into Irish supernatural, which has an allure as strong as the Irish culture and lore. I always thought banshees were terrible creature but Graham shows another side of them and their duties on Earth. And I’ll probably never look at a flock of ravens the same way either.

In all three novels, there is a happy ending. The Flynn brother always gets his woman, but in Deadly Gift, the question is ‘what IS his woman?’.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters



After reading the first two Amelia Peabody novels almost back-to-back, I noticed some similarities between them. Since those parallels involve the solutions to the mysteries, I won’t divulge their secrets. However what imagination Ms. Peters may lack in motives, she certainly has no deficiency in describing late nineteenth century Egypt.

The Curse of the Pharaohs takes place several years after the events of Crocodile on the Sandbank. Amelia is happily married to her gruff but adoring husband Radcliffe Emerson and they are proud parents of precocious five year-old Walter, nicknamed Ramses.

The novel opens in dreary old England with Amelia and Emerson longing for the hot dry climes of Egypt. Although Amelia considers herself the utmost of proper Victorian Englishwomen, her hilariously disastrous attempt at hosting a tea party proves otherwise.

She and Emerson have been devouring the latest news of an archaeologist who died after the discovery of a tomb in Egypt, supposedly due to a pharaoh’s curse. His assistant disappears shortly afterwards.

Naturally, Amelia and Radcliffe are thrilled when the archaeologist’s widow implores them to continue her husband’s work. Soon they are back in Luxor and confronting more obstacles and roadblocks than the tons of rubble blocking the entrance to the tomb.

Another aspect the second novels shares with the first is the Scooby-Doo type presence of a spooky specter. In Crocodile, a mummy prowled the excavation site. In Curse, it’s a mysterious lady in white. However, Amelia, armed with her ever-ready, lethal parasol and her woman’s intuition, uncover the real source of the strange deaths which have nothing to do with a curse. She also can’t resist playing match-maker a second time, mentoring another emotionally fragile young woman deal with multiple suitors.

Despite the numerous repeats, I thought Curse of the Pharaohs was a great follow-up to the first. Amelia’s marriage to Emerson is as strong and stable as ever, even with two of the strongest personalities in England. The story brings ancient Egypt to life although set in the nineteenth century.

I hope the third novel breaks away from the cookie-cutter recipe of the first and second.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Show us the pics!

As virtually every other American did, I reveled in the news of OBL’s death. If I still lived in Alexandria, Virginia I probably would’ve gone down to the White House like several thousand people did.

But I was disappointed when I heard they had already given him a burial at sea. It seemed a bit too convenient. Not that I didn’t believe them, I just wanted to see the proof, the pictures, even though they were likely grisly and horrific. I understand President Obama’s decision not to release the pics was in the best interest of everyone and he wanted to avoid angering the Muslims.

However, despite the Navy treating the world’s most evil man with far more respect than he deserved, some Muslim clerics deemed it humiliating and vowed revenge. It seems anything a non-Muslim does is going to piss off a Muslim cleric. They probably wouldn’t be as snippy if they realized that some of us would’ve like to see his body dragged through the streets and spat upon like the…now who was that again?...oh, yeah, the Muslims in Mogadishu, Somalia did.

Maybe there’s a happy medium here. Henry VIII ordered the decapitated heads of his enemies publicly displayed on pikes. Lieutenant Maynard sported the head of Blackbeard the pirate on the bowsprit of his ship when he returned from his bounty. We could’ve met them halfway.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Day 6 - Sunset, Puerto Rico



The waves crashing on the beach were astounding! Just beautimus!









I'll need to rely on my friend Nomar to explain the legend of this blowhole. I just remember if you shout the name of the farmer who disappeared with his cow here, the ocean will spray you. Whether or not you believe the legend, it's quite refreshing!













Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Day 6 - Beachside in Puerto Rico

We drove into Isabela and met Nomar's ex-wife Ana and her mother Cuchina. We found a wonderful roadside bar just across the street from the beach.





Raymond, his mother Ana, and grandmother Cuchina.








Nomar and me.




This is the beach!


















Raymond and his favorite niece, Shaniela.



Proud grandpa Nomar and Shaniela





Fuzzy and Shaniela



Me and Shaniela (yes, she was the belle of the ball!)



She likes my Jets cap! She has exceptional taste in football teams!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Day 6 - Isabela, Puerto Rico

We continued west along the northern coast of Puerto Rico. This is from a roadside stop on the highway where Raymond likes to stop on his way home from San Juan. The view cannot be beat!







This is an old railroad tunnel built in WWII. Nothing much to see right now but it takes you to a beautiful spot on the island!










It's raining in the rain forest!


















Nomar on the beach.

























Fuzzy is plum tuckered out from his walk along the beach.

Day 6 - Arecibo, Puerto Rico

No, I didn't forget Day 5, but that day we relaxed even more than we had all week. We slept in, drove around a little bit and then walked down to the Atlantic Beach Hotel bar to drink beer and chill!



Raymond met us at the hotel and took us to the Arecibo Lighthouse and park on the northwest coast of Puerto Rico. It's a brand new park that had just opened, and geared mainly toward kids but we had a good time, too.


Recreations of ancient islanders life and culture.


Iguanas are everywhere.




The aquarium exhibit had sandbar sharks and moray eels!















Turtle kisses?







From the lighthouse, we had a beautiful view of the ocean.













The Arecibo lighthouse.











Beautiful countryside!










More iguanas!







I asked Fuzzy to pet one while I took his picture. His response is not appropriate for general audiences.