THE VOICE

Have you watched The Voice yet?  It's in its fourth season with two new judges, Shakira and Usher, but we welcome back Adam Levine from Maroon 5 and Blake Shelton.  This is not an American Idol rip-off.  In my opinion, it is more fun than American Idol.  Simon Cowell has moved on and so should you. 

This show only has good singers.  You don't have to sit there and be tortured by people who think they can sing but make your ears bleed instead.  Yes I know it was fun when Cowell was handing out insults to the crappy singers, but like I said above 'he is gone.'

On The Voice, the judges are  turned away from the singers.  If they like what they hear, they push a red button and their chair turns around so they can see who they picked.  The funniest thing is seeing the judge's face when a singer does not look like they sound.

No, I take that back.  The funniest thing is the interaction between judges when they are fighting over a singer.  Levine and Shelton really go at it.  Last night Levine managed to take a Country singer from Shelton and then he gloated for several minutes while Shelton looked like he wanted to punch him.

Last week Levine told a woman he would literally set himself on fire if she would pick him.  Shelton later tweeted she should have made Levine do it.  LOL

Try the show if you haven't already.  Trust me.  It is AWESOME!

Cover Reveal: BAIT (An Order of the Spirit Realm Novel)

Summary:  When a reaper comes out of Bay-Lee's closet to give her a warning--someone or some thing is killing hunters on their birthdays--she realizes her life is going to change and not for the better.

At sixteen, Bay-Lee never raises her hand in class and puts the wrong answers on tests, just enough to keep a C average.  Most kids don't notice her.  They would be stunned to learn she's living under an alias, relocating every few months at her uncle's whim and hiding from monsters.  Soon she will join Van Helsing and other kids like her at his school for hunters, and she will train hard; doing whatever it takes to prepare for a battle against her mother's killers, werewolves.  Revenge is the only thing on her mind. 

Then she meets Nick, a boy with secrets darker than her own and a bleak future.  Falling in love is not an option for Bay-Lee, but try telling that to her heart.

AVAILABLE JUNE 2013

MAROON 5

With Moves Like Jagger this band is hot.



Did you know they formed their band in high school?  Back then they were called Kara's Flowers, named after some girl they had a collective crush on.  Lucky girl.  They added another member to the band and went from four to five and changed the name to Maroon 5.  There songs include Harder to Breathe, This Love, She Will be Loved, and Misery.  Their sound seems to change from album to album.  I predict they will be around for years to come.

Personally, I didn't know they existed until lead singer Adam Levine took a spot on the judging panel of hit show The Voice.  His lighthearted bickering with Country singer Blake Shelton has endeared him to audience members, making the show even more fun to watch.  Since starting on The Voice the group has been asked to appear again and again.

They have won awards including three Grammys, two American Music Awards, and two Billboard Music Awards.

What do you think of this band?

City of Bones

Summary:  Clary has a normal life until she sees something she isn't supposed to see, Shadowhunters.  They are invisible to others so why can she see them?  Her mom disappears and a demon attacks Clary.  Somehow she manages to kill it.  Jace is impressed.  She's a mundie and should have been killed.  He takes her into his world, a world of vampires, werewolves, demons, etc.  This is where she learns the truth about her mother and about herself.  There's a good reason Clary can see the Shadowhunters.  It's her destiny to be one of them.



Review:  I LOVE THIS BOOK!  I have read it three times already.  Clare's writing reminds me a bit of Stephen King's because she is incredibly visual.  Even though I know the story, it pulls me in every time I read it.  This is going to be a classic.  I can see people reading it in two decades, still loving it.  If you haven't read it yet, pick up a copy.  It is awesome!!!

SUPERNATURAL: Wendigo

Summary:  Sam and Dean go camping in this adventure as they try to find out what is killing people in the woods.  They meet a woman (Hailey) who is looking for her missing brother.  She has hired a guide to take her and her other brother deep into the woods in search of the missing boys.  Sam and Dean figure out they are dealing with a Wendigo.  This urban legend involves people (usually Indians or hunter trying to survive and resorted to eating people in order to stay alive).  Guns are useless.  The Wendigo can mimic a human voice, has claws, and is wicked fast.  It knows how to survive long winters and will take hostages somewhere cold and dark where it can feed on them slowly.

Alias:  Sam and Dean pretend to be rangers.

Best Lines:  Dean got all the best lines on this ep.
Dean: Honey, I don't do shorts.

Dean:  What do you mean I didn't pack supplies?  (he pulls out a bag of M&Ms)

Dean: He wants us to pick up where he left off, saving people, hunting things, the family business.  (This is one of the truly great lines from the series.  It says it all).

Dean (to the monster):  Come on, baby.  I taste good.

Fight:  Sam and Dean continue to fight over what they should be doing, saving people or trying to find their dad.  This fight will go on until their dad is dead.

Scare Factor:  This one didn't scare me at all.  I was on the edge of my seat a few times, wondering if the monster was going to jump out and attack someone.

Review:  I enjoyed this episode.  It isn't one of my favorites, but it's important when you look at the whole picture.  This is where Dean realizes their dad is passing on the mantle to them.  He wants them to continue fighting things and saving people while he searches for the yellow-eyed demon.

SUPERNATURAL: Pilot

Summary: When John Winchester goes missing while on a hunt, his son Dean enlists the help of estranged brother, Sam.  A college student now with dreams of becoming a lawyer and having a normal life, Sam resists Dean... at first.  The boys try to track down their father, but find trouble instead in the form of an urban legend.  This episode deals with a Woman in White.

According to lore, a Woman in White or Weeping Woman is someone who was cheated on by a husband or boyfriend.  She temporarily loses her mind and murders her children.  Then she takes her own life after realizing what she's done.  The ghost seeks out and kills unfaithful men.

Sam and Dean decide to temporarily forget their father while they track down and stop this deadly spirit.  Sam is the one who comes into contact with her.  He's driving down the road when she appears in the backseat with a softly spoken command.  "Take me home."

During the episode Sam and Dean also rehash past pain and try to come to some sort of understanding.  This is the beginning of an awesome series!  If you haven't seen it yet, watch it.  Now!

Songs:  Eagles of Death Metal - Speaking In Tongues
Allman Brothers Band - Ramblin' Man
AC/DC - Back in Black
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
The Living Daylights - Gasoline
Kid Gloves Music - My Cheatin' Ways
Favorite Lines from Show:

Dean:  Please, no chick-flick moments.
Sam: Jerk.
Dean:  Bitch.

Police Officer:  Is anything about you real?
Dean:  My boobs.

Sam:  They're just trying to do their jobs.
Dean:  No.  They're trying to do our jobs, but they don't know it so they suck at it.

Dean:  Agent Mulder.  Agent Sculley.

First Fight: Many viewers complain they hate it when the boys fight.  Well, here is their first one.  Sam says he wouldn't know what his mom looked like if it wasn't for pictures.  He comments that even if they find the thing that killed her, she will still be dead.  In what I think is an overreaction Dean slams Sam against a metal beam and yells, "Don't talk about her like that!"

Don't worry.  The boys forget their problems as soon as the ghost starts Dean's car and tries to use it to run them over.  Then they make up later at the motel.  Sam tries to apologize.  Dean raises his hand.  "No chick flick moments."  Sam says: Jerk.  Dean says: Bitch.  This is the first time they call each other these names, but not the last time.

Alias:  They use a variety of covers over the years.  Their first ones (on this episode) U. S. Marshall.  Later, Dean tells a police officer he is Ted Nugent.  This is the first rock-alias.  Awesome!

Review:  There are a few sloppy places in this episode that make me cringe like when the boys are fighting over how they were raised so we'll know what is going on.  Exposition.  It's sloppy in places.  Sam and Dean know how they were raised, but they talk to each other like the other one doesn't already know this stuff.  Also, Sam says his dad gave him a gun when he was nine and complained about the monster in the closet.  Later, in another show we find out his dad is hiding the truth from him about monsters and wants to shelter him from it.  No way did he give him a gun.  Contradiction.

Other than those two things, this is a great episode.  The spirit was scary, the plot interesting, and the boys were awesome.  This show will reel you in and keep you watching.

Crushed

 


Summary:  The Noah sisters rule Titan High with their beauty, brains, and magical powers. Each year they play a secret game: Crushed. The girls pick their targets carefully and blow enchanted dust into the boy’s faces, charming them, but this year Kristen makes a grave mistake. She chooses the wrong boy and almost dies that same day. Coincidence? Maybe. But something isn’t quite right about Zach Bevian. He doesn’t behave like a boy who’s been Crushed. He goes from hot to cold, from looking at her with contempt to asking her out on a date. She doesn’t know what to think. Does he hate her or is he truly falling for her? Is he trying to kill her, or is he trying to save her?

Review:  Because I wrote it, I will copy over a review from Goodreads.  

Crushed is different compared to other fictional witchcraft driven books. It's a light, surprisingly fun and a refreshing read. The characters showed diversity in their personality. The story is unique and amazingly good, though there were flaws along the way. 

The Noah sisters are called "The Titan Royalty". They are popular. But above all they are also Witches. Witches that plays a little game called Crushed. Every year each of the girls choose a target, a boy, who they will put a spell on and command them to do anything what they want.

From the past few years of playing Crushed nothing way too disturbing happened until Kristen Noah crushed the wrong guy, Zach Bevian. Ever since Zach knew what the Noah sisters are up to he planned to keep a low profile to protect his sister despite the fact that he wanted to accuse them for their wrong doing. But as the time has come when Zach was crushed, there's nothing he can do to stop it but to comply with her. Throughout their time together a lot of things unfold.

Kristin Noah is the goody-good type of girl. Among her sisters it is usually her that gets the attention of teachers and their father, because she's mostly the one being trusted in doing paper works and other stuff related to work. She started off as a self-absorbed, conceited and worrisome teen. Worrisome in a way that she thinks that her reputation is fragile as glass. But along the way, Kristen's "true" self was shown. The reasons behind her not-so-good attitude were revealed.

Zach Bevian is your typical and mysterious bad boy hottie in school Having an image of a bad boy doesn't literally mean they're evil, they also has their soft side. And Zach Bevian is one of those boys. Even though from the start it was against his volition to comply with Kristen's little joke he was still determined to follow her for his sister's safety. It was so sweet of him to be so protective of his sister, Morgan. It was because of Morgan's true identity that he restrain himself from having close friends and from falling for someone.

Brittany and Cyndi are twins. Unlike Kristen, both dressed the same and has telepathy because of their situation in life. Brittany is the moody and bitchy type of sister. She's the person you don't want to mess with. It was Brittany and Kristen who happens to fight a lot in the book. Cyndi on the other hand is the peacemaker among the Noah sisters. But there are just times that despite Brittany's wrong doings she still sticks with her in a way.

I love how the romance in the book slowly unfolds. It all started as a bet between the Noah sisters, Brittany and Kristen, that Zach and Kristen got to know each other. First off, Zach didn't have a love interest towards Kristen until such time that he meet the "real" her. Though there were times that he's trying not to like her for what they've done he can't deny what he really feels for her. Their first date was so cute!! It was so realistic, it's like a date for starters. The romance in the book even left a big smile on my face!

There were twists and turns in the story. The secret behind Zach and Morgan's true identity was truly genius! Though some happenings in the book were predictable I still manage to like it anyway. The ending was satisfying and I can't wait to read the second book in the series.

Crushed is not only a romantic read but it also talks about sister rivalry, magic-gone-bad, and the value of sisterhood. If you're looking Crushed is different compared to other fictional witchcraft driven books. It's a light, surprisingly fun and a refreshing read. The characters showed diversity in their personality. The story is unique and amazingly good, though there were flaws along the way. 

The Noah sisters are called "The Titan Royalty". They are popular. But above all they are also Witches. Witches that plays a little game called Crushed. Every year each of the girls choose a target, a boy, who they will put a spell on and command them to do anything what they want.

From the past few years of playing Crushed nothing way too disturbing happened until Kristen Noah crushed the wrong guy, Zach Bevian. Ever since Zach knew what the Noah sisters are up to he planned to keep a low profile to protect his sister despite the fact that he wanted to accuse them for their wrong doing. But as the time has come when Zach was crushed, there's nothing he can do to stop it but to comply with her. Throughout their time together a lot of things unfold.

Kristin Noah is the goody-good type of girl. Among her sisters it is usually her that gets the attention of teachers and their father, because she's mostly the one being trusted in doing paper works and other stuff related to work. She started off as a self-absorbed, conceited and worrisome teen. Worrisome in a way that she thinks that her reputation is fragile as glass. But along the way, Kristen's "true" self was shown. The reasons behind her not-so-good attitude were revealed.

Zach Bevian is your typical and mysterious bad boy hottie in school Having an image of a bad boy doesn't literally mean they're evil, they also has their soft side. And Zach Bevian is one of those boys. Even though from the start it was against his volition to comply with Kristen's little joke he was still determined to follow her for his sister's safety. It was so sweet of him to be so protective of his sister, Morgan. It was because of Morgan's true identity that he restrain himself from having close friends and from falling for someone.

Brittany and Cyndi are twins. Unlike Kristen, both dressed the same and has telepathy because of their situation in life. Brittany is the moody and bitchy type of sister. She's the person you don't want to mess with. It was Brittany and Kristen who happens to fight a lot in the book. Cyndi on the other hand is the peacemaker among the Noah sisters. But there are just times that despite Brittany's wrong doings she still sticks with her in a way.

I love how the romance in the book slowly unfolds. It all started as a bet between the Noah sisters, Brittany and Kristen, that Zach and Kristen got to know each other. First off, Zach didn't have a love interest towards Kristen until such time that he meet the "real" her. Though there were times that he's trying not to like her for what they've done he can't deny what he really feels for her. Their first date was so cute!! It was so realistic, it's like a date for starters. The romance in the book even left a big smile on my face!

There were twists and turns in the story. The secret behind Zach and Morgan's true identity was truly genius! Though some happenings in the book were predictable I still manage to like it anyway. The ending was satisfying and I can't wait to read the second book in the series.

Crushed is not only a romantic read but it also talks about sister rivalry, magic-gone-bad, and the value of sisterhood. If you're looking for a fun, light, cute love story then you should try this one out! for a fun, light, cute love story then you should try this one out!   SaMaiNe at Goodreads