Week-end plans!

Friday, finally!! It was a 4-days week, but it just felt sooo long! To tell the truth, I was ready for the week-end already yesterday LOL.

So, what's your plans for the week-end? Tomorrow, my mom turns 65 years old, so we're celebrating by going to the restaurant with some of her friends :) Then, on Sunday, it's my annual BBQ. Once again, I'm hosting. So this week-end is going to be quite busy for me. Plus, the Olympics are starting!! Actually watching the opening ceremony right now!

What about you? Any plans?

Vacation memories 2016

Okay, so I'm coming up totally empty. I have no idea what to blog about. I thought of posting a music video of my current favorite TV couple, but somehow, it felt like taking the easy way out ^_^; Instead, here are some pictures from my trip in Germany. Since I took the pictures, it feels like I'm putting more efforts into this post LOL.

We have a lot of relatives and friends in Germany. So during this trip, we stayed with them and took one-day-trips to several places. Sometimes, we'd visit a bit city like Munich or Frankfurt. Other times, we'd go to very quaint, little towns. One of my favorite days was spent in Esslingen. Esslingen is an university town just outside of Stuttgart... and it was just so peaceful! I wished we had spent more time. In any case, I got some awesome pictures that I'd like to share with you :)

I really enjoyed Germany and hope to return soon :)

Olympic Games: Rio 2016

Ever since I was young, I've always loved watching sport events... I don't know where this love comes from. Other than curling, I've never really practiced a sport. Sure, I enjoyed track and field and phys ed classes in school, but that's about it. There's also a lot of sports I would not try... Yet, when it's on TV, I'm there. And when you add patriotism to the mix, I'm your leading cheerleader LOL. Needless to say, the Olympic Games are my version of TV heaven :)

Officially, Rio 2016 is starting on Friday with the opening ceremony. Unofficially though, it started today with the first games in the women's soccer tournament. Canada did well, upsetting Australia 2-0! There's been a lot of drama revolving around Rio 2016 and more so than usual, especially with the doping scandal. However, I believe that in the end, the beauty of sports will prevail... and I seriously can't wait for the Olympic Games to start and the first medals to be awarded :)

So I'm curious... are you a fan of the Olympic Games? What events will you be watching? Any particular athletes you'll be following?

When it comes to Olympic Games, I almost watch everything. Although I admit that basketball, boxing, field hockey, golf and water polo aren't much my cup of tea. Also, I prefer events that don't have too many qualification rounds or that don't span on too many days. I guess if I really had to choose, track and field, swimming, rowing, gymnastics and all the racing events are my favorites LOL.

As for athletes, I definitively have a list of people I want to follow during these games. Most of them are veterans and have been to the Olympics already and that's why I know them :) Others are medal hopes for Canada and have been featured predominantly as we neared the games. However, I don't have one in mind particularly ;)

Last, but not least, kudos to Team Canada on FB. They did a really fabulous job showcasing athletes, the qualification process and just stir up excitement for the Olympic Games. It was a lot easier this year to get ready for the Olympics :)

Review: No Breaking My Heart by Kate Angell

Disclaimer: I've received No Sunshine When She's Gone as an eARC from Netgalley

No Breaking My Heart by Kate Angell
published by Kensington in July 2016

Relationship Status: Complicated

Professional baseball player Halo Todd doesn't like failure, but he can never turn down a challenge. Especially when there's a pretty woman involved. How else would he end up dressed as a rooster, helping a complete stranger compete on a wacky game show? Even when they're eliminated after the first round, Halo isn't about to lose the girl…

Alyn is stunned when gorgeous, generous Halo whisks her off for a dream vacation to the beach--she's been let down by friends and even family so many times, she's lost count. Later, he offers to lend a hand getting her vintage shop up and running. But his constant--and ridiculous--purchases are the last thing she needs. How can she convince the stubborn man that she doesn't need his help--not when all she wants is his heart…

Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: Barefoot William, Book #5

The Story: The blurb of No Breaking My Heart makes the book sounds a lot more breezy than the story is ^_^; It got the main details right... Just before leaving for spring training, Halo Todd, professional baseball player for the Richmond Rogues, is accosted and roped in by Alyn Jayne, a complete stranger, to participate in a game show. Alyn's dream is to open an antique/vintage shop and after her potential business partner bailed on her, cleaning out their bank account at the same time, she figures out the prize money from the game show is her best bet. What it leaves out is that yes, Halo is intrigued by Alyn and wants to spend more time with her... so he whisks her along with her younger brother - Halo's guest for spring training, mother and injured pug to Barefoot William where spring training is taking place. Halo can feel the chemistry between them and in order to spend more time with Alyn, comes up with an arrangement: she'll pretend to be his girlfriend/fiancée for the season and he'll be a silent partner in her business.

The secondary romance in the book involves Halo's best friend and teammate, Landon Kane. Landon is tired of playing the field: partying and hooking up doesn't interest him anymore. In fact, he's looking for a significant relationship... and seems to have found the perfect woman in Eden Cates, photographer and owner of the Old Tyme Portraits.

My Opinion: Ever since Ms Angell started writing the Barefoot William series, these books have become my go-to beach reads. I simply love the beach town and atmosphere Ms Angell has created. It's so vivid that sometimes, I can almost smell the sea and sunscreen LOL. Every year, I look forward to going back to Barefoot William and this year was no exception... unfortunately, I did not enjoy No Breaking My Heart as much as I hoped :(

I think the biggest issue I had with No Breaking My Heart is that Ms Angell reverted back to the multiple couples book. This is usually my biggest complaint with her books; however, I thought we were done with it after No One Like You featured only one couple. So it was kind of disappointing to find out we were getting Landon and Eden's romance as well in No Breaking My Heart. Disappointing because I actually liked Landon and Eden's chemistry better and felt their relationship didn't get the focus it deserved. I felt Landon and Eden's romance was more honest and straightforward. It was nice to see two people knowing that they wanted more and going for it. While there was more sexual tension between Halo and Alyn, their romance was too complicated. Why couldn't Halo just tell Alyn he was interested in her and wanted to date her? Instead, he had to invent excuses and came up with the deal and Alyn never really knew where she stood with him. Their relationship was over-complicated for nothing... and that's unfortunate because there was a lot of good elements. First, the way they met was just hilarious. Definitively something Ms Angell could have built on. Also, I loved Halo's interactions with Alyn's younger brother and her injured pug. When a man acts the way Halo did, it's just swoon-worthy. Also, Halo and Alyn had the perfect backdrop for an awesome romance - Barefoot William. Every element was there for a great romance... so I'm really bummed that Ms Angell went the fake engagement/business deal route.

Otherwise, the rest of the book was fun and fluffy. As usual, the setting was perfect for a beach read :) I loved the activities and promotional events depicted in the novel. The characters were a bit one-dimensional, but still quite lovable. I particularly liked Alyn's younger brother, Danny, and her pug, Quiggley.

My Grade: C+. All in all, not a bad read... but not as good as I expected either.

Summer Chinese Dramas

Aside from my blogging mojo deserting me, I've also been in some kind of reading slump. I don't know if it's me, but I find this year's summer releases... not lacking, but perhaps not as exciting as usual. Or perhaps it's because I'm not in the mood for contemporary romance and that's the bulk of the releases in the summer. Add to that, I haven't been feeling 100% healthy in the past two weeks :( So yeah, my reading hasn't been stellar lately.

Therefore, I've been looking for something to do... and turned towards Chinese TV dramas. I recently skimmed through Clouds of the World, aka Chinese Paladin 5, for which I'll share my thoughts with you soon. For now, I'd like to introduce this summer's blockbusters that I'm planning to watch... eventually :)


1. Singing All Along (Chang Ge Xin)

This is perhaps the weirdest title ever for a period-era, political drama... but aside from the title, the rest of the production looks top-notch. It features Ruby Lin, one of the most popular and talented Chinese actresses, who also happens to be the drama producer. As it's the case with most dramas she's in, the series follows her character's ups and downs. The main attraction for me is Yuan Hong who's playing the male lead! :)

Singing All Along is based on a novel and also, in part, on real China history. They synopsis is as followed:

A tale of a farmer who became an Emperor and a woman he married twice. Following a civil war, Liu Xiu (Yuan Hong), a distant descendent of Emperor Liu Bang, was tapped to lead the restoration of Han Dynasty. To amass political power, he annulled his marriage to first love Yin Li Hua (Ruby Lin) in order to marry Guo Sheng Tong, a niece of a powerful warlord. Upon unifying the country, he remarried Yin. Although he wanted to make her his empress, he bowed to political pressure and bestowed the position to Guo. When scandals erupted in Guo's family, he used the opportunity to depose Guo and promote Yin to the position.

Anyway, this drama was filmed in 2013, but for reasons unknown, warehoused till now. I was looking forward to it for Yuan Hong, but have to admit I'm not currently in the mood for harem intrigue. It does have the best broadcast schedule though - 2 episodes a day during the week and 1 per day on the week-end. That means we're almost halfway through the series already and I'll probably give it a go soon.

2. Ice Fantasy

 Ice Fantasy is one of this year's blockbusters. You simply know looking at the quality of the production. The aesthetic of the drama is quite exceptional, probably because they invited The Hobbit's art director to join. As a result, we get sublime decors and costumes... and Chinese elves LOL.

Ice Fantasy is the adaptation of best-selling novel City of Fantasy, written by Guo Jing Ming. However, from what I gather, there's been quite a few modifications. Long story short:

This drama depicts the wars between the Fire and Ice Clans, the loss and then return of Ka Suo's true love Li Luo, and the eventual reunion between two brothers Ka Suo and Ying Kongshi after multiple obstacles set up by their archenemy Lian Ji.

Aside from the aesthetics, I'm drawn to this drama for two characters: the younger prince of the Ice clan and Fire clan's princess. It seems there is a romance between the two, but I doubt it'll be a happy ending. Sigh.

3. The Legend of Chusen

Another very anticipated drama, mainly because one of the female lead is Zanilia Zhao Yi Ling (the women on the left of the poster). This lady is on fire!! She has three dramas scheduled to broadcast this summer. Anyway, the rest of the cast is not shabby either as they were able to secure Li Yi Feng and rising star Yang Zi :) Gotta say, out of the three dramas, I think this one is the one I'm looking forward the most. I love the color scheme and clean lines... hopefully, the story will deliver as well.

Speaking of story, The Legend of Chusen is another novel adaptation. Here is the synopsis:

Zhang Xiaofan (Li Yifeng), who along with childhood friend Lin Jingyu (Cheng Yi), are the sole survivors of a village massacre. The two are later accepted into the Qingyun Sect (Noble Sect), where they learn the ways of the Immortal Sword. Although hard-working, Xiaofan struggles to catch up to his peers due to his slow wit. Fortunately, he has the support of Bi Yao (Zhao Liying), daughter of the Ghost King (Fu Chengpeng), who supports him through thick and thin. Pivotal circumstances made Xiaofan grow, and his relationship with Bi Yao takes a meaningful turn. For power, the villainous Ghost King attempts to overthrow the Qingyun Sect, and Xiaofan gets his life on the line. Bi Yao sacrifices herself to save him, falling into an endless sleep. With courage and strong faith, Xiaofan devotes all his strength to take down the Ghost King, fulfilling a promise he made to Bi Yao and Jingyu when they were youths.

This one has just started airing on Sunday and I'm still a bit confused about the schedule. Hopefully, we get a few episodes a week.

And there you have it, what I'll be watching this summer :)  And what you can expect me to praise or rant about LOL.

Another 30 Day Blog Challenge!

Hello everyone :)

So coming back from vacation, I thought I'd have so many things to share with you all... and I do. However, it seems that my blogging mojo has deserted me again. Sigh. Even sadder, it seems I'm not the only one - Ames too :( In a bid to find our blogging mojo, we're turning to the 30 Day Blog Challenge again. Last time, Ames was the host... so it's only fair I'm hosting this time :) Any other takers?

Basically, we just want to get back into the routine of blogging by posting something everyday. It can be short, long, book-related or not. It can be a picture, a video, a thought. As long as a post goes up :)

So for the next month, you can expect to hear about books, Chinese dramas and Rio Olympics from me!! Stay tuned!

Review: Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen

Finally, my first review for a Sarina Bowen book! Woohoo! I discovered Ms Bowen a couple of years ago and promptly fell in love with her writing. Many of her books have become favorites, but I've been in a blogging funk for so long that I never got around to review them. Hopefully, I'll remedy that... but for now, here's my review for Bittersweet, the first book in her new True North series :)

Enjoy!

Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen
self-published in June 2016

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the orchard.

The last person Griffin Shipley expects to find stuck in a ditch on his Vermont country road is his ex-hookup. Five years ago they’d shared a couple of steamy nights together. But that was a lifetime ago.

At twenty-seven, Griff is now the accidental patriarch of his family farm. Even his enormous shoulders feel the strain of supporting his mother, three siblings and a dotty grandfather. He doesn’t have time for the sorority girl who’s shown up expecting to buy his harvest at half price.

Vermont was never in Audrey Kidder’s travel plans. Neither was Griff Shipley. But she needs a second chance with the restaurant conglomerate employing her. Okay—a fifth chance. And no self-righteous lumbersexual farmer will stand in her way.

They’re adversaries. They want entirely different things from life. Too bad their sexual chemistry is as hot as Audrey’s top secret enchilada sauce, and then some.

Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: True North, Book #1

The Story: A few years back, Griffin Shipley was forced to take over the family farm after his father's sudden death. Armed with a bachelor in chemistry, Griff hopes to forge a new path for the farm by brewing cider. All he wants is to keep the farm afloat, at least until his youngest siblings head for college. With the busiest season upon him, Griff doesn't need any distraction... which Audrey Kidder definitively is.

After a few colleges and years of self-discovery, Audrey finally knows what she wants to do in life: be a chef and own a restaurant. She's completed culinary school and is now working for one of Boston most prominent restaurant conglomerates. Each year, the conglomerate holds a contest to open a new restaurant and Audrey is determined to win. For now, she needs to impress them with her work even if it doesn't involve cooking. When she is sent to Vermont with a price list to find local produces, the last person she expected to run into is Griff.

Five years ago, Griffin and Audrey shared a couple of steamy nights together. Now reunited, they realize the chemistry is still present and as hot as ever.

My Opinion: As much as I enjoy Ms Bowen's writing, I have to admit I didn't really know what to expect from Bittersweet. In all the books I've read by Ms Bowen previously, sport has been the central theme, the common element. With this new series, it feels like Ms Bowen is branching out, deviating from the familiar path... and it's always a bit scary when it happens. We all like authors for certain specific reasons. Often times, it's because they excel in a genre and when they decide to write something else, readers never know if they'll pull it off. Ms Bowen has become one of my favorite authors and I didn't want her to fall from my personal pedestal. Good news - she didn't :)

Overall, I really enjoyed Bittersweet. My favorite part was the setting. I think Ms Bowen did a marvelous job with the Vermont setting, bringing it to life for the readers. Reading Bittersweet, I had the deep feeling that Ms Bowen knew what she was writing about, especially when it came to farming life. I could also imagine myself at the market or in the orchard :) It definitively set the right mood for Bittersweet and made my read more enjoyable!

I also thought Grumpy Griffin was a good, solid hero LOL. I have a thing for grumpy/grouchy character and Griffin definitively fit that mold :) In all seriousness though, he was a great guy. A good son/grandson, a caring big brother, a dependable friend, fair boss and great boyfriend. What more can you ask? What I liked most about Griffin is his honesty though. He didn't bluff, didn't pretend that everything was fine when it wasn't. He shared his burden with his family and tried to include them in the decision-making. Griffin was tough... but the kind of toughness that comes with the hard, physical work from the farm. Not street toughness if you know what I mean. And I enjoyed this different kind of tough :) Griffin also felt real... he was in no way perfect. He had worries like everyone else and they were believable. I appreciate that he wasn't bitter about having to take over the farm. You could feel that he loved his life, even when it's not an easy one... but it didn't stop him from wondering what could have been. I thought Griffin was a well-layered character :)

Unfortunately, I didn't have the same feeling for Audrey. Not that she was a bad heroine, but she just didn't give off the same "solid" vibe as Griffin. Perhaps it means Ms Bowen wrote her character well though, given Audrey had some self-esteem issues... It was easy to understand where those issues came from because Audrey had a very demanding mother. To her mother, she came off as an airhead simply because she didn't know what she wanted in life and that was sad :( Also Audrey seemed to lack a support system - she didn't seem to have any friends of family. Anyway, I liked Audrey well enough. She was nice, friendly and it was fun to see her so passionate about food and cooking. What didn't work for me though was her dream of owning a restaurant. It's not that I didn't believe it feasible, but it was her attitude towards it. As if it was on the verge of happening. I felt she was very naive about it. Perhaps I've watched too much cooking shows, but to be the sort of chef Audrey seemed to aspire and own her restaurant... it's a lot of hard work. Years of apprenticeship, working in different kitchens, etc. It doesn't happen in an instant because you've won a contest. I felt Audrey lacked the experience. Maybe if she wanted to open the restaurant in Vermont, something low-key... I could see it. But Boston? I felt that was the weakness of Bittersweet.

I also liked the romance quite a bit. It always helps when the H/H have a previous connection. In the case of Griffin and Audrey, it was nice that they had a second chance for something more, especialy now that both of them are more mature. From the blurb, it sounded like Griffin and Audrey were going to be adversaries, the kind that couldn't have a relationship between them... but it wasn't and I appreciate that. I think it would have felt too forced if they had to stay away from each other, especially given their chemistry. I liked that Griffin helped out Audrey and that there wasn't any huge conflict. I don't think this book needed it. All in all, a lovely and intense romance :)

Finally, I loved all the secondary characters :) They were all great without stealing the spotlight. I'm definitively looking forward to Jude and Zach's books!

My Grade: B.