At Last Comes Love by Mary Balogh

Title: At Last Comes Love (Huxtable Quintet #3)

Author: Mary Balogh

Publisher: Dell 2009

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: TBR Reduction; Mount TBR; 52 Books - W17; Seriously Series

Only desperation could bring Duncan Pennethorne, the infamous Earl of Sheringford, back home after the spectacular scandal that had shocked even the jaded ton. Forced to wed in fifteen days or be cut off without a penny, Duncan chooses the one woman in London in frantic need of a husband. A lie to an old flame forces Margaret Huxtable to accept the irresistible stranger’s offer. But once she discovers who he really is, it’s too late—she’s already betrothed to the wickedly sensual rakehell. Quickly she issues an ultimatum: If Duncan wants her, he must woo her. And as passion slowly ignites, two people marrying for all the wrong reasons are discovering the joys of seduction—and awaiting the exquisite pleasure of what comes after….

Another good fluffy historical romance to cleanse my palate between more serious books. I enjoyed Duncan and Margaret's story, but I'm starting to think that Jasper and Kate was my favorite of the series so far. This one was a bit annoying in that I just wanted Duncan to tell Margaret the truth once and for all. None of this half truths nonsense! Every time he was upset with her reaction, I really wanted to slap him upside the head. Otherwise, I enjoyed reading their story. And the big twist at the end was unpredictable.

Huxtable Quintet

• #1 First Comes Marriage
• #2 Then Comes Seduction
• #3 At Last Comes Love
• #4 Seducing an Angel
• #5 A Secret Affair

April 2015 Wrap-up and Monthly TBR

Hop on over to Booksessed to participate.

April's TBR Pile (21/22):

1. Book club selection: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr √
2. Carry-over: Insurgent by Veronica Roth √
3. Series pick: The Walking Dead Vol. 18 √
4. Dystopian: Allegiant by Veronica Roth √
5. Comic: Y The Last Man Vol. 2 √
6. Added: Y The Last Man Vol. 3 √
7. Added: Y The Last Man Vol. 4 √
8. Added: Y The Last Man Vol. 5 √
9. Added: Y The Last Man Vol. 6 √
10. Added: Y The Last Man Vol. 7 √
11. Added: Y The Last Man Vol. 8 √
12. Added: Y The Last Man Vol. 9 √
13. Added: Y The Last Man Vol. 10 √
14. Added: The Walking Dead Vol. 19 √
15. Added: The Walking Dead Vol. 20 √
16. Added: The Walking Dead Vol. 21 √
17. Added: The Walking Dead Vol. 22 √
18. Added: Fables Vol 20 Camelot √
19. Added: Fairest Vol 4 Of Mice and Men √
20. Added: Fables Wolves of the Heartland √
21. Added: Four A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth √
22. Added; At Last Comes Live by Mary Balogh

Picture Book Roundup:

1. Llama Llama Hoppity-Hop by Anna Dewdney
2. Itsy Bitsy Spider by Charles Reasoner
3. Who Flies, Cat the Cat? by Mo Willems
4. Freight Train Trip! by Susanna Leonard Hill
5. Jack and Jill by Charles Reasoner
6. 1-2-3 Dinosaurs Bite! by Steve Jenkins
7. Hello, My Baby by Tish Rabe
8. Welcome to Monster Town by Ryan Heshka
9. Miles to the Finish by Jamie Harper
10. The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara
11. Alpha Oops! The Day Z Went First by Alethea Kontis

1,000,000 Page Goal

Monthly Total: 4544 pages
Pages Remaining: 799,594 pages

Current Read - At Last Comes Love by Mary Balogh

Books Won (0)

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Challenges Completed  -- I Love Library Books. Even though I'm trying to read from my shelves, I always have to hit up the library for specific reads.

Comments - Check out those numbers!  Holy cow! The only reason I have that high of numbers is because I was in Indiana for the first half of the month. I had a fair amount of time just hanging out at the house. I grabbed a ton of comics and a few books and dug in. So excited about my progress. On to May!

May's TBR Pile:

1. Nonfiction: Witchcraze by Anne Barstow
2. Fluffy romance: Seducing an Angel by Mary Balogh
3. Book to Movie: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
4. Book club selection: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
5. Series pick: At Last Comes Love by Mary Balogh
6. Random pick: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
7. Series Ender: A Secret Affair by Mary Balogh

Currently #6

Watching: I Redboxed Mockingjay yesterday. Finally! I wanted to see it in theaters, but getting there is a challenge with a little one. Instead I watched it during his nap time. Very good although I would have liked to see more from Cressida and company. Maybe in the next one.

Reading: At Last Comes Love by Mary Balogh. It's the third in the Huxtable Quintet. Not enjoying the characters as much as the first two, but it's holding my interest.

Listening: Red's new album Of Beauty and Rage. So glad I picked this one up on iTunes. I've loved Red since their first album. Can't wait to really learn these songs.

Making: Working on finishing my card examples for my May classes: Using Your Scraps and Fancy Folds. I have one card left for the scraps class but haven't even started the folds class. At least I know what I want to make, just need to sit down again and make them.

Feeling: Sore. I have no idea why, but my entire body is sore this week. I desperately need a massage.

Planning: We're having a cookout on Saturday, but I have no idea what we're doing for food yet. Have to get J to confirm with his coworkers about what they are bringing, etc. I don't like being without a plan.

Loving: Even with the slight disappointment of characters in my current book, I love going back to the fluffy romances when I've been reading pretty serious books. Fluffy historical romances is my comfort genre!

2015 Reading Challenges Update #1

Another year, another long list of reading challenges.  2015 is all about attempting to read from my own bookshelves. Doing good so far.  I thought it would be a good idea to do a periodic checkup on my reading challenges.  A way of reminding myself of my successes and failures.  So here goes…

Total Challenges: 1/31 3.2%

Total Spots: 168/533  31.5%

Individual Challenge Progress:

• Fantasy Project  1/5  20%
• Nonfiction Adventure  4/10  40%
• NPR Scifi and Fantasy   1/5 20%
• NPR Teen  3/5  60%*
• Top 100 YA   0/5  0%**
• 21st Century Women Authors  0/5  0%**
• US of YA   0/5  20%
• Time Top 100   0/5  0%**
• Rory Gilmore   2/5  40%
• 1001 Books  1/5  20%
• Anne Rice   0/5  0%**
• Feminism  1/10  10%
• TBR Reduction  15/48  31.3%
• Mount TBR  18/36  50%
• Library   12/12  100%*
• Ebooks  5/25   20%
• Read Your Freebies   0/12  0%**
• A to Z  15/26  57.7%*
• What’s in a Name   3/6  50%
• Picture Books   50/150  33.3%
• Seriously Series  4/10   40%
• Books to Movies  2/12   16.7%
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks   16/52  30.8%
• Fairytales   3/10  30%
• Dewey Decimal  2/10  20%
• Banned Books   0/5  0%**
• Back to the Classics   1/6  16.7%
• New Author   6/15  40%
• Blogger Recs  0/10  0%**
• Outlander  1/8  12.5%
• OLW Home  2/10  20%

*Successes: I've made some great progress on many challenges and even finished one challenge so far!

**Failures (Needs Improvement): There are many zeroes in the list above. Not so happy about those zeroes. Definitely need to work on those ones.

Music Monday -- OK Go "I Won't Let You Down"

Love me some OK Go. This video is just amazing! 

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Title: Allegiant (Divergent #3)

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 2013

Genre: Dystopian Fantasy

Pages: 544

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: NPR Teen; Mount TBR; TBR Reduction; Ebook; Seriously Series

What if your whole world was a lie? What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything? What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected? The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth's #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

An interesting ending to the Divergent trilogy. I am a bit disappointed in how it ended. Mainly I couldn't get over how abrupt the last twist was. However, I was more in touch with Tris and Four this volume. I was also excited to see more of the outside world and side characters like Cara (really got to love her in this volume). And lots more world building... Overall I really enjoyed this series.

Divergent:

• #0.1 The Transfer
• #0.2 The Initiate
• #0.3 The Son
• #0.4 The Traitor
• #1 Divergent
• #1.5 Free Four
• #2 Insurgent
• #3 Allegiant

101 in 1001 Update #3

Made some progress on a few of my goals...

What I did:

8. Choose and document One Little Word 2015 and 2016 -- Still working on this although I lost some steam in March.

13. Pass 500 books for Arthur's 1000 Books Before Kindergarten -- Up to 199 books... Making some great progress.

26. Read 50 of my owned unread books -- Read 5 more books from my own bookshelves. My total is up to 11 books.

28. Read 100,000 pages toward 1,000,000 page goal -- I read 2111 pages in March. That puts me at 6382 pages so far.

29. Finish 2015 and 2016 Project Life book (family and Arthur) -- I worked on March while in Indiana and wrapped it up once i got back. Now I'm starting my work on April's pages. Still going strong.

34. Make 250 different greeting cards -- I only made four different designs this past month. Up to 18. Got to get cracking on this goal.

37. Finish watching every Star Trek television episode and movie -- Still working on this one...

42. Participate in 30 Days of Lists 2x -- Officially completed one round of 30 Days of Lists this past March!

45. Make 50 new recipes -- Two new recipes this past week.

• Oven Roasted Broccoli -- Yum yum and easy
• Blueberry Croissant Puff -- Very yummy. Just need to adjust the cook time a bit.

50. Meal plan for an entire month -- I got my crap together and meal planned for the entire month of April in March. So excited! I've got a new meal planning plan (hee hee) that uses categories to help organize the process.

72. Donate something extra at each MVPA social x 10 (2/10) -- We had a successful spring social supporting CASA.

94. Officially close my Hotmail account -- Finally doing this! I haven't opened my account in almost a month. I've got one more month of not opening it before Microsoft will officially close it.

Remaining goals and total:

Friends, Family, and Love
1. Send out homemade holiday cards in December
2. Build a snowman
3. Complete 52 once a week photos of Arthur
4. Spend a day at the beach
5. Date nights x 20
6. Complete a Jar of Life
7. Host a tea party
9. Write a personal manifesto
11. Give 5 Just Because gifts
12. Give Arthur 25 pictures books in 25 days for December 2015
16. Take Arthur and twins to go see Santa

Crafting and Culture
17. Attend an opera or musical
18. Reread the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit
20. Finish one of my Perpetual Reading Challenges
21. Make 10 non-greeting card crafts on my Pinterest boards
22. Ask 20 friends to suggest one book, and read them all
23. Watch a meteor shower
24. Attend 5 concerts (1/5)
25. Complete 10 Day in the Life posts
27. Tour a factory 30. Finish 2015 and 2015 December Daily
31. Catch up the twins scrapbook albums
32. Watch 100  different TED Talks and do a short review/analysis on the blog (new series)
33. Watch/rewatch every Academy Awards Best Picture since the year I was born (1982)

• 1982: Gandhi
• 1983: Terms of Endearment
• 1984: Amadeus
• 1985: Out of Africa
• 1986: Platoon
• 1987: The Last Emperor
• 1988: Rain Man
• 1989: Driving Miss Daisy
• 1990: Dances with Wolves
• 1991: Silence of the Lambs
• 1992: Unforgiven
• 1993: Schindler's List
• 1994: Forrest Gump
• 1995: Braveheart
• 1996: The English Patient
• 1997: Titanic
• 1998: Shakespeare in Love
• 1999: American Beauty
• 2000: Gladiator
• 2001: A Beautiful Mind
• 2002: Chicago
• 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• 2004: Million Dollar Baby
• 2005: Crash
• 2006: The Departed
• 2007: No Country for Old Men
• 2008: Slumdog Millionaire
• 2009: The Hurt Locker
• 2010: The King's Speech
• 2011: The Artist
• 2012: Argo
• 2013: 12 Years a Slave
• 2014: TBD
• 2015: TBD
• 2016: TBD

35. See a drive-in movie
36. Listen to every song by The Beatles
38. Have a Pixar movie month
39. Complete The Artist's Way
40. Complete a year of no book buying
41. Learn Ruby on rails
43. Go to 5 tourist things in San Francisco

Food and Drink
44. Take a cooking class
46. Open a cookbook to a random page and make what ever is one it
47. Give up dining out for one month
48. Try Whole30
49. Make a pie on PI day
51. Make fresh pasta
52. Learn to make a good martini
53. Do a brewery tour
54. Try 25 new restaurants
55. Try 5 new to me foods
56. No pop for a month

Health and Fitness
57. Lose 2 pants sizes
58. Walk a 5K
59. Get a massage
60. Take a yoga class
61. Get three pedicures (1/3)
62. Do a spa day
63. Meditate daily for a month
64. Complete a 30 miles in 30 days challenge
65. Get lasik
66. Get CPR certified again

Travel
67. Stay at a Bed and Breakfast
68. Go on a vacation with Josh
69. Visit the Redwoods (any park)
70. Travel to a new state

Philanthropic
71. Give a 100% tip
73. Pay it forward at Starbucks/coffeeshop
74. Donate to a Kickstarter campaign I love

Financial
75. Two week money fast (starting with full gas tanks and a full pantry)
76. Open an Etsy shop
77. Cash in my piggy bank for something special and frivolous

Miscellaneous
79. Get Arthur's tattoo
80. Get a passport
81. Get rid of 100 things
82. Learn how to use our DSLR
83. Take one free online class
84. Make a chalk mural on the balcony/driveway
85. Finish a Soduku puzzle
86. Grow something from a seed
87. Complete a coloring book
89. Take an IQ test
90. Play Bingo in a bingo hall
91. Go horseback riding or hiking
92. Participate in 30 Day Wardrobe Challenge
93. Unplug completely for 24 hours
95. Go to a convention (blogging, SU,etc)
96. Dye my hair purple
97. Revamp my wardrobe
98.Take real photos of me for my blogs
99. Post a vlog
100. Go apple/berry/etc picking

FF #15: Belle Then and Now

For Belle I decided to stick with a feminine fall palette, but bring in some more structured accessories. Those stacked boots give her a sturdy base which the bag is large and sturdy enough to carry all her beloved books. The simple gold jewelry add a bit of sparkle without being over the top. I'm really crushing on that bag right now!

Yellow dress

nancyaugust.com

Burberry coat

net-a-porter.com

Topshop a line skirt

$115 - topshop.com

Madden Girl zipper booties

6pm.com

CELINE Luggage Mini

labelcrush.com

By Malene Birger bracelet jewelry

$120 - nelly.com

Miu miu headband

$450 - mytheresa.com

Odds and Ends

Here is my randomness for the week:

• Bubbles are the best thing to an 18-month-old
• Trying a new business opportunity is scary but exciting
• My reading stats are off the chart this month. No way I'm going to top this in May.
• Already excited about the October retreat
• Couldn't resist buying three new books at Barnes and Noble the other day... oh well at least it was only three
• The flowers in our neighborhood are gorgeous

Quote Wednesday -- Chopin

There are some people who leave impressions not so lasting as the imprint of an oar upon the water. -- Kate Chopin

Top Ten Tuesday -- Favorite Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

My favorite authors:

1. Jane Austen -- My all time favorite author. I always return to her novels.
2. Neil Gaiman -- I just started reading his work about two years ago and I fell in love. His stories are fantastic.
3. Rick Riordan -- A big favorite with my twins and myself.
4. Sarah Addison Allen -- Her books are a nice comfort, but I still need to read her latest First Frost.
5. Diana Gabaldon -- Loved Outlander, need to read the rest of the series now.
6. George R.R. Martin -- I have been completely sucked into his novels.
7. Bill Willingham -- Love the Fables series. I should branch out to his other works.
8. Mira Grant -- The Newsflesh series was amazing. Now I want to read Parasitology.
9. Veronica Roth -- Really enjoying the Divergent series right now.
10. Philip Pullman -- His Dark Materials was amazing. I need to reread that series soon.

Four by Veronica Roth

Title: Four (Divergent #0.1, #0.2, #0.3, #0.4)

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 2014

Genre: Dystopian Fantasy

Pages: 285

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: NPR Teen; TBR Reduction; Ebook; 52 Books - W16; Seriously Series

Readers first encountered Tobias as "Four" in Divergent. His voice is an integral part of Allegiant. Readers will find more of this charismatic character's backstory told from his own perspective in Four: A Divergent Collection. When read together, these long narrative pieces illuminate the defining moments in Tobias's life. The first three pieces in this volume—"The Transfer," "The Initiate," and "The Son"—follow Tobias's transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless, his Dauntless initiation, and the first clues that a foul plan is brewing in the leadership of two factions. The fourth story, "The Traitor," runs parallel with the events of Divergent, giving readers a glimpse into the decisions of loyalty—and love—that Tobias makes in the weeks after he meets Tris Prior.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. As a character, I find Four much more interesting than Tris. To hear his life before the events of Divergent was a treat. I especially loved the story "The Son." Of course Four knew his mother was alive before the meeting Insurgent, but it as nice to see his first encounter with Evelyn. These stories could be read at any time, but I felt like reading them after Insurgent was a good choice in terms of the larger storyline.

Divergent:

• #0.1 The Transfer
• #0.2 The Initiate
• #0.3 The Son
• #0.4 The Traitor
• #1 Divergent
• #1.5 Free Four
• #2 Insurgent
• #3 Allegiant

Music Monday -- Olly Murs "Wrapped Up"

Not my favorite kind of music, but I'm really enjoying this one right now. 

Sunday Sunset #9

Listening To: Been listening to the new Mumford and Sons singles lately. Very different sound, but I'm digging it.

Book finished: Y The Last Man Vol. 6-10; The Walking Dead Vol. 18-22; Insurgent; Fairest Of Mice and Men; Fables Wolves of the Heartland; Fables Camelot; All the Light We Cannot See

Reading: Four A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth

On the Nightstand: Allegiant by Veronica Roth; Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Making Lists: Trying to list out all my upcoming craft projects for April and May. I always seem to forgot one until the last minute so listing them is very important.

Around the house: Back home means it's time to get back to cleaning, organizing, and decorating the house. While I was gone, J managed to hang some pictures and partially organize the garage. The downstairs is almost finished, but I need to add some color in a few places and figure out what to do with the area above the fireplace. there's a huge ledge there that I just don't know what to put on it.I would put some plants there, but i tend to kill any plant in the house, so maybe something else.

From the kitchen: I haven't made anything new this week, but I have a plan. While in Indiana I meal planned for April, May, and June. Yep, that's right, I meal planned for 2 1/2 months. I am so excited to try this new method. Along with picking recipes, I made a list of the nonperishables that I'll be using in those recipes. If I see something on sale, I'll buy it early. Maybe I can stay organized and excited about cooking while saving us some money. Next step is to list out the meat and possibly buy on sale and freeze. Just need to be careful about space. We don't have a standing freezer for overflow.

Watching: We got back into a few shows catching up on Children's Hospital, Last Week Tonight, Once Upon a Time, and Archer. We also watched a few more episodes of Agent Carter. I really want to watch Shield, but we need to finish Carter first.

From Nature: So excited about the sunshine at home! I really missed it. Arthur and I have been enjoying playing in the backyard. If only we had some actual grass...

Exercising: I walked all the way down to the stop sign and back up on Friday.  Doesn't seem like a big accomplishment, but the hill coming back up to the house is a killer.

Picture: View from the stop sign. Yep, that's the bay down at the bottom of the hill.

Photo of the Week #5

My cute lunch date this week. And yes, that is cheese on his cheek.

FF #14: Rapunzel Then and Now

Rapunzel's look is all feminine. I picked a few classic pieces with a flirty color palette. The dress is simple yet elegant. The jewelry has shine and structure. The shoes are simple and cute. My favorite piece is the purse. The subtle floral pattern gives Rapunzel a nod to nature.

Ermanno Scervino sleeveless dress

farfetch.com

Phase Eight outerwear

$74 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Stilettos shoes

nastydress.com

Nica white purse

asos.com

Lipsy pink stretch bracelet

$21 - lipsy.co.uk

With Love From CA pendants necklace

pacsun.com

Elastic belt

modcloth.com

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Title: All The Light We Cannot See

Author: Anthony Doerr

Publisher: Scribner 2014

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 531

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: TBR Reduction; Ebook; A to Z - A; 52 Books - W15; New Author

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

This month's book club selection. I was intrigued by the first chapter, but also a little concerned that the story was going to drag. Thankfully it did not. I was fully invested in Marie-Laure and Wener's separate and combined stories. The characters are great and I loved the storyline. But my favorite part of the novel was the writing style. Doerr's writing is magically lyrical. I was instantly transported to the locations in the book. My favorite was the hidden grotto Marie-Laure frequents in Saint-Malo. Such a fancy place. I could see it perfectly in my mind. the novel was a great read. I can't wait to discuss at book club on Sunday.

Video-Palooza!

An awesome trailer for one of my favorite shows!

Very informative video. Always love John Green for interesting videos.

Looks like fun.

This might be a really interesting movie.

Must see... I love me a good disaster movie.

Yeah i'll see it.

Arthur: 18 Months

18 months big and Arthur's a handful! But he's also just so amazing. We're having lots of fun during the toddler years.

Likes: Trains, cars, food, running everywhere

Dislikes: Walking slowly, the cold weather, being away from mom

Sleeping: Sleeping while in Indiana was a challenge. Arthur basically boycotted naps. Not fun for mom. We've been back only one day, but he went to bed on time last night and took a nap today. Maybe just being back home settled him.

Eating: Still not the biggest fan of meat, but he will eat just about anything. His favorite food group is still fruit. Loves any kind of fruit. Would probably just eat fruit if he could.

Playing: So much playing! This month he really got into playing cars and trains. And he's started snuggling with his babies. Very cute!

Doctor Visit Stats: Arthur went to his 18 month appointment this afternoon. Just one shot (Hep A) and he's done with shots until he's 2! Woohoo! Other than that, everything else is good.

• Height: 32 3/4"
• Weight: 27 lb 8 oz

Schedule: Hopefully we can get back into a nice weekly routine of park visits, activities with friends, downtime, and errands. I'm really taking a look at our schedule and trying to not commit to as many things. We were feeling a bit rushed this spring.

Out and About: Another successful plane ride. He played during the Fort Wayne to Atlanta flight and slept most of the Atlanta to San Francisco flight. Today we mostly stayed near home. We did run to the grocery store and then went to his doctor's appoint in the afternoon. but he got a lot of play time in today.

Music Monday -- iPod Shuffle

Colin Hay "I Just Don't think I'll Ever Get Over You"

The Postal Service "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"

Imagine Dragons "It's Time"