I've hit a new low

No, not like that!

My weight is the lowest for over a year! Yey! 

As I've said recently, the things that I'm doing differently are 1. drinking [flavoured] coffee [with syrup] in the morning; 2. having a breakfast of porridge [with syrup] in the morning; and 3. not eating dinner in the evening if I'm not hungry.  Last night I came home from tutoring at 9:30pm and had a breakfast bar before taking the girls to bed.  I didn't need to eat anything more.

Yesterday I managed to tidy the living room, with DD2's help, because we had a prayer meeting here during the day, and everyone else's homes are always so tidy.  But, now that it is tidy, I actually have space to start doing Body Groove again.  I do enjoy dancing - even just around my living room, so hopefully next week I can start fitting that into my days again.  I don't want to do it today because we have an electrician coming round to fit a smart meter, though if he arrives early, maybe I'll be able to do some afterwards.

So yes, my weight is the lowest for a year.  When I announce my weightloss, it is less impressive - I am only down 3 kilos since October 1st last year, but that is just short of half a stone, and it's all progress.

Against the Odds by Mara Jacobs

Anna Dawson is a professional gambler.  She has bought her own home, a vehicle and gifts for friends from her winnings.  Unfortunately she also has a gambling problem and often gets into debt, causing her to bring back her alter-ego JoJo to pay off the debt quickly by less-than-legal means. Then one friend is murdered, and she has to team up with Detective Jack to try and find the killer, whilst keeping JoJo a secret.

The synopsis of Against the Odds says:

My name is Anna Dawson, and I'm a gambler.

And like any gambler will tell you, sometimes that's good, and sometimes...not so much. And sometimes it's an outright problem.

I love Vegas, and I love the life I've built, but when one of my friends is murdered, and another one shot at, I know I need to take a serious look at myself. And I need to call in the big guns. Even if that means teaming up with Detective Jack Schiller, a man who's dealing with his own demons.

Right now I'm just trying to juggle protecting my friends, helping Jack while not letting him get too close, and finding a murderer. And, oh yeah, no one can learn about my gambling.

Or this will be the last hand I'm dealt.

I quite liked this book.  Anna isn't some super sleuth, she is not a goody-two-shoes, and she is not a card counting geek.  Rather she is a normal girl who discovers she has a good poker face, and with the help of a bunch of friends, learns how to bet comprehensively on various sporting events.  As someone who is good at maths, I do wish I had learned to play poker when younger, though it is probably better for my bank balance that I didn't.  I often wonder how people become professional gamblers. 

The book is well written and moves at a good pace.  Another book I couldn't put down and read in a day.  I have again, added the sequel to my wishlist.

Agent with a History by Guy Stanton III

This book is really enjoyable.  It has NYPD, ritualistic killings, mafia, and an Indiana Jones-esque treasure trail seeking Biblical gold. 

Cop Lisa has to investigate an unusual murder, where it is clear the perpetrator has access to much money in order to pull it off in the fashion he has. As she delves deeper into the investigation, it is clear that she cannot get free of her past which has finally caught up with her.

The blurb says:

It’s been one long day for Lisa and her headache is living proof of it. Most of it she blamed on the full moon outside. Things always got crazy this time of the month, but this month was exceptional. She needed sleep bad and only hoped the nightmares that haunted her would leave her alone for at least one night. They don’t. She wakes up as usual screaming only to find out that her nightmare has just begun, because she’s not alone in her room.

One man has been gruesomely tortured to death in a ritualistic killing. An entire police precinct has been reconstructed down to the smallest detail in an abandoned warehouse and a mysterious stranger known only as Flint seems to be the cause of it all. It’s a case that is fast turning into one big headache for Lisa Tauranto a detective for the NYPD, but it gets much worse when her past, that she’s tried so hard to bury, rises up to engulf her in its golden grip once again. Lisa is ripped from the existence that she so pain stakingly built for herself into a mixed up world of intrigue, where nothing is as it seems. It’s a fight to survive and to protect what she is sworn to, but will love conquer all? Will she betray her oath to be happy? Does she even have a choice anymore or does a several thousand year old mystery hold enough weight in treasure to drag her down with it? Everyone wants her dead, everyone that is but for one man who is the cause of all her upheaval in the first place. He’s an agent working for someone, but she doesn’t know who. She only hopes he’s as good as his kisses make her believe him to be.

This book wasn't predictable (or at least the main bits of the plot weren't.  All books are somewhat predictable), and took many twists and turns as Lisa moved through the investigation.   Being a Christian I liked the references to the Old Testament, even though this is clearly fiction.  It is fast-paced, and keeps you on your toes.  There is also a romance with the mystery man who helps her.

I'd recommend this book, and have added the next in the series to my wishlist.

All the Way to Heaven by Becky Doughty

This is another of the books that I read in a day whilst camping.

All the Way to Heaven is a standalone book and the first in the Fallout Series. It features Ani, a business student, who finds out that her boyfriend (and professor) is already married with kids.  She travels to Italy to take her mind off him, however a bike accident forces her to stay in one place and she finds herself torn between two beaus.

The blurb says:

Anica Tomlin, business major, has just learned that the man she's been planning her future around, her Global Finance professor, already has a beautiful wife and family. Ani cashes in her graduation gift to herself a little early 'a trip to Tuscany' but from the moment she boards the wrong train in Pisa, her plans for solitude and self-indulgence begin to unravel around her. When a bicycle accident thrusts Ani into the skilled hands of the dashing Dr. Cosimo Lazzaro, she reluctantly accepts his invitation to recover in his family's country villa, perched on a hilltop surrounded by the Lazzaro olive groves. But it's been a black year for olive growers all over Italy, and generations of tradition are being put to the test like never before. Ani is swept up in the drama of life in Tuscany, the convergence of old and new, and the passions that drive people to pursue the desires of their hearts. Just as Ani begins to get her feet under her again, an unexpected turn of events leaves her doubting the very existence of happily-ever-after, unless she can learn to trust the desires of her own heart. Although All the Way to Heaven is a stand-alone novel, it is the first book in The Fallout Series, a collection of sweet contemporary romances that follow characters featured in the first book.

I did enjoy this book.  It's a sweet romance, so is suitable for all ages. The book was well written and had a steady pace to the plot.  It's not action-packed and fast, but very descriptive and makes you feel like you're in the Italian countryside, living a relaxing life as part of the Italian community.  The love story is predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  A good holiday read.

Weekly Update No36

My weight is coming down again - yey!  I'm not doing anything that radical, other than only eating when I'm hungry (yes, I know it's obvious, but after years of conditioning that I should eat at certain times, I should finish what's on my plate, and if you're happy (celebrate) or sad (commiserate) you do so with food, it's a hard habit to break).

I've been quite busy recently too.  Between getting back into the dance habit, getting into the school habit, helping with homework, helping friends, and trying to get on top of my mess of a house and home educate my youngest, there has not always been time for what I want to do - including updating this blog and my FB page.

On the good side, my mental health has been improving recently, and I have my first proper meeting with the therapist this week, so that should help.  I've not been able to read as much as I like, as I don't have as much free time as I did.  Previously I could read for 30min or so whilst waiting for the girls' dance lessons to finish, whereas now I'm having to drop DD2 off, rush back home to pick up DD1 after school, bring DD2 back home and then either go to work or somewhere else.

I've finally finished catching up on the latest series of The Handmaid's Tale on TV (The book is excellent, I highly recommend it.  The TV series started following the book, but later series, the TV-plot has gone further) and I want to watch the latest series of The 100 which has recently started back on TV.  That's not forgetting I still haven't had time to watch Stranger Things or Orange Is The New Black.  All of which is not help by me being tired and going to bed early so I have some hope in getting up in time for DD1 to go to school in the morning.

Which brings me back round to my weight - the only other new thing I'm doing is that I've started drinking a cup of [gingerbread] coffee [with caramel syrup] in the morning, and having a small bowl of porridge, which staves off hunger until lunchtime or beyond.

After Math by Denise Grover Swank

Yet another book by Denise Grover Swank that I've read, After Math is a story about a quiet maths student who reluctantly tutors jock Tucker in order to gain funding for the maths department. 

Another book I read in a day, I related to because of my own geekiness in studying Engineering at uni.  Not that this situation happened to me of course, I wasn't good enough at uni to offer tuition to other students, needing to be helped myself, though I blame that entirely on studying at Oxford uni, rather than any lack of ability on my own part. 😉 

As Scarlett tutors Tucker, she sees a side to him that is hidden to the outside world.  He has demons, and causes her to reflect on her own past and how it has influenced and shaped her present and future.

The blurb says:

Scarlett Goodwin’s world is divided into Before and After.

Before she agreed to tutor Tucker Price, college junior Scarlett was introvert, struggling with her social anxiety disorder and determined to not end up living in a trailer park like her mother and her younger sister. A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend, Caroline.

After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor him. Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact, let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.

But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos. Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in Tucker’s aftermath?

It's an easy to read romance, suitable for young adults/teens.  Light-hearted, and made me reminisce my own college days, with the fears, apprehension and excitement of stepping out on your own and a young, independent woman.  I really enjoyed it.  Though it is part of the Off The Subject series, each book can be read as a standalone, and I have put them on my wishlist.

Abducting Abby by S E Smith

Abducting Abby is the first book in the Dragon Lords of Valdier series.  A strong, independent woman lives alone on a remote mountain, resistant to the charms of the local sheriff.  Suddenly, she comes across an injured man on the mountain and tends to him as he returns to health.  The man, however, is an alien and falls in love with his nurse, whom he calls his true mate.  Despite a language barrier, she starts to have feelings for him, even while knowing he is soon to return home.

The blurb says:

The beginning of an epic saga! Discover new worlds, clashes of cultures, schemes of power, revenge, rescues, and above all, hope….

Abby Tanner was content to live on her mountain creating works of art and enjoying the peace and quiet until a golden space ship crash lands with the King of the Valdier inside, desperately hurt.

Zoran Reykill knew he had to find a safe place to heal after he escapes from a Curizan military post. When his symbiosis Mothership takes him to an unknown planet he finds more than he expects – he finds his true mate. The only problems are Abby doesn’t understand a thing he says and the local sheriff wants her, too.

Clearly, this book is a mix of fantasy, sci fi, and romance.  There are explicit sex scenes, so not suitable for teens.  They are also very male-dominant, so not entirely realistic (as if the rest of the book is...).

I read this book in a day because I couldn't put it down. I liked the writing and it was very easy to read. You do have to suspend some disbelief, as you do for many books in this genre, but the story is gripping and action-packed, not just a soppy romance - the alien who crash landed, was being tortured on a different planet due to being a King, and is still being hunted.

This is the first of 11 books in the series, and I have added the next one to my wishlist.  I would like the subsequent books to be focusing on the alien war, the kingdom, the battles etc, however judging by the book titles, they will be focusing on the romance/sex side of things, so though it is now on my wishlist, it won't be one of the first books I buy (when I start buying books again).