What I Read
I’ll admit, I didn’t get a lot of reading done this week. It was a bit chaotic. I did manage to get through two books though (okay, 1 3/4.. I’m still reading the last one).
The first, was Yellowstone Fugitive by Saige Silver, which is a BBW Menage Romance between a drug-running woman and two grizzly shifter park rangers. It’s not my usual foray into romance fiction, and in the end turned out to be more erotica than romance, but it was okay. By biggest complaint was how cheesy the dialogue was, but if you’re looking for a fun shifter erotica with lots of steamy sex scenes, this may be right up your alley.
The second book I picked up (and will be finished and reviewed by Monday) is Devil and the Deep by Megan Tayte. This is the fourth book in the Cerulean series, and so far, I’m enjoying it. I’m only about 72% into it, but should be done soon. I love Megan Tayte’s writing, so I was really excited to get ahold of this book—she’s been super generous to let me read the whole series so far in exchange for reviews—and I’ve loved all of the books. If you enjoy Megan Tayte’s Cerulean series, you should keep an eye out. I’ll have the review up for Devil and the Deep on Monday, September 28th, and on Wednesday, September 30th I’ll be hosting a Release Day Party + Giveaway. The first three books in the series will be free on amazon for the entire day, and I’ll have links to a giveaway for the fourth book too! So stay tuned!
Upcoming Reviews & Things:
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Monday, September 28 – Book Review: Devil and the Deep
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Wednesday, September 30 – Release Day Party + Giveaway: Devil and the Deep
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Thursday, October 1 – Book Review: Sparked
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Friday, October 2 – Free Fiction Friday #57
What Was Posted
What I Did
Just look at that beautiful weather. For the first time in two months we had sunshine. My allergies have not been happy.
So, this week was sort of a bust. I did get some writing done on the first draft of Daughter of Abraham—though I haven’t made much progress. I’m on chapter 3. Part of that, is because my health took a massive dive.
For the last several weeks my sleep schedule has been way off. I think a big part of it has been because it’s summer, and summer and I are NOT friends. At night it’s ridiculously hot without the AC running all night, but with it running, it’s too cold. My AC is old fashioned and isn’t set to a thermostat, so if I need to turn it on/off, I have to do so manually. That makes most nights uncomfortable, and I end up getting up 10 times a night to adjust the temp. My sleep schedule became so mangled at one point that I was sleeping 9-11 am, getting up for lunch, and going back to bed 1-5pm, and then staying up all night. It was like I was on some sort of weird graveyard shift.
In the end, a combination of my lack of sleep and my weather-induced allergies became this raging monster that ate my immune system, and I woke up a few days ago with yet another horrendous case of Oral Thrush. For those of you who don’t know what Oral Thrush is: It’s a really uncomfortable condition, often caused by a low immune system (like when people have been put on too many antibiotics, or are very very sick) where the body’s natural defenses get so low that the completely normal and safe levels of yeast that naturally live in a person’s mouth are no longer kept in check by the good bacteria that also live there, and all hell breaks loose. It’s basically a yeast infection of the mouth/throat that causes the outer layers of the mouth/throat/gums/tongue to slough off and bleed. It is painful and gross, and a pain in the ass to treat. I’ve had it twice before now, both times due to an over-use of antibiotics when I was very very ill due to sinus/ear infections. This time, the lack of sleep/allergies just ate my immune system away.
The unfortunate treatment of Oral Thrush is pretty miserable. Because yeast thrives off sugar, when you have Oral Thrush, one of the few ways to treat it is to go on a heavily restricted diet. This diet is NOT safe for extended periods of time, but it’s about all you can do to treat this particular illness. Basically, I’ve been restricted to eating only eggs, rice, chicken broth, and water for the last week. No carbs or sugars of any type allowed. On top of that, I have to brush my teeth/tongue about 8 times a day, and gargle a saltwater/baking soda mixture (or peroxide, whichever is less nasty) to kill the fungal infection.
You guys, I live off coffee and sugar. I’ll admit it. I feel really ill when my blood sugar drops, so this week has been utter hell. On the upside, my Oral Thrush is basically gone except for an irritated throat at the moment, so after the weekend I’ll be very slowly venturing back into real food again. After a week of basically eggs/rice, I can’t tell you how much I crave just a single piece of toast. It’s pathetic really.
Next Week
I need to read. Luckily, I seem to be back on a normal sleep schedule again, and I’m starting to feel better after my bout with Oral Thrush, so I’m hoping to get a lot more work done this upcoming week. I don’t have any book reviews lined up past October 1st, though I believe I have another Paranormal Shifter-Romance book waiting in my inbox for that first week. So many books, so little time!
October is going to be schedule hell for me. It is every year. Between Halloween + my daughter’s Birthday (She’ll be 12 on October 27th), October is usually pretty busy as it is, but on top of that, it’s also the month I get my heaters turned on for winter (which, let’s face it, anytime I get my house worked on in any capacity it is a scheduling nightmare), AND this upcoming month my family has decided to take a week-long trip to Disneyland! I believe we’ll be gone October 18-24, but I’m not certain. It’s also “let’s send the entire family to the dentist” month… so of course, this means I need to either hurry up and schedule a bunch of posts ahead of time, OR admit defeat and just not post for a week. Either way, Free Fiction Friday will be gone the week of our Disneyland trip. We’ll see how my reading goes. I have a bunch of books from NetGalley I need to get through, and this month would be a great time for that if I can get them finished up far enough ahead of time to schedule the review posts. Here’s to hoping it all works out!
Author Unpublished 