DR. J. : MY LIFE ABOVE THE RIM & BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

DR. J.: MY LIFE ABOVE THE RIM        JULIUS ERVING
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

Dr. J by Julius Erving  At long last, a high-flying American legend comes down to earth to tell his life story

With flights of improvisation around the basket, and his towering afro, Julius Erving became one of the most charismatic (and revolutionary) players basketball has ever known. A cool, acrobatic showman, his flamboyant dunks sent him to the Hall of Fame and turned the act of jamming a basketball through a hoop into an art form, winning the admirations of fans, sportscasters, and opponents, including Bill Walton, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

But while the public has long revered this cultural and sports icon, few have ever known of the double life of Julius Erving. There is Julius, the bright, inquisitive son of a Long Island domestic worker who wanted to be respected for more than just his athletic ability. And there is Dr. J, the balletic baller who transformed the game and inspired a generation of superstars, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.

Despite the pristine image put forward in his endorsement deals, he was far from perfect. In Dr. J., Erving goes on the record about the personal problems he faced and sometimes created. He speaks frankly about his career and the game; the adulterous affair that produced a daughter, professional tennis player Alexandra Stephenson; his 20-year-old son's tragic death; and the heartbreaking dissolution of his longtime marriage and its aftermath. Poignant and surprising Erving's story traces the inner-lives of the nearly perfect player and the imperfect man-and how he has come to terms with both.

HUBY'S REVIEW:
This book about Dr.J, Julius Erving, was an honest and insightful look back not only on his basketball career, but also as a parent, husband and brother. The story starts with him his mother, sister and younger brother. Living in an apartment in New Jersey and how the basketball court became the place where everyone played at. That over the course of time to continue to play you had to improve your game. He talks about countless hours of shooting, running, jumping and other things to improve himself. He speaks of have to get good grades and how important that was to his mother and to his coaches once he Jr. High School started and beyond. How he just knew drugs, drinking and other street life actives was not what he wanted. He wanted to get out of the neighborhood and basketball would be the only way. He got an offer to play ball at the University of Massachusetts, and he did for three years and each of those years they were conference champs. He little brother passed away during his time in college from a disease that was not diagnosis until his mother had an autopsy done to find out the cause of death. After his junior year in college a team from the ABA, which back then was trying to gain notoriety against the NBA offered him a contract. After speaking with his mother who made him promise to finish his college education he agreed to enter into the ABA draft and was selected by the Virginia Squires. This is where I first remembering reading stories about him and sometimes catching an old black & white game somewhere. The ABA game was fast pace and fun when you could get one of their games and they had high scoring games 116 to 120. If a team could play defense they could win. Their uniforms were bright and the basketball was red, white & blue. He goes into all of the players he played against and with some big names in the game. He also speaks of the how the dunk from the free throw line came about. These are all great stories. The two championships he won in the ABA, and then the merger into the NBA. The frustration of losing twice in the finals two the Lakers and losing his mother and his sister passing away of cancer. He finally got an NBA championship against the Lakers and he retired the following year. After retirement his personal life was tough he goes into it and even looks to maybe him being away and his boys not having to grow up in the environment as he did that they had no desire to secede in anything. After one son passed away his marriage broke up after 22 years and his other son is in and out of jail. His daughter though is finishing college as he did as well, to make the promise he made to his mother complete. This is a very open and honest story about a truly gifted athlete who I enjoyed watching playing basketball. People talk about all of the stars after him but all I see is the same type of dunks that he did just not as many TV outlets like ESPN, etc... a good read if you are looking for a sports story.

GENERAL GORDON GRANGER

GENERAL GORDON GRANGER              ROBERT C. CONNOR
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

General Gordon Granger by Robert C. Conner  This is the first full-length biography of the Civil War general who saved the Union army from catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, and went on to play major roles in the Chattanooga and Mobile campaigns. Immediately after the war, as commander of U.S. troops in Texas, his actions sparked the Juneteenth celebrations of slavery's end, which continue to this day.

Granger’s first battle was at Wilson’s Creek, Missouri, and he soon thereafter rose through the ranks—cavalry, then infantry—in early 1863 vying with Forrest and Van Dorn for control of central Tennessee. The artillery platform he erected at Franklin, dubbed Fort Granger, would soon overlook the death knell of the main Confederate army in the west.

Granger’s first fame, however, came at Chickamauga, when the Rebel Army of Tennessee came within a hair’s-breadth of destroying the Union Army of the Cumberland. Without orders—even defying them—Granger marched his Reserve Corps to the scene of the hottest action, where Thomas was just barely holding on with the rump of Rosecrans’ army. Bringing fresh ammunition and hurling his men against Longstreet’s oncoming legions, Granger provided just enough breathing space to prevent that Union defeat from becoming the worst open-field battle disgrace of the war.

Granger was then given command of a full infantry corps, but just proved too odd of a fellow to promote further. At Chattanooga he got on the nerves of U.S. Grant for going off to shoot cannons instead of commanding his troops (he’d actually indulged this impulse also at Chickamauga) and Sherman had no use for him either. So he went down to join Farragut in the conquest of Mobile, Alabama, leading land operations against the Confederate forts.

This long-overdue biography sheds fascinating new light on a colorful commander who fought through the war in the West from its first major battles to its last, and even left his impact on the Reconstruction beyond.


HUBBY'S REVIEW:
An interesting story about a Civil war General that I had never remember hearing about. He started his career at West Point, he was a little older than some of the most in his class and he graduated towards the bottom have. Knowing he would probably get stuck with infantry. He was sent to different posts finally ending up in Texas. The start of the Mexican, American War saw him being moved the Calvary and engaged in several battles since he was so close. He was also ordered to cross parts of Mexico to meet up with General Scott. He made it there and had several victories and accolades from Gen Scott and others. After the war he was assigned to the West and eventually ended up in what is now New Mexico. Part of George Granger problem is that now even as an LT. he speaks what is on his mind even if it goes against his superiors. Some of this came from his mom dying at a young age then his father passing away a couple of years after he was in West Point. He is also always dealing with some type of lung or chest problem which would bother him in his later years. When some other officers were leaving the service he stayed. Grant, Sherman and some others left only to come back later. When the civil war broke out he called from the west and sent to Missouri. Where he fought one of the first battles called Wilson creek. Not really a battle he and his troops routed to south without a single shot. He was then sent to St. Louis and put in charge of drilling and putting troops together. He did this, he also told people to expect some defeats for the south had been planning for this and had been drilling soldiers putting units together and were better organized than the north. This came true at the first battle of Bull Run where union troops broke ranks and ran giving the south a first victory. He then he then gets assigned to start the 2nd Calvary Michigan. From there the battles he was in and leading they were winning with low casualties and the men under him were enjoying the way he was handling the field of battle. By using cannon fire and setting up the rest of the field of attack so they can attack with the least amount of body count for the union. The one battle he is known for is the battle of Chickamauga. Where when the general Rosecrans delaying the attack and then during the middle of the battle Rosecrans pulled the middle of the troops from the field leaving by him seeing this and knowing that Steadman was by himself he came in and filled in. they were able to hold off Longstreet division and this battle lasted until into the night. After this he is moved to another area and that battle he argues with Grant for Grant says he is moving to slow. But it could be Grant trying to take the press off from himself for the Petersburg, Virginia, battle or campaign would last nine months. Granger would be sent to Mobile to fight with Admiral Farragart, this would continue until the end of the war with many victories. Though there are many completes about Granger from the higher ups. The men that fought with spoke highly of him. They liked the fact that he was up on the front lines with them and that his casualties were always lower than all of the other troops. After the war he would be sent to Texas and then back to New Mexico and after a few years he would pass away out there. Grant was President and he made the family pay for the body to be transported back east, even though he was on active duty and had over 30 years continue service when Grant and Sherman had left then came back. A good story about a General that I never heard about and I am glad I read this book. A lot of information. I got this book from net galley.

DAMN FEW: MAKING THE MODERN SEAL WARRIOR

DAMN FEW                                             RORKE DENVER
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

Damn Few by Rorke Denver  Rorke Denver trains the men who become Navy SEALs--the most creative problem solvers on the modern battlefield, ideal warriors for the kinds of wars America is fighting now. With his years of action-packed mission experience and a top training role, Lieutenant Commander Denver understands exactly how tomorrow's soldiers are recruited, sculpted, motivated, and deployed.

Now, Denver takes you inside his personal story and the fascinating, demanding SEAL training program he now oversees. He recounts his experience evolving from a young SEAL hopeful pushing his way through Hell Week, into a warrior engaging in dangerous stealth missions across the globe, and finally into a lieutenant commander directing the indoctrination, requalification programs, and the "Hero or Zero" missions his SEALs undertake.

From his own SEAL training and missions overseas, Denver details how the SEALs' creative operations became front and center in America's War on Terror-and how they are altering warfare everywhere. In fourteen years as a SEAL officer, Rorke Denver tangled with drug lords in Latin America, stood up to violent mobs in Liberia, and battled terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. Leading 200 commando missions, he earned the Bronze Star with V for valor. He has also served as flag aide to the admiral in charge and spent the past four years as executive officer of the Navy Special Warfare Center's Advanced Training Command in Coronado, California, directing all phases of the basic and advanced training that prepare men for war in SEAL teams. He recently starred in the film Act of Valor. He is married and has two daughters.

Ellis Henican is a columnist at Newsday and an on-air commentator at the Fox News Channel. He has written two recent New York Times bestsellers, Home Team with New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and In the Blink of an Eye with NASCAR legend Michael Waltrip.

With all the SEALs' recent successes, we have been getting a level of acclaim we're not used to. But something important has been missing in this warm burst of publicity... Correcting that is my mission here.
My own SEAL dream was launched by a book. My hope is that this one teaches lessons that go far beyond the battlefield, inspiring a fresh generation of warriors to carry on that dream.
-Lieutenant Commander Rorke Denver.


HUBBY'S REVIEW:
An excellent book about the making of a Navy Seal. The training and what it takes just to get accepted into the program in the first place. He also goes into the amount of time once they have made it through the first phase that there is so much more. Then once they are assign to a team there is more training for now you need to get to know how each one works together. This again means long periods of time away from family weather you are married or not. He does explain that this phase would be most difficult to be married. He joined and made it on to the Seals before 9/11, and he speaks to his frustration as being somewhere else when other teams were being deployed. They had their mission to do. His account of when they are deployed are a little different from some of the other Navy Seal books in that he is an officer. So he is looking at a mission from not only radios, back up batteries, plenty of water, ammo, call signs for air strikes if needed and so much more. Even the mental health of the team as a whole, for at times they could be out over 24 hours. Then even if they were back just for a few hours and some unit was in need they would go back out. They would clean weapons, debrief, refuel, and repack all gear before going to bed. This was part of their training as well. He also spoke of hearing about two Seals losing their lives from two different teams. One of them was Petty Officer, Master-St-Arm, Second Class Mike Monsoor, who on Sep 29, 2006 through himself onto a grenade where group of Seals and Marines were. I read a story about this from one of the men that was there and it moved then as when I read now as with his memorial service. His story is a good read for it is a look at what an officer of a team and the responsibilities he has. He talks about his marriage and how they make everything work. And he speaks of him being an instructor back at San Diego, training new Seals and how that is not so much of a problem as with politicians wanting to make it easier so they can have more seals but at what sacrifice. He also goes into how he decided to do that movie Acts Of Valor, it took him awhile to come to that decision. Overall I really like this book. I got this book from net galley. 

NIGHT TIDE

NIGHT TIDE                                            MICHAEL W. SHERER
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

Night Tide by Michael W. Sherer  Blast from the Past ...

Blake Sanders thought he left his Midwestern past behind when he went to the University of Washington on a basketball scholarship more than 20 years earlier. But Keely Radcliffe drags it back into the present when she shows up on Blake's stoop one morning to ask for his help. Back then, Keely's sister was killed in a lab explosion on a university campus in southern Illinois.

Blake's best friend Perry Langford was arrested and convicted of murder for setting the charge, but Langford always maintained his innocence, claiming someone else blew up the building. Not even Blake knows what really happened, and he was there. This is a secret he's kept all this time. Now Langford is out of prison, and he's gunning for all those he holds responsible for his 20-year stint in jail, including Blake.

A week later, Blake's cop friend Charlie invites him to a backyard barbecue at his folks' house. Masked gunmen burst in on the festivities before the two of them can even open a beer. Charlie and Blake manage to hold off the marauders, but Charlie is wounded and when the smoke clears, Charlie's parents have vanished.

Events begin to snowball, putting Blake on the run from both the shooters and Langford, his childhood friend. Blake realizes they are all related. Soon the FBI and even naval intelligence officer Reyna Chase are on his tail, too. Whoever planted the bomb 20 years ago is cleaning up loose ends, and the prize they're still seeking after all this time - a revolutionary battery design - is worth a fortune, even worth selling out one's own country ... and killing for.


HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is a fast pace book from the beginning. The main character is still trying to get his life in order from the last ordeal but people won’t let him. His best friend is being released from prison for a bombing that happen 25 years ago that he does not think his friend did. He was outside that night when it happened but he has told no one, yet there are multiple people trying to kill him. He survives all of the attacks and has to start to put the pieces together into what happened all of those years ago. That puts him at odds with his best friend, his ex-wife and just about anyone else that knows him. The only one that works with him and starts to believe him is a naval intelligence officer. She at first does not but when things start to go a certain way she goes with the flow to see where it will lead. This is a fast pace book with a lot of action and multiple characters. But it makes for a go story and the story line is believable. I really enjoyed this book. I got this book from net galley.

NO DAWN FOR MEN

NO DAWN FOR MEN                             JAMES LE PORE & CARLOS DAVIS
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

No Dawn for Men by James LePore  In 1938, Nazi Germany prepares to extend its reach far beyond its borders. The key to domination lies in a secret that would make their army not only unbeatable, but un-killable.

MI-6, knowing that something potentially devastating is developing, recruits scholar and novelist John Ronald Reuel Tolkien to travel to Germany to find out what this might be, using the German popularity of his children’s novel THE HOBBIT as cover. Joining him there is MI-6 agent Ian Fleming, still years away from his own writing career but posing as a Reuters journalist. Together, Tolkien and Fleming will get to the heart of the secret � and they will face a fury greater than even their prodigious imaginations considered possible.

Both an astounding work of suspense and a literary treasure trove to delight fans of either author, NO DAWN FOR MEN is a nonstop adventure.


HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is an historical fiction book. Overall it is a very well written book, the story moves along at a good pace and for the most part I was ok with it. Based in 1938 a young Ian Fleming, just starting out as s spy. Which he really was during WWII. The characters overall are well thought out and you get the feel for the Germans as they begin to start to take control of Europe but also of people and how the person you think is helping you is actually your enemy. That was really the part of the story that I got into and enjoyed. Always having to look over your back and not knowing who you really could trust. Some of the other parts of the story towards the end for me just made fluff and you knew it was just a story I could not get into those parts and there was only a couple of those anyway. Overall a good book. I got this book from net galley.

THE SCENT OF PINE

THE SCENT OF PINE                            LARA VAPNYAR
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

The Scent of Pine by Lara Vapnyar Throughout her acclaimed, award-winning career, novelist Lara Vapnyar has consistently impressed critics with her striking honesty, empathy, and humor & yet never before have Vapnyar's talents been as perfectly matched or shone as brightly as in her captivating latest novel, The Scent of Pine.

Though Lena is only thirty-eight, she finds herself in the grip of a midlife crisis. She feels out of place in her adoptive country, her career has stalled, and her marriage has tumbled into a spiral of apathy and distrust it seems impossible she will ever find happiness again. But then she meets Ben, a failed artist turned reluctant academic, who is just as lost as she is. They strike up a precarious friendship and soon surprise themselves by embarking on an impulsive weekend adventure.

On the drive to Ben's remote cabin in Maine, Lena begins to open up, for the first time in her life, about the tumultuous summer she spent as a counselor in a Soviet children's camp twenty years earlier, when she was just discovering romance and her own sexuality. At a time when Russia itself was in turmoil, the once-placid world of the camp was growing equally unsettled, with unexplained disappearances and mysterious goings-on among the staff; Lena and her best friend are haunted by what they witnessed, or failed to witness, and by the fallout from those youthful relationships. It was a time of intense emotions, confusion, and passions, and ultimately very little turned out to be exactly as it seemed.

As Lena reveals to Ben secrets she has long kept hidden, the lovers begin to discover together not only the striking truths buried in her past, but also more immediate lessons about the urgency of this short, stolen time they have together.

A stirring, sexy, and breathtaking novel with an unforgettable twist, The Scent of Pine is both a poignant love story and a provocative tale of loneliness, longing, youthful romanticism, and the fickle nature of desire.


HUBBY'S REVIEW:
The main character in this story is named Lena and she is at a convention of sorts of soviet writers, poets, artists and other people waiting to share or find out more about the Soviet life. Lena is by herself on this trip, her husband and two boys are back in California visiting his parents. As she meets some of the people, a few of the more the more well-known people she knows having grown up together. She begins to look back on her life and mostly on one summer where most of them were camp counselors at a soviet teenager camp for a summer. She decides to leave and meets a man who is also leaving and tells here he could give her a ride to Boston. He is going to Maine so it is on the way. She agrees and they strike up a conversation and by the time they get to Boston she decides to go to Maine with him. Once there she starts talking about her time at this camp and different memories, he talks about when he was married but mostly listens. He then shares with her a book that he came across a few years back and it turns out was written by one of the young boys at the camp and it answered some of the questions she had from that time. This is a book about her trying to figure out her past but also where and what she wants to do with her future as well. A good story a little slow in some places but overall ok, I got this book from net galley.

IDENTICAL

IDENTICAL                                              SCOTT TUROW
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

Identical by Scott Turow  IDENTICAL, based loosely on the myth of Castor and Pollux, is the story of identical twins Paul and Cass Giannis and the complex relationships between their family and their former neighbors, the Kronons. The novel focuses principally on events in 2008, when Paul is a candidate for Mayor of Kindle County, and Cass is released from the penitentiary, 25 years after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Aphrodite Kronon. The plot centers on the re-investigation of Aphrodite's murder, carried out together by Evon Miller, an ex-FBI agent who is the head of security for the Kronon family business ZP, and private investigator Tim Brodie, 81, a former homicide detective. The complex web of murder, sex, and betrayal-as only Scott Turow could weave-dramatically unfolds, and the chilling truth is revealed: people will believe what they want to believe.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
A love story, a murder story and a story about two Greek families and their relationship with each other from the old country to the U.S. It starts off where you are at a big Greek celebration and for the most part you are introduced to most of the main charters. The title identical refers to twins and they are the main part of the story. The story starts at the party then you go back and forth at different times getting to know the characters at the different moments in their lives. During this whole process you are sent on a journey of twists and turns of who done what and where and did this person do it or someone else. You are going along and you think you have it all figured out until you get to end. A very well written and thought out story with just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you interested in the story and the characters. I really enjoyed this book. I got this book from net galley.

Talkin' Sports Tonight at 7:30 pm PST


Welcome,
My name is Pat! 

I am a die-hard Packers fan and Yankees fan.  We can discuss those later.

Open for sports topics…
But today I want to start off with the football playoffs…
For the sake of argument, I think New England will beat Denver and I think the 49ers will beat the Seahawks…
Any other opinions for other outcomes now are the time to bring it…
We can also talk about any good sports books you would like to recommend or any of the books that I have read that you would like to ask questions about.

In The Stars by Joan Duszynski


LOVE A LITTLE SIDEWAYS

LOVE A LITTLE SIDEWAYS                  SHANNON STACEY
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

Love a Little Sideways by Shannon Stacey  Liz Kowalski is heading home to Whitford, Maine—this time for good. Eager for her family, a fresh start and some fun, she doesn't count on being rescued by the chief of police her very first night back in town. Drew is everything she's not looking for…so why is she still so attracted to him?

After a brief, forbidden rendezvous at her brother's wedding, Drew Miller expects Liz to return to New Mexico and stay there. He's searching for someone to settle down with, not a casual fling with his best friend's sister. But when they're stuck together on the annual Kowalski camping trip, things start going a little sideways. Keeping their hands off each other proves just as impossible as keeping their secret from becoming public knowledge.

Amid family, mud and melted marshmallow, Liz and Drew try to fight what's growing between them. But a little time alone, a lot of chemistry and too many opinions might be just what it takes to bring together two people so determined not to fall in love.


MY REVIEW:




     I loved, loved, loved this story!  Shannon Stacey knows how to spin a yarn, so to speak, LOL.  I am such a sucker for family romantic dramas it is not funny, being that this one is on the humorous side was all the more fun.  I just flew through it.

     Liz Kowalski is the second to the youngest in the family of five children, the four others being brothers.  Although, her parents had both passed on from what I could gather they were all a close knit family due to the help of the housekeeper/surrogate mother Rosie.

     Liz had been in a relationship for 13 years with a guy and living in New Mexico which no one liked her being away from home.  Since her breakup she had been feeling sad and alone and missing her family terribly.  After her last visit she was extremely homesick which 8 months ago was when she was here for her Brother Mitch’s wedding.  This is where she hooked up with, Chief of Police Drew Miller (her brother Mitch’s BFF) for a quickie.  They took that quickie together knowing Liz would be going back and it was relationship rebound sex and no one would know.  Since both their relationships had just broken up.  What and who could it hurt Liz wouldn’t be around their guilt would be minimal. 

     Wrong!  Liz decided to move home.  On her moving day to Maine she hydroplanes her car that has four bald tires and runs into a tree.  Guess who is the officer that reports to the scene?  You got it, Drew.  Their eyes connect right off the bat.  He calls a tow, takes her and her belongings what little she has and drives her to the rental house that her brother and sister in law are letting her use.   The minute he saw her he knew it would not be good, it was even worse once he knew she was home for good.  From then on they tried to avoid each other.  Which didn’t work.  They had one little she devil against them…Rosie who knew since the night of the wedding that they had slept together.  Which freaked Drew out since Rosie and his father were living together at the lodge that Rosie and his dad helped run with one of Liz’s Brothers. 

     These characters were so funny you could actually see them come to life before your eyes.  They were real, they did normal things you could see your own family members doing.  The thoughts they expressed were thoughts that you may have even had with yourself or with a friend.  This was one of those books that was so worth reading for sure.  Provided by netgalley.com

LUSH CURVES: THE COMPLETE SERIES

LUSH CURVES                                          DELILAH FAWKES
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

Lush Curves by Delilah Fawkes  A new series from the best-selling author of THE BILLIONAIRE'S BECK AND CALL!
Aolani Kahale has always had big dreams, putting everything on the line when she moved from Hawaii to the mainland in hopes of opening her own photography studio.

When the firm she works for takes on a photo shoot for a mysterious Scotsman's yacht company, she hopes she'll get the big break she needs. However, CEO Gavin Fletcher doesn't want her behind the camera. He wants her to be his new model--the face and body of his "Live Beautifully" campaign.

Aolani's always been shy about her curves, but the job offer is one she can't resist, including travel through the Carribean on Gavin's private yacht. When sparks fly between them, they both struggle to remain professional, but traveling in tight quarters makes it all but impossible.

What Aolani doesn't know is that Gavin Fletcher has a dark secret; a vow he made long ago to never love again after his girlfriend, Fiona, drowned on the night he'd planned on proposing.

One passionate affair, one incredible journey, and two hearts yearning for one another... Lush Curves is a series you won't soon forget from best-selling romance author, Delilah Fawkes.

MY REVIEW:

     Aolani Kahale starts out as photographer’s assistant when this story begins which is basically a gopher and boorishly his person to scream at all day long.  On this day she happens to spill coffee not only all over the hardwood floors but her white blouse and down her bra.  As she is on her hands and knees thinking she is not in a good position to clean while in skirt she hears a male clear his throat.

     Thinking it will be her crazy boss she looks over her shoulder to find the most handsome, sexy as hell and so out of her league man she has ever seen.  Yet, there was hint of a smirk on his face, his hazel eyes were checking out her ass that was pointing straight up in the air, it wasn’t really a bad thing either.  It was like a caress, with the stubble on his jaw that she would like to rub up and his chestnut hair she would like to put her hands in, as well as have those strong arms to hold her and make her feel safe…

She had lost her mind.  She gets up and ask if she can help him he says no he just wanted to introduce himself since he would be on the set a lot, his name Gavin Fletcher.  CEO and Co-Owner of the company of the yacht company that the shoot was for.  Okay, now she was officially freaked out.

     As Gavin held Aolani’s hand as well as holding while they spoke he had all kinds of lustful thoughts about her as well as she did about him.  At the same time without saying anything to each other there was current of electricity that ran through them when their hands touched.  Aoloni removes her hand before he drops it, but realizes her breathing is more labored and she is antsy.  His eyes could not get enough of her and seeing that her blouse was now transparent due to the coffee he was having a feast.  Making his body react.  Aolani was told by the photographer Gavin was staying the night and for her to arrange the hotel and secure all the plans for tomorrows shoot.  She does arrive the next day feeling that the day was already off and it was.  She steps on the deck and the model for the shoot is crying.  Figuring it is the photographer with the bad attitude that made her cry by yelling at her only to find out she was let go, not being what the owner was looking for.  When she finds the CEO and the photographer having words behind her now.  Once Gavin sets him straight letting him know he is the owner that the vision has changed he ask Aolani if she would be their new vision of beauty for the campaign.

     She freaks at first thinking doesn’t he knows I am not a size 2 but a 12?  Then after much talking and thought she agrees.  Her life changes in a blink of an eye.  For the better?  That is to be seen.  Gavin has secrets, lust, and eyes for Aolani but will secrets Catch up to him and effect the eyes he has for her and is it just he feels of is that all it is just lust he feels of is that all he will allow himself to feel?

     Okay, this starts out well you see the whole plus size angle and what Aolani has to overcome on the mainland from Hawaii.  Self-image is different there.  Before at page 67 I realize there is a whole lot of sex, sex, and more sex.  Gavin’s secret is kinda revealed but in a half truth.  Aolani is a madly in lust and on the way to love that she will to get to his emotional sexual rollercoaster with Gavin.  When you can read around all the sex there’s a real heart felt story. 

     The thing is it isn’t until about page 75 it seems that it becomes a real story and not just an erotica.  I just wish it author did not have to sell themselves short and use all the sex to write a good romance.  It should have been headed under erotica not a romance though for those that are looking for romance only.  I know that more and more romance has erotica in it but this was over the top even for that.  Which is okay if that is what you are looking for, I was looking for a BBW love story.  Provided by netgalley.com

LAW MAN

LAW MAN                                                 KRISTEN ASHLEY
Posted:  Jan. 16, 2014

  Four years ago, Mitch Lawson moved across the breezeway from Mara Hanover and she fell in love with the tall, good-looking police detective who had an uncanny ability to dress well even though he’s single. It was not a stalker kind of love; she knows she has no hope since Mitch is way out of her league. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s her dream man.

Then one day Mara’s faucet won’t turn off and she knows nothing about plumbing. Being a good guy, Mitch offers to help then he invites himself over for pizza. Mara gives it a go but finds herself running away from him (literally) on their first date, standing him up their second and then she runs into him (again literally) on her way to save her ne’er do well, criminal cousin’s kids who’d just run away from their ne’er do well, criminal Dad.

Suddenly, Mara finds she has on her hands the guardianship of two kids and a gorgeous police detective who’s willing to do anything to help out… including giving fabulous foot rubs.

But Mara knows who she is and where she came from and she knows Detective Mitch Lawson is better than her. Hot law man Mitch disagrees and his challenge is to convince Mara to let go of her past and he sets about building a family at the same time he finds he also needs to protect them all against known and unknown adversaries that would tear them apart.


MY REVIEW:

     What an exceptionally good writer Kristen Ashley is.  Her gritty real way of storytelling grabs you at the beginning and holds you hostage until the end.  There’s not to say there weren’t things that didn’t bug me with this book because there was one that stands out above anything.  Mara Hanover’s thick skull and her scale system, but it was totally important to the story which I get.  What wasn’t important was how long it dragged on though, one chapter less might have been nice but at the end I got it I really did.  So, hold tight you will be glad you did.

   Other than that I loved all the characters.  Mara was a lady with a past no one knew about but her cousin Bill.  Once they left their hometown in Iowa for Colorado, Mara never looked back.  After 13 years her luck was about to change.  She thought maybe in a more positive way because Detective Mitch Lawson her neighbor for the past 4 years from across the breezeway, noticed her.  This for her was huge because she has lusted after him for so long, but knowing she was 1.5 to a 2.0 at the most to his 10.5 was disappointing.  Plus he was once again walking out of his apartment with another overnight guest, of which was never under an 8.0 on the scale in Mara’s world.

     Since he was staring at her as she was backing out she waved goodbye to him.  Her thought being, him wondering why, she a 1.5-2.0 would ever think she could way at him a 10.5.  NOT!  You see Mitch has had a crush on her too for about 3.7 years of the 4 years he has lived at the apartments where they both lived.  At first she was dating an ass and then she was just so overly shy he couldn’t find an in.

     When her sink breaks and he overhears her asking a friend he offers to fix it.  She agrees and so be it they are circling each other.  She just can’t figure out what he would want with her.  So, all the advancements he tries she doesn’t get at all.  So, to test the waters she offers to make her famous BBQ chicken pizza from scratch he asked her about.  It’s labor intensive so they agree on Sat. since she doesn’t work.  When she goes over to get him not only had he forgotten he had a women over.  Embarrassed she races back to her apartment he catches her and says give him 15 minutes.  In fifteen minutes she is wrapped the pizza to freeze, changed to comfortable clothes, and left.  Not coming home till midnight.  Not wanting to be second best, a second thought, and unimportant to anyone ever again.

     No sooner had she gotten in the door when Mitch orders her to open up so they could talk thus starting the whole alpha male pattern.  Mara stands her ground once she opens the door, basically saying he could go back to his flavor of the day since there is nothing ever going to happen for them.  Then she closes the door in his face.  Then, she avoids him and her apartment for days.

     Starting the fancy rollercoaster ride, called the alpha male relationship but with the kindest heart ever.  Mitch could be an ass especially when he was telling Mara she needed to pull her head out of her ass.  He was their strongest protector.  Do something to her and her little cousins and forget about it there was hell to pay.

     The emotions run high and scattered in this story piece.  That’s what I loved so much though.  Feeling the shame Mara got when her mother and aunt showed up on her doorstep.  Nor the joy and tears when the children when Mitch finally made a break through to Mara about his staying power for and with the children.  Or the loyalty, friendship, and sense of family when Mara was surround by her friends who loved her.  Knowing how much and how far Mitch wanted Billie and Bud to be his but Bud asking first and the joy that gives him.  Wow!  That he goes to Tack to use a marked to save his kids and his woman at all cost to life, limb and career was great.

     Loved this story which was provided by netgalley.com

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