Wicked Play by Lynda Aicher

BONDS OF COURAGE BOOK 6

Synopsis
Pro hockey player Holden Hauke has kept his sexual needs buried for years. After a near miss over a picture of him bound to a spanking bench resulted in a mid-season TRADE, he's kept his image clean. But with the season over, he's ready to surrender control. And he's found just the woman to help him—if only he can convince her to give him a chance.

Bending men to her will is nothing new for Vanessa Delcour, aka Mistress V—she's a full-time rep for pro athletes, a part-time owner of exclusive sex club The Den, and an experienced Domme. But when Holden Hauke comes looking for a discreet partner, Vanessa's concerned about his motives. Touching his training-toned body during a scene wouldn't exactly be a hardship, but taking him on crosses barriers between work and play that she's had in place for years.

From their first intense encounter in Mistress V's playroom, Hauke knows he can't let this chance slip away; he's found the woman he's always needed. Submissive or not, he's willing to push her every limit to prove how good they can be together.

Reactions
I was following this series from the start. I really like the atmosphere and the characters Lynda Aicher has build. It's like a family.
It's a pleasure to encounter them again in different stories and see how they evolved.

Vanessa and Holden story was fun to read as the powers played have changed. The reader follows a domme mind at work. And in this case, what is under the cold façade.
Strange to see that women with powers are always pictured cold or icy. That's why Holden place in this story was great and interesting to watch. He is the one who put down the walls and see the woman behind the façade.

Still a fan of this series and of Lynda Aicher way of telling a story.
Source
*Arc provided by Netgalley.
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

The Organic Artist by Nick Neddo

The Organic Artist: 
Make Your Own Paint, Paper, Pigments, 
Prints and More from Nature by Nick Neddo 

Summary 
It's time to go back to basics! If you're interested in art, but find that it's becoming an increasingly expensive hobby, The Organic Artist is just the book for you! It encourages us all to return to those days when art was made with all-natural materials, such as charcoal and birch bark. Immersing you in the natural world, The Organic Artist seeks to inspire creativity by connecting you to your organic roots. In addition to offering a wide variety of suggestions for using nature as supplies for art, this book also introduces the concepts of awareness and perception that are foundational to the creative process. 

Readers will refine drawing skills, as well as increase their appreciation for the visual arts and the natural landscape. Some of the projects and skills covered include the following: making paper and wild ink, working with soapstone, clay, wood, and rawhide, printmaking and stenciling, natural pigments and dyes, camouflage and body painting, and nature journaling. 

"In his new book "The Organic Artist", Nick masterfully leads the reader on his own magical journey into nature as he collects and crafts organic materials for creating art. The book is not only filled with beautiful images, but easy to understand step-by-step instructions for the reader to follow, ensuring their success. 

I highly recommend "The Organic Artist" for anyone who wants to discover the joy of creating with nature." - Matt Tommey, Sculptural Basketry Artist 

Impressions 
As someone who likes to draw with pencil and charcoal, I was attracted and curious about how you could create all the stuff you are using.
Art is a way of expressing yourself so being able to make your own tools make it even more special.

When I was reading this book and starting to want to make my own Charcoal by going camping or trying to make my paper, someone point out that it's easier and faster to go buy your pen and paper at the store. True, especially when living in a big city.

But deep down, I'm thrilled at the possibility to personalize my material, to make something natural. I'm sure the colors will be different and full of real life. That's why this book attracted me. The explanation seem easy to try and their is a peaceful feeling while watching all this imperfect pens, brushes, paper create something beautiful.

Like it!

Source 
*Arc provided by Edelweiss. 
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Catching Heat by Alison Packard

Summary 
Life has taught Angie DeMarco that all baseball players are womanizers, and her incredible one-night stand with sexy San Francisco Blaze back-up catcher J.T. Sawyer seemed to prove it. Determined not to give in to their sizzling chemistry a second time, she’s kept her distance ever since, focusing on her accounting job with the team. But now she’s laid off…and pregnant. 

J.T. was hurt by Angie’s rejection, but with one more year with the Blaze, he has no time for love. He needs to spend the off season training hard so he can negotiate a better contract with a new team at the end of the year. But when Angie shows up on his doorstep, he‘s overwhelmed by wanting to not just do right by her but pursue a relationship with her. Hoping for a second chance, he proposes. 

Angie agrees to marry J.T. on one condition: the marriage will be purely a business arrangement. But as Angie spends time with him and his family, and J.T. neglects his training to spend time with her, what begins as a union in name only slowly grows into something more—something that looks a whole lot like love and friendship. 

Impressions 
Cute but predictable!

Ok ok, we don't always read to be surprised. :-)

The story is pleasant and I've spend a good time with the characters. Would have liked some more pimento, some fire and probably some drama to be really hooked. The author has done her job but hasn't taken any risk.

So, it's a nice easy read.

Source 
*Arc provided by Netgalley. 
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

The Daring Exploits of a Runaway Heiress by Victoria Alexander

Summary
To Do:
Swim naked in the moonlight
Play in a high stakes card game
Ride an elephant
Be painted sans clothing.
Take a lover. . .

Lucy Merryweather has inherited a fortune--and her great-aunt's list of unfulfilled wishes. What better way to honor her memory than by accomplishing as many of them as possible?
And with Lucy's family an ocean away in New York, nothing stands in her way--if one ignores the private investigator hired to spy on her.

Yet Cameron Effington is infuriatingly difficult to ignore. . .

As a reporter, Cameron is always looking for a good story. An American heiress running rampant between Millworth Manor and Mayfair is the perfect subject. Not to mention captivating. And extremely kissable. And if Lucy believes he's a detective?
Well, the truth should never get in the way of a good story--or hinder delicious, impetuous passion. . .

Impressions
Lovely story with a funny adorable duo.

The story and the plot have piqued my curiosity as it has been a long time since I've read a Victorian Romance. I was not disappointed. The reader follows an interesting heroine who has a mind on her own.
Lucy is charming and adventurous with a bit of a temper. Perfect to make you smile.
Cameron has make me frown. He is cute as a pie but he reacts like a stuffy old man. Worst, like a virgin! Not at all what you expect from a gentleman! Lol!

If the duo is cool, the story has some length. It's a little long in the beginning as well as at the end. In trying to build some suspense and anticipation, the author has made me sigh once or twice. But she has nice characters who have saved me from my impatience.

Nice read.

Hades by Candice Fox

Archer & Bennett Vol 1

Synopsis

A dark, compelling and original thriller that will have you spellbound from its atmospheric opening pages to its shocking climax. Hades is the debut of a stunning new talent in crime fiction. 

Hades Archer, the man they call the Lord of the Underworld, surrounds himself with the things others leave behind. Their trash becomes the twisted sculptures that line his junkyard. The bodies they want disposed of become his problem for a fee. Then one night a man arrives on his doorstep, clutching a small bundle that he wants 'lost'. And Hades makes a decision that will change everything...

Twenty years later, homicide detective Frank Bennett feels like the luckiest man on the force when he meets his new partner, the dark and beautiful Eden Archer. But there's something strange about Eden and her brother, Eric. Something he can't quite put his finger on. When the two detectives are called to the scene of an attempted drowning, they find a traumatised victim telling a story that's hard to believe - until the divers start bringing up bodies. 

Frank is now on the hunt for a very different kind of serial killer: one who offers the sick and dying hope at murderous cost. At first, his partner's sharp instincts come in handy. Soon, he's wondering if she's as dangerous as the man they hunt.

Impressions
Grabbing! A great page turner with an original plot.

The reviews were full of praise promising me a really compelling thriller. I'm always suspicious but the synopsis was interesting and eye catching.
I'm bored lately with stories that can't really keep my interest so I was very surprised to be hooked from the start.

A police investigation with a bit of Dexter in it as well as very darker characters.
Nobody is black and white. Try somber colors to define and understand the power of a trouble past or a tragedy…

I've enjoyed Hades darkness and strange fragility. Eric made me really uncomfortable. From the start, he is lethal, disturbing and on the knife's edge.
Eden is more difficult to understand but she lure you with her personality and her past. As for Frank, I've enjoyed following his adventure.

Can't tell you the ending but it was brilliant. Haven't see it coming. I was thinking and hoping something terribly dark and awful but I wasn't on the good road. And I really like when an author is catching me off guard with a plot.

This thriller is original, very well written in the nuances of black. Emptiness of emotions, calculation, manipulation, monsters way of thinking, trouble past and difficult choice... I've loved this story. Can't wait to read the sequel and to know more about the personages…

Good one!

Quotes

"People Care for as long as it's socially appropriate to care," he said finally. "They love and they hate and they share and they feel guilt as long as they need to, and not a second longer."

"You can't punish all the evil in the world. You wouldn't get any further than yourself."

"She was like a flame. I had to get away in order to understand how I really felt about her, what I wanted from this helpless attraction. You have to do that, get away from women in order to think about them. Close up, all you are is a slave to their rich fresh skin, to their honey voices, to the irresistible safety of their company."

"I don't like waste," he said. "Everything has potential. You have to be forgiving of the imperfections of things and find new life for them."

Source
*Arc provided by Netgalley.
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

500 Tangled Artworks by Beckah Krahula

A Showcase of Inspired Illustrated Designs 

Synopsis 
Become inspired by this vast collection of meditative drawing tiles known as tangles! 500 Tangled Art Works, curated by Beckah Krahula, author of the bestselling book, One Zentangle a Day, is the first book to feature a large and wide-ranging collection of exciting, beautiful, and experimental drawings. 

Tangles, a one to four stroke repetitive pattern used in a meditative art form called Zentangle(TM), are showing up all over the world in drawings, paintings, and many forms of mixed media art. With an introduction and history of this zen art form, 500 Tangled Art Works shares basic techniques, and features a cutting edge collection of the latest and greatest drawing from this contemporary movement. 

After seeing this amazing assortment of art, it will be easier than ever to start tangling on your own!


Reactions

To be honest, after reading and flipping the pages, I still don't know the difference between a Zentangle and a Mandala. :-(
It's a little bit obscure and this book hasn't helped me to discover the truth behind these doodles used for meditation.
They both look alike, when in a spheric form. They use abstract drawings in repetitive strokes. They help you both to focus and increase your creativity.

Probably not the point, because the book is essentially composed of pictures of tangles. But it would have been great to have a little more explanation about it...

Of course, the photos are cool and brought some calm when you turn the pages. It has even given me some desire to draw. Since these tangles look a lot like the ones, I'm spontaneously doing while I'm on the phone or in a meeting where I'm bored! :-))

So I guess, this book will be perfect, if you are into this kind of repetitive patterns to help you empty your mind after a long day while using a pen or a sharpie.

However, I would have loved some more words to accompany the pictures.

Quote

"Zentangle is not an art form for the masses. It is an art form by the masses."

Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts

Source
*Arc provided by Edelweiss.
I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe

Synopsis

A century ago, when Japan was transforming itself from an isolated feudal society into a modern nation, a Japanese educator queried about the ethos of his people composed this seminal work, which with his numerous other writings in English made him the best, known Japanese writer in the West during his lifetime.

He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control. His approach to his task was eclectic and far-reaching. On the one hand, he delved into the indigenous traditions, into Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai and sages. On the other hand, he sought similarities and contrasts by citing not only Western philosophers and statesmen, but also the shapers of European and American thought and civilization going back to the Romans, the Greeks and Biblical times.

This book is a classic to which generations of scholars and laymen alike have long referred for insights into the character of the Japanese people. And all of its many readers in the past have been amply rewarded, as will be all those who turn to its pages in the next and future decades. 

Impression
I've always been interested by Japanese history and the Samurais. I've been fascinated by the honor, the courage, the self-control these men were displaying. Also the noble and respectful way they were fighting an enemy by killing while reciting poems on the battle field.

In this book you have very interesting details about chivalry and philosophical views about samurai life and death.
The author mix Buddhism, Greek time with western philosophers and even talk about the women condition.
Very great to have a very old fashion and modern points of view on the Bushido.

I was also very enlightening to see Seppuku through the eyes of Japanese. It has often seemed to me as a romantic and noble gesture. Barbaric and unbelievably unfair other times too.
Maybe because my view were based on a story or a movie.

In this book, I've learned the codes. Almost like a dance with a particular technique. It was beautiful in a morbid beauty.
The author also answered some of my questions about the easiness some men may have chosen to die in a trendy way instead of showing their courage through life.

A really interested and captivating read.

Quotes

"Bushido, then, is a code of moral principles which the knights were required or instructed to observe. It is not a written code; at best it consists of a few maxims handed down from mouth to mouth or coming from the pen of some well-known warrior or savant."

"Things which are serious to ordinary people, may be but play to the valiant. Hence in old warfare it was not at all rare for the parties to a conflict to exchange repartee or to begin a rhetorical contest. Combat was not solely a matter of brute force; it was, as well, an intellectual engagement."