"The Only Exception" by Gina Gordon

Okay!  Let me just start by saying...

Gina Gordon,

You rock my socks!

*and possibly my panties, but I am not sure how many people want to know that particular fact*

I have been in love with Gina's books since Miss Jessica Rabbit had a giveaway and I happened to be the winner for a great book called "Forever in Lingerie"... I was hooked.  Now I stalk her blog shamelessly waiting for everything new she can throw at me and this one did not disappoint.

*Yes I know I'm just shamelessly plugging away for Gina, but let me assure you it is all due to her merits.  Shes an excellent writer and very deserving of all the money that I have spent (which is really not a lot they are only a few dollars...so go buy them) and what I will spend on her in the future*

Yeah I guess I should review now...

The Only Exception

by Gina Gordon



Blurb from Amazon:

Two co-workers, one work retreat, and explosive chemistry. The Canadian winter doesn’t stand a chance.

For Caroline Carlson, business is business. She will not let her profession define her. She’ll never make that mistake again. When she finds herself forced to attend a manager’s retreat in the middle of winter, the line between business and pleasure is blurred. Especially, since she’s forced to spend the time with Hayden, the man who has secured the starring role in her sexy dreams.

Hayden Cross is the new manager on the block. The retreat is a chance to let loose and get away from the daily grind. Until one night when a chance encounter with Caroline at a club morphs his plan into a personal dare. Mesmerized by the sexy woman writhing on the dance floor, he knows she's his fantasy come to life.

Caroline is convinced that Hayden is just another man who wants the fantasy, but his sexual advances are too hard to ignore. The more time they spend together the hotter it gets, and the Canadian winter doesn't stand a chance.

My Review:

My favorite thing about Gina's books are that they are super short, but they are absolutely jam packed with goodness.  I have held on to my sanity with her amazingly wonderful little bits of smut.  This one was no disappointment either.  I have been stressing from math and a should be (don't kick my butt Gina) getting started on the reading for the Passionate Plume Contest, but I needed something for me.

It was exactly what I needed.

The character Caroline was wonderful.  How many women these days try to live in a corporate world and be taken seriously.  I was born in a redneck community and later joined the military so I have seen plenty of men not taking women seriously.  I could relate to her struggle in trying to keep professional.

Then there was Hayden and hell...If I was her I wouldn't have held out as long as she did.  He is smoking!  He is the quintessential office guy as far as Caroline can can tell.  He just happens to be a sexy on and have a thing for her too.

She sets out on this office outing trying to keep up her professional appearance and in the end she lets down her guard and gets to know everyone.  Especially Hayden ;)

The sex is steamy, the romance is wonderful.  I loved it.  Is there really anything else to say?

*My reviews are personal opinion only. Any books that have been given to me were strictly for review and were in no way influenced by monetary gain*

In My Mailbox (8)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren to show off the books that you have gotten through out the week be they from someone, a swap, you buy them yourself, or the library. This brings books to light that some people may not normally check out.

Well this week was a little... anti climactic

It feels as if I have done nothing, but math this whole week (probably because its true) and I am so sick of equations and solutions...my solution. 

Burn that shit! 

A math book is the only book that should ever be burned.

Sorry if any of you are *gasp* logical thinkers and you like that sort of thing, but its like pulling teeth for me.

See...its turning me into bitch of the week!!!

 

Oh so enough of my ranting here is what I got

 

For school:

 

Close Range by Annie Proulx

This book has 8 stories including "Brokeback Mountain"

Man I love my Pop Lit teacher!!!

 

From PBS:

 

Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Wishlisted this on cover alone so hoping its good

 

See...Anti Climactic

Especially after the past few weeks and all the books, but I'm not wishlisting and I'm downsizing the wishlist I already have because of all the reading I have planned lately with school and for the blog.  I had a few that I wanted to review 2 weeks ago that I read, but it never happened.

 

Oh well...

How was everyone week??

Adventures in Lit

I'm am enrolled in 2 Literature classes this semester.  YAY!!!

 Here is my first assignment in my Intro to Lit class.

I chose to do an analysis on a poem about abortion.  Though I have never had one I have had to struggle through that decision once and thus it was the poem that most effect on me.  Its a little morbid, very real, and something most people never face, but if you ever do you can ppreciate the struggle.

So here it is.  My first adventure in Lit class!

The poem:

"The Lost Baby Poem" by Lucille Clifton

the time i dropped your almost body down

down to meet the waters under the city

and run one with the sewage to the sea

what did i know about waters rushing back

what did i know about drowning

or being drowned

you would have been born in winter

in the year of the disconnected gas

and no car

we would have made the thin walk

over the genecy hill into the canada winds

to let you slip into a stranger's hands

if you were here i could tell you

these and some other things

and if i am ever less than a mountain

for your definite brothers and sisters

let the rivers wash over my head

let the sea take me for a spiller of seas

let black men call me stranger always

for your never named sake

My Analysis:

I chose to analyze "The Lost Baby Poem" because it had more effect on me than any of the other poems that we have read so far. I have never had an abortion, but I have had to deal with the possibility of an abortion before and make a decision for myself and consider the possible guilt and consequences that would go along with my decision.

The title of the poem speaks a lot about what she is feeling. "The Lost Baby Poem" sounds like she is feeling the loss emotionally. She couldn’t know what that loss would be before, but now after the fact she is feeling the loss and the guilt and despair that accompanies it. Also on a more literal level she is talking about the baby that she lost. The one she will never know.

In the beginning of the poem you get the feeling or her despair and hopelessness. She talks about the experience and uses the metaphor of drowning to give you the feel of her being swallowed up by guilt for what she has done. She says "What did I know about drowning" which speaks to that fact that she could not imagine the despair that she now feels from that actions that she took.

The second stanza changes into justification of her actions. It speaks about her being in a bad place in her life and not capable of the care of a child especially with the passage "in the year of the disconnected gas and no car". Then she continues with further justification of not giving her unborn child a chance and giving that child away to strangers by the passage "we would have made the thin walk over genesee hill into the canada wind to watch you slip like ice into strangers' hands". It seems as if she felt that her child wouldn’t have had much of a chance even if she were to give it up to someone else.

In the end she seems to be reflective of the experience and then she seems to find resolve for the future. She intends to be a "mountain" for her future children. She wants to be strong and steady and there for her future children. She goes as far as vowing to herself that she would be that rock or she would welcome the punishment and ostracisation from her own people for her actions if she were to not follow through by saying "let black men call me stranger always for your never named sake"

Dear Math...I hate you!!!

Why oh why do I have to suffer through this torture???

Not only do I have to go through at least 2 semesters of this crap, but it is being taught by a tiny jerk off of a Indian man with a bad accent and most likely hasnt been laid in a century.  Seriously man...Pull this stick out of your ass!

Why cant I have a teacher like this?

Yeah that would be nice....

*sigh*

True I would most likely never accomplish anything if I had a hot teacher, but damn.  At least I wouldn't feel like shooting myself in the foot.

I am an English major for shits sake!!!  Just leave me in me little fantasy world.

In My Mailbox (7)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren to show off the books that you have gotten through out the week be they from someone, a swap, you buy them yourself, or the library. This brings books to light that some people may not normally check out.

Despite my shit storm of a week I have gotten quite a few books.  I wont be able to read much in the next week or so getting used to my spring schedule.

I dont know about you, but I am a firm believer that to every action there is an equal, but opposite reaction.  My life is direct proof of it.  It feels like I cant just relish the little happienesses lately.  Im trying so hard though.  This blog, my firends (online and in person), and my lit classes are keeping me going, but then there is my own personal hormonal issues, certain other people that try to bring me down, and my latest annoyance in my jerky math teacher.  Anyway enough of my bitching.  Im just trying to get it out so I can keep going.

Here is what I recieved this week

Via PBS

How to Abduct a Highland Lord

To Catch a Highlander

To Scotland with Love

The Laird Who Loved Me

& Sleepless in Scotland

by Karen Hawkins

The Maiden's Hand & At The Queens Summons

by Susan Wiggs

The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox

Red-Hot and Royal by Susanna Carr

Midnight Rising by Lara Adrian

All Night with a Rouge by Alexandra Hawkins

Here are some that FINALLY came from B & N

The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, Volume 3: The Latest Annual Collection edited by Maxim Jakubowski

Deja Demon: The Days and Nights of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner

Wicked by Sasha White

Submission by Cherie Feather

Under the Blood Red Moon by Mina Hepsen

Untouchable (Emperor's Bride, Book 1) by Linda Winstead Jones

Secrets of the Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace by Kate Emerson

Endangered by Kathleen Dante

Here are the last ones I got this week from book stores around



Fluke by Christopher Moore

Forbidden Pleasure by Lora Leigh

Innocence by Kathleen Tessaro

Here is a few pictures from the weekend for your viewing pleasure as well
*yes I have a baby face and I am told constantly that I'll love it when I get older.  Chubby cheeks, dimples, and freckles make me look more like a fresh out of highschool kid that a woman pushing 30*

I absolutely love her... I'm just saying!