Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Published: 6th November 2012
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Source: Own Copy

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her saviour…
The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.
Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love. - From Goodreads.

I loved this book so much. How do I talk about it without going into to much detail and giving away the story? This was not a nice story, but it was one that stayed with me weeks after having finished the book. The subject matter dealt with in this book was handled cleverly, keeping it as the focus of the story, but not dwelling on it too much or similarly dismissing it. I feel like I am talking in circles here, but I just loved this book so much.

When Jacqueline is almost attacked, she thinks her life can't get any worse. She has just been dumped by her long term boyfriend and now she is attacked outside his fraternity house while a party goes on inside. Lucas comes to her aid, a boy who Jacqueline shares a class with but has never noticed before. Lucas has noticed Jacqueline however and this horrific night is one that will stay with both of them for ever.

Jacqueline and Lucas were such well written characters that I loved both of them form the start. The chemistry between them sizzled off the page and these characters kept me reading from the first page. The storyline was delicate and handled extremely well with the right amount of action to make this an enjoyable and thrilling read.

Jacqueline is a complex character who develops and grows stronger and more confident as the story progresses. She starts as someone who has had her self-confidence smashed at the beginning with her boyfriend of 3 years breaking up with her. This is someone that she has followed to school Felicity style and suddenly she is alone. Lucas is the kind of character that builds someone up and reading about him made me wish I had known someone exactly like him when I was at university.

I can't believe I had this on my kindle for so long before I read it. An amazing, fantastic and toe curling, piece of "new adult" contemporary fiction that I will probably read again soon. I can't wait to read anything else written by Tammara Webber!!

TV Heaven: Friday Night Lights

I may have mentioned before that I watch a bit of TV. In the collection of shows that I love I have a few that I will come back to time and time again. Some of these shows have now finished (or have been cancelled - sob) however I want to share them with you and let you know why I think they are the best.

Note: My lovely friend Jayne recently asked me to suggest some shows for her and her husband to watch and I devised some handy descriptive categories to give her an overview which I will use.

So I had some friends over for dinner the other night and while I was cooking (before they arrived) I decided to put some Friday Night Lights on the TV. When the girls turned up I was hurt that they had to ask what I was watching and neither of them had ever seen any Friday Night Lights, and didn't even know about it! What is this world coming to? Have I been spending too much time on Forever Young Adult and agreeing with their assessments of both Coach Taylor and Tami Taylor and daydreaming about living in Dillon, Texas? So y'all without further delay...

Friday Night Lights

Genre: Sports Drama (But it's so not about the sports!)

Girly: Not especially

Set in High School: Yes

Hot Guys: Yes (There is someone for every taste. Hello Coach Taylor)

Mystery of the week format: No

Currently running: No (There are 5 glorious seasons)

Status: Amazing, I wish it had gone on forever.

When was it on: 2006 - 2011

Why you should watch it:
Primarily this revolves around the Dillon Panthers. This is the high school football team in the town of Dillon Texas. BUT IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT FOOTBALL!! This series starts with Coach Eric Taylor becoming head coach of the Dillon Panthers and how this affects his family and the town itself. Coach Taylor and his lovely wife Tami Taylor are the central characters that the programme revolves around, and they are amazingly awesome, but with a whole team of football players to follow there is loads going on every episode, with a whole bunch of awesome people.

I may have a major soft spot for the coach and his wife, but I'm not blind to the other amazing characters that get their fair share of screen time. I love every single one of the characters and I felt like I shared their highs and lows as the season progressed. Even if the character is extremely flawed and messing things up left right and centre, I love them.

The whole series to me feels like being welcomed into some really good gossip with a friend who has great hair, drinks loads of wine and either starts or ends every sentence with y'all! (I really miss Tami Taylor!)


Who You May Know:
Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) - Oh how I wish I was Coach Taylor's wife. Coach Taylor is the High School football Coach in Dillon, Texas, a town obsessed by football. He is an amazing character who manages to navigate the politics of the boosters and at the same time be the father figure that some of his players need. He is an amazing man and I worship him! Also, did you all see how great he was in Grey's Anatomy?

Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) - Tami is Coach Talor's wife, which is a job in itself. Tami has to lean to navigate the responsibilities put on her in this role. Later on in the series Tami becomes the school counsellor, which she is perfect for. This is the start of her finding her own path and we begin to see later on that she just wants to be her own woman. We are behind you Tami! Most recently she has been singing her heart out as Rayna James on Nashville.

And the rest...
Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) - Tim, bless your heart. You are never going to set the world on fire, but you always have the best intentions. Last I saw of the lovely Tim, he was in a submarine movie I did not go and see!

Jason Street (Scott Porter) - Scott Porter is currently on Hart of Dixie as the lovely George. Anyone who does not love Jason Street is a monster with a heart of stone. One of the richest characters, we follow Jason through the issues he has following on from his accident.

Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) - My sweet Matt. He is the reason I fell so hard for Friday Night Lights. He is pure and sweet and I love him. I think he was recently in The Mob Doctor. I did not love that!

Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) - The goody goody of the bunch, Lyla just wants to grow up to be the wife of the star football player. I clapped for glee in the cinema while I was watching 500 Days Of Summer and she came on at the end. I also enjoy her instagram presence!

Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) - I am sad that Adrianne's version of Wonder Woman never took off as I would have watched it no matter how rubbish it was. Tyra was amazing. What she lacked in money or class, she made up for in attitude. I would have been so scared of Tyra while I was at school, but as an adult I am in awe.

So what are you waiting for?

Running Thoughts - The Walking Dead 3x12

My mental vomiting of thoughts while watching the walking dead continues. I want to share my thoughts on the latest episode of The Walking Dead with my buddy "Sheriff Claw" and all of you...

If you have not seen this episode yet, do not read on, lots of spoilers ahead for episode 3x12

The Walking Dead 3x12 - "Clear"

Right, not that I am up to date I can crack on with this week's episode!


Previously... Rick and the walkie talkie from right back at the beginning, deal Lori's wish, crying Carl, crazy Rick, Michonne's prison days are numbered.

Michonne, Rick and Carl are all in the car for their run for food and amo. Michonne is driving and they see a hiker by the side of the road. Michonne drives on by not stopping or slowing down for him. Neither Rick not Carl even blink at this. When they come across a car wreck full of bodies Michonne goes to drive round and slows too much getting stuck in the mud. Suddenly walkers are surrounding the car, I say surrounding, but there are only about 6 of them. Rick takes them out then makes a little thingy to get the car out of the mud. Carl wants to know why they have brought Michonne with them and Rick tells him that he didn't want to leave her in the prison with Merle and for now they have similar goals. Hiker guy has caught up a bit with them and shouts for them to wait, but they just get back in the car and go on their way, like the badasses they are! (I am guessing he will show up again later!)

Credits... creepy!

They drive into and abandoned town and start to look around, stopping at the sheriff's office first to look for amo. Oh this is Rick's station. He says that there are only a few other places to check for guns. He knows where as he signed the permits. Rick asks Michonne if she has a problem with that and she says no, but it is pretty awkward. They pass a wall that has "away with you" written on the side and a pile of burned bodies. There are arrows on the ground and it all seems a bit like a game show. Another wall with "No Guilt, you know that" on it and a crazy barrier of stuff on the street with "Turnaround and live" on the ground. I love this place, it is amazing! It looks like something the Lost Boys would have made to keep people and walkers out.

A guy on the roof shoots a walker and tells them to drop their weapons and shoes and leave. Michonne wants to stay and fight so they do. The guy from the fight makes it down to ground level and Carl shoots him in the belly. He is all armoured up, so not dead and when they take off his mask it is the dude from the first episode. There is no chance in hell of me remembering his name until it is said, but this spells trouble for Tyreese.

Rick is weary of booby traps, and I would be too, this is some Goonie level stuff. Carl is watching the unconscious guy and Rick remembered that he had a son. If he has turned out anything like Carl, then beware. This guy is not only a fan of the booby trap, but also loves writing shit on things! There are some interesting traps, spikes under the door mat, a trip wire axe. I absolutely love this place and I think they should all move out of the prison and into this nest of crazy!

Inside his house they find all the weapons they were looking for and then some, also writing everywhere! After Rick takes a long look round to see how crazy this guy is, he then finds the other walkie talkie. He was waiting for a message all along. There is also "Duane Turned" written on the wall. I think that was his son, this is so sad. Rick wants to wait for him to wake up and talk to him before they steal all of his stuff. michonne thinks he is dangerous and that they should leave, but her vote is ignored.

Carl finds a map on one of the chalkboard walls and it has their house marked on it with a note saying "Burned Out". Michonne starts eating his food and when questioned makes a joke - you go Michonne, making a funny! Carl wants to go out and get a crib for Judith and Michonne makes lots of valid points, big box, heavy, and then offers to go with him. Yay Michonne and Carl on an adventure. It could be a series of children's books!

Outside Carl asks Michonne to take care of a walker, and while she is off stabbing it in the eye (and then making the best, disgusted, face at the mess on her sword) Carl runs off like the annoying kid he is, to get to the baby shop! Michonne catches up to him and asks him what he is doing. He want's to do this on his own, since he wants to get Judith a little something special first, so Michonne just follows at a distance, like a bodyguard.

Guy on bed is coming round and has a handy knife hidden under his mattress, good call. He gets up to attack Rick and helpfully I find out his name is Morgan, so I can stop calling him dude! Morgan has gone super crazy and says that people are wearing other people's faces. He then stabs Rick in the shoulder - shizz! Rick aims his gun, but stops when Morgan asks to die.

Morgan remembers who Rick is after a while. Morgan tells him that he turned on the radio every day with his son at dawn waiting for Rick to reply, and then it was just Morgan on his own. Rick tells him that they had to keep moving further and further out of Atlanta and he couldn't help it. Morgan's story of how his son was turned was so sad. Morgan did not kill his wife in the first episode and she found them and ended up getting hold of Duane and biting him and Morgan had to shoot both his wife and his son. Morgan is super bitter about Rick and his son being together. I am sad for him.

Carl is about to enter something that looks like a cafe, when Michonne stops him. They have an argument and it seems like Carl is bitter about Michonne being there spouting off "you can't stop me" Michonne come back with "you can't stop me helping you"! OMG I am so happy right now, these two meddling kids are going to come up with some amazing, walker avoiding, plan, I can just tell! Rats on skateboards!! Brilliant! They distract the walkers long enough for Michonne and Carl to sneak in and steal a picture. They are almost caught by a meddling walker, but Michonne had it all in hand! A RAT! the walkers notice them on the way out because a rat escaped and they get out by the skin of their teeth, but Carl has dropped the picture. DAMN IT CARL. He wants to go back in, but Michonne is awesome, and I think this will secure their friendship forever as she is going back in at the back to get it herself, leaving him waiting out the front holding the door closed!

She comes back with the picture that Carl wants to give to Judith and tells Carl that she wanted to go back in anyway for a crazy-amazing colourful cat statue! This is the best Walking Dead mood lightening comedy duo ever!

I love Michonne's taste in cat statues!

Rick wants Morgan to come back with them and stay at the prison. Morgan is not interested. He realises that if Rick needs all of those guns they are having to fight to keep the prison. Rick wants Morgan to come and have hope that they can live a normal life soon. Morgan wants none of it though, he just wants to die. Rick tries his best to talk him round, but Morgan thinks his purpose is to clear (walkers?) and he stays in his nest of crazy!

Rick, Michonne and Carl all meet up outside and Michonne and Carl have actually found a crib for Judith. Morgan is strapping dead walkers to a gurney, and I kind of want to know what he is going to do with them. Carl tries to apologise to Morgan for shooting him, but Morgan tells him to never be sorry! Life lessons for the apocalypse!

Rick asked if everything was OK with Michonne and Carl tells him that he thinks she "might be one of us". I can't tell you how happy this makes me. The gang is complete! Michonne and Rick chat about all the dead people they see and talk to, and it is quite a nice moment. Rick lets Michonne drive on account of him seeing things that are not there and off they speed. They pass Morgan talking the dead off the gurney and putting them on the burned body pile.

On the way home they pass a dead bloodied body with the hikers pack, oops - well, what could they have done, and they stop to pick up the pack.

next time... a Guv/Rick pow wow looks like it is going to take a turn for the worse, and Glen wants to kill the Guv!


Walker kill of the week - Michonne's disgusted look on her face when she realises she has walker brains on her katana.

Bitch of the week - Carl for trying to run off and do it his way!


I loved this episode. It was full of little bits of humour that we needed to offset Morgan's tragedy. The whole episode to me felt like an indie road movie. Everyone understood each other a little better by the end, and nothing too drastic happened. This is one of my favourite episodes so far, and it came just when I was getting really fed up of all the Woodbury nonsense. Perfect timing.

Running Thoughts - The Walking Dead 3x11

My mental vomiting of thoughts while watching the walking dead continues. I want to share my thoughts on the latest episode of The Walking Dead with my buddy "Sheriff Claw" and all of you...

If you have not seen this episode yet, do not read on, lots of spoilers ahead for episode 3x11

The Walking Dead 3x11 - "I Ain't A Judas"

This post is super late. I have no excuses, this is just when I am getting round to posting it. So without further chatter, here is my rather short post for last week's episode!


Previously... ghost, get out, "I got stuff", poor Axel, shooting, zombie van and Daryl and Merle to the rescue.

They all discuss not running from the prison, but staying to protect the prison. Merle is locked up, but it does not stop him from giving his opinion that The Guv is out for blood and won't stop until they are all dead. Hershel shows a bit of , recently unseen, backbone and shouts for Rick to man up and do something soon or they will all die.

Rick goes out into the yard to scan the distance with his binoculars. He sees something, that to me looks like someone hiding behind a tree. Is this in his mind? I am guessing if he was imagining it, then whoever/whatever would not need to hide. Carl comes out and mans up to tell rick to stand down from his position as leader and to let the power team of Hershel and Daryl handle things. What about Glen? is he not able to be part of that dream team?

Credits...creepy!

The Guv is rounding up all the able bodied to make a militia. Boys and girls with guns, sounds like a plan. Andrea comes in and huffs about how the Guv shot up the prison. He claims that it was all them, they shot first and it was not his fault. Damn that man loves to lie. Andrea tells the Guv that she is going to go and see them to talk to them, this goes down like a lead balloon and The Guv breaks out his shit parenting handbook once again to tell her that if she leaves she should not bother coming back.

Andrea wanders through the town where she is stopped by Teen Wolf Mum (yeah I worked it out) who doesn't want her son firing a gun cause he has asthma!

In the prison they are rallying the troops working out a plan to keep themselves safe. Glen tells them that they are running out of food and amo. He is also unhappy that Merle is staying with him, and I understand why since Merle's handiwork is still all over Glen's face! Daryl is pissed that everyone is on team Merle. Michonne looks pissed , but as usual says nothing.

Hershel tries to talk to Merle and it turns into a little bonding session over lost body parts and bible verses. Merle liked to read when he was at Woodbury and it seems that the bible was his book of choice. Personally I would have gone for something more fantasy based, but to each his own. Merle spins some home truths about how the Guv works and how he will kill them all.

The Guv decides to let and old lady with arthritis out of shooting duty for now, but I am sure he will find some other use for her in his army. Andrea tries to stand up for Asthma Boy, but like everyone else, the Guv ignores her.

Carol and Daryl are back together!! Yay. Carol calls the prison a home to which Daryl calls it a tomb. She says she thought the same thing until Daryl found her. Does she mean when she was missing, or in life? those crazy kids! Carol tries to nicely tell Daryl that Merle is bad for him and they giggle together.

Andrea is looking for a way out of the town and ends up enlisting Doc as her helper to escape the town. Doc wants nothing to do with it and says that it is a betrayal against the Guv. Andrea is beginning to see how fucked up it is that they are living in their own prison with children guarding the wall.

Ewwww, puss in the eye socket. Honestly the Guv should not look too closely at that thing. Ahhh, he has found a nice black pirate eye patch that will go with everything he likes to wear. Doc tells the Guv that Andrea is going to escape and the Guv tells Doc to help her. I think that he seems to actually want Andrea to have help so that she does it safely and is in the least amount of danger... but he could just be manipulating them both, AGAIN.

Doc and Andrea sneak up on walker and decide to make a walker camouflage out of him, Michonne style. Doc has his tape coat on again and gets scared when the walker comes towards him. They pin the walker down and hack off both arms and then put a stone under his mouth and stomp on the back of his head to detach the lower jaw. This was possibly one of the most disgusting things. Question... how exactly does this walker shield work? Other walkers can't smell her fresh soapy scent because of the hacked up walker? does that not mean she can just hide in a group of walkers and they will only smell each other? I am confused how this one walker on a stick is magic!

Michonne is doing some of the most amazing push up sit ups I have ever seen. I can only hope for this level of strength and fitness. Merle tells her that it was not personal when he was hunting her, it was only his job.

Tyreese and his gang find Doc and Andrea and Doc offers to take them back to the town and take them in. Andrea sets off on her little walk to the prison with her pet walker in tow. Tyreesetries to offer help, but Andrea is all good!

Carl is on watch out duty when he spies Andrea and her pet coming towards them, and Maggie tells him to go and get the gang. They start shouting at Andrea attracting more walkers before they let her in. Once in she is treated like the prisoner she deserves to be treated like. I am guessing that at this point she is still firmly on team Guv. They do a quick catch up, Lori - dead, Shane - dead, Hershel - one leg, baby - girl, T-dog - dead, Carl - cool, Rick - crazy. Andrea is confused that Michonne has not said loads of great stuff about her and that they are letting Merle stay. Andrea fills them all in on the army at Woodbury, see sees death and destruction coming but won't help them.

Michonne and Andrea have a wee heart to hear about how shit The Guv is. Michonne calls Andrea out saying that she picked a warm bead over a friend. Burn bitch!

Tyreese and his gang are getting cozy in the Woodbury medical centre. They tell the Guv that Rick is a mad man who chased them out of the prison. Tyreese tells the Guv that they are in if they can stay and all the Guv wants in return is the layout of the prison.

There is some Carol, Andrea and baby time which does not make me hat her any less. Carol tells Andrea how Lori and Shane died. Carol wants Andrea to kill the Guv after having sex with him. Cold, but also a good plan, very Greek!

Andrea drives back to Woodbury in a borrowed car after getting her gun back from Rick. She drives away from the prison looking a quite a different group of people to the last time they were together. They are all standing with their guns in their hands ready to take on the next problem. The kids at Woodbury who are guarding the wall still need to learn some stuff, like to crouch behind the wall.

The disgusting couple are reunited. Andrea tells the Guv that they are broken and living like savages. They do it.

Beth sings a little tune to everyone while they are sitting round the fire. I quite like it - catchy. Rick plans to go on a run with Michonne, it sounds like an epic road trip in the making. Andrea goes to kill The Guv but chickens out cause she is crap!

Next time... Rick and Michonne find someone, pile of burned bodies, car stuck, walkers!!, Carl tries to step up, Michonne steps in, new village, people!!

Woop, I can't wait.

Zombie Kill of the week: It was not technically a kill, but Andrea hacking up her walker shield was immense.

Bitch of the Week: Andrea - she had one job to do, kill the Guv!

Wait... what?

My best friend just emailed me a picture to my work with the subject line "I saw this and thought of you". Such a great illustration, I have a feeling I should be offended but I can totally relate to Sarah!

Cover Reveal: Isla and the Happily Ever After!!

I was sitting at my desk, getting on with my work when suddenly I get a twitter notification pop up that Stephanie Perkins has tweeted a link to her new covers. I think she has shared this link on her blog, tumblr and twitter already, but like me they may have passed you by. Here are the new covers for Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door and now Isla and the Happily Ever After!!

(via)

I think they all look amazing together and I can't wait to get my hands on Isla and the Happily Ever After.

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.
Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new. - Autumn 2013