NEWS AND REVIEWS!

I want to start by reminding you all that RAPHAEL is currently being discussed in the Cellie Book Club at THE CELL, which is the Fan Board for J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. You need to register if you want to participate, and I’ll be dropping by for a few days at the end of the week to answer questions.
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Also, THIS FRIDAY, August 31, I’ll be doing a LIVE CHAT in the GoodReads Group GOTTA HAVE PARANORMAL ROMANCE WITH A KICK. I’ll be there for a live, TWO hour Q & A session, beginning at 7:30 pm Eastern (4:30 pm Pacific). That’s THIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 31!
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And now for what has become my weekly TV report … There was no LONGMIRE (sad DBR.) But GRIMM is continuing its improved format this season. The pace is better, no more whiny Juliette (although it looks like she’ll be back, but since she doesn’t recognize Nick, maybe she won’t be around much. One can hope.) Nick’s Mom (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) is an excellent addition to the lineup, and I like that we’re not entirely sure whose agenda she’s following. Speaking of which, Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz) is a very fine looking man, especially with his shirt off, and a consistently interesting character. I’ll be curious to see how his agenda changes, given his already evident sympathy with Nick’s activities and now with the difficult relationship with his family. Anyway, good season so far.
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And then, of course, the TRUE BLOOD season finale … and it couldn’t come soon enough. I think it says something when the best line of the whole show happens only four minutes in. It was a great line, though, and uttered by the scrumptious, and sometimes adorable, Eric Northman (i.e., Alexander Skarsgard.) MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!! When Eric stakes Russell and Russell explodes, Eric gets this happy/thoughtful look on his face and says,”Well, that felt even better than I thought it would.” THAT’S Eric from the books, and it was the best line of the whole show. And it was pretty much downhill from there. First of all, if I never see another vampire explode in a gush of blood and squirmy guts, it will be too soon. ENOUGH! We get it, okay? Every time I turned around in this episode, another vampire was gushing. Ick. And then we get more naked Sam and a return of all the naked people from Season Two, which was the all-time worst season of any show ever. The only difference is these people were in cages and they didn’t have all black eyes, and (thank God) they weren’t humping each other like crazy. Double Ick. I was talking to a friend the other day, and we realized that Sam and Luna have spent almost this entire season naked. Nice job for the actors. Not. But at least Emma was finally rescued.
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But, okay, so we move on to idiot Jason who, for some reason is still talking to his dead parents, and those dead parents have, for some reason, become insidious whisperers urging him to kill vampires. The writers had finally permitted Jason to be something other than a total boob, and now they’ve taken that away and put him right back in the boob category. Gosh. I can hardly wait to see how THAT turns out. Double not. And let’s not forget Alcide and his Dad having a cookout, Alcide gets juiced up on V and goes and beats JD to death before … what? Ripping his heart out? It wasn’t clear to me what he did, but it was something gushy, so I was just as happy not seeing the details. Can’t imagine why the writers left that out, though. I mean, everything else explodes, why not show Alcide ripping out the bloody heart and raising it over his head like some monkey from 2001? (The movie, I mean.)
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Wait, I almost forgot (that should tell you something right there) about Lafayette’s Cajun margueritas and Andy’s six new babies, delivered from his fairy lover who had an orgasm with each baby she popped out. What a moronic story line. What’s the point of that? Maybe the six are going to be the key to defeating Waldo? And speaking of Waldo, his name wasn’t even mentioned in the finale, although I’m quite certain he’ll show up next season. Gosh, I can hardly wait. (yawn) But on to the big finale of THIS season, and the second best line of the show. Tara and Sookie are about to free Jessica and Pam from their silver cages, and Sookie needs to open the cage doors because they’re silver, but Tara goes ahead and opens Pam’s, and Sookie starts to protest, but then Tara and Pam go into a MAJOR liplock, and Sookie looks at them and says … “Oh. Okay.” Anna Paquin’s delivery was perfect. Second best line of the show. And then the big cliffhanger finale scene and what a shocker it was, huh? Bill drinks all of Lillith’s blood and he (predictably) gushes, but then (wait for it) he bubbles back!! Kind of like the new and improved Terminator guy in Terminator 2 (and why not, because Robert Patrick was in both of them – Whoa! Freaky, huh? ::sigh::) Anyway, Bill comes back. Were you amazed? Were you shocked? Nah, me neither. Just one more blood and guts dripping naked vampire. So … the season’s over. And, you know what? I don’t care. I won’t miss the show, won’t be on pins and needles for its return, although I’ll keep watching to see what they do with Eric, who’s the only character I care about anymore.
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Huh, that review went on a bit longer than I expected, but it’s the season finale, so, it’s the last one. I’m now waiting for Criminal Minds new season, and the Mentalist. And then there’s Once Upon a Time, which seemed poised at the end of last season to begin the same thing all over again … which would be boring, but we’ll see.
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Moving on! BOOKS. That’s right, I actually don’t spend all of my time watching TV! I write books (yes, I do!) and I read books! And lately, I’ve been reading a lot of books that don’t do much for me. They go into the DO NOT REVIEW folder on my Kindle, and I move on with hope in my heart. Good news! My hope was not in vain. There are a couple of books I’ve just finished which I’ll be reviewing, and since I only “review” books I liked, that means … uh, that I liked them. :} Hopefully, I’ll get those reviews posted later this week.
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On my personal book front, the reviews of BETRAYED continue to be excellent! I confess I’m relieved, because of the ending. Those of you who have read it know what I mean. I was a little worried, but you all seemed to appreciate what I was going for, so … thank you! And LUCAS isn’t that far away! LOL
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Okay, I’ve taken up a lot of your time already, but this week’s post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the loss of a truly courageous man who literally changed our view of the universe. Neil Armstrong died this week from complications of heart surgery. Rest in Peace, sir. You opened the universe for so very many of us.

See you next week, my fellow readers.
DBR