Shadow Spell

shadow spell

Shadow Spell (The Cousins of O’Dwyer #2) By: Nora Roberts

Plot:

With the legends and lore of Ireland running through his blood, falconer Connor O’Dwyer is proud to call County Mayo home. It’s where his sister, Branna, lives and works, where his cousin, Iona, has found true love, and where his childhood friends form a circle that can’t be broken… A circle that is about to be stretched out of shape—by a long-awaited kiss. Meara Quinn is Branna’s best friend, a sister in all but blood. Her and Connor’s paths cross almost daily, as Connor takes tourists on hawk walks and Meara guides them on horseback across the lush countryside. She has the eyes of a gypsy and the body of a goddess…things Connor has always taken for granted—until his brush with death propels them into a quick, hot tangle. Plenty of women have found their way to Connor’s bed, but none to his heart until now. Frustratingly, Meara is okay with just the heat, afraid to lose herself—and their friendship—to something more. But soon, Connor will see the full force and fury of what runs in his blood. And he will need his family and friends around him when his past rolls in like the fog, threatening an end to all he loves…

Review:

This one was definitely better than the last. I felt like it had more structure and was clearly defined as a paranormal romance. The first one suffered from being too light on romance but not heavy enough on the paranormal and just seemed confused on what it wanted to be. I didn’t get that from this one and it was better because of that.

The heroes and heroines have too much going on to worry about stupid things, which I like. So even though the blurb makes you think Connor’s a dog and that Meara might get caught up on all the women he’s bedded, there’s no time wasted on that at all. She recognizes that she’s had other men and it ultimately it doesn’t matter.

Meara didn’t come off as strong as I would have liked. It was mainly just the other characters telling her that she was but she always had to have Connor save her. It was frustrating. In the battle at the end of the book she didn’t get hurt and she didn’t do something stupid, but the rest of the book she was always susceptible to the evil magic.

Still I liked the book for the most part. It was a nice return to a Nora Roberts trilogy. As a side note it could have been shorter but it was written in Irish. Meaning that almost everyone spoke with an Irish accent so the syntax was longer. It got a bit tiring.

3/5

The Flash (2014-?)

The Flash

The Flash (2014-?)

Network:

CW

Starring:

Grant Gustin

Candice Patton

Rick Cosnett

Tom Cavanagh

Plot:

The adventures of scientist Barry Allen who is a superhero with incredible speed.

Review:

Awesome! This was the show I was most excited for and it was my favorite pilot so far.

There were a few heavy handed parts when people were talking about heroes and courage and all that junk; but overall I really liked it and I’m excited for the rest of the series.

Liked the casting. Liked the story. I’m glad they’re finally introducing powers to the Arrow/Flash universe. Looking forward to crossovers and the way the series develops. Hopefully it’s like Arrow and gets better as it goes.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

Director:

David Gelb

Starring:

Jiro Ono

Masuhiro Yamamoto

Plot:

A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his business in the Ginza Tokio Subway station, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.

Review:

I’m not a fan of eating sushi but I can still appreciate how beautiful it looks and the skill it takes to create. This was incredibly interesting and not just because of all the shots of Tokyo.

Jiro is eighty-five years old and he has spent seventy-five of those years working toward the pursuit of sushi perfection. His oldest son is fifty years old and still works for him, while his youngest has gone out on his own to open his own restaurant. This was explained that the eldest inherits the restaurant while his brother would have to go out and make his own. The brother opened up in the most expensive place on the planet but has to lower his prices because he’s not Jiro. I mean he’s only got two Michelin stars while Jiro has three. lol

I get the feeling that Jiro missed out on a lot with his sons growing up and wasn’t a very good parent. The question is, should the pursuit of perfection in your job be more important than everything else?

If I was alone in the world, no family, no friends, I might pursue writing one hundred percent. I might. I love writing and creating, but I also love doing lots of other things. I don’t think I could just work on one thing for the rest of my life.

This movie really made me think. I thought the music was great and I loved seeing Tokyo again. It was cool to point out and say we’ve been there or I remember that.

5/5

Star Wars Rebels (2014-?)

Star Wars Rebels

Star Wars Rebels (2014-?)

Network:

Disney X D

Starring:

Vanessa Marshall

Freddie Prinze Jr.

Steve Blum

Plot:

A brave and clever ragtag starship crew stands up against the evil Empire as it tightens its grip on the galaxy and hunts down the last of the Jedi Knights.

Review:

This show was obviously not geared toward the twenty-eight year old female fan. Go figure.

It didn’t destroy my childhood, like I feared, but it definitely didn’t have anything I wanted to watch. It was very Disney, it ticked a lot of “Star Wars” boxes, and I thought it talked down to the kids.

Probably not going to watch anymore.

A to Z (2014-?)

A to Z

A to Z (2014-?)

Network:

NBC

Starring:

Ben Feldman

Cristin Milioti

Henry Zebrowski

Plot:

Andrew and Zelda date for eight months, three weeks, five days, and one hour. This television program is the comprehensive account of their relationship.

Review:

Really liked the beginning of this episode, probably because of the Celine Dion song. The rest of the episode was fine but didn’t quiet reach that high for me. Of course the only reason I decided to watch was because of Cristin Milioti, so I went in with no expectations.

I’m interested to see how they do this time line, since they’ve already said exactly how long the relationship is going last. Or did they? There are clearly loop holes in the plot synopsis so we’ll see what happens.