“I’ll tell you in exchange for something,” I bargain.
Rue squints at me warily.
“What?”
“I’ll tell you where we’re going and what we’re doing, if you give me a kiss.”
I hear Rue’s heartbeat speed up at these words. She might say she wants the omega as her mate, but her body is finely tuned to mine. Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, and I nearly groan at the sight. Her eyes are heavy-lidded, and she’s sending out all the right signals. She just needs to turn off her brain. I see her body war with her mind, and I know the moment her flesh wins. Her lithe frame becomes soft, and she leans in towards me.
“One kiss—that’s all.”
“One kiss,” I promise, leaning over.
“Well, not now!” Rue shrieks. “You’re driving!”
I chuckle at her outrage.
“Okay, when we get there, then.”
Exactly thirty seconds later, I stop the car.
“What are you doing?” she demands.
“We’re here—and I want my kiss.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Backup, buddy! You’re not getting that smooch for free. You tell me where we are right now.”
Rue peers out her window into the night. She hasn’t admitted it, but I know she can’t see anything. I wish she would tell me more about why she’s not like a normal wolf, but trust will come with time. If I want her to confide in me, I need to respect Rue’s boundaries.
“We’re at my grandma’s house,” I finally confess, making her gasp.
“Your grandma’s house?!”
“I told you I was going to feed you homemade tortillas and margaritas. What better place than at my grandma’s where you can meet my family, too.”
“But—but—but—” she splutters, “we could’ve done this back at the mansion!”
“Nah. I only make tortillas and margaritas at my abuela’s. Do you not want to meet them?”
“It’s not that—it’s just this is like tenth date shit, ya know?”
“I’m working with only three and a half days, so I’m speeding things up,” I remind with a wink.
Rue snorts.
“I’d say. Well, don’t think you can just skip all the bases and go to home plate, mister!” she admonishes severely.
“I know that’s a sports analogy, but I don’t get it,” I admit.
Rue’s tinkling laugh dances around us, and I can sense her irritation at my date plan fading away.
“Not a human saying you know, huh? It means that first base is kissing, second base is er, feeling one another up… third base is—shit. You know what? I don’t even know what the bases really are anymore except for first and home. Everyone changes them, but first is always kissing and home plate is when you finally bump uglies. You know—”
“Yes, I know,” I cut in. “Humans make sports analogies for sex?”
“Yep.”
“Strange. If I promise not to shoot it in your hoop before you dribble my balls, can we just try a kiss?”
Rue clutches her stomach as she bends, giggling hysterically.
“That’s not a saying!” she wheezes.
“Well, how am I supposed to know which sports analogies work and don’t work?”
I get out of the car and walk over to her side. Smoothly, I open her door and pull her out to me.
Bestselling author M.J. Marstens mixes romance, suspense, comedy, and sassy characters who can say whatever they are thinking because it is just a story. When she is not creating steamy scenes or laugh-out-loud fiascos, she is refereeing her three children that she homeschools. In her free time, she loves to eat, sleep, and pray that her children do not turn out like the characters she writes about in her books. To read more about MJ, please visit her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/M.J.Marstens/.
Dr. Wonderful loves asking big questions…and using science to answer them. She and her dog, Newton, want to know why the moon changes shape in the sky every night. But how can they study the moon when it’s so far away? By blasting off into space, of course! On their amazing journey, this detective duo gathers clues to solve their lunar mystery using the powers of science, curiosity, and teamwork.
Blast Off to the Moon! was an incredibly fun trip to outer space to see why the moon seems to change shape when we watch it from Earth. Dr. Wonderful and Newton ask all the good questions and discover the answers as they explore the moon and how it works. The illustrations were beautiful and showed up very nicely on a tablet.
The information is presented in quite a fun way – more of an exploration than a lecture – and my 9yo enjoyed finding out how it all worked. I may have even picked up a new bit of information here and there (it’s been a long time since I took any science classes).
I highly recommend this for any space-curious kiddos out there.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
As an affiliate at retail sites, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. See my disclosure for more details.
Three Reasons You Should Read This Paranormal Vampire Romance:
First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost is a really exciting vampire romance with some very interesting characters.
Taking place in the Cat & Bones world, it helps to have read some of the original books to get all the nuances, but the main story should still be enjoyable if you haven’t.
It isn’t all about the vampires – there is an entire world of paranormal creatues here, and they will leave you turning pages as fast as you can to see what happens next.
The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.
He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . . .
Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.
If you are already a fan of Cat & Bones and the Night Huntress world, then First Drop of Crimson is the perfect way to get to know some of the best side characters in the series. Denise and Spade have shown up repeatedly in the series, and I was very excited to see them in their own book.
Denise has lost a lot to the paranormal world. And as much as she would like to like to leave it in the past, it isn’t quite done with her yet. But this time it isn’t vampires and ghouls, but a demon out for revenge. While I applaud her for reaching out for help to a group she had hoped to leave behind, I never quite understood why she didn’t want to Cat know what was going on.
When Spade shows up to help her, he quickly tries to take control of the situation to try and save the day – and Denise mostly lets him. She has a few ground rules, but they really don’t last for very long. Especially when they turn to the vampire underworld to help track the demon down.
While at times Denise seemed a little “maiden in distress,” I can’t really imagine most people acting differently when a demon is out to eat you. Through the book, we learn more of how vampire society (especially the less up and up portion of it) works and I really enjoyed how Jeaniene Frost built the lore behind the demon. You will not want to put this book down – the story moves steadily with a fantastic balance between action and exhaustion.
