Wicked Charms book review

Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich

3 out of 5 stars

Pub date: June 23, 2015 (today)

Publisher's synopsis: Lizzy and Diesel return once again in an all-new adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Janet Evanovich and her co-author, Phoef Sutton!

Murdered and mummified more than ninety years ago, bootlegger Collier “Peg Leg” Dazzle once found and re-hid a famous pirate’s treasure somewhere along the coast of New England. A vast collection of gold and silver coins and precious gems, the bounty also contains the Stone of Avarice — the very item reluctant treasure seeker, Lizzy Tucker, and her partner, Diesel, have been enlisted to find. While Lizzy would just like to live a quiet, semi-normal life, Diesel is all about the hunt. And this hunt is going to require a genuine treasure map and a ship worthy of sailing the seven seas . . . or at least getting them from Salem Harbor to Maine.

Greed is eternal and insatiable, and Lizzy and Diesel aren’t the only ones searching for the lost pirate’s chest. There are people who have dedicated their entire lives to finding it, and are willing to commit murder or make a deal with the devil, just to hold the fortune in their hands. One of those people may even be Wulf, Diesel’s deceptively charming and enigmatic cousin. Wulf desires the Stone of Avarice. He also desires Lizzy. It’s hard to say how far he’s willing to go to gain either one.

It’s a swashbuckling adventure full of raiders, monkeys, minions, and mayhem. Lizzy and Diesel are going to have to do everything they can to keep their heads above water and hope they are living a charmed life.

My thoughts: This was the 3rd book in the Lizzy & Diesel series and the first one I had read. I received this as an ARC from the publisher. I thought this book was ok. Some of dialogue was witty, some of it was a little cheesy and predictable. I like Lizzy & Diesel's characters and LOVE the secondary characters - they really tie it all together.
I will probably go back to read books 1 & 2 now to really catch up.

Happy reading!

Vacation 2015, Day 7

Happy Friday!

Day 2 of the Grand Canyon. BRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! The weather predicted for that Friday was cold (high of 34) and snow. Both were correct! We weathered the weather and enjoyed it anyway.

 

 That haze? That's snow!

 

A survey marker at Hopi Lookout:

 

 

 

 

 

 

My disappointment was eased as we drove out of the park - we finally saw elk (right alongside the road)! [It never fails to amaze me the morons that approach the wildlife - LEAVE THEM BE!]

We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and drove onto Kingman Arizona for the night. We drove through a white out on the interstate. We got off the interstate and drove on Route 66.

 

This is AFTER the whiteout had lightened:

 The kids were GREATLY amused by the Burma-Shave signs along 66.

We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Kingman - quiet and comfortable.

 

You can read the other posts of our vacation if you want:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

 

 *Once I finish all the vacation posts - I will share more little vaca stories and "outtake" pictures.
 

Wishing you all a great weekend!

WILW

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!

It's time to link up with Jodi and Rachel for What I'm Loving Wednesday.

1. Everyone (ok, A LOT of people) in the Chicagoland area is flying high this week after the Hawks win on Monday night.

 

2. Has a fun "play day" with Little Miss last Thursday at Six Flags. It rained us out but we got almost 4 hours of riding in and the crowds weren't bad!

 

3. Office outings. Our office played Whirlyball yesterday. It is SO fun but boy do I feel banged up today.

 

4. This joke...

 

5. My morning ride with Little Miss - our chats are fun.

 

6. More advance read copies of books - so excited my summer reading list is full!

 

7. My Cubbies aren't looking too bad right now. Keep it up guys!

 

I hope your week is going well. I hope you haven't been flooded by all the rains across the country.

Happy Wednesday all!

 

Last night was a good night

Happy Monday!

We're halfway through June. WHAT?! This month is flying right by too. The Blackhawks try to win the Stanley Cup tonight - we'll see what happens.

Let me recap our weekend quick:

Friday, the Mr. and Young Mr. (they work together) worked late so Little Miss and I just hung out at home - started some housework and laundry.

Saturday, we all sat around until about 10 then decided to get going on the things we should have been going on about 2 hours earlier. So, Little Miss and I headed to a garage sale that had "teen clothes" listed and the Mr.'s headed to a job. Little Miss found a couple of tops and a scarf she loved.  We all headed together to run errands in the afternoon. Lunch at Chick-fil-a; a little resale shop shopping; Menards and home again.

The resale/consignment shopping...went well! For about $100 I got two Dooney & Bourke bags; 2 skirts (1 was a brand new Calvin Klein) and Ann Taylor pants with no wear on them at all!  I will return again!

 The tale of the pants: I went primarily to get black & khaki dress pants. I had tried on AT LEAST 10 pairs of black pants and none of them fit right. The Mr. brought me this pair and it was Cinderella trying on the glass slipper - PERFECT fit! New pants for me.

 

Sunday, Little Miss and I cleaned out her closet. And did we clean it out!!!!!  We took 7 (yes SEVEN) full garbage bags of clothes that were too small; she didn't like; didn't want to Goodwill.  The four of us went out to see one of the Mr's customers (nothing like some quality reading time while he met with them); went to Menards; got the kids new bath towels (and trying to get a 22 year old and an 11 year old to agree...); shower curtain and bath mat; got Little Miss rubbermaid containers for her closet and room (still in the process of organizing them).

Mr. and Young Mr. headed back to work and Little Miss and I attacked her room again and got the bathroom "re-done".

 

Before (yes, the shower curtain is torn and the towels are probably 6 or 7 years old):

 

After:

It's not much different but it's freshened up a bit.

 

How was your weekend? What did you do?

 

PS: If you want to read some fun blogs, check these few out:

Life as a Baseball Bride

Pierced Wonderings

The Jessa Olson

Val's Outside Voice

 

Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

 

Photo link up

Aimee over at Aimee Lynn Photography was hosting a photo link up and I am struggling with finding it (love your new site, Aimee!).  So I decided to go ahead with the theme she posted for this week:

black & white

 

I took these a couple weeks ago while on a photo shoot/play day with a photographer friend. I am pretty happy with how these turned out but would love your thoughts on what you think/what can be improved.

 

 

What did you shoot this week?

Blogiversary

June 12, 2015

Dear Blogging Friends,

When I started this blog 9 years and 1300+ posts ago (WOW, that long!!!!), I didn't let many people into it and I didn't really know where it would go. I used it to keep little reminders of what we'd done and little anecdotes. Over time, I have shared my blog with others and I feel like I have a nice little following now.
I have had lulls in posting and some marathon posting stretches. I have posted random, rambling posts. I have posted photos; book reviews; news events and linked up with many others over the years. I have shared a lot of my life here.
I've had readers/commenters come and go and lots of blogging friends that no longer blog. I appreciate all my readers and their comments over the years.
I have enjoyed the blogs I have read and the blogs I still read. I enjoy sharing in your lives; your fashion and beauty tips; your reviews; your social commentary and every little thing. Thank you for sharing your blogs with me!
Blogging has led me to make many connections I never would have made otherwise. I have enjoyed my friendships, no matter how long or short they have been.
I plan to continue blogging for a long time and hope that I continue to have visitors and readers while this blog exists.
So...
THANK YOU for reading.
THANK YOU for commenting.
THANK YOU for your friendship.

Truly,
Jen

WILW

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!!

 

I hope your week is going well and continues to do so. If you're having a tough week, I hope it gets better!

 

I'm linking up again today with Jodi and Rachel. I hope you'll link up too and share what you're loving this week!

 

*The weather! It's steamy today but it's been very nice for the most part this past week.

 

*A new book from Net Galley - looking forward to reading it

 

*An A+ science fair project completed from Little Miss

and today is her last day of 5th grade

 

*A photo shoot with this man and his parents, this past Sunday between rain showers that was really fun!

 

*A chocolate surprise left in my mailbox at work - it was a nice treat to find on a Monday!

 

*A "play day" tomorrow if the weather cooperates

 

*An offer from a fellow photographer to possibly be her second shooter for weddings (um, yes!)

 

What are you loving this week?

 

Vacation 2015, Day 6

Onward through Arizona!

We had a quick breakfast at the hotel then decided to drive to our first stop, Walnut Canyon National Park. Weeeellll...they didn't open until 9. So - we decided to call that off, find a Wal Mart to see what we could find for pants for Young Mr. and maybe a little something "warmer" for the forecast we saw coming the next day. Pants - success...warm clothes in May in Arizona - you get a really weird look when you ask. We did find the hat Young Mr. is wearing for 25 cents (and he wore it proudly) and some work gloves so our fingers were somewhat warm.

 

 

Sunset Crater was created by a volcano, so the lava fields were cool to walk through. You can no longer climb up to see into the crater so it's a drive by the mountain and "know" it's there.

 

 

Our next stop (and it's connected to Sunset Crater Park) was Wupaki National Monument. It has several stops to see some really cool ancient ruins.

 

 

We drove on to the "holy grail" of our trip - the Grand Canyon.

This photo is the Little Colorado River Canyon.

In order to enter the Park, we had to wait for our side of the 1 land road to open (it entailed parking and shutting our car off it took so long) - it was 1 lane for almost 10 miles. We were so excited to finally get there and see it.

 

 

 

Why yes, that is a PINK Jr. Ranger vest. She wore it from the time we bought it until we got to the airport to come home.

 

We stayed that night at one of the Canyon lodges. We were pretty disappointed in the room (the beds were horribly uncomfortable) and we had a room right inside the door coming into the lodge so it slammed late into the night and started early in the morning.

Our full day at the Grand Canyon is up next...

You can read:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5