A Knight’s priorities can change

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Knight’s Desire is set in medieval times. Arian has a pitiful existence: Her stepfather has relegated her to living in her father’s house designed to eat the floor food scraps that the dogs consume. Wishing for happier days when she was loved by her parents, Arian is determined to find a way to restore Creswell castle, her family home, to its rightful owner: HER. She does not know exactly how she is going to do that, but she seems very optimistic that she is going to be able to find a way.

Judson arrives, sent by Arian’s great grandmother to confirm the Arian is indeed dead as Arian stepfather claims. If this is the case, Judson will become the owner of Creswell Castle. Judson is a night without property and desires to have his own land since land equals power and wealth.

Therein lays the problem for Arian.

How much does Judson want the land?
To what end would he go to obtain it?
Her great-grandmother sent him on a quest to find Arian, but does he care enough about her to report the truth?
Or would he kill Arian in order to take possession of her family’s land?

Not knowing if she can trust Judson, Arian decides that it is in her best interest to deceive him from knowing her true identity and try to figure out a way to get him out of the picture.

Her evil, malevolent, worse than devil incarnate, stepfather conceals her identity because of his own selfish reasons. <Grrr I hated him so much> He knows that if Judson finds Arian, he is out of a home. He has his own sinister plan to ensure the land becomes his property.

Amidst all the lusting after property, Judson thinks Arian is a servant girl named Jane. Even in her dirty state, he has some unexplained couple attraction to her. Suspicious of the viciousness with which her stepfather wants to treat her, Judson says that he would like for her to be his servant, attending to him in his sleeping quarters. This gives them both the opportunity to get to know one another.

Spending so much time with Judson creates inner conflict for Arian. He is considerate and kind to such an extent, she could almost forget the intense desire he has for her land. Fortunately for her, Judson knows just what to say to snap her out of any romantic mood – calling Creswell Castle his own. Talking about one day owning his property has the opposite effect since the woman he is talking is reminded that he is, yet another, interloper. Meanwhile, he is confused trying to figure out what he said incorrectly. Heh heh 🙂 I like irony in a story.

The novel for the most part involves lack of communication between the two main characters. I understand that Arian did this mainly out of self-preservation. Her stepfather, his wife, and son were evil, horrible people that were content to take what did not belong to them and do it by any means necessary. Since she was living on her own for so long without anyone who loved or care for her, it is difficult for her to decide if she can trust him with her life by confessing the truth. She knows that if he is not a truly honorable person, he will likely kill her for her family’s land.

Arian had some good ideas to help her cope with her bleak situation. She tried to protect herself as best she could. Although she was not trusting until the end, she loved Judson and that was good enough for me. The author created a strong female character that suffered a great deal of wrongs, but never gave up hope that everything was going to turn out okay. She knew that failure was not an option if she was going to devise a plan to survive and be victorious in the end.

I enjoyed reading the transition of Judson from a knight whose only desire was to have land to a man in love questioning his need for land. As the reader, I could visualize his change in priorities as he developed his relationship with Arian.

I would definitely recommend Knight’s Desire to anyone, especially those that like romance set in medieval times. There is nothing better than a story about a knight coming to the rescue of a woman who is the victim of many injustices. By the end of the story I was very satisfied with the way that everything turned out. Arian and Judson belong to each other. Justice was served and I trust the couple will live happily ever after.

Click Knight’s Desire to buy on Amazon

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Rainbow Drive-in Honolulu, Hawaii

Apr8

Our first stop in Hawaii was to get something to eat. I already checked to see what Guy Fieri triple D restaurant was between the airport and our hotel: Rainbow Drive In.

I told hubby that was where we were going. He was understandably hesitant because he knew that the quality of triple D restaurant were sometimes hit or miss. We have had awesome experiences and then there have been mediocre ones.

When we arrived, I was excited. I do not let hubby’s lack of enthusiasm affect me. And the crowds of people there bolstered my confidence that this was a good place to eat. I ordered the mahi-mahi plate with fries and coleslaw. Hubby ordered a hamburger.

The best part of the meal was the anticipation. It did not live up to the hype. In the picture is my food. The mahi-mahi was tough like it was overcooked. I think maybe they fried it and had it sitting under heat lamps (I do not know, just guessing). The coleslaw was good. It had a nice vinegary, light peppery taste. The fries were okay-nothing outstanding or special about them. Hubby’s hamburger was one sorry little sad piece of meat between two pieces of bread slathered with their special sauce. To me, it looked like one of those 59 cent burgers from McDonalds.

Hubby said that he was picking the next restaurant meal. Justifiably so. I did not even argue. I felt like I wasted my pick because I bought into what Guy Fieri was selling.

Overall, if you are in Hawaii, do not fall for the hype. The food is average, not spectacular.

Let’s go to Cookout – a fast food restaurant

Apr5

There is a new fast food restaurant in town called Cookout. They were so busy for the first few months that I did not care to brave the crowds. But when I finally went, I realized what all the hype was about. It is really cheap. Plus, you can get 2 sides. Albeit small portions, but two sides nonetheless.

I ordered the spicy chicken grilled sandwich with sides (1) onion rings and (2) coleslaw. The combo comes with a large tea for less than $5.

As you can see from the picture, the chicken sandwich was bun+meat+tomato+lettuce leaf. Nothing fancy. Nothing special. The bun was cold so I just ate the meat, tomato, and lettuce. I like toasted buns.
I was a little annoyed that I only received 4 onion rings, but I guess that is about right for a small portion. The coleslaw was okay too.

The whole meal was okay. Nothing spectacular BUT it was cheap. And there is always something to be said about a low cost meal.

Cookout is supposedly known for their delicious milkshakes. I can vouch for those (even though I did not get a picture of it). I had a strawberry milkshake that was really yummy. It was almost as good as Chick-fil-a! And that is saying a lot.

I recommend this place when you want something fast and cheap. Or if you have teenagers who eat a lot of food.

If all teenage crushes ends this simply

Apr4

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥

Charlotte had a crush on Alex for years. At 15, she was all arms and legs, as a gangly teenager. At 22, she has grown into her arms, legs, and features.

Alex was not expecting the graceful, flirty, pretty young woman when he agreed to go to Almack’s and dance one with Charlotte. While his sister Lucy thinks it would be great for Alex to marry her best friend, Alex is trying to avoid marriage altogether.

Surprised with his attraction to Charlotte, Alex is trying to come to terms with seeing her as the object of other male attention. Of course, his jealousy is revealed in a humorous way. As for Charlotte, she went from timid mouse to temptress in a hurry.

As a novella, Dancing with the Duke (Landing a Lord) was short and sweet. She is a girl with a serious crush who is trying to gain the attention of the object of her attraction. She does put a lot of pressure on him by revealing her years long love for him (which would have creeped me out). Most men who were trying to avoid marriage probably would have seen that as a warning sign. So I am guessing that Alex was probably crushing on her when she was an awkward, clumsy teenager, but did not want to admit it.

Overall, everything ended with a happy ending. The story was too short to have much in depth character development. That was fine with me because I just wanted a quick, fun read to pass some time before I went to bed.

City Scape Winery – Greenville county, SC

Mar30

City Scape Winery – Greenville county in South Carolina

A friend of mine told me about a winery in Greenville County, near Simpsonville, that was producing some very delicious wines. Of course, I had to check it out. That led me to City Scape Winery. Their tasting room is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM.

I did a wine tasting of all of the wines that they offer in the following categories: white, blush, red, and specialty.

My favorite white wine was Pineapple Riesling. It was sweet, light, but not dried. My least favorite was the Uptown White which was at Pinot Grigio. It was also light but the flavor was dry. I think that is a characteristic of Pinot Grigio, but I’m not sure.

Out of all the different categories the blush wines were my favorite. They offer two wines in this category: Upstate Blush and Raspberry White Zin. Upstate Blush is a Chardonnay mix to with cranberry juice. To me, it smells like a pretty, dainty wine. The Raspberry White Zin smells like cotton candy and taste like berries. A great combination to me!

My least favorite category of wines was the Reds. All of them were different variations of dry, strong flavors. The Downtown Red was probably the most tart of all in this category. The Blackberry Merlot smelled sweet and I am told it is better chilled. And the strongest of all of the Reds was the Urban Red because the flavors seem to ~~overpower~~ numb my taste buds. But since I want to enjoy the flavor and not trying to drink myself senseless, I decided Urban Red was not for me.

The specialty wines should have also been titled the most decadent wines. The Dark Chocolate Red had a very good flavor and would be good to eat alongside a piece of chocolate. The Orange Chocolate Delight also had really good flavor and if paired with the right food I think that would be helpful. Raspberry Chocolate Delight had a good smooth, deep rich flavor that I would like to enjoy the warm while sitting next to a fireplace. It had that comfort-taste to it.

After the tasting, I bought the Pineapple Riesling and the Raspberry White Zin. Those were my two favorites out of all the wines.

I highly recommend doing a wine tasting at City Scape winery. This is a perfect outing for anyone that is looking for something different to do. I like wines from Chile, France, Spain, Napa, and other global regions, but I think it is great that there are wineries in the area where I live that are making wines with local fruit.