Before I read this book I had seen the movie that it is (loosely) based off, "The Vampire's Assistant", which was adorably dark and enjoyable. So, I knew the premise of the story going in. However that did not take away from the overall enjoyment of the story since it gave us more time to get to know the characters in question.

For example, in the movie Darren is much more sympathetic, or at least that is how I remembered him. In the book there were a lot of moments where I hissed, "Why?!?!?!?" at the book whenever he made a decision. It all lead to him becoming the half-vampire and being the assistant for the vampire including all the choices that he even admits were a mistake. That was one thing I did enjoy is that there were consequences for all the decisions he made and Darren had to learn how to live with them since, well, he is going to be around for awhile.

Alternatively, Steve was a little more sympathetic in the book. While you still didn't get an insight on why he was so angry, there were moments were you could see all he wanted was for someone to want him, which is what made the development in his friendship with Darren a bit heartbreaking.

You also get to know a bit more about Creepsley and he is also an interesting character, who was portrayed well in the movie by John C. Reilly. He is another one I look forward to reading more about in the rest of the series.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and quick read. I will likely finish it at some point since it is a twelve book series and I want to know the rest of the story. While the movie took points from the first three books, I imagine the entire series has a resolution for everyone including Darren and Steve which is something I look forward to reading more about.

Anthologies are really difficult to write reviews on, at least for me. Since there is usually a mixture of different authors and stories, you are usually left with an even feeling on whether or not you enjoyed it. That being said, I loved this collection.

As a geek girl myself of many varities a lot of these essays spoke to me especially when it came to feeling like the odd duck in high school with dating. Also, when I was growing up reading wasn't in style and I was an oddity since I always had a book. This collection is for girls, and those who identify as girls, who felt this way and it served to show that we are not alone. It wasn't until the Internet got big and the various cons that women felt they could embrace geekdom since it too, like almost everything else started out as a boy's club. The essays "Both Sides of the Table and Between the Sheets" really serves to show that.

What I also enjoyed this colletion is that it switche between written essays and comics. This helped to speak to the many platitudes that is geekdom especially as it relates to girls. It also speaks to coming to figuring out all facets of ones identity and coming to terms with it. I walked away from this collection feeling a bit more at peace with myself and the various ways I identify.

I enjoyed all the stories and comics in here but of course there were a few I liked a little bit more than others. One is the aforementioend essay. I also enjoyed "Yes, No, Maybe", "Four Fictional Happy Endings", "With regards to the Goblin King", "Never Kiss a Writer", and "Better than Fiction". Mind you everything in here is good; these just stuck out more to me.

So I heartily recommend this collection of essays if you are, were, or plan on becoming a geek girl since it is always nice to read about people like yourself.

This was a cute enjoyable romantic read, even if it lacked a lot of depth. I liked seeing how the relationship developed between the two men, but I felt there were a lot of plot points that were never fully developed that could have been such as Jack's relationship with his family, or Mia's indecisiveness. It felt like the author dangled a lot of threads but never resolved all of them. I am not one to argue over the pace of the relationship or how quickly the men moved in together since honestly it happens in M/F romances all the time and no one bats an eye. That is par for the course for these romances.

I did enjoy it but apart from the M/M romance nothing really stood out as overly unique to me or made it stand out from any other romance novel. I felt the dialogue was stitled and unnatural at some points and there didn't really seem to be a differnce in the two men`s voices. Were it not for the chapters being subtitled to say whose POV it was, in some areas one may have been hard pressed to tell. Still, it was a nice sweet read. It is not the worst thing I`ve read but I can`t say it is the best either. It is something I would likely re-read though but it would need to be a year or so before I even thought about attempting to do so.

This was a quick and easy read, perfect for a lazy weekend afternoon. But don't let that fool you as there were also layers to this that I really enjoyed reading about, especially being a bit of a gamer myself, and it was very interesting to read about the varying points of views that come with the world of MMOs. This includes gold farmers and the reason why they may have this profession, people who try to stop them, either due to feeling they take away from the intregity of the game or not liking the competition, and people who join the world of gaming for varying reasons.

Those are not the only layers there; there is the difference in the person we are in the world versus the avatars that we choose in our gaming worlds. There is the a scene showing the difference between various types of gamers, such as RPG and board games, and how even that can cause lines to be drawn and people to be left out. My only complaint on this is that since it was a short graphic novel, there wasn't a lot of time to develop and flesh out more of the topics it wanted to cover such as girls in gaming and how it only recently became acceptable, or how People may not be willing to branch out and try different types of gaming due to being excluded.

I don't want to go into too much detail since I don't believe in giving review that just recap the story. But I do want to emphasis to not pass it up just because you think it is a story bout gaming, since ther is so much more to it.

I have been a fan of the website site, "Smart Bitches, Trashy Books" (herein known as SBTB because that is a buttload to type) for about 10 years, which is as long as the site has been around. I took a break from them when life and motherhood took priority over my web browsing (mainly when my son started moving) but recently I resdiscovered them and my love for all the sassy smartness these ladies have.

I hadn't heard about this book until I started listening to their podcasts, again very recently, and when when the 'Read Harder Challenge 2018'came up I decided to take the advice of a contributor there and treat this one as my book of social science (dont't judge it counts). This book is a short read. I finished it in a day. But it does go into depth about how some of the tropes in romance novels do translate into real life and relationships, such as reading about the various heroes and knowing what will work for you in a real life partner. It also touches on the way the genre has evolved from literal bodice ripping and "love scenes" that were basically rape to what it is now which is where women and men both are honest about what they want. It has even evolved to include memebers of the LGBTQ community that aren't hidden or veiled under the guise of being an eccentric spinster aunt or bachleor uncle's "lifetime companion".

The chapters are broken down for one specific topic with numerous examples of it and how reading romance novels helps us to learn what we liike in sex, what we like with partners, how it helps us to solve problems in our relationships, etc.

One thing I enjoyed about the book were the interviews with long-time readers and writers of the genre. Everyone had a different story or reason as to how, when, or why they started reading the genre. They mentioned how it shaped the way they grew up; for some women it kept them from engaging in sex before they were probably really ready since they had something that described it for them. This was very interesting to me since a lot of naysayer's issues with romance is thinking that it may do the opposite.

This book was also chock full of Wendell's signature wit that you get from her blogs and podcasts. I think alot of people would pass this up because there is a reference to romance novels on the cover and that is a shame since it is a very interesting read. Even if you don't like romance novels I think there is a bit of wisdom for everyone in here that they can use in their own relationships.

Yet another delightful installment in the Myrtle Clover series. While an elderly sleuth is nothing new to the world of mysteries (hello Miss Marple) Myrtle is certainly in a class of her own. One of the things that I think I really like about this is that Myrtle is retired. So she's not an amateur detective/backer/book store owner, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with that but there is something interesting about reading about someone who solves myteries because she really doesn't have much else to occupy her time.

I enjoyed this installment as I have all the others, but this one seemed to really start fleshing out on the regular characters. Dusty and Puddin' weren't just there for comic relief. Red, Elaine, and Jack started to become more than background characters to Myrtle's zany adventures. While it was established early on that Myrtle and Red were mother and son, it is only in the last few books that the family relationship became readily apparent. I even enjoyed the deepening of Mile and Myrtle's relationship which as far as I know is still just a friendship.

It is hard to review mysteries since you don't want to give anything away but I was satisified with how this one ended since it ended up being something really unexpected. I look forward to reading the next one in this series and seeing what new advventure Myrtle has waiting for her.