05.29.2013 - Memorial Day Recap

Warning: Having issues resizing in Photobucket tonight and too frustrated to keep fighting with it.  Every time I resize, they revert to the original size. Enjoy the enormous pictures!

We had a beautifully relaxing three-day weekend.  We spent the weekend at my mom's house and got to see all of my nieces and nephews.  The weather could have been more cooperative but it certainly was manageable.

Saturday, a peeking boy who decided to become mobile on Mother's Day could be found going in and out of my parents' house and peeking through the windows.

On Sunday, we had a graduation party to go to for a family friend and Jack wore his first bow tie.  I say first because I guarantee he will wear them again.  Poor child does not have a choice.  It was too perfect.  I had been watching these ties go cheaper and cheaper on clearance at Target and was waiting for them to hit a reasonable price.  Full price = $5.  At 70% off, I paid $1.50.  Jack doesn't ever wear bibs and rips them off-- always has.  Luckily, he wasn't a pukey or slobbery baby so we didn't have to change his clothes constantly because of the lack of a bib.  He rocked his new bow tie.

Sunday also featured a mama/baby nap on Nanni's front porch.  We get our snuggles when we can.

Thank you to all of my family and friends who made our relaxing weekend possible.  Also, a big thank you goes out to all the men and women who selflessly serve in our armed forces.

Review: Broken Build (Silicon Valley Romantic Suspense) by Rachelle Ayala

I decided to try something new and let companies send me books in exchange for my honest reviews.  The first book I received was Broken Build by Rachelle Ayala.

Jen Jones hides a horrible secret behind her new degree, toned body, and exciting job at Silicon Valley’s hottest startup—until a man linked to her past is killed in a hit-and-run.

CEO and founder Dave Jewell is about to land a huge deal. He doesn't need blood on his car, threatening phone calls, and Jen wrapped in broken code and blackmail.

A gang of thugs hunts Jen, and she takes refuge in Dave’s protective arms. Together, they must thwart a killer and rescue an innocent victim from their past. Love blossoms, but a damaging revelation points straight at Jen, threatening to tear them apart forever.

Content advisory: language, sexual situations.

I was a little intimidated to read a Silicon Valley book-- I thought it would be a little too far over my head.  Yes, my customers buy software from me, but I don't know all the in's and out's of software building and design.  I don't necessarily think that's a big deal when reading this book.  Ms. Ayala went out of her way to explain most of the difficult terms and a simple Google search filled in any blanks.  Overall, the story was good, the characters were likable and the book was a nice, quick read.

The story started slow and technical which is to be expected for something based in Silicon Valley.  Immediately I was intimidated.  However, I stuck with it and eventually talk of builds and uploads didn't even phase me-- everything was well explained.  While quite a few of the twists were easily identifiable, I was shocked by the ending and all of the cliff hangers.  I surprised myself in my need to find out who ended up where.  I really don't want to give it away though.

The characters were, overall, likable.  Jen was a nice girl who seemed to have a soft-heart even if she did have a sordid past that was hinted at the entire time.  I really didn't like Dave Jewell but he came with Jen so I really didn't have a choice but to put up with him.  He ran so hot and cold that on one page, I'd be thinking that he wasn't so bad and I'd turn the page only to find that I really didn't like him at all.  He made it difficult for me to like him.  Personally, I think there were enough bad guys in the book that the guy who lost his wife and daughter, and then went on to be a total playboy didn't need to play bad guy.  He could have been a nice guy and never disrupted the story line.  

Overall, this book was a quick read which was nice.  There were a number of religious quotes and references.  They didn't add to the book at all and could have been completely admitted.  I think they were put there to convince me to like Dave Jewell but I didn't like him anyway so it didn't matter.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.