Book 20 - First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Oh Charley Davidson...can we PLEASE be best friends??

I love this cover...mainly because I WANT THOSE SHOES!   

So...I stumbled upon this series when I noticed Seventh Grave and No Body in the New Mystery section at Barnes and Noble...so of course I had to see what the beginning was about.  I was not disappointed and have found a new favorite series.  +Darynda Jones writes in such an entertaining way.  I found this book hilarious at times, sad at other times, and let's be honest...the supernatural sex is hot.  Like...can I please get one of those orgasms???  More on that later though...

Charlotte (Charley) Davidson is a private investigator...she's also THE Grim Reaper.  She works with her police detective Uncle, Bob and before him, she used her abilities to help her father.  She hasn't always had an easy go of things though.  Her mother passed during childbirth and was actually the first soul that ever crossed to the other side through her...that white light you hear about...it's actually Charley herself.  Interesting twist if I do say so myself.   Anyway, a year after her mother's death, her father remarried to Denise...a bitch who doesn't believe Charley's gift even though she's proven herself time and again.  She has never treated Charley like a daughter, but rather reserves that relationship for Charley's sister Gemma.  Honestly, not a big fan of Gemma or Denise and I'm honestly glad that had minor roles in this first book...well with the exception of Denise who was almost killed by The Big Bad aka Reyes aka Son of Satan who has been following Charley since she was born.  

Reyes has always been there when Charley was in trouble and now he visits her every night for steamy supernatural, mind-blowing play time.  If you can't deal with supernatural sex, then don't read this series.  There are multiple plot lines going on in this one.  A dead lawyer shows up in Charley's apartment and it turns out both of his partners are dead too so she works with her Uncle Bob to try and solve the case.  Not only so a murderer can be put away, but so the spirits of the three lawyers can find rest and cross over.  So, while Charley is trying to find and put away a murderer, she's also trying to figure out who Reyes is.  

I've spoiled the secrets here because I've told you who Reyes is but there's so much more detail that you really need to read it to see how all of it comes out.  It's such a fun and entertaining book.  I'm so ready to start on number 2.  I really want to see what else Charley is going to get herself into and I really want to see where this whole Reyes/Charley thing is going to go.  After all, he gave her an orgasm in which she saw his creation and birth out of Hell onto Earth and his seeing her for the first time as the bright, shining light she appears to be to all who are not alive...or human for that matter.  And we know if she's found by anything else from the underworld, he'll have to kill her.  I really don't want him to have to kill her...  

You also need to pick it up and read it so you see what happens with the lawyers and why they were killed.  Let's just say, it involves human trafficking!  SCANDAL! 

This one reminds me a lot of how I feel when I read Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.  I laugh, I shake my head at the absurdity of the hijinks that occur, and I drool over the men.  This book was fast paced and I kept turning the pages because I wanted to see where each plot was going to lead.  And I'm so glad there's a series because I was left with a cliffhanger!  And we all know how I feel about not getting my closure!  

ON TO THE NEXT ONE!     

Book 19 - Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Let me say now...I take Travis' side.  I'm just sayin...

There's a line (and actually a lot more than one line) from Kenny Chesney's song Come Over that pretty much, kind of perfectly, sums this book up: "Forget about your friends. You know they're gonna say we're bad for each other, but we ain't good for anyone else." Except, instead of their friends constantly telling them this, they keep whispering it to themselves.  At least Abby sure as shit does.  She lets her girl brain take over and there are so many insecurities.  I actually don't blame Travis for a lot of things that happen on the roller coaster ride that is their relationship...sometimes relationshit.  She makes a lot of this shit happen.  Get out of your girl brain and just love this man.  They both are far better when they're with each other than when they're apart because for whatever reason they let the past ghosts interfere.  Abby keeps taking the mistakes of her father out on Travis, and honestly it's not fair.  Abby, I feel, puts him through a lot of unnecessary emotional bullshit and trauma, mostly because she's a fucking girl and apparently it's what we all do.  For instance, she was ready to just end their mutual misery at Thanksgiving but instead she drags this bullshit on for about 4 more fucking months...uh really bitch?  I would have dropped her ass way before then but Travis is legitimately in love with her.  Sure...he fucks up from time to time and has a hard way of showing sometimes just how much he deeply feels, but I honestly don't feel like he was the one who initiated the head and heart games.  I feel Abby was primarily responsible for why it took so long for them to finally end up together.  Hell, she even admits to it.  

As if you couldn't tell from the previous rant...I obviously find favor with Travis.  Travis is your all American bad boy.  He drives a Harley, has rock hard six pack abs, arms well honed from fighting (think UFC only in a college building basement), tattoos up and down his arms (shiver and swoon)...he's a panty dropper.  I was bound to love him and take his side in most everything.  He's never loved a woman other than his mother who he doesn't even remember much since she passed when he was so young, and now he's stumbled upon Abby, who steals his heart regardless of whether she wants it or not.  They have ups and downs as all couples do but to me she takes it too far.  She's always up and leaving...she seriously needs to work on her communication skills.  I could clearly see that he would do anything and everything she wanted to do, all she had to do was say it but she couldn't do it.  She kept letting past demons and problems get in the way.

I'm not saying Travis was always in the right, but given how crazy Abby was acting...I kinda feel he wasn't always in the wrong and that a lot of his behavior was justifiable considering she was just stringing him along.  I'm not her biggest fan in all honesty and I'm still not completely convinced that she deserves him...but they're no good being with other people.  They're miserable when they're apart and make everyone else around them miserable.  I don't know how America and Shep were able to stand it for so long.  I believe I would have had to walk away from their friendships.  Of course, I have an incredibly low tolerance for bullshit and I don't deal with crazy.  I will walk away from you.  Self preservation I suppose.

In the end though, they get their happy ending...they're married and all that jazz...but they're still in college and I have a feeling there are still battles ahead.  With all of the conflict they had throughout the book...all the fights...all the off and on...all the toying with the emotions, I was emotionally fucking relieved when they finally got it together.  I could finally quit yelling at the book and rolling my eyes and sighing heavily and just kind of being generally disgusted with them not being able to get their shit together.

If you're looking for a fast paced little romance story that isn't all sex but has actual plot...and you need a new fictional boyfriend, then go ahead and read this guy.  And the next few after it.  I'll read them all because I want to see what happens from here.  I'll root for them...mostly because I want Travis to be happy...I still just can't shake the feeling of not being Abby's biggest fan...maybe it's jealousy over fictional characters...      

Book 18 - The Quick by Lauren Owen

So here's something you should know about me...I love all things Victorian Era...specifically Victorian London.  I think it's because I have a slight interest/obsession with all things Jack the Ripper...yeah...I'm weird.  I tell you that because there's not much on the back of this book to tell you what the story is about but the first words are "LONDON, 1892:".  Well hello Victorian London.  All I know from the back is that we're in London and James Norbury has disappeared and his sister, Charlotte, leaves her home in Yorkshire to go find him.  We all know, based on many previous posts, that I'm an avid mystery fan.  So, Victorian London plus a good mystery equals a book after my own heart.  It was then I read one of the reviews on the front and back covers that I also realized there were vampires involved.  Yep...you guessed it...I'm a vampire fan.  Anyway, this book seemed like a fitting choice for my tastes so I picked it up without further thought.  On to the review!  HUGE spoiler alerts by the way, in that I'll tell you what happened, including the ending, because it pissed me off that I have no closure and this book make me unexpectedly cry at the end.  

This book has 5 parts and at times can seem a bit choppy because it's broken down in these 5 parts.  You have to mentally switch gears because Part 2 starts off and I was going who the fuck are these people?  What the hell is going on?  I'm so confused!  You just have to stick with it!  I promise, it all starts to come together.  I don't remember what happened in each part, I just remember the first 2 seemed to have nothing to do with one another until I got to Part 3...then it all clicked into place.

Part 1 introduces you to James and Charlotte growing up in a mansion in Yorkshire and then their father dies so all of the money and property are left to James but he's still a child.  Upon the death of their father, Charlotte goes to live nearby with Mrs. Chickering and James goes off to basically a boarding school and then on to Oxford.  Of course, there's a lot more detail as the author is setting up some details that at the time I was like why do we need to know this but comes into play later.  Again...I found myself just biding my time to see how all of this was going to come together.  Okay...cut to James just graduating Oxford and he decides to stay in London rather than returning home.  He ultimately ends up rooming with Christopher Paige, a fellow Oxford graduate that James knows but not really in that he saw him making out with a woman in the library stacks and now they meet again.  James wants to be a writer and Christopher stays out until all times of night/morning partying and living up the bachelor life and they eventually become friends.  Then they eventually become more than friends and I DID NOT SEE THAT SHIT COMING.  I'm not homophobic but I seriously had to flip back a few pages because I didn't see it coming.  I felt it came completely out of nowhere and I honestly feel like there was never anything to suggest an underlying sexual tension or interest for either of them.  Maybe you'll read it different but I was floored for a minute.  So...yay they're happy with one another but Christopher's older brother somehow knows what the deal is (you find out later it's because he can read minds because he's a...*gasp*...VAMPIRE) and he doesn't like it one bit.  Tells James to pack his shit and go so of course Christopher and James decide they'll run away together.  The night before they're set to leave they're attacked and the part fucking abruptly ends...a cliffhanger already dude?  Seriously?

Then we get to Part 2 which introduces you to journal writings by Augustus Mould and I was like what the fuck is going on here?  Who is this kid?  Who are Michael and Edmund?  WHAT THE MONKEY?!  Basically there's a secret club, the Aegolius club, which is a secret society of male vampires...no women allowed...of course not...it's Victorian London.  Edmund is a vampy who knew A. Mould before his "Exchange" took place.  So...after he's a vampire, he seeks Mould out because he wants Mould, a researcher, to figure out all he can about the vampiric condition.  From here, it's a lot of blah blah blah and figuring out how to not only overthrow the Aegolius leader so Edmund can rule, but also how to capture poor, unfortunate vampires in order to test theories and weapons and traps and other such nonsense on them.  Eventually, Edmund does become the leader and Mould develops the nickname of Dr, Knife but the poor, unfortunate vampires called the Alia.  It's also during this time we learn that Christopher was killed in the attack but James has been transformed, against his will, into a vampire.  It was previously thoughts, based on a bad translation of Latin, that consent must be made in order for the Exchange to occur successfully.  Michael's (Edmund's psychotic brother) exchanging with a non-consenting James has now proven otherwise.  James and a human who helps him, Arthur Howland, escape the Aegolius club.

Now we cut to Mrs. Chickering dying and James not responding to the telegraphs Charlotte sent so she hops on a train and comes to London is search of her brother.  She goes to his home and finds him being all weird and vampy...he bites her...they both freak out...she runs away.  There's other stuff but that's the gist.  While she's busy running through the streets of London with her luggage in tow, she's grabbed by a vampire but woot woot the day is saved by Shadwell and Adeline...vampire hunters of the time, if you would.  When they get back to the bookstore owned by Shadwell and Adeline, Howland is passed out on the curb in front of their shop.  Everyone goes inside and tells their respective stories.

Meanwhile, you're being told about the Alia when all you really truly need to know is Mrs. Price is the leader of them and her errand vampire child is Liza.  You probably also need to know there's a Mr. Burke who was a vampire, killed his partner, felt the guilt every day so he cut off his arms and legs so he couldn't stalk his prey.  Somehow he's cool with all sides so he knows what's up with the Alia, what's going on the Aegolius club, and Shadwell and Adeline use him for information as well.  Shadwell and Adeline want to get Charlotte and Howland out of London.  You also learn in a side note than Edmund and Mould have captured James and are holding his ass in a silver lined coffin.  Around this time too, Mr. Burke is murdered by Shadwell, but he tells Liza it was Dr. Knife and now we can get a war going on between the Alia and the Aegolius club.

Remember Michael?  Edmund's psychotic vampire brother who killed Christopher and turned James?  Well he opens up the silver lined coffin James is in and taunts his ass with silver spikes...kind of like knitting needles...and in a last act of self preservation the incredibly weak James kills his ass.  Well of course Edmund isn't happy even though his brother was psychotic so they chain James up with silver and beat him and torture and blah blah blah.  Lucky for him, the Alia are coming to the club and Liza sneaks in so she and the other little vampire children can set fire to the building.  She knows James from a previous incident (not that important) and removes the silver from him.  At the same time, Charlotte and Howland are trying to infiltrate and they're alone because Shadwell and Adeline have been murdered because of Mr. Burke.  Chaos ensues!

Turns out Christopher's brother helps Charlotte, Howland, and James get out.  Liza gets out.  Edmund and Mould get out.  Maybe a couple of unimportant vampires.  Edmund turns Mould into a vampire...fucking finally...it's all this little man has been waiting on for like ever.  Liza goes off and remains a child vampire forever...I just kept thinking about Kirsten Dunst's character in Interview with the Vampire.  Charlotte, Howland, and James get out of London where she drops Howland off at the doctor because he was grazed by a bullet during the skirmish (he ends up losing a leg.)  James...well...James...she puts him in a secret closet behind the bookcase room of the library, bleeds him as if he really had any blood left in him, and nails his feet to the floor.  Apparently he doesn't even really know all of this is going on (she learned it from a book Shadwell and Adeline wrote).  Charlotte and Howland go on to get married and travel the world looking for a cure but they never find one and she can't return to her brother.  Cut to the very end in which I cried like a little baby because Charlotte has dementia, sometimes calls her husband James instead of Arthur, and is all around cantankerous from time to time.  He's taking her home to England to die but she dies on the boat trip across.  He sees to her burial and now all of the property is left to him.  He goes to check on James and what do you know...MOTHERFUCKER ISN'T THERE!

Fuck you cliffhanger.  I can't even say with any certainty that there will be a sequel.  I think we all just may have been fucked over and left not knowing how the fuck he got out or what's up with him.  I felt sometimes the author got a bit wordy and that in some instances we didn't need to know as much detail as she put in.  Overall it was a good book.  I liked her take on vampires being creatures that were so much more zombie like that most other portrayals of them.  It's like with their exchange, their human gene just died and they became incapable of caring about anything other than self preservation.  It was refreshing to see them NOT romanticized.  I also think Mould was psychotic as well.  He reminds me of a mad scientist with crazy hair doing anything and everything in the name of research no matter who he hurts, maims, or kills.  I wonder if that was really how he was or if it was maybe a bit of influence from Edmund that also brought it about.

Lots of interwoven plot lines and this book skips around a bit, but Owen does tie it all in together.  Be aware though, you may need a flow chart to keep up if you don't like jumping plot lines.  Certain parts of the book dragged and certain parts flew by and I wanted to go back to what was going on with that character, but you find you eventually end up back with them in this roundabout interwoven way.  All in all, a good book and I would buy the sequel if there is one because I'm not big on cliffhangers.  I feel a part of me has been left behind in that book just hanging out waiting to know what's going to happen next.  If your interests are like mine, go read it for yourself.  You can see for yourself all the details I left out...I couldn't tell you EVERYTHING now could I?                      

Book 17 - White Girl Problems by Babe Walker

I am SO GLAD I'm DONE with this book!  I struggled and battled my way through this fucking book.  I'll keep this one short and sweet.  

First off, I'm a white girl...I'm of Irish descent so it's safe to say, I'm fucking white.  I've never had any of these problems.  I thought this book would be hilarious.  It's not.  I thought it would be a quick read.  It wasn't.  I hated this book.  I'm not usually one to rip a book and I try to find at least something redeeming in everything I read...I can't fucking find it here.  

Babe Walker is condescending.  She's an ungrateful, spoiled, and narcissistic brat.  She spends $265k in a Barney's during a meltdown because her ex-boyfriend sent her a text message.  Grow the fuck up.  You have no clue what problems really are.  She's vapid and so incredibly vain that it's sickening.  Maybe this book was hilarious and entertaining for the celebrities of the world, but I honestly rolled my eyes so many times, I'm surprised they're still in my sockets.  

Also, if I never read or hear the word 'chic' again, it will be too fucking soon.  

Book 16 - The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre

Please keep in mind, this book is not for everyone...read at your own risk...apparently I'm twisted enough to have found it to be a wonderful book full of mystery, sex, and violence.  More warnings below...

I will begin by saying that I think you can see by the back cover why I bought this book.  It's so mysterious...who doesn't want to know what that's all about?!  If A.R. Torre designed this cover, she's a genius! On to the warnings!

As I said before, this book is not for everyone.  I read the back cover expecting one thing, then started reading and was plunged into a world of sexual...deviancy?...fetishes?...normalcy?...I don't know what you'd call it...which then led to somewhere else that I completely didn't expect.  But honestly, I didn't mind the entire journey.  This book is pretty sexually explicit but not really...I feel like I've read more descriptive novels before.  It also hits on a pretty sensitive subject...pedophilia.  And then of course, based on the back, we know someone wants to kill someone.  So...if you're not okay with sex, murder, and the subject of pedophilia, this book is not in your niche.  Luckily, or maybe unluckily, for me, it's in my niche.  I'm not easily offended and I'm not too squeamish so this book was okay with me.  Now...I will say, there are no descriptions of sexual acts of the pedophiliac nature, but the intent is present in the story.

With all of that being said, if you're still here, this is the premise.

Deanna experienced the traumatic murder of her father, sister, and brother at the hands of her mother when she was 17 years old.  Her mother then supposedly stabbed herself.  You learn the story is a bit different at the end of the book.  Anyway, after experiencing this traumatic event, Deanna was left with a blood lust about her.  With every person she came into contact, she would envision how she would kill them...most of them by stabbing or slitting their throat.  In order to prevent herself from acting out on these urges, she has locked herself into an apartment for the last 3 years.  She has a therapist and has been diagnosed with multiple disorders to account for these feelings and urges she has as related to wanting to kill people.  She talks to her therapist once a week via phone and all he wants to do is dope her up so she says she's taking the meds, but she's not.  Now, if you're going to be in an apartment every day, all day, how do you make money?  She has solved this little problem by being a cam girl.  For $6.99 a minute, she will be whoever you want her to be and will do whatever you want her to do.  You can also subscribe to her personal site so basically, she makes bank.  Herein lies the entrance of a lot of sex and fetishes.  It was quite educational.  I knew what most of them were so I didn't need the definition that was included but I had no clue there was such a thing as Financial Domination that has roots in BDSM.  Google it...it'll blow your mind...it did mine.

So, she's making a living by being a cam girl and one day one of her 'visitors' wants her to be younger than she really is.  She's 21 pretending to be a 19 year old college girl but he wants her to be younger.  Apparently, this is also a thing.  The more sessions she has with this guy though, his name is Ralph, the more she suspects something is wrong.  With every session, he wants her to be even younger and he wants her to be Annie.  Meanwhile, you also get the intermingling plot lines of Annie...yes she's a real girl...she's 6, lives with her mother and father in a run down trailer.  They're incredibly poor but they do the best they can with what they have and they love the hell out of their daughter.  I've got nothing but respect for that.  So...somewhere you know Ralph has a thing for Annie and he's working out these urges and fantasies with Deanna (who's cam identity is Jessica).  One day though, Deanna notices an Amber Alert on an internet webpage and begins to wonder if this is the same Annie that Ralph talks about.  Lucky for her, she has a client who is a hacker so he does his thing in return for cam time and money and finds out that Ralph does indeed live in the same town as Annie.  Deanna knows she has to do something.  She calls the tip line but she can tell through the conversation that they may not be taking her seriously so she sets out on finding a way to stop Annie from being hurt...which of course means, she has to leave her apartment.

Side note, there's also the intermingling story line of Jeremy, the UPS guy.  Because she never leaves her apartment, she has EVERYTHING delivered so he delivers something at least 3 times a week, but mostly every day of the week.  Jeremy overhears her during one of her sessions one day, but instead of thinking she's having a good time, he thinks she's hurt so he storms into her apartment only to find her camming and completely naked.  HER BLOOD LUST EMERGES!  I was like oh fuck, she's gonna kill his ass!  There's a bit of a struggle, rolling around the floor, aroused man, aroused woman, but NO SEX and NO she DOESN'T kill him!  Woot Woot!  Now he's really interested.  If he was interested before, now he's seen her and felt her and he can't get her out of his head.  Enter her means of getting to Annie.  She bargains with him to take his personal truck but he she doesn't want him to go because, you know...she might still kill him.  She didn't do it one time, but she doesn't trust herself to be able to resist killing him a second time.  So he lets her take his truck...in exchange for a KISS....ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!  You could be a psychopath...I'm not letting you take my vehicle to potentially go murder someone and all I get out of it is a kiss!  Dude is already seriously whipped!

Thus she embarks on her trip to try and save Annie.  Now...with all that's going on I just kept turning the pages.  I wanted to know:
1. Who is Ralph in relation to Annie?
2. Is Annie THE Annie and legitimately in peril?
3. Is she going to kill Jeremy or just fuck his brains out?
4. Is she going to go on a murder rampage on her way to try and help Annie?
5. Is she going to be able to save Annie?
6. Is she going to actually be able to kill Ralph if she comes into contact with him? Sure she's imagined killing, but can she actually do it?

No...I'm not going to answer your questions.  You need to read it for yourself.  I loved this book and it's supposed to be erotica but I didn't really get that vibe.  It's there but it wasn't to me the main premise.  To me, the main premise was, would Deanna be able to overcome her murderous urges in order to go out into the world and save this little girl?  And how would her life forever be changed by stepping outside of her apartment for the first time in 3 years?

This book was nothing like what I expected and I was so pleasantly surprised I'm looking forward to the next Deanna novel, Do Not Disturb.  I want to see what happens next for her.  I obtained resolution with this one but I want more.  I want to see if she can ever fully overcome her urges or if she's stuck in her apartment again for the rest of her life.  Obviously murder is a theme in books for me.  I'm pretty sure my bookshelf makes me scary to any unsuspecting people simply by the sheer number of books involving murder...

All I know is...you should READ THIS BOOK!    

if they're not mine, does that still make me a crazy dog lady?!?!

I have the JOY of watching, with some regularity, FIVE babies...aka puppies.  They all belong to friends and/or coworkers.  I am so thankful they trust me with their babies, not just one time, but a lot.  They each have their own personalities and they are each so special to me.  I love them dearly and consider them part of my family as well.  After all, they get their own Christmas stockings...that I refill each year.  I don't have children so these 5 are my babies.  I wouldn't trade them for the world.  

Each stocking has the letter of the puppy's name.  The wrapped stuffed is for the humans in my life.  But the stockings...they're for the babies.  :) 

Allow me to introduce you to them.  First up,

DUKE! 

Mr. Duke is my only boy.  He's around 12 years old and no, I don't know what breed he is other than adorable.  He loves a good petting and he LOVES TO BE OUTSIDE!  There can be snow and ice on the ground, and Duke wants to be outside.  It's the weirdest thing.  His family finally got a doggy door so he can go out any time he pleases!  He's a super precious pumpkin.  He also has a sister...

DAISY!

Daisy is my little couch potato.  Like Duke, she's roughly 12 or 13 years old.  While her brother prefers to be outside, Daisy likes to chill on the couch.  She's the ring leader in most shenanigans.  If an animal appears on the television, she WILL bark at it.  She loves her morning bone for her dental health, and if you're not careful, she'll steal Duke's.  She loves treats and has a designated spot on the couch.  No one puts Daisy in the corner. :)  I was, honestly, a little apprehensive about watching 2 puppies at one time but they make it easy.  They have spoiled me for anyone else with multiple dogs. 

They're incredibly easy and relaxed dogs. I have the pleasure of watching them next week for a day/night!  And they just got spring haircuts...their cuteness level seriously goes up about 5 notches when they've had their haircuts.  PRECIOUS PUMPKINS!

GRACIE!...Lou Freebush 

If you've ever seen Miss Congeniality, you know where I get Gracie Lou Freebush, even though her name is only Gracie.  Gracie is 70 pounds of hound and is lovingly high maintenance.  She has sensitive skin and a sensitive tummy so she has to take fish oil pills, glucosamine, and vitamin E. She's also allergic to most foods so I have to check the ingredients on all treats I buy for her.  I, honestly, wouldn't change a thing about her though.  She loves unconditionally and has stood up against a German Shepherd while out walking with her mom one day.  Gracie is gangster like that.  She loves a good pig ear and to be rubbed down. She has no shame in almost knocking you over so you'll rub her.  She also snores in her sleep and takes up a majority of the bed...best damn bed buddy a girl could ask for. 

ABBEY! ABBEY! ABBEY!

Miss Abbey has 3 legs and no I don't know how she lost it.  I went with my friend to the animal shelter when she adopted Abbey.  I'm not allowed to go to the animal shelter with that friend again though because I stop at EVERY.SINGLE.CAGE. and talk the precious babies.  Anyway, back to Abbey.  Abbey is the most chill dog ever.  She loves to play and is content to sit on her ottoman at the window and just watch the world go round.  She can be a little attitudinal but it's completely adorable.  She has a way of somehow fitting her entire body on the 2 inch ledge of the bed to wake you up in the morning.  I have no idea how she does it.  She gets me every time I stay with her because I think she's waking me up to go out...NOPE...she wants to play.  She always meets me at the door when I stop by for a visit or when I come home to stay with her.  She's a precious and she can get obstinate about not going outside if it's raining or has rained within the past 30 minutes.  She's an Abbey and she is loved.

ROSIE MONSTER!

Miss Rosie when she was still less than year old...at a tiny 40 pounds. 

Miss Rosie after she turned a year old...now a whopping 60 pounds.

I started watching Miss Rosie last summer.  She is around 15 months old and she is 60 pounds of puppy.  She's part pit bull, part boxer and is the sweetest puppy.  Her paws are too big for her body, she's rambunctious like a puppy, and she sits in my lap like she only weighs 10 pounds.  I've had to the pleasure of watching her grown up over the past year and little by little she's starting to become a dog and settle down a little bit.  She loves to chew things so there's always a bone waiting for her here.  She gets into a bit of trouble though because she likes to actually eat the cotton stuffing in dog toys so I have to keep those away from her for the most part.  I had my first and so far only incident with her.  Her dad was in California and I had her...and she was stung by a yellow jacket!  Cue FREAK OUT!  I immediately called the vet, took her in, they gave her puppy benadryl and all was fine...but she's my baby so I had to take her.  I was so worried her dad wouldn't let me watch her again but he was cool about the whole thing and I've watched her several times since then.  In fact, this baby girl will be here over Easter while her dad is out of town.  Rosie is the only one that stays with me when her dad is out of town.  I actually stay with the babies at their houses for everyone else so I'm kind of house sitting and dog sitting.  But...because she's the only one stays here, she rules this roost.  She has me wrapped around her finger.  We play, she has a pillow on my bed, she likes to cuddle when she's cold, and if you're not ready to get up when she is, she will impatiently plop back down onto the bed (conveniently on my hip) and heavily SIGH.  She has such personality and I can't wait to see what happens next with her.  Also, side note...I taught her to get into her crate.  HIGH FIVE MYSELF! 

I dearly love each and every one of these babies.  They bring such joy and honestly love me unconditionally.  They love me even when I don't much like myself.  I'm so thankful my friends allow me to stay with them, and trust me with their children.  I recently changed phones...of the 800 photos on it, I'm pretty sure roughly 5 to 600 were of the dogs.  For Christmas, one of the 'parents' got me a picture with all of the babies on it.  I have individual albums for them on my Facebook page and they're also my cover photo on Facebook.  I don't know where I would be without my 5 puppies.