Not Quite Mine
By Catherine Bybee
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Pub. Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-1611099515
ASIN: B00A3ZA598
Pages: 302

Review:

The sequel to Not Quite Dating centers on the Katelyn "Katie" Morrison, while her brother Jack marries Jesse from the first book, Not Quite Dating. Katie has been the typical rich heiress with her tough girl attitude, tight clothes, and the habit of hopping from one guy to another, all of which ends up in the tabloids.

Katie gets a big surprise on her penthouse doorsteps, an infant girl with a note attached stating the girl's name is Savannah. The mother wants Katie to take care of the baby and not to get the social services involved. She is even more in shock when she sees her name on the birth certificate as the mother of the baby. Katie would love to keep the baby. But is she ready for motherhood?

She plans on keeping the baby until she finds out who the mother is, but keeping the baby a secret from the tabloids and her family may be a difficult thing to do, especially when her brother’s best-friend, Dean Prescott, discovers the baby in her penthouse. Dean and Katie had a fling awhile back that resulted in a miscarriage and Katie breaking Dean's heart. Dean knows he shouldn't help Katie, but a part of him still loves her.

4 Movie Collection: Anatomy/ Anatomy 2/ Double Vision/ April Fool's Day
Directors: Steven Ruzowitzky, Chen Kuo Fu, The Butcher Brothers
Starring: Franka Potente, David Morse, Tony Lueng
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: May 7, 2013
ASIN: B00BUWD7NY
Running Time: 6 hours 42 minutes
Rating: R/ Not Rated

Review:

One of my favorite movies from my childhood was the 1986 horror comedy April Fool's Day. I was unaware that there was a direct-to-DVD remake released in 2008, but I recently watched it in the 4 Movie Collection: Anatomy/ Anatomy 2/ Double Vision/ April Fool's Day from Mill Creek Entertainment, which I received free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

April Fool's Day (2008) stars Josh Henderson (TNT's Dallas) and Scout Taylor Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween I & II) and it barely resembles the original as it drops most the fun and turns it into a slow contemporized slasher film. The plot rip-offs other horror movies: A year after a prank goes wrong at the annual April Fool's Day party, the Cartier siblings and their friends are being tormented by a crazed killer. There are a few twists and turns leading to an offbeat ending. Despite its unoriginal plot, it is still better than the other pointless remakes, like Prom Night.

Double Vision stars David Morse and Tony Leung Ka-fai in this Chinese thriller, which contains mostly English subtitles. Huang Huo-tu has lost the respect of his friends and co-workers. His young daughter is mentally ill, due to being in a hostage situation, and his wife is filing for divorce. He takes a job as a Foreign Affairs Officer, where he teams up with FBI agent Kevin Richter to try to solve a string of bizarre murders, all which lead them to suspect that some kind of supernatural force is involved in the killings. I have seen many horror movies, but this movie is strange. Running at nearly two hours, the pacing was a little slow for me, though I did end up liking it.

Spy Killer
By L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Jim Meskimen
Voice Cast: R.F. Daley, Lori Jablons, Shane Johnson, Jim Meskimen, and Tait Ruppert
Studio: Galaxy Press
Pub. Date: September 8, 2008
ISBN: 978-1592121663
Running Time: 2 hours 2 minutes
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

The classic short stories that filled the pulp fiction magazines from the 1930s and 1940s are hard to find these days. Galaxy Press has been releasing author L. Ron Hubbard's short stories from that time onto the Stories from the Golden Age audiobooks. I received a free copy of the Spy Killer in exchange for my honest review.

Spy Killer first appeared in the April 1936 issue of Five-Novels Monthly and tells the tale of an innocent man, Kurt Reid, being charged of murder and grand larceny!  He barely escapes off the ship Rangoon and flees to pre-Communist China and Shanghai.

By chance, Kurt meets the White Russian Varinka Savischna in a tea house and he manages to save the beauty from the Chinese intelligence services. Instead of going into hiding, Kurt agrees to help Varinka in her crusade against the Chinese intelligence, but of course trouble is never too far behind him as  he soon gets himself captured.

Yep, for once I'm actually posting my morning post in the actual morning, but of course I couldn't start writing this post without my morning cup of coffee, which I have now switched to Nescafe' decaffeinated. The weekend went by way too fast as I didn't have a lot of time to catch up on a few books and movies, all of which are for review purposes, though I did manage to write a few reviews.


I did find time to rewatch 2009's Star Trek as I might go see Into Darkness this weekend, though if the rumors are true I should just rewatch Wrath of Khan. Yes, that means I'm somewhat of a Trekkie fan. I grew up watching reruns of the original series, the movies, and watched The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, but I lost interests after the awful Voyager series. And yes, I was the type of kid that had the starship plastic models, though I did eventually grow out of it. I would have never called myself a Trekker as I was never the kind to dress up in costumes or collect any of the toys or props. I just liked building models as a kid.

I don't go to the theater very often. By the time you buy your ticket, popcorn, and a drink, you should have just saved your money and bought the movie when it comes out on DVD and Blu-ray and you probably would have saved a few bucks. Though it is nice seeing a movie on the big screen, they're hardly any movies worth going to see anymore.

Silver Linings Playbook is the most recent new movie, which I saw on DVD. Typically, I'm not into dramas, but I like Jennifer Lawrence in anything she plays in, good or bad. I can't wait for Catching Fire to be released!

The Burgess Boys
By Elizabeth Strout
Publisher: Random House
Pub. Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1400067688
ASIN: B009MYAWIA
Pages: 336

Review: 

The Burgess Boys is the recent novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author, Elizabeth Strout, I have to be honest, I have never heard of the author before. I became interested in the title because my last name is in the title. Random House nicely sent me a free copy to review in exchange for my honest review.

It seems the Burgess siblings, Jim, Bob, and Susan, have been haunted (or more like cursed) by the accidental death of their father. When they were children, they were sitting in the car when one of them crawled into the driver's seat causing the car to roll over their father. Both Jim and Bob moved away from their small hometown in Shirley Falls, Maine. Jim is a famous corporate lawyer, while Bob is a legal aid lawyer. Elizabeth didn't grow up to be widely respected like her brothers. She stayed in Shirley Falls to raise her teenage son, Zach.

The Burgess Boys have no plans of returning to Maine, but after Zach gets involved in a possible hate crime, Jim and Bob return to try to keep things quite, which doesn't last long as the media is never too far behind. The siblings must confront their past and unlock secrets that they never wanted out.

Godzilla: The Half Century War
By James Stokoe
Publisher: IDW
Pub. Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1613775950

Review:

The newest Godzilla movie is currently filming and IDW will be releasing a paperback containing all the Godzilla: The Half Century War issues. I received an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was a big fan of the old campy Godzilla movies that aired on TNT on Saturday afternoons back in the 1990s. I even somewhat liked the 1998 Untied States version, which was a total flop. I wouldn't have thought that someone could make a comic book out of a giant lizard fighting other monsters, but IDW has somehow done it successfully.

The Half Century wars is seen from the eyes of a young solider who encounters Godzilla several times. The story takes places in all over Asia and other parts of the world as Godzilla isn't the only monster in this tale. Rodan, Kumonga, Mothra, and many other famous villains show up to chaos all over the road. Yes, the robot Godzilla even returns as the military tries everything to stop them, but their only hope lies with Godzilla!

Power Rangers Samurai: Volume 4: The Sixth Ranger
Starring: Alex Heartman, Najee De-Tiege, Enika Fong, Hector David Jr., Britney Anne Pritle, Steven Skyler,
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: May 14, 2013
ASIN: B00BICASSI
Run Time: 92 minutes
Rating: Not Rated

Review:

It is almost hard to believe that the Power Rangers franchise is twenty-years-old this year. I think I was in the sixth grade when the original was on television. Just writing about it makes me feel old.

As Power Rangers Megaforce takes a hiatus on Nickelodeon, Lionsgate is releasing volume four of the Power Rangers Samurai titled The Sixth Ranger which will be released this Tuesday, May 14, 2013. I received an advanced copy free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

From left to right: The Gold Ranger ("Antonio," far left), the Pink Ranger ("Mia," left), the Green Ranger ("Mike," left center), the Red Ranger ("Jayden," center), the Blue Ranger ("Kevin," right center) and the Yellow Ranger ("Emily," right) star in Lionsgate Home Entertainment's Power Rangers Samurai: The Sixth Ranger - Volume 4.

The release introduces Antonio Garcia (played by Steven Skyler) as the Gold Ranger in four action packed episodes. At first glance he looks the average young fisherman and tech junkie, but as a young child he trained side by side with the Red Ranger, Jayden. Though he isn't a Samurai descent, he made a promise to Jayden to help the Samurais if needed, which isn't easy as he must prove himself to the other Rangers and to their sensei, Ji.