Melanie Cellier

I love a good fairy tale just as much as the next girl I suppose. Melanie Cellier's The Four Kingdoms series and Beyond The Four Kingdoms series has had me trapped for the past two weeks. She has given the old classics a fresh and delightful spin.

Below is a list of books (in the proper order for reading!) in The Four Kingdoms series:

1: The Princess Companion: A retelling of The Princess and The Pea

2: The Princess Fugitive: A reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood

2.5: Happily Ever Afters: A reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red

3: The Princess Pact: A Twist on Rumpelstiltskin

3.5: A Midwinter's Wedding: A retelling of The Frog Prince

4: The Princess Game: A reimagining of Sleeping Beauty

5: The Princess Search: A retelling of The Ugly Duckling

Below is a list of books (in the proper order for reading!) in Beyond The Four Kingdoms series:

1: A Dance of Silver and Shadow: A retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses

2: A Tale of Beauty and Beast: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast

3: A Crown of Snow and Ice: A retelling of The Snow Queen

4: A Dream of Ebony And White: A retelling of Snow White

5: A Captive of Wing and Feather: A retelling of Swan Lake

6: A Princess of Wind and Wave: A retelling of The Little Mermaid

I do hope you all get a chance tho curl up and read one of the awesome books.
As always, feel free to leave comments, questions, suggestions, deep philosophical ponderings and Emojis below.

A Ready-Made Family Readslist

I have mentioned once before on how much I love a good romance where the hero/heroine is all for jumping into a ready-made family.  There is something so beautiful and powerful about that. I know that there are countless tales about step-parents gone wrong but that is why these stories are so precious. And to those naysayers who scoff at the tales and say that real life is never like fiction, I agree in part. Life is rarely ever similar to fiction but the loving of a child is not always limited to DNA. I have proof of that in my own family. So, to honor that invisible yet unbreakable tie, I have compiled a list of my favorites.

Love to love you baby by Kasey Michaels
Assassin Next Door by Eve Langlais
Baby Love by Catherine Anderson
Acting Married by Victorine E Lieske
The Roommate "Dis"agreement by Leddy Harper
One Week to Win her Boss by Barbara White Daille
Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
The Winter Wedding Plan by Olivia Miles
Trusting Jake by Lauren Giordano
With This Ring by Debra Clopton
A Country Escape by KM Lowe
Aloha, Baby! By Ann Omasta
The Fix by Sylvie Stewart
The Cowboy is a Daddy by Mindy Neff

A Hummingbird Christmas by Karen Foley
Banking on Love by Anna James
Deadly Hearts by Priscilla Santa Rosa
Doors Without End Richard Bamberg
Heartsent by Kay Springsteen
Heartsight by Kay Springsteen
My Perfect Life at Cornish Cottage by SJ Crabb
Paris Ever After K.S.R. Burns
Texas Desire by Holly Castillo
The Viscount of Maisons-Laffitte by Jennie Goutet
The Sheriff's Christmas Angel by Debra Holt

I hope you all get a chance to read some(or all) of these books. It's not like we don't got the time, right? As always leave thoughts, comments, and/or emojis below.

How's Quarentine treating you?

We are doing quite well, thank you. It hasn't really been bothering us to much.
In other news, my RP is flaring up with the changing weather and my thoughtless eating. I probably shouldn't have eaten that frozen fruit in a hot kitchen with Reversible Pulpitist. Not my brightest move. Smiling is a hassle and all I want is a steaming mug of NUMI aged Earl Gray ang banana pudding. Maybe not together though.

That is it for to day. Fell free to leave a comment below. Or not. Just sayin'. Stay safe.

Stayin' Safe

So, I am dearly hoping that everyone who is reading this is staying safe. I have been staying in like the CDC, WHO, the President, and our Governor has been telling us to do. It is actually really easy for me because I already lived that pandemic lifestyle. Go to the store, go home. Hang out in back yard all by yourself, go back in. It's the shopping part that gets me.

Shopping at Walmart and Aldi is like a dystopian movie minus really handsome leading men.That could be really cool but knowing my luck they would get into a fight over toilet paper and not even notice me. (Sigh) Then there is that aura of paranoia that is floating in the air. I believe that the paranoia is worse because it never really goes away. It sticks to you once you come home.

Stay Safe, Folks.

So, no Eurovision?!?!?

Yeah, so thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak there will be no Eurovision 2020. Which is really sucky because there are sooooo many wonderful singers this year. For instance, Austria's Vincent Bueno has a epic mega jam with his song "Alive". Sweden's The Mamas gave a riveting performance of their song "Move".  Greece's Stefania's song "Supergirl" was totally awesome. And these are Just Three of this year's contestants. Sadly, we will never know who is this year's favorite.  Below is what Wikipedia told me about sad nonhappening:

Impacts of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic and cancellation

In 2020, the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from China to other countries around the world raised concerns and the potential impact over staging the Eurovision Song Contest. On 6 March NPO, the Dutch broadcaster, stated "Eurovision organisers would follow the advice of health authorities in deciding what form the event, due to be held on 12–16 May, would take." In March, authorities in Denmark urged the cancellation of events with more than 1,000 spectators to limit the spread of the virus. This resulted in the Danish national final being held with no live audience. Representatives from Sweden, Finland, Israel, Switzerland, Italy and Greece pulled out of the Heads of Delegation meeting on 9 March. Jon Ola Sand attended the meeting remotely after a travel restriction was placed on EBU staff until 13 March after an employee contracted the virus. Eden Alene, the Israeli representative, revealed that she would not travel to the Netherlands to film her postcard as a precaution to COVID-19. The broadcaster noted they would try to find another way to film her postcard. The Lithuanian representatives The Roop also cancelled both the travel plans to film their postcard and their participation in pre-contest parties in London and Amsterdam. The Bulgarian representative Victoria also cancelled her participation in pre-contest parties in London and Amsterdam.
On 13 March Eurovision-Spain, organisers of the pre-party planned for 10–11 April in Madrid, announced that it would be postponed due to threats of the virus until further notice. On the same day, the organisers of Israel Calling, a pre-party planned in Tel Aviv, announced that it would be cancelled.On 16 March, the organisers of Eurovision in Concert, a pre-party planned in Amsterdam, announced that it would be cancelled. On the same day, the organisers of the pre-party London Eurovision Party announced that it would be postponed due to threats of the virus until further notice.
It was ultimately decided that the contest itself would be cancelled as a result of the pandemic, which was announced on 18 March 2020. The reference group for the contest explored the option of letting the acts selected for the 2020 contest instead take part in the following year. It decided on 20 March 2020 that, in accordance with the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, the 2020 songs would not be eligible to compete in the 2021 contest and would instead be honoured in a non-competitive manner. The BBC has planned to broadcast a replacement for the contest. Eurovision: Come Together will feature the planned Eurovision 2020 entries and interviews with would-be participants, as well as highlights of the show's 65-year history. Host broadcaster AVROTROS is likely to fill the empty broadcasting blocks resulting from the cancellation with past editions of the Eurovision Song Contest, already existing Eurovision specials of programmes, and a documentary on how the Netherlands overcame their four-decade win gap at the contest. The EBU and the host broadcasters are working on a Europe-wide replacement show called Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, which is scheduled to be broadcast live on 16 May 2020, the date the contest's final was planned to take place.
The Ahoy Arena itself, with all major gatherings in the Netherlands being prohibited, now serves as a temporary care facility, due to a nationwide shortage of hospital beds.

At least the arena is being put to a good use. As much as I want to gripe and complain about this year's cancellation, I can't. Stay safe people.