Friday, February 13, 2015

Friday's Film Adaption: Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts



Summary:
Talk about unlucky sevens. An hour ago, seventeen-year-old, seven months pregnant Novalee Nation was heading for California with her boyfriend. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change. But Novalee is about to discover hidden treasures in this small Southwest town--a group of down-to-earth, deeply caring people willing to help a homeless, jobless girl living secretly in a Wal-Mart. From Bible-thumping blue-haired Sister Thelma Husband to eccentric librarian Forney Hull who loves Novalee more than she loves herself, they are about to take her--and you, too--on a moving, funny, and unforgettable journey to . . . Where the Heart Is.


Film:
A pregnant teenager is ditched by her boyfriend on their way to California in Oklahoma. She decides to stay in Oklahoma and raise her daughter with the help of her new friends.
Release dates: April 28, 2000
Running time: 120 minutes
Cast:
Natalie Portman as Novalee Nation
Ashley Judd as Lexie Coop
Stockard Channing as Thelma "Sister" Husband
Joan Cusack as Ruth Meyers
James Frain as Forney Hull
Dylan Bruno as Willy Jack Pickens
Keith David as Moses Whitecotton
Richard Andrew Jones as Mr. Sprock
Sally Field as Mama Lil
Angee Hughes as Religious woman
Margaret Hoard as Mary Elizabeth Hull
Mackenzie Fitzgerald as Americus Nation
David Alvarado as Tommy Reynolds
Richard Nance as Johnny DeSotto
Bob Coonrod as Ernie











Trailer:



I haven't read the book but I absolutely love the movie.  It's one of my favorites and I fell in love with Natalie Portman's acting talents after seeing the movie.  It's not only a romance between Novalee and Forney but also a tale of friendship and finding your place in the world.  Novalee and Lexie's friendship is a great example of sisterhood and that soulmates aren't just in romance but that we all have that one friend that is perfect for us.  We all have dreams but sometimes we end up finding our place in this world right where we are or in Novalee's case, where she was abandoned and stranded. The title may seem cliche but sometimes cliche is a cliche because it's true and that's what Where the Heart Is is about.
RATING: 

Author Bio:
Billie Letts (born in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American author. Earlier she worked as a professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. She was married to Dennis Letts until his death in 2008, and is the mother of playwright and actor Tracy Letts and jazz musician and composer Shawn Letts.


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Awfully Glad by Charlie Cochrane

Summary:
WWI hero Sam Hines is used to wearing a face that isn’t his own. When he’s not in the trenches, he’s the most popular female impersonator on the front, but a mysterious note from an anonymous admirer leaves him worried. Everyone realizes—eventually—that Sam’s not a woman, but has somebody also worked out that he also prefers his lovers to be male?

When Sam meets—and falls for—fellow officer Johnny Browne after the war, he wonders whether he could be the man who wrote the note. If so, is he the answer to Sam’s dreams or just another predatory blackmailer, ready to profit from a love that dare not speak its name?


A nice little tale of war, post war, romance, and a bit of "what's he after?" thrown in for good measure.  Sam is such an interesting character but as himself and as Madeline, who brought such joy to the men during the war.  Now that the war is over and he's put Madeline behind him, he is reunited with one of the men he met after one of his Madeline's shows.  I just love watching Sam trying to figure Johnny out and what he's after.  Of course, there's a bit of "if they just communicated" but then the story would be even shorter and where's the fun in that?  Definitely a great addition to my library and once again, I was not let down by the writings of Charlie Cochrane.

RATING: 


Author Bio:
As Charlie Cochrane couldn't be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice - like managing a rugby team - she writes. Her favourite genre is gay fiction, predominantly historical romances/mysteries, but she's making an increasing number of forays into the modern day. She's even been known to write about gay werewolves - albeit highly respectable ones.

Her Cambridge Fellows series of Edwardian romantic mysteries were instrumental in seeing her named Speak Its Name Author of the Year 2009. She’s a member of both the Romantic Novelists’ Association and International Thriller Writers Inc. 

Happily married, with a house full of daughters, Charlie tries to juggle writing with the rest of a busy life. She loves reading, theatre, good food and watching sport. Her ideal day would be a morning walking along a beach, an afternoon spent watching rugby and a church service in the evening.


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Conceiving Evil by Jenna Fox

Title: Conceiving Evil
Author: Jenna Fox
Release Date: October 16, 2014
Genre: Dark Romance, Light BDSM
Length (Pages/# Words): 35 pages/10,577 words
Publisher: Dark Hollows Press
Cover Artist: 3 Rusted Spoons
Summary:
A dark, chilling romance.  Fall in love with the ultimate bad guy.

Like everyone else after the economic crash, Abby Torrance was struggling financially. But then Dorian Lincoln, a political and business icon, sweeps her off her feet and into a life of promise. He’s a man who has enough power to change the world for the better, a man who can give hope to the masses, a man who can give Abby a baby.

But the road to Hell is paved with good intentions and Abby is having strange dreams that seem both a warning and a prophesy. How can she give the evil undertones of her dreams any notice when she’s busy focusing on conceiving?


Dammit to hell. I can’t even enjoy a movie.

The nighttime air bit at my skin as thoughts of him chomped at my brain. He’d polluted me like a poison that spread throughout my mind and body, seizing every thought, leaving no rest. I loved horror movies and yet I couldn’t recall a single scene. Jimmie kept glancing at me, concern etching his face all the way through the ninety-minute show.

Soon Jimmie and I walked out of the theater, my hand resting in the crook of his elbow. Bitterness raged inside, heating my face against the breeze when I saw the limo roll toward us. He found me like he always said he would, but three fucking hours late.

I knew I wasn’t Dorian’s top priority, and I’d made some progress at keeping my jealousy under control, but no woman wanted to be shoved to the side every time it was convenient for a man. I tightened my grip on Jimmie’s sleeve and pulled him along just as the driver stepped into our path. I gave the chauffeur a shotgun-glare as he motioned me to the car. “Miss Torrance, Mr. Lincoln is waiting.”

My heart skipped ten beats, I couldn’t tear my eyes away when the dark window lowered and Dorian tousled his ebony hair with his fingers. He wasn’t in his usual attire, a business suit. Tonight he presented himself in casual wear. His sharp, handsome features were expressionless.

I closed my eyes, digging deep for the strength to tell him to get lost for standing me up, but I knew the words would never make it past my lips. I was a fool to entertain the thought. One look from those black eyes sifted me like wheat. Dorian practically owned me. That man was my tempter and my savior wrapped into one.

I met him at the lowest point of my life, after my mother died of cancer. The three jobs I was working to keep my head above water and pay off her medical bills were about to do me in physically. While I was waiting tables at the country club, Dorian swooped in from out of nowhere and rescued me like an injured bird. His amazing sixth sense alerted him that life was too much for me, and he offered me a strong shoulder to cry on. The floodgates opened and I unloaded my personal problems. Dorian Lincoln promised those problems would disappear with a simple acceptance of his proposition: give him power over my body, something Bianca wouldn’t allow.

Lifting my palm to Jimmie’s cheek, I smiled. “Thanks for the movie. I’ll call you next week.”

“He’s a prick. You deserve better, Abby!” Jimmie yelled, as I eased myself inside the limo.

Dorian opened a small refrigerator under the seat, his hands cupping the base of a champagne glass. “You’ve wasted no time finding another way of entertaining yourself this evening.”

“You wasted no time in standing me up,” I scoffed.

When I left his office that afternoon, Dorian said he wanted me for some ‘quality time.’ Eight-thirty rolled around before I realized he was a no-show. The food got cold and eventually the long stemmed candles I lit for dinner burned out, along with my patience.

“Meetings...clients,” he said.

Top secret meetings and clients were always the excuse. The coldness in his voice was a sword to my heart, a reminder of my temporary ranking in his life. I held on tight to his promise of our relationship becoming more when the time was right.

His stony expression broke into a devious grin. “You look beautiful in that dress and your enthusiasm is charming. But watching you masturbate will reimburse me, Miss Torrance.”

My stomach dropped and quivered as I pressed my thighs together. He was going to punish me.

I tugged at the straps of the red shoes he’d bought me, eyeing him as he sipped from the flute and moved his gaze toward the window. Overtaken by the need to be the object of his fascination, I almost begged him to turn those onyx eyes back on me. His attention was the only thing that kept me from going under.

“Dorian, please I-”

My words were cut off with the sharp turn of his head. Relief came in a warm caress, but suspicion moved in with a lift of his brow. The small amount of light coming through the tinted windows deepened the masculine angles of his face, lending them a sternness that echoed in his voice.

“No other men. I thought I was quite clear about that when we discussed the terms of our agreement, three months ago.”

“Jimmie is just a friend.”

“Jimmie is a man. A distraction.”

“A distraction from being pissed. I don’t like being stood up.”

I sounded so offended, but I had no right. Closing my eyes I regrouped, reminding myself that I freely agreed to make myself available to him. Dorian kept up his end of the arrangement. He took care of me, changed my life for the better. My phone stopped ringing from creditors, he gave me a great job at his company, and I had food on the table in a fabulous apartment. He seemed to know my every need before I voiced them. I could push aside my hostility and take his punishment and occasional negligence.

“You are mine, all mine.” he announced.

His words, saturated with power and ownership, sustained my hungry heart. I could hold out as long as it took, accepting the way things had to be until Bianca was more emotionally stable, and Dorian could ask her for a divorce. I had waited longer on losers, lazy assholes who wouldn’t work in a pie factory. This time I had struck gold.

Reaching over, I grabbed the seat when Dorian impatiently knocked on the divider and the limo picked up speed.

Dorian Lincoln
Owner and CEO of Lincoln Enterprises, a multifaceted company dedicated to the science and technology of improving the quality of life of the world’s population.  A political powerhouse with a massive network of influential VIPs, he has appeared on the cover of various popular magazines and is fluent in all languages.  Demands allegiance from his employees and inspires dedication in his business and political partners.

Abby Torrance
Dorian Lincoln’s One, masochist and employee of Lincoln Enterprises. An opptomisitc woman raised in a Catholic home on the east coast.  Has been delusioned by heartbreak and loss, yet kept her will to succeed and survive.  Downtrodden, her one true love arrived in the nick of time and gave her a solid foundation for her future hopes and dreams.


S & M-Rihanna
Poison-Alice Cooper
Missing You-John Waite
Hold On-Drake
She’s Mine-Steve Perry
Self Control-Laura Branigan
You Keep Me Hangin’ On-Kim Wilde

Author Bio:
Jenna Fox is a civilized hillbilly, mother, wife and multi published author of erotic romance residing in Eastern Tennessee. She enjoys reading and jotting down poetry in her spare time.  Besides juggling a busy family life, Fox reviews and critiques for other authors and crafts her own dark erotic tales. Stories always feature a mysterious alpha male with unexpected twists to shock the reader. She believes in HFN and HEA endings, although not always in a romantic or conventional way.

Her work is born from real life experiences, an overactive imagination and a consuming caffeine addiction.  Sometimes she finds herself writing sex scenes on fast food napkins and store receipts while waiting in traffic, but she’s always guilty of keeping her mind in the gutter.  Fox is a listener of hard rock music and a watcher of classic slasher films. In short, she’s a writer, a storyteller, able to make a boo-boo all better with just one kiss and a proud, world class expert at screwing up recipes and scaring away closet monsters.  She believes in ghosts and God and is absolutely convinced chocolate soothes the savage beast.


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Debt Inheritance by Pepper Winters

Title: Debt Inheritance
Author: Pepper Winters 
Series: Indebted #1
Release date: August 14th 2014
Genres: Adult, Romance
Summary:
“I own you. I have the piece of paper to prove it. It’s undeniable and unbreakable. You belong to me until you’ve paid off your debts.”

Nila Weaver’s family is indebted. Being the first born daughter, her life is forfeit to the first born son of the Hawks to pay for sins of ancestors past. The dark ages might have come and gone, but debts never leave. She has no choice in the matter.

She is no longer free.

Jethro Hawk receives Nila as an inheritance present on his twenty-ninth birthday. Her life is his until she’s paid off a debt that’s centuries old. He can do what he likes with her—nothing is out of bounds—she has to obey.

There are no rules. Only payments.


     THE WORLD WAS a dangerous place, but I was worse.
     The human race left the dark ages behind—technology improved and ruined our lives in equal measure, and the devils in society hid with better camouflage.
     As the years rolled by, and we left our barbaric ways behind, people forgot about the shadows lurking in plain sight. Men like me morphed into predators in sheep’s clothing. We preyed on the weak with no apology, and everything landed in our fucking laps. Civilization cloaked us, hiding the animals at heart.
     We traded caveman mentality and murder for suits and softly spoken curses. I hid my true temper beneath a veil of decorum. I mastered the art of suave.
     People who knew me said I was a gentleman. They called me distinguished, accomplished, and shrewd.
     I was all of those things, but none of them. We might live in a civilized world, but rules and laws didn’t apply to me. I was a rule-breaker, curse-maker, life-stealer.
     The projection was a farce—but even the worst of us had someone who owned us. Whether family, honour, or duty.
     I’d embraced my inner barbarian, yet was governed by a hierarchy and when the Hawk matriarch snapped her fingers, we all came running.
     Including my arsehole of a father, Bryan Hawk.
     There, in the cigar and cognac laced library, I learned a truth that forever changed my life.
     And hers.
     My family owned another.
     An IOU on their entire existence.
     To this day, I didn’t know why, and I didn’t bother asking.
     Who gave a shit why a wealthy family called the Weavers were indebted to us? Who gave a damn that they’d royally fucked off my family and earned the wrath of my ancestors?
     All I cared about was the news I’d inherited something more than just money, possessions, or titles.
     My twenty-ninth birthday gave me a pet. A toy.
     A responsibility I didn’t want.
     Debts I had to extract from unwilling flesh.
     A job to uphold our family honour.
     Nila Weaver.
     One mistake six hundred years ago put a curse on her entire family.
     One mistake sold her life to me in a mountain of unpayable debt.
     I inherited her.
     I preyed on her.
     I owned her life and had the piece of paper to prove it.
     Nila Weaver.
     Mine.
     And my task…
     …
     …
     devour her.


First Debt #2
Summary:
“You say I’ll never own you. If I win—you willingly give me that right. You sign not only the debt agreement, but another—one that makes me your master until your last breath is taken. You do that, and I’ll give you this.”

Nila Weaver’s family is indebted. Stolen, taken, and bound not by monsters but by an agreement written over six hundred years ago, she has no way out.

She belongs to Jethro as much as she denies it.

Jethro Hawk’s patience is running out. His inheritance gift tests, challenges, and surprises him—and not in good ways. He hasn’t leashed her but he thinks he might’ve found a way to bind her forever.

Debts are mounting. Payment waiting.

Second Debt #3
Summary:
“I tried to play a game. I tried to wield deceit as perfectly as the Hawks. But when I thought I was winning, I wasn’t. Jethro isn’t what he seems—he’s the master of duplicity. However, I refuse to let him annihilate me further.”

Nila Weaver has grown from naïve seamstress to full-blown fighter. Every humdrum object is her arsenal, and sex…sex is her greatest weapon of all.

She’s paid the First Debt. She’ll probably pay more.

But she has no intention of letting the Hawks win.

Jethro Hawk has found more than a worthy adversary in Nila—he’s found the woman who could destroy him. There’s a fine line between hatred and love, and an even finer path between fear and respect.

The fate of his house rests on his shoulders, but no matter how much ice lives inside his heart, Nila flames too bright to be extinguished.


Author Bio:
Pepper Winters is a NYT and USA Today International Bestseller. She wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero, the better, and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex... her books have sex.

She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends. She's also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestsellers, best BDSM series voted by the SmutClub, and recently signed a two book deal with Grand Central. Her books are currently being translated into numerous languages and will be in bookstores in the near future.


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Debt Inheritance
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First Debt
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Recklessly His by Nicole Snow

Title: Recklessly His
Author: Nicole Snow
Series: Bad Boy Mafia #1
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Release Date: February 7, 2015
Summary:
LOVE RECKLESSLY. WITHOUT MERCY, WITHOUT SENSE, BUT NEVER WITHOUT HEART…

SABRINA
He was supposed to be my big break – not my total breakdown. Interviewing Anton Ivankov, the infamous kingpin, was my chance to outrun my broken past. I came ready, determined, but nothing truly could’ve prepared me for him.

Anton wasn’t supposed to be so damned handsome. He wasn’t supposed to have a heart. And he definitely wasn’t supposed to make me a pawn in his prison break.

Now, he’s making me question everything I’ve ever known, replacing common sense with raw desire. Can I escape before he’s done playing wrecking ball – or will this mad need to leap into his bed ruin me forever?

ANTON
I never knew looks could blindside a man until I saw her. Sabrina was destined to be my ticket outta this hellhole and a secret weapon in our street war.
Except I’m not working for family fortune anymore. Every time we touch, it’s lightning, dangerous and divine.

Hurricane Sabrina’s blinding me to the mission. Her twisted uncle needs to pay big time, but she’s got me so distracted I can barely think. I’ll kill for this girl, anything to hear her beg for one dirty, reckless, unforgettable night.

Good thing I never fail. I’ll do whatever it takes to finish this war and end this Romeo and Juliet crap for good. The only happy ending here is making sure her panties, her heart, her everything are mine, and I’m gonna have it all. I always do.



Author Bio:
Nicole Snow is a sweet, unassuming young woman. You'd never suspect the deeply sensual, sometimes depraved fantasies raging behind her eyes.

She started writing erotica to escape the boring drudgery of a desk job. In fiction, there are no rules and no boundaries. Everything is on the table, no matter how forbidden.

Today, Nicole serves up some of the bestselling erotica and erotic romance on the shelves. She welcomes comments from readers at nicolesnowerotica@gmail.com

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