Friends with a Murder

Friends with a Murderer

Pay no mind to the fat girl in the middle.  That's another story all on its own.

The blonde on the left is Deedra Grubbs and her husband's name is Bobbie.  They attended my church and small bible study group that was held in our Associate Pastor's home each week.

I hit it off with Deedra right away because of her dry southern sense of humor.  We started spending more and more time together.  I fell in love with their 2 young daughters, and even threw a little birthday party for their turning 5yr old because they didn't have any money to do anything for her.  So I bought her a birthday cake, some princess dress up clothes and a doll.  Her little face was priceless when she saw that it was all for her.

I helped Bobbie get a job at the warehouse that I worked at.  Soon after, there was a break in where the computer, cash and tools were stolen. 

No one ever suspected Bobbie and Deedra.  Not until years later.  Then it all made sense. 

But the Monday after the weekend break in, I remember Bobbie stomping around acting all mad about it as it if were his things that were stolen.  Him finding where "they got in at", offering to weld up the area to make sure it never happens again, blah blah blah. 

Again, at no time did anyone suspect him and Deedra at all.

But after it happened, Deedra wouldn't let me in her home when I went to check on her, probably because of the new computer they had obtained, which was my work computer.

Soon after that, Deedra just snapped, said that "her rainbow didn't include my color" and "I just wanted her for her money".

None of it made sense.  It was literally mind boggling.  But speaking to other people in the church, it was believed that they were getting involved in drugs again and were doing and saying strange things to them too.

So they disappeared from our lives.

Then one day a few years ago, they were all over the news.  A manhunt was underway for them, there was live coverage, their pictures were everywhere.

They severely beat a woman that Deedra was cleaning a house for and robbed her.  They shot 3 people and one cleaning lady at a motel was killed.

They are both serving life sentences for Capital Murder.

http://abclocal.go.com/story?section=news/local&id=8637297

http://cbc-radio.com/local-news-blog/101217

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/robert-and-deedra-grubbs-middle-aged-montgomery-county-couples-crime-wave-over-6752656

http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/inmates/deedra-michelle-grubbs/738753/

http://m.kltv.com/kltv/pm_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=od:rUq6kdJ8

http://m.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/m-bond-set-for-conroe-woman/article_e0b57ed9-4b45-50eb-ba5c-c739644a9c6d.html?mode=jqm

Confessions of a Pen Addict

Confessions of a Pen Addict

We could have $60 in our bank account and I will have no problem spending $50 on pens at Office Max, even though I already have a million pens that are my favorite and won't use because they are my favorite, so I need to buy more pens to use, but then I find out that they are my new favorites, so I won't use them either because they are my new favorites, and I go to my old favorites to use, then I remember that those are my favorites too, so I just end up not using any of them and stealing a pen out of someone's car instead.

Hello, my name is Barbara and I'm mentally ill.
✍✑✐✎

*Ahem, this is only my drawer pens.   I have gallon zip lock bags full of pens too. 
And swag bags full of pens from author signings.
And pens in unopened packages.
And don't get me started on mechanical pencils.

Nine Minutes and Out of Time by Beth Flynn

NINE MINUTES and OUT OF TIME by Beth Flynn
Reviewed by Blue's Book Reviews

Nine Minutes by Beth Flynn has been on my very long list of books to read for what feels like forever.  I was making a drive up to Dallas for an author event and wanted to find a book to listen to for the drive there and back to keep me company.  After looking through all of my options, I zeroed in on Nine Minutes and pulled the trigger.  

First of all, I'm normally not a big MC fan nor am I a fan of reading/listening to anything written in 3rd person.

Here's the BUT...but this writing and narration was absolutely suburb!!   This story kept me on the edge of my seat and left me constantly guessing at the who's, the what's, the where's and the DAFUQ just happened moments.  I never even noticed the 3rd person view and that right there for me is so very huge.

While reading Out of Time, I have gone without washing my hair for 3 days.  I also may have fibbed and told my husband that I was running a fever so that I could stay in bed and continue reading without fear of him being angry with me for spending 3 days wearing the same pajamas, hair a mess, unshaved legs and underarms while looking  more and more like a homeless bag lady with each passing day.

All because of these characters.
They consumed me.
They haunted my sleep.
They kept me from basic physical hygiene.
I'm sure that I've damaged my bladder from holding it for far too long because making the choice between getting up to pee over putting down my Kindle for 3 minutes was a no brainer as I chose to hold it a little bit longer.

Grizz.  Kit.  Grunt.  Blue.  Moe.  And wait for it...Jodie Marie.

Yes, you heard me right.  Jodie Marie and I are in a book together! Never-mind that I'm playing a bad-ass biker dude named, Blue, and now that you know that I'm really a bad-ass biker dude named, Blue, just be sure to not tell my husband.  
And then there's Jodie Marie, the foul mouthed Brit with bright blue eyes and blonde hair who shows up in the end of Out of Time causing me to squeal out loud!

Nine Minutes and Out of Time took over my life and rendered me completely useless to my family.  The headache that came upon me once I finished Out of Time was the hangover headache that I get when I finish any phenomenal book/series.  That sweet agony that we all seek when reading a book, that coveted book hangover that leaves us feeling lost, dazed, euphoric and sad, all at the same time.  
I'm going to need lots of aspirin.  Lots of reassurances that life will go one.  Lots of confirmations that I'm not the only one who felt this way when finishing these books.  

And finally, I'm going to add this series to my,"Blue's Freaking Favorite Books of All Time in the History of Ever List"!!!


Blue's Book Reviews gives 
Nine Minutes and Out of Time by Beth Flynn
FIVE THOUSAND TIMES INFINITY 
FREAKING BLUE STARS!!

Click to Buy Nine Minutes and Out of Time 

Blue's Best of 2015

Here's my Blue's Best of 2015 list.  These books consumed me in one way or another.  They woke me up in the middle of the night from either dreaming about the story or characters or I just had to get up and read one more chapter.  During times where I was forced to "adult", these books were still on my mind and they would find their way into my conversations with other people who may have thought I had finally lost what was left of my mind from my passionate ramblings about these books and authors.  

Books like these are why I read and they are what keep me reading.  These books are the needles in the haystack that I am always searching for.  These listed books are the holy grail of reads for me this year and are all Blue Kitty Certified!!!!

What's on your list?  Which books kept you from "adulting" this year?  

Letters Written in White by Kathryn Perez

Blue's Book Reviews "LETTERS WRITTEN IN WHITE" by Kathryn Perez

Um. 
OMG. 
This. 
Book.
OMG.
No words.
Absolutely haunting.
Terrifyingly true. 

How do I even explain the emotions that this book brought out of me?  
How??  
I can't even put my thoughts into coherent words.  
The writing in this book sliced straight through my soul with a scythe.   It cut me into pieces.  
Because I KNOW this book.  I lived it once upon a time at the ripe old age of 18.

I too have suffered through debilitating depression.  I too had once decided to end the excruciating pain and suffering that was swallowing me up by choosing the black quietness of death over the unrelenting pain of waking up every day.   I too have written my story.   And maybe one day, I too will be brave enough to share it.

I've highlighted over 50% of this book so how do I even begin to pick what to share here?  

"Suicide doesn't happen all at once.  It starts small.  Those early seductive whispers of nagging self talk, worthlessness, self-hate, fear, or sadness curl into your ears subtly at first.  Eventrually it mutates into a relentless roar.  You really don't see death coming until suddenly, in one deeply dark moment, you're face to face with it.  Then, being worn down, exhausted from swimming in an ocean of despair, you drop at Death's feet and surrender.  Like a sander, it wears you down until there's nothing left to fight it off.  Soon your once strong oak exterior is worn down into a meager pile of sawdust.  I wish my husband knew how many times he's held the dust of me in the palms of his hands, slipping through his fingers."

Letters Written in White by Kathryn Perez is like nothing I've ever read before, but its also so very familiar for very person reasons.   
It will haunt you.
It will hurt.
It will give you not just a glimpse, but an IMAX view of depression.  
Everyone should read this book.  EVERYONE.
Whether you've suffered from depression, attempted suicide, or if you love someone who is suffering or had been successful at ending their life, this book brilliantly allows you to see and feel the hopelessness, the pain to keep living, the lullaby of lies that Death will sing so beautifully into your ears.  

Letters Written in White brings you understanding.  It does not sugar coat anything where depression and suicide are concerned.  
It is real.
It is raw.
It HURTS.
It is a MUST READ.

Blue's Book Reviews gives LETTERS WRITTEN IN WHITE by Kathryn Perez
FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND REAL RAW MUST READ STARS!!!!




ThisThi⤵⤵Get it here ⤵ ⤵
Letters Written in White purchase link

Midnight Mass by Sierra Simone

Midnight Mass by Sierra Simone

Is it hot in here because it is really hot in here.
Yes I know its winter but I'm sweating like a whore in church.
Why are my glasses all fogged up?
And why are my pants wet?
And why am I sexually assaulting my husband???

Oh I'll tell you why, it's because FATHER BELL is back and he is not leaving anyone disappointed, especially me!!!   And I forgot to wear my #shamwowpanties so that's why my undies are soaked.

Yes, this book is volcanically erotic.
But that's not all it is.
Midnight Mass is also magnificently written.   Flawless even.

"Of all the ghosts that haunt me, it is the priest who stays the closest, who dogs my steps from dawn until dusk.  It's the priest who reminds me of my sins, of everything I've left behind, of every part of secular life that is flat and colorless and petty.  It is the priest who tells me to be afraid of being punished.  Like I'm not already afraid.  But I never expected my punishment to come so soon."

"I cultivate guilt the way a farmer cultivates land.  Long furrows of regret here, heaped mounds of shame there.  I weed away the excuses and the rationalizations, I water the sprouts of self-loathing with more self-loathing, I harvest it all and store it away - silos of contrition and self-condemnation and the knowledge I can't ever atone for all the things I've done wrong.
The sister I didn't save.
The vocation I abandoned.
The wife I'm neglecting."

Sierra Simone is once again absolutely brilliant with this book!!  I was so worried that I would be disappointed as I have with so many other "book two's", but not only did she go beyond my expectations, she has valiantly fought and won a place as one of my "go to authors".

My list of "go to authors" is not a long list, but Sierra Simone just made that short list of mine, one name longer from her books,  Priest and now Midnight Mass.

Midnight Mass made me literally "ACHE" from its nuclear hot scenes.
I. ACHED. LIKE. A. CAT. IN. HEAT.

You must get this series and make sure you are wearing your overnight pad or SHAMWOW panties because you will need them!!!!

Blue's Book Reviews gives Midnight Mass
FIVE VOLCANICALLY EROTIC WET MOP CLEAN UP ON ISLE SIX, SEVEN AND EIGHT STARS!!!

Click it.  Lick it.  Own it.  NOW.

Priest (Book 1) 
http://amzn.to/1IpxY58

Midnight Mass (Book 2)
http://amzn.to/1IpxrA0

 

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Blue's Book Reviews

Finished November 9 by Colleen Hoover.

I LOVED IT!!
I LOVED IT!!
I LOVED IT!!

This book is absolute poetry.   The words sang into my mind as if it were my new favorite song playing inside my ear buds.  
Lines of words written, that needed to be re-read for the sole purpose of engraving those sentences into my memory.  
Colleen Hoover doesn't just put together letters to form words to form sentences, she creates works of art just by having her fingers hitting tiny buttons upon a keyboard, and with those simple movements from her hands, a masterpiece is created.  

"My flaws are what wake me up in the morning and what keep me awake every night."

"I just sometimes find it difficult to control my indignation in the presence of absurdity."

"One of the things I always try to remind myself is that everyone has scars," she says.  "A lot of them even worse than mine.  The only difference is that mine are visible and most people's aren't."

"You're a virgin."  He says it as more of a realization that a question.  "Yeah, but only for a few more minutes."

"He presses his mouth against my ear and whispers, "No combination of written words could ever do this moment justice."

And to throw back a quote from November 9;  No combination of written words could ever do this book justice.  
It is beautiful.  
It is breathtakingly poetic.  
If William Shakespeare were to be in an English class and study a love story just as we studied Romeo and Juliet in high school, old William would be studying November 9.
Blue's Book Reviews gives NOVEMBER 9 by Colleen Hoover 
FIVE I CAN'T FORM THE RIGHT WORDS ON HOW TO SAY HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS BOOK IS STARS!!!!

November 9 by Colleen Hoover