#beyond pain

from the series: beyond pain (2023-2025) by ricardo miguel hernández

* Is three books a slow burn? I really like Bren and Six. He knows just how slow to take it with her, to let her know she has choices that she’s free to make, and letting her know she’s welcome to his company whatever she decides. It’s terribly sweet for a lethal killing machine and a feral girl who just needs some polish of her rough edges to make her as deadly.

* “Bren didn't ask rhetorical questions. He asked blunt ones and expected honest answers. Worse, he acted on the things she told him. If she said she didn't like it, he'd stop, even if he didn't believe her.” Gotta love a brute who takes consent seriously.

* “She'd known her invitation hadn't been enthusiastic or seductive, so who could blame Bren for not taking her up on it? until she was half convinced she'd thrown herself at him only to be met with disgusted rejection.” Uff, I can relate to this feeling.

* “A handful of seconds. That was all it had taken Bren to take down two armed men. He was magnificent. And he was hers.”

* “"You're my favorite of all the people who've ever kidnapped me." It was sweet, in a sad, twisted sort of way--which pretty much described both of them perfectly. "You're absolutely my favorite person I've ever kidnapped." This is the two of them in a nutshell ❤️

* “Weird and painfully naive, but how could Noelle be anything else?” About sums up my take away from the first book, which is not my favorite.

* Yeah, it’s weird that screwing the boss and his woman isn’t creepy. Like, it should be, because of the power dynamics. Maybe that’s why is just feels to weird for this everytime.

* I like the scene with Ace and the whips, because like Six I really can’t appreciate the pain as pleasure, but I can better appreciate how someone might enjoy it.

* I love the scene between Mad and Bren where Mad is calling Bren out. Probably where I first fell a little bit in love with Mad. "I have to go," he blurted in a rush. "Tonight. Those people matter to her, and she matters to me." Mad released him with a sigh. "Good. I was starting to think I'd have to lead you there by the damn hand."

* Ugh, Ace and Cruz? 🔥🔥🔥

* I should count how many pairs of panties get ripped off in this series. I get the feeling fabric is less sturdy in the post-apocolyptic future. Maybe it’s why the guys never wear any underwear.

* “He had her. Beautiful, dangerous, flawed, lonely Brendan Donnelly had her, and she was going to give him everything.” There is the reason this one award winning, and I love it so much.

Bottom line: this one is all about learning to trust and value yourself because you are worth it, dammit. And also plenty of very hot sex.

Last week, for me, was nothing short of astonishing. We were on holiday for a week in the place we are moving to just as soon as the legalities are through so it was, in a sense, a taster of our future life. We also attended a four day music festival, which is one hell of a stretch for someone who had her most recent flare-up of ME/CFS just a few short months ago. I had not attempted anything so…

What takes place

that gives one such a self-shattering vista

that the only solace one has

is in deadening the soul

with

cirrus-clouded,

finger-tingling sensations

and half-feather feelings

butterfly-inducing,

heady neuron-fired intoxication

one has to empty the soul

hollow out the bone

and gouge the eyes

and it still isn't enough

there, in the void

betwixt and between the remnants

of your battered self

it yet lives.

What would I be without “all that”?

Last time, I shared about my new optimism that I can heal from years of chronic health conditions using a tool called The Gupta Program, which I am now into my third week of following, with tangible shifts in how I feel. So I guess some part of me is sparking to life, like a seed that was long waiting for some light and water to penetrate the hard soil, to consider what life would look like…

It's #TopTenTuesday and that means it's time to talk about books on my TBR that I predict will be 5-Star Reads! #BookBlogger

It’s Tuesday, and that means it’s Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten Tuesday used to be hosted over on The Broke and the Bookish but moved over to That Artsy Reader Girl. As described on The Artsy Reader Girl’s blog, “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This description is right up my alley, and I hope you all enjoy this tag as much as I do! 

It’s Wednesday, and that means it is time for WWW Wednesday!WWW Wednesdays is a weekly tag that is currently being hosted by Taking on a World of Words! Wondering how WWW Wednesday works? Just answer the three Ws!

Those three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

I’m actually reading two different books right now! I always try to read an audiobook & then an eBook/print book!

My current…