Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Is it hot in here?

So, I started watching Sex/Life on Netflix and I actually bulldozed right through it. If you haven’t seen the show you may want to scroll past.

Sex/Life is about a woman who lives in the burbs with her hunky husband and their two kids in this beautiful house in Connecticut. Billie is the woman’s name who is the main character. So Billie gets bored with her life and hasn’t been having the sex life that she so craves. So she starts thinking about her steamy past.

Billie takes out her laptop and starts a journal about her past relationship with Brad. Gorgeous Australian Brad with the hot body. Anyway, she writes in her blog about all the sex they had. I mean SO much sex.

Billies husband finds her journal and starts reading it and actually gets him off. Their sex life starts to get better and she doesn’t understand why. Their is a part in the show where he is in the kitchen and he opens the blog and reads about an amazing sex scene and he takes out his member and gets off, right there in the kitchen. I’m like OMG this is almost too much for me, but damn that was hot.

In my personal life, my sex life isn’t all that glamorous, but I watched this show and I was more then ravished and I pounced on my husband. I applaud the show for giving me a good sex life again.

Sex/Life was basically like watching one of those back in the day Cinemax pornos lol that is what I took from it. I however, enjoyed it very much. The story was a little wonky but that’s okay. The sex made up for it.

Did any of you watch this show? Let me know what you think. I know the show had bad reviews and I believe the only good thing that might save the show is the sex.

What you might not know, is that this was a true story. A woman decided to write her fantasies and her past sex life in her journal and her husband read it. They were fine coming out of all this, but if my husband read something in my journal, I know for sure he would not be okay with it.

That’s it for now guys! I hope you have a rocking day!

M.

Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Book Review #14

The book I am reviewing is “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah. Let me just start off saying that it took me a long time to finish this book, only because I started it before the Pandemic. Once the pandemic started, I stopped reading it. However, once I went back to work, I finished it in a week.

I fell in love with the characters of this book. Ernt, Leni, and Cora Allbright. Ernt was the father, Cora was the mother, and Leni was the daughter. I technically fell in love with Leni and Cora, Ernt not so much (he was a bad guy).

SPOIL ALERT: DO NOT READ IF YOU PLAN TO READ THE BOOK

The story goes, Leni was a teenage girl and her father was an alcoholic man. He came back from Vietnam a changed man. But Cora loved him anyway, no matter how much he abused her.

Ernt would get in depressing moods and just want to pick up and move. So, one day when Leni got home from school, he picked his family up and whisked them out to Alaska. He inherited a piece of land from a Vietnam buddy who passed away. The issue with this was that the land was in the middle of nowhere. It was off the grid, they would all have to survive on their own.

When they arrived, the place was in shambles, but they made it their home. They were welcomed by other people in town. They’re really was only a handful, maybe a little more. They welcomed them with open arms and Ernt appreciated that. He thought Alaska would help him get better, get rid of his demons. However, it made him worse. His wife Cora was an attractive woman, so when men would look at her, he would become enraged and go home and hit Cora, like it was her fault.

When Leni started going to school there, there was only one classmate her age and his name was Matthew. Now at this time they were about 14. They were just friends, they didn’t think of each other in that way. However, something changed between them when Matthew watched his mother die. She was sucked under the ice. Matthew was devastated by her loss, that he decided to move in with his grandparents in a different part of Alaska, and Leni was left on her own.

Four years later, things were becoming really severe with her parents, that she wanted to get out there. More rather she wanted her mom, Cora to leave her dad. He was becoming more and more abusive and drinking more. Around this time is when Matthew came back. When Leni saw him, something changed inside her. She had a burning passion for him. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, and he about her. One thing you have to understand is that Ernt hated Matthews family, so she was forbidden to see him or hangout with him. However, during their senior year, they would sneak out and take trips and have picnics and that’s where Leni was kissed for the first time. She was thrilled and she wanted more.

One night Leni’s parents went out and she knew they would be gone for hours, so she invited Matthew over to the house. They made love for the first time that night. Matthew woke up to the sound of people walking around down in Leni’s house. He woke her up and she had to get him out of the house. She dragged her folks out of the house and Matthew got away.

After that night, things would never be the same. Leni wanted to be with Matthew always, but she couldn’t, so her plan was to go to college with him. She would leave this life behind, away from her dad and go with him. Her and Cora decided they were going to leave him. They headed to town with Ernt, and Leni yelled to Matthew to help them. Ernt heard that and yelled for them to get into the car. They went back into the truck and headed back home, but Matthew followed. When Ernt and the family got into the house, that is when all hell broke loose. He started beating Cora with her fists, smashing her nose and her face. Matthew came and pulled him off her and knocked him out. Cora and Leni went into Matthews truck.

They headed into town and Cora was dropped off at a really close friends house. Matthew took Leni up a mountain so they could escape her father. They set up a tent and woke up to each other. Leni was happy, but she needed her mom. She wanted to make sure she was okay. She needed to go, so Matthew decided to take her back. On the way down it started raining, and Leni lost track of Matthew and she fell into a crevice of the earth. She woke up with a broken arm and she couldn’t catch her breath. She broke some of her ribs. Matthew came after her and tried to save her life, but instead, it cost him a huge price. He fell and was in bad shape. He had a brain injury and he couldn’t walk.

A few hours, they were found and transported by hospital. Leni got patched up and was sent home. Matthew however, was in a coma. They weren’t sure if he would ever wake up.

When Cora and Leni arrived home, her dad was waiting for them. Cora didn’t press charges like she promised she would. Instead he went after them, but Leni told them she was pregnant and he started to beat the hell out of her. That is when Cora, took a shot gun and shot him! Not once, but twice. They had to hide the body, because this took place in the 70’s where it didn’t matter that men hit women. She would go to jail.

They hid the body and came back to the cabin, Cora’s close friends cleaned up and made up a fake story, saying that they were missing. Leni and Cora had to leave Alaska and went to Seattle, where Cora’s parents lived. They stayed there for 7 or 8 years. Cora became sick with Cancer, and gave Leni a confession letter and to go back home to Alaska with Leni’s son MJ. She told her she belonged there with Matthew, although she still thought he was a vegetable. That was her last wishes. She died and did what she was told. Her mom left her two one way tickets to Alaska.

Once they arrived, Leni did what she was told. She went to the police station and handed the envelope from her mom. The chief read it and coaxed her into telling him what really happened. She eventually told him what really happened and he arrested her. She told him to call Mr. Walker (Matthew’s dad) to come down. Mr. Walked came and saw Leni and she introduced him to his grandson. She told him to take care of him and left.

An arraignment was supposed to happen, but Cora’s friend came in and told the judge (who was friends with this woman) that it was a load of crap. All of a sudden there was a phone call from the governor and the case had been dropped. Thanks to Mr. Walker. In case you didn’t know, Mr. Walker is a big deal in Alaska, so he had a lot of strings.

Leni reunited with her son back on the Walker ranch. She wanted to see Matthew, but she was afraid. Mr. Walker took her to see him and when the door opened, she saw that he was conscious and aware. He was in a wheelchair and still had some damage to his head, but he was mostly aware of what was going on. He spoke in phrases. She was so happy he was back. She told him that he was a father. They walked hand in hand, (yes he could walk as well) and she took him to meet their son. He fell in love with him, as soon as he saw him. MJ yelled out daddy, and they became a family in Alaska.

This story actually had me crying. I never cry in books, like ever. But this one, I really couldn’t help myself. I give this story 4.5 stars. I would have given it 5, but it was a little slow in some parts. Especially toward the end. I kept waiting and waiting for the climax.

Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Review # 12

I am reviewing the book Watch Me Disappear, by Janelle Brown.

I gave this book book 3 stars out of 4. It was a little hard to get into this book. It wasn’t until the end that I really started to get into it. Therefore, it took me months to finish.

SPOIL ALERT

This book is about Billie Flanagan, a wild child, but she was a woman. She was witty, fun, open, wild, wasn’t afraid of anything. She was married to her husband Johnathan and had a daughter Olive.

Billie has what seems like a life crisis, and starts to ponder her life. She was a free spirit, didn’t really like to be tied down, until she met her husband. However after many years, that didn’t last.

Billie goes off for a hike, leaving her husband and daughter at home. A few days go by and she never came home. Johnathan and Olive start to worry and they send a search party. The search party finds Billies shoe and she is presumed dead.

After a year goes by, Olive starts to have visions of her. She thinks she’s trying to tell her. She gives her clues and Olive tries and finds her. She’s convinced she is alive somewhere. She tells her father, but he dismisses her.

Johnathan feels like he’s going through a midlife crisis. He quits his job, and writes a memoir about his beloved wife. He finds himself however, finding clues and things hidden from him, like the fact that Billie had a daughter, from a previous marriage, that she neglected to tell him. He starts up a relationship with Billies best friend Harmony, and his daughter is skipping school and avoiding him all together. He feels like nothing is going right for him, until he comes across Billies laptop.

Johnathan can’t get into his wife’s computer, so he hands it off to his friend to crack the password. He hired a private investigator, because Johnathan realized a lot of money is taken from him.

Johnathan finds out an address of someone that was Billies computer of a man, or he thought was a man. He also found a letter that Billie wrote. It seemed to be intimate in his eyes. He thought she left him and Olive for another man. He hid the computer and didn’t want to see it anymore. He thought if she wanted to disappear and be with that man then let her.

Olive finds the laptop, and retrieves the address. She leaves school and takes a drive. When she pulls up to this address of Ryan, she knocks on the door and to her surprise she sees her mother looking back at her, except it wasn’t really her mother. It was Billies daughter.

When Jonathan found out that Olive skipped school, he knew that Olive found the laptop and went to that address. He pulled up, knocked on the door and there she was. A younger version of his wife.

Billie did hike up to the mountains, but she knew her life was over with Johnathan and Olive. She faked her own death by throwing a shoe into a rock, thinking she got stuck.

She hired a private investigator to get a new passport and to change her name. She left and started anew in Denmark.

I did like this book, but sometimes I think, she was really selfish. She just left her daughter and husband. She didn’t tell them about her other daughter. She kept so many things from them. She felt like she just needed to start over. That to me is a shitty mother, and really selfish. But hey, it’s fiction right haha it’s different then my other reads.

Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Review # 11

I’m very excited to review this next book. It’s called Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. I gave this book five stars. It was amazing!

Here comes the spoilers in case you want to read this book yourself.

WARNING: SPOILERS

Garden Spells is about the Waverly family. Claire and Sydney. They are sisters that are the complete opposite. Sydney was a wild child while Claire was a homebody, who did right by everyone.

The Waverly’s were highly popular in their cozy North Carolina town. They were popular and well known because they were something magical. They knew things and things would happen when they were around. They weren’t per say witches, but there was something to them. The townspeople didn’t really care for them because they were different. Claire however, always tried to make people like her. She was a caterer and made wonderful meals that everyone loved. She tried to please everyone.

There was Evanelle, an Aunt from what I gathered who also lived in town. She had the power of giving things to people when they need them. A lot of people in town were afraid of her because you never know what she could give you. It was like something called to her and she needed to give it you right away. It could be in the middle of the night and she would have to get it to you.

Sydney ran away from her home where she was living with her daughter Bay and her boyfriend David. David was a bad man. He would beat Sydney within inches of her life, so she and Bay decided to move away from there and back home with Claire, who hadn’t seen her in years. They didn’t always get a long and didn’t see eye to eye.

So when Sydney showed up out of nowhere with a daughter who is five years old, Claire was shocked. She didn’t know what to think about all of this. Sydney wouldn’t tell her anything about the life she was living.

As time passed, the girls became closer. A man named Tyler lived next door to them and Claire had a thing for him, but it was more like he had one for her. You see there was an apple tree that was planted in the Waverly’s backyard. It had a mind of it’s own. It would throw apples and it would spread it’s branches out. It liked the attention. It was magic. It was said that if you ate one of those apples, you would see the one thing you were destined for. It would be either horribly devastating or wonderful.

Tyler ate one of those apples and he saw something that he never imagined. He saw Claire. She pushed him away as much as she could, she didn’t want love or to get hurt. However, there was something about him that drew her in.

Sydney spent a lot of time with Tyler because they were becoming great friends. They would tell each other everything and he would talk about Claire all the time.

Claire would make her infamous magical food to wean people away from her, but it didn’t work on Tyler. She couldn’t stay away from him any longer.

Sydney found Henry, a boy she knew since grade school. She just wanted to be friends with him, but Henry didn’t want that and it took him a good chunk of the book to tell her. At the end, she realized that she loved him. She kissed him to be sure, and it was pure electric. There was one thing though, there was David. The ex.

David pops in at the end of the story during a party that Claire and Sydney are throwing. He carries a gun with him and he shoots Henry in the shoulder. Bay hid away from David, she didn’t want anything to do with him. The tree threw an apple at him, thinking it came from Bay and he ate it. What he saw a few seconds later changed everything. He dropped the gun and he fled.

In the end David gets caught and goes to prison. They believe he saw his death in jail. Henry and Sydney spoke about marriage and Bay became incredibly happy. Claire and Tyler end up together with a baby and an engagement.

They all lived happily ever after.

That was my review of Garden Spells. I know what I wrote didn’t do the book justice but it’s only a tad of what this book is about. If I had to compare it to anything, it reminded me of Practical Magic.

 

Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Review # 10

 

loreen

 

For this review I’m doing it on the book Loreen On The Lam: A Tennessee Mystery, by Marielena Zuniga. I gave this book three stars. The story was pretty good, but the way it was written was not.

*SPOIL ALERT*

The story starts out with Loreen, a woman in her young twenties, from what I gathered,  breaking out of prison. She meets up with a man that she was supposedly “sleeping with” at his garage and she steals Josh Montgomery’s tour bus.

Loreen breaks out of jail, because she receives a letter from her mama, telling her that she is dying and she doesn’t have much time left.

Loreen takes the bus and drives as fast as she could to her mama, but along the way she meets Tilly. Tilly is on the side of the ride crying and she needs a ride, to get rid of her abusive cop husband. Loreen now takes on the responsibility of this woman. They go on their way, when they meet a mute bible salesman, Splat. However, it turns out Splat isn’t who he said he was. He was a murderer and was on the way to murder Josh Montgomery. What a coincidence.

There are two parts of the story: one is Loreens, and the other takes place in the 80’s and has something to do with her grandfather Mac. Mac robbed a bank with some other people and hid the money and jewels in a cave back in the 80’s. These bad people were trying to look for this treasure, but Mac wouldn’t give it up and tell them where it was. They even threatened to hurt Loreen, when she was a little girl, but Mac still wouldn’t budge.

Meanwhile, Loreen was a woman who broke out of jail, and brought along two other people, now ran into a nun who was broke down in the middle of night. Loreen went out to get her, but Splat turned the gun on her and the nun. Loreen knew he was trouble. Splat made the nun get on the bus.

Throughout the story, all Loreen is trying to do is get home to her dying mama. Obstacles keep on getting in her way.

When Loreen finally makes it home to her destination, she goes to her mama and she is pretty much gone. She tells her that she loves her and apologizes for the daughter that she has become. She kisses her one last time. Her mama’s caregiver gives her a letter containing information where the money and jewels were. Mac wrote it back in the 80’s when he thought he would disappear, because of all the threats made against him. He was presumed dead, and was never seen again.

Loreen was on her way to the cave when Splat went after her with a twist Josh Montgomery, they were heading to kill Josh Montgomery’s wife. They were going to pin it on Loreen. However, when they got there, his wife wasn’t dumb and nailed Splat. His wife listened to Loreen’s story. She was her get out of jail free card.

The end of the story, Splat and Josh Montgomery go to jail for trying to kill his wife. Tilly and the nun are free from the chaos that happened. Loreen finds the money and jewels and returns them. Josh’s wife, gets Loreen off so she doesn’t have to do any time. The biggest shock for me in this story, was that Mac was indeed alive, but dying with the same thing her mama had.

I only gave this story three stars because of the way the book was written. The grammar and spelling were a mess. The story however, was good. Sometimes though, it took a while to get through. Some of the parts were boring. It took me months to get through it.

Have a great weekend!

M.

Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Review # 9

 

fifty shades

 

my newest review is about the book Grey by E L James. This book is in Christian Grey’s point of view. I did read the Fifty Shade’s books when they first came out and I did enjoy them. However, as I became a writer, I noticed that I didn’t really care for them as much.

When I read Grey, I struggled to get through it. I just wasn’t into it, but I am not one of those people that can toss a book by the way side, so I reluctantly finished it. I am giving this book three stars. It did not hold my interest and it took me a really long time to finish it, although it was a pretty fast read. I found myself over it and over all the sexual escapades that was going on.

*SPOIL ALERT*

The story goes if you don’t know it already. Christian Grey, a wealthy man in his twenties who owns his own huge corporation meets Anastasia Steele, a twenty something college student.

Christian is all about finding a submission for his sexual lifestyle to succumb to his every need. However, when he meets Ana all bets are off. He finds himself having feelings for her, feelings that he’s not used to. He can’t stay away from her and he wants her all to himself.

That’s basically the gist of it. the story line was pretty good, but the writing style just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Review # 7

dark matter

 

This week my review is the novel Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. When I first started reading this book, it got my attention. Some books are hard for me to get into, but not this book. Very good and very different.

#Spoil Alert

This book follows Jason Dessen, a physicist teacher at a college. He has the perfect life: a wife, a son, a warm house to come home to in Chicago, IL. What he doesn’t know, is that everything is about to change. His wife Daniella convinces him to go out to a bar to have a drink with his friend Ryan. On his way home, he decides to take a different way and grab some ice cream so he can enjoy it with his family. Suddenly someone approaches him with a gun in the shadows. He doesn’t see his face. He tells Jason to get into his car and drive to an abandoned warehouse. When they get there, Jason is beside himself. He doesn’t understand what this guy wants. He starts to beg and plead for his life. The other guy then tells him to take off all his clothes and walk down a dark hallway. Jason does as he is told. They arrive at a dark area and the guy tells him to put on some clothes and then injects him with a serum.

Jason falls asleep and when he wakes up, he doesn’t know where he’s at. He’s in a building that looks like a scientists wet dream. A man runs over to him, excitedly. He kept saying ‘oh my god it worked!’ Jason had no idea where he was and who this guy was. He asks Jason all kinds of questions about this portal, and Jason is confused.

He comes to realize that this other person that kidnapped him, was his other self. On the opposite vortex there was another Jason, who did all he dreamed of. But he made this portal that can transport you into another parallel universe. The other Jason was home with his wife and son and this Jason was here at the lab, confused.

Jason decides to go back into this portal with syringes that contain a solution that will help him crossover. When he goes back in, it’s a long dark hallway. He continues walking and sees dozens of doors. He doesn’t know yet what the purpose is of these doors, so he keeps on walking. Eventually he walks through one of the doors, he’s trying to get back to his home. As he goes through the door, his world is completely different. His house has changed, and things are different even with his wife and son. He doesn’t understand what has happened and why things have changed.

The whole book is Jason going through various worlds to find HIS world. He’s tired, upset, lonely, and he misses his family.

#Warning: Don’t read if you don’t want to know the ending

By the end of the book, Jason has one ampule left to take. He figured out a formula to finally get back to his world. He outsmarts the hundreds of other Jason’s that have arrived (Which I still don’t know how that happened). He gets Daniella to believe that he his the real Jason and she believes him. They go to a cabin in Wisconsin I believe and take shelter to figure out to get rid of the Jason impostors.

At the end Jason takes the last ampule with his wife and son. Jason told his son to conjure up something beautiful in his mind and then they would walk through a door.

I gave this book four stars, only because some things I were confused about. If you like science fiction, you should read this book. It really makes you think!

Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Review # 4 Ready Player One

This review is geared toward the book Ready Player One, not the movie. I have yet to see the movie because I like to read the book first. So let me delve right into it…

I personally gave the book a 5 star rating! At first it was hard to get into because their were so many things going on. Once I passed the first chapter I got really into it. The main character was described so much in detail that I felt like I knew him personally. All the other characters were equally very describable. The one character who was a girl called Art3mis was probably one of my favorites because well it was a girl. the book is based on a video game called the OASIS, which is basically a program that James Halliday conjured up before he passed away. He decided to make a running contest after he passed on that if a Gunter (which is a gamer) could collect these magical keys then they could get his company. That basically sums it up.

The main character Parzival (Wade Wilson) is this geeky high school kid and they live in this world where virtual reality is the norm. They boot up and then all day they’re succumbed to a virtual world. The United States and the world is basically a shit-hole now so that’s why the virtual reality makes life so much more enjoyable.

I had so much fun reading this book just because I love video games. The idea that it takes place in the future and that virtual reality is the norm just seemed crazy but hey you never know. I thought the concept was pretty outlandish. Could you imagine a world where you go into a virtual reality world and that’s the norm? I can’t haha that just seems far out. I thought it was cool though.

I can’t wait to watch the movie now! I heard it was good but I haven’t much more than that. The movie came out the same time as the superhero movies so they’re more popular. This movie had a lot of everything: Action, drama, suspense, even some romance. I enjoyed it very much, that’s why I gave it a five star rating.

M.

Posted on by Melissa Rose Bushey: Author

Review # 3 Fly Away

Fly Away

I read the final book in the Firefly Lane series. Fly Away was in my opinion a really great book. It was so heart-warming and touched me in the right spot. The writing was excellent and I fell in love with the characters.

THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS!!

So the journey continues with Tully and Kate but after Kate passes away. Tully is destroyed by the loss of her best friend and she doesn’t know how to cope. Kate’s husband Johnny is beyond upset by his wife’s death and he doesn’t know how to handle their 3 kids. Marah who is the elder daughter of Johnny and Kate, spirals out of control with the passing of her mom’s death.

The story focuses on Tully and Marah. Tully is her godmother and promises to be there for her but Tully becomes a total recluse. She starts taking Xanax and drinking excessively. Marah wants to leave her family and move in with Tully. Tully agrees but Johnny is beside himself. He doesn’t want his family apart but he reluctantly agrees to it. They move to Seattle and Marah notices that Tully is out of control. She takes Marah to therapy because she feels it would be good for her to talk about her mother.

When she goes to therapy she meets a boy who ends up destroying Marah’s life. She moves out of Tully’s apartment and in with her new boyfriend.  They start drinking a lot and doing drugs. She stops talking to Tully and to her family. She starts to spiral out of control.

The story takes a turn when Tully crashes into a wall and ends up in a coma. She sees herself in the hospital room with her lifeless body surrounded by doctors and sometimes by family. Kate comes to her and Tully is so happy to see her. They relive their experiences of their childhood and Tully’s mother. The relationship of Tully and her mother, if you read the first book, you know is strained. In this book, they talk about Tully’s mother and how she ended up the way she did. In the end of the story Tully is being taken care of by her mother and is living in the house she grew up on Firefly Lane. Tully comes out of her coma when she hears the sound of Marah reading the journal of Kate.

To me I thought this story was amazing. They brought everyone together. I enjoyed reading about each character and how each one had a purpose. From Kate’s parents to Kate’s family and even to Tully’s mother. It made me laugh, it made me cry. It was definitely a feel good book. If you read Firefly Lane then you should read Fly Away. Although the journey of Kate and Tully are over, I’ll always have a special spot in my heart for them. Well done Hannah!

M.