"Home Alone 4" *Movie Review*

Hiya guys! Hope your December is going well so far =)

I have some spare time today, so I thought I'd write a review! I won't be doing a book review though, because I really haven't had a ton of time to read, especially holiday books. I'm going to be doing a movie review instead, cuz that's what we're watching in our house.

We spent last week watching the Home Alone series, and while I haven't reviewed the first three films yet, this one is just too goofy to not review!

As always, this review will have spoilers, including spoilers of the first three films, cuz yeah, gonna have to mention those as well :P

So, here we go!

Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House

~Released: November 3rd, 2002

~Length: 89 Minutes

~Director: Rod Daniel

~Lead Actors: French Stewart, Erick Avari, Missi Pyle, Jason Beghe, Clare Carey, Joanna Going, Barbara Babcock

~Genres: Crime, Comedy, Family

Kevin McCallister's parents have split up. Now living with his mom, he decides to spend Christmas with his dad at the mansion of his father's rich girlfriend, Natalie. Meanwhile robber Marv Merchants, one of the villains from the first two movies, partners up with a new criminal named Vera to hit Natalie's mansion.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hiya everybody!  Happy Thanksgiving!

I know this blog has been slightly boring for a while, which I hate, and makes me cringe.  I have definite plans to get back to blogging, on all my blogs, asap.

I wanted to take time out today though, to say thank you.

I don't know what you're doing today, or what your outlook on this holiday is, or if you even celebrate it.  What I do know, is that you're awesome, and I'm thankful for YOU.  When I say my prayers today, I'll be including you in there.

Thank you all for following us, for reading our goofy posts, and for always inspiring us to do better.

Have a wonderful day, no matter what you're doing, and we'll talk to you all soon! :D

~Rose & Ken
@Desert Rose

Good Grief, This Blog Is So Neglected!

I feel terrible!  This poor blog has been sitting here patiently waiting for some attention.

In my busy schedule this year, I haven't been reading much, at all.  Which is a depressing admission in and of itself.  What that means though, is that I'm not reviewing much either.  I've got a bunch of drafts of really fun post ideas, and no time to actually write them.

See, hubster and I are currently building a few (yes, few, as in, more than one) home businesses.  Not to mention the fact I've been spending just about every spare moment writing a book, and dealing with some medical issues that are stubbornly determined to overstay their welcome.  Our time seems stretched even thinner than normal, and fun blogs have been suffering because of it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not making excuses.  Just explaining what's up, so you all (and this poor, lonely blog) know that I'm not done with my blogging fun.  No way!  We have so much to do, and, obviously, so little time to do it all.  I doubt the load will diminish much, we just have to get better at juggling...

I do plan to get back to my fun blogging as soon as I can.  This Winter should, fingers crossed, free up some of our time.  I hope.  I pray.

Thanks to everyone still holding a flickering ember of interest, and I promise, it won't be for naught.  I'll be back with awesome posts, as soon as I possibly can.  Big plans ahead guys and dolls, and I can't wait!!

Thank you for your continued support - you guys rock! =D

Ciao for now,

~Rose
@Desert Rose & Fluttering Rose Petals.

It's Ken's Birthday!!

Ken.

K. E. N.

Kind.  Eccentric.  Noble.

So many words fit to describe Ken, but those three seem to jump out at me today.

For those who don't know it, Ken is my hubby, best friend, and one of the most epically amazing people I've ever known.  He is a blessing to me and the world, and I just love him to pieces!!

Today is his birthday, and I'm so glad - I love celebrating Ken!! :D

Across my blogs and our Lifestyle blogs, I'm going to have a myriad of posts all dedicated to, focused on, or gushing about the awesomeness that is Ken.  I can't get enough of him, and I want the whole world to know it, and to know how amazing he is!

If nothing else, I'll get to gush about him.

I hope you have an amazing birthday hun, and enjoy all the surprises Ethan and I have for you over the next few weeks :)

Lots of love,

~Rose

Pet Peeves: Blog Tours Edition

Ok, so I've been participating in book tour hosting for several years now, and I've just about had it with some of the things I've seen.  I need an outlet, so today I'm going to have a bit of a ranting post.

I'm not going to name specific people, services, or tours, because I don't want to get into it with people.  Maybe though, those people will know who they are, and realize they're pissing people off (because I can't be the only one, can I?).

If you know who I'm talking about with a specific peeve, hurrah for you- please don't name names.  Again, I don't want fights, I just want to vent and have a rant.  Thanks :)

The iPersonic Personality Test

So, I was browsing around Facebook recently, getting my daily updates on friends and people I follow.  My friend shared a post about her results of The iPersonic Personality Test.  I love taking personality test and quizzes- anyone else do that?  Well, I do, and I kind of loved the results I got back!  Over the past few years, I've had a bit of a traumatizing identity crisis, and personality tests seem to help guide me in my quest to find myself.  I know...deep ;)

I was stuck in what to post today, so I figured I'd share my results!  I always like reading other people's results for these kinds of things, so in case you're bored today, or simply enjoy reading this sort of thing, here ya go!

We Won a Liebster Award!

*This is an old post - we are re-publishing it as our domain has changed.  The blog is the same, and the award still applies to our blog, it's simply an updated post.  Our nominees have already accepted or rejected their nominations, and aren't being re-nominated.  Originally posted on April 16th, 2014.

Wow, so this week, our blog was nominated for a Liebster award, by the adorable Elle on Elle's 411 on YA Books!  Lots of thanks to her for the nomination - yay! :D

We've won a few of these on our "Plugged In" blog, so this is exciting for our UnPlugged blog! :D

The Liebster Award's purpose is to get recognition to blogs with less than 200 followers, and promote mutual notice and blog love between new blogs.

There are some rules:

1) Thank and link back the person who nominated you
2) List eleven facts about yourself
3) Answer the eleven questions asked by the blogger who nominated you
4) Nominate 9 bloggers, who have less than 200 followers (you can't nominate the blog that nominated you)
5) Ask them eleven questions
6) Let them know of their nomination!

Since Ken hates answering questions, and I (Rose) love this sort of thing, I will be accepting and fulfilling the Award :)

Eleven Facts About Me:

1.  I've been reading since I was 2.

2. I adore reading, as well as writing.

3. I have a ton of different hobbies besides reading.

4. I love music more than anything else, and will listen to anything.

5. I play the piano, am teaching myself guitar and base, and hope to start learning drums soon.

6.  I'm incredibly eccentric and goofy, and a total bohemian.  

7.  I spent most of my life acting and performing, and hope to resume theatre work soon.

8.  I've moved more times than the number of years I've been alive.

9.  I love animals.

10.  I'm writing several books at the moment.

11.  I have violet eyes.

Elle's Questions

1) If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?

Probably to be a successful enough author to actually earn a living (working on that one).  Otherwise, anything with traveling, art, acting or music would suit me just fine.

2) If you could choose any age to be forever, what would it be?

No idea.  I'm way to young to be able to answer that - the best years of my life could be ahead of me, and if I choose any specific time, I'd loose out on a ton of fun :)

3) What is your favorite musical? Why?

Probably The Phantom of the Opera.  I saw it on Broadway in NYC in High School, and haven't seen a musical that's given me chills the same way.  It's a fantastic story, and I would adore being cast for that production! :D

4) What is your favorite book? How did you come across it?

Ugh, this question always makes me cringe.  I don't have a favorite book - I love books way too much to have just one favorite, and I think most book lovers are the same way.  We don't have one favorite book, we have one list of favorite books ;)  

5) What is your favorite color? Why?

Purple - at the moment.  It changes frequently lol  

At the moment, purple, because I'm adoring the purple in my eyes lately, and it just seems to be speaking to me at this stage in my life.

6) Who is your favorite youtuber?

I don't have one.  I don't spend a whole lot of time on YouTube, so I'm not really up on that sort of thing.  

7) Who is your idol? Why do you look up to them?

I don't really believe in idols.  If I have an idol at all, it would be God/Jesus.  I don't necessarily look up to Him, as much as I simply follow Him and trust him with my life.  

8) What are favorite and least favorite book to movie adaptations?

-Favorite: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug , probably.  

-Least Favorite: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

9) If you could travel back in time to any historical period, which would it be?

Probably the Victorian Era.  I've always wanted to see how people lived in that time period, and how they truly acted with each other.  

10) Sunrise or Sunset?

Both.  Probably sunrise though, if I have to choose one :P

11) What color socks are you wearing right now?

I'm not wearing socks at the moment.  Later tonight, I'll be wearing fuzzy pink ones with multi-colored polka-dots. 

My Questions for My Nominees

1) What do you do when you're not blogging?

2)  What is your favorite food?

3)  What is your dream job?

4)  What is your favorite genre of books?

5)  What is your favorite genre of movies?

6)  What is your favorite genre of music?

7)  What historical figure would you enjoy meeting?

8)  What is your favorite animal?

9)  Day or night?

10)  Paperback, or eBook?

11) What book would you like to see turned into a movie?

My Nominees

1)  Angel @ -Spare Reads-

2)  Eva @ All Books Considered

3)  Paige @ Electively Paige

4)  Miss Perfection @ A Perfection Called Books

5)  Tanya @ A Book Paradise

6)  Lauren @ Pink Avenger Prime

7)  Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

8)  Keeley @ Lost In The Pages Of A Book...

9)  Georgia May @ TeenBookHoots

Congrats to the nominees - I hope you have fun answering my questions!! :D  

Good luck to everyone with their awesome blogs!  Thanks for reading, and as always: 

Keep Creating!

*Book Review* "The Best Kind of Trouble" by Courtney B. Jones

A few months ago, I participated in a book tour hosted by Itching For Books, for the first book in the "Trouble" series, by author Courtney B. Jones.  From the synopsis and cover, I figured it would be a book I'd really enjoy.  Since it ended up being a not-so-good rating and review, I waited to post my review until the tour ended.  As the tour ended several months ago, I'm posting my UnPlugged review today, and my official review will be up on our other book blog later this week. 

*As always, I'd like to remind my readers that the reviews here all have spoilers, however I have a spoiler-free, official (plugged in) review you can read here.

Welp, here we go!

I grew up in Texas where I still live with my husband, our two kids, and two dogs. I'm a recent college grad and an elementary school teacher.

I love to read and write love stories. I have an obsession with books. I own far far too many!

~ Connect with Courtney Online ~

Goodreads ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

The Best Kind of Trouble

(Trouble, #1)

~By: Courtney B. Jones

~Published: January 17th, 2014

~Length: 191 Pages

~Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Ashley Parker knows trouble. And Nathan Williams--star quarterback and charming ladies man—is trouble. She knows he'll only break her heart. But that doesn't stop her from jumping in feet first. When her whole world is flipped upside down, her guitar and her lyrics become her only solace. Along with sexy guitar player Caleb Mathews. 

Fueled by heartache, love, and lust, Ashley finds herself in the best kind of trouble. Boy trouble.

~ 2/5 Roses ~

*I was given an eCopy of the book, from the author, to read in exchange for an honest review.

I'm honestly quite conflicted about my opinion of this book.  Being a musician myself, I was really looking forward to reading a book featuring a girl who writes and makes music.  I adore the fact that music is a main aspect of this story, and enjoyed the lyrics that were included in the story.  That's the good - now for the not-so-good...

The main character is, unfortunately, infuriating.  The entire story is kind of odd, and throughout the whole thing, I kept thinking: “Ok, I guess technically that could happen, given the exact right circumstances and an insane amount of luck...or in a fantasy...but things don't really happen like that.”

It was very much a contemporary urban fantasy, with a classic “Two guys and a girl” kinda twist.

Secondary characters: Ashley's best friend got on my nerves quite a bit.  She wasn't much of a friend, and just kept making things worse.  Her and her boyfriend were really random, and the drama that centered on the two of them toward the end was odd, and seemed out of place.

The guys: Nathan is your typical jock guy.  Masculine, possessive to a point, competitive and very testosterone-driven.  Caleb is an artist – a musician, to be exact – complete with the mysterious bad guy image, exuding a cool and confident vibe.  Exact opposites, except for one thing: Ashley turns into a hot mess when either of them look at her.

The girl: oy.  Ashley is, well, very slap-able.  Meaning, I really want to slap her, basically every time she does something new.  She is simply a ball of irrational emotions she can't seem to control, and while there probably are people out there like that, I don't think it's entirely realistic.  I mean, do most women really become balls of burning lust because a guy smiles at them?  Even after they break the girl's heart?  I don't think so, and while I could be wrong, it was a bit pathetic.  Having that type of character in the lead, made it an annoying read.

Most of the time, it was a redundant “I know he could hurt me...I need to be careful...he's dangerous...but I just want him so bad!”  It was simply exasperating, and I wanted to tell her: either give in, or move on already, no grown woman is that irritating!

Mainly, I just didn't like all the drama.  I knew going in that it would be an emotionally driven story, but there was so much unnecessary melodrama, it made me want to stop reading.  

Young college girls can be dramatic, but she wasn't a teenager, and the things she went through seemed very high school.  I couldn't help thinking “Where the hell was she during high school, because she's acting like she's 15 and just discovered wild hormones for the first time.”  

I simply couldn't picture her as a 20 something college student in her 3rd year - I saw her as a high school student with a bunch of college friends.  This probably would have been a bit more believable had it been in a high school setting instead of a college.

Then we get to the music career.  I'm all for life experiences and past pain being turned into music and art – that's fantastic!  However, a full touring music career simply doesn't happen like it happened to her.  She sings in a local bar for a couple of weeks, and all the sudden gets signed with a record label?  Then goes on a country-wide tour two weeks after signing with them??  

Yeeeah, no.  It doesn't happen like that.  In order to headline a sold-out tour, you have to have fans, and in order to acquire fans, you have to have your music out there for longer than a month.  

Again, it's one of those things that you could argue may happen to someone with incredible luck and connections, but given that this is supposed to be a realistic, contemporary story, it's simply not believable.  I couldn't help thinking "Yeah, in your dreams!  Is that what this is?  Is she dreaming?  This is ridiculous..."

Basically, that's my biggest gripe with this book: it's not believable!  On top of that, the copy I had was filled with far too many mistakes to be acceptable.  Misused words, incorrect forms of words, missing words, and mistakes that simple Google searches would have fixed, made reading this even more infuriating.  

If these issues were corrected, I suppose this book would earn 3 Roses from me.

Bottom line: this book needs to be re-edited (if it was ever edited at all); since some people like drama, and would enjoy this book, I wouldn't say “stay away” from it, but also would not be surprised if people don't like it.  While I don't think I'll ever read it again, I would be willing to read the sequel, because it did end on a cliffhanger, and one that made me go “wait, what??”

It is an interesting story overall, and for people who like a ton of drama and who aren't looking for realistic characters or situations, this book may appeal to them.

What do you guys think about books like this one?  Stories that are driven purely on intense, irrational emotions and drama?  Does there need to be more realistic details for you to enjoy the story?  Also, what do you guys think about spelling/grammar mistakes?  Do they bug you (if you even notice them at all lol)?  Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading, and as always:

Keep Creating!!

*Movie Review* Stick It!

Whoot!!  First movie review on DRR: UnPlugged people!  I'm excited!  Who's excited?  Anyone?  *crickets*  M'kay, well, here we go anyway, cuz really, I just want to gush about one of my absolute favorite movies of all time.

This movie is basically the quintessential "If you wanna know Rose, here's an example" film.

The character Haley Graham, played by one of my all-time favorite actresses Missy Peregrym, is basically the kinda girl I was growing up.  Stubborn, rebellious, athletic (seriously, I looked a lot like her when I was in High School, and she and I look a lot alike!!), and I have her kind of personality.  I was into gymnastics when I was younger, and even though I didn't stick it* out, this movie brings back memories for me, especially of the bars and balance-beam (my two fav areas).  If I could pick an actress to play me in a film (like that would ever happen :P) it would be Missy Peregrym.

*I know, it's a really, really bad pun, but how could I not? *Cheshire cat grin*

Ok, back to gushing.  Wait, first, I must give you the deets of this amazingly fantastic movie!!!  Without further adieu, drum-roll please!

Stick It

~Starring: 
Missy Peregrym, 
Jeff Bridges, 
Vanessa Lengies, 
& *squeek* 
Kellan Lutz!

~Released: April 28th, 2006

~Written & Directed by: Jessica Bendinger

~Genres: Comedy, Drama, Sport

~Plot (from IMDb):

After a run-in with the law, Haley Graham (Missy Peregrym) is forced to return to the world from which she fled some years ago. Enrolled in an elite gymnastics program run by the legendary Burt Vickerman (Jeff Bridges), Haley's rebellious attitude gives way to something that just might be called team spirit.

*Book Review* "The Memory Game" by Sharon Sant!

The Memory Game

~By: Sharon Sant

~Published: September 1st, 2013

~Length: 133 Pages

~Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Light Romance, Contemporary, Fantasy

Goodreads

Kindle

Official Website

'If there is a hell, I think maybe this is it.' 

Three weeks after fifteen-year-old David died, he’s still hanging around and he doesn’t know why. The only person who can see and hear him is the girl he spent his school days bullying.

Bethany is the most hated girl at school. She hides away, alone with her secrets until, one day, the ghost of a boy killed in a hit-and-run starts to haunt her.

Together, they find that the end is only the beginning…

Cover Love for "Full Contact" Book!!

Ok, since this is the first of these posts, lemme explain.  I'm going to do "Cover Love" posts.  Basically, gushing over covers!!

To kick it off, here's a good one!!

goodreads.com

WoW!!  Between the look on the guy's face, and his tattoos, just, wow.

Note for authors here, this cover seems to be generating a ton of buzz - I've seen a bunch of people posting about it!

For me, it's more than the guy though.  I adore the dynamics going on here - the color contrasts, the natural feel of it, and the intensity of it all.

Overall, awesome cover!!

Ok, back to your lives, people.

*Book Review* "Royal Pain" by Danielle Doolittle!

Royal Pain, by Danielle Doolittle

Published January 5th, 2014

by Entranced Publishing

Find it on Goodreads

Falling in love can be a royal pain.

A cocktail of sex, booze and breakneck speeds is what sends Prince Henry of Benignus into rehab. He’s expecting to skip out on lectures and smoke behind the shed.
He’s not expecting Carleigh.

Carleigh Phillips knows Henry is trouble. His bad boy attitude reeks of self-importance and over-indulgence. She’s not expecting him to lift a royal finger during his time at the ranch.

She’s not expecting him to be a threat to her heart.

When Carleigh’s life is on the line, will Prince Henry step up to the plate? Or will he prove he really is nothing but a phony royal pain?

Ok, let's try this again!

Hi Everybody!

So, I tried this before, with the first UnPlugged blog.  I loved blogging on it, but I ran into a ton of technical glitches.  I still haven't quite figured out what happened, but without completely deleting it and remaking it, I was stuck with a glitchy, temperamental blog.

So I decided to simply start over.

This is going to be the same blog as before, the only difference is in the web address - I removed the "review" part, which actually kind of fits, because this blog isn't going to be all reviews anyway.

So, to refresh and introduce this blog, I think I'll explain again what's gonna go on here, and what I'm going to be doing with this blog.

As you may or may not know, I have my original review blog, Desert Rose Reviews.  I love that blog, I love what I've set up there, and I'm not going to stop working with that one.

But!

One of my 2014 New Year's Resolutions, was to try and have more fun.  That worked ok, but I'm extending that to this year as well.  I tend to be too serious, especially with reviews.  I'm very serious and professional, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I miss being goofy, and showing my silly side.  My original DRR site is awesome for my professional side- we do editing, professional reviews, literary services, and blog tours- lots of fun!

This blog though, is Desert Rose Reviews: UnPlugged, Version 2.0.  Here, I'm going to be goofy.  I'm going to be fun.  I'm going to break out of my ridiculously thick shell if it kills me!

giphy.com

Like two sides to a coin, Original = professional, UnPlugged = fun.  Put them together, and I'll have a balanced world of reviews.

I started the original Desert Rose Reviews as a resolution for 2013- to battle my intense and paralyzing shy streak, by putting myself out there on a blog...to stop hiding.  Well, I think I did that.  Side effect: seriousness took over to compensate for me ignoring the shyness, which was trying to make me remain under the rock I've spent most of my life hiding under.

giphy.com

So, long story short: I'm going to be posting reviews, but also random stuff here as well.  The difference in these reviews, is they won't be professional.  They won't be the same ones I share on Goodreads and Amazon.  The reviews here, on my goofy site, will be just for fun.  They may be for the same books I review on GR and my other review blog, and I'll write two different reviews, but I'm good with that.

We'll have pictures, jokes, memes, random thoughts, spoilers (maybe, if I need to rant about something) and fun discussions (hopefully).  I'm going to try and be more open about things, share thoughts and opinions like a normal person (not a stuffy robot) and attempt to create a fun place for me to express myself.  Not difficult for most people, but for someone with chronic social phobias (like me) it's a big step.

For a while, I'll re-post some of my popular posts from the original UnPlugged blog, so you all can find them again if need be.

In a way though, this kind of fits!  This is the 2.0 version of the 2.0!!

giphy.com

I hope you enjoy this side of me!

~Rose
@Desert Rose

Gotta get in that Bloglovin world!

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