and i see a post where someone questioning why we see so much of jack and why he and shawn are taking up so much space
maybe it's because it took 2 episodes for him to be come an absolute fan favorite in s1
maybe it's because his presence brings a new dynamic to the show when he arrives in an episode
maybe it's because shawn is a 30 year veteran in the industry and is now being acknowledged for his talent and dedication to his craft because of this character
or maybe it's because he's a long time collaborator with john wells who has entrusted shawn to bring those particular characters to life
and maybe because when he speaks on the work and character he's built with the writers he's informative, passionate, insightful and shows a clear understanding on who his character is
My first comment, from reading the blurb on the back was, if they get married, she won't need to change her last name (because the romance in this one is a woman, Briar (26), and her father's adopted brother, Stôrmand (40))
The dedication runs "For the readers ready to wear the cuff/and get on their knees.../Uncle Storm will take good care of you./If you beg nicely, that is." Which might do something for others, but it makes me react like I've cut open a fruit and found mould. Wrinkle up the bottom half of my face, and go 'eurgh'
pg 3; Storm's narration mentions a 'buckle bunny', which I haven't heard of before, but I think I can figure it out.
pg 7; most of this chapter's going 'oh man, I think someone's broken in and has been living in my house. Oh, at least they're a hot lady.' And she strips off, and turns away, he walks up, puts a hand around her throat, starts unbuttoning his pants, and says "...So much so, after watching that little performance, I might even let you come." "Now, I'm gonna bend you over that counter so I can fuck you into next week... then you're gonna get the hell off my property" then he realises it's his niece.
pg 9; and she would've been into it, if it wasn't her uncle. Never mind.
pg 18; so she ran off from her LA boyfriend, ex- now, I guess, Antoine Montgomery III, after she found another woman's undies in his suit pocket. This is being mentioned to set up the boyfriend, who will probably come back and go 'babe, babe, you're overreacting, it was an accident, I love you' and all that. And also to mention the guys name.
pg 33; they've both had chapters from their perspective, and they're both going 'god, this person's so hot, but I can't, because of Erik'. Briar's dead father. And it's just annoying.
pg 35; the previous book, I was imaging Colt as Kris Kristofferson, but I liked Colt. I don't like Storm, so I'm unsure of who to picture. There was a bit about how Briar was wearing some of his jackets for warmth, so about the smell of him, which put me in mind of Justin Timberlake, and the 'Hers (Interlude)' on Man of the Woods, and he is about the right age, being 44-45, so he could work? My alternative is based on him going 'I can't believe I'm fucking forty' and it's Kid Rock. Great choices all round.
pg 35 still; that was a bit of an unrelated, here's my actual commentary. She goes 'I've had the grand tour of Crimson Ridge. [Line break] It took 5 minutes' and then goes on to comment on people waving to each other, and about how people back home didn't do that; "Back home, the unspoken rule is to avoid eye contact and look the other way. Strangers are exactly that: strangers" If the town is so small that it takes 5 minutes to see all of it, everyone probably knows each other, so they aren't strangers then? Judgy.
pg 39; we're at the ranch from the previous book, and Colt and Layla are still overseas, as in the previous epilogue. Colt's son is there, and describes a horse as being a "total slut for the camera"
pg 44; I wonder if they're setting up a death, because she describes a tractor; "If that machinery was in the wrong hands, surely it could be lethal." If the victim is Storm, then the Surely will be the important part of that sentence, if the victim is one of the Pierson brothers in the previous book (the ones that were just called creep), then the Lethal part will be the important part.
pg 56; "Every time I turn around, he's there, and my ovaries start squealing like they're the presidents of his own personal fan club. Each holds up scorecards showing perfect tens, judging him as sheer perfection, the best in his field.' Incredible. Missed this on the first go around.
pg 59; "This man doesn't need a gym when this kind of physically demanding, rigorous workout is on offer. [Line Break] Add in the fact it involves horses and a picturesque ranch backdrop? I mean, a girl could go weak-kneed extremely easily seeing that kind of show on repeat. [Line Break] We're not going to mention the hat, either." No, go on.
pg 61; Layla, the previous protagonist, shows up, and Briar develops a girl crush on her. Is that the alternative for a bromance?
pg 84; in a five page span they both receive texts from outer people in their lives (outer meaning 'not in the town'). Storm from a rodeo friend who's getting a divorce from 'the golden girl of country music'. Briar gets an email and a Instagram message from her sister saying that she needs to contact her ex, that he's worried sick over her. I watched a Psych episode yesterday (as of writing, the First of May) where a guy cheats on his wife with her sister, and I wonder if that's what's happening here. Dual Spires, btw. Damn Bobby Briggs. In between them receiving messages, he receives a massage from her. Apparently the sister's a essential oils, wheatgerm kind of person
pg 87; she goes outside, and to get out some anger, she splits wood, then starts to walk inside, slips and hits the back of her head on concrete. This will probably be a big deal for about 3 chapters.
pg 92; "Interrupting my sudden compulsion to start crawling through online search results and the legal quagmire of relations between adopted family members." Fun game, figure out which character said, or thought, a thing.
pg 104; oh my God, and there was only one bed, and he accidentally reaches around and "cups her sex" and has a boner. Her narration then starts going 'oh no, ten bell alert, DEFCON One.' Grow up. Morning wood happens. Then she starts wondering if she should use his boner while he's asleep, which I believe Is Rape. He's asleep, he can't give consent
pg 108; she extricated herself, runs off to the bathroom while he's still asleep, and starts working on herself (I want to say Jilling, but I'm probably going to go through these notes with the friend that gave it to me, and then I'd have to explain it, and I can't be arsed). He then wakes up, hears her in the shower, and asks in she needs a hand.
pg 116; "God, could she cock a leg and piss all over the place more?" Guess who thought that? [Hint: The "she" isn't Briar]
pg 119; a waitress at the bar they go to starts hitting on Storm, so Briar decides she's going to go out and date, and accidentally spills her beer on a cowboy at the bar, named Wes. I'm introducing all these characters because I don't know who's going to end up being important. As far as I know, Wes is going to stick around for another two hundred pages, or he'll stick around for twenty.
Ch 14; they drive back to their cabin from the bar, he tells her that her rental car's a death trap, and that for her date the next day, she should use his truck, but she complains that she can't drive stick, so he tries to teach her. But she can't reach the pedals, so she sits in his lap and instead presses the tops of his feet on the pedals, they make some comments about things that she doesn't know how to do that he can teach her, then; "Have you ever touched yourself while someone watched?" And so they go through that. She undoes her pants, and he talks her through the actions, she cums, he does her jeans back up, and leaves. He has an erection and thinks he needs to finish himself off in the truck. This whole section does nothing for me. I read the quote to myself, put the book down for a moment, and went 'No' to myself. God. *
Writing all that down reminded me that she might have brain damage.
pg 135; it is my professional opinion, that i ship Briar with Layla, more than Briar and Storm. Doing some research, there are no fanfics on Ao3, Wattpad or Fanfiction.net. The only relevant post on DeviantArt was a link to illegally download the ebook. My favourite Tumblr post is a list of someone's books they want to read this year, which includes; House of Leaves, Plato's The Republic, Sagan's Cosmos, Chasing the Wild, and The Iliad. This series has virtually no internet cultural impact.
pg 136; "So, are you going for cute hot or rail-me cowboy hot for this date?" Another case of 'guess the speaker" this one's difficult, because it's Layla.
pg 138; I was kinda right in my first list, where I predicted that Layla'd bring her friends out to meet cowboys, apparently that's the next one. The one after is apparently M/M, or Yuri. Yaoi? I don't remember.
pg 142; she accidentally answers the phone with her ex, and I was so right back in page 18. Exactly the same shit. Dickhead.
pg 157; "Waltzing around in his slutty gray sweatpants and a white tee that hugs all his muscles."
He was fuming at her for going on a date with Wes, she was fuming at him for having sex with other people in the past, but secretly she was watching his old rodeo clips. He goes out in a huff, comes back, they have a fight, and then he grabs her phone out of her hand, presses play on the video, and hears his own name.
pg 170; "She felt so damn good in my arms, in my shirt-sleeping beside her has been the best I've ever slept in my life. I don't think I ever before made it through the night." I guess 'I don't care what's right or wrong. I don't try to understand.' sorry.
pg 172; they keep alluding to some tragic event in his past, Briar mentioned her father yelling about it 'about a decade ago, about how he had no brother' and now Storm himself is going 'oh, they all loved me, before The Incident.' If it's that he killed someone, either on purpose or by accident, that's one thing. It's apparently to do with a woman, and him being drunk, so he probably just beat her. And there's talk apparently, "hushed tones and wide eyes as they ask each other how a person could possibly do something as awful as that and get away with it"
pg 179; he's being a bit parental, I guess, and threatening to Get Wes if he did anything untoward on their date, as well as still fuming. But when she says that most of what Wes talked about was Storm; "got me feeling ten feet tall inside the cab of this truck" "Westin motherfucking Hayes is off my shit list." After this, she tries to get out of the passenger door, it jams, he fills the other doorway, and says "From the looks of it, you're gonna have to slide out this side, darlin'." Well, look who's got his confidence back. Still don't like him.
pg 185; "Come on, little thorn. If he touched your sweet pussy, who would you think about?" Fuck all the way off, buddy.
S: "Wouldn't you prefer to learn with someone you can trust?"
B: "I'd say I can't trust anyone."
Absolutely fair.
This marks the end of Chapter 20, it's 1:40 am. I'm done for the day.
pg 201; "I want this couch to swallow me up. I'm so sorry."
pg 203; there's really not anything that forces this to be in present day, you could make it medieval times easily enough. King Erik and his adopted (thought dead) brother Storm, with Princess Briar. Arraigned marriage with Antoine, fucks up and she has to leave. Finds Storm in the care of someone else, a Baron Crimson or something. It's basically the same, you'd just need to change some of the words.
pg 205; "I open my mouth to try to insist that it's nothing, that I'm too young, to insecure for a sex god like him"
pg 207; apparently she has a free use kink. But he's setting g the boundary of 'hey, when you're wearing g this leather cuff (a single one, so like a bracelet), he'll participate, but if she's not in the mood, she can take it off, and he'll apparently always respect it' which I think is a good move? This also kinda explains the dedication. I was assuming it was handcuffs.
Also, I was wondering how many chapters this one had, compared to the previous. Chasing had 37, an epilogue and the preview. Braving has 44, an epilogue and the preview. Whenever a new chapter starts, it's got a little thing of who is narrating the chapter, and I hadn't noticed the picture behind the name is different per person. Layla had a horseshoe, Colt a cowboy hat, Briar a flower, and Storm a cowboy hat too. The same hat. I wonder how that's going to work for book 4, where they're both cowboys.
pg 215; he's comparing him and Briar to Hades and Persephone. "She willingly stepped into his bullshit and doom. Is that what we're doing here?" From my memory of interpretations, isn't it through kidnapping? Or false pretences?
pg 224; back to pg 104, he's found out how he wakes up, and says that "if you wake up horny and dripping, then use me"
pg 233; she's done some research into kinks, and is setting down hard limits; no painful stuff, no piss, no blindfolds. And he slides back her jacket, sees the leather cuff, and thinks "Just where it should always be."
pg 234; I've seen this before, watch out for old men on flights Antoine. They'll turn out to be your father? and try to use their death as a tribute for the Norse Gods? (It's been a while since I've read American Gods)
pg 249; "Horses provide some of the best therapy out there." - Lucas Rhodes
pg 259; Elliott Rose is here, doing set up for the next book, in the middle of Storm fingering Briar in public. What a lege.
pg 265; Antoine calls up, Storm follows Briar to the bathroom while she's taking the call, and eats her out while she's arguing with him. Incredible.
She cums, he grabs her phone, tells Antoine to fuck off, and stop calling, then hangs up. In the span of four pages. Amazing. I'm back on board with this book.
pg 273; Briar's sister's shown up, and apparently Antoine was married to Briar.
Chapter of revelations, this one, apparently the terrible thing was Storm abandoning his wife, Tegan, who was pregnant. She overdosed on pills while he wasn't there, but he's still to blame.
pg 281; Briar apparently left Antoine, leaving "behind three years of a miserable, near-sexless marriage. Where I left my wedding ring... next to five printed A4 pages with a litany of screenshots and all the texts between my asshole husband and his steady rotation of secretary whores throughout the duration of our time wedded and supposedly upholding the sanctity of that contract."
pg 290; it turns out the Incident was him getting drunk, getting married to a fan, still Tegan. The sister was also framing it like he got her pregnant too, but apparently an accident from when he was younger means he's shooting blanks.
He abandoned her for ten years, but they were still married
pg 300; I got the suggestion from my friend to make a list of all the things "where, if a friend told you this about the person they were going out with, you would be concerned"; filming her, on her knees in front of him naked, and he writes 'Mine' on her chest.
We also had a discussion about who we would cast in the hypothetical movie of this;
Richard Armitage as Stôrmand Lane
Sydney Sweeney as Briar Lane
Ethan Hawke as Colton Wilder
Jennifer Lawrence as Layla Birch
I know the ages don't really line up, the 40 to 26 age gap changes to 54 to 29. And the 45 to 25 age gap becomes 56 to 36.
She thinks she's enjoying the book more than me. I mention it's because she's getting the highlights, I'm getting the full text.
pg 303; I don't know why these romance books bring out the prude in me. This isn't specifically for this page, it's just the book more generally.
pg 306; S; "I want to fill all your holes." I love this shit. Go on, big guy. Fuck her nostril.
pg 307; "He's left me feeling nothing but confident in my body the entire time we've tumbled into whatever this thing between us is, but right now, I'm very aware that my ass has stretch marks, my hips have silver lines streaking over them, and my thighs are wobbly and dimpled." Guess what he's done to provoke this line. Did you guess, get out her vibrator?
pg 313; "As if she wasn't busy chasing another man who only wanted to keep her as a dirty secret, a hole to fuck on the side." Calling it now, the "another man" is Erik; Briar and Crispin's father.
pg 315; "To me... it feels like home when there's fresh flowers. It means someone cares enough to make a place beautiful with something that isn't practical." - Elliott Rose (as Briar Lane), 13th November 2024. I like it. It's going in the quotebook.
Ch 36; He wakes her up with oral sex, then her sister shows up. The goal is then to finish, while successfully convincing Crispin that Storm isn't there. Good idea, well executed.
Crispin leaves, with the promise of 'I'll be in the shitty cafe in town.
pg 326; Briar shows up at the only cafe in town. And who's there but Crispin, and Antoine. Who's apparently bugged her phone, for years. And is going to use the footage Storm filmed to blackmail her into going back to L.A. He also says that his phone calls, that she kept ignoring, were the easy way.
It is also revealed that her mother died in her childbirth.
pg 330; "I guarantee you I've already got a lineup of your father's old maids and cleaners prepared to give statements that they saw your uncle going into your bedroom when you were a minor. They'll go on record to say they found pregnancy tests in your bathroom trash while you were still under-age. I'll have doctors who will say they helped you two cover up the fact he committed assault." "Welcome to the patriarchy, you little whore." God, I thought Antoine would be pathetic.
pg 358; we get a sense of Why Crispin hates Briar so, and it's that Crispin blames her for their mother dying, despite Briar being a newborn. Apparently this blame has been festering for 26 years, so Crispin really hates Briar. Briar recommends she goes to a therapist, or gets laid.
pg 360; I knew it. I fucken knew it. They held it for 70 pages, but I called it from when the Incident got revealed (see pg 290). What I didn't expect, for whatever reason, was Tegan having the child.
pg 368; What I also didn't expect is that they're saying that Tegan, was a 14 year old cheerleader when Erik got her pregnant, hid the child, and got her to go get married to Storm to frame him. Briar is trying to use this to get a divorce from Antoine, who's saying that he doesn't see what they have to do with each other. Apparently his family's company paid for company entertainment, including a high school cheer squad. Antoine grants the divorce.
pg 384; Storm decides to go to Briar (unfortunately, probably at the same time she's trying to go to him) with the help of Colt and Layla, the best characters.
pg 385; Storm rushes back to the cabin, then gets worried when he sees a fire through the window. But it's in the fireplace, so no problem there.
pg 390; aww, he's had his other fingers tattooed with her name. Ehh?
pg 397; she's turned on, he dirty talks her for a bit, licks her once, and goes back to shoeing the horse.
pg 403; bonus epilogue? I guess?
pg 408; she went and got His name as a tattoo under her breast, under the previous one saying "flourish"
pg 412; the acknowledgements calls Storm a zaddy. I've been hearing that word for years, and still don't know exactly what it means. I think it's just an attractive older man.
pg 418; the preview chapter has Beau helping Sage, Layla's bestie, after her purse splits open, and all he picks up is the drawstring bag with her wearable vibrator.
pg 421; he provides her with a canvas bag out of the back of his truck, she makes some jokes about finding "sweaty gym socks", or a "dirty jockstrap". He retorts with, "No, just a cock ring, if you're lucky." They seem to be getting along a bit, until his sister shows up, and, on purpose, makes it look like she and Beau are married.
Things she does that turns him on;
Briar getting undressed
"The tiniest roll over the top of her waistband"
The sounds of her eating; "making little noises of pleasure"
Her outfit; "pales jeans and an expensive-looking camel-colored jersey, probably cashmere or some shit."
The knowledge she was on the other side of the wall
Her looking happy and enthusiastic (about horses)
The idea of grabbing her ponytail for sexual reasons
Wanting to hear her gasp if he pulled it
The idea of threading his fingers into her hair.
Her ass in jeans.
The look of her cleavage [God, his are boring]
All of chapter 14
The memory of Chapter 14.
"She's a damn gorgeous sight when she falls apart... the fact this girl had me grinding against her ass until I nearly blew in my pants."
Things he does that turns her on;
All of chapter one.
His ass in jeans
Him walking towards her
The worry that he might be violent, or a criminal.
"He shrugs, then in a soul-stealing moment, his eyes drop down my figure [Line Break] Heat floods my pussy, lavishing me with a traitorous sweep of tingling sensations between my thighs"
Wears clothes; "how unbelievably hot your uncle looks covered tattoos and with his sexy leather cuff on his wrist and wearing too-tight for my sanity Wranglers"
The smell of his shirt and jacket "woodiness, spices and leather. There's a smokiness there, too"
The idea of kissing him
The idea of him riding a horse (these are back to back)
Cowboy Hat, a classic from the first book.
Bravery, and his clothing, while bullriding.
Him handing her a bottle of beer, and his hand around the neck of it. "Look at me. Managing to make the act of my uncle offering me a drink all sexual."
His bare chest, with tattoos
The heel of his palm touching her chin (chapter from His perspective, so I'm not entirely sure)
Him accidentally "cupping her sex" in his sleep. (They share a bed the day she falls and hits her head, with the excuse being 'I need to be there in case something happens, and we won't both fit on the couch')
His blue eyes
His hands around the inside of her knees (chapter from His)
All of chapter 14
"His rings, his cuffs, his goddamn tattooed name that makes my blood sing with desire"
Her being manhandled.
His fingers circling her clit, hard.
Yanking her ponytail. "That sharp tug sends a straight line to my pussy."
The idea of their future lives together.
Him making Instagram posts in a diary format, directed to her. [So, not really a diary, maybe a letter?
The ways Briar describes Layla;
pg 61; "gorgeous babe who must be the same age, or thereabouts, as me. The girl with coppery curls, green eyes, and energy that made me want to traipse as her shadow all day as she showed me what to do with the horses" "Facts are Layla is a babe and she's so fucking nice; I wanted to hug her when we left this evening."
pg 135; "She looks stunning as ever, a horse-girl wet dream dressed in pale jeans, a turquoise sweater, and copper curls tossed into a messy bun"
pg 137; "Bless the gorgeous woman" "She's an angel living on Devil's Peak"
pg 227; "Big dewy eyes blink at her, and I'm no better than the horse, staring at Layla like she's the green-eyed elfin queen of this barn and I'm her humble servant."
pg 252; "considering how incredible the woman in question is to spend time in the company of." [Bit clunky there] "Layla looks like she walked straight off a photo shoot for horse girls to swoon over everywhere, in her tan cowboy boots and cut floral-print dress:
pg 393; "a girl's girl, a locked vault of epic proportions."
pg 394; "looking every inch a cowgirl dreamboat"
All the places they have sexual encounters;
Cabin bathroom (ch 1)
The cab of his truck (ch 14)
Cabin bedroom (ch 20-3)
The cab again (ch 25)
The bonnet of his truck (ch 25)
Bar booth (ch 27)
Bar bathroom (ch 28)
Storm's friend, Beau's bathroom (ch 33-4)
Cabin bedroom again (ch 36)
Beau's barn (ch 38)
Cabin couch (ch 43 (memory))
Colt's barn (epilogue)
Cabin bedroom (epilogue)
Albums listened while reading this;
Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance
Raoul and the Kings of Spain - Tears for Fears
The God Machine - Blind Guardian
Tumbling into the Dawn - Lior
E•MO•TION - Carly Rae Jepsen
An Innocent Man - Billy Joel
The Hurting - Tears for Fears
Volume 3 - Traveling Wilburys
With this list of albums, you can do the maths of how long this book, and these notes, took.
Or I can do it.
7 hours, and 11 minutes.
*
S: "How long has it been since someone showed you something new?"
B: "Are you offering?"
S: "I could show you a lot more than any of those assholes at that bar could."
B: "It's been a long time... since anyone showed me... anything."
S: "How long?"
B: "A very long time."
S: "You must be pretty good at taking care of yourself, darlin'."
B: "I'm a quick learner"
S: "Do you want your uncle to take care of you tonight?"
B: "Teach me something, Uncle Storm."
S: "Have you ever touched yourself while someone watched?"
B: *shakes head*
S: "Then go ahead and unbutton those jeans, little thorn"
B: "You... you want me to do it?"
S: "Do you trust me to tell you what to do? To teach you what your body needs?"
B: "I've never..."
S: "I know you haven't. But this is what your body craves. Having someone who will watch you, pay attention to you, to see exactly how perfect you look when you fall apart."
S: "That's perfect. Now, lower that zipper, nice and slow."
S: "Good. Now slip that hand inside your panties for me - that's it. Lift your hips if you need to."
B: "Oh god"
S: "Darlin', you can stop this anytime you like. You've got all the power here."
S: "I know you're soaked. So slide that finger through the mess you've made in your panties while you've been sitting in my lap, and then I want you to pull that hand out and show me."
B: "Holy shit. That's so dirty."
S: "Mmm. Now taste yourself."
S: "That's it. Right up to the knuckle, then slide in and out for me, stroke the tongue, press down, and enjoy how good that feels."
S: "Now you're gonna want to touch that needy little clit. Get your fingers nice and sloppy first. Good girl"
S: "Just like that, hard and fast for me, darlin'."
B: "I'm so- I'm nearly-"
S: "You look so pretty touching yourself in my truck. If I were any of those men, those men tonight who all wanted to take you home, this is exactly what I would give you, because I know this is how your body would want to be played with."
S: "I know your sweet little pussy needs to be licked and sucked and stretched full... and I know you want someone to give you that release you've been craving. So let go, little thorn. That's it. Exactly like that."
B: "Oh god- oh god"
S: "See how good you taste. How sweet your cum is, darlin'."
B: "Is it weird that I feel like I just wanna stay out here?"
S: "I know you do, but go inside and get into bed before you get cold, okay? I'll be in soon."
It wouldn't have surprised me if he ended by going like 'hey, go inside and get to bed, you've got a big date tomorrow.' That's how much I dislike this guy.
at least in the previous book, I liked both of them. this one, I only kinda like her. therefore this book is worse then the previous.
So I normally know how to handle anon hate. I give a second chance then block. I don't know what happened today but it is just too much. Anon, you made your point. I am a pos. I am horrible. I am selfish. I am disgraceful and whatever else you called me today. I get it. I kept my promise and havent been reaching out to any party involved so if you could please stop sending me such hateful messages I would be super grateful. Okay? Just please stop. I dont know how many times I pressed block, I dont understand the passion which you hate me with. Please I beg of you. Just stop.
