Fifty Shades of Grey was a great trilogy for those who love romance and want that guy who will love them more than the world. I found myself looking for books similar to Fifty Shades of Grey after I finished the trilogy because I wanted to read more about men like Christian who sweep their heroine’s off of their feet.

The first book that was recommended that I read was called:

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. I had high hopes for this book as many people thought that Travis (the hero) was as compelling as Christian Grey was. While Travis was no Fifty, he was a somewhat compelling character. However, the relationship between he and Abby (Pigeon) was not the same as that between Fifty and Ana.

The love story in Beautiful Disaster annoyed me. I was annoyed by both Abby and Travis and wished that they could just get it together already. Also some of the storyline had me laughing out loud because it was so dramatic and unrealistic. I also didn’t like that everyone seemed to be okay with how much violence Travis inflicted on people. While I had issues with the plot and the characters in the book, I was swept into the story and came to love Travis. I stayed up all night reading just to see what happened. While this is no Fifty Shades of Grey, it is similar enough to the trilogy to make fans happy.

There are other books similar to Fifty Shades of Grey that have been recommended to me that I am going to try out next. They are:

1. Strangers by Barbara Elsborg.

2. Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn.

3. Thoughtless by S.C Stephens.

4. Hearts in Darkness by Laura Kaye.

If you know of any other great books that have a love story like Fifty Shades of Grey, please let me know!

I recently read the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy and was blown away. I have to admit that I had a hard time getting into the first book. I am not a fan of erotica, I don’t read it and I knew noting about BDSM before this book. The introduction of the ‘kinky fuckery’ made me put the book down in distaste and made me question myself and what I was reading.

And then a couple of days later, I found myself wondering, what happens to Ana and Christian? Why is Christian so messed up? Then I had to decide if I could bare to go back to the novel just to find out. And so I did. And it wasn’t so bad. The book is more a mainstream romance with some sex scenes thrown in, okay a lot of sex, maybe even too much sex. Definitely unbelievable. Maybe I am a bit of a prude but that was the biggest turn off in the trilogy for me.

I just wanted to read the love story. And yes, I agree with everyone else who sees the comparisons between Ana and Christian and Bella and Edward from the ‘Twilight’ series. In fact, the love story was my fav part of both series. I love a good romance story. I grew up on Mills and Boon and Harlequin (yes, I’m embarrassed to admit that) but it’s the truth. I am a hopeless romantic and what girl doesn’t want a guy like Fifty? Someone who changes for them? Someone who loves them til the end of time. Someone who can’t live without you.

There were many many problems that I had with the books. Ana’s acceptance of awful behavior by Fifty, the BDSM aspects (I don’t want to read about sadism, sorry), the control, and Mrs Robinson. I hated Mrs Robinson with a passion, and even in the last book, I wasn’t truly satisfied with how Fifty talked about her. But I guess I’m not Ana.

However, I would recommend the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy to anyone who enjoys a good romance novel or books like Twilight. You just can’t be too squeamish!

Elose Arestil is a soft-spoken mother of 2 who came to America to live the American dream and to provide for her family. She raises her 17 year old son Sheldo by herself in Miami and took a job as a dishwasher at the Capital Grille in Brickell, Miami to support her family. Little did she know, that they would give her so much work, that even 3 people would be tired after completing it at the end of the day. She was also shocked that they would clock her out while she was still working, so that in effect, she was sometimes working for free. She didn’t understand why they made fun of her accent and the fact that she was from Haiti. She didn’t understand why the chef was mean to her and ignored her when she had a question. She didn’t understand why she would get shouted at so often. What sort of restaurant would do that to its employees? Surely not one that prided itself on its congenial and family like atmosphere.

Elose certainly didn’t understand why the Capital Grille treated her soo poorly even though she worked her hardest for them. And she certainly didn’t foresee that after getting injured on the job, she would be told that she was no longer needed. The Capital Grille did not pay for her medical bills, they did not call her with concern and send her a get-well soon card and flowers, they didn’t tell her to take time off and come back when she was recovered. They told her that she no longer had a job. And to add insult to injury, they then told unemployment that she left voluntarily and after one measly check for $172, Elose wasn’t able to get unemployment either. And did the Capital Grille care? No!

Elose’s story is just one of hundreds that can be heard from many different Capital Grille employees from all over the country. You can read more about our national campaign at the official campaign website. One of the workers featured on the site, is our very own Elose Arestil and you can watch a video of her here.

Many of us hear and read stories like Elose’s and shake our heads in disgust. However, now we need to do more than just shake our head. We need to support our workers and ourselves and work and fight for change.

The Restaurant Opportunities Center of Miami, also known as ROC-Miami, is a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of restaurant workers throughout the State of Florida. As one of 9 affiliates of ROC-United, we are part of a movement to change the lives of restaurant workers all over the country.

We are actively working on many different and positive campaigns and activities to help change the industry and have currently taken on industry leader Darden. We have found out, that Darden, the high profit corporation that owns Olive Garden, Capital Grille, Red Lobster, Bahama Breeze and more, has been discriminating against their employees and been engaging in many other illegal and disgusting behaviors, including but not limited to: wage theft, verbal abuse, firing people after they got hurt on the job, forcing people to come to work sick and not promoting people of color to the better paying jobs in the restaurant. We were disgusted to hear so many stories of blatant discrimination from workers all over the country that we knew that we had to get involved and help provide a voice for these workers so that they could speak out and change the policies that were so blatantly making their lives miseries.

If you want to support our Dignity at Darden campaign, please like our petition and share this story with as many people as possible. We want to make sure that all workers at Darden restaurants are treated with dignity and respect.

Black Friday is a great day for people who want to start their own website or blog and need a host provider. Hostgator has some great specials going for the day that will blow you out of the water. I personally use hostgator as a host and have been happy with the service they provide.

Web hosting is needed when you have your own domain and need a home base for your website or blog.

The best web host

I have used 3 different hosting providers in my time online and I have found that hostgator best suits my needs. Hostgator is the best webhosting provider because they have 24/7 customer service and really low prices.

The cheapest webhost

Hostgator is one of the cheapest hosting providers and around and their Black Friday hosting deals are unbelievable. You can sign up for the specials here.

Webhosting coupons and deals

Hostgator has the following deals for Black Friday

Shared hostingonly: $2.48/month (pre-paid)

Reseller Hosting: $12.48/month (pre-paid)

VPS Hosting:  $9.98/month (First Month)

Dedicated Servers:$87/month (First Month)

If you want to sign up for Hostgator you can go the site here.

If you want to get a $9.94 discount from your purchase enter coupon code: websitehostcoupon. Just visit hostgator and enter that code when it asks you too.

Black Friday is the one day a year that many people believe that they are truly getting a great deal for purchases from retailers. Prices are slashed and many products have huge discounts and coupons. This is great for consumers and retailers alike and hopefully this year will prove to be fruitful for all and help to show that our economy is getting back on track.

I was most excited to see that Amazon.com had great black Friday deals and even had a Kindle on sale. I love Amazon, I love that they sell almost every book that I could want and are usually priced better than everyone else. I love paperback books but have recently started reading ebooks as well, thanks to taking a lot of trains and the fact that you can get a lot of self-published books for cheap. In fact, I have been thinking about getting a Kindle and now that the Kindle Fire is out, I have been itching to buy one.

The Kindle Fire is for people who want an iPad that don’ have the money for one and do not need all the extra features that the iPad carries. What is great about the Kindle Fire is that it costs only $199. There is no black Friday discount for the Fire but Amazon already seems to have a great price on the Kindle Fire. There do not seem to be any Kindle Fire coupon codes.

Amazon Kindle discounts

There are black Friday Kindle deals though. Amazon.com has a huge discount on the Kindle DX that includes free 3G! What an amazing buy for people who want to get a kindle. You can get the discounted Kindle DX on Amazon here.

If you are buying the Kindle for yourself or as a present there are certain accessories you should also purchase to make sure that you get the best experience from your Kindle.

Must Have Kindle Accessories

1. Kindle case- you need to make sure that you protect your Kindle with a case. Amazon has some great kindle cases on sale that you will love. Treat yourself to a nice leather kindle case on sale here.

2. Kindle power adaptor. You never know when you will need this. You can get one here.

3. Kindle lighted cover- this allows you to read your kindle at night. Get one here.

Amazon.com has lots of great Black Friday specials on Kindle books, regular books and electronics. You can check out the deals here!

‘Angel’s Bend’ by L.A. Dale is an interesting and fun read. I would rate the book 3 1/2 out of 5 stars but rounded up to 4 because I cannot give 1/2 ratings.

The book tells the story of 17 year old Lacey, a girl, who has just moved to a new town to start her life over after everything in her world went crazy due to her mothers death. She goes to live with her aunt (who I would have liked to gotten to know better) and becomes friends with Abbie and Zac in her new high school. She is also captivated by a local park worker named Cam.

I wasn’t quite sure what genre this book was supposed to fall into as it wasn’t really fantasy or chick lit. It was reminiscent of ‘Twilight’ but with angels and demons as opposed to vampires and werewolves and the romance was lacking.

‘Angel’s Bend’ had me laughing and anxious to find out what was going to happen next but it was all a bit formulaic and nothing was a surprise to me. I also wasn’t invested in the love story that was going on because I wasn’t particularly invested in the characters. I wish the romantic interactions would have been explored a little bit further as I was a bit in shock as to how quickly Lacey found herself in love.

‘Angel’s Bend’ is a good read for young adults as it is quick and enjoyable but the plot was a bit lacking for me.

The Amazon Vine program is an invitation only group that Amazon.com members are selected to join to preview and review new items before they are released to the general market. Well, in most cases that is true. Sometimes the items have already been released and the manufacturer or publisher wants to get more reviews for the product.

Do Amazon Vine members only get books to review?

No, as an Amazon Vine member I have been offered many different items to review from books, to board games, to speakers, to food products to makeup. Basically any item that Amazon sells on its site may be available in the Vine newsletter. They have 2 newsletters that are made available on the 3rd and 4th Thursday of every month and each member is allowed to select up to 2 items off of the list to review. These products must be used and reviewed by the Vine member though. You are not allowed to give away any of the products.

Do you have to review every Amazon Vine Product?

No, you have to review 75% of the products that you have received in order to select and receive more products off of the list.

Do you always have to write a favorable review for Amazon Vine products?

No, Amazon only requires that you write an honest review about the products you receive. You do not receive any backlash from Amazon or dropped from the program if you write an honest review that is not favorable to the merchandise. There have been a few products that I have received that I have not rated well and Amazon has not asked me to change my review.

How can I join the Amazon Vine Program?

Unfortunately, you cannot join the program unless Amazon.com sends you an invitation to participate. They do not tell us the parameters they use to invite people but a good way to make yourself a desirable candidate is to start reviewing products that you have bought and be as thorough as possible.

My thoughts on the Amazon Vine Program

I enjoy reading and reviewing products and I think that it is a beneficial service to companies and authors who want to get reviews for their products. I do not think that the program is skewed and that these companies are paying for good reviews. Many people I know in the Amazon Vine program from their postings in the forum are extremely scrupulous and honest about their reviews.

You can read more about the Amazon Vine program here.

Big Mosey is a Brooklyn based band that carries the embodiment of the raspy, alternative-rock music they create in their very essence. While the band is still up-and-coming, their music and presence is that of seasoned veterans; in that, they have the skills and talents required to perform a good show, lay down an awesome track and they are still able to be one with the music.

Big Mosey is made up of four men: Evan Hammer on bass, Matt Jacobs with lead vocals and rifting guitar skills, Nick Fokas on guitar and a new drummer called Tim Lykins. They have a sound that is reminiscent of and influenced by artists like Tom Waits, Kings of Leon and Pearl Jam.

I recently attended a Big Mosey concert at Arlene’s Grocery with a few friends for my birthday. I love going to see bands and my friends and I had met one of the guys (Evan Hammer) in the band through a mutual friend. When we met him, at a poetry reading, he had graced the stage for a few minutes to perform a song. Let’s just say we were all extremely impressed. His deep husky voice was amazing and he had the charisma and stage presence that makes for an enjoyable listening experience for the audience.

And then he told us that he was just the bassist for Big Mosey; not even the singer. We all knew we definitely had to see his real band in concert. It was a few months before we got a chance to see Big Mosey perform live but it was not a disappointment. Not only was the band energetic, infectious and mystical, they were as lost in the music as the audience was.

While the band does not have a lot of music out right now, they are working on new tracks and the songs that they do have are captivating. It is obvious that Evan and Matt have a magical chemistry that when combined and poured out, carries the listener on a journey to lands afar, emotions close, and hidden alleyways. As the music takes over your mind, the energy takes over your body and you will find yourself unable to stop the sway of your body and inevitable foot-tapping to the mesmerizing crescendos.

My favorite Big Mosey song is most probably ‘Harold Called This Morning‘ and I think that it is a big fan favorite if I read the crowds reaction correctly at the show when they performed the song. The lyrics were written by Evan Hammer and the song is a brilliant play/reaction/re-conception on the Maurice Sendak book ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. Part of the lyrics from the song read:

Big Mosey is currently trying to build up their Facebook fanpage presence, so you should check out their music and if you enjoy their deep, husky sound you should add them. I’m pretty sure you will love them!

Photo credit: Big Mosey Facebook Page (In Sjoa at Punch — with Evan Hammer and Matt Jacob).

60 Minutes featured the great group in Harem ‘Gospel For Teens’ tonight and here is a great video of ‘Gospel For Teens’ performing.

To read more about ‘Gospel For Teens’ click here.

Dominion and Dixit are 2 boardgames that every family should own. They are both unique, oodles of fun, and great entertainment for all members of the family. These are two popular board games that are perfect for families to play and for friends.

Many times people want to go out and have fun but oftentimes it can be cheaper to just stay at home and invite people over. Dixit and Dominion are great party board games and everyone will want to keep on coming over to play every week.

These are the best board games available today and can be played by people of all ages, as they are family friendly. Both games cost under $30 on Amazon.com as well and so they won’t break the bank.

Dominion- Dominion is game made up of cards. It is similar in idea to monopoly, only you are trying to build dominions instead of monopoly. You also do not play with a board or pieces. At first the game seems complicated and the instructions can be hard to follow, but after you start playing you will soon get into the swing of things and understand what is going on. And if you are like me and my friends, you will become addicted and want to play all the time. Dominion is a great family board game because it allows everyone to choose their own game strategy; and yes, strategy is involved in the game. The Dominion board game can only be played by 2-4 players, however, there is an expansion pack that can e bought called Dominion Intrigue and will allow up to 8 people to play.

Dixit- This board game is similar to Apples to Apples, only you come up with the words and everyone gets to vote on the cards played. The cards in Dixit are beautiful, real pieces of art and it is no wonder that this is an extremely popular board game. The game comes with a cute little board and bunny rabbit pieces and folks of all ages will enjoy the game. It is a great party board game and everyone will enjoy the game.

You can buy Dominion and Dixit on Amazon.com. Both board games are on sale right now.