Sunday Snippet: Table of Lies

Welcome, December! I'mtruly not sure what this month will bring. I'm at a weird place where I feelkind of stuck and a little buried under the weight of needing to get thingsdone … but I have no idea where to start.

Work slowed down alittle, which isn't a great thing. But it did give me some time to spend withmy daughter when she came home for Thanksgiving break. I'm so grateful for thattime. And December still looks to be booked with projects for the most part.

The temperature diddrop but didn't quite dip into the teens. I'm really not ready for the arcticblast yet. But it does help get me in a mood for the holidays.

Had a semi-decentweek of viewing. My sleep schedule is all over the place again and that doesn'talways make for a good attention span.

Watched the seasontwo premiere episode of London Kills. Nice to see Billie back in action.I'm interested in the ongoing arc from season one. This cast is stellar, and Ilove the changing dynamics between them.

Caught another episodeof Death in Paradise. I'm starting to find some redeeming value inNeville. I liked the way he kind of helped Florance. Really not sure aboutMarlon.

Enjoyed part one ofSilent Witness. Loving some inside looks at Jack and Nikki and themystery is kind of amazing. I have no idea where things are going and that'salways fun.

Watched anotherepisode of Elementary. Mycroft is an ass and maybe that's a good thing. Hedefinitely has some explaining to do. I do give him kudos for being able tomanipulate Sherlock even if I hate that he could. And I'm going to be reallypissed if Sherlock decides Joan is his weakness and starts acting like a biggerass than Mycroft.

Caught an episodeof The Batman and it's one I don't remember watching previously.Thoroughly enjoyed it. Having a team that is completely opposite of Batman andRobin was fun.

Enjoyed another episodeof Classic Rugrats. I think it's the final one where the whole episode isone story. I kind of wish there were more of those.

And that's it forthe life update this week. Tonight's post is from Table of Lies, anovella that features one of my favorite tropes of meeting the wrong brotherfirst.

Here's theminiblurb:

Nichelle Stohl finally has her life on course—she's aninstructor at the coveted academy of military science and she's testing therelationship waters for the first time since a truly horrible break up. Thenshe meets Garth Fillion—her boyfriend's brother—and her world tilts sideways.

And a sneaky peek…

Garth Fillion returned from a lunchmeeting and grinned when he noticed the message light flashing on his computer."Hope that's Quint getting back to me." His brother's concept of timedidn't always reflect reality.But Garth wouldn't trade hisyounger brother for anything on the planet. They might be opposites in almosteverything, but Quint never failed to brighten things up wherever he went. Beforetheir parents got divorced, Quint made life bearable when the arguments got outof hand by using humor to drown out the yelling and shouting from both adults. Garthtried to be the one to ease the strife, and usually got caught in the middle.Quint would usually come down and drag Garth away with a lame excuse—like Quintneeded help with his homework—then get into his stash of snack foods to sharebefore regaling Garth with bad jokes.Garth shook his head. "Thosejokes haven't improved since grade school." And if he sometimes wishedQuint would dial back the antics, Garth rarely expressed that hope.Because Quint used humor as arelease valve and deserved to cope however he wanted to … especially aftertheir turbulent childhood.Pressing the icon on his monitor,Garth listened to his brother's message."Yo, G-man. Can't wait to seeyou, even if I have to share you with the ministry defoffs."Garth snorted at the nickname hisbrother gave to the defense officers on base next to the military academy.The one their dad and Garth eachgraduated from and where Quint currently spent his days. Garth had to monitoran inspection of a newly launched program for the ministry. One of the newresponsibilities he'd inherited when he'd accepted his position in the ministryof defense.Quint added a parting shot. "Also,I won't be on campus. I crash at my girlfriend's place on the weekends. Stop byafter six for dinner. We'll catch up then." He rattled off the addressthen signed off.Garth's eyes widened."Girlfriend. Huh." A new development since they'd spoken last?Or … one of Quint's practicaljokes? With Quint, Garth didn't know for sure. He could end up in the middle ofnowhere with Quint laughing his ass off.Garth jotted the address down."Not in a neighborhood I'm familiar with." He'd double-check themapping program before heading out this weekend.

I love exploringdifferent variations on a theme. Meeting the wrong brother first opens up a lotof possibilities. Garth and Quint are fun to write and throwing Nichelle intothe mix is a lot of fun.

 

That's it for thisweek. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye