MANic Monday + COVER REVEAL!!!!

First thing's first: I have a bright shiny new cover to show youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

The cover for Jennifer Armentrout's book Deity (the third in her Covenant series) has been released, and it. Is. GORGEOUS.

SEE????

I freaking love it. I didn't know if Pure's cover could be topped, but seriously, this is gorgeous.

And today, if you've been keeping up with the YA-sisterhood tournament of heroines, you'll know that Alex, the Covenant series' sassy heroine, goes up against Nora from Hush, Hush. If'n you want to help a sister out, you can vote for Alex here. Please. Alex is an awesome character, and I personally believe she can win.

Also, if you don't vote for her, Seth will come to your house and put his feet up on all your furniture. With his boots still on *ew*.

And now, down to business.


I'm just gonna keep going on Criminal Minds this week because I love Aaron Hotchner (played by Thomas Gibson). That's right, I said it. I. Love. Him.

It's not the same kind of love I have for Spencer (really, that love is reserved for Spencer and Alistair alone), but it's there. I wouldn't kick Hotch out of bed. At all.

Hotch is the team leader, but not necessarily an alpha male (because that's most definitely Derek). He's...well, he's pretty much amazing. He's by far the most stoic and level-headed of the group, but there are times when Hotch lets that mask fall and we get some real, genuine emotion from him.

*Melts*

Maybe it's self-preservation. He adopts this stone-faced persona to help him deal with his job so he doesn't try to deal at home. He's said before that he tries to leave work stuff at work so he doesn't bring it home to his family.

That's probably one of the things I love most about Hotch--how he tries so, so hard for his family. But Hotch is also a reminder that we're not all-powerful. Sometimes work life bleeds into home life, and there's nothing we can do to prevent it, no matter how hard we try.

Hotch is the only married member of the team. He married his high school sweetheart and started life as a prosecutor before joining the FBI. After *spoilery event*, he spends way too much time at work, pouring through case files and taking on more responsibilities. One thing about Hotch, he's always there no matter what. It remains to be seen just how that'll affect Hotch and his family.

MANic Monday

Can't have one without the other. The last time, I made a MANic post, I featured my beloved Spencer Reid and discovered that there are actually other men on the show, namely the delicious Derek Morgan, played by the equally delicious Shemar Moore. So for all you team Derek fans, here ya go.

Derek is the yummy former police officer/bomb squad tech turned FBI agent on Criminal Minds. He's yummy.

Derek was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He was just a kid when his police officer father was shot in front of him, which led to a lot of acting out and trouble-making (he had a juvie record). However, he was able to turn his life around thanks to the local youth center (ok, we won't go there for now, this is a happy post), and a football scholarship to Northwestern University, where he ended up injuring his knee.

At the BAU, Derek develops close relationships with his team, most notably Penelope Garcia and Emily Prentiss. He also takes on a big brother role to Spencer, who tends to depend on Derek a little more after Gideon leaves.

As with, well, everyone on this show, there's a lot to love and adore about Derek. He's most definitely an alpha male, possibly even more than team leader Aaron Hotchner, and tends to act on impulse more frequently than he should. Whether this is his making up for his father's death--where he was basically powerless--or pure testosterone, one can't be sure, as Derek tends to keep people at arm's length. Penelope gets to him more than any other team member, but in the truth of things, that's not much. We get to see his bravado crack when Ellie Spicer enters his life after Derek helped save her from a freaking insane serial killer, played by the amazing and creepy Tim Curry. The bond he forges with the little girl is beautiful and a little sad. Ellie makes him vulnerable, and a vulnerable Morgan is an incredibly sexy Morgan.

And now, a gratuitous Shemar Moore photo:

Oh yeah. You love me.

MANic Monday

I'm sorry I've denied you mancandy. Granted, #mancandymonday on Twitter is a fantabulous hour (9pm EST) where the lovely ladies give us linkage to delicious men, but I like to focus on specific characters from movies, books, tv, and video games. And today's specific character comes from my new obsession, Criminal Minds.

Ah, the delicious Dr. Reid.

There are a bazillion reasons to love Spencer. He's a certified genius with an IQ of 187, has an eidetic memory that allows him to remember ANYTHING he's ever read, and is so socially awkward he's just damn adorable.

Spencer's an incredibly complex character. He holds PhDs in math, chemistry and engineering with BAs in Psychology and sociology. His mother is a paranoid schizophrenic who lives at an asylum in his hometown of Las Vegas. His father abandoned him and his mom when he was 10.

 What the series seems to point out is that Spencer makes attachments very quickly and is extremely loyal to those people. He's the youngest member of the BAU, which leads him to be treated almost like a kid brother you just feel really bad for. His almost surrogate father is Jason Gideon (played by the amazing Mandy Patinkin), who watches out for him. The two frequently play chess together and seem to know what the other is thinking. When Gideon leaves, it's Spencer who figures out what's going on, and though he tries to hide it, he's crushed. After that, we get a more hardened Spencer, though he still attaches himself to new agents, Emily Prentiss in particular.

As per genius (if Big Bang Theory is any indication) Spencer lacks most social skills. He seems to have a crush on Agent Jennifer Jareau, but she becomes a sort of sister to him. He feels safe when he's spouting statistics--that's when he really feels like he knows what he's talking about, although his eidetic memory allows him more linguistic skills than 800 writers on crack. Need an answer for crossword puzzles? Spence is your man. Want an epic Words with Friends partner? Call Spence. But when it comes to the ladies, so far Spencer has been without a prominent love interest, though he's had a couple of close calls (including a pretty hot pool makeout scene with the ever-irritating Amber Heard). It's actually endearing to watch him trip over himself when he's around women. Kinda like you wanna just cuddle him until he hyperventilates.

Speaking of cuddling, here he is with a puppy:

*Dies of Squee*

And a couple more gratuitous Spencer photos.

Oh I do so very much love the long hair....