Bell Bridge Books

Around Christmastime that year, Josh and I were talking about trips and places we’ve been and he started talking about how much he loves Universal Studios, how many times he’d been, how he hadn’t been since they opened up the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and how he’s been dying to go for that reason. And I told him how I had been once on a trip in high school, but I didn’t really get to enjoy it. I also told him how I barely remembered anything about it. So Josh insisted that we take a vacation, but then he told me he wouldn’t take me until I watched all the Harry Potter movies since I had never seen any of them or read the books. We then watched all eight movies in a two week period. We saved our money and bought a trip and in April 2016, we went to Orlando. I had never been on a plane before and I thought it was really cute that Josh wanted to be the one to take me on my first airplane experience.

            We arrived on Friday and Saturday was our first day at the park. Saturday night after dinner we took a walk on the City Walk and Josh started peppering me with questions. Wondering if I’d had fun, what my favorite section of the park was (It was Harry Potter World, BY FAR, by the way), and what my favorite ride was. I didn’t think anything of it, so I answered his questions and asked him the same things. Well the next morning we got up and went back to the park again for our second day. The only part of the park that’s open the first hour of the day is the Harry Potter rides. So we headed there, rode those, and afterwards we just walked around checking out all the stores and stuff. Josh asked me if I wanted to take a picture together. I should have known something was up right then because he never wants to take pictures. Because of that fact, I was excited and said yes! So we found a costumed park employee and asked him to take a picture of us. He was super nice and agreed. He took several shots of us, even getting all artsy trying to make sure he was getting some good ones. Then suddenly as the employee went to hand me my phone back, Josh intervened and said to him “Actually, could you take one more picture?” and got down on his knee! I was so surprised. My face turned red and all I could say was “Nuh uh.” There were people walking around all around us and a lot of them stopped to watch and were already clapping for us. He asked me to marry him and there was so much going on, I swear he whispered it because I could barely hear him. Luckily I couldn’t take my eyes off him, so I know what he said by reading his lips. Of course I said yes! Our “photographer” took photos of the whole thing on my phone, and I was really glad he did because those are some of the sweetest pictures that I have. Not to mention, it was one of my requirements of being proposed to. I always told Josh that if he wanted to propose to me, he had better plan a secret photographer to capture it. After our celebration, filled with lots of hugs and kisses, we finally came back to reality. Josh told me to be sure to call my dad and tell him that he did it. I asked him what he meant and he explained that before our trip, he’d asked my dad’s permission to propose. After my father agreed, he told Josh to tell me to call him to tell him as soon as it happened. I’m very much a Daddy’s girl, so that was another one of my requirements to being proposed to. That was actually the first one on the list. It makes me feel so relieved that my dad loves Josh as much as I do and I just felt so incredibly blessed that the perfect guy had just given me the perfect proposal.

I guess some people really do get a second chance at love. And if you do get a second chance, don’t waste it! Josh and I are getting married June 10, 2017, and we couldn’t be more grateful that we get a second chance at happily ever after.

THANK YOU FOR READING! REMEMBER TO LIKE AND COMMENT ON THE FACEBOOK POSTS TO WIN A FREE EBOOK OF HEALING A HERO BY SKYE TAYLOR!

Since Suicide Squad is coming out today, we thought it would be fun to post about our favorite anti-heroes!

http://bit.ly/2aOKVxx

For those of you who don’t know, an anti-hero is “a main character in a book, play, movie, etc., who does not have the usual good qualities that are expected in a hero.” Instead, they have what are considered “undesirable” qualities such as: dishonesty, aggressiveness, moodiness, and a belief that “the end justifies the means.”

We found a comprehensive list on Wikipedia that includes various types of media portrayals, including literature, movies, and television. We have narrowed down the list to some of the staff favorites; however, this link will take you to the complete list: https://en.wikipediaorg/wiki/List_of_fictional_antiheroes

Some literary examples include:
Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
Stephen Dedalus, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
Roland Deschain, The Dark Tower, Stephen King
Amy Elliott Dunne, Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
Tyler Durden and the Narrator, Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
Huckleberry Finn, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Artemis Fowl III, Artemis Fowl series, Eoin Colfer
Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Prince Hamlet, Hamlet, William Shakespeare
Lucifer/Satan, Paradise Lost, John Milton
Macbeth, Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Scarlett O’Hara, Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Othello, Othello, William Shakespeare
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard
Severus Snape, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling
Alex, A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
Erik, the Phantom, The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux

Movie examples:
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton
Rick Blaine, Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart
Rooster Cogburn, True Grit, Jeff Bridges
Michael Corleone, The Godfather, Al Pacino
Django, Django Unchained, Jamie Foxx Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes, Robert Downey Jr.
John McClane, Die Hard, Bruce Willis
Randle McMurphy, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jack Nicholson
Tony Montana, Scarface, Al Pacino
Snake Plissken, Escape from New York, Kurt Russell
Riddick, The Chronicles of Riddick, Vin Diesel
Max Rockatansky, Mad Max, Tom Hardy
Shrek, Shrek, Mike Myers
Han Solo, Star Wars, Harrison Ford
Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny Depp

Television examples:
Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, David Boreanaz
Chuck Bass, Gossip Girl, Ed Westwick
Michael Scott , The Office, Steve Carell
Arthur Dent, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Simon Jones
Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead, Norman Reedus
Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch
Gregory House, House, Hugh Laurie
Annalise Keating, How to Get Away with Murder, Viola Davis
Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones, Peter Dinklage
Ragnar Lodbrok, Vikings, Ernest Borgnine
Dexter Morgan, Dexter, Michael C. Hall
Jesse Pinkman, Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul
Olivia Pope, Scandal, Kerry Washington
Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly, Nathan Fillion
Tony Soprano, The Sopranos, James Gandolfini
Jax Teller, Sons of Anarchy, Charlie Hunnam
Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, Supernatural, Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki

Our staff wanted to join in on the fun so here is some of the staff’s favorite anti-heroes:

From Jeanna,
The anti-hero I picked is called The Return – a member of the enslaved race (the race is called The Spackle). He’s an anti-hero because he’s fighting the main characters out of revenge for his partner who was killed by humans. His motives make complete sense and you can sympathize with him entirely, but he’s often fighting the characters who are trying to take down a would-be dictator which isn’t particularly helpful for the main characters, Todd and Viola.

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
http://tinyurl.com/je89x6r

From Kendal, 

(Jericho Barrons in the graphic novel, Fever Moon)

One of my favorite anti-heroes is Jericho Barrons from The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. Although we still don’t know exactly what he is, we do know he and others are called The Nine and they are part human, part beast, part who knows. He has goals and he doesn’t care who gets in his way. He will destroy anything that threatens his mission or his people. He’s very secretive and unethical, but if he cares for someone or something, nothing is going to harm them. He will go to Hell and back to protect those he loves, who can be counted with both hands. Sometimes he uses the beast to get what he wants, but most of the time he is intimidating enough as a human. Even though he seems like a monster, he has very good reasons for doing what he does, and readers sympathize with him. We all understand what it’s like to feel powerless in certain situations. If you learned you can change something or fix a mistake that haunts you, wouldn’t you do whatever it takes to do it?

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
http://amzn.to/2aUFf6l

From Niki,
Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite anti-hero. I first read this novel in high school and I’ve basically read it every other year since. Sometimes I feel a strong empathy with characters and Edmond Dantes is one of those characters. He is your typical anti-hero, doing whatever it takes to get what he wants. Which, in this case, his goal is to enact revenge over those who betrayed him. If you haven’t read it (which you absolutely should), the premise is that Edmond Dantes – a recently promoted sailor – has been falsely accused and imprisoned on counts of being a Napoleonic conspirator. He spends thirteen years in the island prison of Chateau d’If (Don’t let the word “island” fool you, this prison is no joke). Edmond does manage to escape with the help of an elderly, Italian priest who leaves Edmond a fortune – a fortune which Edmond uses to become The Count of Monte Cristo in order to reward the people who were loyal to him when he was imprisoned and to punish those who put him there in the first place. Although Edmond starts off as a traditional type of hero, after he breaks out of prison, he is a changed man. Innocent people end up dying/suffering in order for him to succeed with his plans. It is up to the reader to decide if the end is worth the means. And as if all of that isn’t enough to get you to cozy up to this character, the majority of the book takes place in 19th Century Paris, France. (Along with other marvelous cities such as Marseilles, Rome, and – of course – Monte Cristo).

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
http://amzn.to/2asn9EP

We want to know what you’re favorite anti-heroes are! Post your choices on our Facebook page!