So...

Ehrm ... is anybody still here?

Because if you're still here, and I haven't been here ... well, I feel really guilty, now.





Seriously, though, I have a really good reason.



No! I swear I have a good reason!



I've had problems with my arthritis in my hands, so typing was basically torture ... and a couple of weeks ago my back decided that I needed to be punished for bending over to pull up my pants so I've been in a muscle relaxer coma for most of the past two weeks.



Please, forgive me.



Right?



Wow, tough crowd.



I'm really sorry.



But seriously, in addition to my health woes, I've been reading my brains out and honestly didn't find any fics that GRABBED me enough to want to do a blog about them ... until now.






So, I bet you're wanting me to quit with the GIFs and start with the recs right about now, huh?



Wait ... there's money?



Sorry ... I'm not sure what just happened.

On with the recs!

First up is a story that is so freakin' wonderful I just want to scream at everyone to go read it. It's called The Untitled Series, which is kind of misleading since it's not, in fact, a series, but trust me, read it!

Summary: Set after new Moon. The Cullens realize exactly how much damage Edward's leaving caused Bella. A few simple words can cause immense pain and emotional wounds that only a family's love can heal, specifically the love of a father.

Let me preface this by saying I never really bought that someone such as Bella, who felt the absence of her true love so acutely, that she was reduced to this...



was just magically cured and went on with her life like this...



...after her true love came back.

You guys, this fic is exactly what I needed, IMHO, to bridge the end of New Moon with the beginning of Eclipse. It's Bella dealing with Edward being gone in what seemed to her like the only way she could after Charlie threatened to send her to Jacksonville. 

While Edward was gone, Bella started taking over-the-counter sleeping meds to keep her asleep through her nightmares so she wouldn't wake Charlie up with her screams. As a result of the sleeping meds, or getting too little sleep, she always felt hungover or just so tired that she resorted to taking over-the-counter stimulants like No Doz to combat that. In addition to those problems, she was always nauseated from the pain of her separation from Edward so she took a lot of Dramamine, as well.

After rescuing Edward in Italy and returning to Forks, Bella still struggles with his abandonment, especially when he leaves with most of the family for an extended hunting trip.

She is at the pharmacy, looking for some Dramamine when Carlisle sees her. The pharmacy is out and when Bella leaves, she falls apart by her truck. Carlisle brings her home with him and he and Emmett, who also stayed behind, embark on a mission to help her get past her anxiety, feelings of abandonment and depression.

One-by-one, Jasper and Esme are drawn into Bella's recovery and help with it in every way they can. But it's really Carlisle who gets her through the majority of this crisis.

Seriously, you guys, this is the perfect bridging-New Moon-to-Eclipse AU story. It's short, but powerful, and I read it in 2 to 3 hours. More like devoured it. If you like NM AU stories, check it out.



The Untitled Series can be found here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9219586/1/The-Untitled-Series

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next story I'd like to feature here today is, Small Town Gossip by LASMKE. Unfortunately, this author is no longer with us and her family pulled all of her stories, but I got my hands on it and it's really something special. There is no summary in the copies that I have, so I'm going to do my best to give you one.

Summary: Bella's parents die in a plane crash. When she goes through their things, she discovers something that her mother kept from her that shakes her to her to her very foundations.

Bella Dwyer is a sophomore at Arizona State University majoring in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in horticulture. She is sitting in her psychology class one day when a police officer interrupts class asking for her.

The officer informs her that her parents, Renée and Phil Dwyer, were killed in a plane crash. After the funeral, she is going through their things, trying to find the necessary documents for her parents' lawyer to have their house put in her name so she can sell it, etc., when she discovers a box marked, "Forks." She has no idea what it pertains to so she puts it aside for a bit.

When she goes through it, she discovers some pictures of her mom with a man (among other people) she doesn't know,  marriage certificate for her mom and a Charles Swan, and a birth certificate with her name on it naming Charles Swan as her father.

Needless to say, Bella is shocked and confused because she grew up believing Phil to be her father.

She does some research online about Charles Swan, and finds out he is the Chief of Police in Forks, Washington, but is unable to find out much else about the man, or her mother's time in Forks. So she decides to go to Forks to see if she can find out anything else about him and why Renée hid this part of her life from Bella.

She discovers that in a small town, everybody is in everybody else's business, which she doesn't like at all. No matter where she goes, people ask her why she's there and it's disconcerting to her.

Gorgeous perfect strangers even think it's okay to just climb in the cab of her pick-up truck whenever the mood strikes them.

This describes a journey of a young woman who goes from discovering the existence of a surprise father, to learning how to function in her new normal, along with some help from a gorgeous, nosy stranger and his family.

It's really a special story.

I couldn't find a banner so here's a good pic of Rob and Kristen together.

As I said above, the author is deceased and her family pulled all her stories, but I have copies of it in PDF, mobi and epub formats, if you're interested. Either leave a comment here, or message me on Facebook.

Here's the link to my page:

https://www.facebook.com/smithbelynda

And here's the link to my Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/255753651486648/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For my last rec this installment of SS&AW, I have a fic called Hot Tree Guy by dontlookdontask, and I've gotta say I really enjoyed this fic. The plot was believable, the characters well-developed and while there were lemons, they weren't the screaming orgasmasplosions typical in most of fanfic.

Summary: Bella has a tiny apartment, a dwindling savings fund, and a giant dog. All she wants is a nice little Christmas tree.

It's on a beautiful, 68 degree day in December that Bella finds herself at a Christmas tree lot near her New Jersey apartment. She has $300.00 a hole in her pocket and wants a tree that won't cause too much damage in her tiny apartment when her dog, Jake, knocks the thing over with his tail.

What she finds is an overly-friendly, hyper, female lot attendent who is obsessed with finding Bella her perfect tree. When said lot attendant finally talks Bella into a bigger tree than she was looking for, she volunteers her surly brother to carry it home for her. And so, Hot Tree Guy enters Bella's life.

I really enjoyed this story. As I said above the summary, it's very well-written and the characters were normal, albeit, good-looking, everyday people.

 

Hot Tree Guy can be found here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11687310/1/Hot-Tree-Guy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's it for this installment of Smut Sluts and Angst Whores, y'all. And remember...

...clowns are creepy as fuck. Sweet dreams!