I am in NYC too! Well, Long Island City, but that still counts. It's sooo beautiful!  (As you can tell, I live in an apartment and don't have to shovel a drive -- hence the snow is endearing). It's been so long since I've gotten to see this kind of build up.

*returns after long pause*

Okay I practically just had a heart attack. My (new) phone went nuts blaring an emergency alert sound and scared the frack out of me. *clutches chest* Soooo, all non-emergency vehicles need to be off NYC roads by 2:30pm.  Apparently this is an "Imminent Extreme Alert". I am such a dork. Scared by my phone. In my defense, I was sitting in the quiet, drinking my coffee, reading some PTS, and watching the snow drift by the window. Just the soft gurgle of the humidifier next to me and my cat eating in the background... That noise was LOUD. 

So, remember when I was bragging about the weather in the south....shorts and tank in the winter? Well, how things have changed!!! Today we are bundled up....snow and sleet on the ground!!??!! Granted, we are nowhere as bad as NY, but this Weather is so totally unexpected.
Hope all the New Yorkers are snug as a bug in a rug...the weather looks brutal.

❄️

It is quite a storm!  I live in New York City and we made sure we were prepared and now can just relax until it stops snowing.  One of our daughters went back to school two days early because of the impending storm the dorms opened early. Our other daughter goes back on Tuesday, the roads should be clear enough by then for me to make the drive.

I am in NYC too! Well, Long Island City, but that still counts. It's sooo beautiful!  (As you can tell, I live in an apartment and don't have to shovel a drive -- hence the snow is endearing). It's been so long since I've gotten to see this kind of build up.

*returns after long pause*

Okay I practically just had a heart attack. My (new) phone went nuts blaring an emergency alert sound and scared the frack out of me. *clutches chest* Soooo, all non-emergency vehicles need to be off NYC roads by 2:30pm.  Apparently this is an "Imminent Extreme Alert". I am such a dork. Scared by my phone. In my defense, I was sitting in the quiet, drinking my coffee, reading some PTS, and watching the snow drift by the window. Just the soft gurgle of the humidifier next to me and my cat eating in the background... That noise was LOUD. 

I live in Queens too, we have a house, but there is no point shoveling until it stops snowing.  Luckily we have a neighbor who has an ATV that plows the sidewalk so we just have to do the steps and walkway.

The emergency alert startled me too!!

I was scrolling through this forum and for the people that were talking about The Cannabean Betrothal By: ItzMegan73 (great story by the way ) I think they would really like this story as well. It also features Edward and Bella in an unusual community. I just thought I would make a similar suggestion. I really enjoyed this fic.. I've re-read it tons of times. 

 
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We Are Worthy  By: jess2002
 
Edward and Bella meet on their wedding day. They have to leave their community for one year and live in the outside world. If they don't make it, they can't return, but if they do, they have to be found worthy. Will they do and put up with anything to return back home?

Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Drama - Bella, Edward - Chapters: 24 - Words: 41,805 - Reviews: 1,523 - Favs: 835 - Follows: 906 - Updated: Nov 15, 2013 - Published: Aug 2, 2013 - Status: Complete - id: 9555631

I was scrolling through this forum and for the people that were talking about The Cannabean Betrothal By: ItzMegan73 (great story by the way ) I think they would really like this story as well. It also features Edward and Bella in an unusual community. I just thought I would make a similar suggestion. I really enjoyed this fic.. I've re-read it tons of times. 

 
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We Are Worthy  By: jess2002
 
Edward and Bella meet on their wedding day. They have to leave their community for one year and live in the outside world. If they don't make it, they can't return, but if they do, they have to be found worthy. Will they do and put up with anything to return back home?

Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Drama - Bella, Edward - Chapters: 24 - Words: 41,805 - Reviews: 1,523 - Favs: 835 - Follows: 906 - Updated: Nov 15, 2013 - Published: Aug 2, 2013 - Status: Complete - id: 9555631

Yeah, I went ahead and read it too... I wasn't going to comment because I didn't really have anything nice to say (Don't get me wrong, I did leave a review thanking her for writing and sharing her story, but that's it). However, Ella, you opened the door.

See, I love historical fics, mail order bride stories, and all of those arranged marriage/strange circumstances that cause forced marriage type stories. Because of that, I was really disappointed with We Are Worthy. The rules of this conservative, domineering society are never explained so it is difficult to understand the glue holding people together. There is no community aside from a zip code--no church/religion, no similar hobbies/activities. There was no foundation for the "lifestyle" (which in itself isn't explained beyond a sort-of desire for domestic discipline which doesn't actually happen). And please understand that I also have no issues with conservative, domineering males either because in all the good Alpha-esque stories the Bellas give and get something of equal value. For example, in Carano's Grand trilogy Junior can be a conservative, 1950s-era ass, but Bella, the matriarch, gets her way almost all the time and truly enjoys her choice in the relationship they have. It's pretty common in a lot of the mobward stories, and I like that aspect of them. And I also enjoy the D/s stories which have a consensual E/B where they share power plays. A good example of Edward enjoying Bella's submission and her enjoying his domination would be Tarasueme's trilogy (The Dominant, The Submissive, The Training). Hell, I even liked the scifi stories Written in the Stars by Lissa Bryan ( ) and Planet Twilight by melanieintn, which takes place in a male dominated society with dubious initial consent. (It's not very well written and you have to skim some of the sex but the plot is quite good, so I have reread it twice). I digress, but my point is that in the three genres I just mentioned, you end up with E&B working as partners within strict societal rules that usually give one person the final foot to put down (aka Edward), but make it clear it's the "submissive" partner that sets up all the plays... the ins and outs of everything.

That doesn't happen in Jess2002's story. The rules of the community aren't shared; there is no history explained. Bella has just turned 17 and meets Edward on her wedding day. She leaves her wedding reception to go live in contemporary America, which she has never visited or seen outside of television. And sent directly to public high school!  (That really should have been written as a complete and utter disaster, but of course wasn't. No this far fetched story has her make a friend for life on her way to take the bus for the first time. Grrrrr.) There is no way Bella would not have been crucified for being 17 and married to a 28-year-old doctor (and then pregnant later on). Not to mention that you never hear of Edward getting any grief either. Hello! They have neighbors--three apartments in a single home. And adolescents are vicious. Come on, where was all the judgment and ridicule? I'm not saying they deserved it, but not to have a single word mentioned? Grrrr. There isn't even that much strife between E&B. Edward is a mute d*ck that doesn't even explain the rules of his household and then gets to punish her? Even after she shyly tells him that she has a feeling that she wasn't raised like he was? Grrrrr. And then they are all nervous about being let back in to the community after their mandatory year away... and I'm like WHY? What is there to be nervous about? They did what they were told so why wouldn't they be worthy? What the hell does worthy even mean anyway? And meeting the "Elder"... UGH. Father Marcus is, I guess, the nice one because Bella is all smiles with him and what does he say to her before he asks her a question? Hmmm... "I do not do this often for the fact that a woman's opinion doesn't really matter to me." So besides bad grammar, he's a d*ck. If her fracking opinion doesn't matter to you, then don't ask! He didn't need to say that. What, you just wanted to belittle her for fun?

It's awful. For me, it went beyond "not good" to that territory of making me angry because someone impressionable might read this and actually think it's romantic. That it's okay to be in a one-sided relationship with a hot Alpha douche who doesn't explain the rules--so they can never be agreed upon. At least in historical novels, everyone understands the mores of the society they are in--it's not unexpected, and there are no other choices. Everyone deals with the hand they are dealt.

Sorry for the soap box, but I really, REALLY hate it when creepy and disturbing behavior is written off as romantic. (Yeah, I'm thinking of you Meyer. 109-year-old dude crawling in a teenage girl's window without consent is not romantic; it's highly disturbing).

But, Ella, I'm in the same boat as you where I'm latching on to almost anything rec'd here lately because I've been rereading so many twifics, but nothing is sustaining my attention. So after I read that tripe nonsense I went through the P2P list and then downloaded a couple of those. They're real books, but since they were fanfics I won't feel guilty about imagining them as Edward and Bella. We'll see how I like them. I got Cayce Poponea's Shamrocks & Secrets as well as Claddagh and Chaos. Oh, and then I found Black Keys by CozItRunsInMyBlood because I saw that its first part was published as a book, but I don't have the patience to wait for the trilogy to complete.

Hope everyone if faring the weather well!

So, when I'm reading on my phone, I'm going from story to story based on favorites of the last author I read - this is my current way of deciding what to read next.  Using that method, I recently read all of the stories by ItzMegan73.  I've now moved on to adorablecullens.  I just finished The Mirrors.

The Mirrors
By: adorablecullens
Teddy's secret and magical childhood is lost when a family heirloom is destroyed, changing his life forever. Now an adult, can Edward open himself back up to magic and love when he meets a beautiful - and hauntingly familiar - woman in real life?
Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Fantasy - Edward, Bella - Chapters: 23 - Words: 93,498 - Reviews: 4,078 - Favs: 3,941 - Follows: 1,262 - Updated: Jul 23, 2009 - Published: Apr 5, 2009 - Status: Complete - id: 4971734

Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Fantasy - Edward, Bella - Chapters: 23 - Words: 93,498 - Reviews: 4,078 - Favs: 3,941 - Follows: 1,262 - Updated: Jul 23, 2009 - Published: Apr 5, 2009 - Status: Complete - id: 4971734

It's a bit of science fiction/fantasy, plus a traumatized Edward and insecure Bella.  Luckily, they find each other as adults and the healing begins.  Virginal Edward with an experienced Bella is fun, too.  Although, as you might have guessed, Edward is a natural and learns quickly.

I've moved on to Silence and Security which was adorablecullens' first story.  I'll let you know what I think.

I just read The Mirrors. It has been on my TBR list for so long, but for some reason,  I just never read it. It was not what I was expecting. But it was good.

I think I read or started to read Tips for Better Living, but it was hard to get into.  You will have to let me know if you like Silence and Security. 

I also want to read that Doctorward one that is supposed to be like Grey's Anatomy?  But I think it is based in NYC?  I always see it when I am in the mood for something else,  but never see it when I'm actually looking for it.  Isn't that typical?   I'll go check on the other thread. I remember someone looking for it last year. 

Or was that Facebook?  CRS at its best! 

Thank you - I actually found it right after I posted.  This may be my first SexylexiCullen story.  Unless she wrote an Actorward? No, I think that was someone else.  I keep looking at her stories, but I'm not a big Mobward fan.  So I usually go on to something else.  But I really wanted to read a Doctorward for some reason.

Well, so far it is okay.  Definitely follows Grey's.  Fortunately, I like Grey's Anatomy.  Unfortunately, I am picturing Meredith Grey and not Bella Swan in most of this. And other than Edward and maybe Jasper, they have more of the Grey's characters characteristics than Twilight characters characteristics.