What I Watched: The first 15 minutes of Santa Inc.; it was truly appalling – gratuitously foul and ugly in sentiment. It was my mistake – I was looking for some light-hearted holiday fare; this was not that. It scored a 1.8 out of 10 on IMDb – and that, I think, was generous. Do not play this around children, or really, just do not play it.

From Variety: That cloying sweetness around December each year makes “Santa Inc.” seem, in theory, like a corrective. The animated series, created by Alexandra Rushfield and starring Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen, posits a North Pole that’s decidedly not for kids, so much so that the show’s depiction of sex and drugs grows to seem affected. “Santa Inc.” is notionally about Christmas: Silverman voices an ambitious elf who wants to be appointed to take on the role of Santa. (In this world, Santa Claus is real, and a role into which new applicants enter every so often; no woman has ever taken on the gig.) But it also wants to be cooler than the genre of which it’s a part. In elevating itself above its subject matter, “Santa Inc.” ends up feeling dour and heavy, a televised lump of coal.

Trailer

Someone hated it enough to make a 15-minute video: Santa Inc: The Most HATED Christmas Cartoon EVER Made.

What I Read: Two Regency Romances, both bonbon fare, sweet and undemanding.

The Rebellious Rake (The Notorious Nightingales Book 4) by Wendy Vella – this is a Sinclair-Raven spin-off series, featuring people with extra sensory powers.

Blurb: After his father’s death, Ramsey Hellion returns to England to escape the hell of his past. But the moment he meets Miss Flora Thomas, his carefully constructed world unravels. Beautiful, and fiercely independent, Flora wants nothing to do with him. But Ramsey has always enjoyed a challenge—and Flora’s disdain only fuels his pursuit. When the sins of his father catch up with him, Ram realizes he needs more than just Flora’s love—he needs her to save him from the darkness that still haunts him. Flora has little patience for handsome men, and Ramsey Hellion is one who believes he should receive universal adoration. She knows firsthand the cost of being controlled by a man—she’s lived it. But when danger returns to Ramsey’s life, she has no choice but to act. Even though she’s fought against it, Flora realizes that a life without Ramsey Hellion is one she’s unwilling to face. Can Ramsey Hellion accept help from the intriguing Miss Flora Thomas to unlock the secret of his past?

Moonlight and the Duke: A Regency Historical Romance (The Silver Dukes Book 2), by Meara Platt, again a happily ever after, sweet little book.

Blurb: Connor Fieldstone, the Duke of Lynton, renowned as a Silver Duke, has no intention of ever marrying again. One failed marriage is enough for him, but he readily admits his heathen children need to be brought under control, especially now that his dowager mother has invited a horde of eager debutantes, young diamonds of Society, to a house party at his Devon estate for the purpose of finding him a perfect match. Not going to happen. Eden has adored Connor ever since she was a child and he rescued her from a tumble into his fishpond. Now, the handsome widower is a Silver Duke, one of those sinfully gorgeous, forty-ish bachelors with a dash of silver in their hair. They are looked upon by Society as Greek gods, completely unattainable because of their determination never to marry—or remarry, on Connor’s part. When Connor pleads with her to help him out with his children in exchange for helping her find a suitable match, she accepts. What has she, a twenty-seven-year-old spinster who has never been kissed, to lose?

What I Listened To:  Radium Dolls – Man Scout; CLOAKZ – This Is It; and Illiterate Light – Payphone:

Thank you for playing Brain Drain! How are you, dearest ones? Darling DeadSplinterites, what’s going on? Please do share with us!