Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received:
A $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap.
A sample of Nutrish Peak dog food.
A sample of Sephora Lipstick in the color- Belly Dancing.
A sample of Derma E Firming Moisturizer.

The lipstick sample if a cute color so I liked that. I've now tied several derma e products and they are good moisturizers but I can't tell that they do anything else. My dog has had this dog food before and he likes it.

Did you receive any samples this week?

Review: Wild Hunger by Suzanne Wright (Book 7)

Book Description

When half–wolf shifter Frankie Newman receives an e-mail from a family member she didn’t know existed, a secret is revealed: as a child, Frankie witnessed her father killing her mother…and then himself. Frankie was torn from her pack by her mother’s human relatives, and the trauma was erased from her memory. Realizing that she’s been lied to her entire life, she’s never felt more alone. Until she catches the scent of an old friend—warmly familiar and intoxicating.

Trick Hardy, enforcer of the Phoenix Pack, can sense the rush of mutual attraction when he sees Frankie again. He knows immediately that she’s his true mate. But he also knows that, given her fragile state, he needs to tread with care—no matter how fierce his surging desires.

As aroused as Frankie is by Trick’s darkly dominant air and simmering desire, her priority right now is her past—not her future, no matter how tempting. But as more secrets emerge and Frankie’s life is threatened, Trick must do everything he can to keep her close and safe. After all, it’s their destiny.

My Review

I should start by saying that I haven't read this series in order. I've only read 2 of the other books in this series but I didn't feel that I was missing much or lost while reading this book. 

Frankie makes a living making sculptures that sometimes were of a dark or spooky nature. Frankie is half shifter but was raised by her human family after she was traumatized as a child and taken away from the pack by her human side of the family. She knew she was part shifter but she didn't know anything of the pack her father had belonged to because her grandparents who raised her told her lies her entire life. Frankie only finds out about the pack she belongs to when her aunt reaches out to her. 

Trick is part of her aunt's pack so Trick goes with Frankie's aunt to meet her for the first time in 24 years. It's at this meeting that he realizes that Frankie is his mate. After Frankie comes to his pack's home to meet her grandmother and other family members, he's already trying to get closer to her. Trick wasn't satisfied to let her make her mind up about him on her own terms, he went to her on several occasions after she met her grandmother and the other family members so they could get to know each other. 

While Frankie is getting to know her dad's side of the family, her mom's parents who raised her are constantly trying to get her to leave the pack in the past. Her uncle is very mad that she's decided to get to know the wolf side of her family as he sees them as a bunch of animals. The uncle is a total ass and I really didn't like him at all.

There's also a side story of a pack of wolves that wants an alliance with Trick's alpha, Trey. But this other pack and its leader are a bunch thugs for the most part and Trey wants no part of an alliance with them but their alpha won't take no for an answer.

Frankie is getting to know her new family members but she thinks that she saw something bad when she was three years old and just can't remember what it was. I thought I knew where this story line was going but I was wrong. There's a big reveal, a nice twist that I didn't see coming and family secrets come to light. I really like it when I think I know where a story is going and am totally wrong and a great twist is thrown my way. 

I really didn't care for Frankie's maternal grandparents. They have a lot of money and kept her away from her father's side of the family because of something terrible that happened even though they knew that Frankie was half wolf shifter and as a kid was scared of shifting for the first time. She grew up without a pack or other shifters in her life because of them and I really despised them for that.

Trick and Frankie are great together and I like how these shifters just know when they find their true mates and how the bond lets them get really close. 

While I haven't read all the books in this series, I didn't need to in order to enjoy this book. This series is really good and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I received a free copy via NetGalley, I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Review: Wolf of Her Own by N.J. Walters

Book Description

Mikhail Matheson came to Salvation for his sister, but he stayed for Elise LaForge. She’s the alpha’s mother and the most fascinating woman he’s ever laid his eyes on. He’s wanted her from the first moment he saw her. He may feel like an outsider in the pack, but there’s no way he can leave when he’s sure Elise is his mate.

Elise’s made a home in North Carolina with her adult sons and their pack. It’s taken her a long time to get over the years she spent with her abusive mate, and while she’s content now, she can’t help but feel there’s something missing in her life. Mikhail stirs emotions in her she never expected to feel, and the attraction between them is off the charts. But Elise’s not sure how her sons and the pack will react, not to mention the danger the pack is facing.

My Review

Mikhail might have come to the Salvation pack for his sister but as soon as he finds Elise, he knows he can't leave. 

Elise has a lot of baggage because of the years she spent with her abusive ex. She might be cautious when Mikhail is around but she feels something for him and that in itself is a small miracle since she wasn't sure she was healed enough emotionally to take another chance on a relationship. 

Mikhail is very patient with Elise and I really liked that about him. He's pretty sure that Elise is his mate but he knows he's gonna have to take his time with her and her family if this is gonna work out. Neither of them are sure how her two sons are going to react to them seeing each other especially since one of her sons is the pack's alpha. I ended up really liking her sons.

When the father of one of the females in the pack wants to come and visit his daughter that he hasn't seen in a long time, they are all on edge but what happens while he is there is not something that any of them could see coming. 

Elise is stronger than she thinks and I really admired her for being able to move past what she's been through and find happiness again. But Mikhail is everything that any woman could ask for. He's patient, romantic, totally alpha and nurturing. He's exactly what she needed in her life. 

I really liked Elise's grown sons even if they were a little over protective, they meant well and love their mom a lot. 

This is one of those books that I wish I could just say something like, "It's great! You need to read it!" And everyone would read it and see what I mean. I read this book in one sitting because it was just that hard to put down once I started reading. I felt invested in the characters to see what would happen next and I was very happy with the ending. It ended exactly how it should have. I'll definitely be reading more of this series and highly recommend this book and series.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I received this book for free via NetGalley but all opinions are my own. 

Review: Banana Boat Dry Balance Sunscreen Lotion

*Click on picture to enlarge*

This year I knew that I was going to have to get a sunscreen for my face or a foundation that had sunscreen in it. Since I haven't found a foundation with sunscreen that I like, I started trying samples of the different sunscreens that are out there. Most of them are really scented or very oily so when I received a sample of this in the mail I was hopeful since it said, "Helps you feel dry & fresh".  

I've now been wearing this sunscreen on my face under my foundation, powder,  ect and it really does stay dry. After rubbing it in, it has a matte finish that doesn't become oily later and the scent is very subtle, kind of like a baby powder type scent, which I like. It also has a SPF 30 so hopefully that will help prevent the weird sunburn I get around the sunglasses I wear outside when walking the dog. My nose and temple area got toasty brown last year by the time summer ended which looked weird when the rest of my face was still very pale. So I'm hoping to keep that from happening this summer and so far so good. It's been well into the 90's and 100's here recently and so far my nose and the rest of my face hasn't started to sunburn or tan. 

So I am going to give this product a thumbs up at this point because it sure does seem to be working the way I want. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"For anyone having a birthday this month"

Apartment Life #28

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 years that we've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

Back in 2014 we had a neighbor who would call the police on himself all the time. I had called the police 2 nights prior to this incident because he started screaming and yelling at no one because no one was around...but he claimed that the managers son had threatened his life and he wanted a restraining order. So this guys calls the police, I know this because he was outside while he was screaming at dispatch on his phone. No one went to jail because the incident never happened. This guy has brain damage from an accident and his mother pays for all his bills but in the mean time he drove us all crazy and because of the way he acted all the time the manager finally evicted him. He lived 2 doors from me so we got front row seats to the insanity.

Update for this week:

3 days ago a neighbor asked the manager and maintenance man to do a welfare check on an elderly neighbor because no one had seen him for 2 days. The manager didn't want to so the neighbor called police and asked them to do a welfare check on the guy. They came at 10pm and since the manager wouldn't answer the emergency phone or her door, they kicked the door in and found the elderly man had died in his bed. Police and the coroner were in the apartment for hours and we went to bed. The next day Ken was talking to the maintenance guy and said the manager called the man's son who lives in another state and his son said he wanted nothing from the apartment so the manager and maintenance guy went through the apartment and took what they wanted before trashing the apartment out. The comical thing was that people from that courtyard were standing around outside while they were taking things out of the apartment and the maintenance guy said a couple of people asked about certain things the guy had and if they could have it if no one else wanted it but the maintenance guy told them everything was going in the trash and if they wanted to pick through the trash they could but no one was being allowed in the apartment. That sure got the gossip flying around the apartment complex.

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Favorite Video of the Week

I don't listen to Ed Sheeran but I watched this parody of one of his songs and I found it really funny. I had no idea there were so many parodies of music videos out there.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received:

A Mini Tripod with Bluetooth Shutter from Marlboro.
Amdro Mosquito Bombs.

I also won a $25 Amazon Gift Card in the March New Release Giveaway from Love Kissed Books!

We gave the mini tripod to our daughter since neither one of us has a smartphone and she does and that's what this worked with. You can set the smartphone on the mini tripod and set it up to take selfies or pictures using the shutter you can hold in your hand. Another fun freebie from Marlboro.com

The mosquito bombs can be placed in standing water like pools, bird baths, buckets ect to kill off mosquitoes.

Did you receive any freebies or win anything this week?

Review: DegustaBox- May

DegustaBox is a monthly subscription box filled with food and drink products. The price for the box is $19.99 a month.  

You do not get to pick any of the products you get, it's a surprise each month. But they say each box contains 10-15 items and each box is worth at least $30. I like trying boxes like this because they usually contain products that I've never tried or haven't seen before. 

What was in the box?

Karma Probiotics water.
Goya Cookies.
Zaffi Taffy candies 5 pieces.
Goya Green Salsa.
Cello Whisps.
Rufus Teague bbq sauce.
Post Grape Nuts Crunch cereal.
Deep River Snacks potato chips.
Popcorn, Indiana Kettlecorn 2 bags.
Explore Cuisine Chickpea pasta.

We've tried everything except the chickpea pasta so far. I've received those Cello whisps before and didn't like them and still don't but Ken does. It's funny that usually happens that if one of us doesn't like something the other does.

The popcorn and potato chips were good. We both liked them. Grape Nuts has always been one of my favorite cereals and this was another good one from that brand. I hadn't heard of it before now but I sure like it. That bbq sauce is really good. I received a sample of it a while back and liked it so I was happy to get a bottle of it this time. The water tasted like water and the salsa was great on the taco salad I made a few days ago. The candies were a little strange but just ok for me. So another good box this month. I was pretty happy to get to try a few new things and get a couple of things that I already liked. The cookies were my favorite thing this month, they are so good.

If you don't live in the US, they have a Great Britain Website.

If this box looks like something you'd like, you can use code MARYK-ACB and get your first box half off. That's a big box of food for only $10! and you can cancel anytime. So if you're interested, go to the DegustaBox site and sign up and don't forget to use my code to get your first box for just $10.

Have you tried any of these products?

Favorite Picture of the Week

Falcor likes to have a blanket on his bed. He usually climbs underneath it and has just his nose sticking out but on this day he climbed half way out with the blanket still mostly around him and laid down on the floor and went back to sleep. Goofy dog.