Review: Unchained Desire by R.C. Alvarez

Book Description

Chained to a demon queen for hundreds of years, fallen angel Ramiel has given up on his brothers and sisters––and humanity. He has seven days away from hell to replenish his power and that’s all he cares about––right up until his meeting with the much too innocent Kyria. He fell for that act before and it landed him in hell, he won’t be making that mistake again.

To save her sick father, Kyria knows she must find Ramiel. He’s dark, brooding and everything Kyria should be scared of, but the haunted look in his eyes makes her think there’s more to him. The tattoos and chains don’t frighten her either, but the connection she has with him does. When strange creatures attack her, Ramiel steps in to protect her.

Ramiel believes he’s reluctantly helping Kyria, but what neither of them knows is that she may be the one to save them all... 

My Review

Kyria and her father had been on the run from the cartel even since she was a child and the cartel had killed her mother. But now her father is sick and she had to be the one to find this mysterious Ramiel that her father was always talking about. 

Ramiel was only given 7 days a month out of hell in order to restore his holy essence, after that he is dragged back to hell by the demon who held him captive. The demon used his blood for experiments and there is no end in sight to the torment.

Kyria sets out to find Ramiel when her father gets sick, but when she finds him he wants nothing to do with her until she finds herself in danger. For whatever reason when Ramiel senses Kyria is in danger, he comes to her rescue and lets her in on a few secrets. There's a whole other world of beasts out there that she never knew about and now that they know she exists, they'll be coming for her and her father even more than ever. By the time they get back to the motel room where her father was, he's gone and they set out to find out what happened to him. 

 Kyria and Ramiel go back to the ranch she and her father had been living at for a few years where she finds out that the people she thought she knew, were keeping a lot of secrets from her. A huge twist is revealed and Kyria finds out what she really is. On their journey to find Kyria's father they come in contact with some of Ramiel's family when he needs help. While searching for her father Kyria and Ramiel become a lot closer than either of them had plans to. Their romance was sweet, and sad in part to Ramiel having been tortured for so many years in hell. But he's such a great guy even if he didn't realize it after having been beat down for so long. There was a lot more to this story than I first thought which made it a real page turner. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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.

What did I receive this week?

A pouch of Albacore Tuna from Mom's Meet. 
Coupons for free dog food and a free Mountain Dew.
$15 Amazon giftcard for cashing my points in on MyPoints.

If you sign up for an account at Mom's Meet you can answer surveys and earn points that you can cash out for things like pouches of tuna and other products.

If you don't have a MyPoints account yet, click on the link above, sign up for an account and use their link when you shop online to earn points. There are a lot of other ways to earn points too but that is the fastest one I've found. They have a wide range of gift cards you can earn.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Rise of the Fallen by Donya Lynne

Book Description

He's an ancient vampire who's ready to die . . . until a spunky exotic dancer risks her life to save him and becomes his reason to live.

As an ancient vampire, Micah has seen more tragedy than he can stomach. Restless and on a path to self-destruction, he's ready for his suffering to end, so he seeks out a ruthless enemy who's only too happy to kill him.

Samantha is on the run from her abusive ex, working as a dancer in a swanky gentleman's club. One night after work she stumbles upon a group of thugs beating Micah to death and bravely charges into the fray, guns blazing, determined to save the handsome stranger.

In Sam, Micah finds a reason to live--and love--again. But now that she's put a target on her back, he'll have to take extreme measures to protect her. With her obsessive ex closing in and an enemy who will stop at nothing to exact revenge, are the odds stacked too heavily against Micah? Or will finding something worth fighting for be enough to give him the advantage?

My Review

Samantha is an ex Army medic on the run from her abusive ex, Steve. She's taken a job as an exotic dancer and lives in a small studio apartment. Samantha knows that she's only a few steps ahead of Steve tracking her down so she's saving as much of her money as she can. 

Micah just got dumped by his mate and its caused him to drop into a bad depression. He just wants to end his life so he sets his sights on a Dreck who would be oh too happy to kill him. But he doesn't expect Sam to come to his rescue when she spots Micah getting his ass kicked. 

Micah and his team work for AKM- All The Kings Men, they are vampire enforcers. They policed the Drecks who were like vampires but lower class and not as strong. Micah's team have several members but Trace was the one who intrigued me the most. Micah keeps most of them at arms length and he's known for being the grumpy one you stay away from and just let him do his own thing but they are there for him when it matters.

The Drecks that had been beating Micah up are pissed and are out to get Sam for stopping them and saving Micah. Sam is in danger so she really has no choice but to go back to Micah's place until he can deal with the situation for her but that doesn't stop the Drecks from coming after her. 

I really liked the Guardian aspect of this story. He was a bit mysterious in the beginning. I'm still not sure exactly what his deal is or what exactly he is but it'll be interesting to read his story.

When Sam's ex finally catches up with her, I thought it was pretty funny how she decides to get her revenge on him. She has Micah there to help her so I knew it would be something good. Never mess with a vampire. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Review: CoverGirl Outlast All Day Lip Color- Dusty Rose

You all already know how much I like to try new makeup products. So a while ago I was watching some Youtube reviews of this lip color that claimed it would last up to 24 hours. I don't usually wear lipstick because for 1. I have thin lips and 2. you have to re-apply it all day long. I like to do my makeup in the morning and forget it. Seriously, I hardly ever touch up during the day. So I figured I would give this a try and see if it lived up to the hype.

The website says this, "The #1 original long-wear lipcolor! Our advanced formula with resilient, brilliant coverage, color and shine gives you up to 16 hours of color that stays true in just 2 easy, breezy steps. Outlast has a moisturizing topcoat that helps lock in shine-no feathering, no bleeding. Food, Kiss and Workout-Proof, virtually life-proof. Moisturizing topcoat that keeps lips feeling moist, soft and smooth."

So the box says last 24 hours but the description says up to 16 hours. Hmmm. 

There's a ton of different colors to choose from. I like a pinky color so I choose Dusty Rose and it is a pretty pink color. The color goes on like a liquid lip and dries down matte really fast. After it dries down you can then add the clear top coat which goes on like a smooth lip balm and you can re-apply that as needed. 

It felt fine on my lips and did live up to the claims that it didn't come off on my cup and even lasted through eating breakfast and lunch. But right around the 7 hour mark I noticed that a lot of the color was gone, it had started feathering and just didn't look good anymore. So I reapplied it and it lasted until I took my makeup off that night. What remained easily came off with a makeup remover wipe. 

I used it again the next day and for several days after that. For me, it lasted about 7 hours before I had to reapply but that's pretty darn good for a lip color. My only complaint is that if you rub your lips together a little too hard, it will flake right off. So you do have to be careful about that. But for the most part I think this was a win for me. I am thinking of getting a couple of other colors now. 

This is what it looked like on me. It's a pretty color. I think most of my lipsticks are just about the same color as this so I liked it. 

Review: Brightest Shadow by Candice Gilmer

Book Description

The Mythical Knight Book 1

This werewolf alpha wants her. She's not interested.

Losing a father is always hard, losing a father who’s a pillar of the community is harder. When he’s the alpha of your werewolf pack it is even harder. 

Still, that’s exactly where David Drigan finds himself--lost and rudderless after the death of his father. 

Nonetheless, the final transformation to turn David into the leader has yet to happen, leaving his family wondering if he will ever be strong enough to lead his pack.

Trying to step into his place in society, David meets Kelsey.

Blonde. Curvy. Attitude. 

There’s just something about her that makes David’s beastly desires surface unlike ever before. The need to take her and protect her, if only from herself, overwhelms him.

Not that Kelsey would let him. She doesn’t need anyone to take care of her. Never has. 

But this David guy? He's not her usual bad boy. 

He’s, like, a suit.

Crazy. 

Then things get crazier. 

One night at her favorite decrepit amusement park, she learns there’s a lot more to David—and the world—than she ever expected.

Is Kelsey ready for this darker world where she would have to step up and truly stand by her alpha?

My Review

David just lost his father, the alpha of their pack and now they were all looking to him to be the alpha but the change that was supposed to happen to him to make him alpha...just wan't happening and he had no idea why. David and Kelsey met at a party on his behalf even though she didn't know who he was when they met. The attraction they felt for one another was almost instantaneous but they both had roles to play at the party so they didn't get a chance to really talk much. 

They meet again when he comes to her work to sign some papers and they make a date to go running later on. They get along really well and like being around each other which was fun to watch. Kelsey has no idea that he's a werewolf even though he's let a few things slip but she never picked up on it. 

Then when they're at one of her favorite places to spend time, some bad mythicals as they call themselves, show up and put David and Kelsey in danger. David has no choice but to shift into his wolf in order to keep them both safe from the bad guys, but it's a shock. She takes the whole thing pretty well at first and then just wants some space. I don't think she really knew how to deal with all of it but I can't really blame her.

There's a couple of interesting characters in this book and even though they seem like they are almost bad guys, I think there might be more to them than that. It'll be interesting to get to see more of them in future books. But I really think an opportunity was lost when we didn't get to see more of David's mother's grief over having just lost her mate. I realize this isn't her story but the expected grief just wan't there which made her character a little less believable. 

I really enjoyed this author's writing style. I felt drawn into the story from the very first pages. I never got bored and always felt like the story was progressing nicely. We don't get a whole lot of world building so I hope to get more of the mythicals and how they came about in the next books. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.  

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

"I'm getting ready to make dinner. Everyone likes salmon."

*Picture courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #81

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.

It's been a crazy week. We heard the police helicopter up the and they were shining their lights on our street. After about 20 minutes of that, they left. Then Wednesday morning, we hear a bunch of sirens. So Ken goes to look outside and the ambulance is in front of my building. But they took off after heading to someone's apartment across the street. No one was taken in the ambulance. 

As I'm standing outside watching the ambulance drive away, the fire truck and police cars park down the street. 

They went to a different building than the ambulance went to but there were a bunch of them down there for more than 2 hours. 

I didn't see anyone being brought out into the police car and they were there for a long time. I have no idea what went on down there but there sure was a lot of something happening.

On Thursday while I was taking Falcor for a walk I watched a woman pull down her pants, squat in front of a car on the street and poo right in front of the car on the street.  She got up looked around, pulled her pants up and walked off. Wtf? People are nuts

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

Review: Daily Goodie Box

The Daily Goodie Box has been around since about July of 2016. I signed up for an account right after I heard about them. They are 100% free, you don't even have to pay for shipping. And for a free box it's a nice sampler box of products.

What did I receive?

KOE Organic Kombucha- I wasn't too pleased with the taste of this drink.

Pure Aura Cosmic Shimmer Hologram Foil Mask-  These masks don't really do much for me and I've tried quite a few of them but this one did leave my skin soft. 

Goddess Garden Facial Sunscreen Lotion- I can always use a new sunscreen and this one seems to work well. 

CUSA Tea Variety Pack- I'm a tea drink and found several so far that I like. There were quite a few packs in this sampler which was great.

Kika's Treat Salted Crunchy Caramels- These are good even if I'm not a fan of salted caramel. I never really understood adding salt to candy. 

Michele's Granola Grab and Go Snack Size- This is definitely my favorite thing in the box. I love granola and this is a great tasting one.

PiperWai Natural Deodorant Stick- I've only used this twice but it seems to work the way you would hope it did. The scent is nice and it works so that's nice.

Prince & Spring Organic Applesauce Pouches-  I tried this and like the applesauce. I think kids would really like this too.

I really liked the variety pack of teas. There were several choices and I liked them all.

All they ask you to do is try the products and leave reviews for the products you got in order to be eligible for more Free Goodie Boxes. As you guys already know, I'm a fan of all these types of boxes. I love all the different subscription boxes and it's really nice to be able to try new to me products for free. This is a great box to try for.

 Oh and one more thing, if you visit their FB Page, they give away Goodie Boxes to people who interact with their posts. So if you've tried before and weren't able to get a Goodie Box, there's even more ways to get one now.

I'm a fan of subscription boxes and love try ing new products for free so this was a huge hit with me. New products+free box = Fabulous!

Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Have you signed up? Have you received one of these boxes?

Disclosure: This box was given to me for free in exchange for a blog review but all opinions are my own.

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.

What did I receive this week?

I cashed in my points from the Loacker Insider Program and was sent a box of Loacker goodies for free. All of the goodies were different flavored wafer cookies. You can sign up and get this too. Just click on the link I put in this post and sign up. All they have you do is follow them on social media, surveys and questions. It's pretty easy to get the points needed for a box of goodies.

I received chocolate wafer cookies, raspberry yogurt wafer cookies, lemon wafer cookies, chocolate covered chocolate wafer cookies and bite size chocolate wafer cookies. 

I really like these and so does Ken. I'm able to cash my points out about twice a year but when they send you a whole box of goodies, I think it's worth it and a great freebie. 

Have you signed up on their website?

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: L'Oreal Age Perfect Rosy Tone Moisturizer and Eye Cream

A couple of weeks ago I received a free full size jar of L'Oreal Age Perfect Rosy Tone Moisturizer and Eye Cream to try from Influenster and give my thoughts on. I've been using it everyday under my makeup for the past couple of weeks. 

On the L'Oreal website it says this about the moisturizer, "Renew and Revive a Blushed Rosy Tone From Within. Skin Feels Smoother, Looks Rejuvenated. Skin is Hydrated and Has a Healthy Blush.

As skin matures, its ability to renew surface cells slows down. As a result, skin's natural pink tone is hidden and complexion becomes dull, losing its natural rosy tone of youth. Age Perfect Cell Renewal* Rosy Tone Moisturizer is a universally-flattering daily moisturizing cream enhanced with rosy pigments to instantly revive skin’s rosy tone. This tinted moisturizer for mature skin is powerfully formulated with Imperial Peony Extracts and LHA to gently exfoliate dull, sallow skin and stimulate surface cell renewal every day to revive skin’s natural rosy tone. The Result: smooth & renewed skin with a healthy and rosy complexion, immediately and over time. 

*Based on skin surface cell turnover"

Now I will say that my face does look a little pinker but my skin is a little red anyways. My skin does feel smoother and softer though. I will say that for sure. It hasn't broke my skin out or irritated it in any way and it didn't adversely effect my makeup in anyway. So it's easily worn under the makeup I wear. I think this is a great moisturizer and I'll keep using it until it's gone. I don't know if I would buy these products for myself since each one will cost you $24.99, at least when I looked them up online that was the prices I found. But I will use them while I have them.

On the L'Oreal website it says this about the eye brightener cream, "Anti-aging eye brightener to visibly color correct dark circles. Best for mature, dull skin.

This anti-aging eye cream has a unique whipped texture that instantly blurs to help visibly correct dark circles. Formulated with Imperial Peony, it reduces the look of dark circles, visibly brightens skin around the eye area and provides an overall healthier, younger looking complexion. Immediately eye area looks smoother, brighter, more awake. Dark circles appear diminished. Paraben Free. Mineral Oil Free. Non-Sticky. Dermatologist and Ophthalmologist tested for safety. Suitable for sensitive skin."

I really like the eye cream. It disappears into the skin really fast and leaves almost a powder like finish which really helps when adding foundation, concealer and powder on top of it. My makeup even looked better I think when I used this. I like the pink tone it gave my face even when I wasn't wearing makeup. I really didn't see it help with the dark circles though. Did it make my skin softer though? Yes it did. I think it's a great moisturizer for under the eyes and it has a really pleasant scent to both of them.

So while I didn't see either of them changing anything about my skin, they are good moisturizers and leave my skin feeling soft and they smell good.