Halloween Baking

 

My daughter and grandson did a bunch of Halloween baking throughout this month so I thought I would share some pictures of what they made. This was pudding, crushed Oreos and marshmallow pumpkins all in a cup. 

They came out really good. 

They carved some pumpkins. My daughter's friend carved the first one, my daughter carved the middle one and my grandson did the last one.

Made Cherry Pie.

Sugar cookies. 

Chocolate cupcakes with witches' feet sticking out of them. 

They came out cute. 

Did you do any baking this month?

Happy Halloween!

Book Review: Wild Games by Reece Barden

 

Book Description

Book 3 in the Alpha Games series!!!

Round 3 of the Games kicks off, with the best of the best from packs across the realm competing to win a territory of their own. With tensions high, it's not just tempers that are getting hot.

Camille Black is an enforcer, sent to investigate a conspiracy at the Alpha Games, when she finds a problem she can't ignore: Jax Reynolds, the alpha's broken brother, a wolf so dangerous he's chained up at night, and even his own pack think he's too far gone to be redeemed.

Jax has spent years convinced his beast is a curse, and too feral to be saved. The last thing he wants is a fated mate, he'll only drag her down with him. He'll do anything to protect her, even if it means rejecting the one bond that could save him.

But as a dark magic plot threatens to tear the games apart, and someone inside the competition is determined to make sure Camille doesn't get in the way of their mission, Jax is forced to help the woman he's trying to push away.

The only thing Camille can trust is her instinct, which tells her this wild wolf shifter is worth saving… and worth claiming.

A dual POV, MF, wolf shifter romance with all the feels. Fated mates, enemies-to-loves, dominant alpha males and the women who drive them wild.

My Review

Camille is trying to find a stolen magical artifact but she's also an enforcer sent to investigate the Alpha Games for a problem, so she goes to the Reynold's territory to help find the person using magic in the games for whatever purpose they are doing it. 

Jax is Alpha Reynold's younger brother, his wolf is out of control most of the time, so much so that he has to be chained up at times when he can't control his wolf. All at once Jax knows that a female wolf shifter is near and that she's, his mate. But he knows he can never have a mate, broken that he is, he doesn't trust himself or his wolf enough to take a mate, so he watches her instead. But when Camille can feel him watching her, she calls to him and instead of coming to her, he retreats which hurts her and throws a cold blanket on her emotions. 

Camille has already been rejected by one male who she thought was going to be her mate, she refuses to make a fool of herself with another male who doesn't want her. Camille can sense him when he gets close, but she keeps her cool when they meet face to face. She has to work with Jax since he's the one who first sensed the magic being used and informed his brother, the alpha. Them working closely together is hard for both of them since the mate bond is pulling them together. 

When Dean and Camille think up a way to get the person using the stolen artifact to show themselves, it puts Camille in danger and Jax doesn't like that one bit. She puts herself in danger to find out who is behind all the drama but she and the others helping her get a huge surprise when they find out who it is. 

Poor Alpha Dean Reynold's has a lot of his plate with all that going on and also trying to get the Alpha Games done and finally geta winner out of the games. He's vowed to never have the games in his territory again but other alphas are watching how the games go so they can do something similar in their territories, so this won't be the last we see of the Alpha Games. 

Jas and Camille finally find a way to be together when she convinces him that he's not so broken that he doesn't deserve a mate. 

I really loved Jax and Camille is exactly who he needed. He and his wolf were never in sync before because of all the abuse he suffered but once he and Camille found each other he and his wolf had to work together at times in order to help her and keep her safe. 

I loved this book as much as the first two books. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

I've read the first two books in this series and loved them, you can read my reviews of those books below. 

Rogue Games

Savage Games

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via the author but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Rain clouds. And we actually got some rain out of this storm that passed by. 

You can see the rain coming out of these clouds so well. 

And then some clouds the next day. 

Then this sunset one night. The clouds were all lit up and looked so cool. 

I saw so many pictures of this sunset this week. 

Book Review: The Pyres of Vengeance by N. C. Koussis

 

Book Review

Game of Thrones meets The Witcher in this epic grimdark sequel to The Sword of Mercy and Wrath, where no one is safe!

After losing everything she knew, Selene struggles to keep hope alive. Terrifying threats from the capital test her in ways she never thought possible.

Richter can't destroy himself or the corruption that lives in his body. He won't let anything stop him from his mission, though - to kill every other werewolf on the Continent.

The Order of the Golden Sword cares not for the laws of men. They’ll do anything to wipe the lycanthrope haven of Palerme from existence. But no one has ever faced an army of werewolves before.

My Review

Selene is a werewolf and she's tired of losing her people to the others who hunt and kill those who are like her. I really felt sorry for all that she has to endure. She and her people just want to be left alone to live. 

Richter is a werewolf but his mission in life is to kill every other werewolf he comes across. he somehow thinks that will life the werewolf curse from his body if he does. He's probably a psychopath with the way he thinks and the things he does, he's all kinds of crazy. 

I didn't read the first book, The Sword of Mercy and Wrath but I was able to pick this up and read it with no problems. 

This is not the paranormal romance type book that I usually read. My daughter bought this book for me when she was out with her friends and she noticed the cover. She figured it would be my kind of book. I love the cover but the story is dark, very dark. There's a lot of killing and fighting in this book because the werewolves just want to live and the ones hunting them won't let that happen. 

Will I be reading the 1st or 3rd books in this series? Probably not because this was a slow read for me. Yes, a lot happens but the pace was a bit slow for me. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Time to harvest he candy corn"

"Candy corn elf is checking the lists for Santa"

*All pictures this week are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #392

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I'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 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

I didn't get a picture of him but the same guy from this post who was digging holes a while back across the street, came and stood in front of our table in front of my apartment door. My daughter and I were watching him and then my daughter went to the door and asked him if she could help him with something. He said no, he was just looking at our table. She asked him to leave since we had our inner door open (the security door was locked) and Falcor was going crazy barking at him. But he ignored her and put a rock, a business card and a piece of glass on our table outside and then left. It was weird. He's weird. I don't know if he was high or has mental problems or what. 

---

All the residents of my apartment complex got a weird email this week saying that each of us were added to a lease. I called the office and asked about it. She said everyone got this because there's a new owner and a new management company was taking over but it was nothing to be worried about it's just a new computer system that shot out new notices to all the residents. I told her it would have made more sense to just let us all know there was a new owner. She just laughed and said, yeah. So now we have to deal with a new owner and a new apartment management company. I guess that's what all the inspections were about after all. 

----

*Click pictures to enlarge them*

These couches and chairs have been sitting in our alley by the trash can for weeks. The trash people will not take anything that's not in the garbage cans and maintenance hasn't given a damn about the trash all over the complex because they sold this place to a new owner. So I thought I would get a picture of this before the new management company does something about it, if they do. A bunch of homeless people have been sleeping here and hanging out here during the day. 

The high this week was 84F/28C

The low this week was 59F/15C

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

Saturday Vittles

 

My Daughter and I are trying to eat healthier so I thought I would share some pictures on Saturdays of what we've made.

Stuffed Onions

You will need:

5 Sweet Italian sausage links

1 cup rice, rinsed

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tomato, diced

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup chopped parsley-as garnish

5 large yellow onions

1 tsp. Tomato and chicken bouillon powder

1 diced bell pepper

The Sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilis

1/2 cup Hunts Garlic and Herb marinara sauce

3 large tomatoes

1 tsp. Tomato and chicken bouillon powder

salt and pepper to taste

Use a blender and blend all of this together for the sauce.

Instructions 

Cook the rice as you normally would, set aside.

To a bowl, add the Italian sausage, rice, spices, garlic powder, tomato paste, bell pepper and butter. Mix well and set aside.

Next, cut each end off of the onion, place it flat side down and cut it down the middle starting from the center making sure not to cut it in half.

Repeat this step for each onion. Now, fill a pot with water, place the onions inside and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. The layers should start to pull apart. Make sure you don't boil them too much as they can break apart and not work for this dish. Drain the water carefully and let the onions cool. 

Take each onion layer, add a tablespoon of filling to it and roll. Repeat this step until you either run out of the filling or onions.

Por the sauce into a large round dish with a lid. Arrange the stuffed onions seam-side down tightly into the round dish with the sauce.

 

Place in a preheated 350F oven and bake covered for 45 minutes and uncovered for another 30 minutes. Garnish with diced parsley once out of the oven.

A serving size is 5 of these and they are 500 calories and 15 carbs. 

My daughter saw a recipe for this and changed it to suit us a little better. But this came out so good. We used yellow onions because they tend to be sweeter than white onions when they are done cooking. This came out so good. 

Paintings Using Oil Pastels

 

My daughter drew this for me using oil pastels. They're butterflies since she knows I like butterflies. I like her paintings using oil pastels so I wanted to show them off. 

This is also done with oil pastels. 

She wasn't happy with this one but I like it.

The moon in the night sky.

A cute butterfly. 

I can't draw at all. But I thought she did a good job on them.

Book Review: My Alien Cellmate by Anna Svoboda

 

Book Description

Mondays suck, and then you get kidnapped by aliens.

Astra

In the grand mess of life, where my two jobs barely keep my moldy apartment afloat, the universe decides to throw in an extra curveball — I'm abducted by aliens to be sold as an exotic slave. Now, I'm stuck in a cell with an alien roommate whose job description includes impregnating me. It's like adding rotten cherries atop of a cosmic joke of a cake that is my life.

But here's the kicker — my extraterrestrial companion turns out to be surprisingly civilized. A gentlealien, if you will? Terminology aside, he's beautiful, in every sense of the word. Despite the absurdity of the situation, there's an undeniable attraction between us. Yet, the looming threat of slavery dampens any sparks.

Tareq

Mission: Infiltrate the slaver crew. Reality: Locked in with the cargo. Now, they want me to impregnate a female from some primitive planet. Surprise of the millennium — she's not the helpless victim I anticipated.

She's resilient, intelligent, and beautiful, even with those blunt teeth and useless claws. I could see her as my mate, but that's a cosmic joke. Once I free us, she's off to her cozy planet, leaving me to nurse my two broken hearts. The Ancestors sure have a twisted sense of humor.

My Review

Astra is having a hard time making ends meet even with two jobs. She thinks her life sucks now but then she's kidnapped by aliens that see her as nothing more than a slave they can make more sought after if she's impregnated by one of the other aliens they've kidnapped, and they don't care which one. Tareq has the translator implanted so he can communicate with the evil alien kidnappers and he agrees to impregnate Astra but only agrees to this in order to keep her safe from the others.  Astra can't understand Tareq but after she realizes that he's not going to hurt her, they try communicating and it works, kind of. 

Tareq is kind of the alien police and was sent there to infiltrate the slave ship so his companions can stop the ship and save the kidnapped people and send them all back home, after their memories have been wiped. 

But Tareq and Astra aren't going to just sit around and wait for something to happen, they somehow get help form another alien and try to escape. When Tareq is able to contact his shipmates and tell them they are in need of help, all hell breaks loose and Astra and the others find themselves in danger. But Tareq isn't going to just let the kidnapped aliens die so he and his shipmates have to think outside the box to save them. 

Once Astra is implanted with a communication device and can understand Tareq and the others, it's easier to realize that she really likes Tareq but what's going to happen once they are saved and she has to go home without her memories of him? 

Now I will say the cover for this one was a huge turn off. What is the cartoon hell is happening on the cover? But the book sounded really good so I gave it a read and I'm really happy that I did. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the week

 

I got a screenshot from one of my window cameras when I spotted this sunset. 

I was trying to get a picture of the cloudy sky through the trees when I realized that you can really see how dead this pine tree is in this picture. I have a feeling management is going to remove this tree at some point. 

We had a nice sunset.

One day we had a lot of clouds right before the sun set.

The clouds were nice. No rain but that's ok.

They sure made for some nice pictures.

Book Review: Moonlight Reborn by Miyo Hunter

 

Book Description

Rejected. Forgotten—Until his skin touched mine

I was the weakest daughter of the pack’s alpha, no one believed I’d be a wolf.

So when war demanded an exchange, my own family chose me to live among my enemies.

I was promised they would treat me like their own daughter. But I knew what I really was—a hostage.

For years, I was the pack outcast.

That all changed with one touch.

Electricity sparked and ancient power burned white hot across my forearm, marking me.

A mark for all to see. Every shifter, man, woman and child knew what that meant.

The heir to their alpha, enemy to my bloodline, was my soulmate.

My Review

When two different wolf shifter pack's want to end the war between them, they decide to trade the alpha's first borns to each others packs. So when Sofia is traded to the other pack she and Aaron become siblings but not really. Because Sofia can't shift and is very small, everyone treats her badly in her new home. That really made me mad and I felt really bad for her. She is never allowed to go home because she belongs to the other pack and they will shoot each other if they cross the borders between the two packs. 

Sofia is picked on through the years she is there and she and Aaron don't really have much to do with each other since he is the Alpha's son he has a lot of responsibilities. But one day when Sofia is older she and Aaron run into each other and after one accidental touch, they both know they are soulmates. But something else happens too, Sofia feels her wolf for the first time and she shifts for the first time. She doesn't want anyone to know though so she tries to keep it a secret. Aaron can't stop thinking about her even though she keeps pushing him away because he never liked her and now just because fate has chosen them to be mates he's sniffing around her and she doesn't like it. 

But the bullying gets a lot worse and so when Aaron comes to her rescue, they can't deny that they have feelings for each other any longer. But his family causes problems and they have to overcome yet another obstacle in their way.

I felt so bad for Sofia because she can never go home and her new pack treated her so badly. It wasn't right at all. But this ended up being such a good book and the ending was so good. I was so happy for her.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Trick or Treat"

*All pictures this week are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #391

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I'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 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

Can you spot the problem with this tree? It's a nice tree, don't get me wrong but there is a small problem. See next picture.

The problem is the thousands of 2 inch long, sharp as a needle, spikey thorns on all the branches. Can you see them on the branches?  Who in their right mind thought that this kind of tree was a good idea for a residential neighborhood? If some of the branches are hanging too low and a kid tries to walk through the leaves, they are going to get messed up! Those 2 inch long thorns could take an eye out. Those things are needle sharp too. I know because before I saw the thorns I went to walk through a low hanging bunch of leaves and got cut up a few years ago. I don't know what kind of tree this is but it's dangerous. Some City official, or owner of the property who decided to plant this tree had a good laugh about it, I'm sure. He was probably thinking, "Because F*ck you, that's why!" 🤣🤣

A guy across the street has been leaving his work truck parked on the street each night and over the weekends. I'm just surprised that people haven't been stealing stuff off the truck at night. There are so many things that aren't chained to the truck that could be easily stolen. Just surprised me. 

I noticed an ambulance parked across the wall in the alley next door. For some reason they sit in their ambulance for hours waiting for a call. I didn't know they did that.

---

My daughter's best friend and her girlfriend moved into my courtyard a few months ago. She used me as a reference so I would get the $200 off my rent for one month referral bonus that management sends out emails, flyers, posted on the resident portal ect. The manager who leased them they apartment filled out a paper to give to me as proof that they used me as a referral. I had to wait 90 days and then it should have been automatically applied to my rent. Of course that didn't happen. So I started calling the office each month several times. Each time they said they would send it to their district manager and I  heard nothing back from them. I called, emailed and talked to someone face to face in the office. I finally after 3 months! Get an email...

The manager tells me that there's no record of anyone using me as a referral. I blacked out names for privacy.

So I wrote back and attached a photo of the paper the manager who leased the apartment to my friend gave to her for me. I said it looks like a clerical error could she please fix it. 

She writes me back and says since that person no longer works for her company and there are no notes and no records of me being used as a referral she cannot do anything to help me. I'm just out the $200 off my rent. 

This place sucks. You can be damned sure I won't refer anyone else here. It took 3 months to even get anyone to reply to me in the first place. And I called, and emailed a dozen times. Ugh, this place sucks.

So, here's a little life update as well:

About 2 years ago I told you all that I was diabetic and my A1C was high, 11.1 so I went on a low carb diet and last week my new doctor told me my A1C was 6.3. My blood glucose numbers are excellent. I'm no longer running a blood glucose of around 350 all the time. My cholesterol was normal and so was my blood pressure. I lost some weight and that helped. The only thing wrong was my Vitamin D levels were extremely low so he put me on a weekly supplement. For the most part it was all good news. 

The high this week was 81F/27C

The low this week was 53F/11C

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

Saturday Vittles

 

It's Pumpkin Spice season and so I'm sharing a sweet treat I made. 

Cakey-Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 1 cup (room temperature) butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 TBSP. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups (1 bag) Milk Chocolate Chips

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

2 TBSP. Pumpkin Pie Spice

(Mix together and sprinkle over cookies before baking.)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix wet ingredients together in a medium bowl. Sift dry ingredients together, then add to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fold in chocolate chips. Put mixture in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.  Drop by rounded teaspoon onto greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

These cake-like cookies are so good, especially if you like pumpkin spice and pumpkin flavors. 

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, 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.  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:

Decorte facial serum.

Not pictured- I got a new box spring and queen size mattress from my daughter's friend and her girlfriend who moved into my courtyard. My old mattress was old...it was 14 years old. It needed to be replaced. My daughter used to kid around and say it was haunted because my mom passed away on that bed right after she bought it. And then in 2020 my husband passed away on the bed.  It's nice to have a new mattress that's not all lumpy, bumpy. 🤣 And not haunted because it was only 3 months old when it was given to me. 

Book Review: A Monster's Treasure by Lynnea Lee

 

Book Description

CLARA

Unfairly convicted of a crime, I’m sent to serve the Kadrixan males for their rutting season.

The Kadrixans. Even their name inspires terror. Fiery-skinned and devil-like, they stand head and shoulders taller than any human man. Our colony made a terrible bargain with these monsters. The Kadrixans give us precious ore in exchange for the one thing they need.

Women. Like me.

When we meet our Kadrixan captors, I come face to face with a massive, brawny beast who claims I belong to him. And not just for the rutting season. He wants me forever.

KRXARE

I never expected to claim a human mate, but one look at the curvy female and I know she’s mine.

Hunger claws at my mind and that of every other warrior in my regiment. All of us are on the brink of the rut which makes us more belligerent with each passing day. Without females, we’ll tear each other apart with rage.

We depend upon our bargain. Human females for Kadrixan ore.

The females arrive and there is one who stirs my primitive desire: Clara. She thinks I’m a monster; I see it in her eyes and scent it in her fear. She vows to return to her people after the rut is over, but I vow to claim my mate, to woo her and prove she’s mine.

My Review

As soon as I saw that cover, I knew I had to read this. I have a thing for demons I guess. But the jokes on me because he's not a demon, he's just an alien who looks like a demon. Hundreds of years ago their species visited Earth and the whole demon mythology came from that meeting. Now hundreds of years later, when Earthlings meet the Kadrixan people, we think they are demons because of how they look. But their just aliens from another planet. 

Things on Earth are not good. People have chips put in their arms that carry their money, their health, their whole lives basically. If you're rich you have a good life but if you're poor like Clara, things can go from bad to worse when you are deemed unemployable. They give her a choice along with other women, either go to Utopia where you are supposedly taken care of but you never come back for some odd reason or go to Kadrixan for the rutting season and after it's over you can come back home. 

Some of the women think going to Utopia is a mistake so they choose going to Kadrixan and bringing comfort to the demon-like aliens during their rutting season. 

There's something weird going on with Utopia because the officials get really mad when Clara and other women choose Kadrixan instead. They get bonuses for the women that choose Utopia and that sends up all kinds of red flags for the women who hear about that. 

Once on Kadrixan though the women realize that these demon-like aliens are not the monsters they were told they would be. Krxare meets Clara after she arrives on the ship and right away he knows that she's his mate. Now he has a few days before the rutting season starts and his heat overcomes him to convince her to stay and be his, not just for rutting season but forever. 

The Kadrixan's made a treaty with Earth, that they would give them Kadrixan ore in exchange for healthy, women who volunteered to come there. Kadrixans don't have a lot of females and when the males go into heat they either have sex or they fight with other males and sometimes they fight to the death. So they don't want that to happen hence needing females who choose to be there for them during this time. 

There's drama going on behind the scenes about Utopia but this had a good ending. I really liked this book. The romance between Clara and Krxare was so sweet and so hot and not just because he looks like he just escaped hell. Krxare turned out to be such a loving, caring guy, I just loved him. I can't say enough good things about this book. I'm definitely reading more of this series. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Nothing but clouds in the past couple of weeks. We had a few days where it got a little cloudy and then there was this day. The amount of huge, white, puffy clouds was so cool. They sure make for a nice background.

The clouds started to get a little darker as the day went on, but we didn't get any rain out of them. 

This was 2PM. I thought for sure we were going to get some rain out of this and we did on Thursday.

I took Falcor for a walk just in case it was going to start raining. It rained right after we got home.

The wind we got came in fast and it cooled down so fast while we were out there.

We did get some rain over the weekend too. Not a lot, but some.

And here is a video I took with my digital camera of Falcor. I am now able to take video and download them to my laptop. It took about 15 minutes for it to download to Blogger for some reason but at least I can do it now. With my old laptop, I couldn't download any videos from my camera. I have no idea why.