Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of "My Daughter" Elizabeth Post*

"I hope you didn't come here empty handed."

*Picture courtesy of Cindy Rogers*

"Om nom nom nom. Yes, I do like cookies, who knew." 

*Picture courtesy of Paula Rosa Lea Siviter*

"They're really not that scary. "Running out of treats is much scarier."

Apartment Life #48

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.

We've lived in this apartment for 20 years and we've gone through at least 9 apartment managers that I can remember. About 15 years ago we were friends with the manager we had and she asked me to take some pictures for her and email to her since she didn't have a phone or a camera. The camera I had was a POS and didn't have a flash so the pictures aren't great but they do tell a story. The manager evicted this couple and their 4 kids because people were complaining about the fights, the noise, the cops always being at their apartment and about people constantly knocking on their door all hours of the day and night...staying for 10 seconds and leaving. We suspected they were dealing drugs. So they got evicted, left a huge mess, damage and then fought the eviction in court and wanted their security deposit back. So she used these pictures to show the judge why she refused to give them back their security deposit. 

This is the room where all 4 kids slept and it was a mess. There were bunk beds and a crib in this room. There was a newborn, a 1 year old, 3 year old and a 5 year old. 

This was the kitchen.

The living room.

The front door had been kicked in a few times so the door was broken in several places. 

Most of the walls had holes in them. This looked like someone had kicked it a few times. 

There was so much stuff packed into the kids bedroom, there was hardly any room to walk around. 

But the worst thing we found was the lock on the outside of the bedroom door. The manager said she was going to point that out to the judge. I don't know if he sent children's protective services to their new place or not though. I can only hope so. About 2 weeks later they came and packed their stuff up and left with it.

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

Tall, Dark and Stormy by Mickey Miller

Book Description

Sorority Secrets: The virgins of Beta Kappa Nu would do anything for each other. Even auction off their most valuable asset…

They say I’m a rich, bitter a**hole who isn’t capable of normal feelings.

Well, they say a lot of things.

And they don’t know shit.

You don’t become a billionaire without a strain of obsession bubbling within you. Strong and true, like a deep blue pilot light.

It’s true, I don’t suffer fools. And I don’t have time to become emotionally involved.

I loved once before. This is my curse. It keeps me focused.

Until I see Stacy’s ad. The office intern, auctioning off her virginity for charity, right there on the screen.

A gorgeously seductive photo, followed by some of the dirtiest erotic fantasies I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.

And they’re about me. Her boss.

I’ll be damned if one of these tasteless men with no appreciation for this smart, beautiful angel will be her first.

If anyone has her, it’s going to be me.

Like I said, I’m a man of obsession.

For those times when size does matter. The Dirty Bits from Carina Press: quick and dirty, just the way we like it.

My Review

As soon as I started reading this I disliked Jack right away. He had just fired a couple of people and it made him feel like a badass. Sure the guy he fired had it coming after sending a female co-worker dick pics but that's beside the point. This guy was getting off on the power he held and I didn't like him. 

Jack was curious about Stacey so he checked what she had been looking at on the work computers and saw she was auctioning off her virginity. He was shocked at first, then more curious and then intrigued. He decides to call Stacey into his office and let her know that he read what she wrote about him, her fantasies about him and the auction. 

I really liked Stacey and after a while I liked Jack as well. They both have painful pasts and while Jack's past made him a bitter jerk, it made Stacey a better person. Jack remembers how he used to be before he was emotionally hurt and he realizes that Stacey is pulling that part out of him again. They get along really well and this story turns hot and sexy really fast. 

This is a fast novella. It might be a quick read but it was hot, dark and steamy. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and 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.

This week I received:

RX Nut Butter.
Folgers Ground Coffee sample.
A free Conti Castile Olive Oil Sensitive Skin Bar from The Upside.

If you haven't heard of The Upside, it's a website that sends you free products in exchange for you spreading the word about those products and sharing your opinions about them. So I included a link to the site if that sounds like something you'd be interested in.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Legendary Beast by Barbara J. Hancock

Book Description

She slept…

…his love didn’t

Once upon a time, Madeline was trapped in an enchanted sleep, her baby wrapped tight in her arms. Then the white wolf woke her, and her son disappeared. For centuries, Lev Romanov searched for his wife and their child, and the search drove him half-mad. Can Madeline trust the wolf to be the man who can help her save their son?

My Review

Madeline slept for over a thousand years and then her queen smashed the glass that enclosed her and her infant son and woke her. Madeline didn't remember much of her life before but she remembered her infant son. Before she could get her son to wake up as well, he was kidnapped. So she goes to ask for help to the only person she knows will help her, the baby's father. 

Lev didn't sleep while his wife and son were cursed to sleep for over a thousand years. Instead he became a formidable, lethal white wolf and never stopped searching for them. He knew who caused the curse that put his family to sleep and he would get his revenge one day, of that he had no doubt. 

While this was a good story it was also long and drawn out. They are on the run for most of the story, running from witches, wolves and other bad guys while they try to make it to the place where their son is and rescue him. 

Lev remembers her and misses her. He's never stopped looking for her while she and their son slept and throughout the story she slowly starts to get her memory back. I really liked her character. She's not a scared, weak heroine. She wields a ruby sword and can fight like the warrior she's always been. 

At first she's afraid of the white wolf because of her memory loss and the lies that are told to her but as Lev and Madeline get closer and get to know one another and she remembers their past, her fear disappears. 

There are a coupe of good twists in this book and the ending was really good. I liked these two as well as the secondary characters. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: Selenium Night by Kharma Kelley

Book Description

ShadowShifters - Shapeshifting wolf creatures that love as fiercely as they fight.

Aidan Bloodlocke never dreamed he was a wolf Shifter, much less an Alpha. When a pack takes him in, his entire world changes, and loyalties are developed. Then disaster strikes, and he's on a ruthless mission for justice.

When veterinarian Maddie Ardelle moved to Bridgepoint, Maine, to start a normal, peaceful life on her own, she didn't expect to get herself caught in the crossfire of two factions of violent, feuding werewolves. And definitely not entangled with a sexy biker shifter that made her weak in the knees. Against their will, Maddie and Aidan's worlds collide, and with an attraction so enthralling, both are helpless to resist.

As Aidan struggles to fight for both love and duty, he uncovers a betrayal so heinous, it puts the lives of his entire pack and the brave woman he desires at unthinkable risk. The stakes are high, and both must decide if Maddie ultimately can live in his violent world of teeth and claw in this action-packed paranormal romance series!

My Review

There are two kinds of shifters in this book, the Aristans and the Thesians. They were both created by a moon goddess who were sisters. Arista created the Aristans and they were supposed to worship both sisters but they really only cared about the goddess who created them. Arista's sister was mad about that so she created the Thesians to kill her sisters Aristans.

Aidan Bloodlocke was adopted by a Aristan family, though his 'brother' never accepted him and things got worst when Aidan beat his adopted brother, Kiernan and became alpha of his pack. Kiernan betrayed the pack with the help of a pack member as well as a few Thesians and the results were awful. 

Kiernan runs from the pack but Aidan tracks him, finds him and brings in help to try and deal with him. But while Aidan is searching for Kiernan he runs into Maddie who is in trouble and even though she's a human he can't just leave her to get hurt. For some strange reason that he can't understand, he's drawn to the human and can't stop thinking about her but Aristan's have a strict rule about keeping away from humans so he knows that his attraction can never go anywhere. 

Maddie is the town veterinarian and when we first meet her she's dealing with a total jerk who got bit by his girlfriend's dog and the dog got hurt presumably by the boyfriend, Evan. I really wanted Evan to get hit by a truck, he was a complete jerk and bully. The fact that the girlfriend put up with this guys behavior, just pissed me off. 

Then Aidan finds out that Kiernan is gathering Thesians to make his own pack and Aidan knows that when he gets a big enough pack he will be coming after him for revenge. Aidan has no choice but to ask others that he never thought he would be asking, for help. But while all this family and pack drama is going on, there's also a really hot romance between Maddie and Aidan that I really liked. These two are so great together and I liked watching Aidan change his mind about humans and open his heart to Maddie. 

There was so much action towards the end of this book and so much backstory and world building in the beginning of this book that it really kept my attention front beginning to end. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: Unleashed by Caitlin Crews

Book Description

Notorious seducer Thor Ragnarsson runs the scandalous Hotel Viking in Reykjavik, where tourists go to fulfill their wildest fantasies. When straitlaced American professor Margot Cavendish gets snowed in while studying Icelandic sex culture, Thor challenges her inhibitions with some very hands-on research—soon she’s exploring every inch of his delicious body. It’s only one night of passion, but when the snowstorm clears they’re left aching for more…

My Review

I knew I had to read this as soon as I saw the heroes name was thor and he ran Hotel Viking. 

Margot wanted to interview Thor but all of her calls to speak to him had been denied so she decides to just show up and see if he'll talk to her. She didn't expect to find herself snowed in at the hotel though. While all she wants to do at first is talk, interview him about his thoughts on sex, he has other plans. He wants to show her in person why he owns a sex hotel as she calls it. At first she says no, but he's persistent and soon she's following him back to a room. 

Since they're at a sex hotel, I thought that it would be more exciting than it was. The sex between these two is mundane at best. It was nice for both of them but I wouldn't call it earth shattering. I was really thinking these two would blow the top off the building and leave me breathless but is was more luke warm if you ask me. 99% of the book is the one night they shared in his room and all the conversing back and forth they did. 

I really like the idea of a pleasure hotel where people go to live out their fantasies. This place sounds like a lot of fun. These two not so much. The book was entertaining to read if you're looking for two strangers having sex for the first time and a lot of conversation. But if you're looking for a deep dark fantasy with lots of kink, look elsewhere because it's not here. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given this ebook for free via NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Don't worry ma'am, I'll have this fire out in no time."

*Picture courtesy of Mary Kirkland (me)*

"I are napping now. Play later."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #47

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.

This guy moved into the apartment complex across the street last year and has 2 dogs. The big dog he keeps on a leash. His little dog is never on a leash and likes to run up to other dogs and play or lick them in the face. I've seen the little dog almost get bitten several times because he refuses to keep it on a leash and it runs up to every single dog it sees.

I had my camera ready this time when I saw the guy walking his 2 dogs. I keep telling him that there are dogs in the neighborhood that are not dog friendly and he just nods his head and smiles. He says to me that his dog is friendly so it's fine. This guy is an idiot. Thankfully Falcor likes most small dogs or this would have been a bigger problem. Falcor doesn't like big dogs though. 

Just last week I watched his little dog run up to a pit bull on a leash and get right in the dogs face. The owner had a hard time keeping them apart and he had to bend down and keep his dog from biting the little dog because the owner wasn't even out of his apartment yet. When he did finally come out he yelled, "Paco" and the dog went running but the little dogs owner didn't even say sorry or anything to the other guy. We both looked at each other and just shook our heads. Someone is either gonna call animal control on this guy and he's gonna get a fine or his dog is gonna get bit by one of the non dog friendly dogs he runs up on one of these days. 

Oh and by the way, the people who had the bratty kids in my courtyard that always teased my dog...yeah they were evicted this week. Buh bye!

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

Review: Walmart Beauty Box- September

The Walmart Beauty box is a subscription box that comes out 4 times a year. You sign up for it and it comes automatically every 3 months. These boxes are free and shipping is $5. 

I have to say that I was a little surprised when I opened this box and saw what was inside. I was a bit disappointed because these boxes used to be a lot better. 

This month though I received 7 small sample packets of products.

What was in this box...

Garnier SkinActive 3 in 1 moisturizer day/night mask. 

Garnier Fructis Damage Repairing Treat 1 Minute Hair Mask. 

Village Naturals Therapy Muscle Relief body wash. 

Village Naturals Therapy Muscle Relief lotion. 

Kleenex Wet Wipes. 

Whole Blends Shampoo and Conditioner. 

Sleeping Facial Mask. 

I get that I'm only paying $5 for this box of samples but when I first signed up for this box the samples in the boxes were great and bigger. This box only comes every 3 months so they have plenty of time to get the boxes out on time and filled with great products like they used to have. More and more people are cancelling this box because it's so disappointing. But I keep hoping it gets better. 

Did you get this box?

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:

I cashed out my points on e-Rewards for a $25 Macy's egift card.
I received 66 free prints from Shutterfly when they had a promotion.
A sample of Organic Protein Powder.
A sample of Derma e moisturizer.
A sample bottle of It's A 10 leave in hair conditioner.
I won 2 Amazon giveaways. A book and 2 pairs of scissors.

I love the It's a 10 leave in conditioner. I've received a sample bottle before and love this stuff. I bought a new bath mat with the Macy's gift card. I gave my daughter the protein powder and she made a shake with it. I am always up for another Derma e sample because their moisturizer has always been good.

Did you receive any samples this week?

Review: Crossed by Karin Tabke

Book Description

When falling in love is the most dangerous option of all...

Brutally assaulted and then heartlessly betrayed, L.O.S.T. operative Jax Cassidy lives life on her terms. No friends, no family, no love. But when she comes face to face with assassin, Marcus Cross, the man she has been ordered to eliminate, she discovers his deadly secret. A secret that draws her into his dark world, jeopardizing not only her heart but her soul.

Marcus Cross sold his soul to the devil for a second chance at life. When dangerous beauty, Jax Cassidy's life is threatened by the one thing that can destroy them both, Marcus must make a bitter choice--her death or his.

It’s Jax Cassidy’s first mission for L.O.S.T.—one that will give the former cop who went rogue a chance to prove herself. Her assignment: gain the trust of assassin Marcus Cross . . . eliminate him . . . then take down Marcus’s mentor, Joseph Lazarus, a man with a bold eye on the White House. But the woman who’s known by her team for being a femme fatale succumbs to passion, only to discover Cross’s deadly secret. He’s a vampire, and Joseph Lazarus is his creator.

Left for dead by his platoon in the violent hills of Afghanistan, Special Ops sniper Marcus Cross was given a second chance at life. His newly heightened skills make him the perfect killing machine, and as Lazarus’s right-hand man, he’s quickly rising to the top of his dark empire, purging enemies with speed and precision. Only when Jax Cassidy is sent to bring him in does he begin to question Lazarus’s motives and his own actions. But when Jax’s life is threatened by the one thing that can destroy them both, Marcus must make a bitter choice—her death or his.

My Review

Jax is new to the L.O.S.T special ops organization after she was beaten, left for dead and got her revenge. She had been a cop and is now an assassin for this organization. 

Marcus has a lot of secrets and if Jax finds about about them she may or may not like him. He's a vampire who now kills for Lazarus. He had been a soldier when Lazarus found him almost dead and turned him. He has been working for a special ops team called The Solution run by Lazarus.

This book has no shortage or blood, murder and mayhem. The carnage starts right off from the start of this book. Marcus had been led to believe he was working for the good guys and doing the right thing but he was wrong. He slowly figures out what's really going on and why and that's when he changes his mind as well as the way he does things. Lazarus's special ops project had its funding cut off by the senator that had been backing it when he figures out that some things just aren't right. When he does that L.O.S.T. gets hired to keep the senators daughter safe from Lazarus. 

When Jax and Marcus start to get closer, they can't seem to keep their hands off each other. I really liked these two when they got together. She was sent there to get closer to him so she and her team can bring down Lazarus but her feelings have changed since meeting him and getting to know him. 

I love a paranormal romance and vampires are one of my favorite paranormals but we don't see Marcus use his vampire abilities a lot in this book. This is more of a romantic suspense book than a vampire romance, at least it was to me and I'm fine with that. There's a lot of action, drama and romance in this to keep you completely engaged from the beginning until the end. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Favorite Picture of the Week

Ken called me in the bedroom to have a look at Falcor. He as laying on the bed but on Ken's pillow with his monkey. He raised his head when he saw me but he was tired and went back to sleep. 

Review: The Boss by Abigail Owen

Book Description

Finn Conleth leads his team of enforcer dragon shifters with an iron fist and a cold heart. Every dragon seeks his destined mate, but the process to turn the woman he once thought was his killed her and devastated him. He will never risk his heart again. His team is his family now. When his body eventually gives out, he’ll leave, living his last days alone.

 Delaney Hamilton moved across the country to escape the freak fires that plague her. But when another suspicious fire erupts and rapidly escalates around her, her hopes for a new life go up in smoke. She has no choice but to turn to the mysterious men who come to her aid.

 Finn knows the fire is dragon-caused, which puts Delaney’s problems directly in his jurisdiction. No matter how her wounded grey eyes call to every part of him, he refuses to risk her life in the mating process.

 Until another dragon threatens to claim Delaney for his own, and Finn has to sacrifice everything to keep her alive... 

My Review

Finn is a dragon shifter and a firefighter. Who better to fight fires than a dragon shifter? He's the leader of the firefighter enforcers who are kind of like police for dragons in their territory. He's been hurt and even though he wants to find his destined mate, he's not willing to take a chance that the female might be killed in the process. 

Delaney is running from a stalker as well as mysterious fires. So when she wakes up and yet another mysterious fire is blazing around her, she decides to take the help from the firefighters who saved her. 

Finn doesn't want to get too close to Delaney because he's not willing to risk his heart or her life but the sparks fly between these two and it's hard for them to stay away from one another. Finn and Delaney get along right away, there was just this great chemistry between them. So it wasn't a huge leap when they couldn't keep their hands from one another. 

Finn and his enforcers find out that a guy is stalking Delaney and putting her life as well as her friends life in danger so they step in to protect her even though they don't think she's a dragon mate. Finn is very protective of her and she gets along with all the enforcers and that's a good thing since she's staying at their headquarters while they track down the stalker. 

While trying to find the stalker and keep her safe, a lot of information comes to light, a lot of twists happen and a couple interesting people pop up that I'm sure we'll be seeing in upcoming books. I found this story so much fun! What's more fun than a dragon shifter romance that makes you laugh at times? I had a great time with this and am looking forward to reading all of the enforcers books. 

I read and reviewed this book before edits were made so my copy may be different from the one you read now.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Rat Logic*

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

Apartment Life #46

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.

Most of this week was petty uneventful but there was one day that made me laugh. The day started out nice. I got up early, took Falcor out at 6am and even got an interesting sunrise picture. 

Then later in the day Ken calls me in the bedroom because this woman who is laying on the engine of her car and the 2 guys out there were screaming at each other. When I saw her laying on the car like this I knew I had to get some pictures. And of course I took them right from my bedroom window. Why does everyone park right in front of my bedroom window? So first, why is she not wearing her shoes? Her feet are black with dirt and grease from the street. I sure hope she washes them off before tracking that into her apartment. I've never seen anyone lay on their engine while working on their car before. 

They were out there for a few hours and every so often I would go back and take another picture. The tall guy always seemed to just be standing around not doing much. While the woman sat on her engine and the other guy looked like he was trying to fix something.

Maybe this is the new way of working on a car. Just lay in the engine compartment. 

Then about an hour later Ken yells at me to bring my camera back in the bedroom because I have to get a picture of this. So the tall guy is still standing around and the other two are still working on the car but now... there's a guy laying on the sidewalk. Ken tells me to just wait because that guy lying there was smoking marijuana out of what looked like a homemade pipe made out of aluminum foil. Sure enough I wait a minute and he sits up, adds something to the foil pipe and puts the flame of the lighter to it and even with the window closed we could smell it because he's laying right in front of our window. When he laid back down he has the bowl part of the pipe hidden in his hand. 

I enlarged this picture so you can see how he's holding his pipe. The bowl part of it is hidden in his hand but we saw what it looked like when he sat up to smoke it. Then he left.

I told you about my speed freak neighbors who the guy is the manager's son last week, well this week he hung an empty bird cage from the tree in front of his apartment and put a couple of plants by his door. The bratty kids in our courtyard have knocked over his plant a half dozen times and he's screamed at them twice. He stopped the kids from throwing rocks at the empty bird cage once and one of the kids father came outside to tell him to stop yelling at his kid that if he has a problem to come talk to him. Well, that didn't go over very well at all and at one point I heard the guy tell the kids father, "Your apartment manager is my mother. Keep lipping off and I'll get you evicted." Then he went back inside and slammed his door. I knew it wouldn't be long before he said something like that. Oh and the kids knocked over his plant again this morning. lol 

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

A Look At Literary Book Gifts and a Promo Code for you

I've been talking to Melissa over at Literary Book Gifts for the past week and taking a look around her site. I really like the merchandise she has over there so I thought I would let you all know about it too. As you can see above she has T-shirts in different colors and with different pictures and sayings on them. I love Frankenstein so I really like this one.

She also has hoodies in different colors and with different pictures and sayings on them. You can't go wrong with Edgar Allan Poe. 

If you'd rather have a tank top, she has those too. Huckleberry Finn looked like a nice one. 

And then there are the tote bags. This Black Beauty tote bag looked like a nice one but there are a lot more on her page. 

Melissa was nice enough to give my readers a promo Code for 20% off your order. This promo code never expires and there's no minimum purchase. Just enter DARKTHOUGHTS20

at checkout.