Book Review: The Squeaky Clean Skeleton by R.A. Muth

 

Book Description

Hi! I'm Tori Madison, and I hate scrubbing toilets, which is unfortunate because my BFF Hazel and I own Bubbles and Troubles, Beach Plum Bay's premier cleaning service.

When Mrs. Livingston asked us to sort through the contents of her attic, however, we thought our toilet-scrubbing days were over. That is...until we found her corpse.

As if finding our client's body stuffed in a steamer trunk wasn't enough of an upset, someone needed to save her cat from being sent to a local high-kill animal shelter. That person, as it turned out, was me. I had no sooner set up the critter's litter box in my guest bathroom when he revealed another side. A six-foot-four, hunky, Irish side that only I can see.

Before I could come to grips with my new feline friend's secret, Mrs. Livingston's relatives, eager to claim their inheritance, asked Hazel and me to solve the murder. And the amount of the reward was many times over what their aunt owed for the job she hired us to do. Soon we had a plan that included Rune, my new housepet-turned-houseguest.

The more I got to know Rune, the more I wanted to confide in Hazel. But was I risking our lives by keeping my cat's secret as we went through with our crazy plan to catch a killer? Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice.

My Review

This is my very first cozy mystery!

I won this book in a FB giveaway and decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did because it was a fun read for sure. 

Tori and Hazel own a cleaning company, and they start sorting through an attic only to find a dead body. Tori feels awful but the surprises just kept coming. After bringing home the dead lady's cat, the cat turns into a very hunky man (Rune) that only she sees. This book had me hooked at that point. How could I not love this now?

Of course the family comes out of the woodwork to get what they can out of their deceased family member and then ask the cleaning crew to help solve the murder for a very hefty amount of money. My first thought was why are they asking the house cleaners to solve the murder mystery but I just went with it. 

This story made me laugh on more than one occasion and had me scratching my head a few times at what was going on with these characters. I knew who the murdered was after a while. But the murder mystery was fun to follow along with. This book definitely kept me entertained while I was reading it. 

If you like a fun cozy mystery, then you will like this book. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

I finally got a picture of Falcor and Boy, his tiny Chihuahua friend. Yes, his name is, Boy. They love seeing each other.

I caught this colorful sunset right before it disappeared.

We had some cloudy days.

I love all the big, puffy clouds.

Another sunset.

Book Review: Rejected by the Kagethi Lord by Starr Huntress

 

Book Description

Nina

Cinderella, I'm not.

I've been matched to a Kagethi Lord, but he wants nothing to do with me.

Reo is grumpy.

Rude.

Sometimes a downright jerk.

But there are flashes of kindness in his eyes.

And when we touch nothing else matters.

Reo

My mate. My heart.

My blood burns to claim Nina, keep her.

But more than the Suhlik threaten the peace here. If the forces ranged against the peace ever learn how much Nina means to me, she'll be in danger.

And I will do anything, everything, to keep her safe.

Even from myself.

My Review

Nina is matched with Prince Reo of Kagath. A treaty between Earth and Kagath has Nina giving up her life to travel to another planet and marry a Prince. The first thing that goes wrong is the teleporter device sends her out in the jungle on Kagath instead of the palace. Prince Reo comes to aid her back to the palace but Nina thinks he's just one of the guard, which gives them some time to chat on the way back to the palace. Reo doesn't tell her that he's the Prince until she finds out after they get to the palace and he rejects her as the one he'll marry. 

Nina doesn't realize that he's grown to actually like her and is trying to protect her by rejecting her because there are those at the palace that don't want him as their next leader since he's a half blood. So Reo is trying to keep her at arms length so no one realizes how much she actually means to him and he thinks that will keep her out of danger for the time being. 

Reo's mother knows there's something between her son and Nina and so she pushes them together time and time again which was good because they're meant to be together and they realize that while on a trip his mother sends them on. 

Reo and his mother are betrayed by someone they should have been able to trust but things have a way of working out for the best. I really liked this book and liked how it ended. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday

 

"I brought exact change for the gumball machine" 

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

Apartment Life #404

 

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 noticed something this week. Maintenance has taken out the Air Conditioner is Xavier's vacant apartment and used Stucco and a metal mesh to patch up the hole where it used to be. They left a small hole and put a tube in there. I realized that they put a smaller air conditioner on the roof and are using the tubing to bring the air in the apartment. They used the same metal tubing they used for the gutter wall drain. Not sure this is the right kind of tubing they need for an AC vent but who knows.

Weird, Right? Another person in my courtyard got a new AC and they did the same thing in her apartment too. The AC part of the unit is inside the apartment and the motor is on the roof. It's quiet in the apartment and seems to work well so that's good. 

They did the same thing with the office AC and now the smaller AC is on the roof of the office. I guess these are the new thing because now that I know what they look like, I've seen them on other houses around the neighborhood.

---

I noticed the woodpecker is back. He was way up in the tree which is why my picture isn't as clear as I would have liked. But he's hanging upside down in the middle of the picture. 

---

I found out a few days ago that the neighbor who moved away 2 years ago that I used to refer to as, "My elderly neighbor" passed away. Her daughter told my daughter it was congestive heart failure. That's sad, she was only 10 years older than I am. We were still friends on Tiktok and I talked to her every now and again. 

---

 

Maintenance cut down a couple of the dead Pine Trees in my courtyard. I took a short video of this one right in front of my living room window coming down. They tied a strap to the top and tugged it down towards the center of the courtyard. I'm just glad it didn't land on top of my apartment because that was a huge tree. 

This is the first tree they cut down. He was standing on the branches to cut the taller branches off.

They tied a strap to it to make it fall the way they wanted.

Here's one of the guys pulling the other end of the strap when it started to fall.

Timberrrr!

The branches made a mess in front of my window, but they cleaned it all up pretty fast. So much for any shade in the Summer time now though.

The high this week was 71F/21C

The low this week was 42F/5C

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 am sharing some of the dishes that we are eating each week. 

Baked Chicken, Sweet Potato and Black Bean bowl

We tried baked sweet potato for the first time with this dish. Neither me or my daughter liked it much. I doubt well be eating sweet potato again. 

In the bowls was:

1/2 cup of Baked Chicken

1/2 cup of black beans

spinach

1/2 cup of baked sweet potato 

You can use whatever seasoning you like on the chicken before baking it. 

This dinner was 300 calories and 30 carbs. 

Do you like sweet potato?

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: 

Perfume and cologne samples from Macy's. 

I like most of the scents. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Dark Cure by Cynthia Sax

 

Book Description

A warrior seeking forever faces a medic living in the moment.

Gisella, the Refuge’s medic, is dedicated to her role. She doesn’t have the space in her lifespan for love, a mate, or children. Healing is her entire focus.

But she’s also a female in her prime. She has needs, wants, cravings…especially for a scarred, long-haired barbarian warrior temporarily residing in the settlement. One fierce, soul-blasting, passion-filled encounter is all she is willing to give him before she returns to her duties.

Oghul, a Chamele Warlord’s Second-In-Command, has waited his entire lifespan to find his gerel, the being fated to be his. He’s thrilled to discover she wants him as savagely as he yearns for her.

His little human medic appeals to his primitive possessive side. Greatly. He wants to stamp his ownership all over her bountiful curves, take her back to his home planet, claim his fiery female permanently.

When Carinae E’s solitary sun rises, two determined beings with very different desires find their lifespans entwined. Their battle for emotional supremacy will span systems and alter destinies.

The universe will never be the same.

My Review

Gisela is the cities head medic. She's a tough woman and she has to be because she works around the very rough criminals. Gisela takes her job very seriously because she's doing what she loves, healing people. She has no time in her life for love or family right now. She doesn't want to end up like her mother. 

Oghul, the leader of the Chameles, comes to where Gisela works to see his brother, and the sparks fly between the two of them because Oghul knows right away that Gisela is his mate/gerel. Now he has to find a way to break through her tough outer shell and show her that things could be great between them if only she'll give him a chance. 

After an encounter in a bar like establishment where Oghul stands up for Gisela, she invited Oghul back to her quarters. She believes that a quick one night stand is all she's about to get because she knows Oghul is going back to his own planet soon. So this was meant to be a one time thing even though Oghul knows she's his mate and changes his plans about leaving when he finds her. But because she was impatient to be with him, he didn't have the time to explain to her what being together would mean that they were bonded forever. Only after their encounter did he try explaining what has just happened between them. 

To say that Gisela wasn't taking the news well, is an understatement. She didn't realize that their bonding was a forever thing for a little while, but she slowly came to realize that not only did she want to be around him, she actually wanted to compromise her strict rules about not finding someone to love because of him. 

He was able to slowly show her that being with someone was not an all or nothing type situation, that they could compromise on things and still do what made them happy. Oh and I love Oghul, what an alpha warrior he was. But underneath it all, he was a real marshmallow for her. 

I had so much fun reading this book and getting to know Oghul, his warriors and later on his family. 

The pace was rapid, and the tone is quite intense with so much fighting, killing and needing a medic to re-attach body parts. This has a very character driven storyline that has quite a few steamy scenes. The characters are very engaging and at times funny. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Falcor's Leg

 

Falcor likes to stretch his back legs out when he's out for a walk. He's not doing it in this picture, but I wanted to share this one because I liked it. lol 

But in these other pictures you can see him stretching out one back leg or another. He just stands there with a back leg stretched out. He's always done this.

He's a goofy dog for sure. lol 

I hope you enjoyed Falcor's Leg. lol 

Book Review: Watch Me Burn by V.E Huntley

 

Book Description

She opened her curtains. He opened his heart. Now nothing will ever be the same.

Damien Wolfe lives by three rules that have never failed him. But rules are made to be broken. And one smile from Dr. Luna Foster breaks them all. When she shatters everything he believes about control, Damien realizes he's lost more than just his rules—he's lost his soul to the one woman who sees his monster and calls him beautiful.

Luna thinks she understands predators—but when she becomes the obsession of a man who kills for a living, she discovers that terror and desire often share the same heartbeat. As she transforms from victim to willing participant in their twisted dance, Luna discovers that some stalkers’ violence is a form of worship. But can love survive when built on secrets, lies and blood?

Watch Me Burn is the second installment in the dark, sensual Watched in Darkness Series, where fear becomes desire when the right monster is watching.

This book concludes Luna and Damien's story. 

This is a dark romance containing mature themes, graphic violence, explicit sexual situations, and morally ambiguous characters. Intended for adult readers who enjoy psychologically complex relationships and anti-hero love interests.

Please see the author's website for a full list of trigger/content warnings.

My Review

This book picks up right where Watch Me Break ended. Luna thinks that her wolf (The masked man who comes to her at night) and Damien are two different people, and she's attracted to both of them for different reasons. 

This is a dark romance with a stalker who Luna starts to have feelings for when she realizes she's being watched and leaves the curtains open so he can watch her. Once he breaks into her home and pretty much seduces her, she craves this dark stalker who does things to her that she didn't know she would like. These books aren't for the faint of heart but a masked stalker who seduces you into wanting him? Who knew that this was the type of story I would love, and love it I do. 

Make no mistake, Damien is troubled. He's a serial killer, he's been killing bad people for more than 20 years, but he has a moral code to only kill bad people. He has a helper, Cade who disposes of the bodies and cleans up his mess, so he doesn't get caught. I wasn't sure about Cade because seriously, what kind of person is going to help a serial killer. But he turns out not to be a bad person but even Damien is a little skeptical of Cade being able to have a real relationship with a woman when he sets his sights on Maren, Luna's best friend. 

This story was so good. Yes, there are some very dark scenes and dark subject matter, but deep-down Damien isn't a bad guy. 

Their relationship is so complicated and when Luna finally realizes who Damien really is, she has to take time to figure out what she's going to do. Luna is a very strong woman to forgive all of his deceptions, lying and of course the stalking in order to get the future she thinks she wants. Damien was all out of sorts because of his feelings for Luna and because of that, he really dug himself a hole that was hard to climb out of. He knew that he had to finally come clean about who and what he was. 

Goodness, I loved this series so far. I'm so hooked and can't wait to see what happens between Maren and Cade. 

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

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Amazon