Book Review: Rekker by Ava York and Starr Huntress

 

Book Description

Rekker wasn't expecting to be matched.

On the eve of being sent to retrieve a mysterious artifact, he's sent something just as enigmatic.

A human woman, lush and curved.

His mate.

Even worse, she wants nothing to do with him.

His blood burns for her, but the need to make her happy overrides everything.

He'll find a way to set her free, even if it means he'll be alone. Forever.

But when danger comes from an unexpected source, they're thrown together. And when his mate turns to him, he'll protect her.

Keep her.

Claim her.

Lila Kanes never wanted anything but a quiet life on her family farm. She certainly didn't want to be claimed by a massive alien mate.

Thrown into the stars, she'll do whatever it takes to find a way home.

Back to Earth.

Back to her family.

She couldn't possibly want to stay with the hot, horned alien with the amazing body, who made her feel like the most precious thing in the universe, could she?

Right?

Rekker is the first book of the Warriors of Vaznik, a standalone series in the Warlord Brides universe. There's no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA for each couple!

My Review

In this world, when females hit a certain age, they are picked by their birthdates and thrown into a lottery to be taken to a facility to be tested if they are a match to aliens on another world. All the females know this but Lila didn't seem like she was prepared for this at all. You would think knowing that you can be picked if your birthdate is picked that you would do more research or at the very least be prepared mentally for the chance that you are picked and sent away to your new mate. But she fights even though it does no good. She is tested, told she is a 100% match and teleported to her new life before she has a chance to ask any questions. They make short work of getting the matched women to their new lives. 

Rekker doesn't even realize at first what his commander is telling him. He is being given a gift for a job well done. He's been matched and he now has to deal with his new mate, even though she wants nothing to do with him. All she wants is to go home. Rekker has a mission to do first though and he explains that he will bring her home after his mission. She accepts and goes with him to his ship. They had to stop somewhere before they got on their way to the mission though and found women and children had been abducted by the bad aliens. Lila wants nothing more than to save them and Rekker cannot refuse her. 

While on their mission to save the women and children from the bad aliens, Lila and Rekker get to know each other better, get closer and realize that life together could be good. 

I was enjoying this book and was looking forward to seeing the end of the mission but they didn't complete their mission. It's left open and I didn't like that. I'm not sure if it transfers over to the next book or not. I would have liked to see the women and children rescued that they went after but that doesn't happen. It felt like a cliffhanger to me. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

One day this week it was overcast and cloudy. It was 3PM but it looks so dark.

I walked down the path that I take Falcor and got these pictures of the clouds over the mountains. 

Book Review: Promise Of A Wolf by Jennifer Snyder

 

Book Description

His wolf has always wanted her, and now she’s finally returned home. Will the two find love or will secrets stand in the way?

Callum Beckett has worked hard to build a life for himself he’s proud of. One that includes putting his past behind him and cutting ties with those in his old Pack. Now, as alpha of the Crescent Pack, he’s made himself a home. All that’s missing is his mate.

Nadine Beverly always thought two things were certain in her life: she’d never return to Crescent Creek again, and she’d spend the rest of her life with her high school sweetheart. She was wrong—on both accounts. Now she’s back in her tiny hometown, hitting the reset button on life, and catching the eye of the guy she had a huge crush on growing up.

Love won’t come easy for these two though, as Nadine’s ex isn’t willing to let her go. When the situation with him takes a turn for the worst, Callum and his wolf will do whatever it takes to ensure Nadine remains safe—even if it means revealing he’s a wolf shifter.

Promise Of A Wolf is book 1 in the Crescent Pack series which is part of the larger Paranormals of Crescent Creek World. If you enjoy reading about small towns with quirky characters and shifter romance stories with Fated Mates you’ll love these books!

My Review

Nadine comes back to her hometown hoping that things will be better. She left her high school sweetheart and hopes that he'll get the hint when she stops taking his phone calls. Callum is a wolf shifter and knows that Nadine is his mate but she's human and has no idea about him being a shifter so that makes things difficult. 

Nadine decides to get her ex's name she has tattooed on her, covered up and she isn't expecting to run into Callum who just happens to be the tattoo artist she's going to have the work done with. 

Nadine is trying to start over in town and starts making plans to buy the flower shop in town, but her ex, who is abusive comes back and isn't taking no for an answer, at least until Callum steps in to help her. 

Callum and Nadine spend some time together and feel a strong pull towards each other. I liked seeing them reconnect and get to know one another. At first Nadine's family isn't on her side because they had no idea what she's been dealing with or how abusive the ex-had been to her. I liked the ending, the ex-got what he deserved. Callum is a great hero and character. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"I cannot contain my excitement!"

"Waffles are delicious"

"I'm not sure you can tell that I'm happy"

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

Apartment Life #538

 

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.

It was quiet around my neighborhood this week. The cops are still driving around and parking, just watching things around here and people seem to be quiet. lol It's nice for a change. So I thought I would share something else this week.

For over a month I've been walking down here and taking pictures of what the city workers have been building. At first they were just digging a large hole and putting cement around it in the dirt.

The gray cement went almost all the way to the fence. The freeway is on the other side of the fence/wall. 

This is what it looked like when they started.

My apartment building is just at the end of the street. You can tell it's mine from the orange "Clown Motel" stripe at the top of the building. 

They dug a deep hole. All that grey stuff is cement all over the surface of the dirt.

The entrance to the tunnels where the homeless people live is directly behind where they are digging. Someone left their mangled bicycle by the tunnel entrance.

Then they installed a bunch of pipes and poured cement.

The hole is around the cement structure.

They left it like this for 3 weeks, last month *August*. I guessed that maybe they left it that long for the cement to cure?

So far in September all they have done is remove some of the boards from around the cement. It's been sitting like this for 3 weeks. I thought I had pushed this post far enough out that I would know what they built here. I was wrong. 🤣🤣🤣

I shared a couple of pictures on Twitter (@scarymary66), thinking someone might know what they are building but no. Some good guesses though. I guess it will be a surprise for all of us, once it's done. I'll post more pictures once they are done...at some point...if they ever finish. 🤣🤣🤣

The high this week was 99F/37C

The low this week was 79F/26C

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

Saturday Vittles

 

Chicken Breast with Cannellini Beans and Spinach

You will need: 

1 large chicken breast sliced into 4 pieces lengthwise

2 TBSP Tomato paste

2 Bunches of fresh spinach- cleaned

15 oz can of Tomatoes

15 oz can of Cannellini beans

2 oz of Monterey Jack Cheese

2 TBSP Heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp McCormick Montreal Chicken seasoning

1 tsp. McCormick Mesquite seasoning

1 tsp. McCormick Herb and Garlic seasoning

No calorie cooking spray

What to do: 

Season your chicken with half of all of the seasonings you have. If you don't like these seasonings, you can use what you do like. Add cooking spray to a frying pan and cook chicken until done. 

Into a large pan add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, add tomatoes and cannellini beans. Cook for 15 minutes or until some of the liquid has evaporated. Add spinach and the rest of the spices. Cook until spinach has wilted and some of the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and add cheese and heavy cream. Stir until incorporated. 

Add 1 slice of chicken to a plate and top with 1/2 cup of bean mixture. 

This meal makes 4 servings. each serving is 300 calories and 30 carbs. 

We ate half for dinner and then other half for lunch the next day. 

Would you eat this?

Freebie Friday!

 

I won a pair of sunglasses in this instant win game.

And I received the sunglasses.

I received an Amazon giftcard.

Cashed in my points for a Vitamin Shoppe gift card.

And got all the vitamins I take for free with the giftcard.

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: 

I won a pair of sunglasses from an Instant Win game.

Got $50 Amazon giftcard

I cashed in my points for a Vitamin Shoppe giftcard and was able to get all the vitamins I take and got them for free by using the giftcard. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Moonlit Feathers by Sarah Makela

 

Book Description

After faced with crippling loss, a heartbroken raven must find her wings again...

Treasure hunters are trained to find things, but all Morgana has known is loss. When someone she loves dies because she can’t protect them, she shies away from the world, too afraid to let anyone else get close. That won’t last long because ravens aren’t ones to pass up on shiny things.

Cody has never really felt accepted. He’s a coyote shifter of Native American heritage, but he gets his looks from his Scandinavian mother, unlike his siblings and the rest of his people. That makes him all the more dedicated when what seemed like a freak tornado becomes something much scarier.

When Cody realizes that his family’s powerful talisman has slips into the wrong hands, he desperately needs help. But he never imagined he’d be fall head over heels for the beautiful, if not, mysterious treasure hunter. Morgana will need to let go of being hurt again if they have any hope of saving not only each other, but also the small town that they both love from disaster.

No cliffhangers. Moonlit Feathers is a standalone paranormal romance.

My Review

Morgana lost her parents and her human boyfriend and now pushes anyone away that tries to get close to her. She doesn't want to feel that pain and loss again. Morgana is a raven shifter and a treasure hunter. Her gift for finding lost treasures is known and she is always taking on new clients to help them find what was lost. 

Cody comes to her to ask for help finding his families talisman after it was lost during a tornado. Later it becomes apparent that someone bad has the talisman and is using it or at least trying to use it and not for good. When the bad guy, kidnaps Morgana to get her attention and let her know what will happen if she doesn't help him find an object, the danger for everyone involved gets deeper. 

Morgana has feelings for Cody and Cody likes her back but she keeps pushing him away because she doesn't want to feel the pain of losing him if they were to get really involved with each other. Cody has his own problems because of how he looks. He's a coyote shifter and of Native American ancestry but looks more like his white mother, which makes his own family treat him like an outsider. 

I liked the story for the most part but it starts out slow and didn't keep my attention most of the time. At some points the action gets better and I kept thinking that it was getting good, only for it to slow down in the pacing again and got boring for a while. 

It's not a bad story if you keep with it and I did like how it ended. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

One night while walking over to the store right next door, the sunset was so pretty. All of the pictures today are from the same sunset just a few minutes apart. 

Standing in front of the supermarket next door.

The colors kept changing.

The clouds were so big and in different places. So some were lit up really brightly while others were dark.

Panoramic view.

The sun was starting to set more but still really bright.

Then as the sun began to disappear, the darker clouds were more visible.

Last picture from outside my apartment door. That was a huge dark cloud but we didn't get any rain.

Book Review: Protected By The Alien Mercenary by Robin O'Connor

 

Book Description

Trapped in a terrible situation, I decide to hire a mercenary to help me escape. Pay him? I’m sure we’ll figure that out…

Rikki

I’ve been kidnapped and auctioned off. I’m not waiting around for my new ‘owner’ to do whatever he wants with me. When he leaves me with his guard in a sleazy bar, I see my chance.

There’s this even more terrifying looking male, horns, glowing blue lines on his skin, and a freaking tail! The glances he gives me leave no room for interpretation. He wants me. I can work with that…

When I hear he’s a mercenary, I take a gamble, and offer him the sweetest of payment if he helps me escape. Once he has me alone, I soon discover that the price is much steeper than just my body. He might just demand my heart.

Thar’oc

When I see her, I’m not the only one who stares, but I am the only one who cares. A tiny little human, trapped in a terrible situation. She’s all fire, bravado, pale skin, and wild curls.

Then she offers me a deal I simply can’t refuse. Against the wishes of my friends, the advice of my mentor, and my sanity, I take her. Once I’ve taken her, I won’t let her go. Ever. She’ll soon discover that she’s mine to protect, to spoil, and to pleasure.

Those that seek to steal her from me will learn that nothing gets past a Kertinal in mating rut.

This is a standalone novella and part of the My Monster, My Protector series. This steamy sci-fi romance features one stoic, pistol-wielding mercenary, a plucky, desperate heroine, and a steamy HEA.

My Review

Rikki has been abducted and sold to a new owner as a sex slave. When her owner leaves her in a bar with a guard, she speaks to Thar'oc who she overheard is a mercenary. She asks to hire him to take her to safety and in exchange she will "Work something out with him" we all know what that meant. Thar'oc cannot leave her to this fate so he accepts her offer and gets her to safety, only they aren't safe for long. 

On the run and hiding until he can get her on a ship and to safety, they get to know one another better and feel a strong pull towards each other. Thar'oc knows she's his mate but he waits to tell her anything or touch her until she makes it known that she is attracted to him too and wants to be with him. 

If I'm ever abducted by bad aliens, I can only hope a good alien takes pity on me like Thar'oc does for Rikki. He's a force to be reckoned with, his friends were great and helpful when he needed them. 

This was a quick, sexy read. I really liked the spicy moments between these two and how they had a hard time keeping their hands off each other. I loved the wonderful ending as well. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon