Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #286

 

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 25 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 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

This week started out noisy because the apartment building right across the street got new shingles on their roof. The noise started at 6AM. Good thing I get up early with Falcor.

While most of the homeless people moved away a few blocks down the street with drug dealer and are now in his new area, there are a few homeless people that are still around my apartment complex. This woman sat here 3 doors away from my apartment, lit up her meth pipe, did some drugs, didn't care who saw her and then proceeded to pass out right there for a few hours. I didn't call the police because they do nothing. They would have woke her up and made her move, that's it. I feel bad for her. 

The police pulled up at the end of my building and were questioning some of the other homeless that were sitting in the rocks right in front of where their car is. They questioned them and then the police left. 

The high this week was 93F/33C

The low this week was 60F/15C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Pendulum, Bullet For My Valentine 

I used to listen to Bullet For My Valentine all the time but it's been a while since they had a new song I liked. I listened to this one and liked it. I hope you do too. 

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. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

What did I receive this week?

I received a free Nature Valley Smokey BBQ Savory Nut Crunch bar. 

I like the sweet Nature Valley bars but this one I didn't care for. My daughter on the other hand liked it so she got the rest of it. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Hell Hath No Fury by Skye Jordan

 

Book Description

As a high-profile Washington lobbyist, Jessica Fury has all the coveted trappings of DC: money, connections, and influence. But five years ago, she had something far more precious: happiness. She shared a firefighting career with her husband and the love of her life, Quaid. Then one day her hazmat team walked into a chemical inferno--and Quaid never walked out. Jessica has been through hell to piece her shattered world back together. Then a rumor surfaces that could bring a miracle or destroy her--again.

Q has been a prisoner for as long as he can remember. The men who hold him have honed his mind and body into weapons, and he's developed abilities no one understands. They wipe out his memory, test him like a lab rat, and lie. Even though his past has been erased and he doesn’t believe he has anything to live for, instinct tells him different: there is a woman out there who needs him. And what his mind can't remember, his body can't forget. . .

My Review

Jessica and their firefighting team get called to a burning building. Quaid goes in first and spots some barrels on fire and melting. So he tries to get the numbers on the barrels so they know what they are up against but then one explodes. He knows this stuff is bad news and tries to get out and let his team know not to come in because another barrel is about to explode. But before he can, the barrel explodes, giving him a big blast of the chemicals and throwing him across the room and into the wall, breaking many of the bones in his body. Some of his other teammates also get exposed to the chemicals but most make it out alive. Back at the hospital Quaid dies because his injuries were so severe, or at least that's what his team are led to believe. In reality Quaid is kidnapped by some government officials and held hostage, tortured and experimented on because he ended up with the most supernatural abilities from the chemical exposure. 

Some of the other teammates that were inside the building when it exploded also have new abilities and 5 years later they realize that Quaid, now known as Q, had been alive this whole time and they set out to rescue him. 

After the rescue, the government, mostly officials from the DOD are after Quaid and the teammates because they know too much and some of them have abilities the government wants to use. But Quaid has unique abilities that not even he fully understands how to use. 

While Quaid and Jessica get to know each other again because he has no memory before his time being captured by the government and being used by them, they also have to try and find a way to stay one step ahead of the people after them and to use their abilities to help themselves. 

While this book started out a bit slow, things started picking up after they realized Quaid was a live. A few twists are thrown into the story which made things more exciting to read and the pace really picked up. It was fun to watch them learn how to work as a group again, watch Quaid get to know his team again and to watch the romance blossom between Quaid and Jessica again. It ended up being quite the action, drama, military, mystery read. This is book 3 in the Phoenix Rising series but I didn't feel like I was missing much. So for me at least, I was able to start in the middle of the series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Amazon

Book Review: Warrior's Hope by Rebecca Zanetti

 

Book Description

This thrilling novel in the New York Times bestselling author’s popular Dark Protectors series takes readers on a wild ride as the only female vampire ever born brings a love triangle to its explosive conclusion—deciding the fate of battling factions as the forces of good and evil gather for the ultimate showdown.

As the only female vampire ever born, and the heir to two powerful immortal families, Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood has always felt the weight of fate and destiny. Now her heart is torn between two men and two different futures. It’s a choice between duty and love, peace and war, with the fate of everyone she loves hanging in the balance.

As the leader of the Kurjan nation, Drake has always known that mating Hope is the best path to avoiding war. He’s counting on her to know the same. . . . Paxton has been Hope’s best friend and protector since they were children. He would kill and die for her without a second thought. In fact, he’s always known that would be his path . . .

With deadly factions at her heels, Hope must decide whom to trust and where her loyalty lies—before the choice is taken away from her . . .

My Review

I've been reading this series since the very beginning so I know all of the characters that show up in this book and there are a lot of them. So for that reason I would say it's better to read this series from the beginning so you know what's going on with this story. 

Hope, Paxton and Drake have known each other for years, since they were kids. Drake is now the leader of the Kurjans. Paxton is part demon and had a really bad childhood because his father beat him after his mother died. It was only after Hope found out about it and told her father who is the leader of their kind that Paxton went to live with his uncle and was treated better. Hope is the only female vampire hybrid ever to be born but she doesn't have any special powers and the doctors and scientists have been researching her blood since she was a small child trying to figure out why she gets sick and can't heal herself. 

The Kurjan nation is at war with just about everyone else because they are kidnapping enhanced females. Plus Drake is helping Ulric who wants to perform another ritual that could destroy the Universe and many of the enhanced females as a sacrifice for the ritual. So Hope and the other immortals are doing what they can to stop him. Drake says he wants to stop Ulric but does he really? 

I really thought I knew what was going to happen with Hope, Drake and Paxton but boy was I wrong. Even though Hope can dream walk and bring Paxton and Drake along with her so they can all talk, all three of them have been keeping secrets from each other for as long as they have known each other. And the secrets were big, really big. All of those secrets come to light in this book which made the story have so many different twists so that I was kept guessing what might happen next with these three.  But I liked the ending even though I was a little sad because these three weren't exactly like I thought they would be after watching them grow up. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Book Review: Bear In A Bakery by Liz Paffel

 

Book Description

One sexy carpenter bear shifter. One sassy human with a sweet, sweet cinnamon roll.

Allie Rowe is in a bind after drunk raccoons do a number on her business, Sticky Sweet Bakery. With a major event coming up, she can't afford to be out of commission... but she can't afford to fix things, either. Her meddling father thinks he'll play matchmaker when he hires sexy carpenter and bear shifter Dax Mitchell to lend a hand.

She’s already played the rejected mate game, and isn’t going there again, thanks. Bear shifters are trouble with muscles. Shifters are off limits!

Dax won’t take no for an answer, making her wonder if he’s helping from the kindness of his heart, or if he'll require some sort of repayment...

Dax is under pressure to take a mate before the fates rob him of his strength. His dying father's wish is to see his son mated. A staunch bachelor, Dax is inclined to change his mind when sexy, curvy Allie offers him a taste of her sweet roll.

When an unexpected enemy makes himself known, and time winds down on his chance to take a mate, Dax must decide how far he’ll go to claim his fated mate.

My Review

Allie owns the Sticky Sweet Bakery but when raccoons have a field day inside her shop wreaking havoc by chewing wires, tearing up the walls, and making water flood her shop, she's at her wits end until her father sends a handyman over to help fix the problem.  But Dax is a bear shifter and she's had her fill of bear shifters. Her now ex is a bear shifter and won't leave her alone so she's not falling for the flirty, sexy looking handyman who wants to help her fix her shop. But if she doesn't take his help, she may never get everything back to normal. 

Dax is different from her ex and she realizes that right away but still wants to keep Dax at a distance even though the chemistry is there between them. But Dax has a problem that won't wait even though he wants to give Allie time to get to know him a little bit better before he lets her know what's going on with him, he just doesn't have time for that. It doesn't help that his brother let's the cat out of the bag so to speak and someone is making things tougher on her, making things worst. The twists that pop up in this story were really good and made the story keep flowing which kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happen next. But I loved Dax and how he stepped up for her with her ex. He definitely wasn't someone that the ex wanted to mess with. This was such a cute story. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Book Review: Bad Luck Vampire by Lynsay Sands

 

Book Description

New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands returns in this latest chapter of the Argeneau series with an immortal who is having a bit of bad luck while trying to woo his life mate…

Alasdair MacKenzie has never once considered himself unlucky in all the centuries he’s been an immortal rogue enforcer. Not until he meets Sophie. Finding the beautiful, smart, and funny woman who is his life mate is great luck, actually. But meeting her at a wedding full of Argeneaus, not to mention his own busybody uncles determined to “help him claim his woman,” is bad luck. And the fact that Sophie is someone else’s date? Well that’s just the next level of unlucky.

From the way her gaze travels over his body like a caress to the electric zing whenever they innocently touch…he wants her for all eternity! He’ll keep his hands off Sophie until her date is over. After that all bets are off and he’ll pull out all the stops to win her. Great plan—until he gets hit by a car. And then he’s poisoned. Is his luck that bad, or is someone out to stop this immortal from claiming Sophie as his life mate? 

My Review

Sophie ends up being harassed by a guy she meets and it looks like he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Tybo sees this and makes sure she is safe. Tybo likes her so he invites her to a family wedding where he finds out that she might be the lifemate of Alasdair. So Tybo makes himself scarce for most of the wedding so they can get to know each other a little better. But because he is supposed to be her date for the wedding he does make time to dance with her a few times and check on her so she doesn't think he's ignoring her. They part ways that night as friends since neither of them feel more. 

Later Alasdair asks her out and right away he knows she's his lifemate but she has no idea that he's immortal like his family is. So he has to take thing slowly because she's human. They go out on a date and they both feel a spark of attraction for each other. 

After they talk and get to know one another a little better, Alasdair finds out that Sophie has had a very rough life. She lost her parents when she was young and ended up being taken in my her best friends parents a while later. He also finds out that some of the other close people in her life ended up dying in accidents and she feels like she might be cursed. 

Just as things seem to be going good for Alasdair and Sophie, weird things start to happen and Alasdair tries to keep the worst of it from her so he doesn't have to explain to her how he healed so quickly. But he also thinks it might just be an accident until his brother and uncles tell him different. When family secrets come to light and she finds out she has a stalker, Alasdair has no choice but to come clean in order to keep her safe while they try to figure out who is behind it all. 

I loved Alasdair's uncles. They are hilarious and they mean well but sometimes go about things the wrong way. Alasdair and Sophie make such a sweet couple, I was really rooting for them. I have been reading this series since it began and these books just get better and better. I cannot recommend this series enough. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

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

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #285

 

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 25 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 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

At 1am I heard some sirens beeping out front so I looked out my bedroom window and sure enough there were 3 police cars outside. They had Mike pulled over, was searching his suburban and had him in handcuffs. But a few minutes later they let him go. I wonder what they were looking for?

----

On Wednesday a thunderstorm blew through and my courtyard flooded again. it only lasted a few hours but at least it cooled things off for a while. 

----

My daughter found these two pills in a baggie out near where some of the homeless people hang out. Over by where the camper was parked across the street a couple of weeks ago.  She brought them home and asked me to Google what they were. So I did. Search results below. 

Turns out these are Counterfeit Oxycodone pills containing Fentanyl. 

She washed her hands real fast, took a picture of them, picked them up with a napkin and flushed them. I don't know how dangerous they are but the fact that they contain fentanyl was enough to scare us both. And I already know she shouldn't be picking up pills from the sidewalk but they were in a baggie and she was curious. 

The high this week was 93F/33C

The low this week was 66F/18C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Ghost (feat. Danny Case & Jackson Bengtsson)

I found this song and dang but I am loving it. 

I hope you enjoy.