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: 

Wax Melts from Pink Zebra

I won a book in an author contest on FB

And I received a free toothbrush and Colgate toothpaste from Colgate Perks. 

I loved the wax melts because they were Fresh Breeze scented and really smelled good. 

I haven't read the book yet. 

I already like Colgate toothpaste so this was a great freebie for me. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Her Alien Hero by Melissa Riddell

 

Book Description

She’s the key to their survival—and the heart of their war.

Are you looking for a quick escape to another world with a little steam and a lot of plot? Check out each standalone, interconnected book in the Alien Quickies series. Each story can be read in under two hours!

In the secretive depths of Roswell, a specialized unit of the United States Air Force conducted experiments, intertwining alien and human DNA.

Two Volderen brothers, Voren and Baraxen, strive to save their race and prevent the awful experiments from happening again. Their mission turns personal when they abduct Lilly, whose unique genetic marker makes her the key to their people's survival. Unfortunately, Voren harbors a deep grudge against humans, scarred by the USAF's cruel experiments.

As Lilly uncovers the dark secrets of humanity's sins against the Volderens, she faces an impossible choice: escape back to her old life or embrace a new destiny among the stars.

In a race against time and prejudice, Lilly understands how her DNA might be the lifeline the Volderens need to avert a future calamity.

Can love blossom in the void of space, bridging the gap between two worlds and saving them both?

My Review

Lilly wakes up after being kidnapped by aliens called Volderens. The Volderens crash landed on Earth many years ago and our government knew about them, in fact they experimented on the Volderens and hurt them terribly so they don't exactly like humans all that much. 

Brax and Vax kidnap Lilly because they think she is the key to helping their people and helping some of the humans that Lilly sees in comas on the ship. But Brax and Vax aren't the nicest or most forthcoming about what they need or how she is going to help them and she's terrified so she tries to get away a few times, angering Vax. Turns out that her DNA is the key to helping both their people and hers because she has some Volderen DNA already in her body somehow. 

I really liked this book and liked the way that Lilly and Vax start to get to know each other when the Earth military and government come for her but not to save her, no they want to kill everyone, including her because she has some of the aliens DNA in her and think she needs to be eliminated. Turns out our government aren't the good guys and the aliens aren't the bad guys. It's crazy to think that our government and military would act like this, but is it really all that surprising? Not to me, I have no doubt that this is exactly what they would be doing and how they would be acting. Sad really. 

Once Lilly realizes the truth and how things really are, she sees Brax and Vax in a different light and stops fighting them. When Vax tells her that they are actually mates, it all starts to make sense and why she feels a pull towards the gruff alien. 

This started out a bit weird and I really didn't like the aliens because they weren't very nice to Lilly but we come to realize that's because of how the aliens were treated by humans and experimented on. 

This turned out to be a really good book and I really liked the ending. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

This is the face Falcor makes when we're playing with him. He waits for us to pick up his toy and makes this face until we give it back. This is his playing face. LOL 

Him playing with his stuffed animals.

One dark cloud as the sun was setting. I liked how the shadows of the palm trees were on the buildings across the street. 

Book Review: An Alien Prince For December by Lindy Moonhill

 

Book Description

Could you fall in love with the alien who abducted you?

December was running from heartbreak…

Ja’rynn was running out of time.

DECEMBER

I thought I was finally free.

No more lies. No more heartbreak.

Just me, my car, and my cat—chasing a fresh start.

Then an alien warrior prince abducts me.

Seven feet of lethal muscle. Green scales that shimmer like starlight.

Eyes that see straight through my fear… and want me anyway.

Ja’rynn says fate brought us together.

That something in me called to him across the galaxy.

He’s possessive. Dangerous. Infuriatingly irresistible.

His touch sets me on fire. His presence makes me crave everything I shouldn’t want.

The longer I fight him, the more I wonder—

what if I was never meant to run?

But how do I trust the alien who stole me…

when giving him my heart might trap me forever?

JA’RYNN

December is mine.

I knew it the moment I saw her.

She’s fierce. Defiant. And terrified of me.

She doesn’t understand why I chose her—

or why letting her go was never an option.

My people are dying.

I came to Earth to claim a human mate… to save my race.

Fate chose her.

She believes I’m a monster.

Yet I would burn the stars before I let anyone harm her.

I would protect her. Cherish her. Worship her.

As enemies close in and betrayal threatens everything I’ve sworn to protect, I face an impossible choice:

My duty… or my mate.

If I lose her, I lose everything.

And if I fail—we both burn.

My Review

Ja'rynn's people stopped producing any female offspring and if they don't find another species to procreate with soon, his people could go extinct. Good thing he followed a signal from Earth and found compatible females. After kidnapping December, she finds herself in the hands of an alien. After getting December's blood and making sure humans would be compatible, he meets with Earth's leaders to make a treaty for human females in exchange Earth will get some technology and compensation for the families of the females. 

December wakes up with the huge alien and they're both on his spaceship. He tries talking to her but she doesn't understand him so he shows her a small chip that he indicates she is to place behind her ear. She does and all of the sudden she can understand and talk to him, it's a translator! 

Ja'rynn can understand and talk to her cat as well. After December gets the translator chip she can understand her cat, Neko as well. The funny thing is, Neko thinks December is his pet, not the other way around. The cat was so funny. 

Ja'rynn realizes after getting December's blood tests back that females from Earth are compatible with his species and he has just saved his people from going extinct. After making a treaty with the leaders of Earth, there are more than enough willing females to be mates for his people. But he only has eyes for December. Now if he can only convince her to stay with him.

When December gets to his planet things seem to be going well until the evil aliens start a war and then all hell breaks loose. December finds herself kidnapped, again! But this time but an evil alien that wants to sell her into slavery. She doesn't think things are going to turn out well for her because she's convinced that Ja'rynn is dead. So she's happy and relieved to see that not only is he alive, but he's come to rescue her. It's a happy ending for her and Ja'rynn but for others, not so much. Some have perished in the attack while others were hurt so bad that they had to be put back together with cyborg parts. 

The ending was really good though and we get a glimpse into the next book, which I loved and can't wait to read now. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #411

 

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.

Last week I had a package go missing, probably because the building numbers were not on the buildings because they are still painting. Delivery people were having trouble finding the addresses, even the Constable asked me where an apartment was when he came to put up 7 days pay or quit notices.  So, I wrote to management and they said they would put up temporary building numbers. They did. 

But it got windy and the temporary signs fell off the buildings. So, they put the signs on the gates to the courtyards. They are staying there at least. 

----

There was a guy parked on the sidewalk path that I take Falcor for a walk on. He stayed parked there for 6 hours. One time I walked past his car and he was, pleasuring himself. I walked the other way until he was gone. The next morning, I saw this right next to where he had been parked. I think we can all guess what the white powder was inside it. I threw it away. I didn't want a kid picking it up. 

---

Friday morning the police were down by the McDonald's next door to me and had stopped all the homeless people who stand next to the drive through asking for food. People in the drive through complain all the time and the police get called on the same people all the time. They left for a little while but were right back at the drive through a few hours later begging again. 

The high this week was 86F/30C

The low this week was 51F/10C

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. 

I told you a while back we have been eating these small plates of food for lunch. I thought I would show you a couple more since we bought a few new things to go on them. 

This one has: 

Artichoke hearts, black olives. green olives, pickled cocktail onions, raspberries, blueberries, picked spicy vegetables, and strawberries. 

It's filling and it tastes good. I like changing up what we put on the plates so there's a variety of different things. You can change this up to suit your own tastes. 

Here's a different one we had on another day. 

It has dried apricots, sliced radish, pickle spears, black olives, green olives, pickled spicy vegetables, sliced baby cucumber, chopped dates rolled in oat flour, and pretzel crisps. 

Would you eat this? Do you like artichoke hearts?

Book Review: Masked Nights: Seduced by my Billionaire Stepbrother (Behind His Mask Book 1) by Kenzie Haven

 

Book Description

Midnight Haze. It's the city's sexiest, most taboo night club, and my friend has dragged me along for an evening of good, old-fashioned hedonism. But while she's off scratching an itch, I'm swimming in a sea of masked faces all dying for a taste.

A taste of me. A taste of each other. I am their fresh meat, their prey. And I feel helpless in the tide of their desire.

My one anchor is a stranger I know all too well. A man as forbidden as Eden's fruit. He calls to me from behind a mask, but I know what lurks behind it: my billionaire stepbrother, Dale.

Can I resist his call, or will the hot, sweltering darkness claim us both?

My Review

Penelope/Pene is at Midnight Haze, a BDSM club with her friend, after the friend talked her into going. Everyone there is in a mask but not much else. Pene is just there to look around this time, didn't really have any thoughts of doing anything with anyone, that is until a sexy, masked stranger invites her to come to a private room with him. She's drawn to this stranger and throws caution to the wind and accepts. 

It doesn't take long after they start undressing each other for Pene to recognize a birthmark on his back, it's her stepbrother, Dale. They are not related by blood, but their parents are married to each other so technically they're family. They've lusted after each other for years but never acted on it because of their parents. Dale is hoping that Pene will let go and have fun with him and she does. 

The sex was hot, their chemistry is so good. These two know they belong together and only stopped each other before because they think their parents will have a problem with them being together. Well, looks like their parents will just have to get over it now. 

This is a very short novella of a short, sexy time in a BDSM club. It was right to the point and I liked that. What a fun story. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

I wasn't out a lot this past week but I was able to catch this really nice sunset one night. 

Book Review: Captured Prey: A Primal Play Novella by Reno R. Mist

 

Book Description

I want to be hunted…but not by just anyone. No – it must be by the monster I have secretly craved.

Chase me.

Devour me.

Take what is already yours.

I know I shouldn’t speak these desires aloud, but I’ve longed for this – to be the heroine sprinting through a moonlit forest, breathless and trembling, pursued by something dark enough to unmake me.

When I uncovered the rumor buried in a forgotten academic footnote, I knew I would come here. A secret invitation. An unholy promise. If this is what I want, why not indulge?

I will be the prey.

All I need now is the hunter waiting in the forest.

Captured Prey: A Primal Play Novella is part of the Second Circle Entry series, told in third-person POV. Each story explores desire, inhibition, and awakening in richly sensual worlds. Often pairing mortals with monsters, love and hunger intertwine as things that go bump in the night steal your heart…and possibly your soul.

Seductive. Sinister. What are you waiting for?

Readers who enjoy Scarlett St. Clair, Carissa Broadbent, Allie Oleander, Laura Thalassa, Cassie Alexander, Layla Fae, Sylvia Mercedes, and other dark romantasy authors — especially lovers of high heat chemistry, alpha monsters, and dark fantasy romance — will find themselves right at home.

This spicy, primal novella features a tall, dark, and handsome Slavic deity, a 35+ gutsy academic mortal, and a pulse-racing chase that ends in a sweet and steamy reward for adult readers. This book can be read as a standalone.

My Review

Asmodeus, the demon of lust owns a club where you can make your deepest desires come true. When Celia finally gets up the nerve to go inside the club, she's met with Asmodeus. After talking and finally getting out of Celia what she really desires, Asmodeus gives her a contract to sign, a way to back out and an explanation of what will happen once she walks through the door. 

Lahs is a Leshy demon, he's not expecting Asmodeus to come to him and ask to cash in the favor he owns him. Once Lahs hears what he wants, he's surprised that a human female actually desires a Leshy demon for her fantasy, since he's made of the Earth. Mostly vines, leaves, bark and wood but he also has a human form he can shift into. Lahs agrees to her contract details. 

Celia's desire? To be stalked through the woods by a mythical creature, chased, caught and ravished. 

Quote "So you want ravishment, not violation. Fearplay without harm."

That one sentence from the book was one of the sexiest things I've read so far this year. Right then and there, I knew I was hooked. 

Once Celia walks through the door into her fantasy, Lahs holds up his end of the agreement, chases her and they both have fun in the chase. Once Celia is captured though, Lahs expects to find her scared of the way he looks, but she just smiles at him, waiting to see what he'll do next. Lahs was fun, the chase was fun and when they get together for some steamy time, that was hot! These two completely different beings are so good for each other. They gave each other what the other needed and they both had fun doing it. This was a fun, dark fantasy read. I can't wait to read more of this series now.

I give this book 5 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