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.

This week I received: 

A box of free samples from Influenster. 

A box of freebies from Daily Goodie Box. 

A Snuggle Bear from Snuggle Bear Den.

You can go to the Influenster website and sign up with them if you'd like a chance to get free boxes of goodies too. They do make you leave reviews and pictures on social media for the things they send you but if you're alright with that, go sign up. 

I was sent: 

Oxiclean detergent. 

Theraflu. 

Impress press on nails. 

EmergenC. 

Clorox wipes. 

I loved trying everything out. The nails are pretty. I liked getting the wipes because I haven't been able to find them in the stores. The detergent works well. The Theraflu I'll save for the next time I get sick. 

The EmergenC is the only thing I didn't care for. The taste just is't good. 

I also was sent a Snuggle Bear from Snuggle Bear Den.  I gave the bear to my dog since he loves stuffed animals to play with.You can follow the link and sign up for an account. They have sent me a couple of the bear's, samples of Snuggle fabric softener and some other things. 

I reviewed the Daily Goodie Box a couple of days ago. Go check it out to see what all I got. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Falor and His New Toy Bear

 

So I got a Snuggle Bear for Falcor. He loves stuffed animals and when I say loves, I mean he loves to tear them apart and destroy them. I thought you all would find this as funny as I did. This look pretty much says it all. "I will destroy you."

Test bite. Gimme the bear.

I smell that sweet, sweet stuffing and want to rip it all out. 

You're mine now, buddy.

He threw it around, shook it and then started biting and tearing at the face.

Within 20 minutes, the nose was gone, and so was one of the eyes. Then he started chewing the mouth off. 

It only took 30 minutes to start seeing stuffing. Don't worry, he spits out everything he chews or pulls off of the toys. Always has. 

It's stuffing time!

Within 45 minutes from the time he got the bear, this is what happened. LOL 

Ok Mom, you may clean up my mess. I'm done for now. 

He went back at it about an hour later and got most of the stuffing out. Now he has another faceless, stuffingless bear to play with. He just loves tearing toys up. 

Review: All Soul's Night (A Midnight Doms Anthology) by Renee Rose and 9 other authors

 

Book Description

This Halloween, the vampires come out to play. 

 Nine brand new romances starring the dark ones and the innocents they claim. 

Come, if you dare. Join the ones succumbing to temptation.

It's All Souls’ Night. 

Time to play.

All Souls' Night is an anthology of nine BRAND NEW vampire romance novellas by Renee Rose, Lee Savino, Alexis Alvarez, Arial Burnz, RJ Gray, Ines Johnson, Vivian Murdoch, Lesli Richardson, Brenda Trim and Zara Zenia. Each story standsalone. Happily ever after guaranteed! 

My Review

There are 9 novellas in this anthology so I thought I would do a mini review for each one. If you've been reading my blog for the past couple of months you already know that I have been loving this series so I figured I should read this as well since I might get to see a few familiar faces. 

The Virgin and the Vampire by Lee Savino and Renee Rose

Gwen goes to Club Toxic to have some fun after her ex fiance dumps her. But who is the first person she spots in the club? Yep, her ex and he's with a guy. She covers her surprise fairly well, wishes them well and walks away only to have Dimitri walk up to her. He's spotted her and wants to take her down to the dungeon, have some fun and feed from her. Dimitri is a vampire and his charm is off the charts. Gwen is so taken with his good looks that when she spots her ex and his boyfriend disappear to the dungeon she tells Dimitri she wants to know where they went. That's all the consent he needs and takes her downstairs so she can see what's down there. She's more than a little shocked to see a BDSM club under the club she was just at but when Dimitri asks her if she's seen enough, she wants to stay and Dimitri is happy enough to stay and show her more. They end up alone in a booth, she's more than willing to try new things and Dimitri is all too willing to show her. After their first and second time together Dimitri tries to wipe her mind of him and their time together but it doesn't take and she comes looking for him again. By that time he's fallen hard for her and the ending was like a fairy tale it was so sweet. 

Vampire's Tasty Treat by RJ Gray

 Bentley takes his submissive, Keri on vacation. They have been together for a year but she has no idea that he's a vampire so when they get to his house and she realizes that he's a billionaire, she has more questions. Once he tells her he's a vampire and she doesn't completely fall apart, he brings her to Club Toxic so she can witness how erotic it is when a vampire feeds from his willing submissive. Since Bentley has never fed from her, she's scared but she loves him so she's also curious. He wants to give her a collar so that she knows that he wants her for the rest of her life. He also wants her to turn into a vampire but if she isn't ready he's willing to wait until she is. They have such a sweet relationship but I really thought he should have told her about being a vampire way before being together for a whole year. 

His Vampire Princess by Ines Johnson

Arneis hates that his sisters Cari and Marechal are both mated to vampires because he remembers what one did to him and he hates them. He wants to let humans know that vampires exist but the vampires are never going to let that happen. He goes to Club Toxic to try and get proof that vampires exist only to meet a female vampire, only he doesn't know she's a vampire at first and he's so taken with her that they end up together right away. She's never been with a man and wants to experience some fun before she goes back to her duty and life. Sanai is from an ancient hidden city and the only men who live there are eunuchs. So while she's at the club she plans on finding a man and having some fun but she mistakes Arneis for a vampire but has sex with him anyway. After a bit of a misunderstanding, they realize that neither of them can live without the other. 

The Lady and The Vamp by Zara Zenia

Clarabelle is Aaron's driver and when she picks him up this time he asks her if she's like to go to the masquerade ball at Club Toxic with him. Aaron's ex is not willing to let him go and confronts him about Clarabelle after she spots him with her at the ball but King Lucius has said that if she kills or harms another human she will be killed. She's a crazy vampire and can't take no for an answer so I knew what was coming. Clarabelle took being attacked several times by the crazy female vampire much better than I would have. I think I would have opted to have my memories erased and gone on about my life at that point. But She and Aaron love each other and want to have a life together so I guess it was good that she decided to become his submissive instead.

 

His Vampire Morsel by Lesli Richardson

Tiberius is one of the managers of Club Toxic and usually manages the door or the dungeon making sure things go smoothly. He's lonely but doesn't put much thought to it because he's gay and hasn't come across the right guy to make a relationship with. But as soon as he spots John (Baker) and when he does, he knows he has to find a way to get to know him better. After introductions they go to the dungeon to be alone together and end up back and Tiberius's house that night. But when Baker's family finds him after work the next day he finds himself in danger because his family isn't great and is really mad that he left in the first place. Thankfully Tiberius is there to make sure that they can't take him back to the hell that was his life. I was happy to see Tiberius finally get his mate since I really liked him from the other books. 

Bite Me Baby One More Time by Alexis Alvarez

Artemis (Temi) is a college student who likes art but works two jobs so she's tired a lot of time. Antonio (Locke) is a college professor and is intrigued when Artemis falls asleep in his class and he looks into her memories and realizes that some of her more erotic dreams are about him. They spend some time together and then go out when he takes her to Club Toxic. Temi's half brother is mixed up with a bad crowd and gets into trouble which brings trouble home to Temi and her grandma. I really liked her grandmother because she seems to have visions and knows what might happen in the future which was interesting. I really liked the ending and thought that it was fun to watch Temi and Locke fall for each other. 

One Night With A Vampire by Vivian Murdoch

Dahlia goes to a cemetery to do a spell on Halloween but she doesn't realize that the guy she brought with her is a vampire and isn't a nice one. When he attacks her she grabs a rotting piece of wood and shoves it in his chest, just missing his heart, it paralyzes him but he's still alive. That's when Damiano finds them and helps her to safety. He's really taken with her and takes her to club toxic for a scene but he told her it would only be for one night. When they get there Damiano enlists the help of another Dom and they both have some fun with her. So later that night she's heartbroken when he again tells her that they can't see each other again. But something happens and he realizes that he can't live without her. These two both liked the cane and the pain, giving and receiving a little too much for my taste though. 

One Bite To Live by Brenda Trim

Zoe works the bar at Club Toxic and finally finds the nerve to ask Armando out to dinner. She's happy until she spots her stalker ex, Phil at the bar. He's been stalking her for 6 years and even broke her jaw once but never got in trouble for it even though she pressed charges because he's rich and knows people in high places. But Armando knows that something is wrong right away and with the vampires super hearing, one of the other vampires at the club fills him in on the exchange between Zoe and Phil before he left. When someone carries Zoe's best friend, Karina into the club and she's bloody because she's been attacked in the parking lot, Zoe suspects that it was Phil because he's done it before. Zoe is sure she's gonna have to run again but Armando is there to keep her safe. At the same time Theo and Alex are keeping Karina safe and want her as their own which was fun to see. But now Armando and the others know that Phil is a problem and even though Zoe goes back to Armando's house with him, she freaks out when she spots Phil from the window and Armando is nowhere around since he sleeps during the day and she doesn't know he's a vampire yet. I knew what would happen but it was fun to watch it unfold. 

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Arial Burnz

Theo is shocked when Alex brings a bloody Karina to him but he soon takes over and starts telling those around him what he needs. After Theo knows that Karina is going to be ok, he stops to look at Alex, the man who broke his heart more than 100 years ago. Alex is a doctor and helps heal Karina so she's resting when Alex and Theo start making out. When she opens her eyes, she spots Theo and Alex making out and she thinks it's the hottest thing she's ever seen. Theo and Karina have seen each other a few times but they aren't in a relationship as of yet. Karina has been giving the owner of The Crimson Dungeon, in New Orleans info about Club Toxic and she's worried that when Theo finds out he'll be mad at her or never want to see her again. But just like the last story, this is the flip side of Zoe's story where we see what happened to Karina. Zoe and Karina find themselves in danger with Phil and Theo and Alex have to find where she's run off to after Zoe spots Phil through the window. Just as with Zoe's story I knew where this was heading but it was fun to watch it unfold. 

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I've really been enjoying the Midnight Doms series so when I saw this anthology I knew I would probably enjoy this too and I did. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Daily Goodie Box- May

 

The Daily Goodie Box has been around since about July of 2016. I signed up for an account right after I heard about them. They are 100% free, you don't even have to pay for shipping. And for a free box it's a nice sampler box of products.

What was in the box?

NFco - Original Natural Toothpaste- I think it works good and it's just minty. It doesn't have a bad taste so that's good. 

YouTheory - Immune+ Daily Wellness Supplement- I started taking these because they have Vitamin C, which is always good to take. Vitamin D which is something I take anyway because I'm deficient in it. 

Herbal Zap - Herbal Health Drinks- I didn't care for the taste. I would rather take a pill and swallow that. 

Beauty Without Cruelty - Fragrance Free Hand and Body Lotion- I know it says fragrance free but there is a slight fragrance to it. It works well as a hand lotion though. It's not greasy and I like that.

Artisana Organics - Pecan Butter with Cashews- Pecan butter snack packs. I like pecan butter so I liked this. 

Hudson Henry Baking Co. - Maple, Pecans and Coconut Granola- This was my favorite thing in the box. I love granola and this was very tasty. Plus the bag was a good size.

Home Free Treats - Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies- Who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies? These were good. Very crispy.

Bare Republic - Mineral SPF 50 Sport Sunscreen Stick- I thought this was a little weird. It's a roll on sunscreen that claims to be mess free but I had to rub it in with my hands because it leaves a white glittery mess on your skin if you don't. I used this on my neck and chest area that tends to burn in the Summer and it didn't work nearly as good as what I usually use. I got red and will turn tan there now. My usual sunblock keeps me from turning red at all.

The sunscreen is a roll on. But if you like the Zinc Oxide sunscreens that leaves a whitish film on your skin, this is for you. 

All they ask you to do is try the products and leave reviews for the products you got in order to be eligible for more Free Goodie Boxes. As you guys already know, I'm a fan of all these types of boxes. I love all the different subscription boxes and it's really nice to be able to try new to me products for free. This is a great box to try for.

Oh and one more thing, if you visit their FB Page, they give away Goodie Boxes to people who interact with their posts. So if you've tried before and weren't able to get a Goodie Box, there's even more ways to get one now.

Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Have you signed up? Have you received one of these boxes?

I'm a fan of subscription boxes and love trying new products for free so this was a huge hit with me. New products+free box = Fabulous!

Disclosure: I was given and free box in exchange for a review but all opinions are my own.

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #251

 

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 go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 23 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 23 years here in a weekly blog post. 

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Last Saturday evening the guy across from me was bbqing and had another guy over. I wouldn't have thought anything about it if he hadn't had the bbq on the sidewalk/walkway directly under the overhang and mere inches from the wall and his two plastic seat cushions. I mean, the dumbfuckery is astounding right here! Anyone with half a brain knows to keep the bbq's out in the rocks away from the building and anything that can melt/catch fire. I had my curtains open watching this fool the entire time. Then once the fire had died down, I hear he and his friend loudly arguing, shouting about cocaine this and cocaine that...and someone broke a plate on the ground and slammed the door shut. Good grief.

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On Monday morning the police were on my street going down to the old guys apartment who's brother hit him in the face and broke his cheek bone a couple of weeks ago. They've been at that apartment a few times since then. Maybe the brother who got hit, took out an restraining order and when he spots him around he calls the police. I don't really know. The police car is hiding behind the palm tree because I took the picture from my bedroom window as usual. lol 

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Well, ya'll it happened again. The overflow drain outside started overflowing and it got so bad that the raw sewage was squirting out of the pipe and onto the wall there that you see discolored. The plumber's came out and cleared the drain again and once again when I heard the pipes in the bathroom start squealing from the plumber's using the snake, I put down some paper towels and closed the toilet lid. Thankfully this time only the paper towels got wet and the water didn't splash all over the bathroom and onto the floor. A much easier cleanup. They really should let us know to close the toilet lid before they do that. 

Afterwards, maintenance sprinkled some white powder all over the raw sewage that was on the ground and it's been that way all week. I guess they're just gonna wait for the next rain to wash it away. The fun never stops!

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My neighbor came to my door Monday morning and asked me how much in rent I pay, so I told her and she's on the phone and starts yelling that everyone around her is paying xxx amount how come she's being charges $25 more a month since she just signed a new lease. She's standing at my door screaming into her phone at the apartment manager because they told her that she's being charged a monthly pet fee. She starts screaming into her phone that her dog is an Emotional Support Animal and they can't charge her anything for him. 

They put her on hold and she starts yelling about how they aren't going to charge her more money for this 'bomb ass place with dog sh*t all over the ground" 

Oh boy she was mad.

She spent some time walking up and down the walkway screaming at the manager on the phone. 

The next day I asked her if she got it worked out and she's still mad because her rent is higher because she signed a new lease and the rent always increases with a new lease. 

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And for those of you wondering...I did indeed get my mail key finally.

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

Flowers On My Walk

 

Each week I tell you guys all the craziness around here, so today I thought I would being a little bit of beauty from my walk with Falcor. This bush has tiny purple flowers all over it. I don't know what the shrub is but it's so pretty.

Here's a closer look at the tiny purple flowers.

My apartment complex is also home to two varieties of Oleander bushes. This is a small bush and only has a couple of pink flowers. I should mention that the entire plant is poisonous. If you eat it, it could kill you. 

Here's the white Oleander flowers. Very pretty but don't try eating it. 

I also came across a few of these tiny yellow wild flowers. They were hard to get a good picture of because they are tiny, about half the size of my pinkie nail. 

There aren't a lot of flowers around here but there were a few.

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.

I won a Kindle ebook from Goodreads giveaways. 

I was sent a free Cake Pan from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

And if you read yesterday's post you know I was sent two free dinners from Blue Apron from an online friend. (Not pictured). 
Storage baskets from Walmart Spark Reviewer.

Make sure you keep entering those Goodreads giveaways. I win one every couple of months. So you can win them too. 

I love the new cake pan. The other cake pan I have is an oval one and I've been wanting a new one. Walmart Spark Reviewer is by invitation only so I cannot give you a link to their site to sign up. 

I love the storage baskets. I put them on my dresser. 

Make sure you check out yesterday's post to see what I was sent from Blue Apron. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Blue Apron Meals

 

A friend of mine sent me an offer to accept 2 free meals from Blue Apron. So I did and was signed up for their weekly meal delivery but could cancel it after my first box if I wanted to. They sent all of the ingredients for 2 dinners in prepacked baggies. Plus they sent two recipe cards that were really easy to follow. All I had to do was chop everything and cook it. 

One of the meals I made was roasted purple potatoes, steam buns with pork patties, marinated cucumbers in miren and two sauces, one for the pork patties and one for the potatoes. It was pretty good. And it was easy to make.

The other meal was top sirloin steaks, roasted potatoes and kohlrabi, miso kale and a sauce made with rice vinegar, brown sugar and black bean sauce. This dinner was my favorite. 

New things I tried with these two meals: 

Sauteed Kale

Kohlrabi

Black Bean Sauce

Steam buns

Miren

Hoisen Sauce

Gochujang

Miso

But I enjoyed trying all of this new stuff. I even used a clove of garlic in the pork patties and I detest garlic. lol I'll be buying some miren and hoisen sauce in the future for sure. Cucumbers marinated in miren and are really good. I'm on the fence with the black bean sauce. I didn't really care for that. But being able to try new things with these easy to cook meals was a lot of fun. The only drawback for me is for these two dinners a week, Blue Apron wants to charge $71 a week and that was a little too much for me. So I cancelled my subscription after I got the first box. 

Have you tried any of the meal subscription boxes? 

I also tried Green Chef a while back and you can find my review of that here. 

Review: Her Vampire Knight by Ines Johnson

 

Book Description

This little panther shifter thinks she’s captured me. Me; one of the most feared vampires in history.

She thinks I'm the key to an age old prophecy; one where we join forces and unite to create new life. But that's impossible for a man who's been dead for centuries. With her every touch she makes me crave life.

The problem is, the more we fight, the more the beast below stirs, ready to claim her.

I can’t let it go that far. If I do, it will surely break us both. 

My Review

So I finally found Virius's book and couldn't be happier. I don't know what number this is in the series because I think it was part of a trilogy of the three brothers stories but I'm glad I finally figured out the mystery of where this story was. lol 

Virius had a heck of a bad childhood and then on the back of that he was bought at a young age and sired by a sadistic female vampire who tortured him all the time for many years. I read the stories of his two brothers and started to get to know him and wanted to read his book very much. I saw the beginning of Virius's story in Her Vampire Lord and really wanted to know what happened to he and Zahara. 

Virius lived in a tortured, scared state for such a long time that he doesn't know how to feel anything but terror most times. This poor guy needed therapy. But Zahara has lived her whole life knowing that she has to fulfill a prophecy to save her people so she feels like her life isn't really her own. She thinks that Virius is part of that prophecy and so she trades his brother for him and he goes willingly. Zahara is a jaguar shifter and a good fighter but wouldn't have really been no match for Virius since he is a vampire, if he had really wanted to get away.

It was nice to watch Virius really come to life during this book and realize that Zahara isn't going to hurt him. Both he and Zahara are fierce people but were so gentle towards each other. Zahara's people really believe that the curse will only be broken after the ritual is performed but things take a decidedly different turn than I thought it was going to take, which was just fine. I was hoping that Virius's story would be good but it was great! I'm so happy that all three brothers found their mates. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.