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 samples from Macy's

Cesar Simply Crafted dog food topper and a coupon

And I won a $20 Amazon gift card from a blog giveaway on Fundinmental book tour stop. 

I liked a few of the perfumes but I also got some men's cologne samples that I gave to a friend of a friend. 

Falcor was more than happy to try the chicken dog food topper. He liked it. I wouldn't buy it though because it's $15 for 8 small containers. Each container contains maybe a tablespoon of chicken and a few peas and carrots. I can make that at home and add it to his food, which I do. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Taming The Alpha by Tina Moss

 

Book Description

She trained to save lives. But the one she inherited might just save her.

Caitlin Spring is laser-focused on her dream: finish pre-med, become a doctor, and build a life on logic—not loss. But when her beloved grandfather dies unexpectedly, everything changes. Instead of a summer of studying, Caitlin finds herself the new owner of the Spring Wildlife Sanctuary deep in the Montana wilderness.

And standing between her and the future is Jake Blackwell—the sanctuary’s brooding caretaker and the alpha werewolf her grandfather trusted with everything. Once the childhood protector who helped Caitlin survive her parents’ death, Jake is now all rugged edges and commanding growls. And he’s not exactly thrilled to see her back.

To him, Caitlin’s a threat—an outsider who doesn’t understand the delicate balance between humans, shifters, and the land they protect.

But Caitlin isn’t the little girl he remembers. She’s determined to honor her grandfather’s legacy… even if it means clashing with the alpha who once made her feel safe.

As sanctuary debt mounts and sparks fly, Caitlin must choose between the life she’s planned—or the one she never saw coming, beside a man who guards more than just the land.

In the heart of the wild, love might be the most untamed force of all.

Taming the Alpha is a gripping paranormal romance with second chances, small-town secrets, age gap, and a sanctuary where hearts—and wolves—run wild.

My Review

We get to know Caitlin when she gets a phone call telling her that her grandfather has died. She falls to pieces but picks herself up to go to the Spring Wildlife Sanctuary that her grandfather ran. There she meets with Maggie and Jake who she hasn't seen in quite a while. After the will is read, Caitlin has some hard choices to make since her grandfather left her with a hefty debt on the sanctuary. 

Jake is the sanctuary caretaker but he's also a wolf shifter as is the rest of his pack who lives on the sanctuary's land. Because the animal sanctuary is in trouble financially, there are those who own land in the surrounding area trying to get Caitlin to sell all or part of the land to pay off the debt she now owes. But Jake is very much against it. 

Jake and Caitlin have known each other since she was a little kid and came to live with her grandfather when her parents passed away. These two have feelings for each other but Jake has been pushing her away because he feels like she's too young for him and he doesn't want to go there. But Caitlin is no longer a teenager, she's a grown woman who knows what she wants and right now, she wants Jake. But she has a lot on her plate at the moment with her grandfather dying and now trying to figure out what to do with the animal sanctuary. 

The story bounced from past and present a lot and I can understand setting up the story so we know the characters and what they've gone through, but it happened a lot.

I was really expecting to see more of the wolf shifters since this is a paranormal romance but the paranormal part of this story ended up being very much on the back burner. We know Jake is a wolf shifter but we don't see much of the shifters in this story which was sad to see. 

I liked the ending and was glad to see how they found a way to bring everything together for a happy ending. 

I give this book 3 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

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

I have a cloud compilation of pictures today, from this week. This was a sunrise one morning. The red barely touching the underside of the clouds looked really pretty. 

Same morning as I was walking back home.

Later that day as the sun was setting.

Another morning this week. 

The clouds just looked like they were asking to be photographed.

I loved how some of these white clouds popped out in this picture.

It was such a nice day and the temps were cooler too.

I hope you enjoyed all the cloud pictures. 

Book Review: The Contract by Elyse Thomas

 

Book Description

Twelve months. Total submission. One million dollars.

I spent six years in a convent, preparing for a life of silence and service. I never expected my new life to begin under the ruthless control of Stephan Marek—my boss, my temptation, and the most dangerous man in Chicago’s most elite law firm.

Stephan is a brilliant, untouchable predator in a thousand-dollar suit. When he discovers I’m a virgin—untouched in every way—he makes a deal only a monster would propose:

One year of complete sexual submission in exchange for one million dollars.

The money will save my sister’s life. The price will cost me my soul.

The contract is airtight. The rules are absolute. But nothing about Stephan Marek is simple.

As I’m drawn deeper into his world of dominance and control, my shame collides with a dark, awakening desire. In the shadows of his penthouse, obedience begins to feel dangerously close to freedom. I vowed never to surrender again—but what if my submission is the only thing that can set me free?

He owns my body by contract. But will he keep my heart by choice?

The Contract is a dark, emotionally intense BDSM romance that explores the thin line between possession and protection.

If you loved the religious and moral tension of Priest by Sierra Simone or the erotic depth of The Siren by Tiffany Reisz, this is your next obsession.

Fans of the forbidden workplace dynamics in Beautiful Bastard and the high-stakes legal tension of Terms and Conditions will find their new favorite anti-hero in Stephan Marek.

If you crave the raw intensity and binding sexual agreements found in Sara Cate’s Keep Me or Nikki Sloane’s The Initiation, this story of power exchange and ultimate surrender will leave you breathless.

Tropes Included: Virgin Heroine (Former Nun), Forbidden Boss/Employee Romance, Age Gap / Alpha Hero, Forced Proximity & Power Exchange, Explicit BDSM & High-Stakes Consent, Guaranteed Happily Ever After.

Welcome to Binding Agreements—where contracts are seductive, control is currency, and desire always comes with a price.

My Review

Katie is a former nun. She left the church when her sister got sick and needed cancer treatments that their mother couldn't pay for. Katie is smart so it was no big deal to get her lawyer's license and get a job at a large firm. 

Stephan has been a lawyer for 20 years, people know he's intimidating, organized and thorough. His orderly life is thrown for a loop when he interviews Katie for a position at his firm and he gives her the job. 

The pull Stephan feels towards Katie is instantaneous. They work closely together on a huge case that they cannot afford to lose. But there are things about the case that are getting them into hot water if anyone finds out about it. As they work together for the case, it becomes harder and harder for them to not act on their feelings. They both make some decisions that are very questionable. Decisions that would ruin their lives if anyone found out but they do it anyway? It just wasn't very smart or believable to me that they just decided to risk it all for the reasons they came up with. 

Stephan was not the hero that I wanted. He has some emotional damage that makes him a bit strange. So instead of just falling for Katie and having a normal relationship with Katie when they admit their feelings for each other, he brings out a contract he's been working on for them. It's a Dom/sub contract. If she signs it, she agrees to be his submissive for 12 months and she'll get paid One Million dollars, which is more than enough to pay for her sister's cancer treatments. 

Stephan thinks he's saving her, protecting her or something. He could have just told her that he likes a little BDSM in the bedroom instead of drawing up this contract because at first, she was hurt by it, but she did agree, which I seriously doubt a former nun would do. But what do I know. 

The funny thing is, there isn't a whole lot of BDSM in the book, sure there's a little bit but it wasn't anything over the top like I was expecting. They don't even act on their feelings until almost half way through the book. The first half of the book was a bit slow but it does pick up a bit. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

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

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Happy Unicorn/donut day. Did you know that if you combine glitter with cheese, you'll get sparkle farts?"

"Got caught stealing cheese"

*All pictures are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #416

 

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.

Life Update: 

My daughter had to quit her job on Wednesday. It's right next door but she was shaky, out of breath, in pain and having a hard time breathing when she walked over there to let them know she was quitting so I had to hold her arm on the walk home because she was so unsteady on her feet. There's no way she can stand for a job even for 4 hours, part time right now. The doctor is talking about putting her on oxygen anytime she has to stand up because her blood pressure gets low when she stands up.

My shoulders are much better. My knee is still quite swollen but I'm sure in time I will be back to normal.  (Not that I'm normal, in any way. 🤣)

I told you a few weeks ago that we had no address or building numbers on any of the buildings. Delivery drivers couldn't find where to deliver, first responders couldn't find people who were calling for help. So I emailed the manager and told her that. They put up temporary address numbers that blew away in the wind. But last week they finally put up new building numbers and address signs.

They even put the building numbers for the buildings in the back where people coming into the courtyard to make a delivery, can see them. 

They even put apartment numbers with the building number next to each door! This should help a lot. Let's just hope the glue they used will hold during the hot, hot Summer temps.  

---

Tuesday evening the police were across the street, arrested a lady and put all of the stuff she had in her large purse into evidence bags. 

I watched as they tested something, probably drugs and held the baggie up to her in the back of the squad car. I'm guessing she's going away for having drugs on her too. I couldn't see who it was in the back seat.

---

Monday night I walk out to the path with Falcor that I always do. They were by the water boxes that I told you about last week.  And there's 2 people smoking drugs out of a meth pipe. I just walk by and mind my business. 

Later that night I go out there again and they are still out there. They're all friendly, "how you doing tonight" I said good, how are you? 

He lifts the meth pipe and says, "better now" and laughs. 

You can't make this stuff up. Smh

----

On Wednesday a homeless lady with 2 Chihuahuas passed me on our walk. She looked at Falcor and tried to pick him up, called him Pepe. I told her not to pick my dog up and his name was Falcor. 

Her: "Are you sure his name is Falcor and not Pepe. I lost my dog last week and he looks just like yours."

Me: "Yeah, I've had him for 12 years."

Her: "Are you sure you have?"

Me: "Yeah, and I have vet records to prove it."

She then tries to pet him again and he barks at her. 

Me: "If he was Pepe, I think he wouldn't be trying to eat your face."

Her: "He was always like that."

She tries to pick him up again and I get closer and tell her to leave my dog alone. I pulled the leash behind me so she can't do it again and I'm standing right in her face. 

Her: "If you promise to give him a good home, I'll let you have him." 

Me: "Since you lost one of your dogs last week, I think you're an irresponsible pet owner and you should give me both of your other dogs. I'll give them a good home. How about that?" 

Her: "You could have just said he's not Pepe. You don't have to be a Bitch about it." 
Me: "I did." 

She walked away. 

I was getting ready to punch this woman in the face if she tried to take my dog. Don't try me. I'll put you in the trunk of a car and help the search party search for you. 🤣🤣🤪🤪

----

Falcor needed to go out right before midnight on Wednesday. As we were standing outside 2 police cars pulled up, parked their vehicles in the middle of the street and ran into the apartment complex across the street. 

They were running from courtyard to courtyard over there looking for someone. As I was getting back to my courtyard, I saw them come back out to their cars and talk for a moment and then they ran back into the apartment complex again. They were there for a while but after about 40 minutes of not seeing anything else happening, I went back to sleep. No idea what the outcome of this was. 

---

The high this week was 80F/26C

The low this week was 50F/10C

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

Saturday Vittles

 

I know it says mug cake but I made mine in a ramekin.

This is not a healthy dessert. Nonetheless, some days a girl needs a piece of cake! 🤣🤣

Coffee Cake Mug Cake

That's right, this is a mug cake. I perfected the best recipe for a moist, fluffy mug cake. 

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 TBSP brown sugar

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 TBSP butter, melted

Crumb Topping

1 1/2 TBSP butter, softened

2 1/2 TBSP brown sugar

1 TBSP flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

What to do:

In a mug (or ramekin), combine all ingredients for the mug cake. Stir until well combined and smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine ingredients for the crumb topping and mix together with a fork until it has a crumb-like texture. I mixed it with my fingers until it was crumbly, it was just easier.

 Top with crumb topping.

Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Serve warm.

Just take a look at that moist cake! Omg this is the best mug cake I've made so far. That crumb topping is so good. If you like coffee cake, give this one a try. 

It's better to make one piece of cake because if I made a whole cake, I will end up eating the entire thing over a few days. I have no self control with cake! 🤣🤣🤣 There's a reason I'm fat, and that reason is cake!

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: 

A Healthy Snack Box

A box of Macy's perfume samples

A box from Temptations Cat Treats

I won a $5 Amazon gift card in a FB group

The Healthy Snack box is always great. There were popcorn, pretzels, Nature Valley Granola bars, NutriGrain bar, peach tea, lemon cookie and gummi bears. 

I liked most of the perfume in this box. 

I gave the cat treats to a friend who has a cat.

A pretty good week. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

I took sunrise pictures last week so how about a couple of sunset pictures this week. I was walking Falcor on the quiet path next to the sound wall that I usually walk and it was very cloudy. That's also the Mexican Market that I've been able to walk to and get a little grocery shopping done. It's right next door. I haven't been able to go anywhere else because of the Agoraphobia but at least I can walk over there now. 

Another sunset this week. 

If this cloud had been closer on Monday, we would have gotten some rain. Oh well. 

Book Review: Pain, Dreams and Desire by Ann Han

 

Book Description

Nessa's life is shattered in a single night-her father is murdered, and she is left traumatized by an act of brutal violence that changes her forever. Desperate to escape the ghosts of her past, she leaves England for Boston, determined to reclaim her life-and perhaps herself.

Her new boss, Nathaniel, is a man who thrives on control. At work and beyond, he keeps his emotions tightly guarded, believing relationships are distractions he can't afford. But when a high-stakes business trip takes them to New York, the tension simmering between them becomes impossible to ignore.

Haunted by fear yet longing to feel alive again, Nessa asks Nathaniel for something she has never known-how to experience pleasure without terror. As their connection deepens and desire ignites, both are forced to confront the walls they've built to protect themselves.

In surrendering control and trust, they must decide whether healing, intimacy, and love are risks worth taking.

Pure Desire is an emotionally intense, sensual romance about trauma, recovery, and the courage it takes to want again.

My Review

This book starts off with a very traumatic event where Vanessa's/Nessa father is killed and she is assaulted. After a while, when things start to get back to some kind of normal, Nessa gets a job opportunity in the US. She wants a new beginning, so with the encouragement of her friends and mother, she takes the job and moves away from England. 

Nathaniel is Nessa's new boss. He's known for being a playboy who isn't the settling down type. But being around his new PA, Nessa is making him feel things he hasn't let himself feel since his mother died. Not wanting to experience the kind of pain his father did when his mother died, Nathaniel has locked away his heart so that he never feels the kind of pain his father did, even if he's done so unconsciously.

Nessa has a lot of trauma to get through before she's ready to go on with her life and have a relationship with anyone. This was a slow burn romance, where we see two people trying to get their lives back together with the help of friends and family. 

Both of these characters have sadness in their pasts and it's going to take some time for them to finally take a chance and find true love. 

While this isn't my usual type of book, I really liked getting to know these characters and seeing how they could get past all the heartbreak and make a loving life for themselves with each other. 

This book starts off with a bang, then slows down a bit in the middle as the entire story unfolds, but I'm glad I kept reading because the storyline picks up again towards the end. 

I give this book 3 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