Review: Target Beauty Box- April

Each month Target releases a new Target Beauty Box but supplies are limited and it's first come first serve until they run out. These boxes go fast so I try to grab one as soon as I see it being talked about on Twitter or fb. I haven't bought one in a couple of months because I didn't care for the products in them but this month I did. They are $7 a piece and were well worth the price.

What was in this box: 

TiGi Bed Head Smoothing Cream. 

Soap & Glory undereye hydrogel patches. 

Dove dry shampoo. 

Crest 3D White toothpaste. 

Degree Dry Spray antiperspirant. 

Bliss That's Incredi-peel glycolic overnight peel cream. 

I've started using dry shampoo every once in a while when I'm in too much pain to wash my hair in the morning. I have osteoarthritis in my knee's and sometimes I just can't move. The Dove dry shampoo is a good one.

Crest toothpaste is my first choice in toothpaste so I liked that it was in the box. I haven't used the Bed Head or the Bliss yet, but I'm sure I will at some point. 

I have used Degree deodorant before and even though I'm not a fan of sprays, this actually works well. I like to wear those undereye hydrogels at night after taking my makeup just to freak out Ken because frankly I haven't noticed that they do anything. lol I think I still have a lip mask that I can wear with it and really make Ken think I've lost my mind. 

Did you get this box?

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I will be back for more in a moment"

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Just gib me whole thing now. I'll save some for later."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I'm not letting go, you might as well just gib it to me."

Apartment Life #78

This is a new 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 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

Yesterday I heard a lot of yelling coming from the street side of my apartment complex. I opened my bedroom curtains and this cop car was there. The two police officers had a guy who was yelling at them in handcuffs and they were trying to get him into the backseat. I ran to get my camera but by the time I got back to the bedroom he was already in the cop car and they were getting ready to pull away. I have no idea who he was or what happened. Just more drama around here.

This past week I spotted one of the crack ho's who always had the police at her door and who was evicted this month, was back but is staying with my next door neighbor *one of her john's* and I know he was paying her for sex because she would throw that in her boyfriends face every time they fought outside. I heard it a lot. I really hope she isn't around here for too long because when the manager found out she just shrugged like she didn't care. 

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

Review: 1001 Dark Nights: Cipher by Larissa Ione

Book Description

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Larissa Ione comes a new story in her Demonica Underworld series… 

It’s been seven months since Cipher, an Unfallen angel who straddled a razor thin line between good and evil, woke up in hell with a new set of wings, a wicked pair of fangs, and a handler who’s as beautiful as she is dangerous. As a laid-back cyber-specialist who once assisted guardian angels, he’d been in a prime position to earn back his halo. But now, as a True Fallen forced to use his talents for malevolence, he must fight not only his captors and his sexy handler, but the growing corruption inside him…before the friends searching for him become his enemies and he becomes his own worst nightmare.

Lyre is a fallen angel with a heart full of hate. When she’s assigned to ensure that Cipher carries out their boss’s orders, she sees an opportunity to take revenge on those who wronged her. All she has to do is appeal to Cipher’s burgeoning dark side. But the devastatingly handsome fellow True Fallen has other ideas — sexy ideas that threaten to derail all Lyre’s plans and put them in the path of an approaching hell storm.

Danger and desire explode, even as Cipher and Lyre unravel a sinister plot that will fracture the underworld and send shockwaves into Heaven itself…

**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**

My Review

While you could read this as a standalone, I think it would be better to read the series from the beginning because a lot of this story is a continuation from the series and you won't really know what happened before this point. 

Cipher gets cocky and strays a little too far from his friends when he's dragged to hell and becomes a True Unfallen. He doesn't want to be evil or help his captors but he has little choice unless he can somehow get away. He knows his friends are probably looking for him but the bad guys want him for his computer skills. So unless he gives Bael what he wants, he's gonna keep being tortured. The torture is bad and we see a lot of it right up front.

Lyre is a fallen angel and is assigned to be Cipher's handler. She's not exactly what she seems and knows she made a bad decision coming to work for Bael to get revenge for losing her angelic wings. Both Lyre and Cipher end up wanting some of the same things and they agree to work together to escape. But before they can, Cipher has to do the one thing he didn't want to do and Lyre is going to help him. While they are trying to escape they become closer and find they're attracted to each other which leads to some fun times between them, even if they are fighting for their freedom.

There are a few surprises and a couple of great twists. Bael and his brother have a secret that became a great twist by the end of the book. I love when something happens that I never saw coming and makes me want the next book right now so I can see how it will play out. 

So much happened and we see a few characters that I love from this series pop up which I really loved. In the middle of everything else, there's a plot going on behind the scenes with the bag guys that could change everything and by the end of the book we get a small glimpse into the next book in this series. I can't say much more without giving away a lot of spoilers.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, 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 sample of Clorox Ultra Clean wipes- from PinchMe.
A sample of Flip personal lubricant.

I also received a party pack from Ripple Street.
In it were dog food scoops, tote bags, portable dog bowl, Frisbee's, and a Petco giftcard to get dog food and treats.

I really love using cleaning wipes when cleaning the stove or the bathroom and this worked really well.

Did you receive any freebies?

Happy Raturday

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Rats like reading romance books too but I'm still waiting to see wererats."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Review: Stone Cold Lover by Mel Teshco

Book Description

Heiress Loretta Shaw is notorious for her loose morals and sexual needs. Trouble is, it’s taken her one too many one-night stands to realize that no man can extinguish the sexual fire she feels toward her guardian, Cray Diamond.

A long-ago curse made Cray immortal—a gargoyle, a guardian, who is impelled to protect a human chosen by the curse. He is imprisoned in stone during daylight hours but dusk returns him to flesh and bone to carry out his immortal duty.

That Cray can shift between human and living gargoyle at night bothers Loretta not one bit. She’s seen him naked many times and her desire for him—in any shape or form—knows no bounds. She’s tired of his resistance. He’s her gargoyle … and she wants him in her bed.

WARNING: There are no closed bedroom scenes in this story, read if you like you stories hot :)

My Review

Cray Diamond was cursed almost a century ago to be a gargoyle who's sole purpose when not stone was to be a guardian to one human. For the past three years he had been guardian to Loretta who he usually found when he broke free from stone, in the arms of one of her many lover's. 

Loretta had watched her mother be kidnapped when she was a child and her mothers death is something she'd never gotten over. Her father didn't take it well either and left his daughter with little emotional support after her mother's death. But when Loretta's father finds out that Cray is a gargoyle and could be a guardian to his daughter, he makes an arrangement with him. He'll keep Cray's secret as long as he is his daughter's guardian and protects her. 

Loretta has feelings for Cray but Cray has been cold to her the entire three years. She has no idea that he actually has feelings for her too. But he considers himself a monster. He also doesn't want her father to rescind his guardianship over Loretta since he would have to leave her and find another human to be guardian to because it's part of his curse and he has no control over it. 

Loretta has finally had enough of Cray's iciness and seduces him. He can no longer hide how he feels about her and they become lovers. Later when Cray is back in his stone form she finds herself in a dangerous situation and he has to watch helplessly until he can take his human form again. 

These two made such a great couple. They're both so broken and vulnerable and have so much baggage but they really fit together. This book is only 72 pages long but for such a short story I didn't feel like it lacked a full story at all. A lot of backstory for both their lives is given to us so we can see how they got to where they are now. One of my blogger friends posted this was a freebie a few months ago and it sounded good so I snagged it and I'm glad I did because it was a hot, fun, quick read. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

Ken and I heard the ice cream truck outside so we looked out the window and this is what we saw. I thought it was funny and weird so I snapped a picture of it. That's a first. I haven't seen this one around before. At first I thought it was a police truck until I read it. It says, Las Vegas Ice Cream Patrol. 

Review: Tempted By the Vampire Guardian by Rachel S. William

Book Description

Will she risk everything, including love to find her family? Download this Steamy Vampire Romance to find out!!!

Mariska Wasi was young average college student. She had just finished up a challenging five years at California's top legal college. Next stop, back home to Egypt to help her parents law firm. They specialized in help people of a certain kind escape repression, people of the supernatural world that is.

When a vampire, whom she assumes was sent by the vicious and murderous Naqi family shows up at her school, Mariska must decide if she should leave school and return home or stay and fight. When her parents go missing, the decision is made for her about what to do. She will stop at nothing to find her parents and protect them. Even the charming prince Daemon can't stop her from finding the people she loves most in the world. 

His charm and the secrets he’s hiding intrigue her though. She wants to stay with him in his castle and be with him intimately, but her family will always come first. Will Mariska risk everything, including love to find her family or will she be too late to save any of them from the brutal Naqi Family

Please be aware that this short romance story. Shorter fiction is a fun and quick read.

My Review

I was looking for books on Amazon and saw this as a free one. So I took a chance since it sounded good. 

Prince Daemon helped people and people thought of him as a savior while the Naqi family were murderers and the baddest of the bad kind of family. The Naqi family had tried to over throw Prince Daemon several times but always failed. Mariska didn't know what Prince Daemon looked like so when a vampire showed up and tried to talk to her, she just thought he was sent there by the Naqi family to kill her. It's not until her parents tell her who he is that she realizes her mistake. 

Her parents have tried to help supernaturals which angers the Naqi family and puts them in danger. Prince Daemon offers to keep them all safe from the Naqi family but her parents go missing almost right away and then Mariska is kidnapped and then sent free to deliver a message to Prince Daemon. 

The keepers were a legendary group of undead that knew all the secrets of the world and there was also a guardian but they were almost a myth because not many people knew about them. I was enjoying this story and then it ended abruptly and another book popped up after I turned the pages. This was called, The Bad Boy Meeting and I figured what the hell, I'll read a little and see if I'll like it. I read about 30 pages and just couldn't get into it at all. 

I really don't like to start reading a book and end up having it end abruptly and then find another book when nothing about another book is in the description. The cover for this book made it seem like it would be a scary vampire type story but it wasn't scary or dark and needed more story before it ended. It was a bit of a let down since I was mostly enjoying the first story. I know there's a warning that this is a short story but the author could have at least made it a complete story. At least it was free and I didn't lose any money on this. 

I give the first story a 2 out of 5 stars. 

That second story was a DNF for me.

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of me. This was Flower*

"My new hammock is pink, just like me!"

Apartment Life #77

This is a new 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 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

2 days ago at 7am I heard loud beeping. I look out the bedroom window and see this big tow truck outside backing up. 

I saw the police car across the street and this cop talking to the tow truck driver and looking inside the car in this picture. The car had been sitting there a few days and the front left tire was up on a cinder block. People had been going in and out of this car and taking things off it so we were pretty sure it was stolen. 

You can see the car here and how one tire is missing.

The police left and the tow truck driver got it on the truck and left. There sure seem to be a lot of stolen cars on my street lately. 

The people in #5 across from us had their hot water heater burst yesterday. I know this because she was outside on her phone trying to call the emergency number for the apartment manager and wasn't happy that she couldn't get a hold of anyone. She must have gotten a hold of someone because I saw the manager and the maintenance man going to her apartment with a wet/dry vac and towels. I have to say I'm impressed that she showed up on a Saturday. A few years when mine burst we waited all weekend and then 2 more days before we got a new hot water heater and all the cleanup was on us. The managers NEVER work on the weekends and this one did and even stayed to help clean up the water. 

And now for some bad news... the apartment manager has been telling everyone that our apartment complex is being sold and the new owners don't want her or the maintenance man to stay on. So once again we'll have a new apartment manager and maintenance man. No idea when this new move is taking place. 

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

Review: The Rookie by Abigail Owen

Book Description

To escape exile, Aidan Paytah has had to prove himself worthy. Every second of every damn day. He fought with everything he had to earn his precarious place on the Huracán team of dragon shifter enforcers. He can’t fail or afford distractions, no matter how temptingly sweet. Total loyalty to the clans and dedication to his team is the only way.

Sera Morrison lost her parents and her husband in short order, leaving her a single mother running her family winery alone. Nothing could ever have prepared her for the discovery that she’s a destined dragon mate. But once she finds out, there’s only one man she wants—the one who walks away.

However, the Alliance Council has its own agenda. They want to use her as a political pawn and force a mating that could ultimately kill her in order to save the High King. Aidan has no choice but to kidnap her, even if it means their close proximity reinforces their own mating bond. And mating with him could end up being a far worse fate for Sera….

My Review

Aidan is a dragon shifter and a firefighter. Who better to fight fires than a dragon shifter? He's on a team of the firefighter enforcers who are kind of like police for dragons in their territory.

The Mating Council helped women who were destined to be dragon mates. But not all dragons thought they were a good idea or were doing the right thing for the women. The Enforcers reported to the Alliance Council who governed the dragons. 

Sera is a single mother with a young son. She also ran a winery and Aidan was very much attracted to her. He thought about her all the time. Sera and Aidan had dreams about each other all the time but they didn't realize that they were having the same dreams, almost like they were in each others dreams. They're both battling their feelings for one another until Aidan realizes she's a dragon mate. 

But because she could possibly be the High King's mate, the Alliance tries to force a mating between Sera and the High King in order to save his life even though mating with the wrong dragon will kill her, literally. But someone surprising steps in and offers her his help if she wants it. 

I cannot believe it took so long for these two to see what was right in front of their faces. But Aidan thinks there's no way that Sera can be his mate because he's an orphan and there's no way he would be given such a gift above some of these other dragons. 

I really loved this book so much. The dragon shifters are really great and I really loved getting to know Aidan and Sera. These two really were made for each other even though it took them way too long to figure it out. There are a couple of outstanding twists towards the end of the book that made me tear up and also made me smile. I've now read 2 books in this series so far and I plan on reading more for sure because I'm loving these books so damn much. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, 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 free bag of dog food from She Speaks.
I also won a book and was sent an ARC (Advanced reader copy) of another.
A sample of chewable vitamins.

Falcor is a little picky and he has a sensitive stomach so we never know if he'll like or be able to eat the free dog food I get until he tries it. He liked this and it didn't make him sick so win win for both of us.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Indecent Werewolf Exposure by Eve Langlais

Book Description

It’s TGIF, which means in a few hours I’ll be tossing back a few martinis with my best friend, Brenda. First, though, I need to deal with my crazy new client, a werewolf who thinks it’s okay to pee on his neighbor’s flowers because she’s a witch. What a shame he’s obviously got a few screws loose because bad boy Pete is seriously HOT.

His insanity must be contagious because I did the craziest thing later that night. I let my nemesis in the courtroom, assistant DA Anthony Vanderson, seduce me. In my defense, he’s got mesmerizing blue eyes–and a seriously sexy bod. Still, a woman should have some standards.

With my sexual itch scratched, I should be able to go back to my awesome life as a single gal.

Nope.

My bad boy werewolf is determined to chase me, but he’s got competition because Anthony is also determined to make me his. What’s a poor girl to do? According to my best friend, both of them. But I’m not ready to settle down in a threesome even if the tax breaks are awesome. Just like I don’t want to get involved in the investigation surrounding the gory murder of some supposed witches.

I guess a girl can’t always get what she wants–but boy, do my two suitors know how to give me what I need.

Paranormal Erotic and Romantic Comedy

Warning: This story has received a new look and title. Formerly known as Two's a Couple, Three's the Law. This story contains adult subject matter, menage situations and language that is not suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised.

My Review

I love this author because her writing style is great. I love how I'm pulled in from page 1 and I'm kept entertained throughout her books. Most of her books make me laugh and this was no different. These characters are funny and the fact that a werewolf finds himself in need of legal help because he urinates on his neighbors flowers just made me laugh. That completely sounded like something a werewolf would do. So that's where Pete (the werewolf) runs into Chloe but once the legal advice is given that's not the end of these two because Pete likes Chloe and even asks her out but is turned down.

Anthony is the assistant DA and runs into Chloe at a bar. They find themselves attracted to one another and end up at her place. When she wakes up alone, she figures that's the end of it but boy is she wrong. Soon Anthony and Pete are both pursuing her and she's dating both of them. How did she get so lucky? Both of these guys are tall, muscular and better than average in bed (wolf whistles). 

Anthony has a secret but I kinda saw it coming. There are clues given about his secret so it's not a big twist but did make for a fun storyline. Pete finds himself in legal trouble again so it's a good thing she is so smart and can help him with this mess he finds himself in. But this also adds a bad guy to the mix that made the second half of this book really interesting. The paranormals have come out of hiding in this world and humans know about most of them but there are still some that prefer to stay a myth or hidden. I really liked this aspect of the book and thought it had a good ending. 

This was a fun book and had me smiling several times. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

My grandson's aunt sent this picture to my daughter for me. It's a huge lizard statue in the middle of McCarran airport. I thought it was a strange place to put such a big statue but it's kinda cool too. 

Review: Tamsin's Conquest by Mary Auclair

Book Description

In a far future, where Earth is nothing but a vast desert and what’s left of humanity lives in a world where the strong prey on the weak, headstrong Tamsin is in deep trouble for stealing water rations. Hunted down, she has no choice but to seek refuge inside the Agency, Earth’s interspecies marital organization. 

What the Agency doesn’t know is Tamsin has no intention of going through with the match-making—she’ll flee first chance she gets. 

Tamsin’s plans are foiled when she’s brought to planet Havlan, home of the Tellurian warriors, where she’s Claimed by a tall, golden warrior determined to make her his lifelong mate. Tamsin fights hard first to escape, then harder still to resist the powerful attraction she feels to the alien King Jareth. And yet the hardest battle of all is not against the ruthless traitors set on seizing Jareth’s kingdom, but against losing herself to an all-consuming love.

Reader Advisory: This story has graphic sexual language and scenes—no closed bedroom doors (or other rooms) here, as well as some mild spanking. 

My Review

Tamsin was on the run from a family that she stole from. So she did the only thing that occurred to her, she went to the agency that set up human females with alien males looking for females to mate with and produce children so their race don't die out. Tamsin thinks this might be her way out of trouble but before she can really make up her mind the choice is taken out of her hands because once you sign up, you aren't given a choice of backing out. 

She finds herself face to face with a huge, intimidating alien warrior who claims her as his. She tried to fight him even though she finds herself attracted to him. After a while she can see that he isn't going to treat her badly and they start to get to know one another and get along really well. There's a lot of sex in this book but since he's hoping to start producing children right away, I thought it went well with the story. 

There's always something in a story like this where things are going well, to make things more dramatic and trying to stop a war between the different alien races and stop someone from killing you would be that drama in this book. Havlan claimed Tamsin who was supposed to be someone else's woman, so this other guy is pretty irritated but is he the one sending people to attack them? Guess you'll have to read the book to find out.

This was a fun, quick read and I enjoyed it. 

I give this 4 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #76

This is a new 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 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

Last month the guy in this apartment was evicted. He hadn't paid rent in over a month according to the shouting match I heard between him and the apartment manager and he was given a 5 day pay or quit notice. He didn't pay so the constable came and locked him out. 2 days later  he came back with a U-Haul truck and the manager gave him the key to the apartment so he could move his stuff out. I didn't see the manager come by at all that day and check on him and at 5pm the manager left for the day while this guy was still moving his things out. Well sometime later that night the guy that was evicted must have done this to his security door right before he left. He mangled it pretty good and even tore the screen material behind it. 

It's in our leases that anything we install in or outside of our apartments are not to be removed when we move out. That includes security doors, ceiling fans, shelving, vanity mirrors or lights. Most people take all that stuff with them anyway but for whatever reason this guy didn't but he did mess it up pretty good so no one else could use it. 

Here's a close up of the metal all bent outward and the screen torn. I'm sure they'll have to remove the security door before they re-rent the apartment now. I think the guy was pretty pissed off to do something like this. 

A few days ago at 10pm right after we had gone to bed we heard some woman screaming. We both up to look out the window and saw a woman running down the sidewalk in front of our window. Her boyfriend was screaming at her and then all of the sudden she ran back the other way with a cop chasing her. They all got back to her car where the police put her boyfriend in handcuffs and kept yelling at her to back off or she would get arrested too. The fire truck and ambulance showed up but soon after left and then the police left with the guy they arrested. I tried taking pictures but as you know my camera doesn't take good pictures at night. I even tried to use my Kindle and that didn't work either. 

This week 2 cars were stolen from out alley and 2 cars were broken into. So the manager said that her boss approved surveillance cameras that Metro can monitor for illegal activity. But there's only going to be 4 cameras. No idea when they're being installed. 

The manager also asked us if any of the other apartments in this courtyard have drug activity going on. So we told her that one does and she even saw some of it when she was in a vacant apartment watching that apartment for an hour. So she sent them a warning letter telling them that if she kept seeing it, they would get a 30 day notice. The guy who lives there with his girlfriend was so pissed off that he went down to the office, got in the managers face and told her off. So the manager told the girlfriend that he's not on the lease, if she wants to stay she has to kick him out or they're both gone. What a dumbass! #DontPissOffTheManager 

And the manager gave us her cell phone number and told us to call her if we see any more drug dealing going on. Maybe we really will have a quiet courtyard.

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

Favorite Video of the Week!

I watch some crazy videos (don't judge me!) lol So when I watched this one and it had me laughing my butt off, I knew I was gonna share it. Why is it that watching people eat something spicy and then regret the hell out of it is so funny. Watching them try to say nursery rhymes while in pain from this hot sauce is hilarious!

"The farmer and the dell...this hot sauce is hot as hell!" LOL

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, 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 from Baby Box with a newborn blanket, nursing pads and cold medicine.

I also received a free box of Just tampons to review.

I usually keep baby products until I find someone to give them to. I gave a big box of baby products to my daughter for one of her coworkers a while back.

Did you receive any free samples or products this week?

Review: Hell On Wheels by Julie Ann Walker

Book Description

Black Knights Inc.―Behind the facade of their tricked–out motorcycle shop is an elite special ops team assigned the jobs too hot for anyone else to handle.

Hold On Tight...

Ex–Marine Nate "Ghost" Weller is an expert at keeping his cool―and his distance―which makes him one hell of a sniper. It's also how he keeps his feelings for Ali Morgan in check. Sweet, sexy Ali has always revved his engine, but she's his best friend's baby sister...and totally off limits.

Rough Road Ahead

Ali's never seen anything sexier than Nate Weller straddling his custom Harley―or the flash of danger in his eyes when she tells him she's in trouble. First something happened to her brother, and now she's become the target of a nasty international organization. With Nate, her life is in the most capable hands possible―but her heart is another story altogether.

My Review

Nate and Ali's brother go on a mission, only Nate made it home alive. He goes to tell Ali and her parents about Grigg and Ali finds herself once again falling for Nate, whom she's been attracted to for a long time. Nate has always had a thing for Ali but he made a promise to her brother that he would keep his hands off her. So he pushed her away even though they both had feeling for each other. Ali goes to him when she thinks that she has a stalker and it turns out she's right. Someone is after her but she has no idea why.

There's so much going on in this book and so many characters to keep track of and I found that distracting. Ali's stalker was the only real interesting part about this story because Ali and Nate are just not likable characters. I had problems with both of them for different reasons. I usually like a broody character but Nate is more than broody and his personality got on my nerves. Ali is so naive and proper and just didn't fit with the kind of guy that Nate is. 

This story is very graphic also and in some cases it seemed that the graphic nature of the story was for shock value and didn't really add to the story at all. While this book did start out slow it did pick up towards the end and the story line was interesting but I'm not sure if I would continue with this series. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

I took this picture of the mountains in the background with snow on them in February. These mountains are only about a 45 minute drive from me. That was the week that I had snow in my neighborhood too.

Product Review: Paperless Post

These days we pretty much do everything online. Most people always have their phones or laptop with them and have access to the internet 24/7. So it's really no big surprise that we can also get online invitations, thank you notes, and greetings through email now. Being able to send out wedding invitations, birthday invitations and thank you notes without having to buy all the supplies and assemble them at home and then hit the post office to mail them out is really convenient. So when I was contacted about doing a review of the Paperless Post online invitations, I was more than happy to do it and be able to pass along this helpful website to my readers. 

Some of the kids birthday invitations are super cute. Here's just 2 of them but they have a lot more on their site. They have cards for just about any occasion you can think of.

They have a lot of different card designs to choose from and then you can customize them. Each card will cost you a number of coins which you purchase to make sending the cards easier. The number of coins needed for each card is listed with the different cards. Then you can add the name of the recipient, email address and send them to anyone you like. Here's a little info about the coins...

As you can see the coins are very affordable and each card will only cost you a few coins each. When you pick a card, you can click on, "Preview the experience" and see the animation for the card you picked. You'll get to see what your recipient will see when they open the card. You can also make a card and set it to be sent at a scheduled date. I made a Halloween card and added a few things like a liner color for the envelope and a border color for the card. I also picked a custom stamp for the virtual envelope. The card started at 2 coins and with my changes it only brought it up to 7 coins per recipient.

This is what the front of the card looks like that I picked. I changed the color of the envelope liner.

So that it now looks like this.

I picked a spooky stamp for the envelope since the virtual card will be for Halloween.

And I chose a dark border for the card since it's a Halloween card. 

There are so many interesting ways to customize these cards to really make them your own. I plan on customizing more cards and sending them out. I also sent out that first card at the the top, "This is a cheesy card..." to my brother because I thought it was fun. 

Sending out greeting cards, thank you notes, or invitations just got a lot easier.

Disclosure: I was given a free product in exchange for an honest review but all opinions are my own.