Review: Blood Legends: Undead by Kim Petersen

Book Description

What if saving humanity meant facing your deepest fears?

A deadly virus has claimed the lives of millions and ravaged the earth. Human survivors spend their days and nights fighting to stay alive in a world now owned by vampires.

Jett's plans to get further off-grid fall apart when his woman suddenly disappears at the hands of the hawkers - the most deplorable and dangerous humans to survive the apocalypse.

Now, Jett is forced to confront evil head-on as he faces choices that he never dreamed possible.

Can he survive long enough to retrieve his woman before she is slaughtered? Or will he succumb to the bloody wrath of the Undead?

Undead is a new urban fantasy set in a post-apocalyptic world from bestselling author Kim Petersen, the first book in the Blood Legends series. 

My Review

Now that vampires rule the world, humans have to fight to stay alive. Jett is fighting to get to his girlfriend and daughter. Humans are dying because of a virus and now not only are vampires after us but so are evil humans who are taking advantage of the situation. 

Jett loses his girlfriend to hawkers who are humans that are taking advantage of the situation. They kidnapped his girlfriend and want a certain kind of blood in exchange for him to get her back. So Jett and his daughter go looking for it and get caught by some vampires. Jett has to leave his daughter and get the blood away from a certain vampire because he can use it and become more powerful. 

An unexpected ally comes to his rescue but now he has to find a way to get not only his girlfriend but his daughter back too. That's where I thought this story was going but real quick it headed in a totally different direction and my heart was left in my throat as I kept reading. I felt bad for them and at the same time I was kinda rooting for them and especially Jett when I realized what he was doing and why. 

I got this book because of the cover. I mean look at that cover! I'm so used to reading about romantic vampires that it was a little jarring when I realized this was not one of those kinds of vampire books. These vampires are ruthless, blood thirsty, demons. I did enjoy the story though because Jett loved his girlfriend and daughter and ended up having to make several tough calls. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Christmas Kisses With My Cowboy by Diana Palmer, Marina Adair, Kate Pearce

 

Book Description

This Christmas, the best kind of trouble comes in threes: Three bestselling authors. Three stories of holiday romance. And three cowboys who are ready for love—whether they know it yet or not . . .

 

MISTLETOE COWBOY * Diana Palmer

Horse whisperer Parker doesn't drink, smoke, or gamble, and he doesn't have much to do with women, either. Until he meets winsome widow Katy, and her sweet child. Could Christmas kisses under the mistletoe bring the handsome wrangler the gift of his very own family?

BLAME IT ON THE MISTLETOE * Marina Adair

To claim his slice of the family ranch, Texas Ranger Noah is forced back to Tucker’s Crossing. All he expects to find is a tractor load of painful memories—until a holiday storm, a power outage—and perhaps the magic of Christmas—deliver him to rescue an intriguing woman named Faith. But just who’s rescuing whom?

 

MISTLETOE DETOUR * Kate Pearce

When Morgan Valley rancher Ted Baker gets out his tow truck to pick up a snowbound driver, he doesn’t expect to find his old school friend Veronica on the lam with her pet pig—much less true love—just in time for Christmas . . .

My Review

I read this because I love Diana Palmer but I like finding new authors to read as well so the other two stories in this book sounded good, but all of the stories in this book were great. But I especially like Mistletoe Cowboy by Diana Palmer. Parker was hard to get to know at first but Katy and her daughter seem to bring him exactly what he needs. Parker is more than he seems because he's not just a horse wrangler, he's smart and has the schooling and military time behind him to prove it but people still think of him a certain way because of his mixed heritage. Of course there's a small misunderstanding that they have to work through before the end but I loved this story and I knew that Diana Palmer would bring me this kind of story and I was right. 

Blame it on the Mistletoe by Marina Adair is the first story I've read by this author and it was great. Noah comes back to town and runs into Faith but she's busy trying to make sure her brother has a good holiday and isn't made to feel bad by the townspeople. Watching these two trying to get to know one another was fun. But when someone is accused of theft, there's a rift in the budding relationship until things are all sorted out.

Mistletoe Detour by Kate Pearce was so much fun. Ted goes to help a stranded passenger and finds his old friend Veronica needing his tow truck help. She's running from something but it's her pet pig (Bacon) that really stole the show for me. Veronica stays with Ted while waiting for her uncle to get back from vacation and they decide to celebrate Christmas together which brings them closer as they get to know one another. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Happy Raturday!

 

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I'm a pirate, arrrr."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #221

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 21 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 21 years here in a weekly blog post.

I woke up one morning to take Falcor out and saw that someone had emptied a whole bunch of cans onto my street. It was a mess but the street sweeper came by a little while later and cleaned it all up. 

On Tuesday the police were in my alley. They arrested one of the homeless people because he's been trespassed from every apartment complex on this street and he's not even supposed to be in this neighborhood the police said. But he also had a warrant for his arrest and he ran from the police so he was arrested. 

I also found out that me neighbor who had the shooting at his apartment a couple of weeks ago turned himself in and was charged with 2 counts of attempted murder. So I don't think I'll be seeing him around here any time soon. His girlfriend is back in their apartment and is obviously selling drugs again since all the traffic to their apartment has started back up. But the police have been back at their apartment several times because I keep seeing them in my courtyard going to her apartment. More investigating I guess. 

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

Review: Bat's Got Bite by Alexa Gregory

Book Description

Can a vampire runaway groom and the bat shifter bounty hunter hired to bring him back find common ground? Or will centuries of misunderstanding stand in the way of their happily-ever-after?

When paranormal bounty hunter Ecaterina’s life is threatened by an old mark, she’s ordered to return home and lie low. She intends to follow orders until she’s ordered to track down the vampire prince who fled his wedding.

Valerian knows his arranged marriage won’t work. He needs to find his true mate if he wants to avoid the same fate of his ancestors.

When Ecaterina catches up with Valerian, they discover they have more in common than they once thought. They both love adventure and hate archaic traditions, and they’re extremely compatible in bed. Too bad a royal vampire prince and a bat shifter are forbidden to be together.

Can the two of them work together and thwart the renowned killer who’s after Ecaterina? And even more challenging, can they make their clans accept them for who they are?

This steamy romance novella is part of Milly Taiden’s Paranormal Dating Agency (PDA) world. 

My Review

Ecaterina is a bat shifter and works as a bounty hunter. When one of the guys who she brought in escapes jail and wants her dead, her boss makes her take a leave of absence. She goes home but her family is driving her crazy because they want her to follow the family traditions and she's not. 

Valerian fled a wedding that he knows would never work and even though he wants to find his true mate, he doesn't think there's any chance of that ever happening until he meets Ecaterina. She's been sent to find him and bring him back to his wedding but he has other plans. 

Ecaterina's family are servants to the royal family and so Ecaterina was in the castle for the Prince's wedding and when he fled, she was asked to go find him and bring him back by his family. 

The fact that the matchmaker, Gerri Wilder is in this book made it that much better for me because I love her. She really knows how to match a couple together and have things work out. Ecaterina's family had sent her to this matchmaker some time ago and she knew she wasn't ready to be matched with anyone so even though her family wanted her married off, Gerri didn't find a match for her...yet. 

Now that Valerian had escaped marrying someone he didn't love, he was on his way to Gerri Wilder in the hopes of finding someone he could love. She tells him that he'll find his soul mate at some point and he goes about his business not knowing that Ecaterina is about to enter his life and make things more complicated. 

When these two do meet, it's pretty funny. I didn't expect her to be able to get the drop on him as easy as she did. She's one of the best bounty hunters out there and it shows but even she was a little surprised it was so easy. I liked that these two seem to like each other right away. Valerian is lusting after her almost right away which I found funny. These two make a pact that she'll hold off his family for a week before bringing him back so he can figure out how to let his fiance know that he's not going to marry her. But right as they are getting along and getting to know each other better she gets a message from the guy who wants her dead. Things take a complete opposite direction at that point because Valerian feels protective of her and now wants to help her catch the escapee. 

While he is hiding from his parents and helping Ecaterina find the bad guy, they find themselves in danger for a while but it only brings them closer so they can no longer deny their feelings for each other. The ending was great and so was this story. I think these two will be great together.

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.

I won a Goodreads contest for a Kindle ebook. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Axil by Ava Ross

Book Description

En route to meeting her alien fiancé for the first time, Julia gets lost inside the lower corridors of the alien starship. When she slams into a grease-spattered alien and he grabs her, she does what any self-respecting Earth girl would do—she stabs him. He flings her over her his shoulder, hauls her to his room, and tosses her onto his bed. Then he kisses her.

No puny Earth female should dare to assault him, yet this one challenges him at every turn. He wants her, and he’s used to taking whatever he wants. When she signals for him to kiss her, what’s a hot-blooded alien to do? He climbs over her and captures her mouth with his own.

An Earth woman and an alien male collide on a starship bound for the planet Crakair. Will the seven foot tall mass of pissed off alien release her or make her his bride?

Axil is book zero in the Mail Order Brides of Crakair Series. This standalone, novella-length story has on-the-page heat, a guaranteed happily ever after, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

My Review

I received this book for free after signing up for the authors newsletter. 

Julia meets her intended mate all by accident after she gets lost on the alien spaceship. When he grabs for her, she stabs him and he lifts her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carries her back to his room. She thinks he's some sort of mechanic because he has oil on him so she's shocked when she finds out his identity. She and Axil both have translators implanted behind their ears but hers hasn't quite started working yet while his is working just fine and he knows exactly what she's saying to him. 

Axil knows exactly who she is when she stumbles into him in the hallway. He never meant for things to go quite as far as they did but he found her quite amusing since she had no idea he could understand everything she was saying to herself. 

They fall for each other really fast even though they're supposed to court for a year, they decide to speed things up and head off for a short trip to another planet to get to know each other better. Not everyone is agreeable to this and they show their displeasure about it, really aggravating Axil. But things don't go according to plan and they find themselves in danger for a while where Julia shows that she's not just some fragile human. 

I really liked this story and I loved Axil's personality. These two were made for each other and now I'm looking forward to reading more of this series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Burning Ash by N.J. Walters

 

Book Description

No one is more surprised than Asher, one of the oldest vampires on Earth, that he's attracted to vamp hunter Jo Radcliffe. She's smart, a talented slayer, and she's gorgeous. Something about her pulls at him, like no one ever has before. For a man, whose name strikes fear in everyone—this is something new and intriguing. And quite possibly deadly, if she discovers his secret.

Jo has two things in common with the handsome Asher—they are both slayers and someone is messing with them in a very-much-trying-to-kill-them way. She's not so happy about joining forces with a dude she doesn't know. But he's sexy as hell and really good at his job as one of the Forgotten Brotherhood, whose business it is to execute misbehaving paranormals.

She knows she's bait in a larger plot to harm Asher and the Brotherhood. And there is nothing he won't do, no line he won't cross, to keep her safe—which may be the weakness that destroys them both.

My Review

This is the third book in the Forgotten Brotherhood series and after really loving the first two books I was excited to read this one. 

Asher (Ash) gets an anonymous email telling him that a vampire is killing people and while he doesn't usually check these things out, he does this time. While he hides in the shadows watching the vampire, a hunter walks in and attacks the vampire. Asher isn't your average vampire since he's thousands of years old and very powerful. Things don't usually intrigue him after having lived so long but the female hunter sure grabbed his attention right away. Asher is a member of the Forgotten Brotherhood and he gets sent out to deal with paranormals that cause problems and break rules. 

Jo is a vampire hunter and wants all of them eliminated. She got the same anonymous email that Ash did and that's how they met. Jo hates vampires but Asher tried to help her kill the vampire that was killing innocent people so they end up hanging out a little bit. 

These two are polar opposites but little by little they realize that there's something between them. Ash doesn't understand why he feels such a pull to protect her but there's no fighting it or the attraction he feels for her. Jo doesn't realize right way that he's a vampire because he can walk in the sun for one thing and he eats regular human food. I wasn't sure that a vampire hunter and a vampire could have a strong relationship but once Jo realizes that they are fighting for the same thing, she let's her guard down a little. 

Jo can kick as much bad guy butt as Ash and I loved how strong she is. We get to see some of the people from the first book which I loved. It's always nice to see how the people in the previous books are doing. There's a little bit of a twist and a little danger but Ash wasn't going to let anything happen to her if he could help it. I like that we get someone new in this book and I really hope we see more of him soon because he's intriguing. Once again I ended up loving another book in this series. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: Immortal Angel by Lynsay Sands

Book Description

For almost a century, Ildaria Garcia has been on the run, a trouble magnet with a knack for taking down bad guys. Lately, her vigilante tendencies have drawn unwelcome attention to her fellow Immortals. Forced to relocate, Ildaria is supposed to lay low in a new town. Instead, she quickly entangles herself with six and a half feet of muscular, tattooed trouble.

Joshua James Simpson Guiscard, aka G.G., knows a lot about Immortals—enough to make him wary. Yet from the moment Ildaria walks into his club, he feels desire stronger than anything he’s known. Accepting the fact that they might be life mates is disconcerting. But when her past catches up to them, G.G. faces a choice—confront his demons at last, or lose a passion that’s hot as hell.

My Review

Ildaria is a vampire who gets herself in trouble more than once because she has a habit of playing vigilante and saving humans. She's supposed to stay out of trouble and not bring attention to herself so that humans ask questions, but trouble seems to finds her. 

Ildaria meets G.G. and when his dog doesn't try to bite her like he does everyone else, he hires her to dog sit and be his accountant. She really needs the job so she's happy to have it. 

G.G. owns a bar that immortals frequent so he knows about them but doesn't want to be turned into one like his mother was when she found her lifemate. This is problematic when Ildaria realizes that G.G. is her lifemate and he's not going to be thrilled with that. They have shared dreams where he just thinks that he's dreaming about her and doesn't realize that she's actually really there with him. 

When he realizes that he's her lifemate, they sit down and tell each other about their lives, start dating, taking things slow because of the brutal way she had been turned and get to know each other really well. Things are going really well for them and their relationship when the guy who turned her starts sending enforcers to bring her back to him even though the guy in charge where she lives tells him to back off. It turns out the guy that's after her for revenge is an important person in the immortal council which governs the enforcers. The enforcers are like police for the immortals sent by the immortal council, sent to hunt down rogue immortals who misbehave and break the rules. 

But things aren't always the way we think they are and that's the case for Ildaria too. So when her nemesis comes to town and she has a chance to face him once and for all, things don't go as she thought they would. 

I loved this book. Just when I thought I knew what would happen, I was thrown a huge twist that changed the end of the story but it really gave this book a great ending. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

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

Happy Raturday!

 

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #220

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 21 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 21 years here in a weekly blog post.

I walked outside with Falcor and saw two police cars and the two white vans. The police were across the street rounding up the homeless people that had made a camp over there and were sleeping. Ever since the new law about the homeless went into effect, the police have been rounding up the homeless when they see them on the streets. The new law states that it's against the law for the homeless to sleep on the sidewalks or streets as long as there are beds available at the shelters. I saw the police making them get into the vans. 

You can't see it very well but there are two police officers behind the palm tree and by the police car. They are standing with 2 homeless people that they made get into a van. The funny thing was, once the police left with the 5 homeless people that they put in the vans...several more homeless people ended up being in the same place for the rest of the week. 

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

Review: Given To The Beserkers by Lee Savino

Book Description

Captured to be a prize in the brutal Berserker Games...

My life changed forever when the Berserkers took me. These fearsome warriors must find women to keep their lethal rage at bay...and I am an ideal mate.

The Alphas decree that all warriors must compete in a series of Highland Games for my hand. Of all the giant warriors, two have caught my eye, but I have no choice. When the final match is over, I will belong to the ruthless victors. They will possess me fully. I can only hope they will be the two I could come to love...

Given to the Berserkers is a standalone, full-length MFM ménage romance starring two huge, dominant warriors who make it all about the woman. Read the whole best-selling Berserker saga to see what readers are raving about...

My Review

Muriel and her sisters were captured by the Lowland Berserkers and were to be handed off to a warrior to be their mate. She has come to accept her fate but wishes she could pick her mate.

Fergus is from the Highland Berserkers and while she is caged he slips in close to the cage to talk with her. 

When Muriel is informed by her sisters mates that she is to be the prize at the berserker games, she's furious because she gets no say in who wins her and she has to mate. I hated how this started out but I had faith when her sisters mates told her that whoever won her would treat her well or face consequences because she and her sisters are highly prized. 

There was a bit of a twist after she met who won and she would be mated to but I really liked the twist. It made it easier to enjoy the story from that point for a while. But then her mates start telling her that she needs to obey them, submit to them, and then there was so much sex. I'm not a prude and have no problem with a lot of sexy times in a book but this just seemed overdone especially since I really didn't get a serious sense of of the three of them clicking in that way. 

It was more like she wanted to do her duty and obey them even if she didn't want to at first. She did come to start caring for them after getting to know them a little better and I like that they were both there to care for her, and did really seem to care about her happiness but I needed something more. I also didn't like the fact that the males thought it was ok to punish Muriel when she didn't do what they told her to. I did end up liking this book in the end even though there were a couple of things that bothered me.

I hadn't read the previous books but this told enough of the back story that I never felt lost and had a good grip about why the sisters were so prized as mates. 

I give this book 3 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 new Android Tablet and reusable food storage bags from The Spark Reviewer Program. 

I cannot give you a link for the Spark Reviewer Program because it's by invitation only. But the Tablet is probably the neatest thing I've received from them so far. The reusable food storage bags are big and easy to close which I really like. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Favorite Photo of the Week

My daughter brought some little friends home. lol These are Cicada skins from after the nymph cicada has shed its skin to turn into an adult Cicada. 

She found them on one of the trees. You can see here that there were quite a few of them on the tree. 

They were all over the trunk of the tree.

This is how my daughter came back from walking the dog. She was wearing the skins like jewelry on her shirt. lol 

Review: Daily Goodie Box- September

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? 

Rickaroons - Mint Chocolate Organic Coconut Bars- This bar had a really nice mint flavor but hubby liked it more than I did. 

Que Bella - Illuminating Glitter Peel off Mask- The mask was refreshing and made my skin feel really soft after I used it. 

RawRev - Glo Crunchy Peanut Butter & Sea Salt- This was actually not bad. I like crunchy peanut butter but I didn't like the added sea salt. 

Kopi Luwak - Ground Coffee- Yes, this is *that* coffee. it's very strong coffee. My daughter liked it more than I did but I don't drink much coffee these days. 

KÖE - Organic Kombucha-  This was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. it tasted like a mango juice drink. It wasn't bad at all. 

Trilogía - Hand Cleanse Terpenes+™ Spray-  This might work well but it stinks. The scent is way too strong and smells bad. It made my hands feel like other kinds of antibacterial sprays made them feel so it probably works well but the small is off putting. 

Essential Oxygen - Organic Wintergreen Mouthwash- This taste so bad. Not sure what the taste was but it wasn't good. I think if it had more mint to it, it wouldn't have been so bad. But I couldn't use it. 

EyePromise - Screen Shield Teen-  These chewable eye vitamins are supposed to help teens if they feel eye strain from too much screen time. My daughter tried this and the last bottle I got and she said she really didn't see any different when taking it. 

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!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #219

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 21 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 21 years here in a weekly blog post.

Last week early Sunday morning my daughter was sitting outside in the chair we have right outside our apartment door. It was around 1am and she said a guy walked up to the drug apartment a few doors down from us and started knocking on the door. When he got no answer, he kicked the door in. Within seconds she heard 2 gunshots and the guy came out and walked away. She didn't hear any screaming and within a few minutes people were coming and going from that apartment apparently to get their drugs so she didn't feel the need to call the police. I didn't hear about it until later that morning which is why it didn't get posted on last Sunday's post. 

There have been a lot of homeless people around my apartment complex for the last few weeks. They leave big piles of trash all over the sidewalks everyday. That grocery cart on the left side is filled with trash from them. That chain link fence in the middle is the only thing that separates my apartment complex from the sidewalk on the other side but there's a huge hole in the fence down by our trash can that people use to walk through to get from our complex to the sidewalk on the other side.

----

Friday night was insane. (And yes, the drug apartment that I talked about above is the same one I am talking about below Just on different days. And they live in apartment 7 and I'm in #3)

8:00 PM- We heard 2 gunshots that sounded very close. 

8:02 PM- Our daughter goes outside to see if anyone is screaming or to see if anyone is outside. She watches the people who live in #7 (The drug apartment) leave their apartment really fast and get in their car and leave. 

8:10 PM The police show up and are all over my courtyard and on the street. They stood around #7's apartment with their guns drawn for about 15 minutes. 

8:30 PM- A police car parks in the bike path next to my building, opens their doors, shines a light on #7's door and starts shouting on their loudspeaker for the occupants in #7 to come out with their hands up. This goes on for about 30 minutes. Then they get the K9 out and threaten to send in the K9. My daughter went on FB live and recorded some of it which you can watch here. 

9:00 PM- My daughter calls 911 to give them information about seeing the people in that apartment leave.  The police must have got other info that no one was in the apartment because they started leaving. 

9:15 PM- Three police officers knock on my door and ask to speak to my daughter. She tells them what she saw and I tell them that we all heard two gunshots. The police leave and say they'll be back if they have more questions. 

11:00 PM- The police knock on my door and a detective asks my daughter if she'll do a recorded interview of what she saw, so she goes out to the police car and does that. While she's there another officer comes over to talk with the officer who is interviewing her and says, "The victim is ready to go home." My daughter sees one of the druggies that is usually at the drug apartment but can't tell if he is hurt and they escort him away. 

I don't think anyone actually got shot because there was no crime tape outside the door and The CSI's never showed up to collect evidence. They never even went inside the apartment and the people who live there haven't been back since. I don't know if they will come back. I'll let you know next week if they did. 

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

Review: Spark by Michelle M. Pillow

 

Book Description

Mining ash on a remote planet where temperatures reach hellish degrees doesn't leave Kal (aka Spark) much room for dating. Lucky for this hard-working man, a new corporation Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides is ready to help him find the girl of his dreams.

Does it really matter that he lied on his application and really isn't looking for long term, but rather some fast action? Earth women better watch out. Things are about to heat up.

My Review

Spark and his cousins come to Earth for a vacation even though they are using the Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides to get here and that company thinks they are going to find brides but they aren't. They have been informed that Earthlings don't know about aliens from other planets so they need to do everything they can to blend in which isn't easy since they have a strange way of talking. Spark tries to entice a few women to come back to his hotel suite but the way he does it just scares most of them away until he meets Carrie. 

Carrie watches the way he interacts with others and thinks he's just really innocent and doesn't understand what he's doing. He's such a big, sexy guy but he's also really fun and sweet so how was Carrie going to stop from falling for him when he has such a great personality. 

Carrie is in Las Vegas as a bridesmaid in her cousins wedding. Because she's single she is paired with a groomsman to spend time with but Carrie doesn't like him. So when she meets Spark and spends time with him instead, it makes the bride a bit irritated. There's a bit of a mystery right as Carrie and Spark are getting to know one another and I wondered what was going on because it was a little strange but I liked how it ended. 

I had a fun time with this story and am looking forward to reading more. 

I give this book 4 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 free Kindle book from a Goodreads contest. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Ice by Michelle M. Pillow

Book Description

She's hot. She's sexy. She's everything a lonely alien could want... except for the part where she captures him and puts him in a cage.

Alpha male alien Izotz (aka Ice Storm Chaos) isn't one for space exploration. He finds enough action fighting for survival on his frozen tundra of a home world. When the promises of Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides tempt his brothers into signing up for a trip to Earth, he's hard-pressed to say no to the fantasy. Not many remain on the planet of Sintaz, and this may be his only chance to find a mate to warm the freezing nights. What he hadn't planned on was the fact the woman of his dreams would want to capture him and put him in a cage.

When Elle took the mercenary job hunting UFOs, she thought it would be an easy paycheck from an eccentric, crazy man. Little did she know extraterrestrials were real and freaking sexy to boot. If she can ignore the blue skin, surely this hunky alien can overlook the fact she's the reason he's now her boss' science experiment. 

My Review

The three brothers live alone on an ice covered planet, so when they get the chance to come to Earth to find brides, they jump at the chance. But Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides aren't completely upfront about how not all Earth people know about aliens. The translator about the brides and people of Earth isn't exactly translated correctly which makes things a little funny and confusing for them once they get here. 

Once here though, a group of people kidnap Ice and want to keep him and do experiments on him but Elle finds him sexy and helps him escape before the evil doctor can do much to hurt him. She doesn't know right away that Ice can understand her and speak her language but once he trusts her enough to let her know it, they seems to get along really well. They are very attracted to one another and because of a miscommunication, he thinks she has chosen him as her boyfriend and then mate before she actually has. 

Once he escapes with Elle, he has to find his brothers and get back to their ship so they can get off Earth and go back to their planet but he doesn't want to leave Elle. I really liked how this book ended because I wasn't sure what Elle was going to do and I wasn't sure Elle would be happy on a cold ice planet. I really liked Ice and his brothers and hope to read their stories at some point as well. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Forbidden Need by Lee Colgin

Book Description

As Rudy adapts to life in a new town, he lays eyes on a man whose very presence steals his heart. The man is bewitching. Bewitching…and grumpy.

Samuel has no interest in the coyote shifter who’s been following him around like a lovesick pup, even if he is adorable. Adorable…and persistent.

Born a vampire before the Great Wars, Samuel’s had plenty of time to make enemies. If he can’t discover and kill the one who’s been stalking him, it could be Rudy who pays the price. Samuel doesn’t do relationships, and he won’t bend the rules for Rudy, but that doesn’t mean he wants the coyote hurt. Stuck together as Samuel plots revenge, Rudy finally has his chance to win over his mate.

Can they harness the power of their fated bond, or will Samuel’s dark past overcome the future they’ve yet to claim?

My Review

This is the third book in the They Bite series and since I read the first two books and liked them, I figured I would read this one as well and I'm glad I did. 

In the last book Samuel really had me intrigued because he's a lethal vampire. He's called on when uncomfortable things need to be done. He's a loner but has a couple of long time friends that he's close with but even they don't know all of his secrets.

Rudy is new to town but soon spots Samuel in a bar he tries to ask him out but is flatly turned down. But that doesn't stop Rudy for long because he's persistent. But Samuel doesn't date and when we see into his past, it's all too obvious why he never gave dating a second chance. 

Rudy knows that Samuel is his mate but Samuel refuses to accept it or even acknowledge Rudy most of the time. But Rudy isn't about to give up that easy and goes about being in the same places that Samuel frequents. Rudy even gets some help from one of Samuel's friends. Samuel is a very closed off vampire and he has every right to be but when Rudy runs into some trouble, Samuel can't stop the alpha male in him from coming out and coming to his rescue. 

Just when these two are finding each other, a terrible vampire from Samuel's past finds him and puts both their lives in danger. Now they have to find a way to stay safe and stop the villain from winning. 

This was such a good story but I really liked the first two stories in this series as well so I'm not surprised. I will gladly keep reading this series since the books are so good. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: Don't Hex and Drive by Juliette Cross

Book Description

Notoriously bad at peopling, Isadora Savoie spends most of her time in the greenhouse or at the local animal shelter, using her Conduit powers of growth and healing. Content to remain in the background of the Savoie sister shenanigans, she’s reluctantly roped into the mystery of missing neighborhood girls. Now, she’s partnered with a flashy, flirty vampire to find them before it’s too late.

Devraj Kumar has seen and done it all. Three hundred years roaming the earth as a Stygorn—a legendary vampire warrior who operates in the shadows—has its perks. But ennui has set in. That is, until he has a run-in—literally—with an intriguing witch while on a new assignment in New Orleans. Fascinated by her resistance to his charms, Devraj can’t help but push her buttons in an effort to get to know the shy witch. Fortunately for him, she’s been recruited by the Lord of Vampires to assist Devraj on the case.

Between a Bollywood marathon, supernatural dating app, secret package, and sexy driving instruction, Isadora is in over her head. And Devraj? After just one taste, he’s playing for keeps.

My Review

Devraj is a special kind of vampire so he gets called in to help on cases involving vampires from time to time. He's in Isadora's town for one such case and because Isadora is a witch she is also pulled in to help. 

Isadora and her sisters are witches, each with their own gifts. Isadora is shy and doesn't date much. But she has a huge heart and is a really likable person. 

When Isadora is riding her bike back home and gets hit by a car, it's Devraj that hits her and feels really bad about it. He tries to help her since she injured her foot but she isn't having any of it until he calls someone she knows and he tells her that Devraj is a good guy and she can trust him to get her home safely. Not exactly the best first impression he could have made but is sure was an interesting one. 

Devraj is a Bollywood dancer/actor as well a special kind of vampire. He's sexy, gorgeous and wealthy. But Isadora also thinks he's full of himself and stuck up because of his fancy suits, expensive car and lavish lifestyle, while she would rather be planting flowers, herbs and tending to her garden. The fact she's immune to his vampire charm makes her even more desirable and interesting to Devraj since he doesn't usually have to work so hard to get a woman to like him. 

As these two are thrown together time and time again because of a case involving missing girls, they get to know each other more and they can't deny they are attracted to one another. When they finally do give into their attraction, these two light up the pages. I loved Devraj, he can be fun, loving, and tender but he can be a lethal monster when he has to be. I loved the romance but the missing girls storyline really had me on the edge of my seat as it unfolded. I loved the first book in this series and think that this second book was just as great. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

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

Happy Raturday!

 

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #218

 

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 21 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 21 years here in a weekly blog post.

This week an ambulance and fire truck showed up at the same time for someone across the street.

They got all gowned up and went inside one of the apartments across the street. They were there for about 30 minutes and then they left. It was pretty uneventful and no one was taken out in a stretcher so I am guessing it was no big deal. 

There's a guy that moved in with his mother across from my apartment and he's started selling a lot of marijuana. I know this because he's telling everyone he runs into that he's selling and to come to him if they need any. He asked Ken if he knew where he could get some white (cocaine) and Ken told him he didn't know. So now there's another drug dealer in my courtyard. Just great. 

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

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: 

2 samples of Snuggle fabric softener and scent beads. 

I cashed in some points on e-Rewards and got a $25 Target Gift Card. 

I won a Kindle e-book from Goodreads. 

I've always used Snuggle so I already know I like this. I haven't read the book yet but I'll post a review when I do.