Review: Walmart Beauty Box- March

 

The Walmart Beauty box is a subscription box that comes out 4 times a year. You sign up for it and it comes automatically every 3 months. They did increase the price of the box a little bit. So instead of $5 it's just a couple of dollars more. These boxes are free and you just pay for tax for shipping, mine came to $7.48.

What was in the box?

Wild Primrose Scunci Hair clips

Dashing Diva Ultra Shine Gel Palette nail strips

Hello activted charcoal toothpaste

Humphreys witch hazel face toner

7th Heaven Charcoal peel off mask

Tanologist body drops

I love the Dashing Diva nail strips. I've tried them before and I really like them. They are really easy to put on and they stay on for up to 2 weeks. My daughter likes the activated charcoal toothpaste so she got that. I really like witch hazel as a facial cleanser so I was happy to get that. I'm not so sure about those tanologist drops though. You're supposed to mix a few drops with your skincare and they are self tanning drops. So the more drops you use the darker your tan will be. 

My favorite thing n this box was the hair clips. They are so cute and they are alligator clips so they stay where you put them. All in all this was a great box for just under $8. 

Did you get this box?

Recipe: Coffee Cake

 

I was in the mood for some coffee cake this month and this recipe came out so good I thought I would share it with you. 

You will need: 

1 cup oil

2 eggs beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar

3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 - 1/2 cup butter melted

 Instructions

In a large mixing bowl. combine oil, eggs, vanilla and milk together.

In a medium bowl, blend together sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.

Combine egg mixture with flour mixture. Pour half the batter into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.

In a medium bowl, prepare streusel by combining brown sugar and cinnamon.

Sprinkle half of streusel on top of the batter. Top with remaining batter and then sprinkle the remaining streusel on top.

Drizzle with melted butter (you can do less and use 1/3 cup butter or up to 1/2 cup butter melted).

Bake, covered with foil at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Take off foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

It came out really good and very moist. I'll definitely be making this one again. 

Do you like coffee cake?

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #245

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 22 years that we've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 23 years here in a weekly blog post. 

On Tuesday at 11pm I was woken up when the flashing lights from the ambulance lit up my bedroom. One of my neighbors was on the stretcher and was taken away by ambulance but he was back 2 days later. 

----

Sunday night after I had gone to bed, my daughter had the front door open to get some cool air in here and that crazy woman who stomped all over my outside chairs and table was standing in front of my security door asking my daughter if she was just going to leave the door open and if she could come in. When my daughter told her no she couldn't come in, the woman started messing with my daughter's BBQ that's by the door. My daughter opened the door and told the woman to leave and stop messing with her stuff. She left finally. This woman really has some nerve doesn't she?

----

Yesterday (Saturday) my neighbor who I'm friends with told me that her son was shot and killed (not here). UPDATE: My neighbor said that her son was actually killed during a DUI hit and run here in Vegas. I don't know if she got the wrong info or she was so distraught when she told me that I didn't understand what she was saying. 

She had a bunch of family over and they were all very upset. When two ambulances showed up while I was out walking the dog my neighbor was outside and told me about her son and that her daughter had just collapsed on the floor. One ambulance took her daughter to the hospital and one was there to check her out since she was hysterically crying and I think she had a panic attack since she was so upset. I feel sorry for the woman. Her husband passed away 3 years ago and now her son was killed.

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

Review: Claimed In Shadows by Lara Adrian

 

Book Description

Vampire warrior Aric must decide between duty and desire when he falls for beautiful Kaya, a fiery trainee whose secrets and shadowy past could invite a war on all the Breed in this pulse-pounding Midnight Breed vampire romance novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Lara Adrian.

As the son of a formidable Breed warrior, Aric Chase has been devoted to the Order all his life. With his training completed, all he needs is one successful mission before he can join the fight to destroy the Order's chief nemesis, Opus Nostrum. His rare ability to daywalk lands Aric an assignment in Montreal, where he learns he's to be teamed with another new recruit, a beautiful, but tough-as-nails Breedmate named Kaya Laurent.

Independent and driven, Kaya wants nothing more than to become a full-fledged member of the Order. Having grown up in squalor and neglect on the streets of Montreal, she longs for the close-knit family she's found during her training to be a warrior. Eager to prove herself, she is thrilled to be given the chance at a key operation--even if she must share the mission with an arrogant, far-too-attractive Breed male who's practically Order royalty.

Their unwanted partnership soon erupts into a desire neither of them can resist. But when Kaya's past reaches out from the shadows to call her back, she must decide between protecting a dark alliance that could shatter her dreams of joining the team and a truth that could not only forfeit Aric's faith in her, but bring the enemy right to the Order's door.

* * * * *

Full story with HEA and no cliffhangers. This novel, like all of the books in the Midnight Breed vampire romance series, can be read as a standalone. Jump in and discover why millions of paranormal romance fans are addicted to Lara Adrian's "strikingly original" (Booklist) series!

My Review

Kaya and Aric meet and they seem to feel something for each other right away but don't act on it right away. They are both sent out on a mission which doesn't go exactly as planned and Kaya is mistaken for someone else. It takes a little while but we find out why the guy she ran into thinks she's someone else. It wasn't at all what I thought it was but the twist was better. I think she should have come clean with the people she's working with right away but she waits and tries to fix things herself which doesn't work. 

While they are trying to stop an organization, they find a traitor who has been right under their noses and stop this person but not before they hurt someone. They save someone as I knew they would and Aric and Kaya get a lot closer. I really like watching them find their romance. For those who have reading this series for a long time like I have it was nice to see characters that I have come to really like. 

I usually like these books a lot but this one was slow going for me for much of the book. It just didn't capture me the way some of the other books have and I found it a little slow in a lot of parts. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received : 

A large roasting pan from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

Samples of foundation from Estee Lauder and Tom Ford.

Vitamin C serum from LaRoche Posay. 

I also won 5000 rewards points in the Happy Hour Sweepstakes on World Winner games. Most times when I have enough points I just cash it in for more game credits so I can play the cash games. But this time I cashed my points in for a $10 Amazon giftcard that I should get in the next 2 weeks. 

The roasting pan is great. I like doing one sheep pan recipes where I roast everything at once for dinner so this will come in handy. 

I like the foundation samples. I've used face products from LaRoche Posay before and have liked them. 

I like playing Luxor on World Winner on the Inbox Dollars site. If I play the cash games I can win a lot of times. When I get bored I play games. But not X Box kinda games. LOL 

Did you receive any free samples this week?

Review: Elizabeth's Wolf by Lora Leigh

 

Book Description

Special-Forces solider Dash has all but given up his will to live until an innocent letter from a little girl brings him back to life. Cassie writes to him every week, strengthening his resolve to recover from the devastating loss of his unit. But when the letters suddenly stop arriving, Dash instinctively knows Cassie and her mother are in critical danger. 

Elizabeth and her daughter are on the run from a dark and bloody past that refuses to let them go. The stakes are too high for her to fall for this dangerous man who’s just walked into her life, but now more than ever she needs help.  

Saving his mate and her daughter calls Dash’s beast to the forefront and transforms the lone wolf into an alpha protector—he becomes Elizabeth’s wolf.

My Review

Dash Sinclair is a Breed but he can't shift and is in the Army and recuperating after being injured. His team had been killed during the mission that injured him. With no friends or family back home, he was surprised to get a letter from a little girl back home. But the letters end up being the lifeline he needed to fight to get better. As the little girl's letters keep coming he gets to know her and her mother and can tell that something is wrong. So when the letters stop and the private investigator he hires tells him that the little girl and her mother were killed in a fire, he loses hope. But the little girl and her mother ended up being fine, they had to fake their deaths, change their names and move on but the little girl wrote to him and let him know and asked for his help. Dash decides to retire and go after the little girl and her mother because his wolf is telling him that the mother, Elizabeth is his mate. How his wolf could tell that is beyond me but it sure made for a good storyline. 

Elizabeth and her daughter, Cassie are on the run from some bad guys who want to kill them. So after faking their deaths, changing their names and going on the run again, Elizabeth is surprised to see Dash, the man that her daughter has been writing to. But she needs help in a big way and he's there to help if she will only let him. It takes a while for her to trust him, which I understood. But he has connections and is able to get her and Cassie to safety where they can form a plan and find out what's really going on.

Dash doesn't seem to think he has any friends, just people he's worked with but his friends come through is a huge way for them. They help him find out what's really going on and the story takes a huge twist from there. Once they realize why Cassie and her mother have been targeted and what they want from them, they know they have to put a stop to it. I really liked these two together. Dash and Elizabeth are great together and just what they other needs. This story made me so sad at times because my heart just broke for everything they all went through so it was great to see them find some happiness with each other.

Cassie has been talking about a fairy that talked to her and told her who she could trust, what she should do and even though her mom thought it was all make believe, the fairy gave good advice. I thought we would find out who the fairy really was but we didn't and that seemed really familiar to me and then I realized that this was actually book #3 in this series and I have already read through book 23 which was Cassie's book, Cross Breed which I reviewed here! How I missed this book for all these years, I'll never know but it was a great story. Any book that can illicit such strong emotions from me is a good book. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Adverse Possession by Rebecca Zanetti

 

Book Description

The plural form of Nemesis is Nemeses

Anna Albertini never thought she’d have to look up the plural form of nemesis. In fact, she never thought she’d have one, much less three. But as she and her new partner try to make a go of their fledgling law firm, enemies come from every direction.

First, there’s a newspaper reporter trying to make a name for herself by dogging Anna’s every move. Second, there’s a lawyer on the opposite side of every case who just doesn’t like Anna. And third, there’s Aiden Devlin’s ex-girlfriend, who decides to descend upon the sleeping Idaho town like a bird of prey. It’s too bad she’s discovered dead…after finding herself on the wrong end of a potato gun, putting Anna top of the suspect list.

Anna deals with every day as it arrives while juggling her developing relationship with Aiden, trying to pay her rent by finding at least one client who pays, and finally by partnering with her Nonna Albertini in the world’s most chaotic plan to match-make her sister with the Elk County’s prosecuting attorney, Nick Basanelli. It’s a good thing Anna has learned to thrive in chaos.

My Review

ATF agent Aiden Devlin and his girlfriend, Anna are trying to figure out this relationship stuff while Anna was working on building up her new law office clientele with her friend, Clarke. 

Anna seems to be a danger magnet though and things just keep happening to her. So when Sasha, who is also an ATF agent and ex girlfriend of Devlin's shows up, things start going south right away. Sasha goes under cover inside a motorcycle club and when she's killed a couple of the other old ladies in the club come after Anna. Then there's a bomber that escaped from custody some time back and Aiden is trying to find him to stop any more bombs from going off. 

I have to say though that Anna's family is scary funny. Scary in the fact that they will jump right into a fight for Anna and I mean a fist fight. Even Anna's grandmother was willing to pull her wooden spoon out of her purse and knock some woman upside the head all the while donuts and slices of pie are flying every which way. 

This is the third book in the series but the first book that I've read in this series but I tend to read out of order all the time. Zanetti knows how to write a compelling story and this one was that and more. So much was happening, so many characters to keep track of and so many twists and funny drama filled scenes that I just wanted to keep reading.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Her Vampire Bad Boy (Midnight Doms book 5) by Brenda Trim

 

Book Description

NO ONE TAKES WHAT BELONGS TO ME.

The moment she walks into the club

My hunger roars to life.

After centuries of walking alone--

feeling nothing. Caring for no one.

The demon, the dominant in me--awoke.

Something's different about the lovely human with a delicious scent.

My curious little innocent.

For the first time, I feel. I need. I crave.

And only she can satisfy.

She’s MINE.

My Review

Harper leaves home because her very religious parents tried to force her into an arranged marriage with a man she didn't love. She's out with her friends at a club that makes her anxious as well as aroused and she's completely out of her element.

Liam is the bouncer at Club Toxic and once he spots Harper he wants to get to know her better. When a bunch of wolf shifters show up and wreck the place, he has to get her and the other humans out of there afterwards and try to help clean things up. But he wants to spend time with her instead. 

Harper is sent home without the memories of what happened at the club but shifters find her at home and attack her. Liam shows up and helps her get away from them and takes her back to his place where he lets her see he's a vampire. At his place he has a bit of a dungeon room or play room and can tell that it excites Harper when she sees it even though she's a virgin. 

Liam is gentle with her, letting her get used to him and his ways even though he's a very dominant vampire. He doesn't realize it right away but he's fallen for her faster than he expected to and she feels the same way about him. So when she goes and gets herself in danger because she thought it was ok to go back to work, Liam loses his mind at the thought of her getting hurt. I really liked Liam's sire and his mate and how they all worked together. 

This book was everything a vampire lover could want in a book. The BDSM aspects of the book were done well and were not overly violent or harsh. I had a lot of fun reading this book and I love Liam and Harper. I'm definitely going to be reading more of this series. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

 

"Give peas a chance"

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

Apartment Life #244

 

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 22 years that we've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 23 years here in a weekly blog post. 

---

The police were in my courtyard at 10pm on Monday but I didn't get a picture of it. They had their flashlights out and were going up to a few apartments that had their doors open and were asking if we heard anyone fighting or yelling. I had my door open all day and didn't her any yelling. After a few minutes they left. 

---

On Tuesday Night the electricity got knocked out when one of the transformers blew. I knew exactly what it was because when it blows, there's a loud bang right before the power was knocked out. The power was out for 3 hours. In those 3 hours the police were all over my street. I heard sirens all over the neighborhood. When the lights go out, people just start acting stupid. I stayed inside except to take the dog out once and saw police in front of my apartment building. I didn't her any fighting but there were a lot of people outside because the lights were off inside. lol 

---

On Wednesday the police were back in front of my apartment complex. They were in the next courtyard over this time but I don't know what for. 

----

On Friday I watched the motorcycle police pull a guy over who was riding his motorized bike on the sidewalk. He got a ticket. The police have been patrolling my area really heavily. Pretty much at least once a day I see the police driving on my street. 

---

On Wednesday I'm out with Falcor and a big ass dog runs up on me and Falcor. This is the 4th time these people's dogs have been out off leash and run up on me and Falcor. The dog was jumping on me and barking while I was holding Falcor in my arms. I went and told the woman that the next time it happens I'll be calling animal control. This is the second time I've talked to her and she takes no responsibility for the dogs getting out. She keeps saying that they just "get out" like it's not her or his fault or something. If you have a big pit bull or any big dog, you have a responsibility to keep control of them. If you can't then you are too effing stupid to have a dog. Next time I'll be emailing the apartment manager and letting her know just how many flippin animals there are in that apartment. I don't give a damn anymore. I was so mad when I confronted her. This dumb woman just walked away and tried to ignore me because she didn't like what I was saying. Good grief the stupid is strong with this one.  So all my friends on FB were telling me to get pepper spray so I did. 

I bought a stun gun and pepper spray duo. If either dog tries to attack me or Falcor at least I can defend us. Because I have a feeling that neither of the people that live there are going to do a damn thing about their dogs getting out off leash and charging me and jumping on me trying to get to Falcor. I already had to hit the one dog in the face just to make it get off me. There's a leash law in this state so it's illegal for them to let their dogs out without a leash. 

UPDATE: As of today (Sunday) They have rehomed one dog and have been walking the other big dog on a leash. So hopefully it stays that way.

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

Review: Her Vampire Hero(Midnight Doms Book 4) by Nicolina Martin

 

Book Description

Don’t go looking for the monsters in the shadows.

They will find you.

The young doctor in the ER thought she saved my life. I repaid her kindness by stealing her away from everything she knew.

I fought the devil in me, but I have lived too long, and am too lonely to deprive myself of her.

She will be my perfect submissive. My pet. My true north.

Katarina Donovan was good and pure, and so, so human. And then she met me.

My Review

Lou is brought to the hospital and Katarina thinks he's dead until his pulse sparks up and then she's all in and wants to make sure he makes a full recovery. Lou should have let her think he was dead and then slipped out quietly instead of letting her help him back to 'life'. He's a vampire so all he had to do was erase himself from their memories but instead he jumps out the window and disappears after he's healed enough to do so. 

Katarina couldn't stop thinking about him after he disappeared. She is having a hard time sleeping or doing her job because her thoughts keep coming back to him and she's sad that she'll probably never see him again. 

He finds her in the parking garage and he pleads with her to forget him but she won't and then he does what he never thought he would do...he leaves a human with the memories of him and now she knows he's a vampire. He promises her that if she tells anyone that he will come back. But then he leaves her and she dreams about him. He probably would have left her alone if she hadn't been attacked. He comes to her rescue and saves her life and he knows he can't let her go. 

 It was heartbreaking to see how lonely and sad they both were. As she heals from her attack, they get to know one another better and can see that there's an attraction there between them even though he's a vampire. But he all but kidnaps her and tells her that she can never go back to her life. I had high hopes for this book but it was my least favorite so far from this series. I didn't like how he treated her and I didn't like how Katarina, a doctor just became this meek little pushover that let him do whatever he wanted and didn't treat her right at times. 

The Midnight Doms series is part of a multi author series but for the most part can be read as standalone books. I am reading this series completely out of order and haven't felt lost at all. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received : 

A free pair of pajamas from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

I won a Kindle e-book from Goodreads. 

The pajamas are great! Very comfortable and soft. 

I'm looking forward to read the book. I have 143 books on my Kindle right now. Hopefully I can get through at least half of them this year. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Delicate Ink by Carrie Ann Ryan

 

Book Description

NYT Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan begins her binge-worthy Montgomery Ink series with a bachelor ready to finally settle down and the one woman he shouldn’t have.

One look at the woman who comes in for new ink and Austin Montgomery knows she’s the one for him. The problem: she can’t stand him. Now he’ll have to be his most charming and brooding if he has any chance of changing her mind…and claiming her heart.

Sierra Elder has reasons for keeping away and secrets close to her heart. An accident took her first love and scarred more than her soul in the process. Now the inked man with a wicked grin is starting to melt the ice she’s built to keep her safe, but the danger isn’t only from what she feels.

Some secrets were never meant to be kept and when mistakes from both of their pasts come knocking, they’ll have to trust each other, even if it could hurt them both in the process.

My Review

Sierra is scarred both mentally and physically but she moves and opens her own boutique. When she decides to get a tattoo to help cover the scars on her side, she comes face to face with Austin who is at first really gruff with her because he's having a bad day and because his ex won't leave him alone. 

Austin is a big, bearded tattoo artist who has tattoos himself. So when Sierra walks into his shop and he thinks she's looking her prim and proper nose down at his appearance, he lashes out in a gruff manner. But Sierra is no push over and thinks Austin is good looking even if she doesn't like him. 

When Sierra comes back for her second appointment to the tattoo shop, she has to talk to Austin who is going to be drawing her tattoo for her. He apologizes for how he acted the first time they met and she feels a little better talking with him. She might be a little reluctant about showing him her scars right away but he puts her at ease and tells her he can still do a drawing for her and she can show him her side when she feels more comfortable.  By the time they are done, he's asking her out and she accepts. She calls to cancel when her window gets broken but he comes to her rescue and after fixing it they fall in bed pretty fast. 

He seems to sense that she's a submissive and since he likes to go to a BDSM club and is a Dom, he lets her know what he expects. I actually like him even though at times he seems like a jerk. There is all kinds of family drama, secrets, a cancer scare, a crazy ex that won't eave Austin alone all the while they are trying to sort out what they mean to each other. 

As if there weren't enough drama going on, people from Sierra's past start trying to cause problems for her and a new family member shows up out of the blue. I just felt like there was a lot going on in this book. I did like Sierra though, she is so kind-hearted and strong that I really took to her right away. I really thought that Austin and Sierra fit together really well. While the book was good I thought there was a lot of unnecessary drama thrown in. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Virgin Hunt Games (Volume 3) by Mel Teshco

 

Book Description

EARTH, YEAR 2332

Life isn’t fair. Just ask Violet who mysteriously arrived in a space capsule at an orphanage as a baby. She has one goal—to find her biological parents, and winning the Virgin Hunt Games will ensure her face is plastered on every screener across the universe. Surely, her family will recognize and come for her? If she can only stay away from her Mate, the one man she must elude at all cost to win. But naturally, he’s also the only one she wants to surrender to.

Prince Zel Oscar is used to getting what he wants. But accepting a rival’s dare to be a Hunter in the infamous sexploitative Virgin Hunt Games was a terrible and possibly life-altering mistake. But then he meets his Hunted, Violet...delicious perfection wrapped up in a gorgeous package. Too bad she is totally indifferent to his kisses, his exploits, and his lofty title. He’ll do whatever it takes to break down her steely resistance...but will his subjects see him as a hero, or a total degenerate for having kinky sex in front of billions of viewers? 

In the end he must make an impossible choice—keep her love, or his kingdom?

My Review

Prince Zel is taking part in the Virgin Hunt Games because he was kinda tricked into signing up. But he also has something to prove. While Violet was there to make as much money as she could and to prove that she wasn't worthless the way her adoptive parents made her feel.

There are the hunters and the hunted in these games. There are ten of each. The goal is for the hunters to capture their intended hunted and have sex with them bringing them as much pleasure as possible. The hunted try to either have sex with as many of the hunters as possible while keeping away from their intended or they can get extra points for having kinky sex. They make more money for doing different things during the games and evading capture for the full 7 days from their intended would be one of the ways to make a lot of money. The women (hunted) are there to lose their virginity on intergalactic tv and make money doing it while the hunters are there to give the women as much pleasure as possible. They get more money the more orgasms they give the hunted. Think Hunger Games but they aren't trying to kill each other and the producers throw in dangerous situations all the time to keep the show entertaining. At least they aren't supposed to.

Violet was hoping that with all the exposure of being on the show, her birth parents would come forward and explain to her why they sent her away. But when her birth circumstances are revealed, it was a little heartbreaking to say the least. 

The one part about this book that I didn't care for was when the show dropped in a bunch of half starved wild dogs to hunt the contestants down. I thought that part could have been left out since I've never been one to think animal abuse of any kind was ok to add to a book just for the shock value of it and I thought that could have been left out. Yes, there are monster animals in this book that are there for pretty much the same reason but we don't see the monsters as our pets so for me it was different. 

I liked the ending of the book and thought it ended up being an entertaining read. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: Cutlass by Ellis Leigh

 

Book Description

These aliens have been looking for love in all the wrong solar systems…

Cutlass never thought he’d be stuck on some backward planet in a solar system with only one sun. Earth wasn’t his home, but he’d find a way to survive there if it meant finding a mate. He could put up with their ancient mechanical devices and a name that wasn’t his own for the right woman.

Chloe never imagined she’d sign up to be some sort of modern-day mail order bride. But too much wine and an internet connection were a bad combination, especially when the life she imagined seemed so much greater than the life she was living. Everyone stretches the truth on those dating websites, right?

One ad in a space station, one night of too much drinking, and one hotel room that will never be the same. What would you do if you found out the man from your fantasies was actually the man from your science fiction?

* * *

CUTLASS is a sci-fi romantic comedy from USA Today bestselling author Ellis Leigh. The story is a standalone rom-com with wit, snark, aliens, and more than just flirting.

My Review

Chloe works in a diner and lives in a makeshift warehouse with others who don't have enough money to rent a real apartment. One night while with her friend, she writes a letter about herself for the IG dating agency. 

Cutlass is from another planet, he's an alien on Earth looking for a mate. His friends talk him into going to the IG dating agency to have them set him up with a human female to hopefully be his mate. 

Chloe and Cutlass both are nervous after the dating agency tells them that they found a match for them and the way their dating agency works is they have two weeks to get to know each other and get married. If they don't match they will put their names back into the pool and try again. When the woman at the dating agency tells Chloe that they are to spend the two weeks in the same hotel room getting to know each other, poor Chloe is freaking out inside but decides to go through with it. She can always call it off if there's no attraction or sparks between them. 

One look at Cutlass when he walks through the hotel room door though and Chloe knows she's going to give it a chance because he's tall, sexy and muscular. But it's the fact that English doesn't seem to be his first language and he doesn't understand everything he's saying or some of what she says. This book had me laughing so much! He gets the phrasing of some things wrong which leads to some hilarious situations. There's a pause in their relationship right as things look like they're going good because she finds out somethings about him that scare her but I really like how this book ended. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Happy Raturday!

 

"I has sketti on mai fingers"

"I'm just hanging out today." 

*All pictures today are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #243

 

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 22 years that we've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 23 years here in a weekly blog post. 

This week I spotted the police at the other end of my street. I don't usually see a lot of police down at this end but the officer had this guy handcuffed and after a few minutes he put him in the back of the police car and drove off so I am guessing the guy was arrested for something. 

And then the next day I saw that the crazy woman who stomped across my table and chairs outside was being questioned by police. But after a few minutes they let her go. You can see the police car right over the hood of the white car. It's a little blurry for some reason.

The only other news is there was a crazy fight across the street at 10pm one night. A woman was chasing after "Justin" and screaming that he was going to go to jail for sex trafficking her. But he was walking away from her trying to get away and she was following behind him. Then she turned around and said she was going back to his house. "I'm going back to your house, Justin. What are you going to do about that?" 

I haven't seen either of them before but I doubt it will be the last time I see them. 

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

Review: Close Liaison's by Anna Zaires

 

Book Description

For college student Mia Stalis, the invaders—the beautiful, mysterious Krinar—are only stories on the news. Rumors about them abound: about their impossible strength and speed, their intentions toward Earth… their vampiric tendencies. None of it concerns her, though—until she catches Korum’s eye.

Powerful and terrifyingly seductive, the Krinar leader will stop at nothing to possess her. Helplessly drawn to her magnetic captor, Mia is plunged into the dangerous, secretive world of the Ks and forced to choose between truth and lies, her people and her lover… her freedom and her heart.

My Review

When the Krinar showed up on Earth, they left no room for a fight. Earth and all of their people would let them be here because they were out gunned by a lot. Life on Earth it seems began as an experiment by the Krinar many years ago. The aliens are kind of like vampires as they can drink blood but don't need it anymore since they have evolved past that but they still enjoy drinking blood. 

Most humans didn't think anything about the Krinar being here because they weren't really invaders. They had Krinar centers and really didn't affect the lives of humans all that much. Though they had made a few changes like telling humans that meat and dairy in their diets was bad and a lot of farmers had to switch from animals to growing fruits and vegetables. Mia hadn't met any of their people and was sitting in Central Park one day when she caught the eye of Korum. 

Mia was afraid of Korum at first because of all the rumors about the aliens being vampires and since they were much stronger than humans, he could do whatever he wanted and she wouldn't be able to stop him. He turned out to be an ok guy and just wanted to get to know her and take her out, date her. He made the fact that he wanted to be intimate with her very clear and she's not sure she wants to have her first time with an alien but he makes her feel things when she's around him. Being inexperienced, she doesn't really understand how to react to him or how she's feeling about him. She's scared that he won't take no for an answer if she tells him she's not interested even though she is kinda interested but he's very bossy and overbearing. So instead of telling him no, that she just wants to get back to her life...she decides to go to his apartment and give herself to him. Thinking that once he has her, he'll be tired of her and move on to someone else and she can have her life back. It was at this point that the story became a little too unbelievable for me. I mean would a woman really act like that? Maybe, or maybe I'm too outspoken to think that could happen. 

When the resistance comes to her and asks her to spy on him, she agree's. They tell her things about him and his people and she believes them. For the most part I didn't like Korum, he's overbearing and tells Mia what she can and can't do. He knows that she's been told that his kind keep humans as sex slaves and he doesn't tell her any different so it's really no wonder that she ends up helping the resistance even though she's practically living with him and sharing his bed. I felt bad for her because on one hand she feels like she loves him but on the other hand he's so darn bossy that she doesn't feel like her life is her own anymore. A lot of the hard feelings could have been resolved if he had just taken the time to talk to her more and let her know more about his people and his plans. It's hard to really like a book when throughout 99% of the book you don't like the hero. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received: 

A throw pillow from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

Philosophy Turbo Booster b3 and Booster b5 from Influenster. 

I like the throw pillow that I got. It's a nice one and my couch can always use a new pillow. As I've said before, Walmart Spark is by invitation only so I can't give you a link to sign up. 

Influenster sent me the Philosophy Turbo Booster powder that you mix with your moisturizer. I haven't seen any difference but I'll keep using it. If you would like to sign up for Influenster, you can do so here. They send out free products that you get to keep after you've written an honest review for them. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Daily Goodie Box- March

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?

Gloss Leaf - Collagen Iced Tea- I wasn't a fan of the taste of this at all. I've tried several collagen drinks and don't like them.

NEATGOODS - NEATwipes 30-Count Handwipes Pouch- I like these. It's hand sanitizing wipes. They smell like alcohol just like liquid hand sanitizer does.

Trilipiderm - The Essential Body Regimen Trial Box- This is a moisturizer for the whole body. I received several pouches of it and it was enough for a few days. It's a good moisturizer.

Bitsy’s - Oatmeal Raisin Good Cookies- Oh these cookies are good. They just taste like oatmeal raisin to me.

Paavani Ayurveda - Mint Pulling Oil- I didn't even try this. I'm not swishing around some mint oil in my mouth. Nope.

Pickle Power - Pickle Juice- My daughter was so excited when she saw this in the box. I don't want to drink pickle juice so she got it and liked it. 

Space Case Cosmetics - Eye shadow- This was a nice brown shade. Goes on easily, blends nicely and stayed on all day without a problem.

The Narwhal and the Manatee - Whipped Sugar Scrub- Ohh this smells like grapefruit and I love that scent. I really like this a lot. 

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.