Apartment Life #324

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

Monday afternoon I was out with Falcor,  I watched a jeep with 4 guys in it pull up to a neighbor's car,  get the door open and ransack it as the alarm was going off. They were all wearing dark hoodies in 110 weather, so I knew something weird was up. They took off soon after within a few seconds so it happened fast. I knocked on the neighbors door to let him know, thankfully they didn't wreck his car or steal it.

He decided not to call the police. He said he didn't want the hassle. They didn't steal anything, just broke the back window that he said he's just going to replace.

----

I saw this lady outside on one of the hot days. She was working on her car with two little kids inside the car and no AC running. So I was nice and went out there after 30 minutes and brought her 3 bottle of water. She took the water and then yelled at me to, "Next time mind my business".  

So I went back inside and left her to it. She was out there for another 20 minutes before she got the car started. No good deed goes unpunished I guess. I've never seen her before so I don't think she lives around here.

---

At 1AM Wednesday night I was woke up by this guy standing right outside my window yelling and whistling at someone down the street. 

He kept going out in the street and whistling really loud and then yelling. 

He would yell at someone, look at his phone, turn around look at my window I guess to see if I was looking out and then start yelling again. I took these pictures with my video camera though.

Finally another guy walks up and they stood there arguing but finally picked up their groceries they had on the ground and started to walk off.  They were yelling at each other the entire time they were walking down the sidewalk away from me. 

The high this week was 110F/43C

The low this week was 80F/26C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

MARKO HIETALA - Left On Mars (feat. Tarja Turunen)

Marko and Tarja used to be together in Nightwish but years ago Tarja left Nightwish and I was so sad because I love her voice. So when I saw Marko and Tarja were singing together in this song I gave it a listen and I'm so glad I did. I've missed hearing their voices together. Such a good song. 

Book Review: The Alpha's Saviour by Reece Barden

 

Book Description

She saved his life. He's never going to let her go...

Hayley's on the run from a stalker who's determined to make her pay. When she saves the life of the local alpha, exposing her new location in the process, Cooper decides he has to make her his.

His to possess, his to love, his to protect.

He's waited a long time to find his mate. He's not going to let her go.

She risked her cover and her life to save him. He's willing to do anything to keep her safe.

Will Hayley be able to accept this whole new world of wolf shifters, packs and fated mates that she never knew existed, or will her past catch up to her and ruin it all?

This is book 1 in the hot and steamy paranormal werewolf romance series, the Shifters of Grey Ridge.

Read this if you love wolf shifters, insta love, fated mates, he falls first, protective dominant heroes and a female lead who can take care of herself.

Characters are in their twenties and thirties. Happily ever after, no bullying and no cheating.

My Review

Hayley is on the run from her ex who is violent. She told the Sheriff about her past just in case he finds her. But no one else knows and she's trying to make a new life for herself. Things change drastically for her when she witnesses a young boy about to get hit by a vehicle but at the last minute Cooper runs out to save the boy, getting struck by the vehicle and landing face down in the water. Hayley sees where he falls and pulls him out of the water and performs CPR on him, saving his life. He was badly hurt and his injuries would have killed him if he was human but lucky for him he's a wolf shifter with increased healing. He wants to go to Hayley right away because he knows she's his mate but he wouldn't be able to explain away how he is healed already. So he waits a few weeks while his family gets to know her better. 

As soon as he makes an appearance in person, Hayley finds herself completely attracted to Cooper. He wants to repay her for saving his life so he comes up with a ruse to help her the with remodeling on the house she bought. This way he can spend time with her and let her get to know him as a human would. 

But because they both have some serious secrets, it causes a lot of drama between them as well as a lot of misunderstandings. But neither one of them is willing to give up completely in making this relationship work. Things really get exciting when the danger comes right to her door and some secrets are revealed. I really liked Hayley, she is a lot stronger than Cooper was giving her credit for. But Cooper was such a delightful hero. I just loved him. 

This book was everything I could have asked for in a shifter romance. It had everything I love and then some.

  I totally have a bad habit of reading books out of order and I did that with this series. I read The Alpha's Inferno by Reece Barden a while back which is the first book in this series and you can find my review of that book here.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Book Review: Paax: Warlord Brides (Warriors of Sangrin Book 1) by Nancey Cummings and Starr Huntress

 

Book Description

Paax never wanted to be matched to a mate.

The situation in his clan was dangerous for a hardened warrior, let alone a soft Human female without fangs or claws to defend herself. Sending her back to Earth was the only way to keep her safe. However, the moment the curvaceous woman stepped off the transporter, his tattoo burned with a passionate intensity he’d never experienced before. Paax knew he would do anything to protect her, to claim her, even challenge the clan’s violent Warlord.

No force in the universe would take his mate from him.

Matched to an alien warrior in the Draft, Mercy swore she’d do whatever it took to get out of the marriage contract. She liked her life on Earth and her independence. No one would take it away, not even the ridiculously hot warrior who demanded she call him husband.

Why is being claimed by the horned muscular alien the only thing she can think about?

She didn’t want to stay, did she?

My Review

After the Suhlik aliens invaded Earth and killed people, Paax's people came and offered to keep Earth safe from the Suhlik in exchange for human brides. Women are genetically tested to see if they match one of the warriors and if they find a match, they are taken to their new home on an alien world. They don't have a say in this at all because there's a bride draft and most women are tested and sent away unless you are exempt like Mercy was for a while because she was taking care of her sick mother. But once her match is found, she is taken away from her home and away from her sick mother. 

Paax is a skilled doctor and made a serum that turned his twin brother into a bad person. His brother is unstable and also their warlord/ruler. Some of his people want Paax to fight him for control of their people but he doesn't think he's up to it. When Mercy arrives, he's instantly attracted to her but because his brother is throwing danger at both of them, they have to get to know one another really fast. So their romance happens really fast but they are attracted to each other right away. Maybe because they are a match genetically? I'm not sure. Paax is such a wonderful mate and guy though so I can understand falling for him to easily and fast. 

This was such a good alien romance. The danger, romance and action made this a quick read.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Falcor has always liked to be under the blankets when he sleeps. Most of the time he'll hide his head under the blankets too. Must be the Chihuahua side of him. lol 

This is the area I take Falcor during the day when he needs to go out in the Summer. It's shaded because of all the palm trees and it's right next to my building so we don't walk too far in this heat. 

This Oleander bush is right next to the area I take Falcor. It was full of blooming Oleander flowers. 

Book Review: Rancher's Law by Diana Palmer

 

Book Description

A Texas detective and his former neighbor reunite in this heartfelt romance novel from New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer 

One night in his arms changes everything…

For Amelia Rose Grayson, there was only ever one love: Cal Hollister. When Cal, a police captain, is wounded, she’s there for him and helps nurse him back to health. After he shrugs off their undeniable chemistry, Amelia knows she needs to cut all her old ties. She escapes her small-town life and forges a new path, trying to leave Cal behind. But Amelia can't break free of Cal’s orbit. Emotion—and an unrelenting passion—takes over when they reconnect, sending them both into dangerous territory. Can the two of them move past their previous hurt and make peace? And will they finally face the reason they keep finding each other?

My Review

Amelia lives with her grandfather and gets good grades in school and is friends with Cal. She studies chemicals in college and knows how to use them to blow things up. In the small town of Jacobsville, there are so many ex-Military people, law enforcement and mercenaries that you have to expect people to like shooting guns, making bombs ect. Cal is ex-military and after his last mission, he's pretty messed up mentally but doesn't show it outwardly too much. He and Amelia get closer as they spend time together and he knows it would be a mistake to sleep with her since she's not experienced but it happens anyway. They spend one night together and both of their lives fall apart right after for a lot of different reasons. 

Eb Scott is a retired Soldier of Fortune and what I would call mercenary and has a team that he sends out on missions. After Amelia and Cal have a falling out, she goes to Eb Scott and asks to join his team and reluctantly he agrees. Years later she's been trained but is mostly behind the scenes where she can't be hurt or put into danger. Years later Amelia and Cal see each other again and it's bitter sweet after everything they've both been through but Amelia wants nothing to do with him because of how he treated her the last time they spoke. 

Cal wasn't the nicest of guys and the way he treated Amelia without even letting her explain anything made me so mad. She was the nicest of people and he knew her, knew her better than to think she would treat him the way he thought she did. Cal in my opinion took advantage of her when she was in emotional pain and then treated her like crap afterwards for no reason. I'm not sure I would have forgiven him as easily as she did in the end even if it was because of other people meddling and spreading lies. He should have at least talked to her like a civil human being instead of his excuse of being in emotional pain because of what he went through during his last mission. That wasn't a good enough excuse for the way he treated her and what she went through. 

I've read a lot of Diana Palmer books and I know the men in them are going to be gruff, grumpy and standoffish and I can accept that but Cal was a jerk and Amelia deserved better. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

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

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"I'm about to make some skeeti"

"If you search online how to make it, it gives you some ideas"

"Or we could just make some soup. We could make enough for you too."

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

Apartment Life #323

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

On Wednesday I noticed an ambulance at one end of the street and a few minutes later the police showed up at the other end of the street. 

The police and paramedics were going to two different apartment complexes so I don't think they were related incidents. It's not often that I see police and paramedics on my street for different calls at the same time. 

It was actually a pretty quiet week, Maybe the hot temperatures are keeping people inside. 

The high this week was 110F/43C

The low this week was 68F/20C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Hyro The Hero - We Believe feat. David Draiman

As soon as I saw that this song was featuring David Draiman from Disturbed I had to listen to it. While I don't usually listen to rap much at all, I kinda like when it's mixed with metal or rock. The rapper can actually sing too which is really nice to see. I hope you enjoy. 

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 $25 gift code to Shutterfly from a Class Action Lawsuit I signed up for. With it I used it to make this mug with Falcor's picture on it. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Planet Mail by Kate Pearce

 

Book Description

As far as job hazards go, Douglass Fraser didn’t think crash-landing on an alien planet and spending her recuperation being erotically pleasured by three gorgeous men was in the United Planetary Parcel Service’s courier handbook. There certainly wasn’t a section on what to do when a very sexy king wants you to have his baby and save his world.

Marcus Blood Axe isn’t only a descendant of ancient Viking space travelers, he’s also a ruler dealing with a shortage of fertile women and no heir. Surely the gods are on his side when Douglass drops out of the sky and into his bed, giving him a last chance to stop his people’s death spiral into extinction.

Despite the exquisite pleasures to be found in the king’s arms, Douglass wants more from Marcus than to be his broodmare. When another woman claims to be pregnant with Marcus’ child, it’s past time to get back home. Now the war Marcus wages is one of sensual passion designed to convince his Earth woman that she’s worth everything to him…even if it means giving up what he cherishes most.

My Review

Douglass works as a courier between planets. Like a mail person but takes a space ship to different planets to deliver mail. Douglass's space ship crash lands on an alien world that doesn't have a lot of contact with other planets. They find her, drug her and she is pleasured by several men, getting her ready for the King who wants her as his consort. I was so not ok with this at all. But Douglass doesn't even bat an eyelash at it all and even decides to just go with it. Nothing wrong with taking pleasure from several men and the King. What? 

The men are sweet, not gonna lie about that. They want to make her happy and hope that she stays on their planet if they can find a way to contact her home world. The King was a little more gruff to begin with but he quickly came around and we see his more romantic side. 

These people are pretty much dying out because there's a shortage of fertile women and baby's are not being born. But to drug a woman who crashes on your planet and hope that he accepts the things that have happened to her while she was pretty much unconscious is just not right even if she doesn't seem to have a problem with any of it. 

The story was actually good, the writing was great and these characters are very likable so I did enjoy this book even with the problems I had with how Douglass was treated at first. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

I spotted this little bird all fluffed up cleaning himself on the wall. Look at him all puffed up. lol 

I started snapping pictures as he hopped off. I caught him mid hop! lol This picture made me laugh.

This large bush started flowering early in the morning so I walked over and got a picture of it. I don't know what kind of bush it is but the purple flowers are so pretty. 

Have a nice week.

Recipe: Low Carb Fajitas

 

My daughter found some low carb flour tortillas (Carb Counter brand) and we wanted to try fajitas with them. 

We fried up the peppers, onions and chicken in 0 calorie cooking spray. Made a little guacamole and some Pico De Gallo to go with it. 

Pico De Gallo Recipe

4 large tomatoes diced small

1 1/2 large yellow onions diced small

One bunch of cilantro diced small (about 1 cup)

Juice from 2 lemons

Salt to taste

 Mix all ingredients together and let sit overnight in container in the fridge. You can eat it right after it's been made but for more flavorful Salsa, make 2 days ahead of time and let it sit in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

The low carb tortillas are good. They taste the same as regular tortillas to me. They are fluffier though which I like.

For 2 tortillas it's 60 calories and 14 grams of carbs. 

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #322

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

On Wednesday two police cars showed up as I was outside with Falcor. They quickly got out of their cars and made their way into my courtyard. There's a homeless man who I'm sure is on drugs but he's been hanging around a lot and some of us in my courtyard have seen him trying to turn doorknobs. He's tried a few of the doors in my courtyard over the last couple of months and when my daughter saw him doing that to the single lady's door who lives across from us a couple of months ago, she called the police. But because it was in the middle of the night and no one else answered their doors or saw anything the police didn't even take a report about this.

The next day my daughter told the neighbor about it and she was so mad the police didn't do anything about it. The camera we have in the window just let's us view what's going on in real time and take pictures, it doesn't record 24/7. So we had no proof...until now. The lady across from me saw this homeless man trying to open her door when she was coming home this day and she called the police. They came out pretty fast but again, there was no one else that saw what he had done and so they didn't even question him. It's getting ridiculous. What do they need? Maybe we should wait until he breaks in, knock him out, tie him up and then call the police. But we'd probably get arrested for battery and kidnapping. Ridiculous. 

----

On Thursday the police were across the street. They were checking out that PODS storage container that's been sitting on the street for about 9 months or more. I am outside about 10 times a day or more depending on if the dog has an upset stomach or not. Which happens for no reason at least once a month. So I'm outside a lot. I haven't seen one person opening the lock to the POD. No one has come or gone from this storage container in all that time that I've seen. It's about time that the police are looking into why it's been sitting there all that time. I'm surprised that the manager of that apartment building over there hasn't called about it before now. What do you want to bet that it will sit there for another 6 months. Maybe someone is paying for it but what if it was stolen and just placed there? Am I paranoid? Maybe...lol 

----

We heard 5 gunshots around 3AM on Wednesday. They sounded really close but I didn't see anything on the cameras. The police showed up and looked around but left when they didn't find anything. Unfortunately it's almost 4th of July and people around here tend to shoot their guns off in the air around this time of year.

The high this week was 109F/42C

The low this week was 77F/25C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Bad Wolves ft Daughtry - Hungry For Life

I've liked Daughtry ever since he was on American Idol. I already like Bad Wolves so when I saw they had a song together I had to listen to it and it ended up being really good. I hope you enjoy. 

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.

What I Received This Week

Perfume Samples from Macy's. 

A sample of Advil PM. 

I loved all of these perfume samples. But once again Alien by Mugler is my favorite from this bunch. I've received Alien a few times now and I really love it. Most of the Mugler scents are really nice. The other ones are really nice too though. 

I've used Advil PM before and it will knock you out so you can get some sleep. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

The Mountain's Mate by Sara Ivy Hill

 

Book Description

He’ll move mountains for her…

When Patrek, a giant Skarr alien, hires a human for a covert mission, he doesn’t expect a female to take the gig. Nor does he expect his long-dormant mating instinct to ignite for someone so tiny! When the heist goes awry and they’re forced to hide out together until the heat dies down, the close quarters reveal that, though they’re vastly mismatched in size, their hearts are a perfect fit.

To escape with his freedom, Patrek must flee the city. But leaving her behind will break him. Can he convince her to join him in the mountains and take a monster as her mate?

My Review

Maja is on an alien planet after humans crash landed there some time ago. It was interesting to have humans be the aliens on a planet instead of the other way around. Things are not great for the humans there though and Maja is having a hard time just making enough money for the necessities let alone her rent. So when she hears about a gig that pays a lot, enough to make up for the 2 months back rent she owes, she shows up for the gig, not knowing what it's for. 

When she shows up to Patrek's place and finds out what the gig is for, they make plans to help an animal but what she has to wear is a little disturbing. After things don't go as planned, they have to lay low together until things settle down and they get to know each other better. 

Patrek is a 14 foot tall alien with facial tusks and Maja is a 5 foot tall human, so the size difference alone would make this romance interesting. But somehow this author made things work because Patrek is a gentle giant. Being around Maja has his mating instinct's kicking into to overdrive and he has to make her trust him so she knows that he'd never hurt her. The last female of his species died and his people are about to die out so I think these two being able to mate is going to open up a way for his people to not die out is subsequent books.

This romance was so much fun. I love a spicy alien romance and this one was everything that I could ask for. I loved Patrek and Maja together, they made for a great couple. I plan on reading more of this series now. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

We've had bright blue skies and some clouds this week. 

Enjoy your week. 

Book Review: Moonshade by S.J. West

 

Book Description

How would your life change if you inherited a vampire?

“Find me, Sarah…”

When a handsome stranger whispers these three little words to Sarah Marcel, she knows her life is forever changed.

For two weeks straight, Sarah’s been unable to eat, sleep, or even form a coherent thought properly. She fears she’s losing her mind until a chance encounter brings a man into her life who seems to hold the key to solving her problems. With a single touch, he’s able to ease her troubled soul and bring her some much-needed peace. Yet, just as Sarah believes she’s found the solution to her dilemma, he disappears.

As Sarah begins to unravel a mystery surrounding her family’s past, she quickly discovers her role in a world that’s hidden from most humans. Being a Marcel comes with certain responsibilities, and there are some things that you can’t hide from forever.

My Review

Sarah lost her parents when she was very young. Her friend's parents took her in and cared for her and she is really close with all of them still. When Sarah goes out to a night club with her friend, a mysterious man greets her and tells her to find him. But she doesn't even know his name so why is it as if she can feel him and knows exactly where to find him?

His name is Julian and he's a vampire. When Sarah's grandfather that she knew nothing about passes away, Julian has to find the next relative in the man's family to be his companion. Without a companion to feed him their blood, Julian will die. So when he tells Sarah that he's a vampire and she is to be his companion if she's willing, she doesn't know what to think at first. 

These vampires are different. They are all descendant from Madam Bathory because of a black magic spell she did or had done, the vampires aren't too sure what really happened to make them. But because of that he and the other vampires who were created at that time can only feed from a descendant of the first person they fed from when they were turned into a vampire. Which is why he sought out Sarah when her grandfather died. 

Julian tells her that she needs to date in order to find a suitable husband to have kids with. Because when she dies her children will become his companion. At first it seems that's really all he cares about until he feeds from her the first time. Then it becomes apparent that he has feelings for her, something that he tries to fight since he cannot father any children and doesn't usually have romantic feelings for his companions but she wasn't raised around him so things are different. Her parents took her away from everyone because they wanted her to be raised as a normal human. 

It takes a little while for this book to really get going but I was intrigued by the vampire/companion storyline so I kept reading and I'm glad I did because this got so much better. Family secrets are revealed and that was quite the twist. I'm really looking forward to reading more of this series now and finding out how things turn out for some of these other characters. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #321

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

I heard loud voices outside my bedroom window on Monday morning. I saw the ambulance there and some police officers. The man standing off to the right went over to the back of the ambulance and sat down on the step, not the gurney. The paramedics started cleaning his face and I noticed it was all bloody. 

I'm guessing he refused to go to the ER so they bandaged him up there. 

More and more police started showing up while the paramedics were treating him. I saw them bandage his head right above his eyebrow. His nose was bleeding also.

After he was all bandaged up the police stood there talking to him and then handed him a clipboard with papers on it. It looked like he was filling out a statement or report. 

Then more police showed up and were looking up and down the street with a K9 dog.

After he was bandaged up he and the police went to his apartment.

After about 30 minutes the police came back out and stood there talking.

The cop wearing the sunglasses saw me taking pictures and was NOT happy about it. He stood there staring me down. LOL But at least he didn't stomp over to me and yell at me to go inside. I didn't want to press my luck so I went inside anyway since it looked like they were done. 

When I saw the guy across the street out with his dog the next day I asked him if he was alright because he had a black eye, bandaged head and bruised nose. He said yeah that some guy had broke into his apartment and tried to take his TV and some other stuff and he fought the guy off. The thief ended up leaving with nothing. He told me to keep my door locked. I said I always have it locked in this neighborhood. 

The high this week was 112F/44C

The low this week was 79F/26C

Whew boy, it's heating up now. Summer is here.

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