Book Review: Rogue Games by Reece Barden

 

Book Description

Love is a dangerous game to play.

Alpha Dean Reynolds has kept his territory closed and his pack safe for years. Now, forced to host the prestigious Alpha Games, he must open his borders to outsiders for the first time in decades. As shifters from all over gather to prove their worth and win a pack of their own, Dean's carefully controlled world is about to be turned upside down.

Enter Jamie, a fierce and alluring rogue shifter determined to compete in the games. Her arrival is Dean's worst nightmare. The undeniable attraction simmering between them is a distraction Dean can't afford.

As suspicious accidents plague the competition and threaten Jamie's chance to prove herself, Dean, the reluctant protector, finds himself coming to Jamie's aid, even as he struggles against the growing pull between them.

For Jamie, the brutish alpha is the last person she wants to rely on. Caught between her distrust of the man known as the angriest alpha around, and the undeniable connection she feels, she must decide if she's willing to risk her heart for a chance at love.

In a game where only the strongest survive, will they find the courage to let love win?

Rogue Games is a thrilling enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance that combines pulse-pounding action with heart-melting passion. Perfect for fans of Suzanne Wright and Kresley Cole who crave stories of dominant alphas, underdogs, fated mates, and all the spice.

Dual POV, MF and happily ever after guaranteed.

My Review

Alpha Dean Reynolds took over his pack after he eliminated his abusive father and he's scared he might end up the abusive man his father was. But his pack loves him and knows he'd never end up like that man. He and his pack of wolf shifters have been isolated for a while but now it's time to open the borders and let others in for the Alpha Games. When shifters from all over come to compete to be alpha of their own pack. 

Jamie and Wyatt are rogue wolves who were kicked out of their pack so they are looked down on but Dean allows them to stay and compete in the Alpha Games. Jamie is the only female competing in the games with her brother, Wyatt and some of the male wolves are not happy about it. So she's put in danger right from the start. 

Jamie and Wyatt have a huge secret though and when Dean finds out what it is, it turns things upside down for some pack members. But the more time they spend together, the more they realize that there's something between them. Every wolf wants to find their one, their fated mate but things between them are complicated and even more so when Jamie says somethings when she was mad that she shouldn't have and feels bad about. 

Now they have to work through the hurt and communication issues if they are going to have the life together that they both really want. 

I understood why Jamie was so rash and why neither of them trusted the other very fast. They've both had a rough life and needed to give each other a little time to get to know each other. But I really liked both of them and loved how this ended. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book via BookFunnel but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Cute Autumn Pictures

 

I found these on Pixabay and thought they were perfect for this month and they're cute. 

Enjoy the rest of the month. 

Book Review: His Human Neighbor by Michele Mills

 

Book Description

A month-long retreat of rest and relaxation from my high-powered career is just what I need. Until I’m the only human in a rental home community on a distant planet populated by beings who look like satanic devils. Yep.

And on day three of my odd vacay, two young Hyrrokin girls enter my home and beg me to marry their dad, my neighbor. Somehow their scary-looking widower father, a retired Firestar General, needs a bound and they’ve chosen me as their new mom?

I’ve already received an eyeful over the fence of their alarming and yet unbearably handsome dad, Crydan Flamestone, as he showers each day, fresh off the beach from his morning run. And maybe he’s caught me eyeing his naked red *cough* muscles a few times and doesn’t seem to mind?

This does not mean I’m ready to become my neighbor’s wife or gain an instant Hyrrokin, flame-throwing family. These girls are darling, but I’m afraid they’ve picked the wrong female. What do I know about kids?

Anyway, this guy seems to already have a fiancée.

And she’s all wrong for him.

And I don’t like the way she treats the girls.

Oh shoot. Who am I kidding? Looks like I’m gonna have to meddle!

Author’s note: This is a single dad romance with a fake engagement and no cheating! The OW drama seems high with this one, but is actually low. This is part of a series but can be read as a standalone.

My Review

Maya is so sick of her job and is so ready for a vacation. But when she is accidentally transported to a different alien planet than she was supposed to have been transported to, she's shocked and scared because the Hyrrokin look like demons...complete with red skin, horns, breathing fire and a spiked tail. 

But it quickly becomes apparent that the Hyrrokin are really nice people and make her feel welcome. Not many humans have come to this planet to they don't see many humans but they do their best to make her feel welcome. When she is given a chance to take her vacation on this planet at a nice resort, she decides to do that and make the best of this mix up. 

Crydan and his young daughters live next door to the house she is given to stay in and the very first time they see each other, the spark is just there. They quickly become friends and are heading to more than friends when Crydan's mother shows up with a female that she deems worthy to be Crydan's bound ( mate/wife). This really throws a wrench into things with Maya because his mother has every legal right to set him up with a new bound and arrange his new wife for him. But there's no spark between Crydan and this new woman and it seems she has some secrets of her own. 

The description of the Hyrrokin people looking like demons with horns and red skin, made me love this even more. I love a scary looking hero, especially if he has horns and ends up being a great hero and Crydan was a great hero. This ended up being such a great read. I highly recommend it if you love alien romance. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

This was around 2PM and it was this dark.  The sun was trying to come out from behind those clouds but it wasn't going to happen. We didn't get any rain but it sure was nice and cool. 

Book Review: Dragons Are Forever by Sophie Stern

 

Book Description

Anything can happen on Dragon Isle...

One feisty dragon + one desperate human = one fake marriage.

Jax needs a wife in a bad way. He stands to inherit an incredible fortune, but there's one caveat: he has to get married, like, yesterday. He can't touch the money until he's claimed a mate. He's got to stay married for an entire year, and then if they go their separate ways, it's no big deal. One year of marriage? He could do that. Only, all of the ladies on Dragon Isle are girls he grew up with. Nobody is going to take a chance on this. Nobody would buy it.

Then one drunken stranger changes everything...

Melissa has absolutely nothing going for her. When her husband caught her by surprise last year and filed for divorce, she was stuck with half of his debt and...nothing. She had nothing. They lost the house, the cars, and their savings accounts because apparently, Kyle had a secret gambling problem she knew nothing about. When a handsome stranger approaches her in a random bar with a strange offer, she's intrigued enough to say yes.

One year being married to a rich guy?

One year without sex or love or romance attached?

One year as long as she doesn't ask too many questions?

Melissa can't sign up fast enough.

Soon she discovers that Dragon Isle isn't a normal island, though. It's full of secrets, and she finds herself determined to figure out what Jax is hiding from her.

***DRAGONS ARE FOREVER is the first book in RETURN TO DRAGON ISLE. This is a spinoff of the DRAGON ISLE series by Sophie Stern. Reading the Dragon Isle books is highly encouraged, although not required in order to enjoy this story. Dragon Isle begins with STEPDRAGON, which is a quick read introducing the island, and is followed by MY LORD AND DRAGON.***

My Review

In order for Jax for inherit a fortune and a home on Dragon Isle, he needs to be married and soon. But he runs into Melissa at a bar and jokingly makes a marriage proposal, a fake marriage proposal that she would get paid for if she can fake things for a year. What's not to love about that? So they work out the incidentals and get married. The lawyer isn't thrilled and doesn't buy that these two are really in love. But Jax has fulfilled his part of the will so there shouldn't be any problems getting the house and fortune, right? 

Wrong! Someone is out to get him and puts both he and Melissa in harms way. This relationship starts out fake but after spending time with each other they start to have real feelings for each other. But Jax has a big secret and Melissa is about to find out what it is. Watching these two fall for each other while trying to figure out who is out to get them was fun. Jax is such a nice guy and Melissa was great and just what he needed. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #344

 

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.  

The police stopped at the end of my street on Monday and they were using their flashlights to search the rocks and ground on the other side of the cop car. I have no idea what they were looking for. I did hear gunshots at 1AM the night before though so maybe that was why?

About 2 hours later on Monday the police were here again. This time they were at the apartment complex across the street. There were several more police cars in the alley behind this complex. I saw they had someone in handcuffs in the alley when I took Falcor for a walk. Maybe it was the guy that had been shooting the gun the night before? Not sure. The police had paper bags and were putting evidence into the bags as well. 

---

On Wednesday around noon I heard the first fire truck pull up on my street. I looked outside and the firemen were pulling the hose down to the fire hydrant so I knew there was a fire in the apartment complex across the street. 

My daughter and I both went out there and saw the fire in the upstairs apartment. The smoke was bad for a while but the fire department got it out fast. 

The paramedics were standing outside with a gurney just in case someone was hurt inside but we heard from others on the street that the homeless started this fire and they got out before the fire department got there.  So no one was hurt. 

I counted 9 fire engines show up after about 20 minutes. My entire street was filled with fire trucks, ambulances, fire chief trucks and police. 

But the firemen were able to get the fire out fast.

It was right across the street from me and during the day so I was able to get quite a few pictures this time. 

This was actually the first truck I saw pull up right in front of my window before all the others got here. 

The owner of the apartment building was out there and he was mad as hell. He was yelling and screaming about the homeless setting fires. But he should have done more to make sure they weren't squatting in the vacant apartment. 

Hopefully the owners around here do more to keep the homeless from squatting in the vacant apartments and houses around here and starting fires in them. This is the second fire from the homeless in a week. I heard from some of the homeless people around here that both people who were pulled from last weeks house fire have lost their lives. They need to go to the shelters instead of staying around here where the drug dealers are and breaking into vacant places to stay. 

----

Friday night around 6PM my daughter was out walking Falcor when she saw 4 people in a car parked next to the curb. They were wiping shattered glass from the back seat and being really loud. When she was on her way home, they all got in the car and were yelling "West Side Crips" and one woman in the back seat pointed a gun at my daughter. 

So she called the police and they came out pretty fast. They came and took a report and got a description of the 4 occupants. A few minutes later the cop came back by and told us that they found the car and it was stolen. He said they had police watching the car to see if the occupants came back but if not they were going to impound the car. I'm sure they got a lot of fingerprints from the car and if they find people who are breaking into cars and stealing them, they can compare fingerprints. My daughter is fine though. 

It was a full week. 

The high this week was 65F/18C

The low this week was 42F/5C

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

Fall/Autumn Pictures

 

I've enjoyed sharing pictures I've found on Pixabay that fits the month so I'm going to continue doing that. Today I give you Fall/Autumn pictures that I liked. Enjoy. 

Low Carb Recipe: Strawberry Semifreddo

 

I saw this recipe on The Low Carb Diabetic Blog and thought it sounded really good so I tried it. 

You will need:

1 pint strawberries

1/4 cup Equal sugar substitute, divided into thirds

3 egg whites

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream- cold

What to do: 

Strawberry Mixture

Add the fruit and 2 TBSP of Equal to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook about 3 minutes until the berries begin to release their juices, about 3 minutes. Remove the lid and cook another 4-5 minutes until they are very soft. I used a potato masher and mashed the strawberries a bit. Let the fruit mixture cool. 

Prepare Pan

Lightly spray a 9-by-2-inch cake/loaf pan with cooking spray, then line it with plastic wrap, pressing into the corners. (you want enough wrap to overhang to aid in removing the semifreddo from the pan after it’s frozen).

Whipped Cream

Whip 1 cup of cold heavy cream in a mixer bowl or medium-sized bowl. When the whipped cream begins to get stiff, add 2 TBSP of Equal and vanilla. Whip to stiff peaks. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate. Clean mixer bowl and whisk attachment.

Meringue

Add the 3 egg whites to the clean mixer bowl, when the egg whites turn white and begin to get stiff, add 2 TBSP of Equal and whip to stiff peaks.

Semifreddo

Fold the whipped cream into the meringue ⅓ at a time until incorporated.

Gently fold in all of the fruit mixture. Don't over mix. You want it to be marbled with the strawberry mixture.

Transfer to the prepared pan, smooth and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze 6 hours or overnight. Slice and serve as is, or with reserved fruit.

Things I changed from the original recipe. I used a different sugar substitute because I like Equal and I didn't have to use as much of it. I used strawberries instead of mixed berries and I added all of the strawberry mixture to the semifreddo instead of saving some to add on top. I've never made this before but it was so good. This does not completely freeze, it semi freezes which was fine with me. 

If you cut this into 8 equal pieces when it is semi frozen these are the carb and calories counts for each piece. 

Carbs for 1 portion of semifreddo- 2

Calories for 1 portion of semifreddo- 100

Mine didn't come out as high as the pan, maybe I used too big a pan? Maybe I'll double the recipe next time but it sure was good. 

Have you eaten this before?

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Falcor and I were up early to catch this sunrise.

A few minutes later.

Later that same day. We got a few dark clouds and cooler temps but no rain. That dark cloud sure looked like we would get some rain from it but nothing. 

Book Review: The Four by Katelyn Young

 

Book Description

Princess Kiera knows that one day she will be auctioned away in an arranged marriage, but she never imagined that her fiancés would be vampires.

When people from the Kingdom of Zayn go missing, Kiera’s father, King Zachariah, arranges for Kiera to marry one of The Four rulers of Vampira. This marriage will end the kidnappings and unite the two kingdoms. As per the rules of the engagement, Princess Kiera is given one month to decide which of The Four she will marry. Kiera wants to be a righteous ruler. She also wants to marry for love. Each of her four suitors has something unique to offer her. Kiera must figure out whose intentions are pure and whose are for show. What Kiera doesn’t realize is that this decision will last for all of eternity.

My Review

In order to stop the kidnapping of her people and bring an alliance between her people and the vampires, Princess Kiera agrees to marry one of The Four royals/rulers from Vampira. She and her father go to Vampira where they meet The Four. Kiera has 30 days to choose to marry either King Niles, King Derrick, King Viktor, or Queen Anya. 

Derrick didn't seem interested at all and Anya was more a friend than anything else. She really only had to choose between Derrick and Viktor and I liked watching them vie for her attention. I liked who she ended up picking and how the book ended. I thought it was quite fun and romantic. 

But getting to know them and this new vampire culture was quite a shock to Kiera since she was a human. There were a few customs that did seem a bit over the top and I can understand why she was having second thoughts there for a while. I really felt bad that as a princess, Kiera really had no say in her own life. She was only there to make deals with other factions and marry someone to form an alliance. I'm just glad that in this case she has a choice to choose someone that was nice and ended up being a great guy. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon