Book Review: Fancy Free by Shelley Munro

*Blurb taken from Amazon*

Warning: Condoms were tested and a few harmed during the writing of this story.It's not every day a girl inherits a condom company, and to say accountant Alice Beasley is astonished and out of her depth is putting it mildly. For an almost virgin, she needs a quick education in all things condom because her inheritance is in danger. Someone is intent on sabotage and trying to destroy her new company.Alice is suddenly getting down and dirty with charismatic James, the factory manager, all in the name of business, testing new condom designs. The sex is hot. Mind-blowing. It's a dark thrill and an erotic journey. Yeah, it's a hard job, but a girl's got to do what a girl's gotta do.Alice wants James. She craves his talented touch and sultry kisses, she desires passion and physical pleasure on a permanent basis but first she must convince bad-boy James to give up his fancy-free ways.

My Review:

Alice goes to the reading of her godmother's will and finds out that she has inherited a condom company. Her boyfriend isn't too happy about that and wants her to let it go and go back to where they came from to a normal job, get married and live happily ever after. Thankfully she drop kicks this bozo to the curb and gives the company a go. 

James will be working closely with Alice to get her accustomed to how they do things so when he leaves in six months she can fully take over with no problems. There's just one problem...James is instantly drawn to the shy, innocent woman who is hiding behind her baggy clothes. 

I knew right from the start that this was going to be funny and it was. I mean a condom factory? Really? When Alice goes to her first board meeting and the older people in the room start talking about the condoms, Alice almost chokes on her own tongue. She's not very sexually experienced and the openness of the board members is not something she is used to or expects. 

Not only do we have great character interaction, funny dialogue and a passionate romance but we also get a mystery because someone is trying to sabotage the company! They aren't sure who is leaking company secrets but the condoms have to be tested...on humans! And the only people they can trust at this point are the people who work at the company, so guess who gets to go home and test the condoms?

I also really liked how Shelley Munro was able to sneak in Ellora's Cave, into the storyline of the book and how she did it. When I read that, I actually laughed out loud at how sneaky she is. 

If you enjoy a little mystery, intrigue, hot sex and sabotage with your erotic romance. Then you'll love Fancy Free by Shelley Munro. 

5 Stars!

More Christmas Decorations

So I put up the rest of my decorations last week and finally took pictures to share with you. These are my glass snowmen in a bowl. 

Little Christmas puppies.

My cabinet is decorated.

Christmas penguins? lol 

I added red ribbons to the cabinet doors.

And hung the stockings. I bought a blue and red Spiderman Stocking for my grandson.

Hamster ornament.

This is one of the very first ornaments I bought 23 years ago when Ken and I first moved in together.

The large paintings I had on the living room walls got wrapped so they look like presents.

Looks like I have large presents on my walls now. But I like it.

Pine Cone Christmas Tree Crafts

My daughter and I made these cute pine cone Christmas tree's a few years ago and they were really easy to make.

Here's what you'll need:

Several pine cones *rinsed off and dried*
Paint in different colors and paint brushes
Tiny bowls, cups, vases, or planters
Glitter
Hot glue gun
Plastic beads in various sizes and colors
Tiny ribbons

Directions:

I was able to find all the supplies I needed at Joannes Crafts but Michaels Crafts store has them too. I used miniature terracotta planters for the base of the tree's and just painted them. You can use whatever small containers you like.

Rinse off all the pine cones because small insects hide inside them sometimes. Set them aside and let them dry.

Get all of your supplies together, so they are handy.

Paint the bases whatever way you like and set aside to dry. Next paint that pine cones whatever colors you want and while they are still wet sprinkle glitter where you'll want the glitter to be. If you are painting some of them green and painting the tips white and adding glitter to the tips, let the green paint dry and then paint the tips white and add glitter to the white paint. Set aside and let dry completely.

Plug in your hot glue gun and wait until it's hot and start adding tiny drops of hot glue to 3-4 places on the tree's and add a plastic bead. Let dry and do 3-4 more at a time. It's easier to add a few drops of hot glue and put the beads on then it is to do it one at a time. The glue dries fast so only gluing 3-4 at a time was best.

Glue on tiny ribbons to the base or any other decorations you want. Add some hot glue to the top rim of the bowls or cups you are using for the base and quickly add the painted pine cones, hold in place for a few seconds to set and set aside to let everything dry.

Some of the plastic beads fall off when they are stored, but it's easy enough to hot glue a few back on each year. This was a really fun project to do with my teenage daughter.

What's In Your Junk Drawer?

We all have them, that drawer that gets all the miscellaneous things we don't know where else to put. Here is my junk drawer and yes, there are about 9 pair of scissors in there. lol

So what's in my junk drawer?

Tape

scissors

bike flash light

wall hooks

batteries

sample tube of glue

Christmas tree fuses and light bulbs

staples

staple remover

phone jack extender thingie

bike reflector

batteries

rubber bands

nails

pencil sharpener

and a few other misc things

So what's in your junk drawer?

Weekly Rat Facts: Why Does My Rat Sway Back and Forth

This was my seriously funny rat, Jasper. He chewed a hole in the center of the baby blanket he was laying on and then pushed his head through. He was my little trouble maker. He's also what we call a PEW or Pink Eyed White. If you have a PEW you are very likely to see them swaying back and forth when looking at you or at other things. They do this because their eye sight isn't all that great and swaying makes it easier for them to see thing more clearly. 

Darker colored rats may sway back and forth from time to time because rats have notoriously bad eye sight, but rats with pink or red eyes have an even harder time seeing so they will rock back and forth even more.

Freebie Friday

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

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

So this week I received three samples of Poise Pads

A full size envelope of Mrs Dash Taco Seasoning

You can find links to great freebies like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark

So did you get any free samples this week?

Review: Blue Moon Brides Series by Anna Marsh and Giveaway!

I reviewed books 1-3 in the Blue Moon Brides Series for the I Smell Sheep blog. 

Drop by I Smell Sheep and see why I gave all three books 5 stars and while you're there enter the rafflecopter to win a $25 Amazon gift card or an ebook in the Blue Moon Brides series. 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

My tree is up!

The Christmas Angel and Santa are standing on my bookcase.

The corner shelf is decorated.

The wreaths and candles are on the table.

And Lucky is ready to open presents.

Santa rat!

Lucky checking out the ornaments.

I got him to sit still for a Santa hat picture by giving him a treat.

"Get this thing off my head, mom."

Lucky wearing his Santa hat..tis the season...

Bandit wearing a Santa hat. He's one of my 3 1/2 year old boys. 

The hat about to fall of Bandit's head but he didn't care as long as he had a treat to eat. 

So have you decorated yet this year?

Unclaimed By Sara Humphreys: Release Day Celebration, Review and Giveaway!

Review: Unclaimed by Sara Humphreys

This is book 5 in the Amoveo Legend and I've read the 4 previous books. I'm a fan, plain and simple. If you haven't read the other books in this series, you can read this book as a stand alone, but you'll understand the characters more if you read them in order. 

Tatiana is an animal empath as well as a veterinarian and when her sister asks her to come and find out what's wrong with the horses at the ranch, she agrees even though she really doesn't want to be around the other Amoveo. Tatiana has but one stipulation and that is that she gets to bring along her assistant, Matt. He's a human and she knows that the other Amoveo will have to act human and not use their powers as long as he's around.

Dominic is the guardian of the ranch and he takes his position seriously, so when he senses someone on the property he rushes out to find out who is there only to find himself on top of a beautiful half Amoveo woman he recognizes as his mate. The same woman who has been hiding herself from him in the dream realm.

The horses are sick and right when Tatiana thinks she has a handle on what's making the horses ill, one of them turns up murdered and at first everyone thinks that her human friend is the man behind the killing, but I knew right away he wasn't responsible. I could see the twist this story was going to take and while I was hoping I was wrong, I knew I was right.

This story took more twists than a ride at the carnival and while I had an idea where one of the twists was leading me, I was wrong and ended up holding my breath as the scenes unfolded on the pages in front of me. Just as soon as one twist had me completely shocked, another twist in the story would pop up that I totally never saw coming.

I've been a fan of this series from the very first book but I have to say that I think this book may have been the best yet. 

I give this book five stars.

And don't forget that Sara Humphreys is having a FB Launch Day Celebration where you can win great prizes!! FB Celebration goes on today from 12pm to 6:30pm so stop by and say Hi. 

I also have a giveaway for you! Just leave a comment with your email and name and I will pick a winner to win a book from Sara's back list. Ebook or print copy. I will pick a winner tomorrow morning and post it here and email Sara your info. So don't forget to leave a comment with your email on this post!

And here's the book trailer!

Update: Contest is now closed and I picked Sebrina as the winner of the backlist book! I'll be emailing you soon. 

smiley360.com—Be Heard. Be Happy.

smiley360.com—Be Heard. Be Happy.

Have you heard of smiley360? If not, you're missing out on free products that you get to test at home and get to keep. All you have to do to get them is sign up and wait for them to offer you products to test at home. I've been a member of this site for over a year and have tested and kept over a dozen products including food, kitchen and bath products and baby products. If you've ever wanted to get free products at home to try out and keep, this is the easiest site to do it through.

Herding Cats & Burning Soup -Authors For The Holidays and Birthday Celebration!

My friend Anna, is having a month long celebration on her blog, Herding Cats & Burning Soup. You can also find details about this celebration on the FB Group page. Starting today December 1st through January 7th you can win ebooks, print books, signed goodies and other prizes. Herding Cats & Burning Soup is turning 2 years old in January so this is also a Birthday celebration. Come on by and chat with us this month.

I Was A Horrible Kid

When you think back on your earlier years, what do you remember? I remember that my brother and I went through a really awful stage where we physically fought with one another, so much so that our mom had to call the cops on us a couple of times. 

When we lived with our dad and step mother we were always playing jokes on her. My younger brother would go to the magic store in the mall and buy these things you can stick into cigarettes that when the fire hits them, they make a loud POP! So my brother would stick them into her and our dad's cigarette's but not all of them just a few at a time so they never knew when one was going to POP in their cigarettes.

2 am we would hear..POP! and then...Dammnit Billy!

We thought that was so funny.

Then we would get things like sugar cubes that had tiny plastic bugs in them and put those in her sugar bowl. You can't really see the bug until the sugar melts and the plastic bug floats to the surface. 

My brother found a small green snake outside one day and put it in our step mother's underwear drawer. She just about had a heart attack. 

My brother found things like chewing gum that would turn your tongue and mouth black and would offer a piece to my dad right before work. 

And probably the worst thing we did was replace my step mother's Woolite *for her white under garments* with a clear detergent that turned everything light blue. She did NOT find that funny.

I don't know where we got the ideas from to do these things but I remember the first really bad thing I did when when I was about 6-7 years old and my mom got mad at me for some reason and yelled at me. So I took the large salt container and poured salt around the entire outside of the carpet, right up against the wall, where I knew it would be hard to vacuum up. That day I also took a bite out of all the donuts in the box. LOL Mom was not amused. 

We don't look evil...but we sure did some awful things when we were younger. I was 16 and my brother was 14. Oh yeah, we were definitely trouble makers. 

So tell me...what kinds of things did you do to get in trouble when you were younger?

Weekly Rat Facts: Rat Massage

If you have a rat, chances are you already know they love to be petted. Now there's petting and then there's massaging. Lucky loves getting petted but he also likes a little massage. Giving your rat a massage is easy just watch the video and see how much Lucky loves it. This is a daily thing for me and him. First he runs around the cage playing with me and then he lays down waiting for his massage. I kid you not. He's a real cuddler.

Most rats will go into a state of eye boggling bliss while they are getting a massage or being petted. Rats are very affectionate little animals.



Then he'll put his head in my hand and just want to be petted for a while. My two other rats will lay down once I start petting them and they will allow me to pet them, I can even put Bandit to sleep while I'm petting him but once he's finished with me, he'll get up and go in his house and push me away with his nose as if to say, "Okay mommy, I don't want to be petted any more right now. You may leave." lol

But Lucky will lay in my hand for an hour or more if I stayed there. When we take him out for free time on the couch he'll run around playing attack the hand for a while and then he'll just lay down next to one of us and go to sleep as we pet him.

Freebie Friday!

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

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

This week I had to put it in two pictures because I couldn't get a good picture with everything in it. 

From the first picture:

I won a blog contest from Cassandra Curtis: When Midnight Comes

And won all that cool 80's stuff, including a pair of earrings, sun glasses, T-shirt loops. blondie buttons and a I love the 80's button. 

Second Picture:

I got a sample of Gevalia Mocha latte and a coupon for a free Coke

You can find links to freebies at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark

Thanksgiving Pictures

Me, getting ready to start cooking...

My dad playing with his great-grandson while Ken holds Logan. My dad is 80 years old and was afraid to hold Logan...didn't want to accidentally drop him. 

My daughter gave Logan a mohawk... He doesn't have much hair..so it was a tiny mohawk. lol 

My daughter and her boyfriend, Josh. 

My dad and step mother. 

No one wanted me to take pictures of them eating...lol So we got pictures after everyone was done with dinner. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Review: The Accidental Werewolf 2: Something About Harry by Dakota Cassidy

Today I'm a guest reviewer at I Smell Sheep. Take a look at my review of The Accidental Werewolf 2: Something About Harry by Dakota Cassidy.

This is the first book by Dakota Cassidy that I'd read and it was a really fun book to read and review.

Recipe: Braised Pork Shoulder Hocks

Sometimes we see different meats and ingredients in the grocery store that we have no idea what to do with but it looks interesting so we get it and then search online what to do with it. Well these pork shoulder hocks were like that for me. This is the first time I've made them and they came out pretty good. 

Start out with 4 pork shoulder hocks and put them in a shallow roasting pan with a lid.

Next add a chopped bell pepper, onion, celery and some baby carrots. Then pour in a can of chicken broth.

Salt, pepper and a little onion powder and put it in the over covered at 350 degrees for 3 hours. 

I served mine with mashed potatoes and Ken loved it.