Review: Pumped by Willow James

Skylar Sole is focused on work, getting her degree, and dreams of the future. Men and relationships have never been at the top of her priority list. Besides, if a girl's got a good vibrator, then why risk a broken heart? The closest thing she has to a relationship is ogling the hottie from the office park who saunters by Stilettos lingerie shop every day on his way to the deli next door. Getting a glimpse of Mr. Wall Street had become the highlight of her work days and he had become the star of her fantasies. However, one Sunday afternoon, fantasy becomes reality when Mr. Wall Street shows up at Stilettos with that sexy, lopsided grin and a tantalizing proposition.

My Review

Skylar is too busy with her work and dreams of owning her own jewelry shop one day to even think about having a relationship. That is until the man she's been ogling walks into her place of work and over hears part of an embarrassing conversation.

Never having had a real family or home because he was bounced around from one foster home to another, Griffin doesn't know what love, family and home is...but he craves it.

It was supposed to be no strings sex, an indecent proposal that they both agreed on. Things start out hot with sex in public and a little bondage, things are going as planned until Skylar gets hurt and their feelings get in the way. She has second thoughts about the whole arrangement and he doesn't have a clue what she's thinking because let's face it, men can be so clueless sometimes.

I've never met two people more terrified of love, of being hurt than these two. It was heart wrenching to read the turmoil they were putting themselves through in their own minds until they finally let their feelings be known.

If you're looking for a quick, hot read. This novella is the perfect fit.

I give this book 5 stars

Weekly Rat Facts: Human Foods

Rats need not only their own bagged rat food but they also need some fresh foods and cooked foods. This is steamed white rice mixed with 2 tablespoons of canned corned beef hash. The boys loved this for dinner. Don't let the size fool you, this is a very small plate and it's feeding several rats. 

Lucky knows when I'm cooking dinner that he'll be getting a little something as well and he sits at the front of the cage giving me this look. *food?*

As well as steamed white rice, I give my rats fresh fruits and vegetables, cooked noodle, boiled eggs, and little bits of other things that I make for dinner. 

In order for a rat to have a balanced diet they need the additional fresh fruits, vegetables and other foods. Plus, wouldn't you get bored eating the same thing day after day? They do too. 

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 received book swag from the two authors, Heidi Betts and Sara Humphreys. I'm a member of their street teams and occasionally they send out bookmarks, prizes that may have been won in blog contests, stickers, door hangers ect.. Sara Humphreys also sent me an autographed copy of her book, Unclaimed. 

If you win a blog contest from me, I usually include some book swag like the things seen here.

RIP Bandit

My poor little old man passed away last night. I am heartbroken. 

This was Bandit a little over a year ago when I adopted him and his 3 brothers from a family friend. He was the first one to come out and say hi. 

He loved his hammocks. Every time I put a new one in the cage I would find him checking it out a few minutes later. 

He was a climber and would climb on top of the cage given the chance. 

Posing for the camera. 

He loved to sleep in the fleece cubes and chew them to pieces. 

He was the first rat that my grandson petted. He was such a good boy that day and loved the attention. 

*Bandit was the one on the bottom* Always the curious boy, sniffing and looking around when I opened the cage doors. 

He photo bombed his brother and made me laugh.

He was always ready for some company and always came running to the front of the cage when I came over. 

As he got older, he would fall asleep in the strangest places. Like the food dish with rice and corn still on it. He'd just wake up, clean his face off and eat a little more. My poor old man. 

RIP Bandit

Lucky is 1 Year Old Today!

So we had a birthday party! Now I don't know when his actual birthday is because he was about 3 weeks old when we adopted him on January 2nd of last year. But I figured I'd sorta split the difference, but he's a year old now.

Don't worry, he only got a couple bites of cake. 

But he enjoyed it. 

When Lucky came to us, he was as small as a mouse. I actually thought he might be a mouse when I first saw him. I wrote an article that tells how and why we rescued this little guy. 

A Rescue Tale: How a Tiny Rat We Named Lucky Came into Our Lives

He was so small that we kept him in a 20 gallon aquarium for a few weeks until I was able to get a cage for him and he wouldn't be able to squeeze through the bars. 

He was so tiny that instead of putting in a full size baby blanket to sleep in like I do the other rats, I put a small black cotton sock, which was still three times the size of him. 

But week after week, he grew and grew. 

I fastly found out that him only having three legs wasn't going to slow him down at all. He ran, jumped, played and had more energy than a toddler.

He's a goofy little guy, always wanting to play and give kisses. 

I was a little surprized just how much he kept growing and is still growing. He's actually very long when he stands up. I haven't tried to measure him because he still has so much energy, he would never sit still long enough for me to do so.

As you can see, he's quite happy though.

He's a chewer too. I had to buy a new cage before he was even 5 months old because he chewed a hole through the bottom of the plastic pan. When I put this lava ledge in his cage, he had half of it chewed in the time it took me to make dinner. LOL 

I bought him a brand new fleece cube...and he chewed it to shreds in 2 days.

But he's my little cuddle boy and is always ready to come out, play, give kisses and lay on the couch to watch tv with us. 

He has more personality than any rat I've ever had and I've had 12 including him. 

He shares my food, my home and my heart. 

Happy Birthday little guy!

Have A Fun And Safe New Year!

No matter where you are or what you're doing, make sure you have a safe and fun New Year's Eve.

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

When Do You Take Down The Decorations?

So if you put up Christmas decorations this year, when do you take them down?

I usually leave mine up until January 1st, that way they are up for New Years Eve. Some people can't wait to take them down and some people leave the outside lights up all year. I really don't like lugging out all the boxes but it's nice to have it all done and put away after the holidays are over. 

Weekly Rat Facts: Cage Accessories

Rats are pretty easy to care for and easy to please, you just need a few simple things for their cage to make it fun for them to be in. 

First thing is a sturdy food bowl, and a good water bottle. I always make sure I have an extra water bottle in case one of the rats chews a hole in it and I need to replace it. *It's happened*

Rats love hammocks. All of my boys lay in their hammocks and sleep in them. I have several in the big cage and one in Lucky's cage.

Lucky loves his hammock.

Fleece cubes. They love hanging out in these fleece cubes the only problem is, I have chewers...destroyers of cubes. I usually have to buy several of them and hope they last at least a month because my boys love to chew and destroy these things.

Hanging bird toys are another great thing you can put into your rat cage. Just hang the bird toy from the top of the cage and you rat won't be able to stop himself from chewing, playing and tugging on it.

Fluffy beds, plastic igloos and fleece bedding. I use fleece blankets to cover the shelves as bedding and I put baby blankets inside the beds so they have something to fluff up and lay under. Bandit and Marbles checking out the new bed, cube and hammock that I washed.

Plastic Lixit Critter Space Pod, my boys have all loved these things and you can hang them upside down from the top of the cage or have it sit on a cage shelf. Lucky loves his.

Ledges, ramps and ladders. All of my cages came with ladders but you can also buy these Lava Ledges to make extra ledges for them to hop on. Lucky just chewed his all to pieces. lol 

No matter what kind or how many accessories you put in the cage, make sure you take your rats out and play with them each day. They are social animals and need time with you and time out of the cage. 

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 received: 

2 samples of coffee

Sample of Zarbee's Naturals

Sample of Clearasil

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