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 : 

Several perfume samples from Bloomingdale's. 

They all smell so good. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Forever After by Ashley R. King

 

Book Description

On the Vampire Reality Show, Forever After, an immortal bachelor isn’t the only plot twist.

Autumn Reid is in a rut. At nearly thirty, she hasn’t ventured outside the small town of Covey Crossing. When she spots an ad for a new dating show, Forever After, she jumps at the chance for adventure. But this show has a paranormal surprise—a vampire bachelor.

With the winner receiving cash or immortality, it’s an enticing prize. But Autumn doesn’t expect to get that far, she just needs a change from her dull life. Falling for the hot vampire duke isn’t part of the plan.

Impoverished duke Oliver Gray desperately needs money to save his estate. When he’s offered the bachelor spot on Forever After, he has no choice but to accept. But there’s a catch—he must wear Victorian clothes and pretend he’d been hibernating for the last one hundred years.

Fine. He can don a top hat and fake clueless. But a feisty human with a smart mouth? That’s more than he bargained for, especially when something deep inside insists she’s his fated mate.

But Oliver and Autumn’s dreams of love and romance may be cut short when a killer takes out the contestants one-by-one. As the show’s finale nears, will they get their forever happily-ever-after?

My Review

Autumn feels like her life is going nowhere so she chooses to go on a vampire dating show to change things up a bit, never intending to win. But then she meets Oliver, the vampire and her mind slowly changes about him and about winning. 

Oliver doesn't want to do the dating show but he needs the money to keep from losing his home so he agrees to go along with the producers on how they want him to act and the show to progress. But the show is thrown for a loop when people start being murdered. 

So when vampires came out of the shadows and humans know they and some other paranormals exist, Oliver lost a lot of money because his stocks went down so now he needs to make money to keep his family home. A vampire dating show sounds like a great idea because there are some humans that want immortality or money and those are the choices for the winner of the show. 

The attraction between Autumn and Oliver wasn't instantaneous and I really liked that. It took some time for them to get to know each other and find that they liked one another. But I did think it was weird for the show to keep going forward when people kept turning up dead. 

The setting though was way too cute. There were bat messengers, hearse transport cars and bed coffins but it wasn't creepy at all. Finding out who the killer was and why was fun because I never saw it coming. This was such a fun vampire romance. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Amazon

Christmas Decorations and my Christmas Elf

 

This is my tree. 4 years ago I accidentally lost all of my ornaments, they mistakenly got thrown away the year before. I had posted what happened on FB and some of my blogger and FB friends sent me new ornaments. Then I bought a few each year as well and my daughter put some of hers on after she put her tree up.  

My daughter also has a tree and ornaments so she set her tree up too. 

This is on the shelf in the corner. I made the stuffed snowmen heads hanging on either side and the tiny Christmas trees on the shelves. 

Here's a better picture of one of them. 

Those tiny Christmas tree's are made out of pine cones, small terracotta pots, glue, beads and paint.

This red berry wreath is hanging over the door.

My daughter made this wreath for the door.

The snowmen with light up noses are on my refrigerator with my rat magnets.

My daughter and I made these sea shell angels back when she was a kid. Probably 15 years ago.

These are puppies in Christmas baskets next to the candy bowls.

Santa and a Christmas angel looking over a little Christmas town.

Here's a better look at what's on the table.

The shelves between the living room and kitchen have Christmas stuff all over them.

Snowman candy basket.

My daughter gave one of the spice racks a Christmas upgrade with some candy cane garland.

The living room wall has a bunch of stockings hung on it. 

My daughter also decorated the living room window. But several strands of lights weren't working so she ended up using a different color lights on one end. lol 

These little Christmas tree's are what's down on the bottom of the window. 

And this is what it looks like lit up. It's colorful. lol 

My daughter bought Falcor a little Elf shirt and hat. He doesn't mind the shirt but won't leave the hat on for more than 5 seconds.

But I was able to snap a couple of pictures when I bribed him with a treat.

He got tired of taking pictures and yawned. But this blooper picture was just too funny not to include.

Have you decorated for Christmas yet?

Book Review: Immortal's Honor

 

Book Description

First comes danger . . .

When Vampire-Demon Sam Kyllwood discovers he's the keeper of some mysterious circle, he laughs it off. When he finds out that his younger brother is supposed to fight to the death in said circle, he snaps right to furious. And that's before he starts uncontrollably making things explode —it turns out it's never too late to develop deadly new immortal abilities. But even those explosions are nothing compared to what happens when he tries to handle a very suspicious, brilliant and beyond sexy human female whose piercing eyes ignite a heat that rages deliciously outside even his unbreakable control…

Then comes desire . . .

Honor McDovall is one of the best interrogators Homeland Security has ever had. But no matter how well she appears to fit in, her mystical gifts are slowly driving her mad. She doesn't understand them, she doesn't want them, but for now, she'll use them to detect and defeat danger until she completely loses her mind. Unfortunately, her job brings her face to face with the deadliest man she's ever met—and she senses Sam is even more gifted than she is. Yet once they kiss, she realizes he's also more dangerous than the enemies suddenly coming from every direction. Good thing they both like to play with fire . . .

My Review

Sam is a vampire-demon hybrid and he keeps setting off explosions and can't seem to control it so when he's taken in for questioning by Swat, he's questioned by Honor. She's different and he can sense that right away. 

Honor is an enhanced female and enhanced females are being kidnapped by the Kurjan's so now she's in danger and Sam knows it. But it's not until Honor touches him and somehow part of his fire curse is transferred to her that things take a drastic turn. 

Now that Honor has fire shooting from her fingers, she thinks that it has to do with chemicals on Sam's clothing, not wanting to believe that the fire is coming from her. So when Sam shows up at her door and kidnaps her...for her own safety, she doesn't stop trying to get away until she watches a bear shift into a man. Shifters exist, so what else could be real and maybe Sam really is trying to keep her safe. 

This is the 14th book in the Dark Protectors series and it's one of the best books yet. The world building and characters are what keep bringing me back to this series because it's been so much fun to read. 

The Kurjan's and Ulric are crazy dangerous and now we know that they have to be taken out and hopefully the seven will be able to do it soon.

I love the world that this author has created even though at times it can be confusing when you first read about it. The characters have been great and I love getting glimpses into their lives while reading the series. I'm really looking forward to reading more of this series.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #281

 

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 24 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 24 years here in a weekly blog post. 

Last week the guy that lived in the second apartment in from the end of the building, moved out. He had some of the druggies from drug dealer's apartment helping him move his boxes to the moving truck. And when he was done he either left the apartment open to the druggies who were squatting in the apartment or they broke in knowing he wasn't there anymore and they were there all weekend and into Monday. My daughter and I saw them coming in and out of the apartment. So when Monday came around the maintenance man went into that apartment and kicked out all of the squatters, changed the locks and screwed plywood over the door and windows so the squatters couldn't get into the apartment again. I watched him kick out at east 6 people from that apartment. 

The only reason I didn't call the police is because I have before for situations like this and unless there's a manager on site or that they can get a hold of to verify that the people don't live there, the police won't make them leave. So there was no reason to call because the police won't do anything. 

---

Around 10pm one night I spotted a police car across the street. The cop sat in the car for about 2 hours. I don't know why but I didn't see anything else going on. 

---

The other day I was walking Falcor and he started barking at one of the tweakers from around here. He looked at Falcor and said, "You don't need to bark, your momma is safe. No one around here would mess with her"

Now I could take that two ways, either he thinks I'm such a badass (I'm not) that no one would mess with me (hahaha)...or, he thinks it's not such a bad neighborhood and I'm safe when I'm out at night walking the dog. 

I know he didn't mean it this way but I'm going to be believe that he thinks I'm a badass (I'm not). lol 

---

 

I thought this week was going to be pretty uneventful until Friday night at 8PM came around. Then this happened. You have to wait a few seconds but then the police car drives by and you can see a light which is the police helicopter. You can hear the helicopter overhead and hear the police car siren for a second. 

The police had my street blocked off at both ends and the police helicopter was flying directly overhead. If you turn the volume up you can hear the police helicopter, it was flying close and was loud. I don't know what happened but it was two courtyards away from me in my apartment complex. Whatever it was, looked intense. I didn't go outside since there were so many police around so I filmed this from my bedroom window.

The high this week was 75F/23C

The low this week was 45F/7C

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

 

I love Atreyu. They have a whole bunch of songs that are good but this one is my favorite. Have you ever listened to them before?

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 dog toy for Falcor from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

6 rolls of packing tape and a loop velcro fastener tape from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

The packing tape will come in handy for packing away the Christmas boxes after Christmas again. The velcro tape is great for organizing computer wires, or whatever you might need a velcro tape that has a sticky side that you can stick to walls, drawers or whatever you need. 

Falcor loves his toy. He's been playing with it a lot. 

He's a chewer and this was supposed to be "bite resistant' but I can tell you that he started tearing that rope part up right away. Some of it is on the floor in this picture already. lol  He's having fun with it while it lasts though. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Beast by Cambria Hebert

 

Book Description

A tale as old as time…

A charismatic man could not see beyond his own brilliant reflection, never learning that true beauty lies within. His selfish behavior drew the ire of a witch with enchantment on her wicked tongue. A fiery curse was unleashed, engulfing the self-centered man’s entire existence.

When at last the flames extinguished, he gazed upon his reflection to discover he was no longer breathtakingly handsome, but condemned with scorched flesh and twisted scars.

He was no longer a man at all, but a beast.

While the ferocious beast raged, alienating everyone far and wide a woman whose beauty was far more than skin deep lived in a world much simpler than his.

Her quiet life is disrupted when she’s ambushed, threatened and boldly steps in the path of her father’s debt. However, it’s not the thugs on her tail or the roaring beast testing her patience that threatens to be this sassy beauty’s downfall.

It’s the way her heart flutters whenever he is near, but some curses just can’t be broken and really, how could she truly ever love a beast?

My Review

Ander is a rich guy who gets in trouble a lot but his father always pays off whoever he gets in trouble with so he never has any real consequences. Until he meets a witch at a bar and she puts a curse on him. Later he's in a fire and terribly hurt but it's his horrible temper that's the last straw for his father who cuts him off. 

Em is a nurse at a rehab facility that Ander is brought to when he's kicked out of the hospital because of his bad temper. There he meets Em and she's seems to be the only one who's not afraid of him and can see the real person he is under the burns and anger at his situation. I really liked how Em was able to get him to calm down while she was taking care of him. 

When Ander's father takes over all of his bank accounts and cuts him off from any family money, he has to rely on the people at the rehab center for everything but it's Em that shows him the most compassion for the situation he's in. Ander is known as The Beast because of his temper and the terrible burns he's suffered in the fire. 

Em and her father have problems of their own because her father has a gambling problem, so in comes the bad guy's henchmen to try and make them pay the money back. Em is working two jobs to try and raise the money but it's not enough and then there's a fire at the place she works. All kinds of drama ensues from there. There's a great twist that I kinda saw coming but I didn't know the extent of what was going to happen. 

This is the 4th book in this series but the first book that I've read and I liked this so much I know I'll be going back to read the other books. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

I took these pictures from my bedroom window one morning when I woke up early. The sunrise started changing so fast but I was able to get these pretty pictures of the sky before the sun came all the way up. The sky was all purple, blue and pink and I thought it was really pretty. 

When the sun started coming up it was hitting the underside of the clouds and it looked really cool. 

I know the pictures really don't do the sky justice because it was really looking purple out there but it kinda shows up in the pictures. Oh and that really tall light in the middle of the picture if one of the freeway lights that are really bright and light up my street and courtyard at night now.

I took these at 5:30am. Looks like this is the best time for sunrise pictures. 

Book Review: Wild Cowboy Wolf by Kait Ballenger

 

Book Description

Blaze Carter is the cowboy wolf with the most dangerous desires. One of the wolf ranch's elite warriors, the Grey Wolf security technologist is as smart as a whip, the quickest to joke, and the first to act on his impulses—carnal or otherwise. But this cowboy has a dark secret he can never escape, and Blaze fears the day when his demons catch up to him.

Dakota Cassidy has everything a she-wolf could ever want—an appointment as one of the pack's first female elite warriors, a career as the ranch's veterinarian, and an endearing family that's equal parts loveable and trouble. There's just one thing missing—someone to share it with. Enter: Blaze. For the first time ever, Dakota's now seeing her best friend in a whole new light. But to act on her desires could have deadly consequences for them both...

My Review

Blaze is an elite warrior but he has some secrets that are about to catch up to him. Dakota is his best friend but he's been in love with her for years and she has no idea until she decides she has feelings for him.

Dakota is also an elite warrior, one of the pack's first female's to have the job but she wants more. She wants someone to share her life with, she just never considered Blaze to be that person until now. 

When a friend of Blaze's comes to warn him that his secrets are about to catch up with him and he could be in danger along with his pack and anyone close to him, he decides to tell his alpha. Blaze had been sent on a mission that still haunts him. He had been sent to Russia to infiltrate the Volk who are sadistic, murderous, sociopathic wolf shifters that were thought to have been extinct. He was able to join their ranks and be the spy he was sent there to be and report back to his superiors about them but in doing so he made an enemy of the Volk and still has nightmares about what he saw. So when he's warned they might be coming for him, he's worried. 

When Dakota finally realizes she has feelings for her best friend, Blaze and that he loves her too, they try to take things slow but end up being together because they know they are meant to be mates. But the Volk are coming so they can't put as much into their relationship before the attack happens.

Blaze tries to prepare his pack for the arrival of the Volk and the vampires that come along to attack them but they didn't have enough time to prepare and there are some losses when they are attacked. Blaze blames himself and does something stupid to try and keep the rest of the pack safe. 

This was an interesting twist on shifters, a different kind of shifter and vampires. I like the story of how the Volk came into being and how this ended. I've been reading this series for some time and I usually really like the books but while I really liked the 2nd half of this book, the first half was slow to get going. I'm glad I stuck with it though because the story does pick up and get a lot better. The action in the second half is great. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

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

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #280

 

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 24 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 24 years here in a weekly blog post. 

---

My daughter and neighbor were telling me how two men were going around banging on doors (including ours) at 2am last Sunday morning.  Thankfully my daughter didn't open the door but she heard them saying to someone else that they were looking for *Michelle* that she was being held hostage in the 119 building. But the 119 building is across the street. It was sketchy as hell. I was wondering if they were seeing if anyone would open their door so they could rush in and rob them. It's happened before. I didn't hear anything else about it.

---

My neighbor was so mad on Sunday. She had a yelling match with the people in drug dealers apartment because so many of the druggies are pushing carts full of items they found in the trash down the walkway in front of her apartment and trying to trade said items for crack. All day last Saturday people were going back and forth with carts full of trash and my neighbor is tired of it. Not that I blame her one bit.

So my neighbor is using chairs, a table, potted plants and whatever else she can find in her apartment to block off the sidewalk in front of her door so people with carts can't push the cart by her door. I heard her telling drug dealer that if he has a bunch of people at his apartment from now she's calling the police. She's so mad. 

The next day the guy in the apartment directly across from her started yelling at all the druggie coming and going and waiting in front of drug dealer's apartment. He yelled that they needed to leave, that they didn't live here and needed to be gone. They left for a while but it didn't last long. That guy is so quiet, I've never heard him raise his voice before but I guess people are here are getting tired of the druggies hanging around all the tie causing problems for the people that live here.

---

The high this week was 72F/22C

The low this week was 41F/5C

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

 

I don't know if you've heard of Hollywood Undead but if you haven't then this is a good song to start with. They have softer songs like this one, rock songs and then songs that have a lot more rap in them. I don't listen to a lot of rap but I really like them because they can actually sing. 

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 bathmat from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

Smart Mouth dental chew for dogs. 

Estee Lauder anti aging face cream. 

Lancome Youth Activating Concentrate face serum. 

I love the bathmat. It's such a nice color and will be a nice backup after the one I'm using falls apart like they usually do after a few rounds in the washing machine. 

The face creams and serums are nice. They smell good and leave my face soft but I don't actually think they do anything except act as a good moisturizer. 

Falcor didn't really like his dental chew. He chewed on it a little bit but he has such small teeth and this thing is really hard so I think that he doesn't like chewing on it. But he likes throwing it around and playing with it. lol 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: The Jackal (Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp Book 1) by J.R. Ward

 

Book Description

The location of the glymera’s notorious prison camp was lost after the raids. When a freak accident provides Nyx clues to where her sister may still be doing time, she becomes determined to find the secret subterranean labyrinth. Embarking on a journey under the earth, she learns a terrible truth—and meets a male who changes everything, forever.

The Jackal has been in the camp for so long he cannot recall anything of the freedom he once knew. Trapped by circumstances out of his control, he helps Nyx because he cannot help himself. After she discovers what happened to her sister, getting her back out becomes a deadly mission for them both.

United by a passion they can’t deny, they work together on an escape plan for Nyx—even though their destiny is to be forever apart. And as the Black Dagger Brotherhood is called upon for help, and Rhage discovers he has a half-brother who’s falsely imprisoned, a devious warden plots the deaths of them all…even the Brothers.

My Review

Nyx realizes she can get into the prison her sister has been in for fifty years and hopefully break her out but her grandfather tells her a huge secret, he's the one that turned her in and she belongs there. Nyx doesn't believe him for a minute and goes to rescue her sister. 

The Jackal has been in this underground prison for 100 years after he was accused and convicted of something he didn't do. The prisoners in this place are treated horribly and the guards and person in charge are pure sadists. When the Jackal finds Nyx inside looking for her sister, he decides to help her because he knows she'll wind up dead if he doesn't. 

Once Nyx and The Jackal find a way to trust each other a little, the temperature rises because they lust after one another and give into that lust pretty fast. While The Jackal is trying to keep her safe as he and his friends help her look for her sister, they get to know each other better and we get The Jackal's back story. 

I found this book quite slow in the beginning almost until the end of the book when things finally pick up because of the twists the story takes. We also find out why The Jackal has stayed for so long and hasn't tried to escape. His story was sad, what was going on inside this prison was sad but it did end up having a good ending. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

This week I thought I would share some of the things I saw while I was out on a walks with Falcor. 

That Pine tree is actually in my courtyard. When I first moved here 25 years ago, it was shorter than the top of the roof. Now it's so tall. 

Then I realized while I was taking that Pine Tree picture that the clouds in the background looked kinda cool. That tan building is my apartment building. I've been told it looks like prison housing. lol 

Someone left a note on a piece of cardboard on a light pole that said, "Kindness & courtesy were the masters style."

There has been a lot of road construction going on my street this past week. They have been starting at 6am, so I've been getting up early. They dug up the ground right around the corner to the left. 

Someone had an inflatable bouncy house in their backyard for a couple of days. Sounded like they were having a fun party. The kids sure were having fun.