Favorite Song of the Week

 

By now you already know that I like bangers. I like metal and rock. This will be the last metal/rock song for a few weeks. Starting next week I'm going to share some of the other kinds of music I like to listen to. I had to share this one this week because the lead singer can really belt out those lyrics. I love his voice. 

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 new kitchen trash can from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

I really needed another one so I'm glad that I was able to get this one. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Bad Santa by Mina Carter

 

Book Description

She’s finally free… if she can stay alive.

Freed from marriage to a brutal pixie warlord by his death, Joy knows her life could be counted in weeks… days probably. her husband’s death put a price on her head as every pixie warrior in the city plots to claim her and take her husbands place as Lord. Surviving long after that… yeah, she’s not that stupid. Her only chance is to take down her late husbands criminal empire before they can stop her. Behind bars, she can make sure none of these bastards hurt anyone ever again. But for that, she’s going to need some help…

Help that arrives in the form of PPA operative Nick, a panty-wetting, ripped… actually, she’s not sure what he is. He’s strong, ruthless and might just be her only chance at making it to Christmas alive.

Frost killed his wife, so now Nick’ll take what belongs to him: His daughter.

Since the death of Mrs. Claus thirty years ago, Nicholas Claus has been hunting down Jack Frost to make him pay. The original Santa, he’s not always been the guy in the red suit and working for the PPA allows his… other side out to play. The side that is far older and way more dangerous than the chocolate box image.

hen a new case drops Frost’s daughter right into his lap, he can’t believe his luck. All his has to do is put the girl in danger and wait for daddy dearest to show up. But Joy is different, unlike any woman he’s ever known before, and Nick finds putting her in danger is harder than he thought. Posing as her lover is the easiest thing he’s ever done. The hardest? Telling himself that it’s all for show.

But when his enemy finally shows, will Nick take his vengeance for the woman he loved… and lose the woman he loves forever?

My Review

There will be spoilers.

Nick is the original Santa but after Jack Frost killed his wife, all his time has been spent tracking Jack down so he can get his revenge. Nick's family has taken over the cheery Santa duties and Nick now works for PPA (Paranormal Protection Agency), where he can put his other abilities to work. So when his next job comes through and Jack Frost's daughter is the woman he has to keep safe, he plans on using her to lure Jack out of hiding...until he starts having feelings for Joy. 

Joy just got out of a bad marriage when her crime boss husband died and is on the run from her husband's people because if they find her she's not sure what they will do. Joy is now the head of her Pixie clan but she'll have to prove that she can stay on top since other Pixies want the top spot and aren't wanting to have a female boss, so they aren't going to make it easy for her. 

Nick had been hired to keep Joy safe but she wasn't helpless and had defenses because of who her dad was. When Jack Frost does finally show himself to his daughter, Nick is furious and there's a huge fight between them. Once Joy realizes that Nick used her as bait to get to her father, she leaves with her father. 

Now for what I didn't like about this book. Jack Frost didn't have anything to do with his daughter because he knew Nick blamed him for Mrs. Claus freezing to death but it was an accident that Jack had nothing to do with. So when Joy forgives Nick and they get back together, it just made no sense to me. She spent her entire life being treated badly and sold into a marriage that she hated all because her father couldn't show his face around her because he knew Nick would try to kill him or his daughter if he did. The story and the secondary characters like Rudolph and the other reindeers being shifters was fun but there were too many things that bothered me about this story for me to like Joy and Nick's relationship. Santa was a jerk and that didn't sit well with me. 

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Book Review: The Texts Before We Met by Matilda Swinney

 

Book Description

Tilly dreams of becoming an oscar winning actress. She also dreams of something far less family-friendly. She has always longed to be dominated. During an acting course in Brighton, she decides to embrace her desires and makes a risky decision. She agrees to meet the stranger she has been talking to online for a mere few weeks.

As the acting course progresses and Tilly begins to make friends, her texts with her online mystery man accelerate too. She worries whether she has made the right decision. Should she listen to her heart’s desire or pay attention to the warning signs? Is she in over her head?

On the day they are due to meet, she races to the five star London hotel her date has arranged. She's running late, but she's ready to finally find out who he is. Will he live up to her expectations and be the sexy dominating guy she has always wanted.

My Review

Tilly wants to be an actor so she's taking a course to make her dreams come true. But she's also talking to a guy online that seems to have the Dom qualities she's looking for. Their texts back and forth make her feel more and more comfortable as well as excited to finally meet him. It was obvious during watching her through her acting course that Tilly was a very nervous person and had some anxiety. It made her so much more likable to me since I have the same type of personality. 

Tilly did the sensible thing and told her friend Amelia that she was meeting a stranger from the internet and where she would be. They had a code that Tilly could text her in case she ran into trouble so that Amelia could send help to her. Not that Tilly really thought that her dominating, dream date was dangerous or anything but you can't be too careful. 

This book is the prequel to, The Girl Who Jumped. It was only 58 pages long but we get to read the texts between Tilly and her online stranger before they meet at the hotel. It was a fun read and made me look forward to reading the book where they meet in person.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Book Review: Badgering the Bear: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Mate in a Minute Speed Dating Agency Book 1) by Flora Dare

 

Book Description

Meet her mate in minutes? Ha! Oh, wait...look at that hottie over there...

Curvy badger shifter Jolie is nagged by her best friend to check out shifter speed dating (okay, she might have lost a bet). It's pretty boring, though, until she sees...him. Gabe is big. He's burly. And just the touch of his hand on hers sets Jolie's body aflame with need.

Insecurity sends Jolie scurrying for the cover of the forest. Good thing a bear like Gabe loves a good hunt. And what Gabe wants? Gabe takes.

The Mate in a Minute Speed Dating Agency short stories deliver a happy ending before bedtime.

My Review

Jolie is talked into going speed dating and really isn't holding out hope of anything coming from it until Gabe sits at her table. She's totally smitten with him and she doesn't know it but so is he. 

Gabe goes speed dating but after being hurt in a past relationship, he's chosen to keep a few things about himself a secret. 

So when the speed dating agency calls them both to let them know they're a match and they go on a second date, he doesn't tell the whole truth about himself and when Jolie finds out that he lied, it almost destroys what they could have. They are both shifters and they're both hoping to find their mates one day. Because this is a short novella, the pace was fast and things happen fast between them.  

This was a short (72 page), sweet, novella that was just the right length when I only had a little time to read one night. Plus it was a great introduction to the Mate in a Minute Speed Dating Agency series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon 

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #287

 

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.

I know you can barely make out the police car there behind the van but it's there. The police were back over here with the homeless shelter van trying to convince the homeless people around here to go to the shelter. 

A few people did actually get in the van but there are still quite a few homeless people around here that wouldn't go. 

But in my pictures you can also see the street and where the street maintenance crews come by about a week ago and sealed the cracks in the street. 

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Now that I figured out how to download old videos from fb, here's another one. 

Back in 2012 this guy lived in that apartment he's in front of. He kept his motorcycle inside his apartment instead of in the parking alley, and would start up his motorcycle in the courtyard every morning at 6am to go to work. And would ride it into the courtyard at night when he got home. He would ride right by 4 bedroom windows and didn't care he was making so much noise. How rude is that? Everyone hated this guy and were glad when he moved out.

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Covid Update Day 24: 

We are all still coughing but we are doing better. My back muscles hurt from all the coughing. My sense of smell is really muted. I can smell just not strongly. My daughter and grandson are still coughing a lot. Me and my daughter still get mild headaches but my grandson is feeling better. Really, if we could get rid of this cough we would be fine.

Thank you for all the well wishes, we appreciate it.

The high this week was 65F/18C

The low this week was 32F/0 C

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

 

If you already listen to a band called Disturbed, then you probably recognize David Draiman who is the lead singer for that band. But for a while he sang for this band, Device as well and this is one of my favorite songs from them. 

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:

I cashed out my points on Crowdtap for a $5 Amazon giftcard. 

Free flowers.

You can sign up on Crowdtap  and take surveys that you can then cash out for giftcards too.

The lady next door found a bag delivered by Uber left at her door that she didn't order. It had kids cough medicine, iced tea and flowers in it. My grandson has Covid too so she brought the bag of stuff over to us. So that's how I got free flowers. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Auctioned For Her Blood by Mara Leigh

 

Book Description

Never go out after dark.

There's a secret in my blood. My mother died to protect me from dark magic, and I've played it safe for the past ten years, never going outside after the sun sets. But I can't live like this anymore. I don't want to die alone and a virgin.

One wrong turn and I find myself on an auction block where two wealthy, powerful men bid their fortunes for a night with me.

I can't deny that I'm drawn to both the cultured intellect and the dangerous bad boy. With them, I'm whisked into a glamorous world of powerful vampires, wild creatures, dark secrets and darker desires.

The secrets held deep inside me are going to come out. All I can do is trust the men I'm falling for to protect me from the danger hunting me.

Auctioned for Her Blood is Book 1 of The Vampires' Illuminant series. Expect a steamy, exciting story, where the heroine falls for more than one man and doesn't have to choose.

My Review

Ember was just a kid when her mother made her go into the magically concealed basement to hide from those bad people who were looking for her. But when her mother disappeared that night she knew her mother was dead and had died for her, to keep her safe. From that moment on she did as her mother had told her to do and never went out after dark in order to keep herself safe. Until one night she can't help but be out after dark for a work event. 

Meeting Zuben changed her life but then meeting Ryker also changed her life but not in bad ways. She now knows that things are not always what they seem and there's a lot more to be seen than she ever knew. Vampires exist and while some are bad, Zuben and Ryker and not the bad kind. At least she doesn't think Zuben is a bad vampire but the people he works for are not good so he tries to keep her safe from them because if they found out what she is, they would keep her locked up and experiment on her. 

I was really liking this book when it abruptly ended on a cliffhanger. I was not expecting that and it really ruined the book for me. 

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Review: Daily Goodie Box- January

 

The Daily Goodie Box has been around since about July of 2016. I signed up for an account right after I heard about them. They are 100% free, you don't even have to pay for shipping. And for a free box it's a nice sampler box of products.

What was in the box?

NFco - Natural Mouthwash- You know how some natural mouthwashes have a bad taste to them? Well I was pleasantly surprised that this one was good. It has a good taste to it and because it's alcohol free, it doesn't burn to use.

South of France - Shea Butter Bar Soap- I love trying new soaps and this one smells so good. It has a nice lather, smells good and didn't dry my skin. 

Foods Alive - Nutritional Yeast- I've never used this before but it says you can use it as a seasoning so I added a little to my salad and it was fine. Here's to finding new things to use this with. I love trying new things.

The Good Bean - Crunchy Chickpeas- I've actually made crunchy chickpeas in the oven before but they take so long to get crunchy. So I love that I got to try these because they were good. 

FeelGood SuperFoods - Immune Support Shot- Well since I'm sick with Covid this came at just the right time. It didn't have too bad a taste and I figured it can't hurt to take now when I'm not feeling good. I didn't feel anything from it like the jitters or anything like with an energy shot but it wasn't too bad.

Whisps - Parmesan Cheese Crisps- Nope. I've tried these a couple of times when they've been in the box before. I cannot try them again. The smell is bad enough but the taste is slightly vomit-ish. Not good.

Neuro - Energy and Focus Gum- I chew gum a lot but I could not with this. It had such a bad taste to it. I spit it right out.

Zolli Candy - Zolli PB Cups- Hands down this was the best thing in the box. My grandson and I ate these over a couple of days. We both loved them.

All they ask you to do is try the products and leave reviews for the products you got in order to be eligible for more Free Goodie Boxes. As you guys already know, I'm a fan of all these types of boxes. I love all the different subscription boxes and it's really nice to be able to try new to me products for free. This is a great box to try for.

Oh and one more thing, if you visit their FB Page, they give away Goodie Boxes to people who interact with their posts. So if you've tried before and weren't able to get a Goodie Box, there's even more ways to get one now.

Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Have you signed up? Have you received one of these boxes?

I'm a fan of subscription boxes and love trying new products for free so this was a huge hit with me. New products+free box = Fabulous!

Disclosure: I was given and free box in exchange for a review but all opinions are my own.

Book Review: Alpha's Temptation by Renee Rose and Lee Savino

 

Book Description

MINE TO PROTECT. MINE TO PUNISH. MINE.

I’m a lone wolf, and I like it that way. Banished from my birth pack after a bloodbath, I never wanted a mate.

Then I meet Kylie. My temptation. We’re trapped in an elevator together, and her panic almost makes her pass out in my arms. She’s strong, but broken. And she’s hiding something.

My wolf wants to claim her. But she’s human, and her delicate flesh won't survive a wolf's mark.

I'm too dangerous. I should stay away. But when I discover she's the hacker who nearly took down my company, I demand she submit to my punishment. And she will.

Kylie belongs to me.

Publisher’s Note: Alpha’s Temptation is a stand-alone book in the Bad Boy Alphas series. HEA guaranteed, no cheating.

My Review

Jackson is a wolf shifter but he doesn't have a pack, he's a loner and the CEO of his own company. Some years ago there was a hacker who hacked his system but didn't take anything, she was just showing off her skills to him to let him know she could hack him and then she disappeared. He's been trying to find her ever since then with no luck. 

Kylie has been on the run ever since she witnessed something she shouldn't have seen and she and her grandma have been moving around even though the bad guy is in jail. 

Kylie who is the one who hacked Jackson's company interviews for a job there but gets stuck in the elevator with a man not knowing it's Jackson. She's scared of small spaces so she freaks out a little while in there with him and he's able to calm her down until the lights and power come back on. After she gets the job, Jackson can't seem to get her out of his mind and makes reasons to go and see her. But he's a wolf shifter and even though his wolf is telling him that Kylie is his mate, he can't mate her because doing so would put a human in danger. He might even kill her during the mating process, so he tries to keep her at arms length until he just can't anymore. 

When someone tries to blackmail Kylie she decides to go to Jackson and tell him the truth only to find out that the bad guys have kidnapped her grandmother. The action really ramped up at this point because not only does Kylie's grandmother have a huge secret of her own but there's a double-cross going on right under Jackson's nose.

I really liked Kylie and Jackson but there were a few problems with his personality that I didn't care for. He's messing around with a human who he knows could die if he bites her while he tries to mate her but that doesn't stop him from tempting his wolf too many times by being with her. There were too many close calls. Plus he's an alpha wolf and a dominant which wouldn't have been bad if his form of discipline hadn't got on my nerves at times and other times just came across as wrong. She was innocent, had no experience with men and he just came across too strong and wanted things from her that she seemed to inexperienced to be able to tell him she might not want to do. So while I really liked the story, I didn't like him at times. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"It's a cereal kind of morning"

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

Apartment Life #286

 

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 took this picture with her phone since her phone takes good pictures at night. The ambulance was right across the street from us at 10pm when she got home from work. No idea what was going on but I didn't see anyone get taken away in the ambulance.

I figured out how to download a video I took years ago that I had put on Facebook. I hope this actually works. lol 

We used to call this guy Banjo Man. He didn't live here, he would just walk around and if he saw someone outside, he would stand beside them and play his banjo. Most people got used to him really fast and would let him play near them. I took this video when Banjo Man was standing near my neighbor. 

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I had a package delivered on Tuesday at 6PM but the delivery person never knocked on my door so I didn't know it was out there. I went out just an hour later after seeing the message notification and it was gone. Someone stole it. Thankfully I was able to get a replacement sent out.

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A neighbor had someone knock on his door late one night and when he opened the door the lady opened the screen door because he didn't have it locked and pushed her way in. Then she tried staying the night and when he told her she couldn't stay, she refused to leave. After an argument, he had to physically pick her up and put her outside where she decided it would be a good idea to throw a fit and start yelling and screaming. It was after midnight so I'm surprised one of his neighbors didn't call the police before she left. This is why I keep my screen door locked at all times so people can't just try to walk into my apartment.

----

And we've all been sick for almost 2 weeks and my daughter went and took a Covid test because her work told her she had to in order to take a week off from work. Last night the test came back positive so we all have Covid. But we're all doing alright. I'm actually feeling better, we just can't get rid of this cough.

The high this week was 64F/17C

The low this week was 26F/-3 C

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!

 

Here is this week's favorite song. While the video is a little strange, the song is great. I hope you like it too. Let me know if you've heard this one 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:

I received a pair of earphones from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

I received a full size foaming hand washing kit from Hello Friends.

I cashed out my points on Thrift Pig surveys for a $5 Amazon gift card. 

I didn't like the earphones. They were too big for my ears and hurt my ears. 

The Hello hand washing kit contains a glass bottle and a soap tablet that you add to warm water and let dissolve. It works well so that's kinda cool. 

I linked all the sites I used this week so if you want to find freebies or sign up for the different sites, you can click on the links to their sites. 

I cannot link Walmart Spark Reviewer since that site is my invitation only.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Knight's Redemption by Sherilee Gray

 

Book Description

The Knights of Hell have grabbed my attention and dragged me into their dark, sexy and action packed world!

With one fatal mistake, immortal demon hunter Lazarus started a chain reaction that set him and his five brothers on a collision course straight to Hell.

There’s only one way to save them all—claim his mate, a sweet beauty he doesn’t deserve and will only end up hurting. But immortals fall hard, and walking away from her when it’s over is going to be near-impossible.

When bookstore owner Eve Taylor starts hearing the thoughts of others, she is certain she’s losing her mind. Until the day a wickedly seductive and dangerous warrior appears and introduces her to a terrifying new world—one she has been part of her whole life and never knew.

Now, with a traitor consumed by darkness and driven by revenge hunting them, they have one chance at survival. But they must give into the scorching desire that, if they let it, could destroy them both.

My Review

Lazarus made a mistake, an accident really that cost his friend his mate and now Tobias is out for revenge. Tobias let his demon half take over and is out for revenge against Lazarus so finding his mate is the last thing he wants to do but that's exactly what happens. 

Eve can hear people's thoughts so when her powers showed up and Lazarus shows up to make sure she's safe, all hell breaks loose when a demon goes for her and tries to take her. Lazarus realizes that Eve is his mate and has to keep her safe. So he kills the demon and talks her into coming with him. 

Eve isn't sure Lazarus is the good guy even though he saved her but all kinds of weird things are happening and she knows she'd never be able to fight these demons who want to kidnap her by herself so she gives Lazarus a chance. So when he brings her back to where he and his brothers live, some with their mates, it's not long before Eve starts to feel safe around them. 

But Lazarus is fighting an attraction for her even though she's his mate and she can make him stronger if he tells her and she agree's to mate him so he can fight Tobias. But he doesn't think he's good enough for her so for a while he is able to keep his distance until some secrets are revealed and things don't go as planned. 

I really liked getting to know Lazarus and his brothers and even though I would hope that Tobias comes to his senses and comes back to them, I just don't see that happening which is sad. 

This book has a lot of action but it also has a lot of angst which slowed down the romance but I kinda liked that about this. They are attracted to each other but they don't get together right away and I liked getting to know both of them. The ending was so good that I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series now. I would have loved this cover if they hadn't cut his face off. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Book Review: Ancient Vendetta by Katie Reus

 

Book Description

His responsibility is to his pack, his people—the territory of New Orleans.

When the world devolved into chaos and fire, Alpha wolf King kept his territory from collapsing. Now, every day it seems there’s a new challenge—rogue witches, treacherous vampires, evil dragons. But his biggest threat is Aurora. Unique, magical, a female who sees him, the male, and not simply the Alpha in charge. But she’s thrown up so many walls that he’s afraid he’ll never be able to break through to the woman behind them. When the most dangerous threat they’ve ever faced ravages the city he’ll need her at his side—to defeat it, and then claim the woman who already owns him, body and soul.

But she makes him want more.

After being held captive for a year, Aurora has embraced her freedom. For the first time in her life she’s living away from her older sister in a new territory. A new world. She’s made friends and is helping New Orleans get back on its feet. But she’s far from the woman she used to be. Even so, she can’t fight her ever present and growing attraction to King. Except she’s afraid she’s broken, that she’ll never be able to have a normal relationship again—that she can’t handle being an Alpha’s mate. When an evil linked to his past threatens to tear them apart and destroy the city, she must set her fears aside and find the courage to follow her heart—and the wolf who’s already won it.

Author note: Though part of a series, this book may be read as a stand-alone, complete with HEA.

My Review

King and Aurora have been dancing around their attraction for a while now and after the last book I figured they would end up together at some point. King has been giving Aurora time to adjust to being back and getting acclimated again after she had been kidnapped and held hostage for a year by a crazy dragon shifter. She's not sure she's ready for a relationship but the attraction she feels towards King is real and she's pretty sure he feels something for her too but neither of them are willing to make the first move.

King is a wolf shifter and Aurora is a phoenix shifter but King is the alpha of the territory she lives in. She helps him out when he needs it and has a lot of friends who she's close with. They are living in a broken world right now because some shifters went nuts and destroyed a lot that had been built and now shifters are in charge and trying to keep things safe for everyone including the humans. 

When someone from King's past that he thought was dead makes an appearance, he has to join forces with a lot of different species but he has a lot of friends. What he wasn't expecting is for the Fae to come and ask for his help which opens up all kinds of secrets that he'll have to deal with. 

There's a big battle, secrets are revealed, some truths come to light and we see what a deep love can overcome. This was truly a great addition to this series. 

I give this book 5 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

Book Review: Kiss Me Before I die by Rena Marks

 

Book Description

A love affair between a vampire and an Extinguisher is doomed from the beginning, but Afton can't resist the lure of the predator.

Extinguishers are humans deliberately infected with the vampire virus. Children from all social levels are regularly screened for exceptional athletic abilities—speed and strength. Bravery.

Females are especially rare for Extinguishers, since the female body is not prone to muscle mass. Not like a man’s.

Humans thought it appalling that children were fed the blood of a captured vampire in order to improve their performance. But they looked the other way for the greater good of destroying the growing race of evil creatures—Vampires. After all, someone has to police the stronger, more beautiful race of peoples. It was beginning to look like plain old vanilla humans were low man on the food chain and that inspired fear. Like all prejudices, after the fear followed hatred.

That had been me. I was the Queen of the Extinguishers one year previous. Now, at the tender age of twenty-five, I'm the first retired Extinguisher in existence.

I should have known it wouldn't be that easy for the government to let me go.

My Review

The government started taking children away from their parents in order to train them as Extinguishers to fight the vampires. Humans looked the other way as children were taken away, experimented on, trained and fed vampire blood in order to make them strong, strong enough to kill the vampires. 

But not all vampires are bad, most just want to live in peace and have families of their own but humans are scared and thus the Extinguishes rise to kill the vampires. 

Afton was the first Extinguisher, the strongest and she used to be the queen of them. But the Extinguishers are told they can retire once they reach the age of 25...if they live that long which most don't. Afton is the very first to reach her 25th birthday, something the scientists didn't think possible. But Afton is more than she seems, she has secrets, secrets the scientists who experimented on her could not figure out. She was the fastest, strongest and best Extinguisher and the scientists couldn't figure out why or how to duplicate the experiment that made her that way. But Afton, even as a child had an inclination of why she was different, not that she would ever let them know her secret though.

When the scientists couldn't figure out what made her different and couldn't make more like her, they decided to breed her but she put a stop to that right away as well. So once she was old enough to retire, she took all of her files with her, much to the chagrin of the scientists who had experimented on her. 

When she meets Ethan who is a vampire, she doesn't kill him and he won't leave her alone because he loves her but she has strong feelings for him as well even though she fights them. Ethan is great and I loved him. He kept after her, he comes on strong because he knows with all the brainwashing she's had that she'll never willingly be with him even though she has feelings for him, so he pursues her. 

When Extinguishers come after her, Ethan helps her and she finds herself among vampires who don't trust her but she gets to see that all vampires aren't as bad as she's been taught they are. Ethan helps her and she in turn finally sees him for the great guy he is. The secrets that surface were great, it was a slight twist as to why the scientists were never able to make another like her. I really liked the reveal. This was a different take on a vampire book and I liked it. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Just out taking a boat ride"

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