Apartment Life #276

 

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.  

I was outside with Falcor and I saw a pigeon who was having a hard time flying. So I picked him up and brought him inside, put him in a box on my desk and called Animal Control. They said if he's just hot and needs food and water they can help him but if he's hurt they'll have to put him down. 

He was trying to fly and was spreading his wings and flapping them so hopefully he just needs a little rest and to cool off. I tried to give him some water but he didn't want it. He slept on my desk until they got here.

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This Ground Medical Transport picked someone up from the apartment complex across the street. I've seen other medical transports around here but haven't seen this one before. It's nice to know there are so many services here in the valley like this if someone needs it. 

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I noticed the police blocking the side street one day this week. They weren't letting anyone by. 

And there were other police parking on that side of the street. There were several police cars in the alley across the street as well but I couldn't get pictures of them from where I was. They were here for about 2 hours but I have no idea what was going on. 

The high this week was 116F/46C

The low this week was 87F/30C

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

 

Ice Nine Kills - A Grave Mistake

This is a long into that you can skip the intro part if you just want to listen to the music video. But the song is really good. I love the lead singers 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 set of stackable Skull Mugs from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

And 3 different flavor ketchup's (Chipotle, Jalapeno and Habanero)  and a little dipping cup from Influenster. 

Some of the ketchup is a little too spicy for me but the Chipotle is good. My daughter likes them though. I love the stackable skull mugs. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Bait by Jade West

 

Book Description

A stranger online. Dark hair and even darker eyes that knew my dirty desires before I did.

A fantasy that should never be spoken. But he pulled the confession from me.

And now he’s coming for me.

Rough. Dirty. Dangerous.

It’s supposed to be one night to get me off and make me forget.

He’ll make me his and I’ll pretend I don’t want him to.

I’ll run and he’ll chase.

Because I asked him for this.

I begged him for this.

Tonight, in the darkness, he’s the hunter.

And I’m the bait.

My Review

Let me start off by saying this is a dark romance with CNC kink (Consensual Non-Consent) where both parties agree to a kidnap roll play scene and a "forced" non-consensual encounter that is actually consensual between the two parties. If this is something that would bother you then I suggest not reading this. 

I don't mind a dark romance as long as it's done right and no one is being abused. The fact that these two meet after they both were hurt in relationships in different ways was nice because they both needed someone like the other one after all they had been through. 

Abigail has been trying to find what she needs in the strangers she meets but isn't having any luck. So she puts an ad on a dating site and Leo just happens to see it. He's not sure she's for real and she's not sure he'll be able to give her what she needs...until he does. And let me tell you, these two are smokin' hot together! I really wasn't sure I would like this book and planned to just stop reading it without a bad review if that was the case but this story is definitely a romance with a kinky side to it. It's not all about the sex because there's a back story into both their lives, as well as we see their lives now. 

You would think Leo would be this weirdo person after finding out just how much he likes the chase but he actually turned out to be such a great guy, a great character and I loved him for that. This isn't my usual read but I'm glad I read it. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon 

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Falcor likes to sleep a lot during the day. He takes several naps in between going out and barking at every noise he hears. LOL I found him in my bed in between the throw pillow and comforter. My bed HAD been made up that morning. But it's a lost cause with a dog who likes to have a blanket on him when he's sleeping. 

Falcor doesn't like most kids but he loves my grandson, probably because he grew up around him.

Book Review: Crave Me Roughly by Kira James

 

Book Description

When I was a child, he destroyed my world. Now, he wants to make me his.

For almost twenty years, he’s been watching me in secret. This dark, sensual, dangerous man who steps out of the shadows to help me when I need it the most. He won’t accept any payment other than a kiss. But it’s a kiss that sparks a dark desire in a secret, hidden part of me. And when he touches me, all I crave is the kind of dangerous passion that he offers.

Then I learn the truth—he’s not a man at all. He’s a vampire. 

The love that burns between us is forbidden, but now it’s too late for me to turn back. Perhaps it always was. Because no matter how much danger stalks us both, I’ll sacrifice anything to keep him safe.

Crave Me Roughly is a prequel novella that introduces the Dark Alliance world and focuses on the characters of Luke and Sara who are featured in Embrace Me Darkly.

My Review

Luke has been looking after Sara since her father was killed when she was a kid. But Sara had no idea that someone was looking out for her. Over the years Luke has gotten to know her really well and has fallen in love with her even though Sara doesn't know him at all. She only knows him as a creepy stalker that she spots in the shadows every once in a while. The fact that she thinks she has a stalker doesn't freak her out the way it should, in fact she kind of likes the fact that she spots him following her around at times. 

Luke wasn't supposed to let her see him but he's slipped up a time or two and doesn't realize that she's seen him. One night when she puts herself in danger, Luke has no choice but to save her and they finally come face to face. 

From that point forward he can't stay away and she doesn't want him to until she finds out he's a vampire. Then she's not sure what to think but she knows she's not scared of him because she knows he'd never hurt her. 

This is the prequel to the Dark Alliance series and so we get a little back story as to what her father was into that got him killed. She had no idea about any of it so some family secrets come to light which I always like. It was a good setup for the next book but it ended a little abruptly, which I didn't like. But I am willing to read the next book and see how I like that because anyone who knows me, knows I love a vampire romance.

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

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

 

"I'm all packed and ready for school."

"These are my books for Business school."

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

Apartment Life #275

 

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.  

There were two different ambulances down at the end of my street but I only got a picture of the one before the other one took off. This is the Fire Department ambulance which is why it looks different from some of the other ambulances that I've shared pictures of. I have no idea what was going on though.

While my camera doesn't take great pictures at night, at least you can make out the police car, lights and the woman in front of the car. This lady's nick name around here is screamer lady because she lives down the street but walks up and down the street screaming and yelling at the top of her lungs. I think there's some mental illness going on there. That's what she was doing when the police stopped her this night. But after a few minutes they let her go and left. 

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Tuesday night at 10:00 p.m. while I was walking the dog, two police officers who were outside with their flashlights looking in different courtyards stopped me and asked me if I heard anybody screaming for help. I said no I just got out here. The lady cop said was it you screaming for help? When I said no she said are you sure? And kept questioning whether or not I had been the one who was screaming for help. I said you literally just saw me walk down the stairs from my apartment building, you know I just now got out here with my dog. And she said well if you need help just let us know or give us a call and I said okay I will. And I went ahead and went on my walk with the dog. This lady cop did not believe that I was not the one who was out there screaming for help before they got here. They stayed around for a little while with their flashlights looking into different courtyards and into cars and even drove around the side street to look over there and then they left when they couldn't find the person who was yelling for help. Hey, at least they came out to check it out.

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And this week I've had some drama of my own with my daughter's ex boyfriend. Some of you might have seen the post I made about it this week but if not and you are so inclined, you can read about it here. I'm updating the post as more stuff happens. Hopefully there won't be anything else to add in the future. 

The high this week was 118F/47C

The low this week was 80F/26C

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

 

Beartooth - The Past Is Dead

I heard this song not too long ago and enjoyed it. it's the first song from this band that I had heard. I hope you enjoy it too. 

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 perfume sample. 

A sample of NYX Face Freeze primer. 

I really liked both of the samples. The perfume smells good and the makeup primer works well. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Caleb by Summer Stanton

 

Book Description

Caleb Knightly is a Professional submissive at Carnal Pleasures. After escaping a dangerous situation and reluctantly being turned into a Vampire, he is finally happy with his life. He doesn't need, or want, anything else. Until fate decides to turn his world upside down—again.

Callum Rutters and Eli Dran have been together for an amazing sixty years. They love the time they spend playing together at Carnal Pleasures. Their complex relationship keeps things interesting and they couldn't be happier. Until fate throws them into the path of someone they never knew they needed. Now, they have to convince Caleb that being bonded doesn't mean he'll lose his autonomy. Instead, he'll gain a family, something he thought he lost a long time ago.

Just as the three men are beginning to find their footing and learning how they work as a three, Eli's past returns to haunt him, and fate steps in once more. This time in the form of Lucian Drake, local Pack Alpha. Lucian doesn't know what to make of the threesome, he just knows he wants more with them all, in whatever capacity they'll allow.

However, Eli isn't the only one facing danger and Lucian will have to fight, not just for the three men he is growing to love, but for the Pack he's spent his life building and protecting.

Separately, the four men are vastly different, but together they have something extraordinary. It may not be conventional but it can be all theirs—if they can survive.

My Review

Caleb is a submissive at the BDSM club and when he comes into contact with Eli and Callum they feel a pull of magic and Caleb is informed that it's because he is their mate. He is told he should go home with them because being apart from them now will be tough because of the mate bond and magic. So he really never had a choice and that bothered me. 

This is book 3 of a 4 book series and I should say that I haven't read the other books so I might have been missing a little as I read this. But Caleb isn't sure how to feel at first and I'm glad that Eli and Callum took things slow with him. The thing is after taking things slow, right away they have this big scene with Caleb and while things were consensual, it was weird that they would come on so strong their first time together. So that also bothered me a bit. 

Because it's the magic pulling them all together and not them taking things slow and getting to know each other, I never felt the connection between any of them. It never felt real to me. But these guys are paranormals and so are some of the other characters at the club, we get some witches, vampires and wolf shifters. So that could also account for the unnatural and rushed feelings I kept getting from all of them. 

I liked the danger they found themselves in and the new person that joined them but the romance between all of them just seemed too complicated which stalled the story so many times for me. All in all not a bad story but not a favorite. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Last week my daughter went to the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. They made a display using real, live flowers and plants. I thought the pictures were really pretty so I thought I would share them with you. 

You know it smelled good in there.

They did a good job, it's so pretty. It's also free to get in and see this.

Book Review: Wild Danger by TJ Finn

 

Book Description

Alpha wolf, Sean O’Reilly, is out for blood. The man who killed his mother and several other members of the Wolf Creek Pack always seems just out of reach, disappearing into the wind any time the pack circles in close. Nothing could keep him from finding this monster and making him pay. Nothing, except Emma. When Emma walks into his family’s brewery, Sean—and his wolf—are drawn to her instantly. But there’s something different about her. She’s his mate. But the female shifter isn’t connected to the wolf within. Sean will do everything to keep his mate safe, and make her fall in love.

My Review

Emma is a wolf shifter but she's only shifted once when she was a teenager and she can't feel her wolf. She was raised by human adoptive parents so she never had any shifters to help her figure out what was going on with her shifting abilities. Now she studies wolves and tries to care for them long enough to set them free when she is able. She is back to see how some wolves are doing after they were released a while back and she comes across Sean who is a wolf shifter also. 

Sean is consumed with finding and bringing down the hunter who killed his mother and is killing other shifters. But this bad guy is really bad. He does absolutely horrific things to these shifters once he kidnaps them before killing them. He's sadistic and Sean and his pack need to find him and stop him. But Emma complicates things because now Sean knows she's his mate and if this bad guy finds her even though she can't shift, he will probably kidnap and kill her also. So Sean has to keep her safe while getting to know her better and tracking a killer. 

This was an action packed, quick read. I loved the twist and reveal who the bad guy was. I had a good time with this one. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"We had a Vet check up and I gave the Vet a new hair do."

"I got a clean bill of health."

"And gave one of the Vet's some ratty kisses."

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

Apartment Life #274

 

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 have been patrolling my street, the alley across the street and my alley this week. I've been seeing a lot of police cars on my street when I go outside. 

Now I know why the police are patrolling so much around here now though. My daughter and her boyfriend were in his car around 11 pm last Sunday and the cops pulled in behind them to check out what they were doing. After they figured out they were just sitting there talking and why they were not on her street because my daughter told the police she's seen too much gang activity like gang members tagging the walls, alley ect...one of the cops got very serious and asked her what she saw. She explained she saw 4 hispanic teens tagging the wall in our alley and the police gave her his card with his personal cell phone number on the back and told her to call him directly if she sees them tagging anywhere around here again or sees them doing anything sketchy. 

He told her to be careful because he thinks it was the same hispanic teens that beat up a little 12 year old boy just down the street in what he thinks was a gang initiation and also stabbed a man just down the street from where we live. And this cop really wants to catch them. We finally get rid of drug dealer and now we have this kind of thing going on in the neighborhood? C'mon! Good Grief.

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On the 4th of July there were a lot of illegal fireworks popping off in my neighborhood. I figured there was going to be at least one fire somewhere around here so I kept looking out the window and sure enough, the dumpster in the alley across the street caught fire. This is the dumpster on fire.

When I saw the smoke and fire truck, I told my daughter and she went right over there to see what was on fire and took a few pictures for me. This is the front of the fire truck that showed up.

This is the middle of the fire truck. it's a little blurry because of the smoke and the bright lights from the truck. They put the fire out pretty fast.

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The high this week was 114F/45C

The low this week was 78F/25C

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

 

Escape The Fate - Lightning Strike

I just heard this song for the first time this week and I loved it. I hope you enjoy this one too.

Freebie Friday! Or Is It?

 

I usually tell you what freebies or free samples I got this week but I didn't receive any free samples this week. So I will leave you with a Las Vegas sunrise picture from this week instead. It was 5:30am when I took this.

Did you receive any freebies this week or see any nice sunrises?

When Was The Last Time You Saw A Floppy Disc?

 

I was moving things around in my bedroom closet and came across this piece of ancient technology from 1995. 

It's a Canon Star Writer Word Processor. Essentially it's an electric typewriter that prints out letters and stores your work onto a floppy disc. 

The little display flips up so you can see what you're typing.

And as the title of this post implies, here are the floppy discs. I have about a dozen of them because I had this for a few years before I ever got a computer. 

So many floppy discs with all kinds of stuff stored on them. The book I wrote is on one of them and no it's not published and probably never will be because it's awful. lol 

And of course I needed a locking box to store all of my super secret floppy discs. *giggle/snort*

Oh and it still works. I turned it on and inserted a floppy disc and it came right on. I've stored it in its original box so it would stay in good shape so I can still use it if I want.

I liked this because I was able to type out a letter to a friend or family and hit print and it would print it out. And I used to be able to read this tiny print on the display with no problem. But my old lady eyes are having none of that now. Had to put on the reading glasses to read anything on the display now. Ah, to be young again. 

This is where the ribbon for the printer would go but they don't make this ribbon any long so no printing for me. I might have sold this thing years ago but then how would I read what's on my floppy discs? lol  Plus I can't bare to part with it. I spent so many hours pounding away on this thing after buying it. I paid $150 for this back in 1994. And I thought I was the epitome of sophistication. *Oh look at me, I have a typewriter that plugs into the wall!* eye/roll.  

I still have the user manual too just in case my old lady brain forgets how to work this ancient artifact. Did you ever have something like this back before we all had computers and smart phones?

Book Review: Steele by Margo Bond Collins

 

Book Description

Mila Wright spent the last year planning her dream wedding in Yellowstone National Park. But that dream becomes a nightmare when those plans fall apart in the worst way possible. Distraught, she runs, not considering the dangers that might await her if she strays from the marked roadways in the park.

When Steele Jacobs goes out for a run in his wolf form and hears a human woman crying, he knows the last thing he should do is get involved. But something about the sound draws him to her—and when he sees Mila Wright, he knows without a doubt that she is his fated mate.

But he’s expected to choose a mate who will strengthen the Moonstone Pack, not a human weakling who brings nothing to the match. Can Mila even accept his werewolf nature? And if they bond together, can the two of them protect the pack against its new enemies?

My Review

Mila finds out her fiancé is having an affair with her supposed best friend. So she leaves for a walk but gets lost and attacked by a bear before Steele can come to her rescue in his wolf form. When Steele does get to her and runs the bear off, Mila is losing blood and is in and out of consciousness so he brings her to the pack doctor and has him stitch her up. Steele feels something for this human right away but he's a wolf shifter and doesn't know if his pack would accept a human as his mate since he's the alpha but the pull towards her is very strong. 

While these two are getting to know each other better, there's another wolf shifter pack that's after Steele's territory and his pack and they find themselves in a lot of danger because of the other alpha. 

Now this had so much promise and I went into this thinking I was going to love this book but unfortunately I was wrong. First, I don't like cheating in a romance book. I was just talking about tropes I don't like on another blog last week and cheating was one of them. 

Another thing I disliked was how many times Mila was referred to as fat. I really hated that and it detracted from the story for me. Why is it that full figured heroines are so often looked down on in books? 

Another thing was Mila had just been attacked so bad by a bear that she needed stitches but she seemed to be just fine the next day and day after. She was human so there was no speedy healing going on it was all slow, painful, human healing so why wasn't she in more pain the next day? It made no sense. 

The rival pack treated their females badly and even put a pregnant female in danger and threatened her life and the life of her unborn child. I disliked that a lot. 

I felt that all the abuse, cheating and putting down the heroine because of her weight really detracted from a sweet romance in this story. 

I give this book 1 out of 5 stars. 

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

Everyone Has A Story, Here's One Of Mine

 

I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir but it just never comes together for me but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order, I'll just write them as they come to me.

Trigger Warning: The following story contains a true story of gun violence and suicide. If this is something that will bother you, please do not read this. 

How My Mom Almost Killed Me

If you read last month's story you know that Larry committed suicide with my mom's gun when I was 13 years old. Once we were finished at the police station and headed back home, my brother and I were told to stay downstairs. I didn't realize that they were upstairs cleaning the blood and brain matter from the floor and walls. My mom helped my grandpa clean everything up but he didn't know that while cleaning it all up, my mom put some brain matter and blood in a shop rag and sealed it in a ziplock bag and hid it away. I guess in her grief she was trying to keep a piece of him...literally. 

A few months later my grandpa died from the lung cancer that had spread throughout his body. A few months after Larry died my mom went to the police station and was able to get the gun back. On the one year anniversary of Larry's death my mom got drunk and showed my brother and I what she had in the shop rag. I was 14 years old now and this shocked me. My mom's bedroom was right next to mine. That day she got drunk, locked herself in her room for a few hours and I was in my room in my bed reading. I heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot and another sound near my head and realized that my mom had fired the gun from her room. I looked behind me into the wall and saw a hole just a couple of inches above where my head had been. I knocked on my mom's door and she answered but wouldn't open the door and denied she fired the gun. 

I called my grandma and told her what happened. She came right over and when she saw the bullet hole against the wall my bed was on and I told her the bullet almost hit me in the head, she called the police because she wanted them to take the gun away from my mom which they did. They didn't arrest her or anything but she never got the gun back. When my brother and I told our grandma about the shop rag and what was in it, my mom was mad but wouldn't give it to her mother. My mom kept it for years. 

Links to past stories. 

January 2023

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

June 2023