Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Being the secretary is fun but don't lick the tape."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"We were about to sing a song but then remembered we can't sing."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #95

This is a new 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 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

On Wednesday I walk outside and see this woman laying on the sidewalk. Yeah, that's a person laying there on the sidewalk in front of a door. The second to last door is what I assume a drug apartment where she goes all the time to I'm assuming to get her drugs. There's so much traffic to and from that apartment, most of us around here just assume they are dealing drugs out of it. She's so high she passed out right there on the ground. Unbelievable. No, I didn't call the cops because the only thing they'll do is make her get up and leave. She'd be back in a few minutes anyway. I've called before and that's all they do. Me and another neighbor called the manager who came and made her get up and leave.

I enlarged the picture so you can see there really is a person there.

The neighbor directly across from me had this huge fur rug sitting out in the rocks and had a hose with running water running on it all night on Friday. I guess that's how she chose to clean it. Her neighbor was mad as hell because each one of us in these buildings has to pay a portion of the water bill each month. So her running the water outside all night will make all of their water bills increase this month. If it had been on my building, I would have shut the water off that night but he didn't want to. Then in the morning she had 3 other neighbors help her and her husband lift it up (it looked heavy as hell) and drape it across the big bush there. I wonder how long it will sit there before she decides it's clean and dry enough to bring back in. Maybe a bird will poop on it and they'll have to do it all over again. 

Of course I'm sure they'll bring it back inside before tomorrow morning when the manager will be back walking the property. Oh and we have a new manager. I'm not sure if I told you all that last week and she's a dumbass. So far this month I've received 7 day eviction notice that was for another apartment but had my apartment number on it and an email telling me that I was delinquent for $20 which I was not. I called her and she said she sent out the notices by mistake. What? Like I said, dumbass. lol 

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Review: Benefit Cosmetics Boi-ing Cakeless Concealer

A couple of weeks ago I received this Boi-ing cakeless concealer via Influenster. I've now tried it out everyday over a week's time. 

This concealer goes on a little wonky because the doe foot applicator is kinda large and the applicator moves a little too easily so if you're looking to put this in a straight line, good luck. It dried down really fast! Really fast. It's a little on the thick side but if you can press it down quickly enough before it dries, it is really smooth and while it doesn't cake, it does crease. It creased fast under my eyes. Now granted, I'm almost 50 years old so for someone who isn't as old as I am and doesn't have fine lines under their eyes, this might not crease as fast as it did for me. I had to work really fast and apply the translucent powder over this under my eyes to try and stop some of the creasing but it still creased. I don't have this problem with my normal brand of concealer. 

I will say that it's a nice color, adds brightness under my eyes and does conceal any dark circles but it's just not the right concealer for me. 

I do love the packaging though. It's supposed to look like a pencil I think and I found that really cute. 

Disclosure: I received a free product in exchange for an honest review but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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.

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

This week I received:

A sample of Baking Yeast and a sample of Instant Sourdough Starter.
A full size Milani lipstick from Poshly.

I haven't used the yeast or sourdough starter yet. I don't bake during the summer months so that will be saved for another time.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Scent of Betrayal by Denise Carbo

Book Description

Wolf shifter, Davis Campbell is on a mission. His job is to babysit a woman from a rival clan. He believes all he has to do is get her back to Scotland. What he doesn't figure on is her possibly being his mate. Bethany Leitner, an owl shifter, has been betrayed, attacked, framed, and left for dead. Trust in herself and others is hard to find. So when her self-appointed guardian begins to bark orders, she is ready to show her talons.

My Review

Davis volunteered to escort Bethany back to her clan because he wanted to see what was happening in the this other clan. Bethany's clan hadn't voted in a new leader after the old one had been killed when Davis got her home and there were two guys who wanted her vote but she kept her allegiance to herself. Her cousin Aaron was a real jerk and seemed to want to belittle and boss everyone around. I don't know why anyone would vote for this guy to be their leader. Heyes seems nice but I wasn't sure if he's up to being the leader. When Davis reports back home that things are unstable there, he's ordered to stay from his leader and report back to his clan what's going on. Aaron is not happy to hear that he'll be staying for clan business but there's nothing he can do about it. 

When Bethany finds herself in danger, Davis decides that he is her protector and stays with her in her flat which is small. Having them in such close quarters and around each other all the time made them face the facts that they were attracted to each other. It's not long before they are acting on their attraction and they both figure out that they're mates. Not knowing how the other feels about that little shocker revelation makes things a little awkward.

Davis is a wolf shifter and Bethany is an owl shifter. I've read plenty of wolf shifter stories but not many with owl shifters in them so this was interesting. Someone keeps trying to kill Bethany but she has no idea why or who it could be. I didn't have a clue who could be trying to get her out of the way until the culprit was uncovered. It was a surprise to me for sure. There was a nice little twist at the end of this book that really made the story better and I loved how this ended. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: Target Beauty Box - August

Each month Target releases a new Target Beauty Box but supplies are limited and it's first come first serve until they run out. These boxes go fast so I try to grab one as soon as I see it being talked about on Twitter or fb. They are $7 a piece and usually well worth the price.

In this box was...

MyBite Vitamins- chocolatey peanut. 

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Moist Deep Conditioning Treatment. 

Oral-B Interdental Picks. 

Herbal Essences Birch Bark Extract Shampoo/Conditioner. 

Hello activated charcoal + hemp toothpaste. 

Done Men+Care Fresh and Clean 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner in one bottle. 

I saw this box being sold and jumped on it. For $7 this box had a lot of great products in it. All of the shampoo and condition products made it worth it to me by themselves but the interdental picks locked that choice up for me. I haven't received anything like that in a box before so I wanted to try them and they work great. 

The chocolate peanut vitamin bites were actually good. They tasted like a bit of brownie. 

They only thing that I didn't care for was the charcoal toothpaste. But my daughter likes this kind of toothpaste so she will be getting that. 

All of the hair shampoo and conditioner products were great. That Herbal Essences Birch Bark Extract scent was so nice. 

So for the most part I really liked this box. 

Did you get this box?

Review: Waking The Dragon by Juliette Cross

Book Description

The Gladium Province is on the verge of civil unrest as humans and Morgons, the dragon-hybrid race, clash once more. But amid disorder can also arise passion.

When the bodies of three human women are discovered in Morgon territory—with the DNA of several Morgon men on the victims—it’s just a matter of time before civil unrest hits the Province. But for ambitious reporter Moira Cade, it’s more than just a story, and it may mean risking her own life.

Descending into the dark underworld of Morgon society, Moira is paired with Kol Moonring, Captain of the Morgon Guard, for her protection. Fiercely independent, Moira bristles at his dominance, and defies his will at every turn. Yet resistance proves futile when passion flares between them, awakening powerful emotions within both, body and soul. But as the killings continue, can their fiery newfound bond survive an even greater evil—one that threatens all of humanity, Morgonkind, and Moira’s very soul?...

My Review

The Morgon's and the humans live in relative peace in the Gladium Province until human women turn up dead. Morgon's are a dragon-human hybrid race and not everyone likes them. So of course they could be blamed for the women turning up dead and that's bad, really bad. 

Moira works as a reporter for a paper and wants to find out who's behind the murders. She's hoping writing this story will lead her to a job with the paper she really wants a job with. So she and Kol end up working together to try and find out who the murderer is. Both Kol and Moira are no nonsense and can take care of themselves plus they don't really like each other at first. I liked Moira when we first meet her because she's not afraid of anything and speaks her mind. Kol is very alpha and is used to being in charge so when Moira doesn't do what he says when he says, it irks him but also intrigues him. 

Kol and Moira didn't exactly get along when they first met and started working the investigation together but the sparks really flew between them when the sarcastic barbs were being tossed back and forth. She's no push over and let's Kol know it right away by offering herself up as bait for the cult that's abducting and killing human women. It turns out that there is a cult of Morgon males that are abducting human females to sacrifice to their god. So Kol and the other Morgon men want to stop this cult before more women die and the best way is to let Moira be abducted so she can be tracked back to where they are and stopped. But things don't go as planned and they have to change tactics. 

Kol and Moira both have themselves closed off emotionally but they slowly get under each others skin. They fall hard for each other, it was great to watch both of them open up to love and really feel something so much that they can't imagine being without the other. I liked how strong Moira was, how she didn't let much stop her from fighting forward or how is pushed she would push right back. Kol was definitely an alpha male, dominant yet gentle and loving when he needed to be which is exactly what Moira needed, she just didn't know it. Watching these two fall for each other was fun. 

There's a mystery man behind all of the murders and it takes a while to figure out who or what he is but it's one heck of a twist. This book was impossible to put down and I read it in one sitting. It had me sitting on the edge of my seat with the mystery, the romance and the action. There are some books that you like so much and you just want to say, "Read it, just read it." because anything else wouldn't be enough to explain how much you enjoyed it... this was one of those books for me. 

I give this 5 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

All of this week's cute rat pictures are of my past rats. 

This was Brody and Ares sharing a hammock in their cage. 

"We'll just lay here until the human brings us snacks"

Any of you that have been reading my blog for a few years will probably recognize Lucky. He was my 3 legged rat. Sweetest rat ever. 

"Look into my eyes. You want to leave the entire bag of yogis in my cage, yes you do."

I took a lot of pictures of Lucky. He was very photogenic. 

"I don't mind being woke up as long as you share that cookie."

I even made a few meme's of him. lol 

Apartment Life #94

This is a new 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 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

I heard the ambulance pull up at the end of the street so I went out to the front to see if it was at our apartment complex but it wasn't. It was at the end of the street at the next apartment complex down. I have't heard from anyone what happened down there but they have the police and ambulances down at their apartment complex almost as much as we do at ours. 

Our place was actually quiet this week.

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Favorite Video of the Week!

If you haven't seen the latest Lucas The Spider video, check it out. Cutest spider ever.

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.

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

This week I received:

I won a book from a Goodreads Giveaway.

I received a full size Benefit Cosmetics Boi-ing cakeless concealer via Influenster.

A review of the concealer will be posted in a few days.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Lure of Obsession by Lisa Kessler

Book Description

Fated Mates meets Clash of the Titans!

Melanie Jacoby is the human vessel for the Muse of Tragic Poetry, but she isn't prepared for the tragedy of finding her roommate dead at the bottom of the stairs.

Nate Malone is the detective assigned to the case, but as the evidence points to an accidental fall, the visions begin. He sees a killer in a gold Kronos mask.

Mel is the next target, but Nate's determination to protect her is almost as strong as his desire for her. 

And tragedy isn't part of his plan.

The Prophecy - "Every generation the nine daughters of Zeus are reborn, and with their rebirth are also nine Guardians. They will be marked by the gods, and given gifts to protect his treasure. Their abilities will only be unlocked when they find their muse." 

My Review

This is the first book in the Muse Chronicles series. From the blurb I could tell this would have a little Greek Mythology thrown into this paranormal romance story and I love that kind of story. 

Melanie is the holder of the muse for tragic poetry and I didn't understand exactly what that meant for a while but right from the beginning of this story bad things seem to happen around her. Which is how she meets Nate. He's her guardian and he has visions to help protect her. 

Melanie and eight other women found each other, each with a different muse and they were trying to open and theatre. There's also evil people who are trying to kill all the muse's off in the name of the Titans. When the danger gets really close to Melanie, Nate has no choice but to make sure that she and the other women are safe. They aren't sure who is after them but they know someone is. 

The action, danger and mystery surrounding the people who are out to get the muses, goes on for most of the book. I just knew that more tragedy would strike and Nate wouldn't be there to stop it like he had before but there are some crazy twists in this story that really ramped up the need to know what would happen. 

I really liked how this ended and am looking forward to reading the other books in this series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

In the middle of last month my daughter's AC went out in the evening and with temperatures being around 100F (37C) at midnight, she and her cat came to spend the night at our place. We weren't sure that Falcor would get along with Lucifer but Lucifer is such a chill cat and didn't care about the dog at all, they got along great.  Lucifer decided that this chair was his bed and spent a lot of time there. 

Falcor looked a bit crazy when Lucifer was checking out the dog bed but he didn't stay in it for long. While they didn't cuddle up together, they did fall asleep about 2 feet apart on the floor. Falcor followed him around, sniffing him for a while and Lucifer pretty much ignored Falcor. lol 

We watched Lucifer the next day while my daughter went to work and she called her apartment manager and had her AC fixed that day. But now we know they get along if the need ever arises again. 

Review: Daily Goodie Box- August

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 did I get in this box?

DRY Soda Company - Culinary-Inspired Sparkling Sodas - I'm not a big fan of sparkling water but this actually had a great cherry flavor. I poured a little for me, my husband and our adult daughter and we all enjoyed it.

Bubba’s Fine Foods - Grand Garlic Parm ‘Nana Chips - So this is funny because I do not like garlic at all but hubby loves it so he got these chips and though they were great.

Foods Alive - Nutritional Yeast - I've never tried nutritional yeast before and wasn't sure what to do with it. But the website says you can sprinkle it on salads, put it in soups or gravy and add it to other things. So I tried it on my salad first and It wasn't bad at all. I made chili and added some to that but I think it got lost in it but it blended in well.

Evo Hemp - Mocha Chip Hemp Bar- I don't care for any kind of bar like these but Hubby does so he ate it and enjoyed it. He said it did have a strange taste though. Not bad just a little weird or unlike anything he's tasted before.

Aqua Biome™ - Fish Oil Classic Strength- Fish oil is supposed to be helpful for those with high cholesterol and while mine is not at the 'high' mark yet, my doctor did tell me that it was getting higher. So I've already been told to start taking fish oil, I just hadn't gotten around to getting any yet. So I'll be taking this and see if the numbers come down when my next blood draw comes due.

Natralia - Heel Balm - You have no idea how much I needed something like this. I wear sandals and flip flops pretty much year round so my heels get cracked and dry. I started putting this on at night and it does a good job at softening the skin on my heels. I have one of those electric foot files so I'll have to wait and see if this helps long term but so far so good.

SolarDerm - After Sun Facial Moisturizer- It was 113F here for a couple of days last week so anytime out walking the dog is too much sun as far as I'm concerned. I used this moisturizer in the morning and afternoon after walking my dog and it did seem to soothe my red face.

Flathau's Fine Foods- All Natural Shortbread Cookies - I love shortbread cookies and this are so good! Definitely my favorite thing from this box. They have a crunchy texture but are crumbly at the same time. They have such a great taste.

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. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Erm, it stinks in here. Pass the air freshener."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of me, Mary Kirkland*

"Rawr, I'm a big scary dinosaur."

Apartment Life #93

This is a new 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 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

On Friday around 5pm, Ken heard a police siren outside so he looked out the bedroom window and called me in there. He saw a cop running around this corner. By the time I got in there two more police cars showed up and they were bringing out a handcuffed man to a police car around the corner.

I don't know who the guy is, never saw him before. But all I can think is, "Pull up your pants." Looks like he's about to lose the pants any second. 

4 police cars showed up for this one but I have no idea who he was or why he ran. They caught him though. Ken was talking to the people across the street and none of them seem to know him so I have no idea. There's a lot of drug sales going on across the street so it could of had something to do with that but it's just speculation on my part at this time. 

Oh and for those of you who haven't seen the huge wall in the background, that's the sound wall that separates the public street and sidewalk from the freeway right on the other side. It's a very tall wall. That sidewalk over there is where I walk Falcor.

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Review: Birchbox Subscription Box- August

I signed up for a Birchbox subscription box. It's only $15 a month and this month's box came with 6 products. 

In my box was....

IPKN Moist & Firm Beauty Balm SPF 45- Light. 

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day 5 in 1 styling treatment. 

ModelCo Lip Plumper. 

Oribe Cote d'Azue Eau de Parfum. 

Purlisse Coconut Oil+Orange Blossom Silky Body Butter. 

Ursa Major Golden Hour Recovery Cream. 

The first thing I want to say is the Lip Plumper did nothing. When I put it on I felt a slight tingle for a moment and then it was gone. It did nothing to plump my lips. That's why the cosmetic surgeons get the big bucks because these over the counter 'plumping' products do nothing. It is a nice lip gloss though, so not a total fail. lol 

The perfume sample smells really good. It's nice to gets these little samples that let us try the expensive brands because I wouldn't be trying it otherwise. 

The styling cream did leave my hair soft but it didn't add volume or do anything else but it does smell good. The body butter smells good. I love these because they always leave my skin soft and are great if you have dry skin. 

The BB Cream is great under my foundation. It's too light for me to use on its own though. The recovery cream is an ok moisturizer but it's a little greasy. 

This month's box was not too bad. I do like trying new to me products and this is a good way to do that. 

Did you get this box?

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.

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

This week I received:

A couple for a free Sabra Hummus product.
A coupon for a free Twisted Ranch product via PinchMe.
A sample of snuggle Scent Booster.
A sample of Elemis facial moisturizer.

For those wondering where to find the Twisted Ranch if you get the coupon, I found it at Walmart.

I still don't like Hummus. lol It's just not gonna happen. I tried several different kinds, brands ect and nope. I don't like it. My curiosity is now satisfied and I won't be trying anymore.

I've used the Snuggle scent booster before and I like it.

Elemis is a good moisturizer and it's a nice size sample.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Fire Brand by Diana Palmer

Book Description

Gaby Cane was always a bit afraid of her attraction to Bowie McCayde. Even when she was fifteen and Bowie's family took her in, she had sensed his simmering resentment. Now ten years later, she's an aspiring journalist who can hold her own with any man professionally, the dark shadows of years gone by far behind her. Then Bowie strides back into her life—only this time, he needs her, and the pull of loyalty to his family is too strong to ignore.  

When Bowie asked Gaby to help save his family's Arizona ranch, he never expected the girl he once knew to return transformed into a stunning, successful woman. As they work together, Bowie is shocked to find that her innocence and beauty stir a hunger he can't deny. But the rogue rancher can sense something holding her back, and he's determined to uncover the terrible secret Gaby is fighting to keep hidden…

My Review

Gaby was taken in by Bowie's family when she ran away from her life because something bad happened. Bowie kind of resented her because his mother showed her all the love that he never really got. Now Gaby is a journalist and Bowie needs her help to save his ranch and his mother. 

At first these two did not get a long at all. Gaby has some huge walls put up because of something that happened to her in the past and she's not comfortable around men who get too close or show they're interested in her. Bowie needs her to come home with him and make sure his mother isn't making a huge mistake with the new guy in her life. Bowie thinks the new guy is a gold digger and just after her money or maybe the ranch and Bowie needs help to change his mother's mind about the new guy. 

While Bowie and Gaby are there they get closer and Bowie tells her he's interested in her but even though she's attracted to him she freezes up when he gets too close. He realizes that she's never had a real relationship and that there's more to her fear than just being new to it all. It takes a long time for her to trust him but he was good at seduction for the most part. Watching these two get closer was fun but he did mess up a few times because he was out of his mind in lust *eyeroll* and had a hard time stopping himself a couple of times. That was the only thing that got on my nerves and took away from the story a little. I mean, he knew she was afraid for some reason and yet he's gonna let himself get all hot and bothered so much that he pushes her farther than she's ready for and he has a hard time stopping when she says that's enough. C'mon, have a little self control. 

Gaby's past catches up with her and she thinks that her life is over but things are a little more complicated than we first thought and it's a little sad to find out everything that happened. 

But if you're like me and have read enough Diana Palmer romances, you already know that this is her recipe... naive innocent, brooding rancher that has little self control and a little danger thrown in for fun. 

I really liked Gaby and Bowie for the most part as well as the secondary characters of Bowie's mom and her new beau who is more than he seems. I really like Diana Palmer's books and will continue to read them even though this one wasn't my favorite. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

I took Falcor out a couple of weeks ago and he stopped and stared across the street when he saw another dog. He likes little dogs but when he sees big dogs he always wants to fight them. He thinks he's a much bigger dog than he actually is. 

Review: Craving by Helen Hardt

Book Description

After being left at the altar, Jade Roberts seeks solace at her best friend’s ranch on the Colorado western slope. Her humiliation still ripe, she doesn't expect to be attracted to her friend’s reticent brother, but when the gorgeous cowboy kisses her, all bets are off.

Talon Steel is broken. Having never fully healed from a horrific childhood trauma, he simply exists, taking from women what is offered and giving nothing in return...until Jade Roberts catapults into his life. She is beautiful, sweet, and giving, and his desire for her becomes a craving he fears he'll never be able to satisfy.

Passion sizzles between the two lovers...but long-buried secrets haunt them both and may eventually tear them apart.

My Review

I saw this one being advertised as a freebie on Amazon a while back and it sounded ok so I got it. I like a hard fought romance where one of the characters has some emotional issues to work through and that's what I got with this one. 

Jade is hurting after being dumped at the alter so she stays with her best friend but doesn't expect to find herself attracted to her friend's brother. 

Talon (I love that name) has some serious emotional issues and finds himself brooding and fighting his attraction for his sister's friend when she comes to stay at their ranch for a while. 

Talon had something bad happen to him and we get to see what it was in flashbacks throughout the story. His sister mostly thinks that he might have something like PTSD from his time in the military but it wasn't from that. Talon is truly messed up and because of that he's hard to get to know, hard to be in a relationship with even if he doesn't see that's what he and Jade were in. He's never let anyone get as close to him emotionally as Jade gets and that scares him. But he's more than just emotionally stunted, he treats those are around him like crap and his treatment of Jade was more than I ever would have put up with.

This started out pretty good and I liked the romance for the most part but they did seem to jump into bed awfully fast and from that part forward this book was all about the sex and not so much about anything else. I could have overlooked that and enjoyed the story if it hadn't ended in a huge cliffhanger. I don't even feel like saying more in this review because what's the point really? It had a lot of promise and didn't live up to that promise at all. I detest cliffhanger endings. 

When will authors realize that we readers don't appreciate cliffhangers? I want an entire book but with a cliffhanger we get part of a book and they expect us to buy the next book to get any resolution that we were looking for in the first book. Not gonna happen. I'm only giving this 2 stars instead of 1 star because some of the storyline was ok, it had promise for a while and then drowned overboard with that cliffhanger and his treatment of Jade.

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I can teach you how to measure correctly."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Welcome to Home Depot, let's have snacks before working."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I stacked these pallets all by myself. I definitely need a snack now."

Apartment Life #92

This is a new 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 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

I took a picture from my bedroom window when 4 cop cars showed up on Monday evening. I actually was the one that called the police this time because some girl came onto our street accusing some guy across the street of hitting her car. I guess she followed him home from where he ran into her car. She was yelling and screaming at him and I thought that would be the end of it but then he ran to his apartment and got what I thought was a shotgun but Ken said it was an assault rifle. This crazy woman pulls a gun out of her purse and they're standing there not pointing the guns at each other but still holding them while shouting. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

That's all I saw because I got the hell out of my bedroom window in case bullets started flying and called 911. The police were here in a couple of minutes but by then the woman was already gone and they guy with the rifle had run away. I don't know where he hid his rifle but I didn't see anyone get arrested. But now I know that guy has a weapon over there, so if I see him run in his apartment again, I'm ducking...just in case. 

Oh and in case anyone was wondering the rocks finally got painted the rest of the way. 

They're all black now. Still looks dumb to have black rocks but at least the entire rock is painted now. 

Oh and for anyone on FB or Twitter who has seen me talk about the new apartment fee schedule and having to pay rent on the 1st with no grace period and that making my local news because of elderly and disabled people being on Social Security and not getting their checks until the 3rd...well because they got so many complaints about it they changed it back so that everyone can still pay their rent on the 3rd with no late payment fees. People were calling corporate, sending written letters to management, calling the news stations, calling lawyers and commenting about it all over social media. They finally gave in so I'm really happy about that. Here's the News Story if anyone is interested in what it was about. 

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Macy's Haul and Review

A little more than a week ago I told you that I cashed in my points on a survey site and got a Macy's gift card. Well here are a few of the things I got. 2 of the other items are on back order until next month but these two things were what I planned on reviewing anyway. I will say that my 'free gift' for spending $49 was that tiny Laura Mercier setting powder sample on top. I was a little disappointed with that since it's such a small sample. The other two items are a Makeup bag with 11 perfume samples and a Tarte trio of eyeshadow, mascara and eyeliner.

The description of the perfume sampler said it was a sampler of 11 different perfumes but I only received 10 of them. Most of the sample bottles are full but a couple of them are only half full. But it's a nice way to try out some of the expensive perfumes that I otherwise wouldn't have tried. I've tried 8 of them so far and they all smell pretty good. 

I was really excited for this because just look at those eyeshadow colors. These colors are so pretty and since I wear mostly light browns and sometimes pink tone colors, this is perfect for me. The colors are pigmented, the colors don't seem to wear off halfway through the day like some eyeshadow colors do and they blend flawlessly. They are very dusty though and when you dip into the pan and tap off the excess, it's really dusty and there's a lot of fallout when sweeping it across the eye. But if you use a little powder under your eyes before using this that will make it easier to brush the shadow fallout away when you're done.

The eyeliner is small but it's a good one, I haven't had a problem with it smudging or wearing off. The mascara isn't my favorite though. I've had better mascara's from the drugstore. I really had to apply quite a bit of it to see it lengthening my lashes so it's not one I would buy again but the eyeshadow palette is one I would definitely get again.

Prices

11 piece Scents of Summer perfume sampler with makeup bag- $15

Tarte 3 piece Warm Toasty Eye Set- $25

Laura Mercier sample- free

I love using gift cards to be able to try new products that I wouldn't have bought otherwise, that's the great things about those survey sites that let you cash out your points for gift cards. I was happy with all of this for the most part. 

Have you tried any of these products?