Review: Daily Goodie Box- October

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?

Rise Brewing Co - Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Classic Latte-  I like iced coffee so I tried this and it has a nice strong taste to it. I don't drink a lot of coffee but I do like cold coffee and this was pretty good. 

Heat Holders - Thermal Socks- My feet get cold in the Winter and I usually wear socks to bed as well because my feet are always cold. These are so comfortable, so soft and so warm. I love these and know they will come in handy this Winter. 

RawRev - Glo Birthday Cake- I don't like any kind of protein bars but Ken does so he got this one and said it was pretty good for a bar. 

Greenshield Organic - Lavender Organic Laundry Detergent- I used this to wash a load of laundry and think it works as good as what I usually use and it does smell good. It works and it smells good so it's a win for me. 

Green Goo - All Natural Deodorant- I wasn't sure that apricot and lemongrass would smell good together but it does and it's a good deodorant. I've used it for the last 4 days and have nothing bad to say about it. 

The Original MakeUp Eraser - Sample Pack- I've actually tried this product before. I received a sample from them a few months ago and loved it. It's a big enough sample to really try it out and it's amazing how well it works. I can take all my makeup off using nothing but this cloth and water. Simply amazing.

Essence of Vali - Sleep Mini Vials- To me this smells like lavender so if you already like that scent then you might like this. I put one drop on my corner of my pillow like it said to and it gave off a slight lavender scent which was nice to drift off to sleep to. 

Real Chemistry - Environmental Rescue Essential Day Cream- This is a great moisturizing cream for this time of year. My skin dries out so easily this time of year and this cream really helped. I'm sure I'll be using this cream up before Winter is over. 

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.

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.

What did I get this week?

A coupon for a free StarKist tuna product.
2 samples of Heinz ketchup.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Ipsy Glam Bag - September

Ipsy is a monthly subscription box that sends you 5 sample size makeup or beauty products. You can customize what they send you by filling out the personal surveys. I love the bright pink package they send it in. There's no mistaking who that's from when you see it in your mailbox. These bags are $10 each. I used my points from writing reviews on their site for the products I've received that I turned in for a 6th product. 

What did I get?

Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow+ Voluming Eyebrow Gel- Neutral Deep Brown. 

F.A.R.A.H Brushes Contour brush.

IBOM Lemon Verbena Clay Mask. 

OFRA Cosmetics OFRA X Madison Smiley For Ryleigh Lip Gloss. 

TOO Faced Damn Girl Cream Mousse Mascara. 

A makeup bag.

You might have noticed that I'm a bit late getting this review done. But I was busy for a few days last month and it threw everything off for me. So this is the Ipsy bag I received last month. 

I don't contour but it's a good brush for blush. The lip gloss has way too much glitter in it. I might save that for special occasions or something because it's just too much for everyday. I love the mascara. It really does make my lashes longer. It's a great mascara. 

A clay mask. That's different. LOL All these beauty boxes do love to send out masks in all their forms. 

My favorite thing in the box was the Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow gel. It has a tiny spoolie on it that easily brushes through my eyebrow hairs without getting on the skin under them. If you've been here a while you have probably heard me say that I don't fill in my eyebrows but I brushed this through my eyebrow hairs and it made them darker, thicker and nicer looking. I will actually use this because I like it and it works. 

Did you get this box?

Favorite Picture of the Week

So I've showed you this sound wall. It was put there because the freeway is right on the other side of that wall and it's supposed to cut down on some of the noise of the freeway. 

My apartment complex is straight ahead and I walk the dog right here on this sidewalk next to the sound wall. It's a really tall wall but what I've never showed you is the other side of the wall. 

Someone took this picture when a truck overheated and the engine caught fire, everyone got out of the tuck fine though. But in this picture you can see the other side of the sound wall and how it's painted. Like I said, the freeway is directly on the other side of the wall.

Review: Rescued By Bears by Skye MacKinnon

Book Description

Can she tame her bear shifters or will she be their dinner?

Alone, frozen, and far from home, Isla finds herself in the care of four frustratingly sexy bear shifters. They soon end up on a Scottish island, trying to survive the disasters of a failing world.

With new relationships unfolding, Isla has to make the decision between her humanity and the bears protecting her.

Will winter drive them apart or can Isla claim her bears?

Rescued by Bears is a full-length reverse harem novel featuring one sassy heroine and four sexy bear shifters (including a polar bear!). Prepare for strong alpha males with a trace of vulnerability, an epic quest, Viking beards, very steamy scenes, Scottish landscapes, Celtic mythology and a post-apocalyptic setting.

My Review

Isla lives with her uncle whom she isn't close to at all. After her parents died she became his responsibility and in the society they live in after the flooding that happened and wiped out a lot of the land in this world, men hold all the power in her village. She was studying to be the healer of her village but her uncle has other plans and tells her she is to marry a man she despises because he was abusive to another woman who escaped. She's locked in a room until the marriage can take place but she escapes and gets off the island she's been on her whole life. 

She doesn't know where she's going and there's ice and snow covering the ground, she gets too tired to go on and almost dies out in the elements. She's found by one of the bear shifters and brought back to their cabin where they warm her up. She finds out about the 4 of them when she overhears them talking and confronts them pretty early on about being bear shifters. She's kinda naive, and does something dumb which is when she gets hurt but the guys bring her back and she gets to know them. She finds herself attracted to the alpha, their leader the most at first but by the end of the story she's the mate to all of them. This is a reverse harem story, so because of that I already knew that she was going to end up with more than one mate. 

I really didn't like how idiotic Isla acts at times. I know she's been sheltered and is naive but she does stupid things and acts dumb at times. Isla has been bullied by her uncle, pushed around, told what to do and then she has to deal with Alis who pretty much does the same thing to her. I hated Alis's character and if you read this you'll see why and who she is, I'm not giving that away. The guys were pretty interesting characters, I hope that we get to know them all a little better in the series though because I didn't really feel like I knew them too well. 

I enjoyed this book but I think the characters need to be developed a bit more and we need a little more information on how the flood happened, what caused it ect. I would also like more info on the shifter mythology because the rules for these guys were a little different from other shifter books I've read. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of me*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #101

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.

This week the fire department showed up for someone across the street. The fire truck was out on the street for about an hour but no one was taken out on a stretcher and no ambulance showed up so I have no idea what they were there for. 

****

10pm on Sunday night some woman was banging on my neighbors door so loud I thought she was going to break it in. The man who I found out later is her brother came to the door and she started smacking the hell out of him. Screaming at him to give her back her money. She said she paid their rent and he needs to give her back her bread. The screaming went on for 30 minutes before they left to find the wife who I saw pack a few bags and leave earlier that day. Monday morning I noticed part of his screen door was smashed in. That lady told another neighbor that when her husband found her, she called the police on him because he was driving drunk...he was arrested for DUI which broke his probation so he's in jail for a while.

Monday morning that same lady who's husband is now in jail...the lady who likes to stand outside naked was just walking around and standing outside in her underwear and a shirt so see through that it left NOTHING to the imagination. LOL

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

Recipe: Vegetarian Pulled Pork Sandwiches using Jackfruit

 I first heard of jackfruit in a blog post over at Herding Cats & Burning Soup blog, and ever since seeing that recipe, I've been wanting to try it. Yeah, it took me a while to get around to it and to talk Ken into trying it but I finally did. The recipe is pretty easy but I changed a couple of things mostly because I don't like garlic or ginger so I didn't use either of those things. But I did use some garlic powder since I can handle the taste of that and don't find it over powering. 

I watched a couple of Youtube videos about preparing jackfruit so I rinsed the jackfruit, squeezed out the seeds and cut off the core ( hard part of jackfruit) and then shredded the rest of it with my fingers. It shreds really easily. 

Then I added the onion to the pan and sauteed it until the onions were sufficiently cooked, about 10 minutes. 

Then I added the bbq seasoning, garlic powder and bbq sauce. Turned the heat down to low and let it simmer for 5 minutes. 

I made coleslaw with it and added a little to my sandwich along with the bbq,  jackfruit mixture. Ken and our daughter ate this for dinner as well and it was good.  I'm surprised I got them both to try it but they both liked it. 

Recipe

You will need:

2- 14 oz cans young green jackfruit

1/2 medium sweet yellow onion- diced

2 tbsp bbq seasoning

3/4 cup bbq sauce

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Directions

Drain and rinse the jackfruit. Cut off hard core part and remove any seeds you find.

Shred the jackfruit with your fingers.

Add jackfruit and diced onion to pan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until onions are cooked through.

Add bbq sauce, garlic powder and bbq seasoning mix. Simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes and serve on a bun. 

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.

What did I get this week?

I received two Garnier SkinActive sheet face masks.
A coupon for a free toothbrush.
A free Nature Valley Wafer Granola Bar.
I won a mirror from an Amazon Giveaway.

Oh joy, not 1 but 2 more sheet masks. lol Just what I wanted.

The nature Valley Wafer bar was really good.

Did you received any freebies this week?

Review: Blood In Shadow by Nicki Ruth

Book Description

Has the master of shadow finally met his match?

Amir lives for the hunt. The vampire assassin stalks his prey from within the shadows, never hesitating to kill those who stand in his way or threaten his new Queen. His new mission: find the human scientist who holds the key to an antidote that could save his people. But the woman he takes refuses to cower, refuses his demands, and confuses him with new desires that leave him aching to hear her moans as he sinks his fangs into her soft flesh.

Bodi can’t believe her life! Kidnapped by a vampire psychopath, she’s tasked with decoding the mysteries surrounding her father’s toxin. But she has bigger problems. She should be trying to escape the assassin, instead, she dreams of escaping to his bed, of having his lips tease her in ways that leave her gasping. His sexy smiles prove more dangerous to her than his hidden blades and veiled threats.

But Amir isn’t the only one who covets Bodi. Skilled mercenaries have snuck into his territory to find the scientist, and his possessive claim to her means he won’t hand her over without a fight. Yet, Bodi can’t remain his prisoner forever, and soon he’ll need to make a decision. But can he let her go?

Amir and Bodi continue this sexy, sci-fi/paranormal fantasy series. Read in order, or as a standalone. Like the others, Book 5 includes characters from preceding installments, as well as scenes for mature audiences, violence, and lots of fun.

My Review

Amir has no choice but to kidnap the scientist and make her create an antidote for the toxin her father made. Bodi doesn't act exactly the way Amir thought she would once he kidnaps her and tells her what he wants her to do and she's attractive which adds another level of complications he wasn't expecting.

These two go back and forth as enemies and then friendly at times while she is working on finding an antidote but Amir's mood swings because of his family problems got tedious fast. This guy brings his bad moods to Bodi all the time and takes his bad moods out on her when she's doing her best to find what he wants. She has feelings for him at times when he's not acting like an ass and is actually being nice to her and then gets her feelings hurt when he's a moody, brooding, bad tempered vampire and starts shouting at her. Amir's personality and maturity does grow as the story went on which was nice to see because I didn't like him that much at first. 

There's also another group of people searching for Bodi for some reason so Amir keeps taking her to new safe houses in order to keep her safe while she tries to make the antidote for him. He's got a lot of family problems going on while all this is going on which just added to the drama of this story. The romance between Amir and Bodi actually goes back and forth over a long period of time because Amir doesn't know what he wants. But I really like how this story ended so I was happy to see how things concluded even though I didn't see some of the things that happened coming until they actually happened. It was nice to be surprised by some of the turns this story took.

This is book 5 in the Damurios Vampire Series but it said it could be read as a standalone so I read it and I didn't feel lost or confused at all. So it can be read as a standalone. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: War of Hearts by S. Young

Book Description

New York Times Bestselling author Samantha Young writing as S. Young!

Thea Quinn has no idea what she is. All she knows is that her abilities have been a plague upon her life since she was a child. After years of suffering at the hands of a megalomaniac, Thea escaped and has been on the run ever since.

The leadership and protection of his pack are of the utmost importance to Conall MacLennan, Alpha and Chief of Clan MacLennan, the last werewolf pack in Scotland. Which is why watching his sister slowly die of a lycanthropic disease is emotional torture. When Conall is approached by a businessman who offers a cure for his sister in exchange for the use of Conall’s rare tracking ability, Conall forges an unbreakable contract with him. He has to find and retrieve the key to the cure: dangerous murderer, Thea Quinn.

Thea’s attempts to evade the ruthless werewolf are not only thwarted by the Alpha, but by outside dangers. With no choice but to rely on one another for survival, truths are revealed, intensifying a passionate connection they both fight to resist. At war with themselves and each other, Conall and Thea’s journey to Scotland forces them to face a heartrending choice between love and betrayal.

My Review

Thea isn't human but she doesn't know what she is. She's strong, fast, can take a bullet without hardly flinching and has been on the run for a long time since she escaped the man who experimented and tortured her but is still searching for her and wants to get her back.

Conall is hired to find Thea and he is led to believe she's a cold hearted killer. But he wants to save his sister's life and the guy that hired him says that Thea is the key to the cure. 

Conall is an alpha werewolf and he has a crazy good tracking ability once he gets someone's scent. So he's able to find Thea quite fast and that's when the fun begins because Thea has a few incredible abilities of her own. Once Thea realizes that she can't get away from Conall because of his tracking ability, she stays with him and even helps him a few times so he starts to believe that what he's been told about her is not the truth. Little by little the truth comes out and it's horrible. The guy who hired Conall to find Thea is a horrible person who tortured her and she's going to do whatever she has to in order not to be his prisoner again and she can only hope that Conall will come to believe her and not hand her over to him. 

At first all he wants to do is get her to the guy who hired him and get the cure for his sister but things change pretty fast and all his well thought out plans go out the window. There's more than one guy interested in Thea though and when they start to face danger everywhere they turn, Connal knows that someone is telling the bad guys where they're at and where to find them since they can't seem to escape them for long. There are so many twists and turns in this story it was hard to know who to trust or believe but the truth of what Thea is comes out eventually and all the lies that have followed her also get set straight. I was completely invested in this story, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what else would happen or what new element would be introduced into the story. 

Seeing Connal and Thea get closer, find the truth and realize they can trust each other was great along with the mystery surrounding what she is and why her supposed adopted father wanted her back in his care. There were little clues as to what she was and I've read enough paranormal romance books to have an idea what she was and I was right but it was fun to watch it unfold. I loved that Conall was Scottish and has a sexy Scottish accent and used words like, "Lass" all the time. Be still my heart but I do love a Scottish accent, even if I'm just reading it. 

This was such a fun book. There was enough mystery, adventure, romance and twists to make this a very engaging read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I give this 5 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: Bring Me To Life by Scarlett Parrish

Book Description

Nathan Stephenson died seventy years ago and he’d like the world—or at least one person—to think he stayed that way.

In 1940s London, Sergeant Nathan Stephenson ignored his rank and the expectation that he’d wait for the war to be over and find a nice girl to settle down with, and took a lover. Not only was Cian Ambrose unashamed of his bisexuality, he was also proud to be a vampire. Back then, he was certain that his and Nathan’s relationship would last forever, refusing to take no for an answer.

One evening, Cian went too far in his attempts to persuade Nathan to become a vampire and left a mutual acquaintance, Jonathan Cutler, to deal with the aftermath. What Cian doesn’t know is that Nathan didn’t die—Jonathan brought him back to life, agreeing to keep Nathan’s continued existence a secret.

It’s now the twenty-first century and Jonathan’s back to call in the favor. Nathan’s an honorable man and can’t say no, but the trouble is, wherever Jonathan goes, Cian Ambrose can’t be far behind…

My Review

When Nathan died and became a vampire, he didn't want Cian to know he was still alive...or undead. Cian said he loved Nathan but Nathan wasn't sure he wanted to become a vampire but Cian took the choice out of Nathan's hands and bit him anyway. So for seventy years, Nathan hid from Cian, always looking over his shoulder just in case the boogyman from his real life nightmare ever found him. 

All the hiding comes to a crashing halt when Jonathan calls on Nathan to do him a favor and because he owes Jonathan for saving his life, he can't say no. Jonathan and Mallory from the first book, "A Little Death" make an appearance in this book asking a favor from Nathan. He's shocked to see them but he helps them and then goes searching for Cian. Humans know about vampires in the world this author created, so it was interesting to see vampire friendly bars and other places that were for vampires.

This book takes places in two time periods, the present and also seventy years before when Nathan was still human and had first met Cian. When I first met Cian in the first book, I gotta say I didn't like him one bit. He was scary, selfish, rude and a bit of a jerk. But I found him to be interesting and wondered why he was such an ass at times. This book helped explain why he was such a goober for the most part and I almost, almost ended up feeling sorry for the guy. I mean, he thought he killed the guy he loved. That's bound to have an effect on your personality. 

Nathan on the other hand was a sweet individual. Why can't I find a sweet vampire that wants to suck on my neck? Ya know what I mean? Oh and look at that cover, I think I'm in love. So when these two do see each other for the first time in seventy years, it was shocking and Cian didn't act at all the way I thought he would. That surprised me...a lot. 

It was fun to watch two vampires throw barbs at each other the way these two did. They were both pissed off and they were both hurt. It was interesting to see where that led and see what happened between them. I liked the ending and hope there's a 3rd book. I hope a reformed Cian will make an appearance in the next book as well.

This author writes the kind of vampires that I tend to like when I'm searching for a vampire romance to read. I loved this book and found it hard to put down. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Our family portrait came out really good."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Can't talk now, I has a mouth full."

Apartment Life #100

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.

This week a woman and her boyfriend got into a huge fight out on the street. She somehow broke out her boyfriends driver side window which is why you can see glass all over the street right there. 

Less than an hour later the police showed up at her door and of course she lives in my courtyard. I took a picture of the police through my security door. She wasn't arrested but I haven't seen the boyfriend back for the past few days. 

********

I've been a little absent this week because of a problem I've been having with the manager. Here's what happened.

 I put the work order in Tuesday night for a broken AC. Wednesday morning when I called the manager to check on it she hadn't even seen it. She didn't send the maintenance guy out until Thursday morning and it was 90F all week and we had no living room AC, thankfully the bedroom AC still works. The maintenance guy took one look at it and said there's nothing wrong with it because it's still blowing cold air. But when we turn the unit off the compressor sounds like it's stuck and keeps running but no air is blowing. It shouldn't keep running when you power it off! The idiot maintenance man says just keep it plugged it and it will cycle through and keep blowing cold air. Are you out of your mind? The compressor is stuck! It will burn the unit up and start a fire.

So on Friday, the manager comes to my door and tells us that the maintenance guy said there was nothing wrong with the AC because it was blowing cold air. She said she can't order a new one for us because her boss hasn't given her the budget for any news ones. On October 6th the new owners take over this property and she isn't sure that her company is getting the contract to be the property managers of this place. So she and her bosses have put ALL maintenance on hold until after the 6th when they find out if they will be managing this place. She isn't even sure she will have this job after the 6th of next month so she flat out told us she isn't doing anything until she finds out. The management company is keeping whatever budget they have left over right now for themselves and not spending anything else on this place until they find out if they have the contract.

So Ken who is a certified AC technician... opened up the control panel, tightened some wires, cleaned off the terminals or something and plugged it back in Now it's working again...for now. I can only hope this bitch gets fired and we get a new manager that actually cares about the residents.

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

Review: Rescue Me by N.J. Walters

Book Description

When a raging fire engulfs her apartment, Martha Benson can do nothing but send up desperate prayers that she might somehow be rescued—until she suddenly finds herself being carried out in the powerful arms of the one man she never expected to see again, Frank Ellis. When he miraculously parts the demonic wall of flames and leads them to safety, she’s stunned to realize that this ruggedly handsome man who once broke her heart can still stir sensual desires she’d long given up on ever feeling again.

As a young man, Frank was consumed by a haunting connection to fire that he did not understand and lived in fear that he might accidentally harm Martha. Forced to walk away from her for her own safety, he still dreamed of her and their youthful passion. And now that he has found her again nearly twenty years later, he’s determined to never leave her, and he knows he must learn to harness his mystical power to win her trust and make her his own.

As their reunion sparks their desire anew and forges a deep emotional and erotic bond, Frank and Martha must both confront their fears to rise from the ashes of their past and rekindle a love that can never be extinguished . . .

My Review

Frank had loved Martha but his affinity for fire made him think that he wasn't safe to be around so for her own safety he broke her heart and left her. Years later he's a firefighter and Martha is trapped in a fire when none other than Frank comes to her rescue. 

When Frank finds out from the fire investigators that several other fires have been started and other women have been targeted, he thinks that Martha might be in danger from a serial arsonist. So while Frank is keeping Martha safe from some nut job that wants to kill her, they get to know each other again and re-kindle their feelings for one another. They never really stopped loving or thinking of one another but Frank has a huge secret that comes out when another fire is set and Martha gets a good look at what Frank can do around fire. He's much more than anyone knew, he can control fire and so much more. He's not sure how Martha will react when she finds out but this novella ended on a sweet note that made me cry. This author has made me cry happy tears in three of her books so far but her books are becoming some of the best reads I've read this year. 

For a quick read, this novella was packed with story, action, and some paranormal elements. This was a great second chance romance with just enough twists and turns to keep me reading. I really enjoyed this one. 

I give this book 5 out 5 stars. 

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

Review: Shadow's Seduction by Kresley Cole

Book Description

In this scorching Immortals After Dark novella, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole brings together a wicked vampire prince used to getting everything he desires and a demon warrior who always felt like an outcast.

A night of debauchery . . .

Prince Mirceo Daciano and his new friend Caspion the Tracker comb the streets of Dacia, drunkenly seeking out pleasures of the flesh. In what should have been a typical night, they coax a bevy of nymphs to bed. To impress their females, the demon and the vampire kiss on a dare.

Changes them forever . . .

Once they finally break away from their soul-searing kiss, they find themselves alone--and shaken. Had they imagined their explosive chemistry? Obstacles--ranging from a death sentence, to exile on a war-torn dimension--threaten to destroy their lives . . . and the vulnerable promise in that one kiss.

How long can they resist the fire that blazes between them?

Even if Mirceo accepts Caspion as his fated mate, the seductive vampire still must convince the stubborn demon that their bond is forever. And any royal Dacian union must receive the blessing of King Lothaire, an unpredictable and savage killer. . . .

My Review

Mirceo finds Caspion intriguing and wants to get to know him better. Mirceo is a prince in his realm that's hidden but he can get out and mingle among others which is when he spots Cas. Mirceo is openly bisexual and has no qualms about turning the charm on anyone he finds attractive but he does not believe in monogamy and only stays with each person once and then he moves on to the next conquest.

Caspion (Cas) is a demon without much to his name and grew up begging on the streets for whatever food he could get. Now he's a tracker and takes on bounty hunter and other jobs finding lost people in order to make enough money to live on. Caspion is straight and believes his fated mate will be a female that he can have children (pups) with.

Mirceo feels something he doesn't recognize right away for Cas and at one point he thinks it might be because he thinks Cas might be his sister's mate but it wasn't that. They spend a lot of time together bedding women and having a good time until they are tricked into kissing for a couple of women who want to see them do that. But everything changes after that kiss, Mirceo knows that they are mates but Cas won't accept that. 

Cas runs, he runs about as far as he can and while he's away he changes, quite a bit. Mirceo has a voracious sexual appetite so Cas doesn't think that he will ever be faithful to him alone and doesn't trust him enough to seal their mate bond. Cas doesn't think that he'll ever be enough alone for Mirceo and knows that if he were to go seek another that it might break him. 

Their romance is hard because there's so many obstacles in their way and the trust just isn't there in the beginning. This is a M/M romance but I didn't care because they were really good together for the most part. Mirceo is very aggressive in his pursuit of Cas and I think he goes a bit far at times. We actually find out exactly how far he went to make sure they were together towards the end of the book and finding out everything he did put a bit of a stinky sock all over their romance for me. It didn't endear him to me, it actually did the opposite for me. But being he was a spoiled prince used to getting his way or what he wanted, it made sense that he would go to those extremes. The love scenes are graphic and very hot, but at times were almost rough. 

The biggest problem I had with this book is the abrupt ending. We were left with a cliffhanger. This is book 17 in the series so I don't understand leaving a part of the storyline open like this. Cas and Mirceo's storyline was complete but someone is kidnapped and there's no conclusion to what happened to them in this book. It was part of the story so it should have been answered and concluded but this author tends to leave big plot holes in these books open and sometimes we don't see what happens to these characters for several books so this is a problem for me. 

So while I liked this story for the most part there were some problems but I will continue to read this series. But this is my least favorite book in the series so far.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Review: A Little Death by Scarlett Parrish

Book Description

Seeing dead people is all very well...unless one of them wants to kill you.

To Mallory Sharpe, vampires are a fact of life. They exist, walk the streets and for the most part mind their own business. As a second-year university student, she doesn’t pay the undead much attention until she meets Jonathan Cutler. He has needs, and blood is only one. The other, Mallory is more than willing to help him with. After all, he has but one rule, to never spend more than one night with a woman. He won’t get attached, or consciously put anyone’s life in danger.

Another vampire, Cian Ambrose, isn’t so troubled by conscience. Mallory’s fair game, a weapon with which to taunt Jonathan. In fact, it might be fun to make her his grail, or living blood donor, and Cian Ambrose doesn’t take kindly to the word no. He hasn’t heard it often in his one hundred and fifty years and it usually results in the other person ending up dead.

So with Mallory’s tolerance for undead guys running very low, Jonathan has to regain her trust, stop Cian killing her, oh...and for God’s sake, not fall in love.

My Review

I absolutely love a vampire romance where the vampire starts out sexy, seductive, flirty and just a little dangerous and that's exactly what I got with this book. 

Mallory goes to a bar with one of her friends and spots a vampire at the bar where everyone seems to be giving him a wide berth. So when she walks right up to the bar and orders her drink while standing next to him, he smiles and asks her if she's scared to be standing next to a vampire. At that point I was just hooked. Mallory is fun, witty and out to have a little fun, even if it is with a vampire. Vampires are known to the world in this book which made it fun not to have to hide what they are and be spotted and afraid of them when some people see them, like at the bar. But Mallory isn't afraid which made the first meeting fun. 

Jonathan was at the bar to find a willing woman to go home with and Mallory was all too willing so they end up in her bed. They were so good together but he has a rule about being with a woman only once and not getting attached so when he left before the sun came up she didn't think she would see him again. 

Cian is another vampire who seeks out Mallory after he realizes that Jonathan has some kind of feelings for her but won't act on them. So he sets out to spend some time with Mallory just to get under Jonathan's skin but Cian is dangerous and Mallory kind of knows it. Cian is a bad guy, there's no getting around that fact and he's persistent in a creepy way. But Jonathan cares more and feels more for Mallory than he first lets on so he tries to keep her safe. But Cian is never going to stop and Jonathan knows it. Cian brings an element of danger that just added to the story and brought Mallory and Jonathan closer together.

Personally I think Jonathan should have just killed Cian because he was a menace and wouldn't leave Mallory alone. I really liked the ending of this story and I absolutely loved Jonathan and Mallory, they just fit together so well. This is my first time reading this author but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good vampire romance. 

I give this 5 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Birchbox Subscription Box- September

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

What did I receive in this box? 

Benefit Cosmetics They're Real Mascara. 

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream. 

COOLA Dawn Patrol Classic Primer. 

Micellar Water. 

Lancome Juicy Tubes Ultra Shiny Lip Gloss. 

Living Proof Full Dry Volume Blast 

Makeup Bag.

I've used the Benefit Cosmetics before and like it so I'm glad that I have another one to use. It does a good job of making my lashes longer and thinker. I used the Kiehl's face cream and it's pretty good but not my favorite. It's a bit greasy so I wouldn't use it under my makeup. I love the Coola primer. I've used this before and love this primer. It is great under my foundation. I have used Micellar water before and most brands work the same so this was a size size of this brand to be able to try. It does a good job of taking the makeup off. The Living Proof Full Dry Blast is basically a volumizing hair spray and it has a really strong hold.

Now let's talk about that Lancome Juicy Tubes Ultra Shiny Lip Gloss. I am loving that. I don't use a lot of lip gloss because it doesn't last long but this one does and it doesn't stay really sticky. I love the slight pink color to it and the shine is great if that's what you're looking for. This was my favorite thing in the box. The makeup bag that came with the box is cute too. 

This was a pretty good box and all things that I will use. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"The weather forecast for this week is rain and clouds"

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"When taping packages, make sure not to get your whiskers in the tape."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I'll wear the crown as long as I get treats."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"You're cute. Hehehe"

Apartment Life #99

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.

So the police came this past Sunday, Ken heard them coming in fast with sirens and stopping on our street. He called me in there to get the picture. Ken took the dog for a walk so he could see what was happening behind that building and the police were going through a parked car back in the alley and had one guy in handcuffs.

Ken was talking with a couple of the people that live over there and found out that one of the guys that live there got busted with 1/4 lb of meth. He was arrested and taken away. I bet we won't see him around here for a very long time.

Crazy woman across from me was seen standing right inside her screen door completely naked again. I think she wants to be seen.

Then on Monday Ken had to call the police because some crazy woman tried to bash his head in with a crescent wrench because he was walking Falcor down the sidewalk by her bedroom window and didn't immediately leave when she yelled at him to get his effing dog away. She went in her apartment and came out with a wrench and took a swing at him. Ken had to duck otherwise she would have hit him in the head. There was a witness and the witness came over while Ken called the police.

 It took the police almost an hour and a half before they got here. So Ken went into the apartment manager's office and told the manager what happened. A few minutes later while Ken was standing outside and the office was now closed (she closes at 5pm) this crazy woman that tried to attack Ken started knocking on the managers door but the manager won't answer the door after 5. So she started going crazy, yelling, screaming, pounding on the office door, the windows and even the managers home apartment door. When that didn't work, the crazy woman left. The apartment manager came outside and told Ken that she called 911 on the crazy bitch for doing that. The manager also said she's evicting her. She's not putting up with that nonsense and when the crazy woman saw Ken outside she threatened to shoot him. So now she's threatening to kill him in front of the manager. Not too smart idiot.

They finally showed up an hour an a half after we first called 911. They took statements from Ken, the witnesses and the manager. Another witness came forward who had been across the street and saw what happened. The crazy woman was arrested that night and charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon. She was out and back home the next day. I have no idea if she's been given an eviction notice yet or not. We'll have to wait and see if she actually follows through with that or not.

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