Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #239

 

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 22 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 23 years here in a weekly blog post.

On Tuesday I was walking Falcor and spotted this used syringe on the sidewalk. I used a piece of paper to pick it up and throw it in the garbage. Don't need the little kids around here getting a hold of something like this. 

Then on Thursday I was out walking Falcor and looked in the rocks that my apartment complex has instead of grass and spotted something. You probably don't see it...

This is what I saw in the rocks...a crack pipe. And again, I carefully put it in the trash. I don't care if people want to do drugs, that's on them but don't leave your paraphernalia just laying about for kids to find.  

And the hits just kept coming this week! On Friday I started seeing the orange tops from the needles, all over the ground so I started keeping an eye out because I had a feeling there would be more dirty needles laying around and I was right. To the left of the syringe there's the orange top to the needle. They couldn't even be bothered to put the cap back on and throw the needle away in the trash can that wasn't 15 feet away. 

A few minutes later I spotted yet another used needle and orange cap about 20 feet from the last one. It pisses me off that these idiots won't even put the cap back on the used syringe. There are lots of kids around here and people walking their dogs. All of these needles are in the places that the homeless people around here usually gather or sleep. There are trash cans near here and so I picked them all up and disposed of them. It's beginning to be a real problem around here as you can see. I'm sure I'm not the only one walking their dog and putting these things in the trash. 

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

Review: Wolf Moon by Lisa Kessler

 

Book Description

As the last Pack member without a mate, Luke Reynolds has become an outsider. When he takes a new job in Sedona, Arizona, he's looking forward to starting a new life. But everything changes the night he finds a beautiful woman stranded on the side of the highway.

 

Feisty and headstrong Raven Wood has been bitten and turned against her will. Luckily, her spirit is stronger than most, and she has every intention of escaping the Sedona Pack. Somehow. The sexy lone wolf who rescues her might be just the answer she's looking for. 

 

But the Sedona Pack Alpha has a mission, and unless Luke and Raven can survive him, they'll lose everything.

My Review

Luke Reynolds is the twin of Logan Reynolds who is a famous rocker but he's also the last member of his pack to have not found his mate yet. Luke and his brother are also werewolves. Taking a job in Sedona, away from his pack while he tries to cut out a life for himself, he finds a woman along the side of the road and stops to help her. 

Raven was turned into a werewolf against her will and now the crazy pack alpha is keeping her sister against her will to make sure that Raven does as she's told. But she is escaping to find help and warn another pack that her alpha is coming for them. Turns out that the guy who pulls over to help her when her car dies on the side of the road is from the pack she's hoping to warn and get help from. 

Once Luke learns what and who is coming for his pack, he warns his alpha and the alpha wants him to come home right away but Luke has another idea...get into the rogue pack and take out the alpha. But gaining the trust of Raven and the alpha puts both of them in danger. Once he proves to the crazy alpha that he's there to join the pack, he's given more privileges because he shows the alpha that he's a good shot with a gun. Things become more complicated when Luke and Raven touch and realize they are mates. 

The danger they find themselves in is crazy. Some characters from previous books come popping up in this one which made the mystery of what they were really doing all the more intriguing. The Sedona pack was in bad shape and needed help so a lot of the members, some who had been turned against their will were happy to help Luke and Raven out. 

I'm glad that I started reading this series again because I really like these books. I'll definitely be reading more of this series. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

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: 

2 books to review.

A box from Sampler that contained...

New Depend Silhouette Women’s Underwear

LifeToGo Immunity + Vitamin Drink Mixes

Snuggle SuperFresh Original Scent Shakes

Air Wick Scented Oils, Pumpkin Spice

My favorite things out of this box were the Snuggle scent boosters for laundry and the Air wick scented oil. 

I haven't used the vitamin drink mix and I gave away the depend underwear as I don't use incontinence underwear. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

You can find my reviews for both of the review books here and here. 

Review: A Bridge To Love by Lee Colgin

 

Book Description

Everyone knows a proper troll must never leave his post. Arlo is thrilled to have his own bridge to guard, though it’s a lonely job. A troll should enjoy being alone, but Arlo has never been very good at being a troll. He longs for companionship, but guards that secret like he guards his bridge.

Toby, a cheerful wolf shifter, serves as a messenger between villages. When his route is suddenly blocked by a fearsome troll, he must charm his way across the bridge. Little does he know, he’s charming his way into Arlo’s heart as well. But Toby has his own secrets he dare not reveal.

As the season’s fly by and the holidays approach, their friendship blooms and begins to flourish into something more. But can Toby risk his heart for a troll bound so tight to duty? Will Arlo leave his bridge for love?

A Bridge to Love is an MM Fantasy Romance featuring an adorable gay troll and the sweet wolf shifter who falls for him. Tropes include friends to lovers, slow burn, and hurt/comfort. Sappily ever after guaranteed!

My Review

Arlo and Tobias met when Tobias was walking to his family's home and had to cross a bridge. Arlo was the troll and guarded the bridge and expected a tribute of some kind in order to pass over the bridge but the first time they met, Tobias had nothing to give the troll. Arlo let Tobias pass the first time for free but that night on the way back, Tobias brought a plate of cookies for the big troll. Tobias invited himself to eat a cookie with Arlo and they sat and talked and slowly became friends. 

Over the next year when Todias would pass over the bridge, he and Arlo would sometimes sit and talk. It was different watching a budding romance unfold between a wolf shifter and a troll but these two were so cute together. This was such a feel-good, sweet, romance that all I could do was smile while I was reading it. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Defender Cave Bear by Zoe Chant

 

Book Description

Two damaged people. One deadly enemy.

And a pair of hell-raising flying kittens....

Tirzah hacked into a shady agency’s computers to get proof of their evil deeds...and uncovered a secret so wild it can’t possibly be real.

Shapeshifting supersoldiers on the run from their creators? A lab studying captive mythical creatures? It has to be some bored employee’s fantasy novel. Right?

Then the flying kitten turns up. And the assassins. And the gargoyles.

But just because Tirzah uses a wheelchair doesn’t mean she’s helpless. Okay, so some secret organization is gunning for her? She’s going to gun right back... and she knows exactly who can help her. If she can track him down...

Pete was once a Recon Marine. That was before he was abducted and turned into a monster. Now he's escaped his prison... but in his heart, he’s still in chains.

It’s not just his ferocious cave bear he has to hide. For the safety of everyone - his team of misfit shifters, his family, and especially his thirteen-year-old daughter - no one can discover what his captors did to him.

He can’t let himself get close to anyone.

Until the most gorgeous woman he’s ever seen hacks her way through all his defenses, to offer him a job he can’t refuse...

My Review

Tirzah is a hacker, a really good hacker and that's what got her in danger. When she is almost kidnapped and the kidnapper wants her to delete a file she stole, she knows that she's on to something big. But after decoding it, she knows she needs help. 

Pete Valdez is a retired Marine and had been kidnapped and experimented on. He can now shift into a cave bear but keeps a strong hold on it because he see's himself and his animal as a monster who would hurt others. He now works for the Defenders Security Agency with a couple of other shifters. 

Tirzah is a hacker that called herself Override. The file she decoded and opened read like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. It claimed that Secret black ops experiments on kidnapped soldiers gave them super powers and turned into shape shifters. But it was all real because Pete was a cave bear shifter and one of the guys he worked with was a velociraptor shifter. 

Tirzah hired Pete from the Defenders Security Agency to keep her safe. But when another shifter comes after her, Pete keeps her safe but gets hurt and they end up back at his place so he can heal. For a moment they think they are out of danger but the danger just keeps coming which gives them time to get to know one another better. 

The twists, the flying kittens and the secrets really made this a fun book. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Daily Goodie Box- February

 

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

What was in the box?

Know Brainer Foods - Burnt Caramel Max Mallows- These are good! I love marshmallows and these were gone quick. I shared them with my grandson and daughter. My grandson is a fan. 

Interstate Bait - Big Game Brisket Sunflower Seeds- So these just tastes like regular sunflower seeds to me. I didn't taste any other seasoning besides salt. But they were good. 

2by4 - Liposomal Vitamin C- It says to add 1 tsp. to juice or other drinks each day to get your Vitamin C. I did and I didn't taste anything so this is a great way to get your Vitamin C. Easy to use works for me. 

Pretzel Pete - Whole Wheat Mini Twists- These were really good. My grandson likes pretzels so we shred the bag. We both really liked them. I thought they were a little more crunchy than other pretzels that I've tried which was fine with me.

Real Chemistry - Environmental Rescue Daily Serum- This daily serum absorbs fast and doesn't leave a sticky residue behind. I like that it felt like nothing was on my face but my face ended up feeling soft. I really like this and there's hardly any scent at all. 

Brami - Italian Snacking Lupini Beans- This was the only thing out of the box that no one here liked. They were not good at all. I didn't like the taste or the texture. 

Zollipops - Zolli Gummez- These candies are so good. They are sweet and not real chewy. My grandson liked them as well. 

ShiKai - CBD Body Lotion- I really don't think CBD products do anything, it's just a huge fad right now and after using this product I still think so. I felt no difference in pain in my knee's after using this CBD lotion. I think these kinds of products do nothing at all. 

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!

 

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

Apartment Life #238

 

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 22 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 22 years here in a weekly blog post.

My daughter stepped outside and there were several police cars and an ambulance outside. 

The police were across the street talking to a couple of people.

Someone came out and was put into the ambulance.

I have no idea what happened but someone got hurt. We didn't see anyone arrested though. There was a big response for whatever happened though.

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

Review: Dead of Night by Emily Goodwin

 

Book Description

Never trust a vampire.

I might have learned that lesson the hard way. But when I find myself in a vampire-owned bar, I don’t have much of a choice. With vampires still trying to assimilate into mainstream society, I’ve done Lucas King a favor by stopping one of his patrons from draining a human dry in the basement of his bar. A favor he'd prefer to repay in bed than in kind.

Vampires and witches have had more than a jaded history, and when witches start showing up dead in surrounding covens, all signs point to something old and powerful. Something that knows the ways of the witches.

Something--or someone--like Lucas. 

What's worse than trusting a vampire? Falling in love with one.

Dead of Night a vampire/witch romance and is book one in the Thorne Hill series.

My Review

Callie ends up stopping a vampire from maybe killing a human by a bar but when Lucas comes out to see what's going on, Callie thinks she's going to have to fight three vampires instead of jut the one. So when Lucas offers to take her home because she's had too much to drink, she's not sure what to think but she let's him take her home. 

Lucas is sixteen hundred years old and it's been a long time since someone has surprised him or made him feel anything new and with Callie he's feeling something. 

When Callie realizes that someone is stalking her she's gonna need help from not only other witch's but from Lucas as well. Lucas doesn't mind though because he seems a little infatuated with her. But when witches start getting murdered and it looks like a vampire might be doing it, Callie has doubts about her new boyfriend. He's old and powerful enough to be able to take out a powerful witch. She just hopes that he isn't the one she might have to kill. 

While the main mystery is solved and the demon that was chasing Callie and the other witches is gone, a lot of other questions are raised and not answered. So while the main mystery is concluded I can't really call this ending a cliffhanger since it appears the story will continue to the next book. So hopefully we get more answers in the next book. But I really liked Lucas and Callie, they might be totally opposites but they really fit together nicely. Lucas is such a nice guy, and Callie is a strong woman which I loved.

I loved that Callie and her friend owned a book store with a lot of romance books it in. She said she liked romance because of the HEA (Happily Ever After) in them because real life is rarely that way. She'd had a rough life especially since she was the only one in her family to have witch powers and they hated her for that. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

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: 

Bulgari perfume sample. 

Michael Kors perfume sample. 

SkinCeuticals face cream. 

Loreal Paris Genifique face and eye creams samples. 

A Sam's Club Health & Wellness Box with Dove men body wash, Degree for men deodorant spray, a water bottle and a hand towel. 

The perfume samples are great. Both smelled really good. 

The face creams works great at moisturizers. Other than that I really don't see much difference. 

I like the water bottle and can always use a hand towel. I will use the men's body wash since it smells good and I'll be giving the men's deodorant to someone else. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Blue Moon by Lisa Kessler

 

Book Description

She's his muse, his mate, and she's completely off-limits.

He's a jerk, a recluse, and her newest assignment.

Until he broke her heart, Vivianna Lopez loved Logan Reynolds.

Five years later, she's an aspiring music journalist and he's the camera-shy lead singer of Logan and the Howlers.

Armed with a backstage pass, Vivi's back in her hometown of Reno, nestled in the shadows of the Sierra Nevada mountains. She must score an interview with Logan to land her dream job - otherwise it's back to Boston, with no scoop and no job. It's just business-at least that's what she keeps telling herself.

Logan still loves Vivi, his soul mate, but there's something even she doesn't know about him: He turns into a werewolf every full moon and a secret organization is hunting down his Pack.

Vivi may not have Logan's senses, but she can sniff out that he's hiding something. He knows it's only a matter of time before the truth about him - and his Pack - is revealed.

And then he really will lose her.

My Review

Vivi was still in love with Logan even though he hurt her feelings 5 years before when he left her. Logan was still in love with Vivi but he thought she would be better off without him because he is a wolf shifter. Vivi has no idea why he decided to leave but she needs to get an interview with him now since he's a famous rocker and his band is really popular. Vivi is a journalist and wants to make a name for herself with a popular magazine and getting this interview could do that for her.

Once they see each other, the old feelings pop back up but Vivi also hates him for how he left things and how he makes her feel. So she goes looking into another story that could potentially be dangerous. A scoop on a story about a government contractor and top secret defense contracts. But Damien Severino is where her story leads her and he wants the world to know that shifters exist. 

Because of Damian, Vivi and Logan finds themselves in danger more than once. But Vivi is determined to help Logan who she now knows is a wolf shifter. The wolves don't want the world to know that shifters exist. They've done everything in their power to make sure they stay a secret. 

The romance between these two is so sweet because they never stopped caring about each other. Vivi is a strong woman and I liked that she didn't let him get away with leaving her and hurting her. She made sure he knew that he made the wrong choice and that she wasn't going to trust him right away again. But I think she understood more when she found out what he was and why he thought he had to leave her, it just kind of made more sense to her. 

I loved Logan's pack and thought the characters were great. I love this series even though it's taken me a while to get back to it. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Review: SkinChemists Purifying Anti-oxidising Day Moisturizer and Rose Quartz Mineral Day Moisturizer

I tried the purifying day moisturizer and really like it. It's supposed to help keep your face from getting oily during the day and I think it did actually help a little. It's not oily at all, blended into my skin really easily and smells slightly of grapefruit which I really like. I really like a nice light-weight moisturizer that I can use everyday and this is definitely one of those. 

If you'd like to check out this product or some of their other products, you can find them here. 

 I also got this Rose Quartz Mineral Day Moisturizer. It smells like roses and if you've been reading my blog for long you know how much I love the scent of roses. I used this for 5 days before writing this review and love this moisturizer. It's light weight, blends into the skin and leaves a beautiful light rose scent on the skin. It's a really nice moisturizer that I keep going back to. It wears well under my makeup and isn't greasy at all. Check this and other products out at the SkinChemists site. 

Disclosure: Links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you click on them and make a purchase, I will make a small profit from it. I was sent a free product minus shipping charge in exchange for an honest review. 

Review: Alien Protector: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance by Sue Mercury

 

Book Description

The little human is his perfect mate.

She just doesn't know it yet.


When Deza rescues a human female in peril, it's love at first sight and he immediately announces his desire to mate with her. The only problem? Annika refuses to mate with an alien she's only known for five seconds. Not easily deterred, he sets about wooing the adorable little human, eager to win her affections and finally claim her as his mate.


Annika plans to return to Earth ASAP and can't allow herself to develop feelings for the hunky Vaxxlian who saved her life...even if he is the hottest, kindest, and dreamiest alien male she's ever met. Despite her hesitation, his kisses make her melt and his arms are the sweetest refuge. When he makes a heartfelt gesture on Christmas Day to cheer her up, she starts to wonder if maybe, just maybe, mating with Deza isn't the most impulsive idea in the universe...

My Review

Annika left Earth in order to find a cure for the illness her sister had but the pilot of the ship she was on got sick, landed on an alien planet and then died. She's been stranded on the planet since then but the aliens have been nice to her for the most part. 

Deza is in search of a mate after his planet and most of his people were destroyed by an evil alien race. He and his brother's vowed to find mates and come back to their new world to try and rebuild their people and have families. Humans are compatible with their race so when he learns there's a human on a planet not far away, he goes to see her. He knows right away that he wants her for a mate but all she wants is to go home. 

When Annika is out in the woods looking for a tree to chop down for Christmas, she doesn't realize at first that Deza is out there with her making sure she is safe. When a powerful storm quickly rolls in and puts Annika in danger, Deza steps in and helps keep her safe. He knows what he wants but he has to convince Annika that she would be happy with him. When he tells her that he is willing to let her contact her parents from his ship and make the several week journey to take her home to Earth if she is willing to get to know him and give him a chance, she agrees. 

Watching them get to know one another was so sweet. Deza is such a big, sexy romantic alien and does whatever it takes to show her that she could be happy with him. I was rooting for them the whole time. The ending really made me smile because it was just perfect. This was a quick novella with just 69 pages but it was full of so much story that I felt like I had just read a longer book. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

 

All pictures today are courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com

Apartment Life #237

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 22 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 22 years here in a weekly blog post.

So the pictures didn't come out great because I grabbed the cell phone that my daughter gave me instead of my camera because it was closer. The Marshall's came and behind that green metal tree where they were standing was a homeless tent made from wood palettes, blankets and cardboard. I watched as the Marshall's went over to the tent and started throwing the blankets off and started jumping on the wood palettes to break them. They made the homeless people get up and leave. The way they did it though was messed up.

-----

On Thursday a couple of maintenance guys were cleaning the gutters on the roof across from me and my building and I heard one say that there was a bunch of crack pipes up there because people keep throwing them up there. At least they're throwing them away. Good grief.

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

Review: Walmart beauty Box- January

 

The Walmart Beauty box is a subscription box that comes out 4 times a year. You sign up for it and it comes automatically every 3 months. These boxes are free and you just pay $5 + tax for shipping, mine came to $5.42.

What was in the box?

Bio Oil Dry Skin Gel- It was oily and didn't have a nice smell. Good thing it was just a small foil sample. 

Cetaphil Daily Cream- I've always liked Cetaphil and it works great on my dry hands. 

No7 Night Concentrate- A night cream for your face. After 5 nights of using this instead of my regular night cream I can honestly say it works about the same as other night creams. My face was soft and felt less dry which would happen with pretty much any moisturizer you apply at night. 

Vital Proteins Strawberry Lemon Beauty Collagen- Egads, this stuff was awful! I mixed it with some water like it said and tried to drink it. Ugh, it tasted terrible. I let my daughter try and and she spit it out. 

Crest Optic White toothpaste- I already like this toothpaste and think it works pretty good. 

Earth To Skin hand sanitizer- It was lemon and basil scent and I say it works as well as any other alcohol based hand sanitizer. I can always use more hand sanitizer.

Did you get this box?

So for the price, I think this was a really good box of beauty items. 

Have you signed up for this box?

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: 

Perfume samples from Macy's. I have enough perfume samples to last me a year at this point. 

I also received a tube of facial day moisturizer, I just paid for shipping but the product was free. 

I'll be reviewing the moisturizer soon. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

---

Here's a picture of what if looked like three days ago. We actually got a little bit of snow where I live. Other parts of Las Vegas got 3 inches of snow which is rare. 

An Interesting Little Find

 

When my mom passed away back in 2011, I packed up a bunch of her things and put the boxes in the closet. This month I looked in the last box and found some paperwork as well as this interesting find. It's a War Ration Book with 2 stamps still attached from 1942. It was my great grandmothers ration book. 

There were some strict penalties and fines for anyone caught breaking the rules. 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine.

When I saw the date this was issued, I just thought it was such a great find.

I can't even imagine being alive back then and having to be on rations and use a book like this.

I even still have the cover that it came in to protect it. 

If you don't know what a War Ration book and stamps are, here's a brief explanation. 

During the war, some foods became scarce and hard to find for a variety of reasons. The US government’s Office of Price Administration established a system of rationing that would more fairly distribute foods that were in short supply.  Every American was issued a series of ration books during the war. The ration books contained removable stamps good for certain rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil, and canned goods. A person could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the right ration stamp.  Once a person’s ration stamps were used up for a month, they couldn’t buy any more of that type of food.  This meant planning meals carefully, being creative with menus, and not wasting food.