Review: Walmart Beauty Box- June

 

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. They did increase the price of the box a little bit. So instead of $5 it's just a couple of dollars more. These boxes are free and you just pay for tax for shipping, mine came to $7.48.

What was in the box?

Cetaphil Mineral Sunscreeen. 

Cetaphil Gentle Daily Face Scrub. 

Listerine Ready Tabs. 

Sauve Pink 3 step hair regimen. 

Dollar Shave Club Shave Butter. 

NYX Bare With Me Cannabis Primer. 

The NYX cannabis make up primer works well. I don't know what the cannabis is supposed to do but it works as well as my other primer's. 

The Listerine Ready tabs are strong. You chew, swish and swallow. Fresh breath. I mean they work. 

The shave butter works great. I don't use shaving cream on my legs, I buy those disposable razors with the lubricating strip on them and they work well. This works really good though too. Loved this. 

I'm gonna have to buy the Suave Pink shampoo and conditioner. I really liked it and it smells so good. 

The Cetaphil face scrub and sunscreen work well. I've used both before and like both of them. 

I think for the price, this month's box was really good. I love being able to try new to me products and this is a great way to do that.  

Did you get this box?

Review: Rebel's Karma by Rebecca Zanetti

 

Book Description

There's no denying destiny . . .

For too long, Benjamin Reese has masked his deadly skills and temper with loyalty and humor. A vampire-demon hybrid, he fiercely protects his family, guards his brothers, and destroys the enemy without mercy. But when he discovers one fragile, beautiful blonde—a woman once mated to a Kurjan, no less—every primal instinct he has buried for centuries roars to life. With the mating mark she roused on his hand entwining their fates, no one will prevent him from keeping her safe and making her his, forever . . .

Or desire . . .

Karma wishes she could remember her last name. Or if she even had one. All she has in this confusing new world is a desperate duty to save the innocent. That means destroying the dark, dangerous, and desirable Benjamin Reese and everything he loves—an impossible task even before his touch arouses a passionate hunger she can't afford. She's certain a deadly enemy watches her every move, but it's not until Benny kisses her that she tastes true danger…

My Review

Benny had let himself get captured so he could find Karma. When she finds him in one of the holding cells and tries to help him, he let's her know that he's been looking for three years for her. He wants to save her from the Kurjans but she's not sure she can trust him. Karma had once been mated to a Kurjan and now can't be touched by any other males or they will both develop a rash. Benny is a demon vampire hybrid and he tells her that he came back for her because the mating mark appeared on him three years ago when he touched her and tried to save her but she doesn't believe him at first. 

Once back with his people, Karma thinks that Benny is bringing her with him so she can be killed or so that the queen can do experiments on her. But even though she slowly begins to accept that they aren't going to kill her, she has a huge secret. When Benny and the others realize what her secret is, they aren't too happy but they don't know if she's in on it or being coerced. They also don't know that the dead mother of the twin girls she left behind keeps badgering her to go back and save them from the Kurjans. 

I really liked how Benny is with Karma and how Karma finally finds herself among all of them. Benny is my favorite of the seven so far. He's such a warrior and he knows that the final battle is going to happen before the others think it's going to happen but he really proved that he was worthy of someone like Karma. 

This book was interesting since we get to see the Kurjan's from Karma's perspective. The Kurjan's and Ulric are crazy dangerous and now we know that they have to be taken out and hopefully the seven will be able to do it soon. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #255

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 23 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. 

So something kinda comical happened this week. I was walking Falcor and spotted these little packets on the ground. I thought they were drugs, I mean, little packets filled with white powder? Drugs. So I picked them up and was going to destroy them and throw them away so some poor kid didn't get a hold of them but when I brought them inside I noticed that they weren't in plastic baggies like I would have thought they would be. The packets were made from some kind of heavy duty paper/cloth and it looked like they were machine sealed not hand sealed. So I did a Google image search and was interested in what I found. 

They are actually a nicotine pouch that people use like chewing tobacco. I read on their site that some of them have different scents and so I sniffed one of the packets (yeah, stop laughing) and it smelled like cinnamon which just confirmed what I had already determined. Not drugs, just a nicotine pouch. lol Well, at least I didn't find cocaine or meth. But I did learn something new because I didn't even know that something like this existed. 

----

The police were on my street but a bit around the corner at the apartment complex across the street.  They didn't stay long but the guy that came out to talk to them was yelling as was really mad about something. 

-----

The old maintenance shop kept getting broken into like I told you a couple of weeks ago. So after maintenance kicked some of the local homeless people out again, they FINALLY did something to stop them from getting back in. They secured a security door to the old shop! Poor married guy and cordless drill woman will have to find another place for their romantic interludes. Boohoo. It was getting bad though. I would walk by at night after maintenance had left for the day and there would be 5-7 homeless people in there, some of them doing drugs and not even caring that the door was open and anyone walking by could see them. 

I spotted a needle in the rocks by the door. I guess maintenance dropped this when they were cleaning the room out. I put it in the trash.

Oh and Summer is here. On Friday it was 107 F. 

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

Book Review: Burn by Suzanne Wright

 

Book Description

Part of a small demon lair in North Las Vegas, tattooist Harper Wallis lives a pretty simple life. That changes overnight when she discovers that her psychic mate, or ‘anchor’, is a guy who’s rumored to be the most powerful demon in existence. Compelling, full of secrets and armed with raw sexuality, Knox Thorne is determined to claim her as his anchor, creating a psychic bond that will prevent their inner demons from ever turning rogue. The billionaire also wants Harper in his bed. She’s not so sure she wants either of those things. No one seems to know what breed of demon Knox is, only that he’s more dangerous than anything she’s ever before encountered. But he refuses to walk away. And when an unknown danger starts closing in on Harper, it seems that Knox is the only one who can keep her safe.

As Prime of his Las Vegas lair and a successful businessman, Knox Thorne is used to being in control. He’s also used to people fearing and obeying him. Harper does neither, which unexpectedly amuses him. Unpredictable, elusive, and complex, she draws Knox and his inner demon like nothing ever has. Knox is used to getting what he wants, and he wants Harper. He’ll have her, and he’ll keep her safe from the threat that looms over her. Because Knox protects what’s his. He won’t allow anyone to take her from him. Even if it will mean letting the demon inside him rise and wreak the havoc it was created to make.

My Review

Harper is a demon who grew up knowing her mother never wanted her and gave her to her grandmother. She grew up in a family of Imp's even though she isn't one. Her father only helped raise her because her grandmother, his mother made him.

Knox is also a demon but he's The Prime of his lair and a billionaire to boot. He owns a lot of land and hotels in Nevada. He was rumored to be the most powerful demon in existence, so other demons fear him. 

When Harper's cousin is attacked and not able to fight, Harper takes her place in the ring. That's when Knox takes notice of her and makes it a point to meet her. But as soon as they touch, they realize they are each others anchor. Demons come in pairs, each having a psychic anchor. Finding and having that anchor prevented the demon from turning rogue. 

Knox has a problem because someone is kidnapping strays from outside his lair. Strays are demons who choose to live outside a lair and not have the protection of The Prime but they also don't have to follow The Primes rules. He's not sure who is behind the kidnapping until his old friend makes noise about wanting to be the new monarch, who would hold power over all the Primes.

I loved the picture on the cover of this book and that's one of the reasons I wanted to read this. His eye just looked evil and I really thought it was cool. You can tell when the demon inside has taken over because their eyes bled black. They have inner demons much like shifters have an inner animal. There are different kinds of demons and while most of Harpers family are Imps, she is a sphinx. 

This book was set in Las Vegas which I loved. Since I live in Las Vegas, I like reading books set here. When a couple of Primes decide that they want to make changes to the hierarchy and elect a monarch that would oversee everyone, the drama ratchets up all the while Knox and Harper have to figure out who is trying to kill her and why. There are several obvious prospects as to who was trying to kill her but I wasn't sure who it was or why until it unfolded. 

There was a lot of drama going on in this story but we also get to watch Harper and Knox get to know one another. They were so good together. He might be a big, bad demon but he is also an insanely caring person to those who mean something to him. It was interesting to see both sides to a demon since my first thought of demon's are not how much they can care about their friends and mates. 

The side characters are hilarious. Devon and Tanner are pretty much a dog and a cat demon but are actually a hellhound and hellcat, to say they don't like each other is an understatement. They made snide little jokes to each other but it made me laugh so much. I can totally see these two together even though they say they hate each other. He is always saying stuff like, "Here, kitty kitty." and she once brought him a bag of dog biscuits. How can these two not end up together? I can't wait to see more of these two.

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: 

Folders from Walmart Spark. 

An Amazon gift card from Smiley360 for participating in a campaign. 

I like the folders. They are a think plastic so they are tough and flexible at the same time. They aren't going to tear easily and they come in great colors and patterns. 

You can sign up for Smiley360 and sometimes they will pick you for campaigns and you'll get free products. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: The Dragon's Playlist by Laura Bickle

 

Book Description

“This is war,” the dragon said. And she believed him.

Di fled rural West Virginia to study music and pursue a bright future as a violinist. But when a mining accident nearly kills her father, she is summoned back home to support her family. Old ghosts and an old flame emerge from the past. When Di gets a job as a bookkeeper at the same mine where her father worked, she is drawn into a conflict pitting neighbor against neighbor as the mine plans an expansion to an untouched mountain.

If the mining company’s operation goes forward, there will be more at stake than livelihoods or the pollution of the land: Di has discovered a dragon lives deep within Sawtooth Mountain, and he is not happy with this encroachment upon his lair. When catastrophe strikes, Di must choose between her family’s best interests and protecting the dragon – the last surviving bit of magic in Di’s shrinking world.

In every fight, sides are chosen. And there can be no yearning for what has been left behind.

My Review

When Di is informed that her father was in a mining accident, she drops everything and comes home only to find that it's worst than she thought. Her father is a shell of his former self and is hurt really bad. But while home she gets to visit with her grandfather who is having memory problems but can also still play the violin along with her which brings her spirits up. Then when she has car trouble and her ex-boyfriend stops to help her and comes home with her, she finds out that he has been really helpful to her family. He actually helped pull her father out of the mine when it collapsed. Over time they seem like they are going to rekindle their relationship. 

Di also makes friends with Will who is against the expansion of the mining operation because of the pollution it could cause. The mining company wants to expanding their operation to the Sawtooth Mountain where they hope to be able to get the coal. But they don't know that a dragon lives in that mountain and is willing and able to stop them. When Di finds the dragon, he seems to like music and likes the music she makes with the violin. He even talks to her a bit when it's pretty clear he just wants to be left alone.

I really thought that this was going to be a book about the dragon but the dragon was a mere side story. This book was more about coal mining, the pollution that it might cause, the damage the mining causes to the land and how miners are treated by the company. It poses real world problems with a side of magic...a very small side of magic. This could have been a really good book but it bored me to tears. I kept reading because I was really hoping that it would get better and the dragon would play a bigger part but it didn't. The ending was anti-climatic and just fell flat for me. This book could have been so good but it left me wanting the hours back that I spent reading it. 

I give this book 1 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Sky Pictures

 

Summer is here and the temperatures are definitely heating up. But along with the hot temperatures comes Monsoon Season where we can can flash floods and downpours that last a few minutes to all day. When the clouds roll in, I really like those days. This first picture as a sunrise one day when I saw just a few clouds. 

There were more clouds right above us and funny enough I felt a tiny bit of moisture from the clouds that never made it to the ground.

It sure looked like we might get a little rain, but we didn't but the clouds looked spectacular. 

It rained by the mountains but we got no rain once the clouds reached us. Still looked really cool though. I love overcast, cloudy days.

Book Review: An Alpha's Choice by Carrie Ann Ryan

 

Book Description

The Bestselling Redwood Pack continues with the Talon Pack series.

A Broken Wolf. A Fractured Bond. A Fate Denied.

Brynn Brentwood has spent the whole of her life protecting the Talon Pack through terrors only she will ever know. She’s never asked for more in life other than to live to take her next breath and to ensure her family is safe. Regardless of her selfless wishes and the atrocities the former Alpha committed, she has always known that fate would provide for her as it had countless others. Fate is what has carried her through with one exception—upon meeting the one wolf who could be hers, he doesn’t feel their bond.

Finn Jamenson has been broken more than once, left beaten and half dead—and that was before he was an adult and Heir of the Redwood Pack. When called upon to work with their allies, the Talons, he finds himself intrigued with a woman who his wolf doesn’t claim as his own. Though he knows there could be something there, he refuses to tempt himself with a wolf who could never be his when his own mate could waiting for him.

The world changed in a blink of time and now the two wolves must fight as one—ignoring the burning temptation between them—when their people are threatened. With one wrong move, their homes could be destroyed and its up to Finn and Brynn to save them all…if only they could save themselves.

My Review

Finn senses something might be missing in him and his wolf ever since he was a kid and had to be healed after something horrible happened to him. His wolf has never been very outspoken to him and he feels like he's a little broken. 

Brynn knows that Finn is her mate but he hasn't acknowledged that he senses that she is his mate even once so she acts very gruff with him most of the time because she's hurt. 

Humans know that wolves exist and some humans are not happen about it. They are not very nice to the shifters when they see them out among them and don't try to hide their hatred most of the time. But I think they just didn't know what to expect from the shifters and were scared. We always fear what we don't know. So Finn and Brynn are tasked with going out in public together so the humans can see they aren't dangerous to them but the more time they spend together the more their feelings come to the surface. 

Finn might not realize that Brynn is his mate because his wolf is quiet, but he has feelings for her and he doesn't understand why she hates him...until he does. 

This was a good story and I liked Brynn and Finn but it took me a long time to really get into this book. It really wasn't until close to the end that I really started to enjoy what was going on. I just found it a little monotonous and slow going for most of it but it did pick up close to the end so I'm glad I stuck with it.  

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

16 Years Blogging! Happy Blogoversary to Me!

 

It's my Blogoversary!

It's hard to believe that 16 years ago I started this blog. At first I had no idea what to write about. I still pretty much write about whatever I want to most days so I'm glad that so many of you seem to enjoy my posts.

A lot of things have changed in the last 16 years. My daughter is all grown up and now I have an 8 year old grandson. I used to have hamsters, rats and gerbils and now have a very energetic Jack Russell Terrier/Chihuahua named Falcor. 

My blog has changed as I've changed over the years. I've met a lot of really wonderful people and made quite a few friends along the way.  I've ranted, reviewed, shared my thoughts and advice. I don't think I ever really thought that I would still be blogging 16 years later or that anyone would read what I had to say, but many of you do and I thank you for sticking with me through so many years.

Most of my old followers know that my husband of 30 years found out last year that he had stage 4 lung cancer in March and 8 months later in November of 2020, he passed away. It was a very dark time for me but so many of my online friends sent me words of encouragement, sympathy and listened when I needed to talk. You all also came though in a big way when my daughter made a Go Fund Me to help with his taxi rides to and from his doctor appointments and then his funeral. You all showed me in a big way that wonderful people are still around willing to help and I just wanted you to know how much we appreciated that. 

So for all of you followers that have been here for a long time and for those of you that are fairly new, I just want to thank you for visiting, commenting and enjoying what I've been posting over the years. I hope we'll all be around and blogging for many years to come.

Apartment Life #254

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 23 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. 

I heard the police helicopter circling really low over my apartment complex so I headed out and saw a bunch of police 2 courtyards from mine. The police were gearing up, putting vests on, they got their shotguns out and went into the courtyard faster than I've ever seen the police go into a situation around here before. 

Then this police officer and 2 others started running down the street towards me and the other people who were standing around. He got down to us and told us there was an active shooter in the area and we needed to go back inside and lock our doors. So that's what I did. The police were not messing around this time. I didn't see what happened but while I was looking out my bedroom window I saw an ambulance and fire truck pull up. 

The ambulance and fire truck both pulled away within a few minutes of getting here. But the ambulance showed back up after we heard a flash bang grenade go off. I saw the coroner's van pull up about an hour later. The police were everywhere and they chased me back inside when I went out a little while later. They were telling people that they were going to be arrested if they came back out so I didn't get anymore pictures but it's sad that I'm pretty sure someone got shot by the active shooter because the guy across the street said someone was taken out in a body bag and that's why the coroner was there. Police did arrest him I heard the next day from someone across the street who was able to watch it out their living room window. 

So that was my week. It's scary to think that someone around here just started shooting and it's not even the first time something like this has happened.

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

Book Review: Her Vampire Assassin by Erin St. Charles

 

Book Description

She saw more than she should…

For more than a millennium, I have roamed the Earth, a lone hunter killing the creatures that murdered my family. 

Until a dark-skinned beauty discovers my sacred mission, but proves impervious to my mind-wiping skills.

Turns out the sassy little human has secrets of her own. Secrets that enable my deadly mission. Secrets that put us both in danger.

When I taste her for the first time, there’s no going back. 

I’m keeping her, and when I’m done with her, I will make her crave my mastery. 

I will make her crave my bite.

My Review

After an attack that left her in the hospital for a few weeks, Luna doesn't like to go out during the day, she feels safer at night. But that's not the only thing that changed about her after the attack, she can now sense when she's approaching a dangerous situation. So when she comes upon Hermod killing a changeling, she's not sure what she just saw but her first instinct is to run.

Hermod has been a vampire for more than an millennium and in that time he's trained to kill the monsters that destroyed his village when he was still a human. He now hunts the changelings that prey on humans. He's not sure what to do when a human catches him killing a changeling and he can't thrall her to forget what she saw.

Hermod's first thought is maybe to just kill Luna since he can't wipe her memory of what happened but he doesn't and that's where this story gets really good. 

Hermod is new in town so of course he's gone to Lucius the vampire king and asked if he can stay temporarily. So He brings Luna back to Club Toxic with him but he doesn't make use of the BDSM dungeon and hasn't been with the willing women that come there. He gets his blood from the bar. He seemed very lonely because he's so focused on hunting the changelings. But no one there knows what he's been doing or even knew that changelings exist. I found this a little far fetched since reading so many books in this series I know that Lucius and Selene would be more than unhappy to have a vampire hunting monsters that they don't even know about in their city. I would have liked to see a little more interaction with Lucius. 

Hermod is sweet, caring and very protective. At first he was all gruff and didn't know what to make of Luna since she talked back and was sarcastic to him and he wasn't used to anyone acting like that towards him. But the more time they spend together, the more he sees how strong and resilient she is and he likes that about her. He wants her to stay with him and help him find the changelings since she seems to be able to find them with her psychic gift but she isn't sure she's up for that.

I loved seeing Slash again, he's the resident tech nerd that has shown up in a couple of books and I hope he gets his own book at some point. He's a fun character. While Hermod isn't as dominant as some of the other Doms in this series he is still a Dom and likes to use a little bondage during their sexy times. But he's one of the sweetest guys this series has produced and I really liked him. 

I give this book 4 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: 

Perfume samples from Macy's. 

Ya'll, I have enough perfume samples to last me quite a while. 

This is the little box that I keep the perfume samples in. It's 3 layers deep. I'm going to have to find a bigger container pretty soon. I love that I keep getting all of these samples to try. I even received some men's cologne and gave them to my daughter to give to my grandson's dad or her guy friends. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Bite Shift by Lena Nazarei

 

Book Description

Kate Murphy is just a nurse and single mom who wants to slip into her forties quietly, and finally lose those last 10 pounds. After a savage attack during her night shift break, Kate is turned into a vampire to save her. Now, she is thrust into a world that she didn’t know existed; trying to figure out how to keep her new condition secret from work, kids, and her ex-husband without missing a step. It’s funny how the word vampire will make you forget you have a water bill.

Unfortunately, Sorin, the Lord of the city, has sent her on a suicide mission to find the thing that left her for dead before it kills again and he doesn’t take “no, thanks” for an answer. Despite knowing she should despise him, the passion he has ignited inside her is hard to control and she is quickly losing the reasons she shouldn’t give in...especially when he makes it clear that he wants the same thing.

Kate will need to reach inside herself to find the strength that was always there and finally learn...she was never “just” anything.

My Review

Kate is a nurse and has has kids that she takes care of with her ex-husband who is married again to a woman that she gets along with. One night she is viciously attacked outside the hospital while she is taking a break. But a vampire who works at the hospital, Rhys saves her and turns her into a vampire. She would have died otherwise and Rhys didn't want her to die. 

Sorin is the Lord of the city so Rhys brings Kate to see him after she's turned, it's what new vampires have to do. But Sorin is so much more than Kate thought he would be and she is instantly attracted to him. Sorin thinks that Kate is quite interesting as well but Rhys councils her to be wary of him so she tries to deny what she feels for him. 

Sorin gives Rhys and Kate the job of catching the thing that attacked Kate and bring him to Sorin so he can take care of it. They aren't even sure what they are looking for at first but whatever it is, it's been killing woman in the city and they can't let it keep doing that. So even though Kate is a new vampire and Rhys is used to keeping a low profile and staying to himself, he and Kate are on the hunt for a killer. 

But even though Sorin is able to give them the case files of the other women and all the info about them, they have a hard time figuring out who the killer might be. Every time Kate goes to Sorin to give him an update, the heat between them burns bright and they end up falling for each other so fast. She's not sure she can trust him because of who he is but he just keeps trying to win her over. 

There's a doctor at the hospital she works at that knows vampires exist and is trying to find a cure for his own purposes. They become friends even though back when she was a human she thought he was such a jerk. She has friends at work that see the changes in her and are shocked but she has to make up some lies to her ex and her kids to explain why she can no longer go out in the sun and why she's a little different and stressed out now. 

When the killer is revealed I never saw it coming. It was a total shock to me and I love being blindsided like that. He fooled everyone though and was good at doing it because he was a sociopath. When the story about who he actually was back when he was human unfolded, it actually gave me chills. I had goosebumps as I read what this guy had done and wanted to still do. He was a true villain in every sense of the word. Sometimes the bad guy in a story has one or two redeeming qualities...this guy had none.

This was such a good book and it was the first time I've read this author but I can tell you right now, it won't be the last. I found out that this is the author's debut novel and I was surprised because it was really good! I hope she writes more books like this.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Review: Darkness Betrayed by Alexandra Ivy

 

Book Description

When a conspiracy threatens what's most precious to The Guardians of Eternity, they must depend upon their one-time enemy to protect them in the latest from New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Ivy . . .

Once, Brigette was the conduit through which the ultimate evil reached Earth. Now she's just a lonely Were isolated in an Irish cottage, cut off from her animal and humanity alike. When a band of rebels approach her to take down the king of the vampires, she knows denying them means certain death—but even if she warns the king, he may not listen to the likes of her.

From the moment Xi slips into Brigette's bedroom to escort her to his king, he sees the heartbreak that hides behind her guilt. The elusive vampire has fought for centuries to master his own regrets, and his word will convince the king to value hers. Neither can escape the attraction between them, even as partners on an undercover mission. But there's no room for pleasure when their work might redeem her to the Guardians completely—or send them to the death they've evaded for so long . . .

My Review

Brigette has done some awful things but she knows it and feels awful about it. She's also suffered for the things she's done and even her wolf has turned her back on her now. She used to have the power of the darkness but she doesn't have that anymore and not everyone knows that yet. So when some rebels come and ask for her help, she says yes knowing full well she'll never help them. She's acting as a spy for Styxx and trying to help him since he helped her.

Xi is called when Brigette gets word to Styxx that rebel forces are going to try and overthrow him and his people. Styxx asks Xi to go with Brigette to make sure that what she's saying is true but while he's there he becomes more and more attracted to her. 

Brigette had been used by the beast for many years and now that she's free of him, she's an outcast and no one trusts her. But she truly does feel awful for the things she's done and has no idea how to go about her life now. So when she can stop some rebels from doing damage to Styxx, she helps as much as she can. Xi is along for the ride to see what Styxx is up against so he and Brigette spend a lot of time together and find that they are attracted to one another. 

There's a lot of danger and Brigette and Xi find themselves in the thick of it. Once they figure out what and who is really behind the attack on Styxx it wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be. There were a couple of great twists at the end of this book. I love how it ended.

I loved seeing Levet in this book. He's so funny and I find it hilarious that he gets under the skin of so many of the characters in this series. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

I received an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Review: Shadow Storm by Christine Feehan

 

Book Description

A long-simmering feud between two families comes to a head in this gripping novel in Christine Feehan's New York Times bestselling Shadow Riders series.

 

As the youngest member of the Ferraro family, Emmanuelle has watched each of her brothers find happiness in love while her own heart was shattered by a lover’s betrayal. For two years she’s stayed as far away from Valentino Saldi as possible—until she learns that he’s been shot during a hostile takeover of his family’s territory.

 

Emme’s first instinct is to call her brother Stefano for help, and soon the entire Ferraro clan arrives to bring Val back from the brink of death and protect the Saldis from further attack. With one choice Emme has re-exposed herself to Val’s intoxicating pull and dragged her family into the Saldis’ private war.

 

A deadly storm is brewing, and only time will tell who survives…

My Review

Emme has always loved Val but their families don't get along and her brothers have never really listened to her when she tried to tell them her feelings for Val. But Emme goes to him when she finds out he's been shot and when she calls her brother's for help, they don't hesitate to help Val and his family. 

Val loves Emme but he said some things about her that really hurt her and even though he tried to make it right they are no longer together. So he's shocked to see her and her family after he wakes up after surgery for the bullet wounds he sustained. 

After Val's uncle tries to kill him and his adopted father and he's gotten through surgery, his uncle comes back with his men to finish the job but by that time Emme's family is there to make sure they don't succeed. There's a huge fight but the Ferraro family is really good at killing the bad guys. Val is more than mad when he finds out that his uncle has been selling kids and women to the highest bidder and has horrible dungeons in some of his clubs where really bad things are going on. After finding out all this information and more he enlists Emme's family to help him rescue the kidnapped kids and women, shut down the clubs and make the responsible people pay for it all. There's a lot of bloodshed and a lot of action in this book but it was great to see the Ferraro and Saldi family's working together to get it done.

There was one heck of a twist at the end but I really liked seeing Val and Emme finally come together. Sure they had a lot of things to work through and the whole shadow binding thing was just weird but I was glad to see Emme happy at last. All of the brothers and their wives are in this book and I really liked seeing all of them again. This series is best read in order because there are so many characters to get to know.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Happy Raturday!

 

"I sneezed in the pancake batter but I don't think my brothers will mind."

"Time for school."

*All pictures today courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #253

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 23 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. 

When I took Falcor out first thing in the morning I spotted a tent on the path where I usually walk him. I took this picture from my door so you can see how close it was to our apartments. 

When I got out on the path, I took another picture so you can see that only the fence separated the tent from my courtyard. I saw the lady that was in the tent later on that day. I've never seen her before but she was walking around in a 2 piece bathing suit. I haven't seen her or the tent since that day. Maybe she had an argument with her hubby and decided to go camping for the night. Who knows. 

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Of course the police ended up at my apartment complex this week. The ambulance was also here. I heard someone screaming at another person in one of my neighbors apartments. Next thing I know police are running in with their shotguns and the police helicopter is circling my complex and the lady was taken out on a stretcher. 

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So now for a little gossip. 

I was taking the trash out and when I walked by the old shop door, I saw my married neighbor that I've told you about and his girlfriend inside there. He popped away from her so fast it was kinda comical. As as I coming back from putting the trash in the can, they were leaving the shop room. But the funniest thing was, she had a cordless drill and put two screws back in the door so it looked like no one had broken in there again. I mean, the lengths that these two are going to in order to find a place for a quickie is ridiculous. 

This is the old shop door so you can get a picture of what I'm talking about. It's been nailed shut, busted open. Screwed shut, busted open. And they are even using some kind of metal brackets now that cordless drill woman has no problem getting by.

A couple of days later we had apartment inspections and the maintenance people were all over the place with the apartment manager who I got to meet for the first time in more than a year. One of the maintenance people caught the married guy and his girlfriend inside the old shop and kicked them out. Then the maintenance guy proceeded to put more screws into the door to nail it shut. Not that's it's going to stop cordless drill woman, she comes prepared. I just hope the married guy comes just as prepared for their little interludes or he might get more than he bargained for ie...an STD. Because she's one of the homeless methheads around here. I wonder if the married guy will get a warning letter about breaking into the shop. Would serve him right if his wife saw the letter before he did. Karma my friend, is a bitch and she's coming for you.

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

A quick update for those of you that follow by email. Feedburner is getting rid of that so I just deleted it. I don't plan on replacing it with anything. 

Easy Cheese

 

I didn't have a post written for today and was going to leave it a no post day. But then while on social media, I was reading one of those posts about, "Products in the US that people in other places around the world don't know." and one of those things was this, which I had in my cabinet. I guess I didn't realize that people outside of the US might not know what this was unless they too have seen those posts about it that I was reading. 

This is Easy Cheese. It's cheese in a can that you squeeze out and put on crackers. Yes, you read that right. 

When you pop that top off, there's a nozzle that you press side ways and the cheese comes squirting out. 

I put some on some crackers so you can see what I mean. You're welcome. lol 

Most people that I know, love this stuff. Heck, back when I had rats, they loved this stuff too. I'm sure my dog would too if he didn't have a crazy sensitive stomach. 

So have you had this? Heard of it? If this is your first time seeing it, what do you think? Would you try it?

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

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

This week I received: 

A perfume card sample. 

Osnap sleep supplement. 

A free bag of dog food from Influenster. 

I won some books from a blog contest from Kristin at Booksniffers Anonymous. 

The perfume smelled good. There wasn't much on the card though. Just enough for one application. 

The Osnap sleep supplement didn't help me sleep, so there's that. 

My dog has a sensitive stomach and can't eat just any old dog food so I gave him a few pieces the first few days and he kept it down and liked it. So I mixed some into his food and he's been eating it. You can sign up for Influenster too if you would like to try and get some free products. 

I haven't read any of these books yet so I'm looking forward to reading them.

Did you receive any freebies this week?