Apartment Life #336

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

I was out with Falcor and when I got back to my apartment there was a woman and her husband in front of my apartment arguing. The woman is the sister of one of my neighbors. The sister called the police. My daughter was outside and told the woman to come over to her and yelled at the husband to leave. He left when I walked up. The police came but I didn't see anyone get arrested. 

The police went to the sisters apartment and then she took them over to her sisters apartment. She also lives in my apartment complex. 

About 2 hours later the police showed up again but I don't know what for. There are two police cars side by side here talking to each other. 

Right next door one night a couple of weeks ago there was a car meet in the Cal Ranch parking lot around 11Pm. My daughter went outside to see why they were making so much noise. They were setting off smoke bombs, racing their cars, doing doughnuts and squealing their tires.

You can see a bunch of people in the background watching. There was a bunch of cars doing it. I tried to upload a video but the video wouldn't play. They all left when the police showed up. 

A fire truck showed at for an apartment across the street Friday night at 4AM. My camera doesn't take good pictures at night but you can see all the lights on it. lol I'll just use my window cameras for night time pictures from now on. They didn't stay long and nothing was on fire so hopefully whatever they were there for everyone is alright. 

The high this week was 90F/32C

The low this week was 62F/16C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Nevertel- Losing Faith

I already like Nevertel and heard this for the first time the other day and really liked it. I hope you enjoy it as well. 

Book Review: Bloodstone by H.R. Sinclair

 

Book Description

Family secrets hold the key to buried magic. Her legacy awaits.

Katelyn Grey is a gardener in Southern California. She’s content with pruning shrubs and looking after her step-mom, the only family she has left. That is, until a lawyer shows up and tells her that her long-lost aunt died, leaving her the family home on the other side of the country.

Though Katelyn hates to travel, a weird clause in her aunt’s will forces her to visit a quaint New England seaside town. Her world changes when she discovers she’s inherited a haunted brownstone, fickle magic, and a hidden key that someone else wants. And they’re willing to kill for it.

Now, she must learn how to use magic, find the key, and figure out what it’s for before she ends up like her long-lost aunt. Dead.

My Review

Katelyn gets a visit from a lawyer who tells her she inherited a house from a relative she never knew about. She has to travel to the house and once there strange things start to happen. Most of the townsfolk are nice to her but a few treat her badly and she has no idea why. The brownstone she inherited seems haunted since she sees ghosts in it who talk to her and she finds things inside the house that seem magical. 

When other magical elements reveal themselves to her, including some ghosts she finds herself trying to find something she's been tasked with finding. I didn't like that Katie shared so much information about what she found out with her new best friend and other people she just met. I think I would have been keeping some of that to myself until I found out if they could be trusted. 

After a while Katie finds out all kinds of family secrets, some magical secrets all the while she's trying to learn more so she can keep her family secrets safe and not let the people who want to take these magical items from her. She meets a lot of interesting people along the way and I really liked how she just unveiling secrets about things she never knew. 

This story really kept me engaged in the story as more and more secrets were revealed, which I loved.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC copy from the author but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Amazon

Book Review: Alien Claimed by Julie K. Cohen

 

Book Description

The blue horned alien says he won’t touch me. What if I want him to?

Ivy

Earth wasn’t exactly paradise, not since the Coalition took control, but it was home... until Ivy’s brother shoved her on an alien ship to be a mail-order bride. The truth be told, she is better off without the murderous psycho, but that doesn’t mean she wanted to be thrust into the universe, totally unprepared, and she certainly won’t marry some horned alien.

She’ll make her own way back to Earth and stay far away from her brother and his criminal ties. Nothing will change her mind. Not even a tall, sweet, protective warrior who makes human males look like boys and the universe look much more appealing than she ever thought possible.

Quinnov

Quinnov’s alone in the universe. Except for his planet... war torn, burned out Zyan. No one in his family survived the war, except maybe his older brother Jaizon. Quinnov’s been searching for him since the war ended. But when he crosses paths with his heartmate, his priorities shift. To keep her safe from those hunting her, he may have to return her to her world, even though she makes his heart soar and both of his cocks harden.

My Review

After Ivy is forced to leave Earth because her brother gave her no choice but to get on the ship and sold her as an alien bride to an alien, she's not very trusting anymore. She escapes the ship and her intended  mate and is free on an alien planet but the males there seem to be just as bad as all the other's she encountered until she comes across Quinnov. 

Quinnov is a big blue alien with horns and he seems to want to help her get to safety because she's not safe where she's at. He finds out what is really going on with her and wants to help but the bad guys are going to be after both of them if he does. Quinnov starts to feel protective of her but he thinks he can't keep her with him because what he's doing is dangerous and doesn't want to put her in danger. 

They quickly realize that they don't want to part ways but things get in their way and make their relationship difficult. Quinnov is looking for his brother after most of his family is killed by the same alien invaders who have taken over Earth and it's going to be dangerous. 

Even with the difficulties they had I really liked both of these characters. Quinnov was such a nice guy and Ivy was competent. When she found herself in a situation, she found a way to get out of it. This was a good read. These two were different from each other but were so good for one another. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

My daughter took this picture of the rain clouds. You can see the rain coming down out of it but when it got to us, we didn't get any rain from it. Still looked so cool.

Book Review: Bren's Blessing by Pearl Tate

 

Book Description

I never thought I'd end up being abducted by aliens!

I was living my dream, rotating in space around Mars on the Mars Hope Skylab. As the first American woman this far into space, I’ve accomplished more in my twenty-eight years of life than most.

I enjoy my job, so when things go sideways and aliens board my lab, I try to stay positive and make sure that I just observe and stay alive. But I’m immediately grabbed and taken to their ship.

Unable to understand them and not knowing what they have planned for me, I have to make some hard choices about whether living is the best way to go. And how far will I go to live?

It appears that I’m now the property of the alien that grabbed me.

He’s big, possessive and seems to want to get to know me a lot better…

PLEASE NOTE: This SciFi Romance alien book contains Adult Language and Steamy Adult Bedroom Scenes. It is intended for 18+ Readers & Adults Only.

It's part of a science fiction romance series but can be read as a standalone story with no cliffhangers!

My Review

Hannah's space lab starts a self destruct after the aliens board her space it, they know it's about to self destruct and abduct her over to their ship. Bren, one of the aliens feels compelled to be with Hannah and after getting over the shock of being abducted she gets along with Bren and the other aliens. Hannah and Bren fall for each other really fast and because he was able to learn her language fast, they're able to talk and get to know each other. 

When they realize they are soul mates and his species hasn't had one of those in a long time, they have to jump through some hoops in order to make his people believe that they are meant to be together because his arranged marriage to another female of his species is getting in the way of his relationship with Hannah. 

Females rule his species so this puts Hannah in a bit of a predicament because she has to act like the females of his kind so Bren and his friends teach her how to answer the questions she'll be asked and how to act so they can be together. But Hannah is put in danger and Bren has a limited amount of time to find her and rescue her as a test. But now there's new hope for Bren's species because they realize they can find their true mates with humans. Which might be bad for human females if some of his species want to keep them as slaves just because they are compatible sexually. I guess we'll see what happens next. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Just stopped by the coffee house for some coffee."

"Waiting by the phone with my alien friend."

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

Apartment Life #335

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

One of my newer neighbors had a couple of guys staying with her and they got into a big fight. After the fight one of the guys was taken away in this ambulance and I haven't seen him around here since. The lady that lives there has two little girls living there with her and she's fighting being evicted. So I don't know how long she'll actually be living here. 

She was heard yelling at him about doing drugs while he was supposed to be watching her kids. Those kids around 7 and 8 years old are outside by themselves all the time unsupervised. I've only talked to her a couple of times and both times she was so drunk or high she could barely talk. 

---

I saw the police at the apartment complex across the street. Now sure what for. There's a lot of new people over in that complex now. I know it's blurry but that car with the trunk open is the police car.

---

It's not a great picture but there were some military helicopters flying over my place pretty low. They just kept circling for a while and then more would do the same thing. Maybe they were training or doing exercises? I don't know but they sure were loud. The walls in my place were shaking. 

---

Oh and guess who is back in the neighborhood? Drug dealer and his wife! Drug dealer's wife told my daughter that they got evicted from their apartment in the 50+ apartment community and are now staying with a friend around here. I was wondering why I was seeing him so much in the neighborhood and all the homeless people were back around here too because they seem to follow them around.

The high this week was 102F/38C

The low this week was 74F/23C

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

Picture Dump From New Camera

 

I bought a new camera since my old one stopped working. 

It's an iShare 30 Pixels Digital Camera. 

I have to say for around $50 I'm pretty happy with this. There are some things that it doesn't work well for like up close pictures of small things but I'm saving for a better digital camera that will be better for that. So here are some of the pictures I've taken this week that came out pretty well. 

In full sunlight, it takes good sky pictures. We had some big puffy clouds and I was able to get some good pics of that. 

We had a day where the sky was very dark. I wanted to zoom in and get a better picture but if you zoom in too much it starts getting really blurry. But if you don't it comes out fine. 

Not zoomed in I can still get a picture of the entire street.

I can take pretty good sky pictures which is what I was hoping for.

I was standing across the street and zoomed in just a little to get a picture of this tree and it came out good. 

A sunset picture from this week.

 Same sunset as about just a different place I was standing. 

It doesn't take good pictures at night though. I can use the flash and get a picture but it comes out blurry and same for dark lighting inside the apartment. But other than that, not too bad. 

On the 11th it was so smokey from the Davis fire at 7AM I couldn't even see the sun. The sun is normally very bright right here where I took the picture.

The smoke from the fires made for some nice sunsets though.

There were a lot of orange and red in the sky at sunset.

And then we got some rain clouds but no rain. 

So I'm pretty happy with the camera I have right now. It takes alright pictures for what I needed it for. I'm still saving for a better one with a better zoom but this is fine for now. So if you're ever in need of a cheaper digital camera, now you know the iShare brand isn't too bad. 

Go For A Walk With Me

I don't usually walk down this far in the Summertime. Back down this way is the way back home. But we went for a longer walk when it was cooler out one morning. Other people were out with their dogs as well.

There was another of the metal tree's and bench that seem to be very popular around my neighborhood. 

There's also a gazebo with a bench so you can sit and rest along the trail.

But along the way there were also homeless encampments or what was left of one. 

And a homeless man sleeping in a chair next to his cart. I blurred his face for privacy. 

Falcor was happy for a longer walk since it's been too hot even early in the morning to go very far. 

Book Review: Alpha Exposed by Anya Breton

 

Book Description

When Samantha’s sister goes missing, all signs point to supernatural foul play. Her fellow Air witches won’t help, leaving her with one miserable choice—to beg for assistance from Dion Hebert, the odious weretiger Alpha she shot down months ago. In front of his pack. What’s a witch to do?

Dion can’t believe Samantha has the nerve to come begging after she humiliated him in front of half the supernatural Underground. He agrees to help in exchange for the one thing he’s always wanted—Samantha Avira. Naked. Wrapped around him in every delectable position he can imagine. But since the witch humiliated him publically, Dion wants the sex to be public too.

The thought of getting naked with Dion turns Samantha on, as much as she tries to deny it. The thought of getting naked with him in front of everyone leaves her part aroused and part horrified. When Dion makes good on his end of the bargain, Samantha’s deepest, darkest desires are unleashed. And the result is pure, sexy magic that can’t be tamed.

My Review

Samantha turned Dion down and humiliated him in front of his pack so when she turns to him to help find her missing sister, he wants a little payback for helping her find her sister. I thought his proposal as his pay for helping her was wildly over the top, especially when she's worried about her sister and just wants a little help. But she agrees and he does find the sister who is a bit of a mess. 

After that drama is over, it's all about Dion and Samantha trying not to get too attached as they spend time together. But when Samantha is put in danger, Dion will let nothing stand in his way to save her so he ends up being a nice guy. 

I didn't like Dion at first but as we get to know him, we see he isn't as bad as we first thought he was, which was nice because I don't like it when the hero is a jerk. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Favorite Pictures of the Week

 

Over the past week we've had a lot of cloudy days. My daughter took all of these pictures for me.

A cloudy sunset.

We actually got a little rain out of these clouds.

Sunrise clouds.

Book Review: Tempting The Black Wolf by N.J. Walters

 

Book Description

The wrath of the black wolf is unleashed…in this scorching finale of New York Times bestselling author N.J. Walters’s enticingly sexy Lone Wolf Legacy series

I am an immortal predator, driven to hunt and protect the wolf packs from danger—especially rogue wolves. This destiny is my blood, my bone. My will.

There are two other lone wolves—one gray, one white—but I am the strongest. The most powerful. And we all share an enemy, who set a trap for each of us: a woman with our coloring who will draw us into danger and make our wolves howl with need.

But I won’t give in to lust or passion.

I already know the face of the woman who is my supposed bait: a stunning and powerful mage named Onyx. We’ve been circling each other, wary, fueled by deeply intense attraction and fierce distrust.

But the enemy of my enemy is my ally…for now. It’s a brief truce, laced with raw, primal hunger.

Because when this is over—if we survive—we’ll have to go head-to-head one last time.

And I never lose.

Each book in the Lone Wolf Legacy series is STANDALONE:

* Taming the White Wolf

* Protecting the Gray Wolf

* Tempting the Black Wolf

My Review

This is the 3rd and last book in this Lone Wolf Legacy trilogy. In this book we have Onyx and Dagen who are fated mates because a powerful mage used magic to make three lone wolves and their mates. Dagen and Onyx don't really trust each other and when Dagen finds out more about Onyx he becomes really distrustful of her for a while. But the Lone Wolves are a very distrustful bunch anyway. 

I read the first two books and thought that this book was the perfect conclusion to this series. I loved that the other lone wolves came out of hiding to lend a hand as well and we get to see them all working together as they should have been all along. 

Onyx and Dagen have a lot of hoops to jump through in order to bring the powerful mage and her partner down and they are put into danger time and time again. It was nice to watch Onyx finally come into her own and use her magic that she's been suppressing down inside her for a long time.

I loved the twists that we see in this book and the fact that we finally get to understand how evil the mage really is and why she went to all the effort to do what she did. While these books can be read as standalone books, I think they tie in with each other so much that it's better to read them in order so you have the whole picture of what's going on with all the characters. This last book really wrapped things up nice. I hate to see this series end but it had such a good conclusion to it. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

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

If you would like to read my other reviews of the books in this trilogy, you can find the links below. 

Taming The White Wolf by N.J. Walters

Protecting The Grey Wolf by N.J. Walters

 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Almonds are good snacks."

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

Apartment Life #334

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 25 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 25 years here in a weekly blog post. 

On Tuesday at 11PM I saw the flashing lights from the ambulance as it showed up. They came into my courtyard and took one of my neighbors away on a stretcher. The neighbor has been really sick and is going through cancer treatments. I haven't seen her come back home yet. 

Wednesday the ambulance was here at 1AM for someone else in my courtyard. I had been asleep until the lights from the ambulance woke me up so I have no idea what happened. Even with my curtains closed if the ambulance parks right in front of my bedroom window at night, those lights are very bright and light up my room. Hopefully whoever it was is alright.

---

On Thursday the police were questioning the two women who have been living out of this U-Haul truck for at least 2 months that I've noticed. It was 7AM this morning and they were asleep in the back of the truck and had the door open about a foot to get some air. I think that's why the police stopped to check it out. I figured the U-Haul was stolen maybe. But the police didn't tow it away so maybe not. The women have been parking it in different spots in my neighborhood for a couple of months and I've seen them sleeping in the back of it. If it was stolen or they weren't paying for it I would imagine the police would have found out and towed it away? Right? I could be wrong. Who knows. Has to have gotten pretty expensive though. 

---

On Saturday the police showed up for an apartment across the street. But they were walking through several of the courtyards on that side of the street looking for something or someone. Not sure what was going on. 

The high this week was 109F/42C

The low this week was 80F/26C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

Seventeen - Shadow

I like to share some of the KPOP I find and enjoy. So hopefully you'll enjoy this song. 

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.

What did I receive this week?

2 OraQuick HIV self tests

3 samples of Laura Mercier loose face powder

Obagi Firming Facial Serum

My daughter and I took the hiv home tests and they were both negative. I think it's important to know your hiv status. My late husband was hiv positive and he didn't find out until he going in for surgery on his broken ankle. There are a lots of people out there that have no idea they are positive and end up passing it around to others through sex. It's better to know for sure. So when I saw these free tests, I got them. 

The Obagi facial serum is nice. It made my face feel very soft. I don't know if it's going to help my old skin my it did feel nice. 

The Laura Mercier face powder is nice. I like the one I use and it's affordable so I won't be switching but this is nice. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Feral Instincts by Stephanie Storm

 

Book Description

Shy bookworms make horrible vampires.

Ava believes nothing could be harder than coping with her mother's death—until she survives her own. When the small-town introvert is kidnapped by a madman and turned into a vampire, she discovers just how sheltered she’s been. Although quiet wallflowers have zero business playing bait to capture their sires, not even a bossy werewolf will keep Ava from seeking justice.

No matter how hard Teagan tries to fill his legendary father’s shoes, he falls short. The aspiring packmaster will do anything to prove he’s worthy, even if it means helping the vampire authorities hunt a rogue killer. With his pack’s future on the line, the last thing he needs is to play guard dog for a tempting innocent.

Ava is torn between duty and desire when the only creature capable of satisfying her hunger is a delicious alpha who’s off the menu. And every minute Teagan spends protecting the reckless idealist weakens his resolve to put his pack’s needs first. Should either of them give in to temptation, it could lead to their destruction.

Can the star-crossed lovers resist their forbidden attraction while saving a small-town from a ruthless monster? Or will they lose themselves to their inner beasts?

My Review

Ava is living her human life when a crazy vampire kidnaps her, turns her into a vampire against her will and claims she is his resurrected bride. Salvatore is crazy and Ava knows she's in danger and thinks her life is over until people break in and rescue her. 

Teagan is a werewolf shifter and saves the newborn vampire, not know anything about her. They are after Salvatore because he's creating rogue vampires that are killing people but he can't leave Ava there. 

Once Ava is safe and the people explain to her what's going on, she has to make a choice to join them or not. In the compound she finds herself in, there are vampires and werewolves working together to bring Salvatore down. While she's learning how to be a vampire, she and Teagan are getting closer. Their relationship is pretty much forbidden because his pack would never accept her and vampires don't usually take shifters as mates. So these two are breaking all kinds of rules. 

When Ava once again finds herself in danger and Salvatore makes another move against her, Teagan finds himself facing someone who double crosses him. The twists, turns and forbidden relationship made this story very entertaining. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

I was looking at some of the unused apps on my phone and one of them is called, Maps. So after clicking on it, it shows my neighborhood. I see this. Across the street is a place called, Snacks On Da Block. What?

So I clicked on the little picture to see where it's at and it shows the alley for the apartment complex across the street. 

If you swing around using street view, it's just the alley across the street. There's no snack store over there...that I know of. Maybe someone is running a snack store out of their apartment? I've lived here for 26 years and I've never known of a snack store across the street. How did they even get this on the map?

I found this funnier than it actually is.