Favorite Song of the Week

 

ARCHERS - Say This Sober

I've now heard several songs from this band and thought this was a good one to share. I hope you enjoy. 

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: 

Redken liquid conditioner for hair. 

Seen shampoo and conditioner samples. 

I liked the Seen shampoo and conditioner. It had a mild scent to it which was kind of neutral. I like a more powerful, flowery scent to my shampoo and conditioner. But it did work well. 

The Redken conditioner sample was great. It worked well and smelled good. 

Did  you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Your One And Only by Emilie LaForet

 

Book Description

The Bunny

Stacy Waters lived a life of opulence and prestige but it was all a lie. It was a façade hiding generations of secrets and carnage.

No one truly knew her, including herself, and it drove her to the brink of insanity.

Her only comfort was the illicit love of her brother, John.

When he abandoned her, she realized that love was just another distortion. In his absence, she drowned in darkness, searching for someone like John to reciprocate her love, only to fall into the arms of monsters lurking in the shadows.

The Wolf

John Waters couldn’t reveal his true self. He was a psychopath who enjoyed killing and dreamed of making Stacy his victim every day since they met.

Through the years, a new craving that defied his nature grew stronger. Monsters like him weren’t supposed to love.

He tried to protect her by breaking her heart — again and again — but that only fueled the fire between them. It only made Stacy more determined and tempting. So he did the one thing she always begged him not to. He left.

What would you do to protect the one you cherish from your darkness?

My Review

I don't mind a dark romance at times but the story has to be good and the characters have to be a little likable. This story was all kinds of messed up. This went way beyond a dark romance and landed squarely in the realm of completely messed up. Plus these characters are just broken and I saw no real redeeming qualities in them at all. I wanted to like this one but I just didn't and then that cliffhanger ending just made me mad. There are some things that come up that just aren't explained and it left me a little confused, which is never good for a reader.

First off let me say that John and Stacy are not blood related so not truly brother and sister. She was adopted by his family after her family was killed. She and John were both really young and as they grew up together they got close. 

Even though I read the entire book, it never pulled me in and was so slow in the first half of the book. It was only towards the middle that it picked up a little but then it ended in a cliffhanger so I really felt like I had been let down with taking the time to read this. 

I don't plan on reading the next book because I don't like these characters and really don't want to see what comes next. 

I give this book 1 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Book Review: The Binding by Victoria Clapton

 

Book Description

Drawn to the city of New Orleans, Sybella Rose seeks answers hidden in mausoleums of lore, and she soon discovers that history and mystery walk together in this world filled with more dead than the living. As this recipe for love and power is revealed, Sybella Rose tastes a bit of rebellion, befriends a lonely ghost, and drowns in the essence of a certain vampire before finally succumbing to her inevitable end.

My Review

Sybella packs up her things and moves to New Orleans. Her father is not happy about it and her brothers are all successful and it didn't seem like they cared about her at all. Once in New Orleans Sybella feels like she is right where she belongs. Meeting Josephine who owns a Voodoo shop and her husband Al who is the chef at Gumbo Gris Gris. She immediately makes friends with these two people and even rents an apartment that's above the voodoo shop and Josephine is her landlord which works out well for all of them. Josephine offers Sybella a job in the voodoo shop and she gets to know her better. 

Right away she meets Demien and she knows there's something off about him, especially when Josephine and Al are warning her to stay away from him. But Sybella feels drawn to him and since he keeps seeking out her company, he must be drawn to her also because he doesn't usually chat people up. 

You know how they say that New Orleans is full or supernatural? Well according to this book, they're right. Expect ghosts, vampires, witches and magic. The Binding ends up being the pull a vampire and human feel for each other. It's so rare it's thought to be a myth even among vampires. 

I do love a romantic vampire story and this one having a very grumpy vampire just made it all the better. This was such a fun read. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Everyone Has A Story, Here's One Of Mine

 

I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir but it just never comes together for me but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order, I'll just write them as they come to me.

Seeing A Wolf In Big Bear, Ca

When I was about 10 years old and my parents were still married, we along with my uncle Jack and aunt Cecilia took a trip to Big Bear, Ca and they rented a big, four bedroom cabin. I actually had a good time there because it was during the Winter and there weren't a lot of bugs out. One morning after breakfast my mom was putting a plate of scraps outside for whatever wildlife wanted it and after a few minutes when she didn't come back inside, I opened the back door and found my mom on the back steps with a wolf. She was just sitting there petting it and feeding it the scraps from the plate. 

My mom told me that she had seen it limping and pulled something out of its paw and now he was just sitting there letting her pet it. (I don't know if she actually pulled anything out of his paw or not) My mom told me I could come out and sit on the steps and pet him so I did. Now remember my parents were alcoholics and she had probably already started drinking that morning. Had she been sober I don't know that she would have told me to come out and pet a wild animal. 

But I did and he just sat there let us pet him. A few minutes later my uncle Jack opened the door and tried to stay calm as he told us to get away from the damn wolf and get back inside. We just sat there. lol My mom kept saying he was friendly. My dad came over and lost his mind. He was trying not to yell because he didn't want to startle the animal but he kept saying, "Peggy, that's a damn wolf! Get away from the damn wolf!" My dad made me go inside and then my mom went inside and my uncle and dad were so mad that not only had my mom been out there with a wild animal but she had let me come out too. 

My mom kept leaving plates of food outside for the wolf and other animals while we were there but I never saw the wolf again. 

 Now as an adult I'm not sure if it was a wolf or coyote. They look similar in the face, so it could have been a coyote that we sat there and were petting. It was still pretty exciting.

Links to past stories. 

January 2023

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

June 2023

July 2023

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #277

 

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.  

Last Sunday morning my daughter took this video of the one of the dumpsters in our alley being set on fire. The fire department came and put it out. We all think that one of the homeless drug addicts that is still around here is the one who keeps setting fire to the dumpsters. 

The fire department was able to put the fire out really fast thankfully. 

Thankfully nothing else caught fire.

Here's the reason some people around here believe that Mike (The homeless drug addict) is the one setting the fires. This is him sitting in front of one of the water spigot's in front of my building. He had taken all his clothes off except for his underwear and was sitting here. He was extremely high and ended up passing out on the steps to the walkway into my building that are right behind him. I ended up having to walk around him to walk Falcor out front. One of my other neighbors saw him there and called the police to check him out. She was worried because of the heat/plus irritated he was laying there in his underwear when there are so many kids around here. 

The police showed up, asked him if he needed help and then let him go. My neighbor told him she was the one who called because she was worried about him and that really pissed him off. The next morning she was arguing with him in front of my door and it woke my daughter up because they were both being so loud. Mike started making this really loud whooping noise in my courtyard and doing cartwheels while my neighbor yelled at him. Mike is the same guy that I got a video of a few weeks ago breaking into the apartment door in my courtyard. 

The next day we spotted Mike passed out in front of the apartment across from us that had the fire. You can't see it well but he's the black spot laying under the boarded up window. So my daughter called the non-emergency number and had paramedics come to check him out. 

I enlarged the picture.

When they got here though, he woke up really slowly but once he saw who was waking him up, he jumped up, stumbled a bit and ran off. Oh and he was mad anyone called then for him. The next night was the fire in the dumpster. 

---

And there's an update on what is going on with my daughter's creepy ex boyfriend. If he finally leaves her alone, I won't post anymore updates. But if he continues to harass her and make more fake accounts to contact her on social media after she's blocked the others, then I will continue to post about him because I don't like him...and I can. 

The high this week was 112F/44C

The low this week was 82F/27C

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

 

THROUGH FIRE - Stronger

I've listened to a few of this band's songs and just really liked this one a lot. it has a great beat to it too. 

Freebie Friday!

 

I didn't receive any freebies this week so I thought I would leave you with this cute picture of my daughter and Falcor. They were playing and I just happened to catch this picture of them staring at each other. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

We had a storm blow through on Sunday night of last week. You can see on the left hand side the rain was really coming down and there were some really dark clouds. It was still 105F but it rained a little and made it humid too. Some places around Las Vegas got a lot of rain, we just got a little where I live. 

Book Review: Taming The White Wolf by N.J. Walters

 

Book Description

The lone wolf answers to no alpha or pack. From his first transformation, he knows his destiny: to be both judge and executioner for rogue werewolves. Welcome to the spellbinding first book in New York Times bestselling author N.J. Walters intense new werewolf series.

White wolf Devlin Moore has spent nearly the last century following his destiny: hunting rogue werewolves. His fate is to be the only one of his kind—hardened, feared, and brutally ruthless. Only now, Devlin’s not alone. There are two others. And if that wasn’t unsettling enough, Devlin is drawn to New York City for what appears to be a human…

As far as Devlin can tell, vibrant artist Zoe Galvani is no threat. But there’s something about her— from her unusual eyes that look similar to the same shocking hue as his own, to his growing need to mark her as his that suggests magical forces may be at play.

Now there’s no escaping each other, or the attraction that grows stronger by the second. But no one, especially a human woman, should have this effect on a lone wolf. And just when he’s sure that having her could be his undoing…the truth steps out of the shadows.

My Review

Devlin is a lone wolf who hunts rogue werewolves who break the pack laws. He knows his destiny to be alone so he can do the job fate has given him. He's supposed to be the only one of his kind until he dies and another will take his place, but there are two others just like him. So when he meets Zoe and he feels things for her that he shouldn't feel, he knows there must be some kind of magic at work. Because there are other things out of place like two other lone wolves, these feelings he has for the human and the fact that she is a little different makes him believe other things are at work. 

Devlin and Zoe talk a few times and he thinks that she might be some kind of trap to try and kill him but he's not sure how so he reaches out to one of the other lone wolves who is surprised to hear from him but I have a feeling that in the future these lone wolves will be working together because they are connected and no one else can understand what they are going through. 

Devlin tries to tell Zoe that werewolves exist and she might be in danger but she thinks he's crazy and doesn't believe anything he's saying. But when danger comes looking for Zoe and finds her, it's Devlin that comes to her rescue and keeps her safe. She has no choice but to believe werewolves exist after what she sees.

I felt so bad for Devlin after hearing about his first shift and how he was treated, how alone he's been his entire life since then. It was heartbreaking. I can only imagine that it's the same for the other two lone wolves and that is just sad.

Watching these two get closer as the danger just gets worse and worse, was fun because neither one of them knew if they could trust the other. These two have a connection but they don't know where it comes from until they find out who is behind all the danger coming at them. It was fun to finally find out what and who was coming after them and why. I'm really looking forward to the next book now.

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

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Book Review: The Billionaire Shifter's Secret Baby by Diana Seere

 

Book Description

A masquerade ball in Malibu led to a single night of passion under the stars… and set the wheels of fate in motion.

Three years ago, waitress Kara Jablonski gave in to her wilder side with a fellow weretiger, the rock star billionaire Lars Jensen, a sun-kissed blond drummer with a viking's build. Six weeks later, the pregnancy test came back positive.

Knowing Lars' powerful, overbearing mother would be able to take the baby away, Kara did what she had to do.

She hid him.

Now chance has brought Lars back into her life, his touch making her pulse beat like the old legends. So strong, so loud, so bold.

So right.

But can she trust him to want more than another night under the stars? Can she trust him to claim his son as his heir... and Kara as his mate?

Fate responds with a roar...

The Billionaire Shifter's Secret Baby is a novella that stars Lars Jensen, a member of a shifter family with viking blood featured in earlier books in the series, and is part of the Howls Romance series as well: http://howlsromance.com

My Review

Lars and Kara hooked up in a one night stand three years prior. Lars kicked himself ever since then for not getting her number or some way to contact her because in just one night he absolutely fell for her. Lars is a rock star and a tiger shifter. While Kara is also a tiger shifter, she's not wealthy so when she finds herself pregnant after their encounter, she has the baby but doesn't try to reach out to Lars because she's afraid he or his powerful family will take her baby from her. 

She's not expecting to see Lars again but she does while she's in a club. She tries to hide but he's a shifter and can smell her. Once he finds out that he has a child, he was rude and I didn't like him much. I never really fell for his character during this story. And I think she accepted his apology much too easily. There is another storyline going on as well that is left open for the next book and I didn't like that too much so I hope that is cleared up in the next book. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #276

 

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 outside with Falcor and I saw a pigeon who was having a hard time flying. So I picked him up and brought him inside, put him in a box on my desk and called Animal Control. They said if he's just hot and needs food and water they can help him but if he's hurt they'll have to put him down. 

He was trying to fly and was spreading his wings and flapping them so hopefully he just needs a little rest and to cool off. I tried to give him some water but he didn't want it. He slept on my desk until they got here.

----

This Ground Medical Transport picked someone up from the apartment complex across the street. I've seen other medical transports around here but haven't seen this one before. It's nice to know there are so many services here in the valley like this if someone needs it. 

---

I noticed the police blocking the side street one day this week. They weren't letting anyone by. 

And there were other police parking on that side of the street. There were several police cars in the alley across the street as well but I couldn't get pictures of them from where I was. They were here for about 2 hours but I have no idea what was going on. 

The high this week was 116F/46C

The low this week was 87F/30C

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

 

Ice Nine Kills - A Grave Mistake

This is a long into that you can skip the intro part if you just want to listen to the music video. But the song is really good. I love the lead singers voice.

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 set of stackable Skull Mugs from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

And 3 different flavor ketchup's (Chipotle, Jalapeno and Habanero)  and a little dipping cup from Influenster. 

Some of the ketchup is a little too spicy for me but the Chipotle is good. My daughter likes them though. I love the stackable skull mugs. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Bait by Jade West

 

Book Description

A stranger online. Dark hair and even darker eyes that knew my dirty desires before I did.

A fantasy that should never be spoken. But he pulled the confession from me.

And now he’s coming for me.

Rough. Dirty. Dangerous.

It’s supposed to be one night to get me off and make me forget.

He’ll make me his and I’ll pretend I don’t want him to.

I’ll run and he’ll chase.

Because I asked him for this.

I begged him for this.

Tonight, in the darkness, he’s the hunter.

And I’m the bait.

My Review

Let me start off by saying this is a dark romance with CNC kink (Consensual Non-Consent) where both parties agree to a kidnap roll play scene and a "forced" non-consensual encounter that is actually consensual between the two parties. If this is something that would bother you then I suggest not reading this. 

I don't mind a dark romance as long as it's done right and no one is being abused. The fact that these two meet after they both were hurt in relationships in different ways was nice because they both needed someone like the other one after all they had been through. 

Abigail has been trying to find what she needs in the strangers she meets but isn't having any luck. So she puts an ad on a dating site and Leo just happens to see it. He's not sure she's for real and she's not sure he'll be able to give her what she needs...until he does. And let me tell you, these two are smokin' hot together! I really wasn't sure I would like this book and planned to just stop reading it without a bad review if that was the case but this story is definitely a romance with a kinky side to it. It's not all about the sex because there's a back story into both their lives, as well as we see their lives now. 

You would think Leo would be this weirdo person after finding out just how much he likes the chase but he actually turned out to be such a great guy, a great character and I loved him for that. This isn't my usual read but I'm glad I read it. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon 

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Falcor likes to sleep a lot during the day. He takes several naps in between going out and barking at every noise he hears. LOL I found him in my bed in between the throw pillow and comforter. My bed HAD been made up that morning. But it's a lost cause with a dog who likes to have a blanket on him when he's sleeping. 

Falcor doesn't like most kids but he loves my grandson, probably because he grew up around him.

Book Review: Crave Me Roughly by Kira James

 

Book Description

When I was a child, he destroyed my world. Now, he wants to make me his.

For almost twenty years, he’s been watching me in secret. This dark, sensual, dangerous man who steps out of the shadows to help me when I need it the most. He won’t accept any payment other than a kiss. But it’s a kiss that sparks a dark desire in a secret, hidden part of me. And when he touches me, all I crave is the kind of dangerous passion that he offers.

Then I learn the truth—he’s not a man at all. He’s a vampire. 

The love that burns between us is forbidden, but now it’s too late for me to turn back. Perhaps it always was. Because no matter how much danger stalks us both, I’ll sacrifice anything to keep him safe.

Crave Me Roughly is a prequel novella that introduces the Dark Alliance world and focuses on the characters of Luke and Sara who are featured in Embrace Me Darkly.

My Review

Luke has been looking after Sara since her father was killed when she was a kid. But Sara had no idea that someone was looking out for her. Over the years Luke has gotten to know her really well and has fallen in love with her even though Sara doesn't know him at all. She only knows him as a creepy stalker that she spots in the shadows every once in a while. The fact that she thinks she has a stalker doesn't freak her out the way it should, in fact she kind of likes the fact that she spots him following her around at times. 

Luke wasn't supposed to let her see him but he's slipped up a time or two and doesn't realize that she's seen him. One night when she puts herself in danger, Luke has no choice but to save her and they finally come face to face. 

From that point forward he can't stay away and she doesn't want him to until she finds out he's a vampire. Then she's not sure what to think but she knows she's not scared of him because she knows he'd never hurt her. 

This is the prequel to the Dark Alliance series and so we get a little back story as to what her father was into that got him killed. She had no idea about any of it so some family secrets come to light which I always like. It was a good setup for the next book but it ended a little abruptly, which I didn't like. But I am willing to read the next book and see how I like that because anyone who knows me, knows I love a vampire romance.

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

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

 

"I'm all packed and ready for school."

"These are my books for Business school."

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