Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I finally have whirled peas...a whole bowl of them."

*Picture courtesy of Paula Rosa Lea Siviter*

" I really need to start drinking decaf, I can hear colors."

*Picture courtesy of Poppy's Mischief*

"Tan and White rats: I love garlic pizza crust.

Brown rat: The garlic is burning my lips. Does that mean I'm Dracula?"

Review: Taulan by Celia Kyle as Erin Tate

Book Description

He wants to return to Preor and she wants a job, but you don’t always get what you want.

Lana Cooper is down to her last hundred dollars, has no job, and her clunker of a car has finally clunked out. How has her life become such a cluster of horribleness? Oh, right. A guy. Only she doesn’t get a chance to beg for a job. Nope, one walk along the beach changes everything. Oh, she has a job now… as the mate to a hot, hunky Preor dragon male.

Taulan sen Pavon is anxious to return to his home on Preor. Yes, he’d journeyed to Earth in hopes of finding a human mate, but now… Now he would like to heal in the privacy of his aerie. Wings destroyed and body damaged by an explosion, he has no desire to watch others find joy with their mates while he remains unworthy and alone on a ship filled with thousands. But then he finds Lana. Lana with her alluring smile, sparkling eyes, luscious body, and whose mere presence initiates the Knowing.

Can he live long enough to claim her? Can she see past her father’s prejudice to love him? Both questions are pointless because there are still Preor who despise the joining of humans and dragons. They will stop at nothing to drive a wedge between the races. Including murder.

My Review

This is book 2 in the Dragons of Preor series. In the first book the Preor come to Earth to find their mates. They are alien dragon shifters, Earth's government made an agreement with them and now they are allowed to come here to find mates with the willing human females. 

Not everyone was for this arrangement because they wanted to keep their Preor blood pure without human DNA introduced to their species line but without the human females there was a good chance that their race would die out since they didn't have enough Preor females for each male. Some males went hundreds of years without finding his mate which was not a good thing. 

Fighting breaks out and Taulan is hurt. He doesn't think he's worthy of a mate now because of his injuries and wants to go back to Preor. 

Lana who is down on her luck and living out of her car applies for a job at the alien compound and goes for a job interview. She's changed her name and is hiding from someone she hopes to never see again. But before the interview happens she runs to save a child she thinks is in harms way and at the same time Taulan see's her and the knowing rushes over both of them. 

They find out that she isn't who she says she is and she ends up having to go away with Taulan when he claims her as his. 

These two don't start off great because they both have a lot of baggage but as they get to know each other things do start to pick up and I ended up really liking both of them. The fact that there are still Preors that don't want to see their people and Earthlings mated and having offspring made me sad. I know that it would happen if aliens ever do visit, there would be humans that wanted nothing to do with them too. 

I really like the world and characters that this series is bringing about. I've only read 2 of the books so far but I like how the books are showing the Preors culture and how they adapt to human culture through the knowing when they find a mate. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Video of the Week

Here's my favorite song of the week.

Freebie Friday!

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

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

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

This week I received:

Dunkin Donuts Coffee- Flavors were...coconut caramel, blueberry pancake and dulce de leche.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Recipe: Broccoli Stem Slaw

I'm always trying to figure out ways to eat lower carb sides with dinner because I have diabetes and it seems to be working since my Blood Sugar is lower and my A1C went from 11.1 to 9.1 which is much better. So yay me!

So I was messing around with some broccoli stems since I like eating them raw, I figured I could make a raw salad or slaw and this is what I came up with. 

You'll need: 

4 trimmed broccoli stems

1 celery stalk

1 green onion

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp. mayonnaise

1 tsp. Ranch dressing

What To do:

Cut the broccoli stems close to the florets and trim off the hard outside. Slice thinly and add to a small bowl. 

Slice the celery and green onion thinly and add to the bowl. 

To made the dressing, add the lemon juice, mayo and ranch dressing, mix well and pour over slaw. Mix well and chill for an hour before serving. 

I thought it made for a nice, low carb side dish. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

My brother and sister in law are looking to sell their house and move out of the city. So they were looking in Northern Nevada, Lamoille to be exact and took this picture while they were in Lamoille Canyon. They found a little stream and a couple of waterfalls. 

They saw a small stream and waterfall as they were driving down the road and took this picture from their car. It's interesting to see a small waterfall right on the side of the road like that.

Just Checking In

I'm sure by now most of you have heard about the shooting that took place here in Las Vegas last night. If not here's the story. 

Since most of you know that I live in Las Vegas, I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that my family and I are all alright. My daughter's ex (my grandsons dad) was on The Strip last night but not at the concert and he's fine, he saw people running and the police all over the place. I'm sure it was pure chaos down there at that time. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I don't mind a bath because I get snuggles afterwards."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Even though it might taste bad, I don't think the medicine goes there."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Well at least it doesn't taste bad and I can do my medicine pose" 

Review: Jarek by Celia Kyle as Erin Tate

Book Description

What's hotter than an alien with scales? An alien with wings and scales, not to mention a hot body.

At 457 Preor years old, Jarek sen Claron is a dragon ready for his final flight into the skies. This voyage to Earth as the War Master of the third fleet will be his final assignment. Once he has helped his fellow Preors secure human mates, he will return to Preor before the madness of loneliness overtakes his mind.

That all changes when he meets Melissa. Human Melissa with her sparkling eyes, bright smile, and body that would make any hot-blooded male drool. Unfortunately, she never registered as a Preor mate hopeful. No matter, the Knowing stretches between them and there is no way she can resist him. Until she does.

Jarek wishes to give her the choice to mate him, while everything inside him screams to take Melissa beneath his wing, now. No choosing necessary.

But should he draw her to his side when his enemies are circling? Many males do not believe the son of a Preor mass murderer deserves to have a mate. Can he survive the coming battles? Or will he die without tasting sweet Melissa's lips?

My Review

Jarek was over 400 years old, soon he would be too old to be of any good to anyone because he hadn't found his mate yet. But things might be looking up since his people had made an agreement with the people of Earth. Some human females had volunteered to be possible mates for the alien race who were looking for females. 

Melissa was just playing with the youngling when a new arrival caught her eye. Jarek knew right from the moment he heard her laughing that she was his, the knowing had hit him. The knowing is what happens to the Preor when they find their mates and he had just found his. 

Melissa hadn't signed up to be one of the possible mates though so that was something that Jarek had to work through. Melissa felt the knowing just as Jarek did and felt the pull to be with Jarek but she resists the pull and him even though it's hard. 

Then Jarek gets injured, while he's recuperating they start to get to know each other and find themselves getting closer. There's a problem because there are those who don't want Jarek to find his mate and that causes all kinds of problems. 

I love Melissa and not just because that happens to be my middle name. She is scared at times but she doesn't let that stop her from doing what she thinks is right or what scares her. I really enjoyed this book and plan on reading more in this series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Video of the Week

This is my favorite video of the week. The song is 3 years old but I heard it for the first time this week.

Freebie Friday!

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

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

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

This week I received:

Enfagrow Toddler milk drink canister
Equate feminine pads-4
The English Oak perfume samples-2
$5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap
Flowers

I reviewed the flowers I received yesterday on my blog, so if you want to see what I thought of them take a look.

I gave the toddler milk drink mix to my daughter because she works with people who have small kids.

I haven't tried the other things yet.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Silk Plants Direct- Flowers

I have a little shelf sitting on my table that I put knick knacks and my wax warmer and I've been wanting some sort of small flower arrangement or terrarium type thing for the middle of the shelf. So when I was asked to pick a product from Silk Plants Direct to review and keep, I was very happy to do so. I ended up picking an arrangement called a Dancing Orchid which is really pretty. 

These beautiful Silk Flowers are being provided by the good folks at CSI Wall Panels.

I have an arrangement of white roses in my bathroom that I made a few years ago so I already like light colored flowers because they really do go with almost any decor. I really like that this arrangement came with the glass vase as well as the rocks and all I had to do was move the flowers around a little bit in order to get it to look just like the picture I saw on their website. I got exactly what I thought I would and like it as much as I expected to.

This flower arrangement came with the glass pot and the rocks. It may look like there's water in around the rocks but it's actually some sort of soft silicone material which I thought was rather ingenious. 

Living in an apartment with no balcony and no where to have a small garden outside makes it easier to have artificial plants inside. Even if I had a house and a yard I doubt I would be out there among the bee's and insects, just not my thing. So I'll happily display my easy to care for Silk Flowers here inside and let others battle the dirt, insects and bee's outside for the living plants and flowers.

I have the flowers sitting on the shelf by my computer table and I think it fits nicely there. 

Disclaimer: I was given a free product in exchange for an honest review. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

My daughter and grandson came over the other day and I wanted to get a picture of him. Logan says to me, "Nonna, I can't see." because I was standing in front of the tv. lol  When they come over you'll usually find Falcor by Logan or by my daughter.

Review: Target Beauty Box- September

This box was only $7 this month but I can tell you from experience that if bought separately, this would have been quite a bit more. Not a bad value.  Each month Target releases a new Target Beauty Box but supplies are limited and it's first come first serve until they run out. These boxes go fast so I try to grab one as soon as I see it being talked about on Twitter or fb.

This box contained:

Acure Ultra hydrating shampoo.

Usher Ultra hydrating conditioner.

Simple micellar water.

 Up & up premium cotton rounds.

CoverGirl total tease mascara.

Garnier SkinActive moisture bomb.

Nivea in shower body lotion.

Sensodyne pronamel strong and bright toothpaste.

I really like the Garnier Skinactive Moisture bomb, it made my skin feel soft. 

I've used the Sensodyne pronamel toothpaste before even though I don't have sensitive teeth it works on cleaning them very well. The cotton rounds work well with the makeup remover and didn't spread the cotton all over my face too much when I used it. I really like using all of these things and I'm looking forward to the next Target Beauty Box next month.  I tried to let everyone know when there's a new Target Beauty Box out I put it on Facebook and Twitter mostly, sometimes I put it on my blog but the they go really fast and sometimes are gone by the time I get done posting about it.

I really like getting these little sample bottles of shampoo and conditioner because I like trying out new hair care products. The mascara was new to me and it's a good one and I like the brush because it has one side that lets you get to those side lashes really easily. The Nivea in shower lotion is something that I've tried a few times already and it's not bad. I already use the micellar water to remove my makeup and it works really good. 

Were you able to get one of these boxes?

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I shall hab some of your cereal. There's really no use trying to stop me."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of Me *

"Have you seen my coat, I seem to have misplaced it."

Review: BeautyCon Beauty Box

One of my FB friends posted that this site had some of their previous beauty boxes on sale for just $8.75 when these boxes were normally going for $35. So I went and checked them out and found one of the boxes that I liked so I bought it and it was indeed under $9 for this box with the coupon code they provided. They are no longer selling their beauty boxes and these were boxes they still had and wanted to sell so sale! This box sold out fast so I was glad I was able to get one. 

What was in this box? 

Curated by Beautycon

Over $130 in value

Summer Essentials Box

ColourPop Cosmetics - Ultra Satin Lip in London Fog

Deco Miami - Lemon Blossom Cuticle Oil 

Deco Miami - Beautycon Pink Glass Nail File 

Dirty Little Secret Cosmetics - Gold Plated Eyeshadow Crayon

Doucce - Lush Lip Gloss in Glistening Petals

Feel Beauty - Bamboo Charcoal Facial Sheet Masks- 2

Freeman Beauty - Renewing Cucumber Peel-off Mask 

Jontéblu - Electric Blue Eyeliner Pencil

MakeupDrop x Beautycon - The Original Silicone Makeup Applicator

Manna Kadar Beauty - Flutter Mascara in Jet Black

The only thing I didn't like was the ColorPop Satin Lip because the color was a very bright pink which is not my color so I'll be finding someone like my daughter if she wants it, to give it to. Everything else is great and all of this for under $9 is a real deal! I was like a little kid opening up this box and looking at all the goodies. That silicone makeup applicator is so cool. I have a couple of those pink sponge makeup applicators and I like them but they do soak up a bit of the foundation and this one doesn't. 

I love finding beauty subscription boxes on sale so I can try new to me makeup and beauty tools. 

Have you ever tried one of their boxes before? 

Favorite Video of the Week!

This is the song that I like to hear first thing in the morning when I'm trying to wake up. If you turn it up loud...it'll wake you're ass up! LOL

I had my mom listen to this one time and I said, "Now doesn't that beat make you want to head bang a little bit?"

Her response..."Yeah, bang my head on the wall."

lol

Freebie Friday!

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

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

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

This week I received:
2 Suave Hairsprays and 2 Degree Deodorants from Crowdtap
A sample of Purina One cat food

I reviewed the products that I received from Crowdtap a few days ago. The cat food went to the lady across the street that feeds the 3 stray cats in our neighborhood. She has 3 little igloo houses with beds in them for the cats by her door too and they actually use them.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Bite the Dust by Cynthia Eden

Book Description

Vampires. Werewolves. Beasts that hunt in the night...When New Orleans Detective Jane Hart investigates her first official homicide case, she never expects to have her world ripped apart. But the murder she’s investigating is part of a deadly war between vampires and werewolves…and now Jane is caught in that eternal battle. A battle that can’t end well.

Werewolf Aidan Locke has been running New Orleans for years. It’s his job to keep the vamps out of the city. But when a Master Vampire comes to town, determined to unleash hell, Aidan knows it’s time to fight with all the fury of his pack. Beast versus vamp, until the last breath. Then he meets Jane…

One look, one taste, and Aidan knows that Jane is far more than she seems. Far more than she even knows herself to be. She’s important in the paranormal war, not a pawn to be used, but a queen to be won. And if he can’t keep her at his side, if he can’t stop the darkness from descending on the town…then Jane Hart will become not just a fierce cop, not some guardian, but something deadlier. Darker. Aidan will fight heaven and hell to change her fate. To change their fate because he is more than just a predator.

And Jane is more than prey. Far more. 

The world is changing—for the humans and the monsters. Hot, sexy, and intense, BITE THE DUST is the first novel in New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Cynthia Eden’s dark new “Blood and Moonlight” series. 

My Review

Hey, I actually started with the first book in this series! It had been free when I got the Kindle edition and I was like, Cynthia Eden? Heck yeah! Score! I've always loved her books so I was looking forward to this one and it didn't disappoint. I did read a few reviews before reading this one and found out that this is a trilogy and a continuing story so while the main parts of this story are nicely sewn up, some questions are left open for the next two books but it's definitely not a cliffhanger ending. 

Aidan Locke is the alpha leader of his werewolf clan in New Orleans. He and his people stay hidden from the humans and keep the vampires out of New Orleans since they are enemies. Detective Jane Hart is investigating the death of a woman when she meets Aidan Locke who can't seem to influence and control her as easily as the other humans he sometimes comes in contact with.

Strange things happen including having the dead woman disappear and re-appear dead with more injuries than she had the first time Jane found her dead. So Jane does what her instincts tell her to and questions the local bar and club owner, Aidan Locke who has been watching her. 

Jane is special but she doesn't have any idea about any of that until Aidan pieces her past together with other clues about her. There's a war between the vampires and werewolves coming and Jane might just be at the center of it. An ancient vampire has come back and memories of what he's done in the past haunt not only Jane but also one of Aidan's pack members. 

I really liked the banter between Aidan and Jane, they start off not really trusting each other but that quickly changes when they find themselves in danger and they end up saving and helping each other and others. I really liked that Jane is a kick ass heroine and can take care of herself and Aidan isn't always the hardass that he first seems to be. 

There's werewolves, vampires, betrayal, secrets and plenty of teeth gnashing fighting. This was a really good book and I'm looking forward to reading more in this trilogy. 

I give this 4 out of 5 stars. 

Review: Crowdtap Crowdkit

I know I've talked to you guys about Crowdtap before but I wanted to show you one of the reasons besides the great Amazon gift cards that I love the site and keep going back...Full Size Free Products!

I received a full size product of each of the following...

Suave Professionals Flexible Control Non Aerosol Hairspray

Suave Professionals Flexible Control Finishing Hairspray

Degree MotionSense Sheer Powder scented antiperspirant deodorant

Degree MotionSense Daisy Fresh scented antiperspirant deodorant

It's funny because we had just run out of hairspray when this box arrived so we used it right away and both work really well to hold the hair style and not have your hair looking matted down. 

I already use Degree deodorants and I usually get the Cucumber Melon scents but the Powder Fresh scent on this one is my new favorite. I like the Daisy Fresh as well and will definitely be using both of them now that I have them. 

I haven't applied for many samples or products from Crowdtap recently because I hadn't seen things that I wanted to try until these boxes of products started to become available and I'm happy I was approved for one. I'm very happy with the products I got. If you still haven't signed up for an account with Crowdtap, what are you waiting for? 

Disclaimer: I received free products for review purposes.