Happy Raturday!

*picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of 'me' Mary Kirkland*

Apartment Life #43

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

On January 10th, 2018 at 9pm we heard a bunch of sirens down our street. So we went outside and saw 3 fire trucks just down the street. They rushed to an apartment, broke down the door with one of those metal rams that they swing at the door and then they went in. 10 seconds later they all came out and someone asked them what happened. They said false alarm and left. I have no idea who called them but nothing else happened that night. I'm still curious who called them and why.

And yes, my camera takes blurry pictures at night. I have no idea how to fix this.

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

Review: Cybot Awakened by Melisse Aires

Book Description

Sabralia lives a lonely but luxurious life in Emperor Sirn's Harem, her only companion is her obedient servant, Qy, a cybot. Her life has largely been controlled by others, but when Sirn demands his Harem pleasure his Commanding Officers at a victory celebration, Sabralia makes a daring plan to hide to avoid rape by Sirn's men. 

The Palace is ambushed and her cybot gets her off world. The impossible has happened-Qy the gentle cybot becomes the man he once was, the warrior Kaistril. Pursued for valuable information, Sabralia is thrust into dangerous, unfamiliar situations where she must stand up to the challenges, or lose the man she loves.

My Review

Let me start by saying that I received this ebook many years ago and left it with others in an email folder. Most of these books were won in blog giveaways. I just recently figured out how to open the attachments of seemingly lost pdf's that wouldn't open because they were years old and am going to read and review all the books that I kept in that folder so some things may have changed or updated from the copy that I have, including the covers.

Sabralia's life was pretty bad even if she had luxuries that some might envy her for. She lived in a harem and when Sirn decides to share her and the other women, she hides on the beach so she isn't passed around to other men against her will. 

QY was Sabralia's personal cybot and helped to get her dressed and ready for parties, banquets as well as tend to some of her other needs. He tends to her while she's hiding from the men at the banquet and reports that something is wrong back at the house. She isn't sure what's going on in there so she decides to go further into the woods and hide until things clear up. But just as something isn't right at the house, something is also wrong with her cybot. His actual name is Kaistril, he was made into a cybot against his will and is just now remembering who he is or was because he hadn't taken the cybot drugs for a while that kept him compliant. 

Something called The Strafe had laid siege to the place they were and had killed everyone. They escape and go on the run. Sabralia doesn't know this man, she knew QY and he's gone now but Kaistril has feelings for her and has no qualms about making sure she knows it. She slowly starts to feel safe around him and can't help but show how much she likes him. He teaches her how to help him on the ship and when they run into some trouble, she's a lot stronger than eve she realized. 

This was a good story and I liked getting to know both of these characters. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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 wins from Amazon giveaways...
A wallet and a solar lantern.

Nexxus Shampoo and Conditioner
Garnier Oat Delicacy Shampoo and Conditioner
Garnier Hair Mask
A Paper Straw
Sugar Scrub sample
Clay Mask sample

A few of these things I've received before but I got more samples of. Not that I'm complaining. I cannot say enough good things about that Garnier Oat Delicacy shampoo and conditioner. it smells so good and works really well. Of course Nexxus is great. I will always like that. The Garnier hair mask works just like a deep conditioner would.

I'm always ready to try a new clay mask or sugar scrub for my face. They both worked well. My face felt soft and clean after using them and it didn't break me out or make my skin red which is a big plus.

I haven't used the paper straw yet.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Tiger Striped by Jennifer Ashley

Book Description

Tiger …

The call he must answer …

Tiger wakes in the night, knowing something is wrong. Carly, mate of his heart, is next to him, and he hears his son’s breathing. They are safe. 

But someone, someone cries out with a despair he can’t ignore ...

Carly won’t let Tiger go alone, and neither will Connor, the cub who will become one of the greatest Shifters of them all—Tiger knows. He sees. 

He can’t ignore the call. Tiger and Carly take Dylan’s truck and head into the night, on what proves to be the most important mission of their lives …

A novella in the Shifters Unbound series.

My Review

Tiger wasn't like other shifters because he was made in a lab. He'd been an experiment and left alone for many years after the scientists had left. He was different so when he heard screams in his head and knew someone was in trouble, he rushed out to help them. When Carly, his mate saw he was getting ready to leave she and another person went with him. Someone was in need and Tiger needed to go, that's all he knew. 

What they found when they finally reached the person who was calling out for help shocked them all. But they had a hard time getting at the person because the authorities wouldn't let them get near the person who needed help. Then more of Tiger's clan show up to help and they are finally able to try and help this person in need. 

Tiger has always been one of my favorite shifters ever since he was found. His story is heartbreaking and I really feel for him. Knowing all he's been through already and to have something else thrown at him was crazy. He's so different because of how he came to exist and all the experiments done to him. I can't really say too much about what else happened in this story because it would give too much away and I don't want to spoil it for anyone but I will say that this novella was packed with action, twists and something new. But if you love this series this is a must read because of the big reveal and twist that it brings. I can't wait to see what happens in upcoming books. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.  

Review: Target beauty Box - August

This months Target Beauty Box was just $7 and totally worth it in my opinion. 

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.

What was in this months box?

Simple Kind to Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes – 7ct

Softer-than-silk fiber wipes contain skin-loving vitamins B5 and E, which remove makeup and other impurities without irritation or residue.

Acure Brilliantly Brightening Day Cream – 1oz

Rich combo of CoQ10, gotu kola and argan oil helps fight dullness and evens out skin tone for a brighter, more beautiful complexion.

bliss Fab Foaming Face Wash – 1floz

2-in-1 cleanser and exfoliator, infused with gentle flower botanicals and natural ingredients, relieves dryness and soothes skin.

Eden BodyWorks Coconut Shea Body Lotion – 2floz

Enriched with Vitamin E and shea butter, which softens skin while replenishing its natural moisture balance.

Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Soft Waves Tropical Banana Sea Salt Spray – 2floz

Natural Dead Sea salt & sea kelp bring tousled texture to strands for bouncy, beachy waves, minus the sand!

Schick Intuition F.A.B. Razor

Bi-directional blades let you effortlessly shave in both directions, and advanced moisture gel ensures a silky smooth glide.

Those disposable razors are $6 if you buy them so that made this box worth it all by itself.

I love the Simple wipes. They remove makeup really easily. The Bliss foaming face wash is nice and it didn't dry my face out. I've tried the Acure day cream before and it works as well as any other day cream. The coconut body lotion smelled good and isn't really greasy the way some lotions are so I really like it.

The only thing I haven't used yet is the sea salt spray. I usually straighten my hair but the next time I add curls, I'll use this and see how it works.

Not a bad box at all.

Did you snag one of these boxes?

Review: Twilight Desires by Amanda Ashley

Book Description

Sofia Ravenwood was once fascinated by vampires—their seductive power, their inhuman strength, their dark desires. Then one of them attacked her family, and she threw out her goth attire and vowed to keep clear of her enemies. Until she heard about Ethan Parrish: a sweet, sizzling-hot former college football player, turned into a vampire against his will.

Wandering the deserted streets of Morgan Creek, Wyoming, Ethan’s sure he'll be alone forever—a monster like him deserves nothing else. Then beautiful, complicated Sofia agrees to meet him, fangs and all. The need she ignites in him is more than just the pulse of her blood or the scent of her skin. But he's not the only bloodsucker desperate to make her his own . . .

My Review

Ethan is a newly turned vampire who thinks he'll be alone for the rest of his long life because what woman in her right mind would want a relationship with a vampire, right? But his cousin knows a woman who likes vampires so he asks his cousin to find out if she'll agree to meet him. 

Sofia knows how dangerous vampires can be since the guy she had been dating turned her over to his vampire master. She would have been his prey if another vampire hadn't saved her, but just like humans, not all vampires are bad so she agree's to meet with Ethan who was turned into a vampire against his will. 

Because Ethan is a young vampire he doesn't have total control over his hunger and that causes a little bit of a problem between them but a bigger problem comes when Sofia witnesses Ethan kill another vampire when this vampire comes after them. Because Ethan was sired by a very old master vampire. Ethan is much stronger than other vampires his age. 

Once things settle back down and Sofia and Ethan get back to getting to know one another Ethan asks Sofia to help him with a new business adventure he undertakes. This gives them a chance to get to know one another a bit better and we see Ethan's sire, Saintcrow a few times which was nice. I really like seeing how characters in this series are getting along. 

Of course a good book needs a little drama, mystery and danger and this had that. A vampire that Saintcrow knew comes back into his life and makes waves for everyone. 

I loved Ethan and Sofia, they just clicked together so well. Ethan is a total sweetheart, I felt bad that he was so sad and lonely after getting turned into a vampire. Meeting the right person has a way of blowing your life up, in a good way though. 

I loved this story. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given this book for free from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. 

Happy Raturday!

*picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"My Scottish accent makes all the girls melt"

*picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of 'me' Mary Kirkland*

Apartment Life! #42

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

A coupe of weeks ago I was taking Falcor for his morning walk when I spotted something new on the back alley block wall. I carry my camera with me whenever I go outside these days because you just never know what's gonna be going on around here at any given moment. I took a couple of pictures of Falcor and then went to the alley.

Falcor wouldn't look at me because he saw 2 cats out walking across the street. 😼

I took a walk to the back alley and saw that someone had sprayed graffiti all over the block wall in our alley. That's a Cal Ranch behind the wall. When I've said I live right next door to it, I'm not joking. lol 

The maintenance man was already out and he went to get the manager. They took pictures and then painted over it.

It's irritating because even though it's not the greatest neighborhood, this is the first time in 20 years that I've been here that I've seen something like this. Funny enough the same thing happened across the street to their alley and an elderly lady over there saw the two kids that were doing it and yelled at them. She knew they lived in our complex and told my manager! LOL The manager and maintenance guy went to their apartment, confronted them and said if they did it again they'd be kicked out. I'm just surprised they didn't get fined or at the very least have to pay for the paint and labor. But I don't think they'll do it around here again. 

Oh and this week I was without a kitchen sink for 3 days because it was backed up. We asked the manager to call a plumber on Wednesday but she was too busy. Then on Thursday she never opened the office. So on Friday Ken was down at the office when it opened and asked her to call the plumber which she finally did. It took the plumber 3 hours and 4 tries with the snake before he finally cleared the clog. He went to apartments #1 and 2 and asked them if their drains were also backed up and they said yes for a few days now but they never said anything to the office. I don't even know why they decided not to say anything but at least the plumber knew their drains had to be clogged too. 

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

Review: Del Fantasma: Demonade by Melisse Aires

Book Description

Trudy lost her beloved sisters in eighteenth century Vienna, but she is a survivor. As a half human daughter of the demon Asmodeus, she is a psyvamp, ever young and beautiful. Unlike her dead sisters, she does not engage in relationships with men, instead she moves from club to party, city to city, stealing small amounts of life force from intoxicated young men, never staying long in any one place. She is lonely, but friendships do not work for one like her and relationships with men seem to be deadly for her kind.

The Del Fantasma is a unique place, friendly, where she can relax after her nightly hunts and alleviate a little of her loneliness. But Cody introduces her to a man, Professor Gabriel Di Russi, a former priest, a scholar of demonology who once was part of a secret priestly society that studied demons for the Church. He is not like the drunk young men she feeds from, or like the dying old men she sometimes marries. Gabriel is both fascinating and frightening, and he wants to interview her—and she agreed!


What has she done?


My Review

Let me start by saying that I received this ebook many years ago and left it with others in an email folder. Most of these books were won in blog giveaways. I just recently figured out how to open the attachments of seemingly lost pdf's that wouldn't open because they were years old and am going to read and review all the books that I kept in that folder so some things may have changed or updated from the copy that I have, including the covers.

Vampires, demons and succubi, oh my! Vampires, demons and other paranormal creatures are my cup of tea and this had them, which made me happy. Trudy goes from bar to bar siphoning off a little energy from people but never taking enough to hurt anyone. She doesn't stay in one place for very long which makes it hard to make friends.

She finds herself in a bar that isn't what she's used to, this one caters to 'others' as they like to call themselves as well as humans and they have a strict no kill policy. Everyone shares the space to relax, have fun and be friendly. Trudy finds herself going there more and more because she feels safe and relaxed there. When the vampire bartender introduces her to a former priest who happens to be there one night, she's quite shocked that he would be in such a place but even more shocked that he knows what she is and wants to interview her.

The funny thing is they both found each other desirable and were both scared to meet again for the interview, not really knowing what to expect from the other. I loved these two. Trudy just wants to be as normal as she can be for a while and Gabriel isn't a priest or demonologist anymore, he's just a professor but finding out more about her is something he can't pass up.

They end up falling for each other which was fun but of course something has to come along and mess things up. There's a huge twist in this story and I never saw it coming. This was a lot of fun to read and I plan to read more from this author now.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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:

I received a box of Gluten Free products, including a loaf of bread, candy bar, cookies and a plastic sandwich holder.

I won a Pillow and a lion dog costume from the Amazon Giveaways.

I've been entering the Amazon giveaways for 4 or 5 months and I finally won 2 of them on the same day! I was so happy to win the shredded memory foam pillow. I have one right now and they are my favorite pillows. So comfortable.  The dog costume is for a large dog but I'm sure there's a dog around here that would wear this that I can give it to unless we can fit it on Falcor.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Nailed by Tara Wyatt

My Review

I saw on the authors website that this novella was a free if you signed up for her newsletter so I signed up and read it. These two meet back up after leaving on bad terms. Adam's friend backs into his neighbor's fence and deck and he calls Adam to come fix it for him. 

When he shows up at the neighbor's house he's shocked to find Charlie standing there. Charlie and he had met on a dating site, they'd hit it off right away and after talking for a while they agreed to meet at a bakery...only he never showed up. He was just getting over a divorce and panicked when he was faced with meeting her in person. He stood her up and it really hurt Charlie because not only had he not showed up, but he didn't return any of her messages and went so far as to delete his profile from the dating site. She'd never heard from him again but there he stood at her front door. 

So when he tells her that he's there to fix her deck, she tells him to leave. He comes back the next day and they talk a little more. She finally decides to let him fix her deck and they get close again. From then on I really liked how they got along, getting to know one another again. It was obvious that they had strong feelings for one another and acted on it. This was a sweet romance after moving past the hurt that happened. 

I received this novella free after signing up for this authors newsletter. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week- Rye Patch Volunteer Fire Department

My brother and sister in law recently moved to Locklock, Nevada. Small town, pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. After they moved there my brother who is a retired firefighter, found out that there's a volunteer fire department really close to where he lives. As soon as he told me about it I knew it wouldn't be too long before he would be volunteering there and I was right. So I asked my brother to send me a few pictures of the volunteer fire department he's at now. He sent me all these pictures and I thought it would be fun to share with you all. 

Various pictures of the fire truck, and other vehicles.

They respond to different emergencies all the time. I found out in some rural areas the closest fire department is the volunteer fire department. These people are there because they want to be, because they want to help those that need it. I really have a lot of respect for anyone that volunteers like this.

My brother out at a fire.

My brother at another fire.

My brother sent me this picture of him and another guy in their gear. 

My brother got permission from the picture taker for me to use this picture here and sent me this picture of some of them together. I thought it was a really good picture. From back left to front left. Tressa Bryson, David Bryson, Ryan Piatt, Robbie Turtle, Del Kovach, Bill Kirkland, Laura Lynn, Staci LeAnn, James Drake, Raina Helms, and Tom Helms.

My brother has been telling me all about the calls they have been going on. It's been some fires, medical calls and some car accidents. But since they decided to move out in the middle of nowhere, I'm glad he found something to keep him busy. 

Have any of you ever volunteered at a fire department before?

Review: Master in Shining Armor by Sparrow Beckett

Book Description

The author of Finding Master Right returns to the Master Unleashed series with a new erotic romance with an unexpected surprise.

When Juliet Callahan's company lands a contract to renovate Catacombs, a mysterious private BDSM club, she's intrigued. The club's owner, William Ellis, is a bossy, dominant man who drives her up the wall. To find out what Catacombs needs, Juliet agrees to visit the club, never guessing she'll end up having a torrid night of submitting to Will's dominance.

Will doesn't want a needy submissive he has to treat with kid gloves, but naïve and proper Juliet is too hard to resist. She responds to him beautifully, but after one scorching night, she runs scared. Before he can figure out what makes the interesting girl tick, an unexpected shock shows up on his doorstep.

His ex's baby.

My Review

Juliet is really sweet, pretty and completely vanilla. That is until she lands a contract to remodel a BDSM club and meets with Will. Her ideas for changes to the club don't really mesh with Will's so he asks her to come to the club when it's open for business so she can get a feel for the place when people are there and see how it's used. What she isn't expecting is to find her inner submissive too willing to do what Will asks of her once she's there and the sparks between them start to fly. 

Will is a busy guy, so when miss prim and proper Juliet shows up to talk about remodeling his club, he knows that she has no idea what kind of club it is or how her ideas just won't work so he asks her to come see the place that night when people are there using it. He's not expecting her to find the activities so arousing or to find her so accepting of what he's wanting to do to her. 

Will came on too strong, pushed her too far and scared her even though every time she thinks about what they did she's not sure whether to be embarrassed, humiliated or turned on. After their night together she wants to slow down and keep their relationship a strictly working one but when he doesn't return her phone calls she has no other choice but to drop in on him and find out what the problem is. She's not expecting to find him with a baby at the club but that's exactly what she finds. 

After a tragedy he finds himself taking care of a baby and he can use all the help he can get. Juliet doesn't want to be a mother after helping to raise her siblings. She wants to have a childless adult life...that is until she's around Beau and falls for the child. Every time Will talked about giving the baby up for adoption, I cringed. I really wanted him to want to keep the baby but I wasn't sure he would since the baby wasn't his. 

I loved these two characters. They were so damn good together even though they were so different. Watching them get to know one another and slowly fall in love was so much fun. I ate this book up in one day. I hardly wanted to put it down long enough to make a cup of tea, it was just that much fun. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclosure: I received this book free from NetGalley but all opinions are my own. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of 'me' Mary Kirkland*

Apartment Life #41

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

ANTS

When we first moved into this apartment 20 years ago, we noticed an ant problem right away but only in the bathroom. I used Raid, the bait traps, the ant gel and even DE (diatomaceous earth). Nothing worked. About 10 years ago I wrote this..., 

"Every summer I find a few ants in my bathroom. They drive me insane. In the past two years Ken and I have used at least two tubes of caulk, caulking up the seams, cracks, crevices and holes in the bathroom. He took off the baseboards, sealed them up and put the baseboards back on. Last year I even nagged him into sealing up the bathroom vent in the ceiling because I kept finding headless ant torso's in the sink. I figured they were having some sort of ant wars in the vent and the losers got thrown down into the humans sink to show us what would happen to us if we messed with them. Hey, it could happen.

These aren't the harmless little brown ants that can't bite. No, these suckers are about 1/2 an inch long with red heads, black bodies and mandible type pincers on the front of their faces that they use to bite into your flesh and latch on if they happen to get on you. I know this first hand because I had one crawl *super damn fast* up my leg and down my shirt before I could stop it and latch on to my chest. My daughter was here *how embarrassing* and saw me freak the hell out, throw off my shirt while screaming like a mad woman and dash into the bathroom. All I could hear in the living room was my daughter's laughter as I tried to pry the devils minion off my boob. He wouldn't let go so I had to rip his body from his head which was still attached to my flesh. It's not funny, these demon spawn have pincers like a crabs claw and it hurts! The bathroom is sealed, I even took the light plates off the wall and sprinkled some DE into them. DE kills bugs. Die ants die!

So why am I telling you this? Because I saw an ant in the bathroom not 20 minutes ago. Ants, why must you taunt me so."

We caulked up all around the tub enclosure even though it looked like it as sealed but they are small so even small cracks were big enough for them to get in through. But after we went caulk crazy in the bathroom, we stopped seeing them in there for the most part. Every summer we still see the occasional ant but it's nothing like it used to be and for that I am very glad. Ants freaks me but these big biting ants that I now know are Carpenter ants, really freak me out. Go ahead and Google Carpenter ant and tell me it doesn't look like something that just sprouted from the loins of a demon. Go ahead, I'll wait.

I can pick up a spider, beetle or moth and take them back outside with no problem. But let an ant get inside my apartment and let me see it and all bets are off. I go from mild, happy Mary to crazy, half insane warrior woman hell bent on eradicating the ants from the face of the Earth. But at least I don't see them too often these days. 

How do you feel about ants?

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