Review: Echoes of Fire by Suzanne Wright

Book Description

They may not be made for each other, but animal instincts are impossible to ignore.

Madisyn Drake is a rare breed of cat shifter…a loner, unpredictably wild, and emotionally distant. A recent betrayal has left her ready to sharpen her claws on the next man she sees…until a prowling wolf with steel-gray eyes and a brooding dark edge challenges her distrust. No matter how fully he satisfies her touch-hunger, Madisyn’s not ready to open up again, even if it is oh so gratifying.

Bracken Slater has earned his reputation as an indomitable predator. Once broken by grief and guilt, he is feeling alive again, thanks to the heady scent of this independent feline. Madisyn isn’t interested in joining an unfamiliar pack, so convincing her that they’re meant for each other is going to take more than branding her beautiful neck. But when threats from both their pasts take shape, their unexpected destiny may be the only thing that can save them.

My Review

This is book 4 in the Mercury Pack series and even though this can be read as a standalone, it would be better to read in order so you know all the characters. 

Madisyn and Bracken meet after Madisyn beat the crap out of three shfters in the restroom. Madisyn is a Pallas Cat shifter, which are small, furry, cute but mean as hell... cats. She has an attitude and can definitely back up anything that comes out of her mouth. The owner of the club wants to know what started the fight but everyone is keeping quiet about it. 

Bracken is called to come get Madisyn. He's known for being tough ever since his family was killed but he likes Madisyn. She also likes him but she doesn't let on since she has no idea how he feels. But when Bracken realizes that she's suffering from touch hunger, he gives her what she needs but in doing so he bites her and leaves his mark. He tells her that if she needs the touch of another to come to him, no other. His wolf is possessive but she doesn't understand why right away. Bracken's pack is great and for the most part they were all very welcoming to Madisyn and very happy for Bracken. 

When danger comes calling from another pack, Bracken does what he can to make sure Madisyn is safe. His pack and the people from the shelter she works at even get involved because they can't let the alpha of the pack get what he wants. I really liked how everyone came together to help Madisyn even though she's completely able to take care of herself. She's one kick ass little cat. 

I loved these two. They're both hurting for different reasons and when they come together, you can just tell they are made for one another and they help each other heal. I highly recommend this series. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was sent this ebook free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review but all opinions are my own. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

Apartment Life #58

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.

This happened a little more than a week ago. My neighbor had been screaming at her 3 kids for over an hour because they wouldn't get ready for school and then they wouldn't get on their bike's and go to school. This is just the audio of the last bit or her screaming at one of the kids to go get the bike from the sidewalk that one of the other kids had left there. Apparently the older boy who is about 10 years old just walked off and left his bike on the side walk. The mother called the police and they came out as well as the truancy officer. One cop got in his car and went to look for the kid who he brought back to the apartment. The kid was crying and told the officers that the mom had hit him a few times because he wouldn't go to school and hit the other kids because they wouldn't go too. 

You can clearly hear at least one of the kids in my audio saying, "oww, oww mommy." so she probably was hitting them but the officers didn't seem too worried about that. The older boy said he wasn't feeling well and that's why he didn't want to go to school that day. I couldn't hear everything but the mother and kids all went back in the apartment after the police and truancy officer left.

They kids never did go to school that day. 

Then 2 nights ago from this same neighbor's apartment we hear this...

Neighbors yelling at each other. She was in the apartment and he was locked outside.

Him: Just gimme my ID and I'll go. 

Her: No. 

Him: Gimme me ID or I'm gonna kick the door in. 1,2,3 Bang! *He wasn't able to kick it in*

Her: No. Go away you ugly f*ck!

Him: Ugly? I'm fine. Fine! Look at this. *Points at his own body* I'm f*cking fine! You know you want this. *points at his crotch.

Her: Ha ha. No. Go away. 

Him: Gimme my ID and I will or I'm gonna kick in the door in 3,2,1, Bang! *Second attempt and still couldn't kick it in*

He walked away. lmao

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

Review: Daily Goodie Box- December

The Daily Goodie Box has been around since about July of 2016. I signed up for an account right after I heard about them. They are 100% free, you don't even have to pay for shipping. And for a free box it's a nice sampler box of products.

What did I get in this box?

The Grandpa Soap Co - Thylox Acne Treatment Soap- This is a bar of soap that is supposed to be good for acne prone skin. I get the occasional pimple so I will try this out next time I get one and see how it works. In the mean time I decided to wash my face with this for a few nights and see how my skin reacted. It's didn't break me out, it didn't dry my skin out and didn't case any redness so maybe it will keep my skin clear as well.

Organic OCHO Candy - Chocolate Covered Coconut Bars- It was just one piece of this candy and after I ate it I wanted more. I love coconut candy and this was so good. I would buy this for sure.

The Original MakeUp Eraser - Sample Pack- I actually signed up for this sample a few months ago so I was lucky enough to have already tried this out and I love it. This MakeUp Eraser is one of the most unique things I've ever tried. You just wet it and use it to take your makeup off. No soaps, no cold creams or makeup removers are necessary and it works so well. I could hardly believe it. 

Hyalogic - Vitamin D3 Gummies- I love trying new gummy vitamins. I already take Vitamin D supplements because I have a deficiency so if I can find an easier way to take them, win win for me. These taste good and I'm taking them for the month to see how my blood tests look next month after taking these instead of the pills I usually take. 

Sprig - CBD-Infused Soda- Unfortunately for me this did not have a good taste. I took a sip and let my husband take a sip and neither one of us liked the taste of this at all. 

KiZE - Raw Energy Bars- I cut this is half because my husband usually likes these kinds of bars better than I do and I was right. Not my favorite thing but it wasn't awful, my husband liked it though. 

Alcala San Diego - Deodorizing Body Wipes- These are big, strong wipes. They have a nice scent and get the job done. They would be good for just about anything. 

Herbal Zap - Party Detox Herbal Supplement- I don't do a lot of 'partying' so this isn't something that I would use so I actually gave it to my daughter. She's all for taking an herbal supplement if I get samples of them in the mail. 

Chocolat Frey® - Milk & Dark Crunchy Nuts Bars- This chocolate bar is so good! It was my favorite thing in the box! I love dark chocolate and peanuts and this was just yummy all the way around. 

All they ask you to do is try the products and leave reviews for the products you got in order to be eligible for more Free Goodie Boxes. As you guys already know, I'm a fan of all these types of boxes. I love all the different subscription boxes and it's really nice to be able to try new to me products for free. This is a great box to try for.

 Oh and one more thing, if you visit their FB Page, they give away Goodie Boxes to people who interact with their posts. So if you've tried before and weren't able to get a Goodie Box, there's even more ways to get one now. 

I'm a fan of subscription boxes and love trying new products for free so this was a huge hit with me. New products+free box = Fabulous!

Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Have you signed up? Have you received one of these boxes?

Disclosure: This box was given to me for free in exchange for a blog review but all opinions are my own.

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:

A sample of Santevi Power Punch with Immune Support. Make any water alkaline.

Face 60 sunscreen. Dry touch sunscreen.

Vichy Liftactiv Supreme anti wrinkle cream.

Olay Regenerist moisturizer.

And I won a blog contest and received everything in that second picture as the prize. A little purse, book cozy, pocket mirror, makeup, lip balm, hand cream, makeup bag, pad of paper, and a key chain charm. It was a great prize to win.

The Santevi power punch immune support was like a tea bag that you add to your water bottle and shake for 30 seconds. Our water is really chlorinated and tastes bad so I thought this would reduce that but I couldn't taste a difference. It reduces chlorine up to 99% it says and replaces minerals but who knows if it really does.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: His To Protect by Elena Aitken

Book Description

Every Shifter has a mate. She's his. Now all he has to do is convince her that what they have between them is more than lust—much more.

When Harper's life begins a death spiral, she does what any self respecting woman would do—she heads for the mountains. More specifically, Grizzly Ridge. A brand new—and very remote—lodge in the wilds of Montana where the last thing she expects to find is a very alpha, very sexy mountain man who's more than a little wild himself and doesn't waste any time reigniting feelings in her she’d long since buried.

From the moment he lays eyes on her, Axel knows the curvy brunette is more than just a guest at his lodge. Much more. Every bear shifter has a mate. She’s his. And whether his brothers believe in fated mates or not, nothing will keep Axel from what's his. But first he’ll need to convince Harper that what she’s feeling is more than lust. It’s fate.

Reader note: His to Protect is a full length stand alone bear shifter novel with no Cliffhangers! This series contains: strong, sassy, curvy women; sexy alpha males; steamy shifters and sizzling sex scenes...

My Review

Harper needs to get away after her ex makes his coming out as gay, very public. So she and her best friend head up to the mountains where they meet the three brothers who own the hotel and just happen to be bear shifters. The best friend is there to write an article about the hotel and Harper came along with her. While there Harper finds out that her ex embezzled a lot of money from their shared company and he and his boyfriend are setting her up to take the fall for the entire thing and ruin her reputation. 

Axel feels an immediate attraction to Harper and doesn't know how to act or control his bear who wants to claim her as his mate. But when he finds out that she's in trouble and needs a new attorney, he offers his attorney's phone number to help her. She needs a place to lay low and he offers his cabin so anyone snooping around won't find out she's there. Axel and Harper feel the mate bond right away and can't keep their hands off each other, so things heat up right away. 

Things are going really good when 2 other reports start snooping around the hotel. They're up to no good but Axel's other two brothers are there to make sure they don't make too much of a mess of things. 

There's a great twist at the end even though I knew where this story was going, it was a great twist. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

My brother sent me this picture from the yard of his new house in Northern Nevada. He said it's cold and the mountains now have snow on them. He moved out to the middle of nowhere. lol 

Review: Shifter Mate Magic by Carol Van Natta

Book Description

A lonely bear shifter meets his mate. She’s running for her life and doesn’t have time for romance.

Pregnant Jackie Breton just escaped from a corrupt feline pack intent on selling her half-shifter baby to the highest bidder. She’s smart, independent, and has a desperate plan to keep her baby safe: Get away from the pride as fast and far as possible.

Trevor Hammond, prehistoric bear shifter, has been rejected by everyone in his life for… being born, basically. Well, except for the beloved aunt who raised him. He’s built a career as an independent trucker, but life would be much better with someone he can hold in his arms and claim as his own.

When Jackie meets Trevor at a truck stop, his bear demands he help her. His aunt even calls with a dire warning: Get Jackie to the magical sanctuary town in Wyoming before she’s killed. 

Jackie thinks he’s sexy as hell, but too good to be true. She doesn’t trust shifters. With the feline pride hot on her trail, however, Trevor and the quirky town of Kotoyeesinay might be her only chance for survival. Even Trevor’s indomitable bear may be no match for the dangerous enemy seeking retribution.

My Review

This is book 1 in the Ice Age Shifters series and when I saw it was free on Amazon I went ahead and took a chance on it. 

This story is told from both Jackie and Trevor's point of view, which I liked. Seeing what they were both thinking really seemed to add to the story. Jackie ran from her pack because they planned on selling her half shifter child to the highest bidder once it was born. Trevor and Jackie meet, exchange names and he hands her his card in case she ever needs help. They're attracted to each other but she doesn't trust him right away and he knows he has to move slowly with her. So when he gets a call from her, Trevor goes to help her. They want to get to the magical sanctuary where she's hoping they can help her but she's human, not a shifter so I had no idea how that would end up. 

I thought the world this author created was great and I liked that these shifters had magic to be able to shift and for use for other things as well. I loved the sanctuary town that they ended up in and all of the different types of mythical creatures there and how welcoming they were. 

Jackie and Trevor are so great together. He's an alpha male for sure but he's got a kind heart and it shows. Jackie is obviously a kind hearted woman and just wants to make sure her unborn child is going to be safe. My heart melted when Trevor said that he would love her child as his own. When they did finally have time to be alone and really get to know one another, *wink wink* they were so sweet together. I hope we get to see them again during the series.

I was trying to figure out the whole ice age thing in the series title when I finally figured out that some of these shifters actually shift into ice age animals and then it all made sense. I loved that aspect of this book and plan on reading more of the series to find out more. This was a quick read but it didn't feel rushed at all. I'm really looking forward to getting to know more of the people in this town.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Anisah Grace Hannah*

*Picture courtesy of Cindy Rogers*

"My eyes are going googly again, aren't they?"

*Picture courtesy of 'me' Mary Kirkland*

Apartment Life #57

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.

This week has been a crazy one. 2 people were evicted but neither of them were the two trouble maker apartments so they're still here. Then on Monday the girl from #8 ran to apartment #4 right next to me and slammed the door shut. Her boyfriend started banging on the door telling her to come out that she only gave him $5 for meth, he stood outside the liquor store and the guy never showed up. 

She wouldn't come out so the boyfriend kicked #4's door in and went inside and started screaming at both of them. The guy that lives there kept telling the boyfriend to leave but he wouldn't. The boyfriend kept saying, "You let her in to buy pills, so your door is not my problem." 

The guy didn't have any pills for her to buy or so the boyfriend said and as the boyfriend was walking away he said, "You're a liar. Now I'm gonna have to buy pills from someone else, you stupid bitch." 

I took pictures of the door the next morning after it was fixed but you can still see it was a broken mess. 

Later that day...

A fight broke out in #2 next door to me. The boyfriend (The apartment managers son) there was screaming at his girlfriend about how he had some meth and she wasn't getting any. "Yeah, I still have some meth, but you ain't getting any of it you stupid crack hoe." He slammed the door and left while she screamed obscenities at him. 

I knew the peace and quiet wouldn't last long. Oh and no, the guy with the kicked in door never called the police. Probably because he's selling pills out of his apartment...or so the boyfriend said.

Then on Wednesday I heard a fight broke out 2 buildings down in my apartment complex. The woman who lives in the apartment has her adult daughter and son living with her. While she was at work her son and the daughter's boyfriend got into a fist fight. Someone called the temporary manager (Our regular manager was in the hospital) to complain and when the manager got there either the son or the daughter's boyfriend pushed him (the manager). So when the mother got home from work she found a 3 day nuisance eviction notice on her door. And now she has to be out in 3 days. 

It's been one hell of a week. 

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

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 a book for a guest blog review and a book from a blogger friend.
4 sheets of can-am wrapping paper.
2 Christmas dream catchers and a pen.
5 samples of Zing sweetener.
2 Astroglide massage gel and lubricants.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Talon by Theresa Hissong

Book Description

My name is Talon Shaw and I am the alpha of a pride of black panthers. My cat finds his mate in a human female and she wants a date! Panthers don’t date…we mate. Before my plans fall into place to court the woman who is destined to be my mate, one of my pride is taken and held for ransom.

That ransom is me.

I will do anything for my pride, but my little human mate puts herself in my place. When I find out that she has been taken, along with a young girl from my pride, I vow to bring them both home. My Guardians and I hunt to find my mate, save my pride, and deal out justice for those my enemy has harmed.

That is…if I’m not too late to save them both.

My Review

This is the first book in the Rise of the Pride series. I saw it free on Amazon and snagged it. Free books is about the only thing Amazon is good for these days. lol 

I love a good shifter story and this one is about panther shifters. These panther shifters don't touch females unless they are mated to them because shifter female feel pain if a male other than their mate touches them and they don't want to cause females pain. That was certainly a new slant on shifter mating from other books that I've read. So when he finds himself attracted to a human who owns a bar that he frequents and they accidentally touch, he knows right away that she is his mate. 

I loved Liberty, she's a strong female character and very much worthy of an alpha shifter like Talon. They were a lot of fun to watch get to know one another because Talon has no idea how to date a human and he's afraid he'll hurt her with his strength or during sexy times. But no worries they figure that out with no problems. *wink wink*

Of course right when things are going really well, another shifter kidnaps one of his people because he's pissed off that Talon outed shifters to the humans. But it really couldn't be helped since the humans had video proof. This other shifter ends up hurting two people that Talon cares for and nothing is going to stop him from exacting justice for them. 

I read this book in less than 2 hours because once I started, it was hard to put down. I love when a book completely draws me into the story from beginning to end. I'm definitely picking up the next book in this series and can't wait to get to know more of these characters. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

My daughter took this picture at work and we both found it hilarious. They meant to say do not put any food in the sink. That's a fail if I've ever seen one. lol 

How to upload pictures to Instagram from your computer

This is going to sound complicated but I promise you, it's not. I don't have a smart phone so in order to get my pictures to instagram, I have to upload them to my computer from my camera and then download them to my Kindle from my laptop. It's a pain. So when H.R.Sinclair wrote a post on her blog about uploading pictures to instagram from a computer, I was so excited. Only problem was her instructions did not work for me until I started poking around my own page and figured out a way to make this work. I'm using Chrome on my laptop but I don't know if that makes any difference for these instructions. 

First, log into your Instagram account. 

Next, right click anywhere on the Instagram page and click on "Inspect" which should be the last thing in the drop down box. 

Now click on the icon at the top of that page that I have circled in red. 

Next you will click on the drop down box that I have circled in red on the left hand side of the screen. Before I clicked on it, it said 'responsive'. Then click on one of the iphone choices. It doesn't matter which iphone choice you pick. I tried all of them and they all worked for me. 

Next you will REFRESH the page. 

This is the most important step. If you don't refresh the page, the next step won't work.

After you refresh the page, the plus symbol should appear just like if you were on a smartphone. Now you can click that and upload a photo just as you would using a phone. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Anisah Grace Hannah*

"I'll take 4 boxes of whatever this is. Thanks."

*Picture courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of Rat Logic*

*Picture courtesy of Rat Logic*

Apartment Life #56

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.

I was out walking Falcor in the morning and this truck comes flying through the walking path. It was a city truck so I'm thinking NDOT (Nevada Department of Transportation) but it didn't say on the truck so I'm not sure. All they did was cut through this path from the parking lot behind them to the street to the right of them. They just didn't want to drive all the way around the block. Lazy bastards. But the fact that they came flying through this walking path that has yellow metal barriers right in the middle of it to stop cars from doing just this is what pissed me off. They almost hit my dog and they didn't even stop. 

I have an 18 foot retractable leash that I use for Falcor and as you can see he walks out there ahead of me. I had just enough time to pull him back to me before that idiot driver drove past us. I had my camera out already and took this picture a couple of minutes before we walked up where they drove through. He didn't even stop and say sorry or slow down and he was going so fast I couldn't even get a picture of his license plate. What an ass.

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

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 have enough points from filling out the surveys on Degustbox.com and I cashed them in for my next Degustabox free. So next month's box will be free.

I won a book in a blog contest over at Lampshade Reader. And The Book Depository sent me a bookmark with it.

I also received an Orgain Kids bar- chocolate chip flavor.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

For those in the US that celebrate Thanksgiving...

Have a very happy Thanksgiving.

Favorite Picture of the Week

Over the years I've made some of the pictures I've taken of my animals into meme's. I thought it would be fun to share two that still make me laugh. I hope you enjoy. 

Falcor was making some weird face so this is what I wrote for it. We were actually playing with a toy and he was getting ready to bite it. Talk about good timing. lol 

Rat owners know that we make fun of male rat testicles because they are huge. LOL Well, they are. So we've come up with some hilarious names for them but when a friend called them, 'giblets' I knew I was gonna make a meme for that. This was Hades. He was such a sweetheart of a rat. 

Recipe: Seasoned Pork and Potatoes with Hominy

I like to look in my fridge, see what ingredients I have and just throw a few things together and see how it comes out. lol That's how I come up with some real winners and this was definitely a winner. 

You will need:

5 TBSP Mexican Chorizo *about 3 inches of a sausage*

2 cups diced pork

2 diced potatoes into 1" cubes

1 can of Hominy

3 TBSP oil

Queso Fresco cheese

Salt to taste

What to do: 

Add diced potatoes to frying pan with oil and fry until almost done. Add chorizo to pan and fry on low heat until it breaks down and is like a loose meat sauce. Add diced pork and fry over medium heat until meat is cooked through. Add hominy and stir until heated through. Add salt if you desire. Serve dish topped with cheese crumbles. 

The Mexican market carries the diced pork already diced so I didn't have to cut it up. The Queso Fresco cheese is something new to me and reminded me of a Mozzarella cheese that crumbles. And hominy is great for dishes like this because hominy will soak up whatever spices and flavors that it's in and it worked really well for this dish. Plus, I love hominy. If you've never had Chorizo...trust me. Eat it first and then read the label. 

How do you come up with new recipes? Do you go off a recipe or just wing it like I do at times?