Review: Beyond The Darkness by Katie Reus

Book Description

Now that she has her freedom, she’s not giving it up.

Dragon shifter Keelin Petronilla spent centuries in forced hibernation dreaming of one thing: freedom. Now she’s living life on her terms—she’s ditched her clan for an unruly wolf pack, she tends bar for a half-demon, and she’s loving it…until a powerful supernatural being targets her. She intends to handle the mysterious attacks on her own…without the help of dragon Alpha Bran Devlin. Sure, he’s sexy in that hot, scowling possessive way, but Keelin wants to live her own life in her own way.

Now that he’s found his mate, he’s not letting her go.

Former black ops agent Bran Devlin is a born dragon Alpha and leader of a fierce clan. Getting mated was never part of his plan—until a feisty dragon princess gets under his skin in a big way. But she doesn’t want a mate; she just wants to have a good time. He plays along, but when a dark and powerful being marks her for death, he’s determined to stay by her side in spite of her protests. Now that he’s found his mate, he means to keep her safe no matter what the cost…even if he has to risk it all.

My Review

Bran was there for Keelin when she was attacked a while back and he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since. He's back in town on a mission but the fire between them is not stopping. They're both dragon shifters and he wants to make her his mate but she doesn't want that because she thinks she'll lose her freedom if she has a mate. So they just get to know one another slowly and the sexual tension was real. Even though they started out a little slowly with their first meeting when they meet a second time weeks later, they can't deny the sexual chemistry is there.

There's another secondary romance going on between Nyx and Bo. He's the owner of the bar she works at and is a half demon but doesn't originally know what kind of shifter Nyx is which made the mystery interesting. 

Watching these couples get to know one another was so much fun but Bran and Keelin were the hero and heroine of this story so we saw more of them than the other two. But there's danger right around the corner for Keelin which has Bran feeling all kinds of protective for her and trying to keep her safe even though she doesn't think that she really needs his help sometimes. So when she runs off to figure things out with her family and doesn't tell him where she's going, his dragon goes crazy and stops at nothing to make sure she's safe. Seeing his animal side come out like that was sexy as hell.

The bad guys are bad, like really bad. There's kidnapping, torture and murder going on and when we find out what the bad guy is and why he's after Keelin it really ratchet's up the danger in the story. I loved the world building as well as all the different paranormal creatures that were in this book and how we know things are going to get interesting for Nyx in the future.

While this book started off a little slow for me, it sure did pick up and the story stayed crazy and engaging until the end once it pace picked up. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given an ARC via NetGalley but all opinions and thoughts are my own. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Can't talk right now, has mouth full."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I eatin' sketti."

Apartment Life #110

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 couple of weeks ago I told you guys about the woman and her adult son being evicted from these apartments right across from me. Well, she moved on to her section 8 apartment but not before she saw this last week being done.  Last week she knocked on my door and was fuming because she said she had been complaining about her air conditioner not working right for over a year and the manager wouldn't do anything about it because he said it worked, just not as well as she wanted. So when she saw that a new central air conditioner was being installed for the apartment she just got kicked out of she was so mad. They waited until she was evicted and then they put in a new air conditioner. 

I don't blame her for being mad, I would have been mad too but I really think she needs to move on from this. She needs to stop gambling her money away and get her shit together. She's almost 70 years old and her son is a meth addict so I think she'll have more problems since he moved in with her. 

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?

BodyBio - E-Lyte Electrolyte Concentrate-  I tried this and it wasn't bad tasting or anything but I'm not sure it did anything for me either. This is probably meant for someone that is athletic and needs to replace their electrolytes. 

Aprati Foods - Mocati™ Hard Candy Assortments- I actually just bought a bag of coffee flavored hard candy because I love coffee flavored candy. This tasted really good. I liked the mint/coffee flavor the most. 

Lock Laces® - Elastic No-Tie Shoelaces- I wear slip on sandals mostly so I didn't have shoes for this but I gave them to my daughter and she loved them. She wears tennis shoes to work all the time so she was able to use these and she said they work really well. 

Michael's® Naturopathic Programs - Adrenal Xtra ENERGY Support™- Ken tried this one day when he was tired and he said that it did give him a small boost of energy. So he is going to keep these and use them again because he said they worked for him. 

Chocolat Frey® - Crunchy Nut Bars- This candy bar was one of my favorite things in this box. The chocolate was so smooth and delicious and the nuts were crunchy and plentiful. This was a delicious candy bar. 

Dalmatia® - Fruit Spreads- I got the quince spread and I had just tried quince fruit last year for the first time. I liked it. It's sweet and had a nice flavor to it. This was great and it tastes a lot like apple. 

Enzymedica - Heartburn Relief- Ken and I both tried this since we both get heartburn often and I don't think it worked quite as well as Tums that I usually use but it did help a little. 

NibMor - Daily Dose Chocolate Bars- Definitely my favorite thing in the box. If you like dark chocolate and I definitely so then you will love this. The cherry flavor was strong, it almost tastes like you were biting right into a cherry covered in dark chocolate. 

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.

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

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

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!

Disclosure: I was given and free box in exchange for a 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.

What did I get this week?

From Generation Good I received the diapers and baby wipes.
I also received a sample of Perfect Smooth shampoo and condition.

I gave the diapers and wipes to the lady in my courtyard with the baby.

The shampoo and conditioner was actually really good. First time that I've tried this one too.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Favorite Picture of the Week

Last week on November 28th, I took this picture. The snow was coming down in the mountains and you could barely see most of the mountains that day. It rained most of the day where I was.

The very next day I took this picture of that mountain range and quite a bit of snow had fallen. It was still cloudy but the rain was gone.

There's snow on the mountains. I just thought it was pretty. 

Review: Mastered By Her Mates by Grace Goodwin

Book Description

Amanda Bryant has been a spy for five long years, but when aliens suddenly appear claiming a deadly enemy threatens Earth's very survival, Amanda is asked by her superiors to accept the most dangerous mission of her life...volunteer to be an alien's bride, to share the strange warrior's bed and then betray him.

Accepting the assignment, Amanda is processed as the first Interstellar Bride and transported halfway across the galaxy to her new mate's battleship where she awakens to discover she has been matched to not just one huge Prillon warrior, but two.

Shocked by her craving for the touch of two dominant alpha males, Amanda attempts to hide her body's immediate reaction to Commander Grigg and his second, Rav. Resistance is futile as her new mates expect to control every aspect of her life, and her pleasure, and neither will hesitate to deliver a thorough and embarrassing spanking should she disobey their sensual commands, or resist a complex and deeply arousing series of medical exams designed to ensure her sexual readiness for their claiming.

Seduced and cherished by two alpha alien warriors who hide nothing from her, Amanda quickly comes to realize that the threat to Earth is very real. When she witnesses a battle with the enemy and the resulting death of a highly respected warrior, she knows she must tell her mates the truth and hope they can forgive her for her duplicity before it's too late.

Loyalties will be tested as Amanda fights the most important battle of her life. How can she protect the warriors she has grown to love and save the people of Earth from making a terrible mistake? Will her human contacts believe her when, with every touch, every look, they will see just how thoroughly she has been mastered by her mates?

Publisher's Note: Mastered by Her Mates is a stand-alone prequel novel set in the same world as Assigned a Mate, Mated to the Warriors, Claimed by Her Mates, Taken by Her Mates, and Mated to the Beast. It is an erotic romance novel that includes sexual scenes, spankings and more and is intended for an adult audience. If such material offends you, please do not buy this book. 

My Review

Amanda volunteers for the Interstellar Bride Program after aliens come to Earth and pretty much take over, saying that they are here to keep us safe. She's a spy and her mission is to gather as much intelligence as possible for a couple of years and then leave her 'mate' and come back to Earth to fill in her superiors. But she's 'mated' with two Prillon warriors who make her feel like their relationship could work. 

Amanda's superiors back on Earth are also sending some soldier's who are spies as well because her superiors don't believe the coalition about the big bad aliens that are out to kill people of Earth and other planets. The Hive are the big bad and when they are described it made me think of The Borg on the Star Trek series. They kidnap people and implant them with biosynthetic machines that turn them into fighters for The Hive, much like The Borg did. 

When Amanda can see for herself that The Hive is real and not just something the coalition made up to take over Earth, she knows that she was lied to by her superiors. But this is first and foremost a love story. Rav and Grigg fall head over hills in love with her and want nothing more than to keep her with them. Their culture is a little different from that of Earth but they made it work as she got to know them. I won't downplay the amount of sex in this book because there is a lot but I think it really fit with the story. What didn't fit for me was that she was supposed to be a spy. I don't really think she came off as a spy, it just didn't fit how she acted or what she did at all. 

This is the 6th book in the Interstellar Brides series but it's the first book that I've read. I didn't feel like I was missing a lot of information or confused at all because I read this out of order. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #109

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.

So it was quiet around my place this week so here's something that happened a couple of years ago. This was 3 managers ago...lol 

Once again my pictures a bit blurry but you can definitely see the police cars on my street. 

A fight broke out in my complex by the manager's office when one guy confronted another guy because his dog was off leash and was running around and ran up to this other guys small dog. The dog that was off leash was a big boxer type dog and he kept barking and growling at the guy and the little dog so he took his little dog inside and came back out to tell the guy his dog needed to be on a leash. 

The guy with the boxer type dog didn't like being told what to do and the argument came to blows with these two guys hitting each other. The manager saw what was happening and called the police and when they got here she handed the guy with the boxer a $50 fine for not having his dog on a leash which set him off again. He started yelling at her in front of the cops and didn't think it was right that his dog had to be on a leash. The police informed him that there is a leash law here and all dogs have to be on a leash when they are outside. Both of the guys were arrested for fighting. 

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

Review: Target Beauty Box- November

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. They are $7 a piece and usually well worth the price.

What was in the box?

Love Beauty Planet body wash. 

Olly beauty multivitamin gummies. 

Sunny Isle eyelash and eyebrow growth serum. 

Garnier Fructis in shower styler. 

Pantene hydrating butter creme. 

Pantene leave on detangling milk. 

I've always liked the beauty gummies. They have a good taste to them. I'm not sure they do anything but at least they don't taste bad. 

I've always liked trying new hair care products and all of these were a hit with me. I have long hair, right now it's long enough for me to sit on. Time for a trim soon. 

The eyebrow and eyelash serum did nothing for me. I'm not sure this type of product ever really works. I used it for over a week and saw no difference at all. 

For the price it was nice to try a few new to me products.

Did you get this box?

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.

What did I get this week?

Kabrita Goat Milk Porridge and puffs for toddlers.
5 samples of Pipette baby products.
Carefree liners.
Replens feminine moisturizer.
Rephresh feminine spray.
Persil detergent.

I gave all the baby products to a new neighbor who just moved in with what looked like to me to be a close to newborn baby.

Did you get any freebies this week?

Review: Keeping His Siren by Kiersten Fay

Book Description

From USA Today bestselling author Kiersten Fay comes this deliciously sexy story of a powerful vampire who has been burned by love and a bewitching siren who consumes him body and soul, bound by a passion they cannot resist.

Naia DeVoe never mixes business with pleasure, but when she winds up in bed with the vampire she’s been hired to spy on, that rule gets tossed out the window. But she knows Cortez is not a man to be trifled with; aside from being the head of his clan, he’s rich, powerful, and the hottest club owner in town. From their first combustible night together it’s obvious Naia is in way over her head...

As the leader of his clan, Cortez must be careful who to trust. No one gets too close to him...no one, that is, until Naia. He can’t help but be drawn to the beautiful seductress who all but demands his attention. Is she the one he’s been searching for, or just another woman destined to betray him?

My Review

Naia has a beautiful voice thanks to being descendant from Sirens. She and her brother both work in a club and what little money they make is going to pay off the gambling debts her brother accrued from the mobsters. Neither of them seem to be able to make more money because everyone was hurting because of the human/vampire wars that wiped out a lot of people and made it hard to live or make ends meet these days. So Dante, her boss at the club makes a deal with her. He wants her to get hired at another club owned by a vampire and report back anything weird that goes on over there. She's hired as a spy and Dante says he'll pay her good money to keep the mob bosses off her brother's back and hopefully from breaking his fingers for not paying off his debt. 

Naia tries to get a job at Cortez's club but he's so taken with her that he decides he wants to date her instead and he doesn't date anyone who works for him so getting a job is out the window even though she keeps trying to get one. Their romance and budding relationship is sweet, hot, sexy and carnal because he's a vampire and very much alpha.

Cortez is the owner of the other club that Naia is hired to spy on but he's nice, sexy and intriguing so when they get to know another better and he's very much interested in her, she knows she can't keep the truth from him but when he finds out she was sent there as a spy, he turns on her. All hell breaks loose pretty much after he finds out why she's really there and all sorts of other things happen right after that. I don't want to say more because that would give too much away but there are several heart stopping scenes. 

This book was everything I could have wanted between a vampire and a siren. The danger of having the mob after the brother because he owed them money as well as Naia's sleazy boss threatening her to spy on Cortez was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to danger in this story. The twists, turns and crazy circumstances all came together to make one hell of an intriguing book. I read this in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. This was my first book from this author but it definitely won't be my last. 

I give this 5 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: The Goddess Gets Her Guy by Ashlyn Chase

Book Description

What happens when the goddess meets Mr. Right...but she absolutely can't tell him who she really is?

After leaving his job as a cardiac surgeon, Dr. Aaron Samuels needs a new purpose in his life. Wanting to help his patients even if he can't operate, he heads to the Puerto Rican rainforest to find a cure for heart disease. He never imagined he'd meet a beautiful, mysterious woman, especially not one talking to a frog in the middle of the jungle...

Gaia—a.k.a. Mother Nature—has had it with paranormals breaking her number one rule: Never reveal your supernatural powers to humans, not even your mate. Fed up, she transports to the rainforest, happy to converse with amphibians who don't talk back. But Dr. Samuels is a much better conversationalist, and Gaia can't wait to help him mend all those broken hearts he told her about.

When her attempts to help only complicate things between them, Gaia begins to wonder what would happen if she opened her heart and was honest with Aaron...and herself. Maybe her number one rule has been wrong all along...

My Review

Gaia aka Mother Nature is old as dirt and a bit grumpy. She's been yelling and talking down to so many of the paranormals that her sisters Fate and Karma decide that she needs a date. So they set up a dating profile for Gaia on a dating app. Gaia has one rule and that's for paranormals never to show their powers to humans and she's beyond sick and tired of them breaking her rules. 

The dating does not go well because the men her sisters are fixing her up with are just not her type. She did find a man on her own to be friends with but there's a misunderstanding soon after they start to talk, more and feelings are hurt. Aaron is a retired doctor who has two grown daughters, one of which moves back home after breaking up with her boyfriend. 

Aaron and Gaia didn't get to really know each other until more than halfway through the book. There relationship was a very slow building one and while I like a slow building romance, I also want it to advance a little more quickly than it did in this book. Between that and the fact that there were so many other storylines going on as well as a lot of secondary characters showing up in this book that it felt bogged down a bit with too much information. I think the romance in this book suffered because there was just too many other things going on.

If you've been reading the series up to this point though, you will probably enjoy this book. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

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

Review: Treasured Find by Nancy Corrigan

Book Description

A determined shifter. A protective mother. And love…if they can survive long enough to claim their forever.

After five centuries, Rafe Alexander knows what to expect from life - boredom, broken by the occasional call from Shifter Affairs. He always accepts their plea for help. As a Royal feline shifter, he's the strongest of his kind. And he knows firsthand the dangers of the shifter world. If there's a chance he can save an innocent, he'll take whatever risk is necessary.

But the task that leads him to West Virginia changes everything. A father is dead. A shifter child is missing. And the human female connected to both tragedies is hiding a secret.

Rafe's interest in Jasmine goes far beyond the case. She's his true mate, but because of the horrors she's seen, she doesn't trust shifters. That won't stop him from winning her love. He'll soothe her fears. The killer targeting her family won't prevent him from claiming Jasmine either. Rafe will risk everything - including his life - to be the man she needs. Nothing keeps a shifter from his fated mate.

My Review

Rafe is sent to find a shifter child after her adoptive father dies. He finds that she's living with another relative and seems to be safe and healthy. But when Rafe runs into Jasmine in a bar, he's attracted to her in a way he hasn't been before. He can scent two other shifters on her but doesn't realize that they are that of her kids. These two start off really attracted to each other and acting on it really fast. She has a huge secret but then so does he. Rafe is a royal feline shifter, meaning he has 3 animals he can shift into while most other shifters only have one animal. But he doesn't tell Jazz what he is before they start seeing each other and that causes some problems. 

Female shifters have been going missing for years and ending up in experimental facilities where they are tortured and experimented on. Rafe's sister has been missing for years but he's holding out hope that she's still alive somewhere. Rafe and his brothers had something awful happen in their past and an evil shifter betrayed them. That shifter is now back and out to destroy them and the kids they are now looking after. When the bad shifter finds out that Rafe is seeing Jazz, he also comes after her so she's also in danger. 

There were a lot of twists and secrets in this book that made the story really interesting. The action was great and the fight scenes were brutal. The only thing that irritated me a little was the fact that it took Jazz so long to tell Rafe how she came to adopt her boys and the facts surrounding how it came about. I think that should have come out sooner. 

This book introduced a lot of different characters that I'm sure will get their own stories or will pop up in subsequent books. I had a good time with this book and look forward to reading more of this series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Anisah Grace Hanna*

"If you buy another bag of yogis, I'll tell you where I hid your car keys"

*Picture courtesy of Cindy Rogers*

"We can all get in the picture. Stop hogging the camera"

*Picture courtesy of Pippa and Neema*

"Yes, I did eat the last piece of cake and it was good too"

*Picture courtesy of Rat Logic*

Apartment Life #108

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.

Two months ago we heard yelling from across the street and found out that the guy standing there with the police is the manager of that complex and he filed and eviction on two people that live there. He had given them until that (Monday) to move out until the son of the woman decided to start raising hell in their apartment. He was throwing things, yelling, screaming at people in the courtyard and a fight even broke out on my side of the street earlier on Friday. So the manager called the police and said he wanted them out that day (Friday). Which was the day they were supposed to be out anyway, he had just been nice and gave them until Monday before all this happened.

Several police cars showed up and it took several officers banging on their apartment door for the adult son to come out. 

A lot of people came out of their apartments to see what was going on even though the police were asking them to go back in their apartments. 

When the son came out, they had him go over by their police car next to the building but that big truck was in the way for me to get a picture of that. 

Then the police talked to the mother of that guy who was throwing things in the apartment and a few minutes later we saw some of the residents helping her bring out some bags of hers and put their in their apartment for her. She was locked out of her apartment that day and the manager told her she has 30 days to make arrangements with him to come get the rest of her belongings. That weekend she stayed with the lady that lives 3 doors down from me in my courtyard. Her son left but he was back staying with neighbors. She gets her social security check on the 3rd and she said she'll find a place to rent then (that was 2 months ago). In the mean time, she's staying with the lady who lives 3 doors down from me on and off and with other people other days.

I waited these two months to post this because a lot was going on in that time. That lady told Ken that she gets $4000 a month in retirement and social security but she never has enough to rent an apartment. He wondered why and found out she gambles all her money away so she's been staying with several people around here. She applied for section 8 housing a while back and while she was staying with my neighbor she found out she got it and she found an apartment. So this week she and her adult son moved into her new place. If she doesn't gamble her money away, she'll have more than enough to keep her apartment. 

I know some of these pictures are blurry but I was taking them from my bedroom window and the sun was right in our face at the time so that blurred the pictures a bit.

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

Review: IPSY Glam Bag - November

Ipsy is a monthly subscription box that sends you 5 sample size makeup or beauty products and a makeup bag. You can customize what they send you by filling out the personal surveys. I love the bright pink package they send it in. There's no mistaking who that's from when you see it in your mailbox. These bags are $10 each. 

What did I get?

Skone eyeliner. 

TheBalm Cosmetics highlighter. 

It Cosmetics face cream. 

Pixi by Perta mineral duo eyeshadow. 

SLMISSGLAM tapered face brush. 

Makeup bag.

TheBalm Cosmetics highlighter is a cream highlighter and it's bright! A little goes a long way. I like a more subtle highlighter so I'll be using this sparingly. 

The face cream is a good one. I like to use it as a moisturizer under my makeup. The eyeliner works great and stays on all day. 

I didn't have this kind of brush so I was happy to get it to use with setting powder. 

The eyeshadow is definitely my favorite thing in this months box though. The colors are my kind of colors and they are really pretty once I used them on my eyes. 

I think the makeup bag is cute too.

Did you get this box?

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.

What did I get this week?

3 samples of FRE' face cleanser, moisturizer and serum.
Clarins face cream.
2 perfume samples.
Heinz Mayochup sample.
Chlorphen-12 allergy medicine samples.
I also won a $50 gift card to Crate & Barrel from Ranchology Rewards.

I liked the face creams and the cleanser. I didn't like the serum because it was a little sticky on my face.

I love the perfume samples. I got them when I spent my $50 giftcard at Macy's.

The Mayochop tastes just like mayo and ketchup mixed together. I think it's good on hot dogs.

The allergy medicine did nothing for my allergies.

Did you get any freebies this week?

Review: Birchbox- November

I signed up for a Birchbox subscription box. It's only $15 a month and this month's box came with 7 products.

What was in the box?

ACURE Seriously Soothing Blue Tansey night oil. 

Davines LOVE shampoo and conditioner. 

Wander Beauty mascara. 

Sunday Riley A+ high dose serum. 

Luscious Lip Stain- Holiday Getaway color. 

Juliette Has A Gun Not A Perfume Eau de Parfum. 

So let's talk about the Juliette Has  Gun not a perfume...perfume. It says not a perfume but the description says Eau de Parfume. I'm confused. lol It says it's a minimalist scent and has a single note of cetalox. Well it must be really minimalist because I smell...nothing. It's like spraying on water. No scent at all. 

The Tansey night oil smells really good. The shampoo and conditioner smells so good and works well. Of course I like the mascara. I can always use another mascara. I seem to go through them fast. 

I'm not a fan of the serum. Most serums are sticky to me so I'm not a fan. The lip stain is alright. Not my favorite though. 

So it was a mix this month. Some I liked and some I didn't. 

Did you get this box?

Review: Chosen Mate by Katie Reus

Book Description

Her past has taught her to be wary…

With an abusive relationship behind her, wolf shifter Leslie is quietly raising her young son in the Kendrick pack. If she’s occasionally lonely, it’s a small price to pay for son’s safety. And if she’s secretly longing for pack alpha Malcolm Kendrick, well…she’s keeping that fantasy to herself. Experience has made her a realist, and they’re far too different to work.

This alpha is about to stake his claim…

She has no idea Malcolm wants her just as fiercely. That he’s been subtly courting her for a year. But subtlety has gotten him nowhere—even if he thought it was the best choice after what she’d been through. He wanted to make sure Leslie didn’t feel obligated to him, that she was truly ready to move on. Now that he knows she is, he’s determined to make sure it’s with him. And when a threat from her past surfaces, he’ll eliminate anyone who would dare to hurt his mate.

My Review

Leslie got out of an abusive relationship a little over a year ago. She and her mom were able to get her baby out and leave. Her mate who had been abusing her was killed and now she's with Malcolm's pack. Leslie and the rest of the pack are wolf shifters. Leslie has taken things slowly and let herself heal from all she was put through but she's been dealing with her alpha, Malcolm whom she has feelings for but she doesn't think has any feelings for her. 

Malcolm is the alpha of his pack and ever since Leslie, her son and mother joined his pack, he's been showing her that he can be trusted and he knows that she feels safe with him but he's not sure she feels anything for him. He's been sending her subtle signals that he's interested for months but she hasn't picked up on any of them so now the only thing for him to do is make his intentions clear to her. 

Right as Malcolm and Leslie are finding their way to each other, a new threat from her old life rears its ugly head and puts her son in danger. Malcolm isn't about to let anything hurt the people he's grown to love but first he has to figure out who the wolf is who's been stalking outside his his pack. 

This novella was packed with story. it was a fun quick read filled with action, danger and romance. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

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