Book Review: Her Alien Hoarder by Nessa Claugh

 

Book Description

Humans hoard cats. Kytol hoards raccoons. I’m just the animal control officer trying to get a leash on the situation.

Earth’s Wildlife and You: A Primer should be required reading for aliens. Unfortunately it isn’t, and now I’m stuck in the unenviable position of explaining to green-skinned Kytol that no, raccoons aren’t pets. A case involving animal hoarding is one of the fastest ways to get me angry, but Kytol’s menagerie of rescued raccoons is happy, healthy, and quells my initial reaction in a way I’m afraid to put my finger on. Shutting his little operation down is the last thing I want to do, but laws are laws, and I’m going to have to choose whether to break the law or my heart.

Earth is the Dila Cluster’s newest vacation hotspot. Deserts, oceans, crazy animals, unique human events; it has everything a curious alien could ask for. Humanity is still trying to play catch-up with that fact. All Dilaverse stories are cozy, low-stakes HEA/HFN romances where aliens come to Earth looking for fun times and end up getting more than they bargained for. Each Dilaverse story is in the wider multi-author Alien Quickies line, which means hot alien reads in under 30 minutes.

My Review

Brenda is an animal control officer and gets a tip that there's an animal hoarder feeding raccoons cat food so she has to go check it out. But things aren't as she thought they would be once she gets there. In this book, aliens are known and they are on Earth so seeing Kytol answer the door might have been a bit of a shock because he's an alien, but the humans know that aliens exist here. 

Brenda is just trying to do her job and Kytol isn't about to let a nosy human stop him from taking care of the injured and abandoned raccoons that he's helping. Once Brenda finds out the truth of what he's doing, she decides to help him because he's not doing anything wrong. I liked that about this story. 

The alien anatomy was a little strange, but they made it work when they decided to become intimate. This was a quick, fun novella. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week!

 

*Click on any images to make them bigger*

I wanted to share with you a craft project that my daughter did with the half moon shelves that I gave her for her birthday last month. 

She started out adding some fake plants to the shelves.

Then some stones and jewels.

Then she hot glued some moss to the shelves and made some chains with charms on them and added that. 

She added more stones, gems and small pieces of mirror. I think they came out so cute! Now they hang on the wall.

Book Review: Hellhounds and Angel Cakes by Zoe Chant

 

Book Description

He’s supposed to be a rough, tough, terrifying hellhound. That's hard when you're covered in chihuahuas.

Henry’s used to everyone being afraid of him – being a hellhound has that effect on people. What he’s not used to is having every animal within a four-mile radius suddenly wanting to be his best friend. Pigeons roosting on your shoulder: annoying, but mostly harmless. The local moose population stampeding toward you in the hopes of a hug: somewhat more worrying.

There’s nothing for it but to escape to the mountains, where he can use his hellhound form to intimidate the local wildlife into leaving him alone. But a stop for one last piece of cake before heading into the wilderness leads him straight to his fated mate. He's over the moon... but how can he court her when every animal in town is trying to leap into his arms?

Travel journalist Luna was looking forward to this assignment: covering the first annual Girdwood Springs Food Festival, along with her trademark: Fillmore, the world's ugliest dog. Specifically, she was looking forward to sampling all the amazing, mouth-watering local delicacies.

But there's other delights to sample in Girdwood Springs – such as the mind-bogglingly gorgeous, hunky man who is now covered in cake, thanks to Fillmore. And who seems to be strangely popular with the local animal population.

Suddenly, writing her article is the last thing on her mind…

Hellhounds and Angel Cakes is a short and sweet standalone shifter romance, full of warmth and humor, and is the fourth in the Shifters and Sweets series. One-click now for a cute, quirky read with a guaranteed HEA!

My Review

Henry is a hellhound shifter with a bad sweet tooth. His Hellhound is always shaming him for wanting cake, but he can't help himself. So, Henry comes to the town of Girdwood to have a little peace and quiet in the woods, but the town is having a Spring Foods Festival. Henry can't stop himself from stopping at a bakery because the cakes smell so good. But while there Luna's dog, Fillmore jumps on Henry, spilling the cakes all over him. 

Henry is also plagued with a curse that makes animals love him. He can't stay in one place too long or all kinds of wild animals come to greet him, which would raise a lot of questions he's not ready to answer. 

When Luna finds her dog and sees what he's caused, she offers to let Henry come back to her place so she can wash his clothes and he can get cleaned up. While there they find they are very attracted to each other. 

This book made me laugh too many times to count. Henry might be a hellhound but he's not a bad guy at all. The banter between Luna and Henry was great and let's not forget Fillmore the dog, he was hilarious. This was such a fun read. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"It's almost time for the kids to head back to school, make sure those computers are charged up."

"Any time is a good time for ice cream."

*All pictures today are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #430

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

I just want to say this is not me making fun of the homeless. I took this picture of this homeless man sleeping on a mattress he found outside. I am just taking pictures of what I see in my neighborhood and posting them here and I saw this while out with Falcor one time. It just shows how hard things are for some people living on the streets in my neighborhood. 

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Because it was so slow this week, I thought I would share a video from 2019 that my daughter took. My daughter was on her way to work and stopped at the bus stop to catch the bus. She had her earbuds in listening to music and this homeless woman started screaming at her because she thought my daughter was recording her. 

Even after my daughter told her she was just listening to music and not recording her, she continued to yell at her. So my daughter started recording. By this time my daughter was really mad so she used quite a few curse words, just so you know. But with all the homeless people in the neighborhood, things like this happen quite often to people who live around here.

The high this week was 113F/45C

The low this week was 84F/28C

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

Saturday Vittles

 

Well, we're back to trying to eat healthy again. So, this night we made this. 

One Pan Skillet Hamburger and Vegetable Meal

You will need: 

1 lb. hamburger

1 medium potato- diced

2 carrots- diced

1 medium yellow onion- diced

1 bunch of fresh spinach (about 3 cups uncooked)- rinsed and drained

No calorie cooking spray

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. McCormick Hamburger seasoning

1 tsp. McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning

1/2 tsp. McCormick Mesquite seasoning

What to do: 

In a large nonstick pan, spray some no calorie cooking spray. Add diced potatoes and cook on medium heat with a lid on for 10 minutes. Add carrots and onions and cook until the vegetables are fork tender or to your liking. Add hamburger and spices, cook until hamburger is done. Drain off any fat. Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. 

This makes 4 servings. Each serving is about 300 calories and 10 carbs. 

Would you eat this?

Freebie Friday!

 

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

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things.  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:

CeraVe anti dandruff shampoo

Hero facial cleanser from hero Skin Squad

Zevo bug spray foam (from Influenster)

A little freebies box from Bloomingdales Luxe scents for him which included:

Acqua Di Parma

John Varvatos

Mind Games

Penhaligon's 

The CeraVe shampoo is good. I don't have dandruff but it is a good shampoo. I sprayed the bug spray foam on some ants that were outside my door and it does work on them. I'll keep it under my sink for future use just in case but it does have a very strong scent. I was able to find a someone who wanted the men's scents.

I like the Hero facial cleanser too. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: A Demon Answers by Kitty L. Black

 

Book Description

House-sitting was a bore so I decided to have some fun and pull out the Ouija board. Before I know it I'm tossed over the shoulder of a huge, red-skinned demon whose plans for me are all too apparent by the huge bulge in his pants.

A Demon Answers is a fast little monster erotica that is tons of smutty smut with a pinch of story.

My Review

Honey gets bored while house-sitting because she has no Wi-Fi. So of course she reaches for her old Ouija board. After a couple of minutes, it's apparent that she's miscalculated and summoned a demon. 

The demon doesn't say much at first, he's showing her what he wants by taking it and she just has to hold on and see what he does next. The demon was a bit much at first but after a while, he finally speaks and they find out that they belong together. So, Honey isn't all that upset that he is demanding, possessive and focused on her. 

This was a quick novella with not much story but a whole lot of sex, not that I'm complaining. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

We had some days with a lot of clouds. I really liked the clouds this day.

Friday night we had a very bright sunset.

I took a couple of pictures of it over about 10 minutes. 

And watched the clouds changing color a little bit.

Saturday we had big, puffy white clouds.

This cloud was enormous. 

And lastly a close-up picture of Falcor. He looks like he's laughing at one of my jokes. 

Book Review: Darren by Ember Hunter

 

Book Description

Dheltan warrior Darren Tagik didn't want to be sent from routine soldier duties on the planet of Ohiri to Drypso, a hard won barren outpost on the border of the Empire. There's no infrastructure on the planet, not like he's used to on Ohiri, but it's only one tour of duty, and his warrior brothers will be with him. They only have to guard a few females for the journey, and they're travelling on a Dheltan ship. How hard can it be?

But the mission is more complex than he thought. His orders are to pick up human females from Earth, as screened by the Harmonious Mates Agency. When he meets Aelenna, he recognizes his fated mate. It's love at first sight for him and his life is turned upside down, but there's no way he can ever claim her. The females are earmarked for the Ohirins.

Aelanna Smith smarted from being jilted. It stung. Apart from the humiliation, the hole in her heart caused by the experience physically hurt. Love of her life, Brad, hadn't shown up for their wedding. She was over men. Totally over them. Her friends Kora and Nayli had signed up for the Harmonious Mates Agency and she did too.

The HMA matched human females with alien warriors and she'd have to go off-planet. What the heck? She was overreacting, she knew she was. On second thoughts, she wasn't likely to fall for any being from outer space. She would have fun, go on a little adventure. Why not? Bring it on!

But the Dheltan warriors sent to guard the human females for their journey to Ohiri look like human men and are as hot as hell, and she can't stop herself falling for Darren, the eldest of the triplet alien bodyguards. She must resist him. Men lied. They aren't to be trusted.

My Review

After Aelanna is left at the alter and ghosted by her fiancé, she and her friends decide they need a big change. So they go to the Harmonious Mates Agency and sign up to go to an alien planet to find mates. What she isn't expecting is for the alien bodyguards to look somewhat human and be drop dead gorgeous. But she and her friends were lied to, she made sure that they would not be given to aliens who were lizard-like and when they get to their destination, that's exactly what the aliens are. 

Darren and his brothers are Dheltan's, but the females are supposed to be transported to the Ohirins and if he claims one of the females there's going to be trouble that he doesn't need. But Aelanna is his fated mate and he can't let her go no matter what kind of trouble it brings his way. Plus, the women don't want to be mated to the lizard aliens. 

Darren and Aelanna get closer on the trips to and from the different places they have to go, while Darren is being one of their guards. When the human females are ready to meet the males who might be their new mates, there's a bit of a snafu that helps push Darren and Aelanna together. 

After reading the differences in the two alien races, I wouldn't have wanted to be mated to the lizard aliens either. Darren was definitely a better male. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #429

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

Fire department showed up to clear and make sure the fire hydrants were working. I didn't get a video of that because he barely turned this one on. Just wanted to make sure it worked I guess. 

It was a quiet week. 

The high this week was 109F/42C

The low this week was 84F/28C

We had 42% humidity one day this week. Bring back the dry heat! 🤣🤣

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

Saturday Vittles

 

Layered Chicken Zucchini Enchiladas

You will need: 

No Calorie cooking spray

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

½ cup corn

½ cup black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 large chicken breast chopped (about 2 cups)

1 cup enchilada sauce

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided

2 medium zucchini 

salt and fresh black pepper

1/2 cup black olives- sliced

1/4 cup diced cilantro

a 10x10 baking pan

Spray a large pan with cooking spray. Cook the chicken, onion, olives, corn, black beans and spices until chicken is cooked through. 

Slice the zucchini into very thin slices. I used a vegetable peeler to do this. Layer the bottom of the baking pan with cooking spray and then zucchini slices and some of the chicken mixture and a little shredded cheese. Add a little of the enchilada sauce and keep layering. 

Keep layering until you used everything. 

Add the other half of the cheese on top, top with cilantro. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. 

Makes 4 servings. Each serving is 350 calories.

Book Review: Claimed By The Mountain Man Orc by Pippa Rae Brook

 

Book Description

One broody orc. One stubborn human. And a bond neither of them can deny.

Varn

I’ve spent years alone on this mountain, carving tokens for a mate I never truly believed would come.

Then she crashes into my territory—loud, fearless, impossible to ignore.

She doesn’t belong here.

But the moment I catch her scent, I know she belongs to me.

Mazie

I came to Orc Mountain chasing answers, not fairy tales.

The locals whisper about monsters in the trees. But when I stumble straight into the arms of one… I realize the stories don’t come close to the truth.

Because this orc isn’t just a monster.

He’s my destiny.

Claimed by the Mountain Man Orc is a short and steamy monster-lite romance featuring a broody orc hero, a fearless human heroine, and a fated-mates bond carved in stone. Expect growly possessiveness, size difference heat, and over-the-top instalove. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after—with tusks.

My Review

Mazie swears she saw an Orc when she was a kid but no one believed her. Now she has a podcast about myths and monsters. She's come to Orc Mountains to see if maybe she can track something that shouldn't exist. 

Varn is an Orc, he and his people stay hidden away from humans. It's the middle of Winter and the snow would make it very hard for a human to track where he's at right now, or so he thought until he spots Mazie watching him. When she plunges into the icy water, he can't let her die, so he saves her and brings her back to his house to warm up. 

When she finally wakes up, she's got questions and he's doing everything he can to keep his hands off her since he knows right away that she's his mate. He doesn't think she'll ever believe him or want an Orc for a mate. So, when she wakes up and isn't scared of him, he's surprised. 

This is an insta-love novella. I didn't mind that they fell for each other so fast, it was a quick, cute story. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Sunset on Monday night. It's been hot, humid and cloudy the past few days. 

Book Review: Claimed By The Deep by Luna Wren

 

Book Description

She finds sunken treasure to make a living. He thinks she is the most precious thing of all...

MERI

I've spent my life salvaging treasures from the deep, fighting to prove I belong in waters that have claimed stronger divers than me. But when my equipment fails sixty feet down, something else claims me instead—something with tentacles that move like liquid midnight and eyes that hold a century of loneliness.

He should terrify me. Instead, when his inhuman form wraps around me in the dark waters, I feel more alive than I've ever been on land. As researchers close in, hunting the mysterious creature disturbing these waters, I'm faced with an impossible choice: the independence I've sacrificed everything to maintain, or the alien touch I can no longer live without.

CYREUS

For nearly a century, I've watched humans from the shadows of Earth's oceans, the sole survivor of a crashed mission, resigned to isolation on this water-covered world. Until her—the fierce salvage diver who calls me beautiful instead of monster.

The first touch of her skin against my tentacles awakens biological responses I thought dead, her body responding to mine as though evolution prepared us for each other across galaxies. But as scientific expeditions track my movements, our stolen moments in hidden coves become increasingly dangerous. After decades alone, I've finally found something worth risking exposure for—if only I can keep her without destroying her life above the waves.

Claimed by the Deep is a sizzling paranormal romance featuring midnight encounters in hidden coves, a stubborn salvage diver who finds freedom in surrender, and an alien who discovers that crossing galaxies was just the beginning of his journey home. Dual-POV with high heat and a happily-ever-after that bridges both their worlds.

My Review

Meri is a salvage diver who's looking for something that she'll be able to sell so that she can pay the bills that are all hitting her at the same time. She needs a miracle right now. She thinks she has enough oxygen on her latest dive but when she stays down for too long and her air runs out, she's saved by Cyreus. Meri wakes up in a cave and isn't sure how she got there. Cyreus looks human enough but there's something about him that's just a little bit off. 

Cyreus crashed on Earth after a failed attempt to come to Earth and make first contact. His ship crashed and he was the lone survivor. He's a kind of cephalopod shifter. On Earth he looks much like a giant squid but only from the torso down, his upper half is human-like. When he spreads out his tentacles, he's about 30 feet across. He's been watching humans in the 100 years he's been here. He's tried to save some that have had accidents in the ocean but he hasn't been able to save everyone. He's been watching Meri and thinks she's different. Meri has been having dreams about a sea creature but her dreams are anything but a nightmare. 

Release the Kraken!

I wasn't sure I was going to like this story since a lot of the sexy time between these two have him in his natural/tentacle form. It was interesting to say the least. 

Meri has other fishermen and then a research team asking her more questions since she's been salvaging more interesting items that she shouldn't have been able to find since they seem to be from farther depths than she should be able to get to without more specialized equipment. And it's not like she can tell anyone that her new partner is a giant sea monster who can swim in even deeper waters than she can imagine. I felt so bad for Cyreus, he's been alone for 100 years. He was such a good guy.

When a research vessel drops anchor near where Meri lives and works, they start asking around about her and wanting to interview her about anomalies they've been picking up with their equipment. They're tracking Cyreus and now he's in danger of being found and they both know they can't let that happen. Now they have to find a way to save him and still be together. 

I really liked this one. I love a good monster romance and this was that and more. The ending was well thought out and made sense. If you've never read a monster/alien romance and want to, this is a great one to start with. It was a lot of fun. 

I give this a 5 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #428

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

 

This week was pretty quiet. So I figured I would show you what happened the night of the 4th of July since I didn't post the videos in time for last weeks post. After some of the fireworks had been used a couple of teens were being nice and throwing them in the dumpster but they forgot to dunk them in a bucket of water first to make sure they weren't still hot, and it caught the dumpster on fire. Thankfully there wasn't much in the dumpster and the adults out there were able to put it out as you'll see in the next video.

Neighbors putting water on the dumpster fire. 

And then a short clip of the fireworks going off in my neighborhood on the 4th. There were so many illegal fireworks in my neighborhood. Anything that flies into the sky or spins is illegal but people still had them. 

Falcor was fine during the fireworks. He sat next to me on the couch and had his blanket to hide in. He slept most of the night except when the roman candles made their loud booms.

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The wall right next to my apartment building there was a shot bottle and a used syringe sticking out. 

This is the wall, all covered in graffiti. 

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Wednesday night I heard a bunch of yelling from outside my bedroom window. I looked out and there were 2 guys screaming at each other and an older man holding a cloth on his head. The red headed man was mad at the dark haired guy for hitting the older man in the head. The redhead was ready to fist fight the dark haired guy but several women were holding the dark haired man back. The redhead's wife was on the phone with police and they showed up fast. 

There were 4 police cars that showed up and then the ambulance showed up for the man who got hit in the head. 

There were so many people outside screaming at each other that it took all the police that showed up to break them up and settle things down. The hurt man got in the ambulance but I didn't see anyone get arrested.

The high this week was 112F/44C

The low this week was 83F/28C

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

Saturday Vittles

 

Sauteed Purple Cabbage and Bacon

You will need: 

2 cups chopped purple cabbage

4 bacon slices

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

What to do: 

Chop bacon into bite sized pieces. Sauté bacon over medium heat until crispy. Add cabbage and all spices. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until your desired doneness. 

The entire dish has 300 calories which makes this a good side dish.

Do you like cooked cabbage?