Favorite Picture of the Week

 

There was a big, dark cloud filling the sky on Friday afternoon last week.

And then on Saturday it rained on and off all day long. The rest of the pictures are all from Saturday when it would stop raining so a few minutes so I could take Falcor out. 

The sun was setting which made this cloud look really neat to me. 

On Tuesday it rained so much that parts of my courtyard flooded.

Book Review: Alexiares by N.J. Walters

 

Book Description

From New York Times bestselling author N.J. Walters comes the tale of Death’s second son…in this energetic, paranormal small-town romance that’s deadly irresistible!

Some find redemption. Others land in it.

One moment, Alexiares Blackwell was reaping yet another human soul and gunning through New York City on his Harley. The next, he’s dropped into the path of an oncoming car in the small town of Redemption.

It turns out his dear old dad—the Grim Reaper himself—has decided that Alex needs a crash course in humanity. Literally. Now he’s stuck in a nowhere town with nothing but his motorcycle and some serious parent issues.

But no one messes with Death. Not even his sons.

Stripped of his powers, Alex is trying to figure out what his father wants from him—all while attempting to resist his increasingly complicated attraction to inn owner Cilla Wainwright. Alex can’t risk anything that resembles feelings…not even when she surprises him with a kiss that unravels him in ways he still can’t figure out.

Because Alex has a job to do.

And it’s starting to look a lot like the next soul he’s supposed to reap…is hers.

My Review

Alex is the son of Death- The Grim Reaper. He's a reaper himself and has reaped all the souls he's been told to. He's done his job for thousands of years. His dad has always pit he and his other brothers against each other in challenges. So, when his dad tells him that he's sending him on yet another challenge it doesn't surprise him. It does anger him when he's thrown directly in front of a woman and causes a small car accident with her. Alex has no idea what he's supposed to be doing so he waits to see if his dad will send him some signs. While waiting, he starts to fall for the woman who he crashed into, Cilla who owns a bed and breakfast that he's now staying at for a few days. 

When he realizes that he thinks he's supposed to be there for Cilla when she dies so he can reap her soul, he knows that it will hurt but if he doesn't do what his dad wants, he'll be punished. While he's staying around the bed and breakfast, he watches how Cilla's brother and ex-husband push her around and try to bully her into selling the bed and breakfast she owns. She won't budge and Alex thinks that's how she's going to end up dying. She's gotten in their way, and they aren't taking no for an answer. 

Alex isn't willing to give up Cilla though now that he's found happiness. He knows there will be consequences; he just hopes that Cilla isn't the one to get punished along with him. 

I really liked seeing Alex's brother, Sam. I was really hoping that they would make contact and get to know each other a little better. I can't wait to read the next book in this series and see what happens to these brothers. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Just enjoying this giant cookie."

"I has a pamcake"

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

Apartment Life #395

 

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.

Sunday night there was an ambulance down the street when I took Falcor for his last walk of the night. All you can see are the bright lights though. LOL The police were out driving around while I was out at that time as well. No idea what was going on. 

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I got a picture from my window camera of the police truck that I circled because it's hard to see in this picture. He was parked across the street for a while Sunday night. The people parked right in front of my bedroom window with their cars hood open worked on their car most of the night, yelling and screaming at each other. I ended up having to shut my window. 

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The manager put a 7 day notice on (Xavier's) the missing neighbor's door. The way it works here is he'll have 7 days to pay his rent or else he'll get a 30 day eviction notice. At the end of those 30 days the constable will come with maintenance from here and they'll change the door locks. After that they'll throw all of his stuff away and rent the apartment out again. I haven't seen any more police at his apartment and haven't seen any family or friends at his place. So most likely maintenance will go through and keep what ever of his things they want and throw the rest away. The new maintenance people have been coming with a pick up truck when they trash out an apartment and putting pretty much everything usable/sellable into the truck to either keep or sell. I have a feeling Xavier passed away somewhere but I don't think we'll ever know for sure.

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The high this week was 80F/26C

The low this week was 50F/10C

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

Saturday Vittles

 

Lemon Butter Noodles and Scallops

You will need:

6 scallops

2 TBSP Butter

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup diced parsley

1 TBSP. oil

1 cup cooked spaghetti noodles

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

What to do:

Cook your spaghetti noodles in water to the doneness you desire. 

Season the scallops with Old Bay, salt, pepper and a little garlic powder. In a frying pan add oil, when hot add scallops. Cook 4 minutes on each side.  In a sauce pan add butter, lemon juice, parsley and garlic powder. Stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Toss the spaghetti noodles into the sauce and then arrange on the plate. Add remaining sauce on top of the scallops.

Each serving is 3 scallops and 1/2 cup of cooked spaghetti noodles.

This meal has 350 calories and 80 carbs. 

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 cashed out my points from e-Rewards Surveys for a $50 Vitamin Shoppe gift card. 

I needed to stock up on my Vitamin D and Folic Acid and I also bought some Vitamin C gummies with Biotin in them. 

So it was nice to be able to get all that for free since I was going to buy it anyway. 

I also received a free, Healthy Snack Box from their FB page. They give away boxes all the time.

Inside the box was...

Skinny POP Popcorn, Nutri grain bar, Organic gummi bears, white cheddar popcorn, Belvita crunchy breakfast bar, Jungle Crackers, Emerald Almonds snack pack, Nature Valley Fruit n Nut bar. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Montana Sanctuary by Josie Jade and Janie Crouch

 

Book Description

Sometimes the worst wounds can’t be seen.

Lucas Everett knows that firsthand. It's why he and his former Navy SEAL brothers created the Resting Warrior Ranch.

They aren’t doctors, but they can offer the healing freedom of their Montana range. And they specialize in training service and emotional support animals to help sooth even the worst emotional scars.

Usually, soldiers show up at their door. But this time it's Evelyn Taylor—a soldier in a very different kind of war.

She's as skittish as one of the horses Lucas gentles. But he’s learned how to be patient with animals, and he’s more than happy to be patient with this quiet beauty too.

When Evelyn’s past nightmares show up in Montana, she thinks she has to run again, but Lucas isn’t going to let that happen. He’s protected his country against the worst types of threats, and he’ll protect her too.

She’s met the rancher, but now she’s about to meet the SEAL.

My Review

Trigger warning: I'm going to start off by saying that if very descriptive scenes of domestic abuse and torture bother you, this is not the book for you. 

Evelyn has lived a nightmare with her abusive ex- Nathan. He and his father are millionaires so he's been able to to track her after she escaped him and keep taunting her. Everytime she reaches out to the police or doctors, he pays them off to look the other way. She's been on her own and on the run for years until she runs into Lucas, an ex Navy Seal. Evelyn shows up at the Resting Warrior Ranch in need of help especially when her ex finds her again and she finally tells Lucas what's going on. Her ex, Nathan has abused and tortured her so many times and she has the scars to prove it but she doesn't trust the police or anyone else because Nathan just pays them to look the other way. 

Lucas and his Ex Navy Seal brothers who own and run the ranch get together with their contacts that they trust to help them. So when Nathan makes his move they thought they were ready to stop him but they were wrong and it puts Evelyn and others in even more danger. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see who would come out on top, who would win this fight. 

The subject matter was hard to read, the abuse scenes were terrifying and will probably give me nightmares because what he did to her was so horrific. But Lucas and his brothers are great and the romance that came about between Lucas and Evelyn is exactly what both of them needed. The ending was great.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

While out walking with Falcor yesterday I noticed that the gate to the Freeway was unlocked and wide open. 

The lock on the fence was gone. When I've said before that the freeway is literally right on the other side of the sound wall, I mean that quite literally. Yes, there's always a lot of trash around here.

There's the freeway. 

I could  have walked right up to the freeway if I wanted to. 

Book Review: The Naga Outcast's Unwanted Mate by Robin O'connor

 

Book Description

I thought I was dead, but my pulse is racing when I see the beautiful, terrifying creature that woke me.

Vera

My family maneuvered me like a worthless pawn, then cast me away. I was supposed to be executed but even that didn’t go right. When I wake up, my whole world is tilted on its axis when I lock eyes with a monster.

He’s half snake, half man and somehow he’s the most alluring thing I’ve ever seen. When he touches me I can understand him and he says I’m his mate. But how’s that possible? I’ve never belonged anywhere.

When more of his kind chase us, cast us out, and try to do everything they can to keep us apart. I must fight for what I want, fight to keep the one place where I’m wanted. In the arms of my mate.

Zathar

Cast out by my own Clan, by my very mother the Queen. I am left adrift until a skyship falls from the heavens, carrying with it my mate.

She is curvy and soft, everything I never knew I wanted. She’s perfect, and I will give up anything, climb any mountain, even crawl through the haunted ancestral caves if it means I can keep her. If only she’ll believe me when I swear she’s my heart.

This is a standalone novel, and book one in the Serpents of Serant Series. This steamy sci-fi monster romance features one barbaric outcast Naga Prince, a human woman unwanted by her own kin, and a steamy HEA.

My Review

After being set up, found guilty and sentenced to death on Earth, Vera's last thought on Earth was that she through she was about to die as everything went dark. 

Vera wakes up in a stasis pod on an alien planet and comes face to face with a big, blue snake-man alien. I don't know about you, but I would be freaking out, and she did at first. Once vera takes in her surroundings she realizes that the stasis pod she was in was on a ship and there were other humans on the ship with her. Once she was able to speak to and understand the alien male, she told him that they had to free the other people on the ship before they left. 

Once safely off the ship and with Zathar and his friends, Vera and the other humans make their way back to the place where Zathar and his friends have been staying. All is well for a little while until Zathar's mother- The Queen comes for a visit. 

Zathar is an outcast and all he wants is for Vera to believe him when he tells her that she is his mate and he will take care of her for always. She's not buying it, at least not right away. He's going to have to be convincing to get her heart. But when Vera and the other humans are put in danger from the Queen, Zathar has to find a way to make things right. 

This book was definitely a fun read. I liked the world building and getting to know the snake-aliens a little more. 

I read another of this authors books last week and I liked it so much that I decided to read another one. I'm so glad I did because this was so much fun to read. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

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