Scotties Tissue

A few friends and family ladies gathered round and we watched movies of all kinds including a few tear jerkers so naturally we was gonna need some tissues so I opted to bring along my box of Scotties. Not only was the packaging totally adorable cooed my friends but the tissues were really absorbent and soft. We were very impressed that they plant 3 trees for every one they use! Now that was something to brag about because I and my friends/family are really conscientious about the planet and preserving it as best we can.

I received a box of tissues for an honest review thanks to Smiley360 and Scotties

Giveaway/Review What's In The Bible DVD Series Volume 10:

About the movie:
Volume 10: Jesus Is the Good News! / Run time: Approx 66 min

Let VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer and a bunch of hilarious new friends explain the entire Bible to your kids in this groundbreaking fast-paced and fun-filled DVD series. Includes TWO 25 minute episodes: God’s Perfect Timing - Buck Denver and crew learn about the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments and how Jesus arrives at just the perfect time & The Messiah Has Come! - Learn about the life and ministry of Jesus-how He died for us and rose again to launch the kingdom of God in the world and in us!

My Thoughts: I was so thrilled to get to review this video! It was informative and entertaining all at once! Just made learning about the Bible more fun and interesting especially for the kids. I hated for it to end. I wanted to hear more! I am totally gonna look into getting the whole set for my family! I loved this volume! Thank you Propeller Consulting, LLC for allowing me to review this!

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Tazo Chai Vanilla Caramel Latte

Product Description: Cinnamon sticks gather on a lush black-tea lawn for a leisurely afternoon of croquet and conversation. Ginger offers to keep score from the sidelines while handing out elegantly wrapped vanilla caramels and crystal goblets of milk.

My Thoughts: This was my first experience with Tazo Chai tea's and I received a sample to try it from Smiley360 and wow I amazingly ended up enjoying it very much! It seems odd for me to even call it tea because it's more like dessert in a mug! I did add just a tiny bit of sugar to mine because i like things super sweet but other than that it was really very good. It smells so nice and is quite nice on these cool wintry days we've began having.

Nancy Drew: Labyrinth of Lies Review + Giveaway.

Game Description: A museum curator hires you to assist with the most anticipated event of the year, but artifacts from the exhibit are mysteriously disappearing. Are these mishaps connected to the amphitheater’s upcoming performance? Or is an unseen villain pulling strings behind the scenes? Uncover the truth and recover the missing artifacts from the Labyrinth of Lies!

My Thoughts: I was very excited to get to try this computer game out because I had saw some of them around but always been to afraid to purchase for fear of not liking them or it being to difficult for me and the kids to play. Boy was I wrong! First off you can set what skill level you want to play on whether it be Amateur or Master Sleuth. I am also a sucker for good graphics and it has some awesome ones let me tell you and throw in to boot all the interesting Greek Mythology. Even if you're not into that sort of thing it's interesting here. I love how sometimes you run across a game or something that can actually "teach" you things without you really noticing it or taking away from the game any.

I have always enjoyed reading and watching the sleuthing of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys so I can now add these Her Interactive computer games to the mix. It was lots of fun and I see myself playing it time and again as well as trying some of the past editions.



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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Blitz - Life of a Fool by CM Hutton

Title: Life of a Fool

Author: CM Hutton

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Series: Honest Love Spin-off

Jason


I was a fool…

- for letting Lori Ann convince me that we were wrong for each other.



- for watching her walk away from me fifteen years ago and not stopping her.



- for not realizing she was in trouble.



- for thinking her nightmare, our nightmare was over.

I was a fool for letting my guard down.



And now, I’d do just about anything to keep her safe, including the most reckless, foolish thing a man — a cop, in fact — could do.

___________________________________



Lori Ann



Jason saved me, only to nearly lose me forever.



We’d been fools to think Antonio wouldn't come after me. I was still his wife, after all. He’d hurt me, broken my arm and left me in pieces, but he wasn’t finished. He’d fooled me for years, made me believe he was a great man. Now that I knew the truth, I was going to fight like hell to save myself and Jason, to save the love we’d finally confessed.



I prayed that what I was about to do would be enough.



I was done being someone’s fool.

Purchase:

Amazon

_________________________________________________________

Excerpt

Prologue

My life had
been a nightmare.

My younger
brother, the former NFL player turned firefighter, had been severely injured
and on death’s door, as a matter of fact.  We’d been held
hostage at the hospital for weeks.  His bride-to-be,
Claire,was one of the strongest women I’d ever known…aside from my mom and Lori Ann. 
Actually, they were probably all about equal in their feminine strength.

Damn…Lori Ann.  I needed to return
her call.

Thankfully,
Derek pulled through, married the love of his life, and they were expecting a
baby.  I was really happy for him.  My little brother had seen more hard times
than I cared to mention, and he’d finally found
happiness with a woman that was pretty incredible.  Claire had been through her own share of shit
and had risen above it.  I was in awe of
the woman and loved her as fiercely as I did one of my blood family
members. 

Truthfully,
seeing Derek find his soul mate, at the age of thirty-five, made me
jealous.  I was his older brother.  And although thirty-seven wasn’t that old, I felt ancient. 
Perhaps, it was due to the stress of holding us all together these last
few weeks while we watched Derek struggle for his life.  Maybe it was the ache I felt seeing him so
happy. 

I’d dated plenty of girls.  They
were nice, kind…some a little kinky, but not one of
them held my heart…held my soul in their hands. 

Only one
had that privilege, and she was already taken.  

_________________________________________________________

About Honest Love

Starting over was never easy for anyone.

I’d heard the stories over and over.

But after the hell my ex-husband had put me through over the last year, over the last twenty years…well, I was ready to move on, repair what was left of my shattered heart and find someone to share my life with—someone who would put me first.

I deserved it. I’d done my time being in her shadow, being a cheap understudy, always second. For. All. Those. Years.

Never again.

Our move to San Diego provided a fresh start, a new place away from all the hurt and memories. Life as a single mom to three teenagers had its' challenges, but we were adjusting and my kids were doing well.

It was time to focus on my happiness, for once. I had a huge capacity to love and I wanted to share my love with a man that respected it, accepted it and gave it in return.

It was just a matter of time before he found me and showed me what true, honest love was all about.

Purchase

Amazon | B&N



Excerpts

Claire

Every now and then,
during his session, I’d notice an odd glance or two from
him, but ignored it. I didn’t want his negative shit adding to my
own. This was my job. I was his physical therapist, not his friend or
counselor, and this job was what would keep me going while I learned to wrap my
head around my new life. 

Derek didn’t
say much. He grunted a few times when I pushed him harder, but other than that,
nothing.

It wasn’t
until we were just about done and I was giving him our customary mini
relaxation massage, that I took the opportunity to really take a good look at
him. Derek removed his shirt as he laid face down on the massage table in my
therapy room and an involuntary gasp escaped from me. 

Wasn’t expecting that.  

Most patients didn’t
remove their clothing as these massages were only meant to relieve the tension
built up in the body as a result of the stress from working an injury.  He’d apparently heard me because a small,
stupid grin turned up on one corner of his mouth. I ignored him.

He was tall and
lean, not too bulky, and his skin was tan and smooth…defined.
I noticed a few tattoos on his ribs. I’d never been much on body ink, but it
was sexy on Derek and I couldn’t stop staring at it as I slowly
rubbed the tension from his neck and shoulders. 

Yeah, you could say
I was attracted to him. 

___________________________________________

Derek

Claire seemed nice.
Actually she seemed like she probably wouldn’t
take any crap from me. And I didn’t think she knew who I was…always
a good thing. 

She was good at her
job. I had a feeling I’d be back on the truck soon. My life
as a firefighter was about all I had to keep my mind occupied. Football used to
do that for me. 

Nothing but tainted
memories now.

I shook my head,
brushed off my thoughts and focused more on my new therapist. I’d
asked her a few questions, which she answered willingly. I was curious about
Claire, but my pissy mood made my questions come out way too harsh and nasty.

I just hoped I
could stop staring at her. She was shorter than me. Maybe 5’5” with
beautiful blonde hair and amazing brown eyes. Not who I would typically pay
attention to, but what the hell did I know? The only girl I’d
ever loved was Claire’s complete opposite with dark brown
hair, blue eyes and really tall.  She’d
also ripped my heart out and practically ate the damn thing right in front of
me. 

Maybe Claire was
just what I needed. 

But first, I had to
find out more about her past and what lead her to San Diego.

_________________________________________________________

About the Author

I’m a wife, a mom of three, a friend,
an aunt, a sister, a daughter and a teacher.  Now, I can add writer to my list!  I’ve always wanted to write and finally
found inspiration and support to do it.  

I live near Austin, Texas with my
family and love to read and travel.  Put me on a beach with a good book and the world just
disappears around me.

Paradise Taken
was my first novel and is a highly emotional book based on
true events.  Its sequel (Saving Us)
was released February 2014. 

I love that you are willing to take a chance
on a new writer and promise to keep striving to put out great books!  Be sure to check out
my newest releases, including Honest Love, which was released in
June 2014 and Life of a Fool, the second London
Brothers novel, will be available November 6, 2014.

I'd love to chat with you, so look me up on any of my
social pages.  

Happy Reading.  :)

CM Hutton

cm.hutton@yahoo.com

Amazon | B&N | Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Goodreads 

_________________________________________________________

Giveaway

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Highlight - Stalking the Demon by Ciara Ballintyne

Title: Stalking the Demon

Author: Ciara Ballintyne

Series: The Seven Circles of Hell #2

Six months ago, the disgraced wizard, Alloran, sacrificed his hand to rescue the woman he loves from his traitorous friend, Ladanyon. Despite saving the city from a demon, his reputation remains tarnished, and the council of wizards has penalised him severely for the practise of banned magic.



Now he learns his desperate efforts to stop Ladanyon led more to damnation than salvation. Finding a solution compels him to breach his sanctions and venture into forbidden places at risk of his life and freedom.



Alloran must choose between saving himself and everything he holds dear.

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Signed Copy

Book #1

Sign up for Ciara Ballintyne's Newsletter to receive CONFRONTING THE DEMON for FREE!

Chapter 1

Collapse

Alloran rushed through
the citadel halls heedless of the rich carpets crushed beneath his heavy boots.
Gisayne hung limply in his arms, and her black hair trailed over his elbow. A
few people watched him pass, but none offered assistance. Over the past six
months, Gisayne collapsed often enough to blunt the urgency and the panic. The
faces turning in his direction bore only mild curiosity, oblivious to the fact
that this time was different.

Her chest barely rose and
fell beneath the thin cream silk of her night gown and robe, and blue tinged
the edges of her bee-stung lips. Seven hells, was she dying? As he raced
onwards, he clutched her against him and her cold skin pressed against his.
With no left hand, he had no way to check for a pulse. A choked-back scream of
desperate frustration tightened his chest until it squeezed the breath out of
his lungs.

While juggling Gisayne,
he fumbled with the latch on the door to the citadel’s hospice. Damn his
missing hand to the first hell. When the door finally gave, he shouldered it
open and backed into a long room lined with starkly made beds. The few occupied
by sick or injured had curtains drawn for privacy. Breidmar, dressed in the
red-trimmed white robes of a citadel doctor, bustled over at their entrance.

Orange brows pinched with
concern over her violet eyes. ‘Again?’

‘She’s…’ The lump in his
throat choked him. He swallowed hard. ‘She’s hardly breathing.’

‘This way.’ Pointing to
an empty bed, Breidmar called out and strode to a door at the far end. Before
she crossed halfway back, an unfamiliar girl in acolyte’s white appeared in the
doorway.

Alloran placed Gisayne on
the bed with gentle care. Her slack body slid from his arms, her skin pale.
When he let her go, her eyelids fluttered but did not open. Nausea knotted his
gut. The last time she’d fainted, the recovery was quick. Now, she looked as if
death hovered over her, waiting for the moment to snip the thread of her life.

As Breidmar began
checking Gisayne’s vitals, she waved Alloran off. He hesitated. What would he
do except wait, patient, and idle while Breidmar tried again to determine what
illness affected her? She would try and fail, most likely.

‘Are you sure this is not
the falling sickness? It’s supposed to get worse with each successive bout.’

‘She’s not got the right
symptoms. No seizures,’ Breidmar responded in precise, clipped tones.

Alloran frowned. He
wasn’t an idiot. ‘Then what? These collapses are getting more frequent and more
severe! Seven hells take you, tell me. Whatever the illness, it can’t be
too complicated for me to understand.’

With her severe lips
curving down, she sniffed. ‘No amount of genius can assist you to comprehend a
malady I cannot explain. While you’ve made any number of miraculous discoveries,
you have no particular expertise in medical matters. Leave this to me.’

‘The title of doctor is
reserved only for those who have studied in the citadel, and yet you say
you don’t know? After all this time, you must have some notion.’ Wisps
of his black hair hung about his face, torn free of their bindings in his
haste. He pushed them back with a rough motion. When they slid back into
disarray, he tore the leather thong free and began tying his hair back with
short, sharp motions.

The doctor scowled at him.
At her nod, the acolyte whipped the curtain around the bed in a rattle of
rings. The cloth brushed Alloran’s nose; he jerked his head away.

A heartfelt sigh escaped
his lips before he retreated to a waiting area that comprised a group of
chairs. No, sitting still would be intolerable. He changed direction and paced
the length of the room, passing the rows of identical empty beds. His boots
echoed in the open space. Sterile and odourless air filled his nostrils.

Apparently, Breidmar
shared the sentiments of many people in the citadel. Some blamed him solely for
the demons that plagued the city of Ehsan six months earlier, and others
accused him of working with the renegade wizard, Ladanyon. Although Alloran
wasn’t subjected to a disciplinary hearing, the council’s public announcement
that they were banning him from all forms of magic involving the hells only
reinforced the blame.

Seven hells, the
councillors banned him because some
of them felt the same as the other citizens. Those residents who lost loved ones
in the battle against Ladanyon’s first-circle demon were the most damning.
Councillor Valgon’s wife died, and he made no bones about believing Alloran to
be a public menace. I just can’t prove it, was what he said.

Ciara Ballintyne was born in 1981 in Sydney, Australia, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, one masochistic cat, and one cat with a god complex. She holds degrees in law and accounting, and has been a practising financial services lawyer since 2004. She is both an idealist and a cynic.



She started reading epic fantasy at the age of nine, when she kidnapped Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings from her father. Another two years passed before she began her first attempts at the craft of writing. Confronting the Demon is her debut book.



She enjoys horse-riding, and speculation about taking over the world. If she could choose to be anything it would be a dragon, but instead she shares more in common with Dr. Gregory House of House. M.D.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Newsletter

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Fade to Black by Sue Duff

In Fade to Black, Ian Black is guarded by the Weir, a race of magical beings who struggle to prevent the planet from self-destructing during a time that natural disasters are on the rise in frequency and intensity. In a desperate move, the Weir elders torture Ian to force his powers to arrive, prompting Ian to abandon his people to hide among humans. He soon uncovers, along with curious college student Rayne Bevan, a mysterious enemy behind the Weir’s raging civil war and Ian races to stop the lethal saboteur before launching Armageddon.

About Sue Duff:

Sue Duff has been writing since high school but never became serious about it until a skiing accident laid her up for an entire summer and she turned on the word processor to combat the boredom. A couple years later, her first urban fantasy novel, Fade to Black, was a finalist in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Writing Contest.

By day, she’s a dedicated speech-language therapist in an inner city school district. But her life as a writer is her true passion and the creative outlet keeps her sane.

Born in Chicago, she moved to Phoenix as a young child. She received her bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University and her master’s from the University of Denver.

Author Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Virtual Tour Page

Treat Yourself Giveaway

We’re just a couple of weeks away from Halloween and there’s one thing that’s on everyone’s mind… treats!

Welcome to the Treat Yourself Giveaway Hop, hosted by the Blogging Mamas Network! In this Hop, you’ll find lots of special treats to keep you entering giveaways until it’s time to go out and gather your own - so be sure to hop around to all the giveaways in the Hop Linky below and don’t miss the AMAZING Grand Prize Giveaway - from Step2!

My Giveaway consists of:
.A size Medium Dolphin Tale 2 T-shirt
.Professional Lemon and Lime Press
.10 foot Speed Cable Jump Rope
.Red Maxboost Phone Case
.16 Count Playtex Sport Regular
.One Year Subscription to Redbook Magazine (Not Pictured)


This giveaway will end on October 31th. It is open to US residents, 18+ only.

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DISCLOSURE

So Easy Being Green, Viva Veltoro, the Blogging Mamas Network, and the Treat Yourself participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill prize obligations.

I Ate a Cicada Today By Jeff Crossan

Book Description: Based on a song of outrageous rhymes, I Ate a Cicada Today is a humorous children's picture book illustrated in ink and watercolor with an accompanying CD. Each two-page spread features a verse about a different animal or insect including such fanciful scenarios as "I peppered a leopard today" and "I hid a giant squid today." The CD is a guitar/vocal performance of the song by author/illustrator Jeff Crossan, who interjects each verse with a short spoken aside to provide added comic punch to the zany lyrics.

My Thoughts: Our little boy enjoyed this more than our little girl but I myself found it funny and catchy and enjoyed listening to the CD that came inside with them. I think it would have been a bit better had the words rhymed more but still it was interesting and so beautifully illustrated that you'd want to read it again and again just to look at the pictures!

Adovia Sulfur Soap for Acne

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
- Adovia sulfur soap, is highly enriched with minerals and sulfur from the Dead Sea.
- Your skin's natural moisture levels are balanced and optimized with Olive Oil, Dead Sea minerals and Aloe Vera extract.
- Sulfur has Antiseptic, Anti-Fungal and Antibacterial properties
- This soap thoroughly cleanses your face and body and leaves your skin gentle and smooth.
- Our sulfur soap has a 3% sulfur content.

My Thoughts: Like all other Adovia products I have tried, this Sulfur Soap for Acne is amazing. Adovia has awesome products and I haven't found anything yet that I haven't loved. I particularly enjoyed using this because it has almost no smell or scent to it at all. Very minimal if any at all. Don't get me wrong I like scented soaps and body washes ect... but not something I'm going to be using primarily for my face.

It was just a gentle tingly sensation when I used it on my face and it just made my skin feel so soft and cleaner. After several uses I can see a minimalization of some of the redness and it just feels so great!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Cover Reveal - Returning Home by Al Parks

Description: Clarissa wants nothing to do with her father – even in his death. But she can’t escape returning to Newport to settle her father's estate. The safe world she has established starts to crumble and secrets she has locked away threaten to be exposed. Meeting Griff, her father’s partner, provides the only peace and happiness in the darkness that suddenly surrounds her.

Griff has built his custom bike shop from nothing into a thriving success. After the sudden death of his silent partner, Griff finds himself in a fight to save his business from the grieving widow. But falling for his partner's headstrong daughter may cost Griff everything.

Brandi has become accustomed to certain amenities in her life - money and men. She refuses to allow the death of her philandering husband to inconvenience her comfortable lifestyle. Setting her sights set on her husband’s very young, very sexy partner, nothing will get in the way of what she wants - even if it means destroying Clarissa to get it.

About the Author: Born and raised in the Rocky Mountains, A.L. Parks has spent the last 25 years moving all over the United States. Married to the Navy - well a man in the Navy - Parks has lived in various places throughout the United States. She currently resides in the Washington D.C area, with her husband, four children, and one spoiled German Shepard.

2013 marked her debut in publishing. Her first novel, Strangers, released on her 45th birthday. She was amazed at how many people fell in love with a story about two people dealing with grief, and finding love again. Abby and Bryce were the perfect couple to introduce Parks as an up-and-coming author.

She released the first of the Return To Me series (an anticipated 4.5 book series) in December 2013. A wonderful Christmas romance, The Return introduced readers into the whirlwind romance of Eve and Jake, and proved that second chance romance can be even better than first love. Book two, Return To Newport, followed the struggles that come while on a journey to happily ever after.

Parks unique style of writing, along with her depth of characters and emotions, is carving out a niche in romance for those who crave love and romance a second time around. While many current novels focus on first love, Parks' novels seek to find happily ever after when first love has failed. They are a testament to second chances at true love that lasts forever.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALParksAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/almparks2012

Website: http://www.alparksauthor.com/

Book review blog: http://www.shereadsnewadult.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5105090.A_L_Parks

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/anneparks5070/

Amazon author's page: http://www.amazon.com/A.L.-Parks/e/B00FUI0KWU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Coconut Patties

Product Description: Anastasia Confections' Coconut Patties are delicious squares made of a smooth and creamy shredded coconut confectionery mix, dipped in a rich, dark chocolatey coating– the perfect blend of flavors. The 12 oz. box contains 9 Coconut Patties, individually wrapped to enhance and prolong freshness.

Made fresh daily in Anastasia’s state-of-the-art candy factory in Orlando, Florida, Coconut Patties are a souvenir favorite from the Sunshine State. In addition to classic original, flavors include key lime, pina colada, mango, almond, orange, and rum. The 12 oz. package has a suggested retail price of $5.99.

Featured on NBC’s TODAY Show and in Parade magazine, Anastasia Confection’s Coconut Patties are sold throughout Florida and by several major retailers across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. They are available in 8 oz, 12 oz, and 16 oz boxes and also offered in counter style 2-packs and single size. All coconut and taffy products are certified Kosher.

My Thoughts: Oh my gosh these are soooooo very good! I could have gobbled up the entire box by myself but had to refrain and share with the family. LOL They just totally melt in your mouth and are so tasty. One of my favorite features other than the taste is how they are not just all in an open container but each patty is individually wrapped. This makes for easy popping into bag lunches and such. They didn't last long around my house!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

6 Foot Extension Cables by Solid Cordz

Product Description: PREMIUM 6 Foot Extension Cords by Solid Cordz®
Solid Cordz® 6 foot extension cable is the solution to your electronics and power equipment reaching problems. This sturdy and long-lasting 72-inch length extension wire can give your room a clean and organized look. The cable is thicker than the usual which houses a 16 AWG wire. The cables are fully rated for 125 volt/13 Amp applications.

My Thoughts: I am very well satisfied with these extension cords! They are heavy duty, safe, and more bendable which allows them to stay in place better than your usual extension cords. I live in an older home with limited power outlets and they have come in handy extremely well in my computer room where my outlet is on one side of the room but my computer desk is on another and we all know most electronics don't have very long cords at all!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Playtex Sport Fresh

Product Description: Introducing NEW Playtex® Sport® Fresh Balance™ with Odor Shield™ technology. It’s designed to neutralize odors for ultimate freshness. Combined with a 3600® design for Sport Level Protection®, you can go the distance. Play On®.

These are great! They have a 360 degree design featuring odor shield, flexi fit to quickly stop leaks, and a contured applicator for easy use. I'm loving them because they make you feel so much cleaner and better protected than some of the other brands.

I received this product in my Vitality Voxbox courtesy of Influenster for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Pure Leaf Sweet Tea

I had never tried this brand before it arrived in my Vitality Voxbox and I fell in love with it. It has a freshly brewed taste and no added color enhancement and I really liked it better than other brands I have tried. The squared bottle is too cool to. LOL

Free For Fall Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the It's a Free for Fall Giveaway Hop, hosted by the Blogging Mamas Network.

The days are getting a bit cooler and Fall is just around the corner! We're celebrating the upcoming season with a fun giveaway hop. Each blogger in the hop has a prize for you worth at least $25, so don't forget to hop around to them all in the linky at the bottom of this post.

Congrats to MarshaW!!!! Your package is on the way!

My Giveaway consists of an assortment of Beauty Stuff:
.A Free 1 year subscription to Redbook Magazine
.Full sized bottle of Pantene Classic Care Shampoo
.Rock It Fragrance Body Spray
.Loreal Lip Gloss - Shade Fushia Orchestra 106
.Kleenex Puffs Plus Lotion Travel Tissues
.Revlon Bold Lacquer Mascara (Blackest Noir)
.Revlon Colorstay Crayon Eye Liner (Black Noir)
.Sample Tube Loreal Revitalift Miracle Blur Instant Eye Smoother

This giveaway will end on October 8th. It is open to US residents, 18+ only.


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So Easy Being Green, Viva Veltoro, the Blogging Mamas Network, and the Free for Fall participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill prize obligations.

Vitality Voxbox

A couple of weeks ago I was so excited to receive my second Voxbox from Influenster! It was the Vitality one and it had some awesome goodies in it! I did an unboxing on Youtube so feel free to check that video out below.

*First Degree Burn Cream ($5.97-$8.99) This helps a great deal on those pesky minor burns. Small enough to fit into purse for emergencies and boy does it come in handy! Great for curling iron disasters or oven mishaps!

*Playtex Sport Fresh Balance ($3.99)- Designed to neutralize odors on and off the playing field. These are made with 360 degree protection designed to conform to your body for maximum protection against leakage. I am pleased they are only lightly scented and very easy to use.

*Elizabeth Arden Flawless Future ($60 an ounce)- None of us wants to appear to age and this product works great on minimizing wrinkles. I enjoyed trying this out and it works pretty good but a bit to pricey for me.

*Pure Leaf Iced Tea - I immediately tossed this in the fridge and slurped it down as soon as it was chilled! This was one of my favorite items in the box! I was lucky enough to get the sweetened one and boy it was so so so good!

*Softlips Cube ($3.49) - I got to try the Pomegranate Blueberry flavor and this was another favorite of mine! I am a chap stick junkie anyhow but I quickly fell in love with this cube and can't wait to try the other flavors! I loved how smooth it goes on and it smells so yummy and you can even taste the blueberry flavor just a bit. Just wanted to eat it up! LOL

*Bikini Ready Energy Gummies ($14.99) - Who doesn't need a boost of energy now a days? 2 gummies are the equivalent to about 1/4 cup of brewed coffee. They taste really good at first but do get a bit blandish if chew for to long.


I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

eSalon Hair Care

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Book Highlight - The Fall by Stephen Cost

Title: The Fall

Author: Stephen Cost

Publication: September 16th, 2014

For thousands of years, Death walked behind the dark veil of the living, waiting to ferry the dead. That is, until the day that Death took a life for pleasure rather than duty. On that day, the first Reaper fell to Earth. Now, Reapers live among us, craving the taste of death, forcing them to kill to satisfy their immortal hunger.



Giles Reid fell more than 300 years ago starving for the taste of death, only to find himself drowning in a sea of the living and blinded by a hunger that forces him to kill. In the centuries since his fall he has tried to be more human, desperate to live a life that makes up for what he is and the wrong he has done. Driven by his guilt over killing, he has chosen to feed only on evil; humans that have never been a threat to him but who are always a danger to others. That is, until the day he tries to feed on a human as strong, fast and cunning as himself; a human who, it turns out, has been hunting him. Now he is being pursued by the very evil he has fed on for centuries, embroiled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game, where friends and other Reapers connected to him are simply pawns on a chessboard waiting to be sacrificed. Giles is left with a choice, save the life of the women he loves, the daughter of his mentor, or betray her for his own survival.



To save the woman he loves, Giles will have to be the monster he is.

Purchase:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

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Excerpt

"By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done." The day that is the basis for The Fourth Commandment. (Genesis 2:2-3) 

The following text was found in 1947 in a synagogue in Cairo, Egypt and rejected by the Church as heresy.

"By the seventh day God had created all life and the Earth, but He knew life could not exist without death and so Death was born to provide passage for his Children of Earth to his Kingdom of Heaven.  This, he completed before the setting of the sun on the seventh day and so He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on this day He celebrated his creation of life and Death, He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.  (Geniza fragments, found Cairo, Egypt, 1947)

“Death is the beginning of immortality”

--   Maximilien Robespierre, July 26, 1794

1

Martins

People say they love the smell of fresh cut daisies, but I far prefer the scent of what pushes them up, the dead. You see, death has a scent all to itself, slightly tangy and bitter, pleasing and calming on the palate. Sure there are other aromas I love too, not just that of death, which can chase the chill from my heart, or would, if I had a heart; at least one that could beat and warm the night’s cold from my blood.

Every day I crave the smell of death and evil, I have since my birth. But living in a sea of flesh and blood, I have developed an appreciation for other human and earthly scents; Like the ocean, its sea salt assaulting my senses with a clean, pure bouquet, quite unmatched by anything manufactured. Or the first morning smell of fresh-cut, wet grass and, of course, women. Women smell so much sweeter than men. They, over the millenniums, have refined their scents out of necessity as much as pleasure, each expertly adapting their sultry, seductive and secret combinations of body lotions and perfumes. Honing this craft throughout the ages, to tempt and seduce men out of their minds.

But these are not the only olfactory delights to curl my toes and tickle my senses. For nothing—not the tangy stench of death, nor the sweet scent of a woman—compares to the most inspired aroma of all. Coffee. Nothing in my three-hundred-plus years of experience has compared. Sure, coffee itself has evolved, from non-filtered to filtered, from espresso to cappuccinos, and now from mochas to Frappuccinos, but the essence is the same. The intoxicating sweetness, the mild-to-bitter flavors that leave you wanting more—needing more. 

You see, that’s my drug. Some people need cocaine, others heroin, and some crave cigars or alcohol. I, on the other hand, have the most decadent, refined and expensive vice of all. And it’s because of this little addiction—or weakness—that I can be found most nights here, sitting on the dimly-lit, damp, covered balcony of Martin’s Books and Coffee.

I sip my overpriced drug while the not-so-distant smell of the ocean creeps its way through the maze and tangled web of Seattle’s wet streets. The cars filing by below enhance the scent of the ocean sitting not too far from here, as the sound of their tires splashing through wet, potholed roads echoes that of the rush of a wave over a rock and the sound of ocean spray.

On most days, Martin’s tends to be a good place to relax. One of the few independently-owned book stores left in Seattle, the atmosphere here is calming and the lighting muted. Not so dark that you cannot read a book and enjoy your coffee, but just dim enough so that someone of my, let us say fair complexion, can go unnoticed by the everyday person stopping by for a fix and a good book. 

The décor is modern contemporary, although the designer clearly relied far too much on his collection of old IKEA catalogs, with a thousand shades of tans and browns with brushed steel accents scattered throughout, for effect. I do think that they might have gone a little overboard with the alternating redwood and pine floor boards. The effect is still pleasantly calming if not somewhat dull.

So, why so critical, you may ask? It’s an occupational hazard, I’m afraid. We all, Reapers and humans alike, must have a day job and mine happens to be that of a wine critic. The crème de la crème of critics, although, truth-be-told, I’m not a big fan of wine. However, I have been gifted with a palate most French chefs would give their sous chef’s right hand for. Not their own hand, of course. No French chef I have ever met, and I have met more than my fair share, would ever think of giving that much for their craft.

“Mr. Reid, would you like another?”

The sound of her sing-song voice pulls me back to the moment, temporarily suspending my hazy, drug-induced stupor.

The question comes from Sarah, one of my favorite wait-persons here at Martin’s. Yes, I said wait-persons. Living—if you can call what I do living—in a world of political correctness, I’ve learned it is no longer appropriate to refer to someone as a ‘waitress’. That would be such denigration. Sarah is just the typical twenty-something coffee house wait-person who can be seen in any of the hundred or so coffee houses that pepper the Seattle Landscape—not Sarah herself, of course, but the type. Tall, but not too tall, with long blonde hair. A lightly tanned complexion and the body, a perfectly sculpted masterpiece. I’m not sure about the other Sarahs out there, but my Sarah has one defining attribute that I find hard to resist, her smell. The bouquet that wafts around her is subtle and ambiguous, what is that? Lavender with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon, perhaps?

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Trailer

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About Stephen

Stephen Cost was born in Wexford Ireland and raised in a small seaside town not far from Dublin. From a young age he would spin dark tales and write them down for his own amusement.  At the age of 13 he moved from his home in Ireland to America and his love of dark American cinema took root.



He passes his free time, when not writing, by reading horror and fantasy genre novels in addition to watching science fiction and horror movies.



He graduated from University with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Sociology.  A computer engineer by trade, he specializes in integrated system services and uses the knowledge gained from his degree to write emotionally captivating urban fiction.

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