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Showing posts from March, 2022

Book Review: Better Than Revenge by Kasie West

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Better Than Revenge by Kasie West is a young adult romance novel with an expected publication date of December 31, 2024. The story opens with Finlay auditioning for the school podcast. Jenson, her boyfriend, decides to audition as well at the last minute and happens to get the position Finlay has been wanting for years. Jenson overheard saying that Finlay is terrible, and Finlay breaks up with him and seeks out to get her revenge by becoming the new starting kicker for the football team. Can Finlay pull off this feat? A big thank you goes out to NetGalley for approving and providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy ARC of Better Than Revenge by Kasie West. I received a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. First and foremost, West did a fantastic job with this story. I was pulled into the storyline right off the bat and had trouble putting it down. Despite it being a young adult romance novel and me not being the target audience, I absolutely loved it!  The author had me ...

Book Review: An Unthinkable Thing by Nicole Lundrigan

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In the summer of 1958, Tommie Ware turns eleven, and little does he know that his life will be turned upside down when his aunt doesn't come home from her night shift. She's later found murdered, presumably by a serial killer, and Tommie is sent to live with his mother at the Henneberry Estate, where she works as a servant. Nothing is as it seems in An Unthinkable Thing by Nicole Lundrigan. First, I want to start by thanking NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the advanced ebook copy of An Unthinkable Thing by Nicole Lundrigan. It was a pleasure to be one of the first people to read this book. Told from the perspective of Tommy Ware, An Unthinkable Thing was reminiscent of several V.C. Andrews books. It's even a bit nostalgic of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Throughout the book, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when it did, I was content with the result. Although a little slow, the story was well written, and I was eager to find out what...

Book Review: Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson

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Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson - Abigail Baskin falls in love with millionaire Bruce Lamb. During her bachelorette party, Abigail has a drunken one night stand and instantly regrets it. When the guy from Abigail's bachelorette party shows up every where she is, including her wedding and honeymoon, she's frantic. Fast paced and unputdownable is how I would describe Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson. Enjoyable from page one, I couldn't wait to see how it would end. Although it was a bit predictable, I loved this novel so much more than I did his Eight Perfect Murders . I was ecstatic that he didn't give away any endings to other books this time. However, if you haven't watched The Wicker Man , you may want to watch the movie before reading this book because he does give away the ending to it. Thankfully, I had already seen the remake of the movie with Nicholas Cage. Several of the characters were unlikable like Bruce and Scottie. With that being said, at on...

Product Review: Calvin Klein Pop Top Fingerless Gloves

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While window shopping at Macy's Department Store, I wandered into their Backstage department to have a look around. Not really having anything in mind that I really needed, I came across some Calvin Klein Pop Top Fingerless Gloves. There were two colors available, powder blue and mauve. Checking the price, they were normally $34.00 and on sale for $11.99. With a cold front that had come into town that morning, I thought I should go ahead and purchase a pair as they would be great to wear the next day when I would be taking my morning walk. The low was supposed to be in the twenties. It was a tough decision, but I decided to go with the gloves in powder blue. The next morning, I got dressed and put on my new Calvin Klein Pop Top Fingerless Gloves in powder blue. It was a brisk twenty-nine degrees Fahrenheit outside. What I loved about these gloves is that I was able to use my Fitbit App, and then cover my fingers with the top of the gloves that came unbuttoned, folded over my finger...

Product Review: Absolute New York Velvet Lippie, Buttery Matte Lip Cream, Flamenco

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Over the weekend, I went to my local Macy's Department Store and meandered over to the Backstage department. I found so many great deals, especially on makeup. One of the items I picked up was a product package by Absolute New York that included four different lip products. The first lip product I tried out was the Velvet Lippie, Buttery Matte Lip Cream. The color is called Flamenco. What I liked about this product is how smooth and evenly I was able to apply it to my lips. The velvet lippie kept my lips moist and kept me from licking my lips as much as I usually do. As far as the color goes, it went well with my skin tones and brighten up my face. Other great things about the Velvet Lippie by Absolute New York are that I was able to eat food without any of it coming off, and very little came off when I was drinking a can of Mountain Dew. With that being said, when I wiped it off my lips with a Kleenex, the Velvet Lippie came off without any trouble and didn't stain my lips. Th...

Product Review: Swanson Beef Broth

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I received a Vox Box from Influenster.com that had Swanson Beef Broth in it for free in exchange for my honest review. I've never used Swanson's Beef Broth before. However, I have used their Chicken Broth before and had good results with it, so I was excited to try it out a different product by Swanson. Typically, I eat more chicken than I do beef, so I didn't know what I wanted to make. I perused Pinterest for beef recipes that called for beef broth. I narrowed it down to beef stew and shepard's pie. Eventually, I settled on making Shepard's Pie with ground beef instead of lamb. The recipe was very simple and easy to follow. Once I made the filling, I divided it in two small casserole dishes. The recipe made so much food, that I couldn't eat it all and ended up giving the second dish to my parent's neighbors. The neighbors enjoyed it and made two meals out of it. Things I would've changed in the recipe is I would have used more of the Swanson Beef Broth...

Book Review: Wedding Day Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #8) by Leslie Meier

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Lucy Stone is juggling the needs of four children, her husband, and their dog, as well as her full-time job as a reporter for the local newspaper. She can't handle one more thing this summer, but when friend Sue Finch asks for help planning her daughter's wedding to an internet millionaire, Lucy can't say no. When the fiance is found floating by his yacht, Lucy knows this wasn't accidental. As she investigates the murder, Lucy just might find herself in trouble in Wedding Day Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #8) by Leslie Meier. This edition of the Lucy Stone Mystery Series wasn't my favorite for various reasons. I knew from the start of the book that the husband to be would end up murdered for some reason. At least, I didn't have a clue as to the motive or who was behind the murder. And, I was completely wrong in my guess of who the murderer was, so that was a plus that I didn't figure it out. One thing that threw me off was the first chapter in Wedding Day M...