Super Scavenger Hunt Saturday Night

by in Seattle Specific Saturdays

How to make a super scavenger hunt:

1. Figure out your locations (I chose five) and create clues

2. Optional (make a book to include all the clues that can be used as a memento when the hunt is over)

3. Put the clues in place (mine were pictures taken at the clue sites with some of the geo-coordinates needed to find the final destination written on the backs of the clues)

4. Wait for the right moment…. unleash the scavenger hunt

unnamed (22) unnamed (5) Clue/Stop 1: Woodinville Costco

unnamed (25) unnamed (9) Clue/Stop 2: Kirkland Marina

unnamed (24) unnamed (10) Clue/Stop 3: St. James Espresso in Kirkland

unnamed unnamed (6) Clue/Stop 4: Downtown Bellevue Park

paul present unnamed (7) Clue/Stop 5: Dock at Lake Boren

unnamed (3) unnamed (8) Final Destination: Shari’s in Renton

unnamed (1) cake Take a look at the final prize!

Foodie Fridays: Love with Food Subscription Box Review

by in Foodie Fridays and tagged ,

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Price $19.95 for a month-to-month subscription.

Shipping is included and tracking is through DHL, it arrived on the early side of their window (April 14th when the window is April 15-24)

You can see that there are multiple items

I have never tried any of these foods before and was excited to check out some new snacks

So far I’ve tried the Pasta Chips (excellent), the PopCorners Cheddar (pretty good) and the PopCorners Kettle Corn (Very delicious) and the Liz Lovely Chocolate Moose Dragon Cookie (Disgusting and seems to be flavored with alcohol?) and the Wild Garden Hummus and Crackers Snack Pack (Crackers tasted like cardboard but were improved with the hummus)

Conclusion: Totally worth it, like a buffet of snack items, I already signed up for the 6 month subscription (only $18 a month including shipping).

Book Review: Bombed by Winifred Morris

by in Book Review and tagged , , ,

Bombed by Winifred Morris

A Drama/Thriller Novel published by Eastside Gal Publishing (04/17/15)

 

Summary:

“She’d just slowly come to accept the loneliness secrets bring and thought she was tough enough to handle it. (Kindle locations 4061-4065).

When you think you’re tough enough or strong enough, you’re just setting yourself up for a fall. Annie bit off a bit more than she could chew in Bombed. She may tell herself she can do it, but unconsciously she knows it is too much for her. Circumstances create challenges to make everything even more difficult for her and she is forced to rely on Wes, even though she swore off men to protect herself. She knows that things don’t add up in her life, but if there aren’t any more people in her life than her uncle and band members, she thinks she can fool everyone. Even Buzzard and Fleep begin to question where the money comes from. Even under such duress and with so many questioning her source of money, Annie is bold and quick-witted. She doesn’t fall apart or go crazy when her uncle is kidnapped. She remains level-headed and sticks to her guns. She is a fun character.

 

Keywords:

 Music, Intrigue, Money, Drugs, Smuggling, Drug Dealers, Small Town, Tough Gal, Romance, Drama, Attacks, FBI, Investigation

 

My Review:

All the characters in Bombed are well written and vibrant and will suck you into their stories. I loved the interesting character names and how consistent the characters were to their upbringing and environmental influences. Each of the characters’ stories was fascinating and the author layered the stories within and throughout the other stories, making the novel complex and rich.

The main story itself was farfetched and amazingly executed, like any good action thriller where the audience must suspend disbelief at times. The story is comical and zany and such a fun read.

To note: This novel contained many specific musical references, which added to the consistency of the characters and their backgrounds and added an element of sophistication to the details of the novel, but most of the references will go over a reader’s head, unless they are a big music fan.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was published by Eastside Gal Publishing on April 17th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.75

 

Links for more information:

Winifred Morris’s website

Goodreads

Book Review: Shattered and Scarred (The Sacred Hearts MC Book 1) by A.J. Downey

by in Book Review and tagged , , ,

Shattered and Scarred by A.J. Downey

A Romance Novel published by A.J. Downey (06/09/14)

 

Summary:

Trig finds her on the side of the road, barefoot and beaten, walking back to her abusive husband. Without a second thought to the consequences, he loads her on his motorcycle and takes her to the Sacred Hearts MC Club. No woman and no children, but they allow Ashton Granger to soak up the freedom and goodness offered at the club and help Ethan “Trigger” set her up with her own place and job. They go even further for her when her husband hunts her down to inflict the correction she evaded when Trig saved her.

 

Keywords:

Romance, abuse, power, struggle, survival, motorcyle, club, friendship, loyalty, family, different, gruff, POV change

 

My Review:

The buildup A.J. Downey created for this romance was astounding. Downy crafted each of her characters with precision and care. They were alive and real and relatable and vulnerable. It was this vulnerability within her main characters that really pulled me into their story.

Downey also has a knack with descriptions. I like how she describes everything: people especially. Shattered and Scarred was more sophisticated than the average book. The way Downey looks at a scene and describes it is fascinating.

I dislike when anyone calls a woman they don’t know or hardly know, ‘baby.’ In my mind it’s usually condescending so it’s hard to get over the fact that Trig is using it as a calming/placating word.

This novel was published by A.J. Downey on June 9th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.50

 

Links for more information:

A.J. Downey’s Blog

Goodreads

Facebook

Miscellaneous Mondays: Author Signing Event at St. James

by in Local Authors, Local Events, Miscellaneous Mondays and tagged , , ,

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Check us out! Two local authors meet at St. James Espresso in Kirkland 4/4/15.

I just finished her book and will be posting a review of her debut YA novel Sara Supernatural 4/23/15 so stay tuned.

For more information on Tiffany Belcher, check out her website: http://sarasupernatural.tateauthor.com/

 

What local authors have you met lately?

Try the World?

by in Foodie Fridays

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Anyone try a monthly subscription box?

Try the World appealed to me because I like delicious exotic things! For $39.99 every two months (and a box every two months), it was middle priced among the subscriptions I looked at (most I saw ranged from $20-$50). I was expecting some real goodies for $40, but what I got (as seen above) was beautiful packaging and some interesting selections that didn’t entirely appeal to my tastes.

I absolutely loved the Palmiers… but not worth $40.

Consensus: Fun to try, but not worth the money

 

 

Book Review: Sirensbane (Kal Moonheart Series Book 3) by Rob May

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Sirensbane (Kal Moonheart Series Book 3) by Rob May

An Adventure/Thriller Novel published by Firebound Books (04/01/2015)

 

Summary:

‘Taking down dragons is no easy task, of course, but if you know their weaknesses and you have a good plan, it can be done!’ (Kindle Locations 3540-3541).

Sirensbane is the third installment in the Kal Moonheart series. In this book Kal gets caught up in another adventure, this time mostly at sea and the Auspice Islands. Her dear friend Lula is cursed and the island she used to call home is overrun with zombies, or so her superstitions tell her. It is up to Kal to break the curse and save the islands and their people from a cruel takeover by a man turned evil with power and corruption. Like most of the adventures Kalina jumps into, there is more going on below the surface.

 

Keywords:

 Young Heroine, Adventure, Gambling, Fighting, Strong Females, Pirates, Zombies, Power, Ships, Mythology, Islands, Vudu, Superstition, Drugs, Drinking

 

My Review:

I like how May creates a full and rich world to place his main character Kalina Moonheart ‘The Dragon Killer’ into. The world is full of its own history and its own mythology. There are multiple different land massess and cultures and different kinds of people. It’s a new world without confusion or too many intricacies to keep track of. May lays out the land over the course of each of his books so that the world is vibrant and full in the reader’s mind and comes alive bit by bit.

Sirensbane is full of superstition, magic, and curses… and Kal is in the thick of it. Kal is the most swashbuckling, romanticized pirate, fun character, butt-kicking, adventure seeking, young and full of life character that she’s ever been in the entire series. She comes into her own in Sirensbane and is the coolest character here. May has blossomed her throughout the series to come to her most exciting personality and role in this book. It may just be that May writes pirates dashingly well, but I thought this book was the best of the series (so far) and every plot point clicked into place effortlessly.

With Kal and the mysteries surrounding her adventures, there’s always more going on! At first they seem like subplots but eventually all of them merge up into the overarching plot and eventually to the climax of the story that has pulled Kal in. May gives the readers a full on fighting climax with guns blazing and swords drawn, and when the battle is over there is yet more action to come. The ending was masterfully handled.

As always, Rob May has a plethora of twists and turns and truths and lies that veil the plot in a thicket of mystery to intrigue the reader and keep up the fast pace of the story. He also reveals what you think is the plot almost at once to hook you: Lula wants Kal to help break the islander’s zombie curse. As usual, though, May has a lot more going on to keep your interest and the mystery alive.

This book had a very Pirates of the Caribbean feel. People were roguish, there was lots of fighting, and lies and greed ruled the people and towns.

I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys the adventures and strength of Tarzan, the fun cockiness of Crocodile Dundee, or a novel with a young kick-butt female hero.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was published by Firebound Books 04/01/2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TLDR Star Rating: 4.75

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Rob May’s Website

Book Review: Red and the Wolf by E. A. Walker

by in Book Review and tagged , , , ,

Red and the Wolf by E. A. Walker

A Fairy Tale Adaption Short Story published by Two Moons Books (04/06/15)

 

Summary:

“…an adult needs to be able to hear the truth, even when it has an unpleasant sound.” (Kindle Location 281).

Vöröža wanted Juri from almost the moment she set eyes on him, but her Babushka had other plans. Snežana claims that Vöröža is of noble birth and shouldn’t consort with the lowly villagers, especially the woodcutter, but Vöröža doesn’t listen. In secret, at least she thinks so, she meets with Juri and they make plans together. All in the town are wary of the two women in the forest, but Juri, until one event that will have them sympathizing with the young Vöröža. Can she truly leave her noble birth behind?

 

Keywords:

 Romance, fantasy, werewolf, legends, fairy tale, little red riding hood, woodcutter, clueless, short story, old-world feel, isolated, forest

 

My Review:

This short story is based on Little Red Riding Hood, but it is very much its own tale and very different from the simple animated versions that abound in film. This story, though new, is told as if it is a tale retold, a legend of a small town near a wide and foreboding forest. E.A. Walker does an amazing job at carefully crafting her descriptions and keeping her consistent old world feel of the story. From the beginning Walker provides enough physical descriptions to set the scene and plunge the reader into Vöröža’s world.

The characters are whole and alive in the imagination. It was very helpful to have the pronunciation chart at the start of the story and helped as I read for visualizing. As the story went on, I thought there were a few too many characters and it got a bit confusing.

After reading the story a second time, I really was able to appreciate the bit of foreshadowing that was cleverly disguised.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this story in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was published by Two Moons Books on April 6th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

 

Links for more information:

Smashwords

Goodreads