I'm back in the saddle

Ok since I have (somewhat spotty) internet access on my phone, I decided to see if I could still blog and I can. So now to figure out what direction I want to go with this while I'm mobile. If anyone actually reads this, thank you :) Stay tuned, I'll hopefully get this thing off the ground eventually. <3

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Review Time: Shrouded In Illusion by H.D. Thomson

BLURB:

Someone wants Skye Hunter’s son and they’re willing to kill her or anyone else to get to him. On the run for her life, she is forced to turn to the only person who can help her—a complete stranger with a shared past—David Bishop, a renowned illusionist.

David’s life is also an illusion, built of smoke and little else. He meets Skye, a woman filled with passion and conviction, and the pain he sees in her eyes is a mirror to his own soul. But when he realizes she has the same strange, telekinetic phenomenon inside her body that he does, he is forced to question his life, his childhood and the father who raised him. Can these two lost souls uncover the mystery behind their powers and save Skye’s son and themselves in the process?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

H.D. Thomson moved from Ontario, Canada as a teenager to the heat of Arizona where she graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in accounting. After working in the corporate world as an accountant, H.D. changed her focus to one of her passions-books. She owned and operated an online bookstore for several years and then started Bella Media Management. The company specializes in web sites, video trailers, ebook conversion and promotional resources for authors and small businesses. When she is not heading her company, she is following her first love-writing.

REVIEW:

Skye Hunter has a secret, but she doesn't know why.  David Blaine is a magician in Las Vegas who potentially holds the key to who she is, and why she can do what she does.  Oh, and throw in a very gifted, talented, little boy, an ex-hubbie with a drug problem, an ex-cop out for revenge, and a psycopathic "doctor" who likes to experiment on children with paranormal gifts, and you have Shrouded in Illusion.  Like all reviews, I refuse to give spoiler alerts, and this one is no different.  With enough action, suspense, thrills, a little romance, and a few well-placed plot twists, this book is a very good read.  There isn't much I can say about it that won't give away what happens in the book, so this review is very short, shorter than my usual reviews.  What I will say, though is, while this is much shorter than usual, that does NOT in any way mean this book is not worth the time it takes to read it.  I HIGHLY recommend Shrouded in Illusion to any age group over, say 16, because there is a bit of sex in it.  On my usual 5 star rating, I give it a 4.5.

EXCERPT:

She glanced up at him. This time he hadn’t been ogling her breasts, but his thoughts hadn’t been any better. Twice now she’d caught him. The woman must have a sixth sense when his mind hit the gutter.

“Possibly. But the evening’s not over. I could go all night. It depends.”

At the double-entendre, his gaze sharpened, but her angelic expression gave nothing away. Maybe he’d twisted her words into something he wanted to hear. Then again, her mind might have dove into the gutter alongside his. Wishful thinking perhaps...

“What’s your favorite number?”

At her abrupt question, he frowned. “Seven.”

“Then seven it is.”

She placed her remaining chips on his lucky number.

David stiffened. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Don’t worry. If I lose, I won’t come after you.”

David swallowed. Another innuendo.This one worse than the last. If he kept this up—

Jesus. There he went again—

“Watch,” she urged in a whisper.

David did. The ball tumbled and clattered around the roulette wheel. As the wheel slowed, the ball landed on seven and quivered as if struggling against some invisible force. The wheel whispered to a stop and the ball stilled and remained on...seven.

Just like that. She’d recovered her losses and added a couple of thousand to her pot.

“That’s amazing!” he exclaimed. And strange. The odds of something like that occurring were astronomical. “By God. Talk about luck!”

“You think it’s luck?” She searched his face, her expression growing serious.

“What else could it be?”

“I thought you might know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

At the sudden, unnerving intensity of her gaze, David tensed, feeling strangely vulnerable.

“Nothing.Absolutely nothing.” She shook her head and looked disappointed as she collected her chips. “I’ll see you around.”

She planned on cashing in, and David hadn’t even gotten her name. “Hey, don’t go yet. How about a drink?”

“Not tonight.”

She turned and didn’t give him another glance.

“Hey, tell me your name,” he called after her as he stood, acting completely out of character. He didn’t chase after women. And he sure the hell didn’t yell after them either.

She paused and glanced over her shoulder. Their gazes caught.

“It’s Skye Hunter.”

Her name hit David as if someone slammed a fist into his face. He stood unmoving, unable catch his breath, think or respond as he watched her turn back around and walk away. Sudden sweat filmed across his brow and sent a chill racing across his flesh. For a wild second he thought he was going to pass out. He shivered and frantically searched his pockets. He pulled out a roll of antacid tablets and stuffed two down his throat.

Skye Hunter.

Just saying the name in his head launched his heart rate into overdrive. The crazy part of the whole thing—he didn’t know why. He’d never heard it until she’d told him seconds before.

So then, why in God’s name did her name bother him so much?

FOLLOW THE AUTHOR:

Author's Website/Blog: http://www.hdthomson.com/

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorhdthomson

On Twittier: https://twitter.com/hdthomson

On Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5780414.H_D_Thomson

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shrouded-Illusion-Series-ebook/dp/B00D5TSZQY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370315007&sr=1-1&keywords=Shrouded+in+Illusion

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shrouded-in-illusion-h-d-thomson/1115465568?ean=2940016792194

DISCLAIMER:

*I was given a copy of Shrouded in Illusion by the author to read and give my honest review.  No compensation was given for said review.  All thoughts and opinions stated in the review are those of this blog's author* ~My Life on the Crazy List~

Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective .. Review & Giveaway!

BLURB:
Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family’s reputation isn’t easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Award-winning author Christine Amsden has written stories since she was eight, always with a touch of the strange or unusual. She became a “serious” writer in 2003, after attending a boot camp with Orson Scott Card. She finished Touch of Fate shortly afterward, then penned The Immortality Virus, which won two awards. Expect many more titles by this up-and-coming author.
Check her out on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads!

I.O. Book Tours Review Blitz

Woohoo! I am pleased to announce that I have signed up with I.O. Book Tours Review Blitz for Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective by Christine Amdsen.  Not only will I be posting my review of this book, but also a blurb, about the author, a teaser chapter, and ... dun dun dun ... A GIVEAWAY!  Guess You'll have to come back sometime after midnight tonight for the whole thing huh?  Be excited, be VERY excited.  I know I am (but then, what booknerd wouldn't be?)!

See you tonight when the fun begins!

Winners List

Here is where you can find the winners of all MLotCL giveaways, past and present!  Congrats to all who have won, and good luck to all in future giveaways!
*********************************************************************************
$25 Zappos.com Gift Card Giveaway (5-6-2013): #1. Felicia A.
Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective E-Book Giveaway (5-19-2013): #9. Elisha K.
Vintage crystal peacock barrette giveaway (Facebook giveaway 12-21-2013): #3. Brenda H.

BzzAgent Report: Children's Claritin Chewables and Liquid

I was given a chance to try (or have my kids try in this case) Children's Claritin Chewable tablets and Children's Claritin liquid.

It's Giveaway Time!

I think it's time for my first ever giveaway on here..  So to kick it all off, how about a $25 gift card to Zappos.com?  1 winner, 5 easy entries.  Let's get started!

**EVERY TASK IS 1 (ONE) ENTRY INTO THE GIVEAWAY AND ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE  VERIFIED.  IF THE RANDOM WINNER HAS BEEN DEEMED INELIGIBLE, A NEW RANDOM WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN**


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chicken Quesadillas

I have decided to add something to each day of the week.  Today, being Monday, has become Menu Mondays.  While I know it's later in the day, hopefully, if you are like me and can never decide what to make for dinner, these posts will help you.

Survey Sunday Spotlight: Opinion Outpost

So, I'm a bit excited.  I'm one of those people who love doing surveys so much that I am a member of at least 20 different sites (probably more, we'll find out eventually right?).  So I decided to start Survey Sunday Spotlight.  And I decided to start it off with one of my all-time favorite survey sites, Opinion Outpost.

New Feature: Survey Sunday Spotlight!

Okay, so I have decided, despite not having many followers yet, to add something to the blog.  A new feature!  I'm calling it Survey Sunday Spotlight.  What dose this mean?  It means that every Sunday I will write a new post that will spotlight one of the hundreds (okay, maybe not HUNDREDS but there are at least 20) of survey sites I am a member of.  These spotlights will include information about what kind of surveys you can hope to find, the types of rewards they have available, about how long it takes me, a stay at home engaged mom of 2 kids with very low income, to earn enough to cash out, and how many points are needed to cash out for the top rewards on the site.  Sound good?  Great!  Stay tuned, the first Survey Sunday Spotlight will be up shortly, as soon as I get it written out.  <3

Hapari Swimsuit Giveaway

Sooo.. You know me, and you know I just LOVE a good, easy giveaway on all the other blogs.. and honey this is the easiest one yet.. First of all, you HAVE to go check out Hapari swimsuits online, and then link the site to 3 different social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc.) and THAT'S IT!  Want the link for the giveaway?

Hapari Swimsuit Giveaway <-- 3 easy steps to enter and that's it.  But hurry!  You only have 13 more days to enter!

<3

Garnier Olia Oil-Based Hair Dye - My Experience

First off, let me explain how I chose to actually review, or grade, this product.  I graded each category I was looking to talk about based on a 100-point system (the same used in most schools, A, B, C, D, F).  Here is my experience with the new product, Garnier Olia Oil Powered Permanent Color.

You, Me, and Facebook

This is just so that anyone stopping by here that is NOT from Facebook, we do have a facebook page for you :D  Just click the following link and "like" us for updates on everything posted here (hey, if you're like me, you're already on Facebook almost 24/7 so it just makes getting our posts that much easier).

My Life on the Crazy List Official Facebook Page

As soon as we reach 50 likes on our Facebook page, we will be doing a giveaway of some sort.  So start the sharing and liking :D

Schick Hydro Silk Razor the Best? I Think So ...

I am always filled with a little trepidation when I try a new razor and for good reasons.  My experiences with razors have been, to say the least, not so great.  My skin is super sensitive, so almost anything will make me either break out in a bad rash (sorry for the TMI), not to mention most razors, even when used with moisturizer-filled shaving cream, leave my skin suspiciously resembling a lizard before it sheds.  So,