As for book reviews, I do have to sadly admit that I have picked up very few books since last October.  The mood just has not been there.  Which means I am so incredibly behind on all my favorite authors it hurts.  But, as soon as the bug to read, instead of write, comes back again, I will be back posting away at reviews.

And speaking of writing, the contract is signed and a book I helped co-author, shall be on the shelves (YEAH ME).  It is called Same Journey, Different Paths, stories of Auditory Processing Disorder.  A group of mothers with kids with APD (and a few grown kids with APD) all got together to write about our journeys with the disorder.  It should be an incredible book and there are not many like it out there.  Most of the APD stories are written from a clinical perspective and not the perspective of the person or families living with it.

And despite pre-washing my hand dyed waterlillies thread, I still had a bit of bleeding, but thankful it is not horribly noticeable.

So without further delay….

PICTURES

Finished cross stitch

So my haul includes 1 36 count playtex tampons, 118 ct box of playtex tampons, 1 box of Nips, travel size Children’s advil, 1 large roll of charmin toliet paper, Dove for Men body wash, 1.25 liter of diet coke, 1 bottle of poweade, and a glade plug in warmer.

Transaction #1

Playtex 36 count and Playtex 18 count.  36 count is on sale for $7.99 (regularly $8.99)  with $4 in EB’s back, the 18 ct was $5.49.  In addition I had 2 coupons.  $3.00 from CVS and a Buy 1 36 count get 1 18 ct for free.

Total for the transaction was $5.68 ($4.99 + .69 in tax) with $4.00 in EB’s back, total savings $9.49, savings of about 63%

Transaction $2

Nips (reg. $1.27) $0.88 with $0.88 back in ebs, powerade (reg 1.49) $1 with $1 back in EBs, 1.25 L of Coke $0.99 with $0.99 back in EBs, childrens advil 1oz, (reg $2.67) $2.37, plus $1.250 off and $2.37 back in EBs, carmx (reg $1.67) $1.00 plus $0.30 off coupon and  $1 ebs, charmin basic roll (reg $1.49) $0.99 plu s $0.99 back in EBs, glade oil plug in (reg 2.49) $1.25 with $1.25 in ebs.
And I used the $4 eb from the previous transaction

Total was $3.18 ($2.68 +$.05 in tax) with $8.48 back in EBs, total savings$9.39, savings of about 75%

Last transaction was the dove mens wash (reg $6.29) on sale for $4.59.  This was a replacement buy as the 64oz Lipton Ice Tea was sold out and I needed to spend another $3.81 to reach my $20 spending before Thanksgiving for $5.00 back from Savings Star.  I used the $0.88, $0.99, and 2 $1.00 EBs to pay for it, leaving a total of $0.93 due ($0.63+$0.3 in tax)

Total savings of $5.66  and savings of about  86%.
I still have left over $4.61 in EBs, which I could have used to buy several more items that were free after EB’s, but I did not need those items so bypassed.  My CVS did not carry the command hook that was on sale (which I had a $1.00 coupon making it free with a $1.00 eb back).

So I paid  $9.25, saved $23.63 (total product $32.88) savings of  72%, gained $5.00 from savings star and an additional $4.61 ebs to use in a future transaction. My deals would have been better if my toner had yet arrived to print off a couple more coupons.

Looking forward to the black friday ad!

Related articles

• CVS: Moneymaker Glade Plugins (forthemommas.com)
• CVS: FREE Starbucks Refreshers (Starting 11/18) (hip2save.com)
• CVS 4-Day Sale 11/18-11/21 (Over 28 Freebies!) (hip2save.com)
• Stock Up on Children’s Advil and its a Money Maker!!!! (bxcheapskate.com)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Charles de Lacey, Lord Gresham, is running out of time, running from his responsibilities, and running from love.

Destined to be a duke, Charles de Lacey has led a life of decadent pleasure, free of any care for propriety or responsibility. It comes as a terrible shock to learn that he might be stripped of everything, thanks to his father’s scandalous past. He has no choice but to find the blackmailer who would ruin him—and his only link to the villain is a woman who may be part of the plot…

To save his fortune and title, he vows he’ll stop at nothing—in fact, he’s all too eager to unravel the beautiful, tart-tongued Tessa Neville. She intrigues him and tempts him like no other lady ever has. With only his heart to guide him, and keenly aware that his entire future is at stake, Charles must decide: is she the woman of his dreams, or an enemy in disguise?

A charming and touching end to a The Truth about the Duke series with witty and fun characters you have come to expect. Caroline Linden has created another set of characters that are easy to relate to and have you cheering them through out the entire book.

Charles de Lacey is an unforgiven rake and scoundrel. He has spent the last eleven years proving to his family just how worthless he could be. Now with the issue of his inheritance and title, unceremoniously dumped into his lap, he must solve the problem all on his own, something he isn’t sure he can do.

Tessa Neville spends each day making up for a rash incident in her past. While she wishes she handled the situation differently, she has no regrets over the outcome. She is the last woman to be taken in by a charming scoundrel and is rightly suspicious of Charlie’s attention to her. Her forthright and confident demure is refreshing despite her seeing it as an enormous flaw.

Like the previous novels, Charlie and Tessa teach each other how their perceived weaknesses make them the person each loves. In this series, each heroine and hero and to overcome weakness/flaw within themselves in order find their happily ever after and this couple was no different. But, for Tessa and Charlie, their journey was longer and much harder/emotional. It is hard enough to ask forgiveness of others, but almost impossible to forgive yourself. But it is the journey of discovering that they are more than their past and that they are able to move on that allows them to embrace their future. Ms. Linden does this with emotional and moving scenes, especially with Charlie’s self discovery.

As for Charlie and Tessa together, who ever knew that writing a letter and getting a cup of coffee could be so erotic.

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Reblogged from Limecello:

If your like me, you like getting things for free.  Whether it is winning free books from authors (one of my favorites) or just doing simple things each day in order to obtain free stuff, this can add up to put a dent in the cost of your book addiction (or any other addiction you may have)  Here is a list of my 10 most used easy freebies.

1) Swagbucks : with only needing 450 points to snag a $5.00 Amazon gift card this is a great and easy way to reduce the cost of your next online shopping spree.  1 gift card a month is only   15 points each day.  Points can be earned by searching, watching videos, polls, tasks, and even printing and using coupons.  Swagbucks also offers referral points when people join.

2) Like watching TV?  Then check out Viggle.  Viggle is a smartphone app (available on android and in the apple app store) which offers points for each minute of TV you watch, plus bonus points for answering trivia questions, watching videos, or doing other tasks.  With the Olympics on, it is a great time to join.  I’ve been using Viggle for about 3 weeks and already racked up over 19,000 points.  With rewards starting at 9,000 points, it will not take you long and all it takes is a simple tap and allowing the app to recognize the sounds coming from your TV (like shazam).

3) Shopkicks - Shopkicks is sort of like foursquare except your checking into specific retail stores for points and scanning products in stores for more points.  Shokicks also offers walk in bonuses for many stores such as Macy’s, Target, and Best Buy.  Rewards range from Facebook credits to Itune giftcards and more.  Facebook credits start for as little as 25 points (which can easily be earned in 1 day sitting from home) and Best Buy gift cards at 500 points.

4) Savings Star and Cell Fire – Hate cutting coupons, hate trying to remember if you have a coupon for an item or not?  Let Savings Star and Cell Fire step in for you.  While the coupons are limited, they automatically connect to your grocery or pharmacy cards (limited to participating retailers)  With cell fire you will see the amount come off your bill, with Savings Star it will deposit the money into your account which you can then use for Amazon gift cards or transfer to your paypal account.  Savings Star frequently has $0.50 coupons for one box of cheerios which I use often.

5) Mypoints – Whatever way you choose to use Mypoints it is easy to earn points that you can turn into gift cards.  I frequently save up those points for gift cards to use on vacation.  Some will choose to shop through Mypoints (to earn points) or if your just like me and click emails and the occasional instant win games they run, it is another easy way to pick up freebies.  You can also print grocery coupons to redeem and earn points.

6) Bondrewards – Like Mypoints this is a site where you can shop from or do click through emails to earn money.  Once you’ve reached your redemption amount you can either take it as a $25.00 payout or a $50.00 savings bond.  Since I usually only do click throughs it takes me about 12-18 months to earn a savings bond, but it is no time and best of all FREE.

7) Upromise, and Ebates are both sites where you earn money back for online purchases.  Upromise has a bit more including a grocery coupons, loans, etc that you can earn money back on as well.  Ebates issues you a check, Upromise you can receive your funds via a check, to use to pay down your student loans, or to be moved into a connected 529 account for future educational expenses. Ebates, currently has cash back shopping on specific purchases with Amazon, which is pretty rare to find.

8) Store Rewards – have a favorite place to shop to eat?  Check to see if they have a rewards program.  Best Buy, CVS, Kmart/Sears,  TGIFridays, Perkins and more all have reward programs which give you the equivalent of in-store credit on your purchases.  Many times all you have to do is present your card at checkout.  I use an android app, KEYRING, to store all my reward program numbers so they are always on hand.

9) Drink coke products?  Then you should be a member of Mycokerewards. Enter codes from coke products to earn points, turn points into fun stuff.  I just redeemed points for a $20 visa gift card.  Rewards range from gift certificates, amusement park admission (Six Flags and Universal Studios), magazines, coke branded products and more.  There are also give-a-ways you can enter, usually for 3 points per entry. Points can be entered online, through facebook, or by text message.

10) Disney Movie Rewards - one of my favorite programs.  Use codes from Disney Movies you have purchased or by redeeming ticket stubs from select movies to earn points.  Also monthly emails will add additional points and i runs frequent promotional points as well.  Rewards range from Disney gift cards to other Disney memorabilia.  Also by registering your movie codes select movies will also be saved for online viewing in your account.   If you go to join, look for a promotional offer for bonus points online

I am not always diligent in making sure I racked up my points.  With some diligence and commitment it would be easy to score several hundred dollars in gift cards a year using these programs.

A fun giveaway.  Guess the contents

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Inferno Club: To London Society, they’re notorious for their scandalous pursuits. In private, these warriors would risk their lives for king and country. 

His brother warriors fear the Earl of Westwood has turned traitor, but Emily Harper knows this is impossible for the man she has loved since childhood . . . as impossible as a marriage between them could ever be—she, the gamekeeper’s daughter and he, a bold and adventurous nobleman.

Driven by hatred and revenge, Westwood is playing a deadly game of deception, bent on destroying the enemy’s dark conspiracy from the inside, and he’s furious when Emily plunges herself into danger for his sake. Forced into close quarters, their long-suppressed desire explodes into all-consuming passion.

Emily knows her love can save him . . . but Westwood is a man who doesn’t want to be saved.

I finally got to this book (thank you RNG). It is an excellent addition to the inferno club series. Picking up where the previous book left off, Drake has returned to the bad guys. The order is unsure of his loyalties and how dangerous he is to them. Emily, though, is certain that she can bring Drake home, not just to protect him, but to heal him from what he has endured.

Emily is not your typical innocent miss. She is brave, strong, well aware of most of the danger she is in, and steadfast in her love for Drake. Emily is determined not to let him become a truly evil man. She believes that by staying by his side she will always be able to bring him back from the brink. She is no milk and water miss. She is able to track Drake from England to Germany, with little money and knowing none of the languages. She really is perfect to heal a broken Drake. She is able to withstand the darkness within him and steadfast enough to lead him out.

Our tortured hero is playing a dangerous game with no plan for survival. Drake sees himself as done with this world. His body and mind have been broken and he has nothing left to live for except revenge. In some ways he feels that he does not deserve the purity of Emily’s love because of all the bad things he has done in the name of good. And he is very good at his game. He keeps everyone wondering which side he is truly on through most of the book. Even as the reader, knowing where he lies, there are times he is tempted by the power of the dark side, to try to lead them along a better path by ultimately destroying all the ideals within himself.

I really liked this book because of how well Ms. Foley portrayed the inner turmoil that the characters had to deal with (and not just Emily and Drake). Each had to face unspeakable and egregious acts and decisions, which mirror those many small acts and decisions that a person must face each day. Do we turn a blind eye or do we say something. Do we stand by or get involved. Do we love a person destroying themselves or do we walk away But in the end, the real question is are we strong enough to love and trust a person, to do something we know may lose us everything, in order to uphold the ideals and great good that they stood for. It is the hard decisions that have to be made and how Drake and Emily find a way to survive within those decisions that really make this story.

As for the romance, it is a not a book where the hero/heroine finally fall in love. Drake and Emily have been in love for a long time. They just finally needed the right push to make them act upon it. The threat of death is far greater then the threat of her father losing his job. They both rely on the other’s feelings to get through the desperate situation they are in. Each, in their own way, manipulates the other to try to achieve their goal. It is not the evil manipulation that our lovely bad guys like to play, but rather that subtle manipulation we use everyday to steer our loved ones in a better direction and to keep them safe. In the end, they build the trust needed between the two of them to allow the book to go out with a bang.

I am very much looking forward to the next book (Beau’s) and am very glad to hear that there will be an additional infernal club trilogy to follow after that

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