Review: Claw Mark by Lily Harlem

Claw Mark by Lily Harlem
Purchase link: Amazon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Heat rating:

Being married to two sexy vampires is as exciting as it is dangerous. One minute I'm on top of the world, ecstasy my best friend, the next I'm running for my life. But it's okay with Aimery and Ryle at my side-they've sworn to love and protect me and keep me satisfied until I'm old and tray.

But when everything crashes down, literally, I can see no way out of the darkness-death my best option. Until, that is, two unusual men who live in the Canadian Rockies come bounding to my aid.

Gentle Caleb and prickly Isaac have secrets. They're full of passion, desire, love and lust and their isolated lives weaved with mystery. But I know what they are. I'm not completely naive. I'm also craving some serious satisfying, a distraction from my dilemma, and it seems these guys are up for the job. Will I ever be normal again? Or will my life always be turbulent, terrifying and tempting beyond belief? Nothing is certain in a world of vampires and shifters.

Publisher's Note: This book is a sequel to Bite Mark. A Romantica(r) paranormal erotic romance from Ellora's Cave

For those of you who have read my reviews, you already know that I am a huge fan of Lily's work and this is no exception.

This is a great continuation from Bite Mark and it picks up right where Bite Mark leaves off.

It starts off with a bang and the pace is quick while Ryle, Aimery and Bea rush to escape Elfrida's clutches. Then the story turns as tragedy strikes and Bea is left on her own, only to be rescued by two sexy wolf shifters.

Bea's grief is tangible as she suffers over a heartbreaking loss and she finds comfort with Caleb and Isaac. Caleb is sweet and tender and Isaac is intense and protective. Both of them are a wonderful balm to Bea's suffering as they help her see that life is worth living, even after a terrible tragedy and she is strong enough to move on.

One thing that I am very glad for though is that while Bea found comfort with Caleb, she didn't with Isaac. Isaac was more of just a protector and companion. I don't know how that matters but it does. That just seems to be a line that I am glad she did not cross. 

The story climaxes as all the elements from Bite Mark come together and Bea gets her happy ever after with a wonderful surprise at the end. This story is at times sweet, at times sexy, and at times intense. It's wonderfully written and a great conclusion to what started in Bite Mark.

You can read my review of Bite Mark here.

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January 2015 makeup and beauty favorites

I always say this ... but it's that time of the month again, time for monthly favorites, of course. I've skipped a few monthly favorites in the last couple of months because for the most part I haven't been using much makeup and on top of that we've been spending more time in the city and I've been traveling back and forth between home and the city.

I have not been carrying much makeup with me and mostly been using the same stuff, but this last month, even though it's been just the same stuff that I've been using because that's what I've taken into the apartment in the city with me, I've been loving a few of the things that I've been using.

I don't know if I will have monthly favorites every month since we're mostly in the city during the week and I'm only home on the weekends. I'm not switching out my very small amount of makeup I have in the city, but when there are new things introduced and things I fall in love with, I will definitely mention it in a favorites video.

I'm also experimenting with this video as my video camera died and I'm attempting to film with my phone camera. I have to say, I'm happy with the quality and the sound of the video but I need to work on the angles of the video. It's not sitting quite at the right height and the right angle. Plus, I'm also filming in the apartment, which is totally new for me. Forgive me, if the video is not great.

Anyway, I'll stop carrying on and let you get on with the video.

What are your monthly makeup and beauty favorites?


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A list of all my book reviews

Here is a list of my book reviews as I do them, starting with this introductory post of announcing that I'm doing book reviews. The most recent reviews are closest to the top. The further you scroll down, the older the reviews will be.

Book Review

Video Review

Book Review

Book Review

Book Review

Book Review

Book Review

Video Review

Video Review / Book Review

Video Review

Book Review

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A list of all mybeauty, makeup and health posts

Makeup
30 January 2015:I can't get Mac Studio Fix Powder Foundation to work for me
26 January 2015: Illamasqua makeup collection
22 April 2014: Staying shine free ... a new foundation and primer combo
1 January 2014: Makeup no buy / low buy 2014 ... reigning in my makeup addiction
25 July 2013: Feeding my foundation fixation with Findation - color matching without testing
3 July 2013: How I color match foundation at the drugstore


Beauty
5 May 2014: Continuing to use the Clarisonic and its results
20 March 2014: How your brain and words affect your sense of smell
8 June 2013: My experience with the Clarisonic Mia - initial reaction and breakouts


Health and diet
30 June 2014: Moving and stress is bad for the diet
19 February 2014: Having trouble getting back into it
11 February 2014: Juicing for life, for health, for breakfast
27 January 2014: Back to the diet ...
11 December 2013: There's a lot of eating ahead ... my strategy to stick to the diet
21 November 2013: A 300 calorie day ... what !?!?!
31 October 2013: Portion control is really important
27 October 2013: Progress is slow, but I keep going
27 August 2013: An update on Plexus Slim, a continuing weight loss journey
1 August 2013: Weekend naughtiness, counting the cost and paying the price
11 July 2013: Some progress and holy frack! that's a lot of calories
27 June 2013: Dieting sucks but I press on
20 June 2013: Getting serious about weight loss, calorie counting and a small Plexus Slim update
12 June 2013: Plexus Slim experience - my first 16 days of taking Plexus Slim


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I can't get Mac Studio Fix Powder Foundation to work for me

While I'm doing book reviews and other booky stuff, every now and then I like to throw in a non-book related post since this is Deanna's World and my world is much bigger than just books and this did start out as a makeup blog. :-) That said ...

Mac Studio Fix and I are not friends. Really, I've tried but we just can't seem to get along.

I have read reviews and watched Youtube videos about it and because of the hype surrounding it, decided to try it out. I have also watched numerous tutorials on how to make it work for you and for it to look great and none of the things I've tried have worked for me.

First off, I don't know why people keep saying it has great coverage. It doesn't for me and I've used a fluffy brush and a dense powder brush with it. The only thing I haven't tried is packing it on with the sponge that comes with it. Perhaps, that should be my next move.

Then, there's the fact that it just does not seem to like to apply well on my skin. I've tried it on bare skin after moisturizer and got barely there coverage. I've tried it with a BB cream as a base and it seemed to do okay but looked really cakey, although I have to say this time the coverage seemed pretty good though I still did not like the way it looked. Finally, I tried it with a primer and I have to say this seemed to have worked the best. I guess I just need to make sure I have a primer on before putting the powder on.

As to the finish, I find it very powdery and cakey looking. I watched a video by gossmakeupartist

talk about making it look like skin by spraying a makeup setting spray or something like Mac Fix Plus on it, but that didn't really work as well for me as I would have liked, though it did seem to help a bit. I have also tried dusting a thing layer of Mac Mineralized Skin Finish Natural on it and that seems to be the best result that I am getting.

After all that, am I going to keep trying with the product or am I going to chuck it out?

Well, I can't bring myself to chuck it out because that thing is bloody expensive and I paid a lot of money for it. It just seems like such a waste, so I think I will probably persevere with it.

I think the best technique I have found to work with it is to apply primer first, then buff it into the skin with a powder brush (like the Elf powder brush) and then apply a light dusting of Mac Mineralized Skin Finish Natural over it with a fluffy powder brush. It's not ideal, but that seems to be the best I can do with it.

I have yet to try the sponge that comes with it and perhaps I will. I'm going out tonight for dinner so I might try it then and see how it goes. Maybe, I will love with with the sponge. Who knows?!?

Do you have a product that just does not seem to want to cooperate with you but because you've paid a lot of money for it, you just want to try to make it work? Tell me about it in the comments below!

UPDATE: I've applied the Mac Studio Fix Powder with the sponge it came with, on top of a primer, then set it with the Mac Mineralized Skin Finish Natural. It looks decent enough but very powdery and slightly cakey looking but it's the best I've had in terms of application of it. I've included a photo I took of how I look with it on (no filter). You can see where a lot of the pigmentation on my cheek is still peeking through. I'm going to say this gives me light to medium coverage. I'm also not digging the powdery look although that doesn't come across as much with the photo. What do you think?

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Review: The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance by Trisha Telep

The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance by Trisha Telep
Purchase link: Amazon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Heat rating:

Twenty tales of swashbuckling adventure and passionate romance from some of the most exciting names in romance fiction, including Margo Maguire, Autumn Daw, Sandy Blair, Michele Maddox, Patti O'Shea, Holly Lisle, Kimberly Raye, and Madeline Baker.

Join the heroines in this delightful anthology as they step backwards - or forwards - in time, transported to the Scottish Highlands or yesteryear, the Wild West, or the distant future. Propelled through time into situations rich with possibility and fraught with danger, these sexy, sassy heroines each seek their dreamed of happy ending.

Will souls separated by time be reunited - or kept apart - forever?

I really enjoyed this collection of stories. They have been great for when I was short of time but wanted something quick and complete to read, and they were also perfect for times when I was waiting on an appointment or for the train.

The stories were all well written and well edited, although for some of the stories, the eBook formatting was a little off and some words ran into each other - not too much of a problem as I was able to figure out the words.

As to the stories themselves, I enjoyed all of them, perhaps some more than others.

They were also great introductions to authors that I had not read previously and there are a few that I might go check out from having read their work here.

I can't review each story individually since it has taken me well over a year, perhaps even two to get through the entire collection, so the earlier stories have faded from my memory, but lots of Highlanders and hunky Scots - they seem to lend themselves to time travel stories well. I'm definitely planning on reading other "mammoth books" by Trisha Telep.

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Illamasqua makeup collection

I've decided that I really should feature my videos from the YouTube channel on the blog as well as this will provide some variety to the blog and truly encompass the name of both the blog and the YT channel, Deanna's World.

My latest video talks about my Illamasqua collection. I love Illamasqua products. I find them to be super high quality and very luxurious.

Of course, they are also rather expensive and being based in the UK with the Pound Sterling so strong right now, it's a spendy piece of makeup to acquire.I usually buy my Illamasqua makeup when they have a sale on.

My two favorite items from the lines are the powder foundation (I love the coverage, it's amazing!) and their blushes. I have two of their powder foundations, one in my skintone shade and one darker that I use to contour. I love them both. I also have 4 of their powder blushes and I'm constantly stalking their website to see if there are more blushes that I don't own to add to my collection.

I won't keep going on, but I'll let you watch the video to see what I have. I've even done some swatches!

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