Coming Soon: CSN Stores Review!

As you guys may know, I absolutely LOVE (in big bold, capital letters) CSN Stores. I can spend hours on end going through all 200+ stores they have, and find everything from a new stool to stuff for my kitty to stuff that I just plain don't really need, but totally want.

Who's cat wouldn't want to play on this?!?

So pretty!!

CSNStores.com has so many different things at such affordable prices that it's hard pick just one thing. I was recently contacted to review another one of their awesome products. I've already spent forever going through their sites and I think I've got it narrowed down a little bit. I was thinking a new bookcase was in order, but saying that I can't really fit another one and I've still got one I need to put together, that idea went out the window. But I was able to think of something I do really need...

See, I love to sew. I find it to be something fun and really relaxing, but my sewing machine is one that my grandmother gave me and so you can probably guess it's a little on the older side. So I'm thinking about putting it towards a new sewing machine or maybe a serger, if I can swing it.

I'm still looking and trying to decide what I want, but look for a review coming soon!

Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey

Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey
Release Date: June 22, 2010
Publisher: Walker Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 272
Overall:


Blood Feud picks up just under two weeks after Hearts at Stake ended, and the Drake family has had a lot to deal with. All the vampire tribes are beginning to assemble and treaties are being made now that Lady Natasha is gone and the courts are preparing for Helena’s coronation. With the state that Lady Natasha left things between the tribes, this means all kinds of cleaning up for Liam and Helena to do, and that doesn’t take into consideration the state the caves and the farmhouse were both left in. That just means that the Solange, Lucy, and the Drake brothers have quite a journey ahead of them.


We meet Isabeau St. Croix (kind of weird, but totally cool name, right?). Isabeau is a Hound, which means she is part of the tribe of vampires that Montmartre created and basically left for dead. The catch is, Montmartre didn’t change Isabeau, his lieutenant, Greyhaven, did somewhere around 200 years ago. Isabeau has spent years waiting until she could get revenge on Greyhaven, and for all intents and purposes she still plans to do so, until she meets Logan Drake.


Now she must join forces with the Drakes’ and fight against the common enemy, Montmartre, who’s still after Solange, the crown, and the power both would bring him. Logan shows Isabeau that not all vampires, outside of the Hounds, are as bad as she seems to think, and that she doesn’t have to be so guarded all the time. But can Isabeau’s quest for revenge survive when it’s all over with? Will Logan be able to show her that there is more to life than living for revenge?


I was so excited to revisit the Drake family and Lucy of course. When I first learned that Blood Feud wouldn’t be from Lucy and Solange’s voices I was a bit disappointed, but since I was going to hear from Logan and this new, interesting, Isabeau I decided it would be alright. And it pretty much was. First, I must admit, I totally missed Lucy. But Logan, while not being as reckless and funny as Lucy, filled a different void, since I did adore him in Hearts at Stake.


Isabeau is a very interesting character, with an even more interesting past. Her voice isn’t as prominent as I would have thought it would be seeing as she is a totally fierce character, but they can’t all be Lucy. Sprinkled throughout are these chapters that are memories from Isabeau’s past and those take you back into the 1700s and are pretty neat, although the French sprinkled throughout was not as fun for me since I don’t know French. Oh, and just a tip, the French word “merde” is used a lot, and finally I looked it up…just so you know, it means “crap”.


I loved Logan’s voice. He’s funny and kind of sarcastic and a bit insane, but so are all the Drakes and so I love it, and it was a nice balance against the guardedness and proper way Isabeau’s voice was. I really enjoyed the romance between Logan and Isabeau that you could see coming before they ever met, but I didn’t like the fact that Blood Feud covers a matter of days, and you don’t really fall in love over only a few days. It just so doesn’t work like that, and while I know that a lot happened between them in those few days, and that it was obviously in the cards for them, it just was a bit unrealistic (an yes, I’m totally aware that it is a vampire novel and so realistic in the first place).


In all honesty, I didn’t enjoy Blood Feud quite as much as I did Hearts at Stake, but I did find it totally enjoyable and I’m still looking forward to the next story in The Drake Chronicles. I have a feeling that the sequels are going to continue in the same way, the common link will be one of the Drake brothers, but the voice will change. I am totally okay with that, as long as there is somewhat of a check in on the previous brothers and they’re counterparts.


Blood Feud carried over all the action and humor from Hearts at Stake, but for me the romance and the pacing faltered a bit. Maybe I’m totally missing Lucy and just wanted more from her. She didn’t even get to break a single nose! Although I have decided that I may just have to add all seven of the Drake brothers to my list of fictional crushes if they are as charming and cute as Nicholas and Logan. Alyxandra Harvey knows how to write a good story and she’s got a great cast of characters to do it with. I can’t wait for the next adventure that the Drake family (and their friends) take me on.


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I received this book as part of Around the World Tours.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Credit: Photobucket

The title and picture of this post says a lot about what this post is about. The past couple of months have been an off and messed up time for me here at the blog. There's been a lot going on at home and that's just not left much time or motivation for my beloved subscribers, but that's going to change.


Just a few short updates and I'll get to the point, but you guys know how much I love going off on my tangents and whatnot...


As most of you know, my year started off pretty rocky, and I really hadn't fully recovered from that, but throw in my best friend of about 8 years moving to the other side of the country, moving myself, my sister being sick, and my mother having another major surgery, I'm sure you can all understand or at least grasp why I've been all messed up. Last Thursday I took another hit...

Sassy and Batman...she loved to snuggle...

We lost Sassy. Another one of our babies. She became sick earlier last week and at first we just thought it was a bug, but since it didn't pass we were going to take her to the vet. But before we could, she left us. It was very unexpected, and has left us all completely heartbroken, even our other babies are in mourning (this does include the cat). They understand even less than we do and it breaks my heart even more to see them so sad and there's nothing I can do to make them understand why she's gone...


Anyways, now that I've managed to thoroughly depress you all and made myself cry...again....I'm going to get on with it. On top of that, my sister, now dubbed "Typhoid Mary," managed to spread the bug from hell throughout the house. I imagine something along the lines of the picture below running rampant on my immune system...

Credit: Suniedlite on Photobucket

Anyways, she's infected us all and it's made for a very icky couple of weeks in my house with five lovely people sick, but regardless of all of that. I have been reading (at least a little), and I do have some stuff planned and that plan includes me being back! Things might be a little slow for the next couple weeks as I get back in the swing of things and play catch up, but I'll get there.


Thanks for bearing with me, and I will have something special for you guys in the coming weeks!


XOXO


Samantha LeAnne

CSN makes me giddy!

Awesomeness at it's finest

I recently received another email from my wonderful CSN Stores contact! Come to find out, I'm lucky enough to be one of their CSN Preferred Webmasters!!! This makes me happy for an unlimited amount of reasons because that's good news for me, and also good news for you guys!

If you've been living under a rock for the past few months, CSN Stores sells all kinds of stuff, from bedroom furniture sets to lamps to shoes...oh man they have some great shoes...

But anyways! Keep watch for another exciting product review from me for CSN Stores!

CSN Product Review

A few weeks ago I told you guys about an upcoming review on a product for CSN Stores. As I told you guys before, I chose a Hobby Table. Well...my table arrived!!

I placed my order on a Friday, it shipped the following Monday and was here by Wednesday! That is super quick in terms of processing, shipping, and delivery.

The parts and pieces were all packaged well and they were all wrapped and sorted and NUMBERED! I loved that fact and the fact the there were thorough instructions that included a picture chart with the pictures and numbers or each part an piece. Despite there being like 500 little pieces, it was pretty easy to put together. I love putting things together, and so I put the whole thing together on my own, and it only took me about an hour, maybe a hour and a half. Which is actually not bad, because as you'll see in the final picture, it was a pretty good sized table and weighs somewhere in the ballpark of 40 lbs or so.

The finished product:

Once I finished the table and stool (which came with it!), and got it adjusted, I moved it in front of the living room window (only temporary). In the picture the table and drawers are empty, but that's because I haven't moved my sewing machine yet. I do know it's sturdy though, I tested it out with a box of books that weighs somewhere around 25 lbs and it didn't even wiggle or anything of the sort!

I absolutely love my Hobby Table, and so does my sister who has already decided that we have to share it so she can draw at it, and my dad has commented about using it too! I think this was the smartest thing I've bought in a long while and the quality is fantastic. 

I will definitely be shopping through CSN Stores again. They have great prices, quality products, and quick service and that makes me not only want to return, but also recommend them to others! Plus with all their stores, you can find almost anything you want!

Question: Book Summaries

Do you prefer summaries written by the reviewer or taken from other sources such as GoodReads, Amazon, etc?

Last night I was trying to write some reviews, and I was having some issues. As you know, I write my own summaries and I always have, but sometimes there are just some books that I just can't seem to summarize myself. Sequels are generally damn near impossible and then there are just some books that no matter how hard I try or how much I loved them, I just can't seem to summarize. I was wondering what your thoughts are on the subject of book summaries in reviews.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments! Thanks!

Upcoming Review: Hobby Table from CSN Stores!!

The other morning I awoke to the surprise of an email from the wonderfully generous people over at CSN Stores with an offer to review one of their products.

Now if you haven't heard of CSN Stores, they are a fabulous company that has 200+ stores and carries everything from lights to massage chairs to espresso machines to shoes to pet furniture. I scoured their stores for HOURS today and finally settled on one thing (and trust me, it was not easy). A few things that I really liked, that I either couldn't afford, or just didn't make the cut were:

          Pet Bookcase Climber Saunder                                    King Chair Bean Bag Bed

But what I did chose is something that I think is totally awesome! I chose this:

The Martin Universal Design Ashley Creative Hobby Table with Stool!

I'm not much of a drawer, but I do like to sew and I think this table will be perfect for my sewing machine. And as an even bigger plus, my sister who is a drawer, will be able to make use of it too, along with my mother who likes to work with mosaics. So this is something that even my family will be able to make use of!

So keep on the lookout for a review in the next couple of weeks! And check out CSNStores.com, they've got just about everything! Including stuff you probably didn't even think about...and a lot of it has free shipping!