BOOK REVIEW Wednesday: Never a Bride by Amelia Grey

Hello Everyone,

Oh those Regency romances, how I want to stay away from you. But once in a while I give in and read one of them, just like Never a Bride by Amelia Grey.

I actually enjoyed this very much, and usually I stay away from Regency romances because as much as I like reading romance, I really have a hard time enjoying them because all I can think of is the real treatment of women. LOL that's women studies fanatic for you.

Regardless, I liked this book because for once the main character was standing up to the conventions of the society. And I wanted to slap the male lead more than once, but what can I say... double standards and women. Either way, the book grabbed my attention and held it because I wanted to know who was the culprit! I do have to tell you, I got my suspicions about halfway, maybe even earlier, in the book and I was right.

Good read if you want some relaxing reading, without having to think too much. (just don't be me, and enjoy the book for what it is instead of analyzing the position of women in the society ;P)

4 out of 5

~ Lyuba

BOOK REVIEW Wednesday: Kiss at Your Own Risk by Stephanie Rowe

Hello my Funky Readers,

Today I have a typical naughty paranormal romance for you, but even if Kiss at Your Own Risk is pretty typical for its genre it is still a great book.

I don't remember laughing like this at a romance book in a LONG time! And needless to say, I loved it.

Trinity has a Black Widow curse on her, making her kill any guy she falls in love with. The curse will be broken if only she will go 5 years without killing anyone, and with only a week to go she is oh so close to her goal. Enter Blaine, a really tough macho warrior guy, who just escaped from 150 years of torture by an evil witch with an agenda to torture all her men into perfect mates for women. Did I mention that he was also forced to get in touch with his feminine side and he especially took to cross-stitching?

Of course these two have to meet, and of course Trinity has to watch herself or she will fall in love with Blaine and kill him. Of course they fall in love anyways. I giggled throughout the whole book, especially at Blaine's cross-stitching and other typical female talk. But can you really blame him? After 150 years of brainwashing, he had to start thinking that way or he would be dead. Now they are on the mission to kill a monster, because Black Widow curse gives Trinity the ability to see how to kill ANYONE, then to kill the evil witch and save Trinity's father all the while trying not to fall in love.

Even the bad guys are likable, even lovable. The witch, Angelica, has her reasons for doing what she does and I can say that I don't even blame her. Still, it is no excuse and she deserves what she got but it's nice to see bad guys who are not black and white bad.

And don't even get me started on the supporting characters! They are a hoot! Especially Death :)

I think if you're looking for a good laugh with a good dose of action and romance, this is the book for you!

5 out of 5  


~ Lyuba

Somehow I've missed my guest post...

Hello Everyone,

Yup, I've missed my guest post going live at Kirsti's The Notebook blog. :( Yup, shame on me. But if you want to find out how to spice up your everyday eyeliner look, head over to her blog and check it out! :)

~ Lyuba

I knew this would happen the moment I did it.

Hello Everyone,

So I've did it. I unsubscribed from GlossyBox and BirchBox. Of course, I knew that the moment I did it GlossyBox would have something amazing in their September box an they sure do. The product I've been wanting to try for the longest time, HD Brow Kit. Of course! Are they trying to rub it in for all those people who unsubscribed because of the additional shipping charge? If that's the case, it's working.

But here is the thing. I'm a redhead, and I need a very specific brow shade and GlossyBox even admitted on Twitter that all products are mailed out on random, so most likely the shades I got would be totally wrong for me anyway. And I haven't been able to access my beauty profile at all since I filled it out back in May, to check and make sure that my tastes didn't change. That's not cool, not cool at all. The issue of price is a big one for me too. As you may or may not know, I don't get paid in pounds. I get paid in dollars! Ok, I don't get paid at all since I'm an unemployed student, so it double hurts. 

And simple conversion will show that 12.95 British Pounds = 20.44805 U.S. Dollars. Freaking $20!!!! I can deal with $16-17 of what it was before, and sure $20 is not that much more but it's a principle now! These boxes are supposed to be a convenient and affordable way to try samples, but $20 is not affordable anymore for me. I'm sure if I had a job then I would think differently, but right now I can't afford to throw away $20 on something that might not even work for me. And most products from GlossyBox don't. At this point some of you might say that GlossyBox been pretty good at including one full size product in every box, and kudos to them for doing that but see the above argument. What if the product doesn't work? Product that I don't care for, like those nail wraps I got in August. Hm.... GlossyBox, if you had actually followed my beauty profile, you would have noticed that I didn't want any products that had to do with nails because I don't really have any nails to apply those products!!! My nails are short naturally, and I can't keep them long because they are very thin so putting any kind of nail wraps on will only draw attention to that.

Anyway, enough of a rant about my nails. I've mostly gotten GlossyBox because it was a fun surprise every month, and I loved waiting for it. Hoping that I would like most of the products that I otherwise would not buy. But when it turns out to be $20 every month for products I won't use, that's a little too much.

I've also unsubscribed from the BirchBox, not really because of the price ("true" $10 I can stomach) but because the last two boxes I've gotten just left me feeling MEH..... The samples were super tiny, plus I got the stupid nail wraps again (and I CAN update my beauty profile on BirchBox) and there were only 4 samples instead of usual 5 for GlossyBox. At least the are not raising the shipping, so I might come back to them at some point in the future.

And their customer service is very good. My August box took a month to arrive, but I held off emailing them because I knew that APO mail can take longer. Finally, after a month I did email and got a response the next day saying that they will mail out the replacement for me. Of course, that same day I got my box, and I frantically emailed them back asking not to mail anything to me. Turned out they already did (they sure do work fast), and I was told to enjoy both of my boxes. I actually got my 2nd August box the same day I got my September one, but even then the contents were pretty disappointing. I know that $10 is not much, but the products included just were not worth it for me the price tag I paid. It's not really the money, but the disappointment.

At this point most of you are probably screaming at me to get some photos up, but I'm pretty upset right now (not a good day of reasons other than beauty boxes) so I really don't want to deal with photos. If I feel better, I'll add photos to illustrate my point. If not, just google the content of the boxes and see what I mean for yourself.

Lyuba

P.S. On the bright side, I ordered the new limited edition palette from Sleek. The one that is available exclusively on their website. It better not arrive smashed!

BOOK REVIEW Wednesday: A Kiss of Adventure by Catherine Palmer

Hello Everyone,

Today's book is A Kiss of Adventure
by Catherine Palmer and I didn't know it, but apparently it's a first book in the Treasures of the Heart series.

Product Description

Desperate and on the run, Tillie Thornton finds herself in an uneasy partnership with Graeme McLeod, a daring adventurer who comes out of nowhere to thwart the plot of Tillie’s would-be kidnappers. Now these two must join forces against their common enemies, as well as the challenges of nature, as they embark on a quest that could bring them the answers they seek—or cost them everything.
Formerly published as The Treasure of Timbuktu.

~*~*~*~
I downloaded it for free on kindle since the title was catchy, and it was in the romance section. I had no idea it was a Christian romance though. I would say that normally I'm all for it, but it took me FOREVER to get through this book! Ok, more like 8 days but for me that's forever.

I liked the preface of the story, and it was a fun history/culture lesson but other than that... it was pretty boring to me. I'm sure the biggest reason why it seemed so boring was the constant preaching which I couldn't skip or avoid because there was just so much of it, and literally on every page. I also was very annoyed with the main female character, she is so indecisive and just not interesting. I kept wishing for her to just speak up her mind since it seemed like she already made up her mind about certain things, well if you did then SAY IT!!!

My favorite character was actually Khatty, who is not a main character at all. But her story made me want to research more about Tuareg women. The bad guys just didn't feel bad enough, well everyone just kept doing the same things over and over again. Kidnap, escape, kidnap, escape, repeat. I didn't feel like anyone was in real danger, even if supposedly the Tuareg leader was this chopping heads happy man. There wasn't enough adventure, considering it should be an adventure romance? Oh, and the prologue was totally not needed, it set up the stage for what seemed like a mystical adventure (maybe I've been reading too many paranormal romances lately?) but the actual story turned out anything but.

Overall this wasn't a bad book and last 30 or so pages made up for the overall mundane feel of it. I think if you're into Christian fiction (and don't mind a lot of Scripture quoting) you will really like this book. 

I give it 4 out of 5 because it really wasn't THAT bad, just not as good as I was hoping.

A Kiss of Adventure


~ Lyuba

Weekend Blog Hopping #5

Hello Everyone,

Time flies! Add your blog to the Weekend Beauty Blog Hop!

~ Lyuba

Sleek Caribbean Curacao Love #8 Color blocking

Hello Everyone,

As much as I love Curacao, I'm starting to get tired of it... after all this is my 8th look! In reality, I've done more looks than I've posted, but the rest of them I didn't take any photos. So I've been playing with this palette for a long time and I'm ready to move on to something different. Plus I think we all can agree that I've given it a lot of love.

For my last look I've decided to do some color blocking. I've been hearing all about it as the fall trend, and I've come to the conclusion that I've always liked it, just never knew the proper name for those crazy color combinations. For once, I'm actually with the trend instead of doing my own thing.

I've decided that I needed to use the pink shade, since it barely got any love from me.

Actually there is one shade that I didn't even touch, the orange one! As much as I love reds in eye shadows, I really dislike orange (or that particular shade at least).

I tried to take the color blocking to the next level with Collection 2000 Cream Puff in Fairy Cake. I actually had such high hopes for this shade, it was my favorite out of all of them but alas.. I really really HATE it on my lips! I don't think the shade works for me at all. :( I had a suspicion that I won't look good in orange toned lip products, and now I know for sure.

What do you think?

~ Lyuba

BOOK REVIEW Wednesday: Veronica and the Vampire by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

Hello Everyone,

Today I have another paranormal romance for you, and this time it is Veronica and the Vampire by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom. I'm thinking that I'm getting tired of typical romances (paranormal or not), too bad most of my kindle is filled with them. Because they are just the easiest thing to read to relax, except in my case I'm taking too many women studies classes and tend to over think them.

Product Description

Veronica Davis is a woman with a desperate need.

If she doesn't bring a date to her big sister's wedding, the L for loser that's imprinted on her forehead will become permanent, as far as her family is concerned. And heck, she's started to believe it, herself.

Why else would a girl end up at a Los Angeles escort agency with the strange acronym V.A.M.P. Inc? Where you pick your date from a row of coffins in the agency's basement. Guys who can't meet you at lunch time, due to the fact that they sleep until sundown.

You know . . . . vampires.

And when she meets the unearthly handsome Christian Dale, the agency's odd acronym begins to take on a whole new meaning. Tackling her sister's wedding actually starts to seem like a piece of cake . . .

From the Author

Hi everyone! Welcome to the world of paranormal dating, where you just never know what will happen or who might turn up. Take Veronica Davis, for instance, and her romp through the perils of choosing someone out of this world to take to a family wedding. Ouch!

This book was so much fun to write, and is dedicated to every woman who has ever dated, whether they remember these dates fondly or not. It's fluffy, "girly" fun. And I've packed this book with loads of good Karma for readers, just in case dating is still in your cards.

Happy reading!
Linda

~*~*~*~
It is pure, fluffy, girly fun when you like books where a woman completely looses her mind when she in a proximity of a hot guy. And no, not loosing her mind because he is a vamp and has some powers over her but because she is so turned on that she can't think straight. Yeah rrrrrriiiiiiight! Oh, and the whole book (novella) is loaded with main character double guessing, trying to convince herself, just being not sure, constantly going on and on about how terrible her family was to her and saying that if someone met her family they would understand. Well we do meet her family briefly, and I still don't get it why she is so insecure and afraid of them. So that was mighty annoying, because of the story we get constant whining.... and inability to accept that the guy is a real vampire. But wait, I think I know why! She is so turned on that she can't think straight!

Ok, so it's a novella but there still wasn't much of a story. First third was spent convincing herself that she DOES need to go in and get herself a paid date. The other two thirds (and I looked at my Kindle percentage) were spent with more whining, except here she was also trying to justify dating a vampire and not wanting to get bitter. Honestly, for all the sexual tension between them I would have at least expected some hanky panky, but no, it wasn't there either.

I gave it 3 stars because the book is very well written and reads in on breath, but it didn't get higher rating because of WHAT it was written about.

(and I am upset I paid my 99c for it!!! )

3 out of 5

~ Lyuba

Sleek Caribbean Curacao Love #7

Hello Everyone,

I have to admit I am not sure where I was going with this look. It started out as just a funky eyeliner look, then I decided that it didn't work and filled in the eyeshadow. So yeah... I'm not too happy with it, but I think I'm just too hard on myself as usual.

I used Wet n Wild liquid eyeliner in Blue. It actually held up against my glasses (in the inner corners of my eyes) and didn't smudge! I was pretty impressed because after I finished putting makeup on I realized that it probably was pretty impractical to put eyeliner/eyeshadow that far down my nose. Whoops.

What do you think? Also, please take a moment to vote on my poll on the sidebar. It will only take a moment! Thank you! :)

~ Lyuba

Weekend Blog Hopping #4

Hello Everyone,

It's that time again :) Check out these great blogs and make sure to add yours too. We're trying to get to 50 blogs.

~ Lyuba

Please help me decide on my next 7 Days Palette poll

Hello My Funky Readers,

I'm about to post my last look for the 7 Days Palette with Sleek's Curacao, and I need a new palette to use. The problem is, I don't know which one! I have so many pretty Sleek palettes that I haven't even used yet and I simply can't decide. So I'm asking you to help me! Please vote on my poll below and let me know which palette YOU think I should use next. :)

You might notice that I didn't include Storm or Sparkles, or some others. "Some others" I don't have sadly, and Storm is well used. Sparkles palette sucks and I don't think I can bring myself to use it for 7 days straight. Maybe one day I'll give it a go to prove to myself that there is hope for it, but not right now.

Please vote!

~ Lyuba

UK/US Brands Giveaway Reminder

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick reminder that my US/UK Brands thank you giveaway ends tomorrow! So if you're always wanted to get a hold of those hard to get brands from either side of the pond, this giveaway is for you.

US Brands

UK Brands

Good luck and thank you again for reading my blog! :)

~ Lyuba

Sleek Caribbean Curacao Love #6: Lets Play with Contrast

Hello Everyone,

Today I've decided to play with contrasting colors although I am not sure I'm that happy with the result. Should have used red instead!

I was actually inspired by BeautyUK's Statement Blog, the middle makeup image (scroll way down). Of course there is no neutral or skin tone shades in Curacao palette so I had to improvise.

Should have used red instead of yellow.... totally should have LOL.

What do you think? Have you been inspired by runway makeup looks lately?

~ Lyuba

Sleek Caribbean Curacao Love #5 Inspired by Obi

Hello my Funky Readers,

Today's look was inspired by one of the obi that I will own very very soon :) I fell in love with it the moment I saw it and I can't wait to get it so I can create some ensembles with it! I see so much funky potential there ;P Of course Sleek Curacao palette had just the right shades for what I had in mind.

Photo taken by Naomi

I'm using two of my favorite shades from the palette. I can't help it, I love them so much!

I still can't get the crisp separation down, shades just want to blend and blend on me. But I'm not despairing, because when the eyes are open it's not as noticeable. Ok, it's not really noticeable at all! :)

What do you think?

~ Lyuba