BOOK REVIEW: The Rhine Maiden by Erin Evans

Hello Everyone,

Ever since I got my iPhone few month ago and downloaded the Kindle app on it, I've been reading non-stop. My husband gets on my case saying that I need to use our actual Kindle, but he just doesn't get it! I never ever EVER go anywhere without my phone, so I can read anytime I have a spare minute. Plus my purse/bag is already heavy with stuff when I got out, and I really don't want to lug kindle around.

Anyways, I've been reading so much that I've decided to see if I can read 100 books this year, so I signed up for Goodreads Reading Challenge, Basically you get to pick the amount of books you want to read in a year, and Goodreads will monitor it for you, provided you don't forget to record what you've read. You can see my progress on the sidebar, right under all the blogs I follow. Mind you, I didn't really start the reading challenge at the beginning of this year... I started it around March-April.... Yup, I know it's impressive :) (And I can't even include the Russian books I've read! BUMMER!) But really, not so much. I read mostly "fluff" books, or romance and fantasy. Books that are very easy to read and books that I can go through literally in few hours. I read these because I need something to take my mind off constant schoolwork and general unhappiness of being in a foreign country with a terrible (for us, Americans) exchange rate, which prevents me going places and doing stuff. So I turn to books. Light, "fluffy", easy to read books that help me pass the time and forget just how unhappy I can be.

Another reason why I love Kindle so much is because I can get free books on it! I check Amazon regularly to see if there are any new books on specials, and sometimes there are some real gems in the free section. The Rhine Maiden by Erin Evans is one of those books.

Product Description

Piper Cavanaugh is The Rhine Maiden, a descendent of the sirens who lured sailors to their deaths with beautiful singing. After vowing never to use her supernatural power of command, she is more than happy to stay at home with her two little girls, but one little slip-up and her secret has come back to bite her – literally. Now she must win permission to join the United Supernatural Beings, or it’s open season on all of humanity.
While juggling toddlers, keeping her husband in the dark, and babysitting her rebellious kid sister, Piper finds herself befriending a vampire, stealing from murderous witches, and doing battle with Satan, otherwise known as her mother-in-law. And she thought grocery shopping with her kids was hard!

My Thoughts:
The main reason I got this book was because it was free (yup, I'm one of those people) but also because the title sounded interesting. Although I have to confess, because of the title I also didn't start reading it right away. I'm taking some WWII related classes right now, as well as being from Ukraine, and all I could think of was Rhine = Germany = Nazis. Don't ask, I didn't think that this book was anything related to Nazis at all, but nevertheless for some reason I was associating the name with them and didn't want to touch it. Yup, I'm also strange.

The story follows Piper, the stay at home mother of two demonic toddlers who also has the power of Voice, making her being able to command people. She sworn not to use the power ever again (unless in a dire situations, aka when it comes to her dog Harvey) after she had a scary incident in university which made her change universities and move cities. For 6 years Piper was able to keep her power under control, until she lost her temper with her little sister Sarah and came under the radar of USB (United Supernatural Beings) again.

This is where the fun starts! Now Piper has to petition USB to join them, while trying to not get killed, while still taking care of her children, while keeping it all a secret from her husband Mark. Enter Cecily, her new next door vampire neighbor who ended up becoming Piper's permanent side-kick. Then enter a werewolf and a fae who need Piper's help, along with a bunch of evil witches who really don't want Piper to stick her nose in their affairs. And of course we can't forget about little sister Sarah, who is a general pain-in-a-butt type of character (Sorry Sarah, but I'm with Piper on that regardless of how misunderstood you think you are). 

The book grabbed my attention from the first page, and I was chuckling all the way through at Piper's parenting methods. I don't have kids, but I can relate. And her mother-in-law was making me so mad, I wanted to throw something at her. Or better yet, kick her really hard where it hurts! I loved all the supporting characters too, especially Otis the cat. Ok ok, I meant Cecily, the uber cool vampire chic who can kick ass and eat anything she wants while not gaining an ounce of weight. There were other miscellaneous characters that helped to bring the book alive, and I'm hoping to see them again in the next books.

Piper is very real, maybe a little ditzy (but who wouldn't be after dealing with her kids) but still able to think on her feet. She cares about her family, and loves her children more than anything, but at the same time she takes her situation (and the fate of humanity) very seriously. So she works around her parenting schedule and even asks her mother-in-law to babysit two days in a row, so she could go take care of her paranormal business. Piper is a character I could relate too, someone who has problems and not always a clear way of dealing with them.

There is also not an ounce of sex in this book, which was very refreshing considering that's where all the paranormal fantasy books are leaning these days. Maybe I've been reading too many naughty romance novels lately, but it was nice to see a heroine who didn't loose her ability to think the second she saw a hot guy. (Um, Piper = married mother of two here thank you very much)

There were few minor things I didn't particularly cared for, namely the aliens..... aliens huh? But I know there is a higher purpose to that, so I'll just wait and see. Then there is the vampire character that briefly appeared at the beginning, but then disappeared for the rest of the book. I kept waiting for him to jump out and attack Piper, but no, he must have went into vampire hibernation. And finally Sarah and Piper's mother-in-law. They were so real that I was reliving Piper's experiences with them, and it was making me mad! I have to applaud Erin Evans on her writing here.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a different type of paranormal fantasy.

5 out 5 

Go check out this book on Amazon and let me know what you think! And if you like it, there is a second book in this series out right now, It Never Rhines but It Pours. Erin Evans is currently in the process of writing the 3rd book and I can't wait!

~ Lyuba

EOTD with Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Gash

Hello Ladies,

Today I have an opposite EOTD from the one I did a few days ago, where instead of using Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Gash as an accent, I'm using it as my main eyeliner.

I use GOSH Long Lasting Eyelining Pen in Turquoise as accent here.

  Can you tell this is my favorite eyeliner? I reach for it the most out of all the ones I have.

What do you think?

~ Lyuba

FOTD with GOSH Long Lasting Eyeliner Pen in Turquoise

Hello Ladies,

It's been so hot lately that I still can't bring myself to put any eyeshadows on. Instead, I keep reaching for my eyeliners. Today I show you the look I did couple of days ago using  GOSH Long Lasting Eyeliner Pen in Turquoise. I love these eyeliner pens, and have 3 of them.

I accented the look with my favorite Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Gash. Aside from the bottle being not economical and annoying, I love everything about this eyeliner.

 I'm wearing my current Go To mascara, Tarte's Light Camera Splashes and lots and lots of Benefit Posietint. I wanted to make that it will show up on my cheeks! 

What do you think? Have you used any of the GOSH eyeliner pens?

~ Lyuba

Beautiful Shoes Will Take You to Beautiful Places Sunday #2

Hello my Lovely Readers,

I've missed the last two Sundays because I've been so busy with the schoolwork, but now that the workload is off me, I'm back! Today I present to you my all time favorite boots! You might be wondering why boots, when it's super hot outside but the weather in UK is so unpredictable that it could be hot today and really cold tomorrow. 

I bought them online last year, and let me tell you buying shoes online is a gamble! One time I ordered 3 pairs of different shoes, in exactly the same size and one of them was too small, one too big and another perfect. Go figure. These were perfect and I was ecstatic because I really didn't want to return them!

These shoes took me all over Ukraine on my first-ever-since-I-moved-to-US-trip-back! That was 9 years I didn't see my homeland! And after hours and hours of walking, my feet were not hurting at all! Ok, they were tired but not as hurting as when you wear uncomfortable shoes. I literally went a whole day in them (a whole like 12hr day) of walking around places and they were so comfy. Now I wear them when I go on long shopping trips and I want to look good but comfortable. Sorry, no fugly tennis shoes that American tourists are so known to wear for me.

They also match everything! Just check these photos out. The first two are from Ukraine, and the other shows how good these shoes look with kimono.

Wearing traditional Ukrainian shirt here :)

They are by BC Footwear and called Under Oath. Unfortunately they are hard to find now, because otherwise I would also get the beige pair. What I like about this brand, aside from their shoes being very comfortable, is inside on every shoe they have a little saying. On these they say "BC because all that glitter is gold". I used to think that it was standard saying for every pair of their shoes, but I have 2 other pairs and the sayings are different! Yup, I went shopping for more and I'm about to buy another pair... :) (hope they will fit, since I'm ordering online)

What do you think about my favorite boots?

~ Lyuba

July 2011 Empties

Hello my Funky Readers,

I can't believe it's time for another empties post! I get so ridiculously excited when I finish something, especially if it's a makeup item. I have two items right now where I've hit the pot, and I can't wait to finish those too although it will be a good several month before I do. :( But anyways, here are the stuff that I've finished in July!

1. St.Ives Energizing Citrus Moisturizing Body Wash - this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've used it, and every time I think that it smells so much better in the bottle than when used on the body. Will I ever learn?

2. Garnier Fresh Essential Cleansing Milk & Toner - you can read my review here. I love those and already started on backups.

3. Garnier Fresh Essential Eye Makeup Remover - it sucks. You can read why here.

4. Batiste Original Dry Shampoo - That's the one that came with June's GlossyBox. I love Batiste, and will buy this over and over again.
.
5. Simple Radiance Brightening Moisturiser SPF10 - you can read my full review here, but just to sum it up: I love it, but wish for higher SPF.

6. Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent -  it's great and I'm on my 2nd one right now. I see myself buying it again.

7. The Body Shop Peppermint Intensive Foot Rescue - I got one of these for my mom when I went to visit last year, and she swears by it. I on the other hand think it only works as preventative. Which it is, according to the package. So it works very well for me in winter, but the second I start wearing sandals again my feet turn into dry nightmare no matter how much I soak and scrub them. I am not sure if I will buy it again because I'm not loving the scent much, and I've only bought it because it worked so well for my mom.

What did you finish this month? :)

~ Lyuba