Great book with a fun story and engaging plot

I received this book as a freebie from bzzagent! I was so excited to get to preview this book before it was released to the general public. I really enjoyed the Dark Monk for several reasons – it was an engaging fast paced book with all the elements that comprise a good story. It contained mystery that kept you guessing until the very end and romance, action and even highway robbery! All in all the story is wonderfully done and keeps you addicted until the last page. My only complaint is that the story line seemed better suited to this day and age instead of about 400 years ago. It seemed like the main characters easily digressed from their lives in pursuit of treasure and excitement rather than how I imagine they would have been forced to live their lives during this time period.

That said, the book is fun and I enjoyed it a lot. There are three main characters in this book – Simon the town Medic, Jacob, the town hangman and his daughter, Magdalena, a fiery woman with lots of personality to keep the story engaging. She and Simon are each other’s love interests and they quarrel about things in a cute way that makes you really feel their love for each other and feel bad that they let silly differences divide them.

The story begins with an attention getting murder of the local priest and the start of a search for the legendary Templar treasure. I have always loved the stories that surround the Templar Treasure and the intrigue that surrounds that. So this story was enjoyable for that reason. This book has enough twists and turns and “I-didn’t-see-that-coming” moments to keep the reader interested. I would recommend this book for a light hearted read and several enjoyable afternoons.

Woolite Rocks!

Yesterday I held my Woolite party thanks to Crowdtap! Crowdtap provided amazing samples and lots of great stuff to help me hold a fun and engaging party with my friends. I was a little disappointed that more people didn't come - I had invited about 12 but some couldn't make it and last minute, two of my people got in a bike accident and couldn't make it - don't worry! Everyone is fine but we had a smaller party then anticipated. Still, those that did make it had a fabulous time and there were lots of laughs and fun to be had.


I started by decorating the house with Woolite things everywhere! Up top you can see my table with samples and the Woolite bag and my bottles of Woolite - this was an easy product to promote since I already use and LOVE Woolite. I had a bottle of light and dark Woolite already in my home for use and so everyone got to smell how fabulous this product is and I showed them my jeans that are washed in it and have been about 20 times and still look great!

We started off the party with a fashion show - It was just a tiny bit slow and my friends looked a little intimidated by the idea, until all of sudden, they just got into it and the camera was being passed back and forth and everyone was vying for attention! It was pretty cute and they were thrilled to be having so much fun.




















Next, we divided into teams of 2 people each and played the trivia game. Everyone had so much fun with this and they were shouting out answers trying desperately to beat the other team.



























I asked everyone to show me some torture going on without the use of Woolite! And this is what I saw!








And next to show a little love to those jeans thanks to Woolite and how it protects and keeps jeans looking like NEW!


















It was a great time for everyone and everyone was thrilled when I handed the samples out for winning and an extra one as they walked out the door. I intend to talk to the people who couldn't come and let them know how great Woolite is. I think my friends definitely learned some things that they didn't know before and I know it will make them really want to start using Woolite to keep their jeans looking like new. I was excited by how responsive they all were and what a great time they had. I am thankful to Crowdtap and to Woolite for this great experience - I know that I actually learned alot thru all this! I was already an avid Woolite user, but this makes me more proud of that fact and definitely more likely to keep using Woolite for my future jean washes!

My New Read

Well, I have been reading this book for a couple of days now and I am HOOKED! This is an exciting book with unique characters and an engaging plot - I don't want to put it down to work or cook or do anything else! I am thinking of hiding out this weekend to just read and read. Well, ok I guess it is Father's Day and that will be impossible. But this book is great. I will put a link below so that you can grab it and read with me. I received this book as part of a campaign from Bzzagent on my Kindle! I think this is the coolest campaign yet! I love to read and I can't wait to tell you all more how I feel about this book.

No spoilers now...you will just have to check it out for yourself. :) Have fun!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006JTTK3O/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=darkmonk_bzzagent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B006JTTK3O

Newest Bzzcampaign - The Dark Monk

I just got accepted into this newest Bzzcampaign! I am so excited - I have been wanting to read these books and have even noticed them in bookstores. I will be blogging more as I receive the books on my Kindle and can start reading them to let you know what I really think. But for now, I just wanted to alert you that I am about to start reading an International bestseller Hangman's Daughter and the sequel, the Dark Monk. Here are some links if you want to purchase the books or follow along with me. I received these free of charge from Bzzagent via my kindle. Thank you, Bzzagent!!

Link to The Dark Monk:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006JTTK3O/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=darkmonk_bzzagent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B006JTTK3O

Link to The Hangman's Daughter:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003P9XMFI/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=darkmonk_bzzagent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B003P9XMFI

Ball Park Takes Memorial Day to new Heights!!

Yesterday I had my family and friends over for a Ball Park Memorial Day party! We enjoyed the Ball Park burgers and I told them how bzzagent had given me this free product to try. My Dad was skeptical about how these burgers would taste and took a long time looking at the package before I cooked them. But afterwards, as he was enjoying the burger, he was very impressed and said how tasty they were.

My friend, Jon after eating the burger was raving about how great they were and how he wanted to purchase some because living in a small apartment, he isn't allowed to have a grill and now he can get that same grill taste without having a grill! He was really excited to get some of these on his own. The words around the table were, "tasty, juicy, grilled taste, yummmm". Everyone agreed that they did not have a frozen taste at all! I was very excited about how everyone responded and I handed out coupons to everyone as they finished eating. I know these will get a repeat performance around here! Thank you bzzagent and Ball Park!

Wonderful Food doing Wonders for my Cat!

I am part of a bzzagent campaign in which I was given a free bag of this food to try for my cat. After using this food for several weeks, I wanted to submit an updated review because I am now noticing a difference in my cat - she has more energy and yesterday someone complimented the shininess of her fur and how healthy she looked. She plays more than she used to and is up during more hours of the day. She also can't wait to be fed and wakes us up as early as she dares in the morning. I think this is the best review possible for this product - to have a healthy happy cat. It says so much to me about what this product is doing for her and her health. I am very impressed and will continue to buy the food after this campaign is over.

Our Day at Old Navy sponsored by CrowdtapW

Today my friends and I did our sample share which was provided from Crowdtap's Old Navy Style Council. I have been a part of Crowdtap for just under a year now and I am so excited to be part of this panel. This is my third sample share now and they literally give you free clothes to sample and share about. I LOVE Old Navy, so this is the perfect council for me to be a part of. The difference today is that I got to bring 3 great friends to do this sample share with me. We each got to pick out a free pair of bottoms AND shoes for a great seasonal look.

The girls and I started at the front of the store ooing and ahing as we went and picking up everything. My friends were amazed that the coupons were so broad, allowing them to get anything they set their heart on. One of my friends loved the wedges and another the decorated flip flops. And for the bottoms, we tried shorts and capris and pants. It was hard to narrow down exactly what we would end up getting. One of my friends had about 20 things over her arm and we had to help her narrow down what she really wanted. We had such a fun time laughing and sharing this experience - not only a great way to experience Old Navy but a great bonding time with my girls. I can't thank crowdtap enough for this experience and Old Navy too!

The cutest thing that happened was that my girls reached for their wallets out of habit as we went thru checkout and were prepared to pay. But the cashier simply handed them their bags and receipts and said to have a great day. I don't think they really thought it would be totally free. They thanked me profusely and said they had a great time! :)

Thanks for listening to me share about my amazing day from Crowdtap!