Sunday 24 November 2013

Pokémon NAC - Week 16 Steel

Good morning all!

I have been working over and over on my Ghost nails for Week 15 and I just am not happy with any of my attempts. I've gotten quite frustrated with myself and so I've taken a break and moved onto Steel week. I chose Scizor because he's just the man! Only seen one episode with him in, but after searching tumblr there are quite a few mentions of him that I obviously havent seen just yet!


Low and behold, first attempt and I'm really happy with them! I used Cadillacquer's We'll Meet Again as my base as it sparkles with tiny flecks of red which are the exact colour of Scizor. What do you think of my freehand? I'm really quite proud of these!




Don't forget to check out everyone else's Steel nails!

Rachael xxx


Saturday 23 November 2013

Knowing Vera - Giveaway!

 photo b5368125-e548-4e1c-9f56-b9b43ab2cbff_zps8d7c9ac4.jpg

ONE LUCKY WINNER WILL WIN THEIR CHOICE OF 
$20 AMAZON / PAYPAL GIFTCARD
PLUS A PRINTED BOOK FROM RACHELLE AYALA
Ending on Sunday 8th December at 11.59pm EST
Open Worldwide !!


Vera Custodio has never fallen in love, though she has strong feelings for her friend and sometimes lover, Zach Spencer. Long-forgotten memories resurface when Vera discovers Zach’s mother was the woman her father supposedly murdered many years ago.



After losing his leg, former triathlete Zach Spencer reevaluates his life—and realizes he’s falling in love with Vera. After she ends their relationship, Zach is determined to prove his love and follows her to Australia in search of the killer.



Caught between a web of family secrets and a deranged adversary, Vera and Zach must depend on each other for survival. Love blossoms, but the truth explodes everything Vera knows about herself. Will she close her heart forever or risk it all for a shot at happily-ever-after?


Book 3 of The Chance For Love Series - Each book can be read standalone, but earlier plots will be revealed by reading later books.


Winners Choice of Book (plus $20 Amazon/Paypal Giftcard)


Michal is one of those fascinating women in history who had the guts to stand up to the establishment and the courage to take her punishment. I knew there was more to her story than the surface presentation in the Bible. If God was so adamant about men remaining with the wife of their youth (Proverbs 5:18-19) and not mistreating their covenant wife (Malachi 2:14), then why did it seem as if David got away with his burgeoning harem? 



Michal was shortchanged in most history books, novels and Bible commentaries, so I wrote my own version of her story to vindicate this heroic woman, too strong for her time.





When a woman wrongs a man… can a man forgive and love?


Jen Jones wasn't a criminal. She just made a few bad choices and ruined a few lives, primarily that of her boss, CEO Dave Jewell. When her blackmailer is murdered, she becomes the next target.

Dave Jewell protects Jen because she holds the key to his company's code. What he doesn't expect is love, lies, and a link to his past. Jen must solve the mystery and thwart a ruthless killer while keeping her heart from being broken.




Maryanne Torres has sworn off sex. Intent on finding a marrying man, she joins a church youth group. A party at her pastor’s house turns into a drinking binge, and Maryanne is raped.


Lucas Knight’s only concern was winning the Ironman Triathlon until the morning he finds Maryanne unconscious in the church parking lot. He becomes the prime suspect, even though Maryanne cannot identify her attacker.

Maryanne wants justice but the identity of her rapist is hidden in the baby she plans to abort. A trap is set. Lucas races to clear his name and keep Maryanne’s secret from drowning her and her baby.


Enter Below & Good Luck !!



Book Review - Taming Jenna by Charlene Raddon


NEW RELEASE .........


THE WRONG MAN

Deserted by her father at the tender age of seven, Jenna Leigh-Whittington had taught herself to ride, shoot, brawl…and steer clear of the opposite sex. But now, in a lonely Utah canyon, the Pinkerton agent has drawn her gun on a rugged stranger—only to discover that, far from the dangerous outlaw she’d been tracking, he is Branch McCauley, hired gun…and the most irresistible rascal ever to tempt and torment a woman!

THE RIGHT WOMAN

If there’s one thing McCauley trusts less than a female, it’s a female who packs a six-gun. But what a woman! Vowing to bring the sensuous hellcat to heel, McCauley has no inkling that their passionate battle of wills has just begun. Taming Jenna will be the most seductive—and satisfying—job he’s ever taken on.

Buy the book from .....

My Review:

This is not the sort of book that I normally pick up and I have to say that it was such a refreshing change. I worried that I would struggle to get into the book with it being different to my usual choice, but as soon as I picked it up I was glued to it.

Raddon has a fantastic ability to develop characters that are easy to like. I instantly fell in love with Jenna's character - strong and willful (something I have always thought I was!) and I was intrigued by McCauley - his description at first caused me to think huh? Not what I expected at all! But as I read on, I think I really started to engage with his character and the little hints of his personality that were dropped in with the storyline.

The historic element for me was really enjoyable. It added another dimension to the story and really got me stuck in. I'm also not going to lie - the sensual moments in this book are fantastic. Graphic but not overly so - making Taming Jenna a thoroughly enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend it to any romance lovers who want a bit of a different storyline!

About the Author
Charlene began her writing life at an early age, often penning stories where she cast herself as the heroine. It was after college when she dug out her old college typewriter and started her first novel, which came from a spirited dream she'd had the pervious night.


While that book never sold, her second novel did. Tender Touch became a Golden Heart finalist and earned her an agent who signed the book, and two others, in a three book contract with Kensington Publishing. Kensington went onto publish five of Charlene's western historical romances: Taming Jenna (1994); Tender Touch (1994 Golden Heart Finalist); Forever Mine (1996 Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer's Choice Award Nominee and Affaire de Coeur Reader/Writer Poll finalist); To Have and To Hold (1997); and as Rachel Summers, The Scent of Roses (1999).



Charlene took a break from publishing, but not from writing. A Kiss and A Dare is Charlene's first paranormal romance.



Divine Gamble is Charlene's latest work and won first place in the western historical category of the 2010 Romance Through The Ages contest.



When Charlene isn't writing, she loves to travel, do genealogy, digital scrapbooking and dyes eggs in the Ukrainian style. And she enjoys camping and fishing with her husband in the Utah wilderness. 


Follow the Author
Website Blog, Facebook TwitterPinterest and Goodreads

Follow the Book Tour

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I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.


Friday 22 November 2013

My Top Ten Favourite Nail Polishes

Hey all!

Today I have something a little different - a review of my top ten favourite polishes (of all time). This was much harder than I thought - after all I do have around 500 different polishes so to cut down to 10 is asking a lot!

I had a few in mind - I really don't think I can order them though. I love all my polishes and these 10 are just the best ones.. no better than each other all equally amazing!

But the first I will show you are my basic go to colours. 

The first is Modern Love by Deborah Lippmann. Until they recently started showing up in TK Maxx, I was a DL virgin. This was the first I picked up, along with 2 others - one of which is also in my top 10.



Modern Love was the first nude I ever got that suited my skin tone. I have very pinky red flesh, so many nudes just look awful on me. I also struggle to pull off purples for the same reason. This however has an almost mauve-ish undertone and is simply wonderful. When everyone went crazy raiding TKMaxx for them, I saw some terrible reviews for Modern Love but for me it really is just the best nude polish ever. It even applies well - 2 coats which for a creme polish I think is pretty good.


The second and third are both Barry M Gelly polishes. You just can't beat these - easily one of the best brands ever made for the UK. Both of my picks are blue - easily my favourite polish colour. The first is Blackberry - this was my first Barry M polish ever, and one I blogged about a couple of times almost a year ago now. I still love it, and intend on wearing it a lot this winter. Flawless application - 1 coater for me and my little nails, fantastic shiny finish, although I do always topcoat to prolong my manis a bit further. I actually realised I had no photos of it on its own, so you have the new one above  of it on its own and  one further on where I have worn it with KBShimmer Hex Appeal.


The second is Guava. I never imagined Guava as a blue colour, but there ya go! I love this shade immensely, and I am still very fond of this nail art I did using it earlier in the year. Again, a gorgeous shiny finish and in just 1 coat. Whats not to love? I miss my long nails....



A new favourite of mine is Blue Himalayan by Beauty UK. It's one of their new Gel FX range which is along the same lines as Barry M. I should let you know that I did get this as a press sample, but it has still become one of my new favourites. It is a beautiful bright cornflower blue - something that I have nothing even similar to in my collection. I have worn this alone a few times now and it wears really well and does really have that beautiful plumped gel look finish.


Now, onto the glitters. I became enamoured by glitters and polish in general when I saw a link on Facebook to a review of KBShimmer's fall line for 2012. The two that stood out to me were Quantum Leaf (below) and Jack (above). To get them at the time, I had to ask a friend across the water to purchase them for me and ship them to me as they were as easy to find as gold dust on Harlow and Co. He (the wonderful man) bought me 2 of each, and I have treasured both bottles all this time. I am almost down to 1 of each - I do wear both quite frequently and I generally wear them as they are, rather than layering. I have never found another indie quite like KBShimmer for their multi-level glitters.. they are just stunning. I have however only featured them on my blog a handful of times, so I apologise for the quality of my then newbie pictures. I hope you feel I have improved even slightly since then with these ones!



Since that time, I have fell in love with several other KBShimmers, but none so much as Hex Appeal. This just combines everything I love with a little bit of something I hate (purple) and yet comes out as one of the most beautiful polishes I own. Really cannot fault it. This is one coat over Barry M Blackberry.




This next polish was also originally sent to me as a press sample. Ellagee kindly sent me a tiny little 5ml bottle to review, which I ended up using in the space of about a week. I have since purchased a larger bottle and as you can see, I am steadily making my way through this one. You have to have a bit of multi rainbow glitter in your life - this is mine. Crazy He Calls Me was one of Ellagee's first lines - one of a number of glitter toppers (most of which I also own!) there are lots of almost equivalents out there - I suppose it depends on what calls to you - but this definitely calls to me and makes me feel unbelievably content and happy to watch it sparkling away on my nails.


Back to the Deborah Lippmanns. This was the original polish that found me diving for a shelf in TKMaxx and making me look just a little bit crazy! This is Deborah Lippmann - Across the Universe. There are a few dupes of this about now, but I still love it. When I first applied it I was massively disappointed - it takes 3 coats to get to the wonderful jelly effect that everyone loves, but even so - I love this polish and have plenty of plans for it this holiday season!


And last but not at all least - Cadillacquer We'll Meet Again. I was saddened to see this is discontinued, so I hopefully will be able to pick up a backup bottle before its all gone. The colour and whole makeup of this polish is just wonderful. A muted pink base with a holo shimmer and packed full of fine red glitter. It applies really smoothly and only needs 2 coats. It reminds me of curling up toasty warm in my favourite jumper.. except my favourite jumper is neither pink, red, or sparkly. Hmmm. Love it anyway!

What do you think of my choices? Any of your favourites in there?

Don't forget to check out everyone else's favourites!! 

Rachael xxx


Saturday 16 November 2013

Pokémon NAC - Week 14 Dragon

Hey all!

Pokémon nails again - I will complete this challenge!

Its dragon week today, and especially in game you've gotta love dragons. Up until recently, they were pretty much the shizz, but now they've introduced Fairy types (aka Annoying. As. ****.) Dragons aren't quite as strong as they used to be. No worries, theres still some amazing Dragon pokémon - just a shame most of them are Gen 3 or later!


So I went for Kingdra. It's the only new addition to the Dragon category this generation and it's a bit of a poor looking dragon - it's defo still pretty cool as a water type though. I've never used it in game, or seen much of it in the animé which is a shame! There is one episode though which proper makes me laugh - Kingdra vs Totodile haha! Totodile ends up chomping him on the nose and when I saw this GIF I just had to include it!


I tried for Nimbus nails again, but my choice of polishes didn't pan out quite as well this time.. but no matter. I'm pleased with my freehand.






What do you think?

Rachael xxx


Friday 15 November 2013

Pokémon NAC - Week 13 Bug

#Uninspired.

I already did Spinarak for Poison, so I wasn't really feeling this week. I also wanted something I could wear every day, so I went for an 'inspired by' look, seen as I mainly do freehand and was looking for something a little different. So I chose Ledyba as my inspiration.



I coated all my nails in 1 coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Rapid Red, then I dotted some black spots onto two of my nails and coated the other two with 1 coat of Maybelline Color Show - Rosy Rosettes. I love this polish - its one of their new Brocades range. Its lovely!

What do you think?

Rachael xxx

Thursday 14 November 2013

Pokémon NAC - Week 12 Ice

Smoochum!!


Had to be done. Smoochum has a proper lovely storyline in the anime too - her owner is a famous movie star, who Smoochum supported all his life to become famous (there are heartaching scenes of her washing dishes with him!)  but his managers think he should have a more manly pokémon and so he has to hide Smoochum from all of his fans. In the end, he reveals that he loves Smoochum and if they won't accept that, he will deal with not being famous anymore. And of course, they still love him, and they love Smoochum more! Happy endings!





So here are my Smoochum nails! I followed the Nimbus Nail Tutorial from Nailasaurus for the base, and then I freehanded some kisses using Taras Talons Fallen Leaves on all nails apart from my middle finger.


I then freehanded Smoochum onto that nail. What do you think? I am really pleased with these, I have to say! 

Rachael xxx


Wednesday 13 November 2013

Nimbus nails!

Have a look at these!

I followed the tutorial over at Nailasaurus and my goodness, I aren't half pleased with these! I even chose colours that I wouldn't usually.

This was so easy and I am really pleased with how they came out.




The polishes I used were:

Sinful Colors - Snow Me White (base)
Nails Inc - Marble Arch
Essie - Off the Shoulder
Ciaté - Jelly Bean

all topped with a coat of OPI Top Coat.

What do you think? Have you tried these yet? Have you tried other tutorials? Would you recommend I try some different ones? Let me know!

Rachael xxx


Tuesday 12 November 2013

Pokémon NAC - Week 11 Rock

Hello everyone!

I've got another installment of the Pokémon Nail Art Challenge for you today! If I was on time, then the challenge actually ends next week.. so I am playing major catch up! Here's the first one - Corsola! 


I know Corsola has been done before but there is a distinct lack of rock pokémon.. Rhyhorn and Rhydon are just not doing it for me! Plus Corsola has a good storyline as becoming Misty's pokémon in the animé.


I started with a single coat of Essie - Butler Please, and then coated with a splash of Sinful Colors - Hottie as my base.






I then freehanded my Corsola from memory - what do you think?

Don't forget to check out everyone else's Rock week nails!

Monday 11 November 2013

Can't beat a bit of blue when you're blue!

Just a cheeky little easy, cheer you up mani today!

Here's my new favourite blue - Essie Butler Please, with a coat of Sinful Colors Hottie.





I haven't had much time for painting nails recently, what with being on holiday and then having the mother of crap weeks back at work.. so I've really tried to catch up with myself and get back to posting. I love painting my nails, I love sharing them, I love finding out what you think. I really don't want my main hobby to be pushed aside because I am always so busy at work. I need some me time, I just need to find room for it!

What do you think? Would you wear it? Do you own either colour?

Rachael xxx


Friday 8 November 2013

Book Review - Knowing Vera by Rachelle Ayala

I have another book review for you today - this time a twist on the usual romance.




The Blurb
 
Vera Custodio has never fallen in love, though she has strong feelings for her friend and sometimes lover, Zach Spencer. Long-forgotten memories resurface when Vera discovers Zach’s mother was the woman her father supposedly murdered many years ago.

After losing his leg, former triathlete Zach Spencer reevaluates his life—and realizes he’s falling in love with Vera. After she ends their relationship, Zach is determined to prove his love and follows her to Australia in search of the killer.

Caught between a web of family secrets and a deranged adversary, Vera and Zach must depend on each other for survival. Love blossoms, but the truth explodes everything Vera knows about herself. Will she close her heart forever or risk it all for a shot at happily-ever-after?

Book 3 of The Chance For Love Series - Each book can be read standalone, but earlier plots will be revealed by reading later books.

My Review

I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but this did not affect the book at all. I very much liked the range of characters that Ayala put into this book, especially the range of backgrounds and the detailed histories of each. I really enjoyed reading about Vera's history and her family background and I felt this really gave the whole book a little something extra. I also loved Zach's background and storyline especially - he is so easy to like and a brilliantly written character.


The book is well written, easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable. It even surprises as there are many elements that would be difficult to predict - unlike so many other romances.

I would really recommend you reading this - I am off to grab the others in the series.
Buy the book from.....


Other books in the Chance For Love Series

When a woman wrongs a man… can a man forgive and love?

Jen Jones wasn't a criminal. She just made a few bad choices and ruined a few lives, primarily that of her boss, CEO Dave Jewell. When her blackmailer is murdered, she becomes the next target.
 
Dave Jewell protects Jen because she holds the key to his company's code. What he doesn't expect is love, lies, and a link to his past. Jen must solve the mystery and thwart a ruthless killer while keeping her heart from being broken.

 

Maryanne Torres has sworn off sex. Intent on finding a marrying man, she joins a church youth group. A party at her pastor’s house turns into a drinking binge, and Maryanne is raped.

Lucas Knight’s only concern was winning the Ironman Triathlon until the morning he finds Maryanne unconscious in the church parking lot. He becomes the prime suspect, even though Maryanne cannot identify her attacker.
Maryanne wants justice but the identity of her rapist is hidden in the baby she plans to abort. A trap is set. Lucas races to clear his name and keep Maryanne’s secret from drowning her and her baby.

About the author
 

Rachelle Ayala is the author of dramatic fiction crossing genres and boundaries featuring strong but flawed characters. She writes emotionally challenging stories and is not afraid of controversial topics. However, she is an optimist and laces her stories with romance and hope.
Rachelle is an active member of online critique group, Critique Circle, and a volunteer for the World Literary Cafe. She is a very happy woman and lives in California with her husband. She has three children and has taught violin and made mountain dulcimers.
 
Follow the author

 

I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.

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