Category: giveaway

April 7, 2015

Purify Your Air in Style with Lampe Berger Paris #giveaway

Let’s face it. Sometimes no matter how hard you try your home seems to take on the unwanted scents we try so hard to mask. Wet dog – yup. Dirty and sweaty soccer shoes – yup. Dinner cooking (or burning!) – yup that too!

We spend a lot of money and time purchasing products to help hide the smells that can naturally build up in our homes. It isn’t as easy with all this cold weather to just open a window and let the wind do its work. Lampe Berger Paris provides a simple and effective method to remove unwanted odours, emit long-lasting fragrances and purify your air. Not too bad for a stylish and portable lamp!

The Lampe Berger was designed in 1897 by Maurice Berger and is the oldest worldwide manufacture of fragrance lamps (pretty awesome, right?!). The technology behind the Lampe Berger is that the burner attracts and eliminates the bad-smelling molecules. The cooler temperature of the lamp allows the fragrance inside to be emitted slowly versus a candle where the smell starts off strong but quickly burns off.

Setting up your lamp is simple with easy to read instructions included in the box set. To start-up the lamp just light the burner, leave the flame for two minutes and then blow it out. Add on the protective cap (shown above) and allow the lamp to purify your air for roughly twenty minutes. After the twenty minutes are up, carefully remove the protective cap (it will be warm so be careful!) and add the stopper to shut the lamp off.

My favourite features of the lamp are:

The low start-up and maintenance cost versus purchasing candles or home plug-ins over time.
Maintains the fragrance for the complete twenty minutes and longer. Have you ever been excited to put a plug-in in the wall only to have the smell disappear just as fast as you plugged it in? Not in this case! With its unique design and lower temperatures the pleasant fragrance you love is present the entire time.
I love how portable the lamp is! Because you do not require electricity you are not limited to only certain areas of the home. This frees you up to display your lamp prominently and proudly. Now to add a couple more in the home!
The unique designs of the lamps means you can be true to your style and taste! Match your lamp to your decor and no one will even guess that it is a lamp fragrance.
Safely diffuses fragrance without a flame – no flame is necessary to keep the fragrance going.
Wide variety of home fragrances including neutral fragrances for sensitive noses.

Our Lampe Berger lamp has become a must have item in our home and I even had to save it from going to my husband’s work (the nerve!). I have teamed up with Lampe Berger to bring you the opportunity to win your Lampe Berger starter kit which includes: lamp, burner, 180ml of neutral and 180ml of fragrance. Canadian residents can enter via the Rafflecopter below – Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am a #LampeBergerCanada Brand Ambassador and received the above mentioned products free of charger. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 23, 2015

Visiting The Sins by Melanie Denman #review

Visiting The Sins is a darkly funny story about mothers and daughters, ambition, redemption and the acts we commit in the name of family.

About Visiting the Sins

Visiting the Sins is set deep in the Bible Country of Texas and follows three generations of women in the Wheeler family. A family of women with lofty social aspirations but whom always seem dissatisfied. Pokey is the quirky matriarch, Rebanelle the former beauty queen and Curtis Jean the gospel singer. Their aspirations are matched only by their poor taste in men and their capacity for holding grudges. A legacy of feuding and scandals threatens to bring down all they have sacrificed to build.

My Thoughts

An interesting story told from the viewpoints of the three women and those closest to them. They are a family that loves each other deeply but also are not afraid to speak their mind nor hold a grudge. With the story being told from each of the women’s own thoughts and feelings you are given a different angle of each situation. While Pokey feels Rebanelle is cold and calculating, Rebanelle feels hurt and that she must bear the greatest burden of the family. The three women constantly perceive each situation differently and of course each one is always the most correct individual. This did get confusing at first until I became quite clear with the names of all the characters but it really gave a great picture of the situations each one endured.

While dark at times, Visiting the Sins is a true portrayal of depression, family love and perseverance against the toughest odds. The Wheeler family pulled themselves out of poverty to become high standing members of their community and did it in a way that only the Wheeler family could achieve. The comedy relief from Pokey balances the novel out perfectly.

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Melanie is a native Texas and a graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University. An eighth generation Texan and a former banker and cattle rancher, she currently lives in San Francisco working on her second novel.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 22, 2015

Gift the Gift of Reading This Easter with #SpringBookBasket

Reading is a gift that we can give our children that will create lasting memories. Books not only tell a story but they teach us a lesson, guide us, take us on adventures and give us the courage to try something new.

Raincoast Books wants to celebrate the coming of Spring with a #SpringBookBasket giveaway featuring some of their greatest titles for your child. We were extremely lucky to receive I Wish You More, The Littlest Bunny and Enchanted Forest.

I Wish You More is written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. This story is about all the endless good wishes we grant on our children. Wishes of curiosity, friendship and strength. A beautiful story of love between a guardian and their child with wonderful accompanying illustrations – this will be a much-loved book. It also makes the perfect baby shower gift!

“I wish you more give than take”

“I wish you more we than me”

The Littlest Bunny in Canada features just as it names suggests the littlest bunny in Canada with a very important secret – he is the Easter Bunny! Throughout this book we follow him as he completes his most important mission of the year – hiding the Easter eggs! As a bonus, your child and yourself should be on the look out for twenty very special eggs hidden throughout the book!

The Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford is a very special book – not only do you go through a quest in an enchanted forest you get to colour along the way! This book was so beautiful that I didn’t want to give it up at first! It is perfect for the older child through to adulthood not only as a book but as a colouring book. Not only do you colour in the pictures along the way you must look for special hidden animals and magical objects including nine symbols that will unlock the castle door.

The remaining four books in the #SpringBookBasket include:

A Nest is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long features nests from around the world. From tiny hummingbird nests to orangutan nests in the sky a variety of nests are featured in this story. This book introduces children to the world of nests and helps to spark their imagination.

Farewell Floppy by Benjamin Chaud is the story of a young child that feels the need to grow up. In order to do so he feels he must get rid of his best friend, his rabbit, in order to gain more human friends. But why does getting rid of his rabbit friend feel so wrong? This book will remind children that friendships can be found in the most unexpected places!

From rain to rainbows is a wonderful story that reminds us that after the worst rain always comes the prettiest rainbow. This story reminds us to appreciate the dark with the light and that the best of situations comes out of the worst moments.

As winter leaves us and spring returns the soil is ready to plant and early flowers emerge. Follow Grandma and her grandchildren as they learn about twenty-four different flowers and how to plant their own flowers.

Raincoast Books wants one of my readers to win their own #SpringBookBasket Collection as pictured below.

Canadian residents can enter the #SpringBookBasket giveaway below – GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received three of the above books free of charge in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 19, 2015

Donkey’s Kite Book Review and Giveaway

A wonderful set of new children’s books, The Three Little Horses and The Big Bully Donkey and The Donkey’s Kite written and illustrated by Liana-Melissa Allen are ready to entertain and engage your child.

Book One: The Three Little Horses and The Big Bully Donkey

This is the tale of three little horses who suddenly lose their home to a fire. The young horses are all alone and thrust out into the world. They must depend on themselves and each other to protect themselves from the bully donkey. The donkey wanders the forest wrecking homes and bullying other animals.

Book Two: Donkey’s Kite

The three horses and their friend Donkey are back! In this book, it is a perfect day for flying a kite. The four friends decide to make their own kites but try as he might, Donkey can not get his kite to fly! A friendly goose decides to help him out.

My Thoughts

I love a story that teaches and guides our children. A good story should show strong morals, understanding and compassion while still being engaging, fun and entertaining for a small child. Liana-Melissa Allen delivers this and more! In both books, Donkey learns some valuable lessons about friendship, respect and never giving up.

The illustrations are gorgeous! It is hard to believe such a young girl drew all of these drawings! They are truly beautiful and draw your child into the book. You will enjoy reading these books aloud with your child.

These two books will be the perfect addition to your home library. They are geared towards young children, ages 2-9.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Liana-Melissa is a young author and illustrator of children’s books and books for youth. She has written, illustrated and published six books. Reading and music are her primary passions in life. Her love of writing was fueled by her Father. You can connect with her on her website.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received copies of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 16, 2015

Vostok by Steve Alten #bookreview #giveaway

New York Times best-selling author, Steve Alten, returns with the sequel to Loch: Vostok.

About Vostok

East Antarctica: The coldest, most desolate place on Earth. Two and a half miles below the ice cap is Vostok. Vostok is a six thousand square mile liquid lake over a thousand feet deep left untouched for more than fifteen million years. Now marine biologist, Zachary Wallace and two other scientists aboard a submersible tethered to a laser will journey 13,000 feet below the ice to discover Mesozoic life forms long believed to be extinct and an object of immense power responsible for the evolution of man.

My Thoughts

I love a good science fiction. Who doesn’t want to believe that there is life on another planet? Aliens? Pre-historic animals hidden in the world? This novel delivers pre-historic creatures at their finest hidden below the dark depths of the Antarctica. A place that has been left truly untouched and a world that we don’t know much about.

I loved how they explored underneath the ice of Antarctica and it was almost like an upside down world hidden there. A lake beneath what you would assume was a frozen lake, mountains, rain storms and creatures that it is hard to even imagine. It was definitely an incredible adventure to take with the main characters in this book especially with all the frights along the way. Steve was even able to throw in some aliens and a super secret plot that has so many twists it can be hard to follow.

The novel is fantastic start to finish, I love the idea of this undiscovered world underneath the ice. I found near the end if became a bit hard to follow with the amount of twists in the story and never quite knowing who to trust. I found myself re-reading parts just to make sure I understood them correctly. This only added to the suspense of the novel but definitely makes it a novel you have to pay full attention to.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 4/5

About Steve Alten

Steve Alten is a New York Times best-selling author of fourteen novels. His work has been published in over thirty countries and is being used by thousands of middle and high schools as part of the Adopt an Author program he founded in 1999 with teachers.

The giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.