Category: review

March 30, 2014

Oddsoks for Storypanda #Review

“Where did the Oddsoks go?…”

How many times have we put our socks in the washing machine to only have one come back out? It is almost a weekly occurrence in our home!

But where do the Oddsoks go?

The Oddsoks app for Storypanda is the story of Jimi who loves his fabulous socks! But one day half of his socks are gone leaving him with one sock from each pair. He receives a letter from the Oddsoks explaining the whereabouts of his socks. The Oddsoks are creatures that power the washing machine and love odd socks. They love odd socks so much they have taken them on an adventure.

Our family fell in love with the adorable Oddsoks and their adventures with the socks. The boys loved to be able to re-create the story using their own ideas which also provides hours of extra fun. The Oddsoks app also has some pretty awesome sound effects as well to go along with the story which our boys fell in love with and copied themselves.

Want to meet Jimi and the Oddsoks yourself? You can purchase a copy of the Oddsoks on Apple for $2.99 CDN here.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this app to provide feedback. Regardless the opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

March 26, 2014

The 30 Day #BeatTheFlu challenge with A.Vogel

As many of you may know, I have been participating in A.Vogel’s 30 Day #BeatTheFlu Challenge along with several other Canadian bloggers this past month. The challenge involved taking the Echinaforce tincture and hot drink daily as recommended on the bottle. I have just wrapped up the challenge and wanted to fill you all in on how it went!

Due to my work, I am in contact with germs on a daily basis. Combine that with two children in school and daycare it is incredibly hard to avoid germs during the winter months!

When we were little, we had a little dropper of Echinacea and we would place several drops under our tongue to help fight off colds and the flu during the winter months. So many people I knew swore by it. I had stopped using the drops by the time I was in high school (the good ole days of being invincible, right?!).

So I was ready to start building up my immune system along with my own personal goal of eating healthier and increasing my physical activity. The A.Vogel challenge could not have come at a better time for me. February to March are definitely harder hit months at work where the majority of people are off sick. Last year I was off several times during that time period due to frequent colds and chest infections.

I liked how easy it was to take the Echinaforce drops. I could add it to my water before I headed out the door and would drink it on my way to work. I never really like the taste of adding it under my tongue as a child (nor could I find the time to take the amount of required drops) so it was perfect for our on the go lifestyle to take it with me. It added only the slightest taste difference to the water (at times I could not even notice it) but it wasn’t unpleasant.

The hot drink tasted really good – hard to describe the actual taste but was quite pleasant. I had no trouble having my drink at night! It felt like I was having a normal cup of warm tea at night to relax before bed.

So the final results?

I did have a mild chest cold during the month (along with the dreaded gastro bug!) but I also found that it was not as bad (no sleeping upright because I could not breathe from coughing or nose running so badly that I have tissues stuck in my nose all night!). Echinacea has been widely used for the treatment and relief of cold symptoms, sore throats and coughs. While it did not stop my cold nor prevent it definitely lessened the typical severity of my colds and the symptoms that accompany the typical cold. I was also eating healthier and exercising more as well which has definitely helped my overall health and immunity!

Do you have any great tips and tricks to help #BeatTheFlu? Any home remedies?

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product for free in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own. As always before starting any natural remedies check with your family doctor especially if you are on daily medications!

March 25, 2014

Sneak Peek At A Beauty So Rare!

Want a sneak peek at a new book that I am currently reading? Here it is! A Beauty So Rare – scroll down to find an excerpt of the novel.

A Beauty So Rare by Bethany House Publishers

March 20, 2014

A Sky without Stars: Review

Quilts tell many stories. Stories of love, loss, hope, faith, tradition and new beginnings. The Quilts of Love Series focuses on the women who have quilted their family history. A Sky without Stars is part of this series.

Set in 1951, A Sky without Stars, is the story of Frankie Chasing Bear – a Lakota caught between cultures. She wants to raise her son, Harold, to revere his Lakota heritage but she feels like he will need to become more like a “white man” in order to succeed. After her husband is killed in a bar brawl, they move to Arizona where she begins a Lakota Star quilt for Harold with tribal wisdom sewn and prayed into it.

She distrusts Christians as her parents were forced to convert at an Indian School. When she meets BIA agent, Nick Vandergriff, a half Lakota who is also caught between cultures she begins to understand more about her faith, tradition and her place as a Lakota in the world.

A Sky without Stars was an excellent read that touched on many topics including the Native cultures, beliefs and their treatment. There were many times through out the book that I felt angry towards the treatment of the Lakota people and how they were forced to assimilate. Frankie was treated unfairly in her new community and not trusted by the people regardless of what she did. The book painted a in depth look of the life of a single, Lakota woman during the 1950s. A Sky without Stars was a story of strength, faith and self discovery.

Rating: 5/5

The author, Linda Clare, is an award winning co-author of three books. She is also the author of the Fence My Father Built. She has taught college level creative writing classes and edits as well as mentors writers.

You can find more reviews of A Sky without Stars here.

Linda is celebrating the release with a Kindle HDX giveaway and joining her fellow Quilts of Love authors, Barbara Cameron and Joyce Magnin, for a Facebook “Spring Fling” party on April 1st.

One winner will receive:

A Kindle Fire HDX
Scraps of Evidence by Barbara Cameron
A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare
Maybelle in Stitches by Joyce Magnin

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 1st. Winner will be announced at the “Spring Fling” Facebook Party on April 1st. RSVP today and connect with the authors from the Quilts of Love series, Barbara Cameron, Linda S. Clare, and Joyce Magnin, for an evening of book chat, quilt trivia, prizes, and an exclusive look at the next Quilts of Love book!

So grab your copies of Scraps of Evidence, A Sky Without Stars, and Maybelle in Stitches and join Barbara, Linda, and Joyce on the evening of April 1st for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven’t read the books, don’t let that stop you from coming!)

Don’t miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by clicking JOIN at the event page. Spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway and party via FACEBOOK or TWITTER. Hope to see you on April 1st!

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

March 19, 2014

City of The Sun: Review & Giveaway

Romance, espionage and WWII combine in the romantic thriller City of The Sun by Juliana Maio.

The back drop is 1941 and the Axis forces have the Allies on the ropes in North Africa. Rommel’s Afrika Korps are closing in on Egypt and the prized Suez Canal while Britain struggles to maintain control. The young King Farouk is crumbling under the enormous political and military pressure. The Muslim Brotherhood is gaining power and the seeds for the State of Israel are slowly being sown.

It is in this background that European Jewish refugee Maya Blumenthal arrives with her family in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis (translated as the City of The Sun). Her arrival coincides with the revocation of American journalist Mickey Connolly’s visa. Before he can be deported he is offered an opportunity that will change his life both personally and as a journalist. He is asked to go underground to locate Erik Blumenthal, a quantum physicist refugee from Germany. Mickey accepts their offer but he quickly realizes that his life may be in danger and the mission is not as simple as he originally thought as the Germans are also in Cairo looking for Erik Blumenthal. Romance begins to blossom between Mickey and Maya when they meet but Maya is hesitant to give out any true information about her life and family. Mickey begins to fall in love with Maya and would risk anything to win over her heart.

I completely fell in love with City of The Sun! Juliana writes in a way that draws you right into the plot line of war torn Cairo in WWII. She includes in depth detail that allows you to feel as though you are there in the war zone walking the streets of Cairo and Heliopolis. Knowing that Juliana was born in Heliopolis and was forced to flee during the Suez Crisis, you can feel how she brings her connection to Heliopolis through every turn of the page.

City of the Sun had me reading long in to the night – I just could not put the novel down! My heart went out to the characters in the novel – knowing how many people went through this makes it that much harder to put the novel down. City of The Sun is a definite must read novel.

Rating: 4.5/5

Juliana Maio was born in Egypt but expelled from the country with her family during the Suez Crisis. She was raised in France and completed her education in the USA. Julia practices entertainment law in Los Angeles. Prior to this she served as vice president of the worldwide corporate and business affairs for Triumph Films. Juliana co-founded Lighthouse Productions.

Residents of the USA can enter to win one of two copies of her novel, City of The Sun! Enter via the Rafflecopter below.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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