November 24, 2014
Love Without End by Robin Lee Hatcher #review
Learning to love and trust again after loss and pain can be a long road. Love Without End by Robin Lee Hatcher covers this and so much more.
About the Book
Chet and Kimberly have both failed in their relationships and both are scared to risk giving their heart again.
Chet’s life was forever changed when his seventeen year old son died and soon after this his wife walked out on their family. Over two years later, all he wants to do is hold on his horse ranch and raise his sons to be good men.
Kimberly is the widowed mother of Tara – a rebellious fifteen year old. She has reached the end of her finances and nearly the end of her rope. The two come to King’s Meadow in hopes to piece together their lives again. Kimberly has no intention of becoming involved with the residents of this community and certainly not in another relationship.
When Anna McKenna returns to King’s Meadow and to the Leonard ranch, she becomes an agent of change and healing for the families. With her help, Kimberly and Chet discover that true love has no end.
My Thoughts
Chet and Kimberly have been affected by loss in their lives – losses that many of us can relate to; death and being left after the passing of a child. They feel lost themselves and very much alone. Both want to be loved and to love but trusting someone with their heart is difficult. Complicating their current situations is the children in their lives that they need to put first.
I fell in love with their story of love and trust as well as watching them learn to trust each other. They are so very fragile in their trust and it was lovely to watch them to open up and learn to love again. A fantastic and well written novel from start to finish.
You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page.
Rating: 4.5/5
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
November 21, 2014
RealPad: The Tablet for All Ages #review
How many people do you know that have struggled to learn how to use a tablet? Your parents perhaps? Or maybe even yourself – I know my children can navigate a tablet much better than I ever will be able to!
A tablet is the perfect alternative to a traditional desk top computer – you can take it outside with you in the backyard or even out on the porch with your morning coffee or tea. Tablets allow us to keep in contact with our loved ones as well as follow major world events. But what happens when you can’t figure out the technology? The screen and icons are too small? Perhaps it is just too difficult to set up.
While this may not seem possible in our technologically advanced times unfortunately for many people it is. My Mom is included in this group – she has let her own tablet sit and go unused because it is just too difficult for her to figure out how to use. It is awful for her not to be able to use it but also a missed opportunity for her to be in contact with her grandchildren from home via video calls, emails and social media sites.
The RealPad from AARP has been designed to be user friendly for the 70 million Americans who are 50+ who have yet to embrace tablet technology (yup – 70 million!).
RealPad comes pre-loaded with useful apps and educational videos on how to use the tablet (no need to fumble through a user guide that is difficult to follow – just watch the video!). An extremely helpful toolbar at the bottom helps you locate the information you need quickly – especially when something goes wrong. I literally opened the box the tablet came in, charged the tablet, pressed the on button and I was ready to go. I could easily connect my email, facebook and twitter accounts. Navigation is simple with only one button to exit the screen. The icons were large, easy to recognize and navigate my way through.
Easy to read labels on the back identified USB source, power source and headphone connections. Connecting to our home Wifi network took under five minutes – most of my trouble with that was trying to remember my password!
Curious to know more about the specifications of RealPad?
- Intel 2.1 GHz Duel Core Processor
- 16 GB of storage
- 7.85″ HD display (1024×768 resolution)
- 5 mega pixel rear camera to take stunning HD photos and videos as well as a 2.0 mega pixel front camera
- 24/7 live help (yes you heard that right – LIVE help!)
- RealPad comes pre-loaded with 20 step by step videos
- Android 4.4 operating system
- RealPad has a total weight of 14 ounces
The real bonus came when I let my children test it out as well. Both of my boys are pretty advanced with technology (they definitely did not get it from me!) and they fell in love with RealPad. It was easy for them to use, they loved the entertainment section as well as the ability to pair it with their blue tooth headphones to listen to videos, music and their games. This allowed them to be the perfect helpers with their Grandma when it came for her to use it! As I am letting my children use it I wanted to buy a tablet holder so they could lie on the couch or in bed watching their favourite program or movie, I found a great little tablet holder at ibeani.co.uk, it’s like a mini bean bag and it allows you to rest your tablet anywhere you want without the worry of it falling over.
One of RealPad’s best features? It’s price! At $189 US, it will be hard to find a better deal. A RealPad can be purchased on the AARP site or through Walmart.
Whether you are looking at purchasing a tablet to stay connected with your parents RealPad is an excellent as well as affordable choice in the tablet market.
Disclosure: I received a RealPad in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
November 20, 2014
Fire Up the Romance this Holiday with @RobinLeeHatcher’s “Love Without End” Kindle Fire Giveaway!
Fire up the romance this holiday with Robin Lee Hatcher‘s latest offering in the King’s Meadow Romance series, Love Without End. For two single parents with bruised hearts, it’ll take more than a little courage to get back on the horse when it comes to love.
Celebrate love rising from the ashes of tragedy with Robin by entering her Kindle Fire giveaway.
One grand prize winner will receive:
- A Kindle Fire
- Love Without End and the rest of the King’s Meadow Romance series from Robin Lee Hatcher
Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on December 14th. Winner will be announced December 15th on Robin’s blog.
November 18, 2014
Getting Into The Holiday Season #WW with Linky
Thanksgiving has past and for the first time we have our Christmas decorations up before December! My little ones helped with the decoration this year and I couldn’t wait to show off their hard work on our tree.
They chose a new colour for our tree this year (the first time it has been updated in over ten years!) and went with a green and silver theme.
I found this snowman at the Dollar Store and it has been one of my favourite finds so far this year! He is so bright and cheery and sitting near our television.
My two rescue Santa’s! My parent’s were cleaning up their home and were ready to get rid of a bunch of old decorations. I couldn’t bare to part with these memories so I ended up taking a large box back home with me and these two are just a small part of what I saved.
Make sure to link up below so that I can visit you this week. Have a lovely day!
November 18, 2014
Keep the Laughter Coming This Winter Season with #Netflix #StreamTeam
Brrrr!! It is getting cold outside – this morning was a chilly -21C with the wind chill! I honestly did not want to get out of bed it was so cold. But here I am up and working away even though all I want to do is curl up on the couch with a warm blanket and a great movie playing.
With the temperature drop there seems to always come the rise of cold and flu symptoms which tend to peak in these early months, trend off and start up again near the end of the winter. Last week I was under the weather with a gastro bug for two days. For two days I was pampered by my boys and was able to watch all of my favourite comedies on Netflix (okay in honesty only the second part is true – I like to imagine my boys were pampering me!).
I love my cartoons – the animated movies that they are producing are incredible with humour that both adults and children alike can appreciate. Those two days were spent watching all of my favourite animated comedies and laughing my way back to health. My two favourite movies of all time have to be Despicable Me (love those minions!!) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I can’t even begin to count how many times we have watched these movies but they are just as funny each and every time (Bee Do Bee Do Bee Do….).
Laughter is so important for all of us (and too often we are not spending enough time laughing and bonding with the ones we love) so we should always make time to do the things we love together, watch funny movies together and just be plain old silly.
Don’t believe me? Research has shown that laughter is important for:
- laughter boosts the immune system
- laughter triggers the release of endorphins (remember those natural feel good hormones in your body, yep those ones!)
- increase blood flow which in turn helps the heart
- decreases stress
- improves mood
- strengthens relationships
Do you have a go to movie for the winter months when you and the family are stuck in bed unwell? Or maybe not unwell but just want to spend the day in bed getting cuddles from the little ones (how I miss those days!!).
Disclosure: I am a Netflix StreamTeam member and receive perks. All opinions expressed are my own.