Dark Illusion Ebook review

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. 

I've been reading so many serious and deep books lately full of history. It was nice to read something a little bit different this week for some light reading. Today I will be reviewing Dark Illusion by Dana V Moison.

Blurb

THE DECEPTION OF BEAUTY HAD NEVER BEEN SO DARK. 

When a powerful woman consumed by revenge leads innocent beauties right into her trap . . . DARK ILLUSION is a fast-paced thriller about a young, driven NYPD Detective, Sharon Davis, and her mission to catch a ruthless serial killer who disfigures the victims' beautiful faces before killing them.
Sharon’s pursuit of the elusive killer leads her to the glamorous fashion world, soon to reveal its own ugliness, and threatens to unveil the dark secret of a renowned magazine editor. She also uncovers the involvement of a famous supermodel gravely unaware of the great danger lurking. Will Sharon put together all the pieces of the puzzle in time to save the next victim?
This is the captivating story of three strong women: an international model, a successful businesswoman hiding a dark secret, and a determined detective. While revenge rears its ugly head, love begins to blossom. The women’s past is woven into the chain of murders, leading to anunpredictable ending. What begins as a seemingly simple mystery ends in a darker and more complex place than the reader could ever expect.
DARK ILLUSION centers on desire, vengeance, strong, confident, often fearless women, and the deception that is beauty.

Review

I don't normally read thrillers much however I did enjoy this book. Although I felt the story line was a bit silly and unrealistic and predictable the writing itself was very good. Even though I was able to guess the storyline up until the Epilogue the author did a very good job of keeping me on the edge of my seat. I did not want to stop reading, in part just to see if I was correct I suppose. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans of thrillers. It is easy and light reading so most could probably finish it in a day or so. 

This book is available on Amazon

Lalechka Ebook review

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. 

I think it's very important to study history continuously and to share that history with others. Especially these days when we're only a few generations away from the World War II generation and yet we have so many people denying it happened. My great uncle was there. His wife was the other survivor in her family. I don't want to hear this nonsense that it never happened. With this in mind today I am reviewing a book based on the real stories of the people who lived through it.

Blurb

An astonishing manifestation of loyalty and courageThe real story of a little girl born into the chaos of war and holocaust.
It’s a warm and muggy Saturday night in August of 1942. The Nazis are liquidating the ghetto of Shedlitz, an industrial town east of Warsaw, Poland. Zippa, a 27-year-old Jewish woman, finds temporary shelter in a small attic, together with her baby daughter and a hundred frightened Jews. When the Nazi noose is tightened around her neck, Zippa asks her husband Jacob, a Jewish policeman in the ghetto, to save their little girl from certain death. The young father manages to smuggle his wife and daughter to the gentile part of town, where Zippa’s childhood girlfriends Sophia and Irena reside.
This is the real story of one Jewish family confronted by the terror of Nazi rule. The book follows Lalechka, the little girl born into the chaos of war and holocaust and forced to struggle with the reversals of fortune that led her each time into foreign and terrifying regions. But, beyond that, it is the story of the true friendship of three girls in early 20th Century Poland, a friendship that won’t cower before government dictates. An astonishing manifestation of loyalty and courage.
This is Amira Keidar’s first novel, based on the journal written by the young mother during the annihilation of the ghetto, as well as on interviews with key figures in the story, rare documents and authentic letters.

  Review

I remember learning so much about what was going on in Germany during WWII so it was very interesting and educational to read from the perspective of the people of Poland. As much as I do know about the Holocaust there were many things I was unaware of or had forgotten over time. 

This book remains relevant because there are important lessons of warnings and tales of basic human survival. Even as I read and thought how difficult it was to believe many of these things happened one of the women in the book expressed this very concern. I will never understand how some of these horrific things happened. 

Lalechka is a heart wrenching story and I highly recommend it. 

This book is available on Amazon

Chevron tape manicure

I'm finally getting around to showing you my manicure I did the week before last. Although I've been posting it all over social media so maybe some of you have seen it already. Though you don't know the details. 

I started with two coats of Pure Ice Home Run

On every other nail I applied one coat of a gorgeous polish I bought from Born Pretty Store. It's a duochrome water based strippable nail polish called Ators. I'll see if I can add in a clickable link later. I bought this polish in the color Shiny Blue

http://www.bornprettystore.com/1bottle-16ml-holographic-polish-chameleon-nail-varnish-shiny-blue-p-22982.html

It's the polish on the right in this picture. 

I recently bought this chevron tape from Born Pretty Store and I really love it because you can do some really pretty manicures with very little effort. This tape is perfect for those of us who aren't so good at nail art. 

http://www.bornprettystore.com/chevron-nail-striping-tape-colorful-nail-tape-line-stickers-lines-p-23383.html

This tape comes in a bunch of colors. I bought white because I was thinking maybe I could paint over it and use it that way. Not sure now if I need or want to. 

On the nails I painted with the duochrome I masked off my nails then painted another coat of Home Run. On top of that I painted a coat of Shany nail art number 11. On the other nails I masked them off and used Zoya Nyx. 

I wasn't fond of the color of Home Run but I really love this manicure. It really showed how you can take a color base and improve it with some nail art. 

All things must come to an end

No I'm not ending my blog before you get any crazy ideas from the title. This references a few other things I want to talk about today. Although in truth I am getting worn out from reviews so I may not post those as often for awhile. Or at least not sponsored ones. I have a bunch of books I've been wanting to read but I've mostly just been reading books for review for the past few months and I kind of need a break from it. So I do have a few more lined up but after that I'll probably just read and review a few things for my own benefit. 

Moving on. I have a few things to blog about but I just haven't felt like it. Last Monday was a very sad day for me. I went to clean my gerbil cage and found Pikachu barely alive. He passed away a few minutes after I found him. He hadn't been showing any signs of being sick and externally he looked ok. I'm assuming it was just his time. He was two years four months and a few days old. 

Monday I could not stop crying. I was heartbroken but also so worried about his brother Marvin. Gerbils are social creatures so I was afraid Marvin might get too lonely without his brother. At his age I don't really want to try to introduce him to a new gerbil. I've heard the horror stories and I just couldn't deal with Marvin getting hurt or killed. Fortunately he seems to be doing fine although he is definitely more frightened by me now. 

I was already in a sad mood before all of this because I finally read and finished Terry Goodkind's Warheart which is the last Sword of Truth novel. I am a huge fan of Goodkind's work. Although Warheart made me realize just how much Goodkind's writing style lacks, the overall stories is what I loved about this series. I can put up with some of the bothersome writing because the result of the books are enjoyable and always get my brain thinking. Goodkind inspires me to live my life like very few others have. I'm side tracking. Mostly towards the beginning of the book Goodkind seemed to repeat himself quite a bit. As if he were trying to get some point across which I just missed or else he was just trying to meet a word quota. This was irksome to read but then I know very well I'm guilty of the same within my own writing. 

(three of my Christmas presents. This blanket is awesome!)

I did enjoy Warheart but I wish I would have reread the other books first. Goodkind at last tied in and answered so many questions. I would say the plot was mostly predictable although he didn't quite go where I expected him to but I was close. It was especially interesting seeing so much of the book tie in with the First Confessor. 

I know this is the last of the Sword of Truth books but I sincerely hope Goodkind continues to write. Even if he doesn't continue storylines in Richard's universe, I'm hoping to read more work from one of my all time favorite authors.