Vegan Box - September Unboxing

I recently unsubscribed from a lot of my beauty subscription boxes in favour of something a little different. As a reader and a person who works in an office every day I find myself snacking all the time and although i'm not a big girl there is always some room there to slim down and tone up. So a key way to do this is out with the oh so good junk food and in with some healthier options. Don't fret I have some japan candy on the way so there will be some yummy junk food coming to my blog very soon but for now to the healthier side of life. There wasn't a lot of food subscription boxes out there so I decided to go for Vegan Box. Vegan Box is a monthly subscription box that costs $26.95 per month plus $3 postage within Australia. They also have a Vegan Beauty Box which costs $49.95 and it is sent out every two months. The next beauty box is scheduled to be sent out in October and it has already sold out! I may order the box after that though. 

So let's move on and take a look at what I received in my box. I do remember there being a piece of paper in the box and I somehow lost it on my office desk so i'm not sure if they would normally tell us the recommended retail prices for each of the items. For this month though I will just have to provide some brief information below.

• Freedom Confectionery Vegetarian Strawberry Mallows. 75g bag.
• Naked Seeds Pancake Mix with Maca and Chia. 90g bag.
• Stripped Coconut Crisps in Hot & Spicy. 60g bag.
• Cuppa and Co Cheeky Chai. 45g box.
• Tailor Masque - Detoxing Facial Treatment. 7g sample.
• Fine Fettle Barbecue Flecks. 30g bag.

I tried the Stripped Coconut Crisps first and it was weird because it was so coconutty at first and then this crazy hot flavour comes from nowhere and knocks your socks and your undies off. I did like them but they were just way too spicy for me. My husband and I then tried the strawberry mallows and they were very, very yummy. The Fine Fettle Flecks were quite yummy but not fantastic. They've made for a pretty good office snack though throughout the day. I haven't tried the tea yet but I was so excited to get the cheeky chai mix and will be giving this a whirl later on tonight. I was going to make the pancakes on the weekend so if they come out good I will post some photo's over the weekend. I also love me a good mask but normally use my masks over the weekend so I will give the mask a go over the weekend as well. 

All in all I really enjoyed this box and was happy that I was able to eat/drink pretty much everything that came. It was also better then chowing down on biscuits, chocolate and coffee all day. This is definitely a box that I will continue to get.

Apologies to you all for the lack of posts lately but life has been out of control with workmen both at the office and at home. I'm hoping that things have finally quietened down a bit and I should be back to normal over the next couple of weeks.

The Vegan Box Website

Unseen by Karin Slaughter

Trust me, what you're going through now - it get's easier. It doesn't ever go away, but it gets different.

Well that was a mission and a half to get through. I really don't know what to say except that I was expecting so much more from this considering it is the last book in the series. I kinda feel like the series should've ended on the previous book where everything had been tied up nicely. Angie didn't show her face in this book so that was really nice but instead we had to revisit the whole Sara vs Lena saga. I'm sorry but I really don't care about the whole Sara and Lena thing. I don't mind Sara as a character but as soon as there as any mention of Lena she becomes whiny and annoying. I'm not sure how I feel about Lena as a character either but I really didn't think that the last book in this series needed to be about her.

I hate to say it but Faith was the only stand out for me in this book and we didn't even see a lot of her. The usual characters all fell away because of the direction that this book went in. We didn't get a lot of Faith and Amanda and even what we got of Will wasn't really the Will that we have come to know and love. I did like how the story ended and was shocked when we discovered who Big Whitey was. 

I love Karin Slaughter and as mentioned before many times I reckon she is a goddess with her stories but this book just wasn't good. I really had to push myself to read this and get through to the end. I had been debating going back and reading the Grant County series but this book has just proven that i'm well and truly done with the whole Sara and Lena debacle and have no interest in reading any more about them. I will definitely be picking up her new book Pretty Girls though very, very soon so keep an eye out for that review.

2.5 out of 5 Stars!

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Deal Breakers by Laura Lee

Love deeper and laugh harder than you ever thought possible.  Never settle for anything else.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Lan Fiction LLC for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book had me all kinds of confused as to whether I really liked it or not. It was a very quick and fun read but at times I had a hard time getting through some parts. I liked Devyn and Riley but think the story may have benefited from say another 100 pages so that things didn't feel so rushed. I felt like every time we started getting into the story especially at the start we were pulled forward by a year or 5. 

The standout character for me was definitely little Nathan. The things that came out of his mouth my goodness he had me rolling around laughing. If I ever get around to having kids, I have a feeling they will be saying the exact same things. All the characters actually were quite well done. I can't really say that there were any characters that I didn't like. Funny story I finished reading this last night but was leaving the review for this morning. I actually had some bizarro dreams where I had a baby to an ex who then came back all angry at me. Which is why I always have to be careful when I read something before bedtime. I swear I dream about 50% more than the rest of the population and it is so easily influenced by what i've done that day. 

Anyways back to the book. I think my main problem with this book was the language at times which is funny cos i'm terrible when it comes to language control. I felt at times that it was a little too much in the book. Don't get me wrong I drop f-bombs all day without realising but I think it was overused as were the words tits and dick. I dunno, I liked the story and I feel like it was a nice quick and funny Sunday read but I'm not sure if I will continue on further with the series.

3 out of 5 Stars!

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September TBR Pile

Hello to all my favourite guys and gals. Look at me being organised and getting my TBR list up early. August was quite a good month for me. I didn't read as much as I had wanted to but I did read some really great books. The standouts were definitely The Institute by Kayla Howarth, Criminal by Karin Slaughter and Evil Games by Angela Marsons. I have quite a few things going on in September so i'm not sure how much reading will be getting done but we shall see. I have some birthdays, fathers day, a hens night and the office at work is getting renovated. We have only had two days of renovations at the office so far but considering those two days have included fights with the owner and site supervisor I can see it being a very long couple of months. The previously mentioned fights are also why not much reading was done during last week! Anyways enough of the negativity and let's look forward to what I will be reading in September :)

• Series Read: This month I will be finishing the Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter by reading the seventh and final book which is titled Unseen. I've really enjoyed this series and i'm really sad to see the end of it. Reading the synopsis for this one I'm a little worried about it but we shall see.

• Husbands Pick: Each month I get my husband to pick out a random book for me from my TBR List and this month he chose Confess by Colleen Hoover.I have shockingly not read many Colleen Hoover books but I know that a lot of people love her writing so i'm excited to give this one a go. I have been meaning to pick up more of her books so here is my chance. 

• Take Down That TBR: Each month I pick up the first book that is listed on my TBR list and this month it is What If by Rebecca Donovan. I admit I was 50/50 about reading this one so fingers crossed that i'm not disappointed. It certainly sounds like a very intriguing read. 

• September Book of the Month: This months book of the month is going to be Soulmates by Nicole Dykes. I picked this book up for free a while ago and have been meaning to get to it but keep putting it off. I think my problem is the title of the book. I just don't believe in soulmates. Every time I read the synopsis though I want to read this so it's time to get it out of the way.

• Wildcard Book: I knew what I was picking as my wildcard this month ages ago because I kept meaning to buy this book but would then forget. This is one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it is You by Caroline Kepnes. I have heard a lot of amazing things about this book and how creepy it is. 

I must say it is a very mixed bag for September and I can't wait to get started on it. What are you guys going to be reading in September?

Resistance by Kayla Howarth

In this world, lies are a necessity for survival.

I'm not gonna lie it is late people so be prepared for some possible ramblings. I just had to get this book finished. I am loving this trilogy and although this book was not quite as good as the first it was still fantastic and I just had to stay up late tonight to finish it. The last I dunno let's just go with 20% of this book was just crazy and absolute madness. My heart can't even begin to process the major loss of a certain character and that vision that Allira had at the end WTF!

Huge props to Kayla for not being afraid of killing off characters. I always, always admire an author who's not afraid to tear us to to shreds with a huge death in the story. This book was a little slower than the first but once it get's going you better hold on. I can't believe how horrid Chad's mum Belle was and how sleazy and gross Cyrus was. Drew, I don't know where to start with him I really don't. The same could also be said about Paxton. I want to trust both of them but I just can't. I totally saw the whole Shilah relationship coming and had actually mentioned it in my review of the first book.

I loved Ebbodine and Licia and I hope that we get to see a lot more of them in the final book. I honestly have no idea how everything is going to go down in the next book but I do know that I can't wait. I'm dying to know who the betrayer was at the end of the book especially if it turn's out to be a main character. Thank goodness we don't have long to wait til the release of the next book.

4 out of 5 Stars!

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He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not by Lena Diaz

You can't change the past, but you can damn well change the future.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one and I must admit I was quite surprised by it and in a good way. I always feel nervous when I start a new series by a new author but I think this is definitely a series that I will continue on with. It was very easy to read and the story flowed nicely. I can't say that there were really any surprises with this one but that didn't bother me because the story still held my interest. I really liked Amanda/Mandy as a character because she still had the characteristics of a victim but she also had that braveness and courage that shone through. Logan was the perfect hero who was very charming but also had a little inner darkness as well. The story was helped along by some lovable smaller characters like Madison and Sadie Whitman and all the other main character's held up well too. Like I said before there was no real surprises and it was only a matter of time before they found out who the killer was but all in all still a great book.

I love the idea of the Deadly Games series and I think the titles are very clever. Not to sound too demented or anything but I like the idea of the stories revolving around childhood games. It makes for a nice change and the next book Simon Says Die sounds like a must read. I figured that Madison would be getting her own story but I really liked her and Pierce so definitely keep an eye out over the next couple of weeks for that review.

3 out of 5 Stars!

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Undertow by Leigh T. Moore

You can't make somebody love you if they don't.

This book was set out quite differently to your normal standard book. Undertow is about three journals that belonged to 3 different people and at the end of each journal Anna offers her thoughts. I really enjoyed the way that it was set out and getting the three different versions of what happened all those years ago and why nobody else can know the truth. After reading the journals you kinda have to agree that sometimes some secrets should remain just that, a secret. My heart broke for each of the characters and the positions that they were in. Whilst I obviously don't agree with someone cheating on their spouse it also seemed inevitable when it happened.

I don't want to speak ill of the dead but I really didn't like Meg and I admit I really struggled through her journal. Meg came across as being very immature and spoilt and some of her decision making was just horrendous. I also wondered the entire time that I was reading Meg's journal if Leigh T. Moore wrote the character of Meg like she did so that we wouldn't be so angry at the cheating later on. I wasn't sure what to think about Bill and his journal. I understood where he was coming from on a lot of things but also found him to be quite frustrating at times. I definitely preferred him with Alex compared to Meg. Alex's journal was easily my favourite and although she made mistakes she was the character that I most liked.

Sometimes when I'm reading a series I decide to stop part way through the series and I think this is one of those cases. I'm quite happy with the ending of this book and for me all the loose ends have been tied up. I know that if I continue on with this series that there is going to be heartache for Julian and just frustrations for me. By ending it here I know what happened in the past and I can live with the fact that Julian and Anna are happily trying a relationship together and that he may or may not find out who his father is in the future. I enjoyed this series.

3 out of 5 Stars!

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