Sunday, 31 December 2023

#win Little Silver Hedgehog: Copper Hedgehog Pendant & Chain

 

I have reviewed and given away several of Little Silver Hedgehog’s wildlife/ hedgehog themed jewellery designs. Little Silver Hedgehog is an Etsy seller who designs, makes and sells hedgehog and wildlife jewellery in recycled silver and now copper to help support her self funded hedgehog rescue. Her latest hedgehog design is made from copper. This Rose gold pendant consists of a tiny recycled copper disc with a cute little hedgehog embossed into it. The disc can be either heart shaped (H1.5cm x W1.3cm)or round (1.6 cm in diameter). The chain is a rose gold filled trace chain, available in 16” and 18”.  The pendant is packaged in a beautiful little box with a hedgehog postcard. 

As hoggies are now in hibernation of hibernation as Winter gets closer (or as in my resident hogs’ case they don’t hibernate but expect and get fresh food and water 365 days of the year), they really need people like Emma who understand and care for these precious little animals. That is why I continue to buy her jewellery because not only is it beautiful and unique but it helps these beautiful and unique little animals, who look so tough but are, in fact, so fragile, and may well die out in the next 20 years thanks to humans destroying their territories and access to food sources. 
2  Competitions 

I will be running competitions throughout the year on my Twitter handle - @susan1375 to win a piece of her jewellery (purchased by me) every month. The first piece will be the copper hedgehog pendant and chain. All my competitions are open worldwide So if you enter, good luck. 

The Link to my twitter competition.

This page’s competition - as several people have commented here I have decided to run a competition here to win a hedgehog pendant. Just comment and I will draw a winner along the same rules as below. Good luck!  

Rules

Open 11.59pm GMT 31 December 2023

Closes 11.59pm GMT January 2024

I purchased the item myself in order to support the rescue so any questions about this competition please contact me.

Open worldwide 

Must follow my twitter account. 

Good luck! 

I purchased this item myself and the views expressed in this blog post are my own. 






Saturday, 9 December 2023

Book Review: Lady Amelia's Scandalous Secret by Eva Shepherd

Set in Victorian England Lady Amelia Lambourne secretly owns and writes for the magazine The Ladies’ Enquirer, a magazine aimed at educating women. Her Aunt gave her the money to set the magazine up but now she is in need of extra finance. 

Amelia’s father wants her to be married and keeps escorting her to dinners and debutante balls, on one such octahedral meets Leo Devenish, a self made man who wants to buy her magazine. He isn’t aware she owns it. She becomes his friend influenced by the premise jeep your friends close and your enemies closer! Soon a gentle romance develops but will this be jeopardised when her secrets are uncovered? 

This is a well written book that gives an insight into his restricted life was for women in Victorian England. The book, however, does lack a wow factor and I wouldn’t rush to reread it as it drags slightly in the latter half of the book.

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted




Thursday, 30 November 2023

Book Review: Rivals At The Royal Altar by Julieanne Howells

Rivals at the Royal Altar is a Mills & Boon Modern novel written by Julieanne Howells. Queen Agnesse has just become Queen after the death of her father. She is the first woman to hold this position in her own right and is concerned, to the point of having panic attacks, that she won’t live up to the job. Prince Sebastian is part of the royal family of a neighbouring country,    They vaguely know each other. He accompanies her to a gala as a favour to his cousin, the one person in his family who made him feel welcome in his family as he had a lonely childhood. 

As he is the second son of the second wife he will never become king and so he has trained in mental health. He helps Agnesse when she has a panic attack at the gala. 

They have a ONS, there is a pregnancy, marriage then sadly a miscarriage.

Whilst most of the novel’s storyline is predictable I do like the fact that it is the heroine who holds the major role as Queen. I think this is also the first M&B book that has mentioned mental health and the affect it can have and so for these two points alone I would  recommend this book. 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted

Thursday, 23 November 2023

Review: mookaitedecor 6cm Large Natural Rose Quartz Crystal Palm Worry Stone

I am currently waiting to get a root canal procedure. As I hate sitting still I wanted to find something I could worry with as I undergo a hopefully successful operation. 

I found this rose quartz worry stone (£12.99) on Amazon. It is made by Mookaitedecor. There are a variety of stones, rose quartz, turquoise, tigers eye etc, to choose from and it comes in a branded gift pouch. I chose rose quartz and the stone measures 60x40x20mm. The stone is very smooth, very tactile and is substantial. It doesn’t feel or look cheep and is good quality. What I failed to consider, however, are my tiny hands. The stone is too big for my to turn it over in my palm! I should have selected the 2 pack as the stones are slightly smaller. 

Despite my order error I would still recommend this stone. It is beautiful to look at, tactile, and would be a suitable gift for anyone who coljj kg extra stones, has anxiety and wants a worry stone or someone interested in reiki.

I purchased this item myself and the views expressed in this blog are my own. 







Sunday, 19 November 2023

Book Review: A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction by Eva Leigh

A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction is the third novel in the Last Chance Scoundrels series.  This is a second chance at love novel. Set on a deserted Scottish island in a house party castle Willa and Dom meet for the first time, a year, after he abandoned her at the altar on their wedding day. Obviously she is not pleased to see him again as she is still distraught and humiliated! Now they have nowhere to hide and surrounded by her brothers, their wives and their friends  must address the issues that caused the wedding to not go ahead. 

Dom is handsome and rich and had only ever loved one woman - Willa. Due to his past he feels unworthy of her love and so he jilted her at the altar. This may seem slightly extreme to the reader but for them to get their HEA he will have to face up to his past and tell Willa what he has done. Willa is conflicted about giving Fom her heart and trusting him again after their disastrous wedding day. 

Slowly The characters go from hating each other to being friends and finally a very steamy reunion, much more explicit than most historical romances! 

I enjoyed this book, I enjoyed reading about the setting, the design the castle and the island.the humorous interludes between the main characters and the secondary characters. There is also a more serious side to the novel when Don has to address his past. I would recommend reading this novel on a cold wintry night as it seems more of a winter time romantic read!

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted



Monday, 13 November 2023

Erstwilder Brooch Converters Set & Chain


I saw the Erstwilder brooch converter set (£4.25) and necklace chain (£4.25) when browsing the Wednesday Jones website during the launch of the Jocelyn Proust x Erstwilder collaboration drop. I was interested as although I have reviewed brooch converters before, this set is reasonably priced and I wanted to see if it was any different. I selected the chain simply because it has the Erstwilder logo on the extender. 

The necklace measures 40cm with an 8cm extender.. the tag on the extender has the Erstwilder logo embossed on it. The chain is stainless steel and rhodium plated. It doesn’t look or feel like a cheap chain. It is quite lightweight and the lobster clasp is easy to fasten.

 The brooch converter set consists of a vertical and horizontal component. They are quite easy to use, just slip the correct converter on to the pin (making sure the flat side of the converter faces the back side of the brooch and pin it in place. Then slide the chain through the bale. The  converters are brass with rhodium plating. I wasn’t as impressed with the converters. The piece where the pin fitted through wasn’t long enough so the brooch wasn’t securely fastened in place and slid around on the converter. It was adequate but nothing special. I would prefer it if they sold sets which fitted different pin lengths. 

I never wear my Erstwilder brooches as brooches so I was pleased to see a chain that matches the branding of my brooch collection and it is very reasonably priced. I would recommend. The converters are adequate and again reasonably priced but aren’t any different to similarly priced sets. Wednesday Jones as a website provided excellent customer service, answering my emails promptly and politely. My order arrived within 48 hours with a free teabag! So I would definitely use this website again.

I purchased these items myself and the views expressed in this blog are my own. 

Friday, 10 November 2023

Book Review: Ruthless Enforcer by Lucy Monroe

 

Ruthless Enforcer is the fourth novel in Lucy Monroe’s series Syndicate Rules. This book is described as a mafia romance with a morally grey hero. Lucia was part of the Costa Nostra mafia. She  has already had her life destroyed once by mafia violence but managed to save her brother in law and rebuild their lives and her career. She now owns a bar. Atlas is part of the Greek mafia and wants to use her bar for money laundering and other mafia activities but not human trafficking. Unfortunately he doesn’t tell her this before they start their affair. I enjoyed this novel up to a point. The characters didn’t really mesh. Lucia had already had to rebuild her life once and she had saved her bil (plus paid for his ongoing care in a mental health health facility) even though he had caused her to lose her baby. She has morals but keeps going back to Atlas with only half hearted denials when he says they belong together. 

I enjoyed reading this book but I wouldn’t rush to reread it.


I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.