Jamie's Two Cents Title

Book Review: Thirst 3 The Eternal Dawn

Thirst No. 3: The Eternal Dawn by Christopher Pike
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What the??

What the what?! I’m not sure about this book, but let’s discuss and maybe I’ll decide by the end of this.

There are some spoilers here, but nothing too significant. This might even be in the blurb, but I don’t read those, because I won’t read a book most times if I do. I know, I’m odd.

Anyhow, the final book in Thirst 2 was the last book in the original series. Sita goes back in time to change history and in the final scene, she decides to go all the way back to the day Yaksha was born and kill him before he can be born and she never becomes a vampire. Then we also have a scene with Seymour closing the book as if he was authoring the story the entire time and none of it happened to begin with.

Due to that ending, I was really curious how book 3 even happened. Something must have majorly changed. So, I was expecting a rewrite of sorts on the history. I wasn’t quite expecting this though.

The biggest change is probably with Seymour. In the beginning of book 3, we find out that Sita never met Seymour. Never cured him of his AIDS, but Seymour got on a drug cocktail that did extend his life and he did write the book about Sita. They are psychically linked.

Ray, Joel, Paula, Eddie, Arturo, Kalika, Yaksha, all their stories still happened mostly the way they were originally written. Except that if you’ll remember, Sita used John’s blood to bring Seymour back from the dead, but that didn’t happen in this version. I think something was mentioned about Sita using the blood on herself.

Christopher Pike does explain pretty much every change eventually, but it’s not right away. This makes it confusing if you recently read Book 2 and you’re wondering what the heck is going on?!? Try to get past that and take this book as it is. It’s really well done, action packed, and impossible to put down at times.

I’m looking forward to reading book 4! It’s nice to be reading more Sita stories. Even if they newest villains are a little odd, they’re also incredibly interesting. Give this series a try!! Happy reading y’all!! There's a link below if you want to see or order Thirst 3!

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Product Review: Manta Slim Eye Mask

Product Rating:

 4.5/5

Look at me! I’m an alien! Honestly, that’s how I feel every night when I slip on this mask. I can still remember my husband snickering the first time he saw me in it. I can’t blame him. I snickered after I saw a picture of myself too. I look ridiculous, but I’m okay with that!

See, I have an eye condition which causes extremely dry eyes when I sleep. This by itself doesn’t sound too terrible, but sometimes when I sleep the dry eyes cause my eyelid to adhere to my eye and opening my lids causes scratches on my eye as they separate. It’s a pain I hope you never have to endear.

Like most people these days, I googled my condition and came up with a diagnosis. The next time I went to my eye doctor, I gave her my symptoms and she confirmed my self diagnosis. We discussed treatment options, which were the same I’d seen online. The one that appealed the most to me was wearing a mask.

So, I started my search to find an eye mask that would insulate my eyes and hopefully keep them moist. My first mask was this 3 pack of masks. They were well rated and 3 for $10. It seemed like a decent deal.

In truth, these are perfectly decent masks. I’d probably rate them as a 3 out of 5, which isn’t a bad thing. They block the majority of light and stayed on my head all night. However, they don’t 100% block light and over time the head strap stretched out. Also, the buckle for the head strap was on my right ear where I sleep, which made sleeping on it uncomfortable.

After using this mask for several months I did more research on masks and started obsessing over the Manta Masks, but decided they were too expensive for my tastes.

I put it on a birthday list and eventually my husband bought it for me. Yay!! I was super excited!! He bought me the Slim Mask, which is what I asked for due to my small head and face size.

I will admit my first impression of the mask was not very good. The eye cups and band are separate pieces. You can position the cups wherever you want, but where should you put them? I took everything out of the boxes and there weren’t any instructions on placing the cups on the band. So, it was trial and error to find the best placement. No worries though, they can be re-positioned many times without losing their tackiness. Yay!

After a few tries, I had a position that allowed 0 light to come through. Pretty impressive for a girl with a head the size of my 8 year old’s and a crooked nose that often causes issues with mask nose pieces.

My first night wearing the mask I struggled getting to sleep. The cushions on the eye were fairly immovable and sticking up more than I was use to. I struggled with this for a few days, but eventually they became softer and I noticed a few other things.

First, you should know that I’ve always considered myself a fairly good sleeper. I have monthly hormonal insomnia that lasts a few days a month, but otherwise, I don’t have issues falling asleep or staying asleep as long and my kids aren’t waking me up in the middle of the night.

However, I’m apparently more light sensitive than I ever thought. While wearing a mask, I definitely sleep more soundly, because little things that use to wake me, now don’t. Like my husband getting up and turning on a light so he can see or the summer light streaming through the blinds in the mornings. These minor things use to wake me sometimes, but now they don’t. It could be noon and I wouldn’t see any light through this mask! It’s amazing!

More amazing – the band has no buckles on it. It’s completely seamless. This means I’m able to side sleep without anything digging into the side of my head. Yay!! Super comfy!

And my eye condition? I haven’t had an “attack” as I call them since I started using this mask 6 months ago. My eyes overall feel more hydrated and I doubt I’ll have anymore attacks. Yay! That makes me super excited!!

With all the good about this mask, maybe you’re wondering why a 4.5 stars instead of a full 5? It’s due to the head strap. I’m really glad the buckle doesn’t exist, but it doesn’t stay put on my head. I’m constantly pulling it down in the back of my head. If this strap was styled more like the double strap on goggles, then this behavior shouldn’t happen. However, this is really a minor issue and this is absolutely worth buying!

Below is a link to this amazing mask for you to try yourself! Find out what great sleep is! Sweet dreams y’all.

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Book Review: Thirst 2

Thirst No. 2: Phantom, Evil Thirst, and Creatures of Forever (Thirst, #2)

Thirst No. 2: Phantom, Evil Thirst, and Creatures of Forever by Christopher Pike
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As good as the first!

Thirst 2 is the last three books in the original last vampire series.

If I tell you anything about these, it will give them away. So, I won’t tell you about the plots. I’ll give you a hint...it involves Sita, the last vampire, and beings who want her blood and/or want her dead. Haha...that also described the first book. Yet somehow it’s not repetitive or dull to me. Quite the opposite! Try putting them down and it feels like Sita is compelling you to keep going.

I was surprised that I didn’t notice any change between this and the original series. I expected a different ending in order for the series to continue. Yet there wasn’t one. It still ends with Seymour and his computer. This makes me even more curious about the next books!!

Read this series y’all! See why Sita grabs your heart and not in that vampiry I’m going to eat it way 😉 See why when someone says “I don’t want to die,” you will always secretly respond with “then you never should have been born.” And why you suddenly find yourself googling "Krishna" and Bhagavad Gita. Happy reading y’all! Below is a link for you to read more about Thirst 2 and purchase if you so desire.

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Book Review: Whiskey Chaser

Whiskey Chaser by Lucy Score
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bootleg Justice for the win!

This book is wonderful! I love the southernisms and characters. Scarlet is a hoot and a half. I love her spirit. She's a ball busting, confident woman that most women hope to be. She stands up for what's right and doesn't take no for an answer.

I wish I lived in a place like Bootleg, where family is everything and Bootleg is family. There’s a missing girl unsolved mystery thrown in to make things interesting and a fair amount of steamy sex!

I was super excited there was an epilogue. AND the epilogue included sneak peaks (but not too much) about the brothers. Loved this!

Give this book a try. You'll be laughing through most of it! I hope you love it as much as me. Happy reading y’all!

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Movie Review: Taking a Shot at Love

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/taking-a-shot-at-love

Rating:

 5/5

It’s the first Hallmark movie of 2021!! Woot woot!! Who else was excited to see this one?! Not only is it our first movie of the new year, but it also has two of my Hallmark favs…Alexa PanaVega and Luke Macfarlane!! These two couldn’t have been cuter together!

Ryan is a hockey player who had an injury that wouldn’t heal. He tried everything the doctors requested, but his injury persisted. Enter Jenna. Jenna had the same injury and overcame it with a ballet protocol. So, Jenna becomes Ryan’s therapist.

I had several flashbacks to The Game Plan and watching Dwayne Johnson play a football player who did some ballet with his daughter. There’s a great scene in that movie where Dwayne is drowning in sweat and can barely breathe, but the ballet instructor is calmly sipping water and explaining the next move. Haha! I have a thing for buff/macho men doing ballet and yoga and watching them fall apart. Never mess with a ballerina!

Ryan had a similar moment where he wonders why he can’t walk after spending an hour with 5 year olds doing ballet. Watching him walk like he just got off a horse was hilarious!

Sadly, it was missing a half naked ripped body, but luckily it was missing the sweat dripping off his brow. Missing sweat is probably just my personal preference; I’m sure plenty of women would be lining up to wipe it off 😃

Really though, besides my obvious Luke ogling, there were so many wonderful moments in this movie…

Storm Snacks – I will be keeping these in my house!
An adult sleep over – Was this a Hallmark first? I can’t actually remember seeing this one before.
Power Outage Game Night – we do a form of this with the dogs and bring out treats during thunder and fireworks. It helps make them less worried. This was a good idea of something to do with the kids!
Watch the movie to see more!

Beyond the cute moments, there were so many quotes I wrote down. These were some of my favorites…

“You’ll find a flannel man someday” – Jenna’s friend. Side note: I giggled a little when Ryan wore flannel! I love flannel! Always have.
“Backup plans are for people who expect to fail” – Ryan
- “Backup plans are for people who do everything right but sometimes things happen that are outside of their control” – Jenna
- I tend to agree with Jenna on this. I always have backup plans. Sometimes I have backup plans for my backup plans! Haha!
“There’s always a million reasons to say no, but if you can find the courage to say yes, great things can happen” – Ryan. This was so encouraging and true! Focus on the positive!

After talking about all the positives, I want to take one second to talk about the negative in this movie. There wasn’t much. The ONLY negative I found was at the very end. I wanted to know what happens with the ballet studio. I can imagine what happens, but I really wanted to see it. You know? Maybe they’ll do a sequel? I wouldn’t mind seeing these two together again! I’ll cross my fingers and hope for that. I’m not taking away any stars for this, because I feel like that’s some of my type A personality coming out. They didn’t tie up the loose ends! Ahhhh! **Jamie slaps herself** Feeling better now…Moving on…

I’m really glad this was the first movie of the year. It delivered on many levels. Comedy, heart, growth, and more. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you give this movie a try! Happy movie watching y’all!

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Book Review: Thirst 1

Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, and Red Dice (Thirst, #1)

Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, and Red Dice by Christopher Pike
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Best Vampire Series

I have loved this series since I was a kid and first read it. I re-read it every few years. It is that good!

Thirst's main lead is Sita, who believes she’s the last vampire, but discovers she isn’t. She needs to stay alive and out of danger as foes (new and old) try to take her down.

This is my first time reading this electronically as “Thirst,” instead of the original series as paperback. It didn’t disappoint. I’m super excited to continue reading the series!!

For those of you not familiar with Christopher Pike books, this is a young adult book, so there isn't any sex scenes, but sex is mentioned, which use to make teenage me feel like I was reading something scandalous. Haha. Adult me would love to see this turned into an adult series, but I still love it how it is.

For any vampire book readers, this is a must-read series! There is so much action, adventure, history, and mythology in this book, it's hard to put it down!

These aren't the shiny/sparkly vampires of Twilight and that's okay. If you've read some of my past reviews, you'll know I'm a huge Twilight fan too, but this book and this author started my love of vampires. Sita has classic strength, speed, and most of all, heart. Plus, we see her acquire new skills. It's neat to know that even a 5,000 year old vampire can learn and grow. Don't get me wrong though, she often still sounds like the 19 year old she was when she was changed.

I hope you give this series a try or give it to a tween/teen you know. It deserves to keep coming around for many generations. I've included a link to it on Amazon. Happy reading y’all!!

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Movie Review: Cross Country Christmas

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/cross-country-christmas

Rating:

 4/5

From the opening credits to the ridiculous Chuck’s Deluxe Dog Grooming truck, enjoy this movie for what it is a funny/corny Christmas movie.

Max Cooper and Lina Gordon both grew up in the same small town. They knew each other, but never dated. Now, they both live in the same city and were on the same flight home when the flight is cancelled and diverted to a nearby city due to a storm. They both need to make it home by Christmas Eve to be with their families, but when fate seems against them, will they make it in time?

Enjoy their travels by train, tractor, and of course, Chuck’s Grooming truck. Meet the many friends Max, but really, Lina makes and discover how important it is to be nice to people and treat others the way you want to be treated. If we all tried to be a little more like Lina, the world would be a little better.

And in case you couldn’t already tell, I absolutely loved Lina’s outlook on life. She’s a Creative Solutions Specialist. If you find yourself asking, “What in the world is that?!” You aren’t alone, Max was confused as well. Basically, take it for what it sounds like. When life hands you lemons, Lina makes lemonade, lemon curd, and lemon bars. Her upbeat attitude can lift anyone’s spirits! Even Max finds himself enjoying her company and never ending ideas.

If corny comedy isn’t your thing, then you might like A Christmas Detour more. If corny comedy is right up your alley, then give this movie a shot. Happy movie watching y’all!

Movie Review: Swept Up by Christmas

Image via: https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/swept-up-by-christmas

Rating:

 2/5

Sometimes you sit down to watch a movie and no matter what happens, you just can’t watch it. You try and try, but it doesn’t capture your attention. That “spark” is missing. This was one of those movies.

I can tell you that it’s basically about a woman, Gwen, who works for an auction house. She is hired to auction items from The Hawthorne House she use to visit as a child. Along with the auction, Reed’s company, Clean Force One (super cute name since it’s a veteran owned company!) is hired to clean the house.

Aside from that, the movie fell completely flat for me. It’s an enemies to lovers movie with a cute side romance for the best friend, but I wasn’t feeling the hate or love in the main romance. Nothing stood out and I struggled to even watch it.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think! Maybe you’ll enjoy it more than me and you can point out some of your favorite moments in the movie. Happy movie watching y’all!

Movie Review: A Christmas Carousel

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/a-christmas-carousel

Rating:

 4/5

A man with an accent, horses, and trying to make a better community, what more can you ask for in a Hallmark movie?! Seriously! This simple, funny movie is so cute and will unexpectedly hit you in the feels!

Lila (Rachel Boston) and Roy head to Ancadia to restore Grandpa’s carousel. While there, they each find interests more fulfilling than restoring the carousel.

The meet-cute was so adorable! Lila visits the carousel to see what kind of shape it’s in and she bumps into the ladder Whitaker is on. Paint brushes fly and some witty words are exchanged while Lila asks Whitaker (Neal Bledsoe) if he knows the Prince. Of course, Whitaker says he knows him quite well. The whole scene is adorable and funny.

Later Lila is introduced to Whitaker during tea. She’s a little miffed he didn’t tell her who he was, but she quickly gets over it and they become closer while they both work on the carousel.

Whitaker has been raised to believe that in order to be King, you must act in a professional manner and you can’t be a painter. Basically, you have to be a bore. Since that’s not who he is at heart, he’s abstained from entering any serious relationships, because if he found someone he wanted to marry, he would need to ascend the thrown. Lila helps him discover that he can be himself and be a king the people will still admire and love.

I loved how Lila gave Whitaker the courage to be himself. There isn’t a once size fits all mold for King behavior. The teacher in her wanted to help make him be the best person he could be.

Have I said before this movie was cute? It helped that Rachel Boston is one of my Hallmark favs. She has a sweet/honest quality about her that really lent well to this role. I also loved her pairing with Neal Bledsoe. He had great facial expressions and was so sweet and funny! This was exactly the right pairing you wanted to see. No Christmas She Wrote drama here. I would love to see this pair together a few more times!!

This is Hallmark, so we all know how this ends 😀 I won’t spoil the exact ending, but I love the Wishing Horse! Make sure you pay attention to the story of it!

If you can take this movie at face value, you’ll most likely enjoy the abundant cute jokes and sweet romance. If you try to hold this movie to a higher regard, then you’ll be disappointed. Happy movie watching y’all! Let me know what you think!!

Book Review: The Antiquities Dealer

The Antiquities Dealer (A David Greenberg Mystery)

The Antiquities Dealer by Ed Protzel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Perfectly balanced in Sci-Fi meets reality, the plot is by far a 5 out of 5. The premise is that a scientist is working on a cloning program and he needs the crucifixion nail to create another Jesus, but as you can imagine, it's not easy to obtain. The person who had it was murdered and they must decipher a code to locate where he hid it. This book has action, adventure, suspense, mystery, and a little bit of romance. It's fantastic! It's like Indiana Jones meets The Da Vinci Code.

If the plot was the only thing I was reviewing, I would stop here and give this a 5 star review. However, I would be remiss to ignore the editing. I would love for the author to sit with a good editor and work out some of the kinks in the book. This book is really good, but with the help of a good editor, it could be really great! It could even turn into the next big Indiana Jones type series. I could see it now - David Greenberg and The Holy Nail.

Some of the editing issues are little. I would suggest adding the POV person with the chapter titles, because it's not always clear who is talking. I know with some authors they do this by design for parts where we are meant to be guessing, but if it's not done by design, there needs to be better acknowledgement of who is talking to us in the other chapters. Otherwise readers become frustrated with turning pages to determine who the main character is when it's constantly switching.

Other items are larger. I really struggled with what year it was and what age the characters were. Maybe I missed it early in the book, but I knew it was supposed to be newer, because there were cell phones and other technology that's newer. Also, David was divorced twice and had graduated college, but Miriam wanted to have another child, so I would assume they were younger than 40. Perhaps they were around 35? That seems awfully young to be divorced twice, but not impossible.

Another reason I struggled with the year was because a lot of the dialogue felt older. It was like dialogue I would be reading from a book that's a few decades ago. Especially among David and his friends. David's friends...I was totally confused every time Finkel and Daddy were involved. Their dialogue often left me scratching my head and led to the majority of the confusion about which decade it was. They seemed like they were relics themselves.

Finally, David...oh David. You had a lot of monologues. I'm okay with monologues if it helps us explore the character and what they're feeling. I thought somewhere in the book it was mentioned that David is an atheist. I believe he was Jewish by blood, but didn't share those beliefs. I don't know too many atheists, which is fine, but I question how many atheists monologue about ancient gods. There were quite a few references to different mythologies, which seemed odd of an atheist. That could be a bad perception on my part, but it seemed odd.

Then there was the romance. It's been a long time since I reviewed a fade to black book. So, if you're looking for hard core sex scenes, this isn't the right book for you. If you're looking for a few mildly romantic moments overshadowed by a lot of action, adventure, and mystery, then read this one!

Overall, I would have given this book 3.5 stars if that was possible. In cases where I want to give half stars, I round up for the author's benefit. I hope the author works with an editor to clean up some of the book that could shine more with some help. If he does, then this has a strong chance of being picked up and mainstreamed. It has a really solid base with a lot of potential!

**I was provided a copy of this book by the author to review**

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Book Review: Born in Fire

Born in Fire by K.F. Breene
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m pumped to read more!

This is the first book in the series, so we spend quite a bit of time meeting the characters.

There’s our mystery female lead, Reagan. We find out that she’s a bounty hunter who doesn’t want people to find out her lineage, because if her Dad finds out about her, then life will become difficult.

Next is the handsome, vampire male lead, Darius. Yummy! Strong, fast, sexy, and has manners to die for! Yes! These two team up to take on a mystery person who is trying to amass an army to take over and gain power.

In short, we have a fun little plot and good characters. We throw in good mages Dizzy and Callie for kicks and giggles and this is an enjoyable first book in the series.

I’m excited to read the next. I enjoy the swears this author uses. They’re creative and funny. I hope you give this a try. Happy reading y’all!!

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Movie Review: Unlocking Christmas

Image via: https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/unlocking-christmas

Rating:

 2.5/5

Oh man! I really wanted to like this movie! I just couldn’t get into it. I gave it the 3 strikes and you’re out try, which makes me sad, because there are some cute moments in it. They just never built into anything better than a few cute moments.

Kate and Kevin meet because Kevin’s mom makes him go to the doctor about his leg. This scene was actually very cute and I’m pretty sure Kevin’s mom purposefully sent him to see Kate. She’s quite the meddlesome woman 😉

Shortly after meeting, Kate and Kevin are each sent a clue and key. They figure out the clue’s meaning, arrive at the same place at the same time, and wind up on a scavenger hunt of sorts. Through the process they learn more about each other and start falling in love.

I figured out who was behind the keys almost immediately and the clue tasks didn’t really keep me interested. Also, Steve Lund’s long hair was really distracting. I didn’t feel like it fit with his former military life, because it always looked messy and greasy-ish.

If you give it a try, let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy it more than I did. If you’re looking for another scavenger hunt type movie, I think Christmas Scavenger Hunt was a lot better. Happy movie watching y’all!

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Product Review: Dyson vs Shark

Have you read those kids books “Who Would Win?” I have an 8 year old and I read a lot of these with him. They feature two powerhouse animals and breakdown which animal would beat the other in a match. I feel like this is kind of like that. Two powerhouse vacuums…which is better?

I’ll break down which I like for what in a little bit, but first you need to know a few things about my home, because how your home is set-up and how many people/pets are in your home absolutely makes a difference.

We live in a ranch. It has a basement, so we have some stairs, but they aren’t used everyday.
We have a vacuum solely for the basement. It’s an old Dyson in case you’re curious. We won’t be moving the animal Dyson down there.
Prior to having the Dysons, we were going through 1 vacuum per year.
We have 2 shedding dogs, 1 non-shedding dog, 2 people with long hair, and 2 people with short hair in our house. In other words, this is a HAIRY HOUSEHOLD!
Our house is carpet in all the living areas, wood floor in the kitchen, tile in the bathrooms. Lots of transitions between rooms.

The Shark Performance Lift-Away (Left)

Age: 1 month

Cost: $180

Weight: 13 lbs

The Dyson Animal Ball Upright (Right)

Age: about 6 years

Cost: $350

Weight: 17 lbs

Maneuverability – Shark

Both vacuums pivot really well, but this is one of the places where the Dyson’s weight is a detriment. The dyson is harder to swivel and move. It can turn on a dime if you’re strong enough to move it, but I’m no Popeye!

On the other hand, the Shark is self-propelled and requires hardly any strength to guide it around furniture. It too turns on a dime and does so effortlessly. Definite winner here!

Stairs – Shark

We have about 15 stairs. This means the hoses are not long enough to cover the full height of the stairs. So, we’re carrying a vacuum on the stairs no matter which vacuum we use.

The wand on the Dyson is longer. So, if you have fewer stairs, you might be able to do them without needing to carry the vacuum with you. Or without the fear of the vacuum falling on you.

The weight of the Dyson makes our stairs an acrobatic feat and often makes me worried I’m going to slip and fall or the Dyson is going to come crashing down on me, but the Shark is able to lift off it’s base and you can carry it without the fear of the base crashing down on you. Have I mentioned that the Dyson has fallen on me more than once while doing the stairs? That sucker hurts!!

Hose – Dyson

I need to clarify that I’m not talking about the hose itself, but about the whole hose apparatus. Meaning the wand, hose, and accessories.

The Dyson has a really long hose, wand, and several accessories. It’s great for extending and reaching into longer crevices. Or just reaching the ground while standing.

The Shark is great, because it lifts off the base and can go anywhere, which is probably why the wand is shorter, but when you’re doing baseboards or trying to get under tables, you’re constantly hunched over with the short wand. In this case, longer is better!

Weight – Shark

I’ve mentioned several times already, so it shouldn’t be a surprise Shark wins in the weight category. Hands down.

I have bad shoulders/arms and I need something lighter to carry. The Shark is great!

Suction – Both

My husband swears the shark picks up more, but I don’t think so. I think they’re pretty even. Being in a house instead of a controlled test environment, there isn’t a way to accurately judge this. The more times I vacuum the same room, the more debris I will get. It doesn’t matter which vacuum I use. There’s too many people/animals in this house to get everything out of the carpet.

Switching Surfaces – Both

Both vacuums are good at going from carpet to wood, carpet to tile, or vice versa. They both have buttons to hit when you switch and it makes the transition pretty seamless.

Other – Shark

The Shark has a light. At first this was one of those features that I didn’t think would be useful, but it’s been really nice. Our house tends to have a lot of shadows and the light is helpful when going into the darker areas. It isn’t something that I would seek when buying a vacuum, but it’s an extra nice to have perk.

Overall Winner – Shark

At almost $200 cheaper, the Shark was the definite winner for us. The maneuverability and weight was what really sold me on the Shark. I always felt that the Dyson and I were having a competition of who could leverage their weight better and it always won. It seriously fell on top of me on the stairs more times than I’d like to admit. I never need to worry about the Shark landing on me, since the base is completely detachable. I will miss the wand length of the Dyson, but I’ll look for some accessories and see what’s out there to make up for the Shark’s short wand stature.

Do you have a favorite vacuum? Leave a comment, let me know which one you like!

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Movie Review: A Glenbrooke Christmas

Image via https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/a-glenbrooke-christmas

Rating:

 3.5/5

Oh Autumn Reeser! You’re one of my Hallmark favs, but this movie didn’t do it for me. I know this is kind of cliche, but it’s not you, it’s…Antonio Cupo (Kyle). Haha! I bet you thought I was going to say “me,” but nope. I wasn’t a fan of Kyle.

Autumn plays Jessica “Emerson” Morgan, a soon-to-be CEO of a large real estate company. Her parents died when she was young and her Grandfather raised her. She decides to go to Glenbrooke where her mom lived when she was younger. She’s even able to rent the house her mom lived in, but she’s using the name Jessica Emerson instead of her famous Morgan last name to try and stay under the radar.

Upon arriving in Glenbrooke, Jessica almost runs over Kyle, Glenbrooke Fire Chief, while he’s carrying a whole stack of ginger bread men. Kyle’s coworker, Ruthie dubs this the Gingerpocalypse 😂 This was possibly the funniest part of the movie! It’s also the part where I started losing interest.

Kyle is such a jerk to Jessica over the cookies breaking that it was an immediate turn off for me. She even offered to pay for the cookies, but he blames her and starts accusing her of texting while driving and not paying attention. Jerk alert!! It doesn’t make sense that he can be a total jerk over something so small and a Fire Chief. I would think that position requires more political common sense and friendliness.

Kyle’s coworker, Ruthie was actually my favorite person in the movie. Besides the gingerpocalypse, she also guides Jessica to a “VIP” section of a tree lot. It’s the VIP section, because Kyle is there. She totally set-up Kyle and Jessica on that one! Jessica’s face when she figured it out was priceless. LOL.

Once in Glenbrooke, Jessica discovers the chimes – a local cherished landmark – are broken and they need $10,000 to save them. Jessica helps create a fundraiser to save them.

I also struggled with this. Jessica is a multi-millionaire. $10,000 is a drop in the hat. Why not just anonymously donate the money and be done? Don’t get me wrong, she really helped a lot of people in the community while organizing the fundraiser and they kind of explain why she doesn’t write a check for it a little later in the movie, but it didn’t sit right with me.

Kyle somewhat redeems himself and shows his nice/caring side during other parts of the movie when him and Jessica decorate a Christmas tree together, go to a party together, and read The Night Before Christmas to some children. But even in the end, Kyle is upset and jerky when he learns the truth about who Jessica really is.

I don’t know if it’s Antonio or Kyle, but I wasn’t digging him. Watch the movie and let me know what you think! While you’re watching, be sure to catch the sweet story about how the bells came to be such an important part of the town. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but it’s really sweet.

If you’re an Autumn Reeser fan too, check out one of her other great movies! I highly recommend A Country Wedding, Christmas Under the Stars, or All Summer Long. These were all much better than this one! Happy movie watching y’all!

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Movie Review: Christmas Comes Twice

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas-comes-twice/

Rating:

 3.5/5

Fate, time travel, enemies to lovers, this movie hits 3 of my favorite themes! On top of that, Tamara and Michael were super cute together! Unfortunately, this movie failed to keep my interest and I had issues with too many parts of it.

The beginning of the movie has Cheryl coming home to Wellsboro and going to the town fair. While there, she makes a wish that she could go back in time for a week to not take a job Dr. Phillips offers her five years ago.

I’ve made similar wishes in my life. I often wonder what could have been from time to time. So, I fully support this concept!

Shortly after the wish, Cheryl sees a carousal and hops on. The carousal takes her for a ride to the past, where she’s presented with the opportunity to change her future.

This is where things went downhill for me. I’ve always liked these movies when the character goes back to the past at night when they’re asleep to change something they feel they did wrong the first time around, but this was a little too corny for me.

When Cheryl got off the carousal she almost immediately starts seeing significant clues she’s not in 2020 anymore Toto, but she REFUSES to believe it. She sees a poster with a 2015 date and talks to someone about a date she has on Friday, but still refuses to believe. She finally passes out when she runs into someone who’s dead.

She’s suppose to be a smart woman with her doctorate! I just didn’t buy that she would resist the truth so strongly.

While passed out, George carries Cheryl to a first aide tent, where she wakes up and tells him what’s happening. George laughs, but becomes her confidant. Cheryl and George wind up spending the week together teaching a kids science club and Cheryl discovers her love of teaching (and George).

Honestly for most of this movie, I struggled staying awake. It was a solid 3 stars through out, but the carousal time travel concept only gets a 2 from me.

Don’t get me wrong, it was good seeing Cheryl and George grow together. They really are a cute couple and the relationship growth was well done. It was just missing that something extra that some movies give.

I also enjoyed all the discussions of fate and living in the present, but I kept hoping for things to go different. Hallmark could have taken the date with Terrance and had it go worse than the original date. It would have been a great opportunity to infuse some extra humor. Instead, it was used to prove how Terrance was more into himself than Cheryl. If we were proving that you can’t really change the future, I feel like the date should have gone worse than the original.

In fact, there were several parts where the movie seemingly contradicted itself. Don’t tell the dead person she’s going to die, but tell Mom and Dad to not leave the cat alone with the Christmas tree. The inconsistencies made me crazy.

I know I told you this movie was mostly a 3, but you’ll see I’m giving it a 3.5. Why? Well, the ending is honestly a 5. If you don’t watch anything else in the movie, just watch the last 15 minutes. You’ll get all the feels and skip all the blah. Happy movie watching y’all!