Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3)

By: Robert Galbraith
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Published Year: 2015
Pages: 489

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg.

Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible--and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.

With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them...

                                                           First Impressions

I really enjoyed the first Cormoran Strike novel but wasn’t super impressed by the second one (Review here). I was a little hesitant to start this one, but the cover and name definitely pulled me back in. I won’t say I was super excited to read this one, but I was definitely curious!

                                                            What I thought

I’m so glad I gave this book a chance! It is quite possibly my favorite of the series and was exactly what I needed.

Career of Evil follows Cormoran Strike and his partner/assistant Robyn on their third big investigation. The investigation starts with Robyn being sent a woman’s leg at the private investigation office. Similar to the other investigations, the police are involved but are slightly incompetent and Strike is needed to help solve it.

I have been in a book rut for a while and this is the first book in a while that I could not put down. I wanted t take time off of work so that I could read this book and find out who the murderer was. After the second novel, I doubted whether or not I had really liked the first one. I realize now that that is not the case, but just that I didn’t prefer the story in the second story. As a warning, this storyline is a bit gruesome and definitely more gory than the previous two (if my memory serves me correctly) but it is extremely captivating.

In this book, we get more of a look into Robyn and her ide as she is an integral part of this case. It was really interesting seeing her life and how she handled everything. It did, however, feel as though it was more of a Robyn Novel than a Cormoran Strike novel. If you are not someone who enjoyed Robyn in the first two books, I can’t see you enjoying this one a lot, but I could be wrong.

One of the things that I love about these mysteries is that they aren’t predictable. You think that you now where they’re going to go, but then there are these unforeseeable twists and you find out you’re totally wrong! Throughout the entire novel I was sure that I know who the murderer was, but I was wrong. I don’t think I would say that it was shocking, but Galbraith (Rowling) does a great job at misleading the reader.
 

This book was so wonderful. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the writing. I haven’t read a book this captivating in a very long time and I highly recommend it. The only issue I had with this book (as well as with the other two) is they get a little long. I think there could be some stuff cut out that wouldn’t be missed. If you enjoy mysteries, I definitely recommend checking out the Cormoran Strike series. Part of me wants to give this a Beloved/5 star rating, but it’s really difficult for me to do that with mysteries. I like to include re-readability in my 5 star ratings, and I don’t know if this mystery would be as good during a re-read since I already know who the murderer is! Either way, I am really looking forward to the next one!
 

Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist's Palette

Recently, I was in a bit of a make-up slump. I don’t know if it was because I wasn’t working over the summer (I work in the schools), so I got lazy or what, but I just wasn’t excited enough to put makeup on in the morning. I didn’t even see much that came out that I wanted to buy. When my friends and I took our yearly girl’s trip, we decided to bring all/the majority of our makeup collections to do makeovers and play around with new products. My friend Logan, at Sage & Serendipity, had recently purchased this palette and it made me fall in love with makeup all over again.

The Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist’s Palette ($55) is a 12 shadow palette. It originally came out in 2013 as a limited edition palette. I had no idea about it at the time, but apparently it was a really big hit and sold out so they decided to bring it back as a Sephora Exclusive.

With all of the Nude palettes out there, this one is definitely unique. Not only does it have a variety of purple shades and brown shades but it has a mixture of matte, sateen, and luster shadows. It’s really nice that it has a variety as the Urban Decay Naked palettes are all shimmer shadows. 

The packaging is a softer cover with a magnetic closing. The cover is sturdy, but has some squish to it which is nice. It is easy to clean and it doesn't seem as though it will attract a lot of other makeup which is nice. It also has a full size mirror which is always helpful when you have a palette. I tend to use them when I'm not staying at home, and the extra mirror always comes in handy.

The first 6 shadows that I swatched are Sparkling Dew, Guava, African Violet, Vanilla Nuts, Primrose and Fresco. 
 

African Violet and Primrose were two of the shadows that immediately caught my eye when I opened the palette. African Violet is an amazingly unique violet and gold shadow and Primrose is a beautiful pink. Since using the palette, Sparkling Dew has become my go-to highlight. While I haven’t yet used Guava or Vanilla Nuts, I know I will get to them.

All of these shadows are amazingly buttery and pigmented. They are some of the smoothest eye shadows I have ever swatched and you don’t need a lot. They also stay really well.

Top Row (Left to right): Sparkling Dew, Guava, African Violet Bottom Row (Left to Right): Vanilla Nuts, Primrose, Fresco

The second 6 shadows are Plum Smoke, Kir Royal, Violet Ink, Bamboo, Truffle, and Espresso Bean. 

Bamboo was the second color that I fell in love with. It is a beautiful khaki/olive brown with a hint of shimmer that makes for a beautiful every day lid color. I also really like Violet Ink and Espresso Bean for eye liners. Kir Royal is great for when you want a more dramatic look, and Plum Smoke is a beautiful matte purple.

Top Row (Left to Right); Plum Smoke, Kir Royal, Violet Ink Bottom Roe (Left to Right): Bamboo, Truffle, Espresso Bean

I don’t think there is a single color in this palette that I don’t love or don’t find wearable. There is so much that you can do with this palette and it is so different from everything else that’s out there. Even though it’s unique, it is so wearable for every day. I will definitely be packing this on my honeymoon. I have worn it almost every day since I bought it. It’s a little expensive, but no more so than the majority of palettes out there. It is more compact than the Naked Palettes and I think when you travel you do have to be aware of where you put it to make sure it doesn’t pop open.
 

Most Likely to Succeed (Superlatives #3)

By: Jennifer Echols
Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 352

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): As vice president of Student Council, Kaye knows the importance of keeping order. Not only in school, but in her personal life. Which is why she and her boyfriend, Aidan, already have their lives mapped out: attend Columbia University together, pursue banking careers, and eventually get married. Everything Kaye has accomplished in high school—student government, cheerleading, stellar grades—has been in preparation for that future.

To his entire class, Sawyer is an irreverent bad boy. His antics on the field as school mascot and his love of partying have earned him total slacker status. But while he and Kaye appear to be opposites on every level, fate—and their friends—keep conspiring to throw them together. Perhaps the seniors see the simmering attraction Kaye and Sawyer are unwilling to acknowledge to themselves…

As the year unfolds, Kaye begins to realize her ideal life is not what she thought. And Sawyer decides it’s finally time to let down the facade and show everyone who he really is. Is a relationship between them most likely to succeed—or will it be their favorite mistake?

                                                      First Impressions

I really loved Biggest Flirts and enjoyed Perfect Couple. I love series that visit different characters so they’re connected but not the same. I was really excited to read this one. As I’ve said before, the covers don’t wow me, the stories are really good.

                                                       What I thought

This book was just as cute as the others! It was fun to get to revisit the characters from the other books and then follow the new characters.

Most Likely to Succeed is about Sawyer and Kaye. Kaye is dating Aidan and they were both voted Most Likely to Succeed. Aidan is school president and Kaye is vice president. In the previous book, you find out that Sawyer has a crush on Kaye.

I found this book to be a bit predictable. Like, I knew what this book was going to be about and how it was going to play out before I even read it. However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. I love Sawyer and found Kaye growing on me as the book went on.

The only thing that was a bit annoying was their issues. There was a lot of “if you actually talked to the person you wouldn’t be having problems!” problems. I think those can be the most frustrating because it causes issues that definitely don’t need to be issues. I also really did not like Kaye’s parents. I know that we weren’t supposed to like them much but still feel like they wanted the best for her. In actuality, I just thought that they were mean and stupid.

The ending of this book let me down a little bit too. Considering that this is the last book of the series, I expected a little more conclusion. It seemed like it just ended. I wish there had been an epilogue or a few more chapters or just something more. I didn’t have a problem with the events at the end of the book, I just wish that it had been a bit more.
 

This was a fun book, just like the others. It wasn’t my favorite, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I don’t think I would re-read it and therefore I wouldn’t purchase it for my shelves. If there had been a bit more about Sawyer and a bit more of their relationship in general, I think I would’ve enjoyed it more. I would recommend this series to those who enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss. If you enjoyed those books and are looking for something similar, the Superlative series would be right up your ally. Even though my review for this book hasn’t been raving, I still highly recommend you check them out!
 

Birchbox November 2015

In case you are unaware, Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription box. It costs $10 a month and you receive multiple sample size item. These boxes allow you to try tons of new products that you may have never even heard of before. The other fun thing about Birchbox is that every time you purchase an item from their site, or review a product from your box, you receive rewards points! Once you collect 100 points, you get $10 off of your next purchase. These points definitely add up quickly between buying your box, and reviewing the products.

Each month, Birchbox allows subscribers to pick one of their samples. If you prefer surprises, you don’t have to pick one. You can choose to be surprised instead. They also offer full boxes that have been made by a guest. This month’s guest editor box was by Tati from GlamLifeGuru. This month’s sample choices came from Birchbox’s new makeup line that was created in collaboration with Tati from GlamLife Guru. The choices were between three lip colors and two eye shadow sticks. I was tempted to pick the plum/wine lip color, but ended up going with the One and Done Shadow Stick in Impress me. 

The products I received this month were as follows:

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo (Full-size $22)- This is a dry shampoo that claims to actually clean hair as well as sock up oil, sweat, and odor. As a curly girl, I’m not 100% sure how to use dry shampoo for my hair. My hair is dry, so it doesn’t get oily, so I don’t need that benefit. I will have to see if I can find some tutorials to see if I can find a use for this.

Temple Spa La La Lagoon Aromatic Bath & Shower Gel (Full-size $28)- I was a little apprehensive of this product as I didn’t like the smell of the previous Temple Spa products I received. This one, however, has mint and peppermint so it smells really nice. If you’re not a mint product you wouldn’t enjoy it, but I’m excited to use it before bed one night.

Liz Earle Superskin Moisturizer with Natural Neroli (Full-size $72)- This is a superhydrating moisturizer that features ingredients to restore skin. It includes pomegranate, cranberry seed, and neroli. Neroli is an essential oil that comes from a citrus, which explains for the citrus smell in the lotion. It is also known to smooth skin, free it from infections, moisturize, and give your skin a glow. I have only used this once and it felt very luxurious. It takes a little bit for the moisturizer to absorb, so beware of that before you apply makeup.

LOC One & Done Shadow Stick- Impress Me (Full-size $10)- This is a creaseless, waterproof shadow stick. It is a unique copper color that is a little bit pink. I chose this product because I was curious if it was a dupe for the Laura Mercier Caviar in Amethyst. While they are close, Amethyst is a little more brown and is slightly darker. If you have that shade, I think you will really like Impress Me. It has decent wear time, not as great as the Laura Mercier sticks. I find that it tends to fad a little when I wear it throughout the day without a primer. For $10 it’s a great shadow stick, but it doesn’t completely live up to the claims. It is smudge proof though! You cannot move it once it sets.

MAKE Face Gloss (Full-size $25)- This gloss is meant to refresh dull skin. This product works similarly to a highlighter in that it catches the light on your face. Looking at pictures of people who have used it, I think it just makes them look oily. I’m a little unsure as to whether or not this product as silicon, as I couldn’t find it easily. I can’t see myself reaching for this product as I tend to prefer a matte look to a dewy look. I do love highlighters, but I think that’s because I love the pink and gold tones. I can’t see myself using a clear highlighter. 

Overall this box is decent. I like the moisturizer and the eye shadow and I’m curious about the dry shampoo and the shower gel. I might see if any of my friends want the face gloss.

The White Rose (Lone City #2)

By: Amy Ewing
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published Year: 2015
Pages: 320

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Violet is on the run. After the Duchess of the Lake catches Violet with Ash, the hired companion at the Palace of the Lake, Violet has no choice but to escape the Jewel or face certain death. So along with Ash and her best friend, Raven, Violet runs away from her unbearable life of servitude.

But no one said leaving the Jewel would be easy. As they make their way through the circles of the Lone City, Regimentals track their every move, and the trio barely manages to make it out unscathed and into the safe haven they were promised—a mysterious house in the Farm.

But there’s a rebellion brewing, and Violet has found herself in the middle of it. Alongside a new ally, Violet discovers her Auguries are much more powerful than she ever imagined. But is she strong enough to rise up against the Jewel and everything she has ever known?

                                                           First Impressions

I loved the first book The Jewel (review here). Oddly enough, this sequel kind of snuck up on me. From time to time I go to the Barnes & Noble website and flip through their Coming Soon page. If I hadn’t done that, I don’t think I would’ve known this was coming out! I’m normally much better at following sequels but for some reason I forgot about this one. I like the cover and I think it’s beautiful, but I think the first one is slightly better/more appealing to me. Either way it would’ve caught my attention even if I hadn’t already read the first one.

                                                          What I thought

I wanted to love this one so much but it fell flat for me. I still liked Violet and the overall concept of this world, but this book seemed a lot like a filler before a big finale.

The White Rose picks up where The Jewel left off. Violet was just caught with Ash and is being brought to the dungeon. She manages to escape with help and brings Ash with her. They also find her friend Raven, who she gave the serum meant to fake her own death. The entire first half of the book (and I do mean until page about 150/300) is Ash, Raven, and Violet fleeing the different circles trying to get to the person who wanted to help Violet escape in the first place.

This was the part that just seemed so tedious to me. Nothing happened in this first chunk of pages. It was a lot of “We’re now in this city. Oh no! We almost barely got caught but it’s ok. We’re safe. Let’s move onto the next city where the exact same thing will happen.” There was no character development during these scenes and no relevant information. I don’t understand why an editor didn’t encourage Ewing to cut a large chunk of this out.

Finally, Violet and clan get to their original destination (that if Violet hadn’t screwed up in the first place should’ve taken only like an hour) and the story starts to pick up again. There is a lot of story building and backstory explanations during the second half of the book but it helps to make the world and the situation make more sense. I do like some of the backstory, but I was annoyed and confused by some of the reasoning behind why Violet specifically was needed.

At this point of the story things almost seemed to move too fast. The second half of the book should’ve been much longer and played out over a longer period of time. Instead, Violet seems to access her powers in a different way immediately and then gets control over them immediately and then figures out how to save the whole island, immediately.

In the author’s section in the back of the book, it explains that The Jewel was Ewing’s thesis project. I feel like that explains a lot about why the first book was stronger and better than the second. I would guess that during the process of writing the first book she had a lot more feedback, direction, and redirection to make it stronger. This book definitely feels more like the writing of a debut author than her first one does. There are a lot of tangents that aren’t important and then the important portions seem rushed. While the second half of the book did redeem itself, it didn’t completely overshadow the first half.

This book wasn’t terrible, but I wanted it to be so much more. The first half of the book was really tough to get through but the second half of the book was worth the wait. It was interesting and kept me curious enough to see what’s going to happen in the third book. I don’t know if I would recommend picking up this series as heavily as I did after the first book. I’m tempted to say wait until the third book comes out and then I’ll let you know if all 3 are worth it. 
 

Nordstrom Fall Beauty Trend Show

On October 23rd, my mom and I attended the Nordstrom Fall Beauty Trend Show. I was curious to attend this because last year I attended a Bloomingdales Beauty Event. This was the first one being hosted by my Nordstrom and I had never attended an event like this by them before.

It started off with a fashion show which was really fun! I liked seeing all of the fashion trends as well as the beauty trends. They also did another fashion show in the middle which was a nice way to break everything up.

The two main beauty focuses of the event were The Graphic Eye and The Bold Lip. The first trend they went through was the Graphic Eye and the brands that shared roducts were Anastasia, Osmotics Comeceuticals, T3, Nest Fragrances, Clinque, NARs, Laura Mericer, MAC, Trish McEvoy Smashbox, Bobbie Brown, Hanae Morie, and Wildfox.

This part of the show as very similar to the Bloomingdales one in that each brand shared a few of the products they wanted to spotlight and then how best to use them. It was nice because a few of the brands had just gotten their holiday sets in, so we got a sneak peak of those, but it wasn’t anything revolutionizing. I did like that they included fragrances (both candles and perfumes)

The Bold Lip had products presented by Clarins, Kate Somerville, Philosophy, Nuface, Clairsonic, Lancome, Guerlain, Dior, Estee Lauder, Yves Saint Lurent, Diptyque, and Tom Ford. Again, it was mostly stuff that I had heard before with the exception of Guerlain. There was a lip primer that they showed that I hadn’t seen it used before. I didn’t get a chance to stop at their counter to try it that day, but it’s definitely something I’m curious about! They claim that it not only helps keep your lip product o, but it also helps to keep the color true to when you first put it on.

Similar to Bloomingdales, the Nordstrom event had samples that they gave to attendees. They gave out a tote bag, which was really nice! I liked getting a tote bag as opposed to yet another makeup bag. I have those coming out my ears. In the bag they included a few samples, that ended up not being very exciting. Bloomingdales had some deluxe samples, as well as a large and diverse selection. The Nordstrom bag was pretty sparse and mostly included perfume samples.
 

Overall, the event was ok. I liked the show itself, but it wasn’t mind blowing and the samples that were given out were ok as well. I’m hoping that as they continue to do events like this they will improve. The best thing about this event was that I was able to repurchase my Estee Lauder Advance Night Repair Serum at 10% off with a free $58 full size Advance Night Repair Eye Cream! If you have an event coming to your area, I’d say give it a shot but don’t hold your expectations too high. The other thing I would suggest would be to make a makeup appointment at a brand you typically wouldn’t visit. I went to NARs, thinking that they would have some of their holiday stuff out but they didn’t. I wish that I would’ve gone to a brand like YSL or Guerlain. Maybe next time!

Where have I been?

Let me start by saying I hate reading posts like this one and I hate writing posts like this one.


I'm sorry!!!!!


I have been absent from this blog for almost a month. I got married on October 10th and then proceeded to get sick after that. I apologize for my lack of blogging and I hate that I have to apologize for it. My goal is to get back on a consistent blogging schedule in November. I have some posts all set for the future so fingers crossed I will get myself back on track!

September 2015 Favorites

Books

Deep Blue Eternity By: Natasha Boyd (Book Club)

This Book Will Change Your Life By: Amanda Weaver (Review)

Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger By: Beth Harbison

The Affinities By: Robert Charles Wilson

Why Not Me? By: Mindy Kaling (Review)

Grace Under Pressure (A Manor House Mystery #1) By: Julie Hyzy

The Map of Time By: Felix J Palma (Did not Fini

This month was a struggle book wise. I had a hard time wanting to read and I had a hard time find a book that really got me excited. Maybe it’s because school started again, maybe it’s because my wedding is coming up, maybe it’s because I was on such a roll at the beginning of the year. Either way, I definitely wasn’t excited until I picked up Why Not Me? It is hands down the best book I read this month and I highly recommend it.
 

Beauty

Beauty Protector Protect & Oil ($25.95)

I received this product in my Birchbox and fell in love. It makes my hair so soft and I love the way it looks when I use it. I purchased a full size this month and am excited to make it a part of my every day hair routine. I typically use it on wet hair, mixed in with a curl cream, but I am excited to tri ton dry hair too.

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Lolita ($21.00)

I bought this lipstick as a potential wedding day lipstick, and while I ended up picking something else, I am in love with this color! As is evident by a lot of the colors I review on my blog, I love a bold lip. However, for my wedding day I wanted something more subtle/natural. The girls at Sephora helped me find this lipstick. While I was hesitant about trying it at first (I am very wary of anything with a brown tint) it has turned out to be an amazing nude. My lips are very pigmented, so it’s difficult for me to find a nude that doesn’t just disappear on my lips. This enhances my lip color and is absolutely beautiful.


Buys

EVOL

Specifically the Gluten Free Mac & Cheese with Uncured Bacon. I LOVE Mac & Cheese. It is possibly one of my favorite foods and it’s really difficult to find a good microwavable version. I decided to try this one, even though I was a little wary of it being gluten free, and it’s really good! It doesn’t taste any different than regular Mac & Cheese.

Not too many Buys this month as the wedding is coming up, so I need to be careful with my money!

Miscellaneous

College Football

College football season is back! Over labor day the fiancé and I took a trip to Dallas with a few of my friends to see the Wisconsin vs Alabama game and it was so much fun! It was a great way to kick off the football season, even though Wisconsin lost. Florida is 4-0 so far, so that’s always exciting too! I can’t wait to lounge my Saturdays away in front of the TV.

Wedding

My wedding is in a week and a half! My life has been non-stop wedding stuff, so you might not hear from me much within the next few weeks. I bought some amazing bridesmaid gifts and I can’t wait to give them to all of my girls. My dress is almost done, and I have my makeup picked out and purchased. Everything is falling into place and I’m starting to get really excited!