Hey everyone! I have a new product for you all to check out! Its Valentia’s Pure Glow Brightening Moisturizer! I did receive a bottle for free, in exchange for my honest review. This is a great feeling moisturizer that can be used both morning and night, and can be used under makeup. It is not greasy and feels great!

Let me tell you a little more about it!
The company recommends that you use this as a final step after cleansing, toning, and serum, but before makeup of course. Directions are simply to apply all over face, neck and decollete. What to expect: Using this moisturizer you’ll start noticing results immediately, more hydrated comfortable feeling skin and a more luminous complexion. With continued use, dark spots start to disappear, fine lines fade, and skin tone looks more even.
When you order from this company, they send you follow-up emails, including the directions mentioned above. They also have sent a couple with fun DIY beauty recipes, which I will include for you below:

Strawberry Milkshake Mask
Ingredients:
1 mashed strawberry
1 spoon of yogurt
Directions:
Mix the yogurt and mashed strawberry together. Smooth the mixture over clean skin and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Rinse it off with warm water.
Why this mask works:
Strawberries and the lactic acid provide natural exfoliation that help to dissolve away dead skin cells, smooth bumps, and unclog pores. Follow up with our Fresh Mist Calming Toner to detoxify pores and balance facial pH.

Tropical Skin Glow Smoothie
Ingredients
¾ cup coconut water
1 banana
1 cup chopped pineapple (fresh or frozen)
1 cup chopped mango (fresh or frozen)
1 cup spinach, tightly packed
½ crushed ice
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a high power blender and turn it on! This recipe will make enough 1 large smoothie to have as a light meal, or two smaller smoothies for sharing. Feel free to adjust the coconut water to get the consistency of smoothie that you prefer.
They also sent me a coupon code for my next purchase! It seems like this is a very involved company, wanting to make sure their customers are satisfied. The product comes in a great glass bottle with a pump delivery system. And the moisturizer is very quick-absorbing.
They say that this product will lighten dark spots, restore skin radiance, even skin tone, diminish fine lines, and provide all-day hydration. I’m thinking of also trying it on my hands. I have some spots that aren’t very noticeable, but are annoying to me.
If you are wondering, the key ingredients are: Botanical Hyaluronic Acid, Kojic Acid, Ginseng, Safflower Oil, and Shea Butter.
This company has many other amazing products as well. Be sure to check them out at the following links:
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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H582SGI
http://valentia.com
https://www.instagram.com/valentianatural/
www.facebook.com/valentiabeauty

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To Follow Her Heart is the final installment of the Southold Chronicles series by Rebecca DeMarino. I was given the opportunity to review this historical romance. I received a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

First off, let’s read the description:

Duty and love are powerful forces. Only one has the power to make her life complete.

It is 1664 and Patience Terry is devastated to learn that Captain Jeremy Horton’s ship has been shipwrecked off the coast of Barbados. There were no survivors. She had hoped that Jeremy would someday give up the sea and settle down with her in Southold, Long Island.

Unaware his memorial service is being planned, Jeremy sails aboard a British warship with secret orders to attack New Amsterdam and claim it for the British Crown. When he makes his surprise return to Southold–and to an overjoyed Patience–it’s not quite the happily-ever-after his beloved had hoped for.

With a finely tuned sense for authentic historical characters and settings, Rebecca DeMarino plunges you into a world of tall ships, daring journeys, and yearning hearts.

My Thoughts:

I have not read any other books in this series and did not know any of the characters backstories. I would say that you can read this as a standalone book, but I do believe that reading the others in order would be the preferred way to go.

I do have to be a little critical with this book, but make sure to keep reading because I have good things to say as well. Patience is a great name for the main character, because my goodness, does she have to be patient. Jeremy keeps putting the wedding off, for things that don’t seem to be like good reasons to me. “Oh, I have to go build a boat.” As if people that build boats can’t be married. If he isn’t careful that weasel Hobart is gonna horn in on him. I also feel like the part about him being on a British warship should have been drawn out longer. Since it is in the description of the book, you think that it is a big part of the story, but it really only is a couple of chapters. At least if he was stuck on a ship, longing for Patience, for a longer period of time, we could probably understand that more than him being in town but STILL not marrying her.
However, I do have to say, that despite my frustrations, I fell in love with the characters, and despite Jeremy being wishy-washy, I wanted them to get together. And I actually have downloaded the first book in the series, because I want to learn more about the characters. So there’s that! All in all, a frustrating book, but it made me want to read more of this series, which was surprising to me.

I recently had the opportunity to review another book. This time it was A Sweet Misfortune by Maggie Brendan. This book is also a part of a series, entitled Virtues and Vices of the Old West. I haven’t read any other books in the series, but that wasn’t a problem. I’m not sure if there are any repeating characters, but if so, I didn’t feel like I was missing any information while reading.

Here is the book’s description:

Rachel Matthews isn’t one to rely on others to take care of her. Destitute and alone, she still wants to make her own way and her own money–even if she’s forced into the life of a dance hall girl. Horrified by her circumstances, Rachel’s brother sends a friend–the widely admired cattle baron John McIntyre–to rescue her, then sets off to earn enough money to buy back the family ranch. But when months pass without her brother’s return, Rachel isn’t sure she can take one more day in John McIntyre’s home–especially once she discovers that he’s the one who holds the deed to her family’s ranch.

Sparks fly between this spunky, independent heroine and the ruggedly handsome hero as they navigate the snarled terrain of pride, greed, faith, and love in Maggie Brendan’s delightful series set in the Old West.

My Thoughts:
I definitely enjoyed this book. One of my favorite characters was Estelle, John’s grandmother. I also loved that she owned her own shop!  Rachel is definitely a spunky character that you grow to love. Even though you know she will most likely end up with John, it is also fun to read about the other men who are vying for her attention. From the beginning, you begin to see hints of John and Rachel’s affection for each other, but the author draws out the suspense before they actually get together. I don’t think it’s giving away anything to say that they end up together. Saloons, dance hall girls, “soiled doves”,the cattle ranches of Montana. What a great setting. I do need to find out if the other books in the series include the same characters. If so, I might have to check them out to follow the stories. There are also helpful author’s notes at the back of the book, describing some of the things she talks about that we in our current time frame may not quite understand. Definitely check this book out and Maggie Brendan’s other books!

I received a copy of this book from Revell Reads in exchange for my honest review.