Prized Your Journey as His Daughter

Details: Prized! Your Journey as His Daughter by Noelle Toscano.  Life in today's world can be hard, worrisome, frustrating, saddening, happy, joyful, confusing, and dark.  Noelle offers great advice for young girls and teenagers on how to find the light of God in a world full of evil, sadness, darkness, and anger.  She sheds light on those awkward years called the growing up stage of life where you are tossed about on the waves of everyone around you trying to influence, lead, guide, and control you.

My Review:  I have read many books like this and have never found one that actually speaks to me and what I personally went through as a teenager.  But Noelle Toscano does an excellent job!  I'm glad, as a grown woman to find a book that speaks truth, shares embarrassments, confusion, anger, sadness, love, and learning in such a way that I firmly believe does and will speak to every young girl and every young woman.  Her writing style isn't spectacular, she isn't well known, but God has given her a talent and the ability to speak to us females in a way that we understand, want to learn more from, and are grateful she wrote about her life so we can be better.  She is a great Christian writer in my view.  I personally recommend all parents get this book for themselves, to better understand what their daughters are going through.  But to also get this book for their daughters so they have someone to relate to, and be able to cope better with the challenges and struggles of tween and teenage life.  This is also great for anyone who teaches, leads, or guides teenage girls.  With all the scriptural references from the Bible, it really is great for any religious group too.

Pros: great book all around, speaks to everyone

Cons: none

                                                                                              My Rating I got this book for free to read, and review from BookCrash!

Emergen-C Fizz

Details:  Emergen-C contains 1000 mg. of Vitamin C, which supports your immune system and promotes overall health.  It has 7 B Vitamins to enhance energy naturally.  I also has 24 other nutrients, as well as electrolytes and antioxidants to refuel and replenish post workout.  There is no caffeine, so no crash.

Review:  I was able to try both the Tangerine and Lemon-Lime flavors of Emergen-C.  You can take one of these packets and add as much water as you would like up to 6 ounces.  I added the 6 ounces.  First of all I don't like Orange flavored anything, so my husband got that one.  Although I did try it.  Shouldn't have.  It was gross.  On the other hand, my husband likes orange flavored anything, and thought it was ok.  We both liked the lemon-lime flavor.  That being said, I could only think of alka-seltzer when I drank the Emergen-C.  This is not my cup of tea. My hubby said the same thing.  I'd much rather swallow a tablet with the same things in it than to drink this fizz.  This might be appealing to kids, but not to us.

We both liked all that it had in one 6 ounce glass.  We should have waited to take this after our Tabata exercise session.  Despite that, I felt energized and raring to go this morning, while in the afternoon, I felt like I needed another pick-me-up.  I don't want to rely on drugs or caffeine for that.  I just need more sleep.  Once I get caught up, I'll be just fine.

In the meantime, I'll keep looking for a better way to get my Vitamin C.  However, if this is what you prefer, get yours here.

Pros:  Contains a lot of great ingredients to help fight off colds etc., or to help refuel and replenish post workouts.

Cons:  Did not like the fizziness, nor the orange flavor.

My rating:  Thumbs Down.

Almased

Details: Almased is a low glycemic soy based health shake.  It speeds up and improves your metabolism.  This is diabetic friendly.  Made in Germany from high quality fermented soy, yogurt, and honey.  All natural, non GMO, and gluten free.  Supports healthy blood sugar levels and thyroid function. 

My Review: Mom's Thumb Reviews team is always looking for great healthy tips, advice, tools, and options for people to choose from.  Almased is one of the best products in the shake department that we have tried.  The suggested way to drink it is to take the serving amount and put it into 10oz of filtered water/ skim milk/ Almond milk, with a tap of ground cinnamon, and a tbsp of olive oil/ flaxseed oil.  Here is what I have found: water is not a good medium to mix the Almased in.  Skim milk is the most cost effective choice, and Almond milk and skim milk taste the best.  I have stopped adding the oil after the first week because it was weird tasting and made my drink super lumpy.  I love the cinnamon!  After 3 weeks I am in love with this product.  My body feels so good when I have this. And I have learned that when I drink an Almased in the morning I also want one for dinner.  So I've been eating a regular meal for lunch and half a meal for dinner.   I have yet to get the total control and courage to try the 14 day Almased diet cleanse.  But I will because it sounds amazing.

Doing this for 3 days of straight Almased for 3 meals a day, and then 4 days of Almased for 2 meals I lost 8 lbs, and since then have lost another 3 lbs.  It works!

Pros: great flavor, feels good to the body,  easy to find online or in stores

Cons: tastes bad in water, can be grainy texture

Terra Vonnel and the Skulls of Aries

Details: The fearful sea Vixen Terra Vonnel is on a mission to steal the skulls of Aries.  She must fight Vampires, Death, and deal with pirates, and Dead Souls.  Magic, enchantments, curses, and glowing swords  brings about a thriller fantasy short story.

My Reviews:  I'm not a big fan of 3rd person narrative stories, but in the case of Terra Vonnel and the Skulls of Aries, this works great!  You get all the details and the story, the fear within the mind and soul of the characters.  You feel like you're a part of the pirate crew, without feeling like the danger is upon you.  I like the way this author spins a tale.  The characters in this book aren't as realistic as other stories I've read from this author.  But for a quick read (literally half an hour for anyone), this works.  If the author wishes to continue working on this story, I would highly suggest filling out the characters better.  I would have liked to know the Pirate Vampire Dragos better.  I would like to see more imagery as well.  Over all, it was good, just not great.

Pros: interesting twist of pirates, vampires, and magic

Cons: needs better imagery, and more details with each character

                                                                        My Rating: Thumbs up and down.  Up for the plot, down for the characters.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Haven: A Stranger Magic

Details: The Dalcome family is the normal average family, brother and sister are always fighting each other, single Mother works so much and so hard to give her children what they need and some of what they want.  The son is so average that no one knows him, sees him.  The daughter has a short fuse on her temper, and when she blows abnormal things happen.  Who is the stranger that the son is stalking, and why can the daughter do things that seem like magic?

My Review:  I haven't read short stories in a long time, so to get a group of short stories to read, has been a pleasant change.  The author is talented, because the story line is easy to follow, the characters are from everyone's reality, the magic isn't corny but well written.  To compare this short story, I would have to say that the magic is a mix between Harry Potter and the Spiderwick Chronicles.  The lives of the characters are a mix between Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter, and Narnia series.  I wasn't sure what to expect, and though the short story leaves you hanging.  Meaning that I can't wait to see where this goes.

Pros: great fantasy short story

Cons: none

                                                                                       My Rating 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

House on Plunkett Street

Details: Phoebe has always been a wall flower.  Her mom was a wall flower, who faded away into a drunkard.  Having tons of older brothers, and a father who were all into every sport known to man, Phoebe didn't fit into her family.  After living a life of being lost among the flow of nothing, its time for a change, and 3 ghosts decide to set her on the straight and narrow.  Will Phoebe find her way?  Will she find love?  Will unexpected tragedy lead to wall flower safety, or will Phoebe find the courage to live life to the fullest?

My Review: I love reading!  I love getting books from authors directly!  I love getting signed books!  My two favorite book shelves are my Signed books, and my Saved books (very old books that I find, rescue, and keep special).  I am happy to say that House on Plunkett Street came to me at the right time in my life.  Things are pretty crazy for me and my family, and the author's message "Live life to the Fullest!" is what I really needed to read, hear, and understand by reading this book right now.  This is very well written, the plot has you intrigued the whole time, wanting to learn more about Phoebe, wanting to learn more about each ghost-ett who comes to visit her.  I love the characters, they all come to life.  Polly and Pam are my favorite characters.  They are so real, so full of energy, and excitement.  This is the perfect pick me up novel.  The perfect, help me without preaching to me book.  The perfect examples of how to live life to the fullest!  And its not like the Christmas story Scrooge. You learn about some of the important history from an era that is almost forgotten in today's society.  You learn about women who knew what being a "real woman" really meant, and how so much has changed.  Chapter four is my favorite chapter, with great advice from ghost number one, she will be nameless in my review because she is very important to the ending of the story.

Pros: great plot, amazingly real and honest characters, I love the lessons and the history

Cons: none

                                                               My Rating  

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.