Once In a Blue Moon by Eileen Goudge Review

A few weeks ago, I was given the chance to read Eileen Goudge's new book " Once In A Blue Moon".
This was my very first read for one of Eileen's books, but she definitely has a long list of loyal fans with some of her previous books, which include; Domestic Affairs, Garden of Lies, The Diary, Thorns of Truth and many many more.
I have to honestly say, when I was first given the book I was a bit apprehensive, because I had it set in my brain that this was a straight up romance book, something I've never really been a big fan of. Why I made that assumption is completely beyond me now lol, because although there's romance in the book, it is so much more. When I first finally picked the book up to start reading it, I found it really hard to put down. And don't never tell anyone lol, but you know if you have a hard time keeping dry eyes throughout the prologue, than you're probably in for a good read. It's not that the book is that sad, it's just really touching. The story line draws you right in, and before long you'll feel like you're part of the book. Without giving too much away here is what the book is about:

Sisters Lindsay and Kerrie Ann have known hardship from an early age. Without guidance from their neglectful mother, their only aid came from an unlikely source, a retired exotic dancer by the name of Miss Honi Love. When the girls’ mother was sent to prison, Miss Honi tried unsuccessfully to save them from being separated and sent into foster care.

Thirty years later, Lindsay is still trying to reconnect with her sister. The owner of a bookstore in the sleepy California seaside town of Blue Moon Bay, she was lucky enough to have been adopted by a loving couple. Unbeknownst to her, Kerrie Ann has suffered a very different life. Bounced from one foster home to the next, she ran away as a teenager before becoming a drug-addicted single mother. Now, newly sober, Kerrie Ann is fighting to regain custody of the little girl who was taken from her.

Neither sister’s expectations are met when they’re finally reunited. But as the two sisters engage in the fiercest battles of their lives, they are at last drawn together despite their differences, restoring belief in the unshakable bond of family.

Hopefully this didn't give too much away for some of you planning on reading this book. I definitely enjoyed this book and found it to be a good read. And want to make sure everyone that's like me, and assumes this is just another romance book, it's not lol! Maybe it was the cover that convinced me of that lol ;)

Disclosure: I was given this book for free to review, this however did not change my opinion about it in any way. What you read here, is nothing more than my own personal and honest thoughts about this book.

Yoplait prize pack Winners

Our latest winners for the Yoplait Less Sugar, More Fun review and prize pack giveaway are:




Sheila from MO.


And


Tiffany from MS.



Since I already have both of your addresses from the entry, your prize packs will be sent out asap.
For all you that haven't won this time, don't despair, we should get another giveaway up here shortly ;)

All the information collected for this giveaway will now be deleted ;)

Joshua Bell - At Home With Friends CD Review

Recently I was given a new CD of violinist Joshua Bell's new CD, "At Home With Friends". The CD was just released on September 29th. Joshua is also the artist who performed the music in the movie "The Red Violin" (Samuel L. Jackson)
I actually really liked this movie, so I was pretty excited to be doing this review.

Here's a little about the CD:

From the producers of the album:
At Home With Friends represents the Grammy Award-winning violinist's life-long dream of recording an album of instrumental and vocal duets with an amazing roster of musicians and friends and includes collaborations with Regina Spektor, Josh Groban, Sting, Kristin Chenoweth, Chris Botti, and more!

The album covers all of the genres, from classical to pop, bluegrass to Broadway, jazz and ethnic World Music. There are even a couple of seasonal tracks in there, just in time to celebrate the holidays.

Album Track listing:

I Loves You Porgy featuring Chris Botti, trumpet
Come Again featuring Sting, vocals
Oblivion featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Cinema Paradiso featuring Josh Groban, vocals
Para Tí featuring Tiempo Libre, various
My Funny Valentine featuring Kristin Chenoweth, vocals
Maybe So featuring Edgar Meyer Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, strings
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff (Zenph re-performance)
Eleanor Rigby featuring Frankie Moreno, piano & vocals
O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair featuring Nathan Gunn, baritone
Il Postino featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Left Hand Song featuring Regina Spektor, piano & vocals
Chovendo Na Roseira featuring Dave Grusin, piano
Look Away featuring Edgar Meyer, bass and Chris Thile, mandolin
Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar & Violin featuring Anoushka Shankar, sitar
I'll Take Manhattan featuring Marvin Hamlisch, piano
Left Hand featuring Regina Spektor, vocals


What I thought:

I absolutely love this album and I'm sure that seasoned as well as new fans of Joshua Bell will feel the same about it! I've actually always been more of a fan of artists that play the piano, like George Winston, but hearing Joshua play the violin, is almost like being transported to a completely different place. At home with friends is so relaxing and calming, an absolute must to music lovers cd collections. Since he covers so many genres in this album, there will be at least one and I'm sure many more songs on this album that you will just fall in love with!

Disclosure: I received this CD for free to review it, but did not get any monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

Yoplait Less Sugar, More Fun review and prize pack giveaway

MyBlogSpark has given me another great opportunity to test or well better yet "taste" more Yoplait Yogurt. This time it was for the Yoplait Kids Cups Yogurt. If you've read my previous review of Yoplait Yogurt, then you already know all about the great benefits that you can get from eating it. With all the Vitamin D and Calcium that you get in each serving.
Yoplait Kids Cups truly are quite yummy! And you would never believe that they have 25% less sugar than the leading kids yogurt. (I promise I wasn't able to taste that it has less lol) It also contains no artificial flavors, which I know makes us all feel better about serving it to kids ;)
While doing this BlogSpark I actually learned some interesting things, for one, did you know that according to two new studies, millions of U.S. children have disturbingly low vitamin D levels, which possibly increases their risk for a variety of health concerns, including bone problems?
I think with odds like that showing in this study, every little bit helps. So having a yummy snack that most kids truly enjoy and you know is benefiting them healthwise, well, I don't know where you could go wrong there.
Now of course, as before, MyBlogSpark didn't want me to be the only one, able to try out Yoplait Yogurt for kids. They've also got two gift packs for me to giveaway, just like before ;)


Here's what you'll get in your Yoplait Less Sugar, More Fun prize pack:

• A coupon for a Yoplait Kids yogurt pack*
• a travel cooler (to take your yogurt on-the-go)
• a fun spoon that changes colors in warm water
• a reusable place mat with games to keep the kids happy while snacking
• and a fuzzy tangle puzzle for some after-snack fun

To Enter:
Since my last giveaway seems to have been a big hit with the google form, all you have to do is follow Crazy With Pets via the link on the sidebar and fill out this simple form. Only fields with * are required. You can only enter once per person/email.

As always just remember to have fun. And if you do want to leave a comment, please feel free to do so.


*This coupon offer for a free six pack of Yoplait Kids yogurt is not valid in some states, including Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.

This giveaway will end on Wednesday October the 21st, @ 11:59pm CT.
I will contact the winner via email (make sure to add giveaways@crazywithpets.com to your safe list, so my email wont get lost in spam.)and post the winning name on this blog.
The winner will have 48 hours to respond, or the prize will be forfeited and another winner will be chosen.
This giveaway is open to the US 18+ only.
Your info will only be used for this giveaway, it will not be SOLD or anything of the likes. As soon as this giveaway is over, all of your info will be DELETED.

Disclosure: As clearly stated I received products from MyBlogSpark for this review in order to review them. This however did not influence how I feel about the product that I tested. I always give my own personal opinion about products, and what you read here, is nothing more than personal opinions.

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn for Wii Giveaway Winner

A big congrats to the winner for the Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn for Wii Giveaway :




Timothy W. from Lexington, SC!!!


I've already heard back from Timothy and his game will be sent out tomorrow ;)

Haven't forgotten about ya'll

Just wanted to let you all know, that I haven't forgotten about ya'll ;-)
I've just been a bit busy with a couple of projects lol. First of, I've just recently gotten my hands on my very own copy of Windows 7 ultimate, through the very awesome Houseparty website. I am completely in love with it, now that I've had a chance of playing around with it a bit. It's such a huge step up from vista, you will hardly believe your eyes. Also anyone with a touchscreen computer, all i can say is WOW!! The enhancements that you'll get through Windows 7 running a touchscreen are absolutely amazing ;) So yes, I've been a bit busy checking out all my new features lol. Other than that, I've got a couple of really great reviews that I'm working on, as well as another giveaway that I'm sure some of you will be looking forward to, especially since my Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn for Wii Giveaway ends tomorrow. So don't forget to enter that one! If everything works out alright I should start getting the reviews and hopefully the giveaway up within the next couple of days!