Death Valley Hideout is a romantic suspense novel written by Dana Mentink. It is book four in the Desert Justice series, but it is not necessary to have read the previous books in order to enjoy this one.
Summary: After a previously disastrous relationship, Willow Duke is determined to protect her heart. But she can’t help but be drawn to Tony Ortega and his sweet children.
Little does she know, his name is not Tony Ortega, they are not his children, and he’s on the run.
When danger comes to Death Valley, Willow must decide if she can overcome the lies and help Tony protect the children she has come to love.
My Thoughts: I liked this book. The entire thing is one action-packed chase scene after another, and there is also plenty of mystery surrounding exactly who is on who’s side. Overall, there is an interesting plot that kept me entertained (even though there are definitely a few unbelievable parts), and I liked the characters (especially Willow’s overprotective family.)
This is a quick and enjoyable read filled with action-packed adventure and a little romance on the side. And, I liked it enough that I am really interested to go back and read the previous books too.
I would like to thank HARLEQUIN – Romance for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you.
While we have been purchasing dishwasher tabs that have less chemicals in them (7th Generation), I wanted a recipe that was natural. Also, the price we have been paying has really gone up, and they have been out of stock sometimes too. And, of course, sometimes I forget I need them as I am not used to purchasing household items from Amazon, which is where I can find them.
For this recipe I already had all five ingredients, which made this easy to put together. The only thing I purchased was the molds (linked in recipe.)
These are so simple to make. I had been worried they would fall apart easily and create a mess, but they stay together nicely.
We run 1-2 loads of dishes per day, and have been using these for a few weeks.
The verdict? They work great! I honestly didn’t notice a difference between these and what we had been purchasing.
This was a very easy switch to make, and now I have simple, inexpensive, natural dishwasher tabs. Yay!
Next on my list are homemade disposal drops. I’ll let you know how it goes!
A few months ago I participated in my very first virtual crop with Paper Issues. It was SO much fun!
Over the last several weeks I have been sharing the layouts I made, and today I am sharing another.
This one was a bit tricky to take a picture of as the background paper was more of a clear plastic-y substance, but I think you can get the idea of what it looks like.
The set (which is designed for 6th-9th grade students) includes a book, a student guide, and a teacher guide. Its purpose is to introduce students to the ancient Romans and classical historians and prep them for reading more about these historians in high school.
The book is a matte softcover book that was written by Dorothy Mills in the 1920s. The seventy-one page glossy study guide and coordinating teacher guide provide vocabulary, comprehension questions, quizzes, tests, and other activities to facilitate a fully classical history education for middle school.
Students will learn how the ancient Romans influenced culture (some of their ideas are still in use today), will understand more about the basic structure of Roman history, and Rome’s mission to conquer the world.
My Thoughts: We do not strictly follow the classical style of education (we are more eclectic), but we do use some classical materials, and are interested in Roman history, so I thought this would be a good fit for us.
I did like the size of the book, and that some illustrations were included. I liked that there were sections in the study guide to cover more difficult vocabulary, and plenty of opportunities to test for understanding with comprehension questions, quizzes, and tests.
But, the writing seemed pretty dry to me. We have read other books about the ancient Romans that were more engaging, and this book was a bit of a tougher read.
Also, I wish the study guide instructions would have been more clear. There is a table of contents and at the bottom of the study guide pages it does list the book page numbers, but it would have been nice if at the top of each section of activities it said for example: lesson two, read chapter one, and then answer the questions. It would also make more sense to read the Facts to Know section before completing the chapter reading, and I wasn’t sure what the difference was between the Reading Notes and Vocabulary. A “How To Use This Book” section in the teacher’s guide would have been nice.
And, I wish the questions and activities lined up with the chapters. I don’t like that sometimes the lessons end in the middle of a sentence, instead of finishing the chapter. I realize the questions were based off a book that was previously written, but it did break up the flow of the reading.
Overall, this product just wasn’t one that worked for us.
If you enjoy a strictly classical education, this product might work better for you, and I would encourage you to check out the Memoria Press website.
Slow Down, Enjoy, and Create 