I had owned a pair hand grippers when I was teenager and I didn't get much use out of them. The pair had a 5-pound resistance each,and I thought of them as more of a novelty at time.

Last week, I was sent a Hand Gripper set, which contains a pair of wrist wraps and one adjustable hand grip.

The wrist wraps have a loop that your thumb will slip into; then you wrap the rest of the material around wrist and fasten down with the attached Velcro. The wraps are used to protect your wrists while you're lifting weights. You can also wear the wraps for cross fit, kickboxing, cardio and other workouts.

The Hand Gripper can be adjusted from 10 kg to 40 kg (2 lbs to 88 pounds). It is used to help gain (or regain) strength in your hands.

Revell; 400 pages; $14.99; Buy Link; Blog Tour

Technically, it's not officially summer on the calendar, but the sunny weather says otherwise. While many people will be spending a lot time outside gardening, swimming and getting suntans, I would rather sit on the porch with a cup of coffee and read a good book.

Now available to purchase in bookstores is the WWII romance novel, titled Anchor In The Storm, book two in the Waves of Freedom series by Sarah Sundin.

Yes, I said it's a WWII Story! I know I've said that I don't care too much for stories set in this time period, but I will occasionally read one, especially if I'm familiar with the author's other works. I've read a few books by Sarah Sundin in the past, so I thought I would give this one a try.

Anchor In The Storm centers on Lillian Avery, a young woman who moves from Ohio to Boston to become a pharmacist around the time when America entered into WWII. Despite her capabilities to do the job correctly, she is constantly being judged by her boss for every move she does; especially when she asks questions about large prescription orders.

Love was the last thing on Lillian's mind, but this is a romance novel, so you can pretty guess that there is love interest for her -  Ensign Archer Vandenberg, who happens to be her brother's best friend.

Pocket Books; 144 pages; $7.99; Amazon

Yep, I hate to admit this, but I was somewhat of a "Trekkie" during my childhood. My dad watched reruns of the original series and the feature films, so naturally I watched them as well, but I didn't become a big fan until Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted when I was a six-year-old in 1987. Of course I also watched the underdog the franchise, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; though I tuned out for "Voyager" and "Enterprise."

While I was already a big book lover back then, I only recall reading one Star Trek novel, which I believe was a novelizations of one of he movies. Anyhow, with all the hype over next month's Star Trek: Beyond and next year's CBS All-Access series, I've become reinterested in the franchise; watching a few reruns of ST: TNG on BBC America and purchasing the TOS and TNG films DVD sets.

Being in a "Trekkie" mood, I thought I would read one of the new Star Trek novels, which Pocket Books releases a few titles per month. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Force And Motion by Jeffrey Lang was released to bookstores yesterday, which Pocket Books had nicely sent me an advanced copy to review.

"Force And Motion" takes place after events of the novel Star Trek: DS9: Ascendance. It's also a sequel to the ST: TNG episode "The Wounded" and ST: DS9: Gateways novels (Demons of Air and Darkness.) The main story involves Chief Miles O'Brien and Lieutenant Commander Nog traveling in the Runabout Amazon to the private research station "Robert Hooke" to visit O'Brien's old friend Benjamin Maxwell, the former captain of the USS Rutledge and the USS Phoenix.

Ben Maxwell had been stripped of his "captain"rank after he had ordered the USS Phoenix to destroy a Cardassian warship and supply vessel that resulted in the deaths of more than 600 crew members (which took place in the TNG episode "The Wounded.") He was later court-martialed and sentenced to the Starfleet Penal Colony at the Waiheke Island, New Zealand, Earth. Twenty years later, Ben has been rehabilitated and released from prison. He is now working as an maintenance engineer on the "Robert Hooke."

Thomas Nelson; 352 pages; Buy Link; Blog Tour

It seems the days have been creeping up on me as I thought had a few more days before the Dawn at Emberwilde book tour started, but as it turns out,  today was the my scheduled day to post my review for the title. Since I hadn't read the book yet, I sat down this afternoon with a cup of coffee and read the entire novel in one sitting.

Dawn at Emberwilde (book two in the Treasures of Surrey series) centers on Isabel Creston, a young woman who has been taking care of her sister, Lizzie, ever since the death of their father. Isabel had attended the Fellsworth School since she was seven-years-old, and she is now a teacher there.

Out of nowhere, Edmund Bradford arrives at the school to inform Isabel that relatives of her mother has been looking for them. The relatives has also offered to Isabel and Lizzie into their home at Emberwilde.

While hesitant at first, Isabel agrees to visit Emberwilde and meet her family, where she is thrown into a strange new world that requires her to wear fancy dresses and socialize with strangers (and possible suitors).

It's no secret that I like to review supplements on here, especially those that will appeal to men. I started reviewing these types of supplements because I kept seeing way too many female bloggers and Amazon reviewers posting reviews on testosterone boosters, which are made for men.

For this post, I'm reviewing the TestRX male enhancement formula, which can be purchased for $18.95 on Amazon.com.

One bottle contains 90 capsules (45 servings). The main ingredients includes Tongkat Ali (400mg), Maca (50mg), L-Arginine (250mg) and a Ginseng Blend (125mg). It also has a Proprietary Formula (745mg), which contains a variety of different herbs, such as Nettle and Oyster Extract.

According to the label, the supplement is supposed to give you a boost of strength, help build muscle and increases energy. Besides from exercising benefits, it will increase your libido and your overall sexual health.

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

  This week's question is submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews!

Have you ever started a meme that became popular and is still in existence?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

  

My Answer: 

 Started a meme? No! Continued a meme? Yes! I've continued the Book Blogger Hop and the Top 5 Best Book Covers; though the latter isn't that popular.

Ballantine Books; 384 pages; $27; Amazon

Growing up as an only child in a small town in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, there wasn't too much to do; which was probably one of the reasons why books appealed to me. While I had a decent size collection of books, I had read each one several times. Eventually, my eyes wandered from my bookshelves over to the one that had all the books my mother had read, which mostly consisted of romance titles. Many of the books were written by Jude Deveraux. At the time, I picked up a few of the books and glanced at the chapters, I might have even read a little bit of them, but romances never appealed to me back then.

Fast-forward to 2003 or 2004, I stumbled upon a hardback of Wild Orchids by Jude Deveraux on clearance at a Barnes & Noble. I purchased the book with the intent of giving it to my mother for Christmas, but before I could do that, I ended up reading and liking the book. Since then, I've read a few of the author's past books and several of her most recent ones.

Now available in bookstores from Ballantine Books is Jude Deveraux's newest romance, titled "The Girl from Summer Hill," which is a new spin of the classic Pride and Prejudice story.

The book centers on a former Washington D.C. Chef, Casey Reddick, a woman starting a new life in the small town of Summer Hill, Virginia, where she is living in the small cottage behind the recently restored grand house on the Tattwell plantation. She gets the shock of her life when she looks out her window early one morning (still wearing her pajamas) and finds a naked man taking a shower on her porch. After staring a little too long, she realizes that the man is the famous actor, Tatton "Tate" Landers!

Tate's sister had been begging him for months to visit Summer Hill and see the restoration that was done on his family's plantation, which was overseen by his cousin Kit Montgomery. Coming along with him for the mini-vacation is his pal and fellow actor Jack Worth. All Tate wanted to do was to take a break from his chaotic life, but instead he encounters a stranger in the guesthouse, who happens to see him in the buff.