Beka Loves: Christmas - Part 2!!

Hello again,

It's Christmas time again on Beka's View!

Last time we did top Christmas songs this time it's top Christmas movies.

I'm just trying to get you all (myself included as I'm stuck at Uni until the 19th) in the Christmas spirit!!

Beka Loves: Christmas - Part 1!!

Hello my lovelies!

Since it's December, and I have my Christmas blog header live I was thinking what better time to start doing a "Christmas Series" today I present part 1, my top favourite Christmas songs to get you in the holiday spirit!

June Book Favourites!

Hello everyone as you may notice I have been working a little on my blogs appearance/ layout. If anything is hard to see/ read please let me know in the comments and I shall fix it.

Welcome to a new 'feature' for my blog, a post that will happen at the end of every month. As a self confessed book nerd I tend to read a lot so I thought I would let you know what books I have been loving throughout the month of June!

1. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Wow. She's only gone and done it again! I am in love with Colleen Hoover, Slammed and Point of Retreat were my favourite books by this author but Hopeless? That just blew both of them out of the water for me. When I first started reading this I thought okay cool it's just another of your typical easy to read good girl meets bad boy high school romance books that you forget about only moments after you put it down. I was wrong, I was so wrong. It's a heart wrenching tale that I just did not see coming. This book has got to be one of the easiest 5 star ratings that I have ever given, it was truly breathtakingly beautiful. I really want to tell you what happens but I can't you'll have to read it for yourself, I mean you get suspicious pretty soon that something isn't quite right, but I didn't expect the twist to be so huge, when we find out what happened to Sky, I had tears in my eyes. I just didn't see it coming. So I can't say more than that if you choose to read any of the books I list in this post please read this one!
A word of advice if you're an emotional reader have a box of tissues handy.

2. Ten Tiny Breaths by K. A. Tucker

Okay I admit it I first read this book back in April, and I fell in love with it, the reason it's in my June favourites is because I wasn't sure if this book was actually as good as I first thought it was so I read it again, and I still loved it.

This is a story about love, loss, friendship, about losing everything and learning how to pick up the pieces again at the end of it all. Kacey Clearly (the main protagonist) lost her mother, father, best friend, and boyfriend all in one night in a car accident. For four years Kacey and her little sister Livie live with their Aunt and Uncle. That is until the Uncle attempts to attack Livie forcing Kacey to take her away from them to start a new life in Miami. She refers to herself as Kacey the imposter, the real Kacey died four years ago in the car accident. All that keeps her together when she feels the panic rising is ten tiny breaths.

Once in Miami we follow Kacey along her journey of healing, this entails 9 stages that Kacey must go through to make her life whole again.
Stage one - Comfortably Numb
Stage two - Denial
Stage three - Resistance
Stage four - Acceptance
Stage five - Dependence
Stage six - Withdrawal
Stage seven - Breakdown
Stage eight - Recovery
Stage nine - Forgiveness
Whilst in Miami she meets Trent a guy who lives in the same apartment block and whilst he makes her feel again he also harbours a secret that could destroy everything Kacey has worked so hard to put behind her. This book is one of those that you find yourself thinking how would I react if something like this had happened to me. It's thought provoking and it stays with you long after you turn the final page.

3. Entwined With You by Sylvia Day

The long awaited third book in Sylvia Days best selling Crossfire series, and oh boy was it worth the wait. Now if you are familiar with this series you will know that this was supposed to be the final book, however Ms Day has decided to continue the series with what I believe is at least two more books. Normally hearing news like this would have set me off in a blind rage, and it almost did. That is until I got my hands on book 3 devoured it in a matter of hours and realised that I was very happy with the way it ended, and whilst I'll probably remain curious as to what happens next for Gideon and Eva I don't feel I need to read the next two books to get the closure I wanted, that was delivered in spades by Entwined With You. Sorry I can't say more than that I don't want to spoil for anyone that hasn't read it yet, all you need to know is that I was extremely happy with the ending and that in itself is a huge spoiler if you've already read books 1 & 2.
The Crossfire series is of course recommended for fans of (don't hate me! please!) Fifty Shades of Grey, however (PLEASE hear me out!) as one of the reviews on the back of my copy of Bared to You says "A well written and sexually charged romance with characters who have real depth . . . I would highly recommend Bared To You because it's what Fifty Shades of Grey could have been" and I can honestly say I have never agreed with a review more. Also this book is a little bit more light hearted than my first two favourites.

That is all for my June Favourites I hope you enjoyed ready this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please checkout these books if you're even the slightest bit interested. Like I said if you  read only one of them it should be Hopeless, in fact I wrote these mini reviews in my order of preference. Also I have attached the Good Reads link for each book, all you have to do is click on the title of each book and it will take you to it's page so you can do a bit more research, if you'd like.

See you next time.

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The Best of 2012 Tag!

As its New Year’s Eve (that is of course depending on when you read this) so as this year comes to a close I thought I would do another tag, for the best of 2012 as we welcome in the New Year.

So here goes:

BEAUTY:

1. Face product?

Favourite face product of the year has got to be Collection 2000's Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear concealer in fair. It matches my skin tone, covers all my blemishes and is great value for money coming in under £5.

2. Cheek product?

I don't really wear any blusher or bronzer so I don't have one :)

3. Eye product?

I'm cheating on this one because I have 2! First is Max Factors Masterpiece Max high definition mascara it's slightly more expensive than the likes of Maybelline or Rimmel Mascara's because it's £9.99 but it's worth it, I have long eyelashes but they are poker straight this is the only Mascara I have used that holds the curl in my lashes after I've curled them.

The second is another Max Factor product and it's the Max Effect Trio eye shadow in 01 Coco Crazy, I tend to wear brown shades during the day and I bought this on a whim it has a light medium and a dark shade the pigmentation is good and it's not too expensive at £6.99. You can get cheaper but the quality tends to not be as good.

4. Lip Product?

Okay I'm going to sound like a Max Factor addict right now but my favourite lip product is a Max Factor Colour Elixir Lipstick in the shade Lilac Wine, it's a pretty purple shade with gold shimmer in it, and it goes on smoothly and lasts a long time.

5. Skincare Product?

Favourite skin care product I have to say my Witch Hazel cleansing lotion because I love it but since I've been home for the holidays my mum let me use some of her Liz Earle superbarm because I had a couple bad spots within a day of having this product on it had taken down the redness and dried it up it is quite literally a miracle product.

6. Nail Polish?

I got some new nail polishes for Christmas that I love but I'm not going to choose one of them because I only just got it, but my favourite is a Revlon Colorstay one in the shade Bold Sangria, it is a deep dark purple colour that looks amazing on the nails.

7. Hair product?

Without a doubt for years now my Holy Grail hair product is John Frieda's frizz ease serum, it has tamed my frizz like nothing else and I don't what I would do without it.

8. Body product/Perfume

My favourite perfume is one for Escada's 20 year celebration (they brought out three) it is the blue one called Island Kiss and it smells amazing! Light, fruity, summery it brightens my day every time I wear it.

FASHION:

9. Clothing piece?

If this is a what clothes’ do you wear most often it would have to be my Manchester United shirts because I wear one at least once a week, but it's actually a light grey cardigan that I've had for years, it's comfortable, keeps me warm and I'm forever wearing it.

10. Accessory?

Without a doubt my favourite accessory is my Thomas Sabo charm bracelet that I got for my birthday this year, I wear it pretty much every day.

11. Pair of shoes?

I'm not really one of those girls that own hundreds of pairs of shoes, generally just something comfortable like a pair of boots or trainers.

RANDOM:

12. Favourite TV Show/Movie?

Favourite TV Show would be Vampire Diaries only because the season 3 finale was epic and they finally did what I wanted them to do which I won’t say here because I don't want to spoil it, and my favourite Movie is Avengers Assemble because it was just EPIC!

13. Favourite book?

I don't know! I can't pick just one! One would have to be Insurgent by Veronica Roth, another The Selection by Kiera Cass, Gabriel’s Inferno by Sylvain Reynard, look let’s just say there's a lot this list goes on for quite some time, it's rare I hate a book (*cough* *cough* Beautiful Creatures *cough* yes I've seen the films coming out but the book bored me to tears so PASS on that one thanks)

14. Food?

Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli crisps the most addictive crisps I have ever tasted. Yum!

15. Beverage?

I'm inclined to say Pepsi Max because it's pretty much all I drink all year round because I'm a caffeine addict! But I also love a good cup of tea and you can't be a Hazelnut Latte!

16. Favourite song?

Ermm? I hope it doesn't have to be one that was released this year..

Okay I don't think this song was even released as a single but it's on an album it exists so I'm counting it and its Meter and Verse by Young Guns! I've listened to it nonstop this past year!

So that is my best of 2012, leave a comment if you like saying what your favourites are!

I hope you've all had a great holiday season and I wish you all the best for the New Year! See you soon!

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