EmpowerMoms

LIMITED TIME ONLY!! I can’t find an ending date, so this may only be for today so act quickly if you are interested in any of the exercise dvds below. Most of them I already have, but this is a great deal!

LESLIE SANSONE:

Walk to the HITS Party Songs


Walk Off Fat Fast


The Tone Every Zone Walk

5 Boosted Miles

JILLIAN MICHAELS:

Killer Buns & Thighs

One Week Shred

Ripped in 30


Killer Arms & Back

YOGA:

Element: 5 Day Yoga


Element: Cardio Conditioning Yoga

Flow Yoga for Beginners


Fat-Blasting Yoga

Day 5 Challenge here:
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-new-healthier-you-fitness-plan-day-5-try-something-new/

Day 6 Challenge here:
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-new-healthier-you-fitness-plan-day-6-play-date/

Day 7 Challenge here:
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-new-healthier-you-fitness-plan-day-7-rest/

“Power of the Matchmaker” is a prequel novella (short ebook 58 pages long) to introduce the matchmaker who I assume will be a part of the next upcoming books in this 2016 series.

Mae Li assumes the local matchmaker will match her and Chen Zhu in marriage; and when she recommends another woman for him, Mae Li is devastated and leaves the village. She has always loved him and can’t bare to see him marry another woman.

She finds out that life can be hard outside the village and almost gets forced to work in a prostitution house. She ends up dedicating her life as a Matchmaker after a woman saves her life and trains her.

I found this short story very emotional and well written. I cried towards the end of the book because I wished Pearl could have had her “happy ending” with Chen.

This was a great idea to introduce Pearl as the matchmaker before the series starts, and I’m looking forward to reading the other books in this series. Knowing the matchmakers back story will make all the other stories in this series more “real” to me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media-all opinions are my own.

Book Description:
A prequel novella to the POWER OF THE MATCHMAKER Series
Mystical . . . Beautiful . . . Romantic . . .

Read the matchmaker’s story to find out where it all starts . . .

Mae Li has been in love with Chen Zhu for years, and he with her. But when the matchmaker arrives at the Zhu family home, she recommends another village girl for Chen.

Heartbroken, Mae Li watches as Chen does his duty by marrying another. Mae flees her village with the clothes on her back and her only possession—a pearl embedded comb, given to her as a goodbye gift from Chen Zhu.

Upon Mae’s arrival in Shanghai, she quickly learns that she’ll starve within days unless she sells her prized comb or joins a courtesan house. She goes to the Huangpu River and promises the River God that she’ll always be selfless if he will save her from becoming a prostitute . . . Her wish is granted when Ms. Tan, the matchmaker of Shanghai, finds Mae. But Mae must completely change her future and her name if she is to become the next matchmaker.

**Join us for the POWER OF THE MATCHMAKER SERIES**
12 novels by 12 bestselling authors

Released once a month in 2016:

Broken Things to Mend by Karey White (Jan 2016)

Not Always Happenstance by Rachael Anderson (Feb 2016)

If We Were a Movie by Kelly Oram (March 2016)

Love is Come by Heather B. Moore (April 2016)

Four Chambers by Julie Wright (May 2016)

O’er the River Liffey by Heidi Ashworth (June 2016)

Chasing Fireflies by Taylor Dean (July 2016)

Between Earth and Heaven by Michele Paige Holmes (Aug 2016)

How I Met Your Brother by Janette Rallison (Sept 2016)

To Move the World by Regina Sirois (Oct 2016)

King of the Friend Zone by Sheralyn Pratt (Nov 2016)

The Reformer by Jaima Fixsen (Dec 2016)

I have read all three books in the Tangerine Street Romance series. They are all stand alone books, but the characters and places are mentioned in all three stories, which I really like.

I love that these authors have come together to write about a town’s different stores. They are all very descriptive which makes me feel like I’m right there along side them.

The Mariposa Hotel is written by 3 authors in 3 novel parts. Each short novel features different characters and stories all centered around the hotel.

Part 1: Ghost of 913 (17 chapters)
Mari works at the hotel and meets a hotel guest who she calls the “ghost” because he’s really clean. She later finds out he “sort of” works in law enforcement. I really liked this story! I found it sweet and interesting.

Part 2: Butterfly Kisses (9 chapters)
This was my least favorite story of the 3 three novels. I felt it had way too much drama and petty misunderstandings between the characters. Brooke was upset towards the end because she felt that Ridley wasn’t honest with her about his job, but she didn’t tell him about her job and volunteer work either. That was just one of the misunderstandings. The story had alot of good parts though.

Part 3: Dreams Come True (15 chapters)
I really liked this story as well. Raegan is the hotel events coordinator and meets a guest, Kevin who is a high profile movie producer. She helps his family and along the way they fall in love. A little bit of drama in this one, but lots of fun and romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media-all opinions are my own.

You can buy a copy here:

The Mariposa Hotel: A Tangerine Street Romance
(a novel in three parts)
by Julie Wright, Melanie Jacobson, Heather B. Moore

Book Description:
Welcome to Tangerine Street

Tangerine Street is a must-see tourist stop with a colorful mix of one-of-a-kind boutiques, unique restaurants, eclectic museums, quaint bookstores, and exclusive bed-and-breakfasts. The Mariposa Hotel, a new resort, has revitalized Seashell Beach, bringing new life to the sleepy beach town. In the charming gardens of the hotel sits a three-hundred-year-old wishing well transported from Mexico. One toss of the coin, a sincere wish, and lives are changed forever…

Other books in the Tangerine Street Romance series:
The Fortune Café
The Boardwalk Antiques Shop

*An easy and fun way to get fit!

*Keep your walking workouts fresh with a new plan each month!

*Every day of each month is planned for you… some days you’ll take a long walk… some days a mini walk… or even a rest day… just tap the screen and WALK!

*Each daily video comes complete with all the features from the DVD, including chapters and bonus features.

Sign up now and get your first month FREE!
http://www.walkathome.com/your-daily-walk/

What could be easier?
No hassles with discs, DVD players or remote controls.

Once you’ve signed up, just download and launch the app on your iOS or Android device and today’s workout appears front and center. Tap once and high quality video starts streaming right to your screen.

Work out with WALK at Home anywhere that has WiFi, 4G or LTE–your home, hotel rooms, beach or mountain cabins or when visiting friends.

The monthly membership is $4.99 after the first free month (credit card required) OR $49.99 annual fee.

HOW TO GET STARTED and DIRECTIONS:

*Click on “monthly membership” or “annual membership” to get started. Then sign in with your shopping account user name and password or sign up for a new account.

*It should automatically apply the promo code (1monthfree) to make the subscription monthly price 0 instead of $4.99 to get your first month free. It is a subscription service so you will automatically be billed $4.99 each month unless you cancel.

*You must enter a credit card or paypal information to continue.

*Please note that the purchase will appear as “Purple Shop” on your credit card statement.

*After your pay, you will be directed to a screen download the “Daily Walk App” from Itunes or Android. Then sign in with the same user name email and password you established earlier.

This is what the app looks like for Itunes:

When you select the app and sign in with your user info, you will automatically be sent to the current day’s workout that looks like this.
Click on the play side triangle button to play the current day workout.

You will need to click on the upper right CHAPTERS selection to select what part of the dvd workout you want to do.

Click on your selection to get your workout to play.

You will have to tap the screen once to see the total time of the workout on the bottom right.

You can also click the stop and start button on the bottom left.

If at any time you want to select a different chapter, go to the upper right.

If at any time you want to stop the workout and go back to the main screen, go to the upper left and click back.

WORKOUT SCHEDULE:
Right now you can swipe front or backward from Tuesday December 1 thru Monday Feb 1st to view the schedule and click on a different day workout. You do NOT have to take a rest day or do the dvd selected for that day if you don’t want to. Just swipe to a different day.

This is what the schedule for January looks like:

Jan 1: Ultimate 5 day Walk Plan dvd
Jan 2: The Big Burn dvd
Jan 3: Rest
Jan 4: 3 Fast Miles dvd
Jan 5: Rest
Jan 6: Mini Walks dvd
Jan 7: Walk Away Your Hips & Thighs dvd
Jan 8: Rest
Jan 9: 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk dvd
Jan 10: Rest
Jan 11: Walk It Off & Tone It Up dvd
Jan 12: Walking Down Your Blood Sugar dvd
Jan 13: Rest
Jan 14: 3 Fast Miles dvd
Jan 15: Mini Walks dvd
Jan 16: 4 Really Big Miles dvd
Jan 17: Rest
Jan 18: Ultimate 5 Day Walk Plan dvd
Jan 19: 5k With a Twist dvd
Jan 20: Rest
Jan 21: Walk Away Your Hips & Thighs dvd
Jan 22: 3 Miles Walk & Firm dvd
Jan 23: The Big Burn dvd
Jan 24: Rest
Jan 25: Walk If Off & Tone It Up dvd
Jan 26: Rest
Jan 27: Walk to the Hits Radio Remixes dvd
Jan 28: Walking Down your Blood Sugar dvd
Jan 29: Mini Walks dvd
Jan 30: 4 Really Big Miles dvd
Jan 31: Rest

OVERALL THOUGHTS:
I’m disappointed that in a 31 day period, there isn’t much of a dvd rotation with different workouts and that the app recommends 10 rest days! This seems like more of a beginner schedule to me.

In my opinion, this app would be good for people who love using app workouts(instead of DVDS) during travel, convenience of having a workout immediately on a device, or someone who doesn’t have a lot of Leslie workout dvds at home.

I personally do not like working out to apps or streaming videos because of the monthly cost, small viewing screen on my device, and a slow streaming connection on my device.

I have most of Leslie’s workout dvds and prefer using dvds instead of streaming videos.

I like that they offer a free month so it’s a great opportunity for anyone to be able to try this app to see if they would use it on a regular basis.

I only signed up so I could give it a try to post my thoughts and “How to use the app” here on my blog to share with my readers. I was also curious if they would post workouts that have NOT been made onto a dvd which is what some other trainers are doing now. So far they are only posting older dvds to the app rotation.

I will be canceling after my free trial month because this isn’t something I personally would use on a regular basis.

Have you tried the new Leslie Sansone app? What do you think?