#CozyMysteryBookClub #FebruaryReview Crime & Punctuation!

It is almost time for the February meeting of The Cozy Mystery Book Club! This coming Tuesday, Feb 23rd on YouTube at 7pm EST,  you can join in the live stream discussion of this month's book Crime & Punctuation by Kaithlyn Dunnett.  As you can see in my picture from an Instagram post I made, I borrowed the book from my local library. The cover of the book is a bit of an optical illusion,  looking like four-book spines. This is the first book in the Deadly Edits Series and after this book, there are two additional books so far--and the covers that look like book spines continue on book two and book three's covers. 

Mikki Lincoln, the protagonist of this series, is a retired school teacher. Additionally, she is a recent widow who has moved back to her hometown.  Mikki edits books on the side to help pay for renovations to her hundred-year-old home. If it weren't for The Cozy Mystery Book Club, I don't think I would have picked up this book.  I have so many cozy mysteries yet to read on my kindle and on my bookshelf.  Of course, that is one of the reasons I like to participate in the club, I wind up reading stories I would not have read otherwise. 

As I began reading Crime & Punctuation,  I realized I don't think I have read any book told from the POV of a woman who was in her late 60s. I've read plenty of books in my life and many of them are from a woman's POV but the vast majority of those books take place with characters who are under 40.   It would seem that the cozy mystery is a subgenre that allows for women who are older to be protagonists! I hope as more cozy mysteries are published, that the subgenre continues to broaden the types of people that get to be protagonists. I want more cozies told from the POV of Black and Brown women of all ages and also from members of the LBGTQIA community.  As a reader, I value stories written by and about people living completely different lives than me. 

Alright, back to the book. Mikki uses her skills as a former teacher and an editor to discover who killed Tiffany and why.  I enjoyed how Kaitlyn Dunnett uses a book manuscript as the central clue in this plot. In the book, Mikki talks about how new writers make mistakes in their writing and as I was reading  Mikki's critiques, I thought Kaitlyn Dunnett must have to be very careful in her writing so the character she created wouldn't tell her to fix her writing! The book takes place in the fall in a small town in the Catskills. Once again, which is very 2021 of me, I add the Catskills to my long list of places I would like to visit after the pandemic.

4.5 Stars to Crime & Punctuation a solid start for a mystery series: small town, curious sleuth, cat companion, a bookish job, and a big old house in a scenic area --and a cornucopia of townspeople! 

*****

My weather app says that Chicagoland should be getting temps in the 30s this weekend. I hope so, I want some of this snow to melt! 

This is how much snow we had on January 30th! 

This is how much snow we have now.

I think that's enough snow, I'm good with temps too high for snow moving forward!  

 

#Recipe and #ChickLit #BookReview & Spicy Chicken with Polenta

 

So my polenta was not as creamy as it should have been. I think I should have added more broth? All in all the meal was enjoyed by the family.  I will definitely make it again. I did have to change the cooking times on the chicken because I didn't have any chicken thighs when I decided to make this and I substituted a giant split chicken breast and chicken legs.  I also couldn't find berbere seasoning so I used a chili powder blend with cinnamon in it and added some ginger powder to that.   As you can see I found this recipe in my physical copy of Real Simple Magazine.  Paging through an actual magazine is a nice relaxing way to unplug in my estimation. 

Another way to relax is with a light-hearted book.  Yoga Pant Nation by Laurie Gelman is one such book.  This is the third book in her Class Mom series.  You can read this book as a stand-alone, but it is more fun to read it knowing the previous adventures of Jen and her family and friends. 

In the first book "Class Mom"  we met our protagonist  Jen Dixon when her son started kindergarten and her older daughters were first venturing out into the world as young adults.  Jen is an 'old' mom who's been around the grade school block. Each of the books takes place over the school year. In this book, Jen's now a 5th-grade Class Mom *and* in charge of the PTA fundraising committee.  If you have been a parent involved in raising funds, you know what a tough job she has ahead of her. 

In addition to trying to raise $10,000 for tablets for the school, Jen is beginning a new career as a spin instructor, spending several days a week providing childcare to her new grandchild and also helping her parents by going with them to run errands, cooking for them, etc.  Jen is an avatar for many women who find themselves trying to raise their own children while also helping their parents.  She's a sandwich mom in the middle of life in the middle of America--literally, as she lives in Kansas.  

If I knew Jen Dixon in real life, I would probably think she was fun but also kind of obnoxious, but in the books we know her internal monologue which shows her kindness and empathy. If you are looking for a book that will feel like you are spending time catching up with a friend over coffee, this is your book. 

This book comes out July 13, 2021, you can preorder it now or put it on your Goodreads shelf. 

4 Stars! 

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley, all the options are mine. 

In the end, Jen's youngest child Max is headed off to Junior High, and that means the class mom days are over. I hope that this isn't the end of the stories from Jen Dixon's life--her granddaughter will be going into kindergarten in just three years, maybe Jen will be pulled out of retirement to be a class parent again! 

#YogaPantNation #NetGalley 

Presidents Day Today, Paczki Day Tomorrow and #BloodHeir by Ilona Andrews

 Should you feel like celebrating Presidents' Day, I suggest a viewing of Hamilton on Disney Plus--that is if you enjoy a good musical.  Or you could one of the many, many biographies of our many presidents, OR you could dive into President Obama's biography. Since President Obama's biography which is a part one biography, is over 700 pages, if I read it I'm thinking I'll do the audio.  I like his voice. When I was a kid we would sometimes have cherry pie for Presidents' Day because of the old legend that Washington was asked if he chopped down a cherry tree and he said he couldn't lie and admitted he chopped down the cherry tree. 

These days there will be no pies on Presidents' Day, but this year the day after is Fat Tuesday and that means Paczkis!  Basically, Paczkis are Polish jelly or custard-filled donuts.  Interestingly, according to the internet while we here in Chicagoland call the day before Ash Wednesday Paczki day, in Poland Paczki day is Fat Thursday (the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday).  Moving forward I'm going to try and have a Paczki week. I like the raspberry-filled the best.  Custard filled dough of any kind is not my thing. 

*****

Today's book review is for a new book from the husband and wife writing team known as Ilona Andrews. Blood Heir is a new book in a familiar world. Julie, who got to know previously is now a grownup- with a new face and a new name, Aurelia Ryder. 

She's finally home, but if she visits her family, they will die. We are in a very new territory. This book can be read on its own.  If you have not read the Kate Daniels series, you can enjoy all those books after this one, as you wait for the next book in this new series. As a reader who comes to this book after years of enjoying the Kate Daniels series, my reading of Blood Heir is enriched as someone who has spent time in Ilona Andrews' post-shift world.  

The book is filled with ancient mythology and failed technology.  Aurelia holds her own against very powerful foes and we learn a little bit about her old crush, who is now a very different kind of Wolf. The transformation of Derek is as big as the transformation of Julie and I am really looking forward to what happens next.  

The first time she was called Knight Ryder I chuckled and then later in the book I see this exchange. So Night Ridger existed in this world too! 

Happy Valentine's Day! #TheSundayPost Feb 14th!

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Happy Valentine's Day to You! 

I recycled a Cheryl's Cookies box to package up the Hubs Valentine's Day present.  I got him Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee we will see if it lives up to their ad which says it doesn't taste like mushrooms...

The halfway point of February is here and this is the point of winter where my attempts to find the beauty in Winter fades away.  Ugh. snow, slush, sliding, cold air, cold wind, cold face, cold feet, and dry inside air. If I could go somewhere warm and sunny for a week to recharge I would go but that is definitely not going to happen this year--maybe in 2022?  That would be so refreshing. 

Well back to Valentine's Day, I hope you feel the love today!  I plan to give some chocolate to the kids and eat some myself! 

Upcoming this week-

Tomorrow I'll be talking about Paczki Day and reviewing Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews

Wednesday I'll be sharing a recipe from Real Simple for Spicy Chicken and Polenta along with a review of a fun upcoming book called Yoga Pant Nation.

Friday I'll be sharing a Cozy Mystery Book Club review of Crime & Punctuation

Are you celebrating Valentine's Day today?  What about Mardi Gras on Tuesday?  

An Actually Easy Bread Recipe! And #APocketInTime #NetGalley Review!

 We were out of potatoes and I didn't feel like making brown rice again, and I thought it was a good day to try and make fresh bread. I did a search for easy bread recipes and I found one to try that lives up to the description of the World's Easiest Homemade Bread.  This is a real five-star recipe and I am here to recommend it to you.  You don't even knead this dough! 

I recommend eating the bread slathered with butter. Life is short! 

And speaking of recommendations, let me share a review for a new time-traveling romance by Lexi Post.  I received a copy of this book from Net Galley, as always the opinions are mine.  Do you like Bridgerton or Outlander?  If so, give this book a read, A Pocket in Time is the second book in the Time Weavers, Inc. series.  So you can read the first book and then this one or just read the second one, whatever works for you. 

In the Author's Note, Lexi Post writes "A Pocket in Time was inspired by Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist."  I thought that was a unique place to start this book and as a fan of time-travel and romance, I knew this was a book I would have real fun reading.  Katz Almira is the heroine of this story, she is going back to Regency England to steal something that can change the course of history. Among her skill set is pickpocketing so she is perfect for this assignment.  She only has two weeks to complete this task or it will be too late to fix the timeline in the present day.  

The construct of Katz Almira being in a time and place she doesn't belong in and can't stay in without putting the entire world in peril really raises the stakes on the HEA. How are Jack and Katz going to overcome the literal obstacle of time and space?  That is the central mystery of this book and I applaud Lexi Post for making it so hard for these two to get together.  

If you like me enjoy characters with hard cynical outsides and gooey marshmallow insides, you'll love Katz and Jack.  It's nice to read a story where the male lead is more willing to dive off the deep end and profess his love without the certainty that the female protagonist will return his affections. 

4.5 stars to this book.  Really great read! 

#APocketInTime #NetGalley 

#ReadAlong Caressed By Ice #ParanormalRomance

This year I am participating in a Read-Along organized by Anne at Booksofmyheart.net. You can click here to read about the Read-Along and Giveaways. 

I've just finished reading the third book in the series and we will be having a group discussion about it on January 21st.  Books are even better when you get to talk about them with other people! 

And now here's my review of book #3, Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh. 

Writing a series of books is hard. Juggling characters and plots and settings has to be harder than hearing cats. Knowing this, I appreciate how well Nalini Singh has crafted the Psy-Changeling series.  As I read book three, I continue to see how the book's universe is slowly expanding. Characters that were just mentioned in book one or two are moving into prominent positions.  New details about how the Psy-Changeling world is continuously added like brush strokes of different shades of color to a landscape being painted.

Each book in the series so far, like many other romance series, focuses on a different couple. This book is the story of Judd and Brenna.  Unlike the first two books, Judd's conditioning to Silence protocol isn't failing. He has been out of the PsyNet and with the Changelings for months before things heat up between him and Brenna. The timing of this book in the Read-Along is perfect as in the book it is also winter so we read descriptions of snow in the mountains near Tahoe.  

This book deals with trauma, specifically the sexual trauma Brenna has experienced and slow imperfect healing from that trauma.  Even in this paranormal world, there aren't shortcuts and magical overnight healing for Brenna. Having started this journey into the Psy-Changeling world two books ago, by this book I think we as the readers are ready for Brenna's gut-wrenching struggles and are able to understand that this story will not have steamy sex scenes until Brenna is ready. 

We also learn more about the Psy-council who are the big bads of this series and about an unknown character "The Ghost" who is leading a nascent revolutionary group. I'm staying spoiler-free for this series so totally speculation on my part here when I say, I wonder if Ghost is Kaleb the new member of the council.  There are so many threads to pull on in this series, it's such a delight to read! 

How sad would that be!  I wonder if at some point some of the Psy characters we are learning to love will begin to sing? 

Thanks for reading! Happy Wednesday! Do something nice for yourself today! 

  

Valentines Day Week! Let's Start with Chocolate Covered Murder! #BookReview

This book is the 18th book in the series and was published nine years ago. I have found that with this series, you don't have to read the series in order.  Lucy Stone is a favorite cozy sleuth of mine. She's a mom of four kids and who grow up during the series and lives in an old house in the small town of Tinker's Cove located in Coastal Maine.  In earlier books, Lucy used to say things like "how could this happen in our quiet town, this is the sort of thing that happens in cities.  (cue eye roll from me).  Fortunately, by this point in the series, Lucy has realized that bad stuff happens everywhere. Her husband is around but mostly know for watching sports, working, and sometimes saying the wrong thing to his wife. This book is no exception as he tells Lucy "a few extra pounds is sexy" when Lucy is feeling bad about a weight gain.  

Lucy is often crabby and frequently nosy, the nosy part comes in handy since she is a reporter at the local Penny Saver and also because there are many a murder in Tinker's Cove. I imagine it is second only to Stephen King's Derry, Maine in murders per capita.

This series is known as a cozy series, but I have found it really doesn't match up with the typical cozy conventions. As is typical for this series Leslie Meier is going to talk about heavy topics, this one deals with opioid addiction and sexual consent.  There is some really outdated thinking highlighted in this book about women's behavior and fortunately, as the book goes on, Lucy does change some of her earlier judgemental inner monologues. 

If you are looking for a Valentine's Day-themed book with a potential serial killer,  look no further! 

Much to my dismay, the book didn't include chocolate recipes--or at least the e-version from my library didn't so here is a Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Recipe from Food Network. 

 

#TheSundayPost Love is in the Air? Or is that Football?

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Will you be watching the football game today?  I'm a commercials person. My husband likes the game. I'm sure he'll be watching and I'll be reading a book!  

Today 2/7/2021 is the one-year anniversary of my last radiation treatment.  I sure do hope I live a nice long rest of my life into my 80s and beyond and never need any sort of cancer treatment again. For what it's worth, radiation is a walk in the park compared to surgery and chemo, but it is still rough.  My skin will never be the same, but the trade-off was hopefully very worth it. 

I plan to spend some time today in the kitchen with the microwave reminiscing about the good old radiation days. Ha!

Coming up on 2/9 a book I reviewed The Rakehell of Roth is being released. If you liked Bridgerton on Netflix, I think you'll like this book even more than that!

So how about you?  Do you have plans for the big game?

#CozyMysteryDebut! The Guest is a Goner and Valentine's Day Talk

 

Look at this old cute picture of how cute is that kid and how colorful are the clothes.  The shirt has a great reminder for all of us Love Yourself!  Anytime is a good time to celebrate love, but it's almost Valentine's Day so let's talk about that, do you have any tradition you observe, a special dinner or night with your loved one? Is it all about the romance or the friendships?  Oprah Magazine has put together a list of 35 different ideas to celebrate Valentine's Day in 2021.  I like to use seasonal decor to celebrate the holidays so as I posted about a couple weeks ago, I have my DIY Valentine's day decor and as you know I like to cook, so a chocolate dessert is in order. 

And lastly, if you like flowers, get yourself some flowers! Don't wait for someone to do it for you, give yourself the gift of beauty in your home! 

Now on to my book review!

The Guest is a Goner by Carly Winter My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I Need to Know The Answer To The Cliffhanger at the End!

I have to say right up front that the cliffhanger I am talking about is outside the central mystery of the book. Don't worry you'll know why the guest is a goner and who did it! The Cliffhanger is the answer to something I was curious about as a reader and for that reason, I'll be sure to pick up the next book in the series.

This book is the first book in the Sedona Spirits series and is a spin-off of the author's "Tri-town Murders" series, but you don't have to be familiar with that series to start this book. I was drawn to read this book because I thought the title was a hoot and I enjoy paranormal cozies. Bernie and Ruby are a likable duo, grandma Ruby is a free spirit and Bernie is very straight-laced. Their lives have both been affected by Ruby's hardnosed parents and it's interesting to see how Bernie's great-grandparents have had a hand in Ruby's, Bernie's Mom's, and Bernie's personalities and decisions. In the book, Bernie does some important self-reflection and that's a real plus, it's so good to see characters focusing on their mental health.

One of the main components of a cozy mystery is the town and the townsfolk. In this book, it turns out that Bernie is surrounded by terrible townsfolk. At the end of the book Bernie really only has her grandma and a potential love interest and that was rather sad. I hope in the next book Bernie makes new friends with people who aren't murder suspects.

When the killer is revealed it is done Scooby-Doo style, which I *loved* So fun! I also learned that in the Sedona area there are wild boars and they are called javelinas. Lastly, I highlighted one line from the book to share: "The bowling alley smelled like oil and feet."--What a great line!

Overall this is a short cozy, has a quirky duo to root for, and paranormal elements and I will read the next book to see where we go!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

View all my reviews

Two Challenges To Talk About!

 My local grocery store had a very good deal on Eye of Round Beef Roast, So I said challenge accepted, let me see if I can cook that.  I didn't know that eye of round roast is tricky to cook since it doesn't have that handy fat marbling that allows you to throw it in a slow cooker and forget it.  In other words, Eye of Round Roast isn't like Chuck Roast.

I did some Google searches and found this recipe from the A Family Feast blog which I followed. I did marinate the roast overnight before cooking it today.  I will say that my oven runs hot and I should have turned the heat down from the 500 the recipe used to 475. The fat cap on my roast was overdone. Otherwise, the roast turned out. For sides, I made roasted potatoes as well as cabbage, carrots, and cipollini onions. 

Here is how it looked going into the oven. I put it on a little rack in a roasting pan, but there wasn't much in the way of grease and I don't think the rack was essential. 

This is the plate of food I prepared and brought up to my husband to eat since he was on a work call. Isn't he lucky to have such a nice wife? 

The second challenge I want to talk about is a book series challenge that I'm going to participate in this March.  The challenge is called Can You Read A Series In A Month? My plan is to use this challenge as an opportunity to read the Reluctant Royals series by Alyssa Cole.  The series is a contemporary romance series of three books and two novellas. 

Join me! Let's read a series in March, and then when March is over it will be time for springtime! 

Can Netflix Make This Book into A Movie? #RomanceReview #HowToCatchaQueen 4.5 Stars

 

I decided to read this book because I enjoyed Alyssa Cole's mystery thriller When No One is Watching. As you can probably tell from the cover this book is a romance.  This is the first book in a new series by Alyssa Cole called Runaway Royals. 

While this book is contemporary, the book takes place in a country where there is an absolute monarchy, so you have some elements that are usually found in a Historical Romance.  The couple in the book Shanti and Sanyu are in an arranged marriage that includes a four-month trial.  King Sanyu is contending with grief over the loss of his father as well as crippling anxiety.  Shanti has focused her whole life on becoming a Queen in order to live a life of service and King Sanyu has spent his whole life trying to avoid the crown. 

This book is a slow burn, but also has the added tension of the marriage trial period.  In addition to reading to find out how and when they will fall in love and make a commitment, we also read to see how this couple will be able to pull the Kingdom out of its downward spiral and bring it into the global community.  I enjoyed the political discussions in the book as well as learning about the mythology of the Kingdom.  Alyssa Cole does an excellent job of discussing mental health as we see Shanti teach Sanyu coping mechanisms, and also as King Sanyu realizes there is no shame in therapy.   

Throughout the book Alyssa Cole puts in some laugh-out-loud lines which are so fun to read, and also there are some quiet lines that really resonate with the reader, such as the one below:

This is a smart romance and interwoven with romance and great sex, we see characters learning their worth and respecting the worth of others.   4.5 stars! 

If you read this book, let me know what you think!

Today is National Carrot Cake Day- I like to eat Carrot Cake, but I can't say I've ever made it!  If you'd like to give it a go today here is a recipe: Carrot Cake Recipe With Video

Happy Wednesday! 

The Lastest From Charlaine Harris! #TheRussianCage #NetGalley

 The Russian Cage is the third book in the Gunnie Rose series by Ms. Harris. The series takes place in an alternative America where America is no longer the United States but has been broken up into new countries with California now being part of the Holy Roman Empire.  The time frame of this alternative history is around the 1930s I think, but it's not really important to know. 

It has been some time since I read the second book in the series so I was coming to this story as someone whose memory of what happened needed refreshing.  I recommend reading this series in order ( Book One: An Easy Death &   Book Two: A Longer Fall  ) so that you can really dig in and enjoy the world it is set in as well as the characters otherwise I think you do a disservice to yourself and the books.

I have read most of Charlaine Harris's many books and the Gunnie Rose series is a favorite. I appreciate that in this series, Lizbeth is a strong independent woman who knows herself very well and is able to say no. One of the best character traits Lizbeth has is that as a hired gun, she is very good at reading people and situations and then acting.  She doesn't get paralyzed by indecision.  

Lizbeth and her sister Felicia are fun characters to read, they know what they want and they don't let others or the conventions of the day put limitations on them.  In this book, we spend more time with Felicia and Felix and really get to know them as the story moves along.  On Charlaine Harris's website, the Gunnie Rose books are described as a trilogy so this may be the final book in the series.  I enjoyed the action in the book and how the story finished.  The ending to this book is very satisfying and it makes sense to leave things there. Now, should Ms. Harris chose to continue the series, especially if it were to branch off to new adventures with Felix or Felecia as our protagonist; well, then I will be the first in line to preorder. 

I give this book a 4.5 star rating, there is magic, there is love, there are bad guys, and the bad guys get what's coming to them. I hope that Charlaine Harris has an inclination to go back and play in this world again, I'd like to see how things go for the people around Lizbeth.  

*I received an ARC via NetGalley all the opinions are mine!  This book comes out on February 23rd, so you have time to go read the first two books in the series! 

#TheRussianCage #NetGalley

#TheSundayPost Ready for February?

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Grab your planner and make a note to celebrate some of these special February Days:

Groundhog Day is Feb 2 --and it's also Ukulele Day!

Feb 4th is Thank a Mail Carrier Day! 

Feb 12th is the Lunar New Year and also Galentine's Day

Feb 14th - of course- Is Valentine's Day

The 16th is Mardi Gras AKA Fat Tuesday or Paczki Day

That means Feb 17th is Ash Wednesday but take heart-

Feb 18th is Drink Wine Day! 

Be sure to come back to my blog tomorrow because I'll have a review up of "The Russian Cage" by Charlaine Harris! 

The whole month is Black History Month so if you need a push make a plan to spend time each week learning some Black History. As someone who likes podcasts let me recommend Uncivil by Gimlet Media. It's a short series and each episode included book recommendations.  

Question of the Day- Do you use a planner? Or do you like to wing it? 

#ReadAlong Visions of Heat #ParanormalRomance

 It's the last Friday of January already!  How are you doing?  Hanging in there? We had some snow this week and I got to try out my YakTrax which work great for walking or running in the snow. I'm still looking forward to the snow melting so I can run without the snow.  In my perfect world, among many amazing advancements; we would have sidewalks and streets that warmed up when it snowed and we'd not have to shovel or trudge through unshoveled sidewalks and we'd have dry streets that didn't turn into sheets of ice. 

Along with the snow has come gloomy grey skies, but since Groundhog Day is around the corner that's when we usually have sunshine to ensure six more weeks of winter!  That sun scares the poor little dude!

 

Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Because Nalina Singh had laid a foundation of the Psy-Changeling world in "Slave to Sensation", I was able to appreciate the expanding universe of this book and deepen my understanding of the Psy-Net.

In direct contrast to Sascha and Lucas's relationship, Faith and Vaughn have a slow, slow burn. There is much to be learned about Faith's family and I look forward to knowing more about the F-Psy Clan in the future. This book is almost all Faith and Vaughn with as much DarkRiver interaction as Sascha had in book one. I noticed that Nalini Singh purposefully uses images of heat, fire, gold to describe Vaughn throughout the book, Singh wants us to notice and understand Vaughn is the sun and Faith is the night sky. Vaughn is a passionate being, an artist more at home in the wild and Faith is a logic-driven woman who lives in her mind-- and sees the beauty of the Psy-net. Their approaches to the world are polar opposites and Nalini Singh shows us how perfectly they fit together.

At the end of the book, we get some information on a character and I was pleased to see that character isn't who we thought they were earlier in the book, I look forward to them coming back into the picture and home someone they are related to plays a role in these books as well.

At the end of this book, we have some idea of how the Dark River/Snow Dancer Clans with their adopted Psy members may someday be able to usher in an end to the Silence and I am here for it!

View all my reviews

Time To Announce The Winner! And Roast Pork Recipe!

 First of All, Congrats to Sophia Rose of the blog Delighted Reader you are the winner of the MLK Day Giveaway!!! Thanks to everyone who entered, I hope all of you added The Sound of Stars to your TBR pile! 

Recently the local grocery store had pork roast on sale for only 88 cents per pound so I ordered one and they gave me a 9.5-pound roast.  It's huge!  I decided the best way to cook it would be in the oven since I had some doubts about it fitting in our slow cooker or Instant Pot.  I found a recipe to cook with high heat and then lower the temp for the remainder of the roasting.  

How it started! 

How it's going! As far as the recipe above goes there is a part where you add apple just and I didn't do that. The vegetables I added to the roast were potatoes, carrots and onion.  When the roast was finished the meat was very tender and so some of it will be used for pulled pork or seasoned and used to make tacos. To be determined!  Bowie the dog was extremely interested in the cooking process and was hoping he could make this roast his dinner!

#KillerChardonnay #CozyMysteryBookClub January Book!

Our first read of the new year is Killer Chardonnay by Kate Lansing and it is a book Santa brought me for Christmas.  Tomorrow is the online meeting of the Cozy Mystery Book Club you can join us on youtube at 7PM EST for the live stream! One lucky person will be getting a copy of the next book in this series A Pairing To Die For which will be released tomorrow as well! 

Quick reminder you can still enter my MLK Giveaway Book Hop just look for the button on the sidebar here!  The winner will be announced on Wednesday! 

Below is my review of this new cozy mystery series and my first experience with a wine-themed cozy!

 

Killer Chardonnay by Kate Lansing
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If I have to describe this book in one word, the word I would choose is clever. The sleuth, the mystery, it's clever. Parker Valentine through one part inheritance and one part hard work opens her own winery--quite a feat for someone under 30. Alas, this being a murder mystery and all, someone is killed at the Grand Opening!

I have a very strong suspicion early on about who the killer was, and that was confirmed. It was enjoyable to watch how things played out. Great use of social media in keeping the tension high as Parker tries to save her new business from falling going under before it's even begun.

This is the first book in a new series and I will be back to see what happens next. "Killer Chardonnay" had a relatively high amount of character growth for a Cozy, there weren't too many subplots hanging opened at the end which was quite alright with me. The setting of Boulder, Colorado was larger than the typical Cozy small town, which I think works well for future murders. Author Kate Lansing does a nice job of keeping the number of characters easy for the reader to keep track of and gives side characters nice depth. One of my favorite book details was that Parker doesn't drive a car and relies on public transportation. The book talks about the craft of winemaking in an accessible way that I found engaging.

There seems to be potential for a love triangle and to be honest; I hope it doesn't happen. To keep it vague for anyone reading this, one potential love interest is a character I have already read many times in many books and I'm not a fan of this character trope. As it stands in this book I really liked the love interest portion of the book and I hope that things work out with Parker and BLANK.

All in all, this is a fresh new cozy mystery series--I'm a fan!

View all my reviews

#TheSundayPost #Giveaways #Book, #BlueApron

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

How was your week?  I'm happy to report here in my neck of the woods, after days and days of cloudy skies, on Wednesday (Coincidence ?) we woke up to sunshine that lasted for a few days. Nothing like sunshine in the winter!  Wednesday was also the day that my bimonthly indulgence of Blue Apron arrived. I should have taken pictures of my meals to share here, but I didn't. The Hubs said they were delicious which was wonderful because he has been known to say things like "I think this food is too flavorful for me." What???? 

If you have ever wanted to try Blue Apron, I have some free meals. If you would like one, just use the contact me form on the right to email me, and then I can send you a link. I don't get any sort of referral money or anything, I just like to get Blue Apron once in a while, and when I do they give me links to give free meals to others. 

I'm happy to report that I finished the last of 5 medical appointments for the month of January and all my fingers and toes are crossed that I need no medical-related contact until the end of March when I have to schedule a follow-up CT Scan for routine surveillance.  It was nice to find out that at each of my appointments the medical staff had already had both doses of the COVID-19 vaccination.  Now I have to make a change to my hope of avoiding all medical stuff until the end of March--if I could get the vaccine--then I'm happy to go to the doctor. :-)  Other than the vaccine, I want to stay away from the land of white coats! 

Coming up this last week of January I will be -

*Reviewing Visions of Heat for the Read-Along I'm doing via the COYER Challenge

*Reviewing Killer Chardonnay our January Book for the Cozy Mystery Book Club

*Talking about Valentine's Day and other days of note in February!

How about you?  Tell me one good thing that has happened to you this week! 

Late January A Great Time to Escape to Palm Beach! #ThePerfect10 #NetGalley

Just a few days left to enter my Giveaway, just click on the MLK Day Giveaway Button on the right side of my blog to read and comment! 

I don't know about you, but I often choose a book to read based on its cover. That is the case with this book by Eric O'Keefe.  I liked the 1960's retro look and the promise of a book set in Palm Beach, Florida. Flurries may be swirling outside my window, but when I open this book I'm transported to palm trees and polo ponies. A perfect escape for late January. 

Going into this book I didn't know anything about polo outside vintage Ralph Lauren commercials.  Now I have a better understanding of the game and now realize that it has a global fandom.  This book is a fast-paced mystery in the style of James Patterson. This book has multiple POV characters and it takes a little while before you, the reader, understand how the different characters fit into the central mystery of who killed Juan Harrington and why. It's like an out of focus picture that slowly becomes sharp.  

As the field of suspects narrows, I had a pretty good idea of motive but I wasn't sure who was the killer before it was revealed. If you like reading thrillers and you enjoy sports, add this book to your TBR pile, and get ready for the high stakes world of the Sport of Kings.

I got this book through Net Galley, all the opinions are mine #ThePerfect10 #Netgalley

Helping me get into the Palm Beach spirit, we finally had a few sunny days here in the land of Lincoln.  I moved our houseplants so they could enjoy the sun as well. 

Cloudy days bum Bowie out

Sunshine Day! 

 

The Midnight Library Book Review and a Chicken Noodle Soup Game Changer! #BookClubBook

 Recently the grocery store had a big sale on Chicken Fryers, and that means one day we had Roasted Chicken, and the next day I made my signature Mama's Soup.  Usually, I use frozen Reames Noodles, but they were $3.99 a bag and that was $1.49 more than I wanted to pay.  

I decided instead to make my own noodles.  I found a recipe that I like at The Spruce Eats and tried it out.  Nestled in this recipe is the best tip for making homemade noodles.  The recipe says you can use a knife to cut the dough into noodles or you can use--a PIZZA CUTTER!  Gamechanger!  Genius!  I'm so glad that someone thought of doing this! A pizza cutter works approximately 40x better for me than using a knife. 

Just a few days left to enter my Giveaway, just click on the MLK Day Giveaway Button on the right side of my blog to read and comment! 

Today's book review is for The Midnight Library this book is the January selection for a book club I belong to where we will be Zooming to discuss what we thought of the book on the last day of January. 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I started reading this book, at first, I thought I would hate it. I even put it down for a few hours. Then I picked it back up for two reasons: 1. I'm reading it for a book club and 2. The title promised me a Midnight Library and I wanted to see what that library was all about.

Once I got inside The Midnight Library, I found out there is a Book of Regrets. A Book of Regrets! That was the hook the reached inside and grabbed me. Now I was all in! I needed to know where this was going to end for Nora.

I have a soft spot in my heart for multiverses, libraries, and Henry David Thoreau. I love what if's and the idea that there are different versions of me out there living different lives having taken different paths and having made different choices. The tale of Nora Seed unfolded in expected and unexpected ways, much like any of our lives would under similar circumstances.

I devoured this book over a weekend, stopping at times to share quotes from the book. Now that the story is over, I think I might read it again someday very soon--and for that reason, it's a 5-star book for me.

I'd like to think there really is a Midnight Library for each of us.

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Breakfast For Dinner Vegetarian Edition and A #Romance Review

 

This is a meal I came up with because I wanted to hold off grocery shopping for one more day.  Slim pickings welcomed me when I opened the refrigerator.  Here is what I came up with- I sliced four potatoes into circles, seasoned them, and threw them in the oven to bake.  Then in a medium-sized iron skillet, I sauteed sliced red bell pepper, a shallot, and the last of a package of mushrooms.   

While that was cooking I minced four cloves of garlic in a large iron skillet with a tbsp of oil.  Then I added a jar of salsa and once that was simmering I cracked six eggs on top of the salsa and then I covered the eggs to cook. When they were poached I turned off the eggs. Then I mixed the potatoes with the vegetables, scooped out eggs and salsa, and topped everything with green onions. It was delicious; a nice meal you could have any time of day.  

After finishing his plate the Hubs said, "That was good, now what's for dinner?" 

I said, "That was dinner."

 He said, "I don't eat eggs for dinner."  

So I said: "You do now."

And now on to a Romance Review!

I got an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of this book from Netgalley and as always the opinions are all mine.  This was my first time reading Amalie Howard and it won't be my last!  In fact, I just found out this is actually the second book in a series.  This does make sense as when you read this book Isobel has a sister named Astrid who is deliriously happy with her beloved husband. The series is called Everleigh Sisters and I am not sure who might be written about in book three but it's a must-read series for me! 

Now on to "The Rakehell of Roth," the book is named in reference to Winter Vance, Marquess of Roth and this is a dual POV book so we do spend plenty of time in his head, but make no mistake this book is Isobel's story. 

I completely enjoyed this book, Isobel is a strong character who doesn't give up even though her Husband has built up some very high walls around his emotions and is really good at self-sabotage.  Even though this is the Regency Period this book is filled with consent and the women are not ashamed about the pleasure sex gives. 

Each chapter of the book begins with a quote from Lady Darcy which is an advice column written for women and read throughout London during the book.  To give you a taste of what those columns are like here is a quote: "Sometimes, Dearest Friend, white knights are overrated. Be the storm in the night and stage your own rescue." *   Wow right?  That's what this book delivers- empowerment and great sex!  

This book is a very satisfying read.  If you like romance, but don't read much Historical Romance, I say give this one a go, I think you'll really enjoy it. 

* The quote I used was from the Advanced Reader Copy so the text might change again before the final publication- but I wanted to share an example of Lady Darcy's advice because it was so delightful. 

#TheRakehellofRoth #NetGalley

MLK Day Giveaway Blog Hop - Enter to Win The Sound of Stars!

The MLK Giveaway hop hosted by The Caffeinated Reviewer and Mocha Girls Read is from January 18 through the 25th.  The purpose is to celebrate Black Authors and shine a light on Black Authors you may not already know. 

Each blog participating is doing their own giveaway with their own means of entry.  To keep things super simple here all you have to do to enter my giveaway is comment on this blog post and you will be entered to win either the E-version or a hardcopy of The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow (Winner picks which kind of book) You can read more about the book below: 

Description

"Can a girl who risks her life for books and an alien who loves pop music work together to save humanity? A beautiful and thrilling debut novel for fans of Marie Lu and Veronica Roth.

Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world's population.

Today, seventeen-year-old Ellie Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. With humans deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, emotional expression can be grounds for execution. Music, art, and books are illegal, but Ellie still keeps a secret library.

When young Ilori commander M0Rr1S finds Ellie's library, he's duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more.

Humanity's fate rests in the hands of an alien Ellie should fear, but M0Rr1S has a potential solution--thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous journey with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both."

Good luck! Don't forget to click the link below to enter the other giveaways and read more Black Authors! 

The winner will be picked using the random.org website on 1/27. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Will You Be Having a Three Day Weekend This Week? The Sunday Post is here -

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Over the last week, no only did I finish up taking down the Christmas decorations, it was also warm enough one day that I managed to repot my plants. I am hoping that the plants I repotted enjoy their new spacious digs.  I am a newbie to keeping house plants alive, if you have any recommendations on plant foods and such please comment below! 

Tomorrow is Martin Lurther King, Jr. Day!  This year I am not working for the first time in many years. Because I love to share great books, I am participating in Mocha Girls Read and The Caffeinated Reader's  MLK Giveaway Hop. Tomorrow you can enter to win The Sound of Stars here as well as hop over to other participating blogs to find out about books from Black Authors and enter giveaways. There are so many fantastic mysteries, romance, fantasy, YA, etc, etc that have been published over the last few years and more coming out this year from Black authors!  

How are things in your neck of the woods?  Read any good books or seen any good movies lately?  Have any special plans for the Inauguration on Wednesday?  I will be trying a new meal from Blue Apron! 

Hoping you have a great week-