Mother-daughter duo Jessica and Emily Burnstein are about to spend a week touring east coast colleges. It’s Emily’s chance to make a decision on her future and for her mother, Jessica, it’s the chance to get closer to the daughter she loves. On the tour are other parental-kid units, including another mother and daughter whom both Jessica and Emily loathe. Will Emily and Jessica get along? Grow closer? Or become further apart than they ever were?
Abbi Waxman is one of my go to author’s since her hilarious debut A Garden of Small Beginnings. I’ll admit to being slightly disappointed by her last two novels that although good were not as funny as the first. I Was Told It Would Get Easier came through with both funny scenes but also quite tender ones that had heart and made me really like these characters.
Now, I’ll admit, when I was the age of Emily Burnstein my parents didn’t take me on a college tour, they were just excited I got accepted to any! I did find the relationship between Jessica and Emily quite familiar, as I’m sure a lot of reader’s will. Emily was a typical 16 year old girl with all the sass and hormones, and a mother who was bewildered by how to bond with her daughter. I really liked both of their characters and how over the course of a week they managed to find common ground and even ended up understanding each other a little bit better.
The love interests! Yes, there was a cute boy on the trip who Emily crushed on and their budding relationship was sweet and also pretty funny. Did Jessica have a love interest? Well, there was this one scene with an ex from college that was too hilarious. We all look back on those guys fondly, don’t we? Jessica had her hands full with this one, but thankfully Emily was there to keep her on the straight and narrow.
There were a lot of fun characters in this novel, some of whom you will recognize if you’re like me and have read all of the previous novels by this author. It’s not just a mother-daughter bonding book, there were kooky happenings, drunk mom dancing, and even a bit of crime solving! I really enjoyed all of the hijinks, but even more I loved the heart. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!
In a land where magic is forbidden, earth witch Halani knows she has to be careful with her secret. When her free trader uncle purchases an artifact that’s said to be a bone from a long extinct draga, Halani feels the magic within and knows it will bring them trouble. Malachus has been searching for that same item and needs it to be able to transform from a man into a draga before his magic kills him. Their fate’s are tied together, both holding secrets, yet developing a love that will transform them and help them conquer evil.
Dragon Unleashed is the second novel in the Fallen Empire series, but for those of you who haven’t read Phoenix Unbound, this one can be read as a stand alone. I haven’t read the first novel in the series and except for meeting those characters, they weren’t involved in the plot for Dragon Unleashed so I didn’t feel at all lost. The world, however, is the same where magic is forbidden and just as in Phoenix Unbound Halani wields a magic that could make her an outlaw. It’s through her magic that the conflict for the story arises. Knowing the relic is actually the real deal means that Halani lies to Malachus right from the start. The reader being in on that lie is waiting for the hero to find out, which adds tension to what might have been a rather dull story.
It’s been a while since I’ve read a story with a dragon and I enjoyed his point of view even more than I did Halani’s. Having lived for a long time, Malachus has seen the dark side of humanity, and is pretty cynical about Halani and her people when they first meet. I liked how his view gradually changed, making Halani’s secret lie even more important to this novel. How Malachus overcomes his disdain allows his character to grow which adds impetus to the final conflict in the story. It was really well done. Halani’s POV is more predictable and because of that I found her character a little dull. Malachus definitely did all of the hard lifting in this novel.
I couldn’t end this post without saying something about the cover for this book. It’s absolutely gorgeous and really gives you a feel for the genre, although I pictured Halani a little less beautiful and more round. The author’s descriptions made me envision Malachus as sharply handsome, and Halani as softly pretty. I don’t begrudge the author this beautiful cover though, it will definitely help sell books!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!
Emma Blair meets the love of her life in high school. She and Jesse share the need for adventure and getting out of their hometown and away from the expectations of their parents. Going away to school in California, they never look back, both finding adventure. When they get married, their expectations are the same, to live life to the fullest. When Jesse goes missing after a helicopter crash and is presumed dead, Emma breaks down and moves back home and the support of her family. A few years later, now in her 30’s Emma is finding happiness doing what she thought always thought she didn’t want. Working for her family’s bookstore and loving living in a small town. She meets Sam and allows herself to look forward, instead of always thinking of the past. They get engaged, and Emma gets a phone call from her long lost husband. Which life does Emma now want? The life of adventure with her lost love? Or the solid life of love and responsibility that she now has with Sam?
Having only read Taylor Jenkins Reid’s two bestseller’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six, I didn’t know what to expect from this kind of normal sounding love story. Albeit one with a bit of a twist. Emma was a heroine that many of us could easily identify with; young and carefree but forced to grow up when tragedy strikes. It’s the choice she has to make between the two men that is different. One that will keep readers turning the pages.
Jesse is that boy that everyone loved in high school, popular, athletic, and effortlessly charming. When he and Emma connected at a young age their path was set. Get out of town and explore what their lives have to offer. Emma views that past life through rose tinted glasses and the question is whether her vision will clear when Jesse returns to her life.
Sam had been in love with Emma in their teens. He worked with her in the bookstore and at one point she had even crushed on him too. When she fell for Jesse, Sam pushed his feelings aside but never quite got over Emma. When they accidentally meet his feelings for her come back. Emma’s also surprised by her feelings for Sam and moves forward hoping Jesse would want her happiness. Is Sam going to be the man she picks for the rest of her life?
I found myself flipping between team Jesse and team Sam. Taylor Jenkins Reid did a great job and letting the reader get to know both of these men and so when Emma waffled, we completely understood! The outcome of this three way triangle was not unexpected but my feelings for it were. I cried my way through the last third of the book!
Not knowing what to expect may have been the best thing for me while reading One True Loves. I actually really liked the characters, Reid deftly handled the storyline, and it had a great ending. Was it on par with her two bestsellers? No. However, it was vastly better than some other romances I’ve read lately! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Opinions from around the Blogosphere
“I flew through this one in a single afternoon! I really enjoy Taylor Jenkins’ Reid’s writing and will be happily picking up more of her backlist titles!” DG Reads
“I really did love this book, even if it made me cry! For the record, I think all of her books have made me cry. I think one of the things that draws me to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books are the raw emotions that are so prevalent in her stories.” Faeryreads
It’s the spring of 2001 and Cecily Gardner and her boyfriend have just broken up. Trying to distract herself from calling him, Cecily takes a walk in New York City and ends up at this small pub. She asks to borrow a phone to give in an call her ex when a man sits down next to her and cautions her not to make that call. Cecily and Grant don’t do much talking that night but they sit next to each other at the bar and when it closes he walks her home. She lets him in and they fall asleep platonically, but it’s the beginning of something, but she’s not sure exactly what.
Cecily and Grant have an instant connection and stay in touch, even when he takes his sick brother to London for the summer for treatment. When he returns, he tells her he loves her, spends the night, and then disappears when two planes hit the World Trade Center on September, 11th. During her search for him she stumbles upon some truths. Truths that change the direction of her life.
I have only ever read one other Emily Giffen novel called The One and Only. In that novel the heroine falls for her best friends father. A disturbing theme that somehow turns out ok and I remember admiring the author for making me feel something even though the topic made me feel kind of uncomfortable. It wasn’t until I was a good way into The Lies That Bind that I realized this was that same author and I had that same feeling again. Cecily’s actions made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Even though she was in love with Grant because of what she found out after 9/11 she ran back into the arms of her ex, Matthew. The she started her own brand of lying. I admired the authors storytelling, but again was reading a plot that was out of my comfort zone. Did I like it? I’m still mulling over that thought. I think I can safely say that I did, although I will admit to skimming over a couple of areas because I needed to read to a point where I started feeling better. I can totally understand if this is confusing to you all because it’s confusing to me too, but without giving away all of the secrets and lies, it leaves me with only that gut feeling to talk about.
Let’s talk characters. I liked Cecily despite disagreeing with a couple of choices that she made in this story. I also liked Grant. Even after hearing the truth. Just as Cecily repeats in the book their love felt so real. It did to me too! The person who honestly drove me crazy was Cecily’s best friend Scottie. His personality was very over the top and he seemed kind of unforgiving? Despite his own sad predicament, he wasn’t a very sympathetic character and Cecily, bless her heart, needing someone to help lead her out of the path she was on. Unfortunately Scottie was not that guy. He was good for a little comic relief though.
Just as in The One and Only, despite how the book made me squirm, I liked the author’s style and her willingness to look at different kinds of behaviors and dig deep into her characters psyche. There were just too many grey areas and my own morals are pretty black and white. I’ll admit, this did slant my rating down just a tad I would have a hard time giving it less than a 4 rating. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I received a copy of this book through NetHalley for my honest review and it was honest.
Today is Monday, June 1st! Wow, this spring has flown by and we are now in our summer season. My favorite time of year to check out the new books coming out. Normally I’m purchasing a few to take on vacation and even though I don’t have a vacation planned right now, I’m definitely looking forward to cracking open a few books. This last weekend was gorgeous in Nashville with the temperatures in the mid 70’s and low humidity. I spent some time outside on my deck, and yes, part of that time was reading! Here is what I’ve been checking out.
This post originated over on Book Date, so thanks for the idea and letting me continue on the discussion about what books I am reading.
JUST FINISHED
Sometimes you just want to go back and re-read a book that you’ve enjoyed previously. It’s been about 5 years since I read this one, and it was as campy and fun as I remembered.
I am a huge fan of Grace Draven’s and was excited to get my hands on her newest fantasy novel. Isn’t this a great cover? So gorgeous! The novel is off to a quick start and has totally grabbed my interest.
I saw the third book in this series on NetGalley and it peaked my interest. The couple of reviews I read stated emphatically that this series was NOT a romance series, it’s straight fiction with a ton of hockey. A couple reviewers said too much hockey, but since I’m a fan of the sport I wanted to read it. However, I didn’t want to start with book three, so I purchased the first in the Sophie Fournier series, Breaking the Ice.
Breaking the Ice sets up the story of Sophie Fournier, the first woman to be drafted in the NAHL, this books fictional professional hockey league. As Sophie gets to know her new team she faces a lot of adversity which is expected in a league that has always been exclusively male. In addition to those difficulties, she gets drafted on the same team with a player who had always been her rival and even though they play nice, they’re still adversaries, up for the same position on the team.
Sophie was a really interesting character. Her one goal in life was to get drafted into the NAHL, and at nineteen she has achieved that goal. However, despite her work ethic and the fact that she is one of the best players on her team, if not in the league, she still doubts herself and tries to prove herself to her coach and her team over and over. I really liked some of the characters in this story. Merlin, who’s on the same line and grows quite close to Sophie, is the comic relief, and Matty, the captain of the team steps up as a mentor.
Breaking the Ice was everything I’d hoped. The play by play action was amazing. Even though I’m a hockey fan, I’ve never played the game and have always been mystified by a few things about the game. This books behind the scenes view into the game really opened my eyes to how the game is played. I was also pleasantly surprised by how she was treated by her team and within the league. Granted this novel was written by a woman and I sensed a bit of hope in the story, there was a lot less sexism than I’d thought. Is that true to life? I, like the author, hope men would treat women entering what has always been their domain with the respect their talent deserves, but I kind of doubt it would play out like that.
The second book in the series, Sophomore Surge, is the story of Sophie’s second year playing for Concord. After winning the Maddow Award, but not taking her team to the playoffs, Sophie is determined that this will be the year. Still insecure about her position on the team, she again sets the goal of winning the Cup and proving herself to all of her critics and to her team. This year, two other women get drafted, one of whom is drafted onto her team and she’s totally excited to have a female teammate. When Elsa bails on coming to the U.S. for her first season with Concord, Sophie is again faced with being alone, and that driving need to win and prove herself.
Sophomore Surge is a pretty typical second novel. We know the cast of characters and the insecurities and strengths of our heroine, but despite the excitement of all of the hockey, the story doesn’t move Sophie’s character forward, which is mildly disappointing. Knowing this has been categorized as an LGBTQ and Demisexual (I had to look this one up too) novel, I still don’t see any signs of Sophie leaning one way or another. She is hyper-focused on her game, which truthfully I would be too. She’s just not interested in anything else. BTW- when I looked up demisexual, it is when someone needs an emotional connection in order to have a physical attraction. I found that kind of nice, right? That attraction can be towards anyone. We are teased with her friendship to Ivanov, a player from another friend who becomes one of her best friends in the league, but nothing happens sexually with him and then also with her excitement of Elsa joining the league. That’s all though, just a tease. I love all of the hockey scenes and find it hard to be too disappointed because they are written so well and I do really like Sophie’s character. I figure it will happen in that final novel.
As the final novel in the Sophie Fournier series I’m expecting a couple of things. More great hockey, because that’s been very consistent in this series, and then the culmination of that sexuality “tease” we were given by classifying this series as LGBTQ and demisexual.
In Lighting the Lamp we are given a ton of great hockey. Elsa comes to the U.S. for her first season playing for Concord and Sophie is rewarded by having a best friend (who is also female) and the excitement of connecting with someone on the ice. Their line is one of the best in the league and it’s fun to watch a couple of women kick some men’s butt’s on the ice. Elsa has a lot more sass and fire than Sophie. Not having the expectations that Sophie did for the last two years, making sure she didn’t do anything to affect other women getting drafted, Elsa is opinionated and makes Sophie have some fun. It’s a breathe of fresh air to see have a little life off the ice. Sophie keeps Elsa securely in the “friend” category because she’s a hockey playing machine, and has set the goal of winning the cup again for this season.
I’ll admit, Sophie is kind of a confusing character. If I were trying to be her friend I think I wouldn’t be able to tell what she’s truly feeling. Reading from her point of view certainly helps, but poor Elsa, she can’t get a finger on why Sophie’s holding herself back from their friendship. This adds a little extra conflict to an already energetic novel and helps raise it up over the kind of steady pace Sophomore Surge set. Thank goodness! I love hockey and there’s more great play by plays in this story, but I really want something more. Do I get it in Lighting the Lamp? The answer is yes, just not in the way you’d expect. I don’t want to say any more because I don’t want to spoil the ending!
To recap the series I will say again, that if you are a fan of hockey then you must read this book. The hockey games are written superbly, we are given great characters to invest our feelings into, and a couple of great villains to really get our hate on! Concord is an underdog team, and I LOVE rooting for the underdog. Overcoming adversity is the general theme and K.R. Collins does a great job of making the series about more than women entering a man’s game, although that a big part of it. It’s also about trusting yourself, believing in your talents, and living your life the way you want despite society’s norms and expectations. All themes I can definitely get behind.
It’s been a little while since my last baking post because, well, it’s been awhile since I’ve wanted to tackle some French pastry recipe’s. I love to bake but sometimes these recipe’s are so involved that I’m in the kitchen for hours. By the end of it I’m tired, cranky, and unappreciative of all my hard work. So, cracking open the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, I decided to skip around until I found a relatively easy recipe. I settled on the Financier.
First, let’s talk about this name. In the south we’d probably pronounce this the Finance-yer, but I think in French it’s a little fancier and is probably the Fee-nance-e-ay. I felt silly, even though I took french classes in high school, so I’ve settled on the a mix of the two, Fi-nance-e-er. Couldn’t tell you if that’s the proper way to pronounce this dish, but it’s the easiest! Or you can also call these cakes Petit Fours. We all know what those are.
Now, the Financier is one of the simpler recipe’s so I decided I’d make the original and the chocolate. I gathered my ingredients of flour, sugar, almond flour, eggs, butter and for the chocolate, cocoa powder.
I, of course, forgot to take pictures of the original batch, but here’s the dry ingredients as I’m sifting the cocoa powder into them.
The secret to the financier, is the brown butter ingredient. Now, since I didn’t not have linen on hand to separate my cooked ingredients, I browned my butter and added them into the dry ingredients, as noted in the recipe. In the original financier, the browned butter really brings out the nutty taste of the almond meal. In the chocolate recipe it adds to the cocoa and dark chocolate to make a very dark chocolate brownie-like taste. Both were rather good!
Before putting the batter in the pans I did use butter on the pans, and then froze them briefly. I think this is to help the cake come out of the pan easier. They did seem to pop out, so I think that’s a job well done!
The original financier is put into an individual brownie pan, and the chocolate financier into a mini muffin mold. I do not know if this is a traditional shape for each flavor, but since I did have the two pans, I did as the recipe suggested.
There was a note on the recipe about adding in nuts or fruit to the original financier and so I added a cut strawberry and a couple of pecan pieces. Looks pretty!
When they are done, you immediately take them out of the pan and let them cool on a rack. After eating one, I decided this was done to keep the edges crisp and the cake chewy. It’s a unique flavor, not really sweet at all. As I took my second bite of the original it tasted better than the first and by the time I finished I was a fan. The chocolate was a little more bitter than I like so I think I would add a little more sugar than the recipe calls for, but you know us Americans, we like our desserts sweet! The French have a much more delicate palate.
They were tastier than my pictures lead you to believe, promise!
I didn’t spend any additional dollars on the financier recipe as I had all of the ingredients on hand from past Bouchon recipe’s. Would I make these again? If I lived in England where afternoon tea was a thing, then yes. Here in Nashville? I’d take a cupcake over these financier’s any day, but I am glad for the experience of having made them.
This is the cookbook I’m using for my Bouchon Bakery baking extravaganza. It’s beautiful, so check it out sometime!
Death’s Rival neatly ties into the previous novel Raven Cursed. While traveling to Asheville as envoy for Leo Pellissier, Master Vampire of New Orleans and the southern states (excluding Florida), Jane defended herself in her hotel room, killing an armed intruder. Now, another Master Vampire intent on taking over the United States declares Jane’s actions, as Leo’s enforcer, to be an act of war. A serious offense, to say the least. the fact that this Master Vamp is conquering his intended victims by releasing a virus on them and dangling the serum for their servitude? That’s a problem that only Jane has the skills to investigate.
Death’s Rival finally moves Jane’s character forward in many ways. It introduces a new character for Jane to lust after and partner with in Eli, removes and explains Rick’s absence, and provides more of a connection between she and George (Bruiser), Leo’s primo. Three men to tempt Jane strikes a little close too Laurel K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series for me, but luckily Jane is all talk and very little action unlike Anita’s character who has sexy times with pretty much anyone. I enjoyed the three scenario’s presented in this book and liked how they all also interacted with each other.
Another plot that moved forward was the relationship between Jane and Leo. Somehow in previous books she had managed to hold off Leo’s interest in her but her actions in Raven Cursed finally caused that tenuous peace between them to break. Jane has to become what she declared in Raven Curse. She is now Leo’s enforcer and has to face all that entails. Some of it is very hard to read. I have liked Leo’s character in the past but in this novel he shows that he is actually Master.
What is missing from this novel is the sisterhood. Jane and Mollie’s relationship hasn’t gotten past that Jane had to kill her evil witchy sister and I miss that lightness her friendship with Mollie and her kids brought to her character. It also mellowed out her inner ‘Beast’.
This one kind of ended on a mini cliffhanger so I immediately moved on to the next novel in the series. This is just getting better and better as it moves along! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Chef Ashna Raje is struggling to keep her restaurant open when her cousin approaches her to fill in as a celebrity chef on a new reality show called Cooking With The Stars. Ashna loves her cousin, but her panic attacks make starring on this show an impossibility. It isn’t until her mother, whom she has a difficult relationship, tries to get her to come to India and Ashna uses the reality show as an excuse that she makes the commitment, for better or worse. The first day of filming is when she meets the celebrity she gets paired with…. her secret high school boyfriend, FIFA winning soccer star, Rico Silva. When their meeting goes viral they become immediate fan favorites and are almost guaranteed a place in the final. Recipe for Persuasion is a rom-com loosely based upon Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion, and as with that original plot, this book has fun dialog, dramatic misunderstandings, and a joyful union.
Recipe for Persuasion is the first novel I’ve read by Sonali Dev and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed her writing style. She enwraps her main character Ashna with the flavors of her culture and boy, all of the dishes they cook really made me want to run out and stock up on my Indian and South American spices. Not only is the story filled with the color and flavor of Ashna and Rico’s cultures but their language and life experiences also helped make this story unique.
The use of flashbacks into Rico and Ash’s love story as well as Ashna’s mother Shobi’s own relationship with Ashna’s father could have been confusing but instead created emotions that really helped tie the two stories together. Not only does the love story play out, but Ashna’s conflicted feelings for her mother and father are explained and when the story concludes, despite previous misgivings, you feel like her character can finally be happy.
As with most Jane Austen re-tellings miscommunication and misdirection play a big part in how the heroine acts and reacts during the story. This novel used those same tools but you really had the feeling that Ashna wanted to work on the why’s and wherefore’s which made me like her character a lot more than I did many of Jane Austen’s. Also, the peak into why her relationship with her mother fell apart was a lot more than Ms. Austen gave her readers and was most likely why I connected with Ashna in a way I couldn’t with Jane Austen’s heroines. If you like your senses overwhelmed by the cultures of other lands and you like your stories filled with emotional growth then I think you should read this novel. Yes, it’s a rom-com, of sorts, but it’s also deftly written and you may be surprised at the emotions the story brings forth as I was. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!
For those of you living in the US, Happy Memorial Day! I hope you’re safely enjoying your day off with your family! It’s nice to have a long weekend but more importantly to remember those who have lost their lives protecting our freedom.
I’ve enjoyed reading some books this weekend and am excited to share them with you! This post originated over on Book Date, so thanks for the idea and letting me continue on the discussion about what books I am reading.
JUST FINISHED!
I discovered this really good series about the first woman to be drafted into the NAHL, the fictional version of the NHL. I LOVE all of the really detailed hockey scenes and am enjoying these characters a lot. If you haven’t read this series and like sports novels, please give this series a shot. This is book two in the series and book three comes out today!
Synopsis: Entering her second season in the North American Hockey League, Sophie Fournier sets her expectations high. The Concord Condors will make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They have the veteran core to do it and the new talent to give them the extra push.
From the beginning, things don’t go according to plan. The season begins without one of their best players, and they lose others to injury and trades as the season progresses. Hockey is a team sport, and Sophie can’t drag them to the playoffs on her own. Is her voice loud enough to convince her team to believe the way she does?
I have been speeding through the above hockey series this weekend, so for a change I’m going to switch gears to this ARC by Emily Giffen. She is never disappointing and I’ve heard good things about this novel!
Synopsis:
It’s 2 A.M. on a Saturday night in the spring of 2001, and twenty-eight-year-old Cecily Gardner sits alone in a dive bar in New York’s East Village, questioning her life. Feeling lonesome and homesick for the Midwest, she wonders if she’ll ever make it as a reporter in the big city—and whether she made a terrible mistake in breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, Matthew.
As Cecily reaches for the phone to call him, she hears a guy on the barstool next to her say, “Don’t do it—you’ll regret it.” Something tells her to listen, and over the next several hours—and shots of tequila—the two forge an unlikely connection. That should be it, they both decide the next morning, as Cecily reminds herself of the perils of a rebound relationship. Moreover, their timing couldn’t be worse—Grant is preparing to quit his job and move overseas. Yet despite all their obstacles, they can’t seem to say goodbye, and for the first time in her carefully constructed life, Cecily follows her heart instead of her head.
Then Grant disappears in the chaos of 9/11. Fearing the worst, Cecily spots his face on a missing-person poster, and realizes she is not the only one searching for him. Her investigative reporting instincts kick into action as she vows to discover the truth. But the questions pile up fast: How well did she really know Grant? Did he ever really love her? And is it possible to love a man who wasn’t who heseemed to be?
The Lies That Bind is a mesmerizing and emotionally resonant exploration of the never-ending search for love and truth—in our relationships, our careers, and deep within our own hearts.
The Reading Chick 
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