Pros: *drool* uh, I mean, fantastic results!
Cons: Try not to go into diabetic shock, okay?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book (published 2010) provided courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Also posted at Epinions.com.
Cake, frosting, chocolate… ohhh my. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I laid eyes on Elinor Klivans’s Chocolate Cakes: 50 Great Cakes for Every Occasion
Pros: Fantastic characters and twisty plot; wonderful sex scenes
Cons: None that I can think of
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
Last week, when I finished reading Shiloh Walker’s Broken
Broken is the sequel to the marvelous Fragile; this book focuses on Quinn Rafferty, Luke’s brother, a bounty hunter for a private detective agency. He’s a grouchy loner with little interest in anyone, but a soft spot for helping abused women. Then one day he comes home to the apartment he’s renting from an elderly lady to find she’s taken in another tenant—waitress Sara Davis. It’s obvious she’s hiding from her own problems, but of greater concern to him is the fact that he’s actually attracted to her. He’s been hurt too much already, and he doesn’t want to be hurt again. Nor does he want to get caught up in her problems. Unfortunately, he won’t have much choice in the matter, as she turns out to be tied to one of his cases.
Pros: The romance works much better than in the last Joyce Lamb book I read
Cons: One character who seems like a deus ex machina and partial stereotype
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
Charlie Trudeau is a newspaper reporter who longs for the good ol’ days when advertiser revenue didn’t dictate story content. She wants to expose some of the steamier goings-on in her small town, but her father, who runs the paper, won’t allow her to do so. Her life isn’t what she’d hoped—it’s dull, ordinary, and frustrating. Until, that is, she witnesses a fatal hit-and-run. Her ringside seat at the victim’s death sets off an unlikely series of events. It sparks an unusual ability in Charlie, who starts having visions after people touch her in which she relives their memories. It inspires her to take an action that she won’t be able to undo—and might regret for a long time to come. And it brings a detective named Noah, a friend of the victim, to her doorstep.
Noah just wants to find out who killed his friend, and why. But Charlie is his only lead—she doesn’t trust him, and he can’t help noticing that she’s acting strangely. The more they uncover, however, the closer they become, and the more danger they find themselves in. Other people’s lives are placed in danger. Charlie’s new ability takes its toll. And a murderer is closing in…
Pros: You know it’s good when you tear up by page 6.
Cons: None—it’s exactly what I want from this sort of book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
I have to admit, I didn’t expect to get so swept up in Nora Roberts’s “Bride Quartet” series when it started. I’ve never been one of those “perfect wedding” dreamers, so the topic didn’t hold much interest for me. However, Ms. Roberts has brought the wedding business and its attendant ups and downs alive so beautifully that I couldn’t help but get swept up in the moment.
Savor the Moment
Pros: WONDERFUL results; fantastic mix-and-match ideas
Cons: One or two small mistakes—but the recipes are simple enough that if you know your way around a kitchen, you can figure them out
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book (published 2010) provided courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
Whoopie pies (also called “gobs” in some places) are one of those things I was familiar with growing up, since I lived in the northeastern US. They look like ice cream sandwiches, only traditionally the cookies are actually chocolate cake, and the filling is marshmallow. It’s one of those decadent, bad-for-you childhood treats that can become so much more in the hands of a creative cook.
In Whoopie Pies: Dozens of Mix ‘em, Match ‘em, Eat ‘em Up Recipes
Pros: Page-turning suspense.
Cons: The book won’t make as much sense without having read the first three books in the series.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Victoria Gardella, Venator, has survived a vicious battle with a powerful vampire, but not without cost. The vampire hunter was injured and the vampire tried to turn her, but her strength and the protection she wore have helped to keep her body from succumbing. Even as she recovers, a new threat has come to find her: vampires that can walk during the day and avoid detection. As the vampires try to frame her for grisly murders, her heart is still torn between Sebastian Vioget and Max Pesaro, fellow vampire hunters. Which of the two will capture her heart? And will she be able to overcome the evil both outside and within?
Pros: Characters that are very easy to fall in love with; a warm, feel-good story.
Cons: I would have liked to see more interactions between Joy and Liz.
Rating: 4.75 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
While mourning the death of her brother Matthew in Afghanistan, psychology graduate Joy Nelson joins the female counterpart to the SEALS, the WEALS. On her first mission, breaking up a white slave ring, something goes horribly wrong and she finds herself in the past, a thrall in the service of Brandr Igorsson. The deaths of nearly all of his family in a raid have nearly broken him, but now after exacting his vengeance he is attempting to put his household in order before the winter sets in. He finds himself with yet another problem; his new bed-thrall objects mightily to being a slave. The two of them are both determined not to give in to the other, but the rising heat between the two of them could open the door for something wonderful…
Pros: The characters’ conflicting emotions were convincingly portrayed; the reader can see the Earl of Camdonn’s growth from the last book.
Cons: The person that Elizabeth wants to get away from feels like a caricature.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
After his disastrous relationship with Sorcha, the Earl of Camdonn traveled to England and became engaged to Lady Elizabeth, who is on her way to his castle where they will be wed. Cam rides to her rescue, but is shot in the shoulder. She escapes and is rescued by Robert MacLean, who takes her back to the Earl’s castle. Ceana MacNab comes across the wounded Cam and takes him to her house, where she patches him up. A connection forms between the two, but Cam doesn’t want to give into it, because he is engaged to the Lady Elizabeth, and the last time he gave into his passions it nearly destroyed him. Elizabeth, meanwhile, is desperate to be wed, because there is a person whose influence she can only be free of by marrying. They must all struggle between the pulls of duty and desire.
Medication changes have made it difficult to get a lot done the last few weeks (yep, the meds that cured my insomnia make me so sleepy I can barely stay awake). On the plus side, we’re working on switching things around so hopefully I won’t have to take those any more, which means that hopefully within the next few weeks I’ll be all awake again and able to get plenty of reviews done!
I’ve read Nora Roberts’s Savor the Moment and hope to review it this week, and I’m reading In Bed With now. I’m also working my way through two cookbooks (Whoopie Pies and Chocolate Cakes) to review. So we’ll be back in regular operation soon, in theory!
Edited to add: Oh yeah, there will also be reviews of J.D. Robb’s Fantasy in Death and Stephen King’s Desperation (that last one is a little out of date, but I was in the mood for some classic King horror).
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