Love Remains by Kaye Dacus

Love Remains


The Matchmakers Book One

Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Publication Date: 08/01/2010

ISBN: 9781602609891

Author: Kaye Dacus


Bobby and Zarah have led such different lives. From the beginning of the story through the end, it's interesting to see how - although they lived different lives, they came back to one another. The meddling grandmothers make great matchmakers, even if they don't know the entire story of the why and the how these two would make a great couple.

Bobby is a great knight-in-shining armour who saves Zarah from several things - being subservient in a group of her peers, being hurt by her father, a fraud investigation, as well as a lonely life. The tension between the two is palpable while reading, and Ms. Dacus writes emotions plainly, cleanly and openly, which really brings the reader into the story.

Set in Nashville, the hometown of the author, Love Remains is an inspirational, romantic and funny story that is a great way to spend some time with a book. Ms. Dacus herself says that she likes to write "inspirational romance with a sense of humor", and she definitely accomplishes that in this book. While you're at it, stop and pick up a copy of her novel Stand-In Groom which was a finalist for a Christy Award!

I have received no compensation for writing this review. The book was provided as a free galley by the publisher.

Cake Keeper Cakes - Another Winner for Lauren Chattman

Cake Keeper Cakes: 100 Simple Recipes for Extraordinary Bundt Cakes, Pound Cakes, Snacking Cakes, and Other Good-to-the-last-Crumb Treats


Publisher: The Taunton Press

Publication Date: 10/27/2009

ISBN: 9781600851209

Author: Lauren Chattman


It may be impossible to pick a favorite cake from this book. Lauren Chattman, pastry chef extraordinaire, who you may have seen on the Today Show or in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Cook's Illustrated or even Redbook, was inspired by a cake keeper she received for Mother's Day to return to the old tradition of always having a bit of cake around for drop-ins and family meals. These simple cakes are not fussy, but you can still serve them with pride to even your foodiest of guests.

My grandmother doesn't keep cake in her cake keeper anymore, but she does still have it out on display with cookies and, on a rare occasion, brownies. When I received a multi-tasking cake keeper/punch bowl as a wedding present, I knew it had a calling to be displayed - and filled - as often as possible. I enjoy baking, but at times the recipes from my favorite cookbooks can be boring and too much for a hot summer day. Not so with Ms. Chattman's book - these recipes vary, but you can definitely find something quick, easy and that captures the essence of any season - even a great Summer cake!

Now that I have so many options to fill my cake keeper, I might eventually have to pick a favorite, but for now I'm happy to be the only mom on the block with a cake keeper on display and filled. If I practice enough now, by the time my toddler is in school we might just have the coolest house on the block. A mom can hope, and with Ms. Chattman's help, a mom can bake!

I have received no compensation for writing this review. The book was provided as a free galley by the publisher.

Powerful Emotions in The Anonymous Bride

The Anonymous Bride


Texas Boardinghouse Brides Book One

Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Author: Vickie McDonough

Publication Date: 4/01/2010

Pages: 320

Ms. McDonough is an excellent writer who displays the depth and breadth of the emotions in her story so well that the reader is sucked right into the tangle of Rachel and Luke's lives. This story was an excellent read - Summer, Winter, Spring or Fall, with the twists and turns elegantly woven. A reader can practically smell the pies that Rachel bakes as she cooks at the Boardinghouse.

The stories of the three mail-order brides are mixed in with the daily life in Lookout, Texas, until they too arrive on the scene. I'm not a big fan of flashbacks or cutaways, but in this story it was necessary to show all the lines merging together, and Ms. McDonough played it well. My favorite character is Rachel's daughter, though. She's spunky and a tomboy - just as I was at her age.

Falling in love with Luke is no difficult task thanks to the emotions that are clearly portrayed by the author. Just about anyone would be willing to claim the entry as the anonymous bride with him as the prize! Although I felt that the ending came too quickly and wrapped up a little too perfectly, it is a great Happily Ever After story, and you can tell there is more to come in this series. I'm looking forward to reading more!

The Pink Carnation Begins Secretly

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
Author: Lauren Willing
Publisher: NAL Trade
ISBN: 1863254781

This novel is written both in the present and also in the past as the narrator herself is immersed in the world of the Pink Carnation. The ending of the book leads well into having more books of the same world, as can be seen in the series created by the author. Overall, this book possesses ingenuity, proper manners and the right spice to keep it interesting and to keep the reader flipping through the pages.

The light and cheery tone sets a great pace that allows the reader to become immersed and reluctant to put the book down, just as the narrarator is reluctant to book down the story she is reading about the Pink Carnation. Until the very end of the book, we do not know for sure who the Pink Carnation is, but we know that the main character, Amy Balcourt, is determined become a spy.

Amy and her mother were sent to live in England while political turmoil was too dangerous for them to live in their home country of France. As a child, Amy loved to read about the Scarlett Pimpernel and practiced her spy skills so that one day, when she was able to return to France, she would be able to join his league. Finally her time has come and her brother, who is still in France, invites her to his house. Because the Scarlett Pimpernel has retired, Amy now hopes to join the league of the Purple Gentian.

The man of the story, Lord Richard Selwick, realizes that he is falling in love with Amy, but decides that it is to her benefit that he never reveal his secret identity - as the Purple Gentian. Amy believes she is falling in love with the Purple Gentian and this tangle continues to produce the outcome of the Pink Carnation. It's a great read, really able to hold a reader's attention and I highly recommend it!

This book was borrowed from a book exchange. I have received no compensation for writing this review.

Franny's Granny Wins in Karma Bites

Title: Karma Bites

Authors: Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: 8/16/2010
ISBN: 9780547363011

Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas have a winner! Franny is a seventh grader with a purpose - she wants to help her friends, family and classmates to live in peace and harmony. The problem with that is that no one is cooperating. From the book description: "Her best friends aren't speaking, her parents just got divorced, and her hippie grandmother has moved in. The only karma Franny's got is bad karma."


Franny's grandmother is most definitely a hippie, but she also has a secret magic recipe box that she was given from a monk. She and Franny use the magic box to fix some small problems, and then it takes a life of its own as Franny tries to fix more problems - and ends up wreaking havoc on the universe instead. From her trapeze classes to her Smart Car, Franny's granny (who introduces herself that way to everyone!) is one crazy fun lady with a ton of spunk and wisdom.


My favorite part of this book is that humorous, fun way that the authors have written it. A perfect example of their style can be seen in this quote: "Where there are butt cracks, there are wedgies." Great, isn't it? It's a super fun read for young adults and older ones too. I highly recommend grabbing this book, heading to the pool and chilling out during the dog days of summer!


This book was provided at no charge to me by the publisher as a galley. I have received no compensation for this review.

Gourmet Captures Romance, History and Elegance in The Gourmet Cookie Book

The Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Recipe From Each Year 1941-2009


It's no surprise to me that Gourmet Magazine has within its archive the delicious and tantalizing recipes that are just begging to be lovingly baked at home. What is a surprise - and a very pleasant one at that - is that the recipes are reprinted exactly as they first appeared in the magazine. Those recipes that my grandmother and her mother knew so well and baked from memory, passed down on note cards in carefully elegant script, were not only maintained from the original but were also translated for our current, more vulgar methods of cooking where precision and no assumed knowledge is key.

The cookies range from simple to complex, with pictures accompanying each that bring to the reader's awareness both what the cookies should (could, if done correctly) look like when finished and how loved the recipes are by those who assembled the book. Each photograph is a painstakingly beautiful masterpiece of a collection of the most delicious cookies - it's plain to see that the taste testing was not lost on those who carefully tested and tried each recipe yet another time around. Each picture, each recipe, brings another longing to create that masterpiece at home - if only there were more hours in the day to make each and every cookie!

My favorite section is the 1940's - I love that the recipes are arranged by decade, it means so much more to me to see the historical progression of the recipes than if they were jumbled together and sorted by main ingredient or finished appearance. There is also a commentary included with each recipe, explaining what happened in the world that year that influenced the cookie selection available. I really like the cookies that use honey as a sweetener because sugar was rationed during the war. I can picture my grandmother, in her apron and 1940's clothing, standing in her mother's kitchen and making these cookies. I can hear her voice as she tells me about how she wrote to the soldiers in the war and the recipe brings home to me the greatest appreciation for her - for my hero. I know I will be baking these cookies and taking them to her, to show her that I remember - and so does Gourmet Magazine - what happened back then.

My romantic daydreams aside, I do know that these recipes will be appreciated by many. As the mother of a child allergic to peanuts, I also have a huge appreciation for the use of tree nuts - walnuts, almonds, even Brazil nuts - and so many recipes with no peanuts or peanut butter whatsoever. For the novice baker, these cookies will knock the socks off of whoever you need to impress - new brides and fiancees should take heed and bake from this book when meeting your mother-in-law for dinner. Special care is given in the book to denote cookie recipes that were written for the intent of sending to soldiers overseas - and to think that someone will read this book and do the same is wonderful. Experienced bakers will also enjoy the complexities of some of the recipes, they may even recognize the issues of Gourmet from which the recipes were pulled. There is something for everyone here - both for children and also for sophisticated adult palettes, for the young and old, for new traditions and reminders of old memories. I highly recommend that you pick up this book, take it home, ooh and ahhh over the beautiful pictures and then start baking. You won't be sorry you did!

If you do read this book, whether you try any recipes or not, I'd be very happy to hear what you have to say - and if you do bake from it, let me know how your cookies turn out!

This book was offered as a free galley read by the publisher. I have received no compensation for reviewing this book.

Heroine's Journey - The Hero Cycle of a Female in Wildthorn

From the publisher:

"They strip her naked, of everything-undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in Wildthorn Hall—a madhouse—they take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeen-still Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love . . .

Originally published in the UK, this well-paced, provocative romance pushes on boundaries-both literal and figurative-and, do beware: it will bind you, too."


Do you remember the study of the Hero's Journey, perhaps studying the Hero Cycle while reading Gilgamesh? One of my fondest memories of high school was my Civitas class which encompassed both history and literature, as well as togas, males in dresses, and interpretive dance, and in that class I learned about the hero's cycle. While reading Wildthorn by Jane England, it came to my mind that this book is the same - it's a hero's journey, but it's a woman taking that journey, something that I haven't frequently encountered before. Set in England in the era of corsets and asylums, Wildthorn tells the story of Louisa Cosgrove as she travels through the hero's cycle and emerges victorious.

The book begins with Louisa travelling with a chaperone, off to live as a companion with the Woodville family. Through flashbacks, marked by different style text and the time in relation to the present, the reader learns more about the background of Louisa, about what has happened with her to bring her to this point. For she is not travelling to the Woodville's at all, as she soon finds out. She is taken to an asylum - Wildthorn - where, true to the time period, the idea of how to help the mentally ill includes harsh words, actions, deprivation and violence. She is locked in, stripped of her own clothes and given a dress that smells of sweat that does not even fit her. All of her belongings are taken from her, although some will return later, and she realizes she is being committed as "Lucy Childs", someone she is not.

In comparison with the hero's cycle in mythology, the first flashback shows Louisa at home with her family - mother, father and brother. Her call to adventure, unfortunately, is when she is taken from her home and committed to the asylum. Through her stay in the asylum, she finds helpers as well as tests. These helpers and tests guide her through to the climax, the final battle, in which she learns the truth of her life. Her intense love of learning and medicine, although considered "bluestocking" prepares her for the rest of her journey.

Finally, she has completed the hero's cycle, having taken care of all her battles and tests and trials, she is living in peace and happiness. This book does have a few scenes of romance and love, however it describes emotion rather than detail. Wildthorn not only introduces us to a woman who has a love of learning and medicine, who succeeds in her dreams, but also describes the trials of a lesbian in the late 1800's. All in all, this is a great book for women to read - not only does a woman complete the hero's cycle, but she also has the strength and passion to go to defy convention and pursue her dreams.

This book was provided at no cost to me from a publisher as a galley. I have received no compensation for writing this review.

Bitter Reads from Bitter Harvest

Bitter Harvest by Roxanne Elizabeth Dent

I didn't really know what to expect when I picked this book up, but I happened to pick it up right when the World Cup was starting this year in South Africa. The timing, apparently, couldn't have been better. Although this book rubbed me the wrong way, I think it was intentional. There were aspects of the book that I really didn't like, but in the end I feel it was a good read. It seems like one of those books you might have to read a couple of times before you really "get" it.

The cover artwork and snippets came from the beginning of the book, when Kiliaen von Cortland and his twin sister Anna were young and in love with others their own age who didn't want anything to do with them because their mother was not entirely white. Not knowing a lot about the history of South Africa, I didn't realize immediately what was going on. From the genre of romance, which is what I thought I was reading due to the cover artwork, I expected a happy ending or at least a very happy twist. Unfortunately, I was not pleased with the way the book traveled.

The story tells of Kiliaen and his family, but he and his sister are really only evident for the first 100 or so pages. That's out of the total of 457 pages... not enough of a story, I feel, to inspire the cover artwork and snippets. The rest of the story does continue with extended family, and even comes into the present day. Many years are skipped, to proceed from 1807 to 1966, and that was part of what bothered me. In the end, it seems that the entire family was struggling due to the issues that began with Kiliaen and his sister. It seems, after I have had time to reflect, that the issues and struggles that were written about that caused me so much annoyance while reading were done on purpose - it was as though the author was letting me in to the struggle and turmoil that the characters themselves had experienced when racial or socio-economic issues were preventing them from being with their true loves.

As a romance, I would not qualify this book to fit in that category. Yes, there were moments of "passion", but there was also rape, suicide and death. To me it seems that this book might fit in a different niche - fiction, perhaps, but that the cover artwork might be off putting to some people who might need to or would appreciate reading it. The topics covered were not comfortable, and the writing lends the reader to feel some of that sensitivity, and I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. For someone who enjoys reading about the struggles of other cultures or who is not merely looking for a happy ending, this book may be appropriate. Even better would be someone who is interested historically in the ways people and society behave. But there are good aspects that even casual readers can appreciate.

This book was borrowed from a book exchange. I have received no compensation for writing this review.

Joanna Landers Triumphs in Passage by Connie Willis

Passage by Connie Willis

Psychology and the workings of the mind are normally I subject that I tend to avoid – there are so many people who have come up with so many different theories, that I’m just not sure what to believe. I know I’m nowhere near qualified to make an educated guess in the field of psychology, so I usually just try to steer clear of the whole arena. I was pleasantly surprised, though, when I happened across Passage by Connie Willis. This captivating novel pulled me in to the world of psychology and held me fast as I marveled at the wonder of Dr. Joanna Landers’ experience and kept me guessing to the end.

Dr. Landers is a psychologist who specializes in near-death experiences (NDEs) and begins to work with a neurologist new to the hospital – Dr. Wright – on a research project. While several references to him as “Dr. Right” lead you to believe that romance will be a main thread, it is never more than a vague hint or whisper in the book. They met, even though she tried to avoid him, while the two of them tried to avoid the third NDE researcher, Mr. Mandrake who is convinced that science can never explain NDEs.  Drs. Wright and Landers embark on research into the NDE, induced by drugs, but have a difficult time finding research participants who have not already been “tainted” by the descriptions and expectations Mr. Mandrake has already published about NDEs.

Although I already had a base knowledge of the concept of an NDE, there didn’t seem to be an expectation that the reader was entirely in the know, which pleased me. The psychology and medicine behind what the researchers were trying to accomplish was explained, sometimes briefly, but still well enough that I was able to follow along without feeling completely at a loss with the subject of psychology. I found that I was genuinely interested in what the research was explaining, in what the participants were seeing and in how it related to what the researchers were learning – which is a big step for someone who could usually leave the science detail at the door.

This novel was definitely a page turner! I rarely wanted to set it down; although there were a couple of places I had to stop to digest what I had read. The quotations and excerpts from books and real life incidents gave an interesting take to the novel, giving it a sense of honesty that I doubt I would’ve seen had the quotes not been there. Constantly waiting to see what would happen next kept me reading, even though Ms. Willis never seemed to do what I expected or wanted! In the end, I wasn’t satisfied with the ending, but it was that feeling that led me to fall in love with this book. Even though I wasn’t happy with the turnout, I love the way it was written and I know it would not have nearly had the same pull if it had turned out the way I wanted, with every end cleanly tied.

We meet several interesting characters in this book, with none more interesting that Dr. Landers who draws them all together as the center of this little world. I am partial, I think, because we share a first name, but the she is written so well, so roundly that she seems like someone you could have a cup of tea with in the afternoon. She never actually has a romantic interlude, but it does seem likely off and on throughout the book. She is a confident, professional woman who desires only to be respected and taken seriously – which she accomplishes. Although I would’ve preferred for her to accomplish these feats in a different way, her proud and strong character still makes everyone believe in her before the last page.

I highly recommend anyone to read this book, I think there is something in it for everyone. Even if you are not entirely interested in fiction, I think there may even still be a chance that the human side of research might bring you into this book anyway. If you are a fiction reader, I think you will greatly enjoy making friends with Dr. Lander and her associates. If you strictly read romance, this book will probably not appeal because although it does show some romantic tension, it is never flushed out. It is a great summer read, and I happily invite you to add it to your reading list – and to let me know what you think!

This book was borrowed through a book exchange. I have received no compensation for this review. I just love the book!