Reading Challenges: Week 28

 

Must Love Dogs - Claire Cook

I loved this book. I loved the movie too when I saw it a number of years ago. I don't remember the two of them being much alike but, that often happens. Sarah is a preschool teacher desperate for love, but her first taste of blind dating through personal ads leaves her gun shy after answering the ad of the seemingly perfect male, and finding her father on the other side of the dinner table! Often times it's the supporting characters that make a story, and I personally cracked up over the escapades of the leading lady's father and his eccentric girlfriend, Dolly.  Must Love Dogs is a romantic comedy centering around the idea that men who love babies and dogs must make good boyfriend material. Here's the big secret, neither of the primary players in this comical story even owns a dog!

Reading Challenges: Week 27

Always the Baker, Never the Bride: An Emma Rae Creation - Sandra D. Bricker

Jackson Drake opens the Tanglewood Inn, a one stop shopping for weddings including planners, caterers, spa, chapel, and guest accommodations. Jackson's doting women (his southern to the core sisters) brow beat him into hiring Emma Rae Travis an up and coming pastry chef who just won the Passionate Palette Award for her creme brulee wedding cake. The irony of their two lives collide with Emma (a diabetic who can't afford to sample her own creations) and Jackson (a wedding extraordinaire who's wife recently passed away), fall head over heels for each other.
I'm always a sucker for a good romance and this one didn't disappoint. For those of your with a sweet tooth, or a little bit of pastry chef in you, each chapter ends with a yummy recipe or pastry tip.

 

To Love A Witch - Debora Geary

It wasn't until I got to the end that I realized this was a "novel nibble" and not a full blown text. I was really disappointed actually, I was only knee deep in the story and I was to stick around for the rest. The short story was a fun read, a little bit magical, and a whole lot of sweet. It definitely left me wanting more from Debora Geary and I'll be keeping an eye out for her full length novels. I love the light hearted sci-fi that's mixed into the the classic romance about a girl with a rough life, and her knight in shining armor. 

Reading Challenges: Week 26

Cut, Crop, & Die - Joanna Campbell Slan

I randomly picked this book on one of my Kindle freebie lists. I was expecting something a bit on the corny side but I was pleasantly surprised. Slan wove together a story of murder, mystery, love, creativity, and humor into a book that I couldn't put down. At the end of each chapter there is a page or two sharing tips, tricks, and maybe even a project for the scrapbookers out there. Even if you're not a scrapbooker I would recommend this book, it was an easy read that I enjoyed immensely. My only disappointment is that I stumbled across the second book in the series and while I was able to read it, I was definitely missing details that will only come from reading the series from the beginning with Paper, Scissors, Death. Amazon also hosts a long list of Kiki Lowenstein short story mysteries that might be worth checking out.