All Star Spaghetti Sauce

I would bet that almost everyone with kids knows that spaghetti is a sure-fire dinner. As long as you don't go too crazy, everyone eats it without complaining and even asks for seconds. Now, you can go pretty wrong sometimes. I've had some pretty bad spaghetti sauce that my kids wouldn't touch. But this recipe is just perfect for the boys. We call it "pink sauce" to distinguish from any other type of "red sauce". Sometimes I'll throw in ground up sautéed spinach and mushrooms for some extra flavor and nutrition, but it's really good simply like this too.

I'm a single pot sort of person, so pretty much everything goes in the pot, cook, serve. And the whipping cream is definitely the secret here. It makes everything stick to the noodles so nicely and makes a nice thick sauce. It's a lot harder for the kids to pick out the sauce and/or meat when it's a bit thicker.

All Star Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
2 15oz cans of tomato sauce
3/4 cup some kind of wine
2 Tbls brown sugar
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 cup whipping cream

Fry down the ground beef in a 2 quart pot. When it's not pink, drain out the grease but leave the meat in the pot. Add the tomato sauce, wine, brown sugar, and basil to the meat. Simmer covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the whipping cream and stir until it's all a uniform color. Serve with your favorite pasta. Throw some parmesan on top of each serving if you feel so inclined.

This recipe usually lasts for at least 32 oz of pasta.

Down The Aisle

Down The Aisle
by Christine Bell
Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

My Review:
Definitely don't try to read this one if you haven't already read Galen and Lacey's first book: Down For The Count. You'll miss out on way too much of who these characters are if you read this one first. I loved Galen and Lacey in their initial story and I was really happy to see more of them in this short novella.

This was still a sex-filled story, definitely explicit. For a short novella (that does have a prominent storyline), this book has a lot of sex. Galen and Lacey are really hot together, but this time in their lives was rather heartbreaking.

The story really centers around their infertility battle as they get ready to walk down the aisle. I felt the issues and emotions were presented in an authentic manner, but I didn't quite think the story lived up to the back cover. I expected something a little different. The back cover implies that Galen shows Lacey how it doesn't really matter if they have a baby or not, he really wants to be with her no matter what. I understood that throughout the story (because we're in Galen's head a bunch too) and I never felt any doubt about it, but I felt like they got another happy-for-now ending without dealing with the depressed feelings that especially Lacey was having and would have continued if things didn't work out just right.

Not that it was a bad ending or anything. I felt satisfied and confident that they were happy together and that they love being able to journey through life together. It's just didn't seem to actually deal with the sadness in a way the back cover implies.

I was happy for Lacey and Galen that they were able to work things out, but felt like they could have worked through some of the issues they were having as a couple before everything wrapped up so tidily. I felt like they got to a solution without having to grow as a couple. But it was great to revisit them and see their wedding. I'm looking forward to seeing snippets of them in future books set in this world.

One Night In Santiago

One Night In Santiago
by Audra North
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

My Review:
This book was really sexy and fun. It's pretty short at about 80 pages, so it give us a specific moment in time for these characters. It was a great love-at-first-sight story and captured the perfect amount of feeling. The attraction was off the charts and gave me all sorts of good feelings.

Lily and Bruno both get stuck in Santiago from a freak winter storm and need rooms for the night. With the storm, there's only one room available. They fight over it and eventually decide to share. Mother Nature is at work here throwing these two together and they find out how great they are together. It's an original take on a fun premise and these two fought as equals in the game of attraction.

I loved how Lily was strong and self-sufficient. She's rich and powerful in her own right and didn't ever feel intimidated by Bruno. She's got a lot going for her and mostly already figured out how she needs to grow from her last relationship. All she needed was to meet the right sort of guy. She's comfortable with herself and unapologetic about being attracted to Bruno. She's a bit shy at first, but man can she be aggressive in her fantasies.

It's not often you find a Spanish-speaking, Russian-Chilean, born in the US. Bruno was quite exotic, but definitely secure in who he was. He's also rich with an entire “empire” of his own, but he's a great guy. He wasn't domineering or full of himself. Neither character had any major hangups or insecurities. These were two well-grounded individuals who you can believe had just the right amount of destiny thrown at them to find each other.

The sex in this book is pretty explicit, but vanilla and romance-based. It was fun and believable in a romance movie sort of way. No one is ashamed of their attraction or uncomfortable with their (or their partner's) sexuality and that's always really hot to me. I got a couple good laughs from the prose too: “A veritable hurricane of hotness” and “...flinging loose change at her butt”.

It ended with a believable happy-for-now versus an epilogue-worthy happily-ever-after. I was a little surprised and frustrated when the end just happened – turn the page, aaahhh!! where's the rest of the story?! But afterwards I realized it was perfect for a romantic movie-style ending and just didn't follow the script of recent romance novels where they're married with kids on the way by the end of the story. I was really glad that these characters didn't push things into a forced, tidy “everything is perfect and complete now” ending. It also feels like there could definitely be a couple sequels to this book to show the characters romance continue to bloom.

I felt happy and satisfied while reading this book and I enjoyed the writing. When you're looking for a little bit of love-at-first-sight magic with some well-matched characters, this is a good book to choose. I know it'll go onto my keeper shelf and I'll re-read it soon.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Potato Soup

I love, love, love potato soup. I get it as often as I can when we go out, but I rarely make it. My kids have a bit of a thing about potatoes, so I really haven't wanted to risk it. They're getting a little better and I had a whole bunch of leftover ham that I thought sounded good in soup, so I decided to try. I saw this recipe and thought it sounded really yummy, but it doesn't have many veggies, the rest of the family has a thing about celery (and onion, and sometimes carrots), and the chunks of potato are iffy in my house. Also, I don't like to peel potatoes. So here's what I came up with. It turned out so wonderful. My kids complained a little bit but did eat it and the rest of us really liked it... and spinach, hooray.

Quickie Potato Soup without Chunks

10 small red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
6 ribs of celery, washed and diced
1 bag of mini baby carrots (8oz?), diced
1 small red onion, diced
3 Tbls butter
1 bag of spinach
10 cups water
1 Tbls Better than Bouillon
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg
3+ cups of diced ham

Once all the veggies are diced, melt 2 Tbls of butter in a large stock pot, then add all the veggies (onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes). Cook for about 10 minutes, then throw in the water, Better Than Bouillon, and salt. Let this simmer (uncovered is fine) for about 20-30 minutes - until the potatoes seem soft/cooked through.

While it's simmering, melt the other Tbls of butter in a pan and cook the spinach until it's all wilt-y. Transfer the spinach to the Vita-Mix, add water to cover the spinach, and blend on high for 15-20 seconds. Keep going until you don't see any actual leafy bits of spinach. It should be totally smooth. Add this to the soup pot as soon as it's done in the Vita-Mix and keep simmering.

When everything seems to be cooked long enough, transfer 4-ish cups of soup at a time to the Vita-Mix and process on high for 15-30 seconds each batch until there are no lumps (careful, this is hot and too much in the Vita-Mix at a time means it'll spray out the top at you when you turn it on!). Transfer to a holding container until you've gotten through the whole pot. Then you can pour everything back into the stock pot. Mix the flour and almond milk in a separate container until it's smooth, then add it into the freshly processed soup in the stock pot. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or so. Then add the nutmeg and cheese. Cook and stir until the cheese is completely melted and combined. Finally, add all the ham and stir until it's warm enough - maybe 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Still So Hot

Still So Hot
by Serena Bell
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
Dating coach, trying to move up in the world by taking on a celebrity client. News anchor, trying to clean up his image but feeling inadequate to portray the image of a stable, family man. Celebrity, who's not really interested in being “advised” or coached.

I go back and forth about celebrity-based books. I usually find them a little over the top and frustrating. I often end up feeling like “why did you put yourself in the spotlight if you didn't want people to look at you?”. This book turned out a lot better than that. While there were paparazzi and some celebrity sighting people, they only had a background role.

This story was really about Elise and Brett figuring things out, finally. They were best friends in college and for some time after, but had a passive-aggressive blow up when a kiss happened and having spoken to each other in two years. When Elise finds Brett on the same flight to St. Barts, and hooked up with her celebrity client, she goes ballistic. She's always seen Brett as going after anything in a skirt and she's almost insane with hatred that his current “24 hour girl” is her client. Although she is still physically attracted to him.

I thought the attraction was really well written. It sort-of flipped stereotypes on their heads that Elise is over-the-moon physically attracted to Brett still, but, while Brett does want Elise, he really misses their friendship most of all. Elise completely dropped him two years ago and he doesn't really get why, and she's not really emotionally intelligent enough yet to explain it.

Elise was a hard character to like. She felt very human, but rather too judgmental and pessimistic through the first 2/3s of the book. She's this really great dating coach and has an almost preternatural way of seeing chemistry, but that all goes out the window when she's around Brett. It took me a while to figure it out, but she was at her best when she wasn't very close to people. She could see attraction in a couple she met right off the street, but if she actually knew something about them, she was blinded by her cynical attitude. Luckily she does heal and make up for her judgmentalism by the end.

Brett didn't want to be deserving of Elise's judgment, but he truly felt that's the way he was. Although he couldn't help wanting to be with Elise and doing whatever he could to prove he's not trying to hurt her. He looked down on himself a lot, but he was a really likable guy. It was hard to see him as the hook-up sort of guy because he was just so nice. He's pretty much Elise's sidekick throughout the book and it was cute to see him following her around and being helpful while still being attracted to her. He also had some very touching and sweet lines.

Now, this is a Blaze novel, so it doesn't have quite a bit of sex. These two go at it like rabbits a lot. It's graphic but not raunchy. Both characters are comfortable and open with their sexuality. I'd put it about average explicitness for a Blaze.

If it hadn't been for the holidays, I would have stayed up and read this book in one sitting. I felt sad every time I had to put the book down. I really liked the writing style and felt connected to the characters (even the times when I got frustrated with Elise). If you're looking for a fun, sexy read with characters that have a history, this one is a good choice.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Kale and White Bean Soup

I've never really tried kale. Lots of people talk about it but I figured spinach was good enough for me. But when I found this recipe, I decided I should give it a try. I'm not much of a leafy-things-in-my-soup person (and I'm more of an everything-in-the-pot-and-go person) so instead I tried this in the Vita-Mix. I have to say it turned out pretty good. A hearty, green soup with some nice smoky undertones. Of course, it would be really nice with some bread but for now I just ate it straight up. When you're going for detox meals but it's too cold for smoothies, this would be a great option.

Kale and White Bean Soup

3/4 of a small red onion
1 large handful of baby carrots
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4-1/2 tsp paprika
1/4-1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 a can of tomato sauce
1 tbls Better Than Bullion Chicken base
2 cups packed fresh kale
Water
1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed

Put the onion, carrots, spices, chicken base and tomato sauce into the Vita-Mix. Stuff the kale in last, it will probably be almost to the top of the Vita-Mix. Add water to at least the 4 cup mark. Put on the lid, start the Vita-Mix on Variable Speed 1 and increase to Variable Speed 10 then High. Blend for 6 minutes. Turn the Vita-Mix down to Variable speed 4, open the lid plug and pour in the beans. Blend for another 30 seconds. Turn off, serve and enjoy.

Sleeping Arrangements

Sleeping Arrangements
by Amy Jo Cousins
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

My Review:
It's been such a long time since I read a paper book. I'm normally all about my kindle, but I made a special exception for this one. I read book two in the series and I had to see how Spencer and Addy got together too.

Addy's a civil engineer who inherits a house from her estranged great-aunt. Spencer is the lawyer in charge of the inheritance. These two have passionate, angry, lustful sparks flying from the first time they meet. The great-aunt's will says that Addy can't inherit unless she's married. Addy decides to find someone who will partner with her in a six month marriage and then walk away, no strings attached.

In addition to being the late-great-aunt's lawyer, Spencer just happens to be living in the house at the moment. And in a strong bout of Insta-Lust, Spencer decides that he doesn't like great-aunt's stipulation any more than Addy, so he can be the one to help her out with the marriage project. He's this stubborn, calm, efficient and composed guy, but I don't really think he was an alpha-male. He pretty much deferred to Addy on everything and gave her lots of time and agency to make decisions whenever she wanted. He never pressured her, but he knew what he wanted and was always working towards a goal, even if it was behind the scenes work.

I loved seeing Addy and Spencer with her family. They all felt so good together. They were close and happy and accepting. They all loved to banter back and forth, but it never got the point where someone was being cruel. It's the sort of family that anyone would want to live in. Even when things might have been hard growing up, or times of pain, they all stuck together and never lost their joy at being together.

Addy never tried to be someone she wasn't. I loved that her and Spencer never pushed the other into fulfilling some role that they weren't designed for. Addy's good at it, she loves it and it's a role that fits her perfectly. She never doubts herself in a “I really should just be a housewife” way and she never just rolls over and defers to Spencer because “he's the man”. Spencer is a lawyer, but in a quiet, get-things-done sort of way. He never sits at home with Addy trying to out-convince of what “should be”. He loves her for who she is and is completely accepting.

So yes, there was Insta-Lust to begin with. At the very beginning, Spencer seemed a little over-bearing, but they had a drawn out and believable time getting to know each other and never jumped into sex just because. This book enters the bedroom, but is not overly explicit.

At the end, I had some happy tears because Addy and Spencer were just so sweet together. This book is a Harlequin Desire, so it does tend to follow a given formula. But the book feels fresh and original. It doesn't rely on tired cliches to get where it's going and the ending was well worth it and satisfying. Sometime in the near future, we should have books for Addy's other siblings and I can't wait to read those as well.

A Christmas To Remember

A Christmas To Remember
Rating: 4 of 5 stars just because of the Jill Shalvis story. Otherwise, the average is closer to 3 stars.

My Review:
These stories were short and sweet, just enough to give you a happy holiday, romance sort of feeling. I think each one only took about an hour and a half to two hours to read. It looked like every story was connected to some of the authors' other works. I can't say that any gave me happy, can't put it down tingles, but for the most part I enjoyed the time I spent reading this anthology.

Dream A Little Dream by Jill Shalvis
This story is set in Lucky Harbor, about firefighter Ian. I think he appeared in at least one Lucky Harbor story before. Maybe Jack's story. This one was touching and gave me some sad tears at one point. It was cute and fun and very emotional. The characters already know each other so they're happily-ever-after was very believable. I think it probably could have been turned into a full-length novel because I would have loved to see more about these two characters.

Every Year by Kristen Ashley
I can't say I've read anything else by Kristen Ashley, so I didn't know what to expect here. This is the only one told in first person and also the only one that the initial romance already happened (meaning these two were already an established couple during the whole story). I found it really hard to follow because there were so many names and EVERYONE had a nickname in addition to their real name. I didn't care for the slang and I felt uncomfortable with the swearing at kids and the low view of women that was thrown in to this book. If you've kept up with Kristen Ashley's other books in this series, you'll probably be really touched by the hope and happiness that Shy and Landon find. But for someone new to the series (who also didn't care for the characters language usage), I won't be looking for more in this series.

Silent Night by Hope Ramsay
Have Yourself A Messy Little Christmas by Molly Cannon
A Family For Christmas by Marilyn Pappano
These other three stories felt a little fast – like a race to happily-ever-after. Each of the characters hadn't met beforehand, so within days having marriage proposed was a little unbelievable. I didn't get sucked in to the stories but they felt nice to read. They all had rather original storylines, in a Christmas-y sort of way and for the most part, I loved the snippets we get of the other stories in each series too. It did whet my appetite to check out a couple of the other series' (the last snippet was really depressing so I definitely won't be reading that book). So even though there was the one story I really didn't care for, this was a worthwhile set and I might read some of these stories again when I need a Christmas pick-me-up.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup

This is another variation of a soup I found from a friend on twitter, to a pinterest account, and on to the world wide web. (I swear things get more and more complicated.) The recipe looked really yummy but my family has a thing about celery, and I always like to throw in peas and green beans in my soups so here's what I came up with. It got a winning vote from my husband, but the kids haven't tried it yet (partly you know, because there's green things in it).

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Soup

1/4 of a small red onion, quartered

2 large handfuls of baby carrots

2 ribs of celery, sliced

1 tsp minced garlic

1-1/2 tsp Better Than Bullion Chicken base

Water

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

2 cups frozen veggies

1 can of green beans

1 cup long grain rice

2 cups milk

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Put the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and chicken base in the Vita-Mix. Add water to cover. Cover and turn on at Variable Speed 1. Increase quickly to Variable Speed 10, then High. Blend until smooth (30 seconds?). Turn off and pour contents into a pot. Throw in the rest of the spices and veggies, another 2 cups of water and 1-3/4 cups of milk. Cook on Medium-ish heat until everything is just about boiling. Add the rice and turn down to low. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, until rice is tender. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the milk and the flour. Whisk together until smooth and then dribble into the soup pot while stirring the soup constantly. Cook for 2-5 minutes until the soup starts to thicken up a bit. Turn off the stove and add the cheese, stirring until all of the cheese is melted. Wait 10 minutes, then serve and enjoy.

Nutty Pancakes

Pretty much every weekend I make a double batch of these. This is a variation on some recipes I found for IHOPs Harvest Grain and Nut pancakes. This batter works for pancakes, waffles, even ableskivers (or as we call them, "pancake balls). I throw in the nuts just for the last couple pancakes for me because the boys don't like crunchy pancakes.

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

4 eggs

3 tbls. Turbinado sugar

1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup wheat flour

3/4 cup oat flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1 tsp. Baking powder

2 tsp. Baking soda

1 tsp. Cinnamon

lots of nuts (I use chopped walnuts and slivered almonds)

Mix the buttermilk, eggs, sugar and oil together. Mix all the dry ingredients except the nuts in a separate bowl. Combine the two sets of ingredients and mix so there are no lumps. If it takes too much mixing, let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes before putting on the griddle. Makes approximately 24 pancakes that are about 4 inches diameter.

- I buy the bulk Quaker rolled oats from Costco and grind them up in my Vita-Mix for the oat flour.

- I've also added dried cranberries to this recipe

- My kids really like this recipe with mini chocolate chips added.

- The secret to making these pancakes last for a week in the fridge (at least in my own low humidity area) is to stack them up when you take them off the griddle and let them sit for an hour at room temperature. Once they're cool, you need to take each pancake apart from the stack and re-stack in a different order to let all the moisture out. Then you can keep them stacked (covered) in the fridge and they won't stick together when you grab a couple off the stack the next day. Toast in the toaster and add a little butter before serving.

Vita-Mix Pico De Gallo Salsa

I don't care for spicy salsa, but I really love sauces and having things to dip, so I needed to make experiment a bit. My absolute favorite is Chevy's salsa. This ends up being very close, except not spicy at all. Sometime I might experiment some more and try to get a little closer.

3 tomatoes
1/2 of a small red onion
1/2 small can of mild green chilies, undrained
3 cubes of frozen cilantro
juice from one lemon
a little bit of salt

Quarter the tomatoes and the onion. Put all ingredients into the Vita-Mix in the order listed. Turn on the Vita-Mix to Variable speed 1 and increase to Variable speed 4. Blend for 30 seconds or so, at least until you've seen the onions get sucked down into the blades and everything is ground up. Turn off the Vita-Mix and pour the contents into a wire mesh colander. Let drain for about 5 minutes, swishing out the liquid as necessary. Then transfer into a serving bowl.

One of my favorite ways of using this salsa is making a big salad, adding a dollop of plain greek yogurt and two scoops of salsa on top. Yummy taco salad and much better for you than a big helping of salad dressing.

White Christmas

White Christmas
by Ros Baxter
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

My Review:
This one looked rather intriguing when I saw it on Amazon preorder for free, so I grabbed it when I had the chance. It's really only about 30 pages, but they were really good. It's set in a post-apocalyptic world with Tabi trapped on a hostile alien world. Another human pilot is shot down/crash lands and Tabi runs to rescue him before the aliens get to him, but it just so happens that this survivor is the guy that left Tabi 10 years ago.

What I liked best about this book was that, even for as short as it was, it gave every relevant detail to make this a complete story without just info-dumping. That little teeny world of Tabi and Asha was perfectly groomed in my mind by the time I was done reading. Did I want more? Sure. But in this case, it'll make me go look up more books by Ros Baxter to see if there's any others set in this same world. I liked the writing style. I liked the strength of the characters and their emotional capabilities. And I'll definitely look for more by this author.

Love The One You're With

Love The One You're With
by Lauren Layne
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
I've been anxious to read Grace's story since I finished After The Kiss. If anyone deserved a Happily Ever After, it was Grace. I felt that since she believed in the magic so much more than her friends, her story should be even better. I wasn't disappointed.

We pick up Grace's story just a few months after she's broken up with her boyfriend of nine years. She's the long term girl, has always and only wanted to be a wife and take care of someone. She's known as Stiletto’s resident relationship expert, but she's questioning everything about herself since her boyfriend was cheating and she didn't know. She thought she could “read” guys really well, but now she's not so sure. However, in order for her to keep her mojo at work, she agrees to a date-off with a journalist from the competing men's magazine to prove who knows the opposite sex better.

This was a sweet, sexy romance with lots of happy tingles for these two. They worked really well together, they could give and take without getting offended and they kept each other on their toes. It was fun to read and I felt really pulled into the characters. I was glad that even as their relationship got more serious, they were able to separate out work and personal and yet still have some integrity and understanding towards each other.

I did feel a little bad for Grace. The point of the dating was supposed to be showing readers how well you know the opposite sex. Jake and Grace had some good banter back and forth, but most of the time I felt like Jake got to be the reader/aggressor and Grace was passive and swoonish. It's fine in the sense that I felt it fit Grace's personality. She was the nurturer and only let her inner aggressor come out occasionally. But I felt like she mostly just let Jake drive the “reading” bus and she'd take whatever she could get. It felt like Grace's version of “reading” was mostly being caring and nurturing. She was good at it, but she was also pretty good at being the aggressor when she felt like it.

I think for Grace, she was finally able to let go of who she should be and who she wanted to be, so she could just be whoever she actually was. She was a doormat for her ex and I was happy to see her grow some backbone with Jake but still be the nurturing, caring individual she was. I think it took a lot for her to accept that being one thing doesn't exclude you from being something else too. She found that it's ok to be your own individual with or without a guy next to you. And also, that you are not nothing apart from your relationship. With Jake, she starts out trying to be so different than she was with her ex. And she's pretty good at it, even if she has to pep-talk herself into it sometimes. But it was so interesting to see her find a place on the tightrope between the two extremes.

Jake was pretty iffy on the whole love thing. Grace started out reading him so well – a charming, sexy, bachelor who's used to getting whatever girl he wants. He's short term all the way, mostly because he doesn't like feeling stagnant. It's pretty funny to see these two together when they're so opposite on this. Grace is perfectly happy staying exactly where she is. She likes that settled feeling. Jake's got the settled gene inside him somewhere. You can totally see it when he's visiting his family. But he seems a little emotionally young to start out – wanting to keep moving so he feels like people approve of him and all of the action/accolades it will get him to say he's “going somewhere”. He takes a while to wake up, but it did feel nice and organic how he gradually figured out where he belonged.

I found it very amusing when Grace is wearing a pair of Jake's sweat pants and the waist is about five sizes too big. I see this one a lot and I just don't get it. Grace is a curvy girl who knows how to eat and Jake is pretty lean. In real pants, I just don't see how most women in these novels put their boyfriend's pants on at all. The butt differences just don't fit from what I've seen. Speaking from experience, guy butts are smaller than most curvy girl butts. But (haha)...that just could be me.

I was very satisfied with Grace's story and now I have Riley's story (and maybe a new girl, Emma's) to look forward to. I will definitely keep reading because I love the voice behind these stories.

I received a complementary ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Avocado Chocolate Pie with Nut Crust

Nut Crust

2-1/2 cups ground nuts (I used about a 2:1 ratio of almonds and pecans ground in the Vita-Mix)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 egg

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Add the salt and baking soda to the ground nuts and mix well.  Next add the coconut oil and egg, then squish it all around until everything is incorporated (no chunks of oil and everything is sort of wet). Finally, stir in the maple syrup and vanilla.

Pat into a 9 inch pie pan. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool while you make the filling.

Avocado Chocolate Pie Filling

3 Avocados, pitted and peeled
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup sweetener (honey or maple syrup)
1 tbsp vanilla
1-1/2 small apples, peeled, cored and chopped up
juice from 1 lemon
a little bit of salt
some almond milk

Put everything except the almond milk into the Vita-Mix. Turn on and quickly increase from Variable 1 to High and immediately start using the tamper to push everything into the blades as you add almond milk a tablespoon or so at a time. I'm thinking it's at least 1/3 to 1/2 cup of almond milk that you'll use, if not more. When everything is mixed (it'll still be thick, but all chocolate powder is incorporated), turn off the Vita-Mix and use a spatula to scoop into your prepared pie crust. Refrigerate for a couple hours. It definitely doesn't taste that good warm.

For an extra treat, put some whip cream, Cool Whip or other yummy whip (I haven't tried whipping coconut milk yet) on top before serving.

Paleo Brownies

A bunch of my friends are trying out the Paleo diet.  I haven't really looked into it or gotten involved with it, but I do try to find some less suger, more natural treats to eat.  My friend sent a brownie recipe (that she got from a friend) and I had to try it out (with some variations) because I NEEDED chocolate.  They turned out really good.  Almost like cake - slightly airier than brownies to me, but very yummy. I make them almost every month now.

16 oz. walnuts (2 cups, I use 1 cup raw almonds and 1 cup raw walnuts)

1 egg

1 cup honey

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 oz. unsweetened dark chocolate, chopped into small shredded pieces (or half a 3.5 oz. bar of Trader Joe's 73% dark chocolate)

1ish tbsp coconut oil (for greasing the baking dish)

Preheat over to 325 degrees.

- Pulse nuts in the food processor until they're ground up - anywhere from flour consistency to nut butter consistency is fine. I usually do somewhere in between using my Vita-Mix.

- Mix the egg, vanilla and honey in one bowl. 

- In a separate bowl, mix nut butter, cocoa, salt and baking soda until well combined. Then add the wet ingredients and stir until everything is the same consistency.

- Add the dark chocolate and mix.

- Grease an 8x8 baking dish with coconut oil and pour the mixture into the baking dish.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  (Most baking times for me are more like 40-45 minutes, but I'm at a high, dry altitude. I keep it in the oven until the center is not jiggly but is still pretty soft and the outside edges are dryish.) Let it settle about 15 minutes.  It will puff during baking and settle during cooling.

- Using walnuts only and unsweetened baking chocolate turned out slightly more bitter than I'd like.  I tried half raw almonds and half walnuts and 73% dark chocolate on my next batch and I liked the taste much better.

Ruin Me

Ruin Me
by Cara McKenna
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

My Review:
It was my second time through with this book. Somehow I missed writing a review the first time I read it, but it was so good I had to read it again. I think I got a lot more nuances this time.

First off, I started following Cara McKenna on Twitter after I read this the first time. On this second read, seeing how she likes birds so much, I realized how many bird references this book has. It is just amazing and awe-inspiring that so much background can have birds thrown in and not be immediately obvious and also not end up being over-the-top. I never noticed it on the first read, but now it seems so unmistakable I can't believe I missed it.

Robin and Jay (hehe...birds) are almost engaged but Robin just can't get over her attraction to Patrick. He's the guy that saved her from a thug with a knife years ago and served jail time for beating the guy up. Robin visited him every week in jail (long before she was with Jay) but they never pursued anything when he was released. She's never stopped thinking about him and they end up seeing each other in passing all the time because they live in the same small town.

Jay understands that he'll never be able to move forward with Robin while she's lusting after Patrick. He's secure enough to let her experiment if she wants to and finds some of it alluring, but we really don't get in his head much because this story is written first person, only from Robin's perspective. We know that Jay is very caring and comfortable for Robin. Things are set in motion and he seems to be ok with it, but I couldn't tell if he connected with his own emotions enough to decide what he really wanted with Robin.

Then there's Patrick. He seemed sort of timid but strong and burly. He's a lumberjack and can obviously take someone in a fight. He's pretty quiet but he's got some unspoken attractions to Robin. On the one hand, I was a little frustrated that he hadn't taken some initiative sooner. But at the same time, I was glad Robin started taking some baby steps towards making her own decisions and controlling her own destiny.

It's quite a question to ask: do you love someone enough to let them experiment with someone else, or do you love someone enough that you'd never be ok with sharing? Really makes you think about what love means and “if you love someone you set them free” or if you hold on tightly because you're in love. It wouldn't be an easy decision if I were in this position and I think Cara McKenna did a nice job with the nuanced feelings between all the characters.

Jay and Robin just seem so comfortable with each other. I could really see where Robin was coming from that she didn't want to lose what she had with Jay for the possibility of attraction with Patrick. It was sad but understandable to see her so passive in the sense that she really just wants someone else to make the decision so she doesn't have to. By the end, I'm not sure that she quite gained a back bone, but she at least took some steps in that direction.

This story had a lot of erotica to it, including a little bit of two guys and a girl. However, while the writing was pretty explicit, it was mostly vanilla sex and/or heavy petting. In fact, this is one of the first books I've read that could take the all-star-awkward-sex award. I swear almost every incident of sexuality involved a lot of awkward fumbling and real-world, trying-to-figure-this-stuff-out, ouch-don't-do-that-again blundering. But it all turns out very endearing and heart-wrenching. I enjoyed all of it, including the complicated questions it engendered, and I know I'll read it again.

Night Visitor

Night Visitor
by Melanie Jackson
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
I read these types of books so rarely now, I forgot how much I enjoy them. For me, this book was not an easy read. The story wasn't hugely complicated, but the language was way up there in the sense that I really had to pay attention while I was reading. Not only was the vocabulary pretty high, there was also a bunch of older Scottish spellings when people were speaking that you have to decipher too.

The book assumes a decent amount of Scottish history knowledge. I wouldn't say I felt lost, but there were times I was probably missing out on some of the motivations of the characters. There was a bunch of pixie-dust magic in the story. It wasn't quite a different world from ours, but the magic was so seamlessly woven into the story that it was, in the best way, hard to pick up what was myth versus true history.

Taffy and Malcolm both have slightly pointy ears, which ends up being a sign of fae descendance. They have certain powers that were somehow able to connect them over the span of hundreds of years separation. But both have to hide their powers to some extent in order to avoid persecution. They were both interesting and compelling. They kept certain parts of themselves locked away even from their own conscious mind and part of this story involves them having to face what they are and what powers they have.

I liked how strong and resilient Taffy was. She was in an uncomfortable spot at home but she still managed to find her passion and pursue it. She takes control of her destiny and doesn't break down when things are rough. She's so confident, she marches off into the darkness to rescue Malcolm. But she's really smart about it and takes her rifle. You can picture her being a early female Rambo with ammo belts criss-crossing her chest and camo paint on her face. She gets things done but does stay true to her time period, wondering what kind of outcast she might become if people find out about her adventure. She also has a few attacks of conscience, especially in regards to her sexuality, but I felt she dealt with them in an authentic way for the story and time period they were living in.

Malcolm is a fine, ancient Scottish hero. He says words like “ken” and “ha” (which I believe roughly translated to “if”). He's strong and brawny, just fine playing the pipes until his fingers are about to fall off, not really in touch with his emotions, but totally comfortable with the idea of fae magic. He was sort-of tough on Taffy, but it never felt overbearing. Maybe because the fae were always invisibly helping them along. He might have felt a bit boarish, marching Taffy all through the night and stuff, if it weren't for finding protected fae groves, cleaned clothes and glamourized meals whenever they needed them.

This book is a good adventure, but not that much of an emotional romance. Possibly because I was busy deciphering the language. I enjoyed the story but I didn't feel like I connected with the characters emotionally. They seemed to be together mostly to drive the story forward (connections forged through sex and babies must be made) and they didn't think or feel too deeply. For how complicated the journey was for these two, I felt their reasons for being together weren't very well explained. Possibly it's just an additional assumption of magic in the story – things that just are, don't need a huge explanation.

I enjoyed the book for the story and even for the fae magic, but I didn't feel the romance was very gripping or well justified. I guess maybe I'd compare it to a forging of alliances with a bit of attraction thrown in, instead of swooping emotions and deep feelings. I will have to remember, next time I need a engrossing adventure with some rich language, Melanie Jackson is a good go-to author.

Rumor Has It

Rumor Has It
by Jill Shalvis
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review:
We jump right into the middle of this story with Griffin and Kate because they meet right away and already have a long-ago shared history. Every story set in Sunshine, Idaho is interconnected but they release so slowly that I never remember who's who right when I start the book. The last book, Rescue My Heart, is about Adam and Holly. Griffin is Holly's brother and Kate is Holly's best friend. They've known each other for ages but they're being thrown together now for Holly and Adam's wedding.

Kate is a caretaker for everyone. She's a school teacher, surrogate mother to her siblings, housekeeper to her father. She even takes care of her ex-boyfriend/best male friend. I honestly had no idea where she found the time for all these things, but that's pretty typical of Jill Shalvis characters – they're so busy, they must not sleep or something.

Kate doesn't really take care of herself; the best she can manage is an occasional run or something to work off all the ice cream she eats. She's been offered a full scholarship for a master's program, but she can't convince herself to accept it when she's so “needed” where she is. She's so very scared of losing her place in life. She shows she cares by doing for people and what will happen to her heart if she's not there to take care of everyone. It ends up being rather unhealthy, the way Kate enables everyone to depend on her. I got really frustrated sometimes with her family, not just for relying on her, but really they used her and dumped a lot of grief on her too. Ok, so it was mostly her teenage sister, but sometimes I really wanted to smack her and I got irritated that no one did.

Between Holly and Kate's ex (Ryan), she had some nice caring friends. They don't take advantage of her, but they do let her express her love by taking care of them. I loved that Kate was able to have a good male friend without any added weirdness from Griffin or others. It was really nice to see that kind of confidence and security between all the characters that no one started looking sideways at them because they were friends.

Holly warns Griffin to stay away from Kate because (obviously) he's a love-'em-and-leave-'em type. But especially with a little wedding related alcohol in her system, Kate really wants Griffin even if it's only for a night. It's something Kate's started convincing herself that she should do just because she wants it. Some way of taking care of herself, fulfilling her needs, taking some part of life by the horns and not letting opportunity pass her by.

Griffin is trying to find a place where he belongs after being injured in the military. He ran as fast as he could from Sunshine, Idaho as a teenager, but now thinks that maybe he could belong there. He's hurting inside and out and Kate is a great panacea for his pain. She adds him to her list of people she cares for and tries everything she can to help him. Griffin seems like the first person that actually tries to give something back to her. I loved that about him. He let her express her own caring, but also turned it around on her and took care of her too. Even when they're not sure where things are going between them, they both reflect affection very clearly.

Most of the time, I thought that Griffin and Kate were really alike. They were both so good at taking care of people and effortlessly showed people they cared. They also didn't get upset when the other person was caring for them. No hurt feeling or saying “don't baby me” and stuff. It was like they really understood each other.

I found it so amusing that Griffin ends up second guessing himself and being the insecure one. Kate seems totally ok with her decisions in regards to Griffin, but Griffin always seems confused. Kate's too busy with life to let herself wait around and pine for a guy, but Griffin's always wondering if she's upset about something. It was a nice switch to have the guy be a little insecure instead of putting that onto the female character.

They did have their times of messing up, which were frustrating and upsetting to see. In trying to deal with his pain, Griffin ends up being a bit nasty towards the end, but they were able to work things out eventually.

I usually have a couple good laughs from these books, but I think this one was more of a smile with a couple surprising tearful moments too. The caring in this book was so well written that you really felt for these characters. It was another good comfort read. Definitely nicest if you have a long afternoon to just sit and read all day, but still good when you only have small snatches of time.

Hard To Handle

Hard To Handle
by Jessica Lemmon
Rating: Did Not Finish, 1 of 5 stars


My Review:
It's really hard for me to give reviews this low, but I've tried to get through this one, three times now and somehow I just can't force myself to do it. I didn't care for the writing style and then on top of that the characters just bugged me a lot. They're whiny, irritating and totally unable to make me care about them except for the desire to slap them. Eventually I skipped to the end and read the last 20 pages just to see if it got better and I'd believe their happily ever after and then start caring about the rest. Didn't work, I was still irritated with them at the end.


I don't even know what world Sadie's living in. She dresses provocatively and yet she's so modest and fragile. The idea behind those things being explicitly stated, leaves me feeling like the book is trying to pigeon-hole Sadie into a whore/virgin dichotomy instead of just letting her be a self-assured heroine. See, Aiden is attracted to her because of the way she dresses, but he's MORE attracted because she's really so modest and fragile – because in Aiden-land, if she weren't modest and fragile, she wouldn't be as worthy of the small amount of manly respect that he gives her. In fact, if she weren't so secretly modest and fragile, I think he would have lost interest and moved on. In his manly world, he's only interested in her still because he hadn't gotten into her pants before.


Aiden is sort-of trying to win Sadie back, but he's manipulative, unapologetic and your basic whiny brat. He behaves like a spoiled child and instead of walking away, Sadie just sits and cries about it. I swear these two had the emotional intelligence of toddlers. Sadie has every right to be angry with Aiden for the way he treated her but mostly she's just whiny and pitiful. Like even after a year away from him, she's still throwing herself a pity-party.


Plus there's Sadie's business sense that just seems to be missing. She's the second best salesperson at this company, but somehow she managed to put this whole huge amount of stuff into the contract that was just signed. Including things like she will personally buy up all the competitor's stock from the store if it doesn't sell. Seems a bit shady and even more confusing to know that someone else at the company's legal department supposedly vetted it and put all the details together.


I swear, it felt like the book was trying to prove how Sadie was nothing important without Aiden. Like she's just too “feminine” and “emotional” to live her life on her own. She needs someone big and manly like Aiden to take care of her because she's just too fragile by herself. Even if it's an emotionally abusive, manly man who runs off and angrily pouts if he's told “no”.


Bottom line, these two really needed to get away from each other and grow up on their own. Maybe after they matured, they could think about having a relationship. But for right now, they don't work together in a healthy way and I didn't care enough about them to slough through the
whole book for an ending that still felt manipulative and co-dependent.



I received a complementary ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.