Always the Baker, Never the Bride - Sandra D. Bricker

Synopsis:

Thirty-six-year-old Emma Rae Travis has been baking specialty cakes and melt-in-your-mouth pastries at The Backstreet Bakery in historic Roswell, just outside of Atlanta, for the last six years. But here’s the rub about her job as a baker … Emma is diabetic. When she tastes her creations, it can only be in the most minute portions. Emma is considered an artisan for the stunning crème brulee wedding cake that won her the Passionate Palette Award last year, but she’s never even had one full slice of it.

When Jackson Drake hears about this local baker who has won a prestigious award for her wedding cake artistry, he tells his assistant to be sure and include her in the pastry tastings scheduled at his new wedding destination hotel the following week. And for Jackson, that particular day has started out badly with two workmen trapped in a broken elevator and a delivery of several dozen 300-thread-count bed linens in the wrong size abandoned in the lobby. But when the arrogant baker he met a week prior in Roswell stumbles into the dining room with a platter of pastries and a bucketful of orders, he knows for certain: It’s going to be a really rotten day.

Can these two ill-suited players master the high-wire act and make a go of their new business venture? Or will they take each other crashing downward, without a net? And will the surprise wedding at The Tanglewood be theirs?

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Cole's Review:
I found this book endearingly sweet (no pun intended). Emma Rae Travis is an award winning baker, who can't taste her own creations because she's diabetic.  How unfair is that?!  Jackson Drake has just bought the Tanglewood Inn for he and his sisters to bring back to its former glory with his eccentric and hysterical sisters decide that the Tanglewood should specialize in weddings.  What does every good wedding need?  A great cake!  With the help of her fabulously unique assistant, Fiona, Emma takes the Tanglewood and Jackson by storm.

The interaction between Emma, Jackson, Fiona, and all of their families to be realistic and fun to read.  It's a quick read for a rainy day.

This is your typical chick-lit.  However, it is a Christian novel as well, so there's more focus on character development and life's plan, but rest assured - the book never feels "preachy",

Grade: B

The Gift of Love - Lori Foster

Synopsis:

Families come in many configurations, and every one is unique, made up of the personalities of each member. But the love that connects families is universal. Whether it is the love of parents for their children, the love between a husband and wife, the love between siblings, a love that transcends generations, or even the love for a family member never met, the family ties that bind us are the strongest and deepest emotional connections we experience. Families influence a person's development, how they treat others, and how they view life. In The Gift of Love, eight exceptional writers offer a variety of unique perspectives on what family love means and how it impacts our lives in ways profound and often surprising.


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Cole's Review:

Can I tell you how much I loved this book?!?!  It was so good.  Really, my only regret is that some of the stories are so short.  Almost half of the eight vignettes would make fabulous full length books.

Because each story is so short, it's a little hard to give you plot points on all of them without giving away the entire story but I'll try.

For The Love of Wendy - The tale of Jack a widowed father, as he realizes that he loves Brianna - his daughter Wendy's caretaker.

Ava's Haven - Olivia made some mistakes in her youth.  Now she runs a shelter and runs into the man that broke her heart but could be the one to piece it back together.

Atticus Gets A Mommy - Keenan is quadriplegic who makes his way through life with the help of Atticus his rhesus monkey.  He loves Diana but believes she deserves a "whole" man - something he doesn't believe he is.

The Redemption of Brodie Grant - Brodie comes back to town to attend his sister's wedding to a man he loathes.  Instead he finds himself attracted to the groom's sister.

The Wolf Watcher's Diet - Ella gets in a car accident and finds herself getting grabbed by a man.  A "big dog" rushes in to save her but accidentally bites her.  It turns out that this big dog is actually a wolf; a man she teaches with, named Luke.

A Fairy Precious Love - Honeysuckle lost her wings to a fairy blight, and must find a way to exist without them.

Second Time Around - Serena is a high school teacher who has her childhood crush, Heath's son in her class.  Heath had a bright future he gave up to become a single dad, but still can't forget Serena. 

The only thing that kept me from giving this book an "A" was the aforementioned desire to see full length versions of some of these stories.  While these stories were great - they lacked some of the detail that I wanted.

Grade: B

Hope In A Jar - Beth Harbison

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Shoe Addicts Anonymous and Secrets of a Shoe Addict comes a tale of old friends, new loves, and the undeniable power of a little face cream.


Twenty years ago, Allie Denty was the pretty one and her best friend, Olivia Pelham, was the smart one. Throughout high school, they were inseparable . . . until a vicious rumor about Olivia---a rumor too close to the truth---ended their friendship.

Now, on the eve of their twentieth high school reunion, Allie finds herself suddenly single, a little chubby, and feeling old. Olivia, successful beauty editor in New York, realizes she’s lonely, and that she’s finally ready to face her demons.

Sometimes hope lives in the future; sometimes it comes from the past; and sometimes, when every stupid thing goes wrong, it comes from a prettily packaged jar filled with scented cream and promises.

Beth Harbison has done it again. A hilarious and touching novel about friendship, Love’s Baby Soft perfume, Watermelon Lip Smackers, bad run-ins with Sun-In, and the healing power of “Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific.” Hope in a jar: We all need it.

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Cole's Review:

 

This book was a quick read, and you just couldn't help but have flashbacks to your own high school experience - the pretty girls, the smart girls...and the MEAN girls.

 

Allie's reunion is coming quickly and she is falling apart.  In order to help her boyfriend build his career, she's forsaken her own in favor of temp jobs; she's not enjoying her body image and then she comes home to find her boyfriend in bed with someone else!!  Her ex-best friend Olivia has moved beyond her rough childhood and become a beauty editor in NYC - who has come to realize that she has nothing she wants out of life.

 

Allie and Olivia's mutual friend Noah convinces them both to come to their 20th high school reunion - and the hijinks really begin when they try and stop Noah from doing something that they believe would ruin his life.

 

Grab this book and enjoy the last few "beach" days of the year.

 

Grade: B 

 

The Kitchen House - Kathleen Grissom

Summary:

Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master’s illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.


Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

Cole's Review:

This books uses the dual narration of Lavinia and Belle.  As Lavinia grows, you get to experience her change in point of view; her maturing before our eyes.  Belle, on the other hand, tells us the much darker reality of how their farm is run and the bad things happening around her.

I really enjoyed this book.  You are quickly drawn into these characters and those around them.  I felt for Lavinia as she realized that she wouln't be able to stay with her adoptive family of house and field workers, for Belle as she watched the man she loves love another woman, as they both struggle for "free papers" and what they should do if/when they get them.

I'll be honest...I haven't read a lot of books about slavery. If they were all this beautifully written- I'd read a lot more of them.
 
Grade: B

My Enemy's Cradle - Sara Young

Synopsis:

Cyrla's neighbors have begun to whisper. Her cousin, Anneke, is pregnant and has passed the rigorous exams for admission to the Lebensborn, a maternity home for girls carrying German babies. But Anneke's soldier has disappeared, and Lebensborn babies are only ever released to their father's custody -- or taken away.


A note is left under the mat. Someone knows that Cyrla, sent from Poland years before for safekeeping with her Dutch relatives, is Jewish. The Nazis are imposing more and more restrictions; she won't be safe there for long.

And then in the space of an afternoon, life falls apart. Cyrla must choose between certain discovery in her cousin's home and taking Anneke's place in the Lebensborn -- Cyrla and Anneke are nearly identical. If she takes refuge in the enemy's lair, can Cyrla fool the doctors, nurses, guards, and other mothers-to-be? Can she escape before they discover she is not who she claims?

Mining a lost piece of history, Sara Young takes us deep into the lives of women living in the worst of times. Part love story and part elegy for the terrible choices we must often make to survive, My Enemy's Cradle keens for what we lose in war and sings for the hope we sometimes find.

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Cole's Review:

My mom handed me this book this morning, saying that I had to read it.  A book about Nazis in WWII Germany and Holland?!?!  Uh, no thanks mom.  But, I trust her and gave the book a shot. I really glad I did.  While this is a fiction, the issues covered in the book are very real.

Cyrla is a young woman who has lacked stability in life.  She was sent from her home in Poland to life with her aunt, uncle and cousin - Anneke in Holland when the Nazi regime starts encroaching.  Soon, Anneke announces her pregnancy with a Nazi soldier and her shamed father gets her into a German maternity home.  All hell breaks loose when a note announces that someone knows Cyrla is Jewish, Anneke dies unexpectedly, and the man Cyrla loves pushes her to flee.

Cyrla isn't pregnant.  Can she feasibly take the place of Anneke in the maternity home?  Will she ever see her family again?  Can she trust anyone with her secrets?  

I really enjoyed this book (obviously...I read it in under a day!) and think that anyone interested in historical fiction would too.

Grade: B 

Vision in White - Nora Roberts

Synopsis:

 #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts presents her first trade original-a novel of love, friendship, and family-Book One in the Bride Quartet.


Wedding photographer Mackensie "Mac" Elliot is most at home behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments before an important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into the bride-to-be's brother...an encounter that has them both seeing stars.

A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitely not Mac's type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs to take her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turn into something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have to turn to her three best friends-and business partners-to see her way to her own happy ending.

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Cole's Review:

Nora Roberts has written so much, that it's easy to identify her standard formula to romance writing - and this book definitely follows that formula. 

However, for all the girly-girls out there - this book hits the spot.  I dove right in and immediately fell for Mac & Carter, the fabulous photographer and hapless high school English teacher.  I also enjoyed their extended family, and there was just the right amount of tension; the "will they or won't they" before you get the fun, romantic ending that you can expect with Nora Robert's books.  I can't wait to read and review the remainder of this series!

Grade: B

House Rules, Jodi Picoult

Synopsis:

Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject — in his case, forensic analysis. He's always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do...and he's usually right. But then his town is rocked by a terrible murder and, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's — not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, flat affect — can look a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on them. For his mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication of why nothing is normal because of Jacob. And over this small family the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

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Sara's Review:

Jodi Picoult is one of my all time favorite authors, so I couldn't wait to read her newest book! As always, her writing is beautiful and thought provoking. The story is told from several points of view - Jacob, his brother Theo, his mother Emma, and the detective investigating the murder. I am not normally a fan of multiple POV stories, but this one is movingly crafted. While I would never be so bold as to say I understand the challenges of autism after reading this book, I certainly feel much more aware of them. She does an amazing job of helping the reader understand how it might feel to live with it daily.

That said, I wasn't crazy about the actual storyline. It felt kind of lame and slow moving. The thing I love about Jodi Picoult books is the huge twist in the last 10 pages. I was completely blindsided by the twist in her last novel, Handle With Care, and was expecting more of the same here. Unfortunately, I saw the 'twist' about a quarter of the way through the book. I found the end to be unsatisfying, to say the least.

Lackluster twist aside, I would still recommend the book. And all her other books as well!

Grade: B

Waking Up In The Land of Glitter - Kathy Cano-Murillo

Synopsis:With glue guns, glitter, twigs, or yarn, the ordinary can become extraordinary. . . especially at La Pachanga. Owned by Estrella "Star" Esteban's family, the restaurant has a rep for two things: good food and great art. La Pachanga brings people together-even when it looks like they couldn't be further apart. One ill-fated evening, Star jeopardizes her family's business, her relationship with her boyfriend, and her future career. To redeem herself, she agrees to participate in a national craft competition, teaming up with her best friend, Ofelia-a secretly troubled mother whose love for crafting borders on obsession-and local celebrity Chloe Chavez-a determined television personality with more than one skeleton in her professional closet. If these unlikely allies can set aside their differences, they'll find strength they never knew they had, and learn that friendship, like crafting, is truly an art form.

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Cole's Review:

When I'm not stalking the aisles of a craft store, I have my nose in a book.  A book that combines both loves?  Even better!  The author, Kathy Cano-Murillo is a crafter that can be seen on DIY and HGTV, so I knew that if nothing else - there would be a few really interesting craft projects.

Right away, I was impressed with the detail in which each scene is described.  A series of unlikely events brings a group of women together to look for a second chance at love, life and joy in crafting.  Along the way - Star, her best friend Ofelia and television personality Chloe Chavez deal with 350 pounds of German glass glitter, conflicts with each other and the upcoming CraftOlympics.  The author uses a heavy dose of Spanish and Spanglish through the book.  Don't speak Spanish?  No problem - a glossary is at the back of the book.  The one thing that detracts from this book is that there are too many points of view. I counted seven different points of view in total.  It would have been easier to keep track of if just told from the point of view of our three heroines.

I laughed a lot and cried a time or two as well reading this book.  I'd recommend this book to anyone that enjoys crafting, and hope to see Kathy Cano-Murillo write more books.

Grade: B