Framed and Frosted (Cupcake Catering Mystery Series)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Publisher: Cinnamon & Sugar Press (June 22, 2021)
Number of Pages: 323

 

Synopsis

 

Framed and Frosted, the third book in the Cupcake Catering Mystery series, finds cupcake caterer, Emory Martinez, working at a Laguna Beach society Fourth of July soiree, with her sister and their new employee, Sal. With a host that seems intent on accosting both catering employees and guests alike, things go from bad to worse when he accuses Sal of murdering his long-dead son.

As the crescendo of exploding fireworks overhead becomes the backdrop for cupcakes and champagne, a deadly murder occurs. Can Sal and Emory explain why the cupcake the host ate, after shoving a trayful of buttercream frosted cupcakes onto Sal, resulted in his death? Or will the guests and detective alike believe that Sal is a murderer? Emory and her octogenarian employer, Tillie, whip into action to find out who framed Sal after being frosted by the victim.

Includes recipes!

 

 

Amazon

 

 

Review

 

Cupcakes are my second favorite dessert behind pie…but a very close second. So this series has me salivating at each page turn and I am dreaming of cupcakes at every turn.

Emory is a very likable protagonist and while she has been dealt a few blows, she bounces back. She is lucky to live with Tillie (Matilda to her son) and these two can get into a little bit of trouble as they show us in this book by working to solve the mysteries themselves. But if they hadn’t chosen to look into the murder then an innocent man would be in jail and who knows what other tragedies would have fallen upon Emory or her sister Carrie’s catering business.

This story does pack in a lot of sub-plots including a handsome young lawyer, a new police detective, Emory’s relationship with Randall, and the continued search for Emory and Carrie’s long-lost sister. Despite all of these other things happening in the book, they only add to the story and do not detract at all. I was amazed at how the author kept everything flowing smoothly and wove each story succinctly into the major plot.

The story does take a little bit from the headlines and mixes it in such as the racism towards the catering employee accused of murder. While this isn’t anything new, it does remind me of what we see happening in the world today.

This is a fantastic series so definitely give it a whirl but start with the first book to get a handle on all of the characters and the backstories of each. We give this book 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Kim Davis lives in Southern California with her husband. When she’s not spending time with her granddaughters she can be found either writing stories or working on her blog, Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats.  She has published the suspense novel, A GAME OF DECEIT, and cozy mystery, SPRINKLES OF SUSPICION and CAKE POPPED OFF. She also has had several children’s articles published in Cricket, Nature Friend, Skipping Stones, and the Seed of Truth magazines. Kim Davis is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

 

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Giveaway

 

 

 

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Synopsis

 

Willy Cherrymill and his stepdaughter Lacey are deeply bruised by a past brimming with unanswered questions. It’s been thirty years since May DuBerry, Willy’s young wife and Lacey’s mother, abandoned them both leaving Willy to raise Lacey alone.

Lacey Cherrymill is smart, stubborn and focused. She’s also a single mother to a young daughter recently diagnosed with a devastating illness. The last thing she needs to think about right now is the betrayal that rocked her childhood. Reluctantly, she has returned to her rural beginnings, a former dairy farm in the Maryland countryside, and to Willy, a man steeped in his own disappointments and all the guilt that goes with them.

Together they will pool their wobbly emotional resources to take care of Tasha, all the while trying to skirt the issue of May’s mysterious disappearance. But try as she might, Lacey can’t leave it alone. Just where is May DuBerry Cherrymill and why did she leave them, and how is it that they have never talked about the wreckage she left behind?

 

 

 

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Excerpt

 

“The stench of the burning leather seeps from the stove and Lacey has no choice but to breathe it in, recognizing that her mother’s secrets are now her own, that she has filled her lungs with the bitterness of it and the blood that courses her veins has oxygenated on a story that she alone bears the burden of, her heart pumping a tragedy through arteries, invading the threads of capillaries so that May’s story is both deep within Lacey and rising to flush her cheeks.”

–from A HAND TO HOLD IN DEEP WATER 

 

About the Author

 

Shawn Nocher (pronounced No-Shay’) is a mentee of Michael Glaser, Elise Levine, William Black, and Richard Bausch. Her compelling short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including SmokeLong Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, Eunoia Review, and MoonPark Review, and she won an Honorable Mention from both SmokeLong Quarterly and Glimmer Train. Having graduated with an MA in writing from Johns Hopkins, Shawn is currently working there teaching Graduate Independent Studies and Fiction Workshops. She is also currently at work on her second novel, THE PRECIOUS JULES.

 

Author Website * Twitter * Instagram

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister is about to see the ugly side of beauty expos…

Easter weekend on the Jersey Shore is hopping. Poppy’s Bed and Breakfast is busier than ever, but she needs to leave things in the hopefully capable hands of Aunt Ginny–and paws of Figaro the black smoke Persian. She’s selling her paleo muffins and keto cookies at the Health and Beauty Expo in Cape May’s Convention Hall. Normally sharing a booth with the love of her life would be a treat, but she’s recently discovered secrets that throw her new romance into chaos.

But more secrets are about to be exposed at the expo. In his keynote address, prominent cosmetic surgeon Dr. Lance Rubin reveals his breakthrough anti-aging technology. Unfortunately, someone has one-upped him with a truly foolproof anti-aging formula: murder. With the plastic surgeon dead under his own UV mask, and bedlam reigning in the hall and back at the B&B, Poppy needs to follow a twisted trail marked by glowing footprints to unmask a killer…

 

 

This book releases June 29th, 2021. Available for pre-order now!

 

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Review

 

This is such a fun series and I couldn’t wait until the next edition in Poppy’s story was available to us…ok, it hasn’t been released yet but many thanks to the author for sharing an early copy so I didn’t have to wait too long.

As we discovered at the end of the previous book, Wine Tastings are Murder, Poppy decided that Gia was the man for her over Tim. However, she was in for quite a surprise when she learned that Gia was still married and his wife has shown up to try and reconcile. This definitely creates tension between Gia and Poppy and we see that throughout the whole book and both parties aren’t 100% honest with each other and trust has to be earned. Thankfully, the situation is resolved in this book and doesn’t drag onto the next installment. You will have to read the book to find out how this comes to fruition and Gia and Poppy are able to truly move forward in their relationship.

To top things off, Gia and Poppy are running a booth within the Beauty Expo that has come to town featuring Poppy’s gluten-free items and Gia’s coffee beverages. However, even that does not run smoothly for him with Tim nursing hurt feelings over losing Poppy to Gia and Gigi trying to cast aspersions on Poppy’s Paleo items. Gigi is not a likable character and has never been but she seems to ratch it up a level in this book.

There is of course a murder or two to be solved. There are some twists I didn’t expect and just when you think you know who the bad guy is, a new clue or scenario appears which caused me to rethink my original thoughts. I didn’t figure out the killer and this person wasn’t on my radar. There are quite a few possibilities and all with legitimate reasons but not enough to kill anyone. To top it all off, Poppy works with a long-time rival, Amber, to help solve the crime. Amber is a police detective and has always been a thorn in Poppy’s side. The animosity between the two can be seen throughout the book, but Poppy rises above it to help her out of a jam. Will this change their “friendship?”

And then there is a side story regarding Poppy’s best friend, Sawyer. I wondered if she was getting into trouble but the truth came out and it was like a weight was lifted from Sawyer’s shoulders because she didn’t have to mislead Poppy. It is an awwww type of situation so don’t worry about it causing any rifts.

The snark is still there and Joanne is quite the character with a biting wit. Of course Aunt Ginny is still causing trouble and even Figaro (the cat) has a love interest in Portia, a show cat.

This is such a fun series and I recommend starting at the beginning to truly follow the personal stories of Poppy, Tim, Gia, Ginny, and the biddies.

We give this book 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

Libby Klein graduated Lower Cape May Regional High School sometime in the ’80s. Her classes revolved mostly around the culinary sciences and theater, with the occasional nap in Chemistry. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that forced her to remove gluten from her kitchen and adopt a Paleo Diet. Now her life revolves around coffee and bacon. When she’s not feeling sorry for herself that she can’t eat bread, she writes from her Northern Virginia office while trying to keep her cat Figaro off her keyboard. Most of her hobbies revolve around eating, and travel, and eating while traveling.

 

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Synopsis

 

“In a feat of razor-sharp journalism, Zimberoff asks all the right questions about Silicon Valley’s hunger for a tech-driven food system. If you, like me, suspect they’re selling the sizzle more than the steak, read Technically Food for the real story.” —Dan Barber, the chef and co-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Eating a veggie burger used to mean consuming a mushy, flavorless patty that you would never confuse with a beef burger. But now products from companies like Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Eat Just, and others that were once fringe players in the food space are dominating the media, menus in restaurants, and the refrigerated sections of our grocery stores. With the help of scientists working in futuristic labs––making milk without cows and eggs without chickens––start-ups are creating wholly new food categories. Real food is being replaced by high-tech.

Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valley’s Mission to Change What We Eat by investigative reporter Larissa Zimberoff is the first comprehensive survey of the food companies at the forefront of this booming business. Zimberoff pokes holes in the mania behind today’s changing food landscape to uncover the origins of these mysterious foods and demystify them. These sometimes ultraprocessed and secretly produced foods are cheered by consumers and investors because many are plant-based—often vegan—and help address societal issues like climate change, animal rights, and our planet’s dwindling natural resources. But are these products good for our personal health?

Through news-breaking revelations, Technically Food examines the trade-offs of replacing real food with technology-driven approximations. Chapters go into detail about algae, fungi, pea protein, cultured milk and eggs, upcycled foods, plant-based burgers, vertical farms, cultured meat, and marketing methods. In the final chapter Zimberoff talks to industry voices––including Dan Barber, Mark Cuban, Marion Nestle, and Paul Shapiro––to learn where they see food in 20 years.

As our food system leaps ahead to a sterilized lab of the future, we think we know more about our food than we ever did. But because so much is happening so rapidly, we actually know less about the food we are eating. Until now.

 

 

Abrams Books * Amazon * B&N * IndieBound

 

My thoughts

 

I haven’t delved into this book yet but it sounds fascinating. I love anything having to do with food and this book takes a look into how the food industry is changing. More people are eating less meat and eating more of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. I know several people like this and over the course of time and being a part of the Abrams Dinner Party, I have been privileged to review some cookbooks that feature dishes that have no animal products in them. Granted, you could easily add meat to the dishes or serve as a side dish, but they continue to show us how what we eat doesn’t have to be laden with animal products and there are many easy and delicious recipes that will satisfy even the pickiest eater.

I have read the intro to this book and appreciate the author’s honest words about how she started down this path, books written by past authors that started the awareness, and how “Big Food” and “New Food” are trying to turn things around. Let’s be honest, Americans have horrible eating habits for the most part and we don’t always pay attention to what we are eating and don’t read labels of processed foods. I can say I’m guilty of this as well. While I try to cook from scratch most of the time, I am just as guilty of using processed foods to cut some corners or when in a time crunch. This doesn’t mean that our diet is horrible, it just means it could be better.

I am looking forward to reading more about how Silicon Valley will take other items such as algae, fungi, pea protein, and cell-based meat and make them fit for human consumption. How will this look for us in the future? Will we become more plant-based consumers or will meat still play a role in our diet? This book will give you more of an insight. Perhaps we will agree with her findings or disagree and continue on the path we are on. Only time will tell.

I think this book will be a must-read for those concerned about the future of our food and the impact of the industry to bring us these items.

 

 

About the Author

 

IT ALL STARTED WHEN I MOVED TO NEW YORK.

When I left San Francisco, it was to follow my ambition of becoming a writer. This was 2011. I lived on the Lower East Side, biked and walked everywhere, earned an MFA in nonfiction from The New School, and, like all writers, wondered how to pay the bills.

Compared to New York, San Francisco was a suburb. But that suburb set the stage for life now. During my decade-plus working in San Francisco’s tech scene, I witnessed first hand the booms and busts of the Internet. I steeped myself in computer code, Silicon Valley clichés, and branded polar fleece jackets. I understood how the web worked but it was no match for my other love: food.

In grad school, food always seemed to wend its way into my stories. Sometimes it was to highlight what I came to think of as my unique superpower: I could see through food, a skill that came from living with Type-one diabetes for decades. Sometimes it was to bring readers along on my travels––dinner at a Kyoto ryokan, trailing a baker at 4:30am, or visiting a French chocolatier at his Queens production facility.

it wasn’t until I blended my two pasts–food plus tech––that my career took off. My first taste of the sector was when I discovered smart people targeting solutions for food waste. Then I followed the incubators supporting New Foods. Since then, I’ve written on the promise of fake eggs, the potential of peas, and how artificial intelligence saved a winery. My work has appeared in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, Time, Bloomberg Businessweek, Insider, and many more publications.

My decade living in San Francisco, and working in tech, helps me understand the rush to invest in today’s food startups. I know well from experience not to get swept up in the frenzy. My hard-earned belief in technology is matched by an equally precious hope for foods that come from the natural world. These days you can find me in Northern California where I’m burning off the calories I eat with mountain hikes and seaside cycling.

 

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I love books and the thought of a book subscription box where the contents are a mystery each month is intriguing. So when the creators of this new box asked if I would be interested in seeing what they had to offer, of course, I had to say Yes! The great thing about Book Lovers Delight is that they focus on indie authors to help provide a wider net for these authors to share their works of literature with all of us that maybe wouldn’t have heard of them before. After all, there are so many books out there and just not enough time to discover all of them.

 

The photos I am going to share are from the first box and what you might expect each month. I’m not a video guru (yet!) so no unboxing video. But hopefully, this will still intrigue you.

 

So this beautiful green box arrives and if I remember correctly, it was in a large green mailing envelope. The top of the book reflects the company name (just in case you forgot what you ordered!)

 

 

When I lifted the lid of the box, I saw tissue paper and a letter on top.

 

 

The letter shares with us what is inside

 

 

Before I moved the tissue aside, I was greeted with this cute glass with Cheers written on the side. Perfect for what is about to come.

 

 

 

Everything in the box is tied to the book in some way. There are drink recipe cards that will fill that glass quite nicely. Suntan lotion so while you are poolside reading this book you don’t burn. And of course a book!  This one happens to be from author Meg Hafdahl. I have never heard of her but am intrigued and a bit spooked since it is a horror novel.

 

 

So if you are a book lover and want to try a new subscription box and perhaps find a new author to love, then check it out from Book Lovers’ Delight. And they are based in Texas for all you Texas fans.

 

Book Lovers’ Delight was founded when a group of individuals decided to turn their shared interests into an official Book Club. After carefully working out all the details, we are on our way to creating something extraordinary.

 

Book Lovers’ Delight is the brainchild of….

 

Through the Eyes of Authors

 

Sandy and Friends

 

Inklings Publishing

 

Houston Writers Guild

 

Authorology

 

 

 

 

 

Raiders Of The Campsite (A Southwest Exposure Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Independently Published (May 13, 2021)
Print length: ~200 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Welcome to Bushwhack, New Mexico: home to tourists, the great outdoors, and murder…

Camping for spring break should be a piece of cake for outdoor guide Andie Sullivan. She has her best friend and the sheriff tagging along as chaperones for the Wilderness Explorers. It should be all S’mores and ghost stories…but then Vivian is attacked and they discover a corpse.

Dang. The campsite went up in smoke.

With everything at stake, Andie must find answers about the attack—she has to dig deep into a community she’s called home since birth by asking all the right questions, sometimes at not the right time. As she tracks down clues to a suspect, Andie stumbles on a secretive treasure hunting group in Bushwhack. But one wrong move and Andie could become her own buried treasure.

 

 

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About the Author

 

Jodi Linton is an author of several romance novels and cozy mysteries. She pens funny, romantic, whodunnits during her days in between being a carpool mom. She lives in Texas with her husband, with who she runs the family day business with and two kids. When she isn’t writing her next page turner, she likes to delve into her hobby of finding all the cool, new makeup products to buy.

 

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YouTube * Instagram * Jodi’s Book Corner (FB) * Newsletter

 

 

Giveaway

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Synopsis

 

A young woman agrees to star in a filmmaker’s latest project, but soon realizes the movie is not what she expected in this chilling debut novel.

In the wake of her father’s death, Betty doesn’t allow herself to mourn. Instead, she pushes away her mother, breaks up with her boyfriend, and leaves everything behind to move to New York City crashing on her old friend Sophia and Sophia’s boyfriend Ben’s, couch. Sophia and Ben introduce Betty to their friend and indie filmmaker darling Anthony Marino, whose previous movie is a favorite of Betty’s. She starstruck by Anthony and, while slightly afraid of him, completely captivated by him as well. When he offers her the chance to play the leading role in his latest project, a loose remake of Cape Fear, she jumps at the opportunity.

The four of them head to Anthony’s family’s cabin off the coast of Maine for several weeks to shoot the film. Betty starts to get more apprehensive about what she’s gotten herself into. She continuously finds herself pulled under Anthony’s alluring spell, but there’s no real script, or at least one that Betty’s not privy to. Anthony gives her a new identity, Lola, and a radical makeover to fit the part. But Betty tells herself that this is exactly what she’s been looking for: the chance to reinvent herself. That is until she meets Sammy, the island’s caretaker, and Betty realizes just how little she knows about the movie and its director and is certainly in over her head.

 

 

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Excerpt

 

“Looking at you,” he says, replaying the short clip. “It’s like wandering into a labyrinth.”

 

“Thank you,” I say, though it sounds more like a question. I tear my eyes away from the camera, back up to his face.

 

All at once, the reality of this night hits me. I’m sitting in a restaurant in Brooklyn, talking to Anthony Marino. No, auditioning for Anthony Marino. And he thinks I’m beautiful. Like wandering into a labyrinth. I don’t know how I got here. But this is real, isn’t it? This is happening.

 

Without lifting his gaze from the screen, Anthony tells my video self, “This would be a commitment. This isn’t your usual film. It’s not a big‑budget sort of thing. It’s going to be an intimate shoot. We’ll live in my family’s cabin up north, for about a month. Maybe more, maybe less. And that’s where we’ll be filming, in the cabin. On the water. It’s just a small group of us—you, me, Ben, and Mads, the other actor. Mads Byrne. Well, you won’t have heard of him since you haven’t seen Reverence. Sofìa’s taking some days off work to join us for a bit, too. But this film is low‑key. No extra crew, just me and Ben working the set. Are you comfortable with that?”

 

I sit back, considering him. This is so fast. We haven’t done anything close to an audition. And I could believe, maybe, that he doesn’t care whether I tell him yes or no, because he’s been so casual about everything. He hasn’t asked for anything from me yet, no references, no monologue, nothing. But he’s looking at me too intently—his knuckles turning white around the camera—for this to be a spontaneous offer. Didn’t Ben say that Anthony was too picky? He could have anyone, that’s what he said. He’s delayed filming to search for just the right actress.

 

It seems he’s found one. Me.

 

I find myself saying yes before I can properly catch my breath. It doesn’t even sound like a word, yes, just an emotion jettisoned into the air.

 

“It’s a demanding project,” he tells me. “Most of it is pretty intuitive. But you’d have to be comfortable with some things. Nudity, for instance. Some violence.”

 

“Violence?” I feel another smile climb my cheeks, this one an imperfect reflection of my unease. How can there be violence when the film consists of just Mads Byrne and me? “What kind of violence? Like in a horror movie?”

 

He laughs. “Nothing like that. Arguments, shouting, you know, that kind of stuff.”

 

“Does it pay?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“How much?”

 

“Twenty thousand dollars.”

 

I try to stifle my gasp. What happened to the small budget? “That’s upon ‘signing.’” He crooks a finger in halfhearted air quotes. “And then another twenty thousand after we finish filming. Sound fair?”

Maybe there’s more to this than I understand. Forty thousand dollars? That’s a lot of money. A person will do a lot for that. A person will be expected to do a lot. And I know this should make me nervous. Everything about tonight should make me nervous. Suddenly, I wish I were older. Maybe then I would know how to handle this situation. I would know the right thing to say, the right thing to ask about this project, and why he’s so convinced I’m the one he wants, after such a short time together. I would know how to look at this man, and how to be looked at by him in turn. I wouldn’t be so overwhelmed.

 

But I’m not older. I’m just me. And no matter how much I know I should be, I’m not worried. This is like a dream come true, and I’m not going to question my impossibly good luck. I told people I wanted to be an actress in New York, and I meant it, even if it felt like a flimsy way of saying I wanted to figure out who I was, after Dad, as far away as possible from anything that re‑ minded me of him. Here is the opportunity to do exactly that. With Anthony Marino.

 

I suck out the dregs of my NorCal margarita through a pink straw. I don’t know why this drink is so region specific. Nothing of the tequila or lime reminds me of the wispy fog rolling off the cliffs, the soft, moist bark of redwood trees, the dusty roads. But the name is enough to transform it into home. I close my eyes on the last swallow. When I open them again, my mother’s voice and the images of my father hiking through the brush, out to the dazzling expanse of the Pacific, are replaced by Anthony’s eyes.

 

I nod—Yes, yes, I am comfortable with all that—but I can’t seem to find my voice yet.

 

He reaches for my wrist. “Are you sure?” he asks. “I’m not going to lie, I think you’re perfect for it. There’s something about you.” He motions to the camera between us. “Like I said, it’s impossible to look away from you. But a location shoot and the lead role are a lot to ask of an inexperienced actress. Do you have the energy for it?”

 

I nod again, once.

 

“I need to hear you say it,” he says, releasing my wrist. “Are you in, one hundred percent?”

 

I take his hand. He thinks for a second that I’m holding it, but I turn the gesture into a businessman’s handshake. His bones, as rigid as they look, bend a little in my grip. “Yes,” I hear myself say. “Of course.”

 

This is my new beginning. This is what I want. This is what  I need.

 

 

Excerpted from SHUTTER by Melissa Larsen, published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2021 by Melissa Larsen

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Melissa Larsen has an M.F.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She has interned and worked extensively in publishing. She lives in San Francisco, and Shutter is her first novel.

 

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Synopsis

 

Conspiracies abound in this surreal and yet all-too-real technothriller in which a deadly underground alternate reality game might just be altering reality itself, set in the same world as the popular Rabbits podcast.

It’s an average work day. You’ve been wrapped up in a task, and you check the clock when you come up for air–4:44 pm. You go to check your email, and 44 unread messages have built up. With a shock, you realize it is April 4th–4/4. And when you get in your car to drive home, your odometer reads 44,444. Coincidence? Or have you just seen the edge of a rabbit hole?

Rabbits is a mysterious alternate reality game so vast it uses our global reality as its canvas. Since the game first started in 1959, ten iterations have appeared and nine winners have been declared. Their identities are unknown. So is their reward, which is whispered to be NSA or CIA recruitment, vast wealth, immortality, or perhaps even the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe itself. But the deeper you get, the more deadly the game becomes. Players have died in the past–and the body count is rising.

And now the eleventh round is about to begin. Enter K–a Rabbits obsessive who has been trying to find a way into the game for years. That path opens when K is approached by billionaire Alan Scarpio, the alleged winner of the sixth iteration. Scarpio says that something has gone wrong with the game and that K needs to fix it before Eleven starts or the whole world will pay the price.

Five days later, Scarpio is declared missing. Two weeks after that, K blows the deadline and Eleven begins. And suddenly, the fate of the entire universe is at stake.

 

 

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Review

 

This book is not going to appeal to all audiences. It will appeal to those that like the bizarre, are into RPG, and believe that multi-dimension universes are possible. While I may not fit into all of those categories, I have to admit this book was fascinating with all of the possibilities.

We follow K and several of his friends that have stumbled across a game called Rabbits. It isn’t spoken about and I’m not really sure how someone can win this game, but there are people that have won. It isn’t spoken about or really discussed and it is a game for those that notice variations in the world around them….once again, not me but I love just thinking about the possibilities.

I like the titles of each chapter, they are somewhat comical and add humor to this insane story. There are people disappearing, memories that may not be real, time lapses, and so much more.

The story does get bogged down in some of the details and since I do not understand some of the scientific theories discussed, it did go over my head. But I was pulled into K’s life and interactions with Chloe and others that led him down the rabbit hole of this game and as he fought for his life and trying to figure out what was real and what was not.

I read a few other reviews and realized that we never really know K’s gender. I assumed male but it could easily be a female. There is no way to know for sure and thinking back, that sheds a different light on some of the scenes.

If you like podcasts, you might want to check out the Rabbits podcast. I am not usually a podcast listener but will check it out just because I’ve read this book.

Overall we give this book 4 paws.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Terry Miles is an award-winning filmmaker; creator of the Public Radio Alliance and that network’s series of hit podcasts: Tanis, Rabbits (#1 on Apple Podcasts), Faerie, and The Last Movie; and co-creator of The Black Tapes. He splits his time between the dark emerald gloom of the Pacific Northwest and sunny Los Angeles.

 

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From the Pacific Northwest’s most influential chef comes a collection of recipes for ultra-simple sophistication inspired by the world’s most delicious cuisines

Acclaimed chef, restaurateur, and artist Renee Erickson invites you on a culinary journey via her favorite places in the world—Rome, Paris, Normandy, Baja California, London, and her hometown, Seattle. Equally aspirational travelogue and practical guide to cooking at home, the book offers 120 recipes and 60 cocktail recipes for simple meals that evoke the dreamiest places and cuisines. From not-too-intricate cocktails and snacks to effortless entrées, these are the recipes that inspire Erickson and make for relaxed, convivial evenings, whether at home or abroad. Showcasing Erickson’s appealing and high-style aesthetic and featuring gorgeous photography and hand-drawn illustrations, this book offers a richly visual survey of beautiful, easy ways to escape the everyday, with meals that you will want to eat every day.

 

 

Amazon * B&N * Abrams Books * BAM

 

 

My thoughts

 

If you are anything like me, you haven’t done any traveling in the last year thanks to the pandemic. I’ve dreamed of places to visit and seeing new things and trying new foods.

Imagine my surprise when I received this book as part of Abrams Dinner Party. Flipping through the pages was like taking a trip to various locations with the colorful images, the mouth watering recipes, and even the drinks that highlighted each country or location.

This book is more than just a cookbook, it is an adventure with the author and her experiences, thoughts about the food, and so much more. I had to chuckle when I read a section where she considered making the book all about chips because she loves them so much.

There are so many different dishes to make from appetizers to main courses. There is also an abundance of adult beverage recipes and I plan to whip out my supplies and create a few of these refreshing cocktails. The author weaves stories about her time in the various locales and her life and why every recipe or location is special to her.

This is definitely a book to savor and imagine yourself in Baja, London, Paris, or even Seattle.

We give it 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Renee Erickson is the James Beard Award–winning chef and co-owner of numerous Seattle restaurants, including The Walrus and the Carpenter, The Whale Wins, and the Narwhal Oyster Truck. She is the author of A Boat, A Whale & A Walrus: Menus and Stories.

 

Website * Instagram * Twitter

 

 

 

 

Can you eat barbecue and still lose weight and be healthy? Yes, you can. New York Times bestselling author Myron Mixon will show you how.

After more than thirty years of winning contests for his smoked hogs, briskets, ribs, and chickens, Myron Mixon knows a whole lot about barbecue. So what does the “winningest man in barbecue” know about living a healthy lifestyle? As someone who was overweight and unhealthy before losing more than 100 pounds, he’s figured out how to cook and eat the foods he loves and still live healthfully. Having kept those pounds off for more than two years, Mixon is living proof that you can eat barbecue and be healthy, if you know how to do it right.

This is Keto done the way we all want to live; the recipes in Keto BBQ are the ones Mixon uses to enjoy the barbecue lifestyle without gaining weight. Like Mixon, you get to eat the foods you love—including bacon-wrapped chicken breasts, smoked pork shoulder, baby back ribs, and even barbecue sauce—if you follow the recipes in this book. In Keto BBQ, Mixon shares a series of real—and real simple—changes you can make to your diet while still enjoying barbecue and other Southern foods in a healthier way.

 

Review

 

I love to eat and my husband is a carnivore, so I knew this book might have some good tips on making dishes that fit the Keto plan. Neither one of us follow Keto, but I do find it interesting and I think the biggest difference is that instead of using sugar the recipes call for monk fruit sweetener. I have seen it in the baking aisle but never really thought much about it as a sweetener so I was definitely intrigued. The book has a variety of rubs for different types of meats, bbq sauce that doesn’t use sugar (which I try to avoid anyway), and there are sections that cover chicken, pork, beef, vegetables, desserts, and beverages.

I have to admit that I do not grill or bbq as much as I used to and I live in Texas where the weather is almost always perfect for this type of cuisine. But from his first book, BBQ&A, I learned a few handy rubs and techniques and a recipe I find myself frequently making. So I was curious to see what this book could add to my repertoire and I found one recipe that was similar to something I already make the BBQ Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Breasts. This varied slightly from how I normally make it, taking the tenders and covering with a few spices and then wrapping bacon around it, and I have to admit I didn’t follow the instructions…mostly because I was scrambling at dinner time. But after reading this will definitely give the full recipe a try.  Ok, I know I’m rambling. It happens sometimes. Anyway, this recipe calls for marinating the chicken in bbq sauce, then covering it in a rub, wrapping it with bacon, and then cooking in a smoker. I don’t own a smoker, but since I normally make my recipe in the oven, I knew that would work just fine. I ended up making a smaller batch of the chicken rub and coating my chicken in that before wrapping it in bacon. We did use bbq sauce once it was cooked as a dipping sauce. My husband raved about the dish, but then he tends to rave about most things I cook. I think it is because he doesn’t have to cook the meal.

I did try and make the Mint-Basil ‘Rita since a friend had just given me some fresh mint and basil…but I think I put too much lime juice and I didn’t realize I was out of sparkling water. sigh….sometimes I have to realize I can’t make recipes on the fly because I tend to be missing something. This is why planning is key! I am going to give it another whirl and make sure I have all of the ingredients on hand.

This book is worth picking up and flipping through especially if you follow the Keto plan. I will leave you with Mint-Basil Rita recipe

 

The Skinny Pitmaster Mint-Basil ‘Rita

 

Ingredients

 

6 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

8 leaves fresh mint

8 leaves fresh basil

2 cups ice cubes

3 oz tequila or rum

1 cup sparkling water

 

In a medium bowl, combine the lime juice with the mint and basil leaves. use a muddler or other tool to muddle the leaves and fruit, crushing them in the lime juice as best as possible. Divide the muddled juice and herbs between two standard margarita glasses.

Fill the glasses 3/4 of the way with ice. Add 1 1/2 oz of tequila or rum to each glass. Fill the glasses to the top with sparkling water. Gently stir the cocktail with a stirrer or long thin spoon.