Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Book Review: Fudge Cupcake Murder

Fudge Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #5)Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There's a big upset when Hannah's brother-in-law, Bill, is accused of killing his boss, Sherriff Grant. It's to be expected that someone might suspect him since they are running against each other in the election... the upsetting part is that it's Mike who accused. I mean, he's Bill's partner and best friend, and he's her... well, he's... a guy she's been seeing? No, he's more than that, but she can't pinpoint exactly how much more when she's also still got feelings for Norman. What's a girl to do?

Hannah unexpectedly finds herself face to face with the killer and makes a dash for it. And she picks the worst possible hiding spot, one where she's sure to find her demise.


I really enjoy this series. The books are very well written and have a good wholesome plot. Looking forward to the next.

View all my reviews

This post carries a disclosure Level of 0. Please see my disclosure page for more details.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Book Review: Room

RoomRoom by Emma Donoghue
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Room was an interesting read, especially since it's from a young child's perspective. It makes you look at things in a totally different way. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult this situation would have been on this child, or his mother.

View all my reviews

This post carries a disclosure Level of 0. Please see my disclosure page for more details.

Book Review: Waking Up Married

Waking Up MarriedWaking Up Married by Mira Lyn Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this as a free Kindle book. I don't think I realized at the time this was a harlequin book. I don't normally pick those up. I'm glad I didn't know though, because I don't think I would have given it a chance. I'm so glad I did. I really enjoyed this book, these characters, the writing style, everything.

While their situation may not have been very realistic (though I've never been to Vegas, maybe it happens more than I'd think), it made for a very interesting story line- waking up married after one night. Well, that probably does happen in Vegas quite a bit. I guess the more unrealistic part is them wanting to make it work.

They both had their plans and this one way to merge the two for practicality. Their backgrounds fit with the people they had become and why these plans made sense for them. It's hard to keep emotions out of things though, no matter how hard you try.

I really enjoyed the courting Connor showed Megan, and can see how she could fall so quickly, even without trying.

I wouldn't mind seeing where this went? Hoping there's a sequel!

View all my reviews

This post carries a disclosure Level of 0. Please see my disclosure page for more details.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Stove Top Potpourri Mix

I saw a pin a while back for stove top potpourri and couldn't wait to make some for the holidays. The original site (Make It Do) also mentioned it would make a great gift and even provided gift tags with instructions to attach to bags. How perfect for my son's teachers!! So, the morning of his last day of school we set out the ingredients and put together all the bags.

 
     
  • one whole orange
  • 1/2 cup cranberries
  • 1 Tbsp. whole cloves
  • 3 sticks of cinnamon
  • a dash of grated nutmeg, if desired

Here's the finished product. They turned out pretty good. All the teachers really liked them, and they didn't get anything else like it. We had some leftover ingredients, so we gave them out to some aunts as well. Hope they enjoyed them, too.

Quarter the orange and put all ingredients in small pan, on the smallest burner
Don't forget to add water! Set the burner to the lowest heat setting and enjoy the wonderful scents of the holidays!
 
The mixture is good for about a month. It'll brown, but as long as you keep adding water when you turn it on, you can continue using it. It's very fragrant. I'll have to remember this around Thanksgiving next year. 
 
This post carries a disclosure Level of 0. Please see my disclosure page for more details.