Book Review: Our Husband

Our Husband by Stephanie Bond
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Our Husband is a book about exactly what you'd think it would be about... Women finding out they're married to the same man. And these women couldn't be more different from one another.

Finding out your husband is a bigamist is one thing. Being forced to work together to clear your names is quite another. Could unlikely friendships be forged from these awful circumstances?

Guess you'll have to read and find out.

I wouldn't call this book a favorite or anything, but it was a cute little read. Even though the book seemed to be a bit predictable there were some interesting plot twists. Nothing to write home about, but if you're bored- give it a try!

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Book Review: Catch Me

Catch Me by Lisa Gardner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Detective D.D. Warren, fresh from maternity leave, finds herself on a case involving child predators. While investigating that case another case finds her... before it's even happened. A young lady suspects she'll be murdered in just a couple short weeks and she'd like Detective Warren on the case.

As usual, good writing and interesting plot twists.

My only fault with the book is that it hit a little too close to home. With a young daughter anxious to play on the internet gaming sites (which I thought were pretty safe), I was given a rude awakening of just how things work out there on the big, bad internet. Unfortunately, this almost even seemed like a how-to manual for a perv to make connections through the gaming world. Creepy. Just creepy.

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Book Review: Fudge Cupcake Murder

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.

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Book Review: Room

Room 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.

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Book Review: Waking Up Married

Waking 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!

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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. 

 

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"Endless Possibility" Pizza Bake Recipe

We've been looking to revamp our dinner menu selections, to get some new "go to recipes", so this week I thought I'd try one of the many I've pinned on Pinterest. I wanted something quick and easy for a homework night and decided to go with this Betty Crocker 4 Ingredient Pizza Bake recipe. The 4 ingredients were good, but you could really do so much more with it!

 

Ingredients:

•  2 pouches (7.5 oz each) Bisquick Complete buttermilk biscuit mix
• 1 jar (14 oz) pizza sauce
• 1 package (5-8 oz) sliced pepperonis
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Other Options could include, but are certainly not limited to:

• sausage crumbles
• diced onions
• sliced mushrooms
• sliced olives
• diced jalapenos
• sliced banana peppers
• diced green peppers
• fresh basil and other Italian herbs
• bacon crumbles
• and the list goes on and on!

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F, and grease a 13x9 in. casserole dish
2. Mix the biscuit dough as directed on pouch into a medium bowl (add water and mix until soft dough forms). Split the dough in half, and drop the first half into the baking dish evenly by spoonfuls (the dough will not completely cover the bottom of the dish)
3. Drizzle about 1 cup of the pizza sauce evenly over the dough in the dish. Arrange half of the pepperoni slices evenly over the dough and sauce
4. This is where you could also add any of your optional ingredients
5. Top with 1 cup of the shredded cheese
6. Repeat the previous layers with the remaining ingredients
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cut into squares to serve

Since this was a new recipe we just went with the basic 4 ingredients to test it out. It was delicious just the way it was, but the hubs and I came up with endless possibilities on things we could have added to make it even better!

It kind of reminded us of a Chicago deep dish style pizza, which we really liked.

It took about 15 minutes to make (but I kept getting distracted with the kids), and we baked for the full 25 minutes in our oven. I was looking for easy, and boy did I get it! It was simple to put together and there weren't a whole lot of pots and pans to clean up.

Everyone went back for seconds and the hubs and I each had enough for lunch today. This is one we'll definitely be making again!

Leave me a comment and tell me how you'd make your pizza bake :-)

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