The Dating Itinerary by Brooke Williams

 Summary

As if it wasn’t bad enough to be deemed the “most single person” at her magazine’s office, budding reporter Penny has now been tapped to write a series of features called “The Dating Game.” From speed dating to Tinder, old-fashioned matchmakers to up-and-coming “dark dating,” Penny now has to go on a lot of dates. Silver lining: meeting new people should be fun, right? But running into her old rival, George, at her first dating event is decidedly not. Not only does the arrogant know-it-all have zero trouble attracting women, wherever Penny goes, somehow he just. Keeps. Showing. Up.

Geo knows he’s right on the cusp of writing success with the chance to have his own syndicated column. All he has to do is follow his agent’s ideas for showcasing different dating avenues, and he’ll pull in enough to help his sister’s non-profit women’s shelter get off the ground. Sure, his itinerary is starting to look strangely similar to his old rival Penny’s, but all’s fair in love and syndication, right?

The more they look for love in all the wrong places, though, the more they start to wonder if it was right in front of their noses all along. Still, the brutal dating scene just might end them, if these two don’t kill each other first.

My Thoughts

Okay, this was cute!  I have actually been in the mood to read a cute little rom-com type book.  You know what I'm talking about, the kind that is a little cheesy like a Hallmark movie.  Well, this is exactly what The Dating Itinerary is!

Was it a bit predictable? Yes.  Did it make me roll my eyes and sigh once in a while? Yes.  Was I totally and completely here for it? Yes!  Was it exactly what I wanted? YES!

Can you tell I liked this book?  I flew through it and it set me on a reading roll!  Loved it!

*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Asking For Truffle by Dorothy St. James

Summary

 When Charity Penn receives a letter saying she won a trip to Camellia Beach, South Carolina complete with free cooking lessons at the town's seaside chocolate shop, The Chocolate Box, she's immediately skeptical. She never entered any contest. Her former prep school friend offers to look into the phony prize--only to end up drowned in a vat of chocolate. Struck with guilt, Penn heads to the southern beach town to investigate why he was killed. But as wary as she is of the locals, she finds herself lured into their eccentric vibe, letting her defenses melt away and even learning the art of crafting delicious chocolates. That is, until delight turns bittersweet as she steps straight into the midst of a deadly plot to destroy the seaside town. Now, only Penn's quick thinking and a mysterious cask of rare chocolate can save the town she's learning to love. Rich and decadent, Asking for Truffle, the first in a new cozy series by Dorothy St. James, is sure to be a delectable read for fans of JoAnna Carl and Joanne Fluke.

My Thoughts

I have really been into cozy mysteries lately.  I'll read one, read another genre, and then go right back to a cozy mystery.  Sometimes I don't even read a different genre in between!  So, when I had the opportunity to read and review this book I was ready for it!

There are so many things to like about Asking For Truffle.  First of all, chocolate!  A book set in a chocolate shop definitely sounds good to me!  Once again, I was more than ready to read this book!

While I did enjoy it, I can't say that I was sucked in and blown away.  I struggled a bit with actually getting in to the story.  I'm not sure why exactly but it just wasn't working for me.

The main character, Penn, wasn't mu favorite.  She honestly kind of got on my nerves.  Penn was a bit whiney and constantly assumed people were after her money.  And, another thing that drove me crazy was that she came to the area to investigate her friend's murder but didn't check into anything for like four days!  She just kept taking cooking lessons!  Lol!

I'm definitely not saying that this was a bad book.  It wasn't!  It was still pretty good.  It just wasn't the best I've ever read.  It was simply ok.

*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

More Book Spotlights!

 

Book Spotlights of the Day

Against the Wind by Ann Nolder Heinz

Dr. Gwendolyn Pickering has a fierce passion for helping society's most vulnerable, a passion that led her to become one of America's earliest female physicians. The same protective instinct has prompted her to accept the marriage proposal of a sensitive but damaged artist whose self-destructive actions have brought him to the brink of ruin and back again. Now the Civil War is raging, and he is fighting in Virginia as a first lieutenant in the Union Army. When she receives word that he has been captured and is being held as a prisoner of war in Richmond's notorious Libby Prison, she vows to rescue him and bring him home.

Meanwhile, the commander of Union troops in Virginia, General Benjamin Butler, is seeking to establish secret communications between him and a network of Unionist sympathizers led by Miss Elizabeth Van Lew, a Richmond lady of impeccable social credentials who has communicated her willingness to act as his spy. Miss Van Lew is also known for engineering escapes from Libby Prison. Gwen agrees to undertake General Butler's dangerous mission as long as he gives her the freedom to also enlist Miss Van Lew's help in freeing Carl.

What begins as a straightforward rescue mission soon transforms into a struggle for Gwen's own freedom. With the war raging around her, she is forced into hiding while inimical forces seek to hunt her down. She must utilize every last ounce of her intellect and determination to navigate the seemingly endless barriers that appear before her. In the process, she discovers some important lessons about her own flawed nature as well as what it means to love truly and completely.

The Secrets of Immortality by C.J. McKivvik

"An incredibly paced action/adventure tale that will take you on a mind-bending journey." - Rabia Tanveer - Readers' Favorite

What would you do if you discovered how to be immortal? Tom Carrott's life turns into chaos when the director of his university research group drops dead while giving a speech, leaving the group unexpectedly bankrupt. Tom stands to lose everything he cares about - his job, his credibility, his girlfriend Eloise - until an ancient Egyptian chest arrives on his doorstep, with a note from beyond the grave.

Tom embarks on a dangerous and life-changing adventure in pursuit of the secret of immortality, with a fake researcher, the CIA, a beautiful Mossad agent named Eshe, the Theory of Everything Important, and a ruthless billionaire who will stop at nothing to obtain the secret.

Lies, friendship, love, danger, and greed are intertwined as Tom and Eshe race to solve the mystery before they lose everything, including their lives.

Hope Is A Dangerous Place by Jim Baton

Award-winning author Jim Baton believes revival is coming to America. This is what it might look like--

Seventy-five years ago, fifteen-year-old Hope McCormick disappeared. To remember her, the newly incorporated town was named “Hope.” When high school friends Kelsey and Harmonie begin looking into this unsolved mystery, they discover that someone will do anything to make sure the town’s secrets never come to light. Which neighbors are allies, and which face masks a violent enemy? And what will it take for their struggling town to fulfill its original destiny of hope?

Book Spotlights!

 Today's Book Spotlights!

The Chosen Ones by Lisa Luciano

Somebody has to do something. One of the world's top male skaters is in danger. He will be dead before the end of the Olympics.

"If you can't stop it, at least find out why it happened. For once, tell the real story."

Brody Yates has fallen on hard times. Fired from his job as a sports reporter for a major newspaper, he decides to go undercover as a trainer in order to infiltrate the backstage world of figure skating. He has one chance to save someone's life and to turn his around by breaking the story of a lifetime.

The Chosen Ones, though fictionalized, reveals the secrets behind the sequins against the backdrop of the high pressure sport of world class figure skating. In this non-stop thriller, only one person can win. Not everyone will survive.

The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen by Ray Smith

So begins the story of Molly Valle, who at forty-eight thinks she knows all that life has to offer a single, middle-aged woman - namely, men’s dismissal and disrespect. But when handsome activist John Pressman arrives in her Mississippi hometown, he challenges her self-doubt along with nearly everything else in her world. Soon, Molly discovers a strength and beauty she never knew she had—and a love so powerful, it can overcome the most tragic of consequences.

The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen is a love story, an adventure novel, and a self-realization journey. It reignites the truth that many women—and men—have unconsciously extinguished: you are special and worthy of love, and it’s never too late to make your dreams come true.

Changing the Subject by Kate Abley

Welcome to the first comic contemporary novel from Kate Abley. Sue, a nice lady from Chingford, was 18 in 1979. Now, thanks to an Alzheimer’s Drugs trial gone wrong, or right, she is 18 again. But she soon remembers that youth isn’t all plain sailing; she’s in the dating pool with her daughters, the political waters are stormy and the public-private octopus wants her mental capacity. Are Somali pirates the only people she can trust? Can she navigate herself to freedom?
Sashay, stride, and scuffle in great boots and brave hat choices, with Sue and her friends as they do battle with Big Fat Pharmas, off-piste agents and the DNA lottery.

Sue, a nice light electricals designer from Chingford, has started wondering again, now she is back on dry land. She has a lot to wonder about. The Alzheimer’s drugs trial she volunteered for, because her best friend’s mum was suffering, has left her looking and feeling 18 years old again. Her DNA is now worth a great deal of money and she is worried that she can’t even trust the good ole NHS. She ran away from the mess made of her life by her rejuvenation only to end up chained to a hospital bed. Now she has escaped and is trying to get home again. She misses her daughters, who now look like her sisters and the only person who can help her get back is her ex-husband.