VANISHING INTO THE 100% DARK by Amber Royer – LSLL Book Campaign

VANISHING INTO THE 100% DARK

By Amber Royer

Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Golden Tip Press

Pages: 288

Publication Date: March 4, 2025

SYNOPSIS

Bean to chocolate maker Felicity Koerber has been invited to be part of a chocolate festival in Tokyo. It’s a big deal for a Texas gal with a chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand, so a whole group of her friends come along to support her. It’s intimidating enough to be giving a class on chocolate making with the help of a translator – she also stumbles across the scene of a murder, where a quirky group of international actors and stunt performers are making a monster movie. Felicity has already solved half a dozen murders back in Texas, so at this point her friends basically expect her to get involved – even before the young media influencer in Felicity’s group becomes the main suspect.

Felicity has taken on the role of chaperone for Chloe, so she can’t imagine how she could explain what went wrong to the girl’s mother. Which gives her even more motivation to figure out the real killer.

In the meantime, things get complicated at the chocolate festival when a rival chocolate maker tries to get her disqualified from the awards competition – and claims that her amateur sleuth status is bringing undesirables into the festival. And things are even more complicated as the stress of being in an unfamiliar place brings out secrets about Felicity’s friends – and her fiancé.

Honda the calico cat makes an appearance on the movie set, making Felicity homesick for her pet bunny, left at home. But the cat may know more about what happened than she is letting on. Can Felicity solve the murder in time to keep Chloe from getting arrested, while making things right with the people she cares about, and presenting a good showing at the chocolate festival?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse space opera series and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like a Journalist: a Workbook for Novelists and has co-authored a chocolate-related cookbook with her husband. She also teaches creative writing and is an author coach.

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REVIEW

A fresh spin on what’s promising to be a long-running series. I have been reading Amber Royer’s Bean to Bar Mysteries series from the beginning and am delighted with the setting change. I enjoyed getting to know Galveston and the community Felicity Koerber has built there. I also appreciate the author widening her character’s world and inviting the readers to travel with them.

In moving this latest installment to Japan, Ms. Royer retained her signature elements while creating new challenges for her amateur sleuth to conquer. Vanishing Into The 100% Dark brought Texas to Japan through Felicity and her large entourage–her fiancé, his sister and her partner, a former love interest and his partner, a podcaster and his fiancée, and a teenage YouTuber. Even those left in the US like Carmen and Autumn showed up via FaceTime.

As with the previous seven books, events happen early and quickly. New characters are introduced, the main (murder) mystery to be solved is established, and suspects pile up. As usual, a first edition copy of a mystery novel shows up and it’s somehow connected to the case. There’s also a business rival to contend with, and loads of familiar and newly-created chocolate flavors mentioned. Finally, there’s always a pet involved — this time, a calico cat.

With seven solved cases under her belt, Felicity has developed a keen sense of when an impending disaster is about to happen. She has resigned herself to the fact that she must lead the investigation. Finding out who did it is never easy, but especially difficult in an unfamiliar location while trying to navigate cross-cultural communications using technology and relying on the generosity of strangers.

I loved Ms. Royer’s integration of Japanese culture in this story–about the kaiju (media involving giant monsters), shogi (chess-like board game), the food, and the daily life of local citizens. I also admire the massive research she undertook while creating this book. It clearly showed up in the dialogues, the anecdotes, the backgrounds of new characters, and the case resolution.

There’s a lot to enjoy in this latest book in the series. However, this is best suited to those who have already read the previous seven. First-time readers might find the multitude of characters, loads of information, and fast pace overwhelming. Plus, there are relationship updates that would spoil storylines from earlier installments. They should also get familiarized with Felicity’s unique style of investigation, otherwise they would not appreciate her methods.

The last thing I want to say is–I want more chocolates. Felicity’s competence specialty was not fully highlighted here like in previous books. Ms. Royer can’t go wrong with more chocolates in her next book.

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EVERY OUNCE OF COURAGE by Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino – FAHM Spotlight

EVERY OUNCE OF COURAGE

A Daughter’s Reflections On Her Mother’s Bravery

Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino

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It began with an unexpected phone call and a startling statement: “You don’t know me, but your mother saved my life.”

The late-night conversation with an American World War II veteran revealed to Elizabeth Ann Besa Quirino the untold stories of her mother’s remarkable wartime heroism and sparked a twenty-year journey of discovery about her lifelong acts of bravery and compassion.

Lourdes “Lulu” Reyes Besa channeled the heartbreak of a childhood tragedy into a profound sense of compassion and service. She helped raise three brothers while still a child herself in the early years of the 20th century. Then, as a young socialite in the heydays of 1930s Manila, she focused on meaningful philanthropy and charity work. During the merciless Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Lulu embarked unflinchingly on dangerous missions to bring aid and comfort that meant the difference between life and death to countless Filipino and American prisoners of war. She continued to face personal grief and adversity in the later decades of her life but met each challenge as before – with every ounce of courage, fortitude, and grace.

Elizabeth Ann delved into a trove of old letters, photographs, and recipes in search of the source of her mother’s courageous spirit. In Lulu’s story, she found a complex life full of joy, sorrow, selflessness, and survival, and learned precious lessons about how the timeless bonds of family, the steadfast strength of faith, and the power of an indomitable will can provide solace and sense in a world of uncertainty. Every Ounce of Courage by Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino is Now Available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble online bookstores.

ABOUT BETTY ANN

Betty Ann Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino is a cookbook author, an award-winning journalist, a food writer, a correspondent, a previous college professor, and a former ad agency copywriter/creative director. She blogs and develops recipes about Filipino home cooking on her popular website The Quirino Kitchen (thequirinokitchen.com)

She is a multi-award winner of the Plaridel Writing Awards for excellence in journalism, given by the Philippine-American Press Club in San Francisco, California, and is the recipient of a Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award for her essay, “A HundredMangoes in A Bottle.” She was named one of the FWN Filipina Women’s Network 100 Most Influential Women of the World.

Follow her on:

Website – The Quirino Kitchen
Facebook – Asian In America Filipino Food
Twitter – @BettyAnnQuirino
Instagram – @bettyannquirino

REVIEW

When a book educates you, makes you cry, and provides you valuable resources you can apply to daily life, you have yourself one for the keeper shelf. Every Ounce of Courage is a one-of-a-kind book that defies genre definitions. Part memoir, part historical drama, and part cookbook, it’s a totally engaging read.

Lulu Reyes Besa was never mentioned in any Filipino history books I ever read when I was a student in the Philippines. It was a terrible injustice for her and thousands of women who were never recognized for their heroic deeds. I am immensely grateful to Betty Ann Quirino for bringing her mother’s story to light. This book should be in libraries and schools in the Philippines to introduce an inspiring historical figure to the youth, especially young women, and to stir their emotions about the ravages of war that no textbook could ever accomplish.

For me, the aspects of this book that touched me the most were the food memories. Reading Betty Ann’s reminiscing about her mom’s, sister’s, and godmother’s cooking made me remember my own experiences of watching my Nanay Maring and my dad and titos cook during fiestas and special occasions. Those chapters made me smile most often and cry the hardest.

With its celebration of history, food, and family, Every Ounce of Courage is the perfect read during Filipino American History Month and every month.

5 stars

SWEET COMFORT by Kimberly Fish – Pop-Up Blog-Hop

SWEET COMFORT

Comfort and Joy Trilogy, #1

KIMBERLY FISH

Women’s Fiction / Later-In-Life Romance

Second-Chance Romance / Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Fish Tales

Page Count: 359 pages

Publication Date: January 21, 2023

Scroll down for a giveaway!

Welcome to the hometown everyone wants to call their own.

Gloria Bachman, a retired bank executive, has eight weeks to flip a location on Comfort’s High Street into a boutique chocolate shop. Defying expectations for “women of a certain age,” Gloria rediscovers talents and a sharpening of skills. If only she could read people as well as she does a spreadsheet. Even with the renovation in good hands, the subsequent struggle to name the shop brings Gloria and her business partner into conflict with a shady citizen. While Gloria is capable of remaining in her retirement rut while opening a business, two competing social groups try to lure her into their networks, causing Gloria to wonder if she ever knew Comfort at all. A murder rocks the community and revives investigative instincts honed by years in the banking industry.

Mason Lassiter, a disgraced CEO, has his own dramas to escape and the offbeat town seems the perfect place to recover his self-esteem. What was to be a quick reversal of fortunes becomes a quest to right a deeply felt injustice. Fascinated by the women driving the energy of Comfort, he extends his stay to find out why the small town is the backdrop to their best tales. Tangling with his neighbor Gloria becomes his favorite pastime and the key to unlocking the mystery of his past—if he can convince her to trust him.

Chocolate and joy become the glue bringing an unlikely cast together, which just might change Gloria’s and Mason’s course for the better. With characters familiar from previous Comfort novels and introducing fresh names, Sweet Comfort will entertain those who like their stories seasoned with coziness and sweet, second chances.

Purchase on Amazon

My favorite small-town Texas series is back in the form of a spin-off trilogy. This first book Sweet Comfort lives up to its title with its familiar (from Comfort Stories) and newly-introduced characters welcoming readers with warmth, charm, romance, cozy mystery, and best of all, gourmet chocolates.

It always feels like a homecoming whenever I read a Comfort story by Kimberly Fish. She writes a smooth-flowing, slow-burning story featuring fully fleshed-out characters set in a place that makes me want to visit and revisit often.

This latest installment delighted me especially because Gloria Bachman is the main protagonist. I was intrigued with her in Comfort Foods and I’m happy she gets not just one but three stories that are focused on her life and relationships in the Comfort and Joy series. Now that I’m a Golden Girl myself, I love reading stories centered around people of the same generation proving we still have a lot to contribute to society despite our advancing years. Gloria, with her new venture into business ownership and her deepening involvement in the Comfort community, proves that and more.

It was entertaining to read her vacillate between openness and reluctance in dealing with her neighbors, business associates, and potential love interest in Mason Lassiter. I loved that Ms. Fish infused her with kindness, smarts, and savvy as well as lingering baggage from her past, a healthy suspicion about strangers, and occasional self-doubt that made her a well-developed person.

Truly, all the named characters in this story are multifaceted, from Drue to Wanda to Joynella and even the hapless Ted Bodine. The only character that needs more fleshing out is Mason. I guess we’ll know more about him in book two Finding Comfort, which I’m really looking forward to reading.

I enjoyed this story immensely. I do consider it more contemporary women’s fiction than a cozy mystery though. The murder mystery aspect lacks suspense, a sense of urgency to find out the identity of the killer, and a direct threat to Gloria’s well-being that would have created more tension.

A solid start to a new craveable series.

Kimberly Fish has been a professional writer in marketing and media for over thirty years, with regular contributions to area newspapers and magazines. As an accidental historian, she wrote two novels, The Big Inch and Harmon General, both based on factual events in Longview, Texas that changed world history. Kimberly also offers a set of contemporary women’s fiction novels and novellas, based in the Texas Hill Country, that reveal her fascination with characters discovering their grit and sweet, second chances; all four of the novels have won distinguished awards. Sweet Comfort is her latest novel, the first book in the Comfort and Joy Trilogy.

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FRIENDS WITH ISSUES by Meredith Berlin — Featured New Release

FRIENDS WITH ISSUES

Meredith Berlin

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Three-time-Emmy nominee and former editor-in-chief of “Seventeen Magazine” and “Soap Opera Digest” Meredith Berlin is releasing her debut contemporary fiction, Friends With Issues (January 24, 2023, Warren Publishing), which follows three glamorous, self-made women in their 40s who gamble with love, sex and their careers in NYC and L.A., as one charismatic man captivates them all.

Friends With Issues follows Brooke, Elizabeth, and Susan, three friends who have made their mark on Manhattan but who now struggle with the daily balancing act of career, friendship, and intimacy. Brooke thought she married the man of her dreams, but now she’s questioning her marriage as she embarks on a new venture to Hollywood. Elizabeth’s sex life is incredible, but only on her husband’s terms–and after a shattering diagnosis, she attempts to remake herself in order to recover some semblance of her identity. Susan should be ecstatic when her media mogul husband catapults them into financial security, but as her uncertainty about their relationship grows, she opens a Pandora’s box of new passion by finally admitting that her sexual and romantic preferences do not lie exclusively with men.

In Meredith Berlin’s provocative debut, these women discover that their relationships to sex, love, friends, and personal identity can transform at any age–and money doesn’t protect you from the unimaginable. Fans of Big Little Lies, The Manhattan Girls, Valley of the Dolls, and novels by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Jessica Anya Blau will devour this absorbing drama to its powerful end.

Buy Links:

Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo

ABOUT MEREDITH

Meredith Berlin was the editor-in-chief of several magazines, including Soap Opera Digest and Seventeen. Her freelance articles and profiles have appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines. Meredith is a three-time Emmy-nominated executive producer and has been a regular on-air contributor to television news and entertainment shows. Like a few of her characters, she worked as a jeweler and lived in the northern suburbs of New York City. Meredith was diagnosed with MS over twenty years ago. She has been active on MS boards and feels privileged to advocate for others who have the disease. Meredith has been married for over thirty years and has three adult children and one perfect granddaughter. Like many former New Yorkers, she currently lives in Florida. This is her first novel. Read more at meredithberlin.com.

Follow Meredith Berlin on social media:

Instagram: @meredith_berlin | Facebook: @meredithberlin

AN INTERVIEW WITH MEREDITH

How has your professional life, working as editor-in-chief for Seventeen Magazine and Soap Opera Digest, influenced your writing?

Soap Opera Digest not only taught me about that particular community of actors and actresses. More importantly, it taught me about the art of storytelling. Daily soap scripts are the length of most movies. No reruns. Soaps are where writers learned about arcs and long form storytelling. They’ve been around since the early days of radio. Seventeen, is considered a national treasure. A girl’s first real magazine. It taught me about fashion, respect for teens, what is current and on the minds of girls. It taught me how to capture a reader and not let go.

How has your MS diagnosis impacted you and your writing?

MS taught me that I have to respect my body. It’s a disease that doesn’t allow you to “push through” When you need to rest, you must rest. Because I look fine, with no outward symptoms, it’s also called on me to be more of an advocate for myself. My disability is not seen but I must communicate that I have one, IF the situation calls for it. It’s taught me about self advocacy in general. I have learned to accept what my body tells me and listen to it.

What made you decide to return to writing, and how has your life changed since you have?

I saw a movie on TV 20 years after I wrote the book and said, “That’s my book!” Of course it wasn’t, but the relationship between the women, the fact that they were wealthy but also self made, had strengths, weaknesses, love problems, children problems and relied on each other, made me realize that my book’s themes were evergreen. I was enthused to return to it. And finishing the book became a fever goal. My family pushed me on.

Let’s talk about your characters. You mention that people are not just “one thing”. How does this show up in your characters?

I can expand more fully! If you see a well dressed, wealthy woman, you can come up with an idea of what kind of life that person lives. If you talk to someone who’s confrontational, and rude, you want to stay away. If you meet someone with a wrenching disease, you imagine that their life is a struggle. But you don’t know their backstory. It’s only by listening and investing the time in someone else that you might learn, ie, that the confrontational person, ie, has been severely emotionally crippled in their past and it colors what they say and do. Listening, giving people second chances and believing that everyone has a story is, for me, a more connected way to live. Doesn’t mean you have to like them. It’s just interesting to remember that most of us have layers and reasons for what we do.

How does this book show the truth of life – that we all struggle and have to adapt?

Yes, it’s a good subject to expand on. Well, the most recent example of that is that my entire family has come down with CoVid and I’m on deadline. I’m here in Massachusetts, meant to take care of my granddaughter, while being slayed with the virus. Didn’t plan on it. I’m exhausted, anxious, worried. I want to push through but I can’t. So what to do? Ask for help, lower my expectations, believe that I will still show the world the best book I can write and rely on family and friends to support me when I tell myself a million times a day, “Oh God, what if I can’t?”

As somebody who has interviewed a lot of celebrities – who was your most interesting interview?

The first interview I ever conducted was with the most famous man in the world — Muhammad Ali. It was also the easiest because he did all the talking. I was 20 years old and scared to death! I was also paid the “ridiculously high fee” of $25 for for writing the story for my local newspaper. How I got the interview and why Ali said yes is a story of persistence, fear, and the generosity of an incredible boxer.

What do you want readers to take away from your book?

I want them to relate to my characters. I want them to see themselves or someone they know in them. I want them to know that we–as humans–have inner strength to get us through the worst. I hope they see that humor, love and support can help us through the good times and bad.

GOUDA FRIENDS by Cathy Yardley – Featured New Release

GOUDA FRIENDS

Cathy Yardley

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Two high school BFFs reunite and endeavor to fix each other’s lives in this geeky romance from the author of Love, Comment, Subscribe.

Tam Doan dumped her boyfriend after he threw away her gourmet cheese. Sure, it’s a little more complicated than that, but the point is, he had it coming. Newly single and unemployed, Tam calls up her best friend from high school and utters the emergency code word—goldfish. Next thing she knows, she’s on a plane back home.

Josh O’Malley was a troubled, unconfident teenager. Now he’s the successful owner of a multimillion-dollar ghost kitchen. Tam, his high school BFF and fellow member of the Nerd Herd friend group, was instrumental in building his self-esteem. When she calls him out of the blue, he jumps at the chance to return the favor.

Josh and Tam immediately get to work fixing her life—but again, it’s complicated. Their close friendship was always a lifeline between them; a blooming romance might confuse things. Still, at least one thing is for certain: their chemistry is un-brie-lievable.

Buy Links:

eBook audiobook paperback

EXCERPT

“Hey, Tam?”

“Mmm?” She glanced over to find him staring at her.

“You know I love you, right?” He looked so earnest. So sincere. “You’re the most important person in my life. And I don’t take that lightly.”

She sighed. Then she crawled out of bed, went over to his bed, and gave him a huge, almost bruising hug, breathing in the scent of his neck. She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

“I love you too, Josh,” she whispered.

And that’s why we’re not sleeping together.

REVIEW

Fluffy, foodie, friends-to-lovers romance that’s better than gouda. It’s actually grate. 😜

Cheesy puns aside, I really enjoyed this book in both eBook and audiobook versions. It’s very current and has all the elements I love in a contemporary romance — diverse, likable, multidimensional main characters in Tam and Josh who experience character development individually and also grow as partners, a cohesive plot that flows smoothly, and fantastic relationships all around. There’s just enough push and pull to keep things interesting without being annoying.

Bonus: the cartoon cover doesn’t indicate it, but there are several sexytimes that are actually brie-meltingly hot.

ABOUT CATHY

Cathy Yardley is an award-winning author of romance, chick lit, and urban fantasy. She has sold over 1.2 million books with publishers like St. Martin’s Press, Avon, and Harlequin Books. She writes fun, geeky, and diverse characters who believe that underdogs can make good and that sometimes being a little wrong is just right. She likes writing about quirky, crazy adventures because she’s had plenty of her own: she had her own army in the Society for Creative Anachronism; she’s spent New Year’s on a three-day solitary vision quest in the Mojave Desert; and she had VIP access to the Viper Room in Los Angeles. Now, she spends her time writing in the wilds of East Seattle, trying to prevent her son from learning the truth about any of said adventures and riding herd on her two dogs (and one husband).

Follow Cathy:

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A DELICIOUS DILEMMA by Sera Taíno – Featured New Release

A DELICIOUS DILEMMA

Sera Taíno

Different worlds collide in Sera Taino’s debut novel.

It’s hard to remain enemies when you’ve broken bread together

Val Navarro’s first mistake: going out dancing after a bad breakup when the chef should be focused on her family business. Her second mistake? Thinking the handsome, sensitive stranger she meets could be more than a rebound – until she discovers he’s Philip Wagner of Wagner Developments. His father’s company could shut down her Puerto Rican restaurant and unravel her tight-knit neighborhood. When Philip takes over negotiations, Val wants to believe he has good intentions. But is following her heart a recipe for disaster?

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

Purchase at your favorite retailer here: https://serataino.com/a-delicious-dilemma/

Debut romance author Sera Taíno was selected for Harlequin’s Romance Includes You Mentorship, an initiative launched in 2019 to reach out to diverse communities of writers and bring more own voices stories to romance readers. For more information on this initiative, click here.

She is also the author of several short contemporary romances, including her latest, “Oil and Vinegar,” part of A More Perfect Union: A Voting-Themed Romance Benefit Anthology. All proceeds benefit Fair Fight, a national voting rights organization based in Georgia.

Her debut, #ownvoices novel, A Delicious Dilemma, is out now with Harlequin Romance Special Edition.

When she is not writing, she can usually be found teaching, traveling, or wrangling her family.

Sign up for Sera’s newsletter here, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, or BookBub to stay up to date.

A Delicious Dilemma is a triumphant debut for Sera Taíno. It’s a sumptuous celebration of food, culture, family, friendship, and love. I devoured this tasty offering in one sitting, its themes so familiar and dear to me.

I find myself relating closely with Val. The eldest of three, close to her dad, loves dancing and cooking, and takes the responsibility for her family’s well-being upon her shoulders. She’s a truly admirable heroine.

Sera’s writing of Philip was impressive as well. I loved the way he handled his inadvertent deception. I cheered his coming into his own against his father. His gentle wooing of Val put a smile on my face.

I loved that the romance was sweet and slow-burn. The tension in the story was just enough that Val and Philip still had to work for their happy ending. Their conflict was authentic but not too heavy drama and was resolved in a satisfactory manner.

Overall, a start that’s more than promising. It already shows Sera Taíno’s immense talent. I want more stories from her. Soon, please.

A couple of my favorite recipes from the Sabor de Casa cookbook are Roasted Pork and flan as I featured here. Check them out for yourself.

A DELICIOUS DILEMMA by Sera Taíno – Preorder Blitz

A Delicious Dilemma by Sera Taíno is coming August 24th! Pre-order now and get an EXCLUSIVE cookbook straight from the fictional family restaurant featured in the novel! Simply email seraspromos@gmail.com with a screenshot or forward of your pre-order receipt to claim!

Pre-Order Here at Your Favorite Retailer

Different worlds collide in Sera Taino’s debut novel.

It’s hard to remain enemies when you’ve broken bread together

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

ABOUT SERA

Her debut, #ownvoices novel, A Delicious Dilemma, is scheduled for publication with Harlequin Romance Special Edition in September 2021.

When she is not writing, she can usually be found teaching, traveling, or wrangling her family.

Sign up for Sera’s newsletter here, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, or BookBub to stay up to date.

SABOR DE CASA

I had the privilege of receiving an early copy of the cookbook Sabor de Casa and I immediately taste-tested several of the recipes. With the Spanish heritage common in both Filipino and Puerto Rican cultures, the dishes are familiar to me and the recipes for them easy to follow. I made the roasted pork (similar to lechon), tostones (the Filipino maruya is a sweet relative), mojo, and the perennial favorite (leche) flan. All the ingredients are readily available in the local grocery stores, especially here in Texas with its huge Mexican community. I chose the small limes because they reminded me of the calamansi. I also substituted evaporated milk for whole milk in the flan recipe.

The house smelled amazing with the aroma of garlic, of the succulent pork while it roasted in the oven, and the sugar being caramelized. The roast pork was super moist and delectable my 12-year-old son had two servings.

I didn’t have a tostonera so I improvised by smashing the plantain with the use of two differently-sized dipping sauce dishes. One note about the tostones–I fried the plantains five minutes per side two times. It should probably only be five minutes for both sides. Ten minutes total frying not twenty. They turned out browner than the recipe called for. My bad. They were still delicious but did not photograph very well beside the pork. I love brown food, so it’s all good as far as I’m concerned.

The flan came out great. Creamy and not too sweet. I’ll probably use less sugar next time (2/3 cup instead of 3/4) and I’ll make it with 6-8 egg yolks. In short, I’ll revert to my own recipe. Hahaha.

I cooked a feast with the three dishes I chose. I can’t wait to try out the rest of the recipes. Maybe I’ll do the arroz con gandules, bistec encebollado, and tres leches cake next. Come back here on August 24 to see which dishes I made and to check out my review of A Delicious Dilemma. Preorder the book so you too can make these scrumptious meals.

COMFORT FOODS by Kimberly Fish – Book Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway

COMFORT FOODS

A Comfort Stories

Stand-Alone Novel

Kimberly Fish

Categories: Contemporary / Second-Chance Romance

Publisher: Fish Tales Publishing

Date of Publication: October 7, 2020

Number of Pages: 385 pages

Scroll down for Giveaway!

From the award-winning author of Comfort Plans and Comfort Songs comes a story of two rising stars blitzed by social media. Lacy Cavanaugh and single-dad Rudy Delgardo live a hundred miles apart but meet in the worst possible way. Working at a weekly paper and creating social media for area businesses helps Lacy connect with locals who open her mind to a perspective beyond Instagram. In launching a food-and-wine festival to support Comfort’s new event center, she discovers surprising skills bubbling over, much like the food she’s attempting to cook.

Rudy, on the brink of his restaurant’s takeover, struggles to improve time management so he can create a better relationship with his daughter. Distracted by Lacy and her invitation to the festival, he’s tempted by her beauty, wit, and courage, but as a chef, he rarely gets to enjoy life outside the kitchen. Enemies, illness, and exes add unwelcome spice to the dish they’re concocting—one that will teeter with misunderstanding until the very end.

Will Lacy and Rudy embrace their second chances and discover the perfect seasonings of family, resilience, and grace to create a handwritten recipe of love that will stand the test of time?

CLICK TO PURCHASE!

Relevant and current, Comfort Foods is a feast of a read. Gobble it up in one sitting or savor for several days, you’ll end up satisfied either way.

When I saw the opportunity to review this book, I jumped at the chance. Food and romance are two of my favorite things. As I said when I requested it, foodie romance is my jam, pun fully intended.

Comfort Foods lives up to my expectations. Lacy and Rudy’s story, taking place in two locations (Comfort and Austin), is rich and filling. Lacy’s journey of self-discovery after her fall from grace is especially fascinating and touching. Her scenes with Frank Bachman, the publisher of the newspaper she works for, provide moments of both laughter and tears. In doing service for her sister and for others in the community, Lacy finds her worth beyond the superficial beauty and fashion she was previously famous for. Rudy’s grappling with too many pots on the stove–his restaurant Stella, his daughter Luna, and his attraction to Lacy–is realistic in today’s world and highly relatable. His bewilderment in his search for balance amid man-made obstacles is endearing and admirable.

But life is more than a shiny ball. It has edges, holes, and deep caves. Make a choice on where you feel most grounded.

Ms. Fish created fully-fleshed-out characters that are sympathetic and likable and oh-so-real with their all-too-human failings. I love that she included multicultural characters that’s reflective of the society at present. She spun a tale filled with humor, angst, insider knowledge of the restaurant and publishing businesses, and the weighty concern of human trafficking. The themes of found family and close-knit community are ones I often seek out and are entrenched in this book and in this series. And then, there’s the food. There’s enough to make a reader’s mouth water and head to the kitchen to recreate the dishes mentioned in the book.

Food is a necessary element of living, and there is real beauty in the process of preparing it and serving people who appreciate the effort.

I enjoyed the slow burn of Lacy and Rudy’s romance from their awkward first couple of meetings to cooking together, to the impromptu bridal photo shoot, and to their eventual happy ever after. I wish though that they have more scenes together and that they communicated more frequently, and collaborated on resolving their issues. Rudy’s declaration at the end seems too quick for a relationship that’s not fully developed because of so much distance.

Love is a recipe worth every effort.

As always, huge thanks to Kimberly Fish and to Lone Star Literary Life for the copy of the book to review.

Author Kimberly Fish resides in Longview, Texas, and enjoys writing contemporary fiction set in the Hill Country. During the seven years she lived in San Antonio, wandering in and around Comfort, Texas, provided endless space for her imagination to develop stories of women discovering their grit. She studied the small Texas town that had seemingly dug its heels into the limestone and refused modern development and thought that was fertile ground for stories about women remodeling their lives. It made a juxtaposition of place and purpose that was hard to ignore. Plus, anything that takes intentional effort has a much higher value than the things that come easily—Comfort personifies this, and the novels remind readers that anything worth having is worth the work.

Comfort Foods is the third full-length novel in the set, Fiction from the Texas Hill Country, and follows behind the award-winning novels Comfort Plans and Comfort Songs. A novella, Emeralds Mark the Spot, is available as a free eBook download to subscribers of the incredibly sporadic newsletter at kimberlyfish.com and is the original story from which all other Comfort novels grew.

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1/12/21	Guest Post	Hall Ways Blog
1/12/21	Review	Sydney Young, Stories
1/13/21	Excerpt	Forgotten Winds
1/14/21	Review	Jennie Reads
1/14/21	Author Interview	Texas Book Lover
1/15/21	Review	The Clueless Gent
1/16/21	Review	Jennifer Silverwood
1/17/21	Guest Post	All the Ups and Downs
1/18/21	Review	Momma on the Rocks
1/18/21	Character Interview	StoreyBook Reviews
1/19/21	Review	Book Bustle
1/19/21	Guest Post	That’s What She’s Reading
1/20/21	Review	Carpe Diem Chronicles
1/21/21	Review	It’s Not All Gravy
1/21/21	Review	Bibliotica

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SIMMER DOWN by Sarah Smith – Featured New Release

SIMMER DOWN

by

Sarah Smith

In this finger-licking good rom-com, two is the perfect number of cooks in the kitchen.

Nikki DiMarco knew life wouldn’t be all sunshine and coconuts when she quit her dream job to help her mom serve up mouthwatering Filipino dishes to hungry beach goers, but she didn’t expect the Maui food truck scene to be so eat-or-be-eaten—or the competition to be so smoking hot.

But Tiva’s Filipina Kusina has faced bigger road bumps than the arrival of Callum James. Nikki doesn’t care how delectable the British food truck owner is—he rudely set up shop next to her coveted beach parking spot. He’s stealing her customers and fanning the flames of a public feud that makes her see sparks.

The solution? Let the upcoming Maui Food Festival decide their fate. Winner keeps the spot. Loser pounds sand. But the longer their rivalry simmers, the more Nikki starts to see a different side of Callum … a sweet, protective side. Is she brave enough to call a truce? Or will trusting Callum with her heart mean jumping from the frying pan into the fire?

Buy Links:

Penguin Random House Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo Google Play Indiebound Books A Million Bookshop.org

Any time I see myself in the book I’m reading, I give it high marks. Every time I cry while reading a book, I give it top ratings. Whenever a book promotes the Filipino culture, I only had positive things to say about it. Simmer Down, with its part-Filipina heroine, her tight-knit bond with her parents, its multicultural romance, and its proud celebration of Filipino food, gets my enthusiastic rave. A perfectly-fitting read during the Filipino American History Month this October.

Sarah Smith is a copywriter-turned-author who wants to make the world a lovelier place, one kissing story at a time. Her love of romance began when she was eight and she discovered her auntie’s stash of romance novels. She’s been hooked ever since. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking, eating chocolate, and perfecting her lumpia recipe. She lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband and adorable cat Salem.

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Some of the dishes served in Nikki’s food truck Tiva’s Filipina Kusina are found in Boracay Vows.

Pancit and lumpia are mentioned multiple times in Simmer Down.

Chicken adobo is a prize-winning dish in Simmer Down.

A SWEET MESS by Jayci Lee – Release Day Review and Giveaway

A SWEET MESS

by

Jayci Lee

Korean-American author Jayci Lee delights with A Sweet Mess, a delicious and light-hearted romantic comedy that readers will devour and ask for more.

Aubrey Choi loves living in her small town nestled in the foothills of California, running her highly successful bakery away from the watch of her strict Korean parents. When a cake mix-up and a harsh review threaten all of her hard work and her livelihood, she never thought the jaded food critic would turn out to be her one-night stand. And she sure as hell never thought she’d see the gorgeous Korean hunk again. But when Landon Kim waltzes into her bakery trying to clean up the mess he had a huge hand in making, Aubrey is torn between throwing and hearing him out.

When she hears his plan to help save her business, Aubrey knows that spending three weeks in California wine country working with Landon is a sure recipe for disaster. Her head is telling her to take the chance to save her bakery while her heart—and her hormones—are at war on whether to give him a second chance. And it just so happens that Landon’s meddling friends want them to spend those three weeks as close as possible…by sharing a villa.

When things start heating up, both in and out of the kitchen, Aubrey will have to make a choice—to stick it out or risk her heart.

Buy this book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250621108

Asian-American main characters, lots of hunger-inducing food descriptions, and classic romance tropes. How can I turn that down? That’s essentially what I write too.

I like the choice of having the Korean leads be beautiful people in successful occupations–an influential food critic in Landon and a talented baker in Aubrey. I like that this story is light, focusing on the travails of a romantic relationship instead of societal struggles that minorities face in the US. We have too many of those stories and not enough of this kind. The angst comes from the yearning, the risking of professional reputation versus personal desires.

While there’s instalust, the sex scenes are sweet and not explicit. The food scenes are sumptuous, so don’t read this hungry. Friendships are tight and mothers are honored. Overall, Ms. Lee’s storytelling is enjoyable. She handled one of my most disliked tropes quite well and the push-and-pull was just enough to cause tension but not too much to make me give up on the couple.

As the title suggests, this book is both sweet and a little bit of a mess. In the early copy I read, there were several times when the transitions between Aubrey’s and Landon’s points of view weren’t smooth and the time jumps weren’t clear. Also, the dual daddy issues were too much and the cover, while cute, didn’t reflect the ethnicity of the lead characters. These are minor issues and don’t stop me from recommending A Sweet Mess to Romance readers who are looking for books that reflect the diversity of the society we live in today.

JAYCI LEE writes poignant, sexy, and laugh-out-loud romance every free second she can scavenge and is semi-retired from her fifteen-year career as a defense litigator. She loves food, wine, and travelling, and incidentally so do her characters. Jayci lives in sunny California with her tall-dark-and-handsome husband, two amazing boys with boundless energy, and a fluffy rescue whose cuteness is a major distraction. She is the author of A Sweet Mess.

Website: https://jaycilee.com/
Twitter: @authorjaycilee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjaycilee

Macmillan is giving one of my followers a digital copy of Jayci Lee’s A Sweet Mess. All you have to do to enter is Follow @carpediemchronicles on Instagram and Like my bookstagram of the book. Comment there or return here to let me know you’ve entered. I will draw the winner on Tuesday, July 21 at 12 noon Central time.