Book Review - Quick and Easy Mediterranean Recipes by Amy Riolo

Quick and Easy Mediterranean Recipes: Delicious Recipes from the World's Healthiest Diet by Amy Riolo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis:  Live longer, feel younger, lose weight, and have more energy by incorporating the Mediterranean way into your home kitchen.

Take the advice of the professionals who rate the Mediterranean diet the #1 healthiest diet in the world year after year. By following a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, and led by fruits and vegetables—even drinking a little wine with meals—you can improve your brain function, lose weight, improve your heart health, reduce your cholesterol, prevent diseases, look and feel younger, and prolong your life.

My Thoughts: The intro and pyramid were cool. It was interesting seeing how the Mediterranean diet pyramid stacked up to others as well as fun reading the little tidbits included with each recipe about traditions.

I have always been interested in learning some Mediterranean dishes and I did find one or two here that I am certain my family might enjoy but I wish the book had more photo's of the completed recipe's. I like to see the finished product to help me to gauge how a dish should turn out.

While most of the food sounded tasty and what little I saw looked yummy I just don't think my family would benefit much from these as they also sound like the ingredients would be to pricey to obtain on a daily or even weekly basis. Especially the cost of things now a days.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this for my honest opinion.



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Book Review - You Can't Hide by Emily Shiner

You Can't Hide by Emily Shiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis: Beth thought she’d escaped her past. But all this time, it’s been waiting for her…

Beth and Ian are desperate to have a child. So much so that they decide to sell his family cabin in upstate New York to pay for IVF.

When they arrive at the cabin, they meet Ryan, the caretaker. But Ryan is not who he says he is… He’s here because he knows Beth has a dark secret. And now he intends to use it against her.

He threatens to tell Ian everything about Beth's past unless she does exactly what he says.

Beth finds herself caught in a nightmarish trap. If Ian discovers what she’s been hiding from him, she’s sure he’ll leave her. She’ll lose everything she cares about, including the chance to have a child of her own.

On the other hand, what Ryan wants her to do is so dark and twisted it’s beyond horrifying.

Either way, Beth is sure her life is over, she can see no way out. Unless… Unless she digs deep and finds a part of herself that is willing to do something so awful it doesn’t even bear thinking about… 

My Thoughts: OH my God! This grabbed me from the beginning and never turned loose! I pretty much read it in one sitting moving from room to room with it in my hand. While I will admit for the most part it was a bit predictable but was written in such a way I still very much enjoyed it. It has those kind of characters in it that you really either love to pull for or really love to despise! My only problem with it mainly was the ending was a bit to quick "for me". I wanted to know more about Ian and Beth's future or lack of one. I totally want to read more from Emily Shiner!

Thanks NetGalley for this review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

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Book Review - Love On The Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis:  Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project--a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia--Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school--archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it's her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas...devouring her with those eyes. And the possibilities have all her neurons firing. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?

My Thoughts: I feel so bad because Ali seems like such a lovely person but sadly this really did nothing for me. I actually didn't find myself liking either of the main characters and if I had seen a reference to Marie Curie or the cats anal glands one more time I may have just thrown the book across the room.

Levi and Bee just came off as a bit to childish to be as smart a scientist as they supposedly were. I just couldn't understand how Levi could act so childish towards Bee one minute but then turn around and be all "manly like" barking out orders to his team and all tough guy like with other folks. And then Bee's whining constantly about "Oh you don't like me. You think I'm Ugly." It's even mentioned a couple times how Levi was kinda tired of hearing that especially after he said it aint so! Even if it was so put your big girl bloomers on and get over it.

With that being said there were things I liked about the book other than the beautiful cover and the fact that Bee had purple hair! How cool! I liked the message added into the story about standardized testing, I enjoyed the love of the kitties, and I adored Bee's assistant! It was a "cute" love story, I just wished the characters could have been a bit more likable and acted a bit more grown up at least for their profession.

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Book Review - Cold People by Tom Rob Smith

Cold People by Tom Rob Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis:  The world has fallen. Without warning, a mysterious and omnipotent force has claimed the planet for their own. There are no negotiations, no demands, no reasons given for their actions. All they have is a message: humanity has thirty days to reach the one place on Earth where they will be allowed to exist… Antarctica.

Cold People follows the perilous journeys of a handful of those who endure the frantic exodus to the most extreme environment on the planet. But their goal is not merely to survive the present. Because as they cling to life on the ice, the remnants of their past swept away, they must also confront the urgent challenge: can they change and evolve rapidly enough to ensure humanity’s future? Can they build a new society in the sub-zero cold?

My Thoughts: This started out great with a family on vacation and boy meets girl and all heck starts breaking loose with an alien invasion and all. I really was enjoying myself reading about how all the world and these folks we were introduced to were trying to make their way to the one place the aliens said they would let them live, Antarctica, in 30 days time.

Obviously we knew it would be chaotic which makes for a great story because we know everybody will not make it and we see everybody struggling trying to find their way and making tough decisions. I would not like to be in any of their shoes! The story jumps forward like 20 years or so and the folks that made it have formed havens and mapped out a way to live as best they could.

Some wicked stuff is happening now as they struggle to make a way for the human race to continue. Bizarre and unthinkable what they came up with, I just found it unimaginable and also was like "what were they thinking?" What happened towards the end was thought provoking because I feel like they kinda got what they were wanting in a way but then......on the other hand obviously they didn't plan on that outcome but I'm like come on how could that not have happened?

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Book Review - The Deep by Nick Cutter

The Deep by Nick Cutter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Synopsis:  A strange plague called the ’Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys…then the not-so-small things like how to drive, or the letters of the alphabet. Then their bodies forget how to function involuntarily…and there is no cure. 

But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Marianas Trench, an heretofore unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia” has been discovered—a universal healer, from initial reports. It may just be the key to a universal cure. 

In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But now the station is incommunicado, and it’s up to a brave few to descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

My Thoughts: I'm sorry but I just didn't like this at all. The beginning was so interesting and then it just went off the rails. I was bored to death and found that I didn't care for any of the characters except for the dog.

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Book Review - 100% Match by Patrick C Harrison III

100% Match by Patrick C. Harrison III
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis:  Bart is thirty. He is bald. He is overweight. He wears glasses. He is a fry cook. He hates cats. And kids. Bart occasionally does very bad things. He is looking for his perfect match. He has done his research.

My Thoughts: This was so sick...so sick I can't believe I couldn't put it down! Short chapters but just left you wondering what in the heck Bart was going to do next. Gross Gross Gross I may never have the nerve to eat fast food again! The ending though....

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Book Review - The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis:  There's only been one time that Rose couldn't stop me from doing the wrong thing and that was a mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be...dangerous.

When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father. Simple.

Fern's mission will shake the foundations of the life she has carefully built for herself and stir up dark secrets from the past, in this quirky, rich and shocking story of what families keep hidden.

My Thoughts: I listened to the audio and read along with the book and I feel it made me enjoy this so much more. The characters seemed to come to life as I was taken deeper into the story of these twin sisters, their present and past lives, and once I reached the end I could have popped myself when I realized what was going on because I felt I should have seen it but didn't. Anyhow it was a race to the ending about middle ways in. I just had to find out what happened! An emotional and heartwarming story.

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