An Amish Cookie Club Christmas

Sarah Price could write a phone book and I would read it. Listening to her Amish stories are always a joy. Edna's holiday season is jam packed - she makes and serves meals to tourists in her house and she is overbooked. She needs helps desperately. When she voices her concerns to her friends at her cookie club they come up with a plan to help her; what they don't realize is that their solution may have other unintended affects. Bethany is a shy and painfully quiet girl who doesn't even like to leave the house. When her mother forces her to go into town to get supplies after breaking her ankle, Bethany quite literally runs into a charming young man. The young man happens to be Edna's son and before you know it - the cookie club is up to their scheming ways. Can they match these two young couples? Great narration on the audiobook - that's for sure and certain. 

Mum's the Word

I wanted really bad to like this. My mom LOVED this whole series - but I just felt that this cozy mystery was over the top. It's repetitive, far fetched, and there was far too many moving parts. Abby Knight dropped out of law school and bought a flower shop and a yellow Corvette. Business isn't exactly "blooming" so she passes the time by sticking her nose into everyone else's business. Abby is short, skinny, VERY busty, and has the brightest red hair for miles - so she's not exactly inconspicuous. When someone backs into her convertible and speeds away, Abby is convinced that person was a murderer after she learns that someone was murdered right around the same time and area. Abby then finds a new bar owner (who is an ex-cop and very studly) to partner up with. Filled with bad flower puns, flat characters, and an exasperating storyline. I'm really hoping the Hallmark series is a lot better. I will give the second one an attempt... someday.

Finding Freedom

I love a good chef's memoir. I won't lie - before reading this book I had never heard of the Lost Kitchen or of Erin French - but you better believe that as soon as I finished reading this I went online to look for photos and videos. It is such a powerful story - Erin went to hell and back to make her dream come true. Growing up in her father's diner, Erin realized at an early age she loved to cook. At first Erin was desperate to leave the small town of Freedom, Maine and go to the city - but later,  twenty one and pregnant, she was right back where she started - sweating in a diner. She eventually overcame that hurdle and finally moved out of her parents and was able to work at a bistro and a catering job and while there she met a man. Fast forward to a marriage, an adoption, and an illegal supper club - things seemed to be improving - but in fact everything was about to come to a head in the worst way possible. I won't give too much away - but what Erin was able to overcome and achieve is damned impressive and inspiring. The way she writes about her hopes, dreams, cooking, parenthood, and more is wonderful. This memoir is lyrical, hopeful, and resilient. I will definitely be reading more about Erin and her restaurant. 

Odessa

The artwork is stunning and the worldbuilding is pretty developed for such a short graphic novel. In a post-apocalyptic world where an earthquake has destroyed civilization, a seventeen year old girl sets off to find her long lost mother. Eight years ago her mother abandoned Ginny, her two brothers, and her father and hasn't been seen since. When Ginny receives a package in the mail from her mother - it's the first news they've had that she's alive. She sneaks out in the night to try and find her, only to discover that her two younger brothers have tagged along for the journey. They realize how different and unsafe it is the closer they get to the coast. Rival gangs, swindlers, cannibals, and more await them. Exciting and unique. The only thing I didn't love was the ending. Is there going to be more? Is this a series? I need answers!  

Virgin River

This contemporary romance was a little saucier than I imagined, but that honestly improved things. Mel is a nurse and midwife who is escaping painful memories and traumatic hospital injuries. She decides that she needs a slower change of pace so she signs up to be a small town midwife in the middle of nowhere, Virgin River. Little does she know that there is a LOT more to small town living than she thought. When she arrives in town she is so distraught over her falling down cabin and the crochety doctor she is supposed to work with that she almost runs right back to the city. But when a newborn baby is dropped off at the clinic she has to stay to make sure that everything turns out alright. It doesn't help that the local bar owner is a charming hunk either. And despite her initial misgivings - Virgin River starts to grow on her. Sappy, predictable, and everything turns out alright. This was okay enough that I'll check out the show. 

In a Book Club Far Away

Three estranged friends are reunited when one of them texts out an SOS. Regina, Sophie, and Adelaide are army spouses - they met and bonded over book club - but ten years later Regina and Sophie aren't on speaking terms. Bouncing back and forth between 2011 and present day - readers learn about what drew the three friends together and at the conclusion learned what pivotal event drove them apart. Adelaide's husband is stationed in Germany when the pains start. She'll need surgery and she'll need someone to watch her two year old daughter - there is no one she trusts more than her two friends and maybe she can bring them back together in the process. A story of female friendships and a discovery that family isn't just those related by blood - it's the people will choose. Totally okay book, but not mind blowing. 

Good Luck with That

I adored this story - it was brave, courageous and hard to read at moments - but it resonated with me so much. Good Luck With That is the story of three women who became best friends at fat camp and vowed that they would all change their lives and be skinny someday, but it opens up with a tragedy. Marley and Georgia have stayed really close - in fact they live in the same building - their pal Emerson though still lives a state away. It's been a few years since they've seen her and they are shocked when they get the call that she is on her death bed. When they arrived that are STUNNED at just how large Emerson is, she isn't just fat she is super morbidly obese and dying. What happened, how did she get so bad. They've all had weight issues their entire lives, but this is over the top. She gives them a letter and makes them promise to do what's in it. Sadly Emerson dies and they realize that she has given them the list from summer camp of all the things they said they wanted to do when they got skinny - get a piggy back ride, do a photo shoot, tuck in a shirt, etc. Marley and Georgia may not be super obese but they are both fat and they both have insecurities - is this list too juvenile... is it too hard? Wonderful and eye opening - a look at insecurity, weight, family, trust, and more. A wonderful novel.