Now out:

101 Lasagnas & Other Layered Casseroles

by Julia Rutland

This cookbook has sections on recipes that feature meat, poultry, seafood or are vegetarian. There is also a section on desserts (in case you are hungry after the filling main course!)
The book begins with helpful sections on topics including the pros and cons of different pans, hints on cooking noodles, types of cheese, sauce varieties and more.
There are loads of enticing recipes, everything from deep dish sausage and spinach lasagna to Asian short rib lasagna, to chicken and artichoke lasagna to many, many more. The directions for all are clear.
If you are looking for some hearty meals this winter, take a look at this book. It certainly made me hungry.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

The Paris Dressmaker

by Kristy Cambron

#TheParisDressmaker #NetGalley

Pub Date 16 Feb 2021

This is another book set in France during WWII. Before you think that you’ve read enough of these, give this one a chance. It is an engaging and involving read.

The Paris Dressmaker follows several women and the men and families that surround them. Lila is a talented dressmaker and designer. Lila’s closest friend is Amelie, another seamstress. Then there is Sandrine and her close friend Michelle. Sandrine works at the Jeu de Paume. Each of these characters faces moral decisions, choices and moments of fear and courage.

The settings in this book are wonderfully rendered. There are the dress salons, a bookstore, the Jeu de Paume, a bakery, The Ritz..and the list goes on. Each is vividly portrayed as are the streets of wartime Paris.

This is a novel that tells moving stories of love, friendship, resistance, traitorous behavior, courage and consequences. The narrative moves back and forth in time from 1939 and into the 1940s.

I became quite involved in the lives and stories of these characters. I think that readers will as well.

I alternated between reading this book and listening to it. The narration was excellent with characters well delineated and the French accents of the characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

What are they?

Secrets from a Happy Marriage

A Novel

by Maisey Yates

Secrets from a Happy Marriage: A Novel by [Maisey Yates]

Although this author is new to me, she has written many novels in the romance/women’s fiction area. In this title, she tells the story of three women. They are the family members who together run a B and B. Rachel is a widow who is the parent of a teen, while Anna has a decision to make about her marriage. The mother of these characters knows that life is not easy, yet she wishes that she could protect her children. What is this mom’s secret and what will the impact of it be?

Fans of this author and those new to her may both enjoy this novel. At its heart is the importance of family.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

An e book bargain for February 8, 2021

Enjoy your time at this cafe: Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe (Colgan)

by joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviews

MY EARLIER REVIEW

Thanks to Sourcebooks for re-issuing this delightful title by Jenny Colgan.  It was the first of her books that I read and I have been reading her stories ever since.  The author has a knack for developing relatable characters and warmhearted story lines.

In this one Issy Randall takes a risk and starts her own business.  The Cupcake Cafe is an appealing place in a lovely town.  You will feel that you can taste Issy’s food as you read the novel.  This is also a love story and a story about friendship.

For readers who want to read a book for sheer enjoyment this one is highly recommended.  Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to revisit Issy and co.

An e book bargain for February 8, 2021

Tis the season: One Perfect Summer by Brenda Novak

by joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviews

MY EARLIER REVIEW

  Do you enjoy women’s fiction?  Are you ready to be immersed in a long (464 page) book?  If you  might answer yes to these questions, this title could provide you with an escapist read.

The setting is Lake Tahoe, a beautiful and peaceful place with lots of water, places to walk and sports to enjoy.  There are three protagonists; Serenity, Reagan and Lorelei.

Serenity writes books about true crimes.  There is a true crime in her personal life that has changed everything for her.  Next is Reagan; she is an ambitious, successful advertising executive until one decision and one moment changes everything. She will be faced with some big decisions. Then there are Lorelei and her four year old daughter Lucy.  Lorelei grew up in foster care and knows nothing about her family.  She was happy in her marriage until…

What do these women have in common?  No spoiler as this comes out early in the novel; the three share a blood relationship discovered after they did testing with a DNA site.  How are they connected?  Who is their common biological relative?  Why has no-one ever discussed any of this with any of them>  You will need to get very close to the end of the book to find the answer.

Around this central plot there are many others involving the sisters’ families, their evolving relationship and their next door neighbors, all of whom have their own stories.  The strands intertwine and four narrators voice the story; these are the three sisters and Finn, one of the neighbors.

Overall, this was a book where the pages turned.  The characters are well established and each is very much their own person.  That said, I think that the novel might have been (even) better had it been shorter.  Sometimes sections replayed things that were already known to the reader.

This was the first novel that I have read by this author.  I would most likely read another of her books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

An e book bargain for February 8, 2021

It’s not so easy to be the: Grown Ups by Marian Keyes

by joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviews

MY EARLIER REVIEW

#GrownUps #NetGalley

I first got to know the books by Ms. Keyes when I read her first, Watermelon. It was an engaging story with both complications and heart. I think that those two qualities best describe this author’s subsequent books, including this one.

Grown Ups is a long book at over 500 pages so just perfect for settling in with on these days of early dark. It is a family story in which, at the beginning of the novel, all of the main characters are close to each other. However, the training wheels come off and the ride gets more unstable when one of the main characters, Cara, suffers a concussion. This results in her speaking thoughts, opinions and secrets without being able to stop. What will this mean to her husband, his brothers and their spouses? Will what comes out destroy this family or make its’ members stronger?

It is hard to offer more praise for this title than what has already been offered by others such as JoJo Moyes and Liane Moriarty along with print media including many, many British newspapers and magazines. I will just say that Irish author Marian Keyes knows how to write an engaging story. Give this one a try…and then go back to read some of her other novels.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

By the way, this is an e book bargain today, November 30, 2020.