Watermelon and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations Nicole A. Taylor

 

The very first cookbook to celebrate Juneteenth, from food writer and cookbook author Nicole A. Taylor—who draws on her decade of experiences observing the holiday.

On June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free. A year later, in 1866, Black Texans congregated with music, dance, and BBQs—Juneteenth celebrations.

All-day cook-outs with artful salads, bounteous dessert spreads, and raised glasses of “red drink” are essential to Juneteenth gatherings. In Watermelon and Red Birds , Nicole puts jubilation on the main stage. As a master storyteller and cook, she bridges the traditional African-American table and 21st-century flavors in stories and recipes. Nicole synthesizes all the places we’ve been, all the people we have come from, all the people we have become, and all the culinary ideas we have embraced.

Watermelon and Red Birds contains over 75 recipes, including drinks like Afro Egg Cream and Marigold Gin Sour, dishes like Beef Ribs with Fermented Harissa Sauce, Peach Jam and Molasses Glazed Chicken Thighs, Southern-ish Potato Salad and Cantaloupe and Feta Salad, and desserts like Roasted Nectarine Sundae, and Radish and Ginger Pound Cake. Taylor also provides a resource to guide readers to BIPOC-owned hot sauces, jams, spice, and waffle mixes companies and lists fun gadgets to make your Juneteenth special. These recipes and essays will inspire parties to salute one of the most important American holidays, and moments to savor joy all year round.

I was honestly very excited for this book but after reading it. It was a bit lackluster. Do I think we needed a Juneteenth cookbook not really but what I was hoping for this wasn't it. There are some recipes that I’m excited to try but other than that, I think this book is missing something or the direction it headed wasn’t the correct one. I will say its a good read especially if you are looking to experiment with food or just try something new.

Hope you enjoy it!

And as always Happy Reading!

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me: A Novel by Mariana Zapata

Vanessa Mazur refuses to feel bad for quitting—she knows she’s doing the right thing. The thankless job of personal assistant to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization was always supposed to be temporary. She has plans for her life, and none of them include washing extra-large underwear one more day for a man who could never find it in him to tell her good morning, congratulate her on a job well done, or wish her a happy birthday—even when she was spending it working for him.

The legendary “Wall of Winnipeg” may be adored by thousands, but after two years Van has had enough.

But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door begging her to come back, she’s beyond shocked. Mr. Walled-Off Emotions is actually letting his guard down for once. And she’s even more dumbstruck when he explains that her job description is about to become even more outrageous: something that takes the “personal” in assistant to a whole new level.

What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants?

Congrats to Mariana Zapata for her rerelease of The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, thru Avon publishings.

  I fell in love with this book back in 2018, and I can honestly say my love of this story and its characters has not dimmed since. Hearing that this book was gonna get a new revamp and be release thru a publisher, I was abit nervous that the heart of this book would get lost in translation but I am happy to say I was wrong. It was just amazing to be reintroduced to Aiden Graves. The story is funny, sweet, and just adorable. You are also going to want to punch someone because some of these characters need a quick karate chop to the throat. But I digress, if you read the book before, I would highly recommend you reread it again just to walk and smile down memory lane.

I want to thank the author and publisher for the ARC in exchanged for my honest review. 

Congratulations again Mariana Zapata!! 

And as always Happy Reading!!

Strawberry Lane A Touching Texas Love Story by Jodi Thomas

 

Starri Knight is a big believer in fate. How else to explain the compelling connection she feels to the stranger she pulls out of a wrecked car on the very same road where her parents died twenty years earlier? Alongside Auntie Ona-May, the only mother she’s ever known, Starri saves Rusty O’Sullivan’s life—just as Ona-May once did when Starri was an orphaned babe. But convincing Rusty he has something to live for is going to take all of Starri’s faith in miracles . . .

Like a wish he hadn’t even known to make, Starri landed in Rusty’s life, filling him with a longing for a family. . . . Then Jackson Landry, a new lawyer, turns up to present a surprise that will change the direction of his life: An inheritance from the father Rusty never knew—and the promise of the family he’d never had. It’s a lot for the hard-bitten loner to accept as love rushes into his life . . .

A sense of duty has Rusty heading to Honey Creek to deal with his father’s estate—and find his lost siblings. But having family is one thing, learning to love them is another. Good thing new friends are by his side to help him along the way.

It was a sweet, clean quick read. This grabbed me from the start. The characters were great - like old friends I kept rooting for. The plot had it all - friendship, family, action, starting over, and of course romance. Such a good quick read.

Hope you enjoy!

And as always Happy Reading

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

 Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.

Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?

Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.

I haven't read a romance book that was this joyful all the way through in a while. And a wonderful follow-up to The Soulmate Equation from the dynamic duo of Christina & Lauren. I did not realize just how badly I wanted to read Fizzy's book until she got a story of her own and I could not put it down. There were so many components of this book that I loved. I felt like even though Fizzy and I are very different, I could connect with her. From laughing out loud to crying into tissues, I loved every single page of this story. So memorable and so much more emotional than I thought I was prepared for. This was just...amazing.

Hope you enjoy it too!

And as always Happy Reading!!!

The Loner: A Novel Diana Palmer

Tanner Everett spends most of his time jet-setting around the world. But that hasn’t stopped innocent Stasie Bolton, the daughter of a neighboring rancher, from falling head-over-heels for the jet-setting playboy. So Stasie is secretly thrilled when both her father proposes linking the properties in matrimony…which means Tanner will be hers, for good.

Despite his globetrotting ways, Tanner can’t help but be enthralled by the quiet girl next door. But as the embers between the two are fanned into flames, Tanner wonders if he’s found forever in the last place he ever expected.

 Let me start out by saying I am a huge fan of Diana Palmer's books. And relatively I really enjoy her writing and storytelling but this one was just ok for me, it fell a little flat. So I am not going to have a lot to say for a review. I just didn't and I couldn't get past the idea that she should have refused to have anything to do with him after how terribly he treats her. I didn't care much for the main characters except for John, and I just felt bad for him all the way through the book. Other than that it just okay.

And as Always Happy Reading!!

Beauty Beheld A Beauty Is Her Name Novel by Zariah L. Banks

 

After an explosive breakup, Patience Hampton seeks fulfillment through her career and personal interest. Upon crossing paths with Lennox Davenport while out of town, she discovers her desires aren't what they seem. Patience struggles to balance the tall orders of recovering from her breakup, focusing on restoration, and entertaining a new love interest without allowing the spoils of unresolved past issues to ruin yet another romantic relationship. 

I liked this! This was just so well written and filled with fantastic characters, even the secondary characters were brilliant. This book is just jam pack with drama, pain, love, tension, learning to love yourself and learning about your own self worth. For my first book by the author I was happily surprised. 

And as Always Happy Reading!

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He's a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes . . . except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.

Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption--yet, she's still not cool enough for the popular kids' table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that's how Celine sees it.)

These days, there's nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she's surprised to find Brad right beside her.

Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

 

An ARC from netgalley for honest review.

This was, quite frankly, so fuckin’ precious and lovely. It had me cheesin’ so hard! Laughing out loud and deeply in my feelings. So the gist of it all is after falling out ages ago, the only thing these ex-best friends Bradley and Celine have for each other is petty insults and academic rivalry… That is until they find themselves competing for a scholarship in the middle of the woods, where they are forced to work as a team for a grand prize. As they work closer and closer, their past comes sneaking back along with some teensy, tiny (and repressed) feelings that were (un)successfully shut down. So good!!! Talia Hibbert just be giving life to these books.

Hope you enjoy it, too!

And as always Happy Reading!

Covered In His Arms Erika B.

description:

Torryn Howard loves to smile and help those she loves. She lives by the saying, treat others how you want to be treated, and it has always worked for her—until it didn’t. Now she is tasked with starting over, but will she be able to once she hits rock bottom, or will she stick to what her heart knows?

Lorenzo Edwards has the urge to buck the system. Still, he knows that he never will because he is serious about his responsibilities. Arranged job, arranged marriage... arranged life. When new information falls in Lorenzo’s lap, he finds himself between the arrangement and recklessness.

Torryn is at her lowest point, and Lorenzo feels like he needs a change. Two unlikely souls meet at an unlikely time, and worlds are turned upside down. Once Lorenzo and Torryn get a taste of happiness, will they be able to let go, or will they do anything to hold onto the peace they found?

 

    I loved this book. Its such a sweet quick read. The characters was lacking in any department. The story was filled with laughter, love, and joy. Of course there were some interesting parts that made the story dramatic which I enjoyed. Makes you want to believe in love at first sight.  Hope you enjoy it, too.

As always Happy Reading!!