The Great Witches Baking Show (Great Witches Baking Show #1) by Nancy Warren

The Great Witches Baking Show by Nancy Warren

My Rating: ★★★★★

Poppy Wilkinson has landed herself a spot on The Great British Baking Contest. While it would be lovely to win, and the exposure from being on the show is bound to be great for her, she has her own reasons for becoming a contestant. You see, Poppy was abandoned when she was a baby. The show gives her a chance to sneak her way into Broomewode Hall and check out something she recognized: the pattern on her baby blanket in one of their old paintings. Unfortunately for Poppy, her past isn’t the only mystery on the baking show. One of the contestants is being sabotaged and when they turn up dead on set, their unfortunate demise becomes the most important mystery to solve.

When I saw this series, I knew I had to read it. It sounded right up my alley and the perfect kind of fluffy book until you get to the murder mystery. I’m happy to say that I was not disappointed. This book has a great cast of characters, majority of which seem like sweet and wonderful people. Poppy is such a fun and sweet character. I related to her worries about being on camera and the nervousness about baking on camera. I would be going through the same thing if I was in her shoes. I can also see why the characters began to develop friendships with one another so fast because they seem like cool people I’d love to meet.

The book has two mysteries. The main one is Poppy’s background and how that connects to the supernatural world that she’s a member of, which is the mystery that will continue throughout the series. I think that there was a great introduction to the supernatural world, but I do with there was more than what we got. The second mystery is the murder, which takes a bit of time before it starts but is well thought out and I didn’t catch on to the killer until a bit before they were revealed.

All in all, I think this is a great book that’s fun and entertaining. I’m looking forward to seeing how Poppy and company develop as the series continues and the baking competition starts to get hot. I’m also looking forward to seeing how big the supernatural community is and what else Poppy can do as the series continues. It’s also neat that there’s a recipe at the end, so I’m excited to see what other recipes will pop up since I love baking.

Sublime Stitching: Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To by Jenny Hart, Alexandra Grablewski

Sublime Stitching: Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To by Jenny Hart, Alexandra Grablewski

My Rating: ★★★★★

I recently decided to learn how to embroider, so when I saw this book at my local library, I knew I had to pick it up. Jenny Hart offers a great beginners guide that covers everything from the type of fabric one might want to use to tips on how to finish up your projects. If you’re a cross stitcher like me, some of the information may overlap, but it’s all laid out in simple and easy to understand terms for those new to embroidery.

The only thing about starting a new craft with a book is that diagrams can be difficult to understand. I found that was not the case with this book as Jenny Hart supplies a variety of comprehensive stitch diagrams that are paired with written instructions. Of course, diagrams are not for everyone, but it’s easy to find how-to videos to pair with this book.

I found much of the information covered valuable and look forward to starting my first embroidery project when my fabric arrives. Unfortunately, because I picked up an ebook copy of this book, the patterns are not actually included since the physical copy comes with iron-on patterns. That’s fine with me since I picked this up learn what I need to know to start my first project, but if you want the iron-on patterns, make sure to buy the physical copy of this book.

The Banana Cookbook: 50 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Sam Brooks

The Banana Cookbook: 50 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Sam Brooks

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sam Brooks has put together a book full of easy recipes, including a variety of vegan and gluten free options, that center around delicious bananas. Ranging anywhere from a classic loaf of banana bread to ice-cream and delicious iced banana coffee, there are a variety of recipes that covers everyone’s interests.

If you are someone with a nut allergy like me, you’ll be happy to find that there are several nut free options throughout the book. However, quite a few of those options will require you to simply omit the nuts that are used to garnish the final product. There are some recipes that will be difficult to get around, such as peanut butter based recipes, as substituting peanut butter with cashew, almond, or sunflower seed butter will create a much drier final product than the author intended.

One of the things that I liked about this book is the mouthwatering pictures that accompany the recipes. It’s one thing to read a recipe and think about making it, but there’s something about seeing a picture that really entices you to check out the recipe and get you pumped about making it. This is why I was disappointed to discover that the book is full of stock images rather than photos taken of the products of these recipes. Some of the pictures can pass, but there are some that are clearly not what you’ll get when you make the recipe.

I also wish that there were savory recipes included in the book. For a book that views bananas as a “new” staple, it’s odd that savory options are so overlooked. Otherwise, I did enjoy the book and look forward to trying some of the recipes. I’m looking forward to giving the iced banana coffee a go since it combines two of my favorite things: coffee and bananas. I’ve also been looking for a new tried and true banana bread recipe, so I’m excited to bake the one included in the book and seeing how it turns out.

Death at High Tide (Island Sisters Mystery #1) by Hannah Dennison

Death at High Tide by Hannah Dennison

My Rating: ★

I received a copy from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Evie’s husband, Robert, suddenly passes away, her entire world is turned upside down. Not only did she just lose the love of her life, but also just found out that they were broke and she’s about to lose the house they shared. Then Evie finds out that she might own a hotel she’s never heard of while her sister, Margot, tries to help her sort out the puzzle that her life has become. Armed with her grief, some luggage, and her secretive yet outspoken sister, she takes a trip to Tregarrick Rock to check the place out. The only problem? Someone is murdered at the hotel and now they’re trapped.

When I saw that Hannah Dennison was releasing the first book in a new series, I was super excited because I love her Honeychurch Hall mysteries. Unfortunately for me, I had a hard time getting into this book. I don’t particularly care for Evie and I found many of the characters unlikable, especially Margot and Jago. The one character I did love was super interesting but wasn’t fully developed before they were gone.

My other complaint is that the murder mystery started way too late in the book. If I hadn’t already known that the mystery surrounded a murder from the summary, I would’ve thought that it was actually surrounding Robert’s secrets. However, I did like that Evie and Margot were terrible at investigating once the mystery started because it was very realistic.

I did like the setting of the book. Tregarrick Rock sounds absolutely beautiful even during the off season when the weather isn’t the best for visiting. While the hotel needs some work, it sounds like a beautiful place to stay. I’m not sure how practical it is from a business perspective since going to and from the hotel depends on the tide, but I loved how it was described.

Sadly, this book turned out not to be up my alley. I might pick up the next book in the series when it’s published just to see if the series just had a bit of a rocky start, but we’ll see.

The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1) by Kiera Cass

The Betrothed by Kiera Cass

My Rating: ★★★

Hollis Brite is enjoying her time at court as one of King Jameson’s latest romantic interests. Knowing he gets bored fast and moves on to a new group of ladies, she’s just enjoying being showered with gifts and flattery until her time with him is up. What she did not expect was for him to fall in love and decide to make her his queen. It’s more than she ever could’ve imagined, especially when she falls in love with someone who has fled from another kingdom.

I was super excited when I heard that Kiera Cass released a new book. I absolutely loved The Selection, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to get into this book because I didn’t care for Hollis. Even though she is the protagonist, she is the least interesting character in the story and isn’t a very exciting or interesting character to follow.

The romances fell flat as well. I suppose you could say that this was a love triangle, but neither romance was believable or had any heart behind it. I think the romance between Hollis and Silas was the most believable out of the two romances, but both were very superficial. At least her romance with Jameson made sense once he made his intentions clear as he’s looking for someone to control.

That said, the secondary characters are what kept me reading. There’s a great cast of characters that I’d love to follow rather than Hollis. It’d be most interesting to follow Queen Valentina even in a short story. I doubt it’ll happen, but I can dream! I’d also love to follow Delia Grace, who was the most interesting and multi-dimensional character from the start. I’ll have to continue with the series just to keep up with all the characters I grew to love and see where their storylines lead.

Guidebook to Murder (Tourist Trap Mysteries #1) by Lynn Cahoon

Guidebook to Murder by Lynn Cahoon

My Rating: ★★

After settling down in South Cove, Jill Gardner is spending her days running her shop and enjoying the town she fell in love with enough to restart her life in. Things are going well until Miss Emily passes away. In her heart, Jill immediately knows it was murder because Emily’s derelict house was sitting on an extremely profitable piece of land. When it turns out Emily left everything to her name to Jill, poor Jill finds herself trying to solve a murder before she becomes the next victim.

I really wanted to love this book. Unfortunately for me, I did not like Jill, so I had a hard time getting into the story. I found her to be extremely dull and had a hard time believing that she was ever a lawyer. The longer I read the book, the more I found it hard believe she was supposed to be living the fast life with a big career let alone be a former lawyer. Even her own aunt was light years ahead of her. I also didn’t care for the romance because Jill kept focusing on how her beau was a married man. The pair could’ve been on fire, but Jill was the only one who failed to notice that the man is clearly divorced and very single.

That said, I did enjoy the supporting characters, particularly Aunt Jackie. I loved Jackie from the moment she was introduced and found myself wishing I was following her instead of Jill. She’s such a vibrant and fun character who seems to have gotten all the brains. I also loved Amy, so I was sad when she went missing early in the story. Emily was also a wonderful character that we got to know well through everyone’s memories as well as the mementos she left behind. I think that, at the core, there’s a great cast of characters here.

The mystery itself was okay. I think that there was a little too much going on between the house repairs, the history of the property, the mysterious treasure, various characters pressuring Jill to sell the house, Amy’s disappearance, Emily’s late son’s secret kid and grandchild… The list goes on. I think that some of these things could’ve been saved for future books because it felt like we just kept getting hit with something new while Jill was bumbling around trying to investigate.

I do think that, overall, it’s a cute story with several funny moments. I just had a hard time getting into it because Jill is such a flat character. The mystery itself was a little overwhelming at times, but I think the author was onto something and that her mysteries will likely be tighter as the series continues. I’m not sure if I’ll read the second book since I don’t like Jill, but I loved the supporting characters, so we’ll see.

The Diseased Ones (The Hollis Timewire Series #1) by Danielle Harrington

The Diseased Ones by Danielle Harrington

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from Acorn Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s 2647 and Hollis Timewire has been waiting her entire life to finally enter society. Living in a world where people with superpowers and human emotion have been eradicated, all she has to do is take one simple blood test on her sixteenth birthday to prove she’s just an average person. Once she passes, she can start her first work assignment and become an official citizen. Unfortunately for Hollis, there’s just one major problem: she just failed the test and it turns out she’s one of the so-called diseased ones.

I think that this book has an interesting premise. I’d love to find out more about how the society Hollis grew up in became so devoid of emotions. It seems like such a bleak world to live in, especially if you’re one of the people who are full of life, emotions, and superpowers that make one a moving target. I would imagine it was hard for Hollis to keep as emotionless as possible for her entire life when it’s not something that comes naturally to her.

While I loved the premise, I found that I didn’t care for Hollis. I understand why she doesn’t believe her newfound family and friends. It would be extremely difficult to find out that your entire upbringing and everything you’ve ever believed was a lie. However, I found it difficult to believe that she’d flip flop from one extreme to the next at the level she does at the end of the book. I feel bad for her, but I didn’t care for her as a character.

That said, I loved the characters at the superpower filled society she lives with for majority of the book. I found them far more interesting and multi-dimensional compared to Hollis, which made me wish that this book had at least two different narrators. I think that there is so much to this world but that it’s stifled by being viewed purely through a confused and close-minded point of view. Not that I blame Hollis. She’s trying to overcome a lifetime of brainwashing, which is difficult to do, especially when you don’t have any family or friends from your old life to support you along the way.

Ultimately, it’s not a bad book. There’s a great story in there and I do want to see where it goes from here. I just found myself wishing that we saw more after seeing how vibrant the other characters are in addition to the world that Hollis never knew existed. It was interesting to see glimpses of the cast of characters and their backstories. It’s something I hope to see more of in addition to the story unfolding on a larger scale as the series continues.