Category: book review

A princess in disguise is forced to live with a rogue in order to protect her from danger in this romance from Kate Bateman.

About The Princess and the Rogue

In The Princess and the Rogue, Bow Street agent Sebastien Wolff, Earl of Mowbray, doesn’t believe in love—until a passionate kiss with a beautiful stranger in a brothel forces him to reconsider. When the mysterious woman is linked to an intrigue involving a missing Russian princess, however, Seb realizes her air of innocence was too good to be true.

Princess Anastasia Denisova has been hiding in London as plain ‘Anna Brown’. With a dangerous traitor hot on her trail, her best option is to accept Wolff’s offer of protection—and accommodation—at his gambling hell. But living in such close quarters, and aiding Wolff in his Bow Street cases, fans the flames of their mutual attraction. If Anya’s true identity is revealed, does their romance stand a chance? Could a princess ever marry a rogue?

My Thoughts

A princess in hiding who has lost everything in order to keep her life. A sexy, mysterious man who comes to protect her. This story has adventure, romance and more.

Anya is a Russian princess living in London, but you would never know from meeting her. She lost so much when her brother died, and in order to protect herself she had to go in to hiding (an awful and very rich and powerful man has been trying to marry her for her title and money for quite a while and saw the death of her brother as a great opportunity). She takes on the role of companion to a wealthy woman and this is how she meets Seb.

Seb is a man who doesn’t believe in love nor marriage. He is a war hero with a lot of scars. He stands his ground against marriage and love, even when his own friends have found so much happiness. But will his chance meeting with Anya change everything?

Anya is an incredible character, and you can tell so right from the opening scene. She is no damsel in distress, she is determined to protect herself and her secrets at all cost. She is also kind and compassionate, caring about others even in the face of her own hardship. You want to see her finally happy, she deserves it after all that she has faced but will fate allow her happiness or just a glimpse of it?

This book made me laugh and kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a steamy romance but one full of pain and hope. I loved every moment of this story.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author

Kate Bateman, (also writing as K. C. Bateman), is the #1 bestselling author of Regency, Victorian, and Renaissance historical romances, including the Secrets & Spies series: To Steal a Heart, A Raven’s Heart and A Counterfeit Heart. All her books feature her favorite feisty, intelligent heroines (badasses in bodices!), wickedly inappropriate banter, and sexy, snarky heroes you want to both strangle and kiss.

Kate wrote her first historical romance in response to a $1 bet with her husband who rashly claimed she’d ‘never finish the thing.’ She gleefully proved him wrong. When not traveling to exotic locations ‘for research’, she leads a not-so-secret double life as a fine art appraiser and on-screen antiques expert for several TV shows in the UK, each of which has up to 2.5 million viewers. She splits her time between Illinois and her native England, and writes despite three inexhaustible children and that number-loving husband who still owes her that dollar.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

If you live for wildly addictive Sensations that knock you off your feet, but can’t figure out how to make them at home, you have just found your kindred cookbook spirit. Welcome to Flavorbomb.

About Flavorbomb: A Rogue Guide to Making Everything Taste Better

You keep a running list of restaurants you go to for your favorite flavorbombs–a vibrant, pungent Caesar salad, extra crispy garlic fries, or a spicy puttanesca pasta maybe. You might even be able to articulate exactly what it is about those dishes that you find so addictive. But when you try to reproduce the same flavors at home, you find yourself falling short. If any of the above sounds familiar, this book is for you.

For the past 25 years Bob Blumer has eaten his way around the globe, traveling millions of miles in search of culinary adventures and inspiring foods for three TV series and six cookbooks. Along the way, he’s broken eight food-related Guinness World Records, competed in some of the most outrageous food competitions on the planet, cooked alongside countless amazing chefs, and sampled every local street food imaginable at ramshackle carts, hawker stalls, and night markets from Italy to India. These collective experiences have formed the backbone of Bob’s cooking in ways that culinary school can’t begin to teach. In Flavorbomb he channels everything he has gleaned into recipes and practical tips to help you you create bold, stimulating flavors, that will leave those you cook for in a state of bliss. Prepare to become a rock star in your own kitchen.

The first half of the book is the real “money.” It’s full of tips, strategies, ingredients, techniques, and gear that will help you crack the code–and gain the confidence to take the leap on your own and turn any dish into a flavorbomb. We’re talking developing the courage to season with wild abandon, brown your food to within an inch of its life, double down on the ingredients that can increase the pleasure factor, and taste and adjust on the fly.

The second half consists of 75 step-by-step recipes that use all the tricks in your arsenal to deliver the addictive, life-affirming dishes we all crave. And because Bob gets more excited by tacos than truffles, his outsider approach to creating addictive flavors won’t require you to buy frivolous top-shelf ingredients or use super-sophisticated techniques. Instead, every recipe starts by building the foundation, and then adding layers of flavors and textures at every step of the way. If there’s a hack or a simple trick that can save you time or up the ante–it’s in here. Every recipe was thoroughly tested and had to earn its place in the book.

My Thoughts

I love to cook but can admit that I am not always the best cook. I will try to re-create some of my favourite dishes from my youth or from our favourite restaurants but they always fall up a bit short. I am always missing that little bit of something or maybe I am a bit too afraid to try something different without following directions. This book encourages you to do that – develop the knowledge that leads to the courage to season, brown and use ingredients that explore in flavour.

While most recipe books provide a few pages of what you will need, ingredients and tools, I have never felt that it was enough. This book provides you with a comprehensive guide – almost eighty three pages of knowledge to guide you on this cooking journey. I had a good laugh when I came to the flavour building blocks (one that I cannot share with my husband). We constantly fight over how much salt he puts in food, so I stopped cooking with salt about two years ago. Salt is listed in the book as one of the ingredients that matter the most! It seems my concern over my husband’s arteries may have impacted my own cooking. All joking aside, you are provided with many tips and tricks to help get the taste and how to adjust taste with spices, acidity, and heat. Some you may know and others you likely will not. You are also provided with the techniques needed to achieve that amazing taste, how to caramelize in a pan, how to braise, deglaze and so much more.

One of my favourite parts in this section is:

“Season with strength and purpose. Suppress your inner voice of restraint. Trust yourself to mix, match and substitute ingredients” – Flavorbomb

You are given the trust and inspiration to not just follow a recipe but to own it and make it your own. You have all the tricks and tips that you need to make dishes full of flavour.

The recipes that are included in the second half of the book are divine, and include drool worthy pictures that will make your stomach rumble. We didn’t even know where to start because they all looked so delicious! We started simple (for us) with the puttanesca pasta. The recipe was easy to follow, we had everything already that we would need (apart from the olives) already in the house. We had no problems following the instructions and I loved how we learned how the ingredients added to the different taste – anchovy oil, harissa, aged balsamic vinegar and even the fried breadcrumbs.

Flavorbomb is the perfect gift for the cook in your life or even the more timid cook that wants to learn more but may be afraid. The book is full of encouragement to explore, learn and gain the trust you need to create extraordinary dishes at home that everyone will love.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Gastronaut, author, artist and eight-time Guinness World Record holder BOB BLUMER is best known as the creator and host of Food Network’s award-winning shows Surreal Gourmet and Glutton for Punishment. In his six cookbooks and appearances around the globe, Bob transforms ordinary ingredients into wow-inspiring dishes. Bob is an ambassador for Second Harvest in Toronto, and Love Food, Hate Waste, a national zero-waste initiative. He lives in Los Angeles, with his wife, under the D of the Hollywood sign.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.