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In Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies, can the lessons she learned from her mother about cooking and life help Gina survive and thrive in this other world of privilege, pleasure and unexpected danger?

About Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies

Cooking a wonderful meal is an act of love. An act of grace. A gift that affirms and gives life—not only does it nurture those who partake of a meal; it also feeds the soul of the person who creates it. These are lessons Gina learns from her mother.

Gina is a young woman born to poor parents; a nobody (her words) who wants to taste life outside the world she was born into and her passion for cooking is all she has to help her do so. She gets lucky when she’s chosen to cook at a Michelin-starred restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area where she finds a world of a privileged class with money to spare for dinners that cost hundreds of dollars. A world of new friends and new challenges—one that exposes her to fascinating people who’re also gripped by dark motives.

Amidst her culinary adventures, she becomes good friends with pastry chef Marcia, and falls in love, in different ways, with, two very different men: Leon, a rich regular client who has been dating Cristi, her friend from childhood, and Brent, a brooding homicide detective. This other world, it turns out, is also one of unexpected danger that eventually threatens her life.

Can the lessons she learned from her mother about cooking and life help Gina survive and thrive in this other world of privilege, pleasure and unexpected danger?

My Thoughts

Romance, lies, jealousy, revenge and amazing cooking – Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies has a little bit of everything!

I think we can all agree that for so many of us cooking is an expression of love – we put our time, effort and creativity into cooking healthy meals that our family will love and devour. Cooking is at the heart of this brilliant, well written story that stars Gina as our main character. Gina grew up poor and this has influenced her in many ways. She wants to see how the other world lives but never gives up or forgets her past. She makes incredible and exotic dishes at a very famous restaurant for the rich (and more than likely famous!).

It is here where she meets an incredibly interesting (and extremely rich) man who is coincidentally on a date with one of her friends from her primary school years. While she feels attraction to this man (and we know he is definitely attracted to her!), she feels an obligation to her friend to not date him. Especially as her friend constantly blames Gina for her boyfriends leaving her.

On the advice of a colleague, she decides to give this man a chance and enters a world of privilege, romance, lies, murder and jealousy. At times, Gina’s own life is put on the line!

This is an excellent book with an amazing plot line. I loved every moment and never saw the ending coming! I loved how strong yet compassionate Gina was. While she was hurting herself (both physically at time and emotionally), she was always there for others even if they did not treat her the best. She denied herself happiness several times throughout the book and you just wanted nothing but for her to find a bit of light and joy.

This is a definite must read novel that you will not be able to put down!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Evy Journey, writer, wannabe artist, and flâneuse (feminine of flâneur), wishes she lives in Paris where people have perfected the art of aimless roaming. Armed with a Ph.D., she used to research and help develop mental health programs.

She’s a writer because beautiful prose seduces her and existential angst continues to plague her despite such preoccupations having gone out of fashion. She takes occasional refuge by invoking the spirit of Jane Austen to spin tales of love, loss, and finding one’s way—stories into which she weaves mystery or intrigue.

The Giveaway

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Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

In Cathadeus, drawn into the chaos of an impending war and pursued by enemies on all sides, Brax must fight to save his mother and her race from slipping into darkness.

About Cathadeus

It has been six hundred years since the Alchemists fused together men and beasts to form strong, mindless slaves. Now, their most vicious creations have attacked the mystical Walking Gates, slaughtering their Keepers and isolating their cities.

Wounded in the brutal attack, Braxton Prinn’s mother is on the verge of death and he makes a desperate journey to find the reclusive elven master who can save her. But when he discovers an ancient magic, Brax is caught up in an even greater struggle and soon finds himself hunted for his power.

Drawn into the chaos of an impending war and pursued by enemies on all sides, Brax must fight to save his mother and her race from slipping into darkness. Though his untamed magic may be the greatest threat of all.

My Thoughts

I love a good fantasy novel full of mystical creatures, elves and magic – this novel had all of that and more!

Up until a brutal attack, Braxton had lived a normal life. He never expected his course would ever change and that he would follow in his parents footsteps. When his town is attacked and his Mother is fatally injured, he is entrusted with a secret and a mission to save his Mother’s life. He learns that his Mother was really a member of the elven race and had been outcast for marrying outside of the community. Before he leaves he is given a special sword by his Father that is connected to some of the greatest protectors that the land has ever had. As he sets off on his journey, he learns just how special he is and his greater role in saving the world. He discovers his own magical powers connected to the sword and a magical spirit.

This is all played out in the greater plot of an evil attack on the elven community that would see not only their race destroyed but the entire world destroyed and remade in darkness. Brax is caught up in the middle of this and he is the key for their victory. Not too much stress for a young kid that just witnessed an attack on his Mother right?

This book was amazing from start to finish. It was full of action, suspense and yet had moments of compassion and learning. Brax was an amazing character but we also had his group of friends that help him to find the strength he needs mentally, physically and emotionally to be the world’s warrior. I loved every moment of this book and could not put it down. It is a great read for young adults and adults a like.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, IndieBound and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

JEFF J. PETERS was born in South Africa and immigrated to the United States as a teenager, where he fell in love with all things fantasy. He obtained degrees in digital electronics and computer science and worked as an IT professional for more than twenty years. In 2014, he left his corporate position to focus full-time on writing. Cathadeus is his debut novel. He is currently working on the sequel.

The Giveaway!

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

A Journey to Yonder is the tale of one woman’s refusal to allow the challenges of her past to define her present.

About A Journey to Yonder

A Journey to Yonder is the tale of one woman’s refusal to allow the challenges of her past to define her present. She grows up with a special needs sibling and loses her childhood home, and we then follow her through an abusive relationship and into the most unforgiving of human trials.

With experiences that leave you feeling so alone, how do you hold on to hope? How do you go on?

Nidhi Kaur’s compelling use of both poetry and prose intimately welcomes readers into this moving story of spiritual rediscovery. Poems are sprinkled throughout the story, guiding readers through intimate and stunning moments of truth. Kaur reminds us that if we offer our trust completely to God, we are never alone.

The author of the spiritual collection of poetry My Wedding with Truth, Nidhi Kaur once again delivers an emotionally enlightened journey through the human heart. Miracles can be seen everywhere in this world, and Kaur helps us remember to keep our eyes open in this riveting story of redemption.

My Thoughts

A Journey to Yonder is beautiful poetic memoir of the life of Nidhi Kaur. It is full of hope, faith, understanding and perseverance.

Life is a journey of ups and downs and it is how we acknowledge these challenges and move forward that define us. In this book, Nidhi grew up in India. She did not have the easiest life, in fact at times my heart broke for her. She dealt with many things in her life that she could have let break her. Instead she looks inside and moves forward in order to accomplish many great things. She acknowledges that those moments are a part of her and she will carry them with her but they don’t make who she is. She is an amazing, intelligent, compassionate woman who has so much to offer the world and who is doing this.

I loved every moment of her story. She shares many intimate details of her life from childhood to her marriage. This must have been very difficult for her but it is was brave and helps show other women that those moments don’t have to define who you are and where you are going. Instead use them to push yourself forward and create the person who you want to be and who you were destined to be. She never gave up on her dreams, her faith and her hope.

This was an inspirational look at one young woman’s life as she struggled through many difficult moments and came through them stronger. It is full of hope, understanding and faith.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble and Books a Million.

Rating: 4.5/5

About the Author

Nidhi Kaur is the author of My Wedding with Truth, a collection of inspirational poetry. After discovering the healing power of the written word, Kaur began exploring the power of the divine through her poems.

A Journey to Yonder combines prose and poetry to explore Kaur’s challenging trails of life and her search for miracles in every moment of time.

Kaur lives in Fremont, California, where she works as a software engineer.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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