“I bake because it’s where I know how to lose myself and find myself again.” - Christina Tosi 

 

Yall! This book was giving me so much life and now that I have finished it I already want to do a reread. To say I love dessert and baking is an understatement. It high on my list of most favorite things. I try to bake at least once a week and when I’m not actually baking I’m thinking about baking. It is how a de-stress, reflect and show love to others. This book has put all those feelings into words and I am so happy I had a chance to read it! 

 

But wait! What if I am not really a big dessert person? Well first of all… WHAT?! Can…not…process…Jk Jk but in all seriousness you don’t have to be sugar obsessed to enjoy this book. It is filled with Christina’s personal anecdotes and views on celebrating ourselves & others, creating joyful moments, being unapologetically & authentically ourselves, trying new things, finding our “why”,  accepting help, saying yes, and so much more. Dessert is obviously the lens by which Christina incorporates all of these things into her life but she also makes it clear in the epilogue that “A freshly baked chocolate chip round can’t change the world on its own, but bringing the feeling it holds into every area of your life definitely can. Dessert is my vehicle of choice, but so many other things can do this, too.” and to essentially find your own version of “dessert”. 

 

I appreciated the balance of Christina’s personal story and her ability to use them as examples of actions others can incorporate into their lives. The book is also dispersed with simple recipes and lists which add some extra fun to the reading experience. I swear I highlighted the whole book and these few words don’t do enough to sum it up but I hope you check it out for yourself. 

 

Thank you @netgalley & Harmony Books @crownpublishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review. 

My knowledge around nutrition and your cycle is limited so I was really drawn to a book dedicated to this topic. The section is broken up by the phases of your cycle. It is wellness focused and breaks down each phase of your cycle, where your body needs more support, the types of foods that will assist with that and why. I really liked that it broke it down before going into recipes that way you could really continue to be creative in finding your own ways to incorporate similar foods. In addition to recipes there were also passages and rituals throughout the book. 

I was a little worried that this book would be filled with ingredients that were going to cost me more than I am usually willing to drop or ingredients I had never heard of before. Not the case. There was really just one ingredient that kept coming up that i just didn’t know enough about to want to add it to my food. I just chose not to use it. The recipes I tried were simple, delicious and comforting. I really appreciated the acknowledgment of using the book as a guide and not necessarily a strict set of rules. They discussed adapting recipes to taste and to your personal budget. It is also shared that their focus is on natural remedies but does not ignore that some things should be treated with your physician. 

Lastly, this book is just so pretty! It is filled with lovely pictures and formatted in a way that made me want to keep flipping through the pages. I would love to add a physical copy to my collection. 

Big thank you to NetGalley & Storey Publishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

#TheMoonCycleCookbook #NetGalley.

There wasn’t anything in particular that made me DNF. I just wasn’t getting into the story. 

If the Shoe Fits is an adult modern retelling of Cinderalla a la a bacheloresque reality show. This is the first book I have read by Julie Murphy and I could not put it down. I got up Sunday morning thinking I would take a couple days giving it a read. Jokes on me…I ignored most of my responsibilities and finished it that day. 

 

What I Loved: 

What was missing for me: 

Thank you Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for a copy in exchange for an honest review. I will definitely be continuing on with this series. 

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the chance to listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. 

First of all, full disclosure I only finished 60% of this book before DNFing. I understand there are mixed opinions on reviewing books not finished so just wanted to be transparent in case you rather not read further. If it’s helpful I guess you could call it an explanation of why I decided to put the book down. 

When I first started reading adult romance I was introduced to Katee Robert’s books through her Come Undone series. I enjoyed them immensely but took a huge break from reading and hadn’t kept up with her work. When I started posting about books again I would see her Wicked Villains series often on Instagram so I decided to pick them up. I loved the second and third book in the series. Every book I have read so far has packed a serious punch. When I saw Neon Gods I was so excited to give it a read. 

I feel like I should start with sharing that the narration on this was not for me. I wish I could better explain why but the narration of Hades just wasn’t pleasing to my ears. I started this back on June 20th trying to listen to a chapter here and there but wouldn’t leave it on long. I do have to wonder if my disconnect with the narration impacted my overall connection to what was happening. Would I have had a different experience with the physical copy?

Persephone wants to escape. Hades wants revenge. With a shared enemy Hades and Persephone enter a three month agreement to get back at Zeus. Step 1, fake dating and a very public fuck you to piss Zeus off. Step 2, Unclear. See step 1. 

I love me some fake dating and dark characters with marshmallow tendencies. That in combination with the revenge plot, power hungry politics, and the promise of it being an “unspeakably hot” read there was so much potential. It sadly didn’t work for me. 

Hades is often described as the boogey man and at one point the “Biggest, baddest, mother fucker…” Sure buddy, sure. Usually this wouldn’t bother me. Like I said I love soft dark characters but besides being told he was seen that way the only impression I got was he was a grumpy guy. I wasn’t sure what to think of Persephone. I liked that she was forward regarding her decisions and wants and clear that she would not be saying yes to anything she did not want to say yes to. I did however feel she was caught up in the three months and not making plans for what she would need to accomplish her goals of a new life afterwards. Throughout the story I didn’t feel like I was learning anything new about either of them as individuals or as a potential couple.

I’ve found that Katee Robert can usually make me blush and her steam level is 🔥x10 . I don’t know if I’ve become desensitized. Were the scenes bad? Not at all, it just seemed to be missing that extra oomph. Like with most rating scales I know heat level is going to be subjective so obviously keep in mind that what one person finds scorching another may see as fairly tame. On a Katee Robert scale I’d say this was on the tamer side. 

I was so intrigued by this concept of the Thirteen (the people in power), their decision making processes, and the role each play. I wanted to know the history and tension between the upper city/lower city and the perceived power of the thirteen vs everyone knowing Zeus held the power. There was a little at the beginning but then again I felt like I was getting no new information. It was definitely the case of what is written as rule/policy is not actually truth and I couldn’t help but wonder, Zeus never seems to truly follow the rules anyway why would he start now. At 60% there didn’t seem to be much effort on his part to retaliate. I thought there would be more action, more drama, a little more back and forth between the cities. It could have been right around the corner but i could have used some more build up if that was the case. 

Overall I just felt underwhelmed and couldn’t get invested in how the story would progress. I really wanted to give it a chance to pick up but I feel like 60% is a pretty solid try and had to call it quits.