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Raising the Steaks (Iron and Flame Book 1) (affiliate link)
Getting to the meat of the matter…
Can be murder.
Chef and soon-to-be amateur sleuth, Lydia Thackery, is the co-owner, with her ex-husband, of Iron and Flame, a steakhouse in Quarry Creek, Wisconsin. Typically, Lydia’s biggest source of drama is the fact that her ex brings in a string of women to woo over a nicely cooked steak.
But everything changes when one of his dates is murdered…and Lydia becomes a suspect.
Dismayed by the news, and terrified that word could get out and adversely impact her business, Lydia has no choice but to do some digging and prove her innocence before she loses everything. To do that, she realizes that she may have to come face to face with a killer.
Putting it all on the line, she dives in, hoping that things don’t end badly when a murderer discovers she’s on their trail.
The Jack of All Trades (The Finches Book 1) (affiliate link)
An heiress looking to escape. A gentleman searching for purpose. Together they may just find love.
Felicity Barrows is no fool, though the fortune hunters pestering her must believe differently. What other reason could they have for hounding her every step, showering her with honeyed words and false compliments, expecting her to fall straight into their calculating arms? Better to remain a spinster than marry unhappily—if she could only get some peace from their incessant overtures.
Some time away in the country is just what she needs to clear her head. But when her respite is interrupted by a troublesome bachelor, Felicity has no choice but to hide who she is. It’s only a little white lie, after all.
Lewis Finch’s life is set. Unable to distinguish himself in the gentlemanly profession his father chose for him, Finch scrapes by on the charity of his family and friends. Without an income, he cannot marry, a fact he’s come to accept. Yet when an infuriatingly cheerful lady literally stumbles into his path, Finch finds himself longing for that which he cannot have.
The Man in Cabin Number Five (The Guest Book Trilogy 1) (affiliate link)
When Annie Parker discovers her husband’s infidelity, she doesn’t let it destroy her. She packs her bags and heads to Lake Arrowhead, California, the mountainside town where her family used to summer. Immersing herself in the restoration of seven 1920s-era cabins, Annie begins to put the pieces of her life back together. But starting over is never easy.
Alyce Murphy needs closure. When she discovers her father did not die from a heart attack, as she’s been led to believe for the last 30 years, but in a murder/suicide, she is determined to uncover the truth of his death. But when she visits the cabin where her father ended his life, Alyce has to accept she may never know the true story.
Annie is looking toward her future while Alyce needs to put the past to rest. In parallel stories, both women are drawn to the rustic mountainside cabins as they search for the missing pieces—but they soon discover that the cabins have their own stories to tell.
An Orphan’s Past in Flames (Hearts Across the Frontier) (affiliate link)
Nora Gowers is a woman on a mission. When she uncovers a painful secret about her past, she leaves behind everything familiar and sets out for Silver City, New Mexico Territory. With nothing but a locket holding her birth parents’ pictures and the name of a ranch, she’s determined to learn what became of her family’s land. But standing in her way is a headstrong cowboy who now controls the property. As tensions rise between them, Nora must dig deep to uncover the truth about her past before it slips away forever.
Nora never imagined this journey would test her heart as much as her determination…
Justin Balton has dedicated his life to protecting his family’s legacy at Twin Waters Ranch. But when Nora walks into his world, full of fire and secrets, everything he thought he knew—about the ranch and about her—starts to unravel. As his feelings for her grow, Justin finds himself torn between his loyalty to the ranch and the undeniable connection he feels for her.
Kiss Me If You Can (affiliate link)
There are three things you need to know about Nellie Belanger:
She hates apologizing.
She loves exploring her sensuality.
She absolutely does not want a serious relationship with anyone… extra emphasis on “one.”
Which is why no one can ever find out about that one sizzling afternoon she spent in JP Marchand—aka her best friend’s brother’s—bedroom three years ago.
After a chance encounter with her former professor, the semi-reserved and gorgeously attractive Ben, becomes unexpectedly steamy, Nellie thinks she’s in for the summer of a lifetime. But when she offends the wrong person with her joyfully promiscuous attitude, it looks like three years of irritatingly flirty attempts to get her to call him are going to pay off for JP.
At least, until an ill-advised promise backfires and leaves her at odds with the one person who could ruin everything: her increasingly demanding and image-obsessed father.
Elizabeth’s Star: Book 1 – We’ll Meet Again Series (affiliate link)
‘If you talk to the stars, I will talk back to you.’
In 1941, Queensland drover, Michael McTavish leaves behind his young daughter Gracie and joins the 2/22 AIF, his destination, Rabaul, New Guinea, a small town surrounded by impenetrable jungles and steep jagged mountains, its shores lined by tranquil bays and active volcanos.
Joanie has also arrived in New Guinea, with a chance to manage a trading store with her father, Reg, too exciting an opportunity to pass up.
As the tendrils of war creep closer to the islands north of Australia, some who call Rabaul home are given an opportunity to return to Australian shores. Others have no option but to stay. Will separation and distance affect the destiny of those who live in the path of the approaching enemy or will the power of love prevail?
Based on actual events, Elizabeth’s Star begins the story of Michael and Joanie, unfolding the lives of their families and friends while following the life of Gracie, a little girl left behind when her father went to war.
At Home with Magnolia: Classic American Recipes from the Founder of Magnolia Bakery (affiliate link)
A Greenwich Village landmark, Allysa Torey’s Magnolia Bakery is the place to get all-American sweet treats. But you can’t live on cupcakes alone—so when Allysa’s at her country house in upstate New York, she turns to locally grown, seasonal ingredients to put together family-friendly meals packed with flavor and old-fashioned comfort food appeal.
Now, in this full-color cookbook, she shares more than ninety of her favorite everyday recipes—and invites you to experience the delights of country living. Here are new twists on traditional American favorites such as Chicken and Vegetable Stew with Cream Cheese Herb Crust, Sweet Potato Casserole with Almond-Streusel Topping, and Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Ham Hock. There’s an enticing variety of starters, from Crab and Crayfish Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce to Yellow Beet, Walnut, and Gorgonzola Salad. For dinner, there are quick and flavorful weeknight recipes such as Lemon-Tarragon Chicken and Grilled Salmon with Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad—and more elaborate dishes for entertaining, like Mustard Herb Pork Loin Roast with Cornbread Apple-Pecan Dressing and Cider Gravy.
Eleven science fiction stories from noted authors exploring some of their most popular worlds.
The universe of the mind is a limitless expanse of wonders, filled with worlds and secrets that cannot be fully explored within the pages of a single novel. Here, science fiction’s most beloved and highly honored writers revisit their best-known worlds in perhaps the greatest concentration of science fiction ever in one volume.
Featuring stories by:
Ursula K. Le Guin
Joe Halderman
Orson Scott Card
David Brin
Robert Silverberg
Dan Simmons
Nancy Kress
Frederik Pohl
Gregory Benford
Anne McCaffrey
Greg Bear
The Lost Civilization Enigma: A New Inquiry Into the Existence of Ancient Cities, Cultures, and Peoples (affiliate link)
An examination of archaeological controversies, with arguments showing evidence of prehistoric civilizations not recorded as part of human history.
Are history books giving us the whole story? Or is civilization far more complex and older than we have been taught?
Our school textbooks barely mention the 6,000-year-old Sumerian civilization, yet the latest archaeological findings at sites such as Jericho and, most recently, Gobekli Tepe in Turkey have been dated to 10,000 BC.
Civilization goes back at least another 10,000 years, if we are willing to believe what our ancestors themselves claimed.
The Lost Civilization Enigma reveals the truth about:
Lost magnitudes to known cultures, such as the Bosnian Pyramids and the civilization of “Old Europe.”
The fabled lost “golden” cities of South America and the Amazon, which are slowly being rediscovered.
Fascinating examples of lost technology, such as the Antikythera Device.
Atlantis and the fact that it was a real civilization.
Salon Fantastique (affiliate link)
Inspired by the literary salons of eighteenth-century France, Salon Fantastique brings together renowned authors to create and share new tales that show the fantasy form at its best. The resulting stories form a conversation between established and emerging writers, historical and contemporary fiction, timeless folklore themes and the immediacy of modern politics, traditional linear narratives, and more experimental storytelling.
Kicking off the collection is Delia Sherman’s “La Fée Verte,” in which a nineteenth-century prostitute takes a lover among the other women in a Parisian bordello, a mysterious wraith who sees the past, present, and future. In Catherynne M. Valente’s “A Gray and Soundless Tide,” a woman shelters a selkie and learns her tragic story, while in Paul Di Filippo’s “Femaville 29,” a tsunami gives birth to a glorious new city rising from the imagination of children. In the intimate company of today’s master fantasists, you’ll be gifted with stories that will take the genre in directions you never could have imagined . . .
The Sect of Angels (affiliate link)
A man uncovers a sordid conspiracy in a Sicilian village, but not everyone wants to know the truth.
Lawyer and journalist Matteo Teresi discovers the existence of a secret sect whose members include priests, politicians, and regional VIPs. During the early morning hours, when the town’s churches are closed, the “Sect of the Angels” meets in the sacristy to carry out their holy office: initiating devout virgins into the rites of married life. Preying on their victims’ naivete, the hooded “elect” commit ignominious acts while promising the young women divine grace.
In 1901, at a time of immense changes in Sicilian society, the scandal breaks nationwide. But far from being hailed as a hero, Teresi is accused of disrupting the status quo and irrationally blamed for an outbreak of disease and a series of calamities. From the salons, churches and social clubs of Sicily to the country’s highest courts, Camilleri’s novel is a fast-paced, at times funny, passionately rendered portrait of the machinations of power and the difficult destiny of a local hero.
Dr. J: The Autobiography (affiliate link)
An honest, unflinching self-portrait of the basketball legend whose classy public image as a superstar and a gentleman masked his personal failings and painful losses, which he describes here—from his own point of view—for the very first time.
For most of his life, Julius Erving has been two men in one. There is Julius, the bright, inquisitive son of a Long Island domestic worker who has always wanted to be respected for more than just his athletic ability, and there is Dr. J, the cool, acrobatic showman whose flamboyant dunks sent him to the Hall of Fame and turned the act of jamming a basketball through a hoop into an art form. In many ways, Erving’s life has been about the push and pull of Julius and The Doctor.
It is Dr. J who has stories to tell of the wild days and nights of the ABA in the 1970s, and of being the seminal figure who transformed basketball from an earthbound and rigid game into the creative, free-flowing aerial display it is today.
Emily Post’s Etiquette: Manners for a New World (affiliate link)
This completely updated eighteenth edition tackles the latest issues and demands of the twenty-first century—texting, tweeting, and all forms of social media.
From social networking to social graces, the name Emily Post has been the definitive source on etiquette for generations of Americans. That tradition continues with the 18th edition of Etiquette, which welcomes a new generation of Posts—Anna Post, Lizzie Post, and Daniel Post Senning—the great-great grandchildren of Emily Post. Led by Peggy Post, author of the 16th and seventeenth editions of Etiquette, this team shows how twenty-first-century manners are a combination of kindness, confidence, and awareness.
New trends, topics, and societal hot zones include:
When is it okay to “unfriend” someone on Facebook?
If I’m in a middle seat on an airplane, do I automatically get both armrests?
A business client is sick with a cold—am I obligated to shake his hand?
Is it rude for guests to tweet from a wedding?
Do I have to buy a gift if I attend a destination wedding?
Can I email a condolence note?
Should I cover up my tattoo for a job interview?
Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far (affiliate link)
A look at fifteen popular medical treatments that have been shown to be far more harmful than helpful, yet are still recommended by doctors.
Modern medicine has made major advances in the last few decades, as more informed practices, thorough research, and incredible breakthroughs have made it possible to successfully treat and even eradicate many serious ailments. But we still rely on medical interventions that are vastly out of date and can adversely affect our health. In Overkill, Dr. Paul a Offit debunks fifteen common medical interventions that continue despite mounting evidence they are damaging or even deadly. Discussing everything from vitamins, sunscreen, and eyedrops for pinkeye to more serious procedures like heart stent placement and knee surgery, Offit—an acclaimed medical expert and patient advocate—tears down prolific medical propaganda that, for decades, has been causing more harm than good.
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 2Page 2