The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


  All I can say is...wow. When I first read the back of the book I was like hmm this sounds pretty interesting. Then I find that a book club that is meeting this Sun is reading this book, I went and grabbed on up so I could join..and just wow.
   It all starts on Rosie's ninth birthday, when she bites into her chocolate lemon cake, made by mom, and she tastes all her mother's feelings. You meet her brother Joe is distant from the family, always in his room, and just simply wants nothing to do with Rosie. You slowly find out how sadly dysfunctional and distraught the family is when Joe starts disappearing.
    I felt so sorry for Rosie, who had a mom who always looked for signs from above, and to find out that the sign that lead her to marry the father wasn't really a sign from above....but one the father carried out. To have a father who wasn't really good at the parenting thing. And to have a brother who wants nothing to do with her.
    It drove me nuts about how the mother thinks of Joe when he wants nothing to do with the family. That no matter what he did, in the mother's eyes he could do no wrong. Of course that changed on the last 5 pages when you find out what caused the disappearances.
   This book is just so heartfelt, easy to read and amazingly written. I definitely recommend this book.



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On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents’ attention, bites into her mother’s homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother—her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother—tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose.
The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.

What's cuter than a cupcake? A cake pop, of course! Wildly popular blogger Bakerella (aka Angie Dudley) has turned cake pops into an international sensation! Cute little cakes on a stick from decorated balls to more ambitious shapes such as baby chicks, ice cream cones, and even cupcakes these adorable creations are the perfect alternative to cake at any party or get-together. Martha Stewart loved the cupcake pops so much she had Bakerella appear on her show to demonstrate making them. Now Angie makes it easy and fun to recreate these amazing treats right at home with clear step-by-step instructions and photos of more than 40 featured projects, as well as clever tips for presentation, decorating, dipping, coloring and melting chocolate, and much more.

I had to pick this book as soon as I found it. I love any baking/decorating books since I'm in the process of becoming a pastry chef myself.

  Magic Burns by IIona Andrews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Just finished this book today, and actually can't wait to start the next one. The 1st book in the series was okay, very hard to get through, but I liked the story line. Andrews creates an entire world and creatures to fill it. From shifters to vampires to reeves they're very creative. Now being a vamp fan ( I won't lie...I love Trueblood vamps..Eric drool drool)  I wasn't to sure I liked her vampires..just undead bodies being piloted by masters of the undead...and how she describes them...( again Erid Nortman....drool) But in this book I slowly became to like them a lil more.   Kate is powerful...but haven't found out what she is yet...and it is driving me crazy... I MUST find out what she is and why she has to burn anything that her blood comes in contact with.  And then there's Curran...the beast lord. I guess I'm a hopeless romantic because every time they talk to each other I hope they get together. I think they're just good together...even though sometime usually brakes...or they get into an agreement when they talk..but they understand each other at times.   All in all, I did like the book and will be starting the 3rd book in the series "Magic Strikes" tonight.  

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As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels knows how waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta's paramilitary clan of shape shifters, she quickly realizes much more is at stake. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug of war between two gods hoping for rebirth, and if Kate can't stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive.

Win an ARC of Torment at Shannon Whitney Messenger

http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/2010/08/win-arc-of-torment-by-lauren-kate.html

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by  The Story Siren

This week I found an awesome used book super store were paperbacks are only 1.99, and hard covers are 2.99...to say the least...it was awesome.

GIVEAWAY! The Hunger Games & Catching Fire @ssalach21's Flipping Pages For All Ages , Ends 8/2!!!!

http://flippingpagesforallages.blogspot.com/2010/07/hunger-games-catching-fire-giveaway.html

  Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Frost has done it again, produced a sexy action filled book. Loved this addiction. I love the symbolization of the darkness that he visioned, and how you learned some more about Mencheres.And that throughout the book you got Mencheres' and Kira's point of view.I feel with Frost's writing, it's easy to picture whats going on.

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An immortal war has been brewing in the darkness . . .
And now one woman has stumbled into the shadows.

Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she's only imagined in her worst nightmares.
At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master vampire who thought he'd seen it all. Then Kira appears—this fearless, beautiful . . . human who braved death to rescue him. Though he burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life. Yet sending her away is unthinkable.
But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose either the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.