BOOK REVIEW: Across the Creek by Jeremy Asher

Life only gives you one first kiss.

And when Jesse Malone kissed Sarah Ramsey, he thought his life would change, but not in the way that it did. An unlikely childhood romance between a poor boy and a wealthy girl began the day Jesse decided to do the impossible and cross the creek. A love was born, one that would become their shelter, protecting them from the storms of their lives, until the day Jesse witnessed his mother’s murder, forcing him to leave his childhood home…and first love.

Ten years later, life has finally gotten better for Jesse. He has a loving family, a charming pet shop to run, and one semester left before graduating with a degree in architecture. Everything is great, until the day fate intervenes and his long-lost love walks into his shop and back into his life.

Sarah, engaged to a budding attorney, is struggling to keep everything together. Her father, diagnosed with terminal cancer, is running out of time. Sarah races to build their dream business while planning her wedding in time for her father to walk her down the aisle.

Their brief encounter starts a series of events that neither Jesse nor Sarah expects. After a decade of running, Jesse is now forced to face the demons from his past, while Sarah has to choose between her handsome attorney and her first love.

Just when they think love has given them a second chance, Jesse is faced with an impossible decision, one that will change their lives forever.

'Love always comes with a consequence.'  This line right there sums up Jesse and Sarah, and honestly life in general.  Everything you do, including love, comes with consequences both positive and negative.  Something I say so much it hurts.  However, for Jesse and Sarah there is so much more than that.  There's not a lot I can say about the storyline that isn't covered in the synopsis without giving away major plot things.  So I won't.  However, if you are looking for happily ever after, this may not be the book for you.  Perhaps the series?  I've not made it that far yet.  

What I did like is that the characters, for the most part, are well developed.  It's easy to fall into their emotions.  Their experiences.  It's easy to cheer them on.  And want to slap them into next week too.  Not every supporting character was well developed but they are supporting and there are more books in the series for that potentially.  Right?  There were times I just wanted to shake Jesse and tell him to spit it out already, you know.  And there were times I wanted to tell Sarah to stop being such a twit and actually use her brain.  Sadly, book characters don't listen to me.  Which is probably a good thing.  Then there wouldn't be a story to tell.

I'm gonna pick on Kevin for a moment.  Kevin is the budding attorney that Sarah is engaged to.  He reminds me of every anti-hero in every book/movie/what have you.  The stepdad in 'Georgia Rule' (that's a movie) kind of jerk.  He's so twisted and up and down and entitled and how the heck does anyone fall for his shtick?   He totally gives off the creepy jerk vibe from his first scene but everyone seems oblivious.  Is it because he has money?  Because of his career?  Because they are blinded by love?  Whatever it is I can't begin to tell you how frustrating it is because let's face it, there are real people like that in real life.  And when they blow their circuit everyone is shocked by such a 'good' person being so horrid.  No, he's not a serial killer.  He's just a toad. 

I liked this book.  I liked it well enough that I'm interested in reading the next one.  I need to know if Sarah marries Kevin or if she finally ever sees him for the cretin he is.  I need to know if Jesse comes out ahead for himself and his family.  I need to know if his family, particularly his brother, pulls together for themselves.  I just, there are so many things I still need to know!

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About Jeremy Asher

Jeremy is an author of love stories—emotional journeys that include love found and love lost, humor, romance, danger, and twists that leave the story and characters resonating with you long after you turn the last page. Jeremy’s love for life and family are a constant in his books. Whether you’re relaxing at the pool or curling up next to a fire with a glass of wine, his characters come to life as you get lost in his stories.

Jeremy Asher is an award-winning author of seven novels. He lives in Indiana with his wife, four children, and soccer-loving dog, Wylie. When he isn’t writing, he is coaching his kids’ soccer teams, acting as chauffeur for his 13-year-old daughter, or binge-watching The Walking Dead.

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RECIPE: Santa Fe Chicken Soup

This soup has become a household favorite ever since I discovered many years ago from a friend via 'Eating for Life' by Bill Phillips.  Of course, like I do, I took the original recipe and tweaked it a bit to fit my own flavor preferences.  Below you will see the Fizzy-fied version of this recipe.  Including my own tips for better flavor!

The Ingredients:
chicken, boneless and skinless
lime juice
taco seasoning
brown rice
chicken broth or soup base
onion
minced garlic
chopped green chilies
butter and/or olive oil
cheddar cheese, shredded
sour cream
cilantro

The Directions:  3 Easy Steps to amazing soup

 Easy, start creating your flavor.  In the pan you will use to cook it (important for best flavor) marinate your chicken with some lime juice and taco seasoning.  The reason I suggest the same pan is twofold.  First less dishes!  Secondly, by marinating and cooking in the same pan you don't lose any of the extra flavored juice in the transfer.  When it's all done you can also transfer over any remaining juice and seasoning with the 'scrapings' of the pan.  While that marinates, cook your brown rice according to package directions. I prefer cooking with broth in order to maximize flavor of the rice. Unless you are using quick cook this can be up to an hour cook time.  Plenty of time to marinate in amazing flavor to your chicken.  When the rice is done then cook your chicken in the marinade.  This gives the rice time to settle before moving on.  You can begin on step two while the chicken is cooking.

Now we really start building the flavor up.  The chicken, when thoroughly cooked needs to be cut to bite size pieces or shredded.  I don't really have patience for shredding by hand as you can tell by the bite size pieces in the picture.  You will also want to finely chop about half an onion (I prefer yellow).  In your soup pan but a little bit of butter and/or olive oil over medium heat.  I prefer butter but if you want to go a bit healthier then do olive or a mixture.  To that add the chopped onion.  Cook until the onion is turning translucent.  Add about a tablespoon (or so, depending on preference) or minced garlic.  Please splurge and mince your own or cheat like I do with the real minced garlic, not garlic powder. Mix and cook until the onion is completely translucent.  Add the chopped green chilies.  Stir.  Add the rice that you cooked earlier.  Stir.  Add your shredded/cut chicken.  Stir.  Add enough chicken broth to more than cover everything.  I like to add cilantro at this step as well to really cook in that flavor.  Fresh is best but dried is just as amazing in a pinch.  Let simmer until the flavors are completed blended.  The longer you simmer the richer the flavor.  Soup Basics 101.

Step 3: Garnish and Enjoy!  Top each bowl with some fresh cilantro leaves, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.  Yes I know it takes the healthy down a notch but amps the flavor up a couple.  Do yourself the flavor and garnish!

Like any soup the next day rule applies.  I don't know what it is about making soup, refrigerating it and reheating.  Soup the second day is always better than the first.  But don't wait.  It's amazing right from the pan as well!

Easter Egg Candles

Remember these little gems? Easter Egg Candles are back by pre-order only for a limited time!

Anytime between now and midnight February 28^th place your pre-order. All orders will be poured and delivered before the end of March. Email me, Facebook me, Twitter me, Call Me, Contact me via the Blog, just make sure the time stamp is before March 1. No money is due until your order is delivered (within 30 miles of Bolivar, MO) or shipped. (Shipping will be extra.)

One dozen recycled egg shells filled with colored, 100% custom blend soy wax. Eggs will be shipped in a recycled egg carton with Easter grass included for packaging. Due to the nature of this product, eggs are for decorative purposes only! (Although shell can be peeled and wax used in a warmer.) In the past customers have later colored the shells just like any other egg just to add another lay of interest and their own customization. Feel free to customize with what works for you and your family as well.

Price: $6 per dozen

BOOK REVIEW: Ties That Bind by Carolyn Arnold

When a woman is found strangled in her home, Detective Madison Knight and her partner Terry Grant rule it an isolated incident. But when another woman is murdered with the same line of neckties, they know it isn’t a coincidence. Now they must figure out the connection so they can stop a potential serial killer before he gets to his third victim.

This book is hard to review for me. I really want to like it.  I really do.  It's well written in that it does keep you guessing to the end.  It's well written in that the actual mystery, the murders, are fairly well fleshed out.  However, the relationships of the detectives and the other law enforcement personnel are not so well fleshed out.  For being a first book in a series there is a lot of assuming that the reader already knows the characters and their relationships and interplay.  And that dialogue left a lot to be desired.  Madison and Terry (her partner) have a weird relationship that is never really defined.  And he has 'something' going on at home that is always alluded to but again never really defined.  Madison, herself, has all these things that pop up in about her and her past but again never fleshed out or even addressed in a way that makes sense.  Character and relationship development left me wanting.  These are the things I expect to be most pronounced in the first book of a series, not left to later books.

Back to the story, woman is murdered.  Through the investigation that is the obvious suspect and then this dangling thread of a possible someone else that no one can identify.  Then another woman is murdered so guy one is totally off the hook.  However, getting actual real information about the victims is difficult when no one tells them anything.  While all this is going on there are vignettes from the real murderer so you know that the people being looked at are actually innocent.  And then there is a third murder that seems so obvious who is ultimately responsible for all of them.  However, Madison refuses to take anything at face value, much to the annoyance of her superiors.  Sometimes something that is wrapped up with a nice bow on top is too good to be true.  Sometimes it's not but if you stop looking you never get the story of the wrapping, which sometimes is just as important as what is wrapped.

Arnold builds a decent mystery.  She builds a decent story.  However, she didn't build memorable characters.  I don't feel like I know them any better than I did in the beginning.  And for all the whining and whatnot Madison did about life I still don't know why she worried and carried on about the things she did.

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About Carolyn Arnold

CAROLYN ARNOLD is the international bestselling and award-winning author of the Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher, and McKinley Mystery series. She is the only author with POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.

Carolyn was born in a small town, but that never kept her from dreaming big. On par with her large dreams is her overactive imagination that conjures up killers and cases to solve. She currently lives outside Toronto with her husband and beagle. She is also a member of Crime Writers of Canada.

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BOOK REVIEW: Judgement by Carey Baldwin

When a coed falls prey to a sadistic killer, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Caitlin Cassidy and Special Agent Atticus Spenser are called in to testify—one for the defense, one for the prosecution. With warring approaches on justice, these two rivals have been butting heads for years—both in the courtroom and out. And at first, this case appears to be no different.

But when a brutal attack leaves the accused man dead and Caity in critical condition, petty differences take a backseat to saving lives. As the lone survivor, Caity knows too much and the killer—a madman calling himself the Man in the Maze—is coming back for round two. Now, Caity and Spense must join forces to uncover the killer’s identity before Caity’s time—and luck—runs out.

This book is a prime example of why I like mysteries.  Throw in a touch of psychological thriller and it's near spot on.  The romance wannabe parts left me lacking but I wasn't reading for a romance so that could have just been dropped to the side and would have made things better.  I also liked that the ending didn't try to drag out the whodunit like so many other mysteries.  Yeah, I had figured it out, I almost always do.  But the author led you there, gave you the info and then wrapped it up.  Most mysteries miss the wrap up.

Caity chose her life's work as a psychiatrist due to watching her father be put to death for a crime she is still convinced he was innocent of.  She has made her life about learning the ins and outs of killers and then going to bat as an expert witness for those she deems to be innocent of the accusations.  Spense, on the other hand has worked his way up at the FBI to the Behavior Analysis Unit (BAU) to work as a profiler.  He's got his own touchy background of learning and focus difficulties that he's developed some interesting tricks and habits to help him overcome and focus as an adult.  They have a history of testifying against each other.  And apparently  he has a history of crushing on her.  (Honest, I feel like this was no the story to introduce attempts at romance.  Caity's too caught up on Dad and Spense still has more story to tell.  The attempts to carry that crush relationship forward were awkward and stilted at best, completely lacking in any sort of heat between them.)  Caity's back in her home town of Phoenix consulting on a case with the man who unsuccessfully defended her dad.  However, it never gets too far because the lawyer is murdered and Caity is shot.

What follows is a convoluted trail of tangent mysteries all related back to the Man in the Maze.  Many of these side stories focusing on Caity's refusal to put her dad's conviction to bed or even just let it be. She has to know the truth regardless.  Many of these stories also go tag along as a means of showing how Caity feels about the way police often go about doing things that she feels are less than ethical.  At the end of the day I feel like there were some procedural things that felt less than legit.  I also feel that while they solved the case there's a slightly cracked marginally open window for this mystery to be revisited, revived what have you.  Though for now they are off to LA for the next book.

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About Carey Baldwin

Carey Baldwin is a mild-mannered physician (still practicing full time ) by day and the author or edgy suspense by night. She holds two doctoral degrees, one in medicine and one in psychology. She lives in the southwestern United States with her amazing family and in her spare time loves to chase wildflowers.

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BOOK REVIEW: Hazardous Duty by Christy Barritt

Buying a gun to kill your wife: $3,000
Hiring Trauma Care to clean afterward: $1,500
Having that same cleaner uncover evidence that frames you: Priceless

On her way to completing a degree in forensic science, Gabby St. Claire drops out of school and starts her own crime scene cleaning business. “Yeah, that’s me,” she says, “a crime scene cleaner. People waiting in line behind me who strike up conversations always regret it.”

When a routine cleaning job uncovers a murder weapon the police overlooked, she realizes that the wrong person is in jail. But the owner of the weapon is a powerful foe . . . and willing to do anything to keep Gabby quiet.

With the help of her new neighbor, Riley Thomas, a man whose life and faith fascinate her, Gabby plays the detective to make sure the right person is put behind bars. Can Riley help her before another murder occurs?

Gabby St. Claire is quite a name to accompany quite a character.  I liked her, partly I think because of her slightly flippant attitude toward life and her ability to recognize her own shortcomings without taking herself too seriously.  You have the interesting neighbors, including Riley, you have the police officer she is constantly butting heads with, and you have a killer who is all about shutting Gabby up...for good.  Gabby's problem is that she has just enough background with forensic science to not know quite enough about a current investigation.  She has enough gumption of how she sees the case to constantly throw herself into the fray.  Which indirectly puts her right back into the real killer's sites.  Every.  Single.  Time.

The story was engaging and I was very entertained by it.  However, I would be remiss if I didn't also share what I saw as shortcomings.  There were a few situations that I felt were just to pat.  It seems like at every turn with every crime someone was being 'setup'.  You would think that every crime committed was always a setup. And it also seems as though at every crime scene in the story the forensic teams missed something so that Gabby could find the 'smokin gun' so to speak.  Though one crime in the story was dropped but I was never told how it really happened which drives me nuts!  And don't tell me it's a series and there's more books.  I don't see the next book going back to a previous story to wrap up the details of one crime that was pushed to the wayside before the bigger crime the story was actually about was solved.

Another thing I struggled with with the faith based part of the story.  And before you yell at me that it's a Christian book and I knew that, it's not that it was a Christian book that I had issue with.  I felt like the attempts to bring faith and God into the story were contrived.  They popped up at weird moments that didn't make a lot of sense to me and it just felt forced.  I think the faith part of the story could have been better integrated.  Just my half a nugget or so on the topic. 

All in all though I really liked the story.  Promise I did.  I would like to read more in this series as well as more by the author.  And plan to do so in the future!

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About Christy Barritt

Christy Barritt is an author, freelance writer and speaker who lives in Virginia. She’s married to her Prince Charming, a man who thinks she’s hilarious–but only when she’s not trying to be. Christy’s a self-proclaimed klutz, an avid music lover who’s known for spontaneously bursting into song, and a road trip aficionado. She’s only won one contest in her life–and her prize was kissing a pig (okay, okay… actually she did win the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Suspense and Mystery for her book Suspicious Minds also). Her current claim to fame is showing off her mother, who looks just like former First Lady Barbara Bush.
When she’s not working or spending time with her family, she enjoys singing, playing the guitar, and exploring small, unsuspecting towns where people have no idea how accident prone she is.

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BOOK REVIEW: I'm Still Here by Kathryn Biel

It started out as an ordinary day for Esther Comely-Cox, if you consider simultaneously totaling your car, smashing a Ho Ho in your face and meeting a handsome doctor ordinary.
Estranged from her family over her sister's mental illness and death, Esther can't help but feel alone. And when Esther hears the voice of her twin sister who committed suicide seven years ago, she begins to question her own sanity, leading her to wonder if anything is what it seems. Searching for answers, Esther must confront her past while looking towards a new future—one in which she is finally accepted.
Through humor and heartbreak, Esther learns that blood does not mean family, that absence does not make the heart grow fonder and that silence can speak volumes.

This book was a jump into something a little different than my last few reads.  Ester, youngest of 7 children, of her 'crunchy' hippy-dippy parents wasn't just the youngest, she was a twin.  Said twin had left a suicide note 7 years ago and disappeared from the face of the earth.  No body was found so Mom and Dad, wait no sorry Dean and Cheryl, refused to believe she was dead.  Mom and Dad didn't want to be called Mom and Dad, so Dean and Cheryl it was.  Ester, however, was not convinced that her sister was alive and said so.  Slowly but surely her family cut her out of everything, throwing a birthday party for Aster (the twin) and inviting Ester without caring that it was also her birthday.  Parenting Win?  Needless to say massive estrangement, not actually initiated by Ester.

Through an initial series of unfortunate events, you know Ho Ho encrusted car accident, Ester's life takes a dramatic turn.  Think sideways falling in love with a charming nee perfect hero who also happens to be a doctor that's apparently pretty delectable, and sweet, and kind, and...  Ester negotiates the idea that she is more than everything her family convinced her she was.  Ester learns that you can find love.  Ester learns that things aren't ways what them seem.  And sometimes, you get second chances.  And sometimes second changes aren't all they are cracked up to be and were never on the table to begin with.

Truth is there's some typos and editing issues with this book.  Truth is the story line is a bit over the top for me.  A little too pat you could say.  But I appreciate that you don't always get the total package happy ending that this book provided to me.  I read a review that questioned the age of the writer due to some of the pop culture references and dialogue in the story.  I appreciated it.  As a *cough* middle age *gag* woman I appreciate the fact that not everyone tells there story like a matron.  Personally notorious for my own interesting way of communicating with the world I appreciated the offhandedness that was in this book as well.  Biel did a good job of educating about the impact of mental illness on a family without feeling like it was a lecture that pushed off responsibility onto someone else.  She also did a great job of telling a story that offered redemption while also making it perfectly OK to not find the gold at the end of the rainbow.  Because sometimes, it's not the gold you need by the trip through the rainbow to find the treasure.  It's not always what you thought it was nor where you expected it to be.

Love doesn't conquer all, but then again not all things need conquering.  


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About Kathryn Biel

Kathryn Biel hails from Upstate New York, and is a spouse and mother of two wonderful, but exhausting kids. In between being Chief Home Officer and Director of Child Development of the Biel household, she works as a school-based physical therapist. She attended Boston University and received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from The Sage Colleges. After years of writing countless letters of medical necessity for wheelchairs, finding increasingly creative ways to encourage the government and insurance companies to fund her client's needs, and writing entertaining annual Christmas letters, she decided to take a shot at writing the kind of novel that she likes to read. Her musings and rants can also be found on her personal blog, Biel Blather.

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