Delicious Comfort Food

An amazing cookbook, Amish Cooking Class Cookbook, features recipes from the Amish Cooking Class series by Wanda E. Brunstetter as well as more than 200 more recipes. This cookbook has basic advice on cooking and baking, interesting articles on Amish cooking and beautiful pictures. I enjoyed looking at the beautiful pictures of the Amish and delicious foods. There are so many wonderful recipes, using basic ingredients, it was hard to pick which one to do first. I also thought having two different indexes - one for food sections and one for key ingredients - to be really helpful. A go to cookbook for delicious comfort food. Bon appetit! I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

The Music Played On

Roseanna White transports the reader back to England at the outset of World War 1 while meeting protagonist Willa Forsythe, Rosie's younger "sister," in A Song Unheard. Willa, a self taught violinist, is given an assignment by Mr. V to steal a cryptology key from famed violinist Lukas De Wilde. England is not the only one after this key from De Wilde. As Willa's friendship with Lukas grows, she risks her life and future to help him find his mother and sister who were left behind in Germany occupied Belgium. The book is filled with intrigue and suspense and adventure. Nothing is as it seems. One can't help but love Lukas' sister and all the other charming characters that make this story come to life. I hated reading that last page knowing the book had ended for this second installment in the "Shadows Over England" series. I received a complementary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers and was under no obligation to post a review.

Mayflower Adventure

Kimberley Woodhouse introduces readers to a new series with this first book, "The Mayflower Bride." The concept of following along and learning about the what may have occurred on the Mayflower's voyage to the new world peaked my interest as I enjoy genealogy. Mary Elizabeth Chapman is a fictional character on board the Speedwell in 1620 with her father and her younger brother. The reader is also introduced to actual passengers who were aboard the Mayflower and Speedwell. The author states she has tried to keep the story as historically accurate as possible. The final time the Speedwell enters port due to water leakage, the passengers all board the Mayflower making the final passage across the Atlantic late in the season. Woodhouse tries to make the reader feel and see what the passengers on board would have from the cramped quarters, the sea sickness, the stench from illness, sweat, and unemptied chamber-pots. With that said, I still felt there were times the author did not dive deep enough into what was happening or not happening. "I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review."