The Perfect Play, by Jaci Burton

Format: Trade Paperback, 324 pages

Published: February 1, 2011

Publisher: Berkley Heat

Back cover blurb:

Football pro Mick Riley is an all-star, both on the field and in the bedroom. But a sexy, determinedly single mom just might be the one to throw him off his game…For years Mick has been taking full advantage of the life available to a pro athlete: fame, fortune, and a different girl in every city. But when he meets and beds confident, beautiful event planner Tara Lincoln, he wants much more than the typical one-night stand. Too bad Tara’s not interested in getting to know football’s most notorious playboy any better.As the single mother of a teenage son, the last thing Tara needs is the jet-set lifestyle of Mick Riley; even though their steamy and passionate one-night stand was unforgettable. Tara’s life is complicated enough without being thrust into the spotlight as Mick’s latest girl du jour. Tara played the game of love once and lost big, and she doesn’t intend to put herself out there again, especially with a heartbreaker like Mick.

But when Mick sets his mind to win, nothing will stop him. And he has the perfect play in mind.

My review:

The cover is probably the best thing about this book, and I’ve added half a star on for him alone. The story was ordinary, the heroine incredibly annoying, and it really could have done with a better editing job. Several times the same phrase was used in quick succession, and near the end a character changed her name within the space of a page.

It is very hot, though, and the secondary characters were good. But you can’t base a book on smut alone. I doubt I will be reading the rest of this series anytime soon. Maybe one day, when the price comes down (I paid $18 for this and it really wasn’t worth it).

My rating: 3.5/5

Teaser: Iced, by Karen Marie Moning

You all know how much of a fan of Jericho Barrons I am – *swoon* – so I was super-excited to see Karen Marie Moning had posted a wee teaser for her upcoming continuation of the Fever series, Iced, on her Facebook page yesterday. Iced is going to be the first in a trilogy based on Dani and featuring Christian MacKeltar and the mysterious Ryodan – and I hope JZB makes lots of appearances!

Here’t the teaser:

Ryodan doesn’t like Mac. He never has. She got between him and his best boy-bud. I give him a look. “I’ll tell you a secret, Ryodan. You mess with her, Barrons’ll kill you.” I drag a finger across my neck. “Just like that. You aren’t all that. Barrons’ll stomp your ass, hand’s down.”

He smiles faintly. “I’ll be damned. You have a crush on Barrons.”

“I do not have a crush—”

“You do, too. It’s all over your face. Anybody could see it.”

“Sometimes, boss, you’re just wrong.”

“I’m never wrong. You might as well take out a billboard. ‘Dani O’Malley thinks Jericho Barrons is hot.’ My offer to teach you is still open. Save you from future embarrassment. If I can see it on your face, he can, too.”

“He never figured it out before,” I grumble then realize I just admitted it. Ryodan has a tricky way of wording things that makes you say things you didn’t mean to say. “Maybe I’ll ask Barrons to teach me,” I mutter and turn away from the stairs, heading for his office. I run smack into his chest. “Dude, move. Trying to get somewhere here.”

“No one but me is ever going to teach you, Dani.”

He touches me before I see it coming, has his hand under my chin, turning my face up. My shiver is instant and uncontrollable.

“That’s non-negotiable. You signed a contract with me that grants exclusivity. You won’t like it if you try to break it.”

Ooh, me likey Iced is expected to be published on October 30.

Homemade Thin Mints

Reblogged from the moveable feasts:

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I am writing to you from the sluggish, self-wallowing position of a lowly college student that must go back to school. I realize that almost all other students have been back in classes for a good week or two by now and that I am very fortunate to have had a little more than a full month for Christmas break, but still, it doesn't ease that looming weight of what will soon be my bag filled with textbooks and essays.

Read more… 811 more words

These look so yummy I'm going to have to try them!

Cover reveal: Gabriel’s Rapture

The lovely Sylvain Reynard today revealed the cover and release date of his sequel to Gabriel’s Inferno, to be called Gabriel’s Rapture.

It will be released on May 22, and I for one am very excited!

The cover intrigues me, as I’m sure I recognise the gentleman in the top corner – Michael Fassbender, or maybe Tom Hiddleston? Either way, he is yummy!

FYI, Gabriel’s Inferno is on special at the moment at the Amazon Kindle store for $US4.99. I urge you  to read it – it’s fabulous! Click HERE to read my review of it from last year.

Related articles

• Sexy Sentence Saturday…Gabriel’s Inferno (#3) (bookishtemptations.com)
• Sexy Sentence Saturday…Gabriel’s Inferno (#4) (bookishtemptations.com)

Saved by Cake, by Marian Keyes

Format: Hardcover, 300 pages

Published: February 28, 2012

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Back cover blurb:

From one of the best-loved novelists in Britain comes a book for all of us who love to bake (or would love to learn).

After a difficult period in her life, Marian Keyes found solace in baking. The precision of the measurements, the light spring of a well-baked cake, the prettiness of the frosting and decorations: the whole process was soothing. She immersed herself in the world of recipes and piping bags and silicone cake moulds, baking for friends, family and (when they couldn’t eat another bite) total strangers. In short, she fell in love with baking.

Saved By Cake is a dose of pure Marian. Funny and charming as ever, Marian guides you through the world of baking in her own inimitable way. It’s perfect for novice bakers, with plenty of advice for beginners, but the recipes are delicious and unique enough to appeal to even the most seasoned of bakers. From Slightly Sinister Star Anise cupcakes to Blokey Snickers Loaf Cheesecake, from Lemon and Thyme biscuits to the Ultimate Chocolate Cake, Marian has something for everyone’s taste buds. And with her as your guide, this is baking as it’s meant to be: pure, unadulterated fun!

My review:

I love Marian Keyes and was really worried about her when she announced she had stopped writing due to a serious bout of depression. This book chronicles her fight back from the breakdown, listing her treatments – even the way she carried a “suicide bag” with pens and paper so she could write a note to whoever found her. But her ultimate way of pushing the black thoughts at bay turned out to be baking.Full of gorgeous recipes, every page has her trademark wonderful Irish humour and you can’t help but smile at her new fetish for cookie cutters shaped like shoes and handbags. This is a lovely hardback, and I will certainly be trying out some of her family’s favourites. I think more recipes should say to just “feck in more flour”!

My rating: 5/5

I’m getting Older or My Gooey Banana Nutella Brownies packed with Toasted Hazelnuts and topped with Luscious Mascarpone Nutella Frosting/ J’ai encore vieilli ou Mes Brownies Nutella Banane aux noisettes torréfiées et glaçage Nutella Mascarpone.

Reblogged from Buttercream & Chantilly Factory:

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Descendez pour la version française.

I spent two days in Paris this week. The weather was awful. So me and my Bff had only one thing left to do : Starbucks two afternoons in a row. Sometimes I think that the fact that there is no Starbucks where I live is a good and bad thing …

I went to Paris for a Major Event : The 3 Doors Down Concert.

Read more… 2,149 more words

These look delicious! Click the link for the recipe :)

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake – but where have all the chocolate chips gone?

For a few months now, I have been unable to get Cadbury dark chocolate chips at my local supermarket. I am beginning to suspect they have gone out of production. Oh, sure, there are inferior home-brand imitations, but some of those taste like wood shavings. In place of chocolate chips, Cadbury now sells these:

which are lovely and chocolatey, but sometimes in a biscuit or muffin they create too much runny gooeyness in proportion to the cake mixture.

Oh, what am I saying? There’s no such thing as too much chocolate!

On that note, at the weekend I made my recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Cake, which I hadn’t made for a while and got eaten so quickly I didn’t even have time to take a photo!

This is very easy and moist. I don’t ice my cake, because I think the chocolate makes it sweet enough, but I will include the icing with the recipe here.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

50g very soft butter

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

1-1/2 cups self-raising white flour

1 tablespoon milk

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Mix butter, sugar and egg together in a bowl. Stir in mashed bananas. Add sifted flour and cinnamon, then milk. Stir through chocolate chips. Pour into a 20cm square cake tin.

Bake in oven preheated to 180degC for 40-45 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Icing:

60g cream cheese

30g soft butter

1-1/2 cups icing (confectioners or powdered) sugar

Beat cheese and butter together in a small bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sifted icing sugar. Spread over cold cake.

Kiss of Crimson, by Lara Adrian

Format: Kindle Edition, 320 pages

Published: December 1, 2010 (first published May 29, 2007)

Publisher: Robinson

Back cover blurb:

With one reckless, irresistible kiss, Dante binds Tess to himself for eternity.

He comes to her more dead than alive, a huge black-clad stranger mortally wounded and rapidly losing blood. As she struggles to save him, vet Tess Culver is unaware that the man calling himself Dante is no man at all but one of the Breed, vampire warriors engaged in a desperate battle. But in a single erotically-charged moment Tess is plunged into his world – a shifting, shadowed place where bands of Rogue vampires stalk the night, cutting a swathe of terror.Haunted by visions of a dark future, Dante lives and fights like there is no tomorrow. Tess is a complication he does not need – and yet his touch has awakened in her hidden gifts and desires and a hunger she never knew she possessed – and bonded by blood, Dante and Tess must work together to overcome the deadliest of enemies.

My review:

I loved this much more than Lucan’s story, so I’m gonna give it five cupcakes. Dante was just yummy, and I loved Tess and the dog… actually, I’m a bit worried about the dog. It wasn’t seen again after Tess ran into Rio in the infirmary, was it? LOL, I hope he didn’t eat him!

The plot involving Crimson and the drugged-up Darkhaven vampires was nicely done, with great suspense and likeable secondary characters in Chase and Elise. I see the next book features Elise and Tegan, who had a lovely moment in this book to set that all up. I’m really keen to see how she unfreezes the scary warrior

I thought Lucan’s book was very like the BDB, and this had its moments too, but while Dante and Tess reminded me of Vishous and Jane (the visions/her medical occupation) they were sufficiently different for me to not keep thinking this was a JR Ward ripoff. I also love the cover – that colour is gorgeous. I’ll definitely be reading book 3 soon.

My rating: 5/5

Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James

Format: ebook, 356 pages

Published: May 25, 2011

Publisher: The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House

Back cover blurb:

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind – until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her – but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.
Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

My review:

Holy cow… *fans self*

Honestly, I don’t know where to start. The story is ridiculously hot. Squirming in your seat hot. Knowing who Christian is based on makes this book even hotter, if that is possible. I can just picture him doing those things, and that turns my knees to jelly.

I guess I have to make another confession: I never read this when it was free online. I read the first few chapters, then the odd bit here and there, but the length of it daunted me because I was so late to the partay. Anyhoodle, as a result, reading the book has been somewhat of a revelation for me.

One of the reasons I was a bit slow to read the online version was that I never thought I would enjoy a book in which the heroine gets her ass handed to her – literally – as Ana does. But in the context of the overall story it is somewhat necessary. This volume – the first in what I think will be a trilogy – ends with her making a very grown-up decision, which I applauded because she needed to grow a pair. And not THOSE kind of balls… Oh, see, I have to fan myself again now…

Yes, there are a few typos but they will be fixed (by me!) for a second edition. The upshot of all this is: Go. Read. This. Now. You won’t regret it. I can’t wait for book two.

My rating: 5/5

Please excuse my absence… and try this recipe

Agh! Time has flown by and I haven’t posted anything on here for over a month, for which I am very sorry.

I have a new job – a second job, actually – and it is taking up a lot of my time at the moment. I hope I can catch up on here really soon.

In the meantime, I saw this great recipe today that I will definitely be trying out:

Nutella Cheesecake Layer Bars

Oh, yes! These look yummy!

Ah, Nutella...