Oven Barbecue Chicken Legs

 Hellooooo beautiful. Barbecue chicken legs should be their own food group. They're just so delicious, not to mention ridiculously easy to make. This is my all-time favorite barbecue chicken recipe, and I'm pretty sure that once you've tried it, it'll be yours too!

 Ingredients: 
12 thawed chicken legs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 cup BBQ sauce (I use Stubb's)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Rinse and pat dry the chicken and place it in a large roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle chicken with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.* Reduce heat to 375.
2. Remove chicken from the oven and brush - on both sides and liberally - with barbecue sauce. Put chicken back into the oven and cook for an extra 10 minutes. Remove from oven and brush both sides with barbecue sauce again. Return pan to the oven for an additional 7-10 minutes until the barbecue sauce caramelizes and the chicken registers 170 F on a meat thermometer placed close to the bone. You can also slice the chicken close to the bone, and, if it's pink, cook it in 5 minute increments.  

* I am all about that barbecue life, so I usually take the chicken out after 15 minutes and apply the first coat of barbecue sauce. The more, the merrier! After that, just stick it back in the oven and proceed as usual.

Source:  The Frugal Chef

The Assassination Game - Alan Gratz

My life is basically a series of obsessive phases. One of the biggest was Star Trek. Not just any Star Trek, though; the Original Series with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and the rest of the gang. Saturday night was rerun night, and every week I'd plop myself down in front of the idiot box and watch the exciting adventures of Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise. Next Generation is okay, but TOS was my first love. Despite the sometimes cheesy acting and low-budget special effects, Star Trek was revolutionary for its time, addressing controversial social issues and always envisioning a brighter future. I've amassed quite the Star Trek collection, especially since the release of the 2009 reboot, which I actually really liked for the most part. One of the results of the reboots is the Starfleet Academy series, which explores the crew's time at the Academy pre-Enterprise. There aren't very many, but the ones I've read so far have been pretty good!

James T. Kirk came to Starfleet Academy to live up to the reputation of his father, a first officer who was forced to take command while his ship was under attack and gave his life to save the crew. The responsibility he feels doesn't keep him from enjoying life at the Academy, though, especially when it comes to female cadets and the secretive rites that help students make a name for themselves. One such rite is the Assassination Game, a glorified version of tag in which players must get their target alone and touch them with a standard-issue Starfleet Academy spork, the victor of which inherits their target's target and so on until there is only one cadet left standing. Hoping to earn some respect and gain the admiration of the fairer sex, Kirk undertakes the game with excitement. It's hard enough to get by under normal circumstances, but it gets even harder when Kirk is assigned to be the personal security guard of the Varkolak, a wolf-like species that is visiting Earth to attend a medical convention and demonstrate goodwill after a period of tenuous relations with the Federation. The distrust surrounding the wild race makes Kirk's job even more difficult, especially when it appears as if there's a terrorist on campus targeting the medical convention. One attack is followed by another and the evidence starts to pile up against the Varkolak, who insist they are innocent.

Meanwhile, Cadets Sulu and Uhura find themselves being invited to join a secret society called the Graviton Society and help preserve the safety of the Federation at whatever cost. But some strange occurrences within the society seem to be related to the recent terrorist attacks, and the cadets are increasingly suspicious of the supposedly beneficent group. With the help of Commander Spock, also a member of the society, they try to uncover a mole in the system.While Kirk, Sulu, Uhura, and Spock are busy getting a piece of the action, Doctor McCoy has finally managed to overcome the slump he's been experiencing as a result of the nasty divorce from his wife and has had his eye drawn to Nadja Luther. Just when it seems like their relationship is starting to progress, McCoy is arrested for possible involvement in the attacks. As the clock starts to tick down for the terrorist's target, our cadets try to unravel the intricate plot and reveal the perpetrator of the real Assassination Game before it's too late.

I usually get a little irate when people try to come up with reboots of things I really like; it makes it seem like they didn't think the original was good enough. That being said, I own all of the Starfleet Academy books that have been released so far, which should demonstrate how much I like them. In the original series, we really don't get a ton of information about the Academy days, so it's really fun to explore them through the novels. One thing I don't like is how they change significant parts of the storyline; in the reboot, Spock and Uhura are in a relationship, which was extremely weird at first and still hasn't lost all of its weirdness. If you don't like pushy, cocky characters, you might think Kirk is a little annoying, but he comes across in a pretty humorous way. Also, the main plot and subplots can get a little mixed if you're not paying attention. Aside from that, if you're a Star Trek fan, I'd definitely recommend it, but be aware of the deviations so you don't almost have a heart attack like I did the first time around! If you're not a Star Trek fan, you can still enjoy the novel with the added bonus of not knowing what's canon.

Pros:

• Star Trek! 
• The Assassination Game (the spork-tag version) is a constant source of humor, especially when paired with Kirk's antics 
•  The plot is more intricate than it appears at first glance so you're kept guessing and addresses some societal issues that pertain to us today

Cons:

• The reboots deviate from the Original Series in some pretty significant ways, which can be a bit of holdup if you're a die-hard fan
•  Kirk's personality can be a little grating after a while (how many times can we read him trying to pick up a girl before it gets old?)
• Sometimes the plot can be a little too intricate and you lose the thread

In case you haven't seen the reboot, here's a trailer for the first one that came out in 2009. Who doesn't like trailers?

Diamond Boy - Michael Williams

Patson Moyo has lived in Bulawayo for all of his life with his little sister, Grace, and his parents. When their mother dies, Patson's father, Joseph, remarries "the Wife", a selfish, uncaring woman whose greatest desire is to live in the lap of luxury. Joseph struggles to make ends meet for his family with various teaching positions, but, despite being one of the best teachers available in the area, the government is unable to pay him anything of worth. The Wife receives a message from her brother James Banda in Marange, where he runs a diamond mining operation. Soon, she has convinced Joseph that, unless they want to starve to death, they must go to Marange. Believing he has secured a teaching position there, Joseph concedes and they begin the trek to the mining fields. Before they have even reached the fields, trouble strikes; the driver James hired to bring them to Marange abandons them on the edge of the fields and insists they go through the bush to avoid the police roadblocks. They enlist the help of Boubacar, a rough-looking Congonese man, to make it through the wilderness. On the way, they are forced to hide from murderous soldiers who are patrolling the outskirts of the fields; it is only through pure chance that they run into a member of the Banda family, who is able to escort them to the mining operations hub. The Wife is happily received, but after their initial welcome, the rest of the Moyo family is moved from the main house into tobacco sheds.

Although the original plan was for Patson and Grace to attend school while Joseph taught, they soon find that the school has been closed down and overrun by a different kind of "school" run by women. Stuck in Marange with no way of providing for themselves, they realize the only way they will survive is to become diamond miners themselves. Patson is eager to mine, knowing he can find a girazi, a pure diamond, and change his family's fate. Eventually, he is accepted into a gwejana syndicate with other young miners, each of which smuggles ngodas, small industrial diamonds, out of the fields when they are able. With the help of Boubacar, Patson is able to sell them and divvy up the proceeds to members of the syndicate. Getting caught withholding diamonds from James Banda has serious consequences, so when Patson finds his first girazi, he carefully hides it away. Then the soldiers come.

When the government realizes how much money is leaving the country in the form of precious diamonds, they send Commander Jesus, a ruthless taskmaster, to take over Banda Hill and the surrounding fields. When he and the soldiers arrive, they kill many of the miners and force the rest to continue searching for diamonds. With his father assumed dead and his sister being held up at the main house, Patson finds his second girazi, managing again to avoid detection. The gwejana syndicate makes plans to escape, all except for Patson and Arves, Patson's best friend who lives with HIV and has become very sick due to the withholding of his medication. While the rest of the syndicate escapes, Patson goes to get the medication that keeps Arves alive. After he returns, he finds yet another girazi, but this time he won't go unnoticed. Commander Jesus forces Patson out of the fields and into a trap where he is severely injured. Through the persistence of Boubacar, he manages to escape, but the injury has left him debilitated. Now, with nothing but the thought of rescuing his sister to sustain him, Patson must try to avoid the greedy commander and track his sister with Boubacar's help.

I could not put this book down. It had been sitting on my shelf for a while, and I finally decided to pick it up. I wasn't expecting much, but boy was I surprised! Despite being more of a fantasy/mystery reader, I was drawn in by the promise of hope that led Patson and his family (except the Wife, because she is one evil witch). Patson's journey, both geographically and mentally, is so engaging that you can't help but sympathize with him. To make it even more interesting, the diamond fields of Marange are real and just as ruthless as those in the novel. I read up a little on the subject and what went on there is truly frightening. I will say that this is a very intense read; James Banda is a tyrant from the start, one of the characters struggles with HIV, and there is a lot of physical violence. Plot-wise, it does stretch out quite a bit, and there are some jumps that are a little hard to follow. I've also read that it inaccurately reflects real life in Zimbabwe, painting a much more gruesome picture of the culture and government than is actually the case, but since I don't know enough on the topic, I'll withhold any comment.

Pros:

• Historically based story
• Character arc is through the roof
• Engaging 

Cons:

•  Might be a little intense for younger readers
• Some plot incongruity
• Brief instance of strong language

Lemon Bars

After futilely raiding the cabinets for an evening snack, I pulled this recipe out of a Southern Living cookbook I got at a garage sale. When all was said and done, it was about 11 PM, so imagine my surprise when I got up the next morning to find that literally half of it was gone already. I think it's safe to say my family liked it; even my "I don't even want to smell it if it contains anything remotely resembling fruit" sister loved it. Although I've never made a tart-ish thing like this, it still turned out really well! It's 50% shortbread style crust and 50% creamy, delicious lemon filling. Maybe like .005% powdered sugar on top, if you're really counting. Apologies for the semi-vague picture, but there wasn't much left for a photo shoot!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar, divided
1 cup cold butter, cut up
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Directions:

1. Combine 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. 
2. Spoon flour mixture into a 13 x 9-inch pan; press into pan evenly and firmly, using fingertips. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Combine 1/2 cup flour and baking powder; set aside. Combine eggs, 2 cups sugar, and lemon juice; beat well. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture, and pour over crust.
4. Bake at 350 F for 22-25 minutes or until lightly browned and set. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and cut into bars.

Source: Southern Living: All Time Favorites

A brief tangent - I can't even think of lemon bars without thinking of Nancy Drew, and since this is also a book blog, it all works out okay in the end. Nancy's housekeeper, Hannah, is apparently famous for her lemon bars, something that comes up in the 2007 movie when she randomly pulls them out of her bag in perfect little tins to distribute to unsuspecting informants. It's actually a pretty good movie, if a little cheesy. At the very least, it's got plenty of humor, some of which you can see in the trailer below.

Sweet 'n Spicy Pork Chops

Mmmmm... pork chops. It's only recently that I've discovered a feeling other than hatred for pork chops. The meaty slabs of my youth were bland, tough, and always curled up on themselves, making them unappetizing and hard to eat. But now I've seen the light. With the right seasoning and cooking technique, pork chops can be good! In fact, they can be great! This recipe is one of my favorites; the chops come out sweet and a little spicy, but always juicy!

Ingredients: 
2 boneless pork loin chops (1/2 inch thick and 4 ounces each)
Dash of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard

Directions:

1. Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper. Place on a rack in a foil-lined broiler pan. Broil chops 4 inches from the heat for 5 minutes. 
2. Combine the remaining ingredients. Turn chops; spread with brown sugar mixture. Broil 5-8 minutes longer or until juices run clear. Serves 2.

Source: Taste of Home - Simple & Delicious Cookbook  

Blonde Ops - Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman

When Bec gets booted from yet another boarding school for her not-so-surreptitious hacking, she expects her mom to send her packing for the next one. What she doesn't expect is to be shipped off to Rome to be an intern for a prominent fashion magazine. With the promise of homework to occupy any free time she ends up with, Bec flies to Italy to become the errand runner of Parker Phillips, co-editor of Edge magazine. Soon, she's fetching espressos, sorting outfits, and trying to get a glimpse of the dashing fashion blogger, Taj, not to mention striking up a relationship with the handsome Italian bike messenger, Dante. It's not all sunshine and roses though; tempers are shorter than the deadlines facing the magazine and there always seems to be one more thing to do.

Despite the work, Bec is enjoying her stay in beautiful Rome... until Parker is involved in a mysterious car accident and hospitalized with serious injuries. In Parker's absence, Edge is taken over by Candace Worthington, a pompous ex-supermodel who doesn't waste any time putting Bec on a (proverbial) leash to keep her out of trouble. For her part, Bec wants to find out who was behind the car crash that hospitalized Parker and why they took her out. With the First Lady heading to the Edge offices for a fashion shoot, Bec starts to suspect that Parker's "accident" is the least of their worries. As she investigates further, she uncovers a plot that is using Edge to get close to the First Lady for less-than-charitable purposes.

I'm a huge fan of spy girl novels and Rome (thank you, study abroad!), so I was almost certain I would love this book. Unfortunately, it fell a little short of the mark for me. There were a few loose ends that never got wrapped up, and the weird circumstances just kept piling up. What parent would send their kid to Italy alone to intern after being kicked out of school (again) for hacking? Where did Bec learn her "hacking" skills (some of which are dubious at best) and why does she have no problem going/making out with both Taj and Dante? Questions, questions, questions. Despite these somewhat bewildering points, it was still an okay read once I started just going along with things.

Pros:

•  Rome!
•  Rome + high fashion
•  Entertaining, if somewhat unbelievable

Cons:

•  Bec often comes across as a rebellious punk who doesn't like it when things don't go her way
•  Overly obvious ending
•  Unlikely events (e.g. lifting fingerprints with makeup and Scotch tape, being attached to Parker after knowing her for all of 5 minutes, etc.)

If you love fun spy novels with witty main characters, underground romances, and awesome Hogwarts-style castles, I would highly recommend the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. I'm planning on posting a full-length review for it at some point in the future. For now, suffice it to say that it's everything you would have expected from Blonde Ops, but fully delivered. Secret spy academy disguised as a preppy rich girls' school? Check. Boy troubles? Double check. Handsome covert operations teacher, absent-minded (but brilliant) mad scientist, and gorgeous "knows-how-to-kill-you-with-a-Kleenex-in-four-ways" headmaster? Triple check. Murder, mayhem, and mystery? Double triple check. In case you hadn't guessed, I'm a wee bit fond of the series. If you were disappointed by Blonde Ops, this might be a winner for you!

City of a Thousand Dolls - Miriam Forster

Nisha has lived in the City of a Thousand Dolls for almost as long as she can remember. Abandoned at the city gates with nothing but a mysterious tiger mark and no distinguishable caste mark, she is raised in a secretarial  role to the Matron of the city. As an errand runner, Nisha has limited access to all of the training Houses in the city: Pleasure, Beauty, Music, Jade, Combat, and Flowers. Although she's not technically part of any of them, she is given permission to train in Combat and Music so that she may be considered at the Redeeming, when all of the eligible girls are showcased to be bought for their various skills and inducted into a caste. Her past isn't the only secret either; Nisha is able to mind-speak with the local tribe of spotted cats, said to bring good luck to the city. They are that and more for Nisha, especially Jerrit, her closest confidant outside of Tanaya, a House of Flowers trainee who has been selected to be the wife of the Prince. She has also cultivated a relationship with Devan, the city's messenger, even though his higher caste could cause serious trouble if anyone ever found out. Although she lives in fear of discovery, she continues to sneak out to meet him, hoping that he will claim her at the Redeeming as his wife. However, all of her plans are pushed to the back of her mind when the body of one of the initiates is found on the city grounds.

The first girl's death could have been suicide, but soon after, another girl is found floating in the maze fountain, poisoned. Tension starts to build as people start to realize that there may be a murderer on the loose. Meanwhile, Nisha discovers that the Council has plans to sell her instead of letting her attend the Redeeming, thinking they will get a better price for her. Desperate to avoid becoming a slave, she offers to gather information and try to track down the murderer, realizing that her unique position in the City could help her discover things that would remain hidden to others. Soon, she is deeply embroiled in a plot that could have national consequences, not to mention potentially fatal ones for her and her closest friends. As she searches for clues, she uncovers secrets about herself and the City of a Thousand Dolls that have remained buried for years. But can she catch the murderer before she becomes a victim herself?

Let me start off by saying that this book seems to have really negative online reviews. There's not enough character development, the world-building is lacking, the plot is boring... and so on and so forth. While I agree with some of the points reviewers made, I actually really liked it. The culture is kind of a Chinese/Indian hybrid and I thought it was interesting, but I also enjoyed the plot itself. The combination of mystery and the new culture were enough to keep me reading straight through the book and the ending was surprising. The fact that I seem to like books that are generally un-liked by the online reading community is somewhat worrying as it seems to reflect badly on my reading tastes and maturity, but oh well - what can you do?

As I said, there are some things I didn't like. For starters, Nisha's relationship with Devan is super shallow; they basically seemed like make-out buddies with no real emotional attachment, and the ending reflects this. However, we do have to take into consideration that she lives in what is essentially an all-female city and has little outside interaction with men, so we can't exactly expect her to have this amazingly deep relationship with the first male she happens to come across. The other thing that really bugged me was the founding principle of the city itself. Historically speaking, it's not exactly far off the mark, but the idea of girls being trained for certain skills and then sold off to the highest bidder is very irksome to me, especially for skill sets like those learned in the House of Pleasure (and I'm sure you can guess what those are). In addition to that, there's no secret made of the fact that many of the girls are to be wed to men many times older than themselves, and it's even intimated that one of the girls commits suicide to avoid this. The Matron saw the City as a way to rescue unwanted girls from worse fates, but it still made me feel uncomfortable. Despite these two main flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and would probably recommend it. (Plus, the cover art is pretty nifty!)

Pros:

• Fantasy murder mystery (three words that should be in the same sentence more often)
• Fascinating cultural aspects
• Unexpected plot twists

Cons:

• Shallow, unrealistic relationships
• The premise of the city may be disturbing (or, at the very least, moderately irritating), albeit historically accurate
• Some of the notions and plot mechanisms seemed a little cheesy, e.g. talking cats that know more about your past than you do and guide you to your destiny (or what-have-you)

And, because I am all about that trailer life (and some people hate reading long digressions when they can get the gist in under a minute), here's one for the book:

The A.B.C. Murders - Agatha Christie

A brief but enthusiastic history lesson on Dame Agatha Christie:

1.  She's the best-selling novelist of all time (!!!)
2.  She became a mystery herself when she disappeared for 11 days at age 36
3. She's an absolutely brilliant mystery writer

Even if you haven't actually heard of her, you've probably heard of some of her works: arguably her most well-known novel, Murder on the Orient Express or And Then There Were None (my personal favorite, to date). If you love mystery, you just can't skip Christie. (Hehe, that rhymed. And I wasn't even trying.)

Hercule Poirot receives an unexpected visit from his old friend, Captain Hastings, who has returned for a visit after a spell in South America. While he is there, Poirot receives an ominous letter; some unknown evil is to take place in Andover on the 21st of the month, and it is expected that he will intervene. It is signed, simply, A.B.C. Scotland Yard assures Poirot that it's probably a prank, and he uneasily accepts this conclusion. The 21st rolls around and Poirot is notified that a woman by the name of Ascher has been murdered in Andover. The only clue left at the scene of the crime is an A.B.C. railway guide. Coincidence? Maybe. But then the second letter arrives, warning of a crime that will take place in Bexhill. When Betty Barnard is found murdered in Bexhill next to an A.B.C. guide, Poirot realizes that there is a serial killer with an alphabet complex on the loose. Betty Barnard is followed by Sir Clarke of Churston. Still, the letters come and Poirot is unable to discover the killer's identity. Will he ever be able to catch the murderer, or will he (or she) continue undaunted?

As previously stated, Agatha Christie is an absolute genius. Like with all good mystery novels, you're sure you have everything figured out by the end, but Christie upends the whole plot right when you think it's over. I've read this one before, but it's been so long that I still managed to be shocked by the ending. Although I do my best to try to equally balance pros and cons for the books I review here, I legitimately can't think of any cons for this one. It's a murder mystery without being obvious, it's got hints of humor to balance the somewhat macabre story line, it's intriguing... I could go on, but you probably get the idea.

Pros:

• Murder! Intrigue! "I can't believe that just happened" ending!
• Belgian detectives who love their moustaches 
•  Have I mentioned the "I can't believe that just happened" ending?

Cons:

• Nothing
• Zilch
• Nada

Since I spent a whole paragraph telling you about the merits of Agatha Christie, I thought this might be a good time to stick in a blurb for one of my other favorite things, and that is Doctor Who. It's a beautiful thing when your two favorite things come together, and I'm happy to say that there is, in fact, a Doctor Who episode featuring Agatha Christie. It's not for this novel, but still. Time-traveling alien meets famous 20th century writer and solves an intergalactic mystery that appears to be your regular murder mystery on the surface. Also, it doesn't hurt that the time-traveling alien is David Tennant. ;) Trailer below if you're interested!

White Chicken Enchiladas

Alright, let's be real with each other. That picture doesn't show you anything except a gloopy pile of what might be rolled up tortillas. To be honest, tortillas covered in delicious, gooey cheese sauce are really challenging for unskilled photographers like me. Especially since we'd eaten half of them already. That being said, they taste AMAZING. Comfort food to the max. It takes a while to put together, but it's worth it!

Ingredients:
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
2-3 hot chiles, such as jalapenos or serranos
1 large onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 TBSP. canola oil
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. paprika
Dash of salt
4 TBSP. (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup sour cream, plus more for serving
10 small corn tortillas*
Cilantro, for serving (optional)
Salsa, for serving (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Begin by roasting the bell peppers and chiles on a grill (or directly under the broiler) until the skin is mostly black. Throw the chiles into a plastic storage bag and seal it. Let them steam inside the bag for 30 minutes or so. Core and seed the peppers, then scrape off the black skin. Chop and set aside.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and jalapeno in the canola oil until the onion is translucent, 2-3 minutes. Throw in the chicken, then stir in 1 cup of the chicken broth. Add 1 cup of heavy cream, 1/2 tsp. of the paprika and salt. Then, add half of the chopped peppers. Stir the mixture around and let it cook for a couple of minutes, then set aside. 
4. In a separate skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk it together to combine. Cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Pour in the remaining 2 cups of chicken broth, stirring constantly. Stir and cook until the mixture is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, then pour in the remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream, remaining 1/2 tsp. paprika, and 1 1/2 cups grated cheese. Finally, stir in sour cream and the rest of the chopped peppers. If the sauce needs thinning, splash in as much broth as you need. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed. 
5. Warm the tortillas in the microwave until they're very soft. Place a small amount of the chicken mixture and a small amount of cheese in the center of a tortilla. Fold over the edges, then place them seam side down in a baking pan. Pour the sauce over the top and sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup grated cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until bubbly. Serve with cilantro, sour cream, and salsa, if desired.

*NOTE: I hate corn tortillas with a passion, so I subbed in flour tortillas and it came out fine. More than fine, actually. They were amazing.

Source: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond (a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman)

Rainbow Cake Pops

This was my first time making cake pops, and let me just state for the record that it's a ridiculous amount of work considering your return. It took me about 3 hours from start to finish, and it only made 10 pops. That being said, they were tootin' tasty (and made for a great Instagram picture)! If you've never made cake pops before either, the link at the bottom of the post leads to the original recipe, which has a video that shows you the steps. A couple of things I learned the hard way: 1) Don't overcook the chocolate or you'll never be able to get it to coat the pop. 2) If you don't have a cake pop holder (I sure don't), the holes in a basic kitchen colander are just the right size to hold the lollipop sticks while the chocolate is hardening.

Ingredients: 
Cake
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Rainbow food coloring
Cake pop filling & coating
100 grams white chocolate chips (about 3.53 ounces for our non-metric friends)
65 grams whipping cream (about 2.29 ounces)
300 grams white chocolate chips, melted (about 10.58 ounces)
Rainbow sprinkles
Lollipop sticks

Directions:

1.  Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, egg, and salt, and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add to the wet mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the milk. Divide the batter into 6 bowls and add a different color of food coloring to each. (I found that 3-4 drops of food coloring got a good, strong hue.) Pour the batter into a cupcake tin lined with cupcake liners, making sure to not mix the colors. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes, then cool completely. 
2. Weigh 60 grams (2.11 ounces) of each color of cake and crumble them into individual bowls. Pour 100 grams (3.53 ounces) of white chocolate chips and whipping cream into a small pot and set to medium heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate has melted, then divide evenly between the cake. Stir until cake is fully coated in the chocolate mixture.
3. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on your cooking surface and stack small disks of each color of cake on top of each other in the order of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). Wrap the plastic wrap around the cake and shape into a ball. Remove the plastic wrap and place the cake pops on a plate lined with plastic wrap. Place in the freezer until firm, about 20 minutes.
4. Dip the lollipop sticks into some melted white chocolate and stick one into each cake pop. Return the cake pops to the freezer for the chocolate to set, about 5-10 minutes. Dunk the cake pops into the melted chocolate, gently tapping the lollipop stick to remove any excess chocolate. Sprinkle some rainbow sprinkles onto the top of the cake pops, then stick into a cake pop holder and transfer to the fridge for the chocolate coating to fully set, 10-15 minutes.

Source: Tastemade

Wildflower - Alecia Whitaker

Bird Barrett never thought she would be picked up by a professional music label and asked to contract for her own album. Then again, she never thought her family would sell their home and tour the country in an RV as a bluegrass band for the majority of her life, but that's exactly what happened after the death of her younger brother. When her dad comes down with a cold right before a gig, she's chosen to replace him as the lead singer. Unbeknownst to her, a scouting agent is part of the crowd and he's drawn to her emotional and relatable style of singing. He approaches her after the show and expresses interest in acquiring her for one of the most well-known labels in country music. Ecstatic about the potential impact on her career, Bird accepts an offer to perform at the famed Bluebird Cafe. There, however, she is approached by yet another talent agent, this time from an obscure, unheard of label, who promises to make her a star without the rigorous terms set out by the other label. Drawn to the comfortable feel of the company, she decides to go with the smaller label and soon begins work on her first album. This not only dissolves her family's touring band but also affects her relationship with her long time crush (and her brother's best friend), Adam. As Bird rises to fame, she struggles to cope with her sudden popularity and the negative impact it seems to be having on her relationship with Adam and her brothers.

First things first - I was predisposed to dislike this book for two reasons. Number 1: I just acquired 10 or 11 Agatha Christie books and have been desperately trying to find a home for them on my already heavily laden bookshelves, so if I hated this one, I could get rid of it and have that much more space. Number 2: After reading the clip on the back cover, I was almost positive it was going to be some sickeningly sappy love story. On one hand, it wasn't quite as bad as I expected; I finished the whole thing within a couple of hours. On the other hand, pretty much the only reason I pushed through it is because I'm a sucker for the glitz and glamor life, which is basically the back half of the book. If you've ever seen the Partridge Family (and I regret to say that I have), you might notice a strong resemblance in this story. In fact, it basically goes from the Partridge Family to Taylor Swift in about 2 chapters flat. In addition to that, the ending is so abrupt that you might find yourself headed to the nearest doctor's office for whiplash. After spending the entire novel cultivating her relationship with the object of her crush, the whole thing is resolved in 2 pages and 1 phone conversation. There aren't really any sub-plots to engage your attention, and it doesn't have any elements of other genres except the romance. Overall, while it's something that I may pick up at the library to read once, it's not something I'll be keeping on my shelf.

Pros:

• Quick read (couple of hours at most)
• Easy read (no Plato-style language or ideas here!)
• Interesting (and probably accurate) look behind-the-scenes of music videos

Cons:

• Typical, over-simplified plot
• Story resembles a cross between the Partridge Family and the rise of Taylor Swift
• Abrupt ending

Mermaid - Carolyn Turgeon

Who doesn't love mermaids? Glittery tails, gorgeous hair (despite the high salt content of the sea), a free workout every time you move... what more could you want? Except maybe clam bras. Those are also on the list. Unless you're a mermaid in this book, then no clam bra for you. Okay, moving on now.

Lenia, princess of the merpeople, has always dreamed about her 18th birthday, the only time that she'll be able to surface and see the human world. Once, mermaids interacted with the surface frequently, but when they started getting caught in the human's nets, the royal family decreed that mermaids would only be able to visit once on their 18th birthday. Lenia has always been intrigued by the humans, especially because of stories her grandmother told about their souls; while mermaids gradually dissolve into foam and fade from the world, humans have something that lives forever. When her 18th birthday comes, Lenia is excited to surface and learn more. Once she reaches the human world, however, she is horrified to witness a ship struggling against a terrible storm. She thought dying would be a beautiful thing, with the souls leaving their owners like a bright light, but instead, she watches men convulse and struggle to get air under the water. And then she sees him, standing on the prow of the ship as it goes down, and she knows she has to save him. She rescues him from drowning and swims for miles to find dry land for him, singing to him the whole way. When she reaches a beach, she realizes the she can do nothing else to help the unconscious sailor, so she gets the attention of a girl standing on a turret nearby. Certain that he will be cared for, Lenia returns to the sea, but her heart stays above with the handsome sailor she rescued. Once below, her love for the sailor consumes her and she enlists the help of a sea witch to once again venture to the surface. The price, however, is her tail, her tongue, and her voice. Additionally, if she fails to marry the man, she will turn to foam the day after he marries another. She decides to risk it all to return to the man she loves.

Margrethe, the daughter of the king of the North, is in disguise at a convent to avoid attack from the Southern warriors. While taking a breath of fresh air, she sees the impossible; a mermaid surfaces carrying an incredibly handsome man. She rushes down to assist and promises to care for the man, then watches as the mermaid swims away. While the convent cares for the wounded man, she keeps him company, eventually falling in love with him. Unbeknownst to her, he is the son of the king of the South, her father's sworn enemy. After he leaves, her father learns that his enemy's son had infiltrated his daughter's hiding place and he rushes her home, eager to begin war preparations against the South for their treachery. When Margrethe realizes that the love of her life is in danger, and that her father is rushing down the road of destruction, she decides to take matters into her own hands; she will go to the South and offer her hand in marriage to once again unite the kingdoms. Margrethe and Lenia converge in the South, each one desperate for the Prince's love, but neither getting what they had expected.

Let me start off by saying I wanted to love this book. I really really did (for obvious mermaid reasons). In general, I liked it; the plot was exciting and intense, and I loved the similarities to the original tale. But, that being said, there were just too many holes in the plot that pulled me out of the story. Exhibit 1: Lenia falls in love with the Prince on sight, which I may have been able to forgive if the exact same thing hadn't supposedly happened to Margrethe. Whether I was supposed to believe that she loved him because of his affiliation with Lenia or his dashing good looks or what-have-you, it just didn't click for me. Furthermore, she leaves the safety of her kingdom and stakes her life on her love for this virtual stranger, leaving her (admittedly irrational) father in the dust. And the same thing happens to Lenia! Exhibit 2: I don't want to give away part of the plot so I'll try to generalize; Lenia is told by the sea witch that the transformation from mermaid to human is permanent, but this comes into question at the end of the book, and she retains some mermaid-esque traits with regards to one particular plot twist. (No spoilers for you!) Overall, the main characters' actions just seemed so rash and immature that I had a hard time staying immersed in the book. If you can forgive the whole "love at first sight" trope, you'll probably enjoy it. If you can't, you might still enjoy it, just try to push it to the back of your mind.

Pros:

• Mermaids!
• Interesting twist on the classic
• Fast-paced and keeps your attention

Cons:

• Ill-informed decisions all around
• "Love" is eventually reduced to something closer to "intimate relations" *cough cough* 
• Somewhat annoying (but admittedly minor) story discrepancies

Now, because I absolutely hate ending things on a negative note, I present to you my all time favorite GIF (jif or ghif, no judgement here). Don't take a sip of anything before looking unless you want it coming out of your nose!

The Season - Sarah MacLean

I LOVE historical fiction, and one of my favorite time periods to read about is the Regency Era. There's something completely enchanting about the London Season, when girls of a marriageable age attended balls in beautiful gowns in hopes of finding a husband. Slightly less enchanting is the manner in which women were often paired with undesirable partners solely to move up on the social ladder, but a girl can still dream. Anyhow, this is one such enchanting novel.

Alex is making her debut for the Season this year, but one thing sets her apart from many of her hopeful counterparts; she has absolutely no desire to marry. In fact, she believes the whole thing is ridiculous. The headstrong Alex finds the expectation to be the perfect lady burdensome at best and is irritated (and intimidated) by her inability to discuss important things like politics. Additionally, growing up in the presence of four jocular males has had the unfortunate side effect of causing her to speak her mind without thinking of the consequences. The only people she feels comfortable with outside of her immediate family are her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, and Gavin, her brothers' closest friend and her confidant. But that was before the mysterious death of Gavin's father. Now, he has inherited the title of Earl of Blackmoor and the responsibilities that go with it. Whether it's the Season or Gavin's new title, something has affected their relationship, changing it from familial to something more intimate. As they struggle to cope with these new (and not entirely unwelcome) feelings, a shocking discovery comes to light regarding the so-called accidental death of Gavin's father. Soon, Alex, Gavin, Ella, and Vivi are mixed up in a life-threatening plot that could have devastating national consequences.

The fact that I chugged through this book without stopping should indicate the level to which I love and adore it, but in case that doesn't speak for itself, I'll explain. First off, I love Alex's character. She goes against the grain of society in an inadvertently determined way and she's not willing to settle for the norm. She's intelligent, witty, and amusing, but she doesn't always think things through, which, I have to admit, grated on my nerves a little bit. Second, have I mentioned the Season yet? Beautiful balls, stunning ballgowns, man-hunting... what's not to love?! Finally, Gavin is pretty much what every girl dreams of, except for the occasional annoying incident. Pretty much the only real problem I had with the book was how she rushed into the conspiracy, knowing that people's lives were being put at risk. Even with that, it's definitely a book I would want to add to my collection!

Pros:

• London Season!!
• Forbidden romance (I know, I know, so typical. But give it a chance!)
•  Mystery AND romance AND historical Easter eggs

Cons:

• You say "life-threatening danger", Alex says "I'm on it! Never mind the impact on my entire family, my two closest friends, and the love of my life!"
• Plot seemed a little rushed with regards to the relationship between Alex and Gavin
• Snobby debutantes who think they can get whatever they want just because they're beautiful

Sloppy Joes

Remember when your mom used to make Sloppy Joes with Manwich, the sickeningly sweet canned sauce you'd add to ground beef? Yeah, me too. It was awful. It made me never want to touch anything remotely resembling Sloppy Joes again. That was before I discovered the Pioneer Woman, the queen of home cooking. She's got a recipe for pretty much everything you could ever want, and that includes Sloppy Joes. Once again, home cooking wins against processed, store-bought food!
 
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 TBSP. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. chili powder, or more to taste
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, or more to taste
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Tabasco sauce to taste
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 kaiser rolls
2 TBSP. butter

Directions:

1.  Brown ground beef in a large pot over medium-high heat, then drain off the fat.
2. Add in green pepper and onion. Stir, then add minced garlic, ketchup, and 1 cup water. Stir to combine, then add brown sugar, chili powder, mustard, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. Stir again, then cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
3. To serve, spread the kaiser rolls with softened butter and brown them on a griddle or skillet. Spoon the meat mixture onto the bottom roll, then top with the other half.

Source: The Pioneer Woman

A Matter of Heart - Amy Fellner Dominy

Abby Lipman has it all: she's the best female swimmer in her school, is about to swim for the Olympic qualifier, and dates the best (not to mention, most attractive) male swimmer on the team. Abby's father was once in her shoes, but a freak accident ended his swimming career before it had even started. Consequently, she swims for both of them, fulfilling her ongoing dreams and the ones he never got to live out. When she passes out after a meet, her coach sends her to the doctor for permission to swim again, where she is devastated to learn that she has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), an enlargement of the heart that jeopardizes her future. She is immediately prescribed a heart-slowing drug which, despite potentially saving her life, destroys her ability to swim competitively. In addition to not being able to race, her boyfriend decides that there's not room in their relationship for HCM and breaks it off. With the qualifier swim coming up, Abby decides to continue her training against the advice of her doctors and peers, but she didn't count on being under the watchful eye of Alec, a team member who she previously looked down on. As the two grow closer, Alec urges Abby to stop risking her life for swimming. When she can no longer lie to herself about her chances of winning while on the medication, she makes an impossible decision: she's going to win that meet or die trying, and that means taking herself off of the meds behind her parents' backs. This life-changing decision has huge consequences for her, but will the qualifier swim be her last one, or will she come to her senses in time to save her own life?

I received this book from my monthly Bookcase Club Box, which, by the way, is a really awesome service available for book-lovers. When I first picked it up, I was certain it was going to be your typical sappy romance novel, but I guess that goes to show you that you really can't judge a book by its cover. I couldn't put it down! The constant suspense caused by her continuing her training with HCM keeps you turning pages to find out what's going to happen, and you can't help but sympathize with her as you watch not only her dreams but also her father's crash and burn. That being said, I found her character a little annoying because she was legitimately going to put her life in danger just to swim a race, not to mention lying to pretty much everyone about what was going on. I eventually decided that her actions were due to her age and the shock of the diagnosis, so it wasn't a huge obstacle while I was reading.

 In addition to being a good novel in general, it's also informative; Dominy talks about HCM briefly at the end of the book. HCM is a real disease that affects 2 in 500 people, especially athletes, killing most of them before they've even been diagnosed. The realistic nature of the condition makes the story even more poignant, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book are donated to a heart foundation.

Pros:

• A can't-put-it-down page turner!
• Realistic and relatable storyline
• Good character development

Cons:

• Main character can be a little unlikable when making rash decisions
• Parents' characters seem a little underdeveloped off the bat
• Typical teenage drama (some directly attributable to HCM diagnosis)

Beauty - Robin McKinley

What would you do to save your family? 

Beauty, Grace, and Hope live in the city with their father, Roderick, a wealthy man who lost his wife and newborn child to a trying pregnancy. Although she was named Honour at birth, an incident in her childhood left her with the nickname Beauty, a name she came to hate as she matured into the opposite. When one of her father's business ventures ends disastrously, the family is left with nothing and is forced to move from their fancy city house to the country to earn their keep. There, they make a living for themselves using the skills of their father and Hope's husband. Beauty's father returns to the city to tie up some loose ends with his former business, but returns home with a fortune and a terrible story. After being caught in a storm on the journey home, Roderick found himself in an enchanted castle in the heart of the forest where he was graciously cared for by magical attendants. As he was leaving, he came across a garden of stunning roses and picked one to bring home to Beauty, who had requested seeds he had been unable to find in the city. Enter the Beast. As punishment for "stealing" one of the prized roses, the Beast issues an ultimatum; Roderick must return in a month's time as the Beast's prisoner, or bring one of his daughters to fill his place. Beauty, true to her birth name, insists on taking her father's place, and so she arrives one month later at the gates of the castle. Expecting to be treated as a prisoner, she is pleasantly surprised to discover that, although he is certainly fearsome, the Beast seems to have no plans of having her for dinner (other than in the traditional sense). In fact, he goes to great lengths to ensure her comfort. Every night, however, he asks for her hand in marriage, and every night she declines. As time goes by, she finds herself becoming more and more comfortable around him and learns more about the enchantment that is on the castle. When Beauty becomes aware of a crisis at home, she begs the Beast to release her, vowing to return. He agrees, but will she return to break the enchantment, or will she remain with her family?

Obviously, I'm not going to spoil the ending for you because what kind of horrible person would that make me? So, on to the analysis. I LOVE Beauty and the Beast. If you do, you'll probably like it. If you don't, you probably won't like it. This retelling has elements of both the original tale and the Disney version, but it was written before the Disney version even came out! Talk about foreshadowing! Now, being somewhat of a young adult novel, Robin McKinley spared us some of the more gruesome elements of the original tale, but other than that, it's pretty true. As with all books, it does have flaws; pacing, for one thing. A huge chunk of the book takes place with her family, not the Beast, and the ending is so abrupt I thought I had gotten whiplash. Moving on.

Pros:

• Retelling of Beauty and the Beast (obviously)
• Ridiculously awesome attention to detail
• Provides a lot of interesting backstory to Beauty

Cons:

• Pacing, pacing, pacing!
• My second greatest pet peeve, there were TWO typos in the edition I have *hideous crying*
• A lot of stuff is never fully explained and you're left scratching your head at the end. Seriously, the ending left me so bamboozled the first time around that I finally just threw my hands in the air  and decided to blame it on magic.

Okay, since we're on the topic anyway, let's take a moment to talk about the upcoming Beauty and the Beast movie starring Emma Watson, who may or may not be my favorite person of all time. "Gasp! There's a live action Beauty and the Beast?!" Yes, yes there is (or will be). Please take this opportunity to familiarize yourself with the absolutely amazingly stunningly awesome trailer below.

FREAK. OUT. MODE. I am so excited about this I can't even properly express it. That's probably why I'm rereading every Beauty and the Beast retelling I've ever come across - you know, just like you did for Harry Potter (no, don't try to deny it, it's okay). So, now you know about the new movie and a great retelling of the original tale! Yay for you!

Loaded Scrambled Eggs

I have a secret. A deep, dark secret. I. HATE. Scrambled. Eggs. Where do I start? The slimy, squishy texture? The hideous smell that pervades the house during cooking? The bland, gag-inducing taste? I'm going to go with all of the above. 20 years have I lived in fear of scrambled eggs. In fact, threatening scrambled eggs for dinner was a regular scare tactic used by my mother to motivate me to fix dinner. But the tables have turned. I have found the Holy Grail of scrambled egg recipes, the one that finally broke through my hatred and made it into my "favorite recipes" cache. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I thought it only fair to share my golden egg with you (pun intended).

 NOTE: This recipe differs only slightly from the original, which you'll find the link to below.
Originally, the recipe calls for tomatoes and crusty bread to serve it on, but I thought the tomatoes made it too watery and I served it with fresh-squeezed orange juice and turkey sausage instead of bread.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 red onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 TBSP. olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
8 large eggs, beaten
3 oz. Cheddar, grated (about 3/4 cup)
1/3 c. finely chopped flat-lead parsley leaves

Directions:

1.  Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender, 12-14 minutes. 
2. Add eggs and cook, stirring frequently, until the eggs are just set, 1-2 minutes. Add the Cheddar and cook, stirring, until just melted, 1-2 minutes more.
3.  Remove from heat, stir in parsley, and serve.

 Source: Real Simple

The Last Necromancer - C.J. Archer

Do I love the feel of a book in my hands? Yes. More than my own children (technically accurate, as I don't have any). But I also love my Kindle. I've lost track of how many amazing books I've found while browsing through the B&N store. And, if you sort it by low-high price, you can pick up some awesome reads for free. The only kicker is that once they've gotten you hooked on the series with the free book, all the others actually cost something. This strategy works perfectly on suckers like me, I'm sad to say. In fact, this book is the perfect example. The first book was free, but I promptly finished that one... and the one after that... and the one after that. 3 days and 4 books later, I finally had to rein the horse in, but you get the idea.

Meet Charlie, a dirty street urchin who steals to survive in London's impoverished neighborhoods. But two things set Charlie apart from the rest of the street rabble: Charlie is a girl and the last necromancer. Forced to disguise herself as a boy to keep her safe, Charlie (a.k.a. Charlotte) was kicked out of her home when her conservative father inadvertently discovered her powers. When word starts getting around, Charlie finds herself being pursued by persons unknown. She soon falls into the clutches of one such group, a strange trio of men that answers to an organization known only to her as the Ministry. The leader of the group, Lincoln Fitzroy, is a serious, intimidating man who has been training to lead the Ministry for his whole life. His only goal is to protect the Queen from supernatural harm, and keeping Charlie out of evil hands is one way of doing so. She soon learns that they are up against a dangerous foe who is harvesting body parts from the dead and trying to reanimate them. But can Fitzroy convince Charlie to stay and help willingly, or will he have to hold her hostage? Charlie has no desire to become a tool of the Ministry, but she has nowhere else to turn. Aside from that, she is becoming more and more intrigued by the mysterious Mr. Fitzroy, despite his warnings to stay away. As Charlie's position becomes more and more precarious in the household, she must decide if she will join forces with the Ministry or return to her life in the streets.

First things first. A Frankenstein character looking for a necromancer in Victorian era London?? I'M IN HEAVEN! This is an actual dream come true. It's like science fiction meets fantasy meets mystery meets romance. Second of all, the author actually addresses things that are relevant to life as a female. Did you ever notice how lots of books and movies leave out some of the less pleasant aspects of life (e.g no need for bathrooms)? Not so for this series! For example, I bet you never thought about the work that goes into disguising yourself as a adolescent boy when you're actually a female in your upper teens, especially during *ahem* certain times of the month. It's so refreshing to finally have a series where this stuff doesn't get pushed under the rug. All in all, I highly recommend, not only the book, but the series in general. With all that being said, here's the standard "pros v. cons" list for your browsing convenience.

Pros:

• Science fiction meets fantasy meets mystery meets romance
• An edge-of-your-seat read
• Character development and plot progression are through-the-roof awesome

Cons:

• Some language
• After the first book, you pay >:(
• There's no movie (actually, this might be a good thing considering the history of book to movie conversions)

Star of the Morning - Lynn Kurland

Oh, this book. I don't choose favorites, but if I did, I'm pretty sure this would be it. It's got everything. EVERYTHING. Perilous quests, mysterious pasts, and a hefty helping of romance, all written with an underappreciated tinge of humor. And the main character is a sassy, sword-wielding shieldmaiden that relies only on her skills to get by. What more could you want?

Morgan of Melksham has no tolerance for magic. As someone who grew up with a sword in hand, finger waggling mutterers simply have no place in her life. Morgan was taken in by a kind-hearted old man who ran an orphanage after a group of mercenaries found her abandoned in an evil forest. As she grew, her swordplay improved; this was helped considerably by a stint on the other side of the island, home to a tower where only the most desperate go to train and only the most determined make it out with the mark of one who has completed training. Morgan was one of these determined individuals, and after leaving the tower, she became a blade for hire, settling petty disputes between neighboring lords and taking on sieges. This all changed when she received a mysterious summons from the man who had raised her and given her a home. Abandoning her current siege, she returns to the orphanage to find it's lord waiting for her with a dangerous quest: the king of Neroche has lost his magic, his borders are being invaded by foul creatures, and an enspelled dagger might be able to help him. Morgan is tasked with bearing the knife to Neroche.

Meanwhile in Neroche, King Adhemar is seeking a way to compensate for the unexplained loss of his powers; one minute he was fighting and his sword was responding to the magic in his blood, and the next thing you know, the magelight went out and he found himself powerless. His younger brother and the archmage of the realm, Miach, suggests finding a wielder for the magic sword that has hung in the castle for centuries. With the help of the wielder, they would be able to beat back the creatures that were overrunning the borders. Adhemar leaves Neroche and travels incognito in search of this wielder. Along the way, he runs into Morgan, who promptly knocks him out and steals his best pair of socks in payment for following her. The two are met by a few of Morgan's mercenary friends, and they end up traveling together. Back in Neroche, Miach hasn't received any messages from Adhemar, so he decides to check in himself and see what's happening. Searching for them proves harder than he expected, but he sees the magelight of the sword and is able to follow it. Upon arrival, he discovers that it was not Adhemar who called the magic, but Morgan, a seemingly insignificant wench from a backwater island. Morgan, who is very seasick from the trip across the ocean, refuses to acknowledge that she summoned the magic.

Miach decides to stay for a while, not only to assist in the search, but also so he can be close to Morgan, who he finds himself drawn to despite her rough nature. As the group draws closer to Neroche, so do Miach and Morgan. Disguising his true identity under the pretense of being a farmer, he helps Morgan as she struggles with the realization that she has magic in her blood. Along the way, he realizes that there is more to Morgan than there seems, and he eventually realizes that she is the one that Neroche needs to wield the sword. He hides this information from Adhemar and Morgan, afraid that the woman he has come to love will become nothing more than a pet to the crown. Miach has to decide which is more important: his duty or his heart. However, once they reach Neroche, everything will come out, one way or another. In the interest of not spoiling the ending, I'll leave it at that.

Pros:

• Star of the Morning has virtually every characteristic you could want in a book
• Never a dull moment
• Strong female lead

Cons:

• The rather abrupt ending always leaves me feeling like I'm missing something
• Somewhere along the way, it seems like the focus goes away from the quest to Neroche and becomes a series of smaller plots
• This storyline degrades a little as the series goes on

Stone Rider - David Hofmeyr

Welcome to Blackwater, one of the many poor towns struggling to get by. The air is slowly killing everyone, and the only way out is Sky-Base, a luxurious fortress in the sky where the only thing you have to worry about is what you should order for your next meal. It's not easy to get there, though. The answer lies in the bykes, futuristic mounts that are passed down through generations of families while collecting imprints of each rider's consciousness. Winning byke races gets you base points, and once you get enough, you are granted access to Sky-Base. Racing comes at a cost, though; most of them are dangerous and have high fatality rates, but the racers will do anything to get off the ground. Most of them form tribes to increase their chances of survival, all of them with different traits meant to identify them.

Adam lives with his brother in Blackwater, helping to support the household since the race that took his brother's leg. He saves up his money in the hopes of entering the Blackwater Trail, the toughest race out of them all. He has a major crush on the local byke mechanic, Sadie, but he's too scared to do anything about it. Everything changes when a mysterious rider, Kane, shows up in town. Impressed with each other's skills, the two boys hit it off, but they attract the attention of a local tribe. When tragedy results, Adam has no choice but to enter the Blackwater Trail. Despite his plans to race alone, he ends up joining forces with Kane and, eventually, Sadie. Together, they struggle against the forces of nature and the conniving minds at Sky-Base. Along the way, they learn more about themselves and each other, but there can only be one winner.

First off, let me say that this did not seem like my type of book. Based on the blurb on the back cover, it seemed like the author was trying to take an old concept (bikes) and turn it into some futuristic concept (bykes that interface with the user so they work together and ride better). This did not seem particularly appealing to me, but since it came in my book subscription box, I felt I at least had to try it out. Starting off, it was pretty slow. I can usually orient myself pretty well as to where a story is taking place, but the only thing I pulled from the opening chapters was that poor people lived on the ground in a western-style community (with bykes instead of horses and slingshots instead of guns) and rich people lived at something called Sky-Base. Making the assumption that Adam would be taking part in the big race, I kept reading in the hopes that it would all clear up then. Boy, did it ever! And I didn't even have to wait until the actual race started. A few chapters before race day, things really start heating up. The rest of the book kept my attention really well. There was a lot more action and I knew where things stood a little better. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I was yet again reminded me of the Hunger Games. The authority figures in Blackwater and on Sky-Base all bet on the riders and see the races as a huge game. They even rig the trail for optimum action, much like the Gamemakers.

 Overall, it was an okay read. It's not one that I'll beg friends to read, but it was pretty interesting once I figured out what was going on. Happy reading!

Pros:

• A "can't-put-it-down" read once you get to the race
• Good character development
• Has a lot of different dynamic elements to capture your attention

Cons: 

• Fair bit of language
• One fairly graphic scene between Sadie and Adam
• Really slow start