Cinnamon Rolls and Coffee

I had "cinnamon rolls" for breakfast. Cinnamon rolls hold a special place in my heart. All of that gooey cinnamon and sugar rolled up in rich pastry dough, served with a cup of fresh brewed coffee with just the right amount of vanilla creamer makes the rest of my day a little brighter. So you can imagine my delight when I found this in the freezer at my local grocery store.  They are made by Kinnikinnick Foods.

I was perusing the gluten free pasta and had turned to go to the checkout when I spotted this package through the partially frosted door of the freezer.  Surely they aren't gluten free and are just in the wrong spot, I thought.  When I opened the door and withdrew the package so I could read it more thoroughly I gasped in delight.  "They are gluten free!"  I exclaimed out loud, garnering myself a strange look from the lady buying six boxes of organic cereal and two boxes of chocolate snack cakes. I thought about those cinnamon rolls all night. Several times while watching the season premiere of The Big Bang Theory (which was excellent by the way) I was tempted to eat one. "No," I told myself. "You will be unhappy with yourself if you eat a cinnamon roll now. Save it for morning when you can have a cup of coffee with it." So I dreamed about cinnamon rolls, and woke up early (with a big drool spot on my pillow) so I could have one. I brewed coffee from freshly ground beans and added my favorite vanilla creamer. The cinnamon rolls are frozen, so I carefully placed one on a plate and heated it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Isn't it beautiful?

I bit into it, waiting for the taste of cinnamon to explode in my mouth. And I waited, and I waited. I rolled the bite around my tongue a little, and chewed and swallowed. It looks like there is cinnamon in these cinnamon rolls. You can see it. But I couldn't taste it. The pastry itself was kind of rubbery, but you can expect that from pretty much any packaged and frozen baked goods, gluten free or not. It was sweet, and it tasted good, but I don't think Kinnikinnick Foods should call these Cinnamon Buns. Maybe they should change the name to Sweet Rolls instead.  So, although I was disappointed by the lack of cinnamon, and I did eat more than one from different ends of the package to make sure, these rolls are still a good breakfast treat and were excellent with my coffee.  But I will be continuing my search for the perfect gluten free cinnamon roll, even if I have to make it myself.

Brand New Day

I'm back. After months of being sick I am finally ready to get this blog going again. I apologize to the authors and publishers who had sent me books in the hopes that I would review them here. I will still be reviewing them all, even though it is a little late. I also apologize to my readers. However, the way that I was feeling I was unable to concentrate on anything for very long. Thank you to everyone who contacted me concerned about my health and asking when I was coming back to the BookNook.

The doctors have decided that I have Celiac Disease. (For information about Celieac Disease go here.)  As long as I make sure not to eat anything containing gluten I feel great. So let's have some fun, and read some books!

I am also going to add some new content. Due to my recent experiences with learning how to live gluten free, I am going to be adding reviews of gluten free products and gluten free recipes.

It's a brand new day!

Dead on the Delta - Review

Title:  Dead on the Delta

Author: Stacey Jay

Synopsis:  “Once upon a time, fairies were the stuff of bedtime stories and sweet dreams.  Then came the mutations, and the dre-ams became nightmares.  Mosquito-size fairies now indulge their taste for human blood – and for most humans, a fairy bite means insanity or death.  Luckily, Annabelle Lee isn’t most humans.  The hard-drinking, smart-mouthed, bicycle-riding redhead is immune to fairy venom, and able to do the dirty work most humans can’t.  Including helping law enforcement – and Cane Cooper, the bayou’s sexiest detective – collect evidence when a body is discovered outside the fairy-proof barricades of her Louisiana town.

          “But Annabelle isn’t equipped to deal with the murder of a six-year-old girl or a former lover-turned-FBI snob taking an interest in the case.  Suddenly her already bumpy relationship with Cane turns even rockier, and even the most trust-worthy friends become suspects.  Annabelle’s life is imploding: between relationship drama, a heartbreaking murder investigation, Breeze-crazed drug runners, and a few too many rum and Cokes, Annabelle is a woman on the run – from her past, toward her future, and into the arms of a darkness waiting just for her…”

Review:  You know how I’m always looking for a book that’s original?  I’m always complaining about how all the books I read are starting to blend together and they’re all the same… blah blah blah.  Here is that original novel we’ve all been looking for.  Dead on the Delta is definitely different.  This is the first time I’ve ever read a novel and severely disliked the heroine but still loved the book. 

        Yah, that’s right.  I didn’t like Annabelle.  I thought she was a whiney alcoholic who just needed to suck it up and get on with her life.  But, I couldn’t put the book down!  I loved the post-apocalyptic feel of the world and the dangerous venomous fairies. Add to that the mystery of who killed Grace the six-year old whose body was found in the bayou, Gimpy, the unlovable cat, and Cane and Hitch the two sexy men in Annabelle’s life and Dead on the Delta is a winner!

Publisher:  Pocket Books

ISBN: 978-1439189863

If you like this book you may want to read:

Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch (ISBN: 978-0756406004) See my review here.

Hounded by Kevin Hearne (ISBN: 978-0345522474) The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One.  See my review here.

Wicked Witch Murder - Review

Title:  Wicked Witch Murder

Author:  Leslie Meier

Series:  Lucy Stone Mystery Series

Synopsis: “When the bewitching Diana Ravenscroft comes to quiet Tinker’s Cove and opens Solstice, a quaint little shop offering everything from jewelry to psychic readings, Lucy Stone writes her off as eccentric but harmless.  Even after Diana gives her a disturbingly accurate reading, Lucy can’t help but befriend the newcomer.  But not everyone in town is so enchanted.  And when Lucy stumbles upon a dead body near her home, she can’t shake the feeling that something sinister is lurking in the crisp October air…

          “Convinced Diana is an evil witch, prominent businessman Ike Stoughton blames her for a series of recent misfortunes, including Lucy’s gruesome discovery and his own wife’s death, and rallies the townsfolk against her.  But after Lucy learns the murder victim was a magician and close friend of Diana’s, she starts to wonder who’s really stirring up a cauldron of trouble.  By Halloween, her suspicions lead her to a deadly web of secrets – and a spine-chilling brush with the things that go bump in the night…”

Review:  Cozy mysteries are one of my dirty little secrets.  I call them fluff books, and I love them.  These cute little novels don’t play with my emotions and I don’t get so involved that I can’t put them down, but I still look forward to picking them back up.  For those who are confused and wondering, what is a cozy mystery?  Don’t be embarrassed, it took me awhile to figure it out too.  Click here to go to a page that explains cozy mysteries.

          I love how the Lucy Stone Mystery novels are all based on holidays.  I picked up Wicked Witch Murder right before Halloween and had planned to read it during the holiday.  However life had other plans, as that’s when I started getting sick.  I also bought another of these cozies, Turkey Day Murder and had planned to read that one during Thanksgiving, but I was still too sick to feel like reading.  So I am now catching back up on all of this reading I had planned to do.

          I love everything about this novel.  Diana Ravenscroft is delightfully eccentric and naïve, and Ike Stoughton is a bad guy that I found it easy to dislike. I love the change in the heroine that this novel shows.  When Lucy first meets Diana she doesn’t believe in witchcraft or witches at all, but by the end of the novel she has changed her mind.  Rebecca Wardell reminded me of my mother and my nana and I wish that she was real so I could be her friend.  I couldn’t figure out the who-done-it until it was revealed at the very end of the novel.  I had many theories, but they all ended up being wrong.  This novel was amazing, as are Leslie Meier’s other Lucy Stone Mysteries. 

Publisher:  Kensington Publishing Corp

ISBN: 978-0758229304

If you like this book you may want to read:

Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier  (ISBN: 978-0758228895)  First book in the Lucy Stone Mystery Series

On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle (ISBN: 978-0425192139) First book of the Coffeehouse Mysteries

First Grave on the Right - Review

Title:  First Grave on the Right

Author: Darynda Jones

Series: Charley Davidson #1

Synopsis:  “Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper.  Meaning, she sees dead people.  Really.  And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light”.  But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice.  Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life… and it turns out he might not be dead after all.  In fact, he might be something else entirely.  But what does he want with Charley?  And why can’t she seem to resist him?  And what does she have to lose by giving in?”

Review:  First Grave on the Right is a seductive read.  I love paranormal romance novels, but sometimes I get sick of thinking a novel is going to be something new and different only to find out it’s the same old vampire/werewolf story.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love my vampire and shape shifter stories.  But sometimes I crave something different.  First Grave on the Right fulfilled that craving. 

          I also love a good ghost story.  Charley’s attitude toward the ghosts in her life cracked me up!  There’s Aunt Lillian who makes nonexistent coffee which Charley pretends to drink, and Mr. Habersham whose sole ambition in the afterlife seems to be to see Charley naked.  I like Ms. Jones’ writing style.  It only took me three hours to read First Grave on the Right because I simply could not put it down!  The scenes with Reyes were hot.  Hell, as a bad boy/protector figure Reyes himself is super hot!  I found Charley Davidson to be a highly sarcastic and fun character, and I highly recommend reading First Grave on the Right ASAP.

For an excerpt and some fun facts about First Grave on the Right see the authors website here.

Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press

ISBN:  978-0312360801

If you like this book you may want to read:

Grave Witch by Kalayna Price  (ISBN: 978-0451463807)

The Restorer by Amanda Stevens (ISBN: 978-0778329817)

Gateway - Review

Title:  Gateway

Author: Sharon Shinn

Synopsis: “Adopted from China and raised in St. Louis, Daiyu is used to feeling a little out of place, a little restless.  But what kind of adventure is there in the Midwest?  One day, while she’s at a city fair near the Gateway Arch, Daiyu spots a gorgeous black jade ring, and when the elderly vendor tells her that “black jade” translates to “Daiyu”, she impulsively buys the ring and wears it as a token of her heritage.

          “It is much more.

          “Daiyu walks through the Arch on her way home.  She never gets there.  Instead, she passes into another world, another version of St. Louis – where almost everyone is Chinese.

          “Now she has more adventure than she could ever have imagined.  Taken to a safe house, she is trained as a spy in order to help topple the existing government.  Daiyu spends hours learning  refined manners and niceties and flirtations to pass among the elite – and steals moments to be with handsome Kalen, the only person in the alternate world whom she truly trusts, or truly loves.

          “There is only one problem.  Once her task is done, she must return to her own St. Louis, and leave Kalen behind… forever.”

Review:  I should start out by saying that I love Sharon Shinn’s novels.  Her Samaria Novels and The Twelve Houses Novels are my favorites.  When I picked up Gateway I somehow failed to miss the fact that it’s a young adult novel.  Not that there’s anything wrong with young adult novels.  I read plenty of them.  It’s just not what I was expecting when I picked up Gateway. 

          That said, even though it’s not what I was expecting, this is an amazing story.  I love Daiyu, and her quirky family reminded me of my own family.  The descriptions of the worlds and the people were fascinated and rich with a new culture.  Kalen and Daiyu stole my heart with their young love and innocence.  As a bonus surprise Gateway didn’t end the way that I thought it was going to.  Usually I can have the ending of a novel figured out about halfway through reading it, and with Gateway I thought that I had.  Nope, surprise!  This was a delightful, quick read that I highly recommend. 

Publisher: Viking

ISBN: 978-0670011780

If you like this book you may want to read:

Archangel by Sharon Shinn (ISBN: 978-0441004324)

Abarat by Clive Barker (ISBN: 978-0062094100)

A Vintage Affair - Review

Title: A Vintage Affair
Author: Isabel Wolff

Synopsis: "Phoebe Swift’s friends are stunned when she abruptly leaves a plum job to open her own vintage clothing shop in London – but to Phoebe, it’s the fulfillment of a dream, and her passion. Digging for finds in attics and wardrobes, Phoebe knows that when you buy a piece of vintage clothing, you’re not just buying fabric and thread – you’re buying a piece of someone’s past. But one particular article of clothing will soon unexpectedly change her life.
 "Thérèse Bell, an elderly Frenchwoman, has an impressive clothing collection. But among the array of elegant suits and couture gowns, Phoebe finds a child’s blue coat – an item with which Mrs. Bell is stubbornly reluctant to part. As the two women become friends, Phoebe will learn the poignant tale of that little blue coat. And she will discover an astonishing connection between herself and Thérèse Bell – one that will help her heal the pain of her own past and allow her to love again."


Review: A Vintage Affair is a wonderful story about love, life and repentance. Phoebe’s struggle with her past touched my heart. I felt badly for her and wished for her to find happiness all the way through the novel. When she meets Mrs. Bell I was moved by their budding relationship and Phoebe’s search to bring her peace. The characters were so well formed that I was angry, for most of the novel, with Miles and Roxy. I fell deeply in love with Dan and was angry at Phoebe for not seeing what was right under her nose.

 There was a single point that bothered me. It’s when the man wanted to try on corsets and Phoebe says that of course she didn't let him. It took up two lines. Why even bother to put that in? If this was a character flaw it needed to be expanded on more, because put this way it just appears as if the author is prejudiced against transgender individuals. It made me angry because I don’t understand why he couldn't try on the corset and why Ms. Wolff felt the need to throw that in our faces? However despite this malicious and prejudicial remark I did enjoy this book. I laughed, I loved and I cried. A Vintage Affair is a wonderful read.



Publisher: Bantam Books
ISBN: 978-0553386622

If you like this book you may want to read:

The Love Goddess’ Cooking School by Melissa Senate (ISBN: 978-1439107232)

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (ISBN: 978-0553384840) See my review of this novel here.