What's a Cajun Christmas Anyway?

My abbreviated account of the differences between Christmas in Nebraska and Christmas in Louisiana is published in the After Hours section of AAR today.

Happy holidays to everyone!  And however you celebrated, I hope it was the happiest and most peaceful day of the year for you.

Two New Booklist Reviews

Reviews of Sugar Rush by Donna Kauffman and How to Worship a Goddess by Stephanie Julian ran in the December 15, 2011, issue of Booklist and are now available at Booklist online.  Sugar Rush so far is the best of the Cupcake Club romances.  While Sweet Stuff by Kauffman is interesting, it's not as peppy and lively as the first book.  I still don't know why they didn't go with a Wayne Thiebaud - type cover instead of this bland cover.  The cupcakes don't even look enticing here!

I'm Not Amish But This Is a Good Read

My review of Katie's Way by Marta Perry has been published on AAR today.  I don't know what appeals to me about the Amish books.  Maybe it's the ideal of a close-knit community even though I know that such communities are rife with gossip and backbiting.  But ideal is still there.

Maybe it's that in this age of laxity, the Amish are a group whose glue is living by rules.  Or maybe it's the facade of purity and serenity.

Or possibly it's that I know myself well enough to know that I could never, ever live the life of an Amish person.

I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and almost from the moment I was born, I wanted to leave.  I guess that's why I was so surprised years ago when I met this very gentle young Amish man (mid- to late-teens at a guess) who when finding out I was from Nebraska gushed, "Oh, I've always wanted to go there!  Tell me what it's like!"  No one I've known before or since has been that enthusiastic about the state.  In our conversation, he said that Nebraska was where he ultimately wanted to live.  I sincerely hope he's living a long, healthy, happy life there.

One Book Discussed

Last week Leigh asked me if I'd agree to write a Pandora's Box dialog review with her for AAR.  She'd just finished reading Deliciously Sinful and thought that since I'd favorably reviewed Too Hot to Touch that I'd like Sinful.  Since she didn't like the book much, she thought we could have a rousing dialog about it.

When I first saw the cover as I was getting a review copy of the book, I confused it with the cover for Beauty Dates the Beast which I'd enjoyed and for which I'd written a DIK review.  You can imagine my surprise when I discovered my mistake.

After reading the book, I realized that I agreed with Leigh's assessment of it, so we were in a quandary: Should we write a Pandora's Box or not?  In the end, we decided to write the dialog since there were so many places where we differed on what we liked and mostly disliked about the book.

Leigh was right about one thing, however.  Deliciously Sinful is the type of book that I like: hot bad-boy chefs, the girls who open the guys' eyes and hearts, and glorious descriptions of food.  What's not to like?  I just wish Deliciously Sinful had delivered.  I was really hungry for some take-out.