The Marvellous Light served with Fish and Chips

The Marvellous Light by Freya Marske and served with Fish and Chips 

This was a fun one!  To be honest I bought this book because I loved the cover and the description intrigued me.  The cover is just so fabulous!  

Not exactly sure what genre I'd place this in...  Fantasy,  Romance, mystery.    It has a bit of all of that.  This is set in Edwardian England and it turns out there is a community of magicians that have gone unnoticed by the rest of the population.  We are introduced to it in chapter one and we see something really bad is happening.  Someone is being tortured to give away a secret.  Jump forward and non magical Robin is mistakenly assigned to the position to investigate magical circumstances.  He has no idea what that means!  We meet Edwin who is trying to figure out what happened to Robin's predecessor Reginald (Who was being tortured in chapter 1) .  Edwin is magical though he has some limits to what he can do.   We get pulled into this mystery of why was  Reginald being tortured, what was he hiding, where is this thing and why is someone now trying to kill Robin over it.   There is the magic, the mystery and a love story between the 2 main characters.   

This was really fun.  I enjoyed the magical element and found the romance lovely.  I was not expecting it to be so steamy.  To be honest I mainly read closed door romance and this was wide open door!  I think it might be my first romance between to male characters and it was perfect but maybe a bit graphic!  I enjoyed the yearning and longing from both characters and the sweet romance but maybe could have cut out some of the sex.  

I would have liked to have learned more about how big this magical world is and to maybe get to know some of the other characters a bit more.  I totally got confused by all of the people at Edwin's house and none of them really stood out.  I kept asking- who is that?   

Overall a solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐, fun, entertaining read.  I am looking forward to the sequel, A Restless Truth , due out in November. 

I knew i had to make something very English for this.  I went with Fish and Chips.  Well...  in this case, fish and tater tots.    I made them in the air fryer. 

https://bluejeanchef.com/recipes/beer-battered-fish/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes&utm_term=1031574406_47865340_220701

thought this recipe was okay but not the best.  Felt like it needed a bit more flavor.  AND i did not coat it enough with cooking spray and the entire bottom stuck to the tray and tore off when i removed it. 

paired with with some tater tots, not homemade, and a lovely ale.  

Enjoy! 

The Spanish Daughter served with Mexican Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Muffins

The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes served with Mexican Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Muffins. 

I've been wanting to try one of those book boxes that comes with little gifts related to the story.  So, I decided to try one of the backlist from "Once Upon a Book Club " and I ordered the Spanish Daughter box.   You get a cool box, the book, an author book plate, some questions and information on the book and 4 gifts to open as you read.  They are numbered with the page and the book also has post- it's telling you when to open.   Cool idea. 

The book was good.  It is the story of Puri who is traveling from Spain to Ecuador.  Her father has died and she is to inherit part of a cocoa estate.  During the ocean crossing, she is attacked by someone who wants to prevent her from arriving.  Her husband defends her and is killed in the process.  (this all happens in the first chapter so not giving anything away)    Because she knows someone wants her dead, she assumes her husbands identity and tells her Ecuadorian family that she died on the ship and that she, Cristobal, is here to get her inheritance.   We meet her new family and others from the small town.  The story is a bit of a mystery of who wants her dead and part family saga.   

I liked this story but didn't love it.   Here is what I liked- super interesting to learn about cocoa and it was fascinating that those working on the estate had never tried chocolate!  I liked the family drama and would have liked more about the sisters.   What I didn't like- I had a hard time believing her fake beard and clothes fooled people for so long.  I also felt like the end was really rushed.  Something happens that changes everyone's future and it is wrapped up in the last chapter.  what the heck! 

The box gifts included a fan, some earrings, a hat and a chocolate mold for making Chocolate balls.  I really like the gift box idea but not sure it was worth the money.    

I'd give the book and the box ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 out of 5. 

I made Mexican Hot Chocolate and chocolate muffins.  The muffins came out just okay so I'm going to skip over those!  but the Hot Chocolate was sooooo  good.   I found the recipe on Pinterest but didn't save it and now I can't find it.  So, here is what I did... 

half a can of sweetened condense milk, 1 cup of regular milk, 6 oz of chocolate chips, a dash of vanilla and a few pinches of cayenne pepper.    I heated the milks and then added the chocolate chips. then the vanilla and pepper.   This is the kind of chocolate you want to drink in a sipping cup.  For the photo I did a big mug but I could drink all of that.  Much too rich.  I used one of my sipping cups and the batch I made lasted me all week.   It as a nice treat each evening.  Enjoy! 

Meet me in the Margins served with Donuts

 Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson and served with donuts.

I wanted a quick and easy romance and that it what I got.   Savannah is a book editor but dreams of becoming an author.  She works at a publishing house that turns it's nose up on fiction and especially romantic fiction which is exactly what she is writing.  So, of course she must keep her manuscript a secret.  He new boss, Will , is hoping to turn around the publishing house but he'll have to fight his mother to do it.  Savannah leaves her manuscript in the secret attic room and comes back to find that someone has edited it and left notes in the margin.  Because she is desperate to get published, she starts following the notes.  Meanwhile she is getting closer to Will and dealing with her crazy sister and ex boyfriend who is now engaged to her sister. 

What I liked; 

    quick and easy read.    Fun that it's set in publishing and it's always great to read about books.   Kind of a nice little flirtation back and forth with his notes to her. 

What I didn't like ; 

    The family thing was annoying. Living with her sister and ex boyfriend just felt really unrealistic.  Her sister came across as crazy and you knew the entire time that he still have feelings for Savannah.  Also I was hoping for  little bit more romance. 

Overall a solid 3 stars  ⭐⭐⭐.   

I decided to make donuts...  again ...  for a few reasons.  They have donuts in their break room and today is national donut day!   Plus my besties got me a nifty donut pan.   

Found a simple and delicious recipe on Sally's Baking addiction.  They were so good but as with most donuts, you really need to eat them on day one.  By day 2, they just aren't the same.  

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/maple-glazed-donuts/

Enjoy!