Saturday Snack Time, October 11, 2014

It's been a while since I did a Saturday Snack Time post, but there have been sooo many good things that I stumbled upon this week. So today just called out for one. So here's a quick selection of links that that stood out, accompanied by Maple Bacon Doughnuts (recipe here) that I made for today's Washington Romance Writers luncheon.It was fab meeting all the writers and bloggers and readers today! If you're new to the blog, here's more about me and here are my review policies. So happy to have met everyone!

1 | Alexis Hall writes about love and intimacy as a goal in genre romance for Bookpushers.

2 | Grayson Perry on the Default Man in The New Statesman. Contains a call for a gay black James Bond, which seems perfectly rational to me.

3 | Banana chocolate hazelnut cake will be happening in my household right quick.

4 | Ana Canino-Fluit gives romance recommendations for books and tropes that appeal to her as a Latina reader.

5 | A Dungeons & Dragons gamemaster who plays with a group of porn stars (also: it isn't a gimmick and it's totally SFW).

6 | Older characters in romance? YES, PLEASE!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Saturday Snack Time, August 2, 2014

Saturday Snack Time is a little collection of fun things I found online during the week and I thought were worth sharing. Let's get snacking, shall we?

1 | Missing San Antonio food? I wasn't even at RWA and I am.

2 | Your giant American refrigerator is making you fat and poor. I'm just gonna leave this here because I haven't decided what I think about it yet.

3 | Watch a blogger dismantle a rude commenter in the nicest, most polite and most effective way possible.

4 | Ha! Replace "Instagram" with "Cooking Up Romance" and this is me.

5 | The world of elite higher education is broken. Especially the part about the pathological fear of failure.

6 | Why survivalists and Galters will be naked come the apocalypse.

Have a great weekend! 

Saturday Snack Time, July 26, 2014

 

Saturday Snack Time is a little collection of fun things I found online during the week and I thought were worth sharing. Oh, and that delectable thing above is an oatmeal carmelita. It's evil. Don't Google it. Let's get snacking, shall we?

1 | I know you love bourbon as much as I do. Right? Don't even pretend you don't. So let's all have this Bourbon Slush Punch.

2 | Feminism in 2014 from the perspective of a Millennial fashion blogger. It's good, don't worry.

3 | Another moment from the "all my friends are Canadian" file.

4 | Have you seen Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries yet? This article was all over this week.

5 | This woman is amazing. Just mute the commentators.

6 | Normally I can't stand those contrived "character interviews" used for book promo, but these were actually kind of fun.

Have a great weekend!

Saturday Snack Time: July 19, 2014

Saturday Snack Time is a little collection of fun things I found online during the week and I thought were worth sharing. Let's get snacking, shall we?

1 | I made this grilled corn pico de gallo for our D&D group today. Yummy.

2 | I've got eight egg whites chilling in my fridge from making ice cream this week. That means it's time to make more macarons. I'm hoping the tips from this post keep me from wanting to hurl meringue across my kitchen.

3 | This service notifies you when certain ebook titles go on sale. So handy! h/t @mharvey816

4 | Great books featuring Dominant women are hard to find. Romance Novels for Feminists has found a few, including Have Mercy, which I reviewed this week too.

5 | And because this week was all about Shelley Ann Clark anyway, here she is talking about some of her favorite romances.

6 | Finally, the art of taking archaic misogyny and turning it into something wonderful.

Have a great weekend!

Saturday Snack Time, June 12, 2014

Saturday Snack Time is a little collection of fun things I found online during the week and I thought were worth sharing. This week, I've also got a quick review of a book I read recently and liked, Delphine Dryden's Sex on the Beach, which comes out on Tuesday. Let's get snacking, shall we?



1 | These sticky sesame chicken wings from Smitten Kitchen look terrific.

2 | For my review this week of Laura Florand's The Chocolate Thief, I was tempted to make s'mores instead of raspberry tarts. These would have been a good choice.

3 | Loved this article on how anesthesia works.

4 | Women are not crazy.

5 | How do we learn about sex? How did books shape our perspectives? From Amber Belldene on Wonkomance.

6 | Delphine Dryden has a book out this upcoming week and because I know my Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and am basically a big nerd, I got to read it early. Sex on the Beach runs in parallel to Mai Tai for Two, which I reviewed back in May, which is a pretty interesting story device. I'm not usually one for vanilla contemporaries with a low dosage of angst, but I found this book just as charming as its predecessor. Amanda and Jeremy are navigating family and careers and basic differences about how to solve problems when both people are used to making decisions on their own. It's messy, it's real and, oh, because it's Dryden, it's also hot. Like Mai Tai for Two, this book is subtly brilliant in that the only thing it's about is a relationship between two people: a real relationship that seems to have hit a bump on the road to marriage. The cheerful Hawaiian setting, the newly-hot hero and the lack of a tidy, perfect ending just hit all the right notes for me. Pick it up as next weekend's quick summer poolside read.

Have a great weekend!

Saturday Snack Time, July 5, 2014

It's Independence Day weekend here in the States. After the farmer's market this morning, hubby and I are enjoying time with friends and then going dancing. But first, I'm trying a little something different this weekend with a third post for the week. I can't promise I'll do one of these every week, but I wanted a spot to stash all the fun links I come across that I think others might enjoy. Plus, I'll occasionally do a review of new books by authors I've already featured recently on the blog.

But all, you know, snack-sized. Let's get snacking, shall we?

What would 4th of July weekend be without all-American cherry pie? With Amaretto whipped cream.

Our farmer's market had the first peaches of the year on Thursday. You might consider making these peaches and cream cupcakes if cherries aren't your thing.

Because we women could all use a little empowerment this week.

In the summer, I pretty much have a permanent tan line from these. I wear them everywhere. I just thought you should know that.

Hot preppy farmer in the hay photos from a very unlikely source. Just scroll down.

Did you read Emma Barry's post this week on Nationalism and Romance? I'm particularly struck by her observation that even non-American writers seem to set many books in the U.S. Personally, I wish they wouldn't, but that may be a "me" thing. It's impossibly rare to accurately capture places like New York or Memphis if you haven't been there. Also, she refers to Laura Florand's book The Chocolate Thief, which happens to be what I'll be reviewing on Monday! Come on back.

Finally, this week was a big one for Cooking Up Romance. I got my very first press! Kiersten Hallie Krum from Lady Smut did an interview with me on Monday so head over there if you missed it and want some behind-the-scenes scoop.

Have a great weekend, folks!