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Book Review: One Taste too Many by Debra H. GoldStein A Review by Veronica Jorge

One Taste Too Many | Debra Goldstein | A Slice of Orange

One Taste Too Many (A Sarah Blair Mystery)

First in a new series!

by Debra H. Goldstein

Kensington Publishing Corp. 2019 ISBN 9781496719478

They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. It’s also an effective way to take him out—permanently!

Every clue points to Emily, a chef on the rise, and it doesn’t help that the dead man is Bill Blair…her twin sister Sarah’s ex-husband. Throw a third woman into the mix, Jane, the woman Bill was seeing who claims that Bill’s family inheritance belongs to her, including Sarah’s cat, and you’ve got a recipe for murder.

In the midst of a major Food Expo and fierce, (shall we say deadly?), chef competition aspiring careers will be made or broken. Emily’s lawyer Harlan, and Peter the police chief, all life-long friends, match evidence and wits to discover the identity of the real murderer and get Emily off the hook.

In One Taste Too Many, Debra Goldstein will put your sleuthing skills to the test. If you think you can run with the best of the pack; whether Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie, or Jessica Fletcher of the television series, Murder She Wrote, Debra will throw you for a loop each time you think you’ve solved the case.

Intriguing and entertaining, you will bury your nose in the book trying to pick up the scent of each new clue. But like a sophisticated recipe, you won’t be able to guess the secret ingredient. And like the expert storyteller that she is, Debra will keep you turning the pages until she reveals the culprit. It’s not who you think!

A Sarah Blair killer recipe| Write from the Heart | A Slice of Orange

P.S. I tried the killer recipe included at the end of the book (‘killer’ as in taste, not the one that did poor Bill in. That’s why I’m still here). I didn’t get it to come out the way it was supposed to, but it’s light, refreshing, and delicious. And if I might add…one taste is to die for!

See you next time on February 22^nd.

Veronica

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BOOK REVIEW: THE DAY BAILEY DEVLIN’S HOROSCOPE CAME TRUE BY REBECCA FORSTER – A REVIEW BY VERONICA JORGE

December 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, The Day Bailey Devlin's Horoscope Came True by Rebecca Forster, Veronica Jorge

The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True (Book 1 of the Bailey Devlin Series) by Rebecca Forster

Amazon Digital Services 2015 ASIN: B013XGNI06

Some people don’t celebrate Christmas. Others have overdosed on holiday movies. But EVERYONE loves a good story especially if, like a great meal, it satisfies and nourishes. And we all have hopes, dreams and wishes for the upcoming year.

So before you pick that next book off the shelf or make your New Year resolutions, you need to read Rebecca Forster’s, The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True. You’ll be glad you did!

Bailey Devlin, a lawyer in the making, wants a better life. Don’t we all! She’s sick and tired of living on the low-end as a sandwich maker, coupon-cutting to make ends meet, (they never do), and stifling her gourmet appetite. If she can just pass the upcoming bar exam she’ll have everything she always wanted. So she thinks.

Guided by the stars, Bailey follows her daily horoscope predictions. The latest one tells her that someone will knock on her door and she must let him in. Him? Has to be the love of her life to complete her dream.

Not.

It’s the 92 year-young Grandpa she never knew she had and she’s the designated next-of-kin to care for him. Bailey likens him to a hunk of kryptonite that lands in her living room sapping her strength.

Her life gets turned upside down: bar exam study partners that meet in her apartment ditch her, Ethan, her musician neighbor, and Jeffery, her lawyer friend help her with Grandpa but compete with each other for her affection.

And yes, things get worse.

Bailey shows up in the wrong court room one day to protest a ticket and is berated by the judge. Grandpa rises to her defense by stomping his walker on a guard’s foot, and challenging the judge to remove his sissy dress and “let’s take it out back.” She and Grandpa wind up in a jail cell!

Way past fed-up, unable and unwilling to care for Grandpa, and convinced it will be best for all concerned, Bailey commits Grandpa into the Rainbow Rest Retreat nursing home.

The day of the bar exam arrives and Bailey’s life is back on track… until Jeffery arrives to alert her that Grandpa has suffered a heart attack. Bailey is forced to choose between this stranger called Grandpa and her dream life.

Tende Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange r and hilarious, The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True will leave you wanting more. It might even make you hug that relative who drives you nuts.

And like Bailey, you may discover that life doesn’t always give you what you expect, but gives you exactly what you need.

See you next year on January 22, 2019. Until then, Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

THE DAY BAILEY DEVLIN’S HOROSCOPE CAME TRUE

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BOOK REVIEW: SEVERED RELATIONS BY REBECCA FORSTER – A REVIEW BY VERONICA JORGE

November 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, Rebecca Forster, Severed Relations, Veronica Jorge, Write from the heart

Severed Relations (The Finn O’Brien Thriller Series Book 1) by Rebecca Forster

Create Space 2016 ISBN 9781533275516

It’s Thanksgiving. You know what to do: eat, get stuffed like the Turkey, zone out. If you want to get the adrenaline pumping and the juices flowing again, yours not the birds’, our own Rebecca Forster has the tryptophan antidote: Severed Relations, Book 1 of her Finn O’Brien Thriller Series.

Every day is great, until it’s not. And one often boasts of their nice neighbors and safe neighborhood…until something happens.

The Barnetts, a well-to-do family on upscale Fremont Place are living the dream: great house, successful husband, stay-at-home mom, two lovely daughters, and a live-in nanny. One happy family of five.

Enter Detective Finn O’Brien to investigate the triple murder that turns their dream into a nightmare. As one of the characters in the story says, “this falls on the far of side of hell.”

Ostracized by his fellow officers for violating the blue code when he killed one of their own: a bad cop, Finn is forced to track down the killer, or killers, on his own. And he can’t count on back-up if things get rough.

Detective Cori Anderson, with ‘feelings’ of her own toward Finn, agrees to partner with him on the case. Together, they attempt to unravel the hideous mystery. Nothing stolen. No apparent enemies. Unlikely targets. It wasn’t the butler, they don’t even have one.

In Severed Relations, Rebecca Forster leads us on a page-turning, suspense-filled, unnerving journey into the h Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange eart of darkness that reflects real life. Feelings can sometimes blind and mislead you, and events and people are not always what they seem.

See you next time on December 22^nd.

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BOOK REVIEW: THE ALLIANCE BY JOLINA PETERSHEIM – A REVIEW BY VERONICA JORGE

October 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as Veronica Jorge Book Review The Divide by Jolina Petersheim

The Alliance | Jolina Petersheim | A Slice of Orange The Alliance / by Jolina Petersheim

Tyndale, June 2016 ISBN 9781496402219

When an airplane crashes in the field near her house, Leora rushes out to help, hoping for survivors. Together with a few of the local men, they pull a lone pilot out of the wreckage and carry him into Leora’s house. When he comes to, Moses, the pilot, reveals that an EMP–an electromagnetic pulse–knocked his plane out of the sky. An EMP, he explains, is a special warhead that wipes out technology, taking out the power grid and everything that relies on a computer, such as supermarkets. Moses, an Englischer outsider, must persuade the peaceful community of Montana Mennonites to prepare to defend themselves from the looting and crime that a food shortage will surely bring.

Astounded by the scenario that Moses depicts, the elders stand frozen in unbelief and inactivity. They never carry weapons and would never harm anyone. If they have food, they must share it. But teenage Leora, the sole care-taker of her grandmother, younger brother, and mentally-challenged sister, quickly realizes that she must protect her family. But how far is she willing to go to accomplish that? And where, in a time of crisis, does falling in love fit in?

In The Alliance, a community’s standards and collective beliefs are put to the test, and hardship, hunger, and danger, unveil each person’s strengths and flaws. The story asks the reader to consider the consequences of our dependence on technology and to examine what the need for survival might bring out in each of us. Petersheim asks, “How does one keep faith and kindness alive while trying to preserve one’s own life?”

The Alliance suggests that we can only face our greatest fears and achieve peace when we surrender our lives to God. To discover whether or not Leora succeeds, the story continues in Petersheim’s next novel, The Divide.

My review was originally published in the Christian Library Journal; used with permission.

See you next time on November 22^nd.

Veronica

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TO WRITE OR NOT TO WRITE BY VERONICA JORGE

September 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as To Write or Not To Write, Veronica Jorge

Some things, I find, are too precious to be shared. Like a priceless jewel, they are best kept secreted away; handled and admired in private.

A vivid memory surfaces. September: first week of school. The teacher’s voice, like chalk streaking across a blackboard, screeching the assignment, Write an essay titled, My Summer Vacation.

I picture myself staple-gunned to the board. My whole self, exposed.

Ignoring the homework was not an option. Okay, it was, but the consequence was an ‘F.’ Not a good way to start the school year. So I used my imagination and wrote about a make-believe trip. In other words…I lied. Shhhh!

My summer vacation included friendships, family outings, shared moments and experiences; some too happy, or too sad to put into words. But it was mostly about all of the places I went within myself that made me grow and go back to school just a little bit older and wiser.

I cannot express how I felt sitting out on the fire-escape staring up at the night sky and dreaming of worlds beyond the stars, in spite of the car hor Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange ns and fire engines whizzing by. Sometimes my elder brother would join me and point out various constellations; he knew all of their names. Or he’d tell me tales from Greek mythology, like The Wings of Icarus. I knew there was a lesson in that one; follow your parent’s advice.

And why would I want to tell anyone what it was like to go to the Hayden Planetarium with my brother, or share a secret and a hero sandwich with a new friend, or quietly walk shoulder to shoulder with my best friend while eating a Mister Softy ice-cream cone?

Reveal my treasures in an essay?

To a stranger?

For a grade?

I don’t think so!

Which brings me back to the topic of writing, or not. That is the question; though the fact that I ask it seems to provide the answer, “Not.”

I am most content when writing just for myself, or for a small circle of intimate friends. The coffee, sweets, and conversations we share last a life-time and deepen our relationships.

That is the reader and the audience I cherish most.

See you next time on October 22^nd.

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