The Last Curtain Call

The Last Curtain Call by Juliet Blackwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When the mysterious Xerxes group hires Turner Construction to take over the renovation of the decaying historical Crockett Theatre in San Francisco, Mel expects there to be ghosts. Lots of ghosts. She just doesn't expect one of them to be so...new. As Mel tries to figure out what happened at the theatre, she simultaneously starts researching how there came to be a ghost living in the attic of the home she and her fiancé are renovating. In the end, she solves more than one murder mystery.

I began listening to this as an eAudiobook but had to switch to reading the eBook for the last few chapters when my checkout expired before I had a chance to drive around long enough to finish. (There were holds on the eAudio but not the eBook.) I love the cozy family atmosphere in the Turner household, though I felt bad for Mel's fiancé Landon, as Mel delayed setting a date for their wedding to the point where I really wished she'd go get some therapy to deal with her issues.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, setting secondary (tons of details about San Fransisco). No sex, a little mild swearing, some references to strangling & stabbing, and the threat of imminent gun violence, but nothing graphic at all.

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Secret of the Haunted Hotel

Secret of the Haunted Hotel by Shanna Swendson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Is Hilltop House haunted? It's Halloween weekend, and Lexie Lincoln is headed to report on the B&B's grand opening for her newspaper, and she hopes the answer is no because her fellow guests are ghost-hunters. Lexie doesn't want to accidentally reveal that she can see and hear ghosts lest it damage her credibility as a journalist. Never mind that her boss is a ghost! Unfortunately for Lexie, the weather turns nasty once they arrive, stranding everyone at the new inn, and it turns out the house most definitely *is* haunted, though only some of the ghost hunters are legit enough to notice. After Lexie discovers the newly deceased body of one of the guests, the "locked room" mystery begins, and accusations fly.

Surprisingly, I figured out the killer right away. That didn't dim my enjoyment of the tale, however. Since I read for character, I appreciated that Lexie and her friends made sensible decisions and never did anything really stupid, aside from a choice Wes made near the end that resulted in having his back to the culprit. I especially appreciated finding out the source Wes and Jordan's estrangement, and I'm grateful Lexie and Wes finally inched forward in their relationship.

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways. No sex or swearing. On-screen violence is limited to tackling someone to prevent escape. Several of the characters are BIPOC, though not Lexie.

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Case of the Vanishing Visitor

Case of the Vanishing Visitor by Shanna Swendson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been a long, slow news week for Lexie Lincoln, editor of the Stirling Mills Gazette, and by the time she's sent the paper to press, she's ready for her weekly Tex-Mex dinner at Margarita's restaurant. This week, the place is hopping, with no time to socialize with the staff, but Lexie is joined at the bar by a visitor, Florence Marz, who is in town to house sit for a friend. The two women have a great chat and agree to meet the next day so Lexie can interview Florrie about her impressions of the town. The next morning, however, Florrie doesn't show up and doesn't answer her phone. Lexie's instincts tell her something is amiss, yet no one else remembers seeing the woman in the restaurant. Since Lexie can see and talk to ghosts, the first thing she must do is determine whether she had dinner with a living person or a dead one. Once she answers that question, next up is what happened to Florrie, and why. Lexie does voice her concerns to a certain handsome police officer, who knows to take her seriously, but once the evidence starts to add up, it is just a little too perfect, so Lexie decides to keep digging until things start to make sense.

The fourth installment in the Lucky Lexie series is a fast, plot-driven read. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I do wish the slow-burn romance between Lexie and Wes wasn't quite so very slow. But at least this book builds on the secrets shared in the previous book, and they use those to work together to solve the mystery.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. There is no sex or swearing, and no real violence, though Lexie is threatened with a gun. There is virtually no character development in this book, but it relies on relationships built in the first three books, so reading them in order is highly recommended.

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Interview with a Dead Editor

Interview with a Dead Editor by Shanna Swendson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lexie has just been laid off from her job as a newspaper reporter when she gets a call asking her to interview for an assistant editor position at a small newspaper in a town she's never heard of. Unfortunately, when she arrives for her interview, she discovers the body of her prospective employer on the floor behind his desk. With a storm on the horizon, Lexie is anxious to get back on the road to Dallas, but first the local police must verify her alibi, which becomes far more difficult when her car's electrical system is inexplicably fried. Luckily, the job she was to interview for comes with a furnished apartment, so she's allowed to stay there until she can be cleared. With nothing better to do, she begins exploring the town, asking questions as she goes.

This book is set in February, but it feels like late fall. The town is straight out of a Hallmark movie--which is intentional and to which Ms. Swendson alludes in the opening scenes--making the book feel like a warm hug, despite the freezing weather and paranormal oddities. I love that all the female characters are strong and independent. No foolishness here! Lexie makes some smart moves to help save herself when the killer threatens her at the end. Plus the police officer is competent and intelligent. This makes the hint of future romance a lot more plausible.

The main characters are white, and supporting characters include an army vet who lost her lower legs in combat, a couple of ghosts, and a mixture of Latinx, African American, and white townsfolk, many of whom are descended from members of a traveling sideshow.

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways are pretty strong, and setting is also a factor for anyone who loves Hallmark movies. Or hates, I suppose. Minimal on-screen violence that mostly involves the killer briefly attacking Lexie. No sex or swearing. Some sub-plots & mini-mysteries are set up and left to be resolved in future installments of the series. Book #2 comes out in a few weeks, so readers won't have to wait long for the next chapter in Lexie's life.

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Cooking for Ghosts

Cooking for Ghosts by Patricia V. Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What happens when four women with four very different life histories meet online and decide to open a restaurant aboard a haunted ship? Lives change, decades old mysteries come to light, and more than food spices up the kitchen.

This book had a little bit of everything: ghosts, romance, mystery, culturally diverse characters, murder, and relationships of many kinds--between friends, parents and children, husbands and wives, newly formed couples, and with ghosts. It's set almost entirely on the Queen Mary, a once-grand ship now permanently docked in Long Beach, California. The ship is both haunted by ghosts and sentient in her own right, taking an active role in the events of the story.

I really enjoyed reading this novel, once I got into it. The women's histories are revealed slowly, and the story is told from nearly everyone's point of view at some point. I highly doubt that Rohini's storyline would have wrapped up so tidily in real life--too many loose ends were glossed over, such as where Naag was staying & what did he leave behind--but I was glad it ended as it did. Likewise, as improbable as it was that all four women ended up paired off, I'm glad no one was left alone & lonely.

For readers' advisors: character and setting are primary doorways. Profanity is sprinkled throughout. There is some sexual content, but no explicit sex scenes. Violence occurs but isn't graphic. The pace is fairly leisurely most of the time, speeding up a bit at the end. It's primarily magical realism. (The author is a big fan of Sarah Addison Allen, as I learned after I finished reading.) One minor character is gay.

This first book in the series is about 3.5 stars, but I'll round up to 4 because I'm looking forward to reading the next two.

The publisher sent me a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

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A Ghostly Light

A Ghostly Light by Juliet Blackwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mel Turner specializes in renovating and restoring historic homes, particularly haunted ones. Her latest project is helping her friend Alicia turn an abandoned San Francisco Bay-area lighthouse into a B&B. It's going to take an enormous amount of money and logistical maneuvering, but things are right on schedule...until Alicia's abusive ex-husband appears on the island and is killed soon after. Since Alicia finds him at the top of the lighthouse with a knife in his chest and tries to help him just before he falls down the stairs and dies, she's Suspect #1. Mel knows Alicia is innocent and starts doing some investigating of her own to help the police uncover the real culprit.

Meanwhile, the ghost of a former lighthouse keeper, Ida Vigilance, is desperate to know what happened to her son over a century ago, and her grief is causing difficulty with the renovations, so Mel recruits her friends Luz and Trish to help her search for clues among historical records.

The latest installment in the Haunted Home Renovation Mystery series has it all: plot twists; characters you wish you knew in real life; funny, snappy dialogue; and a setting you can practically see and feel. Although you could read book #7 by itself, it's best read in order to fully appreciate the character development, particularly Mel & Landon's relationship and her recent-onset vertigo.

For readers' advisors: all four doorways are strong, particularly story and character. No sex or onscreen violence. Only an occasional mild swear word.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advance copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review. This is probably my favorite book in the series so far. Looking forward to #8 now!

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Pleating for Mercy

Pleating for Mercy by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Harlow Cassidy has recently returned to Bliss, Texas, after years of working in NYC as a fashion designer. She's set up a custom dressmaking shop in the house her recently deceased great-grandmother left her, and she's eager to get her new business off the ground. However, having a client's bridesmaid murdered in her garden isn't helping, so Harlow is quite motivated to figure out who the real killer is and clear her name.

This is the first installment of a fun cozy mystery series with elements of magic and ghosts. The Cassidy women have all been gifted with various talents thanks to a wish made by their long-dead many-times-great grandfather, Butch Cassidy. (Yes, that Butch Cassidy.) Death doesn't necessarily put an end to these talented women, either, as Harlow comes to realize.

I read this book about the same time I read the first in another magical mystery series, Secondhand Spirits, by Julia Blackwell. Both are enjoyable, but overall, this one feels more like a cozy, despite surface similarities of magical backgrounds, affinity for knowing what clothes someone should wear, trying to get fledgling businesses off the ground, and potential non-magical love interests. It's a bit lighter in tone.

One thing that left me puzzled, though: How in the world did Miriam and the sheriff know to barge into the bathroom there at the end when Harlow was being attacked by the killer? That made no sense. Did I miss something?

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, character & setting secondary. No sex or graphic violence, but I think there might have been a couple of mild swear words? I forget--it's been a couple months since I finished it. (I'm just really behind with reviews.)

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Ever After

Ever After by Jude Deveraux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hallie discovered quite by accident that she had inherited a house from a man she had never met. If she hadn't returned without warning to her house that afternoon, looking for a missing envelope of important documents, she never would have walked in on her stepsister impersonating her and signing papers to take possession of Hallie's unexpected inheritance. While it wasn't especially shocking to learn her stepsister had deceived the executor of the will and was attempting to defraud her, it most certainly was shocking to discover she now owned a house on the island of Nantucket, and it was even more shocking to find out that she had a private physical therapy client waiting for her in said house. Most shocking of all was the revelation that her newly acquired home came with two ghosts: the Tea Ladies, who died a couple of centuries ago and yet never stopped fixing their famously elaborate teas.

The sisters' matchmaking talents are legends among the islanders, and soon Hallie finds herself locked into and out of rooms, drenched by thunderstorms so local the neighbors aren't aware they occurred, supplied with endless quantities of fabulous sandwiches and cakes, and falling for her gorgeous patient with the huge extended family.

Jamie Taggert isn't pleased with the way his identical twin got him to Hallie's house on Nantucket Island, but he acknowledges he needs physical therapy to rehabilitate his knee after a skiing accident, so he agrees to let Hallie treat his leg--and ONLY his leg. Unlike most men, who can't wait to disrobe, Jamie refuses to let anyone see his scarred body. He fears pity and goes out of his way to avoid it, usually by avoiding people altogether. His aversion to pity runs so deep, he lets Hallie believe he's just a rich playboy rather than admit he acquired most of his scars--both physical and mental--when his humvee exploded, killing his friends and nearly killing him as well.

Although the attraction between Jamie and Hallie is strong, painful secrets and ingrained beliefs threaten to separate the pair, and it takes some clever conniving on the part of the departed to teach them to have faith in the strength, reality, and longevity of their bond.

I love that Deveraux is now writing about the next generation of the Taggert/Montgomery family. Such a treat to get a glimpse into the happily ever after of some of my favorite characters of the past! I actually stayed up late two nights in a row, despite being seriously sleep-deprived, just because I couldn't stop reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for letting me read an Advance Reader's Copy (ARC) of the third book in this series in exchange for my honest review. I can honestly say I absolutely loved it! It's truly delightful to read a romance novel written by an author who likes and appreciates men and depicts them pretty realistically.

For reader's advisors: story and character doorways are both pretty strong, as is setting (ghosts and the non-creepy haunted house). There is some sexual content, but not especially explicit, and there is a little bit of swearing.

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Sixth Grave on the Edge

Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book #6 picks up only a few days after Book #5 ends. Charley's life hasn't become any less chaotic or complicated. Since Reyes proposed, Charley has been stalling and trying to uncover more information about his background, namely his human family. As a favor to FBI Agent Carson, she's looking into a long-unsolved kidnapping where the missing child just happens to be the one and only Reyes Farrow--a fact Agent Carson does not know. However, it's not as straightforward as Charley thinks: there is more than one kidnapping in this particular story, which mucks everything up.

While she's trying to figure out what to do, gunmen break in and threaten to harm her nearest and dearest if she doesn't track down a witness to a murder who is being kept in protective custody. Again, there is more to this story, and not everyone will escape unscathed.

She also gets a visit from a panicked man who lost his soul to a demon in a card game and needs her to get it back for him so he can someday go to heaven to be with his 3-year-old daughter who just died. Over Reyes' objections, she goes to meet the demon and makes her own bargain with him. A demon with an ulterior motive? What a shock!

Then there is the ghost who so terrifies her teenage friend Quentin, that she traps him on a tram car until Charley can come to his rescue and help the girl cross over. The child's abusive life and horrible death prompt Charley to make it her mission to discover what really happened and ensure supernatural justice takes place.

In the midst of all this, Angel's mom tracks Charley down, demanding a truthful explanation for the money Charley has been depositing into her bank account every month. Angel is furious when (some of) the truth comes out, and it leads to more revelations of what really happened when he died.

Add to that Charley's "ingenious" plan to make Uncle Bob jealous enough to ask Cookie out...by setting her up on several consecutive blind dates. As with all of Charley's plans, it goes awry. It's a busy week in Albuquerque.

There is actually so much going on in this installment of the series, that it felt very much like a middle book--a way station enroute to a larger climactic moment in a later book. Lots of loose ends that don't get tied up, especially with Charley's dad's mysterious behaviour. It feels to me like it ended mid-scene, in fact. I was a little startled when the credits music started playing, as I had been expecting another chapter to follow.

While I still enjoy the author's style, I did find myself a little frustrated that there really wasn't any character development for Charley. Despite all her catastrophes and near-death misadventures, she just never seems to grow up at all. I appreciate that much of her attitude and banter is a defense mechanism, yet I really wished she would learn to think things through a little more, to heed other people's warnings and not barrel head-down into danger all the time, forcing others to come to her rescue. She's got a big heart, but I'm growing a little weary of her foolish recklessness.

I wonder how much of my dissatisfaction has to do with the fact that I listened to the book instead of reading it? The narrator, Lorelei King, did an excellent job, I thought, of giving each character a distinct voice and personality. I'm not sure why Cookie's voice was so deep as to sound masculine, but otherwise I thought Ms. King did an excellent job of bringing to life the words on the page. However, when read out loud, I really noticed the repetition of certain elements, like Charley asking, "What can go wrong?" or all the ways to talk about Reyes being hot--in all senses of that word. I found myself much more impatient than with earlier books. I think I'll go back to print rather than audio with Book #7.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. There is a great deal of swearing and sexual content. I've seen this book characterized as "urban fantasy," which makes a certain amount of sense--it's too chaotic and lacking a central mystery to call it a "mystery." I listed it as "suspense," but it's also not terribly suspenseful, although "humorous romantic paranormal suspense" is more or less how I'd describe it.

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True Love

True Love by Jude Deveraux
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Alix Madsen spent only one summer on Nantucket when she was a small child, so when Adelaide Kingsley dies and leaves Alix her home on the island for one year, Alix is puzzled and reluctant to go...until her boyfriend dumps her. After that, a year away seems much more enticing. What she doesn't know is that the year has strings attached: she is supposed to uncover what happened when Valentina Montgomery vanished two hundred and two years ago.

For his part, Jared Montgomery Kingsley really does not want Alix living in his home for the next year. She's a newly graduated architecture student, and he is a famous architect who has no desire to put up with the fawning adoration of an acolyte. He owes her parents for essentially saving him and putting him on the path to where he is now, yet he hates that he has to keep their secrets and not tell Alix that each of her parents has spent a great deal of time on Nantucket these past twenty years or so. However, his grand plan to avoid her falls through when she and her best friend Izzy arrive three days early. That's when he begins to discover that Alix is everything he never knew he wanted.

As expected, book one in the trilogy helped explain some of the context for book two, For All Time which I accidentally read first. I highly recommend reading the series in order.

When I began reading True Love, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. Jared starts out arguing with his (several times great) grandfather, the ghost who's haunted Kingsley House for the past two centuries. Caleb has been visible to each of the heirs as well as the occasional female relative...and Alix when she was four years old. The argument read like a temper tantrum, making 36-year-old Jared seem petulant and immature, but thankfully I kept reading because it got better. While he will never be my favorite fictional hero, Jared did grow up and develop over the course of the book.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary, story and setting secondary. Some sex scenes and sexual references. I can't recall if there is any swearing.

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The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy

The Good the Bad and the Witchy by Heather Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book #3 in the Wishcraft Mystery series starts off with a boisterous birthday bash for Harriette, an eighty-year-old "floracrafter," (a witch whose magical specialty is flowers), complete with her signature black roses and an aging stripper. The party is just getting going when Darcy Merriweather discovers the recently murdered corpse of the young man who'd come to deliver the birthday cake. Michael's ghost attaches itself to Darcy, urging her to help him find his killer, but Darcy's snooping puts her in conflict with Nick, her police chief boyfriend, because it gives the jealous Glinda ammunition she can use to threaten the couple.

Ms. Blake does such a good job of weaving together subplots and building 3-dimensional characters--better than many, if not most, cozy mystery authors. That's why my rating for this one is 4 stars, even though I often wonder why someone doesn't just wish to discover the murderer--Darcy is a Wishcrafter, after all, and I don't recall any stated laws of wishcraft she'd be violating. Perhaps Ms. Blake will explain that in a future book? Then again, if wishing solved the murders, these books would be VERY short.

I finally realized what I am picturing in my head when I read descriptions of the Enchanted Village: the set of Gilmore Girls but with a magical theme. Makes me wish it were a real place.

For readers' advisors: story & character doorways are both strong, and setting is secondary. No sex, bad language, or on-screen violence.

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Inn at Last Chance

Inn at Last Chance by Hope Ramsay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jenny Carpenter used to be a teacher, but when she realized she was destined to become the unofficial spinster of Last Chance, South Carolina, she decided to take charge of her life in other ways and fulfill her dream of owning a B&B. She bought the rundown Jonquil House mansion from the last member of the Raintree family, famous horror author Gabriel Raintree, and she's spent the past few months renovating it into the floral-themed inn she's always wanted. She hasn't even received delivery of her mother's antique furniture yet when the grumpy former owner himself shows up on her doorstep demanding to be allowed to rent a room.

Gabe needs a quiet place to hide and write, and he is not pleased when the frumpy innkeeper turns him away. Jonquil House is both the source of his happiest memories and his greatest pain--the perfect place, he believes, to get his creative juices flowing again. Luckily for Gabe, Jenny's book group needs to ask him for a favor, so they guilt her into offering him a room in exchange for being the featured guest at their upcoming save-the-library fundraiser. And that is when the ghost starts making his presence known.

I requested a copy of this book from NetGalley, thinking it would be a nice, light romance, along the lines of Debbie Macomber's works. Just goes to show, you can't judge a book by its cover! Yes, some aspects were similar--e.g., there were no explicit sex scenes--but I was not expecting it to be more ghost story than grand passion.

I think the book had the potential to be a solid 4 stars instead of a weak 3 if Ms. Ramsay had also taken another look at her character development to make it more internally logical--i.e. to give it more of a solid foundation/structure on which to build the story. It would also have been nice to see Jenny develop more of a backbone & not be so meek with those sewing circle/book group ladies--the new pastor was a jerk, and she should have SAID so!

Ironically, I found the haunting more believable than the budding relationship. I found Gabriel's motives for hiding his diabetes from Jenny completely inexplicable, for example, and he was so rude to her for so long, and she had such unresolved mommy issues, that their attraction really didn't make much sense. Still, I did eventually root for them to get together.

What holds the book together is the plot, which I found to often be quite engaging, particularly when the ghost was acting up. However, I don't know that the homage to Jane Eyre works tremendously well, which would be great fodder for a book group discussion. (There is a reading group guide included at the end of the book.)

For readers' advisors: story doorway, a little swearing, what sex scenes there are fade to black. It's the seventh book in the series, so readers might want to start with book #1, Welcome to Last Chance.

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Dream Lake

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alex, the youngest of the three Nolan brothers, is an outstanding carpenter and contractor who sinks deeper and deeper into depression and alcoholism with each passing day. His decline is a source of sadness and frustration for the ghost who has been tethered to him since Alex first began helping his brother Sam renovate the Rainshadow Road house. The ghost remembers only bits and pieces of his past and needs Alex's help to figure out who he is and how he came to haunt the Rainshadow Road house in the first place, decades ago, and for that, Alex must be sober and cooperative.

Zoe Hoffman is the chef and co-owner of Artist's Point, a bed-and-breakfast in Friday Harbor, Washington. Her grandmother raised her after her mother took off when she was tiny, and her father abandoned her at his mother's house when Zoe was in the third grade. Now Emma's health is failing, and Zoe hires Alex to renovate the old cottage Emma still owns on Dream Lake so that she can bring her grandmother to live with her there. Zoe and Alex met once several years ago, and it didn't go well: Zoe looks like a blond, vintage pin-up girl, and Alex resorted to rudeness to keep himself from drooling over her. Growing up with abusive, neglectful, alcoholic parents left Alex convinced he is undeserving and incapable of being in a loving relationship, and he recognizes that is exactly what Zoe needs and wants. Still, the two are unwillingly drawn together, and slowly learn that love is worth fighting for.

I absolutely fell in love with these characters and this book. I think my favorite character was the ghost, and I so appreciate that Ms. Kleypas made even a spectral person seem real. I was also grateful that Alex struggled so hard and for so long against both his alcoholism and his phobia of commitment. It drives me crazy when romance novels (or any type of story) make obstacles dissolve once boy meets girl, like somehow the power of attraction alone can overcome addiction or abuse. The closest Kleypas came to doing that was to have Zoe's cooking help Alex cope with the DTs, but that made sense for a book in a series laced with gentle magic.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is definitely primary, but story is strong, too. There are sex scenes and some occasional swearing.

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The Kitchen Daughter

The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars


Ginny Selvaggio could not be more different than I am. She loves to cook and uses cooking to soothe herself. I am making myself learn to cook some basic things and would really rather my husband do all the cooking. She has Asperger's Syndrome, which means eye contact is painful for her, she has difficulty interpreting social cues, she's very literal, and loud noises and physical contact by everyone except a select few send her into a panic. I am very social, love hugs, have a sarcastic sense of humor, and prefer to speak face-to-face because of the eye contact. (OK, I'm with her on the loud noises thing--I hate that, too.) But Jael McHenry's new book The Kitchen Daughter let me experience what it is like inside Ginny's head, to see the world from her perspective.

The book begins with the funeral of Ginny's parents and tells the story of Ginny's struggle to cope with grief and with her younger sister who doesn't understand her at all. Ginny's parents have sheltered her all her life, and Amanda believes it's now her responsibility to take care of Ginny, while Ginny wants to stay where she is and live on her own. The day of the funeral, Ginny retreats to the kitchen to cook her grandmother's recipe for ribollita and inadvertently summons her grandmother's ghost, who has a message for her, "Do no let her." But the unwelcome intrusion of a little-known aunt into the kitchen dissipates Nonna before a frightened Ginny can ask what she means. The rest is a story of courage, communication, and personal growth.

For readers' advisors: character doorway, with story a secondary doorway thanks to some unexpected plot twists. I'd especially suggest this book to anyone who has a friend or family member with Asperger's, anyone who enjoys Sarah Addison Allen's books, and foodies who will appreciate the sensuous descriptions of food and cooking.



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