Cheddar Beer Soup
 
l 1 Tablespoon butter plus 1 Tablespoon olive oil
l 1 small onion, diced
l 1 rib celery, diced
l 1 carrot, scrubbed and diced
l 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
l 1 clove garlic, minced
l 1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, diced
l 1-2 potatoes, diced
l 1 sprig fresh thyme
l 1 bottle of beer (use a good microbrew from Vermont)
 
l 1/2 cup cider, fresh or hard, your choice
l 1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
l 1 cup shredded Vermont sharp cheddar cheese
l 1 cup half-and-half or cream (reserve a small amount for making the creme fraiche)
l Salt and pepper to taste
 
l Diced apples and creme fraiche* for garnish.
 
*To make creme fraiche, thin a bit of Greek yogurt with half-and-half or cream to get a drizzling consistency.
 
Warm the butter and olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes, followed by the rest of the vegetables, including apple and thyme. When slightly caramelized, add the beer and bring to a low boil. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about thirty minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Puree in a blender. Safety note–place the blender in the sink if the cord reaches, and cover the carafe with a plastic bag before turning it on, so you don’t get splattered. If the carafe is small, do this in batches. Then, with the blender on low, add the shredded cheese a bit at a time. Return the puree to the pot and whisk in the cream. Don’t let it boil. Add salt and pepper if needed.
 
Serve with finely diced apples and a drizzle of creme fraiche.
Source: Adapted from Hampton Winds restaurant at Northampton Community College

After a cyber bullying incident turns her life upside down, a handsome wheelchair rugby player shows a former mean girl that everyone deserves a second chance in this swoonworthy new novel from the author of "How to Say I Love You Out Loud."
The party was at her house. The photos were posted to her Facebook account. That's all the evidence anyone needed to condemn Nikki Baylor for a cyberbullying incident that humiliated a classmate and nearly resulted in the girl's suicide. Now Nikki's been expelled from her old school, her friends have abandoned her, and even her own parents can't look her in the eye. With her plans for the future all but destroyed, Nikki resigns herself to being the girl everyone hates - almost as much as she hates herself. But then Nikki meets Pax, a spirited wheelchair rugby player who knows what it's like when one mistake completely shatters your life. Refusing to judge her because of her past, he shows her that everyone deserves a second chance... and everyone deserves to be loved.

How To Keep Rolling After A Fall is one of those books that just makes you swoon, which is perfectly apt since it's published by Swoon Reads. It's one of those books you can just devour, where the pages just slip away as you read and read and read, and although I will say there was a slight touch of insta-love, I kinda forgave it because I legit loved Pax. And considering everything Nikki was going through - no friends, starting a new school where everyone knew exactly who she was, her family seemed to hate her, I could kinda see why she would latch on to Pax in such a forthcoming way, because being isolated like that is horrible so for someone to just say, "Hey, I forgive you" can have a very powerful effect.

First up, let me say this: I didn't agree in the slightest about Nikki being blamed for the Taylor incident. It genuinely irritated me massively that Nikki was blamed because it was her party, her Facebook account, etc, but seriously? NOT ONE PERSON, INCLUDING HER PARENTS, HAD TIME FOR HER ACCOUNT OF THE NIGHT? She was just ostracised like that? BY EVERYONE? Hell no. That genuinely made me angry. What happened to Taylor was awful, absolutely terrible, but to blame it just on Nikki, for only Nikki to feel the repercussions really got my back up. That these other girls, who were supposed to be Nikki's friends (although with friends like them, who the hell needs enemies, am I right?) were so worried about their own backs, they would just let her sink like that? Yes, Nikki was in the wrong, but sheesh, I felt Nikki being ostracised was overly harsh, because all of the girls deserved the punishment.

While How To Keep Rolling After A Fall was swoon-worthy and delicious, courtesy of Pax, it was still hard to read at times, because Nikki's relationship with her parents is the worst. Wanna know what's worse than absent parents? Absent parents who are still there every day, but ignore you, or treat you like something on their shoe, and Nikki's parents and their actions, made me cringe. It's what made everything with Pax seem brighter, happier, because he didn't see the Nikki everybody else saw, he saw a girl who needed someone, who had no one, and he was that person. He really made the book sparkle, the way he took Nikki outside of herself, to let her forget for just a moment how terrible her real life had become (and while some will say she deserved it for what she did, I don't agree - she'd had her punishment, she was expelled, people need to be allowed a second chance, a second chance literally no one gave her, until Pax). 

This book had literally all the emotions. And then some, because I swear to God, I thought Karole was going to kill Pax off. Seriously, anyone who has read The Fault In Our Stars, will understand where I'm coming from. There were like alarms going off all over in my head saying, "ABORT ABORT. PAX IS DYING!!!", I'm not even kidding. I just had the fear. I genuinely really enjoyed the book. Yes, it took my emotions on a roller-coaster I probably wasn't ready for, and I had some real insane fear Pax might be killed off, but apart from that, this book was delightful, well the Pax and Nikki scenes were, because boy did Nikki need a bright spot in her life, and Pax was shining brighter than the sun, and I loved it. 

Chicago, 1999.
Madeleine is trapped – by her family’s expectations, by her controlling husband – in an unhappy marriage and a life she never wanted. But when she finds a diary detailing her grandmother Margie’s trip to Jazz Age Paris, she meets a woman she never knew: a dreamer who defied her strict family and spent a summer living on her own, and falling for a charismatic artist.
When Madeleine’s marriage is threatened, she escapes to her hometown to stay with her disapproving mother. Shaken by the revelation of a family secret and inspired by her grandmother’s bravery, Madeleine creates her own summer of joy. In reconnecting with her love of painting and cultivating a new circle of friends, the chance of a new life emerges – but will she be bold enough take it?

Back in 2012 I read Eleanor Brown's debut novel The Weird Sisters and I adored it. It was a fantastic read, although I will confess that it was probably, in parts, a bit too high brow for me. I probably missed a lot of context in the novel, it was written so lyrically, but I loved it. It was such a good read. So much so, that I've been hankering after a new Eleanor Brown book for years. I thought one was coming a year after The Weird Sisters, but that was Amazon being tinkers. Instead it has been four long years, but The Light of Paris is finally here, and it was so worth the wait.

I actually really love stories that are set over two time periods, and have two different voices. It's always so intriguing to me to hear from voices way back when, times I've never heard of or never experienced, it's always really eye-opening and Margie's life in the 1920s was both sad and amazing. It's actually pretty scary how similar Margie and Madeleine's lives are, considering there's 70 years between them, but as it turns out, 70 years changes nothing when it comes to parental expectations, clearly. Considering what Margie goes through, it kind of baffled me how Madeleine's life turned out, you would kind of hoped that something might have changed? But, no. I would have actually loved more of Margie's story, because it just felt like there was more to the story, afterwards. 

There was very little wrong with this book, I really loved Madeleine's voice, and it was interesting to see her find herself, after so many years spent under other people's thumbs. Sure, it kind of baffled me how she had lived her life - after all, this was not actually the 1920s but the late 1990s, so if she was unhappy in her marriage surely the right thing to do would be to leave? Instead of stay out of misguided loyalty? But, maybe that's just the way for some people, and not having been in that situation myself it's hard to judge. Seeing her in her element, in her hometown was amazing, and I loved her friendship with Henry. He completely brightened up the novel.

I really enjoyed The Light of Paris. The dual storyline was amazing - Madeleine's voice was strong and really easy to read, and then Margie's story really was thrilling, to see someone experiencing something so transformative was delightful. You could feel Margie's excitement at being in Paris, you could literally walk the streets with her in your imagination. Eleanor Brown truly is an amazing storyteller, and if it takes her another four years to write book three, I am FINE WITH THAT. Because it is so, so worth the wait, and this will be a book I purchase and put on my keeper shelf, because it was truly delightful. 

"Ocean s Eleven" meets the star-crossed lovers of "West Side Story. "Grab some popcorn and get ready for an adrenaline-filled heist! 
LEXI is a rich girl who loves a good rush. Whether it s motorcycle racing or BASE jumping off a building in downtown Los Angeles, the only times she feels alive are when she and her friends are executing one of their dares. After her father s arrest, Lexi doesn t think twice about going undercover at his bank to steal the evidence that might clear his name. She enlists her hacker brother and her daredevil friends to plan a clever heist. 
CHRISTIAN is a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. The local gang has blackmailed him and his friends into robbing banks, and he is desperate for a way out. When the boss promises that one really big job will be the last he ever has to do, Christian jumps at the chance for freedom. In fact, he s just met a girl at the bank who might even prove useful. . . . 
Two heists. One score. The only thing standing in their way is each other. 
Told in alternating points of view, this caper is full of romance and fast-paced fun. Hand to fans of "Perfect Chemistry, The Conspiracy of Us, "and "Heist Society.""
LINKS: Amazon | B&N ​

Smash & Grab is one of those books you're either going to love or hate, depending on how "real" you like your fiction. Some will scoff at teens pulling off bank jobs, but I love it. There's something so exciting, so thrilling, about reading about bank robberies and base-jumping and other adrenaline-filled pursuits. It just gets you so excited! I know, morally, that bank robbing isn't right, duh, but they do it without harm! It's all good! But if that's not your jam, don't read this book. It is so my jam, though, and I loved it.

What I liked most about Smash & Grab were the characters. In a book like this, you have to love the characters to really agree with what they're doing, and Lexi and Christian are amazing MCs. They come from completely different sides of the tracks, but they're sole goals are the same: to provide for their family. Although Christian's threat comes as an actual, physical threat, so it's not like either of them woke up one day, thinking they'd rob banks. There's way, way more to the story than that, and that's what makes this book so readable, so enjoyable, so hard to put down. 

This is the kind of book you can pick up and lose yourself in when you don't want to be part of the real world for a day or so. Is it perfect? Probably not, but I just read it for what it was - a fun, heist-y, bank caper and I didn't think too hard about how hard (or easy, as the case may be) it is to rob a bank. Though I kind of feel like this book should come with a big warning, in neon writing that says "Do not try any of these things at home", just for any budding robbers or base-jumpers, looking to get a thrill, reckon they can do it themselves. Don't be silly. 

I did for a long time wonder how Smash & Grab would end - because surely something so criminal cannot end happily? It cannot end with people walking into the sunset? Well you'll have to read and see, but it did give me pause for thought, and I actually kind of liked the ending. I would also really like either a) a sequel or b) a companion novel featuring the other characters in the book. I would so get behind that. I'd be first in line to read any sequels/companion novels. I really, really enjoyed this. This was such a cute, fun read, perfect for fans of Ocean's Eleven. 

ABOUT AMY CHRISTINE PARKER:
AMY CHRISTINE PARKER writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and one ridiculously fat cat. Visit her at amychristineparker.com and follow her on Twitter @amychristinepar.

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