Menu Plan Monday 7/27

Grilled Spiedies Chicken and pineapples with rice and corn on the cob
Tacos and Corn Bread
Spicy Honey Mustard Chicken with mac and cheese
Grilled Worchestershire Chicken with potatoes and corn on the cob
Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner
Fried Rice with egg rolls and edamame
Chicken Fries, Chicken Wraps and homemade french fries

The week last week was exactly to plan which is amazing!!  I love when things come together.  The only thing was that I didn't get the corn bread made which was totally fine because we had tons of food regardless.  We did pasta on Sunday instead of pizza hut so we are going to have that this coming week for sure but I think for lunch instead of dinner but we will see.  This week is going to be interesting and we will see how this goes.  I don't know exactly our plans for every day so I am just going to make a list of things to pick from for the week and we will get what works with the time we have available.  I guess we will see if I change some things up for dinner instead of lunch.

The Sunrise on Half Moon Bay Book Review

I have been reading a lot at night and in the morning so I go through a few books but I think that I was a little over excited when "shopping" at the library reserve system.  I have piles and piles of books that I have not gotten to read.  I have a bunch of books that came in at the same time and the library just announced that books are going to start having a due date soon which means that I have a bunch of books that don't have any renewals because there is a waiting list.  Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr the first book that I read because I was on my mission to get those books read that I couldn't renew!

Sometimes the happiness we’re looking for has been there all along…

Adele and Justine have never been close. Born twenty years apart, Justine was already an adult when Addie was born. The sisters love each other but they don’t really know each other.

When Addie dropped out of university to care for their ailing parents, Justine, a successful lawyer, covered the expenses. It was the best arrangement at the time but now that their parents are gone, the future has changed dramatically for both women.

Addie had great plans for her life but has been worn down by the pressures of being a caregiver and doesn’t know how to live for herself. And Justine’s success has come at a price. Her marriage is falling apart despite her best efforts.

Neither woman knows how to start life over but both realize they can and must support each other the way only sisters can. Together they find the strength to accept their failures and overcome their challenges. Happiness is within reach, if only they have the courage to fight for it.

Set in the stunning coastal town of Half Moon Bay, California, Robyn Carr’s new novel examines the joys of sisterhood and the importance of embracing change.

Adele is the younger sister who left college to come home and care for her parents.  She has been home for 8 years and realized that she lost her life in the process.  Justine is the older sister who is 20 years older and settled in her life as a lawyer with her stay at home husband taking care of their two teenage daughters.  It seems that life is settled for both of them until they decide that everything has to change.  Adele goes out with a friend to a restaurant and sees her brother in law kissing another woman and she feels like she needs to tell her sister.  Justine tries to collect information with the help of a private investigator and researching their accounts, she realizes that this has been going on for a long time.  Both are heart broken and starting over their lives in new and different ways.  You have to pick up the book to find out how quickly they change their lives and how that makes them feel.  This is an inspirational book to change anything you might not like about your life so that you can be happy.  It shows the importance of friends and family and how they enrich our lives.  I hope that you check out this great read and enjoy the rest of the books by this author.  I thought it was a hard book to put down and it had me wishing there was another one in the series!!

Menu Plan Monday 7/20

Pasta (Penne for my son) with zucchini and garlic bread
Grilled Greek Chicken and pineapples with rice
Taco Rice
Homemade Pizza (Pepperoni and Garlic Chicken)
Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner
Chicken Fries or Chicken Wraps with homemade fries
Pizza Hut or Pasta

This month is flying by and I can't believe how much of summer we are through but last week was a good week for meals although I did forget to get my pineapple on the grill on Tuesday and we switched Thursday and Friday because of the schedule.  I planned for a super easy week of meals and I was glad to get everything made that we were expecting.

I did run to the store for the first time this month and I spent under $30 to get a few things that we were low on and I have one more day I am going to go out and hit a few stores to get the things that Aldi didn't have.  I put in an online order at Target to get carside pickup which I have never done before so crossing my fingers on.  Making two other quick stops to get the items we need at Harris Teeter and Wegman's.  I don't think that we need too many more this month so we are putting off our big stock up trip until the beginning of next month.  I am sure it will be a high spend trip but super excited to have a low month and work on creativity in the kitchen with what we have already in the house.  How are you doing for your meals this month??

Sea Glass Winter Book Review

I was excited to read the next book in the series and Sea Glass Winter: A Shelter Bay Novel by JoAnn Ross was as good as the others in the series.  It is book five in the series so there have been a bunch that I read before getting off track with other series.  I was glad to get back to enjoying this cute small town but it was hard to put this book down.

He was used to getting what he wanted. And what he wanted was her.

As an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist, Dillon Slater had one of the most dangerous jobs in the military. Now, he’s enjoying the pace of life in Shelter Bay, where he teaches high school physics. He still gets to blow things up, but as the school basketball coach he also gets to impart leadership skills. His latest minefield: fifteen-year-old Matt Templeton—and Matt’s irresistible mother…

Claire Templeton moved her troubled teenage son to the small town of Shelter Bay to escape the bad influences at his school in L.A. But when his attitude earns her a visit from the handsome basketball coach, she wonders if this role model might be too much of a temptation—for her. Because though she isn’t looking for a relationship, she can’t seem to resist Dillon’s playful charm. But what she doesn’t realize is that Dillon isn’t playing games—he’s playing for keeps… 

I was happy to read this book and meet Dillon Slater who retired from the military to start his life in the small town of Shelter Bay.  He took a job that transitioned soldiers from the battlefield to the classroom.  He became a teacher and a basketball coach.  The team has had many loosing seasons and the boosters were interested in turning that around.  The get a new player moving to the area who happens to be an amazing player.  They put all their hope in Matt Templeton but Dillon isn't sure that he wants to start him because he wants to make sure that everyone is a team player.  Claire Templeton is starting over in the small town of Shelter Bay because she just lost her mom and her son was getting into trouble at the old school.  She moved both of them across the country to start over.  She is working on her glass work and supporting her business while getting Matt settled into the new school.  Dillon is very helpful to the settling process but finds himself drawn to Claire.  Claire refuses to get involved with her son's coach because she doesn't want other mothers on the team to think that her son is getting better treatment.  It is a tough fight but you have to pick up the book and find out for yourself what happens.  I hope that you enjoy this book and the others in the series as much as I have.  This one was a great book that was hard to put down and I read it very quickly.  It is a wonderful summer read and I look forward to the next in the series.

Moonshell Beach Book Review

I was excited to get back to the Shelter Bay series when I got the rest of the books from the library.  Moonshell Beach: A Shelter Bay Novel by JoAnn Ross was the next book in my pile and I was excited to read it.  I knew that once I started that I would have trouble putting the series down again.

He no longer believed in anything.
But she believed in him.

J.T. Douchett has returned home to shut out the world and escape the memories that haunt him from his final mission as a Marine. When he reluctantly agrees to provide security for a town event, the last thing he expects is to experience unbidden feelings for Irish movie star Mary Joyce. Mary has surprised everyone—including herself—by accepting an invitation to a film festival in Shelter Bay. The Oregon coastal town immediately charms her, and an even larger surprise is encountering the stoic man who could be everything she's dreamed of.

As J.T. struggles to keep Mary at arm’s length, she reminds herself that she’s never been attracted to the strong, silent type. And having known so much sorrow, he’s afraid to risk getting close to anyone. But in Shelter Bay, even the most strongly guarded heart is no match for love. 

JT Douchett is back from his final mission with the Marines and he is trying to integrate back into Shelter Bay.  He is assigned to guard the celebrity, Mary Joyce, that is coming into town because the sheriff doesn't have the staff to do it.  Mary Joyce comes into town and he expects the Hollywood spoiled star but finds that she is more of a small town girl.  JT learns that he feels a pull to Mary which he doesn't want to answer because he wants to be alone.  Spending more time together makes it so clear how many things they have in common but you have to pick up the book to find out what happens.  I hope that you check out this book and all of rest of the books in this series.

Once A Rancher Book Review

I was excited to get to Once a Rancher (The Carsons of Mustang Creek) by Linda Lael Miller. It is the first book in the series.  I was ready to get back to the beginning because I actually started with the middle of this three book series.  I was excited when the library opened so that I could find out what happened in the rest of the series.

The Carsons of Mustang Creek: three men who embody the West and define what it means to be a rancher, a cowboy and a hero in this brand-new series from the queen of Western romance 

SLATER CARSON might be a filmmaker by trade, but he's still a cowboy at heart—and he knows the value of a hard day's work under the hot Wyoming sun. So when he sees troubled teen Ryder heading down a dangerous path, he offers the boy a job on the ranch he shares with his two younger brothers. And since Ryder's guardian is the gorgeous new Mustang Creek resort manager, Grace Emery, Slater figures it can't hurt to keep a closer eye on her, as well…

GRACE EMERY doesn't have time for romance. Between settling into her new job and caring for her ex-husband's rebellious son, her attraction to larger-than-life Slater is a distraction she can't afford. But when an unexpected threat emerges, she'll discover just how far Slater will go to protect what matters most—and that love is always worth fighting for.

Back to the first book in the series which of course since I read the second book, I knew how it would end but I was ready to see how the book went and I was super surprised.  Slater is the filmmaker and he is finishing up one project and starting the next one so he is home.  He decides that he is going to help Ryder with a job on the ranch to make him have responsibility after Ryder gets into trouble for stealing something off his set.  Grace Emery is the person taking care of Ryder because his father is deployed and his grandmother couldn't handle the trouble anymore.  Grace is his ex-step-mother but she loves him and wants what is best for him.  She is working to try to make sure that he knows that he has people that care about him.  Although it is very tough until he gets the structure of working at the ranch.  It is great to see the relationship between Grace and Ryder develop and the relationship between Slater and Grace.  I know that you will enjoy watching them become a family.  I hope that you check out this book and the rest of the series.  I am sure that you will enjoy them as much as I have.  Stay tuned for the third book in the series review posting soon.

Christmas at Cardwell Ranch and Keeping Christmas Book Review

I got a book of my unread book shelf and it was actually two books in it.  Christmas at Cardwell Ranch & Keeping Christmas (Harlequin Intrigue) by B.J. Daniels was the next book in the stack.  I hadn't read anything by this author or in the series but I decided to check it out to see if I might want to read the rest of it.  Plus I am always ready for a good Christmas story!!  Although it was fast to read, it took me over a month to write the review.

In CHRISTMAS AT CARDWELL RANCH, Tag Cardwell caught Lily McCabe off guard in more ways than one when the two became entwined in a murder mystery. But before they could lose themselves in each other they had to trace a killer. Or risk finding a crime scene under the Christmas tree. AT CARDWELL RANCH, THE HOLIDAYS CAN BE BRUTAL... It had been years since Tanner "Tag" Cardwell's boots touched Montana soil. This Christmas he was determined to change that. Until a run-in with local Lily McCabe revealed dark secrets from his past and deep trouble for his future.  Cowboys came and went in these parts. The dreamy eyes… The rugged physique… The protection she felt in his strong arms…But before they could lose themselves in each other they had to trace a killer. Or risk finding a crime scene under the Christmas tree.

In the holiday favorite KEEPING CHRISTMAS, Chance Walker was the cool-eyed cowboy hired to bring Dixie Bonner, a wild child on the run, home by Christmas. But when the bad guys started to close in, two stubborn souls needed to trust each other if they hoped to survive the season.

The first book was Christmas at Cardwell Ranch which is about Lily McCabe and Tag Cardwell.  Tag comes back to spend Christmas with his father.  He normally lives in Texas with the rest of his family but his father lives in Montana.  He starts by going to his fathers house and seeing a suspicious jacket but things go down hill quickly when he meets his father and uncle at the local bar.  Everything gets complicated fast and he ends up working to try to solve a mystery and make sure that he protects himself and the people he cares about.  You have to pick up the book to find out what happens in this story but you will be amazed and the action in this story.

The second book was Keeping Christmas which was about Chance Walker and Dixie Bonner.  The story started off quickly with the odd feeling that something bad was going to happen or that something was off when she went into the parking garage.  People came out and took her to her house to find a journal and more that they were looking for but she woke up and escaped.  Chance Walker was living in a cabin off by himself when he gets a request from Beauregard Bonner hired Chance to find his daughter.  Chance was trying to relax and enjoy some down time but it is a job that he couldn't turn down.  Dixie was the sister of the girl that got away from Chance before.  It is a great story and you have to see what happens because it seems like it might turn quickly.

Both books were really good but I thought that description was so bad because I didn't even recognize the description as something that I even read.  It made it even harder to write the review because I had to re-look at the book to figure out what it was I hope that you check out both of these books.  I hope that I can check out a few more of these books by this author. Have you read anything by B.J. Daniels?? I am going to have to check out more by the author because they were a fun change for me.