sugardustedbooks's reviews
730 reviews

Yall! This book was giving me so much life and now that I have finished it I already want to do a reread. To say I love dessert and baking is an understatement. It high on my list of most favorite things. I try to bake at least once a week and when I’m not actually baking I’m thinking about baking. It is how a de-stress, reflect and show love to others. This book has put all those feelings into words and I am so happy I had a chance to read it!

But wait! What if I am not really a big dessert person? Well first of all… WHAT?! Can…not…process…Jk Jk but in all seriousness you don’t have to be sugar obsessed to enjoy this book. It is filled with Christina’s personal anecdotes and views on celebrating ourselves & others, creating joyful moments, being unapologetically & authentically ourselves, trying new things, finding our “why”, accepting help, saying yes, and so much more. Dessert is obviously the lens by which Christina incorporates all of these things into her life but she also makes it clear in the epilogue that “A freshly baked chocolate chip round can’t change the world on its own, but bringing the feeling it holds into every area of your life definitely can. Dessert is my vehicle of choice, but so many other things can do this, too.” and to essentially find your own version of “dessert”.

I appreciated the balance of Christina’s personal story and her ability to use them as examples of actions others can incorporate into their lives. The book is also dispersed with simple recipes and lists which add some extra fun to the reading experience. I swear I highlighted the whole book and these few words don’t do enough to sum it up but I hope you check it out for yourself.

Thank you @netgalley & Harmony Books @crownpublishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Moon Cycle Cookbook: A Holistic Nutrition Guide for a Well-Balanced Menstrual Cycle by Devon Loftus, Jenna Radomski

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informative

4.0

My knowledge around nutrition and your cycle is limited so I was really drawn to a book dedicated to this topic. The section is broken up by the phases of your cycle. It is wellness focused and breaks down each phase of your cycle, where your body needs more support, the types of foods that will assist with that and why. I really liked that it broke it down before going into recipes that way you could really continue to be creative in finding your own ways to incorporate similar foods. In addition to recipes there were also passages and rituals throughout the book.

I was a little worried that this book would be filled with ingredients that were going to cost me more than I am usually willing to drop or ingredients I had never heard of before. Not the case. There was really just one ingredient that kept coming up that i just didn’t know enough about to want to add it to my food. I just chose not to use it. The recipes I tried were simple, delicious and comforting. I really appreciated the acknowledgment of using the book as a guide and not necessarily a strict set of rules. They discussed adapting recipes to taste and to your personal budget. It is also shared that their focus is on natural remedies but does not ignore that some things should be treated with your physician.

Lastly, this book is just so pretty! It is filled with lovely pictures and formatted in a way that made me want to keep flipping through the pages. I would love to add a physical copy to my collection.

Big thank you to NetGalley & Storey Publishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

#TheMoonCycleCookbook #NetGalley.

The Belle and the Beard by Kate Canterbary

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.

There wasn’t anything in particular that made me DNF. I just wasn’t getting into the story.

Her Halloween Treat by Tiffany Reisz

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Sweet on the Greek by Talia Hibbert

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emotional funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

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funny hopeful lighthearted tense

4.0

If the Shoe Fits is an adult modern retelling of Cinderalla a la a bacheloresque reality show. This is the first book I have read by Julie Murphy and I could not put it down. I got up Sunday morning thinking I would take a couple days giving it a read. Jokes on me…I ignored most of my responsibilities and finished it that day.

What I Loved:

Cindy! I absolutely loved getting to know Cindy. She was funny, confident, and kind. I loved seeing her work through her feelings and fight for the things that were important to her.
The meet cute: I don’t know if it would be considered a spoiler to say more so I will leave it at that.
Plus size representation: Cindy is a plus size character and although the book description does talk about her turning into a body positivity icon on the show, that is such a small piece of her story. The book does not place all of its focus here, which I appreciate. Instead it has a good balance of acknowledging the lack of body diversity in mainstream media and the everyday interactions that cause frustration and hurt without making it the only storyline.
The various themes that Julie was able to incorporate into the story. Obviously the romance (a little slow for me which I will mention below) but there is also this processing of grief after lots of loss, the discovery of self and passion after feeling stuck, and of family and friendship.
The spin on the cinderella story. I loved the take on her being a shoe designer and now I really want to go shoe shopping. The family dynamics were also refreshing, especially if you are not a fan of the whole evil stepfamily thing. They are not the villains of this story. The conflict is a little more complicated than that. Speaking of conflict, I had a case of the “calm, down everything is going to work out. There will be an HEA” yet I still wanted to shed some tears at its peak. The whole dating show premise and the tailoring that happens to “reality” tv made this a stressful read. Honestly, I was stress reading through the last half, putting it down was not an option for me.
I appreciated the balance of funny, cute, dramatic, and sweet. I laughed so much while reading this. Laughed, laughed. Full on cackle a few times. Cindy, her sisters, and most of the woman you meet through the dating show are wonderful.

What was missing for me:

The page time with both Cindy and Henry. There is a meet cute at the start but then a very slow build up. A large chunk of the book is all Cindy and her interacting with her family, the crew, the other woman, and not Henry. We eventually start getting little bread crumbs (I'm not very patient when I read but it was worth it) and with each interactions they do get longer. Julie gave me enough to build anticipation and tide me over but I wanted more. It allowed me to really get to know Cindy but I didn’t get to know enough about Henry and he felt a little boring. I liked Henry okay but really didn’t get the chance to love him. I’m always hoping for a dual POV. Not knowing what both characters are thinking/feeling kind of stresses me out. In this case I understand the choice to keep it just from Cindy’s POV and I wanted Cindy to get everything she desired.
I needed more to that ending! I have mixed feelings. It had some pieces that were truly great and it also felt rushed and underwhelming.

Thank you Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for a copy in exchange for an honest review. I will definitely be continuing on with this series.

Content Warnings

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sugardustedbooks's reviews 730 reviews

sugardustedbooks's reviews
730 reviews