adventure – For the love of Libros

New year brings a redesigned look for my recipe and review series, Can’t wait to hear what y’all think about it and Work in Progress by Kat MacKenzie.

From thevery first moment Alice and Robbie meet, they don’t have a meet-cute, they have a meet-ugly. He thinks she’s and entitled American brat, she thinks he’s an inconsiderate Scottish bastard. They hate each other, until they don’t.

In the process, they share a lovely, middle of the night snack, I couldn’t help but try to replicate: 2AM chicken sandwiches with homemade mayo and pints.

I wish I had the ability to make tea with scones and clotted cream, ans rhey often had in this book, but it proved too complex for this format.

“Truce? He asked. “Well, only temporarily, of course. Until we refuel. Then we can go back to trying to kill each other with renewed vigor.”

“Truce,” I agreed…..

“How about a sandwich and a pint? Will it do, do you think?”… Together we moved around, busily slicing bread, shaving chunky cuts of roast chicken, washing and chopping the tomatoes and lettuce, and sourcing various cheeses and condiments…. “You’ll have to wait a bit longer to give me time to make a proper mayonnaise, and after seeing that look on your face, I don’t trust you enough to turn my back on you for even a second.”

“Make a mayonnaise? Mayonnaise isn’t something that’s made… it’s something that’s bought… in a gallon jar… at Walmart.”

His eyes widened dramatically, and he scoffed. “I rescind the former compliment. You have no taste…”

If you make it or share it please tag me 🤩

“The only way I’d warm up to you is if I set you on fire first”

Summary:

Alice needs a fresh start. After her horrible breakup, losing her job, nothing seems to be going right. She makes a sour of the moment decision and books a UK literary , women only, bus tour that promises camaraderie and fun. But finds a bus full of elderly ladies plus one irritating and handsome Scottish driver.

My thoughts:

I really love this one. Mention Jamie Fraser and send me traipsing around Scotland too please!
I enjoyed the travel romance concept. And a literary tour of the UK sounds like a dream. It made for a fun reading, looking up the different places they visited. The characters always going and seeing something new.
I liked that the side characters where this troupe of lovely elderly ladies, they acted like loving grandmas, and took Alice under their collective wings. Providing her with much needed wisdom, and a good dose of gossip and showing her, that her initial impression was so wrong.
Many of the situations were a bit far fetched, but still made for funny and entertaining moments that had me laughing despite the unlikelihood of it all.
Part of the plot does relies on miscommunication or misunderstanding, it’s a trope I don’t usually likeC it was undertsadable due to the circumstance, but still always wish for the characters to speak like adults to each other.
I loved the slow burn relationship development between Alice and Robbie. Once they got over their aversion, they really had time to get to spend time together and get to know each other well.
This is a relative low spice book with no explicit scenes, so if youre into romance with closed doors or barely open, this is a great choice for you.
Loved the nods to tons of books, characters, settings.

Overall, I think this was a great This was a debut novel and I will happily await more books by this author.

Thank you @avonbooks for the gifted copy of the book.

Would you go on a literary tour? What would your destination be?

Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

It’s time for another #RecipeandaReview this time with a camping ready casserole and Something Wilder.

“The first time I had sex with someone after you,” he said breezily, interrupting her, “I asked her to call me ‘cowboy.’ ” In spite of the situation, she burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, what?” Behind her, he nodded. “We were… you know, and it wasn’t working for me for obvious reasons.” “Which were?” A cord of jealousy threaded through her rib cage. “She wasn’t you?” he said, a grin in his voice. “I felt guilty and awful and sad, and I just blurted it out. ‘Call me cowboy!’ ” Lily bent forward, cackling, surprising herself. “I never even called you cowboy.”

The “Call me cowboy” line in this book was just so hilarious for me, I decided I must have something cowboy as my recipe partner for this book.

“When a husky laugh echoed behind her, Lily’s stomach absolutely fell to her feet. She knew how a rattlesnake sounded in the brittlebush on the ranch and the raspy croak of a passing raven. She knew the trickling of water in a spring and the impatient huff of Bonnie when she was done for the day. And Lily knew—even after all this time—the deep, vibrating sound of Leo Grady’s voice in the morning, the way it warmed up slowly, from rocks to gravel to a smooth, polished stone.”

This Casserole is great to make ahead and heat up by a cozy fire during an adventure trip. It’s also just a delicious neal on its own, even if you don’t go on said trip.

If you like cornbread, but aren’t too keen on the filling, go ahead and use this recipe to make it plain, it’s absolutely delicious and easy to make.

My thoughts:

Something Wilder was such a fun ride of a book. As someone who enjoys camping and hiking trails, the parks in Utah, specially around the Moab region are top in my bucket list.

I loved the setting, I really imagined myself there, by the fire and under the starry sky. I loved the second chance romance between Leo and Lilly. How the misunderstanding trope was resolved early and we get to see them come together and work together through the rest of the book.

What got me the most was the twists the story takes, there were completely unexpected. The puzzles and treasure hunt were a fun addition, as was the unexpected action parts of the book. It was just a really fun book.

The audiobook narration was absolutely fantastic. I love having 2 narrators do each of the characters POV.

Have you read this one?
What did you think?