COMFORT FOOD: A Novel

By Kate Jacobs

TV cooking-show host Augusta "Gus" Simpson is about to celebrate her 50th birthday. She is a widow and the mother of two high maintenance daughters. She is the consummate hostess both on and off the air. But, for the first time, Gus does not want to host her annual birthday party. What's worse, Gus's shows ratings are sinking like a flat souffle.

Gus makes the decision to re-create her show as an on-air cooking class, drafting members of her family, extended family, and staff to participate in this "reality" cooking show. Gus gets more than she bargains for when she is forced to also include as a co-host a Spanish bombshell who wants to take over. It's a food fight where the characters not only learn lessons about cuisine, but about love and life too.

I really enjoyed the novel. It's a great escape and more than a few laughs with a message. What do you think?

To hear my interview with Kate Jacobs on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ on webtalkradio.net, click on the link:

http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nason

All shows are available on-demand, so you can listen when you want to. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.

HEIRLOOM COOKING WITH THE BRASS SISTERS, Queens of Comfort Food

by Marilynn Brass and Sheila Brass

Marilynn and Sheila are the guardians of the universal tradition of home-cooked meals. They do their research by scouring yard sales, used bookstores, and antique shops collecting original, handwritten recipe books know as "manuscript cookbooks," and loose handwritten recipes known as "living recipes," which represent nearly 100 years of cooking. These treasured recipes are updated for the modern kitchen and then put into the pages of their cookbooks, hence the title HEIRLOOM COOKING.

The recipes in HEIRLOOM COOKING come from all over the United States and Canada, and include many different styles of home cooking. The origins of the recipes and stories of the families from which they come are included, which makes this cookbook a treasure in itself. Reading the recipes and their stories is a culinary history lesson.

To hear my interview with Marilynn and Shelia Brass on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ on webtalkradio.net, click on the link: http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nason

All shows are available on-demand, so you can listen when you want to. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A DIABETIC TO LOVE THIS COOKBOOK

By Chef Tom Valenti

Chef Tom Valenti is a diabetic himself, but he is also a chef. He owns two restaurants in New York, Ouest and West Branch. Food and Wine Magazine named him as one of America's Ten Best New Chefs.

His wonderful cookbook feature 250 healthy, delicious recipes prepared with the diabetic diet in mind, but anyone wanting to improve their diet should have this cookbook in their kitchen.

I think this quote from Chef Tom Valenti sums up his philosophy, “There’s a common misconception out there that … diabetes is a virtual death sentence for your dining pleasure. I’d like for this book to obliterate that way of thinking.”

From breakfast to hors d'oeuvres to desserts, the cookbook focuses on fresh ingredients and cooking at home. The photographs are amazing and will make your mouth water. The book is beautifully done with nutrition information for each recipe as well as plan ahead tips and exchanges.

For information about diabetes, visit www.diabetes.org.

To hear my interview with Chef Tom Valenti on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ on webtalkradio.net, click on the link:

http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nasonAll shows are available on-demand, so you can listen when you want to. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.

THE DIABETES SEAFOOD COOKBOOK: Fresh, Healthy, Low-Fat Cooking

by Barbara Seelig-Brown

Barbara Seelig-Brown is the host of the cable TV cooking show, Stress Free Cooking. Her latest cookbook introduces more than 150 heart-healthy, low-fat seafood recipes.

Even though the cookbook is published by the American Diabetes Association and written with the glycemic index in mind, it's a great cookbook for anyone who wants to eat a healthier diet. Naturally low in fat and calories, and packed with protein and vital omega-3 oils, seafood is an important part of any diet.

From perfect party appetizers to delightful dinners the whole family will enjoy, the cookbook features recipes and tips to create great food. All of the recipes meet the nutritional guidelines of the American Diabetes Association. Each recipe also has caloric exchanges and breakdown for the amounts of fats, carbohydrates, sugars, and proteins in each dish, so it's easy to keep track of what you're eating.

To hear my interview with Barbara Seelig-Brown, on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ broadcast on webtalkradio.net, click on the link:

http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nasonAll shows are available on-demand, so anyone anywhere in the world can listen whenever they want to. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.

RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT
by Laurie Vieira Rigler


Jane Mansfield is the daughter of a gentleman in nineteenth-century England. She has long wished to escape the societal confines placed on a young, unmarried woman. But awakening after being thrown off of her horse, to find herself in twenty-first-century Los Angeles in the body of an unfamiliar woman named Courtney Stone isn't what she had in mind. Gone are the rolling lawns and hovering servants of Jane's family estate. Gone is even a single friend who knows her. Nothing--not even her face in the mirror is the same. The only thing familiar, the only thing she appears to have in common with this strange woman into whose life she has landed, is a love for Jane Austen.


This unique, well-done novel let's the reader see the present day from a nineteenth-century English perspective. It's fun to watch as Jane, now Courtney, makes discovery after discovery. Not unlike the famous British writer, Jane Austen, whose works play such a prominent role in the story, this novel holds a mirror to our own society. We see how Jane/Courtney struggles with a love triangle not of her own making. We see how friendship and the support of good friends helps get us through trying times.


I really like the creative story and the action in this novel. Whether or not you are a fan of Jane Austen, this novel is fun to read. Will Jane/Courtney find love in her new world, or is she "lookin' for love in all the wrong places" as the song lyric goes.

What do you think?To hear my interview with RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT author Laurie Viera Rigler on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ on webtalkradio.net, click on the link. http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nason

All shows are available on-demand, so you can listen when you want to. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.

SUCCESS MAPPING: Achieve What You Want ... Right Now!

by Arlene Johnson

This is a book designed for everyone from the student to the CEO. SuccessMapping describes how to identify the eight success blockers that are keeping you from "being all you can be." As you set goals in life or your career, this book gives you motivational exercises, assessment tools and checkpoints to use along the way to mark your progress.

SuccessMapping ensures that you take the necessary steps to create your own life strategy and follow it through to success. No more excuses. Believe in yourself and get started.

I really like this highly organized and interactive book. The process makes sense to me and I plan to use it myself! What do you think?

To hear my interview with SuccessMapping author Arlene Johnson on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ on webtalkradio.net, click on the link: http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nason

All shows are available on-demand, so you can listen when you want to. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.

EXCUSE ME, COLLEGE IS NOW: How To Be A Success In School and Life

by Doreen Banaszak and Sebastian Oddo

If you're entering college for the first time, this is the book for you. Think about it: You're being thrown into a whole new world with a whole new set of expectations and responsibilities. You are not being asked to make decisions and do things you have never had to do before. You are suddenly anonymous and have to learn how to navigate your way around a world that barely resembles the safe, comfortable environment you left behind. You must also develop a new support system, because the one you have depended on for so long is not there!

Even though as you look back, these years will be some of the best of your life, right now you face a pretty daunting task. You may be looking for some direction. The authors took the work of author Lynn Grabhorn in her book Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting, which is about the Law of Attraction, and applied it to the college experience.

One of the bottom line messages of this book is that you have the ability to create the life you want based on the choices you make. After you have studied and prepared for an upcoming exam, see yourself doing well on that exam instead of worrying. Taking action is an important theme of the book as well as well focusing on what you want and not wasting your time focusing on what you don't want.

Powerful and geared especially for the young adult who is on their own for the first time, I think this book would be valuable for any college student. What do you think?

To hear my interview with co-author Sebastian Oddo on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ on webtalkradio.net, click on the link. http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nason

All shows are available on-demand, so you can listen when you want to. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.

KILLER CUTS: A Dead-End Job Mystery

by Elaine Viets

The unique thing about the dead-end job mystery series, is that the author has worked every one of the dead-end jobs she uses in the novels. The reader is getting a glimpse "backstage" into some of the worst jobs on the planet.

The job in KILLER CUTS is the best dead-end job Helen Hawthorne has ever had since she ran away from her philandering husband because a divorce court judge ruled she had to pay him! She has been hiding out in Florida working one bad job after another.

Helen's latest gig is working in Miguel Angel's Fort Lauderdale hair salon, where a trim can cost as much as a car payment and a blow out can literally wipe you out. Miguel Angel is the stylist to the celebrities and the rich. Things start to get a little hairy when one of the salon's most famous clients is murdered at his own wedding.

The salon gets some bad publicity when Miguel is named as the prime suspect in the murder. The bottom drops out of the business. If Helen can't find out who the real killer is, both she and Miguel will be out on the street. To complicate things even further, Helen begins receiving threats on her own life. She always seems to have a talent for being where the bodies are.

I always enjoy Elaine Viets work. Her mysteries are light, but interesting because of Elaine's sense of humor. The plot twists keep the reader guessing and the pages turning. What do you think?

To hear my interview with Elaine Viets on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ on webtalkradio.net, click on the link.

http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nason

All shows are available on-demand, so you can listen when you want to. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.

BOSTON SCREAM PIE: A Paco and Molly Mystery

By Rosemary & Larry Mild

Seventeen-year-old Caitlin Neuman has been having a series of weird nightmares about a horrific car accident. Everyone believes Caitlin's mind is is simply working out her own past when she was the lone survivor of a car crash that killed both of her parents and her twin sister. But as the horrific images escalate, Caitlin feels like she is seeing through the eyes of another person. She decides to take matters into her own hands and seeks out the one source she knows she can count on to solve the mystery of her nightmares, Paco LeSoto. A former Baltimore police detective, Paco has a keen ability to solve mysteries and working with his wife, Molly, they're an unstoppable team.

In another part of the city, Newton Boston and his blond bombshell wife Delylah find themselves mired in family turmoil when they try to meld two already dysfunctional families. Little does Newton know, but Delylah has already laid to rest four dead husbands, is he next? The action amps up as the body count rises.

This is a charming, imaginative thriller peppered with colorful characters, filled with suspense and laced with delicious plot twists. I enjoyed reading it. I classify this novel as a great escape! What do you think?

To hear my interview with Rosemary and Larry Mild on my internet radio show INSIDE THE WRITER’S CAFÉ on webtalkradio.net, click on the link.

http://webtalkradio.net/index.php/show-hosts/3213-inside-the-writers-cafe-hosted-by-cheryl-nason

All shows are available on-demand, so you can listen any time, anywhere in the world. If you find an interview with a favorite author or one you particularly like, you can go to I-Tunes and download it free.