Emma Woodhouse has just lost her former governess and favorite friend to marriage, and she is now a bored, lonely matchmaker looking for her next project. Harriet Smith is an agreeable, obedient acquaintance attending the local boarding school, with no known family or influences—the perfect pliable pupil. Emma tries to set her up with a…
“Dumplin'” Book Discussion and Cherry Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Willowdean is a plus-sized Texan teen who loves Dolly Parton and deeply misses her aunt who recently passed away. Her mother, a former local beauty pageant queen, is also the director for the vent, and consumed by it. Will couldn’t possibly care less, her hands being full with her best friend Ellen’s love life, and…
“The Notebook” Book Discussion and Cherry Coke Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
Noah is an elderly man in a nursing home, his hands crippled by arthritis, who still, every morning, picks up a notebook, and carries it with him to his wife’s room, where he will tell her their story, hoping her Alzheimer’s won’t stop her from remembering them, even just for a little while. He makes…
“The Princess Bride” Book Discussion and Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Buttercup is an “impossibly lovely” milkmaid living on a farm in the fictional city of Florin. There is a farm boy named Westley who loves her, and says so with every utterance of his famous quote “As you wish.” He travels to America to obtain a fortune so he can marry her, but his ship…
“Far From the Madding Crowd” Book Discussion and Bacon, Ham, and Cheddar Biscuit Recipe
Bathsheba Everdeen is a stubborn but hardworking young woman who inherits her grandfather’s farm just as her once-dear friend falls into personal tragedy. Independently making a living in a man’s world leads her to arrogance and in doubt of ever finding marriage. She thinks love to be a joke and plays a foolish trick on…
“A Court of Frost and Starlight” Book Discussion and Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes Recipe
The war with Hybern has ended and now the city of starlight must be rebuilt. Feyre is looking for her new purpose in this time of peace, as well as a way to create and find peace. Nesta, however, is more bitter and self-inflicted with loneliness than ever, and not even Cassian, whom she risked…
“A Court of Wings and Ruin” Book Discussion and “Night Court” Blueberry Lemon Muffins Recipe
To act as a spy, and to begin plotting revenge, Feyre allows herself to return to the Spring Court with Tamlin, and his deceptive priestess, Ianthe. But Feyre will learn to become the wolf, in this and all courts, and especially in the imminent, great battle against Hybern. Unlikely alliances are begrudgingly forged as all…
“A Court of Mist and Fury” Book Discussion and Citrus Scones Recipe
“A huntress with an artist’s soul” and a dark, fallen Prince in the land of night become part of a new alliance developed to stop a terrible king. Feyre has defeated Amarantha and been remade, but her fiery spirit burns deeper within her than Tamlin can control, or cage in the mansion at the Spring…
“A Court of Thorns and Roses” Book Discussion and White Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting Recipe
Feyre is a hunter by circumstance, though she dreams of her family no longer needing her to enter the dangerous woods near the border to kill for their food, especially during this cold, barren winter. She thrills when a doe is being hunted by an unnaturally large wolf, who she knows could be disguised. Her…
“Pride and Prejudice” Book Discussion and Peach Cupcake Recipe
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” —such is the philosophy of Mrs. Bennet, mother to five daughters, including the opinionated, fond-of-walking Elizabeth Bennett, Lizzie to her sisters. When a wealthy, attractive young man by the name of Mr….