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…
Category: Romance
“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…
“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…
“Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier Book Discussion and Blackberry Victoria Sponge Cupcakes
“Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again…” Rebecca is perhaps the greatest and most haunting Gothic novel, the one to which all others written since have been compared. (Image of “Manderley” created with ChatGPT) Set in the English countryside in the 1920’s, in a mansion by the sea, Maxim de Winter lives with…