All's Fair in Love

All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes by Betsy St. Amant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kat Varland is more than just chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry! Think more along the lines of gourmet raspberry lemonade torte! But, at Sweetie Pies Bakery, owned by her Aunt Maggie' gourmet is considered weird...and Kat is feeling stifled...by her Aunt and her parents. When her best friend Lucas, signs them for a reality TV cupcake bake-off contest, Kat is ready to reach for her dream!

Humorous and inspirational, without being preachy, All's Fair in Love is a delightful confection...

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Fair Play

Fair Play by Deeanne Gist
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dr. Billy Jack Tate hung up a shingle in Chicago in 1893 and waited on patients to flock to the door. Unfortunately, 30 year old Billy Jack was a lady doctor in a man's world. So, when one of the chief executives of the Chicago World's Fair came to the city and ask her to fill in at the Woman's Building infirmary, Billy was ecstatic! Her first patient of the day is none other than Texas Ranger Hunter Scott, appointed as a Columbian Guard at the fair, who is dismayed at being treated by the likes of a female. But after Scott heals from his discomfort, the two find themselves thrown together in an attempt to rescue an abandoned baby, save a poor, young boy from prison, and build a safe, new playground in a bad section of town near Hull House.

Humor mixed in with history strikes the right note in this charming, inspirational novel.

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The Wily O'Reilly

The Wily O'Reilly: Irish Country Stories: Irish Country Stories by Patrick Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A compilation of the famous Dr. Fingal O'Reilly stories before he became so famous. Patrick Taylor originally wrote about the Irish doctor in a series of columns published in Stitches: The Journal of Medical Humour before publishing them as a book in later years. Doc's antics will crack you up as he interacts with his Ulster town residents at the pub, the Mucky Duck, and in his surgery. Our favorite characters are back like Kinky, Donal Donnelly, and O'Reilly's leg humping, very large dog, Arthur.

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Wedding Night

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At the perfect moment Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to finally propose! Setting: fancy, smancy restaurant, corner table overlooking the river, and at the point where Richard has something to ask her, Lottie looks down at her stockings and sees one of them flapping around her ankle. Flouncing off to the ladies room to tear both both stockings from her legs results in Lottie telling all the girls in there that THE moment has arrived - now practically the whole restaurant is holding their breath when Lottie returns back to her table, Richard, and the question. Only to Lottie's tearful embarrassment, the question isn't, "Will you marry me, " but something boring about air miles...

Lottie's sister Fliss knows that every time her sister ends a relationship, impulsive, outrageous things happens...like when Lottie got a tattoo, or an "intimate" piercing, or the expensive membership in a cult. So Fliss knows something horrible is about to happen and will she be able to successfully head it off?

Sophie Kinsella is hilariously funny - I found myself giggling until my sides hurt!

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Stealing the Preacher

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Crockett Archer wants to preach and is on his way to interview for exactly that position when the train he is on is hijacked by masked bandits. When he finds that the only thing they are looking for is a preacher, Crockett lies but is soon found out, hands bound, and put astride a horse. The bandit's head honcho leads them through the woods and to a small ranch where his daughter, Joanna awaits, astounded to see that her father has brought her birthday wish and present - Preacher Crockett! Archer, however, is determined to get to his interview, even late, and to his dismay the small town church has already hired the other candidate. Sensing that someone larger than he is choosing his path, Crockett heads back to the bandit's ranch and Joanna's answer to prayer.

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The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat

The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Talk about a sense of outrageous humor - this book is laugh right out loud funny, braying like a donkey until your eyes tear up funny! The Supremes are three best friends, now in their fifties, who talk daily and meet at their local diner, Big Earl's, for lunch every Sunday after church. The women have always been there for each other through the many ups and downs that life has handed their way. Barbara Jean has faced the horrifying loss of her only child, Clarice is still dealing with her husband's affairs, and Odette will soon learn she is facing her life's biggest challenge. The ladies and their spouses, who know each other's strengths and weaknesses, go from wanting to strangle the other to crying and hugging their neck.

Edward Kelsey Moore has previously written short stories and this successful novel is his very first.



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Oy Feh So?

Oy, Feh, So? by Cary Fagan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Who didn't have that odd relative that was worth trading when you were young? This children's book brings out the giggles when two elderly aunts and an uncle set in their ways are mimicked by their niece and nephews. Cary Fagan and Gary Clement roll out another clever book that can be enjoyed by children and adults.

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The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Pioneer Woman – Black Heels to Tractor Wheels
The Pioneer Woman Cooks
The Pioneer Woman Cooks – Food from my Frontier

All by Ree Drummond

Two delicious cookbooks and a delicious, story about how Ree met her cowboy and married him – the Marlborough Man. All three books will make you giggle out loud as she describes her life before Marlborough Man, during the courtship and marriage, and through the birth of her first child. Ree, brought up in a upper-class neighborhood beside a golf course, also tells of hilarious differences in their lives. Recipes like: homemade Pico De Gallo, Maple Pecan Scones, Spicy Pulled Pork, Olive Cheese Bread, and Chicken Pot Pie will make your mouth water. One favorite: Knock You Naked Brownies, (yes, naked, page 260 of Food from my Frontier) Ree says for the record that she has no clue as to the origin of the recipe name – but that’s probably just as well!

Warning - Be prepared to copy oodles of recipes and giggle like a schoolgirl.


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Cowboy Christmas

Cowboy Christmas by Mary Connealy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Annette Talbot is a missionary back East with a voice like a songbird. When the low-life thieving Leveques take over the troupe, Annette is on the verge of being forced to singing bawdy songs and wearing clothing not fit for a lady. So Annette makes a run for her father's ranch in Wyoming - but it's been six years since she's even talked with her father. The Leveques know a money making scheme when they see one and off to Wyoming they follow - Claude Leveque wants his songbird and a card-dealing, gambling shack to boot.

Connealy's writing is a hoot, only two excerpts of many that make me giggle...

His beloved mother used guilt like she was pulling a Colt revolver. And the woman had become the fastest draw in Wyoming.

..."Ma was wounded and she's still very fragile and ailing. She needs peace and quiet.' Ruby Walker came charging out of some room upstairs. A door slammed hard and her feet thudded on the floor. She came down the stairs with the delicate finesse of a stampeding herd of longhorns skidded to a halt right beside beside Annette. Guard dog number two had arrived. And not looked wounded at all.


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Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA

Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA by Kris Radish

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Married some almost 30 years, Addy Lipton is re-examining her marriage to Lucky. The same Lucky that has their garage full to the rafters with bowling balls and broken appliances, (Addy calls the Kingdom of Crap) while Addy’s car sits outside. Lucky doesn’t know that Addy dreams of running her Toyota Corolla right through the garage door and out the other side. When a much anticipated vacation doesn’t pan out and Lucky severely injures his back, Addy is thinking of calling it quits. When her wild sister, Hell, and her quirky friends get in on it – it’s men against women and hilarious events happen.



Dangerously Funny. Irreverent . Crazy, zany characters with reminders of how easy it is to slowly allow your marriage, without realizing it, to grow stale and tired.





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Home to Woefield

Home to Woefield: A Novel by Susan Juby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Prudence, quirky city gal, remains super positive when she finds out her late uncle has left her a scrub farm up in Canada. Dreams of beautiful,organic vegetables and clean compost fill her thoughts. Somehow, Prudence sees past the aging derelict of a house, rock filled fields, and the one sheep, only half shaven. With a name like Woefield Farm, it's an uphill battle. She also finds the good in grouchy Earl, her late uncle's banjo playing, cynical foreman and the young neighbor, heavy metal and gossip blogger Seth, who moves in after his mother and new boyfriend kick him out. When 11 year old, too serious Sara and her Poultry Club prize-winning chickens are looking for attention and a home, Woefield Farm takes on another boarder.

Hilarious thoughts and actions take place! Language can be pretty crude and explicit in places.



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There's No Place Like Here

There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another novel with author Cecelia Ahern's different, humorous take on things. The story centers on
Sandy Shortt, a woman who is obsessed with finding the missing - a sock, a shoe, articles of clothing, and people. Her obsession becomes so great that her family, and man she falls in love with, are pushed away. When Sandy herself becomes missing - where is she and who will bother to look for her? Can Sandy find her way home? Although the story bounces around a bit - it's not hard to keep track.

I have to admit - it does drive me crazy when my washer or dryer eats a sock and its mate is left to carry on alone.



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Nice to Come Home To

A Christmas Blizzard

A Christmas Blizzard by Garrison Keillor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A decidedly different book about Christmas! Laugh-out-loud humor follows James Sparrow, a millionaire (previous life: bank robber)who doesn't like Christmas or winter and who has "pump handle syndrome" - the fear of sticking your tongue on a frozen pump handle or any metal object and never being able to pull it off w/o ripping your tongue! When James has to fly back to his hometown of Looseleaf, North Dakota, he must face his fears and his family.



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A Christmas Blizzard is available for holds @ http://www.alleganycountylibrary.info