Books, Movies, and Chinese Food

When her South Carolina-based cooking show, Dining With Joy, is picked up by a major network, Joy Ballard's world heats up like a lowcountry boil. Joy needs help. Then she meets chef Luke Davis who moved to Beaufort after losing his Manhattan restaurant. A cook at the Frogmore Cafe, he's paying debts and longing to regain his reputation in the elite foodie world. Luke and Joy mix like oil and water…until Joy is exposed on national television. With her career and his reputation both under fire, they'll have to work together to fix the mess. Is it possible that they can learn to feast on God's love and dine with joy? Ok if you know me at all, you know I love food in books. I love when characters enjoy cooking or eating in stories. It's comforting to read and it makes any food I happen to be eating while I'm reading taste 100x better, no matter how disgusting it really is. Therefore a book that includes a plot about a cooking show which features lots of food is ...

Elle loves life in Beaufort, South Carolina-lazy summer days on the sand bar, coastal bonfires, and dinners with friends sharing a lifetime of memories. And she's found her niche as the owner of a successful art gallery too. Life is good. Then the dynamic pastor of her small town church sweeps her off her feet. She's never known a man like Jeremiah-one who breathes in confidence and exhales all doubt. When he proposes in the setting sunlight, Elle hands him her heart on a silver platter. But Jeremiah's just accepted a large pastorate in a different state. If she's serious about their relationship, Elle will take "the call," too, leaving behind the people and place she loves so dearly. Elle's friendship with her new tenant, widower Heath McCord , and his young daughter make things even more complicated. Is love transferable across the miles? And can you take it with you when you go? I always like books that don't necessary have to be read in order but d...

Life hasn't always been so sweet for Caroline Sweeny. She's sacrifice her desires for others--unlike her mother who abandoned their family years ago. But when a friend challenges her to accept an exciting job adventure in Spain, Caroline says "yes" to a new destiny. But before she can pack her bags, Caroline suddenly finds herself the new owner of the run-down Frogmore Cafe--and forced to choose between her friends and her future. Then her first love, Mitch O'Neal, returns home and encourages her to seek God's desires for her future. With his help, she may just discover the true sweet life. Yes, it is almost impossible to read this book without having that Neil Diamond song in your head. Believe me, I had it on repeat in my head for at least the first 10 chapters. Caroline Sweeney fits her namesake song however as she tries to do everything to make others happy while giving up her own self in return. Reading about her running back and forth between going to...

What do you do when the past you've been skirting shows up at your door with cameras rolling? Aubrey James ruled the charts as the queen of country for over a decade. She'd rocketed to fame in the shadow of her parents' death-both of them pioneers in Gospel music. But while her public life, high profile romances, and fights with Music Row execs made for juicy tabloid headlines, the real and private Aubrey has remained a media mystery. When a former band member betrays Aubrey's trust and sells an "exclusive" to a tabloid, the star knows she must go public with her story. But Aubrey's private world is rocked when the Inside NashVegas interviewer is someone from her past-someone she'd hoped to forget. All the moxie in the world won't let this Diva run any longer . Let me first start out by saying I am NOT a fan of country music. I'm sorry to all those that are but it is a genre that has just never appealed to me. Not even the pop-country crossover...

Jade Fitzgerald and Max Benson find their wedding day fast approaching with all the assorted relatives, and past baggage along with the joy, of their special day. Jade thought she left her past behind a decade ago, but when her gypsy-like mother, Beryl Hill, shows up with her younger sister, Jade's old insecurities come barreling to the surface. Can God's grace help to mend her family's broken hearts and somehow meet in the middle before it's too late? This was a real surprise read for me. I've read several of Rachel's books before and enjoyed them but I wasn't sure how a book by her and a country singer would end up. Most times when there is a celebrity author fronting the book, you can tell obviously that they didn't really have a part in the writing and it's really the second author who has done most of the work. Also this sounds really sad but since I don't listen to country music I only knew about Sara due to her stint on Dancing Wi...