Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Molten Death, by Leslie Karst {ends 3/1}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Valerie’s sleep was even more fitful than usual that night. Visions of bomb blasts and dark groves of gnarled trees had invaded her dreams – images that refused to dissipate as morning approached, instead stubbornly persisting through each succeeding sleep cycle.

By five o’clock when Kristen shook her shoulder, she’d finally fallen into a deep slumber, and it took her a few moments to return to consciousness.

‘Rise and shine, toots!’ Kristen exclaimed in a voice far too cheery for the hour. ‘No complaining, now. Remember, it was you who wanted to go on this fishing expedition.’

She was right, in more ways than one – though Valerie wasn’t about to mention everything she planned to fish for today. In fact, the primary reason she’d been so eager to join Jordan was indeed for the purpose of a metaphorical fishing expedition: she was hoping to pump the local Puna gal for locals-only information that might help her investigation.

When no one completely believes that Valerie says she saw a body in the lava, she decides she has to prove that she isn’t losing her mind, and find out whose body it was and how it ended up there.

Official synopsis:

The first Orchid Isle cozy mystery, set in tropical Hilo, Hawai'i, introduces a fun and feisty LGBTQ+ couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions!

Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawai'i to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.

Early one morning, the couple and their friend—tattooed local boy, Isaac—set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spying a boot in the distance, she strides off alone, pondering how it could have gotten there, only to realize to her horror that the boot is still attached to a leg - a leg which is slowly being engulfed by the hot lava.

Valerie's convinced a murder has been committed - but as she's the only witness to the now-vanished corpse, who's going to believe her?

Determined to prove what she saw, and get justice for the unknown victim, Valerie launches her own investigation. But, thrown into a Hawaiian culture far from the luaus and tiki bars of glossy tourist magazines, she soon begins to fear she may be the next one to end up entombed in shiny black rock...

What a fun cozy mystery—with more to come! This first book in the Orchid Isle Mystery series introduces Valerie and Kristen on their vacation to Hawai’i. They’re staying with a friend Kristen previously met near their home in California, but Valerie is the sort who meets more local people quickly through her love of food and then her secret investigation.

The beautiful setting of the city where they’re staying and nearby surfing and fishing spots they explore during day trips made the book enjoyable and informational about day to day life in such a gorgeous yet volatile setting. As the title suggests, lava is a powerful force demanding respect.

Following Valerie’s restaurant background with her deceased brother, the book also provided authentic Hawai’ian recipes for the meals mentioned as part of the story, and a glossary of some Hawai’ian words and phrases used in character dialogue.

Overall, the story earned 3 out of 5 stars, and more cozy mysteries to follow are sure to be as pleasant. This series could be confidently recommended to those who enjoy cozy mysteries, unique characters in a dream vacation setting, and stories taking place in Hawai’i.

{click here to purchase via Amazon Affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a wife, mother, and reader who also enjoys the theatre and posting her adventures on Instagram as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

Enter to win a copy of Molten Death (An Orchid Isle Mystery)!

Giveaway will end on Saturday, March 1st, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be contacted via email and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Molten Death, by Leslie Karst

Read More

Book Review and GIVEAWAY - Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG, by Leslie Karst {ends 5/2}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Why, oh why couldn’t I find a vocation I truly loved — as much as Ruth did the law? I was still musing on this quandry as I made several stops after work that day to buy groceries for the dinner. After swinging by Staff of Life for salad ingredients and crème fraîche for the soup, I drove to Trader Joe’s, where I snagged a cart and pulled my shopping list out of my bag. First the snack food aisle. I’d decided on cashews and Japanese rice crackers with seaweed and wasabi peas to have with the Champagne, as a hint of the main course to come. I also needed pine nuts for the salad. 

Meeting people who are passionate about their work can be inspiring any time, but if they’re famous for it too, the influence cannot be denied.

Official synopsis:

When Leslie Karst learned that her offer to cook dinner for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her renowned tax law professor husband, Marty, had been accepted, she was thrilled—and terrified. A small-town lawyer who hated her job and had taken up cooking as a way to add a bit of spice to the daily grind of pumping out billable hours, Karst had never before thrown such a high-stakes dinner party. Could she really pull this off?

Justice Is Served is Karst’s light-hearted, earnest account of the journey this unexpected challenge launched her on—starting with a trip to Paris for culinary inspiration, and ending with the dinner itself. Along the way, she imparts details of Ginsburg’s transformation from a young Jewish girl from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to one of the most celebrated Supreme Court justices in our nation’s history, and shares recipes for the mouthwatering dishes she came up with as she prepared for the big night. But this memoir isn’t simply a tale of prepping for and cooking dinner for the famous RBG; it’s also about how this event, and all the planning and preparation that went into it, created a new sort of connection between Karst, her partner, and her parents, and also inspired Karst to make life changes that would reverberate far beyond one dinner party.

The author wrote an interesting story of her life, even while confessing it probably wasn’t the life of her dreams. She worked in a law office by day, but she didn’t have the passion for it that she saw in her father, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, or Ruth’s husband, tax attorney Marty Ginsberg. What she really sounded passionate about was planning the dinner she would be serving to the Ginsbergs at her parents’ house. 

Karst was great at making the food and its preparation sound way more interesting than this reader usually considers it. She took into account the Ginsbergs’ preferences and limitations, and then set out to serve a truly impressive and memorable meal in the midst of a weekend of events in their honor. The book provided insight to Justice Ginsberg’s background (through entertaining interludes about her life and career), while also giving the first-person retelling of having spent a bit of time personally with the Justice. 

The book was interesting and engaging to read and live the life of the author for a year, but it was also easy to imagine someone duplicating the dinner party through the actual recipes at the end. This book earned 3 out of 5 stars and inspired an appetite for insightful law conversation and a delicious meal.

{click here to purchase on Amazon}

Becki Bayley likes feeling the sun on her face, watching butterflies, and reading on her porch. As the days get longer, this finally becomes a possibility. Watch for it to become a reality on Instagram, where she posts as PoshBecki.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Justice is Served!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Tuesday, May 2nd, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be notified via email the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG, by Leslie Karst

Read More