A BLAST FROM THE PAST: ANOTHER GUILTY PLEASURE — JUNE 21

Does this image take you back to another time?  From 1978-1991, this very popular show captivated viewers, including me, even as we hated some of the characters and rooted for others.

When it went off the air, my TV viewing was never quite the same.

One of the guilty pleasures I enjoyed while watching Dallas on Friday nights was a bowl of Maple Nut ice cream.  Do you have favorite snacks you associate with a TV show or a movie?

Rich, creamy, and deliciously sinful!

But I haven’t been able to find this flavor anywhere in ages.  When I Googled it this morning, this image and brand came up.  Never heard of it, but you can believe I’ll be searching.

Because, guess what?  The new Dallas has arrived, with some of our favorites from the past, along with a whole new younger cast to carry on the traditions created back in the day.

Have you seen the show?  Did you see and enjoy the original?

It’s a lot of fun to revisit the past in this way, with a piece of the original added to something new.  Like great new characters we love to hate.

What are your favorite guilty pleasures?  What “floats your boat” these days?

 

TIRAMISU FOR THE SOUL — A REVIEW

Snow falls like glitter over Tuscany at the wedding of Valentine’s grandmother Teodora to her longtime love Dominic.

What better opening can a book give us? But the beginning is only the first course in this splendid feast of the senses, as we follow Valentine’s journey in the family business. She struggles a bit after Gram leaves her and her brother Alfred in charge. Valentine is used to bowing only to her beloved Gram…and Alfred is a bit pompous, condescending, and has a quite different vision than Valentine.

Work is everything to Valentine, especially after the disappointment at Gram’s wedding, when Gianluca, a sexy man she has had her eye on, appeared at the wedding with another woman.

So the stage is set for fascinating characters, events, family conflicts, and some delicious secrets. There may even be love at last, but will Valentine be ready? Can she give up control of her own fate in order to share the journey with a man?

Even though I didn’t read the first book in this series, I fell right into the magic of Brava, Valentine: A Novel, and loved all of the characters, even the flawed ones. Trigiani has a unique ability to show us the characters, and in this story, she allows Valentine to narrate in her first person voice. We can connect to her, understand her fears, and dream with her.

I will definitely be reading more about this wonderful character in the other books in the series. I’m giving this beautiful and dazzling “tiramisu for the soul” five stars.

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LUSH TREATS SET AGAINST A BACKDROP OF FAMILY DISARRAY — A REVIEW

Replete with beautiful settings and lush desserts, the world in which the Muir family dwells seems wonderfully lovely and filled with all that is good. In fact, they might seem to have it all. But then as we soon learn, life is definitely not perfect for this family. Avis, the mother and baker extraordinaire, manages her home business with all the gusto one might expect from a perfectionist; and the father, Brian, a successful real estate attorney, sustains the family like many a workaholic: from a distance.

And yet there is much to enjoy about the family life. Except for the fact that one day, when she was just thirteen, beautiful daughter Felice ran away for the first time. And over the next five years, she continues to inexplicably disappear.

After the first few times, the family members seemingly go through a kind of disconnect, perhaps in self-protection. Like soldiers living parallel lives while maintaining individual battles, Brian, Avis, and son Stanley nourish their little corners of the universe on separate islands of grief. While out on the streets and the beaches of Miami, Felice struggles to survive and battle against the elements and the dangers.

Meanwhile, a storm called Katrina lurks, threatening to dismantle the world around them. In some ways, the raging storm seems like a metaphor for the wreckage of this family.

But set against this austere backdrop of disarray, Avis’s delectable treats offer a glimpse of beauty, delight, and perhaps hope. The author describes the concoctions down to each delicious detail until we can almost taste them.

What do Avis, Brian, and Stanley share as they struggle against the loss of Felice? And what led Felice to this dramatic and dangerous lifestyle? What will need to happen for her to finally come home?

In some ways, the story felt overly detailed with thoughts, feelings, and history. While I thoroughly enjoyed Birds of Paradise: A Novel, I’m giving this one four stars.