Books read June 20

DIY Protein bars: The Best Homemade Protein Bars Recipes by Kelly R.
Starts with a table of contnets where the bars are browken up into different types.
Short intro about the healthy part of the protein in your diet and what that really means.
Each recipe starts with a title and brief sumary. List of ingredients which you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low fat, low sodium, low sugar products.
Details on how to make are included but not servings.
There are NO pictures. There is NO nutritional information.
Found a few I want to try because I can control what goes into them.

Summer Desserts for Kids (3rd Edition): 29 Recipes to Keep the Kids Cool During the Summer! by Olivia Rogers
Starts with a table of contents and recipes are not in any specific order.
Sort intro about the book. 
Each recipe starts with a title, color photo and brief summary of the dish.
List of ingredients and most of them contain store bought items so you would be able to substitute for a store brand vs. a name brand but the other items you might be able to subsittute for low fat, low sodium, low sugar products.
Directions are given and there are no servings listed.
Fruit salad minus the added sugar would be my selection.
Offer of a free book.

Favorite Cake Mix Recipes by Southern Soup Jockeys
Starts out with table of contents where the chapters are broken up into Breads, cookies, other goodies, bundt cakes, cakes with fruit, chocolate cakes, cakes, bars and streusels,
Short intro about family old fashioned recipes.
Each recipe starts with a title, list of ingredients including a cake mix and other foods already prepared or canned. Directions are included. You should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sodiu , low sugar and low fat products.
Servings are also listed.
There is NO nutritional information. There are NO pictures.
I chose chocolate zuchinni recipe to try because my freezer is still full of it from the garden.

Hometown Girl at Heart (Hometown #1) by Kirsten Fullmer
Starts out with Tara and she is refinishing an old piece of furniture in the new building she had just bought. She's hoping to win the contract to change it all into a resort but by keeping the history and charm of the place and she's pretty sure she'll win the bid with the female head of the company.
Store also follows Justin who moves into a new house to take over the resort property and make it what it needs to be-a get away from DC. He's got it all lined up with the male owner of the company.
Each is so far from one another it's not funny. She is so educated in the field of decorating but he has his qualities also. They don't even realize it that they can hardly talk to one another when they are together-they are so hot in love with one another.
Love the locale and learning how things are done, and what to the furniture. Love the connection the town has to her and what it all encmpasses.
They try to compromise with the construction phases and furnishings but neither wants to give in really.
Story is comical at times as they butt heads but also very technical in how they are selecting things.
He does learn about her younger years and it all makes sense why she acts like she does.  Sex scenes. Just when you think things are so predictable there are twists and turns thrown in.
Didn't see them coming, what a surprise! Abrupt ending, must be continued in the next book in the series.

Lighting Candles in the Snow by Karen Jones Gowen
Story starts out with Karoline and her life up to when she meets Jeremy. She meets her sister in Utah and gets a job there-being they are the only ones left of the family-their parents travel and live in Florida.
She meets Jeremy and there's a lot of thought process of how they met, got along, she wanted to meet his family-only his mother left, til they moved in. They do get married and things don't go quite right and they end up divorced.
Suz her sister is always the positive one and keeping Karoline moving.  She's lost her job at the mortgage company and does some part time temp work but she still love Jeremy. She meets and dates another man but Jeremy comes back into her life.
Sad thing for me was finding out what candles in the snow was all about-it's so sad, about his past.
Love hearing of the hiking and the locale, some place I'd like to visit some time.
Author bio and other works by the author are highlighted at the end.

Scent of Persuasion by Nikki Duncan
Starts out with Kami Evans and the new assignment she's taken on to help prove her stepbrother didn't kill himself.
She has to do a lot of things to pursuade information from others.
The story also follow Breck Lawson and he's the new CEO and trying to investigate what's really going on with the company.
Like how they meet and combine forces, so to speak. Lots of twists and turns in this one along with romance, sex and a lot of mystery.
So many surprises. good all around story to read.

Dancing with the ferryman by frankie valente
Really enjoyed this story for many reasons. Like how she discovers what her boyfriend is up to and acts on it.
She leaves the area, pregnant with his child but he's going back to his wife and kids-which she didn't know he had.
ove her best friend for being there for her as she discovers her new living situation. Love how the neighbors encompass her into their plans and make her one of their own.
p and down relationship with the ferryman and love the details of his work amongst it all.
Love the life on the island and things are simple there and especially like the epilogue-didn't see that coming!

The Inimitable Instant Pot Cookbook: Your Go-to Collection of absolutely the best Instant Pot recipes by Maleha Sanders
Starts out with a table of contents where recipes are broken up into meals categories.
Intro talks about not only the pressure cooker but the different modes, tips, and types along with precautions when the pot is in use.
Each recipe starts with a title short one liner about the dish.
Prep and cook time is included.
List of ingredients and you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sodium, low fat and low sugar products.
Directions are included and some nutritional information: calories, fat-NOT broken up into good or bad, fiber, carbs and protein. NO sodium levels.
There are NO pictures.
I even found misspellings-when you go to ass milk, it really means to add milk.
For me it uses things already made, was not impressed with this book.
.

Medicinal Herbs: Aromatherapy, Essential Oils and Medicinal Herbs To Improve Your Health (Medicinal Herbs For Beginners Book 1) by J.J. Ortezky
Book starts out with a table of contents and the chapters are broken up by chemistry, alternate methods, prep of the potions, herbal treatments and principles of herbal medicine.
Offer of free ebooks.  Intro talks aobut history of the herbs and when they were first used for medicinal purposes and how they are used today.
There are recipes for various diseases and very unusual herbs back in Egyptian days.
There is a lot of information about the herbs and how to put them together for what ails you. Do like using things you can find at home for curing you rather than buying chemicals but this book is a lot more advanced for me.
Like how to treat the common cold-i have all these spices and the cough drops we use have a lot of the same products in them.
There is a glossary of words associated with herb actions. List of healing herbs is also included and where to locate them in the world.
Another book within this one is about aromatherapy and this section has the same setup as the earlier booklet.

Growing Season by Melanie Lageschulte
Story starts out with Melanie and sh'es just lost her job along with everybody else. She takes some time looking for work to no avail and ends up back home where she helps an ailing friend run the hardware store.
Her housing problem also is solved as she finds the farmhouse along with all the animals and garden. Story could be a short story but every thing is described in such detail it makes the story on the longside-which I love.
She even has her friends come down to paint-although she's only there for summer months.  They also love the farm life and consider moving there themselves. Love hearing how just everybody within 20 miles comes to help when needed and she's there to help them all as well.
Such a close community-loved hearing of the parade and just all the small things that make a difference in rural living.
About the books and other works by her along with bio and excerpts are included at the end.
Would love to read more from this author.

Mediterranean Salad Cookbook: Incredibly Delicious Salad Recipes for Natural Weight Loss and Detox: Mediterranean Diet Cookbook (Healthy Cooking and Eating 3) by Vesela Tabakova
Starts with table of contents where the recipes are not in any specific order.
Introduction talks about healthy wegith loss and the part salads play in it all.
Each recipe starts with a title, servings and list of ingredients which you should be able to substitute for your healthier dietary needs: low sugar, low fat and low sodium products.
Directions in how to make are included.
There are no pictures and there is NO nutritional information.
Zucchini pasta would make a great lunch. About the author is also included at the end.