Ricotta Meatballs:

1 lb. ground turkey 

1/2 cup full-fat ricotta cheese 

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 

1/2 cup panko 

1 teaspoon garlic powder 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning 

Crispy Topping:

1 jar tomato, marinara, or pasta sauce 

1/4 cup panko 

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 

2 teaspoons olive oil 

chopped parsley 

DIRECTIONS: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix all meatball ingredients together. Meatballs: Roll mixture into 20-24 small meatballs. Drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of a shallow Dutch oven or oven-safe pan to prevent sticking. Put the meatballs in the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes on a middle oven rack. Gently loosen them from the bottom of the pan with a spatula; they should have some nice browning. Sauce: Add the tomato sauce directly to the pan with the meatballs and stir to get them all coated. Crispy Topping: Mix the 1/4 cup panko, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 2 teaspoons olive oil, and parsley in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of the meatballs and sauce. Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes to warm the sauce. Turn on the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes to get the crispies nice and golden.  

NUTRITION INFO: Serves 5; Calories Per Serving: 388; Total Fat 18.7g; Total Carbohydrate 25g; Sugars 8.8g 

(Recipe and photo courtesy of Pinch of Yum) 

NARRATORS: Jenna Lamia and January LaVoy 

RATING: Ebook - ★★★    Audiobook - ★★★★

REVIEW: This was my first time reading Kathryn Stockett’s work, and I really enjoyed it. Having lived in Mississippi my whole life, it was fun being able to follow along with the towns that were mentioned because I’ve been to all of them, and I know several people who lived in Oxford and graduated from Ole Miss. The story itself wasn’t what I expected it would be. (I should also mention that I didn’t read a summary or blurb before I read the book either). So, when it came down to the nitty-gritty of the story, I was kind of caught off guard. (Wish I could elaborate but that would give the whole plot away). But Stockett did the story justice, and I loved getting to know all of the characters. There are several degrees to this story - sad, hopeful, and shocking, just to name a few. If trigger warnings were listed, I’m afraid there would be many, due to the era it takes place in. My only complaint is there was no epilogue. After reading the 600+ pages and getting fully invested in everyone’s lives, I hated not knowing how some of the character’s future’s played out. The audiobook version is absolutely incredible, and the narrators are AMAZING! I would highly recommend the audiobook version over the ebook. 

(DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this title from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own).

AUTHOR: Meg Shaffer

NARRATOR: Mia Hutchinson-Shaw

RATING: ★★★

REVIEW: This was my first time reading Meg Shaffer’s work, and The Book Witch was such a fun read. I don’t think there’s a librarian or book lover out there who hasn’t wished they could hop into their favorite books, and that’s exactly what the main character, Rainy, is able to do. Actually, it’s her JOB. (Wouldn’t that be awesome?) My little librarian heart adored all the references to the numerous works of literature mentioned in this story, and I even learned some new things too. (Did you know the Nancy Drew books originally had blue covers? I didn’t!) The narrator, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw did an amazing job too, and I have to admit I especially loved her narration of Rainy’s love interest, Duke. (It was - dare I say it - quite sultry and hypnotic). There’s a lot of different elements to grasp in this book, which could be confusing at times, so there was a good bit of backtracking and re-listening on my part. Just take my advice and try not to get distracted because you might miss something crucial to the plot. Overall, I happily recommend The Book Witch to everyone, and I look forward to reading more of Meg Shaffer’s work in the near future.

(DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this title from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own).

NARRATORS: Teresa Palmer and Zachary Webber

RATING: ★★★

REVIEW: Let me just say that I’ve read every one of Abby Jimenez’s books, and I haven’t rated any of them less than four stars…until now. It killed my soul to give this one three stars, but the whole story was so different from Abby’s other books. The highlight: I listened to the first few chapters before I finished reading it with the ebook. The audiobook version is amazing because the narrators are reciting all of their lines through the whole book and not just in their individual chapters. It was like actually listening to them carry on a conversation, and I loved it. The misses: The Night We Met is just…sad. There’s hardly any witty banter between the two main characters, like I'm used to in Abby’s books, and their whole love story is more depressing than exciting. Let’s put it this way - there’s much more angst than passion. I will say that I liked the female lead, Larissa, a lot - although it was painful at times how much I related to her upbringing and relationship with her parents. Chris, the male lead, is admirable in my eyes for the way he takes such good care of Larissa, but is he swoon-worthy? Unfortunately, no. Even the ending felt disjointed and lacking. I hope this isn’t some terrible foreboding of what Abby’s future releases will be like because that would really break my heart.

NARRATORS: Erin Mallon and Teddy Hamilton

REVIEW: Hello, dear readers. I know…I know. You’re probably sick and tired of seeing book reviews for Abby Jimenez on my website. LOL. I do apologize, but what can I say? She’s just a really great author. I believe I'm caught up on all of her books now, except for her latest one, The Night We Met. I have that one in digital format, but I’d rather wait on the audiobook version. The Friend Zone was another funny, romantic, and enjoyable read. Lots of sarcastic and hilarious banter between the two main characters, and I was glad to see Abby took on something that’s rarely talked about in romantic comedies - women’s reproductive issues. Kristen, the female lead, suffers from uterine fibroid tumors, which have caused debilitating periods for most of her adult life, and she makes the difficult decision to have a hysterectomy. Josh, the male lead, wants a house full of children someday, so this causes problems between the two of them. There’s a lot of back and forth drama, especially on Kristen’s part, which honestly could’ve been solved with a simple conversation, but this is a romance book, so you’ve got to go through all of their angst first before they get their happy ending. This is book one in the Friend Zone series, and I wish I had read it first instead of The Happy Ever After Playlist (book two) because I knew what was going to happen toward the end, and I dreaded it. I’m not giving away any spoilers, so I’ll just leave this review with recommending reading the book series in order and not how I did it. 

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 12-cup non-stick muffin tin generously with baking spray. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients from flour to salt. Whisk to combine. In a medium bowl, combine wet ingredients from eggs to oil. Whisk to combine then pour mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Whisk until JUST combined. Don’t over mix. There will be lumps but don’t worry. Using a 1/3 cup measure, fill 12 muffin tins to the top with batter. Add a few blueberries to each. Place in the oven and bake 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through bake time, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes then with a paring knife or off set spatula, gently remove muffins from tin and transfer to cooling rack. 

NUTRITION INFO: 2 muffins, Calories: 249 kcal, Carbohydrates: 43 g, Protein: 10.5 g, Fat: 5 g, Saturated Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 63.5 mg, Sodium: 273 mg, Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 7 g

(Recipe and photo courtesy of Skinnytaste)