Available today from TheWildRosePress.com and Amazon.

“Well.”  Wait!  Can I say that in a southern accent?  Yes, I believe so.  I’m from Texas.  Let me start again.

Whey-ell.  How do you like Redneck Ex for a title?  I have to admit, even being from Texas, I’m not wild about the cowboy, southern thing.  However, I found this story to be one of the most heartwarming I’ve run across in some time.

This debut author’s novel will grip your heart in the first two pages.  I expect Ms. Croxton will have many more successful endeavors to follow.  Her wit is unparalleled, balanced perfectly with gripping emotion.

Begged by her elderly ex-in-laws, Summer Leigh Johnson flies to Germany to see her ex-husband, comatose after a stint in Iraq.  Years prior, Dwight Sebastian Sullivan dumped Summer Leigh and remarried repeatedly.  She hasn’t seen or spoken to him since the divorce, yet he listed her as next of kin.  Talking to a comatose ex was much easier to deal with than a smiling sexy live version, and it takes its toll.

But, supposin’ it’s not just romance you want.  Perhaps, you’d wouldn’t mind a little mystery as whey-ell.  Gripping, I tell you.  Just gripping.

Claire Croxton’s positively delightful, in both wit and emotion that cannot fail to stir your heart.  —Kathy L Wheeler.

I love Melissa Clark‘s books. Melissa is a well seasoned writer with 29 books to her credit, many of those written in collaboration with some of the top chefs and food personalities in the country. She also  currently writes my favorite weekly column in the New York Times  called A Good Appetite.

Her new book In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite is full of wonderful recipes, and the stories revolving around their creation. The recipes in this book are simple, delicious and definitely fall into the realm of comfort foods. I do have to admit, this book won me over with the section dedicated to “Better Fried” food. I love anything fried and it shows

Border’s Media produced a couple of great cooking videos  that you can view here. One of those videos is for the recipe that follows.

I chose to share the Roasted Chicken Thighs with Apples, Gin, and Coriander Seeds. It is one of those dishes that takes just a small amount of time to prep, and takes only minutes to finish in the oven. It is fragrant and delicious.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Apples, Gin, and Coriander Seeds:

Recipe printed by permission of Melissa Clark

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small apples

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch strips

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon white vermouth

1 1/2 teaspoons gin

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, dill, or parsley

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Crust bread or rice for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Core the apples and slice them as thinly as you can (somewhere between 1/8 & 1/4 inches if fine)

2. In a 9 x 13 inch pan toss in all the ingredients except 1 tablespoon cilantro (or dill or parsley). Spread the ingredients out into one layer in the pan. Roast until the chicken is cooked through and the apples have softened,  about 20 minutes. Garnish with the remaining cilantro, dill or parsley. The sauce will be thin, so serve with crusty bread to sop up the sauce, or over rice

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When I think of girlfriends, I think of books.

As a teen-ager, when my best friend Tonia and I had five bucks to spare, one of our favorite ways to spend that money (right up there with a couple pair of giant dangly earrings from Claire’s) was to go buy a paperback book. We both liked Christopher Pike, who wrote spooky teen thrillers.

When I get together with my girlfriends now, one of our favorite things to do is get a coffee at our local bookstore and wander the aisles, browsing, talking about our favorite recent books, books we’d like to read, and books we’re going to buy.

Whenever a group of my girlfriends get together, it’s not uncommon for the subject to turn to books. Like a great lipstick or movie, when we’ve read a great book we want everyone to know about it. I recently brought over a fistful of books to a teacher-friend on summer break for her to plow through before her school year madness started again.

And then there are books about girlfrends. LITTLE EARTHQUAKES by Jennifer Weiner springs to mind, as do the books of Emily Giffin. (LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH is as much a story about friendship as it is about the men in the heroine’s life).

So it’s no wonder there’s been an explosion of book clubs lately including our very own Book End Babes. Girlfriends and books… a natural combination!

Well, to some of us. I was speaking to a group of new moms recently about an anthology called A Cup of Comfort for New Mothers, which included one of my essays. I gave away a copy of my novel to the group. The novel was received gratefully, but not before one of the mothers said in a rather biting tone: Raise your hand if you have time to read.

It is hard to feel like we can spare the time, I know. When my own babies were tiny, I honed the art of nursing-while-reading, though it gets trickier once a bottle enters the picture (we only have so many hands, after all). And with kids at any stage, you’ve got carpools here and there, volunteering, grocery shopping, perhaps a job with a boss who would probably frown on reading at your desk.

But reading gives so much, it’s one of those things I believe deserves space in our lives. It can be just for you! Imagine, something just for yourself! And when you combine it with a book club (in other words, girlfriends) then ta-da! A social life, too, where you get your own name instead of saying, “Hi, I’m Sam’s mom.”

So, what’s your favorite book to recommend to girlfriends? I’m all ears. My “to be read” stack has some space in it…