Book Review: Wishing on Willows

Wishing on Willows by Katie Ganshert

Does a second chance at life and love always involve surrender?

A three-year-old son, a struggling cafe, and fading memories are all Robin Price has left of her late husband. As the proud owner of Willow Tree Cafe in small town Peaks, Iowa, she pours her heart into every muffin she bakes and espresso she pulls, thankful for the sense of purpose and community the work provides.
So when developer Ian McKay shows up in Peaks with plans to build condos where her cafe and a vital town ministry are located, she isn't about to let go without a fight.

As stubborn as he is handsome, Ian won't give up easily. His family's business depends on his success in Peaks. But as Ian pushes to seal the deal, he wonders if he has met his match. Robin's gracious spirit threatens to undo his resolve, especially when he discovers the beautiful widow harbors a grief that resonates with his own.
With polarized opinions forming all over town, business becomes unavoidably personal, and Robin and Ian must decide whether to cling to the familiar or surrender their plans to the God of second chances.

I can't exactly say I loved this book, but neither did I hate it. Basically it was just average as far as books go, not great but not bad either. It was kind of a cute story and was definitely a simple, laid back read. It did have some good stuff in it but I also found it to be a little cliche and the story predictable. Typical romance, you know. I would say it definitely got better toward the end and it's sweet (though maybe a bit unrealistic) what Ian does for Robin. If a guy did all that for me I think I'd have no choice but to love him! Haha. Anyway, it was a cute little story.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Tea

So whilst I was considering writing a new blog post I asked on my Facebook page what I should write about and my sister suggested tea. So here I am, writing a blog post dedicated entirely to tea.

Tea is definitely a huge part of my life and I will admit I am a tea addict. Well, more than likely a caffeine addict, but still, most of my caffeine consumption is in the form of tea.Every morning I enjoy a nice cup of black tea, enriched with cream and sugar. Sometimes I'll enjoy a couple more cups of tea later on in the day, but it's a sure thing that I'll be consuming at least one cup of tea everyday. Not only do I love the stuff, but I'm also a bit of a tea nerd (insert nerd emoticon here). I happen to know that there is black tea, green tea, white tea, red tea, blue tea, gold tea, and herbal tea, and I also know which of these contain caffeine and how much caffeine the caffeinated ones contain. I also know which teas cream or milk will curdle in. So if you're interested, here's some tea information.
The three teas that contain caffeine are black, green and white. Black tea has the most caffeine but still not nearly as much as coffee. Green is next and white has the least amount. As far as cream curdling, this will result in any citrus or berry herbal tea, but not in black tea that is citrus or berry flavored. Curdleization (made that up) will result in some green teas. Usually if the tea is pink or red in color it will curdle, but if it's the usual greenish yellow color of green tea it won't curdle.
What is my favorite tea, you might ask? Well, my favorite is definitely black tea, but what flavors? Irish Breakfast is one of my favorites as well as peach flavored black tea. (which sadly is hard to find.) I also love a raspberry flavored black tea called Raspberry Royal. Today my morning cup of tea was called Black Pearl. Now while there are several "plain" black teas, they all have a slightly different flavor. These flavor differences are kind of hard to describe, but they are most certainly noticeable! Okay... I'm done being a nerd. :B (and there may be some other kinds of tea that I don't know about, so I don't know EVERYTHING about tea. :P)