Bookworming: The Kitchen When It Sizzles by Chrissie Peria

I'm late to the party on this one, but better late than never right? This review is going to be for those who haven't read The Kitchen When It Sizzles by Chrissie Peria yet, because really, you should. This is because it is, by far, the most entertaining mature novel that I've read in a while.

To be honest, I was surprised when Chrissie sent me a review copy of the book and I saw the cover. It's a far cry from her first novel, All's Fair in Blog and War, which was sugary-sweet from start to finish. The author herself, whom I have the privilege of knowing, is as sweet as the macaroons she bakes, so it was definitely interesting to find out that she wrote a sexy book!

Well what do you know, my initial skepticism was out of order. I loved this book! I can describe it in one word: HOT. The story's steamy and delicious, much like the delectable dishes that the characters whip up all throughout the novella.

The Kitchen When It Sizzles is about Olivia and Nate, who meet during a cooking lesson and find that they have sizzling chemistry. The book serves up the right amount of sexy -- exciting, yet doesn't ever go overboard. What got me completely hooked on it (actually read the entire thing in one sitting) was that when it wasn't making me blush, it was making me laugh. The romantic parts were quirky, funny, and endearing, and I became more invested with the characters with every turn of the page. The mix of food and romance, plus a lot of unexpected plot twists also kept me reading until the very end.

I love me a good chick lit book, and The Kitchen When It Sizzles totally fit the bill! Get the e-book on Smashwords and Amazon and be ready for a sensational time.  

Bookworming: All's Fair in Blog and War by Chrissie Peria - Print Edition

Remember that charming little e-book called All's Fair in Blog and War that I blogged about a while back? I'm writing about it again because it now has a print edition! The author, Chrissie Peria aka Kaoko of Kingdom Cow and Kitchen Cow just so happened to be one of my longest online buddies, so we ended up doing a meetup up at the Starbucks in Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari,  so I could get my hands on it. We came with our husbands, plus their dog and baby, and had a lovely time discussing the book and other adult stuff. We haven't seen each other since 2007, when we were still single girls who had all the time in the world to obsess about Japan and make bento. We definitely had a lot to catch up on!

Chrissie + me + her adorable poodle Cooper at Evia

The book + adorable bookmarks!

Anyway, back to the book! It's available in e-book form via Smashwords and the Amazon Kindle Store, but the print edition is also available via shipping or meetups. Check Chrissie's writing blog or her Facebook author page for details.

Here's an excerpt from my book review:

All's Fair in Blog and War is a novella about love and blogging. It's actually local chick lit with a sprinkling of international flavor. It gives you a lot of fun Philippine tidbits, but it also takes you to the old world-new world streets of Macau. It's a story about travel bloggers named Five Cuevas and Jesse Ruiz who don't like each other but were forced to go on a trip together. Now that makes it seem like it would be predictable, but the book is all about the journey, not the destination, and what a wonderful journey it was. It was pretty cute! I got really kilig with it.

I had Chrissie sign my copy, of course!

This has become one of my favorite local novels and I don't even like that many. Check it out when you need a new feel-good book to read.   

Bookworming: All's Fair in Blog and War by Chrissie Peria

I haven't read an e-book in a while. I actually read e-books on my iPod Touch (they're handy when traveling and such), and I've filled up my virtual bookshelf with so many digital books that I haven't gotten around to reading everything. However, in general, I still love paper books. I like that I can stare at them lovingly on my bookshelf and feel the pages in my hands.

Recently though, I got back to reading on my iPod Touch because my online friend Chrissie Peria of Kitchen Cow and Kingdom Cow aka Kaoko wrote an e-book! I'm pretty proud of this girl. I used to meet up with her to obsess over bento and now she's an author. When I found out through her blog, I went to Smashwords with a quickness and bought the e-book. Anyway, the book's called All's Fair in Blog and War. I started it one Saturday noon and finished it in around a couple of hours.

Posted this picture in my Instagram and Tumblr before I started reading.

All's Fair in Blog and War is a novella about love and blogging. It's actually local chick lit with a sprinkling of international flavor. It gives you a lot of fun Philippine tidbits, but it also takes you to the old world-new world streets of Macau. It's a story about travel bloggers named Five Cuevas and Jesse Ruiz who don't like each other but were forced to go on a trip together. Now that makes it seem like it would be predictable, but the book is all about the journey, not the destination, and what a wonderful journey it was. It was pretty cute! I got really kilig with it.

Since it's about blogging, the book comes with accompanying Twitter and Instagram accounts, so you get a solid feel for the story. You'll see all the places, food, and other travel miscellany that were talked about in the book. Check out 5travels on Twitter, wanderingcamera on Twitter, and fivetravels on Instagram.

All's Fair in Blog and War is a happy little book that will make you want to find a cool travel buddy and explore new places. Read it on a gloomy day and it will cheer you right up! It's only $0.99 on Smashwords and you get it in all formats. The kindle edition is also available over at Amazon. Go get it friends!

p.s. Check out that pretty cover art by Cla Ines, who also did the design for this site.