More Than A Feeling
The sporadic April showers are here, which means we are gearing up for the Summer season. Besides the fact that the pollen in Northwest Arkansas is actively trying to kill me, I am grateful for the longer days and warmer temperatures. We have been actively trying to get our summer plans together, and I can’t wait for concerts on the lawn, Florida trips, and lake weekends with friends.
As we are finalizing plans, my Type A personality can’t help but start scheming coordinated outfits and thematic books for these summer activities. While my to be read list is ever growing, there are a handful of books that are at the top of my list. After flipping through pages of The Summer I Turned Pretty series and exhausting previous seasons of the show, there are a few romance novels that are top priority. One of those novels is Lauren Morrill’s first installation to her Cardinal Springs Series More Than A Feeling.
Cardinal Springs, Indiana is filled with quaint businesses and plenty of small town gossip. It is also the home of Grace McBride, a hard working librarian with dreams of opening the town’s first bookstore. While Grace often finds herself being babied by her dad and four older brothers, she is constantly reminding them she is an adult. However, when her brother’s best friend, Decker Brooks, comes back to town she can’t help but be flooded with annoying childhood memories.
Decker Brooks left Cardinal Springs to pursue hockey in the big leagues, but a brawl on the ice brought him back to his hometown to chill out for a few months. Even though he is encouraged by his public relations team to lie low, he manages to cause trouble the first night in town. After reaching an agreement to complete community service, Decker finds himself spending a lot of time with Grace volunteering at the library.
As the summer heat starts to swell, so do the feelings between Grace and Decker. When the two finally decide on a no strings attached relationship, they quickly realize there may be more feelings between them than anticipated. However, keeping their relationship from Grace’s family, along with the impending end to Decker’s summer in Cardinal Springs, leaves the two questioning if this relationship will have an icy ending.
I found the first installment of this series a light and easy read. Grace is a likable protagonist who is a strong, independent woman with her own hobbies and interests. Decker really grew on me, especially with how he went above and beyond helping with the children’s programs at the library. He may have a reputation of being a bad boy with a hot head, but he also has a big heart.
I also enjoyed how Lauren Morrill set up the secondary characters for upcoming novels. I got just enough information about Grace’s brothers and her friends to be interested, but not enough to ruin the plots of the other books. As I was reading the novel, I kept imagining which direction she will go with the brothers’ love stories. Needless to say, I will be looking forward to the release of the second addition to this series and can’t wait to see if my predictions are correct.
Another aspect of the book I enjoyed was the fun pop culture references. I am pretty easy to please when it comes to a light hearted novel, but if you add multiple references to Taylor Swift I am absolutely sold. Besides my Swiftie heart being happy, the book also spoke to my foodie side. One of Grace’s hobbies is being part of a cookbook club, and I loved that she was constantly experimenting with recipes from cookbooks I reference weekly. It personally made the whole relationship and fictional setting seem more realistic.
Obviously, there were plenty of recipes to choose from this novel. My issue at the end of the book wasn’t necessarily what recipe to come up with, but which recipe would best represent Grace and Decker!? After flipping through the pages dozens of times looking at food references, I finally settled on two tasty recipes.
While the cookbook club was a fun concept, I found the book kept circling back to delicious muffins from a bakery called Crimson N’ Cream. In addition to mentioning several mouth watering flavors, I found these muffins seemed to appear during turning points of Grace and Decker’s relationship. After taste testing muffin flavors, the white chocolate raspberry and double chocolate cherry flavors were some of my favorites. Besides, who doesn’t love dessert for breakfast!?
There are a few tricks to get homemade muffins to taste like they are from a bakery, besides going to the craft store to get fancy muffin wrappers. Setting the temperature of the oven to a higher heat while also making sure you have a cold batter helps obtain the large domed muffin top. In addition, sprinkling the top of the muffins with coarse sugar, like Sugar in the Raw, can give you that crunch that pairs perfectly with the soft muffin center.
I can’t wait for more baking and reading romance novels in the shade this summer. If you can’t tell, my goals this year tend to lean towards a coastal grandmother summer rather than a hot girl summer. Regardless of your plans, I hope that you are able to fill these warmer days with little things that bring you joy. Until then, I will be trying to dwindle down my TBR pile while awaiting another rendition to the Cardinal Springs series.
Raspberry White Chocolate Bakery Style Muffins
Yields 11-12 muffins
2 cups of cake flour, plus extra for coating raspberries
2 teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
½ cup of butter, softened (1 stick)
½ cup of sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
½ cup of milk
1 teaspoon of almond extract
¾ cup of white chocolate chips (or measure with the heart)
1 container of fresh raspberries (6oz)
Slivered Almonds for topping
Sugar in the Raw for topping
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tin with tulip cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the sugar and butter together. Once combined, mix in other wet ingredients (milk, eggs, almond extract). Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together with the hand mixer. Coat the raspberries with flour in a small bowl before adding them to the batter. Stir in the white chocolate and raspberries with a spatula. Once scattered throughout the batter, fill muffin tins and top with extra almond slivers and coarse sugar. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick is clean.
Double Chocolate Cherry Bakery Style Muffins
Yields 12 muffins
2 cups of cake flour, plus extra for coating cherries
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
¾ teaspoon of salt
1 ¼ cups of sugar
½ cup of butter, softened (1 stick)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup of milk
2 teaspoons of almond extract
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chunks, coarsely chop (or measure with the heart)
¾ cup of maraschino cherries, coarsely chopped
Sugar in the Raw for topping
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with tulip cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the sugar and butter together. Once combined, mix in other wet ingredients (milk, eggs, and almond extract). Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together with the hand mixer. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the chocolate and cherries. Before adding into the batter, coat the cherries with flour in a small bowl. Stir in the chopped chocolate and cherries with a spatula. Once scattered throughout the batter, fill muffin tins and top with extra chocolate chunks and coarse sugar. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick is clean. Serve with butter.