Friday 5ive- September 26, 2025

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a regular post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

It's been a busy September with a lot of traveling, but I'm back. We spent the weekend back home in Auburn, where we spent time with family, ran into old friends, and got to have a Cameron's Bakery long john donut on Donut Sunday at my Mom's house.

1) I was honored to officiate my niece's wedding which took place at Chantelle Marie Lakehouse and Celebration Hall in Auburn, NY. The bride and groom said their vows overlooking Owasco Lake, and it was such a beautiful setting. The bridesmaids and bride (who looked stunning!) processed through a set of doors that added such a special touch. It was a fantastic weekend! 

The beautiful setting for the vows

The doors

2) Two weeks ago I had a craving for a Beef on Weck sandwich and could not find anyone near me in NYC that served it. (I guess it's a Western/Central New York thing.) So I was delighted that when we went to Parker's 129 in downtown Auburn, they had Beef on Weck on the menu! It was my go-to sandwich when we used to take our young sons out to dinner years ago there. The kimmelweck bun with salt and caraway seeds on top make the sandwich. Delicious. And a special bonus- I saw a friend from high school and we chatted about her book club. What could be better?

3) There are a lot of terrific additions to downtown Auburn since we were last there. One such is 

Auburn Bagel Company, where we made three trips in two days to get tasty bagels (they had a huge variety). They make bagels New York style, the owner worked for a time in a bagel shop in New York City.  We know bagels here in New York City and these were fantastic. The highlight for me was their Danish scone- I got the Cranberry White Chocolate and it was incredible. I even got one to take home. 

Where the magic happens- a water bath for the bagels

Bright art for sale lines the walls 

4) Auburn is filled with history, as Seneca Falls, the birthplace of the Women's Right to Vote movement, is close by, and many suffragists lived in Auburn. They have a plaque noting where the headquarters of the Cayuga County Political Equality Club stood in 1914-1916. 

5) We stayed at the Prison City Brewery Loft apartments, around the corner from 

Prison City Pub & Brewery.  As you know of my love for books, I was impressed to find a book about female brewers titled A Woman's Place is in the Brewhouse in the living room of the apartment. How appropriate!

I hope you have a safe, healthy week. Until next time.

Friday 5ive- Five Books I Read and Loved

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. I've been on reading roll and read some excellent books while on a mini-vacation over Labor Day.

1) Michelle Huneven is an author who writes heart-piercing novels (Blame and Off Course were both excellent). Her latest, Bug Hollow, begins with the golden son heading off for a weeklong trip with his friends before he goes to college. When he meets a lovely young lady, he decides to spend the rest of the summer with her. His mother is unhappy about the situation, his father thinks he's sewing oats. When he tragically drowns the first week of college, and his summer girlfriend shows up pregnant, the family is thrown into turmoil. This moving story follows the family for the next twenty years as each member gets their chance to tell their story. It's one of the best books I read this year.

2) Sybil Van Antwerp is an unforgetable character in Virginia Evans' quiet and immersive novel 

The Correspondent, which consists only of letters Sybil writes and receives in return. At the age of 77, Sybil lives alone, divorced from her husband years ago, has a strained relationship with her daughter, and a son who checks in on her. She writes letters to people she knows like her sister, with whom she shares book recommendations, and people she doesn't, like authors Ann Patchett and Joan Didion. She has an interesting correspondence with the young son of a friend, and their relationship is charming. Sybil's neighbor would like to be friends with her, but Sybil seems to have difficulty with relationships not on paper. A tragedy from years ago haunts Sybil sixty years later, and explains much of why she is the way she is. It's a lovely story well told. If you liked Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, you'll like The Correspondent. 

3) Janelle Brown's What Kind of Paradise shares the story of Jane a teenager  who lives in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in Montana in the 1990s. Jane's mom died years earlier and it's just Jane and her father who homeschools Jane and keeps them isolated. Her father doesn't trust technology and believes that the internet will be the destruction of mankind as he writes in increasingly disturbing leaflets that he distributes in the local bookstore. It's a lonely existence for Jane, who isn't allowed to have friends (other than the girl whose mom owns the bookstore). Jane is devoted to her father but when he makes her an accomplice to a devastating crime, she has to decide where her loyalties lie. It's a brilliant novel. 

 

4) There has been a lot of buzz about Patrick Ryan's big novel Buckeye. Set in the small town of Bonhomie Ohio, it follows two families from the end of WWII to the Vietnam War. Cal Jenkins works in his father-in-law's hardware store when on VE Day, a beautiful woman named Margaret comes into his store and kisses him as they hear on the radio that WWII is over in Europe. She leaves as quickly as she arrived and he is flummoxed. Cal's wife Becky has the gift of being able to contact the dead, and brings people into their home to help them contact loved ones who have passed. Cal isn't happy about this, and it causes tension in their marriage. Margaret's husband Felix is serving in the Pacific on a supply ship and she waits for word after his ship is hit. This incredible novel follows the outcome of that kiss that causes ripple effects for years to come, even affecting both couple's sons Skip and Tom. The novel tells the story of what is happening in the United States over the thirty years through these two families. It's Read With Jenna's September pick. 

4) My palate cleanser after all this serious stuff is Taj McCoy's spicy romance The Dating Prohibition. Kendra returns home to her family after years away studying with chefs in hopes of opening up a speakeasy supper club. She has returned to help her brother as he opens up his own restaurant, and is attracted to his best friend BJ, someone she has known all her life. BJ wants to help her realize her dream of opening her speakeasy and although he is attracted to Kendra, he tells her she is off-limits because she is his best friend's little sister. But is she off-limits though? If you liked The Bear as much as I do, you'll love this one. There's something for foodies, people who like family stories, and of course spice. 

  I hope you have a great back-to-school week, until next time.

The Dating Prohibition by Taj McCoy

The Dating Prohibition by Taj McCoy

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778368588

Trade paperback, $18.99, 320 pages

From the publisher:

In this spicy new rom-com, an ambitious entrepreneur working to get her speakeasy supper club off the ground is pushed off balance when her childhood crush turns up, hotter than ever––then tells her she's off-limits.

Now that Kendra’s returned home, she can’t help feeling like a kid again—back in her big brother’s shadow, trying to get her restaurant off the ground while his new venture is flying high right out the gate. It doesn’t help that everyone refuses to stop calling her Keke, the childhood nickname she loathes.

The only bright spot is her longtime crush BJ. He’s been her big brother’s best friend for most of her life, and he’s always been that cool, chill guy who was easy to talk to and made her laugh. Now he’s looking at her like she’s all grown up, and there’s nothing childish about the chemistry brewing between them. Even better, he takes her dreams seriously, and he’s ready to help her make her supper club a reality.

But then BJ extinguishes the sparks flying between them, insisting nothing romantic can ever happen because she’s “off limits.” As her investors fall through and her best chance at fulfilling her professional dreams points toward leaving home again for a fresh start, will BJ be ready for love before Kendra moves on? Or will he sweep her off her feet when she least expects it?

My thoughts:

I truly enjoy a novel where the main character is a driven person trying to make their dream come true. Kendra left her job in tech to travel the world and learn from chefs and cooks with the dream of opening up her own speakeasy supper club in Washington, D.C., following in the footsteps of her brother Logan who just opened up his own restaurant there with his wife.

I loved immersing myself in their foodie world, as Kendra and her family and friends pulled together to make Logan's restaurant a success. Reading about all the work that goes into the preparation- ordering supplies, creating the atmosphere, testing recipes- I found it all fascinating.

Watching Kendra work to make her own dream come true, and seeing how even though she faced so many obstacles she wouldn't give up, was inspiring. The relationships among the characters, especially Kendra and her cousin Lani and Kendra and her Auntie Mack, were wonderful and joyful. 

The story has a lot of spicy scenes between Kendra and her brothers best friend BJ, and I did find myself at times feeling like BJ was not being straightforward with Kendra- saying one thing (we can't be together) and doing another (see spicy scenes above). 

I adored the last part of the book watching Kendra's dreams come true. If you are a fan of TV's The Bear, you will love The Dating Prohibition as much as I did. 

This is the second book I've read by Taj McCoy (Zora Books Her Own Happily Ever After- my review here) and I look forward to many more from her.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on their Fall 2025 Blog Tours.