Book Review: Bare Naked Lola by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez

Hi Dreamers,

Here is a book review of a fun chick lit mystery I highly recommend!

Bare-Naked Lola by Misa Ramirez / Melissa Bourbon Ramirez

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Sacramento Royals have a problem and turn to Camacho and Associates, a local PI agency to solve it. Manny the boss knows just who would be right for the job. Dolores “Lola” Cruz. Lola’s first undercover assignment as a full-fledged PI is a stretch for even this confident, fun-loving muchacha. She loves to Salsa dance however, Cheer dance she is not so sure, but that is what is looks like she will be doing. Hopefully she can keep it a secret from her family and her “maybe” boyfriend Jack. This mystery will ask Lola to push the envelope, bear her inhibitions, and who knows what else. How far will she go to get the clues and solve the case?



OHHHH Lola! This was my first Lola Cruz book and I am happy to report that the feisty chica has a new fan! I am in love with that character. Bare Naked Lola was a fast, funny, and entertaining read! This page turner kept me guessing though out the book! Having missed the previous two books I was leery thinking I would be lost, but Melissa Bourbon Ramirez brought me up to speed in no time.



I love the characters! Lola the smart, sassy spitfire, The zany Cruz family that can’t seem to stay out of her business, Manny the mysterious ex-cop PI with the hots for Lola, and Jack the sizzling boyfriend with a loco ex-girlfriend with a fatal attraction-esque tendencies. The author has done a great job developing endearing characters that are real with less than perfect characteristics that are easy to relate too.



I would definitely recommend this book!



I’m off to get the first two Lola books!



Viva La Lola!



*I was given an ARC of this book through NetGalley. Thanks



View all my reviews

Cookin’ up something Kool…

Anyone else hearing “Mooooommmm, I’m booooooored!!” Ugh! I can only hear that so many times before I have to bust out with something super cool, in this case Kool, to do.

My daughter is a huge Playdoh fanatic! Problem is, it dries out so easily when the lid isn’t sealed perfectly. So instead of going and buying some more, we made our own! Super easy, gives them something different and creative to do, then they spend HOURS playing with it.

I’ve tried several different recipes, some sticky, some stinky, some too hard…Here’s the recipe I use:

Mix 2 3/4  cups of flour, 1/2 cups of salt, and two packages of Kool-aid (the same flavor), in a bowl. Mix one tablespoon of vegetable oil with 2 cups of boiling water, then add to the flour mixture. Now stir, stir, stir! Then I put the mixture on a floured surface and knead it. If it is still sticky, add more flour and keep kneading until it isn’t. The dough is pretty hot at first, so I knead it until it cools, then let the kids have at it. I let them help me count the ingredients and measure. The more they are able to do, the prouder they are of their “creation.”

This recipe makes quite a lot of dough, probably about 5-6 times the amount of a typical Play-doh container. You could probably half the recipe and be just fine for one or two kids. This last batch we made with some friends and made seven different colors! Red, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, and yellow (kinda, the yellow was more of an off white). We broke each batch into five parts and it was a little more than your “typical” amount of Play-doh. We store ours in a zipper type zip-loc bag (if they’re young, make sure it’s a zipper type, so they can get it sealed all the way). It lasts forever if it’s kept sealed up, the salt is a great preserver. Here’s a few pictures of our Kool day:

  

                                        

Our masterpieces:

A frog on a lilypad

A sea turtle in an aquarium

 

A cow

And fruit and veggies…made by me of course. Is that applause I hear????

I know many people may have kiddos with food dye allergies which will make using the Kool-aid a no go. So I came across a website that uses natural colorings. I mean come on, it’s no fair to have to play with “dough colored” dough! I have not tried any of it yet, but am very excited to give it a try!!!! Here’s the link to it: Natural Dye for Homemade Playdough. If anyone gives it a try let me know how it turns out!!

Until next time, be a dreamer and….