By Miriam Bornstein

Say goodbye to your nightly game of hide-and-seek when searching for dinner ingredients. If your pantry looks like a war zone with open boxes of pasta, spices on every shelf and empty containers taking up limited counter space, then you are in dire need of pantry reorganization. 

Book Summary from Publisher:

“Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon – and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she’d put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess’s life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can’t escape her very own Selection – no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn’t expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn’s heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her … and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.”

My Summary and Thoughts:

Eadlyn Schreave is not an average eighteen-year old girl. As the daughter of King Maxon and Queen America, she has been trained her whole life to become the next ruler of Illéa. This means, among her many other duties, she is expected to marry and produce an heir. And she isn’t happy about it.

Twenty years ago, her father’s first act as king was to dissolve the caste system that had been the backbone of Illéa’s society from the beginning. At first, people rejoiced in the new era of equality. Without the old, unfair labels, people were free to be whoever they wanted to be. But now, people are rioting, and the country’s leaders don’t know why. They’d phased the castes out gradually to give people time to adjust, and it had seemed that the country had done so happily. But, prejudice can still be found, and old caste labels still limit people.

Eadlyn’s parents finally come up with a solution – one that they see as ingenious and she sees as insane – for Eadlyn to have her own Selection. They see it as an opportunity to give the people something to celebrate and give them time to think of a way to defuse the tensions, as well as a way to do something wonderful for Eadlyn, to give her the chance to fall in love. Eadlyn sees it as little better than marrying her off for an alliance (something her parents promised they would never do) and rather pointless in the end. She’s not the type of girl to fall in love, and her parents can’t force people to be fair and let prejudices fade.

So, she negotiates. She agrees to go through with the Selection on one condition: If she hasn’t found a suitable prince in three months, she doesn’t have to get married. This leaves her a perfect loophole, or so she thinks. She’ll just scare her suitors off, intimidate them into leaving, and then get on with her life. But some of the suitors begin to find their way past the walls she’s put up and into her heart. Will she fall in love after all?

I’m so glad that Kiera Cass chose to continue the Selection series, because I love this series more with every book. This time, we get to see the Selection not from the viewpoint of the Selected, but from the Selector herself. Eadlyn is a strong and sassy girl, and quite often a hilarious narrator. She can be frustrating at times, but you care for her anyway. And the romance is this book is perfect and exasperating all at once. In the first three books, I knew exactly who I wanted to end up together. But The Heir leaves no clues as to who Eadlyn will choose, and I can’t decide any more than she can. There are so many new characters to love, and the suitors are part of that. And the stakes are just as high for Eadlyn as they were for America. Eadlyn’s world is changing more everyday. Some changes are good, and she may gain the love of her life. Some changes are terrifying, and she may lose the people she’s always loved.

Happily Ever After, a collection of all four Selection novellas and bonus materials, is coming out in October of this year, so hopefully, we’ll have a review of that soon!

Comments! If you were the prince or princess of Illéa, would you want a Selection to be hosted, or would you want to try to fall in love on your own? Let me know in the comments!

I’d love to connect with you guys.  Join me on Instagram, Tumblr, Goodreads, and Pinterest!

It has been a long week here at my house. Full of busy work days and after school activities 

that could have easily pushed me to the fast food line on a number of occasions, but thankfully since I’m a Balance Bar Insider; I had a secret weapon in my purse and could say yes to their new Chocolate mint cookie crunch bars without any guilt! My thanks to Balance Bar for sending me complimentary products for today’s post and giveaway. All love of chocolate and healthy snacks are my own.  

I’m going to be honest with you; I do not always practice healthy eating habits. I make sure my family eats all meals in a timely fashion, but for some reason- I don’t always sit down to a proper lunch during the week.  My kids are at school; my husband is at work, so it’s easy for me to nibble on fruit or cheese while I work in my home offices, or around the house. By the time the kids get home and we have to get to a rehearsal or club, I’m famished!  Balance Bars help keep me going.

The great thing about the new Mint Cookie Crunch Balance Bars, besides the fantastic flavor, is that they truly are a balanced snack or light meal alternative.  Check out their nutrition facts:

See all that protein? That means a quick boost of energy, but Balance Bars are so much more than just a protein bar. Their precise 40-30-30 nutrition plan promotes slow glycemic response, which helps keep your blood sugar levels in a normal range.  

I’m thankful to have these bars on hand while running yet another errand after school with my girls. Who, by the way, LOVE these tasty bars more than I do! While I do like these minty good cookies, they get a bit too sweet for me by the end of the bar, so I prefer their natural Bare bars which you can learn more about on my post here.  

I invite you to learn more about all the Balance Bars available and where you can purchase 

them by visiting their website and by following them on Twitter.  While at their site, be 

sure to read their 40-30-30 nutrition facts. 

Win It: 

One lucky reader will receive a box of 6 or more Chocolate Mint Cookie Crunch Balance Bars! 

Terms:

No purchase is necessary to enter using the Rafflecopter from below.  My WAHM Plan is not responsible for prize fulfillment. Winners will be notified by email used on entry form and have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.  This giveaway is not associated with nor endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, or any other social channel. 

Good Luck!

Even though we officially kicked off fall this week, the temperatures here in the south remain summer like. My teen daughters and I have started taking afternoon walks again and we usually wind up on the front porch to cool off. That’s when we enjoy big flavorful glasses of home brewed iced tea. I love connecting with my teens as we sit and sip together. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we just rock and listen to the busy birds- either way it’s the time spent together that matters. 

Recently I received a box full of Tulsi flavored teas from Organic India as part of the Moms Meet program. While I did receive these items free of charge, I only share products I believe in and feel will be of value to you, my readers.  

Some of you may remember the first time I wrote about this wonderful company and their story and mission remain relevant and important enough for me to share them again today. 

One of Organic India’s main missions is to create a sustainable global environment by working with thousands of family farmers in India on tens of thousands of acres of organic farmland. These are causes I very much believe in and want to champion. 

Tulsi is considered India’s Queen of herbs for more than 5,000 years and has been revered as one of the most sacred herbs in India, infused with healing power because of its abundance in antioxidants. I can’t speak to this teas healing power, but I can speak to its flavor.

This week we are enjoying a special blend of home brewed iced tea using a mix of Tulsi Original tea and Tulsi Raspberry Peach tea. It is a delightful, flavorful blend my whole family loves. You can also purchase Tulsi in: Sweet Rose, Lemon Ginger, Honey Chamomile, Peppermint, Jasmine and many more by visiting their website.

Each box of Tulsi tea retails for $5.99 and is certified USDA organic.  You can save 20% on your Organic India products by using code kiwi20 for your online purchases. Also, be sure to visit Organic India on Facebook and Twitter where you can learn more about their humanitarian causes.

I invite you to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and get outside! Go for a walk; enjoy the view as the seasons slowly blend and change; or just sit and sip some iced tea together. It’s a perfect way to connect with your teens, your husband, your dog, even yourself.

From our home to yours- we wish you a Happy Fall!

Please share in comments: Which tea flavor listed above you would you like to try?

Now that my elementary school Mom days are behind me, I don’t get called upon to bake for class parties much anymore. While I do miss seeing the joy on the kids’ faces when I shared a sweet treat; I still get pressed into baking service for the hospitality committees at both the middle and high school level- which often means donating to bake sales.  Sometimes I don’t have time or the supplies needed to bake from scratch, but I don’t fear bake sales because I keep Krusteaz bakery style cookie mixes on hand. My thanks to Krusteaz for sending me complimentary products for today’s post and giveaway. 

My family and I love a warm, fresh from the oven cookie, so it was difficult for us to decide which cookie mix to try first; there were so many good options in my box of Krusteaz Bakery Style mixes like:

My family and I are ready to embrace fall and all the fun activities we enjoy doing this time of year, so when our girls asked what we were doing this weekend- they were surprised when my husband and I both said in unison- Chores! Our girls know they should be helping more, and they really do try. 

Lately though, I’ve been feeling like a broken record “reminding” them to do their chores in a timely fashion. And I blame myself for this frustrating turn of events. I knew it was time to update my kids’ chore charts and get us back on track. My weekly chore prompt takes a few minutes to print out and a few minutes more deciding what chores to assign.