Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries. Vanita Oelschlager. 2011. 4o pages. Vanita Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] How exactly do you explain common idioms to a kindergartner? I never really put a lot of thought into that question, but Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries is definitely a go-to for any parent or teacher who struggles to explain the nuances of not-so-literal language to a little one. This book takes extremely common food-related idioms, such as “the big cheese” and “your goose is cooked,” and uses dynamic, colorful illustrations and witty dialogue to provide literal explanations. When you flip the page upside-down, you’re provided a definition and an example sentence.

Roman Holiday 1: Chained. Ruthie Knox. 2014. Loveswept. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] The first part of Ruthie Knox’s serial is a good start to what could be a great story. It pulled me in right away and left me hanging all too soon.Knox presents a story that is easily spread across several books, though I’d like to get them all in one sitting. I will absolutely be checking out subsequent books in this collection. Ashley and Roman’s introduction is not quite what one would expect, with her being chained to a tree and him seeing how soon she’ll break. Her heart is certainly in the right place — she wants to save a small Florida resort from destruction at the hand’s of Roman’s company. Her grandmother sold it behind her back, and it’s really all she has left.