On the Corner of Hope and Main by Beverly Jenkins

Bernadine probably thought she had seen the last of her ex. Regular Blessings readers probably thought so as well since we haven't seen him in a couple of books (at least that I remember). But he's going to pop up again trying to cause trouble for the town while making money for himself. His plan this time is to back disgraced former mayor Riley Curry.
Riley has some competition though. Barrett Payne, formerly in the military, currently in charge of security for the town thinks that he is going to be a shoe-in. But his wife, Sheila, decides that she's tired of hiding her light under a barrel and decides to run herself. Of course, the Julys have to through in a family member as well.
We also get updates on various town members. Robyn, now living with her aunt, Pastor Paula, is slowly starting to learn how to live in Henry Adams. Mal and Bernadine work toward a better resolution of how their relationship ended. Cletus, the pig who formerly belonged to Riley is now famous and his team would like to bring him back to Henry Adams for a home town parade.
Jenkins is an incredibly steady writer. Readers who have loved previous books (and there are so many characters with intertwined stories, I really would recommend reading those books first) will enjoy this one to the same extent.  I personally enjoy the books but there is something that keeps me from diving right in and enjoying the story. Part is just the flow - with so many stories you don't stick on many for long. Part is also the characters. We've gotten to know the characters over the course of 10 books but there are sometimes big life changes without really getting to see the character's motivation or getting to see why certain decisions are made because we are looking at so many people. To be fair, this series has always been that way so it's not like Jenkins is just piling on more characters. We do get one or two more in each book but the additions are judicious.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 3rd

Follows Second Time Sweeter

Followed by A Christmas to Remember
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson

In my mind, the CSI techniques of a hundred years ago would have been rudimentary at best but this narrative nonfiction book seeks to show that the 1930s in America was actually where CSI was born. I would argue that it made great strides under Edward Oscar Heinrich (mostly because I've read other books on how CSI started in the 1800s-- but the subtitle does say of American CSI.)
The writing is generally very readable but, wow, did the author gloss over some things about EOH that the modern reader might not like about him. For instance, there's one sentence where she mentions that he at one point "blamed the modern woman for America's crime wave." Um, what now? This and other little notes make it pretty clear that the dude wasn't quite the all-right guy that is being portrayed in most of the book. I generally like nonfiction books where the author is a little removed and this author obviously wasn't.

Three stars
This book came out February 11th
ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Measure of Malice: Scientific Detection Stories -- anthology

Poisoned Pen Press has been rolling out new collections of old stories as part of their British Crime Classic Library and this one is no different. This one rolls together stories that use science to help solve the mystery. There are the big names of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but lesser known names as well.
Like any anthology, this one has some good stories and some that are just... odd. And there is always the fun of reading about things that used to be cutting edge and, in terms of today's scientific knowledge are just sort of funny.

Three stars
This book came out February 4th
ARC kindly provided by Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Bachelor by Sabrina Jeffries

Lady Gwyn Drake is the twin of a duke and the half-sister of two more (it's complicated) so, even at the ripe old age of thirty, she is considered a catch. So her family is taking her to London for the marriage mart even though she's not exactly excited about it. You see, she has a Secret Past. And while her twin knows part of it, he doesn't know everything. Too bad the Secret part of her Past is threatening to reveal the Super Secret part if Gwyn doesn't pay him off. She decides to threaten the man with a gun (that she doesn't know how to shoot) but ends up being saved by the brother of the woman marrying her twin (who is also her mother's third husband's nephew... it's still complicated).
Joshua Wolfe gives Gwyn all the feels and he feels the same. But he's "damaged" having been hurt in the war to the point that he has to walk with a cane and his injuries (and, tbh general disposition) make him super grumpy. He rescues her from the blackmailer and is asked to come to London to be Gwyn's bodyguard.
So forced proximity ensues as well as a touch continuation of the mystery from the first book (which you don't have to have read but it would make it a lot easier to understand what the heck is going on in this book.) Overall, an okay book with a lot of drama and misunderstandings. Gwyn was a little more "Woe is I" than I expected and the ending was a bit twee but I'm still excited to see the next book go on sale.

Three stars
This book came out February 25th
Follows Project Duchess
Followed by Who Wants to Marry a Duke
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Undone by Kelly Rimmer

Jess Cohen and Jake Winton were involved for four months two years ago. Then he got serious and she freaked out. He ended up moving to the West Coast. There was a good job offer in oncology at Stanford but he was also slinking away to nurse his wounds. Now Jake's brother (who is one of Jess's best friends and business partners) is getting married so Jake and Jess are seeing each other again. It does not go well, not least because Jess insisted on keeping their relationship secret so no one knows why they have a blow-up at the rehearsal dinner.
The rest of the book follows Jess and Jake as they start to reconnect. And it really sets up Jess's friend Mitchell as sequel bait. It was an okay book but Rimmer has written better. There was So. Much. sturm and drang in this one and it just felt overwrought. Jess and Jake sort of talked to each other but mostly it was past each other.

Three stars
Follows Unspoken
This book came out February 25th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

If I Never Met You : A Novel by Mhairi McFarlan

Laurie has been in a relationship with the same man for eighteen years. They've just started talking about having children when he abruptly breaks up with her. Laurie is... adrift. It just gets worse when she discovers, three months later, that his new girlfriend is two months pregnant. Working with her ex is agony. Getting trapped in an elevator is worse.
A noted ladies man, Jamie Carter knows how to play the game. But he and Laurie work for an old-fashioned company that likes its partners to be paired up and Jamie doesn't want to do that. So getting trapped with Laurie sparks an idea, they can use each other to get what they want: a partnership and revenge.
I liked the message that Laurie told herself- she could cope. But the book took too long to get to the meat of the story for me. There was so much about Laurie and Dan and then Laurie on her own. If there had been a downplay of her relationship with Jamie (maybe more finding herself - more with her friends, Emily was awesome) or less of the journey to get to the beginning of the relationship, I would have liked the book better. And I never really got the feeling that Laurie was the kind of person who would revenge date anyway so that part of their relationship seemed flimsy.  Once the story got started though, I liked watching them fall in love.

Three stars
This book comes out February 26th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Sisters by Choice by Susan Mallery

Sophie, Kristine, and Amber are cousins. Sophie built a kitty toy empire which went up in flames one night so she is coming back to Blackberry Island to rebuild. In doing so, she gets to know her family again (and, as happens in Blackberry Island books, herself as well.)
Kristine is generally happy with her husband Jaxsen and her three boys but, as the boys are getting older, she's getting ready for something more. It's too bad that Jaxsen doesn't seem to want that for her.
Amber got pregnant at 18 and now relies heavily on her daughter, Heather, for everything. Heather is slowly drowning under her mother's needs. Amber has absolutely no idea how to function in the real world. She wants to leave but isn't sure that her mother will survive without her. Now her grandmother is selling the house Heather and Amber are living in and Heather is at the end of her rope.
Sophie wants to grow her business but isn't sure how. It's her whole life and she is in charge of every part of it to the point that nothing else is important to her. She doesn't want to get married again but is happy to jump into a physical relationship with the local tai chi teacher. But when it turns out that he might have a brain, Sophie isn't as sure about continuing a relationship with him.
And I wish we had seen more of the relationship building between the cousins, between Kristine and her husband, and between Sophie and Dugan. This book didn't feel like it went as deep into the female friendships that other books in this series have.

Three stars
This book came out February 11th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin-Mira and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Ignite on Contact by Jaci Burton

Rafe Donovan and Carmen Lewis live next door to each other. They also interact when their job paths cross (he's a firefighter and she's an ER nurse.) Rafe is interested but Carmen is hesitant. She had a pretty bad marriage that she doesn't want to repeat and her life is already full with her job and taking care of her grandfather with whom she lives. Rafe convinces her that he just wants to take her out for a thank you, that it's not a real date.
Things escalate from there with the two of them having lives that get more and more intertwined. But can Carmen trust a known player with her previously battered heart?
I liked the first book in this series a little more just because I connected with the characters more.


Three stars
Follows Hot to the Touch
This book came out February 4th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

A couple/few books ago, Mercy Thompson killed two vampires. One that she was sanctioned to kill and one she was not. Now, however, the local head of the vampires has discovered that she was the one to kill the second vampire and has basically opened the floodgates for creepy-crawlies to come after Mercy.
At the same time, Mercy's old college friend has shown up and asked Mercy to come help her get rid of a ghost that is terrorizing the woman's son. But the timing of the invitation is more than a little suspicious. Does Amber really need help with her son Chad? And why was disbeliever Corban, Amber's husband, the one to suggest that Mercy be the one to call?
This book moved along nicely and built more on Adam and Mercy's relationship and Mercy's on character.

Four stars
This book came out February 3rd, 2009
Follows Iron Kissed
Followed by Silver Borne
I listened to this as an audiobook
Opinions are my own

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

Mercy's mentor Zee has called her in to help solve a series of murders. The victims were all fae so the human police haven't been brought it. Mercy quickly determines the killer but is shocked when Zee is arrested for the man's death. He is obviously not the killer but the Gray Lords are willing to let him take the fall in order to have it cleaned up quickly. The acceptance of fae by the humans is imperative and having one person go down is not beyond their plans.
But Zee belongs to Mercy. Whether or not he wants her to investigate, she's going to. And this book ends with a rather graphic scene and some discussion of what happens in the aftermath of rape. I am so glad that I read this book even though I listened to the rest of the series because there is at least a bit of space between the book and the brain that sometimes isn't there if you are absorbing a book through your ears. I haven't personally had the experience but, from the outside, it seemed like an eloquent description of what a victim has to wrestle with.

Three stars
This book came out January 2nd, 2008
Follows Blood Bound
Followed by Bone Crossed
I listened to this as an audiobook
Opinions are my own

Witch Slapped by Danielle Garrett

When the book opens, Holly's biggest problem is that her boyfriend Adam's parents are coming into town for the holidays. She's not quite whole-heartedly in the relationship (and I'm with her, Adam seems fairly milk-soppy so far and Garrett is really pushing the reader to think that Nick is a better fit) so she's especially nervous.
While Adam is out of town, Holly goes on a stakeout with Nick following a cheating husband. Holly is immediately concerned when she realizes that the picture Nick has of the couple includes a necklace around the neck of the wife. The necklace is the icon for a well-known, very old vampire clan. When the husband turns up dead the next day having been killed in a fairly grisly manner, Holly immediately jumps in.
She also has to deal with her SPA agent moving into the house and prying into her life. What is Harvey looking for?
Again, I'm not sure why Holly and Adam are together. Garrett is not doing a great job of connecting them and it takes away from the rest of the story.

Three Stars
This book came out January 2nd, 2017
Follows Twice the Witch
Followed by Witch Way Home
Listened to this book from the library

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

This book is oft-recommended for a reason. It is awesome. A hero and heroine, both intelligent, ready to match wits at every turn. A man and woman who are in lust at first sight but take some time for
courting though neither would acknowledge it as such. Then a look after the marriage when the true work of figuring out their relationship begins.

Four and a half stars
Originally published January 1, 1995

Follows Captives of the Night

Followed by the Mad Earl's Bride

Listened to this book on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

Reread October 2022 as Audible book

Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas

Tom Severin, will you please by my book boyfriend?  You start the book only having five emotions (having long ago decided that the rest were superfluous) and end up with all the feels. The last possible Big Misunderstanding is circumvented because you are so in love with your bride and so aware of needing to be a decent human being in order to keep her.
Was this book perfect? I can't remember much about Cassandra other than that she's gorgeous but has a heart of gold so... maybe not. But it was damn near.
Cassandra Ravenel is stoked for her twin. Of course she is. Pandora is marrying the love of her life and he's a good man. Cassandra just wishes she could find her own oyster. Nothing shocks her more than, after confessing that feeling to West, Tom stands up from the chair he was sitting in (not hiding, just not able to get out without it being awkward) and offers to be that man for her. Her family is against the match (at least the men are; the women are willing to wait and see.) But Kelypas takes us through their relationship over the course of several months as Tom learns to have all the feels because Cassandra convinces his to read fiction. I'm not crying; you're crying.

Four and a half stars
This book comes out February 18th, 2020

Follows Devil's Daughter

Followed by Devil in Disguise
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers
Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby February 2023

The Detection Club by Jean Harambat

The premise of this book is quite lovely. Six authors from the Golden Age of Detection form a club and create rules of mystery stories - this is something that happened. Then, they are all invited to an island and a murder occurs.
I almost requested both the first and second volumes at the same time but am glad that I didn't. This was a quick read but was flattering to none of the authors with the three women getting the brunt the bad characterizations. I finished the book but just barely. The text is hard to read on my e-reader and there is a LOT of exposition from the narrator that slows down the story.

Two stars
This book came out January 12th
ARC kindly provided by Europe Comics and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Speakeasy by Sarina Bowen

May Shipley isn't really all that old but she could already be assigned many labels: lawyer, alcoholic, bisexual. But she really is sick and tired of her family  treating her like fragile glass. It doesn't exactly help that the book opens as she stops by a bar. She sees her girlfriend's car and decides to stop by and say hello. Too bad she walks in to see her girlfriend kissing the woman she dated before May. Before May can do anything physical, Alec Rossi, the bar's owner hustles over and carries her out.
Alec had only just put together that May's girlfriend was cheating on her and was debating whether or not to let her know when she walks into the bar. Helping her out that night leads to helping her out at her law school reunion (which her ex is also attending) which leads to sex. And somehow that all leads to an HEA.
There was so much going on in this book. There were the people from previous books and all of that history crowding this one as well as all of the possible sequel bait. I didn't think you needed to have read the previous books but there was an overabundance of info-dumping. And there was so much going on with Alec, I'm going to be brutally honest, I just got sick of hearing about it. I wish we had heard more from May because I never got to connect with her.

Three stars
This book came out in May 29th, 2018
Borrowed this book from Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

The Kissing Game by Marie Harte

Rena Jackson has saved up enough money to open her own beauty salon so she's leaving her  job at, well, a dive bar. Of course, that means that she's going to be leaving behind the Viking hunk, Axel Heller. It's just too bad she never could connect with him.
Axel is ready to step up and finally ask Rena out. Eventually. There is a LOT of thinking about it. But the two finally get together but still have obstacles to overcome, including Rena's dreams going up in smoke.
Oh man. I usually like Marie Harte but the pacing in this book was just... weird. Scenes didn't follow each other well and it just got choppy.  I didn't mind the German insertions at first but, wow, they got to be a lot. Harte is a good author but this book does not prove it.

Two stars
This book came out February 4th
ARC kindly provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Twice the Witch by Danielle Garrett

Well. I spoke too soon. I noted in my review of the first book in this series that I was happy there were no love triangles as that is an overused trope. This book... ufda. So many.
Holly wonders what is going on with her boyfriend Adam and the new witch in the house, supernatural TV star Evangeline Loren. Adam is wondering what is going on with Holly and her private investigator friend, Nick. Holly is sure that her friend/boss at the coffee shop has a crush on Nick.
Adding into her personal drama is the fact that her coworker Paisley's cousin, Katarina, is missing. Holly gets Katarina's mom in touch with Nick but it ends up being Holly who stumbles across her first. Too bad it's because Katarina is a ghost and no one else (except the other supernaturals) can see her.

Three stars
Follows Murder's a Witch
Followed by Witch Slapped
This book came out September 19th, 2016
Borrowed this as an audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

Murder's a Witch by Danielle Garrett

When Holly Boldt's boss is killed, she's worried that all of her own secrets will be revealed. The fact that she's an exiled witch working in the human world already makes her life fraught with danger. She's still allowed to practice some magic but making potions... well, that's kept on the sly. But she generally likes her life and Beechwood Harbor is starting to feel like home. So she's trying to stay on the DL, living her life at the manor with other supernaturals including a vampire and a shifter while working at a coffee shop. The day that she ports in behind and finds a body surrounded by broken peppermint bottles is the day that she starts to worry about her place. She's not a suspect, but her close friend is.
A nice start to a new series. I'm glad that it doesn't seem like there will be a love triangle.

Four stars
Followed by Twice the Witch
This book came out August 9th, 2016
Borrowed this as an audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

Mermaid Inn by Jenny Holiday

I have enjoyed other books by Ms. Holiday but this one just didn't resonate as well. I think part of the problem was that this took place over a year which should have been great for the relationship development but, instead, we just dipped in and out of different days making it feel a little bit more shallow. And I wish Eve hadn't let Sawyer off so easy for making life decisions for her even if it was "better in the end." That's a BS reason to make decisions for somebody else and that seems to be a theme in romance novels I'm reading lately, men making sweeping life decisions for women because they "know" best. In at least one other book the guy figured out his mistake and I guess Sawyer sort of did but I wish we had seen more.

Two and a half stars
Followed by Paradise Cove
This book came out January 28th, 2020
Borrowed this book from the library
Opinions are my own

Gmorning, Gnight! by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Oh man. I was SO excited for this book and when I saw that my library had an audio version, I was even more excited.  I LOVE when authors, especially celebrities, read their own books. This is not a new conceit, gathering tweets to make a book. And these are positive tweets! Both for the morning and the night! And it's Lin-Manuel Miranda! But listening to a bunch of tweets gets really tiring after awhile. And listening to one, or two, or even ten at a time, ruminating on them and enjoying them takes a really. long. time. 

I believe that I would have given this a higher rating had I read the book rather than listening to it and urge others to do the same.

Two Stars

This book came out October 16th, 2018

I borrowed this as an audiobook from the library

Opinions are my own

Husband Material by Brenda Jackson

Producer Matthew Birmingham and actress Carmen Akins were married. But then their differences became too great and they divorced. For Carmen, Matthew was becoming too much like her father - he loved his work more than her. And she expressed that to him. When he missed a trip she had specifically prepared for the two of them to connect, Carmen was done.
Matthew knew that he was spending a lot of time at work but he was blindsided by Carmen's wanting a divorce. Now that she's in their house in the Hamptons and not going to leave (it was part of the divorce settlement that she could be there if he wasn't), he's ready for a little revenge. But he learns that what he thought about their divorce isn't the whole  story, he changes his goals for their time together.
This would have been better as a full book. There was so little connection between the two characters other than the sex that it made it hard to connect to them or to believe in their HEA.

Two stars
This novella originally came out as a part of an anthology but was re-released as an ebook this year.
Opinions are my own

The Neighbours by Nicola Gill

Ginny Taylor thought her life was pretty average. A job she sort of liked with a boss who was sort of a jerk and a boyfriend who maybe wasn't the End All Be All but he loves her. Until she walks into her own apartment to find her boss and boyfriend going at it. After a week off work, Ginny comes back and throws enough of a scene to get fired.  Months later and she still hasn't found a job, exactly. Although she has sort of become friends with the actress downstairs, Cassie Frost. Yes, that Cassie Frost, the one who was recently on a reality show. The reality show that has people issuing her death threats. The Cassie Frost that is in serious need of some good PR. But Ginny doesn't want to be her PR person.
The flow of this book is just delightful. Even and steady, I was able to sit down and read this in one sitting and was not ready to put it down at any point. Because it does cover a year, not every part of Ginny's life is delved into and was a bit shallow but an overall delightful read.

Four stars
This book came out February 6th
ARC kindly provided by Avon Books UK
Opinions are my own

The Schemer by Avery Flynn

In previous books in the series, we've met both Tyler Jacobson and Everly Ribinski. We know that Tyler has been working his whole life to leave his past behind him, to make his wealth mean something. We also know that Everly lives on the floor above him and wears heels, mostly to piss him off.
In this book, we get more of the back story of how they met and came to have the lust/hate relationship that we've seen. We also get to see how Tyler and Everly begin to build a relationship. And it's hard because they both came from neighborhoods that weren't exactly elite. But while Tyler is trying to escape, Everly is in no hurry to change herself in order to try and join the pretentious wealthy (or even just the wealthy). But Everly can get Tyler access to a family with whom he is trying to make a business deal so they strike up a deal and end up spending a lot of time together.
There is a delightful B story that (and I don't usually say this) could have been built out more -- maybe a novella? -- between two older characters.

Four stars
Follows The Charmer
This book came out January 8th, 2018
Listened to this book on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

Intercepted by Alexa Martin

Marlee Harper has devoted her life to her NFL-star boyfriend for ten years. Ten. Years. She's dealt with his tantrums, she's put up with the WAGs that mock her, and she's been devoted. Too bad he hasn't been. So she dumps his ass and makes a vow never to date another athlete. Even the quarterback who she had a hot one-night stand with a bazillion years ago. The one who kept her grandmother's necklace and even gave it back.
This was a fast, fun, and fluffy book. I had to read the end to make sure it was worth reading because it took me awhile to get into it but it was fun and Marlee's character growth was mostly amazing though it did happen in, like, the last sixth of the book.

Three and a half stars
This book came out September 11, 2018
Hard copy from library
Opinions are my own

The Charmer by Avery Flynn

Across the floor at a fundraiser, Hudson Carlyle notices Felicia Hartigan. He wants to paint her. She wants to date his brother's ex-best friend. So they strike up a deal. But he wants to do more than help the ant researcher get her man; he'd like to get her in bed. Too bad that stupid jealousy keeps rearing its head. It's not like he wants to stay with her forever, right?
An okay story. Like the first book, not much of the relationship between the two of them other than the physical but a fun story.

Three and a half stars
Followed The Negotiator
Followed by The Schemer
This book came out September 25th, 2017
Listened to this book on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

The Negotiator by Avery Flynn

Clover Lee knows that her mom had to get married and ended up in their small hometown living a small life. She's determined not to have the same thing happen to her so she is determinedly doing the most interesting jobs she can find in the most interesting places she can find. The latest is a job as a "buffer" for Sawyer Carlyle.
Sawyer's father died recently so he's been really cautious about upsetting his mother, even when she keeps bringing him potential wife candidates. He's told her to stop be she is determined. During interviews (which Sawyer's brother actually set up after Sawyer made a joke about needing a buffer), Sawyer's mother shows up and Clover, surrounded by bodyguard types, is the one who sends her away. Then Clover gets Sawyer all hot with her negotiating skills and the two embark on not only a six-week job but also a physical affair (which Flynn goes to great pains to make sure that we understand that a) Clover is not actually his employee and b) she initiates, which is a little heavy but appreciated.)
Of course, Sawyer's mom's motives aren't as clean as they seem but I didn't really get the ending. Nor did I really see Sawyer and Clover melding. The sex was hot but outside of that? It was a lot of tell, not show.

Three and a half stars
Followed by The Charmer
This book came out April 24th, 2017
Listened to this book on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

Parental Guidance by Avery Flynn

Defenseman for the Ice Knights, Caleb Stuckey is one of the hockey players caught by an Uber driver trash talking the women they've slept with. As the most senior player, he's the one that is held in the crossfire by his company. He needs some good press as soon as possible. What does his team suggest? That he join a reality show where parents choose dates for their children.
Zara Ambrose is a miniaturist who is juts trying to break into the business and trying to get over a childhood where her father took care of everyone but her. Now he wants to be a character actor and him getting some speaking lines on the reality show means that he can get his SAG card.
The reason these two get together is pretty shaky but the story is still pretty fun. We get to know both Zara and Caleb and watch as they move from people willing to fake five dates to a couple in love.

Three stars
This book came out May 31st, 2019
I listened to this book on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik

Bianca von Hasenberg has done more than enough for House von Hasenberg. She married a monster who changed her in ways no one should have to suffer. But she now uses her differences, the differences she can never tell anyone for fear of being a medical experiment for the rest of her life, to enhance her information network. Also working for her? Woman who were in similar positions until Bianca saved them. Their gossip keeps her in the know, both for her family and for herself. Since her husband died, she has also become a security expert while tucking away money for herself. It is all of her skills that make her think she can save her brother when he is kidnapped. Of course, she was targeted at the same time but that doesn't worry her as much. Nor does the fact that someone is setting her up to be the fall guy for her brother's disappearance. Too bad her path is further complicated by one of her father's security guys, her former love, Ian.
I hadn't finished the first book but my library book was about to expire so I listened to this one and didn't feel like I had missed anything. Mihalik managed to add enough of the first book for backstory but without the info dump.

Four stars
Follows Polaris Rising
Followed by Chaos Reigning
This book came out October 1st, 2019
Borrowed this as an audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

The Blacksmith Queen by G. A. Aiken

Adjacent to Aiken's Dragon Kin series (though you don't have to have read any of those books to understand what is going on), this book dumps you into a land where the king has died and his sons have all immediately started killing each other off in order to inherit the throne. However, there is a seer who has proclaimed that the next ruler will actually be a woman.
From there, we are dumped in the middle of a fight where a boy, Samuel, is saved by a blacksmith, Keeley. But then... there's a lot of world-building. We meet Keeley's family, including her sister, Gemma, who left and has returned a rather "chunky" nun. Also introduced is Keeley's sister Beatrix who is reported to be the next queen. But will it be her or is the prophecy somewhat murkier than first thought?
It took me awhile to get into this book. I love the zaniness of Aiken (especially in her romance series writing as Laurenston) but it took a lot of time to get to a point where the world was built enough to really enjoy the craziness that I think this series will get into. Normally Aiken is much better at building the worlds simultaneous to getting characters developed. For me, the book was sort of a bell curve with the best part of the book being the middle but you sort of had to wade in to get to it. Hopefully the second book will be better because all of the back story will be behind.

Three stars

Followed by The Princess Knight
This book came out August 27th, 2019
I borrowed this as an ebook from the library

Note: I borrowed this as an audiobook later and it was even BETTER
Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible audiobook January 2024