Murder at the Tea Party by Sonia Parin

While the mystery is better in this book than the first in the series, the character development is what continues to delight.
Evie Parker has returned to the estate of her husband's family. Both her mother-in-law and her grandmother-in-law are still living but have inexplicably moved to the dower house. Evie thinks that Sarah and Henrietta may be sending her a message. She's not quite figured out what it is but they are distracted by the fact that a band of local ladies seem determined to wrest the Hunt Ball from the Woodbridges who have always hosted it. During the war, Woodbridge Hall was turned into a convalescent home and the dowager countesses were busy helping so the location moved. Now, the ladies want to take it back over but a newly relocated matron has decided that the local villagers should stay in charge. Unfortunately, this is the same matron who falls dead after visiting Evie for tea.
Evie is viewed with some suspicion but it gets worse when another woman from the same committee dies after another tea party at Evie's. Working again with Tom Winchester, as well as Phillipa, an Australian motorist who has been staying at the house since her motorcar broke down right outside the house, Evie is going to solve this murder to prove her own innocence.

Four stars
Follows House Party Murder
Followed by Murder in the Cards
This book came out March 19th, 2019
Borrowed as audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

House Party Murder Rap by Sonia Parin

When she first came to England, Evie became known as "That Evangeline Parker." An American heiress, she caught the eye of several men but fell in love at mutual first sight with the Earl of Woodbridge. She had a few wonderful years with him before he died. During her grieving, she went back to America. But two years have passed and she has decided to return to England bringing along a Duesenberg and a chauffeur, Tom Winchester, hired by her grandmother.
One of her first stops is at a house party with her late husband's good friend, the Duke of Hetherington, familiarly known as Bicky. There is an odd incidence as she goes from the village to the ducal manor. Someone takes a shot at her car. When Tom reacts quickly, Evie begins to wonder about him. When someone later takes a potshot at the duke while Evie is standing near him, she learns that Tom has actually been hired as a bodyguard. He ends up posing as an old friend of Evie's and joins the house party.
The mystery isn't particularly exciting and the end is a bit deflated. Discerning timing in the audiobook can be hard; I suspect there are paragraphs that we don't experience which break up some of the story. The charm of the story comes in the character building. Both Evie and Tom are delightful characters and I look forward to reading more of their books.

Three and a half stars
Followed by Murder at the Tea Party
This book came out December 28th, 2018
Borrowed as audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

Crossing Over Easy by Nova Nelson

Normally, a horrific car crash might not mean that someone will be able to walk away. But Nora Ashcroft does. And she follows a talking dog to a restaurant that includes fauns, witches, and the Grim Reaper (though he prefers "Ted.") Her brain can barely comprehend what's happening when she discovers a dead body. She also finds out that she is a Witch of the Fifth Wind; she can talk to ghosts, especially those who were murdered and help to set things right.
And because of who she is, she gets involved in solving the mystery of who killed Bruce the werewolf.
This is a short book but sets up some good worldbuilding (including the fact that Eastwind has a larger than normal murder rate which easily sets up the rest of the series and solves the usual problem with small town murder mysteries.) An interesting series and a nice first book.

Three stars
Followed by Death Metal
This book came out February 26th, 2018
Borrowed as audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

January Scaller does not live with either her mother or her father. Instead, she lives with Mr. Locke while her father travels the world, searching for treasures for the New England Archeological Society. And Mr. Locke seems to care for her. She cares for him. Her life is distressingly normal for a girl who is neither white nor black in (I think?) the early 1900s. But her life begins to change at seven when she briefly sees a blue door and goes through to another world. When her father dies, her life changes irrevocably. Her first person narration pulls us into the story, into her feelings and sense of wonder.
Her story intersects with two others whose identities are originally concealed from us by the third person narrator. All of them, explorers, trying to discover all 10,000 doors (which is actually "too many to count" but 10,000 works well.)
Great character development, awesome world building, and a happy ending. All things that make me happy. I did skim a couple of sections but not very much.

Four stars
This book came out September 10th, 2019
Borrowed as an audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

Go Fetch! by Shelly Laurenston

Miki Kendrick just wants to finish her PhD. She doesn't want to deal with mysterious people calling her from alleys and she darn sure doesn't want to deal with overly large shifters who are obsessed with her. Yet here she is with Conall Víga-Feilan a wolf descended from Loki himself. And the man is hot. Distractingly hot.
Super-smart and well trained in the art of the hunt, Miki takes no prisoners. And in Conall's case, she doesn't want to be caught with him either. But trying to make it through her dissertation may prove harder than she originally thought.
Early Laurenston shifter, a little rough but a fun read nonetheless.

Three books
Follows Pack Challenge
Followed by Here Kitty, Kitty
This book came out March 6th, 2007
Audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

Reread July 1, 2022, March 2023

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

January Scaller does not live with either her mother or her father. Instead, she lives with Mr. Locke while her father travels the world, searching for treasures for the New England Archeological Society. And Mr. Locke seems to care for her. She cares for him. Her life is distressingly normal for a girl who is neither white nor black in (I think?) the early 1900s. But her life begins to change at seven when she briefly sees a blue door and goes through to another world. When her father dies, her life changes irrevocably. Her first person narration pulls us into the story, into her feelings and sense of wonder.

Her story intersects with two others whose identities are originally concealed from us by the third person narrator. All of them, explorers, trying to discover all 10,000 doors (which is actually "too many to count" but 10,000 works well.)

Great character development, awesome world building, and a happy ending. All things that make me happy. I did skim a couple of sections but not very much.

Four and a half stars

This book came out September 10th, 2019

Borrowed as audiobook from library

Opinions are my own

Here Kitty, Kitty! by Shelly Laurenston

The hyenas are still up to no good. Even the tigers know it. Which is why Nik’s brothers kidnap Angelina Santiago from outside her shop in Texas and take her to North Carolina. Well, and they know their brother really likes her.
Angelina wakes up swinging. She never expected to wake up in the house of a man she flirted with briefly. Nor did she expect to fall in love so fast...
Wish that we had seen more with the hyenas but a fast, fun, and fluffy book all the same.

Three stars
This book came out July 3rd, 2007

Follows Go Fetch! 

Followed by Miss Congeniality in When He Was Bad
Audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

Reread March 2023 as audiobook from Hoopla

Tide Dance by Danielle Garrett

It's the height of summer and lots of strangers are in town but only one is a silver-haired teen with purple eyes who is caught for stealing. But there's more to her than meets the eye....
REALLY short but just fine. Not sure if it's going to be significant in the series.

Three stars
Follows Lucky Witch
Followed by Tide Dance
This novella came out September 19th, 2018
Borrowed this book as an audiobook
Opinions are my own

Lucky Witch by Danielle Garrett

Someone is leaving cryptic clues around town on shamrock sticky notes that lead to gold coins. At the same time, there seems to be a leprechaun in town and someone is hunting werewolves on the night that Nick has his first change. There's a lot going on, even as Holly's business is taking off. And now Adam is pulling away leaving Holly wondering what is going on.
Regular readers will not find anything wanting. I would recommend new people start at the beginning of the series.

Three stars
Follows Along Came a Ghost
Followed by One Bad Witch
This book came out October 28th, 2017
Borrowed this book as an audiobook
Opinions are my own

Royal Darling by Kylie Gilmore

At the end of the last book in the series, Princess Emma was fleeing her arranged marriage. She didn't leave the Prince at the altar but it was darn close. While fleeing, she hops on board a houseboat and hides not realizing the boat belongs to Jackson Walker, rock star extraordinaire. She recognizes him from a charity they did together and he also recognizes her.
And major props to Gilmore for getting that out of the way fast.  I also liked that Emma told her family where she was pretty fast rather than letting them sweat. I didn't love how interfering they all were but some might argue it was because Emma is a royal. The flow of this book was much better than the second and makes me want to listen to the fourth.

Three and a half stars
This book came out May 10th, 2019
Follows Royal Hottie
Followed by Royal Charmer
Borrowed audiobook from library
Opinions are my own

Along Came a Ghost by Danielle Garrett

There's a new ghost at the manor and he's causing problems. Holly is going to need help and she reaches out to Scarlet, the new florist who can see ghosts (and the protagonist of another of Garrett's series). Together, they reunite Posy with a very important person from her past.
A cute novella and a neat way to introduce a new series.

Three Stars
This book came out May 31st, 2017
Follows Witch Way Home
Followed by Lucky Witch
Listened to this book from the library

Witch Way Home by Danielle Garrett

Holly ended the last book in the series with hope. She's got a court date that may mean she will be licensed to practice potions again. Unfortunately, her court date doesn't go as planned. First, there is a witch on the council who seems way to delighted to turn her down; it almost seems personal.  Also an issue? Her SPA agent, Harvey, who promised to speak up in her favor, is nowhere to be found. Is it because he doesn't want her? Is he wrapped up in the major trial that is happening across the way? Or is he dead? Holly didn't particularly like the guy but that doesn't mean she wishes him gone.
This book will end in a final battle that will change the lives of everyone at the manor forever.
I am really hoping that Holly's relationship with Adam will be resolved soon. I still am not at all seeing why he is her OTL based on anything other than the author assuring of it often. The mystery was okay but I was dragged down by this relationship.

Three Stars
This book came out May 5th, 2017
Follows Witch Slapped
Followed by Along Came a Ghost (novella)
Listened to this book from the library

The Marriage Effect by Karla Sorensen

There are some books that I prefer to read with my eyes rather than my ears and the second book in the series was one of them. But I didn't give up on the series because this book interested me. A former model and a football player marry so that he can keep his sisters and she can inherit $3 million? Okay. I'm in. And I liked this book. I didn't think Logan's urgency was set up as much as it could have been but Paige's sure was. And I liked that they were upfront with each other about the reasons for marriage. I didn't think the last Big Misunderstanding was needed and I definitely did not like the  apology scene (I really don't like public declarations) but this was overall a nice read.

Three stars
This book came out June 12th, 2019
Borrowed from library
Opinions are my own

Royal Hottie by Kylie Gilmore

Known as the Royal Hottie, Phillip Roarke is the second oldest in the royal family of Villeroy, an island kingdom off the coast of France. He is not at all amused to be conscripted into a mad scheme of his new sister-in-law to help bring commerce to their island. She wants to open up a high-end spa and to get the word out as well as raise some money, she has put together a bachelor auction made up of Phillip and his other unmarried brothers and puts the word out to some of her wealthy former hair clients.
So it's no surprise that Phillip is rude to a woman that he assumes is there for the auction. He's surprised to find out that Ruby is actually a friend of his sister-in-law's, there to help redecorate the castle ahead of having her clients come in. She is sort of star-struck to meet the Royal Hottie but it turns into annoyance when he seems to be a big ol' jerk. However, he decides to pitch in and help her get everything together so that the auction will be a success. While working together, they start to realize that there may be an attraction there after all. Too bad Ruby doesn't have enough to bid...
This one was really inconsistent and the timeline just made me feel like I had whiplash. Ruby was a schemer but she wasn't but she is. And we're going to jump forward in time but Phillip is a jerk but two sentences later realizes it. I liked both Ruby and Phillip but wish the story could have been smoothed out a bit more.

Two and a half stars
This book came out May 10th, 2019
Follows Royal Catch
Followed by Royal Darling
Borrowed audiobook from library
Opinions are my own

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

In a previous book of the series, Mercy had borrowed a book from a man named Phin. She has been very busy in the mean time and has been reading it off and on because it has very interesting handwritten stories about the fae. But there is something more about this book because Phin is gone after leaving a cryptic message to protect the book and there are strange fae hanging around his shop trying to get her to give them the book.
There is also something going on with her BFF Samuel and it's bad enough that she can't tell anyone else. And even worse, there are still members of Adam's pack that resent Mercy and they're going to have to figure it out before the pack falls apart.
Great build up until the end and then a lot was resolved in the last 15 pages and that felt rushed.

Three stars
This book came out March 30th, 2010
Follows Bone Crossed
Followed by River Marked
Borrowed from library
Opinions are my own

The Bombshell Effect by Karla Sorensen

Even though she did not particularly spend a lot of time with her father, Allie Sutton is still sad that he died, though he did leave her a butt-load of money. She's not staying in his house though, instead opting to go to a house that passed to her through her mother. Too bad the guy next door is such a jerk. Yes, he has an adorable child but she's not falling for either of them. Even when her father drops a from-the-grave bombshell leaving Allie as the owner of a football team. The same football team that the guy next door, Luke Pierson is the quarterback for.
Their initial animosity turns into lust which is definitely a problem since she is his boss (definitely a problematic trope somewhat mitigated by the fact that they saw each other and were (somewhat) attracted to each other before they knew.))

Three stars

This book came out June 14th, 2018

Borrowed as audiobook from the library

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

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