Last Beautiful Girl by Samantha Chase

Sydney Albright has returned to Magnolia Sound to take care of her twelve-year-old niece, Haley. Haley's parents died in an accident and Sydney doesn't have the heart to move her out of the home that her parents just bought. Too bad it is a BIG fixer upper. Like, the people in town have started raising money to help her pay to get it livable fixer upper. And it's just her luck that Kyle Jones is the man who is spearheading the renovations. 

Kyle is ecstatic to get a chance to grow his career but is leery about  seeing Sydney again. But this is a romance so the two start feeling Those Old Familiar Feelings and they become a couple. There are a few speed bumps along the way but about halfway through the book, they are already talking about love and are careening toward forever. Which, of course, means that there will be a BIG SOMETHING (not a misunderstanding) that will still stand in their way. In my mind, it is sort of a series of things connected to Haley and I could understand the first part and, while the second might actually happen in real life, It was a little overblown for my tastes.

Three stars

Follows Can't Help Falling in Love

Followed by The Way the Story Goes

This book came out September 28th, 2020

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Feel the Burn by G.A. Aiken

Gaius Lucius Domitus lost an eye to his uncle when he was a child. Then his cousin (the uncle's daughter) kidnapped his sister and tortured her for years. So it's understandable that he's spending a lot of time hunting down the entire family and trying to kill them. But he is somewhat distracted by the cult of the eyeless human god. They are growing in numbers and very opposed to anything that is "unclean." In fact, the cult has been going through other temples and "purifying" the inhabitants. Mainly it is a lot of unnecessary killing. 

And that's what Kachka of the Steppes has been asked to do by the human queen Anwyll, get rid of the cultists. She is not generally impressed by men but this particular male dragon is... not horrible. And he's good in bed. As a descendant of women who keep men only for sex, breeding, and trash removal (more or less), this is pretty important. Plus, he's good in battle which is going to be important as the two band together to beat the eyeless god to what he is looking for.

Dragon Kin #8

Three stars

This book came out November 24th, 2015

Follows Light My Fire

Followed by Bring the Heat

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible plus audiobook January 2024

Cubicles That Make You Envy the Dead by Scott Adams

I hadn't read a Dilbert book in quite some time and had a chance to borrow this for free so I thought, "Why not?" 
Not much has changed. All of the characters are fairly one-dimensional. Nobody likes their job. Management is incompetent. Not much, other than the technology has changed.

Two and a half stars

This book came out November 6th, 2018

ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Can’t Help Falling in Love by Samantha Chase

This book is a prime example of why I started tagging books fast, fun, and fluffy. Not a LOT of character development, and, when it happens, it's sort of in a rush at the end. But it's still a fun story and is perfect for escaping the world for awhile.
Hunter Jones has a little boy but the boy's mother has been pulling away more and more, taking less and less care of the child. Now she's disappeared completely and he's not sure what to do. He's definitely not prepared to have some unknown woman yelling at him.
Violet Drake grew up with an unreliable parent before being stuck into foster care. She has no use for people who have children but can't take care of them. Normally a travel writer, Violet is just in Magnolia Sound to help her super-pregnant friend until her husband comes back on leave. Violet is definitely not expecting to fall in love twice. Once with Hunter and once with his son.
There were definitely too many misunderstandings at the end of the story.

Three stars
Follows And Then One Day

Followed by Last Beautiful Girl
This book came out August 10th, 2020
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Lucky Ride by Deborah Coonts

Lucky is barely back from China when she is dumped into another mystery, one that is tied to her mother's past. Could it be that Mona had another child at some point? Too bad the girl that is claiming that relationship is under suspicion for murder. Without a rest, Lucky is thrown into the world of rodeo.
I keep going back and forth on finishing this series. There are only three more books after this one but the fluff is really starting to outweigh the parts that I enjoy. This is starting to feel like the same ol' same ol' with Lucky having a case, being stonewalled by her parents, and having to blunder around until a solution presents itself. I still enjoyed parts of the book, mostly Lucky herself who, excepting around her parent, is a shining example of a character who excels competency-porn in the confines of her work life.

Three stars
Follows Luck the Hard Way
Followed by Lucky Score
This book came out June 21st, 2017
Borrowed as an ebook from Hoopla
Opinions are my own

A Hundred Thousand Dragons by Dolores Gordon-Smith

Jack Haldean has met Durant Craig before. That's why he's not surprised when the man confronts him in Claridge's Hotel. Also present are Jack's friend and a lawyer named Vaughn. They are all also present at a costume party when a car accident ends the life of... someone. It all harkens back to the war and when Craig and Haldean had crossed paths before. And the poem that leads them on the hunt for a hundred thousand dragons.
This book just didn't keep my attention like some of the others have. It was a nice enough book in the series but nothing spectacular. When I reread it as an audiobook, it definitely improved.

Three stars
This book came out May 27th, 2010
Follows As if by Magic
Followed by Off the Record
Borrowed from Hoopla and Audible Premium Plus
Opinions are my own

My Kingdom for a Hearse by Craig Rice

 John J. Malone has been called in to a beauty company, Delora Deanne. He's not sure why, but when he finds out, he's not excited. First, he finds out that the Delora Deanne on the commercials is not exactly who she appears to be. The beautiful, dulcet-toned Delora who Malone adores is a mirage. While he's still wrestling with the disappointment, he finds out why he's been called in. Someone has sent an embalmed pair of hands to the owner of the company. And, with one of the employees missing, it seems that they might be hers. This sets up Malone on a case that will strain his mental processes to the breaking point. Especially since he's also trying to help his friend Jake Justus figure out a way to make his fledgling production company up and running. 
Malone is trying to solve the murder and he's getting help from both Helene and Jake but neither thinks the other is involved so he's having to keep that a secret as well while more and more body parts are showing up. 
A fun story. The end seemed to come a bit out of nowhere and was pretty convoluted but that is not unusual for a Malone story. 
Heard about this one on the Classic Mysteries podcast.

Three stars

Follows Knocked for a Loop

Followed by The Name is Malone

This book came out in 1957

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Origin of Evil by Ellery Queen

 Ellery is in Hollywood. When he’s sunbathing in the nude one afternoon, he is interrupted by

 a young girl who is convinced her father was murdered. The means? A threat in the form of a dead dog. Now the man’s business partner is being threatened as well. Roger Priam, the business partner, is in a wheel chair and his wife, Delia, is running around with his private secretary, Alfred Wallace. Delia has a son who is living in trees and has a crush on the girl who came to Ellery in the first place. 
The mystery ends up being incredibly convoluted and Ellery comes off as a major asshole (he lusts after Delia who does nothing to encourage him then gets pissed off when he finds out that she’s sleeping with the secretary - why? He wanted to sleep with her too. Boo, Ellery, boo).
I heard about this book on the Classic Mysteries podcast.

Two stars
This book came out 1951
Borrowed from the library
Opinions are my own

Skeleton Key by Lenore Glen Offord

 Georgine is a widowed mother who is trying to make ends meet during the war by selling magazines. But she’s not very good at it. So when she stumbles into a cul-de-sac of Gettry and one of the home owners mistakes her for a secretary that is supposed to type copies of his scientific treaties. When he mentions the person will get $100, Georgine jumps at the chance. Her daughter is on vacation with family friends so she has the time and this money will get her ahead. But the more Georgine gets involved in the neighborhood, the more she realizes that things aren’t right and that the sense of wrongness really emanates from one man, the local air warden.

During a potential air raid, the man is killed by a supposedly run away Jeep. But Georgine has her suspicions and goes to the police with them. While the inspector seems suspicious, he also at least listens. So does Todd MckKay, the odd man down the street.
I should have been thinking more clearly about this book which I first heard about on the Classic Mysteries podcast. It was written in 1943 and definitely contains the casual racism of the day which, today, can pull a reader out of the story pretty quickly. I did mostly like the story and the mystery was fairly clued but Georgine was a little too Mary Sue for me and Todd pretty glib. The characterizations of the other folks in the book was often broad and stereotypical.

Three stars

This book came out in 1943

Borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

And Then One Day by Samantha Chase

Courtney Baker doesn't necessarily want to leave Magnolia Sound but there's not a lot keeping her there. Her job has been made redundant, she can't find another one, there are no good men who are looking at her, and her best friend is caught up in a whirlwind romance and pregnancy, leaving Courtney in the dust. It's at that friend's rehearsal dinner that Courtney finally gets a kiss from the man she's been dreaming of for years, her best friend's oldest brother.
Dean Jones didn't know that Courtney thought of him as anything other than a pseudo-brother. But when she lays one on him, he's all in. Her plans to leave town are stalled when her car runs through some water and her trailer comes unhitched. They're further stalled when Dean's sister asks him to take his time fixing the vehicle so Courtney will stay in town longer...
This was fast, fun, and fluffy. Not a lot of depth but nothing to slow the read.

Three stars
Follows In Case You Didn't Know

Followed by Can’t Help Falling in Love
This book came out January 28th, 2020
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own