Always Practice Safe Hex by Juliette Cross

This is a series with a lot of "alpha male" archetypes but Gareth, though a reaper, may be the alpha-est of them all. And, while that is not my favorite character type, I can usually enjoy a book as long as the other person in the relationship can hold their own in terms of character. Livvy, unfortunately, did not. Gareth's personality took up so much of the book that I feel like we didn't get to know Livvy except as the one who needed saving. She is supposed to be an equal partner in the ... marketing contest?... but didn't seem to contribute much at all other than to be in a swimsuit.

Definitely hoping that Juliette fares better in her story. 

Two and a half stars 

This book came out May 24, 2022

Follows Walking in a Witchy Wonderland

Followed by Resting Witch Face

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

A Malevolent Connection by Lynn Messina

An old enemy comes to Beatrice Hyde-Clare with a ridiculous story about someone trying to kill Beatrice's husband, the Duke. Is Lady Abercrombie still scheming or is she really trying to get back in the duke's good graces so that she can return to society?

Beatrice actually does the intelligent thing and lets her husband know about the plot (so many books rely on the protagonist keeping secrets and that causing issues.) He is unruffled. So, Beatrice decides to keep a secret that causes issues when she decides to track the uncle (and presumed murderous relative) down. But, while there is a body that shows up, it is not the one that they expect. 

There are storylines that are dropped but regular readers of the series are going to enjoy this book.

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 4, 2021

Follows A Ghastly Spectacle

Followed by An Ominous Explosion

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Matchmaking a Grump by Angela R. Casella, Denise Grover Swank

Kennedy might have a massive trust fund but she can't touch any of it until she's thirty and she wants to put a spotlight on the nonprofit she works for. So she agrees to go on a dating show that is basically  The Bachelor for rich people. But none of the men have caught her eye. At least, none of the contestants have. The grandson of host Nana Mayberry on the other hand isn't... horrible. Nana Mayberry is definitely horrible but Rowan...

Rowan is trying to destruct the show. His grandmother is a horrible person and she does NOT need a national platform to increase her ego. If Kennedy gets run over as he does that, it's not like he knows her anyway. Or likes her all that much. But the more he gets to know her, the more he does like her.

Four stars

This book come out November 3, 2022

Follows Matchmaking a Single Dad

Followed by Matchmaking a Roommate

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Sassy Witch by Danielle Garrett

Valentine's Day has hit Beechwood Harbor and Holly is trying to help Cassie lure tourists to town by hosting a week long singles party. Too bad someone is killing off their male participants. The obvious choice is the vampires in town but something seems off about that solution.

At the same time, Posy is getting ready to leave after having sold the house to SPA. No one, however, suspected that they would be getting kicked out sooner than the 90 days they were promised. So, while dealing with a pile up of bodies, Holly is also looking for new places to live. None of them seem quite right however.

Another fast, fun, and fluffy book. We get a little movement in the overall arc of the series but not much in the characters themselves.

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 28, 2020

Follows First Place Witch

Followed by The Witch is Inn

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

A Stolen Suit by Angela R. Casella

In grad school, Grace Parker and Enoch Laskin were first and second in their class. They had a fairly contentious relationship that turned into a short-lived relationship that lasted until exactly when Grace discovered that Enoch had encouraged her not to work for her father but then accepted that same position. Not that Grace wanted the position (she wanted to be a romance writer) but she still felt betrayed. Now she works for Vera Valentine, the well-known writer, though she's more of a lackey than anything else. But Vera has promised to read her manuscript.

However, after years apart, Enoch is suddenly in town. In fact, he's Vera's new muse which means that he's going to be around pretty much... always. And he makes it very clear that he is still interested in Grace. But Grace isn't over her hurt and she's got the Fairy Godmother Agency on her side. And that's what's going to make things really interesting....

Four stars

This book came out September 29, 2022

Follows A Borrowed Boyfriend

Followed by The Brooding Bodyguard

Ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

A lovely homage to "And Then There Were None." This book was tightly written with enough clues (and enough ties to the Christie book) that I was able to guess two-thirds of the ending of this book and was pretty sure about the third but was not disappointed in the knowing. It did get a little too twee for me at the end but otherwise a wonderful book.

For the first time in a long time, Daisy Darker's family is going to be in one place. Her father is a world-traveling orchestra conductor, her mother is a fading beauty. Oldest sister Rose is a veterinarian who seems sad all the time while middle sister Lily doesn't much seem to want to mother her daughter Trixie. Youngest daughter Daisy was born with a broken heart and the stress of caring for her exposed a lot of cracks in the family leading to her grandmother writing a bestselling book with Daisy's name in the title. Now, on her grandmother's eightieth birthday, they will all be together (along with one other) on an island. The causeway floods for eight hours and that will be a problem once the bodies start piling up.

Four stars

This book came out August 30, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Wedding Bells and Deadly Spells by Danielle Garrett

Anastasia "Stacey" Winters has just been let go from her dream job. Reeling, she still wants to help her friend Francois who is under examination as having poisoned the groom in her last wedding (that death contributed a LOT to her firing.) While figuring out who the actual killer is, she is also able to take the next step in her professional career.

This was sort of a weak story but still fun and the series ends on a high note.

Three stars

This book came out April 12, 2019

Follows Couture and Curses

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Trouble With Witches by Amanda M. Lee

Clove is about to meet Sam's parents and she is terrified. The situation becomes complicated when Bay starts seeing ghosts on the tanker that Sam has recently brought onto his property. Also seeing the ghosts? Little Annie. And that makes the situation that much harder.

There are a couple of other things going on including Landon (and possibly his snotty partner) moving from Traverse City to their own small town. And there's a firebug who seems to be escalating.

The two stories don't actually intertwine which was sort of interesting (as even the characters note). If you liked the rest of the books in this series, this will be no different.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 31, 2016

Follows Charms & Witchdemeanors

Followed by Murder Most Witchy

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Matchmaking a Single Dad by Denise Grover Swank, Angela R. Casella

Holly Mayberry and Cole Garrison do not like each other. Not a little bit. Not at all. Yet sparks fly when they are around each other. Because they dislike each other so much. It has nothing to do with a series of misunderstandings that occurred after they kissed almost a decade ago. But now they are thrown together when Holly starts working with a number of students after school and Cole's (incredibly precocious) daughter Jane is included in the group. 

Unbeknownst to the two of them, they are also matched in the dating app that Holly is helping to develop. It will take the two of them banding together against Cole's in-laws who are trying to take Jane away in order for them to figure out that they can, at the very least, be enemies with benefits. 

The timeline in this book was very confusing to me. I do enjoy this series but this story was maybe not as well plotted as some of the others.

Four stars

This book came out August 11, 2022

Follows Matchmaking a Billionaire

Followed by Matchmaking a Grump

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Matchmaking a Billionaire by Denise Grover Swank, Angela R. Casella

Bryn Mayberry is a fourth generation matchmaker but she's having problems working with her grandmother. Yes, her grandmother took in Bryn and her siblings when their parents couldn't/wouldn't but she wasn't the warmest of grandmothers. Even today, she's more well-known around their small town for her iron will than being a loving person. So Bryn is fairly shocked when she sees Rory Byrne in their office. The millionaire is a tech mogul and Bryn's grandmother has been turning down the opportunity to create a dating app with their family name for a long time. 

Rory knows he's smart. Smart enough to realize that Bryn is someone that's going to be important in his life. Still, he agrees to let Nana Mayberry set him up with four women. He just doesn't understand yet the lengths she will go to get her way. But still, he gets to spend more time with Bryn. 

I wish we had seen a little bit more of Bryn and her sister getting back to a good place but this was overall a cute book, exactly what you'd expect from a Swank/Casella joint.

Four stars

This book came out April 28, 2022

Follows (nominally) Matchmaking Mischief

Followed by Matchmaking a Single Dad

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

The Black Cat Murders by Karen Baugh Menuhin

Heathcliff Lennox grew up with Ruth, running around the family estates together. He is somewhat excited to get to go to her wedding but is more intrigued by the death of one of the opera singers who is at the estate to entertain the guests. The man fell through a trap door and acted as a cushion for the woman singing alongside him. 

It seems that Ruth is going to be marrying a wealthy American who seems to be a good ol' Southern boy but the wedding may not happen as the alto's death is not the only one to occur in this book. This is all wrapped in with the mystery of a series of paintings known as the Bloxford beauties and has something to do with the Black Cat which is a bar catering to men who dress and perform as women. Also occurring was Inspector Swift falling in love with one of the bridesmaids.

There was a lot going on in this book and it got a little confusing but it was good enough to continue reading the series.

Three stars

This book came out April 28, 2019

Follows Murder at Melrose Court 

Followed by The Curse of Braeburn Castle

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Love Binds by Cynthia St. Aubin

This book seems like an end to the series and that is probably okay since may of these characters have gone as far as they can go. Abernathy hasn't changed at all from the first book, Hannah has changed a little, and Morrison has grown the most but that's mostly because he's gone from a human in love with Hannah to a blood-thirsty vampire trying to kill her. 

Hannah is supposedly the Alpha of all werewolves but she sure doesn't feel like it. In fact, she hasn't been able to shift since the first time. Plus, even though she dearly wants children, she's still not pregnant. Plus, she's having these weird dreams where the devil wants to wear her skin.

The weirdest part of this book was how Hannah and Mark are supposedly soul mates but they don't talk to each other. Hannah doesn't tell Mark about her dream or fears that Morrison has followed them across an ocean and he has secrets that put Hannah in grave danger. 

Three stars

Follows Love Lies

This book came out October 26, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Walking in a Witchy Wonderland by Juliette Cross

Short stories in between the books published so far in the Stay a Spell series. If you haven't read the books in the series, I would start with them first. 

Bewitch You A Merry Christmas

Evie is trying to help a man who has been hexed by a witch with a sense of humor but Matteo and Alpha are resenting the time she's spending "not with them." 

Rockin’ Around The Hexmas Tree

The sisters and their beaus are doing a Yankee Swap for Christmas but Isabel and Devraj end up with an ornament that is more than it appears. 

Jingle Bell Jock

JJ and Charlie are friends. Nothing more. But when it looks like Charlie is hooking up with another man, JJ finally makes his move. 

You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grim

Lavinia meets Gareth, a Grim. They inspire strong feelings in each other that will be resolved in the next book of the series.

Jingle Spells

Nico and Violet sit for Evie and Matteo's triplets. Getting through the night may just prove to them they are ready for some pups of their own.

Three stars

This book came out October 5, 2021

Follows Witches Get Stitches

Followed by Always Practice Safe Hex

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Reunion by Meghan Quinn

Three siblings are heading home for their parents' anniversary, each with their own issues. Oldest brother Ford is a workaholic who doesn't see his secretary, Larkin, as a love interest until they return to their home town. Middle brother Cooper would like to help if only his siblings would listen. Oh, and he slept with his ex-wife's best friend... and would like to again. Youngest Palmer doesn't want to admit that her life as a travel blogger (influencer?) is over. She gets drunk her first night back home and breaks her arm, getting her in touch with her old crush Beau (also Larkin's brother).

I really enjoyed the first half of the book, the set up, getting to see the characters, etc. I didn't mind the fact that all of the relationships were really only a third of the book because they were engaging. The second half, however, dragged. There was just so much quarreling and missed connections that it got to be a slog to finish the book.

Three stars

This book came out February 22, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

A Borrowed Boyfriend by Angela R. Casella

Casella has begun this new series with a corker that is just as fun and enjoyable as her previous books. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series.

Nicole and Damien are back, working to implement their plans to right wrongs and be fairy godmothers to those who have been kicked in the pants by life. Marnie Jones is sure one of those people having gone viral for tripping on her wedding gown after her groom announced, at the altar, that he could no longer marry her. It became huge because her sister is an actress on a long-running series of a teen detective (and her sister hasn't been a teen for a good long time.) Marnie one night tells her sister that she is doing just fine, dating a new man. 

Nicole and Damien decide to help her find that man. Overhearing their conversation, Griffin, co-owner of a bar with the two of them, volunteers himself as tribute. He saw Marnie earlier and is entranced. She is entirely too good for him (tragic backstory alert!) but he decides to take his chance.

There were a few sticking points in this book and it does, as Casella's books do, push the bounds of wacky but I did enjoy it thoroughly.

Four stars

This book came out June 9, 2022

Followed by A Stolen Suit

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon

Gethsemane Brown has few options left to her when she accepts a job as the music teacher at a private school... in Ireland. Yes, she's a fabulous violinist but can she really turn around a group of boys in six weeks to win a major award. They've got the bare bones, a great soloist and another great violinist. But that's not the thing that bothering her. It's actually the ghost of Eamon McCarthy. Yep, there's a ghost. And he's asking Gethsemane to solve his murder. His twenty-five-year-old murder.

I had heard about this book on the Get Booked podcast. They really liked the whole series and, while I liked this book well enough, it was a little convoluted.

Four stars

This book came out September 13, 2016

Followed by Death in D Minor

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

A Very English Murder by Verity Bright

Lady Eleanor Swift has spent most of her adult life traveling the world. She has been to any number of unsafe places and has made it out alive. However, she has now returned to her home country of England and it seems like her life may still be in danger. 

Eleanor has inherited a manor from her uncle. She spent some time there as a child but it never really felt like a true home. But she's back now, at least for a while. Except that she spends her first night wandering the estate and happens to see a man get killed. It's lightning out and she's emotional... no one really believes her. The man then turns up dead... but in his own home and apparently by his own hand. 

In trying to find out what actually happened, Eleanor gets to know her town, the townspeople, and even more about the people working in her manor and what her uncle was like before he passed away.

As a first book in a series, this was a nice one. We get to know the characters, we get to like the characters, and we get a nice mystery that is wrapped up at the end.

Four stars

This book came out April 7, 2020

Followed by Death at the Dance

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Murder at Melrose Court by Karen Baugh Menuhin

I saw the description for this on a sale for Audible and was able to get it for free through Kindle Unlimited. It is set in 1920 so I guess that is the Downton Abbey part of the description and it is a mystery so that crosses off the Agatha Christie. I'm not sure where the Wodehouse comes in except maybe it's a

first person narrator who seems sort of feckless. 

Major Heathcliff Lennox is back from the Great War and is trying to figure out how to keep up with the expenses of a big house. Luckily, he has Christmas with his uncle, Charles, and cousin, Edgar, to look forward to. And some other more distant cousins will be there as well. 

Too bad that, shortly before he is set to leave, a fat man turns up dead on his doorstep. In the man's pocket is the name that Lennox knows, that of a Russian countess. It seems like the man died of a heart attack so Lennox keeps heading to Melrose Court. He is very much startled to find that very countess in residence with her niece. And the countess is now engaged to marry his uncle. but she doesn't seem exactly savory nor very discreet as she decides to wear a necklace that once belonged to Lennox. And then she ends up dead with Lennox being discovered over the body holding the gun. 

This is not the last murder to occur in this book and becomes a close thing for Lennox as it becomes clear someone would like him to take the fall.

This was a nice start to a series with some good world and character building. I wish we had learned more about Lennox as there was more time spent on secondary characters.

Three stars

This book came out December 3, 2018

Followed by The Black Cat Murders

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Deven and the Dragon by Eliot Grayson

Five years ago, Fiora (a dragon shifter) had sex with the wrong man and was cursed by his wife, a witch, to never be able to fall in love nor to have anyone fall in love with him without somebody dying. So he picked up and moved to a new town, Ridley. And the Ridley town council seems to want something from him so they've offered up a sacrifice. A young, innocent virgin. 

Fiora is not pleased. It's not like he even likes women. Maybe they've heard of the curse? But then why send a sacrifice?

Deven Clifton is definitely not a virgin. In fact, he's slept with most of the young people in town. Some of them married, some of them not, but always they've been enthusiastic. And he's really enjoyed it. Being a bartender, he's confused as to why the town council has summoned him. However, he seems to be the sacrifice. Because one of the town council needs a dragon's scale and, as I heard on <a href="https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/503-bread-cozy-fantasy-sex-and-romance-with-jane-buehler/">Episode 503 of Smart Podcast, Trashy Books</a> "they're all like, we'll send Deven; Deven can seduce anyone." Because, in actuality, they've promised an innocent, not a virgin. And, he hasn't technically committed any crimes so he is sort of an innocent.

This retelling of Beauty and the Beast is absolutely adorable. There are some parts that didn't make a ton of sense but I overall really enjoyed the story.

Four stars

This book came out June 26, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Bringing Down the House by A.R. Casella

We've seen Nicole and gotten glimpses of Damien in earlier books in the series. This fits in the series chronologically, at least I think, a bit before the previously released book because Damien and Nicole were already married and this is the story of them meeting.

Nicole is in HR but she's just a little... off-beat, which can be detrimental in her line of work. But she just accept a new job in a little theater. And the main male actor is HAWT. There is an immediate attraction but the two also cross over when a man Nicole is trailing to prove that he is cheating is also being tailed by Damien. 

As usual in a Casella book, it all goes a little crazy from there but it is a fun ride (as along as you are willing to wildly suspend your disbelief.)

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 10, 2022

Follows Matchmaking Mischief

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own