The Pride of Jared MacKade by Nora Roberts

Lawyer Jared MacKade is struck dumb by the sight of Savannah Morningstar. She's impressed with him as well but she has little use for men other than her son. After her son's father ran away and her own father kicked her out when she was 16 and pregnant, it's not hard to understand where she's coming from. Add to that that men often assumed she was for sale based on her looks and it's surprising she was willing to have any relationship with Jared at all. But the two are in a relationship and it might even be there for the long run.
Of the four books in this series, I think this one has always been my favorite. Jared is a little more flexible than his brothers and rolls (generally) with the things that pop up in his relationship with Savannah. And Seth, her son, has a personality and isn't just a plot moppet.

Three stars

Follows The Return of Rafe MacKade

Followed by The Heart of Devin MacKade

This book came out October 25th, 1995

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Will Work for Shoes by Susan J. Ashbrook

I had originally requested this book from NetGalley but didn't download it before it expired. I later bought the book on Kindle and it was interesting. Especially since I was reading it almost ten years after it came out and during a global pandemic so the red carpets have more or less disappeared. It is an interesting look behind the scenes of how much getting people dressed just to go to an awards show could become a big business. On the other hand, it actually could have been a little bit shorter with a lot of the padding coming from some name dropping and the author's actual experience in dealing with celebrities and tracing how particular trends were started by their red carpet wears.
Three stars
This book came out September 1st, 2011
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

Game On by Kelly Jamieson

Hockey player is resistant to love. Heiress has been burned before. His teammates bet him that he can't spend time with her and NOT fall in love (it's the end of the series so "everyone else" is coupled up.) Refreshingly, Cam tells Olivia about the bet. And she's willing to go along because she needs a boyfriend to bring home to what appears to be a somewhat dysfunctional family (that is sort of fixed at the end but it's glossed over and I love a good family figuring it out story.)
A nice, easy read, not particularly deep but I was able to dive in without having read any other book of the series.

Three stars

Follows Big Stick

This book came out January 15th, 2019

 Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

The Return of Rafe MacKade by Nora Roberts

This book was originally written in the nineties and doesn't wear very well but isn't as bad as the last book in the series in terms of where romance has come since then. This is a Harlequin romance so it reads quickly so it skips over some big details but is still kind of fun.
Regan Jones has enjoyed living in Antietam, opening her antiques store, and making friends. She's heard all of the rumors about the MacKade boys' pasts but one of them is the sheriff, one is her lawyer, and the other is a hardworking farmer. But then Rafe comes back. And he immediately sets his sights on her. Well, first on the old Barlow place and then on Regan. He hires her to decorate the house he is rehabbing into a B&B. And, of course, there's all that proximity that leads to lust and then love.
I really liked reading about Regan. She really is an early example of competence porn knowing her job well and kicking ass when she needs to. Rafe skims the outer edges of alphahole but manages to stay mainly on the side of a liberated 90s-kind of guy.

Three stars

Followed by The Pride of Jared MacKade

This book came out April 1st, 1995

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

In the Spotlight by Ally Decker

I've had this book on my shelf for a REALLY long time. I finally started it and was surprised how readable it ended up being. After all, it is LIT-erature. Classics and readability don't always go together. And the out of order storytelling became a little hard to follow in places but overall, the story of Tomas and Tereza as well as some side characters including Tomas's side piece.

Three stars
This novella came out September 5th, 2017

Ebook from Kindle collection
Followed by By Your Rules
Opinions are my own

Love on Beach Avenue by Jennifer Probst

Avery Sunshine is delighted to help her best friend get married. As an in-demand wedding planner, she is wedging Ally in but she is happy to do it. She is not so happy that Ally's older brother has decided that he's going to take the summer off and "make sure" that Ally's day is perfect. Too bad he still believes Avery is the wild-child who led his sister astray in college. And two brides fighting on her doorstep the first day he sees her doesn't give the best impression. Then he completely takes over the planning for Ally's day and really could have shaken Avery's confidence if he hadn't owned up to what he was doing. I really wish we had seen him put a bit more in his place but it was nice to see him realize that he was being a jerk. 
While the two work together, they start to acknowledge that there is an attraction between them. Avery is wiling to work on a relationship but Carter is hesitant. He has A Past that makes him wary of love. They eventually work it out and I liked that there wasn't a Big Misunderstanding and, in fact, there was a rather pointed remark by one character that love can be lost through little misunderstandings as well.

Three stars
Followed by Temptation on Ocean Drive
This book came out May 1st, 2020
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

The Strange Case of Harriet Hall by Moray Dalton

I really wish that the added postscript on this story hadn't been included in the ebook version on Kindle. It is definitely dated and said some things that are seriously tone deaf in today's society (although I think it was added recently?). It would have been easy enough to leave out since it wasn't included in the original story anyway; it was a psychological interpretation of the mystery's ending added later.
Harriet Hall might be a generally unpleasant person but Amy Steer is delighted that a long-lost aunt has found her. After her mother died, Amy went to London with what little money she had left and the hopes of finding a job. But those hopes, like her bank account, are fading fast. She is delighted that her aunt has asked her up to live with her in the country and given her 100 pounds to go shopping with. On the train ride up, she meets a young man who is pleasing in every way until he finds out the name of her aunt. When he does, he flees.
Amy is disappointed to not see her aunt at the railway station and even more disappointed when she carries her suitcase all the way to her aunt's house only to find the woman gone. The next day, the pleasant young man, Tony Deene, comes over to apologize. But he discovers her aunt's body in the well and that sets off a mystery that isn't particularly fairly clued but was okay to follow. 
We really get to know Tony's family as they seem to be the most to gain by having Harriet Hall be dead. But then, something unexpected about Harriet is discovered that seems to turn the whole mystery on its head.
I honestly would have rounded this two and a half star book up to three stars if it hadn't been for the Afterword. I picked this up based on a review by the Classic Mysteries podcast.

Two and a half stars
This book came out in 1936
Ebook I own on Kindle
Opinions are my own

The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen

 I usually shy away from New Adult books but I love Sarina Bowen and had read a good review of this book... somewhere. And it was worth the read. 
At 3 weeks shy of 18, Rachel's worth has gone a number of upheavals. First, her mother died from cacer. Then, her famous, rock star father shows up. The man has only sent money for Rachel's entire life, but now he's here. And she's not exactly sure that she wants him to be in her life. She's followed all of his exploits by combing magazines and online news articles, but she doesn't want him to know that.
At the same time, she's ready to leave her old life behind. Even her best friend, Haze, who has lately been pressuring her to take their relationship into the physical realm and she's just not ready. She's gotten a scholarship to a fancy prep school and is ready to leave. Maybe her father will follow.
Just a quietly good book. Even Rachel's "Big Outburst" isn't pitching a fit and screaming, it's just a breakdown of tears.

Four stars
This book came out July 10th, 2018
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

The Santa Sleuth by Heather MacAllister

Amanda Donnelly just wants to move to the next level of reporting (the hard stuff! Isn't it always?) but is relegated to fluff. For example, her current assignment of picking a child who will rate the Santas around Houston. She wants a bright child with all their teeth but ends up with Virginia who is missing a tooth and who seems to bedevil her teachers/principal though that was very much a case of Show, not Tell since she doesn't seem unusual except for being fairly precocious and creating a lot of the pivot points for the plot.
Of course, (this is a romance novel, after all) Virginia has a single father, Kirk, who relies on his coterie of assistants to help take care of his daughter but seems to deny it. He also demonstrates questionable decision making when he sends Virginia out on location with Amanda after having met her once (maybe it was twice, but still.)
I did finish the story and if you're looking for something sweet and easy to read, this book will be it. It was just a little too sweet for me.

Two and a half stars

This book came out November 1st, 1994 (this explains a LOT)

Got as a free book from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Forever Charmed by Rose Pressey

I really like Rose Pressey's Haunted Vintage Myster series so, when this book was free on Kindle, I picked it up. And it's an interesting story. Halloween Laveau inherited her great-aunt's gigantic house. She can't afford the upkeep and is converting it into a B&B. But there is something buried in the house. A powerful something. Something powerful enough to even make Hallie, a fair-to-middling witch, a necromancer. And that means that all sorts of beasties and ghoulies are going to show up at her house, including two hotties who seem to have it out for each other.
I finished the book but just barely. I didn't like Hallie for most of the book (not very bright and not a lot of backbone) and the world building was sort of scattered. I might try the second book if I can get it for free since the book picked up at the end and because I know that Pressey can write better, this might just be first-book-itis.

Two and a half stars
This book came out March 25, 2013
Kindle ebook
Opinions are my own

Burn This! by Tasha Black

 Dragon-shifter rockstar Johnny Lazarus is at the top of the world or at least he should be. But the dragon that was put to sleep for 300 moons is about to come out or... else. But no one actually knows what "else" is. Johnny assumes that it means he will lose his dragon which is okay with him. The dragon has only caused him problems. So he decides to go to a rehab center because it is quiet, out of the way, and he can wrestle with his demons out of the spotlight.
Neve Whittaker is a nurse (more than a nurse? I either missed the clarifications or it was never clearly stated) at the rehab center. She's met many famous people and isn't impressed by Johnny. But she is attracted to him. First his exterior and then, as she gets to know him, the man himself. They'll just have to survive the blackness that seems to be chasing Johnny.
I really thought I was going to DNF this book after the first few pages. But I didn't and it was okay. There were a lot of things that weren't really explained and I didn't feel like we got to really know either Neve or Johny or why they would have an HEA.

Two and a half stars

This book came out March 7th, 2016

Book from my Kindle collection

Opinions are my own

Love Sucks by Cynthia St. Aubin

Hannalore "Hanna" Harvey is still reeling from the news she found out in the first book (I highly recommend reading that book before this one.) She's not sure she wants to make any big choices at this point in her life but that doesn't sit well with her boss and love interest Mark Abernathy. In fact, he decides to make himself scarce for a good portion of the book leaving Hanna with some quirky characters including some names that almost every reader will know. She is suddenly also besieged by suitors, most of whom she doesn't really want.
A light, fun read. Hanna does have some feelings (and interactions) with the man who is being built up to be the overall hero of the series so if that gives you feelings of squick, this may not be the series for you. A little crazy, lots of mythical creatures, perfect reading for when you need a book just to pick up and plow through.

Three and a half stars
Follows Love Bites
Followed by Love Lies
This book came out May 19th, 2020
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

Love Bites by Cynthia St. Aubin

Sometimes you have to stretch the truth just a little. Sometimes you feel like you have to stretch the truth a whole lot which is what happens when Hannalore "Hanna" Harvey does with her resume in order to land a job as an assistant in a... well, it seems like a cross between an art store and a curiosity shop. But all is not as it seems. There are artists that live on-site and some interesting... quirks... about her new boss, Mark Abernathy. Inspector Morrison of the local police is trying to make Hanna believe that Abernathy is a killer. And Hanna is beginning to believe that all the clues are adding up to prove just that. 

This book is nuts. There are some weird plot points and obvious plot holes and just some things that make no sense but I overall loved the book, stayed up WAY too late reading it and ordered the second book the next day.

Four stars

Followed by Love Sucks

This book came out November 4th, 2019

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Scoring the Player's Baby by Naima Simone

Kim Matlock got divorced from a football player after it came out he had been extensively cheating on her. Feeling burned, even a year later, she is excited to have a one night stand with a man she meets at a bridal show (I know, right? but he's there with his sister). And she's loving it ... until she learns he is also a football player. And she just can't handle that. Until they meet again and she becomes pregnant. Now he's trying to get past the guilt of loving someone other than the ex who died and she's trying to prove to herself that she's good at her job, even if her father (who has literally told her he wishes she weren't born) doesn't think so.
And, to some extent, it felt like these two characters were in different books. This wasn't as good as the first two books but not as bad as a two star book. I really wish we had seen Ronin's mom... at all. She seemed like she would have been a fabulous character.


Three stars

This book came out July 9th, 2018
Follows Scoring off the Field
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

Scoring off the Field by Naima Simone

Tennyson "Tenny" Clark has been in love with her best friend/boss for decades. She even confessed it to him one drunken night but he was so horrified that she immediately played it off as being a joke. But it's time for her to step out on her own. She needs to get away from Dominic Anderson and stop letting him break her heart every time he sleeps with another woman.
But this is when Dominic realizes that Tenny might just be a woman. And he doesn't want to let her go.
And he is kind of a jerk about it. He wants to have his cake and eat it too; Tenny should be his best friend but also have sex but not ever fall in love. I liked Simone's writing but didn't really connect with the characters.

Three and a half stars
Follows Scoring With the Wrong Twin
Followed by Scoring the Player's Baby
This book came out March 12th, 2018
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

Reread March 2023

Scoring With the Wrong Twin by Naima Simone

Sophia Cruz agrees to a one-off for her twin. Where Sophia is an app designer and intensely shy, her sister Giovanna is well on her way to becoming an internationally known model. But when Vanna needs help, Sophia agrees to step in.What she doesn't realize is that she's going to be working with football player Zephirin "Zeph" Black. Immediately attracted, she just can't figure out how to let him know she's not what he thinks. Especially since he's been burned by lies before.
This was a really quick and fun book. Easy to read but short. And the shortness means there are some corners cut in showing how either character got to the place of true remorse for their errors or that this would be a relationship with an HEA but it is worth a read, especially when you're having trouble concentrating on reading.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 15th, 2018

Followed by Scoring off the Field
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

Reread March 2023

Wylde Fire by Sarah Robinson

Holly Glen has had a hard life. She was in a car accident that took the life of her parents and put her younger into a coma. That was three years ago and her younger sister's care is more than she can afford. So when she can steal a parking space from her high school crush, Sam Wylde, who was kind of a jerk back then, she figures the fates are just aligning. She doesn't expect him to propose marriage.
Sam needs a reason for his family to stop fussing over him. Just because his high school girlfriend started an affair with his brother and now they're getting married, everyone is worried. But if he has a love of his own...
I wish we had seen more of his brother - we're told that he's not a nice guy but we're only given a couple of instances. And this was a really short book so there wasn't a ton of time to see whether Sam and Holly are really going to work out (especially with some kind of big news in the epilogue) but hopefully we'll see a little of them in later books.)

Three and a half stars
This book came out September 17th, 2019
Ebook from Kindle (originally an ARC from Author Collective 20 and NetGalley that I did not download in time)
Opinions are my own