Holiday with a Twist by Shannon Stacey

Leigh Holloway is heading home for the holidays. Her parents are under a lot of stress, they're moving to a condo from their family farmhouse and her sister, who just had a baby, has left her cheating husband is living with them. So Leigh doesn't want to tell them that, not only did she and her boyfriend break up, she's out of a job. She's afraid that if two out of her parents three daughters are out of work and out of a relationship, they might try and make her stay on the east coast rather than going back to Texas.
Croy (short for Croydon and very hard to read as I kept seeing "Cory" and then having to correct) isn't stoked that Leigh is in town. They used to be good friends but when she convinced the third of their trio, his girlfriend, to move down to Florida with her, the girlfriend ended up finding a new guy. This led to a giant fight between Croy and Leigh. Of course, it has been eight years so he's mostly over it. And noticing how much Leigh has blossomed through the years. Soon they're involved in an undefined relationship that they're having to keep quiet so that Leigh's parents don't think that she's cheating on the ex.
I didn't love the ending and, like with most novellas, wish that we could have seen a little more growth with the characters but it was a nice short story that I think most Shannon Stacey readers will enjoy.
Major props for the note saying that the book will end with at about the 80% mark so we weren't expecting more. I was SO impressed that somebody finally put something like that in.

Three stars
This novella comes out November 21

The Bridesmaid and the Bachelor by Kris Fletcher

I do like novellas where the H/H knew each other before so we don't get a massive case of insta-lust. Kyrie Elias and Ben Sitka had a short, week-long affair years ago. But Kyrie knew it couldn't last, so she left without saying goodbye.
Now she's at the wedding of her sister's friend and she's pretending to be her twin. See, her sister was in Vegas for a wedding and fell in love. But the bride was already approaching 'zilla status so Paige called in Kyrie to fill in. Paige will then forgive Kyrie the loans she gave her so Kyrie could open a coffee bar/jazz venue. So when Kyrie realizes that the groom's brother is Ben, she tries to fake it at first. But Ben knows her well enough to realize she's not her sister. And they use their time to get to know each other better.
It was a little stilted in places and some major relationship things were glossed over but this was an fast, fun and fluffy read that sets up the world of Calypso Falls.

Three stars
This book comes out November 15

One Snowy Night by Jill Shalvis

Rory Andrews doesn't remember Max Stranton from high school but he sure remembers her. In a gender reversal from The Trouble with Mistletoe, this time, the girl done the guy wrong. It seems that Rory's high school home life wasn't great and she was being picked on at school. Her attempt at retaliation accidentally included taking out the life Max Stranton had planned for himself. And then she ran, leaving Max to face the fallout, and she never even knew. Now, she needs his help to get back to Lake Tahoe in time for her first Christmas with her family in six years. She's disappointed them before so she doesn't want to be late. Too bad there's a blizzard that is leaving them trapped with Max's dog, Carl along for the ride.

This was okay but, as a novella, not enough time to really get to know or fall in love with the characters. Both Rory and Max felt a little stock to me with not enough time to explore how they got from their teenage selves to their nowadays selves.

Three Stars
This novella comes out November 8
Follows The Trouble with Mistletoe
Followed by Accidentally on Purpose

Searching for Disaster by Jennifer Probst

Like most novellas, this one was just a little too short to really get into the characters as well as develop a good story. And this one had parts that were just a little too twee. Big props for not allowing a Big Misunderstanding though and actually having (well, one of the characters) talk it out.
Isabella MacKenzie was a screw-up. A drug-addicted screw-up. A stark contrast to her sweet and happily married sister Alexa and an especial contrast to her own surgeon twin, Genevieve. When the novella opens, Isabella is trying to calm her demons by hooking up with a guy who has old Hollywood good looks, Liam.
Liam is visiting his little brother in college while he himself is on break from cop school. At a party, he meets and has an epic one night stand with a girl whose demons are close to the surface. He recognizes that and walks away but still, six years later, can't forget Izzy.
In the present day, Izzy is two years clean (thanks to her best friend Raven (the bartender from the Billionaire Builders series?)) and working at Kinnections, the wildly successful dating agency around which the "Searching For" series rotates. When the ladies of the agency talk about setting her up with Stone's partner Devine, Isabella tells them she isn't ready. She's still working on herself. But then she realizes just who Devine is...
I thought Liam was a little too pushy but overall liked that he was (mostly) willing to wait for Izzy to come to her  own conclusions about their relationship. I think regular "Searching For" readers will not be disappointed by this addition to the series.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out September 10

From This Day Forward by Lauren Layne

I don't generally love novellas since it's so hard to get to know the characters but this one wasn't bad.  I felt that Layne set up a nice back story for Leah and Jason so it wasn't a case of insta-love. The fact that if the two had just talked to each other they wouldn't have been so miserable for a year was annoying but they did come to that realization at the end. There was also some nice world building for the Wedding Belles series.
Leah McHale and Jason Rhodes are both photographers that have been asked to fill in for a high profile wedding at the last minute. Jason doesn't mind at all since he's been thinking about Leah ever since she ran away from their budding relationship but Leah isn't happy at all. In fact, their first meeting ends when she tosses a glass of water into his lap. But the two will have to work through their feelings and get over their knee-jerk middle school reactions to come together and create magical pictures for this important function. And maybe find their way back to each other.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out June 6

The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match by Juliana Gray

I somehow picked up a bunch of children's books and novellas that were all being published around the same time. This, I thought was a longer book and also somehow believed this to be a mystery. And it is, but more, it's a romance with mystery undertones.
It was an interesting story with the hero, the Duke of Olympia (first name never known) is seventy-four, and the heroine, widowed companion Mrs. Penelope Schuyler, is fifty. There was some character building but I wish there had been a bit more. I'm guessing this is the prequel to a new series and as such, it was okay but could it could definitely have been better if it had been built out to a full-length story.

Three stars
This story comes out May 17

Regency Makeover Part III by Darcy Wilde

The story opens with a lot of information, but none of it feels like a purge of backstory. Instead, we just meet the hero and heroine as they meet each other; Lady Helene Fitzgerald barges into her host's library, ostensibly to find a book, while he, Marcus Edicott, the Duke of Windford is already there. Really, Helene is trying to find Marcus' sister Adele after she fled from her overbearing sister.
Marcus is immediately intrigued. Though Helene is supposed to be a harridan bluestocking, he rather finds her a smart conversationalist who is hiding her light under a bushel.
Helene has escorted her cripplingly shy friend Madelene to the party. Madelene's family was so grateful to have her off their hands, they didn't even mind consigning her to the care of a woman that few in society cared for. But she is tired of being a wallflower and tired of Adele and Madelene being consigned to the same fate. She has conceived of a plan to triumph in Society, but she'll need the help of a fairy godmother, a role novelist Deborah Sewell can fit to a T.
So Helene helps to save herself. And her friends. I was really enjoying this story until the last Big Misunderstanding. It was so unnecessary. And I wish I had read the other two stories. It wasn't absolutely necessary but it would have filled in some gaps.

Three Stars

This story comes out May 17

Loving the Odds by Stefanie London

This was a novella so it's hard to connect to the characters, especially when they fall into bed so fast. But there was some quick world-building and the sketches of the characters made them fairly believable. A risk analyst (Bailey Reuben) who decides to throw caution to the wind and chase after her grandfather's watch. A watch she had given to her ex only because he implied they were getting married (what a smarmster!) Then she meets a playboy PR guru who decides to through his woman-loving ways aside to help Bailey. And, yeah, she's sort of helping him too but it's mostly about her.
Would I read another book in the series? Yes. In fact, I have both her "Behind the Bar" books in my TBR and I'm looking forward to them both.

Three stars
Comes out March 14

The Forbidden Duke by Darcy Burke

Miss Eleanor Lockhart had resigned herself to living with her father after her first (disastrous) season ended in scandal. But he's lost all of his money in a ill-fated scheme and Eleanor must go to work. IT is just her good fortune to have been hired/adopted by the Countess of Satterfield. Instead of a companion, the Countess seems determined to set Eleanor set up for a second season. At least it's keeping her off the back of the stepson she so desperately wants to see married.
That stepson, Titus, known more colloquially as the Forbidden Duke, is ecstatic. Until he meets this new companion and feels an instant connection. Even his newly acquired mistress loses flavor. Though he tells himself that he is just trying to help her have a wonderful season, how can he ignore his feelings for her?
As a slightly-longer-than-usual novella, this book felt a bit rushed, like major conversations were jumped over. But it was an okay book. I didn't love the set up for the next trilogy but understand why it was added.

A Fighting Chance by Shannon Stacey

I'm not really an MMA fan but I did like this book. Even if I'm confused why a novella that ends at Christmas is coming out in February.
Seven years ago, Brendan Quinn loved Adeline Kendrick. But when her father pointed out the disparity in their positions (her family was white collar, his father owned a roofing company), he decided that the best thing would be for them to break up. But he didn't ever exactly explain it to Adeline. So when she goes to a casino resort for a bachelorette weekend with her two best friends and sees giant posters  of Brendan's face, she's not well pleased. Especially when Brendan himself walks off the elevator and sees her. And then they talk and reconnect. Well, not reconnect so much as fall back into bed. But over the whole weekend, they do take time to sit down and talk about their futures as well as what went wrong in the past (one person making decisions without really talking to the other...)
As usual, it's hard to really make you care about the characters in such a short story but this one does better than average.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out Feb. 1

Broken Resolutions by Olivia Dade

Being a librarian, it can be hard to read a book that has one as the main character because the setting/people are often so far off what a professional librarian would be/do. However, Olivia Dade was a librarian (assuming in a public library since that's where she set her book) so this rings a bit more true. Although few librarians I know would have been able to run as many "risque" programs as Angie. Although she didn't really run the New Year's program this is centered around. She tricks her friend Penelope into it. Penelope is wanting to spend the evening at home with a burger and TV but she trades all of the Saturdays in January for this one evening (assuming that they are both salaried, this could work (What? it's harder for me to suspend disbelief for librarian books, this thought actually crossed my mind). While at the New Year's Eve party, Penelope meets Jack Williamson and they are instantly and majorly attracted to each other. There are library shenanigans as games are played (it's a singles event), all of which are again, risque being fairly focused on erotica.

I was annoyed with the last little twist. Especially considering that they both thought they had found their soulmate after less than 6 hours of first laying eyes on each other but it was overall a fast and fun story and I wanted to know what happened with Angie so I immediately got the next book (review to come on Jan. 12, 2016).

This book comes out Dec. 8, 2015

The Sport of Baronets by Theresa Romain

Hannah Chandler and Bart, Sir Bartlett, Crosby are part of a generations long family feud. So when they both claim a colt that is then stolen, they have to work together to get back a potentially family-saving colt.
For a novella, I really enjoyed getting to know as much of the characters that we got to see. Can't wait for the rest of the series.

Four stars

Followed by A Gentleman's Game

Hot Toy by Jennifer Crusie

New Crusie book from NetGalley? Unfortunately, I hit "request" before I realized this was actually a novella that had already been published. And for being a 2006 story, this isn't really the Crusie I've come to love and know. And on re-reading... it wasn't any better..

Trudy Maxwell is rushing to find a toy for her nephew so that he can have the latest for Christmas. While at the toy store, she runs into an old associate of her father's and discovers that he too is looking for the season's hot toy. They find one left and Trudy discovers that this may be an extra special toy as it gets her into a mess of trouble with spies who want it almost as badly as she does.
I really did not like Trudy in this story. She is pushed around by her sister and more than a little flaky. Yes, it's nice that she's getting this toy for her nephew for the first Christmas after his father ran away with the secretary but, dear God in heaven, it's a toy. And hold her up to Crusie's uber-competent Agnes (Agnes and the Hitman) or self-confident Minerva (Bet Me) and this story suffers. A LOT.

The Secret Son by Joan Kilby

Ugh. I really wish NetGalley would warn you when a book is going to be a novella. I really liked the description of Alex Chernoff, successful ladies man, spontaneously deciding to blow off his fabulous vacation because the dad who deserted him sent a birthday card. But the novella form was not long enough to really develop the characters of either Alex or his heroine, Emma, who is in visiting her family at the same time Alex is discovering his. She is very entwined in the lives of Alex's father and siblings and very suspect of Alex. Nor was this book really long enough to do anything other than rush the plot development. I
Had this been a longer book, I suspect I would have very much enjoyed it. Not quite a Whiskey-Creek-Novak book but reminded me of the writing style with just a smidge less angst. Considering that Alex's half-siblings are total sequel bait, I'll be on the lookout to try this author again.
Two and a half stars.

Hanover House by Brenda Novak

A perfect book for a spooky fall, Hanover House sets up a new series with psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot as the main character. When she was sixteen, her boyfriend murdered three of her friends and nearly succeeded in slitting her throat as well. Since then, she's studied serial murderers, trying to figure out what makes them tick. Her baby is a project called Hanover House, a prison being built in a small Alaskan town, not far from Fairbanks.
But the locals aren't exactly excited to have a bunch of sociopaths shipped up from the Lower 48. In fact, someone's been messing around in her building, writing nasty words on the wall and tearing down some of the construction.
Local law enforcement, Sergeant Benjamin Murphy, colloquially known as Sergeant Amarok, calls the good doctor to come up and see the damage.
Because this is such a short story, I don't want to give too much away. This is the start of a nice departure from a more heavily romance book to a bit more suspense for Novak. Her books have never been "comfort reading" for me so this fits in nicely to my perception. I just hope that Jasper (the ex who escaped from prison almost as soon as he was put in) is either sidelined for awhile , becomes more a background noise, or is dealt with quickly. He had way too much action and if that continues, it will get old fast.
WARNING: I didn't read the description carefully. This book is a prequel. It is short.

Followed by Her Darkest Nightmare

What to Do with a Duke by Sally MacKenzie

In the 1600s, the Duke of Hart's great-something-grandfather seduced a woman who then cursed the family. If the men didn't marry for love, they wouldn't live to see their heir born. Also, she set up a spinster house which was to be available to any single woman, past a marriageable age, along with a stipend. 

Miss Hutting, Isabelle "Cat" Catherine, is the oldest daughter of the village vicar. Most of her nine siblings still live her parents' tiny house and she is desperate for privacy. So when the previous resident leaves rather abruptly, Cat knows that the house is meant to be hers. Too bad two of her friends are also anxious to have the house. And too bad the handsome Duke really seems to believe in the curse...
While not my favorite MacKenzie (I didn't buy that her friends would be so vindictive), I'm liking the setup for the series and am already ready to read the next book in the series.
This book goes on sale next Tuesday!

One Mad Night by Julia London

This was an okay story which is a surprise given the fact that I didn't particularly like either of the characters.
Chelsea is an ad exec who is certain she's going to nail the new Tesla presentation and get the account. As long as she can overcome the new wonderboy, Ian, who was lured in from another company and has snagged more than one of the accounts that she should have gotten. Now they're going head-to-head for the latest account. Only, she's been trapped inside the office because of a Snowpocalypse and she's there with... guess who? Sexy times follow.
I had quite a few issues with the story but it was overall okay and a fast read. It came out on January 1, 2015.

Christmas at Carriage Hill by Carla Neggers

Image linked from Goodreads

Designer Alexandra Rankin Hunt is going to Knights Bridge, Massachusetts to bring Olivia Frost her wedding gown. The fact that she gets to simultaneously avoid Ian Mabry is just a bonus. The handsome RAF pilot was nothing more than a fling, no matter what her heart says.
Except... Ian is in Knights Bridge when she gets there. And he seems
pretty serious about making sure that her heart wins out over her head...
A lovely addition to the Swift River Valley series.

Yours for Christmas by Susan Mallery

Bailey's story, Bailey's story, we get to read Bailey's story. And Kenny Scott's. But,whatever. I have loved Bailey ever since we learned about this single mother with a charming daughter. I don't know what about her appealed except the awkwardness. And I just loved the crush that she and Kenny both had. And his back story as to why he wouldn't date women with kids was... interesting, but not unrealistic. Of course, Mayor Marsha has a lot to do with the connection, but it's a great read watching how these two come together to find true love.
Even those readers who, like me, are somewhat annoyed with the shoehorning of characters that happens in every Fool's Gold novel will like this book because it doesn't happen!

Followed by Fool's Gold #16 Hold Me

Her Holiday Man by Shannon Stacey

Image linked from Goodreads

I hesitate to call this a novella; it feels more like a story taken out of a romance anthology. In it, we meet single-mother Christina and her hunky new neighbor, Will. Christina's husband cheated his friends out of a lot of money and left Christina with no money and no discernible skills. She was lucky to find a job at a convenience store and a neighbor kind enough to watch her son when he came home from school. Then, Gail's son comes home from his travels. He left after his wife and unborn child were hit by a drunk driver.
They both have their issues. Can they get beyond their pasts to find a new future together?