The Adventuress by Tasha Alexander

Jeremy, the Duke of Bainbridge, Emily's dearest friend has finally gotten engaged. To an American heiress no less. But Emily's not sure she can like the girl. Not because she's an American, rather because the woman can't seem to hold an opinion of her own. Instead, Amity (the fiancee) transforms to agree with whoever is talking to her.
The book opens with the death of one of Jeremy's closest friends. The authorities presume suicide but Emily isn't so sure. And there seems to be some darkness lurking underneath the cheerful facade of this honeymoon party.
The story is told in alternating first person (Emily, in the "present") and third person (Amity, snippets of the months leading up to the party). It's an interesting way to sow some red herrings quite nicely into the story.
I think regular Alexander readers will be quite satisfied with this book.
This book comes out next Tuesday, October 13, 2015.

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 Mutts Winter Diaries by Patrick McDonnell

A collection of winter strips, all in one place. it makes you realize how great Patrick McDonnell is at recycling jokes but giving them new little twists each time. Earl and Mooch are trying to figure out how to survive the long cold winter. One storyline involves hibernating while others include various types of clothing, or trying to find identical snowflakes. 

A very cute book that any comics reader will enjoy.
Will be published on October 13.

The Duke and Miss Christmas by Amelia Grey

Louisa’s sister, Gwen, finds her match in this novella. She just doesn’t know it at first.

Crispin, Duke of Hurst, is visiting his uncle when he spies a young girl sitting underneath a tree. Since it’s close to Christmas, and presumably chilly, he walks over to talk to her and discovers that she has injured herself falling out of a tree trying to pick holly to decorate her home. While he’s trying to get the girl on his horse, Gwen (it’s one of her younger sisters he’s helping) comes along, believes that he’s up to dastardly deeds and proceeds to whack him with her basket.

Though this is a novella, Grey deftly adds notes about time passing so this isn’t quite a fall-in-love-at-first-sight-marry-soon-after novel. Nice addition to the series. Three and a half stars.

Comes out October 13, 2015

Follows The Earl Claims a Bride

Perfect Match by E. D. Baker

This was some interesting world building, setting up Cory Feathering in the land of Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes as a cupid who also does miscellaneous jobs on the side. Oh, and she's dodging the Fairy Guild which is after her because... she caused a problem for her in the first book. I honestly can't remember what at this point. Which, to my mind, is not a good sign. And, oh yeah, this is a sequel, but I don't think you need to have read the first book to enjoy this one.
Here, Cory is trying to figure out what's going on with her woodchuck, housesit for the three bears, and find a match for Goldilocks. These stories (and more), unfortunately start to overlap with each other to the detriment of all of them. I was slogging through some sections and flying through others. And, while I've read other stories where Guilds or similar entities become the Big Bad, for whatever reason, this book made me think of comparisons to the unions which made me wholly uncomfortable, especially in what appears to be a young adult novel. 
Two and a half stars.

Good Earl Gone Bad by Manda Collins

Manda Collins is a 3/4 star writer for me and this book tipped into that four-star territory. The story of an earl, probably a gambler, but not interested in driving, and the first woman invited into the Lords of Anarchy, a driving club, whose gambler father has just lost her new driving pair. To Lord Saintcrow, no less. Who confronts her before her first outing with the club. Of course, her father hadn't bothered to tell her. So when Hermione (our heroine) shows up at Lord Saintcrow's house to find him dead, with the Earl of Mainwaring (our hero), Jasper Fawley, not far behind, she's obviously in a bind. Luckily (?), Jasper has already decided that he wants to save her from her father, so why not from herself as well?
While reading the story, I highly enjoyed it. Thinking about it later has given me some pause but I really enjoyed the fact that Jasper talked to Hermione, thus avoiding many of the Big Misunderstandings that might have made this book a little less enjoyable.
Three and a half stars -- this book comes out on October 6

Followed by Good Dukes Wear Black

The Sound of Murder by Cindy Brown

I hadn't read the first book in this series (at least according to Goodreads, but the character sure felt familiar). I will be looking for "McDeath" to read though because I quite enjoyed this book. There were issues (didn't see a lot of character development (part of the first book?), story was a big convoluted, took some time to ) but I overall liked Ivy Meadows (real name Olive Ziegwart) and her zany antics (car catches fire? No problem, that's why she carries a fire extinguisher.)

The mystery is that several residents of a retirement community seem to be committing suicide. And Ivy, as a part-time consultant  in her uncle's detective agency, is asked to help. She's also house-sitting and performing in a mash-up of "The Sound of Music" and "Cabaret." There was a lot going on in the book (also Ivy has a brother (with whom she has a complicated history), she's dating a new guy, and... and... and...). It crossed zany into overwhelming a few times but I plowed through the book in one sitting and was fairly happy when it was done.