The Druid Next Door by E.J. Russell

I'm really enjoying the world building that Ms. Russell has put together in this series. The second book follows the first. One of three brothers has been exiled from the world of Faerie, in this case, Mal. Then the brother discovers he's in lust/love with a human. Except he's NOT a human! But even he doesn't know that.
In this case, it's Bryce MacLeod, an ardent environmentalist. He knows that Mal is a super-attractive being but he's more distracted by the fact that the man can't recycle correctly. Bryce wants to save the world and has always been connected to nature but now he's discovered that he's a druid and he's quite literally connected to Mal.
I wish we had seen more of Bryce's training. I was also irked by a trope familiar to romantic readers of "You are my one special person and I know that because everything I ever thought about sex has changed but only because of you!" Not only was this trope introduced, it was thrown at the reader over and over and over again. Am I still excited for the third book in this series? Oh yeah.

Three stars
This book comes out August 21
Follows Cutie and the Beast
Followed by the Bad Boy's Bard

The Paris Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

Maggie Hope is again fighting the Axis powers in World War II. This time, she's behind enemy lines, searching for a fellow spy who it is feared has been captured. While there, she is also looking for her sister. Interspersed are bits and pieces of Sarah and Hugh's work as well. There is a lot going on in this story. A LOT. But MaNeal is generally successful in weaving together all the plot points. Maggie is on the verge of becoming less relatable, which was one of the best parts of this series. I hope that she'll be a little more human and a little less super-spy in the next book.

This book comes out today
Four stars

She Be Damned by M.J. Tjia

Heloise Chancey is not a prostitute. She is an actress and a courtesan who helps solve mysteries on the side. And that's why she's posing as a prostitute, in the hopes that she can help figure out why these women are turning up dead, all of their sexual organs removed. It becomes personal when her maid is accused of the murders.
The book is as much (if not more) about Heloise's exploration of her past as it is about solving the murders. There is an exploration of what it was like to be a courtesan in London, the views of abortions in those times (touches on today), and racism.
I was sort of surprised to learn that M. J. Tjia was a woman. The first person point of view felt a bit uncomfortable, as though it rang a false note. At first I thought was a gender thing but I think it may be more of a time period thing. Heloise seems very much like a modern woman who was plunked into the 1800s. Not that that couldn't have existed, but it felt very odd. And it kept me disconnected from both the character and the book. I actually connected more with the Li Leen interjections than with Heloise.
I'm not sure who to recommend this book (novella? It's not even 200 pages). I feel like some people might enjoy it but it was not a good book for me. I would give it two stars but it was an interesting enough book that it made it up to two and a half.

This book came out August 1

Gentlemen Prefer Heiresses by Lorraine Heath

After "An Affair with a Notorious Heiress," I was eager to read Gina's story. She was so sweet and so obviously in love with her sister's husband's younger brother. For his part, Andrew has quite a bit of lust for the young Gina, but he knows that he's not the right man for her. He's a younger son and she's an American heiress. It's too bad that he just can't seem to stay away. Nor to refuse her request for a little adventure.
It's an okay story but I wish Gina and Andrew had had a chance to have a little more.

Three stars
This novella came out yesterday

Archie Archives: The Double Date and Other Stories (Volume 3)

I loved reading Archie in the 90s so the chance to pick up an ARC with some of the original Archie comics seemed like a great opportunity. And it was really an okay book. We get to see some of Archie's development but not really anybody else's. Except for hair color, Betty and Veronica are fairly interchangeable. We don't get to see much of Jughead or even Reggie. The character we get to see most other than Archie is his dog. There was one "game" page and several written stories that I don't remember being a part of later comics. A nice bit of nostalgia I guess but  nothing I would have wanted to read otherwise.

Two and a half stars
This book came out November 22

Continental Crimes by ed. by Martin Edwards

I usually enjoy the stories picked out by Mr. Edwards for his anthology series. And the book started off well, I enjoyed "A Bracelet at Bruges" and "The Secret Garden." But the rest of the stories didn't really hold my attention. I think that these were perfectly fine stories, they just didn't resonate with me at this point in time.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out August 1

Second Chance Girl by Susan Mallery

In the first book in this series, we learned a lot about Mathias Mitchell. He's an artist, he sleeps with the numerous bridesmaids that come through their destination-wedding town, and he's entranced by his neighbor, Carol Lund. Well, it's just a flinch, but this is a romance series so we all know what's what.

Carol considers herself a peahen (which, thank god, she let go of after the three times it was mentioned in the first chapter. She's a gamekeeper in her family's recycling center/game preserve and she has a massive crush on Mathias. But they're friends and she doesn't want to ruin that. Plus, he only goes after peacocks (which is not a good analogy, especially for someone who knows animals).
For his part, Mathias is fascinated by Carol. And also more than a little hesitant. His parents have a ... strange relationship and he doesn't want to pull Carol into the maelstrom that is sure to result if he falls in love.
Mallery often twines love stories in her shorter series and stand-alones but she did it in this book as well, linking Carol's sister to a handsome duke.
There were moments that were a little too twee and we didn't get to see as much of Carol and Mathias because of the B plot but I am very much enjoying this series and am looking forward to Ronan's story

This book comes out September 26
Four stars