Humor That Works by Andrew Tarvin

I've been on a business reading kick for awhile. This book was an interesting difference. It's not the straight-up here's-how-to-work-better or a here's-how-to-manage-people book or here's-how-to-find-yourself-the-best-kind-of-job book. Instead, it's a look at how you can inject humor into the workplace from the world's first (self-proclaimed) humor engineer. His thoughts are that humor (the right kind of humor) can make a bad situation more bearable.
I wish there had been some more scientific studies backing up these claims (most were studies already published in other works). Most of the stories, especially in the early chapters, were personal stories about how Mr. Tarvin successfully used humor. Otherwise this was a very readable book which only sometimes reached a little too far in trying to also be humorous.

Three stars
This book came out April 1st
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Lights! Camera! Puzzles! by Parnell Hall

The Puzzle Lady's ex-husband has written a (mostly fictitious) tell-all about their marriage. The book has wrecked her image as everyone's grandma and the lucrative promotions have dried up. So Cora has made a deal with the devil and is a producer on the film the book is being turned into
 She's not happy to begin with and then the body of a staff member is found. And  then there's another.
I hadn't read this series in a while but I am glad to see that Cora has branched out and it made sense for her to find a body in a new place.

Four Stars
This book came out April 2nd
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski

I needed this book so badly. I ended up quitting my job before I started reading this book but it perfectly depicted the many reasons that I ended up making a leap and leaving a bad fit before I had anything else lined up. And this is the life of women - being told that we have to be thin, polished, nurturing humans who make less than men just because we are "other." And we're also told that we're nuts and that that isn't really happening. If I had read this book four months ago, I think it would have opened my eyes that much sooner and I'd have lost out on those months of stress (oh darn...)
This very readable and relatable book looks at the various things in our loves that can and do cause burnout and offers some suggestions on how to close the cycle.
Mu favorite takeaway was: Wellness is not a state of being but a state of action.

Four stars
This book came out March 26
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

The Burning Issue of the Day by T E Kinsey

Flo and Lady Hardcastle are asked to look into an arson/murder case. A local reporter has been killed and the suffragettes have bee blamed for the crime. Yes, there was a signed note from one of them admitting her guilt but it was pretty flimsy evidence with nothing otherwise proving wrongdoing. The local leader believes it may be someone trying to make the suffragettes look bad.
During the course of the case, Flo and Lady Hardcastle are beset numerous times and come out ahead, though not always unscathed.
A lovely story that was pretty easy to figure out who the baddies were but if you don't mind that, you will not have any problems with.

Four stars
This book comes out May 15th
Followed by Death Beside the Seaside
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

The first time Olive met her twin sister's boyfriend's brother, she was transfixed. Ethan is a very good looking guy. But he seemed so turned off by her curves and they have never been able to connect
after that. Mostly they just snark back and forth at each other when they're in the same room. And that's only if they can't avoid each other.
They're going to be stuck together for the next ten days though. After food poisoning rampages through her sister's wedding leaving Olive and Ethan the only people unscathed, they are encouraged to use The free trip that Olive's sister won as a honeymoon. It's a free trip and can't be rescheduled.
Ten days with someone she hates? But at least she'd be on Maui. Olive doesn't jump at the chance but she does ended up taking it. And it seems that both Ethan and Olive have been working under some misconceptions. Ones that can be cleared up when two people spend so much time together.
A good story though I didn't love the Big Gesture (to be fair, I rarely do.) But I liked the arc between Ethan and Olive and that each got to grow.

Four stars
This book comes out May 14
ARC provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Hot to the Touch by Jaci Burton

Growing up, Jackson Donovan was homeless. With a group of other kids, he formed a pack that protected and looked out for each other. One night, they had to split up. He found shelter from a storm with two other boys and they were almost killed in a fire. Instead, they were rescued twice by Josh Donovan.  Once  from the fire and then once from the streets when he and his wife Laurel took them all in.
Now an adult, all three boys work in the same fire station (I didn't think that was allowed?). When they answer a call at a tattoo parlor, they find one of the other kids that they used to hang out iwith, Rebecca "Becks" Benning. When they find out Becks was living above her shop,  Jackson's brothers immediately invite her to move in. They just had a roommate move out so they've got space.
Unlike the boys, Becks never got adopted. She needed up going back into foster care and found a decent family but has no real ties to anyone. So she's happy to move in with her friends, if only Jackson weren't so prickly.
The two figure out how to navigate, especially when they acknowledge the tension between them is a lot related to attraction. But both have their issues stemming from the way they grew up. Jackson especially will have to dig deep if he wants to keep the woman he's starting to love.
A nice start to a new series. I can't wait to read Carmen and Rafe's story.

Four stars
Followed by Ignite on Contact
This book came out May 7
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

One Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan

Two women, both at crossroads in their lives. Grace, an American, has just been told, on her twenty-fifth anniversary no less, that her husband is having an affair. Audrey is  British and is ready to get out of her alcoholic mother's house. She's not going to college, that's for people who are smart and not dyslexic. Their lives will collide when Grace is mugged and Audrey comes to her rescue. Eventually they realize that they each need something from the other; a chance to step out of their day-to-day.
I really wish this book had been a bit longer. There were some real problems in this book but it felt like the solutions were glossed over or rushed through. I liked Ms. Morgan's other step toward romance light but this book, while worth reading, was not as successful.

Three stars
This book came out April 9
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own