A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder by Dianne Freeman

This is supposed to be the quiet time of the London season, the time when all of the aristocracy leaves to go hunting. Frances Wynn, the Dowager Countess of Harleigh, isn't interested. Her sister is almost engaged to a very nice man but Frances, burned by her own marital experience, is worried for her. But she's also distracted by the murder of her "friend" (not a close friend but one she was trying to match with her cousin Charles), Mary Archer. When Frances' ... friend... George Hazelton asks for help in his investigation, Frances is only too pleased to help. She can help get justice for Mary, clear her cousin's name (George's and Mary's relationship was recently ended, so he's suspect numero uno,) and, well, it's something to stretch her mind. It doesn't hurt that George asking her to take this on shows how much he trusts her.
I wish that there had been a little more character development, the mystery took up a lot of the book. Other than that, this was a pretty good book.

Four stars
This book comes out June 25th
Follows A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder
Followed by A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder
ARC kindly provided by Kensington and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Dearly Beloved by Mary Jo Putney

Oh dear God. I wish I had known this was a reissue before I requested an ARC from . I may have enjoyed this book if I had read it when it came out in 1990 but the romance genre and what readers find romantic has changed a LOT since then. The writing is flowery, the story breaks the bounds of belief suspension, and the book starts off with the "hero" raping the heroine and veers into child abuse. With so many recent good books by Ms. Putney, what editor thought that re-releasing this book was a good idea? It's bound to turn new readers away from ever trying her books again.
Diana Lindsay is still young and very beautiful. She struggles to make ends meet and keep her son in food. When she rescues a courtesan from a blizzard, she realizes that there may be a way to make ends meet and immediately becomes a protege, knowing that giving up her body will lead her son to a better life.
Gervase Brandelin, the Viscount St. Aubyn, knows that he is a monster. That is why he tries to contain his base urges to the members of the demimonde, women who know how to handle the darkness inside him. On the night that Diana makes her "debut," Gervase decides to claim her as his own...
I would have rated this one star if I didn't reserve it for DNFs.

One and a half stars
This book comes out June 25th
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall

Captain John Wyndham is a stranger in a strange land. After leaving home because he didn't fit in, he has landed in a new dimension and is in need of housing. Sorceress Shaharazad Hass is in need of a roommate.
Totally amoral, Hass thinks nothing of breaking the law of any land, of summoning gods too powerful to name, and of sleeping with... well it seems like everyone. She also has a quick wit and zero sense of her own mortality.
I requested this ARC when I heard that it was a fantasy retelling of Sherlock Holmes and it was fairly good. It's more touches of Holmes than an absolute homage and they were masterfully done. Not so masterful? The repetitions. Most blatant were the number of times Wyndham mentioned that he was amending the colorful language of his characters. We get it. They're cursing, you don't like it. Wyndham, Hass and the world-building were all excellent. The mystery... I'm still not sure what a third of the book had to do with solving the mystery so it was sort of a drag but overall entertaining read.

Four stars
This book came out  June 18
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Project Duchess by Sabrina Jeffries

Fletcher "Grey" Pryde, 5th Duke of Greycourt, is trying to avoid a compromising situation with his cousin Vanessa. Her mother's dearest wish is to have the two be married but neither is eager to fall in with her plans. Their excuse to avoid that fate is that Vanessa has just delivered the news to Grey that his stepfather has just died.
Grey is devastated. He may have had conflicting emotions regarding his stepfather Maurice (who sent Grey away when he was 10 to live with his uncle who was then the Duke) but he knows that he has to go be with the family.
Everyone at Armitage Hall is shocked that the Duke is dead. He had only succeeded his brother a few months ago. His son, Sheridan (Grey's half-brother), is suspicious that both deaths may not have been accidental. Sheridan asks Grey to stay and figure out if his cousin Joshua is getting rid of the people who stand before him for the dukedom. Grey is also wondering. But he has a problem. Joshua's sister Beatrice is distracting him.
At 26, Beatrice doesn't necessarily want to be presented to society but her uncle Maurice's family has embraced her and her cousin's half-sister Gwyn really would rather not debut alone. She just wants to find a nice man, maybe a priest or a doctor. Dukes are not on her list. Even though Grey kisses like a fiend. But she knows she's not the type of woman he's going to marry. And worse, he thinks her brother has killed two men.
The first three-quarters of this book were great, setting up the series as well as letting us see Grey and Beatrice falling in love but the last quarter felt rushed and not as well edited. Very loose. This may change before the book comes out but the ARC ended with a whimper.

Three stars
This book comes out June 25th
Followed by The Bachelor
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh

Six years ago, Abigail Westcott's life fell apart when she and her sibling discovered that her father had been married before; in fact, he was still married when he married their mother and they are all illegitimate. Abigail's sister Camille is now happily married, her brother Harry is in the army, and her family is really anxious that Abigail should make a good match. But Abigail wants to be married for herself rather than in spite of who she is. She's not sure what that will mean but she knows that finding someone from among the ton is not what she wants.
Gilbert Bennington has been married before. He is a lieutenant colonel and Harry's superior officer. Traveling back to England with Harry, Gil is bemused to find himself swept up into the Westcott family. His introduction? When he is trying to calm himself by chopping wood shirtless. Abigail reprimands him, not realizing that he is not a servant.
The two don't get to spend a lot of time together but a lot of it is spent in divulging secrets. Both are bastards but Gil keeps saying that they are different because Abby was raised to be a lady but he was not. I'm not entirely sure that I believe the HEA but Balogh's gentle story somehow conveys that they may be able to get past the obstacles ahead, including getting Gil's daughter back from her grandparents. I also wish we had seen more of that. Maybe if Matilda and Gil's father get together in a subsequent book, we'll see more of them.

Four stars
This book comes out July 2
ARC kindly provided by Kensington and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Bewitched and Betrothed by Juliet Blackwell

Lily Ivory is trying to plan a handfasting. She loves Sailor and would like to be married before the upcoming magical war breaks out. One thing she's not excited about is the former prisoner's shirt that has some really evil vibes. Lily is excited that the Park Service is coming to pick it up and she warns them not to put on the shirt. Both of the rangers are confused but they walk out. Too bad one of them is kidnapped, with the shirt, minutes later. The talisman to hold in the vibes is left at the scene. Oh, and the ranger? Carlos Romero, inspector for the police department and Lily's friend, it's his cousin.
Things ramp up and all of the bad vibes point to Alcatraz being the point of the issues. Lily is also juggling her grandmother and her grandmother's coven as well as Sailor's family.
A good addition to the series, I'm wondering why Amanda, Sailor's ex-wife was added to this book. It seems to be resolved but, unless she's going to be a larger part of the series later, it added nothing but extra lines to this story.

Three stars
This book comes out June 25th
Follows A Magical Match
ARC kindly provided by Berkley and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Dating by the Book by Mary Ann Marlowe

Owning a bookstore in small town Indiana is all Maddie Hanson ever wanted to do.  And she's living her dream. To bad it came at the expense of her with marriage. 6 months ago her fiance issued an ultimatum it was either him or the town. She chose the town.
Now she's struggling to pay back her ex for his part of the store's mortgage, trying to keep up on shop repairs, and emailing the guy who gave her about-to-be-published debut novel a three star rating. The last starts as a scathing reply to his review and ends up as a back and forth between two people who are starting to get to know each other.
As a woman in her late 20s, one who was going to be married just a year ago, Maddie is very obsessed with finding the hero of her story. She is a romance reader in the sense that she tends towards the classics, she discusses Jane Eeyre, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and Gone with the Wind. And other readers may find it a bit much but I think there is a time in your life when you really do look at everyone you encounter as a possible romantic lead in the story of your own life. I wish there had been more with Maddie's relationship with her mother and her friend Layla.

Four stars
This book comes out June 25th
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own