Under Currents by Nora Roberts

Major trigger warnings for both spousal and child abuse.
Like many of Roberts' non-series contemporaries, this one opens slowly and then quickly ramps as Emily Bigelow admires her home and thinks about what a great life she has. We quickly learn that this is HER version of great. For her kids, not so much.
In the first seven chapters, we get great character sketches of each of the four people in her family as well as some of the people who will be players in the later story.
Chapter 8 opens with Darby McCray deciding to move to Lakeside after her mother's death. She is ready to start her landscaping business in a new place and this one fits her specifications. This coincides with Zane Walker's (the Bigelows' son) return. He's now a lawyer, apparently a good one since he buys a huge house and is ready for Darby to install spme pretty extensive landscaping.
The two kind of slide into a relationship based in mutual admiration (physical and mental) as well as an understanding of each other's histories. And the course of true love never can run smooth and we learn that it is good thing that both Darby and Zane are smart, neither try to play detective, and that Darby has that black belt in kung fu.
I liked this book a lot. Darby was her own heroine a lot of the time but Zane got to help as well, a true team. There were a couple of little things that I didn't love, the swiftness of the romance, so many villains, and then the lack of a talk about protection and how to stay healthy which Roberts has been able to skillfully add to other of her books.

Four stars
This book comes out July 9th
ARC kindly provided by MacMillan and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Pack Challenge by Shelly Laurenston

One of the things I tend to do in terms of self-care is to re-read books. It doesn't really matter what books, it is just nice to know that I don't have to read every single word because I know the story pretty well already. And romances are a particular favorite because the definition for a book to be in this genre is that it will end happily. I have been big on audiobooks lately because it means that I can get other things done (a LOT of cleaning) while still enjoying the book


Sara Morrighan has had a rough life. She was attacked by a mountain lion when she was 8. The same attack killed her father. Then she was sent to live with a grandmother who was more strict than loving. She had to rely on her friends Mike and Angelina to find acceptance and love.
Well, until Zach Sheridan showed up in town. He knew at first glance that she was going to be for him. And when she finally discovers his secrets, one that includes her, it's going to be interesting to see if they end up being a perfect match.

I like Laureston's later books better but it was amazing to see how much world building she put in even this first book of her shifters series.

Three books
Followed by Go Fetch!
This book came out October 1st, 2006
Audiobook from my local library

Reread as Audible Plus book January 2024

Honeymoon with Death by Vivian Conroy

This story is very reminiscent of Agatha Christie's "Sleeping Murder." A newlywed comes to a faraway land and starts to recover memories of a long ago murder. And by reminiscent, this is very much a variation on the theme.
Damaris Ramsworth received a free play ticket in the mail which led to her meeting her handsome and connected husband. Hers is very much a Cinderella story and she is living it to the fullest. But then her husband chooses their honeymoon as a surprise and the more she's on this Greek island, the more she wonders what, exactly, is going on.
First are the things that she sees (skull in her room, beetles all over) that no one else seems to. Then, there's the sense that she's been to this place before. But how? And it doesn't help that her husband's friends have "accidentally" run into them in this remote place. Waking up to find herself standing over a dead body is the last straw.
At any other time, Damaris would probably immediately be indicted for murder. But, lucky for her, Inspector Jasper is vacationing on the same island and is willing to take up her cause...
This book starts with a LOT of frenetic energy. It is hard to follow the story and then becomes even worse when trying to follow the logic Jasper uses to solve the crime. An okay story but I probably won't follow the series.

Three stars
This book comes out July 1st
ARC kindly provided by Canelo and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

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