Lavender & Mistletoe by Donna Kauffman

Avery Kent refers to herself as a Brain. It is her overall scope that allow her to figure out that there might be something more in the snow when she sees a set of tracks sliding across the road in a skid pattern. But she'll need more than that to rescue the pygmy goat she finds, she'll need a vet.
Ben Chandler is only in town to cover for the regular veterinarian who is traveling for a few months. He also has a big brain and is suitably impressed by Avery, even though she seems to be trying to steer him toward her friend, Cheyenne.
Eventually Avery and Ben end up pairing and finding that they really like each other. But what happens when Avery is tied to her place while Ben is a globe-trotting veterinarian?
This was a fine novella and regular Kauffman readers will enjoy. It was an easy romance but it's a novella so not a lot of development.

Three stars
This book comes out September 24th
ARC kindly provided by

A Dash of Christmas by Samantha Chase

Emery Monaghan's life sucks pretty hard right now. Her fiance, the senator, not only cheated on her, he did some pretty heinous things to a number of women. Rather than supporting her, her parents are aghast that she's not standing by her man. She just needs to get away for a little bit and escape the crazy. Eliza Montgomery provides her not only a place, but a project to do while she tries to figure out the rest of her life.
Carter Montgomery doesn't know that his mother has asked Emery to help him with the cookbook he's putting together for charity. Nor does he realize that Emery is going to be staying in their New York apartment. Neither brings him great joy since he's currently consumed with opening his fourth restaurant. Too bad he can't figure out what to do with it. But maybe meeting Emery again will help him make up his mind.
I really liked the story of Carter and Emery getting to know each other again. The book was just a little too long with a Big Misunderstanding manufactured to add another 150 pages that didn't really add much.

Three stars
This book comes out September 24th
Follows Suddenly Mine
ARC kindly provided by publisher and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Fake Date by Monica Murphy

Sarah Harrison works in an upscale lingerie boutique. Like, teddies that go for four hundred dollars upscale. So her customers have some money and therefore merit personalized attention. Her least favorite customer? Jared Gaines. He's ultra-rich and ultra-demanding. His attitude is that his time is valuable and no one else's is. Even worse, he's in about once a week buying things for his "friends." Until the day that he buys something and sends it to Sarah. And she's not having it. Except that it turns her on. She's raising her younger brother and sister so she doesn't have a lot of time for extras. And, while Jared is hot, he's not worth the trouble.

Except, Jared needs help. His brother is marrying Jared's ex-fiancee's sister. Awkward to say the least. So what can he do? Maybe bring a really hot date. And he already has his eye on the perfect woman.
I liked most of the story. Murphy did her best to bring a little more agency to Sarah and, while Jared was creepy, he acknowledges it and doesn't go full CG-creepy on Sarah. I am definitely looking forward to Jared's sister's story.

Three stars
This book comes out September 17th 2019

Follows Save the Date

Followed by Holidate
ARC kindly provided by Social Butterfly PR and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Vendetta in Death by J.D. Robb

This is an In Depth book where we know the identity of the killer is pretty early in the book. It's a woman who is bent on settling scores. She starts by picking up a man who, among certain circles, is known to be dropping date rape drugs into women's drinks, taking them home, and doing terrible things to them (very timely). The killer has labeled herself Lady Justice and plans her look to be the most appealing for every man that she is going to kill, the easier to lure them in.
Eve is on to her pretty quickly and I think that is part of my disconnect with this book. There was so much of Eve investigating that I never got the sense of killer as a person. I never really cared how/why  Eve was going to get her because we dived in so soon. It was a perfectly fine addition to the canon but not one of my faves.

Three stars
Followed by Golden in Death
This book came out September 3, 2019

Follows Connections in Death

Followed by Golden in Death
ARC kindly provided by Mamillan and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Reread August 2023 as audiobook from Libby

A Royal Christmas Wish by Lizzie Shane

Jenny is the prototypical romance heroine. She's clumsy; she doesn't know her own beauty (inner or outer); she has not one but two overachieving siblings; she believes in twu lurv; and she doesn't recognize someone who is arguably super-famous.
When she runs into Dominic, the prince of San Noelle (have we yet identified this as a Hallmark book? No? I'm guessing you did after this name), Jenny is just doing your normal thing you do in New York, walking her favorite rescue dog, Prince Harry (I like this author's sense of humor), in Central Park. Then, she slams into a super handsome guy. A guy that she later sees at a fancy party where she is dressed as an elf. She wishes that she could have gotten Dom's number but a lost snowflake bracelet leads to something almost as good, her wish to have a fairy tale Christmas is granted. It's a chance to see what her life would be like if she were actually married to Dom.  But she only has until midnight on Christmas.
This is just like a Hallmark movie, comforting and low-key. It didn't trip all my joy triggers but I finished it and, other than having to plow through all the generic romance tropes, enjoyed it.

Three and a half stars
This book came out September 10th
ARC kindly provided by Hallmark Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

First Time Embroidery and Cross Stitch: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide by Linda Wyszynski

I have both cross-stitched and embroidered for quite a long time but I am self-taught and thought this book might give me some insight into new stitches or better techniques. There weren't a lot of either but this was a I liked that there were both pictures and drawings of what the stitches would look like. The ideas for projects were unique but easy enough for a beginner.

Four stars
This book came out September 3rd
ARC kindly provided by Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Mr. Maybe by M. Kate Quinn

Kit Baxter's life has been somewhat...complicated lately. At Christmas, she caught her cousin and her (Kit's) boyfriend kissing under the mistletoe. Now the two are getting married and her cousin wants the bridal shop Kit works at, Kit specifically, to alter their grandmother's dress. The dress that Kit has always wanted to wear at her own wedding. But she can't complain or she'll be accused of being petty. And the shop needs the word-of-mouth anyway. The one bright spot, the fact that she's been able to buy her house on the water. Of course, it's a fixer-upper. And that dead tree did just fall and crush the car she doesn't have comprehensive insurance for. So, she needs a way to make some money.
Shane Dugan needs a place to live. In order to get his dream job as a paid fire fighter, he needs to prove residence in the area. And the apartment he had locked down isn't going to be ready for 3 months. So Kit's neighbor comes up with a plan, Shane lives at Kit's and pays rent; Kit gets money.
Kit isn't so sure it will work, but when she accidentally lies to her aunt and cousin to get them off her back, she decides that, if Shane will pretend to be her boyfriend, he can live with her.
I do like a fake relationship story and this was an interesting setup with Shane already having a girlfriend. Kit and Shane have some low level vibes but absolutely nothing happens before he breaks up with his girlfriend (which I appreciated... there were some glances and feelings but nothing else.)

Three and a half stars
This book came out August 21st
ARC kindly provided by The Wild Rose Press, Inc. and NetGalley
Opinions are my own