Betrothed by Christmas by Jess Michaels, Elizabeth Essex

A Lady's Gift for Seduction by Jess Michaels

The daughter of a duke, Lady Evangeline could marry anyone. And her father really wants her to marry someone who can strengthen the family connections. But not more than Henry Killam's social-climbing father. So when Lady Evangeline sets her sights on Henry, the third son of a viscount, Henry's father is at first excited, but then super pissed because Henry has published an astrology paper and that smacks of.... working.

I didn't really connect to either Evangeline nor Henry in this story and I was annoyed by all of the machinations. It was fine but not great.

Three stars

A Lady’s Gift for Scandal by Elizabeth Essex

Tamsin Lesley doesn't want to get married.  She just wants to live as a bluestocking and to do that she has to be ruined. Or fake ruined. Because there's no reason to be really ruined. When she runs into Lady Evangeline at a ball, that august young woman suggests Simon Cathcart as the perfect man to be her "ruiner." 

Simon went to war and came back different. He just wants a simple life so he pretends to be stupid. No one in his family nor his superiors (he worked for Wellington, for goodness' sake) has told anyone any different so everyone assumes that he's incredibly stupid and ignores him. He's only in town to escort his aunt to various affairs. So when Tamsin suggests a fake ruination, it seems like a good plan to him.

This is a good premise but I wish there had been more to it. I think it would have been better in a longer form but felt unfinished here.

Three stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by The Passionate Pen and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

When the protagonist from "The Wedding Party," Maddie, is asked to go to England and dress "The Duchess" for Christmas, she can't imagine leaving her mother behind. True, she's been dating Theo for a few months at this point but Christmas with her mother is a tradition.

Vivian Forest has been busy the past year and a half and it's about to pay off with a probable promotion. She doesn't want to lose that momentum but she also doesn't want to miss Christmas with her daughter. While Maddie works, Vivian is supposed to amuse herself. Luckily, the man she mentally dubs "Hot Chocolate" introduces himself and offers to show her around the "cottage" she and Maddie are staying in. 

Working as the Queen's private secretary, Malcolm Forest doesn't especially have a lot of free time. But he's drawn to Vivian and doesn't want to lose any time with her.

A lovely romance with an older couple. I wish we had seen more of their relationship building but a good novella.

Four stars

This book came out October 1st

Followed by Party of Two

ARC kindly provided by Berkley and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

I'll Be Home for Christmas by Karen Clarke

This is the second book I've read where a woman runs away to France in order to get away from a bad romance. In this case, Nina Bailey's fiance was cheating on her so she decides that she's going to completely change her life. She still hasn't found the job she loves so she thinks that travel blogger might work well and she can start by visiting her Aunt Dolly and seeing her favorite cousin while healing her heart. But she's not the only one who is there doing that.

Ryan Sadler had one great book that burst onto the literary scene. Now, his romance life is in tatters and his writer's block is impenetrable. But meeting Nina is starting to heal some of those broken places inside him. Even though she is not at all what he wants at the moment, she seems to be spurring his creative process and rebuilding his trust in love.

There's a Big Misunderstanding that I think is misused here and some of the thoughts get a bit repetitive but most of the book is quite fun and the early banter between Nina and Ryan is perfect.

Three stars

This book came out October 14th

ARC kindly provided by Bookouture and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes

I loved the world building of this story. It's a slow build so you're thrown into this alternate universe and left to follow helplessly along as you meet Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Neg They are in the process of dropping off a load of kittens. Psychic kittens. Kittens that are currently running amok on the ship. When they're finally contained, Eva learns that she's not actually going to get paid for this trip. Which is not great since she's balancing on the edge of not being able to pay her crew anyway. So it's not a great day when The Fridge calls. It's a fringe group that kidnaps family members, in this case Eva's sister, and keeps them in cryo-stasis until someone provides them with what they want. In this case, Eva is to run some transport for them.  Her life doesn't get better when she takes just a moment to step out of her life and get stinking drunk. When a totally gross guy propositions her, she beats him down only then to discover that he is a prince of the Galaxy or something equally impressive. Anyway, a guy who is able to make her life a living hell. Er, hell-ier.
Great book. Can't wait to read the next.

Four stars
This book came out September 17th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

In the Hall with the Knife by Diana Peterfreund

Okay, Peterfreund obviously has a deep and abiding love for the 1980s movie version of Clue with at least a dozen little easter eggs sprinkled into the text as homages to that amazing cult classic. Otherwise, this is a completely re-imagined version of a bunch of people with names (first, last, nick) that are related to colors who are at Blackbrook, an elite academy, over the winter break when a flood/snowstorm collide to make for a really uncomfortable time. Headmaster Boddy gathers all of the students, including at least three who had negative interactions with him recently, in the Tudor house with the woman in charge of the house, Mrs. White and one adult janitor, Rusty. However, one of the students, the one we follow most closely throughout the third person narration, Orchid, wakes up early on the first morning after they're gathered and finds the body of Boddy in the kitchen, stabbed. Almost all of the people gathered in the house have secrets they'd like to keep - Vaughn Green, the local boy there on scholarship; Phineas Plum, first among the science students and one of the students called in to talk to the Headmaster; Scarlet Mistry, Finn's humanities counterpart and partner in ensuring they both come in first in their respective fields; Beth "Peacock" PIcah who may have thrown a candlestick at Boddy after a loud argument followed by a thud; Orchid McKee who is hiding her true identity but someone has found her out; Samuel "Mustard" Maestro who has only been at Blackbrook for a month after getting booted out of military school mid-semester.
Though it took me quite awhile to get into this book, I have to admit that I*m looking forward to the other two books of this trilogy.

Four stars
This book came out October 8th

Followed by In the Study with the Wrench
ARC kindly provided by Amulet Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Rituals to Observe: Stories about Holidays from the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction -- anthology

The title pretty much explains what you're going to be reading in this book, short stories that won the Flannery O'Connor Award. That means that you're going to be reading deep stories with deep themes. And, though the book is out in October, it doesn't mean that the books all center around the same holiday. Instead, it runs the gamut of the year.

I think people that don't mind some stories that make you really think, even if they are a bit depressing, will enjoy this book. For me, this was not a good time to read these stories so I don't think I connected to them well.'

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 1st

ARC kindly provided by University of Georgia Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Charlie Brown: All Tied Up Charles M. Schulz

Another great collection of Peanuts comics. We have Charlie in a fight with the kite eating tree, Sally trying to write a report that is factual, and Lucy still working on getting Schroeder to notice her. Of course, we get some glimpses into various baseball games and more than a few Beagle Scout trips (addition of Harriet and her Angel Food Cake with Seven-Minute Icing.)

An excellent addition to the Peanuts canon.

Four and a half stars

This book comes out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own