Nancy: A Comic Collection by Olivia Jaimes

I loved Nancy as a kid and was excited to see this collection. Olivia Jaimes is a newish Nancy author, it sounds like from the introduction. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the charm was from reading the jokes from that time period. And probably from not understanding just how grating her personality might be from an adult perspective. While I think it's me that's changed, not her, Nancy in the teens is not my favorite.

Three stars
This book comes out October 1st
ARC kindly provided by Simon & Schuster and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

The Matchmaker's Mistletoe Mission by Jaci Burton

Professional matchmaker Alice Weatherford offered to go ahead to Oklahoma to help make sure her friend's wedding preparations are on track. She didn't expect to be stranded at the Bellini's ranch (with a set of three daughters who are obviously sequel bait and I am so excited to read Erin's story about falling in love with her fiance's best friend.) Nor did she expect to meet their neighbor, Clay Henry with whom she has such a chemical reaction.

I actually liked this novella, Burton actually managed to get a lot of "getting to know you" time into the story which doesn't often happen. The end was a little more rushed but the characters were fairly well developed.

Four stars

This novella came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Berkeley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Owl Be Home for Christmas by Donna Andrews

Meg is not expecting to have to deal with a death at her grandfather's conference on owls but... well. She does encounter them more than the average person. This time, she's in the middle of a virtual locked room mystery since Virginia is being hit by a massive snow storm, one that was unexpected but explained in the book in a nice touch. Of course, the murdered man was the nastiest of the lot, Professor Frogmore. A man who was not only rude, he was also a racist mysoginist. So, lots of people were ready to celebrate his death.

I like that Andrews does time jumps between many of the books and makes an effort to not have the "Murder She Wrote" syndrome of why-would-people-live-there? Some of the characters were a little caricature-is but this book once again knocks it out of the park.

Four stars

This book came out October 15th, 2019

Meg Langlow #26

Follows Terns of Endearment
Followed by The Falcon Always Rings Twice

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread May 2021 as ebook from CloudLibrary, July 2021 as ebook from Libby, December 2022, December 2023, December 2024 as Audible book

Holidate by Monica Murphy

An heiress, Candace Gaines doesn't have to work and she doesn't. But she volunteers, a lot. And that's what puts her in the path of Isabel Sullivan. Her family  tree farm is getting into the big leagues and Isabel wants to start donating time and money to various charities and she wants her oldest son, Charlie, to be the face of the company. However, Charlie isn't all that personable, nor does he want to be. He wants to help the family though so he agrees to go with Candice for... reasons, I guess.

Her original schedule includes something almost every night (she really loves Christmas and going to ALL the Things). But Charlie just wants to work. He likes his routine and this... is not routine.

There is not a lot of sex in this book. I wouldn't normally have noticed but the second book in the series had quite a bit (at least in my memory) so it felt like this book was from a completely different series.

It's a great holiday romance but I wish there had been more relationship development between Candace and Charlie and I didn't love the way the Big Misunderstanding unraveled (though, major props to Ms. Murphy for one of her characters actually articulating that it could have been fixed had two of the characters just talked to each other.)

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 15th 2019

Follows Fake Date

Followed by Hate to Date You

ARC kindly provided by Social Butterfly PR and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

One Walk in Winter by Georgia Beers

Olivia Santini has been the assistant manager of the Evergreen Resort and Spa for a long time and has been doing the work of the manager for almost as long. She knows that she is going to be named manager and she'll be able to lift the slowly failing resort back up to where it should be in the Markham chain of resorts. When she meets a gorgeous woman walking in the woods, it's just icing on the cake of her life. However, it's all about to go south when she finds out that woman, Hayley, has been made the manager instead, even though she's never worked a day in her life.

Hayley Markham has been on a bad path ever since her other died. And she knows it, but having her father put her in charge of a failing resort seems a bit extreme. Maybe the beautiful Olivia can help her through it. Or, maybe not. But Liv does eventually relent. It's not like the job was actually guaranteed (so true.)

It took awhile to get into this story but it was worth reading in the end.

Four stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books, Inc. and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia

Tuesday Mooney, prospect researcher (how many books use this as a character's job? This position sets her up perfectly for the rest of the book), is quiet, pale, and wears a lot of black. She has one good friend, Poindexter "Dex". Investment banker by day but with a flamboyant gay man who likes to wear dresses and makeup in his off time. He is the one standing next to Laila "Lyle" Pryce when her eccentric husband dies at a fundraiser Tuesday's nonprofit is running (though, why is she signed up as a volunteer? She works for the company). It is also Dex who sends Tuesday a link to the newspaper article announcing that Vincent Pryce (yes, really) has left clues around the city for people to solve a mystery that will lead them to inherit from his vast estate.
Tuesday is also approached to help by a man she identifies as Nathaniel Arches, a wealthy man whose family was in a feud with Vincent Pryce. But he has his own reasons for wanting to get to the end of the game; reasons he doesn't want to share with Tuesday.
She begins the game by asking her 15-year-old neighbor Dory to join in but drops her as soon as Dory's father asks. Which was interesting--most stories would have Tuesday forging ahead with her friendship with Dory no matter what rather than complying with her parent's request.
I wouldn't go as far as saying this is a "grown-up Westing Game" like some other reviewers but it certainly has elements of fun and mystery that make it a quick read.

Four and a half stars
This book came out October 1st
ARC kindly provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

30 Dates in 30 Days Elle Spencer

As the book opens, Veronica Welch's assistant Bea is helping her to meet one of her two life goals. The first, to make partner by the time she is 35 and, a very good lawyer, she seems well on track to do that. The second goal is to be married or at least well on her way. So Bea gets her set up on a female dating app, Ryder. In the next 30 days (until Veronica's birthday), Bea is getting her set up with a series of women. One of them should be The One. All of the dates are set up at Monaghan's, a bar near to Veronica's work.

Rachel Monaghan helps out at her cousin's bar fairly often even though she is a much sought after wedding photographer. She is amused to see a hot business lady who is clearly on a first date. And the same woman is there on another first date the day after. And the day after. Soon, Rachel, as well as the regulars in the bar are as anxious to see what happens as Veronica navigates her way through a series of women who are often identified by their favorite drink rather than their names.

A lovely, light read. Perfect for the holiday season.

Four stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own