Playing the Odds by Nora Roberts

Having worked as a dealer in a cruise casino, Serena MacGregor is ready to take the next step in her life. She doesn't count on being thrown off course by a handsome passenger, Justin Blade. She's not sure she's interested but he is... 80's romance forceful about it. 

When one of Justin's investors suggests this cruise, he doesn't think anything of it. But when he figures out that the woman he's lusting after is the man's daughter, he's more bemused than anything else.

It is dated and I'm not sure that today's readers will enjoy it as much as those of us that have the nostalgia factor added in. 

Three stars
This book came out March 2, 1985
Followed by Tempting Fate

Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Reread March 2023

Tempting Fate by Nora Roberts

Caine MacGregor has yet to be impressed by Diana Blade. She's the sister of the man who is about to marry Caine's sister but she sure doesn't act like it. Gorgeous, but cold, she acts nothing like anyone he's ever known.
Diana is nervous. She hasn't seen her brother since they were children. The aunt who raised her has her convinced that he is close to the devil himself. Not that her aunt was the best but Diana is still cautious, everyone in her life has left. And she knows Caine's reputation. Just a few years behind him at law school, she knows the swath he cut through not only the classes but the female students. But she's moving to be closer to her brother as she opens up her own law office and Caine has the space. But the more he gets to know Diana, the deeper he finds that she hides her feelings and he'll have to work to get her to admit that she might have feelings too.

Four Stars
This book came out May 1st, 1985

Follows Playing the Odds

Followed by All the Possibilities
Book borrowed from Library
Opinions are my own

A Fete Worse than Death by Dolores Gordon-Smith

Jack Haldean isn't necessarily looking forward to the local fete when he visits his uncle, aunt, and cousins but it goes downhill when he is recognized by a man who reported to Jack in the RFC during the Great War. The man was a thorn in Jack's side; Jack even comments that Boscombe caused more trouble than the Germans. And he seems to be continuing the trend, making oblique comments about other people at the fete. Then the man turns up dead in the fortune teller's tent.
Jack, being a mystery writer of some note and generally curious, inserts himself into the investigation (Gordon-Smith inserts that Jack had helped on a major case in the past and has used the police extensively to write his stories so he's not a complete n00b.) With drama circling around Jack's uncle's ward and a hero of the war, a ball in the neighborhood being thrown by a local, older femme fatale, and another body popping up, there is a lot going on in this book.
Gordon-Smith weaves together all of the stories into a book that slides into the life of a detective and lets us ride along with him.

Four stars
This book came out June 26, 2007
Book borrowed from library

Witchnapped in Westerham by Dionne Lister

Lily is an ordinary wedding photographer on the day before her 24th birthday. The day of her birthday,  things get weird. And then weirder. Her phone fritzes out. Then her coffee maker. And there's a strange woman on her doorstep that seems to be reading her mind. But worst if all, it seems her brother has been kidnapped so she immediately has to jump on a plane to England. On the way, she learns that she is part of a long line of witches, that's why her technology went south and why people have been seeming to go translucent.
She meets so many people in the witching community, how will she know who to trust?
A fast, fun, and fluffy read, there's a lot of world building that has to happen so the story is a bit thin and plot points are sometimes hit, sometimes not. The character building is quick sketches rather than anything in depth. I'm still probably going to look for the next book in the series.

Three and a half stars
This book came out July 29th, 2018
ARC kindly provided by Dionne Lister and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Check, Please! Book 1 by Ngozi Ukazu

Bittle is a former figure skater who is now playing hockey for Samwell University. He tends to faint if he thinks he's going to get checked. Amazingly, his teammates poke fun at him but it isn't

malicious. They are a loving family that we get to know through his first two years in this one book. I would almost label this an epistolary novel since much of it is told through vlogging and, at the end, tweets. It is utterly charming, though it lags in spots. The romance is barely in in the story, only popping up really in the last pages. Worth a read for sure.

Four stars
This book came out September 18th, 2018
Hard copy from Library

Reread as ebook from Libby August 2023

Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher

This book was described as a gender-swapped "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"  for millenials. I saw it and thought, "Hard pass" because I did NOT like that movie. Both characters were pretty despicable  and I had no interest in reading a book based on them. But then I heard Christopher on two different podcasts. She seems likable and the characters sounded like they might actually be decent so I thought, "What the heck" and requested the book from NetGalley.
It may be that I had lowered expectations but I liked this book. Part of it might be having better access to the character's though processes but a lot can be attributed to the author and I look forward to reading more from her.
Jack and Hannah both develop over the course of the novel (good character development is one of my catnips). Hannah starts out with a chip on her shoulder because she, admittedly, hasn't been treated well by men in her past. Meanwhile, Jack prides himself on being the perfect boyfriend. Both find out that they have skewed views and they are better together.

Four stars
This book came out November 12th
ARC provided by Berkley and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Cinderella's Billion-Dollar Christmas by Susan Meier

Eleanor "Leni" Long is working as a waitress, trying to help her family make money after her father was injured on the job. It's a hard life but she loves her town and her parents, especially since she knows she was adopted.
Nick Kourakis is not someone who belongs in a small town. He's an investment banker and New Yorker all the way. But he's here to help his friend find three heirs to a billionaire's fortune... and Leni might be one of them. He convinces her to go to New York with him to see if she is potentially going to inherit a fortune all while keeping it under wraps so that she doesn't get mobbed by paparazzi and people looking to take her money from her. While all of this is happening, Nick is by her side the whole way.
The story was fine but I didn't really connect with either Leni or Nick. She was too sweet; he was way too angsty for it to be solved in this short a book. This is a Harlequin Romance so that's not unexpected and regular category readers may not mind that as much.

Three stars
This book comes out December 3rd
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own