Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

The werewolves are out. Humans now know that they exist. They also know about the fae. And the humans are frightened. So when there is a troll on a bridge, the werewolves are on the list to help take care of it. And while dealing it, some old friends show up to help and they bring a small boy. Mercy  agrees to take care of the boy for 24 hours and accidentally declares that her wolf pack is in charge of the tri-cities (which is more than three, really.) But the small boy turns out to be both a blessing and a curse - he has spent a long time in Underhill and has been changed in ways that make the fae jealous. Mercy will have to protect him from the Grey Lords themselves.
A good story but I'm not sure about Aiden and what that will mean for Mercy in future books.

Three stars
This book came out March 8th, 2016
Follows Night Broken
Followed by Silence Fallen
Ebook from Library
Opinions are my own

America's Geekheart by Pippa Grant

Beck Ryder is a lot of things, including famous. He was in a boy band then became an underwear model. It's that fame that makes the tweet that was supposed to be a private message to his sister go viral. And not in a good way. No he's America's #1 hated man and his charities are floundering. He needs some help to get out of it.
Sara Dempsey has a very good reason for wanting to stay anonymous. But she's willing to step into the limelight if it means that her beloved giraffe and bee charities will get some play in the press.
I'm not sure why I liked this book so much. Pippa Grant is hit or miss for me and it might be something about the humor (I can't put my finger on it) but this book hit my funny bone in the right place as did Sara and Beck's story. And the lack of a last Big Misunderstanding. I kept waiting for it, feeling so bad for the characters but it never happened. Yay!

Four stars

This book came out April 5, 2019

Bro Code #2
Follows Flirting with the Frenemy
Followed by Liar, Liar, Hearts on Fire
Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Kindle Unlimited September 2024

The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne

A mystery written by the author of Winnie the Pooh? I wonder how many people have read this book for exactly that reason? And it's not bad, a pretty fast read. I liked the summary on the Classic Mysteries podcast.
Antony "Tony" is visiting a friend at the Red House when he hears a shot go off. And someone is dead; the brother of the house is dead. He was coming up from Australia and Mark, the owner, was not pleased.
I thought it was sort of interesting that Tony, an amateur sleuth to be sure, IDs the killer quickly but it made it more fun because it was easy to pick up on the other clues of what had actually happened.
Three stars
This book originally came out in 1922
Borrowed from the library
Opinions are my own

A Death in Chelsea by Lynn Brittney

It's the first World War and most of the young men are off to war. That means that women are stepping into the roles traditionally held by men, even police work. There is a small group that has been authorized to work for the police. Their cases are assigned to them but so far, there's only been one and at least one person in the group is getting restless. Then, the daughter of a duchess is found dead, apparently suicide by hanging but her mother is convinced that that can't be the case. Indeed, though the woman was hated by many (she was a gossip columnist who reported on the upper classes and also stooped to blackmail), she was too self-involved to want to die.
As the group digs into the mystery, there are a lot of moving parts and they will need to pull in some outside help in order to figure out why this young woman died.
I would definitely begin this series with the first book. There is a large cast of characters in this book -- both the investigating group and the people who could have been the killers. The mystery was really involved with a lot of layers. If you are a person who likes guess the murderer, this book is not going to be the read for you; some of the clues are there but, in addition to the red herrings, some information is withheld until the end of the story.  Despite the confusing number of people and the occasional clunky sentence, this was a really fun read and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Three stars
Follows Murder in Belgravia (which I haven't read)
Followed by ????
This book came out March 14th, 2019
Borrowed as an ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

The Mésalliance by Stella Riley

At the beginning of the book, a young man meets an even younger woman and notes that she seems to be running wild. Eight years later, the man is the Duke of Rockcliffe and that young woman is the "spinster aunt" at her mother's sister. She isn't really any more beautiful but her acerbic wit catches his attention. So does the fact that her cousin is avidly chasing the duke. But when her cousin's schemes go horribly wrong, Adeline is the one who ends up being married to the duke.
I read a review of this book on Dear Author and thought it sounded good. And the first half was wonderful. But the second half suffered from So Much "if they had but talked to each other."

Three Stars
This book came out in 1990
Borrowed this book from Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

Ghosted in L.A. #1 by Sina Grace

After moving to LA to follow her boyfriend, Daphne Walters, like so many before her, has been summarily dumped. While moping about it, she wanders into a courtyard with a pool and decides to dip in. While underwater, she sees her first ghost. It seems that the courtyard is surrounded by an apartment building that houses ghosts from a number of decades. But not all of the ghosts are friendly and Daphney is about to find that out the hard way.
This was a short collection so we didn't get to know any of the characters very well. The idea is a good one, the pictures are fun, and people who are regular comic readers might not mind the shortness of this book. I do wish there had been more comics collected in this first volume so we could have gotten to know the characters more.

Three stars
This book come out April 14th
ARC kindly provided by BOOM! Studios and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey

Another common romance trope (friends-to-lovers) with another common theme (Wha-huh? My best friend is a girl?) that Stacey manages to breathe some new life into.
Josh Kowalski is anxious to get out of town. He was the default caretaker for his family's lodge and finally admitted to them that he wants his own life, not the one that was left to him.
Katie Davis grew up alongside the Kowalskis. Her mother was their longtime housekeeper and default mother when their own died. She's been in love with Josh since they were kids. And everyone knows it. Except, of course, for Josh. But when Katie's mom falls ill and she moves back to the lodge, it might finally be time for Josh to open up his eyes and see what's been right in front of him all along.

Four stars
Follows All He Ever Desired
Followed by Love a Little Sideways
November 19th, 2012
Listened to on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own