Passing Fancies by Marlowe Benn

There are some pretty big themes in this book including racism, rape, and sexism. It is historically accurate but can make for some heavy reading. There are also some points that drag in the middle-ish part. I didn't love the way the story arc ended nor am I sure that I like how the overall story line moves forward at the end of the book. I've pondered it for a couple of days and still can't decide. If you read the first book, you are fairly familiar with how this author works. I wouldn't recommend starting with this book but I don't think you have to have read the first one to jump into this story.
Julia Kidd has moved back to New York. Now she just needs to find a place of her own; a place where she can live and run her vanity press. She is starting to get involved with the literati scene as well. It is at a house party that she meets Eva Pruitt, a black author who is about to Have her book published which promises not only provocative but explosive. She is currently singing in a nightclub but the owner doesn't want to let her leave, causes a scene, and ends up murdered. When the New York police seem like they're not going to move an further than looking at Eva, Julia decides to step in. Along the way she's going to have to confront a lot of her own biases.

Three and a half stars
Follows Relative Fortunes
This book comes out June 2
ARC kindly provided by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Missing Diamond Murder by Diane Janes

I didn't read the first two books in the series but I really didn't feel like I had missed much. We know that there is a hit of romance between the main protagonist, Frances "Fran" Black" and Tom Dod but we don't see much of him or of the two interacting. A lot of that is because Fran is trying to get divorced from her husband and, because of a quirk in English law at the time, only one person in the divorce proceedings can have another love; there must be one sinner and one who is sinned against. An interesting plot point. Someone has sent the court an anonymous letter saying that Fran and Tom are involved so they need to stay apart. Besides, Tom is also married.
Tom has heard about a family mystery in Devon. He can't go himself so Fran goes instead. She meets the Edgerton family and learns about their grandfather's accidental (?) death and the disappearance o the family diamond some months before. Even though a lot of time has passed, the Edgertons are interested in finding the diamond. And, if it turns out that their grandfather's death wasn't so accidental, his murderer. I also like the slow burn of Black and Dod. I regret letting the book lapse when NetGalley gave me an ARC but look forward to the next book in the series.
I really liked Fran as a character. She is human, not a perfect woman or detective. We get to see some of her deductions.

Four stars
This book came out November 5th, 2019
ARC kindly provided by Severn House and NetGalley/eBook borrowed from library
Opinions are my own

Shift Out of Luck (Brimstone Inc., #2) by Abigail Owen

Feuding families. Even the werewolves have them. So the marriage of two alphas was supposed to unite the Packs. But Tala and Marrok are at odds. The sex is amazing but  refuses to acknowledge that Tala is a pack leaders. Instead, he has reverted to thinking that she is the weaker sex. Physically, that may be true but Tala's pack isn't like his; they choose their Alpha by combat. She had to be smart enough to beat the rest. So the fact that Marrok isn't backing her up at the same time some of her pack decide to challenge her means that her life is going to hell in a handbasket pretty fast.
Of the three novellas in this series so far, this has the most clearly defined characters (possibly because we saw them in the first book) and the best relationship building.

Three and a half stars
Follows The Demigod Complex
Followed by Bait n' Witch
This 2nd edition came out April 20th, 2020
Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

The Vampire's Mail Order Bride by Kristen Painter

Delaney James knew that there were rumors about her boss but she never believed them. Until the night she goes back to her serving job and sees her boss order a man's death. She makes a noise and is almost captured. Instead of going home, she assumes another woman's identity and becomes a modern day mail order bride. But she misses some of the pertinent information...
Hugh Ellingham's grandmother wants him to have children. Little vampire children to be more specific. Since he, and most of his family, are vampires. But he never expects her to send for a bride for him, especially since she knows he is still mourning his last mate. But Delaney (even if he doesn't know her by that name) is strangely beguiling and he wonders whether he might be about to open his heart again.
A nice start to a series. It took me awhile to get through because it was a little too treacly in places but I made it through and listened to the first part of the next book and it sounds interesting.

Three stars
Followed by The Werewolf Meets His Match
This book came out June 1st, 2015
Borrowed from Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

A Girl Like You by Samantha Chase

If you grow up in a small town, there are pluses and minuses. One of the minuses can be the long collective history when your childhood, and even recent adulthood are sprinkled with stories that don't put you in the best light. And Sam Westbrook really doesn't want to be in Magnolia Sound to begin with but his great-grandfather's legacy of a landscaping business comes with the condition that Sam stay for a year or Mason, Sam's cousin, gets the business.

Shelby Abbott is the only child of the local pastor. In books, being a PK (pastor's kid) means that you either run completely wild or live blamelessly. Shelby is the latter. In fact, she won't even tell her parents that she got Lasik because they have told her that eye surgery is linked to pride. She only lives a little wildly one night when she goes to a club out of town and literally runs into Sam... who doesn't recognize her. They do eventually figure out the case of mistaken identity and begin a relationship. But then one of them decides to make decisions for both of them and, sigh, that's one of my least favorite plot devices. Luckily it is short.

I wish we had seen more with Shelby's parents as well. They loomed large in a lot of the story and then we never saw how the issue with them was solved, we were just told it was.

Three stars
Follows Remind Me
Followed by In Case You Didn't Know
This book came out June 11th, 2019
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs

Mercy is worried about her mate bond. Her husband Adam has been distant and she's not sure why. But that comes in second when Underhill, the magical land of the fae who can take a human form, comes to visit. And with that visit, a dangerous fae escapes. One who can assume the form of any one or anything. It has already killed some of Mercy's friends and now it is coming for her. Because it can't control Mercy and it wants to know why.
I'm not sure I connected with the monster story in this one but I'm sort of okay with that because of the way we got to see Adam and Mercy's relationship build on itself as well as getting better glimpses into some of the characters that have been firmly B or C level before. I'm really excited to see where Briggs takes Wulfe (I think we got some glimpses in this book) and also hope that we will see some friendships building between Mercy, Aurielle and Honey.

Three stars
This book came out March 17th, 2020
Follows Storm Cursed

Followed by Soul Taken
Ebook from Library
Opinions are my own

Always a Bridesmaid by Cindi Madsen

7 times Violet Abrams has been in somebody else's wedding. Too bad her own blew up before she even walked down the aisle. Licking her wounds, she heads to the small town where her half-sister lives. Too bad her father and his wife also live there. The man who fathered her out of wedlock, that is. The town where she would go growing up but was never completely accepted. Violet just wants to help her sister fix up her bakery and then get out of town. Hopefully, doing so will help her get the mojo back that she lost (being a wedding photographer doesn't feel so good when you've just been dumped.) Yes, she's trying to burn her wedding book behind the bakery but she doesn't mean to set her pity cupcakes on fire.

Ford Maguire is on the fire crew (also trains search and rescue dogs and is an EMT.) When he responds to a fire at the bakery, he doesn't expect to find a woman that he's attracted to. And definitely not one that fits into his life so perfectly, enjoying and understanding his jobs as well as being able to hang out with all of his friends. But this can't be a relationship, can it?

It helps to have read the first book in this series but it's not necessary. Violet was a little too much of the stereotypical rom com heroine but this was still a fast and fun read.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 26th

Follows Just One of the Groomsmen

ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley

Opinions are my own