Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings by Liz Ireland

 I love Christmas. I love sweet stories but this one was a little too much for me. If this had been a second or third book and we had seen April and Nick start to date, fall in love, and move to the North Pole, I think it would have set up the characters and the world and made this book much more enjoyable. 

The premise was interesting, Mrs. Claus solving crime in Santaland while trying to fit in with a new culture. And elf-slaying certainly isn’t something that you would expect. If you don’t mind that the mystery isn’t just fairly clued, it’s fairly obvious from the first introduction of the murderer or that mystery is more treacly than a treat By Hannah Swenson, this might be the book for you. 

Two and a half stars

This book came out September 29th

ARC kindly provided by Kensington and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

Is this book exactly like “Groundhog Day”? No. For one thing, Maelyn figures out how to navigate her own little time warp in about three days. Is it just as heart-warming? Yes. Will regular Christina Lauren readers love it just as much as other books? I’m not sure. This is a comfortable, cozy holiday romance without any of the edges or real life issues that the authors often explore in other books. And their sense of humor is somewhat muted.
Maelyn Jones has just ruined a life-long dream. And she didn’t even mean to. It was just one stupid, drunken night and now her whole world is crashing down around her. And finding out that her family friends are selling the cabin where they’ve had Christmases since she grew up isn’t helping. Nor is the car crash that seems like it’s going to end her life. But then she wakes up six days earlier with the chance to make things right.
I have to admit that I wish that there had been a few more days while she figured things out. And the Big Misunderstanding at the end felt sort of “meh.” Still, any book by Christina Lauren is worth reading.

Three stars
This book comes out October 6th
ARC kindly provided by Gallery Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Gribblebob's Book of Unpleasant Goblins by David Ashby

A sister and brother realize there is a world beyond the veil when a series of events leads to Nils accidentally having a book insert itself into his body. The book belongs to Robert Gribble, a disguised goblin who is also known as Gribblebob. The goblin is at first irate but then realizes that Anna and Nils might be able to help in the fight against the queen of nightmares.
A little twee but I think readers will enjoy. The world building was quite lovely with snatches of fairly tales which create a base but then adding some other magical touches here and there. This book definitely seems like the start of a series as there is more magic hinted at that we don't necessarily see on page (e.g. the boy whose writings come to life) but it's not overwhelming. The story does build slowly and end fairly quickly but overall a nice start to a series.

Four stars
This book comes out October 6th
ARC kindly provided by Pushkin Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

About a Rogue by Caroline Linden

A nice play on “Taming of the Shrew” except the names of the sisters are switched. 

Maximilian St. James hasn’t had the best life but his father’s pronouncement that they were descended from dukes turns out to be true. And he’s in line (maybe) to inherit a dukedom. But the man ahead of him seems to be a lock. Even so, Max decides he needs to get married. He sets his sights on the Tate pottery factory, er, the eldest Tate daughter. Even as demure as Cathy is, she still decides that she’s going to marry her One True Love. That leaves her sister Bianca behind and right in their father’s crosshairs. 

Bianca isn’t excited to marry Max but, the more she gets to know him, the more she realizes he is a diamond in the rough. A diamond that is perfectly willing to be less rough by trying to make the factory even better than it currently is. He’s not going to just take the money and run, instead, he wants to make an even better company.

There was a whole subplot that frankly didn’t need to be in the book. It was a perfectly lovely story before then and the rest felt like it was shoehorned in.

Three stars

Followed by About a Scot

This book came out June 30th, 2020

Hard copy I didn’t keep

Opinions are my own

A Little Dare by Brenda Jackson

 Ten years ago, Rachelle Brockman and Alisdare Westmoreland were hot and heavy. But then he told her that he wanted to break it off so that he could go into the FBI. She loved him so she let him go even though she had news of her own. 
Now, it’s time to come home and to finally tell Dare about his son. I actually liked that he 

admitted his own culpability and worked with Rachelle to let AJ make his own choice about when to be a part of the family. Didn’t love that Dare made up his mind and decided to chase her so hard even when she said no but she actually didn’t protest hard.

Three stars

Followed by Thorn's Challenge

This book came out September 3rd, 2003

Borrowed this as an audiobook from Audible Escape

Opinions are my own

The Witch’s Halloween Hero by Kristen Painter

It is a novella wherein the mother of the heroine from the last book accidentally drinks a potion meant for a teenage girl who wants to completely forget her ex. Like, completely. To the point that she can’t even see him if he is 

standing right in front of her. Which seems fairly problematic in it’s own right but then Corette Williams drinks 

it instead and completely forgets her long-time boyfriend Bartholomew Stanhill. And just on the night he has a very important question to ask...
A lot of nonsense about true love’s kiss, etc. and why her daughters didn’t have an antidote recipe at the ready seems weird but... fine. It was short and not horrible but not as good as longer books in the series.

Two and a half stars

Follows The Professor Woos the Witch

Followed by The Werewolf’s Christmas Wish

This novella came out January 20th, 2016

Opinions are my own

A Witchly Influence by Stephanie Grey

 Carmen Devereaux is a witch. But that doesn’t mean she’s not susceptible to heartbreak. Divorcing her husband might not quite reach that level but it still sends her home to North Carolina. It may not be entirely where she grew up but it’s where her family is now. And Fate has decreed that Carmen will no longer be working granting permits. Instead, she will be an Influencer, helping to age sure that people get to where they should be in life. Her first two people are both in the town she’s moving to and one is her stepbrother. She struggles a little, even going through time to help them out.

This was just a nice book. Is the solution for the friend a little bit of a cheat? Yes. Are all the solutions she comes up with a little too pat? Yes. Is Carmen just a little bit of a Mary Sue? Yes. But this is just a nice story at a time that I needed to read something light and sweet.

Four stars
This book comes out October 1st
ARC kindly provided by BHC Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own