Witching on a Star by Amanda M. Lee

 Bay is back along with her cousins Thistle and Clove with a new mystery. This mystery in this book revolves around a little ghost girl named Erika who doesn't know why she is dead, she just wants to find her mother. At the same time, Bay is dealing with the fact that her boss has brought in a consultant, Sam, in an effort to expand their weekly newspaper into something more. But there is something more to learn about Sam, Bay suspects that he is not what he seems. Which is interesting, because he is not the only one close to the cousins who is hiding secrets and those secrets might help to lead Erika into finding her way to the Other Side.
This was an okay story. Lee has an interesting way of layering stories into each other far before they pay off. The mystery in this book actually started in the third book of the series.

Three stars
This book came out March17th, 2014
Follows Witching You Were Here
Followed by Something to Witch About
Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

The Mane Event by Shelly Laurenston

 I've read a later book in this series several times and decided to start from the beginning. I was surprised to find there were actually two stories in this book. They're both sort of short but they are good setups for the Pride world - just the sheer crazy fun that Laurenston has built.
The first features Mace Llewelyn who is back in New York after a stint in the army. And he's ready to track down the woman he never forgot, Desiree MacDermot. While she's never forgotten him either, she's not exactly ready to jump into a relationship with him, especially when she finds out that he's a lion shifter (she's definitely more of a dog person). But their paths are crossing pretty hard when a shifter is killed and Desiree is the cop assigned (and then quickly taken off) the case.
The second story features another lion, Shaw. He's bred twice with a couple of Mace's sisters but hasn't exactly been tied down. It was the relationship to the Llewellyn that led to him very nearly being killed in the first story. He's in the hospital being watched over by Ronnie Lee Reed, a wolf shifter when two men come into his room with guns. Ronnie Lee gets him out of there alive. 
Ronnie Lee knows that she's led a wild life (she's not allowed in more than a few countries) but she doesn't know what she's done to have run into a lion that seems to want nothing more than to settle down with just her forever.

Three and a half stars
This book came out September 25th, 2007

Followed by The Beast in Him

Hard copy I own
Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible borrow January 2024

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler, Damian Duffy, John Jennings

Oh man was this a hard book to read. Dana time travels. She doesn't know why or how but she goes from the 1970s with her white husband to the antebellum South where she is considered a slave. Not an easy transition.But she meets Rufus Waylin. First as a young boy and then as he ages. The hope she has for him becoming a better sort of person than his father slowly drains every time she comes back.  And it is not made any easier by the fact that Rufus is her great-great-whatever grandfather.
I can see why "Kindred" is a classic. Octavia Butler is a powerful storyteller, making you care about the characters even when they are despicable.

Four stars
This version came out 
Borrowed as a hard copy from the library
Opinions are my own

Auld Lang Syne by Rebel Carter

 Delilah Solis decides that she's going to stop being a doormat for her family and she's going to run away. Literally. She decides to answer an ad for a bakery intern, flying from Texas to Scotland to get there the next day. 
It turns out that the bakery owner, Agnes, has a hot single nephew. She also believes in fairies. But... nephew. He is surly to begin with but eventually gets worn down and starts to appreciate Del and his aunt.
Oh. I rounded up from two and a half stars. I wanted to know more about Del's siblings and why they came to rely on her so much. I wanted to learn more about Del and why she allowed it. I wanted to see more of a relationship develop between Del and Callum. 

Two and a half stars

Followed by A Viscount for Valentine's
This novella came out December 27th, 2018
Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

Heard about this on Fated Mates

Witching You Were Here by Amanda M. Lee

The Winchesters are back in the thick of things. A mysteriously abandoned yacht is found on the river. Aunt Tillie is on the warpath because her nieces are trying to not only get rid of her recliner, they want to take over her wine cellar so they can replace the furnace. Bay, Thistle, and Clove's fathers are back in town and it's for a reason sure to infuriate Aunt Tillie even more. Also in town? Bay's love interest, Landon as well as a new handyman who seems interest in Clove and a couple of (stoner?) snowboarders. There is a bigger mystery than the deserted yacht and it might involve the mob...
This book was just as good as others in the series. It moved Bay and Landon's relationship along a little bit but not much else.

Three stars
This book came out November 18th, 2013
Follows Every Witch Way But Wicked
Followed by Witching on a Star
Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

Real Fake Love by Pippa Grant

I'm not sure what it was about this book that captured my attention so much but I stayed up way to late reading it. Actually, I think it was just the sheer zaniness of it. I didn't love the heroine, "Henri" Henrietta Bacon, as she was just a little too peripatetic in her thought process and the flips often threw me out of the story. However, her manic-pixie-dream-girl-ness is updated a little bit by showing what that kind of chaos can leave in it's wake (for her, five broken engagements) and how that can wear on a person. For Henri, she decides it's time to learn how not to fall in love. And, she decides that her latest fiance's childhood best friend is the perfect person to learn from.

Professional baseball player Luca Rossi just wants to play the game, hopefully in the same place for more than a year or two. He definitely doesn't want to fall in love but his Nona (who is famous on TikTok) shows up in his kitchen the morning after Henri shows up on his front steps. And she's making her ziti which, everyone in her family knows is a part of putting the Eye on someone and that person will then fall in love. And woe to those who try to avoid it. 

Luca did have some flaws but, on the whole, he did lean a little bit toward too-good-to-be-true.

Overall, a fun story that was just a bit fluffy but still really fun to read.

Four stars

Follows Jock Blocked

Followed by The Grumpy Player Next Door

This book came out September 3rd, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Reread as Kindle ebook October 2024

The Home Edit Life by Clea Shearer, Joanna Teplin

 I have a feeling that the hard copy or ebooks have more pictures that go along with the book but I didn't feel like I was missing anything by listening to the audio. I do like the Home Edit philosophy of "editing" your house rather than wholesale getting rid of everything (especially books - though, even as a bibliophile and former librarian, I do believe even those should be culled every 5 years or so). This was an okay book but after awhile, hearing about how Clea and Joanna organized for various (mostly celebrity) clients got a little old. The tips were very nice though!
The narrator was fantastic and did a wonderful job injecting tone and enthusiasm where appropriate.

Three stars

This book came out September 15th, 2020

Audiobook from Overdrive

Opinions are my own