Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

The Smart Bitches podcast recommended this book as being better than the Dresden Files.
Kate Daniels doesn't belong to the Order but when her guardian is killed, she's pulled into the investigation. She's not official but at least she's involved. She'll encounter vampires, shifters, and an "Unpire" (maybe, not sure on spelling since I was listening) before the book is over.
This was a little hard to keep up with on audio but I enjoyed it as much the second time I listened.

Kate Daniels #1

Three stars
This book came out March 29th, 2009
Followed by Magic Burns
Borrowed as an audiobook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Reread March 2024

Lady Osbaldestone’s Plum Puddings by Stephanie Laurens

For the third year, Lady Osbaldestone's grandchildren have decided they want to come visit her before going to the larger family gathering. This year, the original three and their cousin Melissa are joined by her sister Amanda (Mandy). They come to the village in a propitious year. Lady Osbaldestone's plum trees have cast off an abundance of fruit. Her cook has offered to make everyone in the village a plum pudding in order to have something to do with them all. The village has been taking up a collection of pennies in order to have something to put in the plum pudding and that is the children's first task, to sort the coins and clean them up so they can be put into the food. But when they find three coins that are obviously older than the currently used currency, it's time to call in reinforcements. A professor and his amanuensis niece are called in and a mysterious gentleman with ties to the professor show up. The stories of love and mystery don't twine as well in this book but still a fast, fun, and fluffy that would be good to pick up when you just need a palate cleanser.

Three stars

This book came out October 17th, 2019

Follows Lady Osbaldestone and the Missing Christmas Carols

Followed by Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Intrigue

Borrowed as an audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own 

Die for Love by Elizabeth Peters

 Ah, Jacqueline Kirby, I love you. An older, sexually-liberated female who solves mysteries? Um, yes please. It's a little disconcerting to read how romances are described in this book but this was written in a different time so...
Jackie is going to a Romance Novel convention, just to get out of Dodge. Her current love is getting a little clingy and this librarian (!) needs her space. So it's off to New York and some down-time with authors. Except that it's not really less stressful. Backbiting authors, conniving agents, and sneaky reporters all add up for a scintillating time for Jackie, until one of the reporters gets murdered. And there is a surfeit of suspects so, while it took a while to get into the book, the solution was not what I expected.

Four stars
Follows The Murders of Richard III
Followed by Naked Once More
This book came out January 1st, 1974
Audiobook from Audible Premium Plus
Opinions are my own

Reread October 2022

Mrs. Astor's New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age by Eric Homberger

I can't remember why I picked this book up. There is something very intriguing about the 400 and the woman who ran them. Homberger excels when he writes about the neighborhoods of New York. Unfortunately, that is a small portion of the book. Well-researched, this book is mainly a litany of names with stories here and there to highlight... well, that's where I got lost. While each chapter had a theme (only six chapters but they are LONG chapters), some of the stories fit more loosely than others. An interesting read but definitely took some time to get through.

Three stars

This book came out

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Lady Osbaldestone and the Missing Christmas Carols by Stephanie Laurens

Once again, Lady Osbaldestone's three grandchildren are joining her for a village Christmas. They had so much fun last year that they begged to come back. This year, her granddaughter Melissa (a cousin of the original three) is also there. Her older sister was invited to a house party but Melissa has hit her teen years hard and her mother is scared to take her. Therese decides to do what she does best. Meddle but only from a distance and only when she should.

This year, there is a new organist who has a mysterious past. There is also a female visitor to the village. One who knows her own worth and is ready to wait for the right husband. 

Again, Laurens-light. Not super-complicated but not a lot of depth either.

Three stars

This book came out October 18th, 2018

Follows Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose

Followed by Lady Osbaldestone’s Plum Puddings

Borrowed as an audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Falling for Rachel by Nora Roberts

When Zack Muldoon rushes down to get his stepbrother out of jail, he doesn't expect the kid's public defender to be so arrestingly gorgeous. Rachel Stanislaski isn't impressed by the big blond man. He might be magnetic but he is also rude. However, the two are tied together with an eccentric judge demanding that Rachel and Zack both be concerned with keeping Nick out of trouble for the next two months. Two months that Nick will be living with Zack and Rachel will be keeping a close eye on the pair. Time they spend together is enough to get them over their initial prejudices toward each other and allow that heat to shine through.
I read these books much closer to the time they came out so I'm not sure what a first time reader would think. There were some thing that were somewhat dated (alpha male, but not an alphahole thank goodness) but overall it is still a good read.

Three stars
This book came out April 1st, 1993
Follows Luring a Lady
Followed by Convincing Alex
Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose by Stephanie Laurens

Light romance, light mystery -- this book was a fun introduction to Lady Osbaldestone with her own stories. Now widowed but still a grand dame of the ton, she is connecting (somewhat warily) with three of her grandchildren while their parents are dealing with an illness. Definitely, the children are a little more precocious than might be believable but, if you can suspend your disbelief, this is just a fun story.
Therese is trying to figure out how to entertain her grandchildren in her small village but there is a built-in mystery of where all of the geese, raised for Christmas dinner, have disappeared to. While they are doing that, helping a local injured hero to realize that he might be worth love is a secondary task. 
Very Laurens-light with a rather whimsical romance.

Three stars
This book came out October 19th, 2017
Followed by Lady Osbaldestone and the Missing Christmas Carols
Borrowed as an audiobook from Audible
Opinions are my own