The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers

I hesitated to read this series because the movies were so racist and I just didn’t want to read the books. However, an episode of the Classic Mystery Podcast where the author explicitly stated that the books were actually written to try and counteract the racist Chinese characters of other books. This didn’t end up being the first book I read in the Charlie Chan series (series purists shudder here) but the other one I read wasn’t horrible so I decided to start at the beginning and see how it went. 

We don’t actually see Charlie Chan until we are already well into the book. Instead, the Winterslip family is the focus. Minerva Winterslip has been traveling for too long (according to her New England family) so they’ve sent her “puritanical” nephew, James, to Hawaii to come and gather her. This, of course, was back when traveling to Hawaii meant going by boat.

Minerva has been staying with her cousin Dan and, while she gets along with him well enough, the reader gets hints that he might not be an altogether “good guy.” For instance, he hasn’t spoken to his brother for over 30 years. He’s also seeing a woman he’s not really going to marry (not so bad these days). And another cousin hints to James that Dan has a dark past and that his money might not all be from legitimate means. Then, Dan is murdered and there is not an immediate reason why which means that the police, and Charlie Chan, are called in to investigate. 

It did take me a REALLY long time to get into the book. Not sure why as it was an enjoyable read and the mystery, while a little unbelievable in places, was fairly clued.

Four stars

This book came out in 1925

Followed by The Chinese Parrot

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria

I started this book thinking I'd read a chapter and then get on with the chores I needed to do today. Hours later, I am left with a happy book hangover. Daria has knocked this book out of the park. Not quite friends-to-lovers (it's been too long since Michelle and Gabe were truly friends), not quite a fake relationship (they do sort of adopt one for "reasons" but they both acknowledge it is already something more) but it sort of still is both. More, it's two people who have always had simmering feelings for each other and the time apart allows them to jump right into the space they may not have found had they stayed together. And they TALK to each other. Gabe is a little bit of a butthead at the end but he figures it out quickly and gets the girl in the end. I only wish we had seen just a little bit more of Zack and Riva, the space show fanfic written by our main characters that is interspersed throughout the book.

Gabriel Aguilar knows that you can never go home and he doesn't want to. Except that's where his business is taking him. Back to New York and back to his childhood best friend, Michelle Amato. He had basically ghosted her nine years ago and he's not sure of the reception he's going to get but his gym is expanding to NYC and she is a marketing genius whose help they need to grow. 

Michelle is pissed. And curious. Why is Gabe getting in touch now? It's been almost a decade. But she once loved him; both as a friend and almost as something more. And when she makes a list, the pros of working with him outweigh the cons. Besides, maybe she can finally get some resolution about what happened so many years ago.

Five stars

This book comes out September 14th, 2021

Follows You Had Me at Hola

ARC kindly provided by William Morrow and Custom House, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread June 2022

Narwhal's School of Awesomeness by Ben Clanton

This book is amazing, awesome, entertaining, and educational. Narwhal and Jelly come upon a school of fish who are on their way to school. Unfortunately, their teacher is sick. But Narwhal steps in to teach (wearing sunglasses because teachers are cool) and Jelly serves as the teacher to the teacher since Narwhal doesn't actually know how to teach. There is a lot of knowledge imparted in this short book including the names of different groups of animals, some math, and lots of synonyms.

Clanton's N&J books are always fun but this one made me giggle out loud. Every page is perfection.

Five stars
This book comes out September 7, 2021
Follows Happy Narwhalidays

Followed by Narwhalicorn and Jelly

ARC kindly provided by Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Can romance be crunched by data? According to a new app, they can look at your DNA and calculate who in their database is going to be your soulmate. Jessica "Jess" Davis probably wouldn't have been interested if she hadn't been dragged along by her best friend, Felicity "Fizzy", to the headquarters. Even then, they probably wouldn't have even gone if the app hadn't been run by "Americano," the man who comes into their favorite coffee shop every morning at 8:24. Jess might be a statistician but that doesn't mean she's going to be playing by the numbers, even if she matches with none other than her coffee nemesis, Dr. River Pena. A 98% match though is not only going to be good for Jess's potential future but also for the company so she agrees to at least test the relationship waters with the man. Lord knows he's amazingly hot. But she's trying not to drag her daughter into the mess; Jess grew up with a mother like that and she doesn't want to do that to Juno.

This was a really fun book and I liked that the relationship took a bit of time. A little insta-lust but a lot of getting-to-know-you. I didn't love the Big Misunderstanding at the end nor how it was resolved but if you love Christina Lauren or even just contemporary romance, you will really enjoy this book.

Four stars

This book came out May 18th, 2021

DNADuos #1

Followed by The True Love Experiment

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as hard copy from library September 2024

While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

Brother to Theo Stephens from The Wedding Party, Stephen is the eternal playboy. He loves 'em but he makes sure that they understand that there is nothing there before he leaves 'em. Picked to join a pitch to a big company, he knows that he is the token minority thrown in to impress the clients. Especially since this latest client's commercials are featuring Anna Gardiner a prominent Black actress. When all of the higher ups in Ben's company are stuck at the airport, he steps in for the pitch and impresses Anna so much (yes, she decided to attend the pitches), she picks their company to continue the campaign.

Anna's not too hot on relationships either. Her goal in life is to get to the top of the Hollywood elite. Her recent panic attacks not to mention some pictures that didn't do so well aren't helping her. But she's got an amazing team, including an agent, Simon (who, can we vote for future books? He needs one) and her best friend. And her relationship with the bestie is a great reason to read this book. But her relationship with Ben isn't supposed to be real. Well, they are for sure hot for each other but she needs some newspaper print and dating an ex-backup dancer with a heart of gold is just the way to go.

I really appreciated that there was honesty in how these two treated each other. A little misunderstanding in whether feelings can change but overall they were up front with where they thought the "relationship" was going. Guillory writes amazing characters whose HEA I can definitely believe and this book makes me want to start the series over again just so I can enjoy Ben's character growth. The addition of a secret sibling, honestly, could have been cut for me but I guess it did add some to that same growth. 

Four stars

This book came out July 13th, 2021

Follows Party of Two

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Silhouette in Scarlet by Elizabeth Peters

One of my favorite heroines is back again. Vicky Bliss is on the case once again as she's searching for a lost cache of Scandinavian treasure. One perfect rose (not, alas, a limousine for either she or Dorothy Parker) sends her off on a trip to the land of her ancestors. A trip where she encounters a lost love, a bad guy who does silhouettes, and an extended stay on a millionaire's island. 

Another great story and very enjoyable as an audiobook, not as good when I reread as a physical copy. Rosenblat makes the angst fun but it was a little overwrought in the written word. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1983

Follows Street of the Five Moons

Followed by Trojan Horse

Borrowed as an ebook from the CloudLibrary

Opinions are my own

The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston

This was a hard one to grade because it was a good story, just not as good as the first. I enjoyed the addition to the world building. 

Jace Berisha used to be married to the leader of a cult, a cult her mother still belongs to. Jace was subservient, meek, and never spoke back. All that changed when he killed her. She was granted special powers by a goddess and became a part of the Crows. Now she's part of a group of women that work to serve the goddess. And they're going up against a Big Bad. One they thought they had defeated. And one that they'll have to get their traditional enemies to buy in and work together in order to defeat for real.

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 29th, 2016

Follows the Unleashing
Followed by The Undoing
Opinions are my own