The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa

Following "The Worst Best Man," this story follows one of Lina's cousins, Solange. It's not like Solange was even supposed to be at that wedding but Lina needed help. Solange didn't want to see the bride in the stairwell with another man nor did she want to hear him telling the bride not to marry the groom. Yet, both things happened. She certainly didn't mean to speak up during the ceremony but... she sure did that too. And the bride went scurrying down the aisle.

The man left at the altar, Dean, is disappointed but not heartbroken. He and Ella were more or less a business arrangement so that he could finish checking off his list of life ambitions. But it's a problem when his law firm wants to woo a potential new partner whose father is a billionaire of some sort. But she has a partner and the managing partner in charge wants someone who's in a relationship. So Dean quickly mentions that he and Mia are now dating. It's fraught because there is another man picked to help show her around as well and he is Dean's major opposition for a partnership. 

For her part, Mia and her closest cousins were raised by their single mothers. A conservative (and rather judge-y cousin is coming to town and Mia's mother panics and says that Mia is in a relationship. So, lots of reasons for the two of them to pretend to be together. Of course, all that time together exacerbates the feelings they already have for each other. 

Parts of the story were a little too much cringe (this is a fake relationship; of course parts will be annoying). And I wish the reveal had come about a different way because it was from a character we didn't get to see very often nor did we get to see the afterward of their relationship with the couple. This was a really enjoyable read and the characters were quite well-rounded.

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 5, 2022

Follows The Worst Best Man

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann

Mark "Jenk" Jenkins has been in many of the previous Seal Team 16/Troubleshooters books. He is a SEAL  with an incredibly boyish face. Lindsay Fontaine is also often mistaken for being much younger than she really is. When they meet, Lindsay is instantly attracted but Mark is entranced by a high school crush who he just got a job as the receptionist at Troubleshooters. So Lindsay holds off. But the two are assigned to work together to set up a training mission for the two groups. As they work together, Mark starts to realize that he really doesn't know Tracy, the receptionist, and isn't really that attracted to her. But Lindsay, Lindsay is someone he could spend the rest of his life with. However, Lindsay is only looking for one night and freaks out once they finally get together.

The first training op goes well when Lindsay, playing the kidnap victim, sneaks past both the SEALS and the Troubleshooters so both teams lose. 

They set up another training session in New Hampshire with Tracy as the victim. But when the SEALS go wheels up in the middle of the session, Tracy goes missing. Great subplot about catching a serial killer.

Four stars

This book came out April 15, 2006

Follows Breaking Point

Followed by Force of Nature

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

A Question of Inheritance by Elizabeth Edmondson

The second in a trio of books, we again see Hugo, a secret agent for the crown, his young teen sister Georgia, and Freya, the cousin of a newly discovered earl. But there's a problem with this earl, it seems like somebody is trying to kill him. This is not exciting for him, nor for his two daughters who have also traveled from America. 

It's Christmas, which is going to be a hard one this year since the earl was only recently discovered to be the heir and his half-sister, who expected to inherit, is less than happy to welcome a new sibling to the family. 

There are family tensions, stolen paintings, and a body that ends up in the family hothouse. It's a lot but it built off the first book nicely. You don't have to have read the first book but it really wouldn't be as enjoyable.

Four stars

This book came out October 27, 2015

Follows A Man of Some Repute

Followed by A Matter of Loyalty

Borrowed from Kindle; listened as audiobook

Opinions are my own

They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

Victoria Jones was a girl like most others. Unfortunately, her gift for mimicry gets her sacked in the second chapter of this book. She is also an inveterate liar which gets her into trouble down the line. But in the beginning, she is having lunch in the park and meets Edward. He seems like a thoroughly charming
fellow and she decides to follow him to Baghdad. Why? Really, she has nothing better to do. And the first night there, she finally has some adventure when a man stumbles into her room and dies from a stab wound to the heart.

Now, the death doesn't occur until almost halfway through the book so there is a great deal of setup, but it is totally worth the read. If you've read Dame Christie before, it's not hard to figure out the murderer, but it is fun to see how the other characters come to the same conclusion.

Four stars

This book came out March 5, 1951

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams

I made it through three chapters of this book and was doing okay. Stacey Abrams has led an interesting
life and has worked really hard to get to where she is in life. I had picked up this book as a leadership book and was beginning to think about whether I wanted to keep listening when Chapter 4 came up. LOVE IT. You should read this book for this chapter alone. And, if you pick up the book, know that you will be getting more about Abrams' life than a straight leadership book usually offers. 

There may be other books that talk about mentorship out there but I haven't read one that lay out such a great way to look at the process of finding and keeping mentors. And I've read a ridiculous number of leadership books.

She talks about the types of mentorship: sponsor (who speaks up for you and opens doors), Advocate (someone who looks out for your success), peer (people who understand your problems.)

She mentions that you should build your network and to be intentional about how you do it. Find time to have informational meetings and make them be with a variety of people. At least one of the people in your network should not look like you. Make sure to include someone whose skills you admire. Also, you should be the one to plan the questions both in the informational meetings and with your mentor. That means that you will be finding out the things you need to know.

One great way to find mentors is to become a mentor yourself as people who help others are more likely to receive help in return.

Abrams talks about knowing things - finances (your own and corporate), understand what it is that you want, and that winning is not the goal.

Four stars

This book came out March 26, 2019

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Man of Some Repute by Elizabeth Edmondson

Hugo Hawkworth very much feels the effects of his leg wound. Now he can't serve in the army and his official story has to be that it was a bicycle accident. He's been picked up by another department but still chafes at riding a desk. At least he gets to spend time with his young sister, thirteen-year-old Georgia, the only family he has left in the world. 

They've come to Selchester Castle, the site of the mysterious disappearance of the last earl almost seven years ago. The earl seems to be a man that few people have missed, including his daughter who is counting down the days until he can be declared dead and she can be wealthy. Her cousin, the earl's niece Freya, is the only family who still lives at the castle. 

When a skeleton is discovered under some pavers, everyone is shocked. But are they really? Because many of the same people who were at the party where the earl disappeared are still in the picture.

This was a good start to a series and I enjoyed it.

Four stars

This book came out July 1, 2015

Followed by A Question of Inheritance

Borrowed from Kindle; listened as audiobook

Opinions are my own

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself -Anthology

This is a group of articles which all came from the Harvard Business Review.

The first talks about how you allocate your resources. Author Christensen advocates for looking at delayed gratification and not always looking for the shortcut. 

"... humility was not defined by self-deprecating behavior or attitudes but by the esteem with which you regard others." "... if you have a humble eagerness to learn something from everybody, your learning opportunities will be unlimited."... abusive, arrogant or demeaning... their behavior is almost always a symptom of their lack of self-esteem."

Drucker tells us about feedback analysis, that it can lead to the actions of concentrating and developing our strengths, then look for where our arrogance is hindering us and overcome it. "...but with opportunity comes responsibility." "Organizations are no longer built on force but on trust. The existencs of trust between people does not necessarily mean that they like one another. It means they understand one another."  "...it is vitally important for the individual... to have an area in which [they] can contribute, make a difference, and be somebody."

Oncken and Wass lead a spirited article on the discussion of monkeys and whether the monkeys (problems) should be on the backs of the managers (rarely) or their trusted subordinates.

Coutu talks about resilience, the study of which has been more closely looked at lately and will come into focus again soon with all that faces the world at the moment. Her key points include facing down reality, searching for meaning, and continually improvising. 

Schwartz and McCarthy look at four types of energy (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) and how those can be drained but also rebuilt. 

Hallowell's article explores ADT, attention deficit trait and how so many people have so many drains on their time that they can't accomplish anything. He talks about the goals or protecting your brain (sleep, food, exercise), organize around the ADT (break down tasks, keep an area on your desk and in your calendar clear, practice OHIO (only handle it once), and work in a way that helps you perform the best (adjust hours, use headphones, work standing up)), and slow down and take your time.

Friedman focuses on the domains of work, self, home, and community. He suggests that you sit down and really figure out who/what is important in your life and then see what small changes that you make might make you happier in all of the domains. He walks you through Total Leadership  (the principles of which are be real, be whole, be innovative) which is designed to help you figure out how to not only plan but how to experiment and measure progress in all four domains.

Ghoshal and Bruch talk about prioritization and what you want to achieve as a manager.

Quinn argues that great leadership comes from within. We can learn and emulate all we like but we need to find the fundamental state of leadership. He introduces the four questions that can shift you into that state: Am I results centered, internally directed, other focused, and externally open?

Key questions to ask yourself are the focus of Kaplan's article. They help you identify visions and priorities, how you manage your time, feedback, succession planning, evaluation and alignment, leading under pressure, and how to stay true to yourself. 

Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee write about emotional intelligence and not only that leaders should know that they impact employees but HOW they impcat employees (and therefore adjust their style.)