One Bad Witch by Danielle Garrett

Still trying to replace Lacey (who left to be in her own series), Holly, Adam, and Evangeline are getting a new roommate. Again. We haven't seen all of them but we do get to meet Narissa. Narissa is a reporter who may or may not be involved with a series of werewolf deaths and is getting closer to their friend Nick.

Three stars

This book came out December 28, 2018

Follows Lucky Witch

Followed by A Royal Witch

Borrowed as audiobook

Opinions are my own

Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole

For the past couple of books in this series, Declan Chase has been the big bad. He's in charge of the group that has been capturing and torturing immortals. Or at least, he seems to be in charge. When Vakyrie Regin the Radiant is captured, she is devastated to discover that he is the most recent reincarnation of her mate, Aiden. The two have been cursed to be kept apart; any time they finally find each other and then have sex, Aiden dies. 

When he was young, Declan's family was tortured and killed by a group of immortal creatures. He was rescued by a group that would let him get revenge although they did drug him up quite a bit. Turns out, they were suppressing his true nature. 

When the facility they were in goes up in flames, Declan switches his loyalties to work with the Immortals. And they are surprisingly fast to accept him. True, one of the people he escapes with is an old friend but he tortured these people and now they accept-ish him. 

This was a really hard book to read. I see where Cole was trying to go but there was not nearly enough groveling. However, this book did set up the next in the series, Lothaire, very nicely. The Enemy of Old seems to be slowly moving over to the side of the good guys.

Three stars

This book came out February 15, 2011

Follows Demon from the Dark

Followed by Lothaire

Hard copy I kept

Opinions are my own

Home Sweet Christmas by Susan Mallery

I wish that either River and Dylan or Camryn and Jake had gotten their own books. Both relationships had some big problems (well, one person in the relationship had Big Problems) that were solved relatively quickly and it would have been nice to see a little more introspection. Also, I really don't love the meddling mother trope. 

Camryn Neff is only in Wishing Tree long enough for her twin sisters to graduate high school and then she's going back to Chicago. At least, that's the plan until Helen Crane picks her as a contender in a project to marry off her son, Jake. The first thing Camryn does is to find Jake and let him know what is going on. He's charmed, she's charmed by him and they decide to have a short-term affair. And there are a lot of little things that crop up that are usually solved within 2-3 pages, just, so many things. 

River Best is new to Wishing Tree. She's really good at computers and very shy having grown up with scoliosis and not really getting to participate in regular life growing up. But she consents to having her name put in for the Snow King, a tradition that has been dormant in Wishing Tree but is being resurrected, purely so that Helen (yes, Jake's mother) can also find a wife for Dylan Tucker, the local craftsman. And they're attracted, but Dylan has a big secret that he is unwilling to share with River, even though she's opened her heart to him.

Three stars

This book came out October 4, 2022

Follows The Christmas Wedding Guest

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Case of the Counterfeit Colonel by Christopher Bush

Ludovic Travers runs a private inquiry agency in the days after the great war. One day, a man named Henry Clandon comes to him and asks if Travers can find a man by the name of David Seeway. Apparently, Seeway saved Clandon in the war and now Clandon would like to talk to him again. Seeway also mentions the name Archie Debbins and the town of Bassingford. So, Travers is off on a journey that twists and turns around itself. A fairly straightforward mystery throughout most of the book, Travers is able to locate one of the men, but, when he shows up, the man has been murdered. Then, it just gets really complicated and there is a giant exposition dump at the end of the story that I felt didn't so much fill in holes in the solution as create it from whole cloth.

I picked up this as a result of listening to the Classic Mysteries podcast.

Three stars
This book came out in 1952

Follows The Case of the Happy Medium

Followed by The Case of the Burnt Bohemian

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

A Poisoning in Piccadilly by Lynda Wilcox

The Great War is over and Lady Eleanor Bakewell is one of the Bright Young Things, living life to the fullest after being so close to death. But death can find you anywhere, even in a sparkling club as Eleanor discovers when Henry Eisenbach dies in her arms. Though the American millionaire was older, there is something suspicious about the way he went down. And Eleanor saw enough death during the war to know that something is terribly wrong. 

I've been suggested a large number of 1920s female sleuth mysteries by Kindle Unlimited. Two of them even have heroines with the same name. After this book, I'm definitely going to keep reading this series. Eleanor seems fairly competent and not ONLY a busybody which I do enjoy. 

Four stars
This book came out August 16, 2019

Followed by A Burglary in Belgravia

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

It Happened One Night -- Anthology

The Fall of Rogue Gerrard by Stephanie Laurens

Rogue "Ro" Gerrard is on his way to London when a storm sends him off track. At the inn he stops at, he discovers Lydia Makepeace, a woman he has known since childhood. It seems that she is about to break into a house party in order to retrieve some indiscreet letters that her sister has written. Unfortunately, Ro knows the host and knows it's not the kind of party that Lydia should be attending. They go to retrieve the letter and, inexplicably, have sexy-times in the middle of the heist. Of course, they realize it's Twu Lurv and the story ends with marriage.

Three and a half stars

Spellbound by Mary Balogh

When Nora Ryder was hired by Mrs. Witherspoon, she didn't expect to have so much trouble getting paid. And she didn't expect to be stranded at an inn when the stagecoach is broken. She most certainly didn't expect to see the man she had married ten years ago. 

Richard Kemp, Lord Bourne, was just a secretary when he ran away with Nora. And her family caught up to them quickly and beat the tar out of him. But his fortunes have since changed and so has he. Is this a second chance at true love?

Three stars

Only You by Jacquie D'Alessandro

Cassandra Heywood is a duchess. But a lonely one. Her late husband's family has dismissed her and she's not looking forward to going back to her father's house. So she makes a stop on the way to visit an old friend, Ethan Baxter, a childhood friend who is now the proprietor of a roadside inn. The two sit and talk, have some sexy-times, but then she leaves to go home. Of course, there is an HEA but it's nice to see the journey for both of them.

Three stars

From This Moment On by Candice Hern

A lovely story about an older couple who were young lovers torn apart by circumstance. When her youthful lover disappeared, Willie was thrown out of her mother's home. She became an artist's model/lover, a famous courtesan, and then a duchess. Her erstwhile lover, Sam, is now a Captain in the navy on half-pay (not quite retired but not active duty). This is a sweet story with exposition through discussion and a wonderful example of two people <i>actually talking to each other</i>. 

Three stars

The Case of the Canterfell Codicil by P.J. Fitzsimmons

The description for this book was that it had a protagonist similar to Bertie Wooster so I thought it might be interesting. And I agree that the humor is very much like P. G. Wodehouse. The prose got a little overly flowery in the end and the mystery was a little too convoluted but overall a very fun story.

Antony "Anty" Boisjoly has just buried his father and gets called to help out his old friend Evelyn "Fiddlesticks" Fairfax whose uncle is dead by defenestration. On the train up, he meets a man in a trenchcoat; the man turns out to be the Detective Inspector Wittersham assigned to the case. That inspector is also focused on making Fiddly the bad guy. But Anty was on crew with the man and knows he couldn't be the murderer. Anty's not adept at solving murders but he was helpful in school so Evelyn is counting on him to save the day and hopefully so Evelyn can then live happily ever after with the visiting young woman.

Four stars

This book came out October 30, 2020

Followed by The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own