Witch and Famous by Angela M. Sanders

Daphne Morris, A-list movie star, is coming to visit small-town Wilfred. Why? Because she is featuring one of Roz's books in her celebrity book club. The town is abuzz. And Josie knows this because everyone is still gathering in the library since the other places in town for gathering are either closed or burned down. 

When Daphne arrives, she brings her entourage (assistant, personal chef, stylist, etc.) She also brings a stalker and a lot of heartache as the men in town seem to fall for her good looks. 

A dead body is found in Daphne's tub but it's not Daphne. It's up to Sam (and Josie) to work through what is going on.

There are a lot of stories with bumbling sleuths doing stupid things and Josie isn't among the worst offenders but I'm not sure why she keeps poking around without talking to Sam if they are supposedly such good friends. I am enjoying Sanders' writing but the characters are a bit infuriating at times. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 26, 2022

Follows Seven-Year Witch

Followed by Witch Upon a Star

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Always Practice Safe Hex by Juliette Cross

This is a series with a lot of "alpha male" archetypes but Gareth, though a reaper, may be the alpha-est of them all. And, while that is not my favorite character type, I can usually enjoy a book as long as the other person in the relationship can hold their own in terms of character. Livvy, unfortunately, did not. Gareth's personality took up so much of the book that I feel like we didn't get to know Livvy except as the one who needed saving. She is supposed to be an equal partner in the ... marketing contest?... but didn't seem to contribute much at all other than to be in a swimsuit.

Definitely hoping that Juliette fares better in her story. 

Two and a half stars 

This book came out May 24, 2022

Follows Walking in a Witchy Wonderland

Followed by Resting Witch Face

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

An Act of Foul Play by T E Kinsey

Of course Lady Hardcastle and Flo don't cause strange things to happen around them but somehow they are again caught up in a murder. This time, it's Lady Hardcastle's birthday (44th) and they are attending the theater with a large group and enjoying themselves quite thoroughly. But, after a long intermission, the curtain rises on the second act but one of the four actors on the stage is dead, stabbed. It seems like only the other actors would have had the chance to do the deed. 

They are joined in this adventure by Flo's twin sister who is taking a vacation while her husband is out of town for the army. It was nice to have a new face in the adventures and to see Flo and Lady Hardcastle work with someone who wasn't the Inspector. 

Four stars

This book comes out June 7, 2022

Follows Rotten to the Core

Followed by A Fire at the Exhibition

ARC kindly provided Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale

This was one of the books from NPR's Best Books of 2021. This book main follows Nandor Fodor as he grows up, moves from Hungary to England, and becomes one of the main researchers of psychical happenings around the country. It is this research that brings him into the life of Alma Fielding. 

It seems that there are some very mysterious happenings occurring around Mrs. Fielding. The newspapers are calling it a poltergeist. So Fodor and his friends are sent to investigate.

Summerscale takes us through the laborious process that the Institute would take to ensure that people were not faking their paranormal phenomena. We also hear the stories of some other people who claimed to be able to talk to spirits or produce objects from thin air.

This was an interesting story but it did take me quite a long time to slog through some parts.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 1, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik

I feel like we missed some character development in this book that I don't remember from the first book. The book starts off sort of slow with Kee Ildez deciding to get off the ship and go to gather information. Does that get her away from Varro Runkow who she is mega-attracted to? Yes. So that will help since he doesn't seem interested in her. There is a little bit of exposition and story building and then, a bombshell. And from there, it is non-stop go, go, go. I enjoyed both parts well enough but it was a little jarring and left little time for us to really see how Kee and Varro connect. 

More of the plot to restart the galactic war is revealed with at least one rather shocking fact thrown in the mix.

Three stars

This book came out July 12, 2022

Follow Hunt the Stars

Followed by Capture the Sun

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James

There is a surprising amount of this book that is dedicated to the "villain" of the piece rather than Yasmin and Giles. There is so much that it leaves a little less room for our h/h and for their eventual reconciliation after the Big Misunderstanding. 

Yasmin's family is already notorious with her mother being Napoleon's mistress. Then, she runs away with a gentleman who claims they were married but he actually tricked her in order to get money from her father in order to hush it up. Now, in England and living with her grandfather, she spends her day attending society parties and trying to avoid her attraction to Lord Giles Lilford. 

Giles is also trying to avoid Yasmin as she is loud, brash, and full of fun while he tends to be a little more straitlaced. Even when he starts to realize the inevitability of their attraction he's always trying to rein her in. And it leaves me not liking him when his stodginess keeps him from being run over by his sister. 

Three stars

Follows How to be a Wallflower

Followed by Not That Duke

This book comes out November 29, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber

Verity and Sidney are working to figure out how to take down Lord Ardmore. They seem to be blocked at every turn until a phone call comes in from France. An old informant of Sidney's, Miss Adele Baverel wants to talk to him. So they travel to find out if she is willing to tell them about other collaborators against the Allies. But Miss Baverel ends up dead in her cell and one of the local law enforcement is accusing Verity of having helped her.

This sends them off on a search for the information that Miss Baverel says she hid. Along the way they encounter old friends and enemies and nearly get killed.

This was an okay book but didn't capture me in the same way that previous books in the series did.

Three stars

This book came out August 30, 2022

Follows Murder Most Fair

Borrowed as ebook from library

Opinions are my own