Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Dr. Jane Bonner grew up a freak (in her words.) She was beyond intelligent and it disgusted her father and gave her (more a less) a complex. For her children, she wants something different. She wants them to be normal. At 34, she is ready to have a baby with somebody stupid so that her children have a chance to be "normal." When a chance to sleep with Cal Bonner, quarterback for the Stars football team, comes up, she grabs it with both hands.
Cal only dates women in their early 20s. So when his friends hire a 28-year-old (he is told) prostitute for his 36th birthday, he doesn't expect to be intrigued. And he really doesn't expect to find out that she only slept with him for his sperm. He decides that his child won't be a "stray," forces her into marriage, and whisks her off to a tiny mountain town in North Carolina.
This book holds up surprisingly well and I think a lot of it is due to the humor that SEP injects into her stories but also the relationships she builds with her characters. Most of the story is Janie and Cal figuring each other out but there is a big chunk of Jane interacting with her mother- and grandmother-in-law and the relationships that these women build. Add in a B plot of Cal's parents rekindling their own romance and you have a story that even new readers will enjoy.

Four stars

This book came out February 1, 1997

Follows Heaven, Texas

Followed by Dream a Little Dream

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

This book is a classic for some very good reasons. First, the majority of the characters are fully fleshed out. And there are a lot of characters to get to know in this book. Second, the mystery, though convoluted, is pretty fairly clued - readers can go back through the story and see where the hints to the solution were given.

Hercule Poirot, the world-famous detective needs to go back to London and the easiest way to get there is via the Orient Express. Strangely for this time of year, the train is completely full. Luckily, one of the passengers doesn't seem to have shown up and Poirot's friend, a director of the train company, assigns him the berth. All seems normal until one of the people on the train tries to hire Poirot to protect him. Poirot opts not to take the job. And then the man turns up dead. But the train has run into a snowdrift and isn't moving, presumably with the murderer still on board. It's up to Poirot to figure out what is going on. 

Four stars

This book came out January 1, 1934

Follows Lord Edgware Dies

Followed by Three Act Tragedy

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Unicornado by Dana Simpson

What happens when you spend too much time with a unicorn? Well, your house might turn into a magical sylvan glen where pixies and sphinxes frolic. You might also have the Shield of Boringness rub off on you. Of course, Phoebe also gets to spend time with her friend Max, though playing chess isn't as fun as she thinks it should be (even playing by unicorn rules, she loses.) And she tries to help Dakota when she is feeling sad about missing the goblin queen. Then they all attend a school dance

Phoebe and Marigold go to a corn maze (or is it the new unicorn restaurant? Phoebe and Marigold also get to have fun at Christmas and Halloween. Even meeting a real (or sort of real) ghost. And what happens when Marigold gets a step counter?

Delightful as always.

Four and a half stars

This book came out October 18, 2022

Follows Unicorn Selfies

Followed by Punk Rock Unicorn

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Less of a Stranger by Nora Roberts

Megan Miller (who the hero calls "Meg" throughout the book though the narrator and her grandfather both use her full name) is twenty-three and an artist. Well, she's an artist when she's not working at her grandfather's amusement park. The same amusement park that Katch is interested in. Oh, but now he's interested in him as well. But she's not interested in him. Now she is. Now she isn't. But he's going to control the whole relationship. Just... blergh. One of Roberts's early romances that just didn't age well. 

Two stars

This book came out June 1, 1984

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Resting Witch Face by Juliette Cross

There are trigger warnings at the beginning of this book and they are accurate. I hadn't been enjoying the violence in this series but really wanted to read the story of Jules and Ruben. It was fine but there was a lot of woe-is-me from Jules because she broke up with Ruben and a lot of I'm-the-best-boyfriend-ever-with-no-missteps from Ruben. She is a super powerful witch who doesn't even get to save herself.

Her work is about to come to fruition. Jules has been campaigning to get the werewolves on the witches council (which also includes vampires) and is enjoying some success. Now she needs to take it to a higher power. But her ex-boyfriend is the one who is coming with her and she's not excited.

Ruben, on the other hand, is delighted. It's been twelve years since they broke up and it's time for him to claim his fated mate.  

Two and a half stars 

This book came out October 31, 2022

Follows Always Practice Safe Hex

Followed by Grim and Bear It

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Up Close and Dangerous by Linda Howard

Bailey Wingate married her boss. Yes, he was fabulously wealthy, but she didn't marry him for the money, but as a favor. The man's son and daughter are not good people and he didn't want to leave his company and money to them. His hope was that the son's hatred of Bailey would kick him into being a better worker and person. It hasn't worked so far. In fact, the son has started threatening Bailey's life. 

But she's just going to go get away from it all. It's a rafting trip, which she doesn't love, but it's with her brother and his wife, which she loves. Unfortunately, the charter trip is not going to be fun because her regular pilot is sick and his business partner doesn't really like her. But, the day just doesn't get any better when the plane crashes and the pilot has a major gash on his head and can't help. The two have to work together to get down the mountain.

Maybe not my favorite writer but this book is pure Howard and will delight anyone that reads her books.

Three stars

This book came out July 17, 2007

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

The Socialite's Guide to Murder by S.K. Golden

Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy lives in the Pinnacle Hotel, rather like Eloise in The Plaza. But her reason is rather more sinister, though she doesn't really seem to realize it. On the outside, it looks like she has it all, the daughter of a rich hotelier, lives in a place that has room service, fancy clothes, adorable dog, movie star boyfriend. But all is not as it seems and some secrets are about to come to the surface.
There is to be an exhibition of the latest painting of a semi-famous artist. Evelyn is to attend with her boyfriend, Henry Fox. The night is ruined when the painting is stolen. Shortly afterwards, the artist is murdered. It seems like an open and shut case as the hotel's security manager is arrested after his blade is discovered to have been the murder weapon. Evelyn isn't convinced. She's determined to get to the bottom of the case with the help of the incredibly handsome Mac Cooper. Of course, it might mean she has to leave the Pinnacle.
We've read the stories of Girl Detectives and this seems to be a New Adult version. Evelyn really likes to read murder mysteries and is singularly helped in the fact that she grew up in the hotel and that she enjoys meeting people. I didn't always particularly like Evelyn and I would class this as New Adult since she still seems to be finding her footing (which can be all adults, really but even more than most). I'm really hoping though that this will become a series as it was a really good read.

Four stars

This book came out October 11, 2022

Followed by the Socialite's Guide to Death and Dating

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own