Identity by Nora Roberts

Okay. Definitely a book that is terrifying to read if you are a single woman. Not only does our main character have her identity stolen by a man she meets in a bar but he also sticks around and does much worse things. I can't say much more without plot spoilage but it is alarming. 

Morgan Albright is finally setting down roots. She's been able to buy a small house which she shares with her roommate and good friend, Nina. And she's met a charming man at the bar. One who will change her life forever.

A lot of this book is Morgan moving back home and trying to build back a life after a major devastation but we get to see her relationship with her mom and grandmother as well as her romantic relationship grow. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 23, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney by Dawn Raffe

The description of this book on NPR's Best Books

 was delightful. Incubators, they're in hospitals, right? It would make sense that they've always been in hospitals. But incubators for preemies actually started out as a spectacle. They were displayed as miracles. Did all of the babies survive? No, but the preemies in Couney's incubators had a better survival rate than those in the hospitals.
Raffel focuses mainly on Couney (who was a mysterious figure whose personal biography tended to shift with his moves) but also weaves in some of her own connection to the story as well as the histories of some of the babies who survived. We hear about the origins of the story as well as learning about how the incubators rose in prominence but then fell again.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in July 31, 2018

Audiobook of my own

Opinions are my own

Tell-Tale Bones by Carolyn Haines

Seven years ago, Lydia Maxwell disappeared. Married to the abusive Tope, she had a good reason. Now Tope claims to have proof that Lydia is dead; he wants her inheritance. Lydia's mother Elisa feels differently. She's just gotten a call on her tipline that Lydia has been spotted. And nearby. She wants Sarah Booth and Tinkie to follow up. 

Of course, questioning people, especially a fraught past, is going to stir up trouble. One person even dies. And there is a lot of backstory and explaining and many, many, many storylines that do come together in the end but are slightly overdramatic in the meantime. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 16, 2023

Follows Bones of Holly

Followed by Lights, Camera, Bones

ARC kindly provided by Minotaur Books and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

April 2023 Monthly Reread

The Lady's Command by Stephanie Laurens

Adventurers' Quartet #1

Four stars
This book comes out December 29, 2016

Followed by A Buccaneer at Heart

The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick

Like many Quick books recently, this book is fine but there are just a few too many plot threads. Prudence Ryland is trying to keep her living as a psychic going after her mother died but she has a client she believes wants to kill her so she runs away to become a librarian. But then someone kidnaps her from the library and she wakes up dead, in a wedding dress, next to a dead man. She runs to Burning Cove and is presented with Jack Wingate who will be her protector and help her figure out what is going on. 

Jack is skeptical. He believes in facts and psychics can't actually provide that. But he's intrigued by Prudence and she doesn't seem to mind his scars.

I generally like this series and hope it continues, maybe just a *little* more simplified. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 2, 2023

Follows When She Dreams

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread July 2023 as audiobook from Libby

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Breakups are hard. Breakups are especially hard when you're part of a tight-knit group of friends. Friends who get together often at the place that Harriet considers her happy place. But now she's going to ruin their happy place because Harriet and Wyn are no longer together. They actually broke up six months ago but didn't tell anyone. Now she's on vacation with their friends alone. But hers isn't the only big news; the cottage is for sale and their weeks of halcyon vacation days are about to be over. 

There was a lot of anxiety built into this book: Am I enough for the other person? For my group of friends? And, while we saw a bit of "past Wyn," I would have liked to see more of "present time Wyn;" just a little more romance. Or maybe more of the friendships. Henry has beautiful writing but also strong character connections and this book revolved more around Harriet than anything else. 

Three stars

This book comes out April 25, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

It all started with a song. Or maybe it was a smell. Maybe it was the twinges and her lower back becoming pangs. But whatever it was, Viv had become dissatisfied with the life she was leading And she thinks she's discovered a way to get out. It involves a leap of faith on her part, trusting that she's interpreted a song correctly. It also means leaving her old group, some of whom she'll miss. 

Following her intuition and a set of bones that sense ley lines, Viv ends up at a rundown livery. She searches out the owner and starts building her new life. 

I play D&D so a lot of this felt very familiar. I liked the way that Baldree flipped the script on what a succubus looks like. He made it more of a power and less an unending search for sex. There were a few places that dragged just a bit but I liked the characters and I look forward to more in this series. 

Four and a half stars

This book came out February 22, 2022

Followed by Bookshops & Bonedust

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own