Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

This is the story of two people who most definitely are not looking for love, especially not with each other. Maggie thinks that Aiden is her son's age while he thinks she's his mother's. It's a bit of a coincidence that they think that but not an unthinkable stretch. As the two spend more time together on an online role-playing game, they become friends. When Aiden hurts his ankle, they meet in person and realize they are about the same age. Love isn't instant, but as the two get to know each other, as they listen and grow (loved this!), they figure out they might want more from each other than merely friendship.

Four stars

This book came out July 1, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Murder Most Witchy by Amanda M. Lee

Landon is going undercover and it is causing Bay fits. She sees him with two people at a corn maze (they are willing to go to another corn maze?). Later, the woman ends up dead on Bay's lawn and Bay is attacked. Suddenly, it seems like Bay is the only suspect by a local state trooper and an enemy of old, Agent Noah. 

There is So Much drama in this addition to the series. The mystery is even looser than usual while the drama takes its place in the word count. There are some developments between Bay and Landon moving their relationship forward but I didn't like this book as much as others in the series.

Wicked Witches of the Midwest #11

Three stars

This book came out 

Follows The Trouble with Witches

Followed by A Witch Before Dying

Borrowed as ebook from NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Bowling Blunder by Stella Bixby

Ellie didn't grow up with a lot of friends but she is slowly building a community in her new town. She's got her group of older ladies that run and take her yoga classes. She's also got Bex who she works with at the diner. Slowly but surely, she is making a place for herself. Yes, there are still people who accuse her of being a witch (her hair changes color/style with her emotions) but she knows that she wants to stay. It's just too bad that there's been another murder. This time at the local bowling alley. 

Ellie's ex-boyfriend's fiancee (yep), Samantha, is still in town and trying to argue that his property should go to her instead of the man's mother (he died in the previous book in this series.) Samantha is also a part of a bachelorette weekend that is somehow also in this same small town. It is one of the bridesmaids who gets murdered.

Is the mystery solution a little convoluted? Yes. Is the magic starting to get a little wild (we meet Xander, a warlock, in this book)? Yes. Am I going to keep reading this series? Heck yes. I want to see where it goes.

Three stars

This book came out March 16, 2021

Follows Downward Death

Followed by Spotlight Scandal

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Manor by Catherine Coles

Evelyn and Tommy very much remind me of Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence: young, adventurous, newly married. This Tommy is the nephew of an earl and they are visiting the family to pay their respects and figure out their next steps. A big hitch in their plans occurs when the earl dies. Having been a police detective (Tommy) and worked for the police force (Evelyn), the two realize that the men assigned to this case are not doing their job well. So they decide to investigate.

If you like stories that are fairly clued, this is not going to be a book you enjoy but it is a quick and fun read and sets up these two characters nicely.

Four stars

This book came out July 31, 2020

Followed by Murder at the Village Fete

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

The Hike by Lucy Clarke

Four friends go on a vacation together every year. This year, it will be an end of season hike in Norway. Each going for a different reason. Liz, the one with the seemingly picture perfect marriage, is burnt out and this trip marks the beginning of her and her husband's trial separation. Helena, who revels in the life of a single woman, fears that she might be pregnant. Joni is a rock star who is losing control. Maggie ... looks like a young woman who disappeared from the town where their hike is to begin. 

The hike starts well enough but the second day, they lose the path. Then secrets start to come out and their complicated relationships start to become even more so. And that's before they find the caves that will ensure that not all of them are leaving the mountain alive.

If you like Clarke's books, this book will hit the spot. I didn't always see all of the voices as distinct so it did get complicated to listen to but was overall an okay book.

Three stars

This book came out April 27, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Lord of the Privateers by Stephanie Laurens

Eight years ago Roy's Frobisher, the oldest of the children in this series, handfasted with Isobel Carmichael. They spent three blissful weeks together then he told her he had to sail away for a month or two. She had no problem with that, her family also works with ships, but she was upset that he disappeared for over a year and no one would tell her were he was and, of course, he didn't write. When he came to find her, she slammed the door in his face.

Now she's asking him for help getting to Africa. Well, he's going there anyway so, what the hell? It will give him a chance to win her back. And it's pretty easy to do, even with the reveal (REALLY early on in the book) that he's a secret baby daddy.

And that was a major complaint for me in this book. At over 500 pages, you'd think there'd be more romance. But it's more of a "oh, we had a big misunderstanding and it was partially my fault? Okay, lets be adults and figure it out." Major props for that, BTW, no Big Misunderstandings. But, oh dear god, there were still 300 pages. I get that this was wrapping up the series, but there was major shoehorning going on to fit in the rest of the couples from this series, the Black Cobra series, and even the Cynsters.

Three stars
This book came out December 27, 2016

Follows The Daredevil Snared

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

Sadie Revelare has had an interesting life. She and her twin grew up with their grandmother and with magic. Sadie has a curse that means she will have four heartbreaks in her life. Knowing that, she has been very careful in how she uses her magic and in the control she has over her life. She will have to face her fear and her grief in order to bring her family together. 

This book takes a LOT from Practical Magic - two siblings raised by someone other than a parent, they have magical powers, one stays home and suffers heartbreak while the other travels, there is a family darkness caused by an evil man, etc.

Three stars

This book came out September 19, 2023

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own