Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau

Told mainly from the point of view of the heroine, this book explores a fake dating situation that, of course, turns into a full blown relationship by the end of the book. 
Writer and barista Emily Hung has a mother who is full bore into matchmaking. Emily is the second of five girls and her youngest sister just got married leaving her as the only single child. Add in the fact that she's working in the arts and she just feels like her mother doesn't approve of Emily's lifestyle. Enter, Mark Chung. The son of Emily's mother's friend, he is held up as a paragon. And at her sister's wedding, Emily is forced to spend time with the man. Mark, spends most of that time on his phone. Obviously, he isn't very interested either. But, to get her mother off their backs, they decide to fake date. This gets very involved with cake decorating dates and meeting to sync their stories.
It is during these meetings that Emily starts to notice that Mark may be different than she originally assumed. Not quite as lofty and maybe, just maybe, he is interested in her too.
I wish we had gotten more time with Mark. I think we were almost three quarters of the way through the book when we switch to his perspective. Because we saw so much from Emily's side, I was left feeling that there was more to explore from him. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out April 7, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Atria Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at Tanton Towers A by Amy Myers

There's a body at the Towers. Cara Shelley was just thinking about how much she enjoyed working at the Tanton Towers having opened a cafe there and now, one of the people that she calls a friend (well, at least she didn't hate Daphne) is dead. And worse, the DCI who's investigating the case, Andrew Mitchem, is the same man who argued with her on whether she is baking her huffkins the "correct" way. There is no way to trust this man to find the murderer. He's obviously deranged. Especially when he settles on Daphne's husband, Mike, as the main suspect.

Cara goes looking on her own to figure out what is going on. Though we mainly see her point of view in the third person omniscient, we see the points of view of many of the other characters as major clues turn up. I did not figure out who the killer was and I'm not upset about that. It did take me awhile to get into this story. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have kept going except that this was an ARC. It took almost half the story for Clara to come into focus as a character and there is still a lot about her that could have been added to make her more interesting. 

British Stately Home Mystery #1

Three stars

This book comes out May 7, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Severn House and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

People in Glass Houses by Jayne Castle

Molly Griffin is a crystal tuner and the biggest job of her career is jeopardized when a man is found dead in her shop. It's not like her life isn't complicated enough. Her sister was part of the Hollister Expedition, the one that was lost in the underground Glass House sector three weeks ago. But her mothers finally found the one person who made it out alive, Joshua Knight. 

His psi vision burned out after the expedition, Joshua doesn't have any memories from that night. He's recently escaped from a psychiatric institute and is living in a house of mirrors; one so spooky the town gifted it to him at no cost. He's startled to see Molly show up on his doorstep but he can't turn her away as the local fog is getting too intense. That night starts their relationship as Molly ignores one of Joshua's rules but then saves him. 

The story is a little disjointed but I think regular Ghost Hunters readers will enjoy it.  

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 7, 2024

Follows Sweetwater & the Witch

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Unicorn Crush by Dana Simpson

Dakota is feeling the brunt of not being popular so she turns to Phoebe for help. Of course, it doesn't last long. Though they are moving ever closer to being... friends. And we also see her with Sam, the older girl she wants to be friends with. 

It turns out Marigold is in therapy, with Tod of all people. We get a lot of discussion in "Rar" (which is nice that Marigold gets her privacy. Then, when Marigold is ready to spend more time with Phoebe, we get to read about Phoebe's comic strip. 

New character Sparkleface McGee makes an appearance. It is a being of pure energy. And we see Marigold talking in another new language. 

Infernus the Unicorn of Death also stops in. 

Five stars

This book comes out May 7, 2024

Phoebe and Her Unicorn #19

Follows Unicorn for a Day

ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

A Most Murderous Wedding by Bianca Blythe

Ruby Irving is all set to marry the man she... well, likes well enough. But, at the altar, he decides that he doesn't want to marry a tycoon's daughter. Maybe it's because she's from Nevada? Her father is livid and threatens to kill the groom. Of course, when he ends up dead, her father is the main suspect. But Ruby believes in her father. He's not a murderer. And she's going to prove it.
I liked her character. The story was not quite as cohesive, it was, in fact, a little disjointed and the ending came out of nowhere but I am interested in reading the next book in the series to see if it smooths out. 

Three stars

This book came out January 30, 2024

Murder Most Gilded Age #1

ARC kindly provided by Somerset Park Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Only Beloved by Mary Balogh

A nice ending to a wonderful series.

We've met both George, the Duke of Stanbrook, and Dora Debbins, spinster music teacher, in the previous Survivors' Club books. George is the older duke who had lost his son in the war and then created a hospital where many of the worst cases from the war were sent; those with both mental and physical ailments. 

Dora had once thought that she would marry and have a family. But the year of her come out, her father caused a scandal that ended in her parents' divorce. So Dora stayed home and helped to raise her sister Agnes. Agnes married once, was widowed, and then married one of the Survivors, Flavian, in Only Enchanting. In the meantime, Dora has been teaching music in a small town. It's a cozy life that leaves her mostly content. Until the day, over a year after she met him, the duke comes to propose marriage.

George has watched his six friends get married. And he doesn't begrudge them that. Even though his own marriage wasn't good and it ended when his wife committed suicide. But now he's realizing that he is lonely. He's not interested in the very young women that society would believe him to pick for his wife. And whenever he imagines the rest of his life, he sees Dora in his mind. And, yes, she's old (at 39) but he doesn't need an heir, his nephew Julian is good enough. So, the duke goes to propose.

They both go into the marriage with open eyes, knowing that contentment is the goal. But perhaps, there may be just a little more...

Four stars

This book came out May 3, 2016

Survivors' Club #7

Follows Only a Kiss

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Move the Body, Heal the Mind by Jennifer Heisz

Heisz talks about the notion of a Lazy Body, that we need to make ourselves move. Movement can help us in any number of ways.
It's an interesting book but a little down on any other methods outside of exercise. Preferably the exercise outside in this book.

Three stars

This book came out March 8, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own