The Witch Hitch by Elizabeth Bass

Bailey Tomlin is engaged to be married. So she has cold feet. Well, actually, she's been having a lot of electricity lately but that's just weird too. Plus, there's the woman who's been following her around. The one who looks a lot like her. And the man who just appears out of nowhere claiming he's from the 1930s. And the fact that she suddenly seems to have family that she never knew about. Family who are not quite normal...

I remember enjoying the first book but couldn't quite get into this one. One, it's labeled as a romance but Bailey is engaged to be married and Seton Attenbury was married in the 1930s. Yes, we see that his wife moved on and that he wasn't particularly happy with her, but I didn't feel like Bass overcame those obstacles. Plus, we rarely see the two of them interact. I'm not exactly sure why they would have fallen in love except that they both love jazz. 

It tipped barely into the three star category for me since we got to see previous characters in the series but I was mostly frustrated reading this book.

Three stars

This book came out July 25, 2023

Cupcake Coven Romance #2

Follows A Letter to Three Witches

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Pippi's Inn for Wandering Spirits by Erin Ritch

Pippi has inherited a haunted inn from her aunt. Luckily, she (mostly) knows what she's getting into. She's talked to the dead for most of her life. And, it seems like her aunt may have stuck around to give her some extra help getting used to checking people in and out, organizing excursions, and working with the giant spiders that live in the attic. 

This was a really nice start to the story. But then, there started to be So Many Things going on. There's a love interest who's a giant NoNo for reasons, a ghost who is somehow going to be related to the love interest, a death, a breach of innkeeping, a giant snowstorm, and so. much. more. It was just a little too much, all in one book and the shift in pacing was a bit much. 

Three stars

This book comes out June 10, 2024

ARC kindly provided by BooksGoSocial and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

My favorite Carl Hiaasen. This one starts when Chaz Perrone dumps his wife Joey over the side of the cruise they are taking in to celebrate their second anniversary. But she was a collegiate swimmer and makes it to the island where Mick Stranahan is living. Instead of going to the cops, Joey tries to figure out why Chaz tried to kill her. It turns out that Chaz is using his job as a biologist to cover up the fact that Red Hammernut is polluting the Everglades. 

Fun and craziness ensues. I love it.

Four stars

Skink, #5; Mick Stranahan #2

This book came out in 2004

Follows Sick Puppy; Skin Tight

Followed by 

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein

There is a lot of dirty talk in this book. A lot. It is not a trope I love but I really did enjoy it from Stein. I would have rated this book higher but I did not like the Big Misunderstanding nor how it was resolved. 

Alfie Harding has made a mistake. Well, actually two. The grump ex-footballer has agreed to sell his memoirs AND he's insulted the woman who is going to ghostwrite them. Well, she will if he doesn't freak her out by following her around looking like a stalker. Okay, three mistakes.

Mabel Willicker has the magic touch but she's not sure about working with Alfie. He is so VERY grumpy after all. But she sees beneath the hardened armor, especially after the two are spotted together and they begin a fake relationship to hide what they are really doing.

Four stars

This book came out February 6, 2024

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen

The first Mick Stranahan book. In this book, an old case is coming back to bite him in the butt. A nurse is blackmailing the doctor who killed a patient and has told the doctor that Stranahan is actually the one doing the blackmailing. The doctor hires a seven-foot tall, pasty white guy who has burns all over his face from electrolysis gone wrong. Meanwhile, a Maury Povich-type television personality is also on the case with his producer and a camera man. He is determined to get a big story any way he can, even getting plastic surgery from the doctor. Hijinks ensue

Four stars

Mick Stranahan #1

This book came out September 1, 1989

Followed by Skinny Dip

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

The Snows of Weston Moor by Benedict Brown

Christopher and his grandfather are off on another adventure. After a successful Christmas program, the whole family is taking off to visit his brother's girlfriend's family. However, on the way Christopher and his grandfather get stuck in the snow and end up at Weston Manor. 

It has recently been bought by a producer who is on his second wife, the beautiful Georgiana. She is known not only for being an amazing actress but also for having been in a scandal with a high ranking politician and for being in a relationship with a man who was murdered. It is that last that encourages Christopher to tell his grandfather to remain incognito.

They are not the only travelers to take shelter in the manor. A shady character calling himself Mr. Black also joins the party. While he is on the phone, the rest of the group begins a game of hide and seek which begins in the dark. It is while the lights are off that a gun goes off and someone is dead.

Four stars

Lord Edgington Investigates #8

This book came out November 16, 2022

Follows The Crimes of Clearwell Castle

Followed by What the Vicar Saw

Borrowed as Audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Reckoning at the Riviera Royale by P.J. Fitzsimmons

Anty has been summoned by his mother to join her on the Riviera. Since her two sentence missive has more emotion than he's ever seen from the woman, he immediately sets out. It's there that he learns of the death of Malandrino the Magnificent. He was the main draw of a small circus but it seems hew was killed by the elephant, Thumpy. Now the circus owner is going to try and make money by executing the elephant. Anty is not in love with the idea. 

While there, Anty also meets the wife of his mother's brother and her amazingly beautiful daughter, Chadwick. He is immediately in love with her and proposes marriage. He also encounters any number of suspects, both in the circus (including the man's brother and the circus owner) and out (two women who were in love with the charismatic murder victim for many years) and even Anty's own mother who was seen with the victim.

Anty is more Bertie Wooster than ever in this story. While this mystery may not have been as well put together as previous stories (and we still don't know what happened to his father), it was still an enjoyable story.

Three and a half stars

Anty Boisjoly #5

This book came out November 29, 2022

Follows The Case of the Carnaby Castle Curse

The Case of the case of Kilcladdich

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own