Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

In previous books in the series, we learned that Ava Rodriguez was unceremoniously dumped by her husband. When this book opens, the divorce has finally gone through and Ava is ready to turn her life around. To do that, she's going to get dressed up and go out, rather than staying in her room. She's not going to order rose; she's an all new Ava. At the bar is the owner of the hotel, Roman Vasquez and he is intrigued. 

The two start a relationship. Well, Roman is interested in it building into a relationship. Ava just wants it to be physical. See, her family is incredibly overbearing and she doesn't want a repeat of what she went through with her ex. Which is a valid concern. Mostly. Ava is sort of spineless. And Daria gives her really good reasons for being so, but I wasn't entirely convinced that she had made the changes needed and I was really annoyed that SO MANY people told Roman to let Ava handle her own problems and he... didn't. He just decided not to listen to any of them. 

Most of the book -- so delightful. Ending -- squishy. 

Four and a half stars

This book comes out September 14th, 2021

Follows A Lot Like Adios

ARC kindly provided by William Morrow and Custom House, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Nefarious Nights of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity

Hayley and Montague are back and they’re heading to the pocket universe of Willowweep. Cuthbert was hit on the head with a message in a bottle. Another universe needs help. So they open a rift. And 5 people and a dog walk through. But who are these people and why can they change Willowweep at will?

Some really neat world building in this one, including how/why Willowweep exists and how Hayley controls the narrative.

Four stars

Willowweep Manor #2

This book comes out August 12, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Simon and Schuster's Children Publishing, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

For Duck's Sake by Donna Andrews

Meg is enjoying an afternoon at her brother’s house when it’s interrupted. Not by the backhoe, that noise is expected. Rather, it’s the lack of noise. A skeleton has been uncovered.
Even though her family is, of course, helping uncover the whole skeleton, Meg is also dealing with housing dogs that are up for adoption until the Mutt March takes place in a few days. It’s a major adoption event and, while there are plenty of volunteers, they are also having to deal with the worry that someone may be trying to adopt a dog for nefarious purposes. 

As usual, a lot going on but Meg manages it all with aplomb if not always with dignity. A lot of call backs to previous books in the series, especially since they are dealing with a skeleton that may be linked to the Pruitts. I don't think you need to have read previous books in the series to understand them all but reading and re-reading this series is always a delight, especially when Bernadette Dunne is narrating. 

Four stars

Meg Langslow #37

This book comes out August 5, 2025

Follows Rockin' Around the Chickadee

Followed by Five Golden Wings

ARC (both ebook and audiobook) kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Most Puzzling Murder by Bianca Marais

This was an interesting story that I probably would have enjoyed more as an ebook or hard copy. There are a number of puzzles in this book that would have been good to see. There is a website but my library book was returned before I could combine the two.

I also was not expecting the fantasy elements that came into the book. There are a lot of moving parts and the chapters switch around points of view so it's a lot to keep up with. The base story is that Destiny Whipp is invited to an island to become an archivist for a reclusive family who are actually wizards fighting for power.

Three stars

This book came out June 10, 2025

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Do You Take This Man by Denise Williams

RJ and Lear both have recent events that have shaped their present. Neither is really put into this story other than a paragraph or two. Instead, most of the story is concentrated on how much the two dislike each other.  

I can't remember what made me pick this book up but I never connected to either RJ or Lear. Their animosity is so great that it's hard for me to understand how they get together. She's a recent internet celebrity for having married a couple and he's a wedding planner. At the same time, she's a divorce lawyer who is trying to move up in her law firm so there's tension in a lot of her life. 

There were a number of points that kept nagging at me as I read that didn't seem to match up. I don't remember all of them but I was confused because RJ was supposedly only doing weddings for her firm's well-heeled clients but many of the clients didn't seem overly rich. 

Three stars

This book came out September 6, 2022

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

The Flanders Panel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Margaret Jull Costa (Translator)

I heard about this book during an episode of  Writing Excuses that talked about structuring a book around a thing. In this case, it's a fifteenth century painting depicting a chess game that is being restored by Julia. While using an x-ray, she notices a note: Who killed the knight?

The story seemed a little odd to me but I finally figured out that it was from the 90s (had thought it was more recent) and had been translated from Spanish. That provided a bit more context because the story, while it does revolve around that key question, also isn't really about it at all. There are only a few characters but each is deeply developed.

Three stars

This book came out in 1990

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray

Ms. Austen has always been popular and there have been a number of mysteries based around her books. This book takes every one of Austen's novels and brings main characters (or their children) to a house party at the Knightleys. In this timeline, Emma and George have just gotten married and are having a house party. For reasons, everyone is invited to join. And Mr. Wickham decides to crash. Of course, he's such a bad, bad dude, that nearly everyone has a reason to have killed him. 

This book was... fine. Some of the characters felt too changed from the books and much of the story felt forced. I liked the substory of the younger Mr. Darcy and Ms. Tilney but would have liked it more if it wasn't connected to the original books. 

Three stars

Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mysteries #1

This book came out May 3, 2022

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own