Sunday, December 3, 2017

So Over You by Kate Meader

So Over You by Kate MeaderIsobel Chase was raised to be a winner. While her father ignored her older sister and hid her younger sister, he groomed her to be a hockey player. The Best hockey player. Which is why he chased off Vadim Petrov when he dared to de-virgin-ize Isobel when both were teens.
Now the two have been thrown together again. Vadim has just been drafted to the team Isobel inherited, with her sisters, from her father. And, because he's injured, Isobel is working with him to get him back up to speed. It will result in a player for the team and a new chance for Isobel (her professional career ended after about 20 minutes with a skate to the helmet).
There are a number of stumbling blocks -- she's technically his boss, sleeping with him might look like she's using him to help further her coaching career, their first time together was less than stellar for her... but the chemistry between them is enough to overcome them all.
This wasn't my favorite Meader book. There was a lot of Vad being just SO Russian and it was a little hard to take. I didn't read the first book and didn't feel like I needed to and I am very much looking forward to Dante's love story.

This book comes out December 6
Three stars
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Murder on the Sugarland Express by Angie Fox

Murder on the Sugarland Express by Angie FoxThe book opens with Verity Long celebrating the opening of her boyfriend Ellis' restaurant. Too bad the picture the local paper uses is one of her... in his brother's (her ex) arms. They decide to take a break on the recently re-started Sugarland Express. Frankie (the mobster ghost that Verity connects with) decides that he wants to go along and brings his sweetheart with them. Too bad the ghosts of the people who died on the original Sugarland Express are still on board and at least one is warning Verity that murder is going to happen again.
I liked this book for the way it moved Verity's relationships forward; with Ellis, his brother Beau, and their mother Virginia. The story itself... parts seemed to try to capitalize on <i>Murder on the Orient Express</i> (murder on a train, woman in a kimono) but don't connect and this was one of those books with not a lot going on in the first 3/4 of the book and then a dump of info at the end.

Three stars
This book came out November 25
Follows Sweet Tea and Spirits
ARC provided by NetGalley

The Lady in Red by Kelly Bowen


The Lady in Red by Kelly BowenFor a novella, this was quite a full story. We get Lady Charlotte Beaumont who cannot be considered a good painter because of her gender. Then there is Flynn Rutledge who has not been considered for the Royal Academy because of his background. When these two each get a chance to work on a job together, Charlotte is first brought in as Charlie. Yes, the method of getting her on the job are a little overly complicated and, yes, there is a bit of an overused plot-line but this was a fast read and very enjoyable.

This novella comes out December 5
Three and a half stars
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Monday, November 27, 2017

Final Fall by Heather W. Petty

Final Fall by Heather W. PettyI requested this book from NetGalley thinking that I had read the first book in the series. I had not but I didn't feel like I needed to read either of the first two books in this series to understand the story. There was some back story on why the book opens with Mori in a cell, trapped by her aunt and separated from her brothers.
This book focuses mainly on Mori and her search for revenge. We don't get a lot of "Lock" in this book and their meetings are... I guess the "bittersweet" from the back cover blurb sort of covers it.
Not my favorite update of the Sherlock story but not horrible.

Three stars
This book comes out November 28
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Barking with the Stars by Sparkle Abbey

Barking with the Stars by Sparkle AbbeyCaro Lamont, pet therapist to the stars, is helping to arrange a charity to raise money for a group that provides service dogs to wounded warriors. It's too bad that the charity's headliner, Purple, has been murdered. And it doesn't help that Caro's ex-husband is running around spreading rumors about her. And now he's a suspect in Purple's murder...I like Caro. She doesn't try to solve the murder herself, she calls the cops (well, her cop friend Detective Malone). She's smart, she's confident (mostly), and she believes in herself. I skipped a number of books in this series but was able to pick it up right away.

Four stars
This book came out November 17
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Saturday, November 25, 2017

The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger by Victoria Alexander

The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger by Victoria AlexanderLady Wilhelmina Bascombe lived a carefree, somewhat wild life until her husband died. Then it all came crashing down. It wasn't that she truly loved her husband but she also didn't know how truly in debt they were. The only way she can dig herself out of the hole is to retrieve a priceless family artifact that her husband used as a lien on a loan. 
Her family friends arrange to have her lead a tour of mothers and daughters on the Continent. A cover that will help her hide her true purpose in going to Italy. Too bad one of the tour group's number is actually a man, one who is interested in the painting for his own purposes.

Three stars
This book comes out November 28
Follows The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The House on Foster Hill by Jaime Jo Wright

The House on Foster Hill by Jaime Jo WrightThis was a quiet mystery, moving back and forth between the past, when Ivy Thorpe is trying to discover who killed a young girl and shoved her body into a hollow tree, and the present, where Kaine Prescott has moved from California to Wisconsin to rehab a house in the town where her great-great-grandmother grew up.
The writing was not a style that I particularly enjoy and the story was still a bit rough in points. This read more like two half-formed novellas than one story. Still, it was readable and quick.

Three stars
This book came out November 21
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley