Fiction Can Be Murder by Becky Clark

Told in first person, the reader follows along with Charlemagne (Charlee) Russo as she is trying to get to a review meeting with her book group. We learn that she is very klutzy.  We also learn that she is one of the few published authors in her group. But that doesn't make her life all sunshine and roses. She's in an ironclad contract with her agent and her latest royalty checks have been going downhill rapidly. So it's just too bad that her agent turns up dead, killed by the very specific manner outlined in Charlee's book. Guess who ends up being the number one suspect? Charlee doesn't hesitate, she decides to investigate the murder herself.
This might be a good book for some other readers. I just have a klutzy, female, decides-to-look-into-murder-and-almost-dies main character burnout. Not to mention that I've read two other books recently with the "author's book coming to life" theme recently. And the ending came out of left field.

Three stars
This book comes out April 8
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith

If you've read any story set in a mid-1800s house where there is an old man who controls the family's wealth with an iron fist and it's Christmas, you can probably predict what is going to happen. This book is notable in that we not only get to see who the murderer is, we get to see how he puts together his cover up, and then how it all goes wrong.
This was an interesting book, especially since it was first published in 1933. It was a little slow in many places and I didn't get into it completely but the idea was a good one.

Three stars
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Edelweiss (apparently I liked the premise so much I requested it twice)

In the Eye of the Storm / Catering to the CEO by Samantha Chase

In the Eye of the Storm
It's 2 a.m. and Holly Abrams is on her way to pick up her overly demanding boss, Stephen Ballinger. First he demands 12-14 hour days, then he steals her weekend mornings, now this? Holly lets loose, giving Stephen a piece of her mind. He's shocked that she feels that way; he thought that they had a great working relationship. This makes Holly even madder. Then downed trees make it impossible for her to get back to her house and she has to stay with Stephen at his giant mansion. Somehow, seeing Holly wet, in sweatpants, and without makeup makes Stephen wake up to how truly beautiful she really is.
I would hope that if this book were written today, the Big Misunderstanding would be greatly changed. As it was, it made me very aware that this was a re-issue.

Three stars

Catering to the CEO
Adam Lawrence didn't become a millionaire CEO by letting people walk all over him. Cassie Jacobs, caterer, doesn't seem to care. She has a contract that says that he can't make changes two weeks before his event, so when he tries to do so 11 days in advance, she walks out. That would be the end except that they see each other again that night when they discover that her dad is dating his mom. It is seeing Cassie outside of work that makes Adam really discover that she's a beautiful woman underneath. Too bad I can't say the same about him. Adam is a real alphahole. Like, think late 80s alphahole only concerned with his problems and only wanting Cassie when he can't have her. I actively disliked him and wouldn't have finished this had it been a full book.

Two stars.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Meaty by Samantha Irby

I listened to We Will Never Meet in Real Life and loved it so when this book came up on NetGalley, I requested it immediately. And I have to say, I really, really think that this would be better "read" as an audiobook. Part of the charm of the first book was listening to Irby's cadence and hearing the stories in her own voice. While the essays in this book are similar to those in her first, I just didn't connect as well as I did with her voice in my ears.

Three stars
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Claim Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates

It all started with an ad...
Joshua Grayson's father wants nothing more than for his son to fall in love, get married, and have babies. So he puts an ad out into the world and now Joshua is getting all sorts of unwanted attention from women he doesn't really want to connect with. So Joshua puts out his own ad. One for a thoroughly disreputable woman. One who will get his father off his back. And the woman who answers his ad is perfect. Danielle Kelly is too young, too poor, too hipster, and too-carrying-an-infant for his parents to attach. Except that Joshua seems to be ready to attach...
Danielle grew up the child of a teen mother. Her mother was dirt poor but would drag Danielle around as she moved from man to man, trying to find stability.
I never really connect with characters in the "New Adult" category, even ones who are super-mature for their age.  And I never really felt like Danielle and Joshua connected (well, beyond the sex). Would have loved to see more scenes where the two connected outside the bedroom. Regular Yates readers will probably be satisfied but I'm looking forward to a better story in the next book.

Two and a half stars.
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows  Smooth-Talking Cowboy

Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston

I only got two chapters of this book as an ARC from NetGalley so I can't really review the whole book. There wasn't a great glimpse of either Charlotte (Charlie,a badger shifter) or Berg (grizzly shifter) so I'm not sure how the rest of the book is going to go. We know that Charlie has at least two sisters, one of which needs watching every moment of the day. Oh, and the book opens with men breaking into Charlotte's hotel room just as she gets a warning call. She drops down to the room below which just so happens to be the one where Cooper (famous pianist, jackal shifter) who we met in the last book is being guarded by Berg. 

I'm a little trepidatious about how this book is going to go but I trust Laurenston so I'll definitely read this book as soon as I can get my hands on it.

I did eventually get the full ARC and it was okay but there was a lot of setup for the rest of the series. I wished we had gotten to see more of Berg. It's interesting that Laurenston keeps introducing bear triplets (had been done in Bear meets Girl). Each of the characters seems to be full hilt stereotypes which is okay but I wish we had gotten a bit more nuance.

Three stars

This book comes out March 27, 2018

Follows Bite Me

Followed by In a Badger Way

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Reread May 2022, January 2024

A Magical Match by Juliet Blackwell

Tristan Dupree, a shadowy figure from Lily Ivory's past is in San Francisco and has given her 48 hours to return his... well, she doesn't exactly know what it is that she stole from him. Whatever it was, she doesn't have memories of that time in her life. She's also dealing with trying to put together a 1950s brunch to benefit the local woman's shelter as well as the evil owner of a cupcake store. Oh, and her whirlwind fiance is in jail for murder.
I don't know how but I missed a book or two in the series and that definitely lowered my enjoyment of reading this book. There was a lot of world-building in those books that made this story harder to follow. I'm guessing that people who have read the whole series will really like this book but I would not recommend it to readers new to the Witchcraft Mystery series.

Three stars
This book comes out April 3
Followed by Bewitched and Betrothed
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley