On the Corner of Hope and Main by Beverly Jenkins

Bernadine probably thought she had seen the last of her ex. Regular Blessings readers probably thought so as well since we haven't seen him in a couple of books (at least that I remember). But he's going to pop up again trying to cause trouble for the town while making money for himself. His plan this time is to back disgraced former mayor Riley Curry.
Riley has some competition though. Barrett Payne, formerly in the military, currently in charge of security for the town thinks that he is going to be a shoe-in. But his wife, Sheila, decides that she's tired of hiding her light under a barrel and decides to run herself. Of course, the Julys have to through in a family member as well.
We also get updates on various town members. Robyn, now living with her aunt, Pastor Paula, is slowly starting to learn how to live in Henry Adams. Mal and Bernadine work toward a better resolution of how their relationship ended. Cletus, the pig who formerly belonged to Riley is now famous and his team would like to bring him back to Henry Adams for a home town parade.
Jenkins is an incredibly steady writer. Readers who have loved previous books (and there are so many characters with intertwined stories, I really would recommend reading those books first) will enjoy this one to the same extent.  I personally enjoy the books but there is something that keeps me from diving right in and enjoying the story. Part is just the flow - with so many stories you don't stick on many for long. Part is also the characters. We've gotten to know the characters over the course of 10 books but there are sometimes big life changes without really getting to see the character's motivation or getting to see why certain decisions are made because we are looking at so many people. To be fair, this series has always been that way so it's not like Jenkins is just piling on more characters. We do get one or two more in each book but the additions are judicious.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 3rd

Follows Second Time Sweeter

Followed by A Christmas to Remember
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson

In my mind, the CSI techniques of a hundred years ago would have been rudimentary at best but this narrative nonfiction book seeks to show that the 1930s in America was actually where CSI was born. I would argue that it made great strides under Edward Oscar Heinrich (mostly because I've read other books on how CSI started in the 1800s-- but the subtitle does say of American CSI.)
The writing is generally very readable but, wow, did the author gloss over some things about EOH that the modern reader might not like about him. For instance, there's one sentence where she mentions that he at one point "blamed the modern woman for America's crime wave." Um, what now? This and other little notes make it pretty clear that the dude wasn't quite the all-right guy that is being portrayed in most of the book. I generally like nonfiction books where the author is a little removed and this author obviously wasn't.

Three stars
This book came out February 11th
ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Measure of Malice: Scientific Detection Stories -- anthology

Poisoned Pen Press has been rolling out new collections of old stories as part of their British Crime Classic Library and this one is no different. This one rolls together stories that use science to help solve the mystery. There are the big names of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but lesser known names as well.
Like any anthology, this one has some good stories and some that are just... odd. And there is always the fun of reading about things that used to be cutting edge and, in terms of today's scientific knowledge are just sort of funny.

Three stars
This book came out February 4th
ARC kindly provided by Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Bachelor by Sabrina Jeffries

Lady Gwyn Drake is the twin of a duke and the half-sister of two more (it's complicated) so, even at the ripe old age of thirty, she is considered a catch. So her family is taking her to London for the marriage mart even though she's not exactly excited about it. You see, she has a Secret Past. And while her twin knows part of it, he doesn't know everything. Too bad the Secret part of her Past is threatening to reveal the Super Secret part if Gwyn doesn't pay him off. She decides to threaten the man with a gun (that she doesn't know how to shoot) but ends up being saved by the brother of the woman marrying her twin (who is also her mother's third husband's nephew... it's still complicated).
Joshua Wolfe gives Gwyn all the feels and he feels the same. But he's "damaged" having been hurt in the war to the point that he has to walk with a cane and his injuries (and, tbh general disposition) make him super grumpy. He rescues her from the blackmailer and is asked to come to London to be Gwyn's bodyguard.
So forced proximity ensues as well as a touch continuation of the mystery from the first book (which you don't have to have read but it would make it a lot easier to understand what the heck is going on in this book.) Overall, an okay book with a lot of drama and misunderstandings. Gwyn was a little more "Woe is I" than I expected and the ending was a bit twee but I'm still excited to see the next book go on sale.

Three stars
This book came out February 25th
Follows Project Duchess
Followed by Who Wants to Marry a Duke
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Undone by Kelly Rimmer

Jess Cohen and Jake Winton were involved for four months two years ago. Then he got serious and she freaked out. He ended up moving to the West Coast. There was a good job offer in oncology at Stanford but he was also slinking away to nurse his wounds. Now Jake's brother (who is one of Jess's best friends and business partners) is getting married so Jake and Jess are seeing each other again. It does not go well, not least because Jess insisted on keeping their relationship secret so no one knows why they have a blow-up at the rehearsal dinner.
The rest of the book follows Jess and Jake as they start to reconnect. And it really sets up Jess's friend Mitchell as sequel bait. It was an okay book but Rimmer has written better. There was So. Much. sturm and drang in this one and it just felt overwrought. Jess and Jake sort of talked to each other but mostly it was past each other.

Three stars
Follows Unspoken
This book came out February 25th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

If I Never Met You : A Novel by Mhairi McFarlan

Laurie has been in a relationship with the same man for eighteen years. They've just started talking about having children when he abruptly breaks up with her. Laurie is... adrift. It just gets worse when she discovers, three months later, that his new girlfriend is two months pregnant. Working with her ex is agony. Getting trapped in an elevator is worse.
A noted ladies man, Jamie Carter knows how to play the game. But he and Laurie work for an old-fashioned company that likes its partners to be paired up and Jamie doesn't want to do that. So getting trapped with Laurie sparks an idea, they can use each other to get what they want: a partnership and revenge.
I liked the message that Laurie told herself- she could cope. But the book took too long to get to the meat of the story for me. There was so much about Laurie and Dan and then Laurie on her own. If there had been a downplay of her relationship with Jamie (maybe more finding herself - more with her friends, Emily was awesome) or less of the journey to get to the beginning of the relationship, I would have liked the book better. And I never really got the feeling that Laurie was the kind of person who would revenge date anyway so that part of their relationship seemed flimsy.  Once the story got started though, I liked watching them fall in love.

Three stars
This book comes out February 26th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Sisters by Choice by Susan Mallery

Sophie, Kristine, and Amber are cousins. Sophie built a kitty toy empire which went up in flames one night so she is coming back to Blackberry Island to rebuild. In doing so, she gets to know her family again (and, as happens in Blackberry Island books, herself as well.)
Kristine is generally happy with her husband Jaxsen and her three boys but, as the boys are getting older, she's getting ready for something more. It's too bad that Jaxsen doesn't seem to want that for her.
Amber got pregnant at 18 and now relies heavily on her daughter, Heather, for everything. Heather is slowly drowning under her mother's needs. Amber has absolutely no idea how to function in the real world. She wants to leave but isn't sure that her mother will survive without her. Now her grandmother is selling the house Heather and Amber are living in and Heather is at the end of her rope.
Sophie wants to grow her business but isn't sure how. It's her whole life and she is in charge of every part of it to the point that nothing else is important to her. She doesn't want to get married again but is happy to jump into a physical relationship with the local tai chi teacher. But when it turns out that he might have a brain, Sophie isn't as sure about continuing a relationship with him.
And I wish we had seen more of the relationship building between the cousins, between Kristine and her husband, and between Sophie and Dugan. This book didn't feel like it went as deep into the female friendships that other books in this series have.

Three stars
This book came out February 11th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin-Mira and NetGalley
Opinions are my own