Mrs. Astor's New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age by Eric Homberger

I can't remember why I picked this book up. There is something very intriguing about the 400 and the woman who ran them. Homberger excels when he writes about the neighborhoods of New York. Unfortunately, that is a small portion of the book. Well-researched, this book is mainly a litany of names with stories here and there to highlight... well, that's where I got lost. While each chapter had a theme (only six chapters but they are LONG chapters), some of the stories fit more loosely than others. An interesting read but definitely took some time to get through.

Three stars

This book came out

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Lady Osbaldestone and the Missing Christmas Carols by Stephanie Laurens

Once again, Lady Osbaldestone's three grandchildren are joining her for a village Christmas. They had so much fun last year that they begged to come back. This year, her granddaughter Melissa (a cousin of the original three) is also there. Her older sister was invited to a house party but Melissa has hit her teen years hard and her mother is scared to take her. Therese decides to do what she does best. Meddle but only from a distance and only when she should.

This year, there is a new organist who has a mysterious past. There is also a female visitor to the village. One who knows her own worth and is ready to wait for the right husband. 

Again, Laurens-light. Not super-complicated but not a lot of depth either.

Three stars

This book came out October 18th, 2018

Follows Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose

Followed by Lady Osbaldestone’s Plum Puddings

Borrowed as an audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Falling for Rachel by Nora Roberts

When Zack Muldoon rushes down to get his stepbrother out of jail, he doesn't expect the kid's public defender to be so arrestingly gorgeous. Rachel Stanislaski isn't impressed by the big blond man. He might be magnetic but he is also rude. However, the two are tied together with an eccentric judge demanding that Rachel and Zack both be concerned with keeping Nick out of trouble for the next two months. Two months that Nick will be living with Zack and Rachel will be keeping a close eye on the pair. Time they spend together is enough to get them over their initial prejudices toward each other and allow that heat to shine through.
I read these books much closer to the time they came out so I'm not sure what a first time reader would think. There were some thing that were somewhat dated (alpha male, but not an alphahole thank goodness) but overall it is still a good read.

Three stars
This book came out April 1st, 1993
Follows Luring a Lady
Followed by Convincing Alex
Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose by Stephanie Laurens

Light romance, light mystery -- this book was a fun introduction to Lady Osbaldestone with her own stories. Now widowed but still a grand dame of the ton, she is connecting (somewhat warily) with three of her grandchildren while their parents are dealing with an illness. Definitely, the children are a little more precocious than might be believable but, if you can suspend your disbelief, this is just a fun story.
Therese is trying to figure out how to entertain her grandchildren in her small village but there is a built-in mystery of where all of the geese, raised for Christmas dinner, have disappeared to. While they are doing that, helping a local injured hero to realize that he might be worth love is a secondary task. 
Very Laurens-light with a rather whimsical romance.

Three stars
This book came out October 19th, 2017
Followed by Lady Osbaldestone and the Missing Christmas Carols
Borrowed as an audiobook from Audible
Opinions are my own

Bite Me by Shelly Laurenston

I can't believe I haven't found Shelly Laurenston before this.  I've been enjoying her books -- fast, fun, and fluffy. And the character building is fantastic. Livy, our heroine, is a honey badger shifter. And like her animal counterpart, she has a fairly bad attitude about life in general. It doesn't help that her family likes to steal things -- that part doesn't bother her, but the fact that they refuse to acknowledge her prowess as a photographer does. 
Vic is a half-bear-half-tiger shifter. Apparently he's generally strong and patient but easily startled. He and Livy have been friends for awhile (yes! one of my favorite tropes!) but he is only just now starting to realize that he might feel more for her than just little sister vibes. And Livy feels the same. But she's also distracted by the fact that she's just found her father -- her supposedly dead and buried father, in another woman's apartment. So there's that.
I hadn't read any of the other books in this series the first time I read this book but I was able to catch on fast to the world building. There were a LOT of extra characters that I assumed were from previous books and they were but there are pretty much always this many characters in the books of this series. 

Four stars
This book came out March 25th, 2014
This book follows Wolf with Benefits 
Followed by Hot and Badgered (new series but closely connected with this one)
Ebook I borrowed from Overdrive
Opinions are my own

Reread as borrowed audiobook from Audible January 2024

The Nine Types of Leader by James Ashton

The introduction is sort of interesting. It is usually used to set the premise of a book, to set context for a story, or to give history as to why the author is an expert on the subject. And oftentimes an introduction is written by someone who is not the author because heaping praise on the following material can come across as somewhat... well, as bragging. And this introduction sure did. There is a LOT of name-dropping in this intro and in the rest of the book. The author has certainly interviewed and been in contact with a lot of people whose names are recognizable. 
I wish there had been more about why these 9 types had been chosen. Usually, with nonfiction, I enjoy seeing the scientific reasoning behind why specific categories were chosen and this book definitely doesn't have that. It is interesting that the author actually makes a point of saying that he didn't want to write "another academic study of leadership." And Ashton even admits that at least one of his analyses is very subjective Aside from the name-dropping, the author is a good writer and people may enjoy thinking about their own immediate (and not-so-immediate) leaders and categorizing them.  

Three stars
This book comes out January 26th
Ebook from Kogan Page Ltd and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths

I haven't read the other books in this series but really didn't feel like I needed to. Yes, there was some back story but I felt like most of what we needed to know was filled in. An interesting story that had some hints as to who was the final villain but some things were left in the dark.
Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby are starting to make a name for themselves. Now they are paired up with several acts including a living tableau of nearly naked women (it's not lewd as long as they don't move). Then one of the girls is murdered and Max is pulled into the investigation. Ruby's fiance and Max's old friend Inspector Edgar Stephens is officially on the case but finds himself torn as the clues start to point at Max.

Three stars
This book came out November 2nd, 2017
Follows The Blood Card
Followed by Now You See Them
Borrowed as an ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own