Intrigue in Istanbul by Erica Ruth Neubauer

Jane Wunderly is back in America, anxious to let her father know that she is engaged to be married. Too bad Henry isn't home. Especially startling, he's taken out a large sum of money against the family home and then left the country. Jane and Redvers take off after him as soon as possible, heading to Istanbul. Her aunt Millie and Millie's fiancee travel overseas as well. 

Once in Instanbul, Jane meets several people who know her father, some of them very unexpected and one of whom ends up dead. It will be up to Jane to figure out why her father left, what he's looking for, and who among the people calling themselves his friends can be trusted. 

This seemed a little more serious than I remembered but an enjoyable book overall. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 28, 2023

Follows Danger on the Atlantic

Followed by Secrets of a Scottish Isle

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Witch Way Out by Cate Conte

At the end of the last book, Violet Mooney was whisked away by Blake along with the man she's been dating, Todd. They end up in the office of Mac, a private investigator and leprechaun, but Mac is not there. Instead, there is a pile of goo, evidence that Mac has been genied. Todd immediately disappears. Violet is shocked but she tries to keep her involvement quiet since she also discovered the last genie victim and her mother and Blake are worried that she might actually be the one targeted.

That's fine with Fiona, she doesn't want to rush into danger and she's still trying to get a handle on being a witch. Plus, she's gotten an unexpected call to join the local (and very popular) craft fair. This is a fabulous opportunity to highlight her shop and it's a chance to meet one of her heroes, a proponent of ethical crystal mining, Horatio Hale. But there's a saying that you should never meet your idols and that seems to be true for Violet and Horatio. Not only does he seem to be sneaking around on his ex-wife with another vendor (why keep the relationship a secret?), Violet overhears a conversation that makes it seem Horatio might not be as upstanding as he seems. Plus, there's the gentleman hanging around saying that Horatio kicked him out of the fair. 

If you've read a cozy before, you'll probably realize who is going to end up dead. It's up to Violet to finally step into her power and take control of the whole situation.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out March 28, 2023

Follows Witch Trial

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Dark Skye by Kresley Cole

Lanthe and Thronos were children when they met and were convinced that they would be in love forever. And they were, until Thronos betrayed Lanthe's parents. Since then, his family has been torturing hers. And he just won't let her be. Even to the point of following her onto an island of torture. When they are (somewhat) freed, he immediately captures her. 

But their time together means that past lies and misunderstandings might finally come to light. It took a little bit longer than I really would have enjoyed but this is overall a nice addition to the series. 

Four stars

This book came out 

Follows MacRieve

Followed by Sweet Ruin

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Styx and Stones by Carola Dunn

Daisy’s brother-in-law has a problem and he is asking for Daisy’s help. He misstepped 6 years ago and now is receiving poison pen letters. Could Daisy come and help him figure out what is going on? She could bring Belinda and escape to the country and enjoy some time away from the town’s stifling heat. Daisy isn’t sure what she can do but she wants to help John so she goes.
While there, she finds out that John isn’t the only one receiving letters. She’s just about to solve the issue when she stumbles over a dead body. At first, she thinks it’s the local vicar but it turns out to have been his visiting scholarly brother. What is going on?
Alec and Daisy actually have a pretty significant fight but it is smoothed over when they actually talk to each other which was nice to see in a book.

Four stars

This book came out January 1, 1999

Follows Dead in the Water

Followed by Rattle His Bones

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

MacRieve by Kresley Cole

Chloe Todd is out there living her dream- playing soccer and getting to try out for the Olympic team. Yeah, she might be a little off lately, not eating or sleeping as much and finally getting interested in sex. And she's really thrown off by somehow being able to overhear her father's phone conversation even though she's in the middle of a packed stadium. Her life gets even worse when she's attacked by a big scary guy and then walks out of her house and falls into an abyss.

Uilleam MacRieve knows that his actions got his parents killed. He's carried that guilt with him for centuries. His life got even worse when he was captured by the Order and tortured for weeks. When he finds out the daughter of the man in charge is on the auction block, he is raring to go. But what does he smell when he gets there? Is that his mate? Why yes, yes it is. So he grabs her and runs away. You'd think it might be all sparkles and flowers as the two are wildly attracted to each other but there is at least one more surprise waiting for them.

I really enjoyed this book. Even though there is a lot of discussion about McRieve's being stuck in the past which makes sense because it's not like there was therapy back when he was a kid.

Four stars

This book came out May 9, 2013

Follows Shadow's Claim

Followed by Dark Skye

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Your Body, Your Yoga: Learn Alignment Cues That Are Skillful, Safe, and Best Suited To You by Bernie Clark

The hook for me in this book was that the authors promised new ways of cueing in yoga. We did not get much of that. Instead, this book is more of an anatomy book with a lot of information about how things pivot, flex, and extend in our body. A lot of repetition in that every body is not the same so traditional poses will not always work or even be beneficial; there are many reasons for "What stops me?". 

Three stars

This book came out April 12, 2016

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Dead in the Water by Carola Dunn

The Henley Royal Regatta is on! And Daisy is visiting her aunt and uncle so that she can write about it. Also staying at their house is one of the regatta teams made up of a mixture of young men and slightly older men who are just back from the war. There are some class issues betwixt the men as well. But Daisy just wants her story. Too bad one of the young men on the team gets murdered. Is it because of his personality or is his family trying to hide something?

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 1, 1998

Follows Damsel in Distress

Followed by Styx and Stones

Borrowed as Audible Plus book

Opinions are my own