The Risk of Rogues by Sabrina Jeffries

House parties are a familiar setting for romance readers. In this one, Lord Hartley Corry runs into the woman who has held his heart since they were young enough for their parents' opinion to make a difference. He immediately decides that he's going to corner her and make her love him again.
Lady Anne isn't going to immediately fold. She wants to know a) why Hartley didn't stick around when they were younger, b) why he never got in touch, and c) how he's going to support them now (her inheritance is not as large as it is rumored to be.)
This was an okay story. If it had been longer I wonder if Hartley's insistence on rekindling the romance wouldn't come off as slightly creepy as it did. And Anne's confrontation with his boss just came off as weird and out of place. Even with those detractions, I don't think regular readers will be disappointed.

Three stars
This novella comes out July 2
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen

When she can't find another way to get to the Caribbean, Doctor Isla Cooper bullies her way onto a private airship, one belonging to Daniel Pickett. She is an empath and and investigator so she isn't surprised that there are three shape shifters who are being smuggled out of England. What she is worried about is the government official who is on board, an Englishman who is determined that all shapeshifters should be taken off the face of the earth.
Isla needs to get to the Caribbean in order to find the witch who put a curse on her. Every night, Isla is forced into six hours of sleep from which she can not be awakened. If she doesn't figure out how to lift the curse within a year, it will become her permanent state of being.
I didn't read the first book but didn't feel like I needed to. It was a bit of a slow start, I almost decided not to finish the book. But it was worth wading through and the end wasn't so bad.

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

Killer Green Tomatoes by Lynn Cahoon

We return to Angie Turner's farm-to-table restaurant where she is preparing for the summer season. For Angie, nothing says summer like her grandmother's fried green tomato recipe. Thank goodness her sous chef has a cousin who has an organic farm. Too bad the man's a Lothario. One who's latest girlfriend has turned up dead. The night after she and Javier had an argument. Now Estebe, Angie's employee, has asked her for help.
In the rule of most mystery novels, Javier had a lot of people who might have wanted to see him arrested for murder. Angie is reluctantly drawn into the murder. Adding that on to her regularly busy life as well as the fact that she's caring for her elderly neighbor while the neighbor's granddaughter is away.
The subplot wasn't really well developed and I thought it didn't needed to really be there but overall a nice addition to the series.

Three stars
This book comes out July 3
Followed by One Potato, Two Potato, Dead
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Whiskey Sharp: Torn by Lauren Dane

Cora Silvera walks into her friend's kitchen to find Beau Petty standing at the stove. She knew the tall, ginger, model/chef fifteen years ago but it's a shock to see him again. Especially since she still has a crush on him. And he seems to think that now that she's an adult, she's his cup of tea. They start a relationship but will have to navigate muddy waters including her artistic mother, his cult past, and... well, that's most of it. They're two adults who <gasp> talk to each other (for the most part) with no last Big Misunderstanding at the end. Lovely.

Four stars
This book comes out June 26
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Give a Sh*t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet. by Ashlee Piper

Do you wish that you were living a better life? Doing good not only for yourself but for your nation and the entire planet? Ashlee Piper is here to tell you how to do it all in a series of essays and bulleted lists. Is any of it particularly new or astonishing? No. Is it filled with popular vernacular that would make it more suited to a popular blog than a book that is trying to make a difference in the world? "Yas." It may not bother some readers but it began to be tedious as the book went on.
This is a book that is trying to make a difference in the world, good on it.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out June 26
ARC kindly provided by Net Galley

Built to Last by Julie Ann Walker

Jamin “Angel” Agassi has been with the Black Knights Inc. since about book 3 or 4. He has had extensive plastic surgery and changed his name (the handsome visage they gave him was part of the reason for his nickname.) Before he had all the work done, he was in love. But he had been trained that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.
He's absolutely shocked to see Sonya Butler, his love, acting as the secretary to the evil crime lord known as the Spider. She's not at all like he remembered her, cowed and subservient. At least, she is until the firefight. Then all hell breaks loose and each finds out that the other is not what they seem. Not the first, second, or even third layers.
An interesting end to the BKI series with the promise that there may be a group of new operatives to follow. This was a slow start (story wise, not as much action wise) but tied up a lot of loose ends in the BKI series.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out June 26
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

It Takes Two by Jenny Holiday

Wendy and her best friend Jane bonded over both losing their fathers at a young age, naming themselves the Lost Girls. Jane definitely had it a little easier with her older brother being there to help out. Of course, that may have also been a detriment since her brother Noah was so unbelievably overprotective. And he still is. Of course, he's also still hot.
Noah didn't want to get sucked into the vortex that is his sister's "low-key" wedding, but he doesn't hat that it's brought him back in the circle with Wendy. He was always attracted to her and that hasn't gone away. She's a lawyer, like him, a runner, like him, and really into baseball, like him (although they don't like the same team.) 
I really liked the first book in this series and this one doesn't quite live up to that but is still good. The ending was definitely over-the-top for me.

Three stars
This book comes out June 21
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows One and Only

A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman

What's more embarrassing than your husband dying in his mistress's bed? Having it happen at a house party you're hosting. Oh, and then having to bring in another man to carry your husband back to his bed so it doesn't appear as if anything scandalous has happened.
Frances Wynn, Countess of Harleigh, has spent a year in mourning for said husband and now she's ready to get out of his family's house and away from the brother-in-law who just wants to get ahold of her money. So she moves to London. Too bad trouble follows her. First her funds get frozen when the brother-in-law tries to claim them. Then the police come around having heard that her husband's death may not have been natural.
This was some nice world building for a new series. While it dragged in a few places for me, it felt somewhat fairly clued and I really liked Frances.

Four stars
This book comes out June 26th
Follows A Lady's Guide to Gossip and Murder
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Murder at the Mansion by Sheila Connolly

Katherine Hamilton is a damn good hospitality manager at a large hotel in Boston. When a friend of hers from high school asks her to return to their hometown to help see if she can use the old house just outside town to revitalize the now failing town. Katherine decides to give her opinion but is going to leave it at that... until her job is suddenly made redundant. As she starts to think more about what saving the Barton mansion could mean for her town, she gets more and more excited. Too bad her high school nemesis is still in town. And doubly too bad same nemesis is found dead on the front porch of the mansion.
I liked the world building in this book though there was a somewhat forced effort to cross paths with Connolly's other series. The ending though was... less than satisfying. I mean, the reason for the murder, really? We haven't seen this is in SO MANY books in the past. It's a sad, overworn stereotype. It dropped the book a full star for me.
Regular Sheila Connolly readers probably won't be disappointed.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out June 26
Followed by Killer in the Carriage House
ARC Kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Untamed Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Kaylee Capshaw knows why she's always had trouble with men. He's a gorgeous pile of best friend named Bennett Dodge. But he barely acknowledges that she's female. They even work together at the Gold Valley's veterinary clinic.
Suddenly, Bennett's life is turned upside down. He has a 15-year-old son that he never knew about. And he turns to his best friend to help him out.
Regular Yates readers won't be disappointed. This is definitely a nice addition to the Gold Valley series. I didn't love Kaylee and Bennett's whole story but overall enjoyed the book.

Four stars
This book comes out June 19
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson

When she was twelve, the uncle that Miranda Brooks had always idolized disappeared from her life. She never really knew what happened to him. Over a decade later, she's shocked to learn that he's dead and that he's left his bookstore, Prospero books, to her. Also included in his will? A series of clues leading her to uncover a deeply held family secret.
The "twist" wasn't hard to figure out and the romance was a little formulaic but this was still worth finishing. The Shakespeare touches were nice to have.

Three stars
This book come out June 12
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Rockets' Dead Glare by Lynn Cahoon

Volunteer fire chief Barry Gleason has made a number of enemies in the days leading up to the Fourth of July (a major money making day for this small tourist town) by threatening to shut people down because of supposed "violations." He does offer to overlook some of the violations in return for "favors." When he uses his own property to stage a fire and rescue, he turns up dead with only three volunteer firefighters (all of whom might have a grudge) in the area.
A short read. I did sort of like the end but it wasn't my favorite.

This novella comes out June 5
Three stars
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley