House Party Murder Rap by Sonia Parin

When she first came to England, Evie became known as "That Evangeline Parker." An American heiress, she caught the eye of several men but fell in love at mutual first sight with the Earl of Woodbridge. She had a few wonderful years with him before he died. During her grieving, she went back to America. But two years have passed and she has decided to return to England bringing along a Duesenberg and a chauffeur, Tom Winchester, hired by her grandmother.
One of her first stops is at a house party with her late husband's good friend, the Duke of Hetherington, familiarly known as Bicky. There is an odd incidence as she goes from the village to the ducal manor. Someone takes a shot at her car. When Tom reacts quickly, Evie begins to wonder about him. When someone later takes a potshot at the duke while Evie is standing near him, she learns that Tom has actually been hired as a bodyguard. He ends up posing as an old friend of Evie's and joins the house party.
The mystery isn't particularly exciting and the end is a bit deflated. Discerning timing in the audiobook can be hard; I suspect there are paragraphs that we don't experience which break up some of the story. The charm of the story comes in the character building. Both Evie and Tom are delightful characters and I look forward to reading more of their books.

Three and a half stars
Followed by Murder at the Tea Party
This book came out December 28th, 2018
Borrowed as audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

The Summer Deal by Jill Shalvis

Brynn, Eli, and Kinsey went to the same summer camp for many years. Eli and Kinsey were tight friends but Brynn was often on her own. In fact, Kinsey was her camp bully. Even though they're now grown-up, the hurt is there. So, when Brynn comes home, already tender from a break-up from a con who took all of her money and her grandmother's necklace, she's not exactly excited to move in with the two. Well, actually, Eli's gotten pretty hot so Brynn's okay with him but Kinsey is the same old mean girl.
But Kinsey's got her own things she's dealing with. Including a pretty heavy illness. She's not exactly in a place where she can give a lot of empathy to others and she is trying to hold herself back so she doesn't hurt anyone later.
This was an interesting story. Like other books in the Wildstone series, the only connection is that they are set in the same town. Also, the romance takes more of a backseat to the other relationships in the book. Maybe not AS good as some of Shalvis's books but regular readers will not be disappointed.

Three and a half stars

Follows Almost Just Friends

Followed by The Forever Girl
This book comes out January 12th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes by M. Lee Goff

I heard about this book from one of the ladies in a local book club. She made it sound very interesting. And it was, up to a point. After a while, the beats of the book get a little monotonous; there's no ebb and flow, just a steady stream of facts. If you are a big fan of scientific books, this is going to be very interesting. If you are having trouble concentrating on books right now, this may not be the book for you because it is very detail-heavy.

Three stars
This book came out September 1st, 2001
Hard copy that I didn't keep
Opinions are my own

Passing Fancies by Marlowe Benn

There are some pretty big themes in this book including racism, rape, and sexism. It is historically accurate but can make for some heavy reading. There are also some points that drag in the middle-ish part. I didn't love the way the story arc ended nor am I sure that I like how the overall story line moves forward at the end of the book. I've pondered it for a couple of days and still can't decide. If you read the first book, you are fairly familiar with how this author works. I wouldn't recommend starting with this book but I don't think you have to have read the first one to jump into this story.
Julia Kidd has moved back to New York. Now she just needs to find a place of her own; a place where she can live and run her vanity press. She is starting to get involved with the literati scene as well. It is at a house party that she meets Eva Pruitt, a black author who is about to Have her book published which promises not only provocative but explosive. She is currently singing in a nightclub but the owner doesn't want to let her leave, causes a scene, and ends up murdered. When the New York police seem like they're not going to move an further than looking at Eva, Julia decides to step in. Along the way she's going to have to confront a lot of her own biases.

Three and a half stars
Follows Relative Fortunes
This book comes out June 2
ARC kindly provided by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Missing Diamond Murder by Diane Janes

I didn't read the first two books in the series but I really didn't feel like I had missed much. We know that there is a hit of romance between the main protagonist, Frances "Fran" Black" and Tom Dod but we don't see much of him or of the two interacting. A lot of that is because Fran is trying to get divorced from her husband and, because of a quirk in English law at the time, only one person in the divorce proceedings can have another love; there must be one sinner and one who is sinned against. An interesting plot point. Someone has sent the court an anonymous letter saying that Fran and Tom are involved so they need to stay apart. Besides, Tom is also married.
Tom has heard about a family mystery in Devon. He can't go himself so Fran goes instead. She meets the Edgerton family and learns about their grandfather's accidental (?) death and the disappearance o the family diamond some months before. Even though a lot of time has passed, the Edgertons are interested in finding the diamond. And, if it turns out that their grandfather's death wasn't so accidental, his murderer. I also like the slow burn of Black and Dod. I regret letting the book lapse when NetGalley gave me an ARC but look forward to the next book in the series.
I really liked Fran as a character. She is human, not a perfect woman or detective. We get to see some of her deductions.

Four stars
This book came out November 5th, 2019
ARC kindly provided by Severn House and NetGalley/eBook borrowed from library
Opinions are my own

Shift Out of Luck (Brimstone Inc., #2) by Abigail Owen

Feuding families. Even the werewolves have them. So the marriage of two alphas was supposed to unite the Packs. But Tala and Marrok are at odds. The sex is amazing but  refuses to acknowledge that Tala is a pack leaders. Instead, he has reverted to thinking that she is the weaker sex. Physically, that may be true but Tala's pack isn't like his; they choose their Alpha by combat. She had to be smart enough to beat the rest. So the fact that Marrok isn't backing her up at the same time some of her pack decide to challenge her means that her life is going to hell in a handbasket pretty fast.
Of the three novellas in this series so far, this has the most clearly defined characters (possibly because we saw them in the first book) and the best relationship building.

Three and a half stars
Follows The Demigod Complex
Followed by Bait n' Witch
This 2nd edition came out April 20th, 2020
Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

The Vampire's Mail Order Bride by Kristen Painter

Delaney James knew that there were rumors about her boss but she never believed them. Until the night she goes back to her serving job and sees her boss order a man's death. She makes a noise and is almost captured. Instead of going home, she assumes another woman's identity and becomes a modern day mail order bride. But she misses some of the pertinent information...
Hugh Ellingham's grandmother wants him to have children. Little vampire children to be more specific. Since he, and most of his family, are vampires. But he never expects her to send for a bride for him, especially since she knows he is still mourning his last mate. But Delaney (even if he doesn't know her by that name) is strangely beguiling and he wonders whether he might be about to open his heart again.
A nice start to a series. It took me awhile to get through because it was a little too treacly in places but I made it through and listened to the first part of the next book and it sounds interesting.

Three stars
Followed by The Werewolf Meets His Match
This book came out June 1st, 2015
Borrowed from Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

A Girl Like You by Samantha Chase

If you grow up in a small town, there are pluses and minuses. One of the minuses can be the long collective history when your childhood, and even recent adulthood are sprinkled with stories that don't put you in the best light. And Sam Westbrook really doesn't want to be in Magnolia Sound to begin with but his great-grandfather's legacy of a landscaping business comes with the condition that Sam stay for a year or Mason, Sam's cousin, gets the business.

Shelby Abbott is the only child of the local pastor. In books, being a PK (pastor's kid) means that you either run completely wild or live blamelessly. Shelby is the latter. In fact, she won't even tell her parents that she got Lasik because they have told her that eye surgery is linked to pride. She only lives a little wildly one night when she goes to a club out of town and literally runs into Sam... who doesn't recognize her. They do eventually figure out the case of mistaken identity and begin a relationship. But then one of them decides to make decisions for both of them and, sigh, that's one of my least favorite plot devices. Luckily it is short.

I wish we had seen more with Shelby's parents as well. They loomed large in a lot of the story and then we never saw how the issue with them was solved, we were just told it was.

Three stars
Follows Remind Me
Followed by In Case You Didn't Know
This book came out June 11th, 2019
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs

Mercy is worried about her mate bond. Her husband Adam has been distant and she's not sure why. But that comes in second when Underhill, the magical land of the fae who can take a human form, comes to visit. And with that visit, a dangerous fae escapes. One who can assume the form of any one or anything. It has already killed some of Mercy's friends and now it is coming for her. Because it can't control Mercy and it wants to know why.
I'm not sure I connected with the monster story in this one but I'm sort of okay with that because of the way we got to see Adam and Mercy's relationship build on itself as well as getting better glimpses into some of the characters that have been firmly B or C level before. I'm really excited to see where Briggs takes Wulfe (I think we got some glimpses in this book) and also hope that we will see some friendships building between Mercy, Aurielle and Honey.

Three stars
This book came out March 17th, 2020
Follows Storm Cursed

Followed by Soul Taken
Ebook from Library
Opinions are my own

Always a Bridesmaid by Cindi Madsen

7 times Violet Abrams has been in somebody else's wedding. Too bad her own blew up before she even walked down the aisle. Licking her wounds, she heads to the small town where her half-sister lives. Too bad her father and his wife also live there. The man who fathered her out of wedlock, that is. The town where she would go growing up but was never completely accepted. Violet just wants to help her sister fix up her bakery and then get out of town. Hopefully, doing so will help her get the mojo back that she lost (being a wedding photographer doesn't feel so good when you've just been dumped.) Yes, she's trying to burn her wedding book behind the bakery but she doesn't mean to set her pity cupcakes on fire.

Ford Maguire is on the fire crew (also trains search and rescue dogs and is an EMT.) When he responds to a fire at the bakery, he doesn't expect to find a woman that he's attracted to. And definitely not one that fits into his life so perfectly, enjoying and understanding his jobs as well as being able to hang out with all of his friends. But this can't be a relationship, can it?

It helps to have read the first book in this series but it's not necessary. Violet was a little too much of the stereotypical rom com heroine but this was still a fast and fun read.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 26th

Follows Just One of the Groomsmen

ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Hideaway by Nora Roberts

Caitlyn "Cate" Sullivan comes from Hollywood royalty. Her great-grandfather, grandfather, her dad, her entire family are actors. She herself started acting at twenty-one months.  Now, at ten, the drama of the screen has become real life. Caitlyn has been kidnapped. She manages to free herself (already a kickass heroine!) and is helped by a boy named Dillon. Once she gets home, she helps unmask the people who plotted to get ten million dollars from the Sullivan family.
We get to see more of Cate as she grows up, decides against being an on-screen actress and eventually turning to voice acting. She returns, occasionally, to the estate she was kidnapped from and sees Dillon as he grows up too. By Part III of the book, they are both fully grown and heading toward a serious love. But someone from the past still blames them for the path that night took so long ago and believe revenge to be a dish best served cold.
I liked this ARC better on the second read. The third part is a little mushy on timeline that made it hard to follow and, on the second read, I didn't have to work so hard to figure it out. I gave it a second read because I think that part may be better edited before the book goes to print and I wanted to give it a fair shake.  Regular readers of Roberts will recognize her touches in this story and probably enjoy it as much as any of her other contemporary stand-alones. I still connected more with Abigail in The Witness or Fiona in The Search but the family ties in this book were what made it shine.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 26th
ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

The Demigod Complex by Abigail Owen

Back in the day, Lyleia, a water nymph, refused a werewolf. He got super pissy about it and (long story short) he engineered the removal of her spring as well as her banishment from her family. These days she's the executive assistant to Castor Dioskouri who is a demigod son of Zeus. She's also in love with the man despite being hired specifically because she should have been able to avoid that fate.

Castor is in love with Leia and is trying to get her to figure that out, rather than quitting on him. So he asks her to attend a shifter mating ceremony. Hormones run high and he needs a shield against the women who would through themselves at him. 

Leia agrees to go but when an enemy from the past shows up, their budding relationship may be the only thing that saves her from certain death.

A fast and fun read. Didn't really get to know the characters much and I wish we had seen a little bit more of their relationship but I am excited to read the next book in the series.

Three stars

Followed by Shift Out of Luck

This book (2nd edition) came out February 17th, 2020

Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

Sloan Monroe was introduced in "The Friend Zone." She was the best friend of the heroine and was engaged to be married. But at the end of the last book, her fiance was killed. Now, it is two years later and Sloan is still grieving the life, and the promise of a new life, that has been lost to her. She's on her way to the cemetery one day when a dog runs in front of her and then leaps into her car. The dog has a tag with a name and number. For two weeks, Sloan tries to get a hold of Tucker's owner but then decides to keep him.
Jason thought that the woman he was sort of seeing would take care of his dog. Mostly because she said she would. Instead, she took off for New York. Now Sloan has his dog. She isn't swayed that he is out of the country and won't tell him her address but she does reply back to his flirty texts.  And their conversations go back and forth with their alternating viewpoints on how the relationship is going.
Like The Friend Zone, this book starts off incredibly strong. Good relationship development is one of my catnips. Unfortunately, the slow build at the beginning of the book starts speeding up as we get to the back half. It's like going down a hill as they start moving faster and faster so, while we get to see some of the bumps in the relationship road, we miss more of the reasons that these two might make it to an HEA.

Three stars
Follows The Friend Zone
This book came out April 14th, 2020
Borrowed this as an ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Remind Me by Samantha Chase

Mallory Westbrook had a hot and heavy affair with her great-grandfather's next-door neighbor, Jake Summerford. But it ended and then she overheard and misunderstood a conversation Jake and her great-grandfather were having about her.
Years later, she is back in town after a hurricane destroyed her great-grandfather's house as well as for his funeral. Jake now owns the house next door and he wants to help Mallory get through her grief. As well as maybe convince her to stay.
This was an okay book but a lot happened in a short time because it is a shorter story. I was alternately irritated with Mallory and wondering why we didn't get to know more of her. I'm still looking forward to the next book in the series because light and fluffy is just what I need right now.

Three stars
Followed by A Girl Like You
This book came out March 12th, 2019
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Beach Read by Emily Henry

When two authors, both with writer's block, live next door to each other for the summer, will they be able to help each other through? Short answer, yes. Longer answer, there is a history between the two authors than the blurb demands. And did we need to have that backstory? I don't know. It built on their history but it took up pages that could have gone to developing their current relationship. Usually I like a second chance romance but this book almost would have been better without it so the readers could have discovered the romance along with the main characters. The beginning dragged a bit (our romance writing heroine has had her happy-ever-after-believing soul shaken twice recently; both stories are ruminated on a lot but wrapped up oddly quickly) and the end could have developed a bit more (though I did like the image of linked Happy-For-Right-Nows rather than an HEA) but the middle was a lovely story of two people falling slowly in love.
I always wonder if stories like this come from someone who had writer's block but overall, a nice story with some interesting glimpses into the life of a writer.

Three stars
This book comes out May 19th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Scoring the Player's Baby by Naima Simone

Kim Matlock got divorced from a football player after it came out he had been extensively cheating on her. Feeling burned, even a year later, she is excited to have a one night stand with a man she meets at a bridal show (I know, right? but he's there with his sister). And she's loving it ... until she learns he is also a football player. And she just can't handle that. Until they meet again and she becomes pregnant. Now he's trying to get past the guilt of loving someone other than the ex who died and she's trying to prove to herself that she's good at her job, even if her father (who has literally told her he wishes she weren't born) doesn't think so.
And, to some extent, it felt like these two characters were in different books. This wasn't as good as the first two books but not as bad as a two star book. I really wish we had seen Ronin's mom... at all. She seemed like she would have been a fabulous character.


Three stars

This book came out July 9th, 2018
Follows Scoring off the Field
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

Say Yes to the Duke by Eloisa James

Viola Astley knows she's not a real Wilde. Her mother married into the family when she was two. Though the Duke and all of her siblings have accepted that she's a true "Wilde Childe," Viola has worked herself into such a thought pattern that she is physically ill before balls, even before just meeting eligible men. She isn't a Wilde by blood and, shorter than the rest, plumper than the rest, she doesn't even look like she belongs. But then she meets the new local vicar and falls in love. Too bad he already has a fiancee. And really too bad that a duke seems to have set his eyes on her.
Devin Lucas Augustus Elstan, Duke of Wynter, is ready to get married. He might as well marry a Wilde, but not the adopted daughter. Instead, he'll check out the one who is generally known to not be a Wilde by blood but is by name. Even his uncle pushing him to meet Miss Astley doesn't make him interested in Viola. But when she stands up to him, well, that catches his notice.
This is a fairly quiet book. Not a lot of conflict and that was just lovely right now. Even the last misunderstanding wasn't a Big Misunderstanding because they actually talked to each other.

Four stars
Follows Say No to the Duke

Followed by Wilde Child
This book comes out May 19th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Chaos Reigning Jessie Mihalik

As a child, Catarina von Hasenberg was often sick. But what no one other than she, her father, and a handful of scientists know that she wasn't really sick, her family was experimenting on her trying to play with her genes to make her faster, stronger, etc.  She was the youngest in a family of six so she was more expendable and her father is more interested in a way to gain power than keeping his family alive. Her bonds with her siblings are tight and Catarina is willing to help them in the fight against the Syndicate, a group that is trying to take over power from the Royal Consortium of which the von Hasenbergs are one of the three High Houses.
Cat has been invited to a house party at one of the family's that is suspected to be plotting against the Royal Consortium. Her sister Bianca is worried about her safety and sends two people along with Cat, Alex and Aoife. Aoife will be her bodyguard and Alex is going to pose as Cat's newest boy toy. Since no one knows about Cat's skills, she chafes against the restrictions but realizes why her sister might want to send her extra help, especially since she's the youngest and everyone is used to thinking of her as being weak.
I would definitely read the first two books in the series before this one. I don't think you necessarily have to but the series as a whole is amazing and worth reading. Of the three heroines, I think I connected to Cat the least but I couldn't put my finger on why. She is just as kick ass as her sisters  but I think the mask she had to wear annoyed even me. It also took me a bit of time to get into the story but, once it picked up, it really became wonderful.

Four stars
Follows Aurora Rising
This book comes out May 19, 2020
ARC kindly provided by Harper Voyager Trade and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Crossing Over Easy by Nova Nelson

Normally, a horrific car crash might not mean that someone will be able to walk away. But Nora Ashcroft does. And she follows a talking dog to a restaurant that includes fauns, witches, and the Grim Reaper (though he prefers "Ted.") Her brain can barely comprehend what's happening when she discovers a dead body. She also finds out that she is a Witch of the Fifth Wind; she can talk to ghosts, especially those who were murdered and help to set things right.
And because of who she is, she gets involved in solving the mystery of who killed Bruce the werewolf.
This is a short book but sets up some good worldbuilding (including the fact that Eastwind has a larger than normal murder rate which easily sets up the rest of the series and solves the usual problem with small town murder mysteries.) An interesting series and a nice first book.

Three stars
Followed by Death Metal
This book came out February 26th, 2018
Borrowed as audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

Kristin Petersen has just gotten some devastating news. But she's trying to keep it quiet so that she can continue to plan her best friend's wedding. Of course, driving her friend's fiance's brand new truck and then spilling coffee during a minor fender bender (maybe slightly before...) doesn't help the day. And the guy who bumps her ending up being the best man? That's just crap icing on the crap cake.
But as she gets to know Josh Copeland, she starts to fall a little bit more and more in love. Too bad she isn't really the perfect woman for her perfect man. And then a major emergency puts all wedding plans on hold.
The characters were well drawn and I generally liked the story except that it's one of those stories that could be easily solved by one conversation. And the ending just felt... wrong. Things like that can happen in real life but it didn't feel organic to the way the rest of this story was written.

Three stars
Followed by The Happy Ever After Playlist
This book came out June 11th, 2019
Borrowed this as an ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs

The book starts off with a goblin hunt and leads into complete zombie fest. Mercy originally set out with Ben and Mary Jo (the latter of whom she is still trying to figure out; she saved the woman's life but she still hates Mercy) but ends up needing the help of powerful witch Elizaveta. But, for some reason, no one at her house is answering the phone. It seems that a witch consortium is building power and if Elizaveta's family isn't with them, they are against them. And Mercy's pack? They're automatically against them. And the cute little zombie goats that begin the story have nothing on the creatures that these witches will unleash in the search for power.
This story definitely move forward the stories of a lot of the main characters as a couple of the B characters in this series. A nice addition to the series that is making look forward to the next.

Four stars
This book came out May 7th, 2019
Follows Silence Fallen
Followed by Smoke Bitten
Ebook from Library
Opinions are my own

Secret Star by Nora Roberts

Grace Fontaine just needed some time to relax so she went away. She didn't realize that doing so would lead to her cousin's death. Nor did she think that her friends might believe she was the one who died. So when she walks into her trashed home and is accosted by Detective Seth Buchanan, she reacts badly, playing right into his assumptions about her personality.
Rich girl, party girl, doesn't care about others are Buchanan's thoughts. Here, her friends are mourning her, and she's just wandering around blithely. But he is soon proved wrong. Grace is more than that. More than just her wealth and beauty. But there are others who don't see that and she may be in danger from the one who doesn't just covet her but the three giant diamonds at the heart of this series.
Definitely a 90s romance first written as a Harlequin romance. Not a lot of room for much (e.g. Character or romance development) other than the story.

Three stars
Follows Captive Star
This book came out January 1st, 1998
Hard copy I didn't keep
Opinions are my own

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

January Scaller does not live with either her mother or her father. Instead, she lives with Mr. Locke while her father travels the world, searching for treasures for the New England Archeological Society. And Mr. Locke seems to care for her. She cares for him. Her life is distressingly normal for a girl who is neither white nor black in (I think?) the early 1900s. But her life begins to change at seven when she briefly sees a blue door and goes through to another world. When her father dies, her life changes irrevocably. Her first person narration pulls us into the story, into her feelings and sense of wonder.
Her story intersects with two others whose identities are originally concealed from us by the third person narrator. All of them, explorers, trying to discover all 10,000 doors (which is actually "too many to count" but 10,000 works well.)
Great character development, awesome world building, and a happy ending. All things that make me happy. I did skim a couple of sections but not very much.

Four stars
This book came out September 10th, 2019
Borrowed as an audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

Falling for Max by Shannon Stacey

Tori Burns loves her life. She's a part-time waitress which lets work with people and also work her first love, graphic design. When Max Crawford walks into her diner one day, she is confounded and bemused. The man who half the town believes to be an ax murderer is there to try and meet a woman. Well, it's true it is the only game in town for meeting people but Max is adorably awkward. That's why she agrees to help him practice date. If only they can keep it to practicing...

Four stars
Follows Taken with You
This book came out July 29th, 2014
March 25th, 2014
Listened to on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

A Going Concern by Catherine Aird

Elderly people often have odd ideas - or so the stereotype goes. So when Octavia Garamond adds not only a precatory memorandum (wishes that the deceased would like to have happen but aren't outlined in the will itself), a very young executrix (Amelia Kennerly) who Octavia had only met once, and a request that the police be at her funeral, it adds up to something beyond just a little odd.
And the oddness continues as Octavia's house, ordered to be locked after her death and not opened by anyone but Amelia, is completely searched. Inspector Sloane works slowly to find out the answer to this mystery which has its roots in a biochemical research lab during World War II.
I heard about this book on the Classic Mysteries podcast and enjoyed it quite a bit. I am not sure I will go back to the beginning and read them all but I will probably look through and see if there are any other plots that look interesting.

Four stars
This book came out March 31st, 2020

Follows A Going Concern

Followed by After Effects
Borrowed as an ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Scoring off the Field by Naima Simone

Tennyson "Tenny" Clark has been in love with her best friend/boss for decades. She even confessed it to him one drunken night but he was so horrified that she immediately played it off as being a joke. But it's time for her to step out on her own. She needs to get away from Dominic Anderson and stop letting him break her heart every time he sleeps with another woman.
But this is when Dominic realizes that Tenny might just be a woman. And he doesn't want to let her go.
And he is kind of a jerk about it. He wants to have his cake and eat it too; Tenny should be his best friend but also have sex but not ever fall in love. I liked Simone's writing but didn't really connect with the characters.

Three and a half stars
Follows Scoring With the Wrong Twin
Followed by Scoring the Player's Baby
This book came out March 12th, 2018
Ebook from Kindle
Opinions are my own

Reread March 2023

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

I wouldn't have read this book except that several blogs and podcasts kept singing this book's praises. And rightly so, the writing is beautiful and the story unique. I did not especially love the ending but am not sure how it could have been better except that a couple more chapters would have served. I was surprised that a book that seems like it could be complicated (and it is -- Oona of the head is a different age than Oona of the body) and still hold my attention right now.

Four stars
This book  came out February 25th, 2020
Borrowed this as an ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Captive Star by Nora Roberts

MJ O'Leary doesn't understand why her friend Bailey sent her a giant diamond but she doesn't have a lot of time to try and figure it out as she is confronted by a man in her own home and he claims that he is there to take her in since she's skipped her bounty.
Jack Dakota is a skip tracer and he's seen a lot of things. But this job seems a bit odd. Even more odd when someone else barges in demanding that Jack turn her over. He decides that taking off with MJ is going to be the better bet. Maybe not safer but something is definitely hinky and he wants to know what's going on.
I would read the whole series in order. I don't think you absolutely need to but it is much better with all of the info. This is a very 90s romance but still enjoyable (if a little dated - flip phones anyone?)

Three stars
Follows Hidden Star
Followed by Secret Star
This book came out November 1st, 1997
Hard copy I didn't keep
Opinions are my own

Family for Beginners by Sarah Morgan

Flora Donovan's father deserted her before she was born. Her mother died when she was eight and she grew up with an aunt who saw her as baggage. Her past has made her very sensitive to others who are hurting. And she sees the daughters of Jack Parker hurting. He came into the flower store where she worked and was immediately intrigued. A widower for almost a year, he knows his daughters are in pain but he isn't able to see how deep. When he introduces Flora to seventeen-year-old Izzy and seven-year-old Molly, it doesn't go well but he isn't able to see.
And I think Morgan does a good job of showing the emotions of each character and the blocks that each one has as well. The book was a bit narrow compared to some of others of Morgans books -- the focus is super tight mainly on Izzy and Flora but I strangely felt like they were a bit one-dimensional as well in places. Definitely on par with others of Morgan's books that aren't strict romances (though there is an HEA here) but didn't pull on as much emotion as others.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 5th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Taken with You by Shannon Stacey

Reading the Kowalski stories made me an instant Shannon Stacey fan. She does not disappoint with a book about Hailey (who's been introduced in other books), the Whitford librarian and Matt, the new game warden.
Matt's a scarred hero (because, what else?). One of his exes not only objected to his erratic hours and coming home muddy and smelling of animal urine, she absolutely tried to change him. I didn't really get where the deep scars were coming from just based on these descriptions, but then again, I live in Montana where stuff like this is the norm, so... It seemed more like he was being super-rigid about women having to appreciate him and his lifestyle and even went out of his way to try and scare subsequent girlfriends.
Hailey is looking for a man who will appreciate opera and five-star restaurants. When she meets a bewhiskered man who hasn't showered in several days while lost in the woods, she's not immediately attracted to him. But when he cleans up so nice and seems like a rational human being... he might actually might make a good companion. For awhile. But not forever, of course!
I did not like that Matt was being such a baby about the outdoors thing and I very much liked that Hailey was willing to be more compromising about how they spent their time. She was right to be pissed when he acted like a child in the French restaurant. I had to appreciate the end of the book when it looked like they were going to create a better balance of what they both loved. Just because they didn't have the exact same tastes didn't mean they couldn't be together.
I absolutely loved that there was a five year age gap (she's 40, he's 35) and there were no mentions of cougars, no argument over "she's too old", or any of the things that you might expect from an older female-younger male-type relationship. Instead, it's simply Matt and Hailey falling in love.

Kowalski Family #8

Four stars
Follows Love a Little Sideways
Followed by Falling for Max
This book came out March 25th, 2014
Listened to on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

Reread as hard copy of mine March 2024

Close Up by Amanda Quick

Vivian Brazier is just trying to make a living as a photographer. It's an emerging field in the 1920s and very few people are making Art. She's making ends meet by being a photojournalist, taking pictures of crime scenes. And it's the latter job that brings her in contact with the person known as the "Dagger Killer." Her second sight when she uses the camera helps her capture nuances that no one else can see. When she becomes a target, a bodyguard is arranged.
Nick Sundridge is that bodyguard. He also has visions and manages them through lucid dreaming and being a detective (being a good guy balances the horrible parts of his visions.)  He saves her life and then decides to take her up to Burning Cove where the Hollywood glitterati goes but he can control more of the security.
The romance between them felt a bit thin but it was overall a fun read and a nice addition to the Burning Cove series. We are starting to learn a little bit more about Luther Pell's work behind the scenes; it's unfolding slowly, hint by hint. I'm still holding out hope for Luther and Raina's story as well.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 5, 2020
Follows Tightrope

Followed by The Lady Has a Past
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reread September 2022 as audiobook from Libby