August Rereads

No rereads this month. Too busy running, paddleboarding, and biking, I guess:)

Be My Ghost by Carol J. Perry

Maureen Doherty is reeling from the fact that her job at a clothing department store is gone now that the store is out of business. She's not sure what she's going to do and is grateful that her boss gives her a last check and a lucky coin that falls out of her desk drawer as she's leaving. When she gets home, she discovers that she's inherited an in in Haven, Florida, a place she only visited once. What is she to do except pack up her belongings and her beloved golden retriever, Finn and head on down?

When she gets to Haven House Inn, she's surprised to discover that not only does she have a full staff, there are also some year-round residents in addition to the short stays and also some... well, some not so alive guests. Including one who was alive only a little while earlier.

This is a really fun start to a new series (I think) with not too much world building but enough to make it understandable and relatable. Do we know why there are ghosts in the hotel? Maybe not but it's not a necessary part of the story so why add it in? The ghosts didn't add much to the actual mystery other than the fact that the man who was killed was a ghost hunter who may or may not have figured out how to capture the ghosts on film but I think that may be added in to later books in the series.

Four stars

This book comes out August 31st, 2021

Followed by High Spirits

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Publishing Corp. and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Big Nate: Aloha! by Lincoln Peirce

We get the span from the end of the school year and prank days, through the summer, and some back-to-school shopping. As usual, a fantastic look at the life of Nate with a bit more Dee Dee and not as much Gina (I wish we saw more between those two; the crossover is always fun; it would have bumped up my reading score for sure). 

One of the more interesting stories is that, while working as an intern at the comic book store, Nate sees Randy shoplifting. Randy, of course, being one of Nate's bullies. Nate calls for help, but when none is forthcoming, he tackles (literally) Randy. This also spins off a few strips where we discover yet another job of School Photo guy as mall cop. 

Of course, Nate is still interested in romance. He goes on a date with one girl, tires the pencil trick with two others, and then works his charm on the beach. Spoiler, none of them work.  

We get glimpses of other summer activities such as busking with Enslave the Mollusk and once again playing on the Cupcakes baseball team.

Four stars

Follows In Your Face

Followed by Beware of Low-Flying Corn Muffins

This book comes out August 31st, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan

At eighty years old, Kathleen is ready to get out and <i>live</i> again. She used to host a series called the Summer Seekers where she went around the world and was televised doing it. Her daughter, Liz, was rather resentful that her mother was never home. That's why she's the consummate homemaker now. But that means that she's always having to be six steps ahead of whatever her husband and their twin daughters are doing so that everything goes right. But that's exhausting. And now her mother has had an intruder. True, she took care of the man with a frying pan but that's just evidence that the woman isn't eating correctly. 

But Kathleen isn't ready to go to the "peaceful rest home" that her daughter is pushing on her. She wants to have one last adventure: Route 66 in America (Kathleen is British.) But she knows she shouldn't drive so she puts out an ad.

Martha is mid-twenties and already divorced. Her family continually favors her prettier, more successful sister. Does she like to drive? Maybe not but it's a) a job and b) a chance to get out of her family's house. 

So Kathleen and Martha are off. Of course, they are going to learn some truths about themselves because this is a fiction book. They will also have some fun. But Liza will learn the same thing staying home in England and reconnecting with the life she had before her twins were born.

For everything that is going on in this book, it's a rather quiet read. Morgan's non-romance books are often like that. I didn't like that there were so many threads that it felt like a few stories got shortchanged.

Four stars

This book came out May 18th, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Café between Pumpkin and Pie -- Anthology

In the town of Moonbright, young woman who chant some specific lines on Halloween are destined to see the reflection of their true love before the night is over. Three loosely connected stories explore the romances of 2021.

Love Over Easy by Katie Angell

Hannah Allan is in a little over her head. Dressed as Bo Peep so that her sister's children (her sister is home with a cold and her brother-in-law is at work as a policeman) can go to the Halloween parade and then go trick-or-treating. She didn't expect to run into Jake Kaylor. He is the man that every woman in Moonbright wants. Hannah's sister was his girlfriend for awhile but they didn't work out. 

Hannah's family owns the Corner Cafe. She works as a waitress and may not always get everyone's orders right, but she is pleasant and the town loves her. Jake is beyond what she can imagine, the bad boy extraordinaire. Yet he somehow has eyes for her. And she's looking back...

Some of the language by Angell is a bit formal and I'm not sure I bought an HEA but for sure there was an HFN.

Three stars.

Love Rising by Stacy Finz

I've read Stacy Finz before and was happy to recognize some characters from previous books. Of the three stories, this felt the most cohesive and it may have helped that the main characters knew each other in the past and seemed to be willing to meet each other halfway to make the relationship work.

Sydney Byrne is only in Moonbright to sell her grandmother's house and then she's going back to San Francisco and back to her bakery. She's not sure why Nick Rossi is at the house at o'dark thirty, nor does she know why he's tearing down the wall to her grandmother's crafts room but she never suspects that her grandmother may have made alternate plans.

Nick doesn't know why Sydney's grandmother hired him but he always fulfills his clients requests. Especially when it means that he's tweaking Sydney's nose at the same time. The two were close in high school with Sydney tutoring him. But then his girlfriend caught them kissing and spread horrible rumors about Sydney that Nick did nothing to stem. Now they're all grown up, both single, and he's thinking that they can test the waters again. But Sydney's life is across the country, how can they make it work?

Three and a half stars

Romance on Tap by Marina Adair

I really liked that Adair wrapped in the experiences of a child adopted from another country but still loves her adoptive parents. Mila Cramer is back in Moonbright so that her parents can have one last Christmas in the house she grew up in. While she's in town, she's determined to lift the curse that Ford James put on her when he kissed her during Seven Minutes in Heaven in high school. That was the last time she kissed a man with whom she had such chemistry. But Ford's twin brother Hudson might book a spoke in those plans.

Again, having characters who already have a history served the author well in this short story. It made me believe that they might have a shot at an HEA because they do know each other... at least their histories. 

Three and a half stars

Three and a half stars

This book comes out August 31st, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder Most Fair by Anna Lee Huber

Still struggling to adjust to life after the war and after her husband's return from death, Verity Kent is further distressed to be going to her childhood home where her mother's sharp tongue and the ghost of her brother Robby will only bring up bad memories. Her great aunt Ilse has also shown up. The seventy-nine-year-old woman is a favorite relative of Verity's but she is not the same woman Verity remembers. Which makes sense. The woman has lost all of her relatives and her longtime personal maid. Now she has barely made it to a foreign country where many people actively hate Germans. 

They are all off to Yorkshire where Verity's past still seems to haunt her. Then Ilse's maid, Bauer, is brutally murdered and the village is riled up in innumerable ways.

This was a good book and the mystery was fine but even better are the ways that Verity and even Sidney grew in this book. We get to see more of the family that Verity has been avoiding. Family hurts are brought to light; maybe not all healed but at least finally acknowledged. It was a nice diversion from the dealings with Lord Ardmore.

Four stars

Follows A Pretty Deceit

Followed by A Certain Darkness

This book comes out August 31st, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Breaking Badger by Shelly Laurenston

I loved this story. It didn't focus quite enough on the romance between Finn and Mads but it read quickly and had a lot of the fun that readers expect from a Laurenston book with just the right amount of exclamation marks (they were a little thick on the ground in the last book.) 

The Malone brothers have been divided from most of the rest of the shifter community since their father was murdered and no one else acknowledged it as such. The oldest three are working to figure out who did the actual deed. They don't care so much about the why (at least that I read) as they do about justice.

Mads and her teammates (they're certainly not friends!) have been sent to a mysterious island where they once again encounter the Malone brothers (you don't HAVE to have read the previous books in this series but why wouldn't you?). When the Malones figure out that the only way they might find out what happened to their father means kissing up to the badgers, Finn is nominated to be the one to do the kissing which is going to be especially hard since his brother kicked the badgers out after they brought thank you pastries (I just love this idea so much.) 

Four stars

This book comes out August 31st, 2021

Follows Badger to the Bone

Followed by Born to Be Badger

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Audible

Witch Me Luck by Amanda M. Lee

I never had an arch enemy in high school but Bay Winchester sure did. Like most fictional high school nemeses, Lilah Stevens is beautiful, popular, and mean. Really and truly mean. And Bay was her favorite victim. And still is. Because Lilah is back in town and she's set her sights on Bay and on Bay's man, Landon. She's not even subtle about it, immediately sidling up to Landon soon after someone robs the local bank. Landon's not having it and, in fact, is too busy reaming out Bay because she ran to the shots rather than away from them.
It was really nice to see how much Bay really did trust Landon. Although, she did wobble quite a bit on the trust issues, especially when it comes down to reporting the evidence that points to her cousin Clove's beau, Sam, as the bank robber. Even when it means that Clove is no longer talking to Bay.
There was a little too much drama in this one for me but I do love that the women are finding their HEAs without losing too much of themselves.

 
Three stars
This book came out May 1st, 2015

Follows Something to Witch About

Followed by Life's a Witch

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Something to Witch About by Amanda M. Lee

Bay Winchester's life is never easy but these days seem unnecessarily complicated. Right now, her father is building an inn with his two ex-brothers-in-law that is going up against her mother and her mother's sisters business, her cousin Clove is sneaking around doing who knows what, her boyfriend Landon's family is in town visiting and his mother doesn't really seem to approve of her, her great aunt Tillie is growing pot and her new greenhouse just dug up a set of bones, when Bay goes down with Landon and the police chief to see what is going on, a poltergeist shoots right through her. The remains are identified fairly quickly and Tillie seems to be a viable suspect for the death. As Bay tries to clear her great-aunt Tillie's name, she is also working not to alienate Landon's mother completely nor let his family see exactly how different her family is.

There was a lot of movement forward for Bay as well as her two cousins in this book which was highly enjoyable. 

Four stars

This book came out October 17th, 2014

Follows Witching on a Star

Followed by Witch Me Luck

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Love at First Hate by A.R. Casella

In previous books in the series, we were introduced to the Bad Luck Club. This was for the people who seemed to have more bad luck than good but who were actively working to make a change. Blue, a previous heroine, even graduated. But it seems that one of the members has written a book about the club claiming that she founded it. And new Bad Luck Clubs are popping up all over. But was she really the inspiration?

Molly O'Shea is ready to jump-start her career. She's just lost her job at a dating blog site and is back in Asheville to watch her sister's dogs while her sister is on a babymoon. What else does she have to do? But this reveal about the BLC might get her going in a different direction, more in line with what she wants to do. Too bad that researching the club might ruin what could have been a great relationship with Caleb "Cal" Reynolds. Because picking at the secrets of the club mean picking at the secrets of Cal's past. And he doesn't want those secrets to resurface.

I really liked that Molly came clean with Cal early in the book. I was getting some definite squick from the idea that she might lie to him about why she was getting in touch.

Four stars

This book came out August 12th, 2021

Follows Luck of the Draw (Asheville Brewery series)

Followed by Jingle Bell Hell

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Hidden Miles by Claire Kingsley

Leo Miles hasn't left his family's property in three years. Not since he came back from the war scarred down one side of his body and with PTSD that confines him to the vineyard. His solace is his online gaming where he hangs out with his friend Gigz (short for giggles.) Hearing her voice just makes him feel good. When he hears her voice at a wedding on the family property, he's astonished. But he can't show her his physical self.

Hannah Tate knows she needs to leave her relationship but she's terrified that her abusive boyfriend will hurt her when she does (TW for physical harm). She is shocked to have a moment with a stranger at her boyfriend's cousin's wedding but intrigued. When she finds out the man is her online gaming buddy, Badger, she's shocked. But it turns out to be a blessing because he ends up being the only one she can call when her boyfriend does put her in the hospital. She ends up staying with him and eventually falling in love. Well, lust for sure. But he doesn't seem to feel the same. Or maybe he can't. But their feelings are about to be crystallized because the storyline involving Leo's father that has run through all four books in the series is about to come to a head.

This was some serious relationship whiplash in this book. If you don't like the h/h to have a relationship at the beginning of a book, this book will not be for you. Hannah's boyfriend is defintely an asshat but she doesn't get rid of him for well into the book. And there were so many Big Misunderstandings at the end... it just kept going. 

Three stars

This book came out March 22nd, 2019

Follows Reckless Miles

Followed by Gaining Miles

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Bombshell by Sarah MacLean

Lady Sesily Talbot is well-known in the ton. She cut a swath with her four sisters as the daughters of a coal merchant. Now, her sisters are all married off while Sesily uses her time working with a group of women to take down unscrupulous men. Is it dangerous? Yes. But she feels strong that it is the right thing to do. Would she love to get married? Maybe. But there is only one man who holds her interest. 

Caleb Calhoun is an American in business with Sesily's sister Sera. He has just returned to England after two years away. He was most definitely avoiding Sesily. But now he's back to help Sera and their business partner Fetu while she gives birth. He knows that his past will cause a problem but he just can't stay away from Sesily. And when his past crosses with her present, it may mean that he will never see her again.

MacLean has written another amazing novel. I thought that the wrap up was a little too swift but the book was otherwise enjoyable. Sesily was capable and Caleb recognized that. I am very hopeful that Lady Imogen, resident chemist, will get a story with Bow Street Runner Thomas Peck. 

Four stars

This book comes out August 24th, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Secret Staircase by Sheila Connolly

Trying to resurrect her hometown, Kate Hamilton is really feeling the weight of her own expectations. They have the Barton house and a chunk of money to refurbish it, but how will she find contractors? Will it be enough? 

She finds a contractor, Morgan, who seems like he will be good at the job but the day that he's inspecting the house, they find a body, more of a skeleton really, walled up in the kitchen of the Barton house. He obviously died in the 1800s so it's not of great concern but it is still curious. 

Katie is also dealing with Steve, one of Morgan's contractors who seems to have an ulterior motive for working on the house, as well as balancing her burgeoning relationship with Joshua, who seems to be distancing himself somewhat.

Then, another body is found in the house and this time it's someone that Kate knows. Of course, being a cozy, it is someone who totally deserves it. But that doesn't mean that it isn't disconcerting. And a little worrying.

The mystery in this one is not quite as tight as previous books in the series. Also, the ending was a bit abrupt, especially with a time jump that didn't make sense to me.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out August 24th, 2021
Follows Killer in the Carriage House
ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Now You See Her by Linda Howard

Sweeney is an artist. She's happy without a man in her life, just her art. But her life is changing. She's painting murder scenes, scenes that she has no possible way of knowing. And all of a sudden, she's not only noticing men, she's attracting them. 

Richard Worth is the husband of her gallery's owner. He's been trying to divorce her for over a year but it's slow going. He doesn't really care. She's after his money, 'cause he's rich. He's also not as refined as she'd've liked. But Sweeney likes him fine and he's the only one who can warm her from the debilitating cold that takes over after she's painted.

This is definitely a nineties romance with the sweet heroine and forceful hero. A little too forceful but still a nostalgic read. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 25th, 1998

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Newly Wed and Slightly Dead by Danielle Garrett

Even paranormals get married. Which means that they need wedding planners. Well, event planners really but Anastasia Winters has aspired to being a wedding planner and she's finally gotten promoted to the position. But that doesn't mean she'll stay there long. She's got a coworker, Kait, who's gunning for her job and a boss who expects perfection at every event. Even at the rehearsals. So, when Ana bumbles a job (at least according to her boss), she's now on notice. And it's going to be particularly important for her next event because it's going to be the Wedding of the Year. Or at least fairly important because one of the scions of an old and noble vampire family is marrying a human. Which is, apparently, fairly scandalous. And it's a human who may or may not have fairy blood in her far distant past but still. 

Too bad the rehearsal dinner is such a problem. First, the future mother-in-law declares that she will give her son a fortune IF the bride agrees to become a vampire. And the woman has been picking on this poor human nonstop so it's just one more thing they have to deal with. Then, the MIL ends up dead. Staked. Ashes. And the bride seems like the most likely suspect.

A fast, fun, and fluffy book and I enjoyed both it and how it lightly touched on one of Garrett's other series.

This book came out February 14th, 2019

Followed by Couture and Curses

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, Stephen R. Covey

Why are the conversations we most need to have often the hardest to actually sit down and have? Because they are HARD. We don't let information flow freely for various reasons.

Know your motives going in. Stick to those reasons during the discussion. Make sure that you stick to facts, not to your story OR tell your story as a story. 

If you need to have a crucial conversation, make sure that you blend confidence and humility. Make sure you listen.

Lots of advice, some will be hard to implement. Will probably re-read at some point. 

Three stars

This book came out September 16th, 2001

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reckless Miles by Claire Kingsley

I would not have enjoyed this book nearly as much if I hadn't listened to Jessen and Juliette on the "Smart Women Read Romance" podcast squee so much over it. I didn't love it quite as much (the characters were more New Adult, which is not my favorite, and the insta-love was a little hard to grasp, especially since Cooper had been set up as a man who enjoyed... the favors... of many women, never sticking to just one and Amelia had quite literally just been dumped at the altar) but I am enjoying the series in general and will more than likely read more by Kingsley.

Cooper Miles usually babbles somewhat incoherently but not usually at strangers. And not strangers who understand him so well. But this woman in a wedding dress sitting next to him seems to understand him. And she's really hot. AND willing to follow him home and spend some time on a "Cooper-moon" while she sorts through her options. 

Amelia is pretty used to doing what other people tell her to do. She sort of falls in with Cooper but then falls in love both with him and his slightly crazy family. Is it a little too fast? She wonders about that as well but she does feel like this could be the real thing.

There is a subplot with Cooper's dad that seems to be the running thread through all of the books and takes up a LOT of the book. 

Three stars

This book came out September 21st, 2018

Follows Forbidden Miles

Followed by Hidden Miles

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon

A worthy successor to The Boyfriend Project. You definitely don't have to have read the previous book in the series but if you do happen to read it out of order, this book has the same heart, sense of humor, and deftly drawn characters and so, if you liked this one, you should definitely check out the other.

Taylor Powell was able to parlay her fifteen minutes of fame into a little bump in her personal training business but it wasn't quite enough to keep her afloat. Working with NFL player (well, he was and now he's hopeful to return, Jamar Dixon, might be the boost she needs. The interesting thing? She tells him they CAN'T appear to be in a relationship. It will make her look bad and just bring out the trolls. Of course, that goes out the wayside quickly and they are soon in a fake romance that is starting to turn distressingly real. 

Three and a half stars
This book comes out June 9th, 2021

Follows The Boyfriend Project

Followed by The Hookup Plan
ARC kindly provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Haunted Homecoming by Angie Fox

It's fall which means Homecoming in Sugarland, Tennessee. Verity Long is ecstatic because her peripatetic mother is coming to visit. She doesn't understand why her mother feels the need to travel all over the country when she could be living in the best place on earth. Her mother is especially excited to see a friend of hers she hasn't seen since high school, Ashley. Everyone else is excited because a big donation means a new scoreboard and the placement means that the school's time capsule is going to be dug up. Unfortunately, the capsule holds more than just good memories. There is a body in the capsule and it's wearing the same dress that Ashley was last seen in. Verity's mom begs her to figure out what happened to her friend.

Once again, Verity is running around talking to ghosts. And also meddling in their business. Well, Frankie and Molly business anyway. It seems Frankie is getting some cold feet about spending "Forever After" with Molly because... well, they're ghosts. And forever after is a darn long time for them.

I think you definitely will have want to have read other books in the series. It may not be absolutely necessary but it adds layers to the story.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out August 17th, 2021

Follows Southern Bred and Dead

Followed by Give Up the Ghost

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Silver Ghost by Charlotte MacLeod

Max and Sarah are attending... some sort of function. I started this book awhile ago and it really didn't hold my interest. But there's a lot going on at this thing. Morris dancers, big dinners, the theft of some valuable cars and a murder. The solution seemed rather convoluted and depended on a plot device that has since been disproven but we got to see a bit more in the life of the Bittersohns and the eccentricities that surround them. 

Three stars

This book came out December 7th, 1987

Follows The Recycled Citizen

Followed by The Gladstone Bag

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Four In Hand by Stephanie Laurens

Four gorgeous sisters in town for the season, all wards of one dangerous duke, or are they? In actuality, the oldest sister, the one who the duke is the most attracted to, is no longer in his care, and therefore not off-limits. But he doesn't want to let her know so he can stay close. Especially since these girls are rare beauties and he knows exactly what men are after. Even his friend and his brother who are the front runners for two of the girls. Can the girls get their men without giving up their virginity?

This is obviously an earlier romance novel with heroines who are arch but innocent and heroes who are rakes but in love.

Three stars

This book came out in 1993

This was a hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason by Susan Kandel

Cece Caruso is thirty-nine, divorced, and the mother of a twenty-one-year-old daughter.   Her latest biography of a mystery writer is due soon but she is blocked. She just can't identify with Erle Stanley Gardner, the writer of Perry Mason mysteries (and more!) But, in his correspondence, she finds a letter from an inmate who swears that he is innocent. Gardner left a note that the case rang a bell for him. So, Cece decides to follow up. And she is soon chasing down the story of a man whose wife was murdered and, left without an alibi, her husband was imprisoned. But Cece thinks the an is innocent. And she's procrastinating her book anyway...

She is also having to deal with the fact that her daughter's marriage is crumbling and there is an added character of her gardener who keeps trying to talk to her about her yard. An interesting first book in a series. I liked the addition of all of the biographical notes about Gardner. The mystery was a little shaky and I didn't completely understand why Cece was getting involved but this could be a fun series.

Four stars

This book came out May 4th, 2004

Followed by Not a Girl Detective

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Luck of the Draw by A.R. Casella, Denise Grover Swank

I get that the Casella/Swank books are supposed to be fun, fast, and fluffy books but I wish this book had been a bit longer so that we could see more how Dee and Dylan's relationship builds. Their meet-cute is adorable. Her Bad Luck Club sponsor has told her she needs to break the rules and her friend Sam (also going through a divorce) knows just what to do. There are weddings at a local park almost every weekend; they are going to crash one. One that Dee happens to know the bride and groom but also happens to be attended by Dylan who is bartending/bouncing. The latter because the bride and groom (River and Georgie) have people who might crash and destroy the wedding. They weren't actually expecting Dee and Sam. 

And Dylan certainly wasn't expecting Dee. He is struck by her beauty and is immediately drawn to her.  It seems that Dottie told her that she was right where she needs to be, the same thing Dottie told Dylan a few months ago. The insta-lust is palpable and believable. The longer term is part of what I'm missing. So is a longer discussion on Dylan's transition into a new position. 

Still, an enjoyable book that regular readers of the Asheville Brewing series will enjoy.

This book came out June 13th, 2021

Follows Bad Luck Club

Followed by Love at First Hate (Bad Luck Club series)

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Forbidden Miles by Claire Kingsley

I don't really get the whole sturm and drang of dating a sibling's best friend. If I hadn't been working my way through the series, I might have skipped this book. Especially since I also don't love New Adult and Brynn is twenty-one. Can people find their OTL at twenty-one? Certainly. But it's not my favorite reading. 

After finding her best friend and boyfriend together, Brynn Miles is okay with moving back home. She's got a friends-with-benefits who is helping her move back home. Little does she know that PDA with the FWB will help her find the love of her life... a man she already knows.

Chase Reilley never looked twice at Brynn Miles. His best friend for life is her brother, Cooper, and the two have been set up in the previous book as man-sluts. They'll sleep with anything that has a vagina but never actually pair up with any of them. However, seeing Brynn in the back booth of the local diner makes Chase suddenly realize that she is a Woman. And she must be his. But Cooper can't know.

Which, admittedly, Cooper doesn't take the news of their dating well but that also might be because he walks in on the two of them before they have a chance to talk to him (which Chase WAS planning on doing).

This is a fast and furious romance with the "I love yous" and marriage proposal happening just after the 50% mark. That means that there have to be a least a couple of Big Misunderstandings in the latter half of the book. And for some of the series arc to take up space that might have been given to a lengthier courting and more understanding that these characters might be finding their HEA and not just a HFN.

Three stars

This book came out July 20th, 2018

Follows Broken Miles

Followed by Reckless Miles

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Obsessions of Lord Godfrey Cavanaugh by Stephanie Laurens

Lord Godfrey Cavanaugh has always love art and paintings. He loves his job as an art authenticator... usually. Right now, he is slogging through a winter storm and isn't sure that he is going to make his destination. His valet has twisted an ankle and things are looking dark. Luckily, he finds a man named Masterson who is heading to the same manor house. Unluckily, being out in the cold brings out the same weakness that he used to suffer as a child, basically a really bad flu. 

Elinor "Ellie" Hinckley is hopeful that selling her mother's favorite painting will help restore some of the family's money. At least enough to get them through for awhile longer. She's 28 and the daughter of minor gentry so she has no hopes of marriage when a handsome man lands in their family's lap; she's more concerned about the painting being proved to be an original masterpiece. 

But all is not as it seems in the manor and Godfrey is going to be the person to help figure out what is going on. 

If you've enjoyed other books in the series, you know what you're going to get. It's a romance from Stephanie Laurens but a little muted since there is a looooooong stretch where Godfrey is ill so the action is a little lacking. I am curious about the side character of Mr. Jeffers (I was listening to the audio so the spelling might be wrong here) -- he was introduced as a man shrouded in mystery and, at least in my mind, ended the book in the same place.

Three and a half stars

This book came out 

Follows The Beguilement of Lady Eustacia Cavanaugh

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Vortex by Catherine Coulter

Like other recent books in the series, this one has parallel stories running through it. Dillon and Sherlock aren't actually in the same place or even working on the same case and, actually, aren't in the book as much as usual. But it was still a Coulter FBI Thriller. 

Mia Briscoe is a reporter working on a story related to a mayoral candidate for New York City. In no way did she expect it to lead to the story of a lifetime and the solving of her best friend's murder. But the man is seriously connected and all of a sudden, Mia is under attack. 

Meanwhile, Olivia Hildebrandt is under fire. The CIA operative has been attacked in her own home. She knows it has something to do with her boyfriend's disappearance. They had been on a mission to remove an undercover operative in Iran and now her boyfriend is gone. 

There was also sort of a throwaway story with Sherlock investigating a woman whose second husband has died mysteriously. I guess to reiterate what an awesome investigator she is?

Three and a half stars
Follows Deadlock

This book comes out August 10th, 2021
ARC kindly provided by William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

This book definitely suffers from being an older book -- lots of derogatory reference that (hopefully) wouldn't be included in books today. The overall mystery was interesting but there were a lot, a LOT, of red herrings that resulted in some last act twists and turns.

Anthony Cade is leading tours in South America when one of his friends comes up with an assignment. If Anthony delivers a manuscript to a London publisher by the 13th, his friend would get 1,000 pounds and he'll give Anthony 250. Anthony is ready for an adventure so he takes it on. He arrives safely in London but his first night there, the waiter who delivered his dinner breaks into his room and rifles through Anthony's suitcase. While the manuscript is safe, the packet of letters that someone had been using for blackmail is gone. 

A dead body that shows up in the lounge of the person who was ostensibly being blackmailed, another a shooting occurs at a house party just when Anthony is sneaking around, a country's throne is at risk, and Superintendent Battle is called into the scene. 

Three stars

This book came out in 1925

Followed by Seven Dials

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

This is definitely a nineties romance with a heroine who is too sweet to live and a hero who is so overly masculine that he might die from testosterone poisoning. But it also has a sweet story of the hero's mother (in her fifties) finding new love after she's been widowed for four years. And Gracie Snow does show some signs of being a strong heroine; Bobby Tom is just a jerk.

Gracie Snow is trying to expand her horizons. She's leaving working in a nursing home and teaching Sunday school for the bright lights of Hollywood. Her first task? To get former football player Bobby Tom from Chicago to Texas where he's supposed to be starring in a movie.

Bobby Tom knows he's hot stuff. He's tall, handsome, and rich. He can get any woman he wants. But he doesn't particularly like this short, plain woman who is trying to make him do something he doesn't particularly want to do. Yes, he signed a contract but so what? They can take the delays out of his paycheck. Is he avoiding his hometown where he actually requested the filming take place? Yes. His hometown is threatened with losing the biggest employer and they are trying to bring tourism to the town by creating a shrine out of his childhood home. And it's just all too much. But annoying Gracie Snow is making the trip at least a little bit better.  By the time they make it to Texas, he's willing to pay her salary in order to keep her around.

Four stars

This book came out April 1st, 1995

Follows It Had to Be You

Followed by Nobody's Baby but Mine

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Broken Miles by Claire Kingsley

Roland Miles is the oldest of his siblings and, as such, his father expected him to take over the family vineyard. Roland ran hard and ran fast. All the way to San Francisco. Too bad his need to prove himself cost him his marriage. Not that he sees it that way. All he knows is that Zoe left him. And he's not upset by it anymore. So when his brother Leo calls and tells him that the family vineyard is about to be taken by the bank, he only hesitates for a moment. Has it really been almost two years since he's been home?

Zoe Sutton is shocked that Roland has returned. But she's even more surprised that her feelings for him don't seem to have diminished at all. Even though her heart was broken, and it's been a long time since their divorce, she is still having some feels. 

Fast, fun, and fluffy. I enjoyed the book.

Four stars

This book came out March 5th, 2018

Followed by Forbidden Miles

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Intrigue by Stephanie Laurens

It is once again Christmas and Lady Osbaldestone is hosting an additional person this year, her youngest son, Christopher. He usually stays in London as long as possible, joining the family as close to Christmas as possible. But this year, his work in the Foreign Office is making him change his habits. Someone has been staking out his London residence and the higher ups are afraid it might be someone from France. The war from Napoleon looks like it might be ending soon (God willing) and Christopher's web of informants will be vital in rebuilding should the war actually be at an end. So if a French agent is staking out his house, Christopher needs to disappear. Add in to that the fact that he suddenly seems to be on the target of eligible lades, he's ready to disappear. And heading to Little Moseley might be the answer. He loves his nieces and nephews and knows that they've had fun there the last few Christmases. Joining them there might be a bit of a hardship but not entirely.

Marion Sewell is tracking Christopher but not for matrimonial purposes. Instead, she is trying to do a favor for her brother who is in the Foreign Office. But she thinks that Christopher might suspect her of the former. He certainly ran away from her in that London ballroom fast enough. But she is going to be relentless in making sure that he hears what she has to say, even if she tracks him down in the back of beyond.

The Christmas Chronicles usually focus around a mystery with a little romance on the side. This book is no different. But from the description (and even the way I described it myself), the romance seems to take the fore. However, there is actually a lot of back and forth between the children and Christopher, the children and Lady Osbaldestone, and even the children and the man sent to protect Christopher. The mystery in this one was weaker than usual and there was a lot of running around with little to show for it until a lot of action was packed into the last 5% of the book.

Three stars

This book came out in October 15th, 2020
Follows Lady Osbaldestone’s Plum Puddings 

Followed by The Meaning of Love

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish

I got this as an ebook but about 3 pages in realized that I wanted to hear this book in Hadish’s own voice. My local library had the audiobook so I waited for 10 weeks to hear the book rather than read it. So worth it.

Hadish has had a hard life; foster care when she was a child, getting physically abused by her mother and an older man, a series of men who weren’t good to her... and, maybe weirdly, hearing it come from her makes it even stronger and more true in the audiobook than it would have been reading it.

Sooooo... the other thing with listening to the audio is that it didn't stick in my brain. At all. I listened to the first part of the book and was loving it so much I went to Goodreads to squee before the first chapter was even done. And there was already a review. You know what? It is just as awesome the second time around. Tiffany starts with her high school experience as a mascot which became her first job. That transitioned into her job as the person at bar mitzvahs who got everyone excited to be there.

Four stars

This book came out December 5th, 2017

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

An English Trilogy by François Rivière

This book was originally published in 1992 and it has very European sensibilities with twists and endings that seem odd to this American's sensibilities. 

I was not expecting a graphic novel to start with so much text (it's a letter that takes up the first quarter of the book). However, it does set up the rest of the stories. It sets us up with a writer (Olivia Sturgess) and a literary critic (Francis Albany). While they were lovers at one point, they were better as friends. And the two get into some odd situations: some more believable than others. They include a fellow author who finds a book published years before but it contains all of his stories, a woman in black who is slowly killing off the people in Olivia's publisher's family, and Francis's memories of being on the Titanic. 

This reminded me of the Golden Age of mysteries in the fact that it referenced the classics, in this case, classic mysteries of all genres. We either see on the page or hear mentioned Christie, Sayers, Allingham, Hitchcock and more.

Three stars

This book came out June 23rd, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Europe Comics and NetGalley

Opinions are my own