February Rereads

Everything's Coming up Rosie by Kasey Michaels

Four stars

This book came out September 1, 2006

Opinions are my own

Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #1

Followed by White Hot
Audiobook from Overdrive
This book came out October 28th, 2014
Opinions are my own

White Hot by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #2

Follows Burn for Me
Followed by Wildfire
Audiobook from Libby
This book came out October 28th, 2014
Opinions are my own

Diamond Fire by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #3.5
Four stars
Followed by Sapphire Flames
This novella came out November 6th, 2018
Audiobook from Libby

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #4
This book came out August 27th, 2019

Four stars
Followed by Emerald Blaze
Audiobook from Libby

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #5

This book came out August 25, 2020
Follows Sapphire Flames

Followed by Ruby Fever

Audiobook from Libby

The Chapel in the Woods by Dolores Gordon-Smith

Jack Haldean, detective story writer, returns in a new mystery that brings a little murder close to home, at least, his cousin's small village. A very rich Canadian and his wife have just bought Birchen Bower. The property has a very interesting history with a family that was descended from pirates. There are also stories about jaguars and ghosts that haunt the area. But the Jagos bring bad luck of their own with stories of Mr. Tom Jago's secretary, Derek Martin (a local boy), running off with twenty thousand dollars worth of diamonds.  

However, they stick around for a bit, even enjoying the village fete. It's just too bad that a body turns up in the chapel on their property. And then there's another.  And another. All appear to have been clawed by a big cat. It will be up to the local constable and Inspector Edward Ashley, with some help from Jack, to figure out what exactly is going on.

Four stars

This book comes out March 1, 2022

Follows Forgotten Murder

ARC provided by Severn House and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers

Lord Peter Wimsey's brother, Gerald, the Duke of Denver, is in a bit of a pickle. He's been arrested for the murder of his sister's fiance. And, while he says he has a witness, he refuses to say who it was that he was with. Now, he's going to trial but the court of public opinion is already swinging against him. Sister Mary isn't saying what she knows, their mother is wildly amused, and Gerald's wife is coldly shutting down. 

Peter will nearly lose his life twice in this book, once in a bog and once on a transatlantic flight but he is able to come through in the end.

Four stars

This book came out in 1926

Follows Whose Body?
Followed by Unnatural Death
Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

It's a simple error that has Robin Blyth in the office when Edwin Courcey comes in. Edwin is confused - where's Reggie? It's this confusion that throws him off enough that he accidentally reveals to Robin the secret magical society that liases with the English government. Robin takes it all in rather easily which shocks Edwin even more. Edwin decides not to wipe Robin's memory and they are suddenly working together to figure out where Reggie went and why a mysterious man has hexed Robin. Along the way, the two fall in love.

I had heard a number of podcasts praising this book and I wonder if I would have liked this book more if I had read it instead of listening to it. There were parts that lagged that were emphasized by the audio narration but the world building was really fun. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 2, 2021

Followed by A Restless Truth

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Thorn in the Saddle by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Jesse Pleasant has had to keep the family together and just wants something for himself. Maybe a run for office would be the way to go. But he interrupts his grandmother with her latest boyfriend and throws a fit. The man's daughter is not best pleased and holds nothing back in letting Jesse know. But somehow he's charmed Lily-Grace Leroux. It was worth reading the whole thing but, good lord, the editing. I'm not sure what happened but the spelling and grammar errors kept pulling me out of enjoying the story.

Three stars

This book came out 

Follows If the Boot Fits

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Perfect Escape by Leah Konen

I like thrillers that have lots of hints so you could go back to the beginning and see the seeds of the story; this book doesn't have that. It's a perfectly fine book about three friends that are on a trip and one suddenly vanishes. And more secrets are unraveled as the book goes on but, again, the secrets are just kind of plopped into the story rather than woven in more smoothly. I did like the fact that we got to see two of the three people's experiences.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 4th, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libb

Opinions are my own

Murder Comes to Call by Jessica Ellicott, Barbara Rosenblat

Once again, Beryl and Edwina are embroiled in a mystery in Walmsley Parva. It begins when Beryl is in the magistrate's court because Constable Gibbs has decided to cite her for reckless driving. As regular readers might guess, this really grates at Beryl's nerves because, of course, she believes herself to be an excellent driver. But while in court, she sees Declan O'Shea who is in court for fighting in the pub. Being an expat herself, Beryl is drawn to the young man. Plus, there's the fact that he's got the Irish accent and is undeniably handsome. Unfortunately, anti-Irish sentiment is high and more than one person believes that Declan is the burglar who is terrorizing the village. And when the magistrate who sentenced him is found dead in his home, all eyes immediately turn toward him. 

However, Beryl isn't so sure and she and Edwina set out to prove the difference.

There are some repetitions in this book that seem like filler but otherwise a good story and I look forward to hearing the fifth book in the series.

Four stars

This book came out October 27th, 2020

Follows Murder Cuts the Mustard

Followed by Murder in an English Glade

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

If the Boot Fits by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Can an assistant and a big-time star find true love? After a one-night stand? According to this book, they can. And it is insta-lust, insta-love... how many more tropes got stuck in here? A lot. I enjoyed the first book in the series more than I thought I would and this book, which should have been my catnip, was a little less enjoyable. I think it was the timeline of Amanda and Sam being just a little too fast. I enjoyed seeing a lot of the other characters in this series and I would have enjoyed this book more had the romance been on just a little bit of an extended timeline.

Three stars

This book came out October 27th, 2020

Follows A Cowboy to Remember

Followed by A Thorn in the Saddle

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

The tagline on this is a little deceptive. It says they wanted a different life but that's not exactly true, Charlie and Cass switch places because Charlie gets hit on the head and needs Cass to step into her role as a TV baker when she loses her sense of smell. I'm not entirely sure why it had to be a secret that Charlie was filling in for Cass but I guess in the digital age it's possible someone could have leaked their secret. I also am not a fan of insta-love and we got this times two. I mean, the two couples pair off in less than two weeks. Cass and Miguel's romance was sweet, the fake star and the physician's assistant meeting and him thinking he had already met her. They are able to work through their issues a little more easily. For Charlie, however, she is pretending to be Cass and that is an issue because Cass only just broke up with her boyfriend but he doesn't seem to be acknowledging that fact.

The "falling in love" was just a little two fast for me. It was an okay read and I just had too many questions. 

Three stars

This book came out October 5th, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon

I wasn't sure that I wanted to read this book but all three books in the series were available at my local library and Weatherspoon is an amazing author so I grabbed this one too. And I really enjoyed it! Yes, there was an amnesia plot but it was fun to see Evie and Zach get to know each other again after she gets pushed down the stairs by a jealous rival. The ending was a bit abrupt but overall a fun ride.

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 25th, 2020

Followed by If the Boot Fits

Ebook borrowed from Libby

Opinions are my own

First Impressions by Nora Roberts

I'm hoping that this is an early book of Nora Roberts (I looked, it is). While eminently listenable, it contains a prototypical nineties Alpha male. Vance Banning is trying to get away from it all. When Shane Abbott (the ubiquitous sunny heroine who's trying to making it on her own and fix the world around her) mistakes him for a carpenter, he decides to go along with the charade. He helps her fix up her grandmother's old house, weathers the emotionally-charged scenes with her cold, emotionless mother, but neglects to tell her that he's really a very wealthy business man who was hurt by (who else?) his first wife.

Not the best of stories but nowhere near being a wall-thumper.

Re-read twelve years later and didn't remember a single part of this story. Same frustration with the alphamale who just didn't want to share his feelings and Shane who is just a little too sweet.

Three stars

This book originally came out April 1984

Ebook borrowed from Libby

Opinions are my own

Flash by Jayne Ann Krentz

Olivia Chantry has recently inherited 49% of her late-uncle's business. This is a problem for her and the rest of the family are nervous about an outsider joining the company. Jasper Sloane is slightly more excited about inheriting the other part of the company. He's been out-of-sorts lately and this job seems like it will be a good challenge, one he's looking forward to. If only he can get Olivia to see things his way... and work on figuring out who a murdering blackmailer is.

One of Krentz's works from the late 90's that I re-read every couple of years. Of course, some of the technology is dated but the love story holds up pretty well.

Four stars

This came out in 1998

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Sure Shot by Sarina Bowen

Oh. I was so disappointed in the ending of this book. The rest of it was fine and a nice addition to the Brooklyn series but the ending was so out of place with the rest of the book and could have been skipped.

Years ago, Bess Beringer fell into some pretty good insta-lust with Mark "Tank" Tankiewicz. She ended it when another sports agent told her that it wasn't good optics for female agents to sleep with male clients. Tank wasn't her client but she still decided to break it off. Now, he's been traded to the Brooklyn Bruisers and he's met Bess again. She is the only bright spot in his trade since he just came from the arch-rival Houston team and his style of play is very different from the man he is replacing. But they're just going to keep things light. Right?

Three stars

This book came out May 12, 2020

Follows Moonlighter

Followed by Bombshells

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Matchmaking Mischief by A.R. Casella, Denise Grover Swank

I liked Willow, the sunshine-y baker, and I liked Alex, who was maybe a little bit of a grumpy/brooding writer, but I missed any sense of chemistry between them. Like most of the Bad Luck Club series, this book was fast, fun, and fluffy but the enjoyment was more in the friendships and the matchmaking than in the romance.

Alex met previous heroine Molly at a writer's retreat and she convinced him to come down to Asheville and live with Bear. She assured him that his writer's block would be solved. Instead, he gets caught up with Willow and her matchmaking antics.

Willow left her hometown and her family's legacy but can't help herself in trying to match up couples. Alex accidentally distracts one of the matches and she yells at him. Of course, out of character for the sunshine one. He is bemused at first but then decides to join Team Sunshine and starts working to get at least two of our favorite characters from the series together.

Three stars

This book came out

Follows Fraudulently Ever After

Followed by Bringing Down the House

Followed by new series starter Matchmaking the Billionaire

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Witch Please by Ann Aguirre

Living as a witch in a mundane world can be dificult. And Danica Waterhouse is navigating just fine, working in her family's fix-it shop (her talent is that she can make things work again, most of the examples are related to appliances). Then she meets baker Titus Winnaker and sparks fly. Almost literally. But Danica's grandmother has drummed into her that their family has a hex whereby, if they fall in love with a mundane, they will also lose their magic. Danica's own mother is pointed to as an example. 

While Danica is fighting her feelings Titus is also having issues. His mother died, his father remarried six months later and now the new wife is pregnant. But Danica helps him through that as well.

I liked the relationships that Danica and Titus had with Clementine (Danica's cousin) and Maya (Titus's sister). There was also some sequel bait with the rest of Danica's coven and potentially Titus's circle of friends -- also good relationship building there. It was a nice book with a nice balance of world building and relationship building which can be hard to do in a first book.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 7, 2021

Followed by Boss Witch

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher, April Hunt

Violet Maxwell is in town for her sister's Witch Bond Announcement weekend celebration (engagement party). Not just her sister, one of her triplet sisters. So when she tries to bow out of some of the celebration with slightly younger sister Olive and they are then caught by Rose, she does feel some guilt. And that compounds the guilt she feels by not picking up her grandmother's place as the Prima Witch. Luckily, Violet was born a dud. No magic whatsoever. She still decides to go skiing with her sisters, even though she's not very good. In fact, she encounters Lincoln Thorne as she's laying in the snow after having fallen over while standing in place (it's not that hard to do, really...) While she doesn't recognize him, he sure as heck recognizes her. He's happy to see her and his Wolf (Lincoln's the Alpha of NAP, the North American Pack) is even more so because he's had a lot of downs in his life recently. He's trying to make it so that all shifters are on more equal footing but there is one particular man, Rose's fiance in fact, who is trying to undo all of his work. He also has a limited time before his thirty-third birthday. If he doesn't have a mate by then, he either has to step down from the Supernatural Council or accept a mate chosen by the Elders. He's also trying to dissolve the Elders but that's a whole other story. He's not quite resigned to fate but the chance of finding a partner who satisfies both he AND his animal are practically nil. 

Through mistakes and a lot of accidental relationship building, Violet and and Lincoln do end up together.  

There is a LOT of world building and so the first couple of chapters really do read like an info dump and that doesn't really even out but I still enjoyed the read. I'm tracking some of the characters for my own benefit because... there are a lot. 

Adrian -- Lincoln's friend, lion shifter

Vi's best friends -- Bax, Guardian Angel -- Harper, succubus coworker at Potion's Up, magic themed bar, Vi brewmaster, virgin, host of radio show Sexy Talk with Savannah They also work together at the Kid Command Center (B&GC for supes?)

Four stars

This book came out February 8, 2022

Followed by Not Your Ex's Hexes

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Wildfire by Ilona Andrews

Just because Nevada Baylor is a Prime doesn't mean that she's comfortable with her level of magic. Nor with the fact that her family is going to have to come out of hiding in order to avoid being put under her grandmother's family tree. And if life weren't complicated enough, she involved, like, involved-involved with Connor "Mad" Rogan. And his ex-fiancee's husband has gone missing so she's come to Connor for help.

This was maybe not as good as the previous two but only a little less weak. I didn't love all of the fiancee and Connor interactions (especially since he was so willfully dense about them) but overall a lovely addition to the series.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 15, 2017

Follows White Hot

Followed by Diamond Fire

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread July 2022, September 2023

An Impossible Impostor by Deanna Raybourn

Veronica and Stoker are returning from Alpenwald with a thoroughly... distinctive... cheese and also a small child. The latter is Lady Cordelia's son though, because she is unmarried, she is pretending to have adopted the child. They are barely home when they are visited by Sir Hugo Montgomerie who has a personal request. This case also hits close to home for Veronica and causes her some pause. 

It seems Sir Hugo has a goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. Euphemia is above reproach (according to Sir Hugo) but it seems that her family is in an uproar because her long-lost brother Jonathon, heir to the family mansion, has returned. At least, a man claiming to be Jonathon has returned. But there are no family members who knew the man more recently still alive. In fact, one of the last people to see him was Veronica herself. 

So the two travel to the Hathaway estate and Veronica is shocked that she recognizes the man who appears. Of course, being Stoker and Veronica, there are layers upon layers and we learn more about Veronica's past than we knew before.

I don't really recommend this book to people who are new to the series but regular Raybourn readers will be delighted. We don't see as much growth from Stoker but there is a new mystery, a new Big Bad, mentions of science and history that are woven seamlessly into the story, and everything readers adore. 

Four stars

This book comes out February 15th, 2022

Follows An Unexpected Peril

Followed by A Sinister Revenge

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile

I honestly wasn't sure who Brandi Carlile was but the NPR Best Books of 2021 made it sound so good. And it really was. With the story of Carlile's life interwoven with songs that she wrote and that meant something to her, we learn about her own history from her own mouth. I highly recommend listening to the audibook because I just don't think reading it would be the same. Especially when so many of the stories are so personal including growing up so poor, working through her own fame, and falling in love with a good friend.

Four stars

This book came out April 6, 2021

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Secrets of Lord Grayson Child by Stephanie Laurens

Lord Grayson Child is peeved. Someone has discovered his secret. And not only have they uncovered it, they are threatening to expose it on the front page of the London Crier. That's why he's standing outside the offices waiting for everyone to leave, because then he can confront the owner. But he's not expecting the know the owner much less have a past with them.

Lady Isadora "Izzy" Descartes never expected to see Grayson Child again. Ten years earlier, he had seemed on the brink of proposing and then... he was gone. Left destitute by her gambling father, Gray had seemed like the perfect man, someone she could love and who could save her family. But then he was gone. So she learned how to earn money for herself, running a London gossip sheet. 

I do like it when characters in a shorter story have history. It means that them falling in love makes more sense. It also makes sense then that Izzy and Gray would be able to move in lock step when a dead body, a murdered body, shows up in her dark room. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 15, 2021

Follows The Games Lovers Play

Followed by Foes, Friends and Lovers 

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Murder Cuts the Mustard by Jessica Ellicott, Barbara Rosenblat

The book opens with Edwina learning to drive. Right before she crashes the car, Beryl catches a glimpse of the gardener, Simpkins, in the gardening shed. He is decidedly in a state of undress. But why is he living in the shed? Unfortunately, it seems he's quarreled with his brother-in-law and has left the house. That's unfortunate because the brother-in-law ends up dead. Of course, Constable Gibbs is going to go for the easy answer and arrest Simpkins.

Of course, Beryl and Edwina are going to prove that he is innocent. Especially since Beryl saw at least two other men had argued with Hector in the pub the day previous.

I love that these books focus as much on Edwina and Beryl as they do on the mysteries that they are solving. We see both grow a little more (and even Simpkins in some surprising ways). 

Four stars

This book came out October 29, 2019

Follows Murder Flies the Coop

Followed by Murder Comes to Call

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Drive by Daniel H. Pink

It seems to be common knowledge that people work better if they have some sort of carrot that they're striving toward. Say, monetary compensation. But there is a LOT of evidence that seems to point out that this is one of those "known facts" that just isn't true. We reward the good and punish the bad, but is this really the best way to encourage people? How would this explain things like Wikipedia or Firefox where people are being neither tangibly rewarded nor punished. Instead, they participate because it's good for the programmer community, it will boost their knowledge, and because it helps boost their creativity and it's fun ("flow").

Even more surprising, studies have shown that incentives often cause people to do <i>worse</i>. But not all extrinsic incentives are bad. Mixing rewards with inherently noble tasks usually keeps people working. 

The ingredients for genuine motivation are autonomy, mastery, and purpose. If people have these (either already set in place or can create them for themselves), they tend to work harder.

Pink also discussed "Type I" people (intrinsically motivated, more concerned about the happiness found in doing the project) vs. "Type X" people (extrinsically motivated, done for personal gain).

There's a nice chapter-by-chapter review at the end. 

Is it riveting? Not really. Did I forget that I had listened to it before? Yes, I did. But some of the ideas are interesting and it is something to listen to.

Three and a half stars

This book came out December 29, 2009

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Death in Disguise by Emma Davies

Francesca Eve is a caterer extraordinaire but her life is pretty normal: husband, daughter, work. She caters a murder mystery party and, while avoiding one of the guests, meets Adam a shy game designer who is also avoiding the party. Life goes on until a few days later when one of the guests dies. Adam comes to Fran terrified that his mother, the host of the party, is going to jail for murder. From there, the two of them work to find out the answer to this strange mystery.

The writing of this book was smooth and I would probably read another series by this author. It is the main reason that I kept reading this book because, this whole book, I kept wondering why Francesca was involved. She met this guy once, has no romantic interest in him, and really no other connection. I think she's supposed to feel bad for him in some way but she starts neglecting her job and lying to her husband which would have been fine if she had been set up as needing some excitement in her life or SOMETHING but that reason is unclear and nagged at me the whole time. I did like some of the flipping of scripts in secrets people were apparently hiding and what they were actually hiding but the ending was also just a little too convoluted for me.

Three stars

This book comes out February 9, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Bookouture and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala

Lila, her friends and family are back in the second of the Tita Rosie's Kitchen mysteries. She is still recovering from the events of the first book but still preparing to set up her own cafe. Plus, there are the two eligible bachelors floating in her vicinity. Now, Detective Park is asking her to help with why someone would have sent a note threatening the local beauty pageant. 

Lila is reluctant to get back into the beauty pageant world. It brings up some memories of her mother that she's rather not have at that forefront. Pile that on top of the fact that she is still dealing with PTSD from her near murder in the last book and there's a lot going on in her head right now. But she goes and appreciates the updates that Valerie Thompson has made to the program, dragging everyone kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Is it perfect? Maybe not, but at least there's no evening gown section. Lila is also excited to get to know Sana, one of the other judges. Too bad Valerie's brother, Rob, is clearly such a jerk, hitting on every woman there, including the underage ones. Does that mean he should end up dead? Probably not. But he is and Lila is one of the people who find him.

I liked most of the mystery but felt that it didn't really come together well. There were a couple of hints of what was going to happen but it mostly came out of left field. I am mostly enjoying Lila's journey and seeing how supportive her family and friends are. t is also really nice to see an author addressing the fact that an amateur sleuth would be dealing with mental issues if they were almost killed; it makes Lila seem much more real. It makes I also enjoyed the writing style, even snorting a drink through my nose when Lila started talking about love triangles. 

Four stars

This book comes out February 9th, 2022

Follows Arsenic and Adobo

Followed by Blackmail and Bibingka

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Gladstone Bag by Charlotte MacLeod

I'm fairly certain that I picked this book up at a garage sale. Or a thrift store? I had it on my TBR shelves for about 2 years before I finally picked it up. And it's taken me a LONG time to get through it. Not that it was bad, it just kept putting me to sleep. It's the first in the series for me and, based on the name of the series, I'm assuming that the main character in this book is not the recurring detective. Which I actually really like as a plot conceit (and still do on re-read when I'm working through the series.) Rather, it is Sarah's Aunt Emma who is involved in a mystery.

Emma seems to be your stock New England older woman from a small town; pragmatic, part of the community. She is heavily involved in the local theater and, when a friend asks Emma to act as hostess for a group of artists and writers on an island, Emma takes along the costume jewelry to make some repairs.

Well, on the ferry, Emma is drugged and her bag disappears. But it quickly shows up in the men's restroom. Why was the bag taken? And why has a mysterious man with amnesia shown up on the island? A man who soon dies. And who are are these strange people that have been invited to the island? Including one man who calls himself "Count" and wants to search for treasures and a woman who is supposedly psychic who is suddenly not feeling well enough to come out of her room?

Page 147: "I've noticed the strap's getting a bit chewed" "Aren't we all?"

Four stars

This book came out February 1, 1990

Follows The Silver Ghost

Followed by The Resurrection Man

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year by Jackie Lau

Zachary Wong knows that he needs to be preemptive. The last two holidays, his parents have invited prospective partners for he and his siblings. So he asks his friend, the town dentist Jo MacGregor, if she will pretend to be his girlfriend. From there, this book beats exactly along the fake-relationship-trope lines and does not veer from them. Zach and Jo go out to dinner to convince the townsfolk that they really are dating, they both have deeper feelings for the other but don't want to say anything, etc. Lau is an amazing writer but this felt like more of a duty book than one she enjoyed writing.

Two and a half stars

This book came out January 7, 2020

Follows A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas 

Followed by A Big Surprise for Valentine's Day

Kindle book I own

Opinions are my own

Superfan by Sarina Bowen

TW: spiked drinks

I don't love books that shift from the past to the present but this is the closest I've gotten to enjoying that conceit. Because we do get to see a glimpse not only into how this love story has been building for years but also how it derailed the first time. 

In earlier books, Silas has always been teased for his love of Delilah Sparks, the pop star. So when she shows up at a hockey game (not one of his), he tweets her and she responds. When he sends her a gift (with the help of Georgia) a 'ship is born. The two try to go on a date but are stymied by circumstance. However, they are able to spend some time with each other courtesy of Becca and Nate's uber-private wedding. 

There are some sexy times but not a ton of relationship building which made the flashbacks sort of imperative so that we can see that their time together isn't a flash in the pan. It was really more interesting to see Delilah's growth because Silas kind of starts and ends as the same person.

Three and a half stars

This book came out June 25, 2019

Follows Overnight Sensation

Followed by Moonlighter

Ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Abandoned in Death by J.D. Robb

Flipping between past and present, the latest of the "In Death" series starts with a young mother at the end of her tether and then her now-grown-up-son who just wants to replace her. And he's doing so by kidnapping women who look similar to her. When these women fail to live up to his expectations though, he kills the "bad mommy."

Eve is brought into the story when the first body is found at a playground not far from Mavis and Leonardo (and Peabody and MacNab's) new house. They are still going full bore on renovations and the proximity shakes Dallas. There seems to be no sign that any of her friends will be affected but she doesn't want to take that chance. 

I don't remember another book in this series doing a similar thing with the past and the present overlapping in the same book (especially while rotating through third person narration with both Eve and one of the victims) but, then again, after fifty-three books, I definitely don't remember them all. It's not a favorite plot device of mine but I appreciated Robb trying something new and it worked for this particular book, especially give who the killer ended up being. 

Four stars
Follows Forgotten in Death

Followed by Desperation in Death
This book comes out February 8, 2022
ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Reread as hard copy from the library August 2023