April Rereads

As always, opinions are my own

Miraculous Mysteries

Anthology put together by Poisoned Pen Press

Three stars

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

Isabelle works for a publishing company. She is not an editor as she thought she would be at this point. Nor is she a writer. Instead, she is still an editorial assistant. But while on a trip to California, she overhears her boss complaining about how a rich and entitled Hollywood scion hasn't turned in his manuscript. So Isabelle volunteers to go and help him get working on it. She does not expect him to be quite as cranky as he is. She REALLY doesn't expect to end up staying in his fabulous California villa and working her regular New York hours, then helping him in the afternoons. And the fact that he might not be as grumpy as he originally seemed might be the biggest surprise of all. 

This Beauty and the Beast adaptation was adorable. I wish we had seen a little bit more of the relationship developing and had hoped to see more about what happens with Isabelle's coworker but it was an enjoyable book overall. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 3, 2022

Follows If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

ARC kindly provided by Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh

We saw Danny and Catie meet as teens in Cherish Hard. They are siblings to the characters in that book but are now in their mid-20s. Yes, they are still squabbling like nobody's business but they are comfortable in their relationship and they still look out for each other. Which is evident in the opening scene as Catie sees Danny across the floor at a dance club and realizes he doesn't look right. In fact, he looks as though he's been drugged. She's able, with the help of his friend Viliame, to get him to the hospital. Unfortunately, rumors are now flying about them being a couple. See, Danny is a super famous rugby dude and Catie is famous in her own right for competing in the Paralympics and apparently people have been 'shipping them for quite a while.

Lots of deep discussions in this book about expectations, limb loss, parental relationships, and more. Singh is such a delightful writer though that all of these are handled with a deft touch while going from friends to lovers in a fake relationship is a joy to read.

Hard Play#4

Four and a half stars

This book comes out May 3, 2022

Follows Love Hard

ARC kindly provided by TKA Distribution and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Libby March 2024

Orchid by Jayne Castle

Rafe Stonebraker is a strat-talent. He should have been the one to take over his grandfather's corporation but he got out when he was young, knowing that he could not work for his grandfather. But now that his grandfather is about to retire, the only person in line to be CEO is his vengeful cousin who wants to take the company down. Rafe is ready to step back into the picture but the board is fairly conservative and, in a society that prizes marriage, he's going to need at least a fiancée for the board to consider him. Since his marriage counselor seems hesitant, Rafe decides to find a bride himself by hiring out local prism agencies to help him in his work as a private investigator.

Orchid Adams is a romance writer by day and a prism for hire by night. She is a special kind of prism, a rare ice prism. There are few in existence and, awhile ago, three were used by a local lab to see if their particular prisms could help focus for crazy people and maybe make them sane again. That didn't work. But now Orchid's old life is crossing over with Rafe's current investigation.

I like Zinnia and Nick's romance a little bit better but this story is the best in the trilogy.

Three stars

This book came out May 1, 1998

Follows Zinnia

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Breaking the Rules by Suzanne Brockmann

I was so excited to see who the lady's man Izzy Zanella would end up with because he is such an awesome character but... I was a little disappointed. I know that Brockmann plays with relationships, but having a character so young (Eden's only nineteen) is a little disconcerting. 

Izzy has had rough times with Eden's brother Danny who is a member of Seal Team Sixteen. The man thinks that Izzy seduced his sister, got her pregnant, and then left her. The truth is, Izzy helped Eden through a hard time, fell deeply in love with her, and has been trying to get back in touch with her ever since. Eden doesn't want to be with Izzy. Not because she doesn't love him, but because she's always been told she's worthless, even by Danny.

Danny is hurt in action at the beginning of this story. Izzy uses his own blood to save Danny's life and almost dies in the process. That doesn't make them besties by any means. 

Eden is in Las Vegas trying to rescue their brother Ben from her mother and the latest boyfriend. See, 

Ben is gay and the parents are trying to send him to one of those extreme Christian camps that supposedly "straightens" kids out.

So, Danny comes back to the States with his girlfriend Jenn (whose name Eden uses when she becomes a stripper.) They think that they can get custody of Ben. Of course, Eden and Izzy, having been married for a year (did I mention that?), are really going to look better if they have to go into court. 

There's also a girl who has escaped from sexual slavery. Ben sort of befriends her but she seems to only be in as a plot device so that Jenn and Eden can be in danger later.

Brockmann uses multiple plotlines in most of her books so that wasn't really annoying, but... I really missed the regular run of characters. Only Danny, Izzy, Jenn, and Eden were from previous series. I think I may have also had high expectations because Izzy has been so involved in other books in the series. Will re-read to see if it gets better. (It did, I think because I knew what to expect)

Three stars

This book came out March 22, 2011

Follows Hot Pursuit

Followed by Headed for Trouble

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Hot Pursuit by Suzanne Brockmann

Not my favorite of the Troubleshooter series but interesting in that there are no real happy endings here except that the two kidnapped women are rescued in the end.

Troubleshooters are summoned to the East Coast to help protect a woman, running for Senate, who has been receiving death threats. There is also included a cop with an attitude and Danny Gillman hooking up with "the ugly friend." I do like that Brockmann has unconventional romances and in this book she concentrates on a type of woman who isn't usually the heroine in romance novels. A little overweight, she's not at all beautiful and Gillman picks her because she'll be easy to get into bed and she won't be upset when he leaves, because she'll be expecting it. Not a sympathetic character, is Gillman, but true to life. I liked Jenny and, while Danny isn't a very nice person, we do get to see some of why he is the way he is.

Four stars

This book came out July 29, 2009

Follows Dark of Night

Followed by Breaking the Rules

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann

I'm really on a roll with the Brockmann books and forget how much I enjoy them until I read them again. I don't know why, but the story of Tracey and Decker is compelling. I think it's because both characters have been revealed in depth in previous books. Not sure if this would be quite as good a book if you hadn't read the other 13, especially since the sub-stories are all connected to previous books as well. It's really interesting that Brockmann sets up Dave Malkoff as a James Bond type character. It's pivotal to the plot of him hooking up with Sophia. I'm glad that she's finally happy though it is interesting that Brockmann didn't have her hook up with the man that she was lusting after for so long. But that is beautifully explained and the other hookups all make sense. I also have to say that I enjoy the little commentaries that Brockmann includes about her own writing, including a comment about a previous book when Tracey has a somewhat critical thought about a friend hooking up with a guy the friend had only known for a few days.

Four and a half stars

This book came out January 7th, 2009

Follows Into the Fire

Followed by Hot Pursuit

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann

When Vinh Murphy's wife was killed in book six of the Troubleshooters series, I didn't think we'd ever see him again. But his story is actually very good. It wraps up the story line started about the Freedom

Network. See, everyone thinks that Vinh has executed the leader of the Freedom Network to avenge his wife's death. Even his best friend Hannah isn't sure about him. She's a retired cop who left the force when she was shot and an infection caused her to become deaf. The two of them work together to figure out what really happened while falling in love.

The subplot of this book is that of Izzy Zanella and Eden Gillman. Izzy has been prominent in several of the earlier books and it's in this book that he meets the woman who might be his match. Although, that's hard to tell since Brockmann likes to mix things up and even characters that seem to be in love through many books don't always end up together. We'll see how the rest of the series shapes up. Anyway, Eden is gorgeous, the sister of one of Izzy's SEALmates (Danny Gilman who hates Izzy's guts) and nineteen. She shows up early in the book, running away from home, a troubled teen. Then, six months later, she returns, pregnant. Danny thinks that Izzy is the father, and though that's an impossibility, Izzy marries the girl so she has insurance and a place to live. He's uber-attracted to her, it might even be love. But, though the book ends with Hannah and Vinh going on to happily-ever-after, the fate of Eden and Izzy remains in doubt.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 22, 2008

Follows All through the Night

Followed by Dark of Night

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann

Suzanne Brockmann is one of my favorite authors simply because she write with a one-two punch and started writing gay romance before just about any other "mainstream" author. Her books might be fairly traditional but her characters are always outside the box. In this book, the main story revolves around Robin Chadwick and Jules Cassidy, a gay couple whose wedding is the central story. We've seen their story grow from when they met and were immediately attracted, through them being pulled apart by age and distance, then having Robin work through his addiction to alcohol and both of them coming out and how it affected their careers. While this would still happen today, a lot of this would have been even harder almost a decade ago when only one state was acknowledging that gay marriage = marriage. 

We get to see all of the characters from the series as well as meeting one new couple. The subplot of Jules and Robin's assistant falling in love with a reporter who accidentally got Robin smeared in the press.

Short, but very cute.

Four and a half stars

This book came out October 30, 2007

Follows Force of Nature

Followed by Into the Fire

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa

Following "The Worst Best Man," this story follows one of Lina's cousins, Solange. It's not like Solange was even supposed to be at that wedding but Lina needed help. Solange didn't want to see the bride in the stairwell with another man nor did she want to hear him telling the bride not to marry the groom. Yet, both things happened. She certainly didn't mean to speak up during the ceremony but... she sure did that too. And the bride went scurrying down the aisle.

The man left at the altar, Dean, is disappointed but not heartbroken. He and Ella were more or less a business arrangement so that he could finish checking off his list of life ambitions. But it's a problem when his law firm wants to woo a potential new partner whose father is a billionaire of some sort. But she has a partner and the managing partner in charge wants someone who's in a relationship. So Dean quickly mentions that he and Mia are now dating. It's fraught because there is another man picked to help show her around as well and he is Dean's major opposition for a partnership. 

For her part, Mia and her closest cousins were raised by their single mothers. A conservative (and rather judge-y cousin is coming to town and Mia's mother panics and says that Mia is in a relationship. So, lots of reasons for the two of them to pretend to be together. Of course, all that time together exacerbates the feelings they already have for each other. 

Parts of the story were a little too much cringe (this is a fake relationship; of course parts will be annoying). And I wish the reveal had come about a different way because it was from a character we didn't get to see very often nor did we get to see the afterward of their relationship with the couple. This was a really enjoyable read and the characters were quite well-rounded.

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 5, 2022

Follows The Worst Best Man

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann

Mark "Jenk" Jenkins has been in many of the previous Seal Team 16/Troubleshooters books. He is a SEAL  with an incredibly boyish face. Lindsay Fontaine is also often mistaken for being much younger than she really is. When they meet, Lindsay is instantly attracted but Mark is entranced by a high school crush who he just got a job as the receptionist at Troubleshooters. So Lindsay holds off. But the two are assigned to work together to set up a training mission for the two groups. As they work together, Mark starts to realize that he really doesn't know Tracy, the receptionist, and isn't really that attracted to her. But Lindsay, Lindsay is someone he could spend the rest of his life with. However, Lindsay is only looking for one night and freaks out once they finally get together.

The first training op goes well when Lindsay, playing the kidnap victim, sneaks past both the SEALS and the Troubleshooters so both teams lose. 

They set up another training session in New Hampshire with Tracy as the victim. But when the SEALS go wheels up in the middle of the session, Tracy goes missing. Great subplot about catching a serial killer.

Four stars

This book came out April 15, 2006

Follows Breaking Point

Followed by Force of Nature

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

A Question of Inheritance by Elizabeth Edmondson

The second in a trio of books, we again see Hugo, a secret agent for the crown, his young teen sister Georgia, and Freya, the cousin of a newly discovered earl. But there's a problem with this earl, it seems like somebody is trying to kill him. This is not exciting for him, nor for his two daughters who have also traveled from America. 

It's Christmas, which is going to be a hard one this year since the earl was only recently discovered to be the heir and his half-sister, who expected to inherit, is less than happy to welcome a new sibling to the family. 

There are family tensions, stolen paintings, and a body that ends up in the family hothouse. It's a lot but it built off the first book nicely. You don't have to have read the first book but it really wouldn't be as enjoyable.

Four stars

This book came out October 27, 2015

Follows A Man of Some Repute

Followed by A Matter of Loyalty

Borrowed from Kindle; listened as audiobook

Opinions are my own

They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

Victoria Jones was a girl like most others. Unfortunately, her gift for mimicry gets her sacked in the second chapter of this book. She is also an inveterate liar which gets her into trouble down the line. But in the beginning, she is having lunch in the park and meets Edward. He seems like a thoroughly charming
fellow and she decides to follow him to Baghdad. Why? Really, she has nothing better to do. And the first night there, she finally has some adventure when a man stumbles into her room and dies from a stab wound to the heart.

Now, the death doesn't occur until almost halfway through the book so there is a great deal of setup, but it is totally worth the read. If you've read Dame Christie before, it's not hard to figure out the murderer, but it is fun to see how the other characters come to the same conclusion.

Four stars

This book came out March 5, 1951

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams

I made it through three chapters of this book and was doing okay. Stacey Abrams has led an interesting
life and has worked really hard to get to where she is in life. I had picked up this book as a leadership book and was beginning to think about whether I wanted to keep listening when Chapter 4 came up. LOVE IT. You should read this book for this chapter alone. And, if you pick up the book, know that you will be getting more about Abrams' life than a straight leadership book usually offers. 

There may be other books that talk about mentorship out there but I haven't read one that lay out such a great way to look at the process of finding and keeping mentors. And I've read a ridiculous number of leadership books.

She talks about the types of mentorship: sponsor (who speaks up for you and opens doors), Advocate (someone who looks out for your success), peer (people who understand your problems.)

She mentions that you should build your network and to be intentional about how you do it. Find time to have informational meetings and make them be with a variety of people. At least one of the people in your network should not look like you. Make sure to include someone whose skills you admire. Also, you should be the one to plan the questions both in the informational meetings and with your mentor. That means that you will be finding out the things you need to know.

One great way to find mentors is to become a mentor yourself as people who help others are more likely to receive help in return.

Abrams talks about knowing things - finances (your own and corporate), understand what it is that you want, and that winning is not the goal.

Four stars

This book came out March 26, 2019

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Man of Some Repute by Elizabeth Edmondson

Hugo Hawkworth very much feels the effects of his leg wound. Now he can't serve in the army and his official story has to be that it was a bicycle accident. He's been picked up by another department but still chafes at riding a desk. At least he gets to spend time with his young sister, thirteen-year-old Georgia, the only family he has left in the world. 

They've come to Selchester Castle, the site of the mysterious disappearance of the last earl almost seven years ago. The earl seems to be a man that few people have missed, including his daughter who is counting down the days until he can be declared dead and she can be wealthy. Her cousin, the earl's niece Freya, is the only family who still lives at the castle. 

When a skeleton is discovered under some pavers, everyone is shocked. But are they really? Because many of the same people who were at the party where the earl disappeared are still in the picture.

This was a good start to a series and I enjoyed it.

Four stars

This book came out July 1, 2015

Followed by A Question of Inheritance

Borrowed from Kindle; listened as audiobook

Opinions are my own

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself -Anthology

This is a group of articles which all came from the Harvard Business Review.

The first talks about how you allocate your resources. Author Christensen advocates for looking at delayed gratification and not always looking for the shortcut. 

"... humility was not defined by self-deprecating behavior or attitudes but by the esteem with which you regard others." "... if you have a humble eagerness to learn something from everybody, your learning opportunities will be unlimited."... abusive, arrogant or demeaning... their behavior is almost always a symptom of their lack of self-esteem."

Drucker tells us about feedback analysis, that it can lead to the actions of concentrating and developing our strengths, then look for where our arrogance is hindering us and overcome it. "...but with opportunity comes responsibility." "Organizations are no longer built on force but on trust. The existencs of trust between people does not necessarily mean that they like one another. It means they understand one another."  "...it is vitally important for the individual... to have an area in which [they] can contribute, make a difference, and be somebody."

Oncken and Wass lead a spirited article on the discussion of monkeys and whether the monkeys (problems) should be on the backs of the managers (rarely) or their trusted subordinates.

Coutu talks about resilience, the study of which has been more closely looked at lately and will come into focus again soon with all that faces the world at the moment. Her key points include facing down reality, searching for meaning, and continually improvising. 

Schwartz and McCarthy look at four types of energy (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) and how those can be drained but also rebuilt. 

Hallowell's article explores ADT, attention deficit trait and how so many people have so many drains on their time that they can't accomplish anything. He talks about the goals or protecting your brain (sleep, food, exercise), organize around the ADT (break down tasks, keep an area on your desk and in your calendar clear, practice OHIO (only handle it once), and work in a way that helps you perform the best (adjust hours, use headphones, work standing up)), and slow down and take your time.

Friedman focuses on the domains of work, self, home, and community. He suggests that you sit down and really figure out who/what is important in your life and then see what small changes that you make might make you happier in all of the domains. He walks you through Total Leadership  (the principles of which are be real, be whole, be innovative) which is designed to help you figure out how to not only plan but how to experiment and measure progress in all four domains.

Ghoshal and Bruch talk about prioritization and what you want to achieve as a manager.

Quinn argues that great leadership comes from within. We can learn and emulate all we like but we need to find the fundamental state of leadership. He introduces the four questions that can shift you into that state: Am I results centered, internally directed, other focused, and externally open?

Key questions to ask yourself are the focus of Kaplan's article. They help you identify visions and priorities, how you manage your time, feedback, succession planning, evaluation and alignment, leading under pressure, and how to stay true to yourself. 

Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee write about emotional intelligence and not only that leaders should know that they impact employees but HOW they impcat employees (and therefore adjust their style.)

Crooked Herring, by L.C. Tyler

Ethelred is approached by another writer asking him to figure out whether he killed someone. Henry Holiday woke up after a bender with the thought that he had committed murder. But he's not sure who. And it seems that the person that he thought he killed is still around. At least, Ethelred is still getting text message from Crispin Vyall so they think is still alive.

Ethelred pulls Elsie in to help (or she barges in, who can tell) but she doesn't exactly make the case go more smoothly. In fact, her interference could mean that our intrepid (okay, maybe not exactly but...) hero ends up in jail.

This was an okay addition to the series but not as good as some of the others.

Three stars

This book came out September 18th, 2014

Follows Herring on the Nile 

Followed by Cat among the Herrings

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

A Perilous Perspective by Anna Lee Huber

Kiera and Sebastian are traveling to the home of a family friend. He is known to have a full gallery of paintings by famous artists. But Kiera notices something is amiss. More than one of the celebrated paintings looks... wrong. Her host is really not excited to learn that they might be forgeries but he knows who is probably at fault; it's the neighbors. He had been engaged to one of them decades before and both sides are still bitter. 

I think regular readers will enjoy this book as much as others in this series. 

Four stars

Follows A Wicked Conceit

This book comes out April 19, 2022

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

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

A modern-day fairy tale which wraps together a number of Sleeping Beauty tales with one first-person narrator (Zinnia Gray) who is destined to die some time near her twenty-first birthday. She goes to a birthday party thrown by her best friend Charm which is, of course, Sleeping Beauty themed. At midnight, Zin purposely pricks her finger on the spinning wheel and is immediately transported to another version of the story, one that is more traditional.

A quick read, Harrow packed a lot of story and emotion into it. There was also a bunch of history in the versions. This is going to be weird because it was only 124 pages in my ebook but I thought it could have been even tighter but this was a good story and I liked that it wasn't a perfect HEA.

Three stars

This book came out October 5, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Last Respects by Catherine Aird

When an unknown man's body turns up on a slow river, Inspector Sloan is called in to investigate. Though it seems he was dropped from a great height, the man didn't drown. He and Constable Crosby will have to work to figure out what is going on.

As a concurrent timeline, we meet Elizabeth Busby. She is a young woman who lost her aunt to stomach cancer and her fiance to... well she's not sure. The man up and left one day. He left a note but it wasn't very helpful. She and her uncle are left to grieve.

With Aird, you know what to expect. Usually a lot going on in the story but it's generally gentle and so very British.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1982

Follows Passing Strange

Followed by Harm's Way

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Requiem for a Mezzo by Carola Dunn

Once again, Daisy is pulled into a murder mystery when her next-door neighbor is killed onstage. Unfortunately, as often happens in mystery stories, Bettina Westlea (her stage name; in real life Mrs. Roger Abernathy) has a lot of people that really don't like her. Her sister Muriel has always lived in her shadow and still acts as her housekeeper today. Her husband is a quiet man who knows of her many affairs but has suffered through them without a noise of complaint. Then there is the woman she beat out for a coveted role and the numerous scorned lovers. Really, it could be anyone.

We see Alec and Daisy's relationship grow in this book as well as they spend more time together. And it may be that Daisy's friend Lucy is even beginning to thaw in regards to the handsome inspector as well.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 1, 2001

Follows The Winter Garden Mystery

Followed by Murder on the Flying Scotsman

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Shady Characters by Keith Houston

Each chapter of this book dives deeply into the history of a particular typographical mark. How is it used today? Why is it used that way? When did we start using the mark? Was that it’s original use? All of these questions are considered and most are responded to for each symbol.

I never knew that a * preceding a date meant birth while a dagger meant death. 

A series of microhistories, this book is a fascinating read though I would recommend it more as something to read a chapter of each night rather than devouring it in one sitting. I also learned that, in modern-day, an em dash is equal to the height of the font-size. An en dash is now half of that of an em dash. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 24, 2013

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds by Bobbi Holmes

In the first book of the series, Danielle contended with the mystery of a man long since passed, even if his ghost is still hanging around. In this book, the stakes are ramped up as she is having to deal with a much more recent death. One that police seem to think she committed.

Of course, this is in the midst of her B&B opening. Plus, her cousin Shelly is in town. This is the cousin that bullied Danielle as they were growing up and the one who stole all of her boyfriends. Now, she's contending that half of Danielle's inheritance from their Aunt Breanna is hers. 

This was an okay story with some more world building. I think Holmes tried to redeem Shelly but her explanations of childhood behavior didn't quite make sense, nor did I really understand her reasoning for wanting half of Marlow house.

Three stars

This book came out November 1, 2014

Follows The Ghost of Marlow House

Followed by The Ghost who Wasn't

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Fat Girls Hiking by Summer Michaud-Skog

A really good book if you are not white and superfit. Actually, even then. This book explores the nuances of doing athletic things (focus on hiking but including kayaking, climbing,yoga, backpacking, etc.) even if you don’t fit the “athletic” body type. 

With stories of real people interwoven with the author’s own experiences, you get a gamut of the experiences “nontraditional” hikers have had being out on the trails. Each of the interstitials also include a favorite hike with information about bathrooms, ADA-compliance, distance, elevation gain, address, and how to find the trailhead.

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 29, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis

During a near-death experience, Levi Cutler calls his mother. Rather than letting her know that he is in danger, he claims that he can't pick up his niece because he's met a new woman.

Jane can't believe that she might die in a snowstorm. Because she's in a gondola five and a half stories up (maybe more) and the wind is ridiculous. Being a traveling nurse has brought her into some strange situations but this one takes the cake. Then a handsome stranger puts himself in danger to try and protect her. And then asks her to pretend to be in a relationship so his family will feel better about him.

There is a lot going on in this book including a B plot with Jane's friend Charlotte and Levi's old friend that didn't really add much to the story. I did like watching the relationship between Jane and Levi grow but there is so much sturm and drang surrounding them.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 11, 2022

Followed by The Friendship Pact

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Margot Cooper was the best friend in the first book of this series. After her best friend and their business partner have both found love, she's feeling a little like a fifth wheel. And her business partner has had some bad luck. But his new wedding planner is someone that Margo knows... intimately. 

Olivia Grant is shocked to see the "Best Man" in her current wedding is none other than the girl she loved in high school, Margot. They had been best friends from grade school but then it matured into something deeper. But when Olivia's ex came back in the picture, Margo disappeared. Will she do the same again?

It was fun watching Olivia and Margo fall in love again. There were a lot of times when just communicating with each other could have solved a lot of problems and that made the story a little less enjoyable but I liked the story overall.

Four stars

This book came out February 1, 2022

Follows Hang the Moon

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Welcome to Dunder Mifflin by Brian Baumgartner, Ben Silverman

Brian Baumgartner narrates the bulk of the stories though Ben Silverman and Greg Daniels contribute as well. Of course, we don't hear from many of the other actors from the series (I imagine it was cost prohibitive) but it is a nice history. Nothing really ground-breaking and some different stories from the Office Ladies podcast which was nice.

Three stars

This book came out October 19, 2021

Audiobook borrowed from Libby

Opinions are my own

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

After her father died, Delilah Green was left with her stepmother and step-sister. The latter, Astrid, is getting married and has insisted that Delilah come back to Bright Falls to photograph the wedding. Yes, Delilah is a photographer and, yes, she does weddings but the history with all three women is... fraught to say the least. 

Delilah is a love 'em and leave 'em type (the book literally opens in the aftermath of one of her one-night stands). But she sees one of Astrid's best friends in the local bar and is immediately intrigued. She had dreams of Claire in high school but it seemed like a far reach.

Claire is bisexual and hasn't had sex in awhile because she is also a mother. Her daughter is twelve (teen pregnancy) and is just starting to hit the age when hormones go crazy. Claire is struggling with it but, now that her ex is in town, she has a little more time. Or would if the man could figure out how to care for their pre-teen. At least he's physically there (he wasn't for awhile).

This book has a large number of characters but a surprising amount of depth is given to many of them, not just the two falling in love. There is also a nice setup for some series books and the relationship between Delilah and her sister isn't magically solved after decades but they are left in a better place.

Four stars

This book came out February 2, 2022

Followed by Astrid Parker Doesn't Fall

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Boss Witch by Ann Aguirre

Clem knows there's a witch hunter in town. He's not exactly subtle about it. She wants to protect her friends and family because, if caught, the hunter will take away not only her magic, but her memories.

Gavin Rhys doesn't exactly enjoy being a witch hunter but he wants to make his father proud. He's okay with letting go of some of his responsibilities to spend more time with the gorgeous woman he's met at the bar. He is still looking for the witches in town but maybe he has something better to focus on. 

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the last because the two are inherently lying to each other the whole time they are in a relationship. I did like how Aguirre sort of dealt with that at the end though. 

Three stars

This book comes out April 5, 2022

Follows Witch Please

ARC kindly provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Deven and the Dragon by Eliot Grayson

Five years ago, Fiora (a dragon shifter) had sex with the wrong man and was cursed by his wife, a witch, to never be able to fall in love nor to have anyone fall in love with him without somebody dying. So he picked up and moved to a new town, Ridley. And the Ridley town council seems to want something from him so they've offered up a sacrifice. A young, innocent virgin. 

Fiora is not pleased. It's not like he even likes women. Maybe they've heard of the curse? But then why send a sacrifice?

Deven Clifton is definitely not a virgin. In fact, he's slept with most of the young people in town. Some of them married, some of them not, but always they've been enthusiastic. And he's really enjoyed it. Being a bartender, he's confused as to why the town council has summoned him. However, he seems to be the sacrifice. Because one of the town council needs a dragon's scale and, as I heard on <a href="https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/503-bread-cozy-fantasy-sex-and-romance-with-jane-buehler/">Episode 503 of Smart Podcast, Trashy Books</a> "they're all like, we'll send Deven; Deven can seduce anyone." Because, in actuality, they've promised an innocent, not a virgin. And, he hasn't technically committed any crimes so he is sort of an innocent.

This retelling of Beauty and the Beast is absolutely adorable. There are some parts that didn't make a ton of sense but I overall really enjoyed the story.

Four stars

This book came out June 26, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own