July 2022 Rereads

Go Fetch! by Shelly Laurenston

Magnus Pack #2

Follows Pack Challenge
Followed by Here Kitty, Kitty
This book came out March 6, 2007

Audiobook from Audible

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews 

Innkeeper Chronicles #1

Four stars

Followed by Sweep in Peace

GraphicAudio borrowed from Libby

Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

Innkeeper Chronicles #2

Follows Clean Sweep

Followed by One Fell Sweep

This book came out November 13, 2015

Ebook of my own on Kindle

One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Innkeeper Chronicles #3

Follows Sweep in Peace

Followed by Sweep of the Blade

This book came out November 13, 2015

GraphicAudio borrowed from Libby

Sweep of the Blade by Ilona Andrews

Innkeeper Chronicles #4

Follows One Fell Sweep
Followed by Sweep of the Heart

This book came out December 2018
Ebook of my own on Kindle

Sweep with Me by Ilona Andrews

Innkeeper Chronicles #4.5

Follows Sweep of the Blade

This book came out December 20th, 2016

Ebook of my own on Kindle

Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #1

This book came out October 28, 2014

Followed by White Hot
Audiobook from Overdrive

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

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 15, 2017

Follows White Hot

Followed by Diamond Fire

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

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

Follows novella Diamond Fire

Followed by Emerald Blaze
This book comes out August 27th, 2019

Ebook borrowed from CloudLibrary

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #4

Four stars
Follows Sapphire Flames

This book came out August 25th, 2020
Ebook borrowed from CloudLibrary

The Neuroscience of You How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours by Chantel Prat

This book, though dense, is incredibly readable. I got this book as an ARC but have also already reserved it at the library to reread certain sections.

This book is not just a boring recitation of sections of the brain (amygdala, hippocampus, lobes, etc.) with a paragraph about what they do. Instead, the author builds a narrative around what parts of the brain do. 

Prat offers many exercises for readers to learn more about themselves ("you" is in the title after all). The last part of the book offers you chances to learn more about other people. 

Four stars

This book come out August 2, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Penny, the Engineering Tail of the Fourth Pig by Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes

When Penny's three brothers are having to deal with a big bully, Penny comes to the rescue. A trained engineer, she knows how to take charge and build well. The next time Wolfgang comes around, he's in for a big surprise.

The authors leaned a little too much into the puns, especially since a lot of them came out in the last part of the book. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out August 1, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Capstone and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Hookup Plan by Farrah Rochon

Of the three women who become internet infamous for confronting a man who was dating all of them, only London hasn't found love. She was only dating Craig in the first place so she wouldn't have to go stag to her 15th high school reunion. Well, she's here now anyway, a single lady. And once again crossing swords with Drew, the co-valedictorian who made her life so miserable as he competed with her for the big honors. Now she's a pediatric surgeon and he's the man here to evaluate whether to keep her hospital public or open it up to investors. But he doesn't tell her that until after they have two very steamy nights together. Oops.

There is a lot of emotional growth in this book but, for London, it is grouped at the end of the book. I wish one of the subplots had been introduced a little bit earlier so there weren't so many Big Surprises at the end but overall a nice ending to the books in this series.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out August 2, 2022

Follows The Dating Playbook

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

Round Up the Usual Peacocks by Donna Andrews

Meg's nephew Kevin has started a true crime podcast with his friend Casey. Everything is going well, their audience is growing, but when Casey is nearly run over, they suspect that they may have stirred up a hornet's nest. They are able to narrow down the episodes most likely to have caused some problems to three. One is a rumor about cheating at the Caerphilly College Business School twenty years ago, a young woman who disappeared, and a man who was possibly wrongly convicted in Clay County. The last, Meg decides to leave to the regular police. After talking to the man, Lucas, Vern Shiffley is also wondering whether he got a fair shake. 

But that leaves two cases for Meg to chase down. 

stars

This book comes out August 2, 2022

Follows The Twelve Jays of Christmas 

Followed by Dashing Through the Snowbirds

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas

A friend recommended this book to me and, while it took me a long time to finish the book, I overall enjoyed the start of this series very much though I can very much say that the villain was not at all fairly clued. 

Thomas Llewelyn is very much down on his luck (just got out of prison, kicked out of school, wife has died) when he reads an advertisement for a position with Cyrus Barker. The position has "some danger involved" and Llewelyn finds out very quickly how true that is. He is introduced to parts of London that he didn't know and ethnic groups that are outside his norm. 

The case that Barker has recently been called upon to help with is that of a rabbinical student who looked a lot like a 19th century version of Jesus. The man was murdered with an anti-semitic comment left nearby. But was that really the reason the man was murdered?

Four stars

This book came out March 8, 2005

Followed by To Kingdom Come

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

A Dead Liberty by Catherine Aird

Kenneth Carline is dead. It seems obvious that Lucy Durmast killed him. She is the daughter of his boss; seems like he should have been romancing her but, instead, he was about to announce his engagement to someone else. So she poisons him using chili con carne to disguise the poison. But she's not speaking. At all. In court, in prison, when questioned by the police. She's quiet.

The original policeman on her case pretty much thought it was an open and shut case. But he is out o the picture so now Inspector Sloan is on the case. He also thinks it is perfectly obvious but the fact that Lucy isn't speaking gives him pause so he decides to work through the case again and sets the cat among the pigeons.

A lovely story that was easy to pick out but a neat case where the main suspect speaks only two words throughout the entire story.

Four stars

This book came out August 31, 1987

Follows Harm's Way

Followed by The Body Politic

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Sleight of Mouth by Robert B. Dilts

I can't remember why I added this book to my TBR list but I can't believe I actually finished it. After the fifth spelling error (all within the first third of the book), I pondered whether I really wanted to read it.
After the first instance of a completely unscientific example used to prove one of the author's points, I pondered even harder. Then, an instance of pseudoscience. Strapping myself in, I decided to enjoy the ride.

There are some valid studies in this book but overall I am disappointed I left this on my TBR shelf for too long. 

Two stars

This book came out November 5, 2001

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Walking in a Witchy Wonderland by Juliette Cross

Short stories in between the books published so far in the Stay a Spell series. If you haven't read the books in the series, I would start with them first. 

Bewitch You A Merry Christmas

Evie is trying to help a man who has been hexed by a witch with a sense of humor but Matteo and Alpha are resenting the time she's spending "not with them." 

Rockin’ Around The Hexmas Tree

The sisters and their beaus are doing a Yankee Swap for Christmas but Isabel and Devraj end up with an ornament that is more than it appears. 

Jingle Bell Jock

JJ and Charlie are friends. Nothing more. But when it looks like Charlie is hooking up with another man, JJ finally makes his move. 

You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grim

Lavinia meets Gareth, a Grim. They inspire strong feelings in each other that will be resolved in the next book of the series.

Jingle Spells

Nico and Violet sit for Evie and Matteo's triplets. Getting through the night may just prove to them they are ready for some pups of their own.

Three stars

This book came out October 5, 2021

Follows Witches Get Stitches

Followed by Always Practice Safe Hex

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Rocket to the Morgue by Anthony Boucher

A take on the science fiction writers of the time (1941), this book has many thinly veiled references to writers in that genre. They are all working hard to make money by writing as many words as possible and all of them have a great dislike for Hilary Foulkes. Hilary isn't even a writer, he's just the executor of his father's estate. But that estate is vast and Hilary has the power to stop many projects. So it's not, perhaps, surprising to mystery readers that he is getting threats against his life. But Inspector Marshall is not amused as the clues seem to be pointing to his friend, Matt Duncan.

I had heard about this book on the Classic Mysteries podcast. The author was more complimentary than I was but he also knows more about the authors of that time.

Three stars

This book came out 1942

Follows Nine Times Nine

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Big Lie by Anthony Del Col, Werther Dell'edera

This was... dark. Especially for anyone who grew up with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys (and their parents) being beacons of good in the world. This series upends a lot of things you would've read while retaining some spirit of the original creations.

The Hardy Boys are at odds with each other. It seems that their father is a dirty cop. But now he's dead and can't defend himself. And Frank and Joe are turning against each other. There's someone that is willing to help them out though, an old friend. She's even willing to help when the evidence looks like her own father might be involved in something shady.

Three stars

This book came out November 28, 2017

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

I had heard about this book on an episode of Fated Mates. It sounded like a fun and fluffy read so I thought I'd try it out. It was, indeed, fun and fluffy but it wasn't a book for me, just too much going on.

Shanna Whelan witnessed a murder so she's now in the Witness Protection Program. So now she's a night dentist. Except that she's afraid of blood so she's REALLY hoping that no one comes in. Too bad. Roman Draganesti is in and he wants a weird wolf's tooth implanted in his mouth.

Except that Roman is actually a millionaire. His seethe invented synthetic blood and now they're trying to create better ways to get it to vampires, especially the ones that would rather stick with the old ways. It's just his bad luck to test drive the mannequin (sex doll?) and accidentally stick his tooth where it shouldn't have gone.

Now they're off on a madcap, whirlwind adventure that just might end in a vampire war.

Three stars

This book came out July 26, 2005

Followed by Vamps and the City

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Pushing Up Daisies by Katherine Hayton

This was a very short story about Willow Foxglove and her "gentleman caller." So far, they had just met and sipped tea but Willow did enjoy his company. "Did" because the man has just been found dead in her garden. 

Willow is not considered a suspect though the police do look at her for a little while. It was only a short while but she is also concerned that the man's secretary is a suspect as well. The town gossip has it that the secretary and the man were involved but Willow bonds with her over their shared love of a TV show.

Three stars

This book came out May 25, 2018

Followed by Berry Murderous

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Southern Magic by Amy Boyles

Pepper Dunn's mother died when she was very young and her father more recently. That means she has no family when she gets fired from her day job as a waitress and then her roommate kicks her out. Peppers new-ish boyfriend didn't deposit the cash she paid him for her rent, the check bounced, and he's too busy watching football to help her mourn the way her life is going. 

To add icing to the suck-cake, there is a goth-looking guy hanging out around her car who seems to want to kidnap her. But the talking cat whose come to tell her about her inheritance helps her get away. And yes, that last bit is completely weird. But the cat does get her to town. And it does seem that Pepper finally has some family. Ones that believe that they are witches - in a witch town. 

That, along with learning that the highly-allergic to animals Pepper has inherited a pet shop. The man down the street offers to buy it off her but he is murdered before she can take him up on the offer. 

There was a LOT of world building and not much mystery. A little on the sweet side for me but an okay book.

Three stars

This book came out April 15, 2018

Followed by Southern Spells

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Meant to Be Mine by Hannah Orenstein

Ever since she was young, Edie Meyer knew the day that she would fall in love. Her grandmother, Gloria, has a gift and it lets her know when people will fall in love. Today is Edie's day June 24, 2022.  She is heading out to watch her sister get engaged to the man she met on the day their grandmother predicted. Dressed to the nines, Edie is ready. When she sits down next to Theo, a rising band member and songwriter. 

As she starts to coordinate her sister's bachelorette party and leading into the wedding, Edie will have to examine whether she believes more in fate or herself.

Four stars

This book came out 

Hard copy borrowed from library

Opinions are my own

Lucky Brat by Christophe Cazenove

Another delightful book with Maureen and Wendy showing the highs and lows of sisterhood. Whether it's Maureen trying to read Wendy's diary or driving Wendy nuts as she searches for the perfect four leaf clover. We again get to see glimpses of the two of them all grown up as well as time with their parents. A fast read and an enjoyable one.

Four stars

This book came out January 19, 2021

Follows Hurricane Maureen

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Haunted Studio by Hayley LeBlanc

Hayley is starring in a TV show about a girl detective. Her two best friends on the show are her two best friends in real life, Cody and Aubrey. Her little sister on the show, Amelia,  is a diva in real life. Very dramatic; for example, she "faints" every time she forgets her lines. Their show moves to a new sound stage for their second season and one of the first things the trio learns is that there is a a ghost supposed to be haunting the set. Amelia quickly picks up the story and helps spreading rumors. Hayley has experienced some weird phenomena on the set herself. She doesn't want her show to end so she sets out to figure out what's going on. 

This was a fun start to a new mystery series. 

Four stars

This book come out August 19, 2022

Followed by The Hayley Mysteries: The Missing Jewels 

ARC kindly provided by Sourcebooks Kids and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Grace Under Fire by Julie Garwood

Regular readers of the series, I do not think you will be disappointed. You get the a gorgeous, virginal heroine (who has never even had an orgasm) with chiseled manly hero who will never stop to ask directions. They are both remarkable (Isabel has just graduated college and she's a really good listener who is also an amazing singer/songwriter but a terrible driver (so quirky!); Michael is an ex-Navy-SEAL lawyer who graduated college at 20 and is about to join a law enforcement group that is hard to get into). New to romance readers will find this book exactly meets expectations. Garwood has found a formula and sticks to it including throwing a whole bunch of stuff at the heroine that only the hero can rescue her from. Like, a lot of stuff including a man who has just been shot lurching toward Isabel and she, reacting quickly, grabs his gun and shoots the man chasing him directly between the eyes. 

I have been waiting to read Isabel and Michael's book otherwise I might have given up on the series but there is also something comforting in knowing exactly what you're going to get when reading a Garwood book. I just wish her characters would start using condoms. Or even acknowledge that birth control is very integral to romance in the 21st century. 

Three and a half stars

This book come out July 19, 2022

Follows Wired

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer

Franny Doyle and Hayes Montgomery III have the ultimate meet cute -- she's having the worst day of her life, fired from her job and on the subway when her dress splits all the way down the back. He lends her his jacket and someone captures a series of photographs making it look like the two are having insta-lust. It's not true but it launches the two of them into their fifteen minutes of fame which each can use for some momentum. Especially since Franny accidentally launches her new interior design version on the fictional version of Good Morning, America.

It is a series of coincidences that lead the two to meeting again and again. Even though neither really believes they are going to be in a relationship with the other, they are going to end up in an HEA.

The best part of this book is the friendships. Franny has her ride or dies and Hayes has his cousin Peyton.

Four stars

This book came out March 15, 2022

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Fascial Fitness by Robert Schleip, Johanna Bayer

This book showed up as available in my library and I thought it looked interesting so I clicked. It's an interesting book that I think may have been translated or written by someone for whom English is not a first language because there are some odd word choices. That can make it difficult to interpret some of the exercises but there are pictures that will help you figure them out. 

An interesting read, especially the information about the fascia and why it's so gosh darn important to do the exercises and to just move in order to keep your fascia working optimally.

Three stars

This book came out July 6, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Cultish by Amanda Montell

It took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed Montell's writings. She grew up with a father who had escaped a cult and his stories fascinated her. She feels like growing up with parents like that meant that she had a better chance of identifying a cult. I really liked that she mentioned that it is usually optimistic people who end up staying in cults, not under or overly educated people (though those two things seem to help). 

In her talking about cults, she touches on Jonestown (and the fact that a-the people drank Flavoraid and b-most didn't want to drink it) and how that happened.  There is also discussion of the Heaven's Gate group. Both times, she talks about how, viewing people as being in cults seems to dehumanize them, that others can judge them based on that. However, it is easier than many people think to join a cult. Reductive language, creating a we/they attitude, shaming people for wanting to leave are all tactics. Of course, there are things that could be argued whether or not they are cults: MLMs, CrossFit, QAnon.

Four stars

This book came out June 15, 2021

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Remember Love by Mary Balogh

While growing up together, everyone thought that Gwyneth Rhys would grow up to marry her next-door neighbor. What no one realized was that she was in love with his older brother, Devlin Ware. One magical night they kissed and promised to be together. That was the same night that Devlin discovered a secret about his family that led to his banishment. 

Six years later, after a lifetime of being in the army, Devlin is back and is now the Earl of Stratton. Everything has changed and Gwyn is on the cusp of being engaged. But can old love be rekindled? Or did it never die?

The first part of this book was So Slow. Even slower than most Balogh novels. But in the second part, it picked up and was a better Balogh flow. 

Four stars

This book comes out July 12, 2022

Followed by Remember Me

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Reunion by Meghan Quinn

Three siblings are heading home for their parents' anniversary, each with their own issues. Oldest brother Ford is a workaholic who doesn't see his secretary, Larkin, as a love interest until they return to their home town. Middle brother Cooper would like to help if only his siblings would listen. Oh, and he slept with his ex-wife's best friend... and would like to again. Youngest Palmer doesn't want to admit that her life as a travel blogger (influencer?) is over. She gets drunk her first night back home and breaks her arm, getting her in touch with her old crush Beau (also Larkin's brother).

I really enjoyed the first half of the book, the set up, getting to see the characters, etc. I didn't mind the fact that all of the relationships were really only a third of the book because they were engaging. The second half, however, dragged. There was just so much quarreling and missed connections that it got to be a slog to finish the book.

Three stars

This book came out February 22, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas

A second generation of Wallflowers is on the loose. Pandora Ravenel grew up in a household where girls were not valued. She and her sisters were pretty much allowed to grow up feral (really? Even if boys were the prime offspring, girls needed to be married off so they would have had at least a nanny or something) so she never learned she was supposed to be stupid and interested in marriage. Instead, she wants to market her board games and run an industry. Of course, if she gets married, all of her property will automatically become her husband's.

Gabriel, Lord St. Vincent, though super-eligible, isn't really ready to get married. He's too busy being ashamed of himself for banging a married woman because she's tied him to her with super-kinky sex (or so we're told.) But all of that falls away when he accidentally compromises Pandora and immediately falls in love. No, really, he pretty much decides that, after five minutes of conversation, she will be his wife. And then he gets upset because her family doesn't immediately force her to marry him. So they all get invited to Evie and Sebastian's country house (my faves from the Wallflower series) where they get to know each other better. 

And then the story starts to get really crowded with Gabriel's ex (and, even though he was all angsty about his "dark side," Pandora's innocence makes him learn to love vanilla sex again (?)) and a plot to blow up the aristocracy.

Overall a nice book with just a few to many things included as well as a few thing not really explained.

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 21, 2017

Follows Devil in Disguise

Followed by Hello Stranger

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

A Borrowed Boyfriend by Angela R. Casella

Casella has begun this new series with a corker that is just as fun and enjoyable as her previous books. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series.

Nicole and Damien are back, working to implement their plans to right wrongs and be fairy godmothers to those who have been kicked in the pants by life. Marnie Jones is sure one of those people having gone viral for tripping on her wedding gown after her groom announced, at the altar, that he could no longer marry her. It became huge because her sister is an actress on a long-running series of a teen detective (and her sister hasn't been a teen for a good long time.) Marnie one night tells her sister that she is doing just fine, dating a new man. 

Nicole and Damien decide to help her find that man. Overhearing their conversation, Griffin, co-owner of a bar with the two of them, volunteers himself as tribute. He saw Marnie earlier and is entranced. She is entirely too good for him (tragic backstory alert!) but he decides to take his chance.

There were a few sticking points in this book and it does, as Casella's books do, push the bounds of wacky but I did enjoy it thoroughly.

Four stars

This book came out June 9, 2022

Followed by A Stolen Suit

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Meaning of Love by Stephanie Laurens

We saw when Melissa and Julian met, she was fifteen and he was twenty-two. They recognized that they were meant for each other but they were both so young and the age gap was... ew. Now Melissa is twenty-three, about to be on the shelf, and Julian is thirty and has succeeded his father as earl. Neither believes the other to be unmarried. But they are. And they meet again at a ball. Well, Melissa is trying to avoid Julian by going out into the garden with a man she doesn't realize is his cousin, Gordon. Gordon, who needs money, decides that will be the time to try and take advantage of her but she saves herself and then Julian intervenes. When he intervenes, a torrid embrace occurs and the two are discovered. Well, an engagement is announced. But the two do something startling in a romance book and talk about it and decide to take the time of their engagement to decide whether they should actually suit. And that would be fine except someone just keeps trying to kill Julian. And trying to kill Julian. Then a little trying to kill Melissa. And then trying to kill Julian. There is Just So Much Attempted Killing. it was overly wrought. Otherwise, a normal story in the Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Chronicles series, fast, fun, and fluffy.

Three stars

This book came out October 14, 2022

Follows Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Intrigue

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis

I really liked that Davis give you options for how to read her book. She very much says right off the bat to take the things that help you and leave the rest behind. I liked that she said to decide what is care and what doesn't actually need to be done. Being organized does NOT equal being clean. Nor is staying organized as easy as some authors would have you think.

There is a difference between rhythm and routine: if you get off beat for a little bit, you can always get back into the rhythm. I especially liked the three rules at the end of the book: I rule the list, the list does not rule me; Missing days off your list is not good or bad but morally ambiguous; I do NOT have to complete the whole task. A very refreshing turn from the books, etc. that say that we have to be perfect in order to be "good." 

Four stars

This book came out April 26, 2022

Borrowed as audibook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Better Homes and Hauntings by Molly Harper

Nina Linden has gone through it in the last few years: cheating husband who took her to the cleaners. She is trying to rebuild her gardening services. To that end, she accepted a job where she has to live on a private island for weeks to help get it in order. It seems that everyone else who has previously held the position has left quickly. 

Cindy Ellis runs a cleaning/organizational service. She has become the go-to person for the rich and elite. She knows one of the other people on the boat out the island, Jake. He took her on a date years ago and then ghosted her. And now he's pretending he doesn't know her. But he is one of the people on the island, along with his best friend Deacon, the tech mogul whose family owns the island and the man financing the renovations. 

This is a bit of an adventure with dual romances, a madcap cousin, ghosts/reincarnations/something that causes visions, an ancient mystery, and Nina's ex-boss who isn't quite sane and is trying to sabotage her new business.

Four stars

This came out June 24, 2014

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman

I had read a handful of the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries and thought this series might be interesting as well. There are only two books but it is a fast, fun, and fluffy book which Gilman shows her talent as she adds layers to each of the mini-mysteries that come around and pay off in the end. I think a lot of my enjoyment came from  Ruth Ann Phimister, the narrator. 

The book opens with a dream. Madame Karitska dreams of a street, not a fashionable one, but one she can afford to live on. On the street is a yellow door. As she is walking down the street, she notices a sign in the window. There is a room for rent. The sign went up only 5 minutes ago. Once in the rooms, she slowly builds her clientele and proves to the police that her gift is real. Along the way, she picks up a couple of other psychics as well, one is a wealthy man who just came into his gift and one is a child whose family is at the heart of one of her mysteries.

Four stars

This book came out in 1975

Followed by Kaleidoscope

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Girl Walks Into a Bar... by Rachel Dratch

Most famous for being on Saturday Night Live, Dratch is also known for not having been on 30 Rock even though she started off as one of the stars. In the book, she tries to emphasize that that is just how it works in Hollywood but she was still disappointed that she was replaced. But most of the book isn't supposed to be about her time on television but more about what happened in her midlife when, at 43, having given up hope of having children, she suddenly found herself pregnant by a man with whom she was in what could best be called a friend-with-benefits-when-they're-in-the-same-town. 

I do like autobiographies, especially when they are read by the authors. The book was a little thin but I found myself identifying with Dratch in various places of her life, including being a single, childless woman at baby showers.

Four stars

This book came out March 29, 2012

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Set on You by Amy Lea

Crystal Chen is a fitness influencer. Her father thinks she should find a new job; her followers mostly adore her (though there are the trolls who say that she is too curvy to be focusing on fitness.) Her ex boyfriend dumped her for his previous girlfriend making her officially a rebound. So she's not very excited when the jerky (but Hemsworth-handsome) guy at the gym leaves his seat unwiped after he's done using a machine. So she says something to him. And he remains a jerk. 

Unfortunately, even though we get to see more of Scott Ritchie (he's a firefighter) because his grandfather is engaged to Crystal's grandmother, he never really gets his character redeemed. He sort of remains a smug, too smooth dude bro throughout the rest of the book and, for me, that made the book less enjoyable. I also didn't love the last Big Mistake that the two characters have but this was an okay first book and I would be very interested in reading another book from Lea.

Three stars

This book came out May 10, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own