April 2023 Monthly Reread

The Lady's Command by Stephanie Laurens

Adventurers' Quartet #1

Four stars
This book comes out December 29, 2016

Followed by A Buccaneer at Heart

The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick

Like many Quick books recently, this book is fine but there are just a few too many plot threads. Prudence Ryland is trying to keep her living as a psychic going after her mother died but she has a client she believes wants to kill her so she runs away to become a librarian. But then someone kidnaps her from the library and she wakes up dead, in a wedding dress, next to a dead man. She runs to Burning Cove and is presented with Jack Wingate who will be her protector and help her figure out what is going on. 

Jack is skeptical. He believes in facts and psychics can't actually provide that. But he's intrigued by Prudence and she doesn't seem to mind his scars.

I generally like this series and hope it continues, maybe just a *little* more simplified. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 2, 2023

Follows When She Dreams

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread July 2023 as audiobook from Libby

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Breakups are hard. Breakups are especially hard when you're part of a tight-knit group of friends. Friends who get together often at the place that Harriet considers her happy place. But now she's going to ruin their happy place because Harriet and Wyn are no longer together. They actually broke up six months ago but didn't tell anyone. Now she's on vacation with their friends alone. But hers isn't the only big news; the cottage is for sale and their weeks of halcyon vacation days are about to be over. 

There was a lot of anxiety built into this book: Am I enough for the other person? For my group of friends? And, while we saw a bit of "past Wyn," I would have liked to see more of "present time Wyn;" just a little more romance. Or maybe more of the friendships. Henry has beautiful writing but also strong character connections and this book revolved more around Harriet than anything else. 

Three stars

This book comes out April 25, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

It all started with a song. Or maybe it was a smell. Maybe it was the twinges and her lower back becoming pangs. But whatever it was, Viv had become dissatisfied with the life she was leading And she thinks she's discovered a way to get out. It involves a leap of faith on her part, trusting that she's interpreted a song correctly. It also means leaving her old group, some of whom she'll miss. 

Following her intuition and a set of bones that sense ley lines, Viv ends up at a rundown livery. She searches out the owner and starts building her new life. 

I play D&D so a lot of this felt very familiar. I liked the way that Baldree flipped the script on what a succubus looks like. He made it more of a power and less an unending search for sex. There were a few places that dragged just a bit but I liked the characters and I look forward to more in this series. 

Four and a half stars

This book came out February 22, 2022

Followed by Bookshops & Bonedust

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Dread and Buried by Angie Fox

Ugh! A whole weekend with Alec Duranja? Not on Verity's top ten list of things she wants to do with her life. But her boyfriend Ellis and her sister Melody just want everyone to get along. I mean, it's a fabulous weekend on an island. What could go wrong?

Ghost pirates. Ghost pirates could contribute to things going wrong. And a murder mystery weekend that gets all too real. Especially when Verity and Alec, who most decidedly does not believe that Verity can see ghosts, have to work together. But the ghosts are out and Verity doesn't want to join them in the afterlife. 

An okay story but there was too much Alec and Verity in this book. Reading about so much fighting just got tiring after a while.

Three stars

This book comes out April 18, 2023

Follows Give Up the Ghost

Followed by Death at the Drive-In

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

I read about this book on Smart Bitches Trashy Books. Carrie S was absolutely right when she said that people would either get this book or they didn't. I didn't; not the first three times I tried to read this book. I finally made it past the first section and did enjoy the book but I don't think I'm the exact right audience for this series. 

Cinnamon is living a life she enjoys in her small village. This is the year that a group of heroes will be chosen to fight the demons that rise up every so often. Luckily, her world is protected by a benevolent goddess. At least, that's the story until Cinnamon runs into a demon and accidentally throws a bundle of spice into his face breaking him of the spell he's under. Then her whole world turns completely upside down as everything she thought she knew turns out to have been false. Good thing that bad news is balanced out by her falling in love with the demon.

Three stars
This book came out July 22, 2021

Followed by That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson

I am a sucker for autobiographies narrated by their authors. This book is no different. Painted as a blonde bombshell from her youth, Anderson tells her side of the story. Even though this designation has brought her great heartache at times, Anderson is matter-of-fact in telling her stories. She weaves in some information that isn't available as part of her public persona, mainly how she grew up and stories from her youth. The stories are short and sometimes rather shallow but it is an interesting book and worth a listen.

Four stars
This book came out January 31, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Odd Job by Charlotte MacLeod

Another book in the series where we don't see much of Max since he is away on a trip to Argentina. Instead, Sarah is left at home to uncover what happened to Dolores Tawne. In life, she was (unofficially) the person who ran the Wilkins Museum. She was also a former art forger who Max had uncovered. In fact, the Bittersohn/Kelling family has had many ties with the Wilkins over the years which allow Sarah to find out what actually happened to Dolores which she feels some urge to do because Dolores set Sarah up as her executrix. Sarah didn't think Dolores had much but she finds the keys to two bank boxes, one of which has six hat pins which look startlingly familiar, mostly because Dolores was killed by a similar object, one that was mailed to Sarah. And it seems that the hatpins have a history of their own, one linked to the Wicket Widows.

This book was a wild ride. This death was rooted in the past which allowed MacLeod to bring back Uncle Jeremy but the timelines didn't quite make sense and I couldn't figure out the ages of some of the characters which would have made this story a little more fairly clued. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1996

Follows The Resurrection Man

Followed by The Balloon Man

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

When in Rome by Sarah Adams

Amelia Rose, known to the world as the pop star Rae, just needs a break. Her manager, her support, the person who helped make her who she is, is not listening to her. So she runs away. And, based on her love of Audrey Hepburn movies, decides to take her own holiday and she heads to the closest Rome. Which happens to be in Kentucky. Too bad her car craps out in the yard of a very tall, very grumpy man.
Noah Walker is sort of startled to find a pop star on his lawn. He definitely understands the need to get away for awhile but he doesn't want her sleeping in his house. He ends up bending enough for her to stay for the weekend. His sisters would like her to stay for longer because she makes him smile. But can a big star and a small town guy really make it work?
This was a cute story but it took me awhile to get into it and I can't quite put my finger own why.

Three and a half stars
This book came out September 20, 2022

Followed by Practice Makes Perfect

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Fatal Encounter in Tuscany by Vivian Conroy

I hadn't read the first two books in this series and I regret that. While Conroy is an adept writer and put some information in to catch us up on characters without info dumping, I really wish I had known more about Atalanta Ashford and her sleuthing abilities. 

But we meet her in this book as she is solving the mystery of a missing ring. Having read Sherlock Holmes, she is very easily able to find where the ring went, riling Inspector Deriot who seems to be a rival of sorts. Or maybe she is more accurately a thorn in his side. 

But she won't be a thorn for long as her friend (?) Raoul is "abducting" her for a grand adventure, a ride on the Orient Express. It is there that she and Raoul meet Catharina Lanetti who is going back to Italy to celebrate her father's birthday. Her family is... interesting, to say the least. The patriarch worships the Machiavellis and his schemes are no less convoluted. Catharina invites Atalanta and Raoul to join the celebration. While Atalanta wonders whether this is a set up, she is still drawn to the Lanettie compound where, as predicted, Catharina's father is killed. She, as the person who has come back the most recently is blamed. But is she really the killer?
There is a LOT of drama and untold secrets in this book. I think, having read the first two books, I might be more invested in the story but I do feel like Conroy is setting up Atalanta and Raoul to be more than friends but the chemistry isn't there yet. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out April 13, 2023

Follows Last Seen in Santorini

Followed by Last Dance in Salzburg

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter

Opinions are my own

Stiff News by Catherine Aird, Derek Perkins

There's been a death at the Manor. That's not particularly a surprise as it is a nursing home. This one is unusual in the fact that all of the residents had either been stationed in Egypt a long time ago or were the widows of such. One son, Lionel Powell, is particularly worried about his mother's death. 

It seems that Gertie was something of a popular girl who liked the good life. Does it matter? Well, maybe since her will implies there may be other children that could inherit. So DC Sloane is brought in to discover why there seems to be unrest. Does it have anything to do with old grudges? 

Three and a half stars
This book came out in 1999

Follows Injury Time

Followed by Little Knell

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Glitterland by Alexis Hall

I adore Hall but this was a challenging book for me. We are so much in the head of Ash Winters who is so in the midst of upheaval that it was hard to read. 

Ash is in the midst of a self-destructive spiral when he meets Darian Taylor. It begins as a one night stand. Ash doesn't even remember Darian's name. But the two meet again, accidentally, and start to realize that they just might be perfect for each other. 

Three stars
This book came out May 15, 2013

Followed by Aftermath

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll by Erle Stanley Gardner

Mildred Crest is shocked when her fiance, Bob, calls her up at her job and tells her that he has lost a bundle of money on the horses, has been siphoning money from his work, and is going to clean out his office and take off. Oh, by the way, their engagement is over. In shock, she completes her work for the day and then takes off. 

While on the way, she picks up a hitchhiker named Fern Driscoll who says that she's burned her bridges and is now a footloose doll. At the end of her rope, Fern pulls on the wheel and causes a car accident. Mildred survives... or does she? Maybe she can become Fern and leave her life behind. Too bad Fern left an even bigger mess behind and Mildred is about to be wrapped up in blackmail and murder. Good thing she had the foresight to hire Perry Mason as her attorney.

This was a pretty good story though the sexism of the times definitely come through and the ending was a little more convoluted than it needed to be.

Three and a half stars
This book came out in 1958

Follows The Case of the Daring Decoy

Followed by The Case of the Long-Legged Models

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Injury Time by Catherine Aird

A collection of short stories featuring Inspector Sloan. There is a confusing story about a woman killed in a sauna when the heat was turned up too high. A scientific group's alarm is dismantled with ease but how could someone have cracked the code that was only recently implemented. There are 14 other stories; some aren't quite mysteries but all are entertaining. 

Four stars

This book came out August 1, 1995

Follows After Effects
Followed by Stiff News

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Heads You Lose by Christianna Brand

Grace Morland is a painter and she's been using that excuse to come and sit on Stephen Pendock's terrace at Pigeonsford Estate. Venetia Gold is a golden woman and she is mirrored by her twin Fran whose mien is rather darker. Grace is jealous of Fran who is young and vivacious and whom she assumes is after Mr. Pendock. When Fran gets a new hat, Pen shows his favor and Grace bites back that she wouldn't be caught dead in that hat. 

Well, it turns out that she IS found dead in that hat. Then, while the house guests are mour
ning Grace, another person is murdered. It's a twisty tale that is definitely a product of its time.

People familiar with Agatha Christie will probably figure out early who the killer is. I'm usually terrible and I figured it out. The problem is that Brand's sensibilities are jarring to read in a more enlightened time. Lots of sweeping generalizations that are racially based. 

Three stars
This book came out in 1941

Followed by Green for Danger

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

A Body at a Boarding School by Benedict Brown

"So nobody really liked the man," said Grandfather (aka Lord Edgeley, aka Inspector Edgeley). Christopher has discovered his headmaster, dead, in his office. Just the night before, the headmaster had caught Christopher (reluctantly) sneaking around the school with Marmalade (his tormentor from the first book has decided that Christopher saved him from at least jail and probably death and the two are now friends.) The man almost whipped Marmalade and Christopher over and above what might be expected for a spot of mischief. 

Of course, this whole thing happened on Parents' Day when there are the maximum number of suspects on the school grounds. However, also visiting are Christopher's mother, his grandfather, and his grandfather's dog, Dahlia (sp?). The dream team is assembled and it will be up to them to determine if it's the headmaster's wife, the man who was in love with her, the man who would step into the headmaster's position, the thieving sisters, or the mysteriously missing prefect who committed the murder.

This book felt a little disjointed between the beginning and the end but was still enjoyable. 

Four stars
This book came out May 30, 2021

Follows Murder at the Spring Ball

Followed by  Death on a Summer's Day

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

A Reluctant Roommate by Angela R. Casella

At the end of the last book, Drew and Andy were moving in together. Well, Andy was moving into Drew's. And Drew wasn't incredibly excited. He likes his shades of gray living room and Andy is bringing with her ALL the colors of the rainbow. Plus, there's that whole inconvenient crush that he has on his sister's best friend.

Andy genuinely sees Drew as an older brother. They grew up together after all. But then she walks in on him... and suddenly Andy is seeing Drew in a new light. He's grown up. He's handsome. And he's willing to check up on her grandmother when she can't. 

The two are going to be spending a lot of time together and they figure out that familiarity doesn't always breed contempt.

This is a Casella joint so it's fast, fun, and fluffy with circumstances that are often over the top. Was Andy a little TOO reluctant and dramatic? For me, yes. I was also a little disappointed to see Nicole and Damien say that they're going to be taking some time off but I know that Casella will be keeping us in enjoyable reading material. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 30, 2023

Follows A Brooding Bodyguard

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Punk Rock Unicorn by Dana Simpson

Marigold has given up her crush on Lord Splendid Humility. Instead, she is going to rebound crush on his opposite. And opposite Prince Aspirational Arrogance is. But Phoebe finds reasons to like him.

Besides, she has a book report to procrastinate writing. And to argue with Dakota about. Are graphic novels real books? (the correct answer, by the way, is yes.)
There is a lovely interlude with Marigold making a small, dark, rainy universe for Phoebe to be sad in and, oh, I wish I had one. Or a unicorn. That would be good too. 

Simpson's humor is nowhere more evident than in the story of the hole. Or, as Marigold says, "a magical portal to a dimension of DARK and UNSPEAKABLE EVIL." And then, they meet their evil selves which gives them pause.

It is again time for the school play. This year it is to be "Yoony the Unicorn." We even get to see Marigold's contemplation hat. 

Phoebe also returns to her summer music camp where she meets a new friend. And it provides a lovely loop back to the beginning of this book. 

Another amazing addition to the series. 

Five stars

This book comes out April 4, 2023

Follows Unicornado

Followed by Unicorn for a Day

ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own