Monthly Rereads January 2024

As always, opinions are my own

The Mane Event by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #1

Three stars

This book came out September 25th, 2007

Followed by The Beast in Him

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

The Beast in Him by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #2

Three stars
This book came out April 1st, 2008

Follows The Mane Event
Followed by The Mane Attraction

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

The Mane Attraction by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #3

Three stars
This book came out November 1st, 2008

Follows The Beast in Him
Followed by The Mane Squeeze

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

The Mane Squeeze by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #4

Three stars
This book came out November 1st, 2009

Follows The Mane Attraction
Followed by Big Bad Beast

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #5

Three stars

This book came out May 1st, 2011
Follows The Mane Squeeze
Followed by Big Bad Beast

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Big Bad Beast by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #6

This book came out May 25th, 2010

Follows Beast Behaving Badly
Followed by Bear Meets Girl

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #7

Four stars

This book came out March 27th, 2012

Follows Big Bad Beast
Followed by Wolf with Benefits

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Wolf with Benefits by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #8

This book came out March 25th, 2014

Follows Bear Meets Girl

Followed by Bite Me

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Bite Me by Shelly Laurenston

Pride #9

This book came out March 25th, 2014
This book follows the Mane Squeeze
Followed by Hot and Badgered

Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston
Honey Badger Chronicles #1
Three stars
Follows Bite Me
Followed by In a Badger Way
This book comes out March 27, 2018
Audiobook from Audible 

In a Badger Way by Shelly Laurenston
Honey Badger Chronicles #2
Three and a half stars
Follows Hot and Badgered
Followed by Badger to the Bone
This book came out March 26, 2019
Audiobook from Audible

Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston
Honey Badger Chronicles #3
Follows In a Badger Way

Followed by Badger to the Bone
Audiobook from Audible

Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston

Honey Badger Chronicles #4

Four stars

This book comes out August 31st, 2021

Follows Badger to the Bone

Followed by Born to Be Badger

Audiobook from Audible

Born to Be Badger

Honey Badger Chronicles #5

Four and a half stars

This book comes out November 8, 2023

Follows Breaking Badger

Audiobook from Audible

Pack Challenge by Shelly Laurenston

Magnus Pack #1

Followed by Go Fetch!

This book came out October 1st, 2006

Audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

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

Here Kitty, Kitty by Shelly Laurenston

Magnus Pack #3
Three stars
Follows Go Fetch! 
This book came out July 3rd, 2007
Audiobook from Audible 

Tale of Two Dragons by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #0.2

Four stars

This novella came out November 5th, 2013

Follows Can't Get Enough
Followed by Dragon on Top

Audiobook from Audible Plus

Dragon Actually by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #1

This book came out September 1st, 2008

Followed by About a Dragon

Audiobook from Audible Plus

About a Dragon by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #2

This book came out December 1st, 2008
Follows Dragon Actually
Followed by What a Dragon Should Know
Audiobook from Audible Plus

What a Dragon Should Know by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #3

This book came out September 1st, 2009
Follows About a Dragon
Followed by Last Dragon Standing
Audiobook from Audible Plus

Last Dragon Standing by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #4

Three stars

This book came out September 7th, 2010
Follows What a Dragon Should Know
Followed by The Dragon Who Loved Me

Audiobook from Audible Plus

The Dragon who Loved Me by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #5

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 1st, 2011
Follows Last Dragon Standing
Followed by How to Drive a Dragon Crazy

Audiobook from Audible Plus

How to Drive a Dragon Crazy by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #6

Three and a half stars
This book came out September 4th, 2012
Follows Dragon Who Loved Me
Followed by Light My Fire

Audiobook from Audible Plus

Feel the Burn by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #8

This book came out November 24th, 2015

Follows Light My Fire

Followed by Bring the Heat

Bring the Heat by G. A. Aiken

Dragon Kin #9

Three stars

This book came out August 27th, 2017

Follows Feel the Burn

Characters next found in The Princess Knight

The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken

Scarred Earth Saga #1

This book came out August 27th, 2019

Followed by The Princess Knight

Borrowed as audiobok from Audible Plus

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Ernest Cunningham #1

Four and a half stars

This book came out March 29, 2022

Followed by Everyone on this Train is a Suspect

Audiobook borrowed from Libby

A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn

Veronica Speedwell #5

Three stars

This book came out March 10th, 2020

Follows A Dangerous Collaboration

Followed by An Unexpected Peril

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Veronica Speedwell #6

Four stars

Follows A Murderous Relation

Followed by An Impossible Impostor
This book came out March 2, 2021

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz
Fogg Lake#1
Three and a half stars (bumped up a half star on reread)
Followed by All the Colors of the Night
This book came out January 7th, 2020
Audiobook from Libby

All the Colors of Night by Jayne Ann Krentz

Fogg Lake #2

This book came out January 7th, 2021

Follows The Vanishing

Followed by Lightning in a Mirror
Audiobook from Libby

Lightning in a Mirror by Jayne Ann Krentz 

Fogg Lake #3

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 18th, 2022

Follows All the Colors of Night

Audiobook from Libby

When All the Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz

Cutler, Sutter, and Salinas #1

Wildest Hearts by Jayne Ann Krentz

When Daniel Lyncroft, the head of Lyncroft Unlimited, disappeared in a plane crash some time ago. His creditors are getting restless but his sister Annie doesn't want to sell his company; she knows that he is alive. So she's pulling her nuclear option, contacting his former employer, Oliver Rain. Everyone knows that he not pulled his own family's company from the brink of disaster several years ago, he multiplied their fortunes by quite a bit. He's invested in Daniel's company so it's in his best interests to make sure that the company doesn't fail. So Annie proposes a marriage of convenience.

It is possible that some of my enjoyment of this book is nostalgia but I still like that both Annie and Oliver are able to grow in this story. Oliver becomes a little less rigid while Annie becomes a bit less naive.

Four stars

This book came out in 1993

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Prime

Opinions are my own

Solstice Spirits by Erin Johnson

Rudie Hollybrook is the only person in Holiday Haven who sees dead people. It's been a point of contention between herself and her best frenemy Hayley Swift. Except now, Hayley is also seeing ghosts. Well, ghost. It's just one ghost. But it's still scaring the bejeebers out of her. So she calls Rudie, at ridiculous hours of the morning (seriously, the lady has no manners.)
But her life view may be about to change. It may not be three separate ghosts but this particular ghost is trying to tell her something.
Not a ton of depth but a good story.

Three stars
This book came out July 1, 2021

Follows Holiday Hijinks

Followed by Merry Mischief 

Rudie last appeared in Cocoa Curses

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Goodbye's a Witch by Danielle Garrett

Though there is a bit of a mystery in this story, it is more about wrapping up the series, and if you go in expecting that, you'll be fine. There is a new character who is introduced but we don't see much of her. She comes through the portal that is on the manor property. But there is a problem. There are vampire's chasing her and Holly's magic is on the fritz. 

It was a little flat and a little predictable but still a nice end to the series. 

Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery #12

Three stars

This book came out June 15, 2021

Follows Men Love Witches

Audiobook of mine in Audible

Opinions are my own

Death and the Victorians by Adrian Mackinder

If you've studied the Victorians at all, you will probably know a lot of these stories. It is, not surprisingly, very Euro-centric. Very focused on England with all of the, what we would call nowadays, weirdness: seances, memento moris, and the scare of Jack the Ripper.

I was disappointed that there were topics that weren't more deeply delved into (not Jack the Ripper, as Mackinder says, that has been well-covered.) This book is shorter than many nonfiction books and could have stood with more pages. I did appreciate that one chapter was mainly dedicated to books of the time that focused on death. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out January 30, 2024

ARC kindly provided b Pen & Sword and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

I read the first book by Stevenson, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, and enjoyed it. There was some verbal trickery that I didn't quite agree with but still, a fun book. Having read that book made this one more enjoyable and so did expecting that the author would toy with the readers expectations.

Ernest Cunningham returns as the first person narrator. He's been asked to come along as the debut writer on the Australian Mystery Writer's Society's fiftieth anniversary of their Festival. Along with five other writers, he will be doing a series of panels for a select group. 

Also on the train is his girlfriend, Juliette, and his literary agent, Simone Morrison, as well as any number of other characters. Ernest is not excited to see Simone as he is late on delivering his next book, the one he has already gotten an advance for. It's just too bad because he just doesn't have a brain for fiction. So it's with mixed emotions that Ernest realizes that a death along their journey may not be entirely natural. He decides that he is going to investigate, all while writing his next book (the one we are reading) while adhering to the rules he lists at the beginning of the book. 

As in the first book, Ernest drops clues as to who the murderer will end up being. Also like the first book, many of those clues were deft red herrings. It made it a little hard to read and some of the story felt a little thin but it was overall a very nice read and I'm hoping that the epilogue is a hint to how the next book in the series will be rolled out. 

Four stars

This book comes out January 30, 2024
Follows Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone

ARC kindly provided by Mariner Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Men Love Witches by Danielle Garrett

Now that their home is finally open as a B&B, Holly and Adam are playing host to a vampire council, one specifically arranged by their old housemate, Lacey Vaughn. But the super-secret meeting isn't going so well. First, the powers that have gathered can't agree how they should work together. Then Harmony (who was already a little jittery around vampires) sees someone skulking in the shadows and she's pretty sure it's an old foe. Then, a valuable item goes missing. All of this craziness and she's planning a wedding and meeting Adam's parents again. Well, most of the planning is going well bt she just can't seem to find a a dress and the wedding is only six weeks away.
A fun little story that I think regular readers of the series will enjoy.

Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery #11

Three stars
This book came out October 29, 2020

Follows The Witch is Inn

Followed by Goodbye's a Witch

Audiobook of mine in Audible

Opinions are my own

An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten

I didn't realize this was a collection of short stories. Or that this was such a short book. It is still utterly delightful. I'm wondering where they were published before because I had read one of them.

All of the stories center on Maud. She has lived in the same apartment for over seventy years. After her father died, it was the only thing of value the family owned. The building was sold but her apartment was kept for as long as she, or her mother, or her sister, lived. Maud is the only one left but she still lives in that apartment. She travels at least once a year but always returns. Her life has been filled with disappointments but lately she has taken to killing the people that she sees as a threat.

Four stars

This book came out January 1, 2013

Followed by An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Belong to the Night by Shelly Laurenston, Sherrill Quinn, Cynthia Eden

"The Wolf, The Witch, and Her Lack of Wardrobe" takes place ten months after the first story in this series. I am sorry that the series hasn't been finished yet because it is an interesting overlap of the Smith Pack with some witches.
In this town, Tully Smith is the mayor. He's laid back, takes care of his people, and walks everywhere so that he can be available to his townspeople. But he will work hard if they need protection. And Jamie Meacham, the lead of the witches is bringing trouble to his doorstep. She's been called to be a warrior for a god and that is bringing all sorts of odd creatures into town. Creatures that can be driven out by sex magic. Too bad that won't work on his father. 
Not full developed but, to be fair, it is a short story. 

Long Island Coven #2

Three stars

Follows My Kind of Town

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

I've read all of Hallett's other books and really enjoy her format of a mix of various media. This book includes texting, transcription, and a What'sApp-type app. Supposedly, the reader has opened a safe box with printouts of all of this communication. The story mainly revolves around Amanda Bailey, an author who is focusing on a case that is about eighteen years old, that of a cult whose leader is in jail for killing two people. They also kidnapped a baby who will be turning eighteen this year and a new book could focus around their experiences and the life they now live.

As with Hallett's previous stories, there are layers upon layers and red herrings abound. It got a little too complicated for me in parts but it was overall a lovely read.

Four stars

This book comes out January 23, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Atria Books and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Random in Death by J. D. Robb

A young girl is attending an under 21 concert at a local club. Someone elbows her harshly, but it's the needle stick masked by the movement that kills her. She ends up dying in the arms of the lead singer.

In the way of things in the "In Death" books, that lead singer is Jake, amour of Eve Dallas's friend, Nadine. He is able to get ahold of Eve so that she becomes entwined in the story. The bigger problem of this story that this girl is only the first. Someone out there is targeting teens but there is no discernible connection between the victims. 

It will be up to Dallas and Peabody to figure out what is going on before the killer takes any more lives.

This is one of the Dallas stories where we see the point of view of the killer so we know a little more than Dallas does. There are also a number of characters from past stories and they are becoming more and more entwined as the Dallas stories go on. A few too many people (felt like some were shoehorned in) but a solid addition to the In Death series.

In Death #58

Four stars

This book comes out January 23, 2024

Follows Payback in Death

Followed by Passions in Death

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby February 2024

Accidentally His by Sabrina Jeffries

Lady Verity is the last of the three sisters who run Elegant Occasions to find a long-term partner. She assumes that she would never marry but fate may have other plans even as she is sure it will remain true. 

We've met Rafe Wolfford in previous books as a man who is interested in Verity and her family, but not primarily for reasons of marriage. Instead, he is trying to figure out if someone from her family is feeding information to the enemy (France.) This same someone shot the uncle who raised him. Though the man was strict, Rafe still loves him and would like to find the culprit.
The two are brought together in deceit but the attraction that they have is visible to all and, when the chance is offered, the two may decide to stick it out for the long run. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out January 23, 2024

Follows What Happens in the Ballroom

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Through the Wilderness by Brad Orsted

I sort of peripherally know the author having worked with his ex-wife and was curious about the book. I knew a little bit about their story (that they had a child who had died) but didn't know the whys and wherefores. And that story is enough to bring anyone to their knees.

Orsted talks through his life with a bit of a description of his childhood through meeting his wife and kids, his daughter's birth, and death. Interspersed with these stories are his life after it changes irrevocably. He moves to Montana, on the border of Yellowstone National Park. 

More and more studies are showing the healing powers of being in nature and Orsted is certainly proof of that. His story is a hard one to read but hopeful in the end with a great look at Yellowstone and the joys of living in the wild. 

Four stars

This book came out June 27, 2023

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Light My Fire by G.A. Aiken

Elina Shestakova of the Black Bear Tribe of the Midnight Mountains of Despair in the Far Reaches of the Steppes of the Outerplain (Elina) has been tasked with killing the dragon Queen. She does not succeed but, then, Celyn didn't think she tried very hard. That's why Elina is put in jail rather than killed. And it works out because, even though Celyn forgets that she is in jail, Elina is needed later to help broker a deal between the dragons and her people.
It was nice for Celyn to get his HEA after being harassed by his cousin so much for sleeping with the woman who eventually became his cousin's mate. These books are getting longer and I'm sort of convinced that it's the length of the names.

Dragon Kin #7

Three stars

This book came out November 25, 2014

Follows How to Drive a Dragon Crazy 

Followed by Feel the Burn

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus 

Opinions are my own

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman, Greg McKeown

This book looks at the ways that leaders can get the most out of their employees. They divide leaders into those who multiply the talents of their employees and those who diminish. This book shows us the ways we can be multipliers as bosses. I really liked the fact that Wiseman tells readers that they can't ever embody all of the suggestions in the books but they can do the best they can and be as aware as possible of how we manage. 

Four stars

This book came out June 1, 2010

Audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

When He Was Bad by Shelly Laurenston

Miss Congeniality by Shelly Laurenston

Professor Irene Conridge doesn't have time for anything that isn't work. Like many of the people in this series, she was a child prodigy. Her area of expertise is... science...y... stuff (?). But more important, she's caught the attention of Niles Van Holtz. Well, she caught it seven years ago when he thought she was a freshman on campus and he hit on her. She was actually a visiting professor.

Magnus Pack #3.5

Three stars

This book came out June 1, 2008

Follows Here Kitty, Kitty

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

This book centers, as the title would suggest, around Miss Margery Benson. Her life is a drudgery. Teaching is not fulfilling and a drawing one of her pupils does of her wakes her up to her reality. She basically implodes her life that day. Her last effort? A trip to New Caledonia to find the golden beetle that reminds her of the happiest times in her life. But first she must find the perfect traveling companion. She ends  up with Enid Pretty, a young flibbertigibbet whose past is not at all spotless and who meets none of the requirements Miss Benson had advertised for. But, as often happens (especially in fiction),  Miss Pretty is exactly what Miss Benson needs.

I didn't love the ending though, with this being a more literature-minded book, I guess I should have expected it. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 23, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

My Kind of Town by Shelly Laurenston

Emma Luchessi isn't sure why she's drawn to Smithville but this New York girl is down in the south to see what is leading her here. She's not expecting to end up in the hospital in a town where everyone is a giant and strangely good looking.
Kyle Treharne likes living in Smithville. Yes, it's a wolf town and he's a cat but he can't choose who his father married (his half sister is the snaggle-toothed cousin in the Pride series). He is interested in Emma but isn't sure she's going to stick around. She's not sure about it either but it may be up to fate.
A cute little story but short and not a lot of depth. 

Long Island Coven #1

Three stars

This story came out June 1, 2007

Followed by Belong to the Night

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own