July 2025 Monthly Rereads

As always, opinions are my own.

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Four stars

This book came out November 1st, 2011

Inn Boonsboro Trilogy #1

Followed by The Last Boyfriend

Audiobook from Audible

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

Four stars

This book came out May 1st, 2012

Inn Boonsboro Trilogy #2

Follows The Next Always

Followed by The Perfect Hope

Audiobook from Audible

The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts

Three and a half stars

Inn Boonsboro Trilogy #3

This book came out November 1st, 2011

Follows The Last Boyfriend

Audiobook from Audible

Icing on the Murder by Valerie Burns

Maddy and Michael are at an impasse trying to figure out their wedding budget. Maddy's dad is, of course, fabulously wealthy so she could have the wedding of her dreams if she wants. But Michael doesn't want to take that much money from her dad and besides, she already had the wedding of her dreams. It just happens that she was left at the altar. The two figure everything out except that Maddy leaves out one thing, she's entered a contest to have event planner Serafina plan their wedding. If they win, it will be filmed for a possible new reality show.

It's fabulous when Maddy and Michael are picked as one of the three finalist couples. It's just too bad that Serafina doesn't seemt to be a pleasant sort of person. She's seen/overheard arguing with any number of people including Michael’s ex-fiancée, her assistants Lucy and Luke, and one of the other vendors at the wedding expo that all of this is happening at. It makes her the prime character that needs to be murdered. And, she is. Trooper Bob is called in and, of course, believes Maddy did it. April was there during the murder and could claim jurisdiction but really, it turns out they need to call in the feds so it's not like Trooper Bob is going to be in charge anyway. Besides, he's got some health issues to concentrate on. 

This was an okay story but there is so much focus on the characters that the mystery becomes a sub-sub plot in a series that is mainly about mysteries. 

Three stars

This book comes out 

Baker Street #4

Follows A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Game Is Murder by Hazell Ward

This was a very interesting read. The premise is that you have been invited to solve a murder that has affected the Verreman family. You are given various contracts with the characters in the book that you will need to keep. Clues are given but red herrings abound. 

This was an interesting read but very linear. It could have been more interactive with allowing people to choose various paths. 

Three stars

This book came out July 29, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Just F**king Say It Susie Ashfield

Written in an engaging style with good information, Ashfield's books covers any number of situations where it might be hard to speak. For each of the situations, she gives examples of what you should say, and sometimes what you shouldn't.  

The book starts with how to have general confidence. Then examples of when she used each of these in her job as a speech coach are added for things like self-promotion, presentations, interviews, and even personal instances like giving a wedding speech or a eulogy.

Four stars

This book came out May 22, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Elliott & Thompson and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Lady Avely's Guide to Lies and Charms by Rosalie Oaks

It has been nine years since Dacian killed Lord Charles Garvey and it is time for him to determine what actually happened that night. While he has always believed what he saw, he now wonders if there may not have been some Musing (magic) involved in the story. He and Judith head out with Judith’s husband’s son, Robert, to see what they can uncover.

All is not well at Garvey House  however. Lady Garvey refuses visitors and her granddaughter, Georgina seems to be a prisoner. The current Lord Gavey, Charles’ brother Kenneth, won’t come to the house at all, preferring to stay in the village. 

The story took a LONG time for me to get into and I had to power my way from about a quarter in to the two-thirds mark where it picked up again. There was a leap into the story that happened seven years ago that didn't make sense to me and then a lot of side characters that may be building to the overall arc of the story but didn't provide much other than very temporary red herrings for the end of the story. 

Three stars

Matronly Misadventures #2

This book came out November 13, 2024

Follows Lady Avely's Guide to Truth and Magic

Followed by Lady Avely's Guide to Guile and Peril

ARC kindly provided by Parkerville Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Larceny and Old Lace by Tamar Myers

This book is definitely of its time and did not age well. The characters feel like caricatures and I didn't connect with ay of them, I clouding thr first person author. 

Abigail Timberlake is running an antiquities store after her husband divorced her. She's living for free in her aunt's home and blatantly disrespecting the rules set put for her (they're a little onerous but not so bad that she should be biting the hand that feeds her.) The board she's on for the area where she has her shop is up in arms about another shop in town... Abigails's aunt. So, when said aunt is murdered, it could have been any one of a number of people.

Two and a half stars

Den of Antiquity #1

This book came out June 1, 1996

Followed by Gilt by Association

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

A Book Club’s Guide to Murder & Mayhem by Bethany Barker

Suzie Tuft writes textbooks and goes on various speaking tours and conferences. She's coming back from one of the latter when she decides to stretch her legs. A mysterious smell has her looking over a hill on her rural road. A red piece of fabric dancing in the wind catches her eye and then she noticaes a nearby boot. Both are attached to a dead body. 

She doesn't know the man herself but Suzie discovers that he was on that road to come and visit her. This sends her off on a mystery that involves her ex-boyfriend and a lot of hindering a police investigation. 

Three stars

Suzie Tuft Mystery #1

This book came out April 2, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo

I listened to Vuolo's second book first and there was some overlap, especially when she talks about being a people pleaser. There's not much about her family but there is a lot about their religion and why she believed what she did, and why she stop believing. 

Three stars

This book came out January 31, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Arsenic and Old Lies by Benedict Brown

The last book was left on a cliffhanger. Marius and Bella he just returned from solving another crime and Marius had discovered the body of someone Bella loved in his living room. Now, he has to figure out what to do next. And that is to apparently ignore the body completely (an amatuer detective who follows police orders? I'm not sure how to process this.) In fact, this particular murder isn't really touched on again until the end of the story. 

Instead, Marious, needing inspiration to get around his writer's block, decides to investigate a cold case. In particular, he chooses the case of Felicity Mortimer who was accused of poisoning her much older, infirm husband. The case interests him because the evidence seemed so thin but the judge was so overly irate in his sentencing.

While Marious does some investigating on his own, Bella does eventually joins his efforts. There will be two more murders before the two can finally figure out what is going on, and what actually happened fifteen years ago.

The ending felt a bit rushed to me but the suspects were certainly a group of characters who, while maybe not fully fleshed out, were entertaining.

Three and a half stars

Marius Quin Mystery #5

This book came out July 11, 2025

Follows A Body at the Grand Hotel

Followed by The Holly Village Murders

ARC kindly provided Storm Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Born in Shame by Nora Roberts

Shannon Bodine has just had some rather upsetting news. While her mother is dying, Shannon is told that the man she grew up with is not her biological father. These days, that's not as big a deal but this book was originally written in '96 when people might have cared. Shannon, however, freaks out and decides that he's not really her father. So when a message  comes from Ireland, her heretofore unknown half-sisters want to meet her, she's cautiously curious. 

When she arrives in Ireland, she meets Maggie (from Born in Fire) and Brianna (Born in Ice) and their husbands. She also meets next-door-neighbor and simple farmer Murphy. Murphy is literally struck dumb. 

The two lead very different lifestyles but there is a spark that can't be denied.

Not as good as the first book, this is my third favorite in the series by only a little bit. Murphy is the least interesting of the three heroes and Shannon is a little bit annoying. This book also ages the worst with the most mentions of things that are jarring to the modern eye (I had a whole list as I was reading and now I can only remember cigarettes and asbestos.)

Three stars

This book came out January 1, 1996

Born in Trilogy #3

Follows Born in Ice

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Murder Kingdom by Fred Van Lente

An interesting storyline. Things are going crazy in a thinly-veiled ripoff of Disney. Characters are going crazy. People are dying. It's going to be up to Tanith to try and survive as well as save her friends.

The artistic style was interesting. I didn't always realize that characters were the same people as the expressions/look wasn't particularly consistent. Interesting premise. 

Three stars

This book came out May 20th, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Death In Disguise by Caroline Graham

Barnaby and Troy are faced with an interesting case, the murder of a local cult leader. The group has taken over a local manor house and keep themselves to themselves which sets off some of the locals. It's also interesting that there are some outsiders in the manor the night he dies, including the father of one of their members. He's been searching for his daughter, she's about to turn 21 and come into a half a million pounds. 

As is often the case with Graham's book, there is a LOT of character development. We get to know almost all of the characters before the murder actually takes place. I enjoy that quite a bit, even if I didn't enjoy all of the characters themselves.

Three and a half stars

Chief Inspector Barnaby #3

This book came out in 1992

Follows Death of a Hollow Man

Followed by Written in Blood

Audiobook of mine in Audible

Opinions are my own

Born in Ice by Nora Roberts

I have to admit, Born in Fire is my favorite book of this trilogy. The repartee of Maggie and Rogan is too fun to miss. But this one is pretty good too.

In this book, second sister, Brianna Concannon, B&B proprietress, has a Yank customer, famous author Grayson (Gray) Thane. 

Gray isn't interested in settling down, but something about this warm hotelier is warming the cockles of his heart.

Lots of other stuff going on. It's possible to read this book without reading the first one, but it's much better if you know more of the back story.

Three stars

This book came out August 1, 1995

Born in Trilogy #1

Follows Born in Fire

Followed by Born in Shame

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

The setting is familiar. Its an exclusive invite to a private island by a reclusive author. All of the invitees are authors. And the first person narrators are all authors. Of course, they all have secrets. Even the woman who helped plan the event and is now overseeing it.
The first night, a riddle is served. Early the next morning, every camera goes out and one of the authors disappears. And it devolves from there. Who is the mysterious person who invited them all? Who will make it out alive?
Pretty standard thriller, interesting ending.

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 11, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Let's Make a Scene by Laura Wood

Ugh. I generally liked this story but might not have picked it up if I had known that the book would be switching from past to present. I am not sure that the book needed to be structured that way and it took away from the contemporary story that I really did enjoy. 

Thirteen years ago, Cynthie starred in the film that catapulted her to stardom. It's too bad that her costar was such an unbearable jerk. Jack may have been Hollywood royalty but was also an ass and a half. And now they're starring in a sequel and they need each other. Cynthie has been embroiled in a scandal caused by her last director (who also tore down her self-esteem) and Jack needs to not be killed off the the vampire television show where he is a Giles-type character. 

Once again, sparks fly and the two make the front page. But is this fake romance in danger of turning real (hint: this is a romance novel so... probably.)

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 1, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Atria Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Linchpin by Seth Godin

The basic premise of this story is that you should find what makes you unique and use it to make youreself indispensible to your company. An artist can't be outsourced. At least according to Godwin. And he tells us that. A lot. In many different ways. Over and over. If you like Godwin's keynotes, those are entertaining and much more concise. 

Two and a half stars

This book came out January 26, 2010

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

You're Not Listening by Kate Murphy

There are a lot of really nice points in this book. What makes us feel lonely and isolated...is the missed opportunity to connect when you could have. I don't always think that is true, but I am a pretty intense introvert. I have made it a goal to leave conversations having learned something and it has made me concentrate more. 

The layers of friendship intrigued me; 150 you can comfortably know well enough to grab a drink but fewer close friends. I believe that for sure. 

My favorite chapter, as referenced in my previous comments is the one where you can sometimes say "no" to a conversation. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 7, 2020

Hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie, with narrators Hugh Fraser, Nigel Hawthorne

Dead Man's Mirror
Gervase Chevinix-Gore writes to Poirot. He's well known for being incredibly proud of his family. But he never had biological children. His only daughter was adopted from a deceased, distant family member. He's asking Poirot to come because he's afraid he's being defrauded. But Poirot arrives too late, Gervase is dead.

The Incredible Theft
A weekend party starts off well but goes down hill when plans vital to winning the war disappear.

Murder in the Mews
Barbara Allen is dead of an apparent suicide. But her flatmate is insistent that it is murder. And all of the clues do seem to point in that direction. Will Hercule be able to discover what actually happened?

Triangle at Rhodes
Hercule observes two couples at Rhodes. It seems like the handsome husband of one would be better matched with the stunning woman of the other. Then, one of them dies. Who dies and why?

Four stars

This book came out in 1937

Hercule Poirot #16

Follows Cards on the Table

Followed by Dumb Witness

Audible book of mine

Opinions are my own