Head Witch in Charge by Avery Flynn

Leona Sherwood is her family’s heir. This comes with great responsibility and she needs to blow off just a little steam. A poker night in Vegas is just the thing. And the handsome man she meets? Bonus.
Erik Svensen is his family’s heir, but not if his father can help it. The man has machinations coming out of his ears. Erik just wants to keep his siblings safe; they’re not the usual type of Svensen. They’re not conniving, scheming, or overall evil. Not like him. Just look at how he's worming his way into Leona's life. And not because he likes or even loves her. No. That's definitely not it.
The two are working to hide the super powerful item from the evil witch group and having epic adventures along the way. 
There are a number of times where there's a wink to the reader when Leona says that we should hear from her sisters (i.e. read their books). While this story was fine, I'm not sure we see why these two end up together and it seemed like a lot of sales tactics to get us to buy/read other books in the series. 

Three and a half stars
This book comes out September 2, 2025
Witchington #2
Follows Witcha Gonna Do?
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group 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

It Takes a Psychic by Jayne Castle

Leona Griffin used to be a para-archaeologist. Now, she verifies antiquities. That's the reason she's here to night, at the Society's new member ball. She's going to verify that the offerings people bring are authentic. She's distracted by two things: the first being a man that keeps looking at her but no one else seems to notice, the second is a dustbunny that seems to want her help. 

It is the strange man, Oliver Rancourt, who helps her when the evening starts to fall apart. First, as she is verifying antiquities on stage, she's put to a test, second, one of the antiquities is an artifact known as Pandora's box which the host seems overly eager for her to open, then there's the raid, and the dead body. Overall, not a very good night. 

The two make it out but it's just the beginning of their journey. Soon, Leona is joining Oliver in heading to a small town, Lost Creek. It seems to keep coming up in his investigations and also seems to be attached to the night at the Society. 

This story was fine. I spent a lot of time trying to remember who characters were from previous books in the series. I think new readers would have fewere issues because there is some linking information but not enough to be helpful. There is also sort of an abrupt bridge from the beginning of the story to the end. I'm not sure why Leona would have gone to a small town with a man she just met even for a mysterious stone. There are bookish "reasons" but I was mostly thinking "you're willingly going to a secondary location." 

Three stars

Ghost Hunters #17

This book comes out June 3, 2025

Follows People in Glass Houses

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Death and Dinuguan by Mia P. Manansala

stars

This book comes out November 25, 2025

Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #6

Follows Guilt and Ginataan

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper

Jessamine "Jess" Bricker specializes in personalized proposals. When the book opens, she's orchestrating one involving a shark whale and scuba diving. While that's happening, she gets several phone calls. It seems a girl (now woman) she went to school with was just proposed to. According to Diana, the effort was underwhelming. Now her maybe-to-be fiance is putting out a lot of money to pay for Jess to help with a new proposal. He's also paying for a wedding planner, Aubrey. Right now, the ladies, along with Diana's cousin Kiki are at a week-long resort retreat to start planning for the wdding. But it's not running smoothly. Diana is entitled, Aubrey seems to hate Jess for no reason and Kiki... well, actually Kiki seems like a delight. Plus, there's this man on property that Jess immediately feels drawn towards. But she's not really at that stage in her life. 

That's all bad enough but one of the other resort members dies and Jess stumbles over the body. There are some unexpected visitors but then, there's another body. (Jess stumbles over that one too.)

I really liked the character development in this one A couple of the characters were a little shallow but we mainly follow Jess around and she's got a little bit of depth to her which sometimes surprise some of the other characters. I really didn't like the ending for a couple of spoiler-y reasons but the rest was a good Harper novel and I generally enjoyed the book.

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 8, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

A

After solving her first murder, Vera Wong is riding high. She has her found family and her son is dating a detective. Vera's even calling the detective her daughter-in-law (but she doesn't need to know that.) However, she really could use some more excitement in her life. Falling for a scammer isn't exactly what she had in mind. 

This sets off a chain of events that leads to her befriending a young woman with a mysterious past. One that includes a link to a relatively well-known influencer who recently died. So Vera is determined to not only discover what happened to the influencer but to help the young lady.

This was a fine story but there were a LOT of people since it seemed like everyone in the original came back with a whole slate of new characters as well.

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 1, 2024

Vera Wong #2

Follows Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Remember When by Mary Balogh

Balogh's Ravenswood series around the Ware family and it's matriarch Clarissa's turn to find love. 

Before she married the Earl of Stratton, Clarissa was a Greenfield and her best friend was Matthew Taylor. Matthew was the younger son of a nearby land owner so their friendship was a little over the line considering how wealthy her family was but nothing scandalous. Though they loved each other, Clarissa had a chance to marry the catch of the season and she loves him too. Was that a mistake? Now in her early fifties, she is wondering that fact. But she doesn't think so. Though she and her husband did not have a true love match, they did love each other. But he's gone and Matthew is still here. What could that mean for them?
Matthew was heartbroken when Clarissa married. He also married but his wife died in childbirth. He left to travel the world but returned to the place where he grew up. Now, he's the village carpenter, making beautiful furniture. That's the reason Clarissa stops by, to request a cradle for her coming grandchild. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out January 7, 2025

Ravenswood #4

Follows Always Remember

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group

Opinions are my own

Shattering Dawn by Jayne Ann Krentz

Ever since she woke up from a night she didn't remember, Amelia's talents for seeing people auras has magnified. She can't see them during the day, but at night, she sees a fog of emotions that people have left behind them. This new sight has made it so that she fears going out at night. She's even seeing a therapist for it. But now, her life has gotten stranger since there seems to be a man stalking her. So she calls in some help. 

Gideon Sweetwater is a private investigator. He's wealthy enough to be able to pick his own cases. And he's interested in Amelia's. While he's not exactly sure she's actually seeing what she thinks she sees, he's willing to take a chance. And thank goodness he does, because there actually are some forces after Amelia and not everyone in her life is as they appear. 

You don't HAVE to have read the other books in this series to enjoy it but it would help. 

Four stars

This book comes out January 7th, 2025

The Lost Night Files #3

Follows The Night Island

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread as hard copy from library March 2025

Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala

It's Corn Festival time in Shady Palms. They have a small-ish town so they have teamed up with nearby Shelbyville. Of course, Brew-ha has a stand. And they impress not only the mayor of Shelbyville but also her wife. And it's the wife that ends up dead in a corn maze with Adeena nearby clutching a knife.

Lila has a lot of realizations in this book, especially as she ends up talking to the murdered woman's best friend who also ran a business with her. The parallels in her own life are startling. The woman even has a doxie as well. 

I didn't love the ending of this book. It didn't feel as sewn together as previous books but the overall tone of the book is the same as previous in the series and the story moved along the characters really well. 

Four stars

This book comes out November 12, 2024

Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #5

Follows Murder and Mamon

Followed by Death and Dinuguan

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C. M. Waggoner

Sherry lives in small town Winesap. She’s very proud of the help that she’s given to the sheriff’s department in solving various murders. While older, she’s not exactly elderly but she IS a librarian. A perfect cozy novel heroine. Or is she? It seems odd that there are so many deaths in her town. And it’s even odder that so many people come to her to solve the murders. It all starts to go off the rails when someone close to her dies. Is this really her life or is there something more… demonic going on?
While there isn’t as much demon hunting as you might think based on the title, this book is laugh out loud funny in several places and I really, really hope that there are going to be more in the series.

Four and a half stars

This book comes out September 24, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Rise and Divine by Lana Harper

Daria "Dasha" Avramov is a devil eater and it's complicated her life in any number of ways. First, demons do NOT taste good. In fact, they are downright nasty. And eating them makes her thirsty. Really, really thirsty. And her ability makes it so that it is very easy for her to be pulled across the veil. In many ways, she'd actually prefer to be there. But Ivy Thorn isn't there.

Ivy knew that Dasha had a complicated past. Well, and that her current life is complicated. Her future probably will be as well. That's why the broke up. But she is incredibly hot. Which is why they got back together. But then they broke up again. Ivy would have said they were never, ever, ever getting back together but then things start happening 

Four stars

This book comes out August 20, 2024

The Witches of Thistle Grove #5

Follows In Charm's Way

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group

Opinions are my own

A Werewolf's Guide to Seducing a Vampire by Sarah Hawley

While we've met Ben in previous books in the series, I don't think it's necessary to have read them before diving into this book. It will help keep track of secondary characters to have read the other books. 

Ben is fairly content in his life. He has good friends, a great family, and a business that's expanding. He could use someone to fall in love with though. And the wedding that opens this book makes him especially maudlin. Which is how he ends up buying a plastic rock that supposedly contains a vampire succubus. For 99 cents (plus shipping), why not?
Eleanora has been trapped in that plastic rock off and on for over 600 years. She knows a little bit about the real world since the witch who imprisoned her, Isobel, lets her out every once in awhile. Mostly to sic Eleanora on Isobel's enemies but there have been opportunities to learn more about the real world. Still, it's been nearly 60 years since she was last out. But her new owner, Ben, seems like a nice guy. Which is very confusing since this not what she's used to. She's certainly attracted to the man though and that is helping while she tries to navigate the contemporary world and free herself from the stone. 

Glimmer Falls #3

Three and a half stars

Follows A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Design of Us by Sajni Patel

Bhanu and Sunny are known at work for having a somewhat tempestuous relationship. There are even bets placed on who will explode in meetings first. Well, not explode, they're professional after all. 

But now they're on vacation at the same time. And at the same resort. Which is what allows Bhanu to overhear Sunny's ex-girlfriend being an absolute jerk to him. Bhanu doesn't like other Sunny but this woman is absolutely being ridiculous. So she steps in and defends Sunny? But what gives her that right? Well, she's his new girlfriend, of course. Oy vey. Suddenly, the two are having to appear to actually enjoy each other's company. 

Like most romances, this does mean that they are in close confines and that they are going to fall in love. But the journey on this one is fun. I did like that Bhanu had social anxiety but it felt like more of a plot point than an actual aspect of her character. Other than that, I liked both Bhanu and Sunny as characters and enjoyed the book. 

Four stars

This book comes out July 16, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Deceptive Composition by Anna Lee Huber

We get to see more of Lord Gage's history  in this book after he receives a letter from his great aunt asking him to come investigate the death of her brother (his great Uncle), Borak. The man was older but a fall off the cliffs seems unlikely as he knew very well what areas were safe and which were not. 

Included in the list of suspects are the local smuggling gang. Though supposedly disbanded, there is a suspiciously nice stash of alcohol in the family basement. This is the same gang that Lord Gage joined as a youngster. His friend Jago was killed and he was sent away as a result of him being a member. 

Memories are long in this area of the country and the present day murder has ties to the past. 

As usual, a lovely story. 

Lady Darby #12

Four stars

This book comes out June 18, 2024

Follows A Fatal Illusion

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

There are a lot of threads in this story, the main ones being that Mercy is still unhealed from what happened in the least book and now her brother has landed on their doorstep, unable to communicated. It turns out that he too has come in contact with a fae artifact and the owner of the artifact is wreaking havoc with certain weather patterns until it is recovered. The storm is centered around a lodge outside of Libby, Montana where there are hot springs. A lodge that is supposed to be hosting a billionaire's wedding but is, instead, snowed in with thirteen people, not all of whom are human. 

There are some side stories about other wolves in the pack. Mary Jo has broken up with her boyfriend Renny, Darryl is protecting a group of white witches in New Mexico, someone has tried to push Sherwood in front of a train. Most of these are small vignettes showing that there are things going on outside of Mercy and Adam. It could be a build up to a bigger story but it is also proof that their pack can take care of themselves and don't need their leaders to rush in and solve everything for them. 

And Bonarata is still tormenting Mercy though that ends up being a smaller part of the story. 

A somewhat quieter story but I really enjoyed that there weren't as many bodies as some of the others. 

Four stars

Mercy Thompson #14

This book comes out June 18, 2024

Follows Soul Taken

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann

Lucky Hart is auditioning to be on a reality show. But not just any reality show, one that involves a haunted house. See, she has powers and thinks that she may be able to connect to the house. If chosen, she'll become the caretaker of Hennessee House. 

Through her explorations, there's also the people she meets along the way including a man named Maverick and his daughter, Rebel.

The first two-thirds of this book were really great. I enjoyed the character building and the world building. We get to see some characters that really communicate with each other. However, then there's too much going on and Lucky and Maverick stop talking for... reasons (?) in the third act and the whole story just sort of fell apart from there. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 21, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

People in Glass Houses by Jayne Castle

Molly Griffin is a crystal tuner and the biggest job of her career is jeopardized when a man is found dead in her shop. It's not like her life isn't complicated enough. Her sister was part of the Hollister Expedition, the one that was lost in the underground Glass House sector three weeks ago. But her mothers finally found the one person who made it out alive, Joshua Knight. 

His psi vision burned out after the expedition, Joshua doesn't have any memories from that night. He's recently escaped from a psychiatric institute and is living in a house of mirrors; one so spooky the town gifted it to him at no cost. He's startled to see Molly show up on his doorstep but he can't turn her away as the local fog is getting too intense. That night starts their relationship as Molly ignores one of Joshua's rules but then saves him. 

The story is a little disjointed but I think regular Ghost Hunters readers will enjoy it.  

Three and a half stars

Ghost Hunters #16

This book comes out May 7, 2024

Follows Sweetwater & the Witch

Followed by It Takes a Psychic

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible book December 2025

An Enchanting Case of Spirits by Melissa Holtz

 In my life, I've never had the urge to see a ghost. Neither has Alyssa Mann but, after a 40th birthday party gone awry, here she is with a ghost in the house. Then another. And all of them want something. But she doesn't know how to help them. So she enlists the help of the medium who seemed to have unlocked the power.
Suddenly, she and her two besties (as well as the psychic, Corinne) are trying to figure out why the ghost of an obnoxious young man whose death was declared a suicide is hanging around her. He's the first, but he certainly won't be the last. Except the only one she doesn't see is her husband. Which is probably good because, like many cozies, there is a Hot Detective.
An interesting start to a series though I don't generally enjoy books where the point of view switches and this one was so infrequent it often confused me the first three or four sentences when it switched. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out April 9, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Honeymoons are supposed to be a time to relax and get to spend time with your new partner, right? So why is Meddy so stressed? Could it be because she is introducing her husband to the full extended family (close to 80 people)? Well, that could be a big part of it. It could also be the (purported) mob boss who has accidentally handed out a gift to the wrong person, but he's not quite sure who got the red envelope meant for his business rival. And, when they don't show up with the right gift, something very valuable to Meddy is held instead.
Still a crash of craziness and I think regular readers will enjoy the mayhem.

Four stars

This book comes out March 26, 2024

Follows Four Aunties and a Wedding

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

It's time for another adventure with Veronica and Stoker. They start out with a tamarin monkey (which is quickly pawned off on Lord Rosemorran's youngest daughter) and end up with a Beauty. Supposedly an anatomical model that doctors could use to study the human body since dissection during this time period was so reviled. However, this beauty was obviously a young woman who was once a living person, not a wax work. But who could have done something so heinous?

The trail leads them to a pair of twins whose scientific inquiries were supported by the second son of a lord. A fire supposedly killed the male twin and his laboratory but did he really die?

Stoker and Veronica pick up some new friends in this book including Plutree, a mortician who has an overbearing mother and is interested in profiling. The other is Spyridon, a man who Stoker knew in Greece but who traveled back to England with Lady Wellie who seems to be getting more frail.

Four stars

This book comes out March 12, 2024

Follows A Sinister Revenge

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