Full Moon Over Freedom by Angelina M. Lopez

In the first book of this series, Gillian Armstead-Bancroft seemingly had the perfect life with her husband and two children. But cracks were beginning to show and we see them emerge in this book. She is battling her husband through a contentious divorce (he is using the children as weapons), she can't seem to get hired, and her skills as a bruja aren't working the way they should. So what does she decide to do? Try and turn her life around by doing the opposite. While driving in her friend's car, she nearly runs down a man and discovers it's Nicky Mendoza, the boy she had a sexual relationship with in high school. 

Nicky is ecstatic to see Gillian again but only barely manages to evade her advances. She doesn't know how much she hurt him when she left. It certainly will be an interesting summer having her be working on the grant that brought him (famous mural painter) back to town to help revitalize Milagro Street. 

A little bit slower than the other book, I actually enjoyed this one more because Nicky and Gillian had the history so we got to see more of their relationship. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out September 5, 2023

Follows After Hours on Milagro Street

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Scandal in the VIP Suite by Nadine Gonzalez

 I loved the cover of this book and the premise seemed interesting so I requested it from NetGalley. I'm not a huge Harlequin reader these days but this book reminded me why I used to be. A great story, well-developed, with a happy ending in a short format. I didn't love the ending because it was telegraphed so clearly and I wasn't sure I really believed it because up until that point, Nina and Julian had been communicating so well with each other, the Big Misunderstanding seemed out of character. I also don't love public declarations and, whoo baby, this one was public. Otherwise, Nina was a great character whose flaws we got to see as well as her journey getting past some of her fears. Julian also has a past and I loved that, even though she could have been, his ex wasn't vilified but was instead shown to be a human. 
When Nina Taylor arrives at the luxurious Sand Castle hotel (which, even the author notes is sort of a ridiculous name for a hotel), she is expecting to honor her mother's legacy by getting to stay in The Oasis, their most opulent suite. But, instead, she's been kicked out so that a movie star can stay instead.
Julian Knight doesn't feel much like a movie star. His shine has been tarnished with a bad film and even worse press. Staying at the Sand Castle means he'll get a respite from all the press. He's not expecting to find someone sleeping in his bed. Nor that he'll impulsively offer to let him stay. Even more shocking is that she accepts...

Four stars
This book comes out January 12th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Can't Help Falling by Cara Bastone

Tyler Leshuski likes his life. At least he mostly does. His life has shifted recently. His best friend found a girlfriend. Now Tyler, the one who picked him up and helped raise his kid is superfluous. And the new girlfriend, Via. Comes with a best friend/foster sister, Serafine "Fin" St. Romain, who is the most beautiful woman ever. And Ty should know, he's dated them all. Even at 42, he's not ready to settle down. But he will ask Fin out. Too bad she rejects him soundly. To the point that he changes his entire life. Which gets upended once again when the foster system Ohio calls; his 14-year-old sister has been left home alone and he is her only family.

Fin didn't mean to hurt Fin quite so badly. She's just used to men not taking "no" graciously. When his entire life shifts, she knows she needs to apologize. Her life isn't going smoothly either. Her entire life she's been wanting to be a foster parent but she's too young, too single, and her job as a psychic means that she has no guaranteed cash coming in so she's been rejected yet again. And Ty is sort of a double anyway. But when Kylie enters his life, Fin starts to see that her friend Mary might be right and she may have misjudged Fin.

A cute story but a little TOO cute at the end. Fin is set up as a psychic but we didn't to see much of her work other than how Tyler directly impacted it. It would've been nice to see a little more upfront.

This book comes out August 25th

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Family for Beginners by Sarah Morgan

Flora Donovan's father deserted her before she was born. Her mother died when she was eight and she grew up with an aunt who saw her as baggage. Her past has made her very sensitive to others who are hurting. And she sees the daughters of Jack Parker hurting. He came into the flower store where she worked and was immediately intrigued. A widower for almost a year, he knows his daughters are in pain but he isn't able to see how deep. When he introduces Flora to seventeen-year-old Izzy and seven-year-old Molly, it doesn't go well but he isn't able to see.
And I think Morgan does a good job of showing the emotions of each character and the blocks that each one has as well. The book was a bit narrow compared to some of others of Morgans books -- the focus is super tight mainly on Izzy and Flora but I strangely felt like they were a bit one-dimensional as well in places. Definitely on par with others of Morgan's books that aren't strict romances (though there is an HEA here) but didn't pull on as much emotion as others.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 5th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Friendship List by Susan Mallery

Ellen and Unity have been friends... forever. When Ellen got pregnant as a teen, Unity stuck by her. When Unity's husband died, Ellen stuck by her. Now Ellen's son is heading off to college and her life is about to change irrevocably. Meanwhile, Unity is still stuck in the mourning phase for her husband. Everyone gets to grieve differently but Unity's friend's seem to think that three years are enough. Both are fairly young to be in the position of about-to-be-empty-nester and widow so they decide to push each other to live a little by creating a list of things to get themselves out of a rut. Ellen finds herself getting closer to a long-time platonic friend while Unity's moves end up opening her up to her friend's son.
It took me a bit to get into this story. The middle of the story was definitely the better part than either the beginning or the end because that is where we really get to meet Unity and Ellen and they get their chance to grow into the people they are going to be.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 26th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

A Cowboy for All Seasons by Caitlin Crews, Nicole Helm, Maisey Yates, Jackie Ashenden

Spring by Caitlin Crews
After the death of their grandmother, four women are tasked with staying at her house, each of them for one season. The first is Keira Long. Keira was raised by a con man father and a mother who thought that he was everything leaving no room for anyone else. The only place Keira felt loved was at her grandmother's. And then with Remy West. But his parents didn't approve and Keira felt like she needed to find out who she was on her own so she left when he proposed. That was five years ago. And now she's back, living in her grandmother's house on the same land the Remy lives on, helping with the cattle. Could it be that both of them of matured into people who can be together?

This was the best story of the four. We got to know both Keira and Remy. Was Keira a little bit more adult about them being together? Yes. But we got to see that both were human. Four stars

Summer by Nicole Helm
JJ is back for the summer and has promised to fill in for her grandmother, caring for Cade Mathewson's two girls. She remembers Cade from visiting her grandmother in the summer; he was the only boy that didn't get upset when she beat him at footraces. She is falling in love with the girls but can't deny that their situation (their mother decided to leave and hasn't seen them since) mirrors her own. It brings up a well of emotions that help her heal and maybe bring her to the life she wants to have.
I wish we had seen more of Cade realizing why JJ was so good for him. Of course, this is a short story so we don't get to see a lot but it was an okay story. Three stars.

Fall by Maisey Yates
Lila isn't sure why she's sticking around. It's not like she's organized enough to help run the Red Sled Holiday Bazaar but for some reason, that's what her grandmother asked her to do. And it's being run on Everett McCall's land. Yes, the same Everett that Lila confessed her love to when she was 17. At his engagement party. He's the whole reason she hesitated coming back to Jasper Creek, even ten years later. But working on this together might be a way to finally show the man that she's loved for so long that she is worth loving too.
I never did connect to Lila. She didn't get the closure with her mother that I was hoping for. An okay story but not one of Yates' best. Three stars

Winter by Jackie Ashenden
Bella is the last of the four cousins. She stopped coming back to Jasper Creek when her mother decided that it wasn't worth going. Now, after having all of her money stolen (and why wasn't there more follow-up on this? The bank can't just tell her that they won't replace her money), selling her grandmother's house is her last hope for opening up a cafe. But she has no money, no clothes, and little hope when she comes to the house. Luckily, her ex-stepbrother, Noah is keeping an eye on her. The same stepbrother she always loved. And he offers to help her get the house ready for sale while she... draws her cafe ideas? I guess that was supposed to show that he was helpful and dedicated but it would have been nice to see Bella make more of an effort. There are definitely going to be readers who want to read about a man taking care of a woman like that but I prefer more of a equal relationship. Two and a half stars'

Three stars
This book came out February 25th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Undone by Kelly Rimmer

Jess Cohen and Jake Winton were involved for four months two years ago. Then he got serious and she freaked out. He ended up moving to the West Coast. There was a good job offer in oncology at Stanford but he was also slinking away to nurse his wounds. Now Jake's brother (who is one of Jess's best friends and business partners) is getting married so Jake and Jess are seeing each other again. It does not go well, not least because Jess insisted on keeping their relationship secret so no one knows why they have a blow-up at the rehearsal dinner.
The rest of the book follows Jess and Jake as they start to reconnect. And it really sets up Jess's friend Mitchell as sequel bait. It was an okay book but Rimmer has written better. There was So. Much. sturm and drang in this one and it just felt overwrought. Jess and Jake sort of talked to each other but mostly it was past each other.

Three stars
Follows Unspoken
This book came out February 25th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Fatal Accusation by Marie Force

Sam and Nick are in the soup again. When the president lands himself in another scandal, this time of an affair he had while the First Lady was undergoing chemo. It just gets worse when the woman in question ends up dead. Once again, Sam and Nick will have to deal with the threat that he may have to step into the role of Commander in Chief if the president resigns  while Sam is having to hunt down a murderer.
I really liked how much Sam grew in this story. Nick is still as perfect as ever but we got to see more about how and why their marriage works.

Four stars

This book came out December 17th

Follows Fatal Reckoning

Followed by State of Affairs
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own