A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan

Did this book have a lot of depth? No. Were ALL of the characters well-developed? No. Did it make me cry tears of emotional happiness at the end after I tore through the book? Yes. 

Morgan can be an uneven writer for me but she knocked this story out of the park. Three adult children are coming home for Christmas. One daughter, Rosie, is having some problems in her marriage. Her twin, Becky, knew Declan first. Maybe they would be a better match. 

Becky knows that something is wrong. And that's more than the giant snowstorm that has stranded her at the airport. Her brother's best friend (whose family lives right next door) has one of the last rental cars. There's never been a romance between them but there's also never been just one bed.

Last is brother Jamie who is bringing his new girlfriend Hayley. He has a big announcement. Could an engagement be in the offing?

Four stars

This book comes out October 7, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan

Mia Crawford is on an enforced vacation. She's been at her financial planning firm for five years and, as a an anniversary present, she's on a ferry to a private island in the Carribean. She tried to get the cash equivalent but was roundly dismissed. She's a little wary because she'd rather read a book than have a grand adventure. 

The resort is an interesting place. It's owned by a reclusive billionaire. It's also the site of a recent disappearance, a woman who was at the resort left the island on a day trip but never returned. Mia is connected to this woman when she picks up a book from the take a book/leave a book pile at the resort and it is filled with handwritten notes that directly relate to other guests on the island.

Though Mia is used to being on her own, she befriends the daughter of one of the other guests. She also starts spending time with the handsome bartender Jason. But both relationships may pull her into danger.

Overall a lovely story though my suspension of disbelief was pulled pretty taut several times. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out June 17, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan

Imogen lives for her work. She lives for it so much that she’s made up a personal life just to avoid her coworkers’ questions and to hide her lack of a life.

Dorothy runs her own company and likes Imogen’s marketing so much that she moved her account when Imogen moved to a new company. Her daughter Sarah is concerned that Dorothy has picked up another stray (Dorothy has any number of animals that she’s adopted as well as people who Sarah is afraid will take advantage. But they both know something that Imogen doesn’t and it threatens to upend her life.
Luckily, handsome vet (and son of Dorothy’s best friend) Miles is there to help. And he has a golden retriever named Ralph who has decided that Imogen is his person.

A sweet story. Fans of Morgan will know what to expect.  

Four stars

This book come out September 24, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Canary Street Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace

Jo Jones has had a very fraught couple of years. Her much-older husband sold their publishing company out from under her for a pittance and then divorced her. Right as that was happening her mother died. On the Monday before this book starts, she finds out that she's inherited an estate in England from her mother and the book opens with her arriving there with her solicitor, Rupert Selkirk. It's just unfortunate that the next person she meets, Sid Randles, the caretaker of her livable cottage, is such an unpleasant jerk. He even leaves a lawn mower running and seems to be the obvious suspect when a painting goes missing from a previously locked room. 

It is the painting that Jo focuses on during this story even though Sid turns up dead in her cottage. And it's very refreshing to see an amateur sleuth sort of staying in her own lane. 

This was a really nice read about an autistic main character. The author didn't avoid the dread love (interest) triangle but I think this is going to be the start of a series with characters I really enjoy. 

Four stars

This book comes out February 13, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Snowed In for Christmas by Sarah Morgan

From the outside, the Miller family seems fairly perfect. Mom, Dad, Grandma, and three kids who would be the seventh in a generation of making shortbread cookies in Scotland. But none of the children stayed with the family company. Instead, Ross struck out on his own, Alice became an emergency doctor, and Clemmie works as a nanny. Glenda, their mother, is disappointed that none of them have settled down to get married. And last Christmas, with a little too much gin, she made that a little too clear. So the children aren't especially looking forward to the holiday season this year. Besides, they all have other issues they are wrestling with. Alice's boyfriend just proposed and she's not sure why she isn't screaming "yes," Clemmie has made a decision about children that her family isn't going to like, and Ross is married to his job. And their father Dennis has news of his own. 

This Christmas though, a number of secrets are going to come to light when the Scrooge Storm blows through, blocking  everyone in, along with Lucy Clarke who just happens to be the person Clemmie and Alice were basing Ross's fictional girlfriend off of. 

Lucy is not happy to be caught in the storm. She just wanted to drop off a marketing proposal for Ross's firm and then be on her way. After her grandmother, her only family, died two years ago, Christmas hasn't been the same. And here is this perfect family... yes, there are some underlying tensions she doesn't exactly understand but they are together and clearly love each other. 

When Morgan does a book with feels, she does it really well. Because there are so many people, we don't get to know each of them as well as we might and some of the plots are a little less developed than some of her other books but this is a really lovely story especially heading into the holiday season. 

Four stars

This book comes out September 20, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

Three women come together to rent space on the boardwalk. They are strangers to begin with, each with a life that seems relatively perfect for them. But there are currents underneath and all three are about to find their metaphorical boats rocked.

Bree is a bookstore owner who holds her heart close, even for the author who is currently in town. 

Ashley loves her boyfriend and she's ready to take the next step but he doesn't appear to be.

 Mikki is divorced but she is still good friends with her ex. That might be a problem for the man she's dating. 

There is so much sturm and drang in this book. It was a little much for me this time but I think regular readers of Mallery's contemporaries will enjoy it. 

Three stars

This book comes out May 31, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Marion Lane and the Deadly Rose by T.A. Willberg

Marion Lane is only just recovering from the events of the first story when there is a mysterious death caused by an assassin known only as The Florist. But there are also new inquirers coming to Miss Brickett's and someone has slipped Marion a note that one of them is not what they seem. This is on top of the fact that there are mysterious flyers being distributed around the company and a secret subgroup that is intent on changing the way Miss Brickett's fundamentally works. Unfortunately, one of Marion's cohort will not be alive by the end of the book.

Three stars

This book comes out February 1st, 2022

Follows Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own