One Perfect Kiss by Jaci Burton

Zach Powers used to be a professional football player and now he's a high school football coach. He's hot, rich, and single in a small town. But he only has eyes for teacher Josie Barnes.
Josie isn't really interested in dating. She just wants to live her life. But Zach sure pushes her buttons. And on top of that, he's really interested in her and her life, even when her mother (not the greatest) comes to town. And he's not a jerk when she benches his players, because it's deserved.
A fine Burton addition to the Hope series, I wish we had seen a bit more of both Josie and Zach but overall a nice read.

Three stars
This book came out September 4
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

Three sisters, each thinking that the other has the perfect life but each with their own secrets.
Hannah, the oldest, is high up in a management consultant, flying all over the world helping companies work better. She's a genius but, of the three, the most scarred by their parents' death twenty-five years ago. It's led her to a life that is peripatetic with few relationships, even with her sisters. So now that she's got a man who's lasted longer than two months,  she's starting to panic.
Middle sister Beth is a stay-at-home mom with two darling girls. But she's tired. She just wants to go back to work. When she gets that option, she's blindsided that her husband is thinking they should have a third child.
Posy, the youngest, just wants to leave home. But after the way her bio-parents died, she feels guilty for not wanting to stay and take over her adoptive parents' coffeehouse. She's getting just aa little taste of freedom with her current renter. But is he telling her everything about his past?
This was a heart-warming story that I sped through, not the usual Morgan fun and flighty contemporary romance. Yes, the stories suffered because of having three different characters in the book but this was overall just a lovely read and I look forward to seeing more like this from Morgan.

Four stars
This book comes out Septemeber 25
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Impostor's Lure by Carla Neggers

Tamara McDermott is supposed to meet her daughter for her 21st birthday. When Tamara doesn't show, her daughter isn't worried (as a federal prosecutor, she is often absent from family dinners), but Yank, Colin, and Emma are. Trying to find her leads to an increasingly odd puzzle as someone connected to her is found near death and another man has disappeared. Personal bonds are tested beyond all belief in this addition to Sharpe and Donovan.

A sad book (which marks it down for me at this point in my life) but most readers of the series will enjoy it.

Three stars
This book came out August 21
Followed by Rival's Break
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Paradox by Catherine Coulter

The Savich and Sherlock books can be a little uneven for me. But I set my expectations low for the romance on this one (why even include them, they're so glossed over, at this point?) But they're once more drawn into a mystery and that is the more enjoyable part of the story, seeing the two of them work together. This time, it's to thwart someone who seems to be trying to destroy their lives, starting with trying to kidnap their son.
The A story overlaps with a sheriff who happens to witness the murder of the person who sets off the Sherlock/Savich chain of events and the FBI lover of the woman who is murdered. There is also a story about a serial killer that is glossed on.

Four stars
This book comes out July 31st
Followed by Paradox
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Born to Be Wilde by Eloisa James

At the end of the last book in this series, Lavinia Gray discovered that she was not the heiress she thought. In fact, her mother hasy been stealing to supplement their lifestyle for the last few years. Stealing from friends. With nothing left to lose, Lavinia goes to the bedchamber of Parth Sterling, wealthy (adopted) member of the Wilde family, to propose marriage. When he says no, she realizes that she had more to lose as it chips away at her ego.
Parth Sterling doesn't actually believe that Lavinia is as shallow as puddle, but he sure deflects his feelings for her by claiming to believe it. He offers to help find her suitors but quickly realizes that he wants her for himself.
Arrrrgggh. I really enjoyed so much of this book; Lavinia growing into herself, Parth figuring out what he wanted early... but there were so many things that were annoying; Parth being a bit of an alphahole and the Big Misunderstanding. The last felt like it was just tacked on to add pages. But overall an enjoyable read.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out July 31
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows Too Wilde to Wed
Followed by Say No to the Duke

Killer Green Tomatoes by Lynn Cahoon

We return to Angie Turner's farm-to-table restaurant where she is preparing for the summer season. For Angie, nothing says summer like her grandmother's fried green tomato recipe. Thank goodness her sous chef has a cousin who has an organic farm. Too bad the man's a Lothario. One who's latest girlfriend has turned up dead. The night after she and Javier had an argument. Now Estebe, Angie's employee, has asked her for help.
In the rule of most mystery novels, Javier had a lot of people who might have wanted to see him arrested for murder. Angie is reluctantly drawn into the murder. Adding that on to her regularly busy life as well as the fact that she's caring for her elderly neighbor while the neighbor's granddaughter is away.
The subplot wasn't really well developed and I thought it didn't needed to really be there but overall a nice addition to the series.

Three stars
This book comes out July 3
Followed by One Potato, Two Potato, Dead
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Whiskey Sharp: Torn by Lauren Dane

Cora Silvera walks into her friend's kitchen to find Beau Petty standing at the stove. She knew the tall, ginger, model/chef fifteen years ago but it's a shock to see him again. Especially since she still has a crush on him. And he seems to think that now that she's an adult, she's his cup of tea. They start a relationship but will have to navigate muddy waters including her artistic mother, his cult past, and... well, that's most of it. They're two adults who <gasp> talk to each other (for the most part) with no last Big Misunderstanding at the end. Lovely.

Four stars
This book comes out June 26
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Built to Last by Julie Ann Walker

Jamin “Angel” Agassi has been with the Black Knights Inc. since about book 3 or 4. He has had extensive plastic surgery and changed his name (the handsome visage they gave him was part of the reason for his nickname.) Before he had all the work done, he was in love. But he had been trained that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.
He's absolutely shocked to see Sonya Butler, his love, acting as the secretary to the evil crime lord known as the Spider. She's not at all like he remembered her, cowed and subservient. At least, she is until the firefight. Then all hell breaks loose and each finds out that the other is not what they seem. Not the first, second, or even third layers.
An interesting end to the BKI series with the promise that there may be a group of new operatives to follow. This was a slow start (story wise, not as much action wise) but tied up a lot of loose ends in the BKI series.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out June 26
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Rockets' Dead Glare by Lynn Cahoon

Volunteer fire chief Barry Gleason has made a number of enemies in the days leading up to the Fourth of July (a major money making day for this small tourist town) by threatening to shut people down because of supposed "violations." He does offer to overlook some of the violations in return for "favors." When he uses his own property to stage a fire and rescue, he turns up dead with only three volunteer firefighters (all of whom might have a grudge) in the area.
A short read. I did sort of like the end but it wasn't my favorite.

This novella comes out June 5
Three stars
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Blazing Summer Darling Investigations by Denise Grover Swank

I am really liking this series about a teen star turned reality star/private investigator. Summer Butler's first season of "Darling Investigations" was a surprise hit and she's back for the second season. Too bad she still has the same sadistic producer, the one who doesn't seem like her very much. In fact, Lauren has hired Summer's arch-nemesis, the boy who convinced her to fake a scandal that led to her downfall. Then, there's the fact that mysterious fires are starting all over town and everyone seems to be looking at Summer's cousin, Dixie. And then there are those pesky murders, also happening.

This book comes out June 5
Four stars
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows Deadly Summer 

Too Wilde to Wed Eloisa James

In the first book of this series,  Lord Roland "North" Northbridge Wilde tried to impress Miss Diana Belgrave by becoming the most fashionable man in London. But she left him anyway. An heir to a duke and he was dumped. He ran away to the war on the Continent. Two years later, he's back... and finds that his family rescued her from poverty. She's been working as his stepmother's governess.
Diana doesn't mind working. It allows her more freedom than living as a debutante ever did. What she does mind is the thought that she may have run him away from his family.
The time they have together lets them get to know each other much better than the time they spent as an engaged couple ever did.
I liked that these two finally did talk to each other... but it took a long time. The ending was a little twee but I've read worse.

Four stars

Follows Wilde in Love

Followed by Born to be Wilde
This book comes out May 29
ARC kindly provided by Edelweiss
Followed by Born to be Wilde

Hot Asset by Lauren Layne

Lara McKenzie has one goal in life. She wants to work for the FBI putting white collar criminals away. And the SEC is a stepping stone to get there. If she can get one big case, she's guaranteed entry.
Ian Bradley made a killing on a stock that everyone else lost their shirts on. Lara's boss has a tip that it's because of insider trading. Just because the man is super-hot doesn't mean that Lara is going to fall under his spell like so many other women.
This was an okay start to a new series. I didn't love that Lara and Ian were supposedly falling in love during such a stressful situation. We didn't get to see much of the relationship.

Three stars
This book comes out May 22
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The Other Lady Vanishes by Amanda Quick

Like the other heroines of this series (only one other so far, but we're given the pattern), Adelaide Bankcroft has a reason to hide her past. She's in Burning Cove after escaping from an insane asylum; the place her husband consigned her to in order to get control of her inheritance. Now she's working as a tea shop waitress who also creates specific teas for the shop's customers - the tea can do things like create calm or help with insomnia.
Jake Truett is in Burning Cove ostensibly to relax his overworked nerves. But he has an ulterior motive, one that perfectly aligns with keeping Adelaide safe.
I quite enjoyed this book and hope that we get to see the full story of what happens between Raina and Luther.

Four Stars
This book comes out May 8, 2018

Follows The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Followed by Tightrope
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread August 2022 as audiobook from Audible

In the Eye of the Storm / Catering to the CEO by Samantha Chase

In the Eye of the Storm
It's 2 a.m. and Holly Abrams is on her way to pick up her overly demanding boss, Stephen Ballinger. First he demands 12-14 hour days, then he steals her weekend mornings, now this? Holly lets loose, giving Stephen a piece of her mind. He's shocked that she feels that way; he thought that they had a great working relationship. This makes Holly even madder. Then downed trees make it impossible for her to get back to her house and she has to stay with Stephen at his giant mansion. Somehow, seeing Holly wet, in sweatpants, and without makeup makes Stephen wake up to how truly beautiful she really is.
I would hope that if this book were written today, the Big Misunderstanding would be greatly changed. As it was, it made me very aware that this was a re-issue.

Three stars

Catering to the CEO
Adam Lawrence didn't become a millionaire CEO by letting people walk all over him. Cassie Jacobs, caterer, doesn't seem to care. She has a contract that says that he can't make changes two weeks before his event, so when he tries to do so 11 days in advance, she walks out. That would be the end except that they see each other again that night when they discover that her dad is dating his mom. It is seeing Cassie outside of work that makes Adam really discover that she's a beautiful woman underneath. Too bad I can't say the same about him. Adam is a real alphahole. Like, think late 80s alphahole only concerned with his problems and only wanting Cassie when he can't have her. I actively disliked him and wouldn't have finished this had it been a full book.

Two stars.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Claim Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates

It all started with an ad...
Joshua Grayson's father wants nothing more than for his son to fall in love, get married, and have babies. So he puts an ad out into the world and now Joshua is getting all sorts of unwanted attention from women he doesn't really want to connect with. So Joshua puts out his own ad. One for a thoroughly disreputable woman. One who will get his father off his back. And the woman who answers his ad is perfect. Danielle Kelly is too young, too poor, too hipster, and too-carrying-an-infant for his parents to attach. Except that Joshua seems to be ready to attach...
Danielle grew up the child of a teen mother. Her mother was dirt poor but would drag Danielle around as she moved from man to man, trying to find stability.
I never really connect with characters in the "New Adult" category, even ones who are super-mature for their age.  And I never really felt like Danielle and Joshua connected (well, beyond the sex). Would have loved to see more scenes where the two connected outside the bedroom. Regular Yates readers will probably be satisfied but I'm looking forward to a better story in the next book.

Two and a half stars.
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows  Smooth-Talking Cowboy

A Magical Match by Juliet Blackwell

Tristan Dupree, a shadowy figure from Lily Ivory's past is in San Francisco and has given her 48 hours to return his... well, she doesn't exactly know what it is that she stole from him. Whatever it was, she doesn't have memories of that time in her life. She's also dealing with trying to put together a 1950s brunch to benefit the local woman's shelter as well as the evil owner of a cupcake store. Oh, and her whirlwind fiance is in jail for murder.
I don't know how but I missed a book or two in the series and that definitely lowered my enjoyment of reading this book. There was a lot of world-building in those books that made this story harder to follow. I'm guessing that people who have read the whole series will really like this book but I would not recommend it to readers new to the Witchcraft Mystery series.

Three stars
This book comes out April 3
Followed by Bewitched and Betrothed
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Jagged by Lauren Dane

Rachel Dolan has a past. She was an FBI agent who got trapped by one of the men she was chasing and it changed her life. Leaving the bureau behind, Rachel was delighted to discover that her talent with art translated into a career as a tattoo artist. Yes, she has a routine and a LOT of locks on her doors. A state-of-the-art seucrity system isn't a bad thing either. It makes her feel safe. Also making her feel safe? Vicktor Orlov.
Vicktor knows Rachel's story but that only impresses him - it doesn't scare him off. He doesn't want to tame her or protect her, he just wants her to live her best life and to help her find a way to do that.
And that was my favorite part of this book, that Vicktor is impressed by Rachel's strength and doesn't down play it at all. I wish there had been more come-to-Jesus with her dad and that we had seen a little more courtship, but overall a pretty good read.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 27
This book follows Unraveled
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Ménage à 3 Volume 1 by David Lumsdon, Gisele Lagace

I read Ménage à 3 online and love it there. It is even better gathered all in one place. This is a body-positive, sexuality-positive comic that is easy to read and has entertained people for years. Starting when Gary's roommates falling in love and moving out leaving room for Zii and Didi and a whole series of antics. We find out that Gary is a virgin and Zii starts to make it her life mission to get him laid.
I can't wait for the next volume.

Five stars
This book came out March 13
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Unicorn of Many Hats by Dana Simpson

Phoebe and Marigold are off on a new set of adventures that capture Dana Simpson's incredible imagination and wit. Marigold learns to write fan letters (you can definitely assume you know who the first person she writes one to is). Phoebe finds a like-minded individual on the internet but then finds out she might not like the person so much IRL. And we get to see Marigold's house as well as learning about unicorn elections and how the friends spend their holidays (let's just say Marigold is not about to let a Christmas tree out-sparkle her.)
As usual, a highly entertaining read. Well worth picking up.

Four and a half stars
This book comes out March 20
Follows Phoebe and Her Unicorn in the Magic Storm
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Big Nate: Silent But Deadly by Lincoln Peirce

Another great entry to the Big Nate canon. We get a little bit more story about Gina with a brief crush as well as a trivia competition between her and Francis. We also get a little Christmas time that I don't remember seeing in previous Big Nate books.

Four stars
This book comes out March 20
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley