Rich in Your Love by Pippa Grant

Octavia "Tavi" Lightly is a social media influencer. She's vegan, sugar-free, and exercises regularly. Except, she's a fake. Really, she's just trying to keep her head above water because she's spent her money on a cacao farm. And now that her grandmother has instructed her entire family to move to a tiny town called Tickled Pink, her entire house of cards might come tumbling down. 

Dylan Wright was a wild teen. Now he's the town's only plumber and Tavi's assigned project. Gigi wants her to help Dylan get onto social media to raise the town's profile.

There's some pull and push. It's over the top. Not my favorite Grant story but fine. 

Three stars

This book came out July 12, 2022

Tickled Pink #2

Follows The One who Loves You

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The One Who Loves You by Pippa Grant

Phoebe Lightly's life is turned upside down when her grandmother chokes on dinner and nearly dies. After a minute in hell, Gigi has decided that the whole family needs to turn their lives around. To do that, they're going to mimic an old move and move to a tiny town called Tickled Pink.

This... is not in Phoebe's life plan. She has been climbing the family's corporate ladder pretty steadily with the aim of one day running everything. She did make a recent misstep but she's still sure she can figure out how to make Gigi proud of her.

Teague is a local resident. His life turned upside down about twenty years ago when he ran away from his family. These days, he's living in a tiny house and coparenting his daughter with his ex-wife and her new wife. When the Lightlys come to town, he's not impressed. But there's something about Phoebe that is intriguing.

The two might have more in common than it seems at first sight but it will take some time for them to figure out what that is and how to be together. 

I'm not loving this new series but my joy in the Thrusters and Fireballs is more in the whole coterie rather than the single books so I'm hoping that will prove to be the case for these as well.

Three stars

This book came out July 12, 2022

Tickled Pink #1

Followed by Rich in Your Love

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Irresistible Trouble by Pippa Grant

Cooper Rock is a baseball god. But his game is in the toilet. His superstition is that he does better when he's having sex. And he hasn't been having sex. Mostly because he's run in to Waverly again.
We've seen Waverly peripherally in previous books. She's a rock star at the Taylor Swift level. But she's got issues. And Cooper Rock is one of them. Eight years ago, they slept together and she never heard from him again. She doesn't know that her aunt Zinnia (also her manager) scared him away.
Now that they've met again, they know that the attraction is still there. But can two incredibly busy people make a real connection?

Three stars

This book came out September 29, 2022

Copper Valley Fireballs #4

Follows The Grumpy Player Next Door

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Secret Hook-Up by Pippa Grant

Both Addie and Duncan have appeared in previous books by Pippa Grant. Addie is the batting coach for the Copper Valley Fireballs, a major league team. Of course, she's experienced her fair share of sexism. Not only do people not acknowledge that she might know how to do her job, they also seem surprised when she shows up to an auction in a dress.
Duncan isn't thrilled that Addie is doing the auction. But he at least knows that her bosses asked if she wanted to do it. But that doesn't mean that he's happy hearing how men are talking about her. And not just because the two of them used to hook up.
I really enjoyed this story. Duncan was a little too perfect but Addie got to grow quite a bit. You could really see how the two fit together. That being said, for all that the two had a relationship before, it took a long time for them to get together and figure it out

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 1, 2024

The Copper Valley Thrusters, #6

Follows I Pucking Love You

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own 

A Royally Inconvenient Marriage by Pippa Grant

Peach needs a husband. She lives in Alabama and wants to adopt her sister, Papaya. But the old-timey (and incredibly old) judge seems to think she needs a husband. 

Viktor needs a wife. He's heir to a throne in the kingdom of Honoria (I listened to this so some spellings may be suspect). It's known as the country of love so the monarch must be married in order to ascend the throne. 

Well, it seems like there's an easy solution here. So, the two get hitched and move to Europe taking Papaya and Peach's MeeMaw with them. But all is not smooth. Papaya is still causing problems and the country needs a lot.

I really do enjoy Grant's books. They're usually just the right amount of crazy but this one did have a little more crazy than usual and it made it just slightly less enjoyable.

Three stars

This book came out August 31, 2018

The Royals #3

Follows Rockaway Bride

Borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Mister McHottie by Pippa Grant

After the "bratwurst incident", Ambrosia Berger stopped going by "Bro" and asked people to start calling her "Sia." She didn't have the life she expected to live after the incident but she's carved out a pretty could niche on the social media team of Crunchy, an organic food store. Too bad her nemesis (and the other person involved) has just bought the store. 

Chase Jett grew up with the Berger twins and spent a lot of time with their sister. They had a history of pranking each other but their time together is still in his memory. He doesn't think they can pick up where they left off but he knows that the spark they had is still there.

This is barely a three star for me because there is just So Much Misunderstanding in this book.

Three stars

This book came out October 30, 2017

Girl Band #1

Followed by Stud in the Stacks

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

High Intensity by Dara Joy

I remember enjoying the first of the Tyber and Zanita books but not the second. I couldn't really remember why. I now know. It's because Zanita was charming and whimsical in the first book while Tyber was bemused and enchanted (this was well before manic pixie dream girls became oversaturated in our culture.) The second book, she's a nut and he's a prankster know-it-all.
Zanita proposed to Tyber but then tells him she doesn't want to get married because they'll become boring. He decides to prove her wrong by whisking her off to an island adventure where there may be ghosts. Blooey (cook) and Hambone (cat), of course, are going to come along. Zanita's Auntie shows up as well. We even see Mills and Gregor (and his son Cody) a couple of times though the conversation is basically the same in both.

Two stars

This book came out October 1, 1998 

Tyber and Zanita #2

Follows High Energy

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Royally Pucked by Pippa Grant

What do you do with a spare royal heir when he's acting up? Manning Frey's family moves him to the United States where he is on a professional hockey team. He doesn't mean to knock up Gracie Diamonte but he's not exactly upset about it. Except that he's technically sort of engaged. 

Gracie isn't thrilled to be pregnant but that's what life is. She finds Manning incredibly charming but isn't ready to believe that he is read to settle down with a woman like her, she barely graduated high school and is from nowheresville Alabama.

Not as fun as other books from Pippa Grant but still a fast read and enjoyable enough to finish.

Three stars

This book came out April 6, 2018

The Copper Valley Thrusters #2

Follows Pilot & the Puck-up

Followed by Beauty & the Beefcake

Royals #1

Followed by Rockaway Bride

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Dirty Talking Rival (formerly Master Baker) by Pippa Grant

Some Pippa Grant books I love and some are fine. I can't tell you where the line is because they are all a little crazy and over the top but some are just more fun. I'm currently doing a timeline re-read and figured I'd include some of the ones I'd skipped before. This was one of them and it's fun. It's fast. It's fluffy. It's just a little annoying and I think it's because the reason Grady and Annika can't be together is more of a "reason." 

Annika is on leave from the Army to help her mom and her thirteen-year-old sister get set after her mom had some rapid onset blindness. Some of the getting set is opening a bakery, her mother's dream. Not Annika's; she can burn water. Luckily, her sister is good at baking and is holding them up. Unluckily, they live in a small town and it may not have enough people to support their business. There is a next town over though.

Too bad, in the next town over, her former best friend Grady already has a bakery. And he's actually good at baking. And really enjoys it. But he's barely breaking even himself. So they get talking long enough for them to decide to ride the storylines of rival bakeries (it works because their two towns have been rivals for generations anyway.)

So, in public they are trash talking each other while falling in love behind the scenes.

Three stars

This book came out June 27, 2019

Part of the Bro Code universe

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own 

Flirting with the Frenemy by Pippa Grant

Ellie and Wyatt have been at each others throats since they were kids. They had one frantic night together but, when he expressed regrets, she ran out. Then she was in a car crash.
Eighteen months later, he's staying at his friend's house in a small town called Shipwreck. When he walks in with his son, they find Ellie in the tub. Well, Wyatt does. And he's intrigued.
Ellie, on the other hand, is not so intrigued. Not only is Wyatt now walking in to her week at her brother's house, he's messing up her plan for the week. Her best friend is getting married to the brother of Ellie's ex. To make things less awkward, Ellie has lied about having a boyfriend. Through... circumstances... her best friend comes to believe that Wyatt is the new boyfriend. So now they have to spend time together.
Grant's writing is good in this one, I just don't love the storyline. I would say there's too much drama but that is sort of usual for a Grant book, this one is just TOO over the top for me.

Three stars

This book came out March 1, 2019

Bro Code #1

Followed by America's Geekheart

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Sharp Edges by Jayne Ann Krentz

Eugenia Swift is the director of the Leabrook Glass Museum. She's big into glass sculptures, not unlike an artist who just died and left his collection to the museum. As such, she's going to Frog Cove Island to take a look at the collection. However, the collector died under... mysterious circumstances so her boss decrees that Eugenia must take along a bodyguard, Cyrus Colfax.

Colfax doesn't know much about glass art, outside of a cup (chalice) that was stolen from him by a former partner who ended up wanting Colfax dead. He does know he likes beer and Hawaiian shirts, both of which seem to irritate the classy Eugenia. But the two are going to pose as a couple in order to give him an excuse to come to the island.

I remember enjoying this book more when it first came out. As you might expect nearly 20 years later, some of the attitudes are a bit grating but the story is still good and Krentz's style holds up. 

Three stars

This book came out February 1, 1998

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

High Energy by Dara Joy

I used to have a copy of this book and I remember LOVING it. You've got a prototypical manic pixie dream girl matched up with a richer than rich physicist who can do no wrong. In the reread, that did bug me more that poor Zanita couldn't seem to do anything right but I still felt some of the joy that Joy's deft prose brought. It's really more of a three and a half star review but rounded up for Goodreads.

Zanita just wants her big break. She KNOWS she could be an amazing hard-hitting journalist (even if it's for her grandfather's small town paper) but she just needs the chance. So she'll find her own story. Even if that means hunting down a visiting psychic. Except... Tyberius Evans is a tall, incredibly handsome man and she feels like she knows his name from something else...

In a crowd of men (this was the 90s), Zanita stands out. Tyber is instantly entranced. He knows he'll do anything to keep this pretty lady around. Including some things that are a little shady in this day and age but were terribly romantic when I was younger and dumb.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 1, 1998 

Tyber and Zanita #1

Followed by High Intensity

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to London by Catherine Lloyd

What a perfectly lovely story. It's a romance with a slow burn. We actually get to see Major Kurland and Miss Harrington interact even as they're solving a mystery. I didn't read the first book but didn't feel like I missed much. There was no major info dump; instead, we learned about their past slowly. 

Lucy Harrington is going to London to accompany her younger (lovelier?) sister to attend the Season. Major Kurland is about to be given a baronetcy for bravery on the field so he also goes to town. There, they meet the Broughton family. The elder son, a lieutenant, served with Major Kurland. He is also a scientist. His younger brother is something of a loose canon as is his grandmother. The grandmother who falls dead in the middle of Almack's while she's ranting. But it's not her heart, they soon discover, it was poison. 

I can't wait to get the next book in the series.

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #2

Four stars

This book came out November 25, 2014

Follows Death comes to the Village

Followed by Death comes to Kurland Hall

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren

This novella is written mostly in emails. It starts when one high school student accidentally emails another instead of a teacher. The train of Valentine's emails continue for years with either one of the other of the two trying to be the first to say hello. They also start to learn more about each other and discover they might just be made for each other.

A really quick, enjoyable read.

The Improbable Meet-Cute #1

Four stars

This book came out January 23, 2024

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

A Date to Die For by E.V. Hunter

Alexi Ellis is leaving London to hang out with her best friend and she's bringing along her feline with an attitude, Cosmo. She just got cut from the journalism job that she loves, her ex knowing about it and not telling her was just icing on the cake. So, now she's in a small town, living in a hotel, and wondering about a local woman who has disappeared.
While looking into it, she runs into a private investigator, Jack Maddox. The two team up to try and figure out exactly what happened to Natalie.
The characters were a little flat and I feel like there is going to be a build up to Jack and Alexi having Twu Lurv but there was something that just didn't quite fit for me. Will probably read the next book in the series but may wait a bit to do so.

The Hopgood Hall Murder Mysteries

Three stars

This book came out February 3, 2023

Followed by A Contest to Kill For

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

A Witch Before Dying by Amanda M. Lee

Bay and her cousins are having to deal with dual issues, both stemming from Mrs. Little. One is that she is planning a Renaissance faire. Well, there hasn't been a lot of planning but she has brought in a troupe. It's one of their members who has been killed and Bay is worried that people will think that one of them did it. 

But trouble is also coming from the new witch, Scarlet Darksbane, that Mrs. Little has imported into town. And it will be up to Bay and her cousins as well as their significant others to figure out exactly what is going on. 

It took me a long time between picking this book up and finally finishing it. There was somehow simultaneously too much and not enough going on. It was fine but I may be nearing the end of my reading this series.

Wicked Witches of the Midwest #11

Three stars

This book came out November 5, 2017

Follows Murder Most Witchy

Followed by A Breath of Witchy Air

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Solstice Spirits by Erin Johnson

Rudie Hollybrook is the only person in Holiday Haven who sees dead people. It's been a point of contention between herself and her best frenemy Hayley Swift. Except now, Hayley is also seeing ghosts. Well, ghost. It's just one ghost. But it's still scaring the bejeebers out of her. So she calls Rudie, at ridiculous hours of the morning (seriously, the lady has no manners.)
But her life view may be about to change. It may not be three separate ghosts but this particular ghost is trying to tell her something.
Not a ton of depth but a good story.

Three stars
This book came out July 1, 2021

Follows Holiday Hijinks

Followed by Merry Mischief 

Rudie last appeared in Cocoa Curses

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Goodbye's a Witch by Danielle Garrett

Though there is a bit of a mystery in this story, it is more about wrapping up the series, and if you go in expecting that, you'll be fine. There is a new character who is introduced but we don't see much of her. She comes through the portal that is on the manor property. But there is a problem. There are vampire's chasing her and Holly's magic is on the fritz. 

It was a little flat and a little predictable but still a nice end to the series. 

Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery #12

Three stars

This book came out June 15, 2021

Follows Men Love Witches

Audiobook of mine in Audible

Opinions are my own

Men Love Witches by Danielle Garrett

Now that their home is finally open as a B&B, Holly and Adam are playing host to a vampire council, one specifically arranged by their old housemate, Lacey Vaughn. But the super-secret meeting isn't going so well. First, the powers that have gathered can't agree how they should work together. Then Harmony (who was already a little jittery around vampires) sees someone skulking in the shadows and she's pretty sure it's an old foe. Then, a valuable item goes missing. All of this craziness and she's planning a wedding and meeting Adam's parents again. Well, most of the planning is going well bt she just can't seem to find a a dress and the wedding is only six weeks away.
A fun little story that I think regular readers of the series will enjoy.

Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery #11

Three stars
This book came out October 29, 2020

Follows The Witch is Inn

Followed by Goodbye's a Witch

Audiobook of mine in Audible

Opinions are my own

Cocoa Curses by Erin Johnson

This is a cozy mystery that has a conceit (being near Santa's workshop) and it runs with it. Of course, it assumes that there are witches that live near by and Rudie Hollybrook is one of them. She has always felt a little bit like an outsider as her magic has to do with death. And that comes into play when a woman is murdered. One who Rudie didn't particularly like, nor did the woman like her. So having her ghost around isn't exactly a fun time.

However, the way to get rid of the ghost would be to solve the murder. Rudie isn't exactly a detective so there is some bumbling. There is also the inevitable love interest, in this case a journalist.

Three stars

Follows Winter Wishes

Followed by Cherry Charms

Rudie next stars in Solstice Spirits

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own