The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie Jr.

I can't remember which podcast I heard about this on and, by the time I got it, had forgotten the story. It took me awhile to get into the book. The prelude kicks off the story with a rare instance of the narrator speaking directly to you, the reader. I had to flip through and make sure the rest of the book did not continue in that vein because that is one of my least favorite conceits for a story. However, I kept going and was drawn into the world of Babs Dionne and her daughters Lori and Sis. The book mainly focuses on Lori and Babs thought we get a rich tapestry of secondary characters as well. 

This is a lovely glimpse of so many towns in the rural United States. Once vibrant but depending on one main industry which, when it collapses, takes the town down with it. When that happens, drugs often move in. Babs has become the leader of the town in many ways. Is she a good person? Objectively not. Is she doing the best she can to save the people she loves? Yes. 

Four stars

This book came out March 25, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own 

The Botanist's Assistant by Peggy Townsend

Margaret Finch is described in the book as tall and big-boned. Several times. There are also a number of references to her nickname, Big Bird. So, a bit of an oddity. And her personality only helps to set her apart. Her life is ruled by routines with the same outfits on the same day of every week, getting to work on time, etc. She also has a rigid sense of rules and will follow them, even to the point of her own detriment. 

Her entire world is shattered when she finds her boss dead. When thinking back over the scene, she becomes convinced that he was murdered. But, having no friends and few people who even like her, no one wants to listen to what she has to say. 

This was a short book with a lot of beats that repeat, but was overall an enjoyable read.

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 18, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery

Steven Pike has just left jail. He only has enough money to get to Tithe Hall. Well, to the railway station. He barely makes it to the hall. There's only one problem; no one is expecting him. But the butler quickly pivots and adds him to the crew. They'll need the help. Something big is happening and SOMEONE needs to watch seventy-nine-year-old Miss Decima. She's scared off most of her previous ladies maids. Like The Nanny, he's there so he's pulled into the madness. The viscount is having everyone seal up their rooms so that the catastrophes that Halley's Comet is going to cause (as reported by papers of the time) will be mitigated. But when everyone wakes up the next morning, someone is dead. As the newcomer, one who just got out of jail, Steven is going to have to launcch his own investigation to clear his name.

Four stars

Stockingham & Pike #1

This book came out October 30, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I read a few of the books in this series soon after the TV show came out but couldn't remember why I had stopped. I think that there is not quite the same sense of fun in the books. There are some funny parts, just a different humor. For this book, there were also a lot of, "I'm not going to make it" moments. A. Lot. 

But this is the book that introduces the readers to Harry Dresden, a wizard in contemporary Chicago. Technology and magic don't work well together so he's not exactly up to date with the latest trends but he muddles along as best he can. He's also trying to make a living. So when two dead bodies turn up with their hearts ripped out, Harry is on the case. 

Three stars

The Dresden Files #1 

This book came out April 1, 2000

Followed by Fool Moon

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Hexes Go Well with Tequila by LeAnna Ehrsam

This book felt like a cozy fiction book with a random sex scene thrown in for... reasons?

Ursula Cambridge's relationship is failing. When a mysterious invitation appears, she decides to take up the offer to live in The Lost Souls House. Pretty quickly, she makes friends. One night, they get drunk on margaritas and decide to "hex" the people that have wronged them. Except that the hexes turn out to be real. 

There are also a number of sub-plots with a grumpy bachelor and his wayward niece, a friend of a friend who is running for mayor, and the man who is running against her on "family values" who is, not surprisingly, someone who doesn't hold those same values to himself. 

Three stars

The Lost Souls #1

This book came out September 24, 2024

Followed by Curses Dance with Bourbon

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

Growing up as the ward of an evil lord, it's not like Violet could any way to be other than just evil. However, when Guy Shadowfade is killed, the hero gives Violet a chance to change her life. And she's trying. She's opening up a flower shop in the nearby town, starting to make friends. Then, the blight starts. Plants and crops are dying. Even worse, one of the other wizard's from Guy's parcel has returned to town, and he is hell-bent on... well, something nefarious. 

A cute story that moved along pretty quickly while still developing the characters. 

Four stars

This book came out November 18, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

And the Crowd Went Wild by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Dancy Flynn is a movie star, mostly known for being married to an even more famous movie star. At least, she was, until he dumped her for a younger model. It's just too bad that she drinks too much one night in a very public place. In the same public place her husband's new wife has just debuted her very pregnant belly. It is...  a debacle.

So Dancy make her way to a cabin. Her ex-boyfriend's cabin. Her HIGH SCHOOL ex-boyfriend's cabin. I mean, it's a very nice place to stay on the lake. It just doesn't help that her ex is Chicago Star's quarterback Clint Garrett. 

This one had a little too much drama for me and the ending was a little fast but it follows the Phillips formula and regular readers will enjoy.

Three and a half stars
Chicago Stars #12

This book comes out February 10, 2026

Follows Simply the Best

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

Twenty years ago, Clio's mom, Alexandra, wrote a moderately successful story about their house being possessed by a demon. She wasn't the best mother and, now that she's dead, Clio is the only one of the three daughters who wants to go to the funeral. She is also the only one who is willing to go back to the house. While there, she finds a copy of the book she had promised to never read. However, there are annotations written directly to her that we get to read along with the book that Alex wrote. It certainly points to the fact that the demon might be real. And Clio is starting to see evidence of that as well.

Three stars

This book came out September 9, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery

Julie Parker is looking forward to a chill Christmas. Her grown children are doing their own thing so she's just going to spend the day with her boyfriend. Her twelve-years-younger than her boyfriend. The one her children don't... technically... know about. Then, plans change. And change again. And change again. Julie, her children, her boyfriend, and their partners all have to be flexible. 

Mainly told from Julie's third person point of view, this is a holiday story like most, there's a lot going on so nothing is really developed.

Three stars

This book came out October 1, 2024

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Home by Martha Wells

The last book left Dr. Mensah in a bit of a pickle. She probably needs therapy, but she can NOT tell anyone what happened. Meanwhile, she's getting cheeky emails from SecUnit requesting more and more outlandish equipment. 

Short, definitely need to have read the previous books to get the most out of this story.

Three stars

The Murderbot Diaries, #4.5
This short story came out May 5, 2020

Follows Exit Strategy

Followed by Network Effect

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Too Old for This by Samantha Downing

Lottie Jones is long past retirement. Not just work, but her early crime spree. So why is someone stirring up the past? It's too bad that the trend of docuseries has come to roost on her doorstep in the form of Plum Dixon. So she has to die. But cleaning up is harder than it was in her youth. And people keep following up on Plum.

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 12, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Just Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup

This was an interesting premise and I think Bearup did a fine job at having a story within a story but having so many characters started to weigh down the actual progress of any of them DOING anything.

Caroline Lindley just wants to finish her book. If only her characters would do what they are supposed to. But her characters don't really understand their motivations and they tell her so. Especially Lady Rosamund Hawkhurst. 

As the widow of a prominent nobleman killed in war, Rosamund us used to holding her family together. A new threat has come to the kingdom and she is required to go back to her home country to try and broker peace. She's to travel with one knight who most definitely is not going to be a love interest. No matter what Caroline tries.

Three stars

This book came out February 5, 2024

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The House with No Keys by Lindsay Currie

The Deltas are back. They've been helping out at the fun house but both Hannah and West could use more money. Big money. So when an invitation that promises them $10,000 each if they can finish a new mystery house. And there's a not-so-veiled threat it they don't. 

They go, but this is nothing like the previous book; these rooms feel mean. And it doesn't help that Sara has some secrets of her own. One of which will change the way the Delta's function forever.

This book was fine. Not as good as the first one but it's hard to follow up a mysterious haunted house with kids running round unsupervised. 

Four stars

This book came out April 2, 2024

The Delta Games #1

Follows The Mystery of the Locked Room

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

 This is a really interesting book that I hope to have the chance to read again. I highly recommend getting a copy of your own to be able to really dive into Le Cunff's suggestions.

Too much of our life is centered on "productivity" or "career" where we could be working toward happiness. There are a LOT of examples which dilutes the message a little but I overall enjoyed this book. 

Four stars

This book came out March 24, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

When she was young, Sera Swan used most of her fabulous amount of magic to bring her great aunt, her only parental figure, back from the dead. Since that day, her magic (described as stars like the univerese) has been more like the stars at twilight. Right now, she is managing her inn which, due to a spell that she cast before she lost her magic, only allows for visitiors who really need a place to stay but aren't going to be assholes. There are currently two more or less permanent visitors who are fabulous characters in and of themselves. 

Fate (and an old mentor of Sera's) bring back into her life Luke Larson who is just the person to be able to help her magic return to what it used to be. But doing so will bring her back under the eye of Albert Grey who is the only other magician currently living who has as much magic as Sera used to.

Four books

This book came out July 15, 2025

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

The setting is familiar. Its an exclusive invite to a private island by a reclusive author. All of the invitees are authors. And the first person narrators are all authors. Of course, they all have secrets. Even the woman who helped plan the event and is now overseeing it.
The first night, a riddle is served. Early the next morning, every camera goes out and one of the authors disappears. And it devolves from there. Who is the mysterious person who invited them all? Who will make it out alive?
Pretty standard thriller, interesting ending.

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 11, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Jewels of the Sun by Nora Roberts

Jude has recently upended her life, quitting her job as a professor and leaving Chicago to travel to Ireland, the home of her maternal grandmother. She's not sure why she's leaving, just that she is unsatisfied with her life and wants to find something more.

She meets with ghosts and Gallaghers and learns that there is sometimes more to life than being merely content.

Four stars

Gallaghers of Ardmore #1

This book came out November 1, 1999

Followed by Tears of the Moon

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Born in Fire by Nora Roberts

Maggie Concannon is a fiery artist who doesn't want to work for anyone, but Rogan Sweeney is determined to bring the glass artist into his fold. 

The snark between these two has not diminished over the years. It is still as endearing and sharp as when this book was first written. Enjoy it every time I read it. The first in the "Born In" trilogy, it is my favorite.

Four stars
This book came out October 1, 1994

Born in Trilogy #1

Followed by Born in Ice

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts

The third in the Gallagher trilogy. I do really enjoy these books although they are starting to get a wee bit dated. Of course, with the way technology changes these days, most books are going to be dated pretty fast and this book actually holds up pretty well. 

Anyway, the last Gallagher sibling, Darcy, just got back from a trip to Paris. She's always wanted to travel and finally gotten just a snippet of her wish. But when she returns, the construction on the addition to her family pub is underway. And she meets the man in charge of the construction, Trevor Magee. He is everything that she has ever wanted in a man, handsome, kind and rich. And that's a big hang up for him. He wants to buy her and tries to... but as much as she talks about wanting money, she really just wants love.

Four and a half stars

Gallaghers of Ardmore #3

This book came out

Follows Tears of the Moon

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Tears of the Moon by Nora Roberts

This second in the series focuses on Sean and Brenna. Sean is a cook and a composer, Brenna is by way of being a handywoman fixing cars and ovens in this book as well as building a nursery and remodeling a hotel. They've known each other forever but have always held themselves back as being "just friends." Well, Brenna's tired of that and she wants a fling to get these inconvenient feelings out of the way. Sean is shocked at first but then realizes that this could be a good thing... until he falls in love. Some misunderstandings occur (her younger sister thinks she's in love with Sean, Sean is pissed that Brenna sends off some of his music to a producer) but they get together in the end thus helping along the second of the three hearts that must be joined in order for Carrick, the fairy prince, and Lady Gwen, a ghost, to be together again.

Three and a half stars

Gallaghers of Ardmore #2

This book came out January 1, 2000
Follows Jewels of the Sun

Followed by Heart of the Sea

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own