Husband Material by Brenda Jackson

Producer Matthew Birmingham and actress Carmen Akins were married. But then their differences became too great and they divorced. For Carmen, Matthew was becoming too much like her father - he loved his work more than her. And she expressed that to him. When he missed a trip she had specifically prepared for the two of them to connect, Carmen was done.
Matthew knew that he was spending a lot of time at work but he was blindsided by Carmen's wanting a divorce. Now that she's in their house in the Hamptons and not going to leave (it was part of the divorce settlement that she could be there if he wasn't), he's ready for a little revenge. But he learns that what he thought about their divorce isn't the whole  story, he changes his goals for their time together.
This would have been better as a full book. There was so little connection between the two characters other than the sex that it made it hard to connect to them or to believe in their HEA.

Two stars
This novella originally came out as a part of an anthology but was re-released as an ebook this year.
Opinions are my own

The Blacksmith Queen by G. A. Aiken

Adjacent to Aiken's Dragon Kin series (though you don't have to have read any of those books to understand what is going on), this book dumps you into a land where the king has died and his sons have all immediately started killing each other off in order to inherit the throne. However, there is a seer who has proclaimed that the next ruler will actually be a woman.
From there, we are dumped in the middle of a fight where a boy, Samuel, is saved by a blacksmith, Keeley. But then... there's a lot of world-building. We meet Keeley's family, including her sister, Gemma, who left and has returned a rather "chunky" nun. Also introduced is Keeley's sister Beatrix who is reported to be the next queen. But will it be her or is the prophecy somewhat murkier than first thought?
It took me awhile to get into this book. I love the zaniness of Aiken (especially in her romance series writing as Laurenston) but it took a lot of time to get to a point where the world was built enough to really enjoy the craziness that I think this series will get into. Normally Aiken is much better at building the worlds simultaneous to getting characters developed. For me, the book was sort of a bell curve with the best part of the book being the middle but you sort of had to wade in to get to it. Hopefully the second book will be better because all of the back story will be behind.

Three stars

Followed by The Princess Knight
This book came out August 27th, 2019
I borrowed this as an ebook from the library

Note: I borrowed this as an audiobook later and it was even BETTER
Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible audiobook January 2024

Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

A fantasy story told through the letters of two cousins (fancy term-epistolary).
Generally speaking, it's London 1828. Only, this is a London with wizards. No, not like Harry Potter. These are wizards who are out and about in the world. But the story really focuses on two cousins, Kate and Cecelia. While Kate is in town for the London season with her very pretty younger sister, Georgy, Cecelia is staying in the country waiting to come out in the next year. Somehow, they both (separately) stumble into a wizards' feud and manage to get themselves involve.
I liked both Kate and Cecelia. They were pragmatic and strong-willed, brave, but not stupid. Each faced a powerful wizard and came out ahead. Yes, they each found their own true love but it was with the sense that it was icing on the cake for their HEA.

Five stars
This book came out April 15th, 1988

Followed by The Grand Tour
Borrowed as an ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby February 2023

Iron Kissed by Patricia Biggs

Mercy's mentor Zee has called her in to help solve a series of murders. The victims were all fae so the human police haven't been brought it. Mercy quickly determines the killer but is shocked when Zee is arrested for the man's death. He is obviously not the killer but the Gray Lords are willing to let him take the fall in order to have it cleaned up quickly. The acceptance of fae by the humans is imperative and having one person go down is not beyond their plans.
But Zee belongs to Mercy. Whether or not he wants her to investigate, she's going to. And this book ends with a rather graphic seen and some discussion of what happens in the aftermath of rape. I am so glad that I read this book even though I listened to the rest of the series because there is at least a bit of space between the book and the brain that sometimes isn't there if you are absorbing a book through your ears. I haven't personally had the experience but, from the outside, it seemed like an eloquent description of what a victim has to wrestle with.

Four stars
Follows Blood Bound
Followed by Bone Crossed
This book came out January 82 2008
Ebook borrowed from library
Opinions are my own

Duped by Abby Ellin

Abby Ellin almost married a con artist. She got out sooner than a lot of people would've but she counts herself lucky because he made it so very easy to believe all of the outlandish things he told her. And almost being duped herself made her want to explore the world of people who lie for a living or even for their life.

Three and a half stars
This book came out January 15th, 2019
Opinions are my own

This Christmas Rivalry by Beverly Jenkins

Tasha Bloom is one of the few people who mourns her grandfather when he dies. And those who are faking leave pretty quickly during the reading of the will because her grandfather minces no words about who he is leaving his assets to. Almost all of them are going to Tasha.
Drew Davis is upset because he was hoping to get the semipro football team that has been left to Tasha. Instead, she wants to run the team herself, something that, as the GM,he is not excited to hear. The more they work together though, the more he appreciates not only her outer beauty but also her sharp mind.
A fun little story that could have been longer.

Three stars
This story originally came out in 2012
Opinions are my own

Spontaneous by Brenda Jackson

Kimani Cannon has been attracted to the brother of her best friend's fiancé for awhile. She was going

to act on it at the engagement party but he had to leave. At the wedding, she goes for it. And Duan Jeffries is not going to turn it down. But he also isn't sure that he wants it to be a one-time thing. When Kim gets a phone call that her mother is getting married for the fifth time, she's worried; none of the other husbands were particularly good and Kim's mom hasn't known this man for long.
Duan hears the man's name and is immediately on alert. He recognizes it from when he was in the Atlanta police department as being a man whose two wives disappeared under mysterious circumstances when he had an airtight alibi.
It was a fun and fluffy story. As a category romance, there's not a lot of room for development in the relationship but I did see how Kim and Duan fit together.

Three stars
This book came out April 27th, 2010
Borrowed as ebook from library
Opinions are my own