Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake

The last of a group of friends to find her forever after, Iris Kelly is actually very sure that she doesn't want a forever after. That doesn't mean she doesn't feel a bit lonely. So she goes out to enjoy herself with a one night stand. But... it doesn't go well. 

Stefania (IRL "Stevie") is beyond embarrassed that she ruins an evening with the gorgeous Iris Kelly. She's not sure how this is ever going to work. At least she has her ex-girlfriend's gender-bending "Much Ado About Nothing" to look forward to. But who is the Benedick to her Beatrice? Somehow it's Iris. 

Suddenly the two are agreeing to a fake relationship. Stevie because it means her ex is going to get off her back; for Iris... well, her friends mostly know about it but her family might finally look at her like she's accomplished something. 

A highly enjoyable book and an amazing addition to this series. 

Four stars
This book comes out October 24, 2023

Follows Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail 

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Mrs. Mix Up by Candace Harper

Two librarians have a mutual crush but are both hesitant to make a move. When they end up in the same room at a conference, their feelings finally come out.

This felt like a first book but an earnest effort. It took me a little time to get through because some of the language hadn't been quite smoothed out but was a fun little diversion.

Three stars

This book came out February 29, 2020

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

Astrid Parker is freaking out. Her life is slowing down. Except for when she crashes into that woman. And spills coffee all down her dress. The dress that makes her ass look fantastic. And on the day that she's supposed be filming for a TV series that will help her decorating business get out of it's slump. Her mother is already on her back, her business is doing horribly, and this is just the straw that breaks the camel's back. She goes off on the woman. Too bad this is the granddaughter of the hotel owner and the leader carpenter.

Jordan Everwood hasn't exactly had an easy time of it lately. Her former wife was dealing with cancer which meant that Jordan was going through it as well. Now her family home (sure she only spent summers there but that is where she felt loved) is being turned into something she doesn't even recognize.

The two are slow to come to some sort of middle ground and I'm not entirely certain of the HEA but it was still a fun read.

Four stars

This book comes out November 22, 2022

Follows by Delilah Green Doesn't Care

Followed by Iris Kelly Doesn't Date

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish

This is very much like a gay version of the movie "The Holiday." Two people, Greta and Truman, who have a mutual friend. That mutual friend helps to arrange a swap when they both hit points in their life where leaving seems like the best way to move forward. For Greta, she has an overly-involved family who are loath to let her live her own life. Actually, they are actively interfering in her life, including setting her up in a bachelor/ette auction which a) they know she hates as a general premise and b)she's gay. 

Truman, on the other hand, has just discovered that the man he's been dating for a year is cheating on him. Or, really, cheating on his husband with Truman. He is ready to escape. A small island off the coast of Maine sounds like a perfect place to go. 

This was an adorable book though the romances both seem incredibly fast. But, we can all suspend a little disbelief for good fiction, right?

Four stars

This book came out September 6, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Margot Cooper was the best friend in the first book of this series. After her best friend and their business partner have both found love, she's feeling a little like a fifth wheel. And her business partner has had some bad luck. But his new wedding planner is someone that Margo knows... intimately. 

Olivia Grant is shocked to see the "Best Man" in her current wedding is none other than the girl she loved in high school, Margot. They had been best friends from grade school but then it matured into something deeper. But when Olivia's ex came back in the picture, Margo disappeared. Will she do the same again?

It was fun watching Olivia and Margo fall in love again. There were a lot of times when just communicating with each other could have solved a lot of problems and that made the story a little less enjoyable but I liked the story overall.

Four stars

This book came out February 1, 2022

Follows Hang the Moon

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

After her father died, Delilah Green was left with her stepmother and step-sister. The latter, Astrid, is getting married and has insisted that Delilah come back to Bright Falls to photograph the wedding. Yes, Delilah is a photographer and, yes, she does weddings but the history with all three women is... fraught to say the least. 

Delilah is a love 'em and leave 'em type (the book literally opens in the aftermath of one of her one-night stands). But she sees one of Astrid's best friends in the local bar and is immediately intrigued. She had dreams of Claire in high school but it seemed like a far reach.

Claire is bisexual and hasn't had sex in awhile because she is also a mother. Her daughter is twelve (teen pregnancy) and is just starting to hit the age when hormones go crazy. Claire is struggling with it but, now that her ex is in town, she has a little more time. Or would if the man could figure out how to care for their pre-teen. At least he's physically there (he wasn't for awhile).

This book has a large number of characters but a surprising amount of depth is given to many of them, not just the two falling in love. There is also a nice setup for some series books and the relationship between Delilah and her sister isn't magically solved after decades but they are left in a better place.

Four stars

This book came out February 2, 2022

Followed by Astrid Parker Doesn't Fall

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Darcy Lowell is an actuary. She deals with facts. Nebulous ideas don't exist. So why is she so attracted to a woman who very much believes in things that can't be proven?

Elle Jones is an astrologer. She believes in the stars and has even built a job around that fact. In fact, her work with Darcy's brother is what brings them together. Their first date is sort of a disaster with Elle spilling wine on Darcy's vintage suit but the spark is still there. And Darcy needs to get her brother off her back about dating and Elle needs to show some stability to her family who doesn't really understand what she does.

This story was amazing. I wish there had been more closure with Elle's family but watching Elle and Darcy fall in love was a wonderful ride.

Four stars

This book came out November 10, 2020

Followed by Hang the Moon

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper

Leaving Thistle Grove was hard but for the current scion of the Harlow family, Emmy, returning is even harder. She left after a painful breakup with another witch, Gareth Blackmoore. She's finally back in town and learns that Gareth has cut quite the swath through town, seducing two of her friends. Well, one is her best friend and one is about to be something more... But can she get back at her ex and also fall in love? Yes, yes she can.

This is an interesting world that Harper built but the ending was a little too much wrapped up in Emmy's ego for me to really enjoy the book. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

Four stars

This book came out October 5, 2021

Followed by From Bad to Cursed

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Humbug by Amanda Radley

Known as "Christmas Girl," in her company, Ellie Pearce is abruptly promoted demoted when CEO Rosalind Caldwell's personal assistant quits. The Caldwell & Atkinson Christmas party is really well-known and a parting remark by the last PA makes Rosalind think that she might need a miracle to make sure that this year's party goes off without a hitch. Is Ellie that miracle? Rosalind doesn't think so at first but she eventually begins to see how Ellie's understated charms and wicked smarts might just save Christmas after all.

This is definitely a quiet story but and enjoyable one all the same. There was a little too much focus on Ellie's issues and the fact that she worked miracles in spite of them but otherwise a nice story. 

Four stars

This book comes out December 14th, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

Opinions are my own

Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall

I liked this book based on the cover and even more based on the author. The chapter titles? Adorable. The blend of "Clue" and "Murder By Death"? Laugh out loud funny. The relationship between our two heroines? Rocky but we really get to see how they are working on repairing it and why their relationship of ten years will last at least that much longer. 

Hanna and Liza are floundering. Neither feels like their relationship is sustaining them any longer. Hannah has peremptorily gotten them a weekend in Scotland. It's a castle, but a castle in the middle of a snowstorm. And a castle with murders. Six of them to be exact. 

With characters like Emmeline Wright, Ruby, a man dressed in green, etc., this is a contemporary take on a locked room mystery with the characters of Clue. Only better. The deft flourishes of language add little tidbits of delight and it takes a writer of great skill to show us two characters finding their love in the middle of a murder-filled vacation.

Four and a half stars

This book comes out November 9th, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Kobo Original and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby September 2023

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole

Another great addition to the Runaway Royals series, this book has a nice twist ending that falls in line with both characters.

Makeda Hicks's life isn't going exactly the way she had planned. She's a helper, always wanting the best for other people and working to make their lives easier. However, that has made her something of a doormat. And that is coming back to bite her. Her girlfriend is now and ex because Makeda helped her a little too much. Makeda is out of a job because she wasn't able to stand up for herself and prove that she deserved a promotion so, while a coworker got the job, Makeda got the boot. Now, an old story of her grandmother's is coming back once again, the fiction that Makeda's mother was conceived with the king of Ibarania. That story is what caused Makeda's mother to live in a fairy tale all of Makeda's life. 

Beznari Chetchevaliere just wants to prove that her grandmother didn't kill the old queen and that means finding the lost heir of Ibarania. Makeda seems like a good fit since she is in a picture (sent by her grandmother) wearing a ring that looks like it could have come from the kingdom.

The two are immediately attracted to each other but are diametrically opposed to what the end of the heir search should look like.

Four stars

Follows How to Catch a Queen

This book comes out May 25th, 2021

Opinions are my own

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

This looked like a cute book and it definitely was. I have to admit that I was disappointed because the cover looks like this would be a comic book but it was a good story nonetheless. Lots of familiar romance tropes (enemies-to-lovers, fake relationship) that wove together nice in a book that is probably generally aimed at the high school crowd. It was great that Scottie, our narrator, had an incredibly supportive family and Irene, her love interest, did too, just in a different way.

Scottie is a basketball player whose ex broke her heart by breaking up with her and moving to the fancy, snooty school. When the story opens, her basketball team has just lost in an exhibition game against her ex’s new team. So Scottie is understandably upset. When she and Irene get in a fender-bender, the result is that Scottie is going to be driving Irene to school every morning. The resulting furor at school gives Scottie the idea that the two should fake date in a win-win situation to them both. But then pesky real feelings get involved.

The exploration of Scottie’s heartbreak as well as how she works through her feelings and deals with a bully in an appropriate manner showing the adult that she is becoming were the best parts of this story.

Four stars

This book comes out April 20th

ARC kindly provided by MacMillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

It took me a long time to warm to Lucy and Catherine. I almost DNF'd this book several times but finally made it through the first part of the story. There are so many blogs and podcasts that were singing the praises of this book that I guess I expected more from the beginning. But once we really started seeing the two fall in love and each getting to spread their wings in her own way. Did the last Big Misunderstanding need to happen? Not really. But the middle part of the book, seeing the Countess of Moth, an amazing embroidery artist, fall in love with a woman who looks at the stars, was finally the story that I had been expecting.

Three stars

Followed by The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows

This book came out

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner

 There is a reason that this book was being talked about so very much in Romancelandia. A slow burn novel where neither heroine really knows that they love the other is just delightful. Emma can't confess her crush on the main show writer she works for. That's her <i>boss</i>. And Jo Jones, former child star, is far in the closet and more concerned with her career than her love life. Besides, dating her assistant would be inappropriate. But a picture on the red carpet has the tabloids buzzing. Both Jo and Emma's families and friends are telling them that there might be some truth to the matter but neither wants to admit that it might be true for very valid reasons. Throw in a little #MeToo situation that Jo handles like a boss and this is a book that was balm to the soul in the current world situation. 

Four stars
This book came out
Borrowed as an ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Last Resort by Angie Williams

Every six months, a popular matchmaking resort has a week for women only. This time, Katie Fausch’s mother and sister, eager for her to find love, have signed her up. Luckily, she meets Rhys Morgan right after checkin. In fact, she really, really like Rhys. But her last relationship left Katie feeling pretty burned on ever finding love again. 

Rhys is just as attracted to Katie but she respects the fact that Katie doesn’t want to be in a relationship. So she stays on the friend side, no matter what. I really wanted to like Rhys more but she needed just a little more development. 

I didn’t really connect with either heroine but I did like the premise. The big overture was also a bit too much for me but I look forward to reading more books by Ms. Williams.

Three stars
This book came out September 15th
ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books, Inc. and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Murder at the Estate Sale by Lily Charles

Molly is a bookseller who finds books at places like the estate sale she is currently at. She is lightly flirting with a newcomer to the scene, Emma when Buck, an obnoxious bookseller who is known among the booksellers' group as a thief. When Molly later finds Emma in a cordoned off area standing over Buck who is dead from a blow to the head, she immediately believes Emma's innocence. She sees a piece of paper laying next to the body and instinctively grabs it and puts it in her own pocket. Together, the two start looking into why Buck was killed.
I really liked the description of this book. Booksellers? Awesome. Probably a budding relationship? My catnip. Between two females? That seems new.  But I have to admit that the author used one of my least favorite plot development devices, amateur detectives that put themselves into danger and that took away a lot of the enjoyment that I expected from this book. Emma and Molly hide evidence from the police, sneak into houses, and keep investigating a murder after they are in danger. I would have enjoyed this book so much more if they had already had some detective experience (i.e. some expertise in sneaking around) or had been more open with the police. And the fact that Molly just inherently trusts Emma because she's attracted to her doesn't make her seem any smarter. I'll probably give the series another try because I really do like the underlying premise and there was some realization of what they were doing at the end but I hope the author makes that carry over to the next book and the two ladies will have a little more common sense.

Three stars
This book comes out August 15th
ARC kindly provided by Black Opal Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Cinders by Cara Malone

Cynthia “Cyn” Robinson, firefighter,  has loved Marigold "Mari" Grimm, the princess of Grimm Falls, since Cyn moved into town. But her stepbrother, Drew, told Cyn that she was bothering Mari so she backed off. In the present day, Cyn is called to Mari's house when a firebug sets the gardens of the Grimm Estate on fire. Unfortunately, this is the third instance of fire that we read about in this book so that means there is an arsonist running around. This is the weakest part of the story but I did like that we learned who the firebug was early in the book. When the person was revealed, I thought it couldn't be that person because almost any other book would have saved the identity until the end. I also really liked that Cyn talked to Mari; there was no Big Misunderstanding.
There definitely could have been more development of the relationship between the two women but it was an okay start to the series (but it's actually the second book...? still okay).

Three stars
This book came out Setember 10th, 2018
Borrowed as an audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own

Back to September by Melissa Brayden

Bookstore owner Hannah Shephard greets her books every morning. It is tearing her up inside that her store has been so slow lately. But she'll do anything to try and ensure that it stays open, even trying to get Parker Bristow, famous romance author, on her book tour. And when that actually happens, Hannah is not only elated, she's shocked to discover how very much she's attracted to Parker. And they spend some magical time together before Parker ghosts Hannah. But then they figure it out and become friends while each is dating someone else. But the attraction is still there. And that isn't the last roadblock the two will have to work through. Which was my biggest problem with this book. I get that this happens in real life, all the sturm and drang but it was Just. So. Much for this book. I liked Brayden's writing overall though and would definitely try another one of her books.

Three books
This book comes out November 12th
ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books, Inc. and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

One Walk in Winter by Georgia Beers

Olivia Santini has been the assistant manager of the Evergreen Resort and Spa for a long time and has been doing the work of the manager for almost as long. She knows that she is going to be named manager and she'll be able to lift the slowly failing resort back up to where it should be in the Markham chain of resorts. When she meets a gorgeous woman walking in the woods, it's just icing on the cake of her life. However, it's all about to go south when she finds out that woman, Hayley, has been made the manager instead, even though she's never worked a day in her life.

Hayley Markham has been on a bad path ever since her other died. And she knows it, but having her father put her in charge of a failing resort seems a bit extreme. Maybe the beautiful Olivia can help her through it. Or, maybe not. But Liv does eventually relent. It's not like the job was actually guaranteed (so true.)

It took awhile to get into this story but it was worth reading in the end.

Four stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books, Inc. and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

30 Dates in 30 Days Elle Spencer

As the book opens, Veronica Welch's assistant Bea is helping her to meet one of her two life goals. The first, to make partner by the time she is 35 and, a very good lawyer, she seems well on track to do that. The second goal is to be married or at least well on her way. So Bea gets her set up on a female dating app, Ryder. In the next 30 days (until Veronica's birthday), Bea is getting her set up with a series of women. One of them should be The One. All of the dates are set up at Monaghan's, a bar near to Veronica's work.

Rachel Monaghan helps out at her cousin's bar fairly often even though she is a much sought after wedding photographer. She is amused to see a hot business lady who is clearly on a first date. And the same woman is there on another first date the day after. And the day after. Soon, Rachel, as well as the regulars in the bar are as anxious to see what happens as Veronica navigates her way through a series of women who are often identified by their favorite drink rather than their names.

A lovely, light read. Perfect for the holiday season.

Four stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own