The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

I read this book in October which is usually the time of year I try to branch out into thrillers (not usually a genre I pick up naturally) and this book certainly fit the bill. 

This is something of a locked room mystery as five aspiring writers are invited to a famously reclusive author's home. There is no cell reception, no WiFi, and the closest building is a nunnery miles away. Of course, as they approach, there is a snowstorm.

But who cares? Though our first person narrator, Alex, is somewhat thrown off, some of that might be due to the fact that her former best friend, Wren, who has also been invited. Something happened between the two of them; actually, two somethings that caused their friendship to fracture. That is unpacked as they spend time at Roza Valo's house. 

This is not the spa-type of retreat though. Roza's methods for helping these writers to write are... unorthodox. If you've read "Nine Perfect Strangers," you may be able to draw some comparisons between her and Masha in terms of pushing boundaries. Like that book, some of the characters are not who they seem and that may cause some further issues.    

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 21, 2023

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

A Buccaneer at Heart by Stephanie Laurens

Aileen Hopkins is looking for her brother Will. He disappeared into the jungle and no one seems to be worried about finding him. She is pushing the issue but is unaware of the danger she is putting herself in. 

Captain Robert Frobisher sees that danger. He knows that people have been disappearing from the local town but is trying to be more circumspect in figuring out what is going on. Together, they get to the next step in trying to uncover a massive plot that won't be solved until two more of the Frobisher brothers get involved.

Like other books in this series, it could have been shorter but both Aileen and Robert are well developed. 

Three stars

This book came out April 26, 2016

Follows The Lady's Command

Followed by The Daredevil Snared

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

A Good Day to Pie by Misha Popp

I didn't read the first book in this series but didn't feel like I missed much other than the fact that I was vaguely surprised that there was magic in this book. 

Another mystery riff on the Great British Bake off, this time Daisy is a baker but she has a side business killing bad men by infusing her pies with magic. She finds her customers on the dark web. It seems like she has a significant other (couldn't tell if he knew about her side business) and a partner who does know. 

The story proceeds along as the show does, with the different bakes. It's just too bad that it turns out that Daisy's latest target is one of her judges. It's also too bad that one of the contestants ends up dead. And there's another body that shows up before the end of the story.

I liked this book well enough though the ending was a little bit more complicated than I thought it needed to be. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 7, 2023

Follows Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies

Followed by The Last to Pie

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Chandler Cohen is a ghostwriter whose just been snubbed by her latest author. Like, the lifestyle influencer didn't even know her name. She has had a crush on her friend Wyatt for years and that is not going anywhere. So, she throws caution to the wind and has a one-night stand. Too bad he ends up being her next ghostwriting subject.

Finn Walsh was on a hit TV show over a decade ago. Now he's stuck in a loop of cons (conferences) which he doesn't mind doing but he really would like to get back to acting. When Chandler references something about their night not being mind blowing, he's astonished. He honestly thought he was good in bed. (Dude, he tries to open a condom package with his teeth, major no-no). While he could be all fragile about this discovery, he instead decides to ask for help. 

I did enjoy the journey these two had together. 

Four stars

This book comes out July 4, 2023

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Murder at a London Finishing School by Jessica Ellicott

Edwina and Beryl are just getting to settle in and enjoy some down time when a letter comes from their very own finishing school. There have been some mysterious noises and thefts that are causing an already stressed school to lose even more students. Their former headmistress, Miss Dupont, needs help. And they are startled to realize they recognize even more face including a former student who is now a teacher. Also there? The school bully whose younger daughter is about to enter the school. 

Too bad said bully doesn't seem to have improved with age. In fact, she seems to be wielding an even bigger stick. Or at least trying to. So is it any surprise that she's the person who ends up dead? And, of course, leaving behind any number of people who are happy to see her go. 

The ending of this one was rather surprising to me because I remember the other Ellicott books being rather fairly clued but this comes basically out of nowhere. It was fine, just unexpected. 

Beryl and Edwina Mystery #7
Four stars

This book come out July 25, 2023
Follows Murder through the English Post
Followed by 

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh

My favorite of the Bewcastle series. Wulfric, the Duke, has always been emotionally unavailable. He had to take over as head of the family at twelve-years-old and has had to bottle up his emotions since then. Now his brothers and sisters are all married and he is content. When Wulfric accepts an invitation to what he thinks is an intellectual gathering, he is shocked to find out it is a gathering of young people. He is distracted when Christine Derrick drops a speck of lemonade in his eye. She is a widow who is scorned by her ex-husband's family, not because of her background of being a vicar's daughter, but because they think that she contributed to his death. 

Christine things that Wulf is too rigid, he thinks she is too free-spirited, but they are attracted and can't help but fall in love. Neither is willing to admit it though and series of misunderstandings occur. Finally Bewcastle invites his family as well as hers to a house party to convince her that he might just have a heart after all.

Five stars

This book came out June 1, 2004

Follows Slightly Sinful

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Intrigue in Istanbul by Erica Ruth Neubauer

Jane Wunderly is back in America, anxious to let her father know that she is engaged to be married. Too bad Henry isn't home. Especially startling, he's taken out a large sum of money against the family home and then left the country. Jane and Redvers take off after him as soon as possible, heading to Istanbul. Her aunt Millie and Millie's fiancee travel overseas as well. 

Once in Instanbul, Jane meets several people who know her father, some of them very unexpected and one of whom ends up dead. It will be up to Jane to figure out why her father left, what he's looking for, and who among the people calling themselves his friends can be trusted. 

This seemed a little more serious than I remembered but an enjoyable book overall. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 28, 2023

Follows Danger on the Atlantic

Followed by Secrets of a Scottish Isle

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Lady Chosen by Stephanie Laurens

Miss Leonora Carling has lived a quiet life. She runs the house for her uncle and brother who work translating ancient languages.  Recently though, there have been some incidents that seem to ahve started from when someone was trying to buy the house next store. Now the sale has gone through and she is determined to meet the owner.

She meets one of them, Tristan Wemyss, Earl of Trentham. The house has actually been bought by a group of men who are recently retired from being spies and are all titled and hoping to have a quiet place to avoid the people who would like to marry off sisters, daughters, aunts. Tristan actually needs to marry before July or else he loses the money portion of his estate and he will be unable to support his fourteen aunts. Leonora is the perfect answer to who he could possibly find that he wants to live with for the rest of his life. And the two are ready to settle in but they need to clear up that pesky mystery of who keeps breaking in first.

A nice start to a new series built within the same time as Laurens' Cynster series. 

Four stars
This book came out August 26, 2003

Followed by A Gentleman's Honor

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 5 by Tatsuya Endo

The Forger family is still working on their various missions but they are starting to function as a family. Yor is learning to cook so she doesn't poison her family; Anya is trying to get good scores on her tests so she doesn't flunk out of school; and Loyd, well, he's mainly focused on the mission but is somewhat distracted by his wife.

We see Yor's brother Yuri again and he still has that weird obsession with her. 

Loyd is trying to help Anya but, when he sneaks into the school to change her scores, he encounters another spy. One who is codenamed "Daylight." But.. he's not really as good as he thinks he is.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 4, 2020

Follows Vol. 4

Followed by Vol. 6

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 4 by Tatsuya Endo

The Forger family is growing! In the last book, Anya got the first of 8 stars she needs to join the elite of her school and her reward is a dog. However, the first stop (Loid's agency's training facility) does not yield any results. When he's called away to deal with a young terrorist, the family is pulled into a bomb plot which also, surprisingly, yields a dog. Even more surprisingly, this dog has a deep and unexpected connection with Anya.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 4, 2020

Follows Vol. 3

Followed by Vol. 5

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family Vol. 3 by Tatsuya Endo

Loid, Agent Twilight, has put together the appearance of a perfect family so that he can pass under the radar. His wife, Yor, has her own reasons for needing to be under the radar and welcomed the marriage. His "daughter," Anya is trying to be helpful as well, using her telepathic abilities to the best of her power. Currently, they are all trying to get Anya to succeed in school so that she can get closer to the son of a man Loid is trying to take down. However, there is a recent spoke in the wheels as Yor's brother has come to visit and seems to be suspicious of their marriage.

Yor's brother is a creepy dude who seems to be in love with his sister. I'm sure that's the way he's meant to be portrayed, especially as he works for the bad guys and is trying to track down Twilight.

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 4, 2020

Follows Vol. 2

Followed by Vol. 4

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 2 by Tatsuya Endo, Casey Loe

Anya has made it into a prestigious school. She makes a new friend but not the one that her father would have liked. Lots of story potential there and her new friend seems a little suspect but we'll see if more comes out of the relationship. 

We are also getting a new character in Yor's little brother who seems to be on the hunt for... her husband.

Lots going on but starting to create a really interesting story.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 1, 2020

Follows Vol. 1

Followed by Vol. 3

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs

Mercy has barely recovered from the events of the last book when Marsilia shows up and tells her to find Wulfe. That, if Mercy can't find him, the Pack will be blamed. And rumors start up soon after that the Pack can't actually protect the people it claims to protect. A number of magic users (not very powerful but having some magic; mainly witches and goblins) have gone missing. Could it be the Soul Taker? 

There is a movie that has just finished filming that purports to be based on a local urban legend involving a young man who was possessed by a scythe and compelled to murder. Mercy discovers it was not so much legend as truth since Zee was called in to destroy the artifact. But he might have been slipped a fake. That seems especially like a possibility since similar deaths are cropping up. And at least one ghost isn't allowed to leave this plane of existence.

Regular readers will really enjoy this book but I would not recommend starting with this one. We get quite a bit of history for a couple of characters, one that adds a little bit of a wrinkle for pack dynamics.

Four stars

This book came out August 23, 2022

Follows Smoke Bitten

Followed by Winter Lost

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Desperation in Death by J.D. Robb

Ufda. This one was a hard read. Robb often deals with dark subjects and this particular book hits close to home for Eve.

The first chapter opens with a little history for Dorian Gregg. She was taken off the streets and now lives... exists... in the Pleasure Academy. She's not sure how long she's been their but she knows she doesn't like it. Well, most of it. The French is okay but the pleasure classes? A no go. So when she meets Mina and Mina has a plan to get out? Dorian is all in. Except that they don't make it far. Mina dies and now Dorian is on her own, hurt, in New York City.

Lots of characters from the past come back though we do get a little bit of character growth for Dallas as well as one of her employees. Hard reading; justice in the end (though it could have lasted a little longer.)

Four stars

This book came out September 6, 2022

Follows Abandoned in Death

Followed by Encore in Death

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Reread August 2023

Tangled Reins by Stephanie Laurens

When the book opens, our hero (the Marquis of Hazelmere) mistakes our heroine (Dorothea Darent) for a country miss out picking blackberries and decides to steal a kiss. When she reacts undecidedly unlike a country miss, he has to reevaluate. What he finds is a girl outside what he's used to dealing with. For one thing, she's a bit older (twenty-two and unmarried, gasp!) and also a bit less than impressed by his prestige.

He again encounters her in an inn yard where she is being heckled by some of his compatriots. After coming to her rescue, Marc is only more entranced by her innate beauty and lack of artifice.

Of course, there are going to be trials and tribulations but these two strong-headed characters will eventually fight their way toward love.

There is a lot of tell don't show when it comes to Dorothea in this book. The entire book roles around the premise that she is so much more than the other debutantes but nobody tells her anything that's going on. Of course she ends up in the situation she does. Blergh.

Two stars

This book came out September 11, 1992

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Meant to Be Mine by Hannah Orenstein

Ever since she was young, Edie Meyer knew the day that she would fall in love. Her grandmother, Gloria, has a gift and it lets her know when people will fall in love. Today is Edie's day June 24, 2022.  She is heading out to watch her sister get engaged to the man she met on the day their grandmother predicted. Dressed to the nines, Edie is ready. When she sits down next to Theo, a rising band member and songwriter. 

As she starts to coordinate her sister's bachelorette party and leading into the wedding, Edie will have to examine whether she believes more in fate or herself.

Four stars

This book came out 

Hard copy borrowed from library

Opinions are my own

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer

Franny Doyle and Hayes Montgomery III have the ultimate meet cute -- she's having the worst day of her life, fired from her job and on the subway when her dress splits all the way down the back. He lends her his jacket and someone captures a series of photographs making it look like the two are having insta-lust. It's not true but it launches the two of them into their fifteen minutes of fame which each can use for some momentum. Especially since Franny accidentally launches her new interior design version on the fictional version of Good Morning, America.

It is a series of coincidences that lead the two to meeting again and again. Even though neither really believes they are going to be in a relationship with the other, they are going to end up in an HEA.

The best part of this book is the friendships. Franny has her ride or dies and Hayes has his cousin Peyton.

Four stars

This book came out March 15, 2022

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

I heard about this book on the Book Riot podcast and thought the premise was intriguing. Six clones wake up in space. All of their previous bodies are either dead or close to it. Now they have to find out what happened.
The narrator is third person omniscient and hops around from character to character though we mostly hang out with Maria Arena. As the clones recover their memories, the reader gets to learn more about their lives. 
A back and forth between past and present isn't my favorite narrative device and I thought the ended wrapped up a bit too tightly but I highly enjoyed the book

Four and a half stars

This book came out January 31, 2017

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Danger on the Atlantic by Erica Ruth Neubauer

In the first two books, Jane was starting to step out of her shell after having been in an abusive marriage. She moves out a little further in this one, joining the mysterious Mr. Redvers on a transatlantic voyage. Jane will be posing as his wife as they try to uncover who is working as a German spy. 

While on the trip, Jane meets Vanessa FitzSimmons, a newly married woman whose husband disappears almost immediately after the ship goes out to sea. But no one else seems to believe the man ever existed. 

This was an interesting story but I thought some of the plot lines could have been more thoroughly developed. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 29, 2022

Follows Murder at Mena House

Followed by Intrigue in Istanbul

Opinions are my own

A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier, Romy Fursland

Sophie Spark has dropped out of high school and is now working as an intern (seems to be a jack-of-all-trades, filling in where she is needed) at the famous hotel which is often called the castle in the clouds. When the book opens, Sophie is working in the nursery trying to find a pair of twins who have run away encouraged by a young, rich brat who does not make her job any easier.

As the story goes on, we see some mysterious characters who are coming into the hotel. Not so mysterious is the son of one of the owners who is Sophie's age (and quite handsome.) One of the more mysterious characters is also about her age and he seems to be casing the joint. It is not from this character but in general that Sophie becomes quite sure that the hotel kidnapper is targeting their hotel and that one of the children she is watching might be in danger. 

I saw this on the NPRs Best Books of 2021and it was okay but not quite what I thought it was going to be. 

Three stars

This book came out October 5, 2017

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own