The Underdogs by Sara Hammel

I was zooming along, this was a perfectly nice book told in first person by Chelsea Jestin. It was a little confusing at first because it switches between "before" the murder and "after" but both are done chronologically so it gets easier as you read. The golden girl of the country club, Annabel Harper has been murdered and left by the pool. As the story unfolds, it seems like there are so many people who might have wanted her dead. But Chelsea and her best friend Evie are the only two who are invisible enough to wander around the club hearing all the pieces of the puzzle.
This story is not just about Chelsea, who has a pretty horrific past, but also about the evolution of Evie. And it was the ending, the ending that was fairly clued, that just sent me over the edge. A slow start but a killer end.

Four stars
This book comes out May 31

Winning the Brain Game by Matthew May

It took be a little bit to get into this book. I generally enjoy "brain" books and thought the description of this one on NetGalley sounded interestingBasically, the author posits that our brains have seven flaws and he presents the solutions with reasons and examples of why his way is better. It follows the very familiar pattern of [problem] [solution] [anecdotes about why solution is the correct one] but it did make me think, which was nice.

Three stars
This book comes out May 27

Discovering You by Brenda Novak

Regular Novak readers are going to love this book. LOVE it. It's got the drama and the feels and just that... Novak-ness that regular readers have come to expect. Will new readers to the Whiskey Creek series enjoy this book as much? I think so. While we do get some characters from previous books, it makes sense when they come in (no shoehorning here.)
India Sommers has lost her husband in a horrifying manner. And she blames herself for what happened. It all stems from her love of bad boys. So when she comes up on Rod Amos soon after he beats a guy (the guy really had it coming), she feels the attraction, but doesn't want to act on it. Although, to be honest, she doesn't really hold out all that long. She feels like she can probably be in and out of a very physical relationship before her daughter comes back from visiting her grandparents.
Rod is a complicated guy who is a couple of sort-of-in-but-not-really-and-I'm-sure-the-girl-understands-that relationships when he meets India. He knows that he's attracted to her and he knows that she's attracted to him. So why won't she just get together with him already?
Well, when her past comes a'calling, it's Rod that India turns to for help.
I didn't love the last quarter of this book so it took it down a little but it's still three and a half stars for me.

This book comes out May 24
Follows A Winter Wedding

The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match by Juliana Gray

I somehow picked up a bunch of children's books and novellas that were all being published around the same time. This, I thought was a longer book and also somehow believed this to be a mystery. And it is, but more, it's a romance with mystery undertones.
It was an interesting story with the hero, the Duke of Olympia (first name never known) is seventy-four, and the heroine, widowed companion Mrs. Penelope Schuyler, is fifty. There was some character building but I wish there had been a bit more. I'm guessing this is the prequel to a new series and as such, it was okay but could it could definitely have been better if it had been built out to a full-length story.

Three stars
This story comes out May 17

King Garnet Stories by Marianne Parry

Based on the cover and length, I thought this was a picture book. And I probably would have given this book another star if the cover's illustrator had been invited to make such a book out of the first story only. Otherwise, the adventures of King Garnet are just fine. and will probably be amusing to young readers with his strangely growing legs, Queen Amanda's bossiness (which seems a little sexist), and the misunderstanding between he and King Grundle though the latter two are nowhere near as good as the first.
There are some relatively harder vocabulary words like "mused" that seem somewhat out of place. And there's a lot of editing that needs to be done. 

Three stars
This book came out May 9

A Pressing Engagement by Anna Lee Huber

Kiera is in love with her fiance, Sebastian Gage, but that doesn't mean that she's free of bridal jitters. Luckily, she is distracted by the arrival of her cousin Jock who comes bearing a wedding gift. Surprisingly, it is not some dead animal, but a Scottish torc. In fact, a Scottish torc that looks very much like one that Kiera and Gage have been looking for. The fact that Jock found it in a pawn shop gives Kiera the very excuse to leave the house that she's been looking for. The search brings them back into the path of Bonnie Brock Kincaid, "the head of Edinburgh's largest and most notorious gang of criminals." And it seems that Bonnie Brock is after the favor that Kiera owes him.
A lovely little novella and just a perfect bite for in between books.

Four and a half stars
This novella comes out May 17

The Waldorf Astoria Bar Book by Frank Caiafa

Okay. I have to admit that I skimmed a large part of the recipes. But the beginning of the book with the author's history and the setup of the book was interesting and well-written. The tidbits after every cocktail were also entertaining. And while I think that many of the items the author lists would be WAY to fancy for my house, I think there are many people who would enjoy setting up and creating his concoctions.

Four Stars
This book come out May 17