Hold Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Madison West made a mistake when she was seventeen; she had an affair with a married man. He, of course, turned it around on her and made her a pariah among the horse community. It's been  a long time since she's had sex with anyone else and she's ready. She's made plans for a no-strings-attached weekend with a sales rep in a cabin far out of town. Too bad it's snowing so hard. And now her cabin has lost power. And the person in the other cabin is none other than Sam McCormack.
Sam doesn't like Madison. He's dated women like her before and it didn't end well. Too bad he's so attracted to her.
They make an agreement for one night. An agreement that leads to twelve nights. They'll break up at Christmas. But what if they both want more?
There was a Big Misunderstanding that was disappointing and I'm not a huge fan of the fast and furious romance but I mostly liked both Madison and Sam and their growth in this book.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out November 8

One Snowy Night by Jill Shalvis

Rory Andrews doesn't remember Max Stranton from high school but he sure remembers her. In a gender reversal from The Trouble with Mistletoe, this time, the girl done the guy wrong. It seems that Rory's high school home life wasn't great and she was being picked on at school. Her attempt at retaliation accidentally included taking out the life Max Stranton had planned for himself. And then she ran, leaving Max to face the fallout, and she never even knew. Now, she needs his help to get back to Lake Tahoe in time for her first Christmas with her family in six years. She's disappointed them before so she doesn't want to be late. Too bad there's a blizzard that is leaving them trapped with Max's dog, Carl along for the ride.

This was okay but, as a novella, not enough time to really get to know or fall in love with the characters. Both Rory and Max felt a little stock to me with not enough time to explore how they got from their teenage selves to their nowadays selves.

Three Stars
This novella comes out November 8
Follows The Trouble with Mistletoe
Followed by Accidentally on Purpose

Fatal Passion by Adrian Vincent

A collection of true-crime stories ripped from the headlines across time and place. The author has re-written the stories so they have more of a fictional flavor but with true story realness. I wish we had been given a list of footnotes or even just a bibliography so that we could know what kind of research went into these stories. There was a LOT of details to these stories but no clue about how much the author knew and how much was artistic license. The writing was okay but was rather repetitive after awhile. Stories that should have been SO interesting got lost under too much detail.

Three stars

This book came out October 14

The Miracle of Meditation by Ryuho Okawa

I should have read the description a bit more and clued in that this was going to be a meditation book with a religious bent. Nothing against it, just not my meditation style. I didn't count that against the book though. To be warned though, this goes beyond a low-level religious bent and talks about guardian spirits and stray animal spirits, things that not everyone will be on board for.
It's not anything really radical in the world of meditation, just a nice book that outlines not only what meditation is but also provides some really nice examples to use while practicing. The Q&A is definitely a little more "out-there" but some readers may feel comfortable with that. Very much reminds me of the teachings of Elizabeth Clare Prophet.

Three stars
This book comes out November 1

The Danger of Desire by Sabrina Jeffries

In The Study of Seduction, Warren Corry, Marquess of Knightford, was trying to protect his cousin Clarissa by asking his best friend Edwin to keep an eye on her. Now Clarissa is asking Warren to help her by keeping an eye on her friend, Miss Delia Trever. It seems Clarissa's brother died and left the family in debt. Now Delia's aunt has given her a dowry in the hopes of finding her a husband but Delia is acting strangely; slipping out of rooms, falling asleep at balls, avoiding house parties. Clarissa wants to see her friend so she wants to know what's going on.
Delia Trevor doesn't want to get married. It might mean saving herself but its not going to save her family. And she wants to make sure that her sister-in-law and nephew are taken care of as well. Then Warren starts getting in her way.
Not my favorite Jeffries book. I thought both Warren and Delia's problems were well-built up and then far to hastily solved. I get the tie-in with Delia's family problems and the banishment of Niall but the way to get them to overlap felt horribly overwrought. An okay addition to the series but I'm much more interested to see what went and will go on with Brilliana (what a name for practically-named-Delia's sister-in-law) and Niall.

Three stars
This book comes out November 22
Followed by The Pleasures of Passion

The Legendary Lord by Valerie Bowman

Sarah Highgate, the previous Season's Debutante of the Year (or some such, nonsense) has gotten engaged to a handsome Marquess. Unfortunately, he cares and talks about nothing but himself and she's over it. So she runs away to Scotland, to her father's hunting lodge. Except that she doesn't quite make it to the right place. Instead, she ends up at Christian Bancroft, Viscount Berkeley's, lodge. While there, her chaperone breaks her ankle so Christian's winterkeeper takes her into see the doctor, leaving Sarah alone.
Which is exactly when Christian arrives at the lodge. He's a handsome fellow but has been largely overlooked by eligible maidens because he can't talk to beautiful women without stuttering. Luckily, his first meeting with Sarah is so ridiculous he doesn't have issues with her. The two get to spend time together and become closer. But Sarah comes to the realization that she doesn't want to disappoint her parents so Christian helps to concoct a plan that will get her back to London without any scandal.
I really enjoyed the first half of this book, the two getting to know each other was just adorable and it wasn't quite the typical "I'm running away from a horrible marriage" trope, just different enough to be interesting. The second half got a little overwrought for me but I think most "Playful Brides" readers will be pleased with this book.

Three stars
This book comes out November 1
Follows The Untamed Earl

Someone To Love by Mary Balogh

Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby, is not very excited to have been named the guardian of the new Earl of Riverdale. And he is less excited to learn, from the Countess, that the old Earl had been supporting a byblow, a girl. Everyone is shocked to learn that the girl, known as Anna Snow, was actually a legitimate child while the supposed new earl, Harry, and his two sisters, the managing Camille and the pretty-but-bland Abigail, are products of bigamy. Everyone's world is turned upside down. Even Anna who has to leave the only home she's ever known and suddenly step into the world of the haut ton.
As he helps Anna work through her new life, Avery is shocked to learn that he might be falling in love...
I usually like Mary Balogh's books for their gentle pace and love stories. Unfortunately, while this one is in her normal vein, I just didn't see any connection between the two of them. It was a good start to a series, with plenty of sequel bait (Camille and Anna's friend from the orphanage?). It just suffered from the problem of too much setup, not enough story.

Three stars
This book comes out November 1
Followed by Someone to Hold