Holiday with a Twist by Shannon Stacey

Leigh Holloway is heading home for the holidays. Her parents are under a lot of stress, they're moving to a condo from their family farmhouse and her sister, who just had a baby, has left her cheating husband is living with them. So Leigh doesn't want to tell them that, not only did she and her boyfriend break up, she's out of a job. She's afraid that if two out of her parents three daughters are out of work and out of a relationship, they might try and make her stay on the east coast rather than going back to Texas.
Croy (short for Croydon and very hard to read as I kept seeing "Cory" and then having to correct) isn't stoked that Leigh is in town. They used to be good friends but when she convinced the third of their trio, his girlfriend, to move down to Florida with her, the girlfriend ended up finding a new guy. This led to a giant fight between Croy and Leigh. Of course, it has been eight years so he's mostly over it. And noticing how much Leigh has blossomed through the years. Soon they're involved in an undefined relationship that they're having to keep quiet so that Leigh's parents don't think that she's cheating on the ex.
I didn't love the ending and, like with most novellas, wish that we could have seen a little more growth with the characters but it was a nice short story that I think most Shannon Stacey readers will enjoy.
Major props for the note saying that the book will end with at about the 80% mark so we weren't expecting more. I was SO impressed that somebody finally put something like that in.

Three stars
This novella comes out November 21

One Mistletoe Wish by A.C. Arthur

Morgan Hill is a teacher, widow, and mother of five-ear-old twins. She isn't looking for love. Especially not with a big city business man who is only in town to sell off the buildings he owns, many of which are used heavily by the community, a community that Morgan loves.
Grayson Taylor doesn't love Temptation. It was a town that thrived off of the reality show that was he and his five siblings, sextuplets. Unfortunately, their reality show tore apart his parent's marriage. Now, as the oldest, he's been elected to take care of his father's estate. But he's intrigued by the woman that he sees. And he seriously falls in love with her children. 
I really liked the world building and the story but the writing was a bit... rough. and really dragged in places. I hope Arthur gets a better editor because I'm really looking forward to reading more of her stories.

Three stars
This book comes out November 22

All the Dead Girls by Rita Herron

I didn't realize that this book was #3 in a series but the author had a deft touch with adding enough information from the previous books to let you know about Graveyard Falls but without overwhelming the reader.
Beth Fields is an FBI profiler and a former survivor of a serial murderer. When it appears that the man who killed her friend but let her go is back at it, Beth wants to go back and figure out what's going on.
Local sheriff Ian Kimball also wants to find the killer since the man who raised him, his stepfather, was the man who was blamed. The local coach, his stepfather later escaped from prison.
The two have to work together to figure out who buried dozens of girls with white candles and crosses and whether this is the same man who abducted Beth so many years ago.
This was an okay read but somewhat disjointed. Not so much the story as the sentences. And the romance felt less like a part of the story as something that was tacked on as a "hey, mystery reader like some romance too" kinda deal.

Three stars
This book comes out November 22

The Christmas Challenge by Sinclair Jayne

I rarely read books set in Montana because I live here and I hate it when authors get it wrong. This book didn't get it wrong because there wasn't much mentioned about the area at all, which was ironically disappointing. It sounded like the author was trying to set up a fictional town right in my area and it would have been nice to get a deeper sense of place, a description of the mountains, the wilderness. Instead, it was just a bunch of names, some that were real and that weren't. Bummer.
Also disappointing was the disconnectedness of the story. It seemed more like a series of vignettes somewhat sewn together. There was just SO MUCH going on that it was hard to really get a handle on what it was that really brought Tucker and Laird together.
Tucker is back in Marietta to try and patch up her relationship with her twin sister Tanner. See, Tucker's been sort of the wild child, wandering the states being a rodeo star and trying to make it in Hollywood. She also "knew" Tanner's fiance. Like, in the biblical sense. And she even tried to get him back after the two were involved. So now she's back and trying to heal old wounds. Needing all the help she can get, she stops off at Miracle Lake. While she's there, she meets Laird who is in town trying to figure out what happened to his fraternal twin. See, Laird was adopted from a teenage girl who had two babies but he didn't know until recently and he's not even sure his twin survived. The reader can figure it out pretty darn fast and it's sort of annoying how long it's drawn out. In fact, I wish that had been shortened to make more room for the story between Tanner and Laird. It was just a bit superficial. Wish we had seen more of what made them want to be together other than explosive chemistry.

Two stars
This book comes out November 15

The Duke of Deception by Darcy Burke

Aquilla Knox has carefully crafted a persona over the past five seasons that will make her unappealing to suitors. In fact, she wouldn't even be here this year except that Lady Satterfield offered to sponsor her. And now she's accidentally locked herself out of a party and it's the Duke of Deception, actually the Earl of Sutton who comes to her rescue.
Edward "Ned" Bishop is known around town for breaking hearts. He leads debutantes on, testing them without their knowledge, but never actually proposes. He's just about to decide whether to propose to a girl when he meets Aquilla. The real Aquilla, not her persona. He is intrigued. Not especially because his family has the DRAMA and he thinks she might be up for it.
I did not like the overly secretive nature of this book. Aquilla had secrets from Ned, she had secrets from her friends and from the readers. Ned had a ton of secrets as well. And with so much going on, the story seemed somewhat fragmented. Especially since there's a former suitor of Aquilla's and a disappointed father that are also upping the dramatic factors of this story. And, quite frankly, the ending is wrapped up just a little too fast and way to quickly.

Three stars
This book comes out November 15
Follows The Duke of Daring

The Bridesmaid and the Bachelor by Kris Fletcher

I do like novellas where the H/H knew each other before so we don't get a massive case of insta-lust. Kyrie Elias and Ben Sitka had a short, week-long affair years ago. But Kyrie knew it couldn't last, so she left without saying goodbye.
Now she's at the wedding of her sister's friend and she's pretending to be her twin. See, her sister was in Vegas for a wedding and fell in love. But the bride was already approaching 'zilla status so Paige called in Kyrie to fill in. Paige will then forgive Kyrie the loans she gave her so Kyrie could open a coffee bar/jazz venue. So when Kyrie realizes that the groom's brother is Ben, she tries to fake it at first. But Ben knows her well enough to realize she's not her sister. And they use their time to get to know each other better.
It was a little stilted in places and some major relationship things were glossed over but this was an fast, fun and fluffy read that sets up the world of Calypso Falls.

Three stars
This book comes out November 15

Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay

Miss Pongleton was not a well-liked woman. She was cheap and somewhat mean, even walking to the next London Underground station to save a penny on fares. Once there she would be one of the few commuters using the stairs while the rest waited for the elevator.
Even though she wasn't the friendliest person, it still came as something of a shock when she was found on those stairs strangled. With her dog's leash no less.
Her renters are shocked and immediately start guessing what might have happened. Of course, the police arrest the wrong man first but then seem somewhat befuddled. We get a look at the strange movements of the woman's nephew and supposed heir (but is he really?) as well as the ways that his friends and family are helping him.
It was an odd sort of mystery not really fairly clued (until the very end) and definitely from the "classic" era of mysteries and indeed, I learned of it from the Classic Mysteries podcast.

Three stars
This book came out November 1