Tangled Up by Erin Nicholas

Max has loved Bree for almost all of the twenty-five years that he's known her. But he knows that they can never be anything more than friends. She's made that abundantly clear. Literally, she's told him that she just wants to be friends. And, practically, he knows that she changes her mind about things all the time, moving from job to job. She can't even keep a favorite ice cream. So no, they're better just being friends. Even if a near-miss with a tornado made for some adrenaline-pumping moments where they hooked up. Well, mostly.
For her part, Bree isn't sure where these feelings are coming from. She loves adrenaline and getting the feeling of a nice rush. So why is Max so against it? Yes, her feelings for Max are sort of out of the blue but why not have some fun?

Three stars
This book come out January 17

The Jolly Regina by Kara LaReau

Jaundice and Kale Bland are living in Dullsville, waiting for their parents to return from the errand that they left to do years ago. Neither sister really remembers their parents but they are content with the life they have, darning socks, eating cheese sandwiches, and reading from Dr. Snoote's Dictionary. They live utterly uniteresting lives and are happy to do so. That's why it's shocking when there's a knock on the door and somebody tells the girls that they are about to get a surprise.
Little do they know that their bland lives are about to get a lot more colorful.
I enjoyed the story and liked the added vocabulary lessons. I also really liked that the sisters felt most comfortable at home and that adventure was not necessarily their end goal. So many kid books are about going on great adventures and I wasn't that kid and it's so nice to read about someone more like myself.

Four stars
This book comes out January 10

Ready Set Rogue by Manda Collins

Torquil "Quill" Beauchamp, Marquess of Kerr, is very upset that his aunt left her property to four unmarried bluestocking spinsters. He is racing down to find out what is going on (and possibly block his aunt's will) when his carriage breaks down and he has to stop at an inn. There he sees a young woman, obviously a governess, trying to get on the mailcoach but she refuses to leave her bags and the coach driver says that they are too full to take them with. When Quill finds out she is Aphrodite "Ivy" Wareham, one of the heiresses, he reluctantly offers her  a ride. On the way, they get to know each other better (even though he starts off as a pompous jerk). Once they get to the property, they not only meet the other heiresses, they discover that Quill's cousin is there as well to act as chaperone. Oh, and Ivy gets a note that the aunt thinks she was murdered and Ivy should work with Quill to figure out what's going on.
The romance for me was just a little too fast. Happy Ever After in just a couple of days? Meh. I like to see a relationship unfold. And the whole book went just a little too fast for me, glossing over several parts. But overall this is an enjoyable read that regular Collins readers will enjoy. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Three and a half stars
This book came out January 3
Followed by Duke with Benefits

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn

The first book in this series was fabulous. Ms. Raybourn's interview with the Smart Bitches was fantastic. And this book continues a streak.
Veronica Speedwell is back. And bored. She's very bored. Just spending her days training with Revelestoke "Stoker" Templeton-Vane is not how she wanted to be spending her life. But their friend Lord Rosemorran who was going to finance an expedition for all of them tripped over his pet tortoise (yes!) and broke his femur. So when Lord Rosemorran's sister asks Veronica if she wants to go to the Curiosity Club, Veronica doesn't hesitate. Curiosity is the theme of this book and mentioned quite often in conjunction with our heroine.
It's what springs to the fore when she realizes that she has actually been tricked into meeting with one of her aunts. One of her father's sisters. The father who has never been able to publicly acknowledge her. This aunt wants her to help clear up the name of Miles Ramsforth, a man who is about to hang for murdering his pregnant mistress.
The mystery is well developed, we get to learn a lot more about the characters of both Stoker and Veronica (what they have in common, a little bit more about Stoker's past with his soul-sucking wife), and we get to meet the shadowy figure behind Sir Hugo Montgomerie, the head of Special Branch, Scotland Yard.

Four stars
This book comes out January 10, 2017
Follows A Curious Beginning

Followed by A Treacherous Curse

Opinions are my own

Reread as an audiobook from Libby December 2023

365 Ways to Live Generously by Sharon Lipinski

This book was literally a day-by-day list of small paragraphs helping people to grow their generosity through 7 habits that they will work on, one for each day. None of the ideas and exercises are spectacular or new (I recognized most of them from other self-help books I've read; I read from a wide variety and it appears the author does too) and include meditating, journaling, and specific exercises for donating both time and money. I was honestly hoping this would be more of an overarching book (by week, not by day).
It's an okay book if you haven't read anything like it before but really nothing new under the sun.

Three books
This book comes out January 8

The Perils of Paulie by Katie Macalister

This whole series has been fairly madcap and this book takes the adventure to TV. Our heroine, Paulie, is the daughter of a floor magnate. A floor magnate with Russian ties. An overprotective super-paranoid floor magnate with Russian ties. Oh, and at twenty-nine-years-old, she's still living at home. Yeah, she tried to leave but her father nearly had a heart attack, literally. But her stepmother, who seems adept at walking the line between Paulie and her father, suggests that Paulie join a reality show. It seems that stepmother is related to Mercy, a character from a previous book. And the reality show is right up Paulie's alley, a modern day remake of the 1908 New York to Paris race and of Nellie Bly's around the world trip, a heroine of Paulie.
Dixon is also on the race, having had a previous relationship with the producer when he was filming at his family's estate on their archaeological dig.
The two immediately feel a vibe. And like the hero of the last book in the series, Dixon has an issue that might make him seem somewhat different than normal. He doesn't like to be touched. And Paulie gets that right away. Which is really nice.
I had some issues with how fast they got together and, damn, Paulie was getting annoying at the end. Also, some parts of the storyline were a little loose, but that is not unusual for McAlister's contemporaries so I don't think regular readers will be disappointed.

Three stars
This book comes out January 3

The Secret Life of Fat by Sylvia Tara

For a book that is tackling a  fairly complicated subject, this was a nice, easy read. Normally, I don't like reading one-person examples (they just can't be spread out to the larger public) but this book made it work by peppering the beginning, middle, and end between the more laborious and intensive scientific studies. It gave each of those studies a more personal feel while giving the personal stories more credence.
I'm not sure on the last chapter with the author's experience. She talks about losing her extra weight but it's SUCH an extreme diet. And, again, it's that one-person-one-outcome that I don't love.

Four stars
This book comes out December 27