The Big Bad Fox by Benjamin Renner

Poor fox. He just can't seem to get it right. When he goes over to the farm he's expected, but not feared. No one is afraid of him, not the pig, not the rabbit, not the chickens. And the guard dog doesn't even work up a sweat about seeing him in the farmyard. Even help from the wolf doesn't work. Until the wolf helps him distract the farmyard dog so that the fox can steal some eggs. But then the wolf thinks that they should hatch the eggs to have something more substantial to eat. Too bad the chicks think that the fox is their mother.
A cute story that went on a bit long. I thought from the cover that this was a children's book but would put it at a slightly more advanced reader. The jokes/story went on a little long but this might be fun for a somewhat reluctant reader who would be able to understand the jokes and read the short snippets.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out June 20

The World's Greatest Chocolate-Covered Pork Chops by Ryan K. Sager

 Zoey Kate is twelve-years-old and she's an adventurous chef combining things like chocolate and pork chops. So she's decided to take on some debt. Fifty thousand dollars to be exact. Why does she want to do this at such a young age? In order to win a prestigious cooking award. Adventures and mayhem ensue.
There was a lot of pop culture in this book. A lot. I'm not sure what felt off about this book for me but I felt a hard time connecting. It's possible that I'm not in (in fact, way out of) the age range this book is meant for but that doesn't usually bother me. Zoey was just a little too annoying, too perky, too sure of herself.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out June 20

The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness by Paula Poundstone

With the absolute mountain of self-help books out there that are promising happiness to everyone, it seems like there are also a mountain of books offering to test those books and let you know how it goes. I love Paula Poundstone and was excited to see how she would approach the topic. I think I set my expectations a little too high.
Each chapter is set up as a science experiment with descriptions of conditions, hypothesis, procedure, environment, etc. She tries things like exercise, being positive, going into nature.
Part of my problem with the book was that it was so fragmented by chapter. Ms. Poundstone took a long time to write the book so there wasn't a lot of flow.

This book came out May 9
Three stars

The Best Max Carrados Detective Stories by Ernest Bramah

The claim to fame of Max Carrados is that he is blind. Blind detective, it's been done but Max was one of the first. His adventures are somewhat interesting but some of the solutions seem like great leaps of logic. I enjoyed the first few stories in the book but then it got sort of... convoluted. Good example of the time period but maybe not my faves.

Three stars
This book came out May 17

Death Around the Bend by T E Kinsey

Lady Hardcastle and her trusty sidekick/maid Florence "Flo" Armstrong are leaving home and heading to the country estate of Lord Riddlethorpe, also known as "Fishy." He is a racing man and the two ladies are sure they can talk him into letting them drive his cars. It turns into even more fun when he sets up a ladies' race and Flo gets to take the place of one of the lady guests who doesn't want to participate. But neither lady gets a turn behind the wheel because the male guests end up racing first and one of them dies. 
The man wasn't inoffensive but he certainly didn't deserve to have his brake lines cut. Lord Riddlethorpe asks Lady Hardcastle (and his butler asks Flo) to investigate. One more person will die before the culprit is found but Flo and Lady Hardcastle prevail.
Even though the feint was obvious, I still enjoyed this book. The ending was a bit... meh.. but overall a fun, fast, and easy read.

Four stars
This book comes out June 8
Follows In the Market for Murder
Followed by A Picture of Murder

A Sky Full of Stars by Samantha Chase

My favorite of the series so far, this book lets socially awkward and braniac astrophysicist Dr. Owen Shaughnessy  meet his match in the beautiful former beauty queen, former head cheerleader, and former mean girl, Brooke Matthews (a lot of jokes about her being named after a famous model, never quite figured this one out). She's now an artist obsessed with the night sky. Owen is about to take some students out to Red Rock to study the stars and his mentor/her uncle thinks Brooke would not only benefit from being able to go out with a group, Owen would get a go-between to help him with the students.
The two meet and have an immediate attraction. Brooke feels an affinity to Owen right away, being able to talk to him how she would have talked to her older brother, also a genius. But she feels a little insecure because her parents pushed her and her brother so much into the roles of Beauty and the Brain. There is a swift romance that involves a whirlwind trip from Chicago (where they met) to Las Vegas and then on to meeting Owen's family in North Carolina.
And it's here that I start to have some issues with this book. I think we start to move away from Brooke and Owen's story to the set up for the last Shaughnessy sibling, Darcy. The last Big Misunderstanding also felt a little forced and unnecessary. It just dragged out the story.

Four stars
This book comes out June 6
Follows This is Our Song
Followed by Holiday Spice

An Unnatural Vice by KJ Charles

The book opens with journalist Nathan Roy going undercover to expose spiritualitsts, not only because his boss has commanded him to but because he hates people who prey on others. And Justin Lazarus is one of those people. We know that because Charles lets us into his point of view, seeing that this is the only way that he knows how to make money. But when the two meet, there is an undeniable attraction.
Nathan lost his partner in a hideous accident and hasn't been with anyone since then. Hasn't even wanted to be with anyone since then. The attraction he has for Justin is not only inconvenient, it's making him question his own mind.
Justin doesn't really care who he sleeps with -- men, women, clients. It's all the same to him. For sure there is something about Nathan that calls to him (the description of Nathan's hairiness made me see the attraction for the first time). But can he get involved with a man who hates him so much?
There is the search for a missing earl and someone killing to keep that earl secret. The killer is after Justin now so Nathan and Justin are on the run at Nathan's family home.
This is a fun series that I am enjoying and the sex... oofda. But I never really warmed to Justin, he was sort of an ass. And I never got why these two would stay together. Magic sex parts?

Three and a half stars
This book comes out June 6
Follows An Unseen Attraction