Marry Me at Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt

This book is a very sweet romance. A very sweet romance. With a heroine that is sweet. And a heroine whose hard outer shell hides his sweetness. It was... a lot of sweet.
Alice James has just aged out of the foster care system. She has nowhere to go. Until she's hired to be the companion for a dying woman, Lady Dorothy Stokely. Too bad her nephew isn't as charmed by Alice.
I didn't feel like I needed to have read another book in this series. There weren't giant swathes that I felt like I was missing. This book was just a little too ... sweet. There wasn't a lot of depth to either the story or any of the characters. I have a feeling this will be a book that will appear to readers who like stories with young heroines and treacly romance.

Three stars
This book came out July 18

Until You Loved Me by Brenda Novak

I read the first chapter of this book at the end of No One but You and was immediately entranced. Yes, this is a surprise baby BUT it's a result of a failed condom (which happens, at least they were being responsible) and she responsibly lets him know about the baby... as soon as she figures out his last name.
I liked watching these two fall in love. Ellie's last relationship ended when when walked  in on her coworker/fiance with his (male) best friend... who is also a coworker. The biggest problem I had with the book was how these two were portrayed. Yay for homosexual representation. Boo for making them both so thoroughly unlikable (aka The Bad Guys.)
Yay also for the representation of Hudson King, a football player who seems like a generally  nice guy, doesn't sleep around. He's got some demons-- like being left in a bush as a baby and now being blackmailed. His drama (and dramatics) were a bit overwhelming but Ellie handles it all like an adult which was incredibly refreshing.

Four stars
This book comes out July 25
Follows No One But You

Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud by Anne Helen Petersen

I didn't even read the description of this book; I loved the title so much I requested it from NetGalley. And really, really enjoyed it. Petersen takes aspects of what women aren't supposed to be in today's culture and applies it to famous women. Melissa McCarthy is too fat, Nicky Minaj is too slutty, etc. Then she dissects why these women (and their adjectives) are so divisive. Is it the women themselves or the norms that they're bucking?
A highly enjoyable book and a fast read.

This book came out June 20
Four stars

Mind Over Matter by Nora Roberts

This book was originally published in 1994 and I should have suspected that I had read it before but the description on NetGalley didn't sound familiar. Once I started reading the story, I did remember more. While it feels a wee bit dated, this book actually isn't too bad for being 23 years old. Hero David Brady is a little alpha-male-ish but it's not any worse than some of the more recent books I've read. He's a big-shot documentarian (think Ken Burns) who is doing a show on psychics.
AJ Fields is the agent for one of those psychics, Clarissa. But she's reluctant to put Clarissa to yet another battery of tests. And she's even more reluctant to explore the draw she's feeling for David. But we get to see the two of them fall in love, figure out their relationship, and find their HEA.

The ebook comes out July 17
Three and a half stars

Women In Sports by Rachel Ignotofsky

I really enjoyed the layout of this book. Each of the women got a page describing their feats as well as trivia around the edges of the main text. They author chose fifty women and showed how they contributed to a wide range of sports.
It got a little wearing after a while to read these short snippets. It didn't hold my attention. So while this book may not have been a good fit for me, someone who loves short, tight writing in their informative fiction might really enjoy this book.

Three stars
This book comes out July 18

Heart Stop by Radclyffe

Olivia Price is peeved. She has narrowed down her choices for the three fellowship positions but has just been told that she must make room for Jay Reynolds. She's definitely not enthused. Especially after meeting Jay.
Jay isn't exactly sure that she wants to move into the morgue after having been a trauma surgeon. Being a surgeon was the culmination of a lifelong dream. Working with dead people. Not so much. Until she starts working with the delectable Olivia Price and Jay realizes exactly how much she can learn.
A nice short story but there is a lot of overlap from previous books in the series which means we don't get as much of Jay and Olivia's story as I would have liked.


Three stars
This book comes out July 18

Bonnie and the Beast by Alexa Black

At 26 pages, this was a really, really short book that was mostly... well, it wasn't character development, that's for sure. It would have made a nice first chapter for a book but since it was set up as being an entire book... not as enjoyable.
This is a twist on Beauty and the Beast where the Beast is a woman who actually seems to have grown to enjoy her beast-hood. Bonnie (our erstwhile Beauty), meanwhile, has a few more tricks up her sleeve than just looking good.

Three stars
This book comes out July 19