Someone to Care by Mary Balogh

Viola Kingsley's world came crashing down when, after her husband's death, she found out that she wasn't actually his wife and her children were now considered illegitimate. It turned her world upside down. And now in her forties, she's trying to put her life back together. Hard at any time but especially in Victorian England when many people look down on her even though none of what happened was her fault. It's no wonder that one day, she feels like she needs to get away.
Many years ago, Marcel Lamarr, Earl of Riverdale, had tried to seduce Viola. Being a good wife, she had rebuffed his efforts. He was married once and has twins that are being raised by a very stodgy relative. His life is... boring. So when he runs into Viola at a country inn (her carriage broke down), he takes the opportunity to spend more time with her. Even if that only means spending the day at the local fair and then saying their goodbyes and parting for the evening. When Viola decides to take him up on his offer for a very good night, Marcel is shocked but still behaves honorably, giving her the space to change her mind. She doesn't. And it sets them down the road to eventually being discovered... and engaged.
Another book that Balogh lovers will enjoy.

Four stars
This book comes out May 1
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The Good Luck Sister by Jill Shalvis

Tilly Adams hasn't exactly reached the heights that her teenage self had imagined (who does?). Instead of being a famous artist, she's an art teacher. And who's in the front row of her first class? Dylan Scott, her teenage best friend, her first boyfriend, and they guy who walked away without looking back.
Dylan did what he thought was best, in order to give Tilly a better life. And he's pretty sure it worked out. If only he can get Tilly to agree.
Man, I was really hoping for a better story for Tilly. And one for Quinn's (Tilly's sister and heroine of the first book in this series) best friend Skye. As novella's go, this one has the same problems of making you believe that the characters can fall in love in less than 100 pages. And this one has the added pressure of doing it in even fewer since the "current day" story is interspersed with what happened ten years ago.

Three stars
This book comes out May 1st
ARC kindly provided by Edelweiss
Followed by Rainy Day Friends

Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn

I had never read a Daisy Dalrymple before and I'm so excited to have found a new series.
Daisy, a magazine writer, is on the train to Scotland when her potential beau's nine-year-old daughter, having run away from home, finds her. The train has already pulled away from the station so it's too late to send her home. Also on the train? One of Daisy's schoolmates whose entire extended family is also on the train in a last ditch effort to get the family's notoriously pinch-penny, misogynistic patriarch to change his will. It seems that Alistair McGowen believes that the family money should only go to someone in the direct male line. Right now, the only one that meets that description is his scapegrace twin brother. The older man spent a large portion of his life in India and (according to the rest of the family) now has some strange ideas. Like leaving his money to a young Indian doctor.
Amazingly, it's not the usual person (Alistair) who gets murdered. Instead, it's his brother Alistair. Belinda (the nine-year-old) is the one who discovers the body. Daisy takes a look at the scene and immediately deduces that this is not a natural death.
There is some terms used in this book that are firmly in the "racist" category these days. The overall tone was that everyone should be accepted because of who they are, not what they look like, but there were a couple of cringeworthy moments.

Four stars
This book comes out April 24 (originally published 1996)

Follows Requiem for a Mezzo

Followed by Damsel in Distress

Reread in May 2022

Lady Rogue by Theresa Romain

Callum Jenks and Lady Isabel Morrow had a short affair months ago. And now she's asking to see him again. This time it's not for romance; she needs help. Her deceased husband, it appears, was selling forgeries. And she needs to make things right before anyone finds out and her ward is ruined.
As they start investigating, it opens questions about how Isabel's husband died. Was it really a suicide?
This was a good book for some world building. While it didn't hold my attention for long periods of time, I don't think regular Romain readers will be disappointed.

Three stars
This book comes out April 24
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Followed by Lady Notorious

Hot Response by Shannon Stacey

Gavin Boudreau isn't sure why Cait Tasker is so prickly around him. As a firefighter, he generally gets along pretty well with the EMTs he works with. But Cait stymies him. She doesn't seem susceptible to his usual charms.
Cait had toyed with asking Gavin out. But then he Ma'amed her. She assumed that it was his way of letting her know (rather rudely) that she was too old for him. But, after an intense call, the two bond and Cait takes Gavin to breakfast. And then she spends the night at his apartment (he's not there; she just needs to get away from her family for a little while). And then... well.
I liked that Gavin and Cait actually talked to each other (for the most part). I didn't like that Gavin was such a jerk but it was nice to see his family talk to him and tell him when he's stepping out of line.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out April 24
Follows Fully Ignited

The Marmalade Murders by Elizabeth J. Duncan

It's fair time and Penny Brannigan has been roped in to helping out. She's going to judge the children's pet contest (where everyone wins) and also help log the entries in the cooking competition. Like any small town, the competition is fierce. Penny's friend Florence, an incredible cook, gets a call telling her that the deadline is the day after the actual deadline but she gets her jam, her cake, and her marmalade in on time. Gaynor Lewis, another top contender, wasn't as lucky and her entries are not turned in by the deadline. Yet, her marmalade wins the competition while Florence's is nowhere to be found. Then, Penny finds the marmalade... along with Gaynor Lewis. Is the competition stiff enough for someone to kill in order to win?
There were some lovely twists and turns but I didn't love the ending; the murderer wasn't exactly fairly clued (at least in my mind) but it didn't turn me off the series. I really like the way Duncan deals with Penny's "romance" with Gavin. It's a bit easy to shuffle him off scene but at least he doesn't remain creating yet another cozy series with a love triangle.

Three stars
This book comes out April 24
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows Murder is for Keeps
Followed by Remembering the Dead

The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green

When an older gentleman dies under mysterious circumstances, suspicion falls on one of the two nieces that lives with him. For some reason, one of the nieces is set to inherit the bulk of his fortune while the other niece is not entirely excluded from the will but she is certainly slighted. The body of Horatio Leavenworth is found with a bullet in the head in the library of his mansion. The house was locked but filled with not only his nieces but also various servants (including one who has come up missing).
Our first person narrator, Mr. Raymond, works with Ebeneezer Gryce (who will become a regular in Green's mysteries) to find out whether, as the evidence seems, niece Eleanor really killed her uncle out of spite.
An interesting story. Definitely a good mystery within the Victorian writing -- a little meandering but worth reading if you like the classics.

Three stars
This book comes out April 18
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley