Holidate by Monica Murphy

An heiress, Candace Gaines doesn't have to work and she doesn't. But she volunteers, a lot. And that's what puts her in the path of Isabel Sullivan. Her family  tree farm is getting into the big leagues and Isabel wants to start donating time and money to various charities and she wants her oldest son, Charlie, to be the face of the company. However, Charlie isn't all that personable, nor does he want to be. He wants to help the family though so he agrees to go with Candice for... reasons, I guess.

Her original schedule includes something almost every night (she really loves Christmas and going to ALL the Things). But Charlie just wants to work. He likes his routine and this... is not routine.

There is not a lot of sex in this book. I wouldn't normally have noticed but the second book in the series had quite a bit (at least in my memory) so it felt like this book was from a completely different series.

It's a great holiday romance but I wish there had been more relationship development between Candace and Charlie and I didn't love the way the Big Misunderstanding unraveled (though, major props to Ms. Murphy for one of her characters actually articulating that it could have been fixed had two of the characters just talked to each other.)

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 15th 2019

Follows Fake Date

Followed by Hate to Date You

ARC kindly provided by Social Butterfly PR and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

One Walk in Winter by Georgia Beers

Olivia Santini has been the assistant manager of the Evergreen Resort and Spa for a long time and has been doing the work of the manager for almost as long. She knows that she is going to be named manager and she'll be able to lift the slowly failing resort back up to where it should be in the Markham chain of resorts. When she meets a gorgeous woman walking in the woods, it's just icing on the cake of her life. However, it's all about to go south when she finds out that woman, Hayley, has been made the manager instead, even though she's never worked a day in her life.

Hayley Markham has been on a bad path ever since her other died. And she knows it, but having her father put her in charge of a failing resort seems a bit extreme. Maybe the beautiful Olivia can help her through it. Or, maybe not. But Liv does eventually relent. It's not like the job was actually guaranteed (so true.)

It took awhile to get into this story but it was worth reading in the end.

Four stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books, Inc. and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia

Tuesday Mooney, prospect researcher (how many books use this as a character's job? This position sets her up perfectly for the rest of the book), is quiet, pale, and wears a lot of black. She has one good friend, Poindexter "Dex". Investment banker by day but with a flamboyant gay man who likes to wear dresses and makeup in his off time. He is the one standing next to Laila "Lyle" Pryce when her eccentric husband dies at a fundraiser Tuesday's nonprofit is running (though, why is she signed up as a volunteer? She works for the company). It is also Dex who sends Tuesday a link to the newspaper article announcing that Vincent Pryce (yes, really) has left clues around the city for people to solve a mystery that will lead them to inherit from his vast estate.
Tuesday is also approached to help by a man she identifies as Nathaniel Arches, a wealthy man whose family was in a feud with Vincent Pryce. But he has his own reasons for wanting to get to the end of the game; reasons he doesn't want to share with Tuesday.
She begins the game by asking her 15-year-old neighbor Dory to join in but drops her as soon as Dory's father asks. Which was interesting--most stories would have Tuesday forging ahead with her friendship with Dory no matter what rather than complying with her parent's request.
I wouldn't go as far as saying this is a "grown-up Westing Game" like some other reviewers but it certainly has elements of fun and mystery that make it a quick read.

Four and a half stars
This book came out October 1st
ARC kindly provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

30 Dates in 30 Days Elle Spencer

As the book opens, Veronica Welch's assistant Bea is helping her to meet one of her two life goals. The first, to make partner by the time she is 35 and, a very good lawyer, she seems well on track to do that. The second goal is to be married or at least well on her way. So Bea gets her set up on a female dating app, Ryder. In the next 30 days (until Veronica's birthday), Bea is getting her set up with a series of women. One of them should be The One. All of the dates are set up at Monaghan's, a bar near to Veronica's work.

Rachel Monaghan helps out at her cousin's bar fairly often even though she is a much sought after wedding photographer. She is amused to see a hot business lady who is clearly on a first date. And the same woman is there on another first date the day after. And the day after. Soon, Rachel, as well as the regulars in the bar are as anxious to see what happens as Veronica navigates her way through a series of women who are often identified by their favorite drink rather than their names.

A lovely, light read. Perfect for the holiday season.

Four stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Beyond a Reasonable Stout by Ellie Alexander

Sloan is up against murder again. This time, the victim is a man who was trying to make their town dry. Considering the fact that most of the town makes money off the tourism based around the local breweries. If the town went dry, there would be no money coming in. It's just too bad the man is found in April Amblin's office. The "official ambassador " to Leavenworth may have been annoyed by Kristopher but that doesn't mean she killed the man.

In the course of trying to (some what ambivalently) April's name, Sloan runs up against a number of people who were indebted to Kristopher who seemed to be tricking townspeople into borrowing money from him and then trying to swindle them out of their business.

A nice addition to the series but it took me a little bit to get into it. Definitely worth a read if you like the rest of the series.

Four stars

Followed by Without a Brew

This book came out October 1st

ARC kindly provided by Minotaur Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez

Roxanne Medina has worked her way up from nothing to be a billionaire before she's thirty. What she wants now is nothing except a child. But she wants her child to know its father. And that's why she enters into a a business arrangement. Or, tries to. She researches all of the principalities and found one that needs money. It doesn't hurt that the heir apparent is also known as the Golden God.Príncipe Mateo Ferdinand Juan Carlos de Esperanza y Santos is trying to save his kingdom from the degradations and excesses of his parents. Is a marriage with Roxanne the way to do it? Maybe not but it's certainly one way. It's too bad she's so infuriating, treating him as if he were one of her employees at best and more than a little dim at worst. But Shes's hot and he wants her but her personality leaves a lot to be desired. And he doesn't want just a cold relationship with his child's mother so he bargains that one of their three nights a month will be spent dating.   And it's in those dates that he begins to find a woman with whom he could fall in love.The Big Misunderstanding went on a little long at the end but the ending made the characters learn to talk to each other..
Four starsThis book came out October 14thARC kindly provided by Carina Press and NetGalleyOpinions are my own

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss

Sherlock Holmes is missing and Moriarty has formed a new group of super villains. It is a group that has kidnapped Alice, the maid, and she finds herself down the rabbit hole. It is up to the other women (girls?) of the Athena Club to help her figure out what is going on.

Bringing in another character to a series that already has many can be good or bad. I don't know that it was well executed in this book. There were a LOT of people that had to be brought back and then that many more people breaking into the story and that many more lines to include. It was a good story with a good ending but slow build with so many people to sort of shoehorn in. 

Three stars

This book came out October 1st

ARC kindly provided by Saga Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own