A Mackenzie Clan Christmas by Jennifer Ashley

A Mackenzie Yuletide
The Mackenzies are once again gathering for Christmas. The younger generation is growing up (and starting to be prepped for their own stories) but the original generation of Ashley's books are still there. Mac, in particular, is featured as he is the first to see the Mackenzie ghost. This mystery overlaps with the one of Ian's gift for his Beth. He is set on a particular necklace that used to be in a museum but it was stolen and he is trying to get ahold of it. His children are offering to help as well, especially his oldest son who is now 17 and wanting to prove himself to his father.

Four stars

A Mackenzie Clan Gathering
Ian Mackenzie wakes up one night when an errant sound causes him to realize there's an intruder in his brother's house. By the time he gets downstairs, his brother's art collection has been looted. From there, we get to revisit almost all of the Mackenzies and see them deal with an old enemy.
I had read this a couple of years ago and still feel the same. A nice story but doesn't really explore more characters or add anything except a brief update to the Mackenzie family.

Three stars

This book comes out October 29th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Penny for Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber

Verity's friend Ada was not born into the aristocracy but she did marry into it. AT Ada's for a dinner, Verity is dismayed to find that the relationship, which had lasted for 5 years before their marriage is now, two years after marriage, in disarray. They can barely hide their animosity and most of the guests are ready for the show, including Ada's marked preference for another man.  At dinner, Ada plops a gun on the table and "jokes" that she might shoot her husband. The butler quickly removes it but Verity is shocked to find out that the gun was not put in the chair by Ada. This seems very suspicious but no one else is worried. However, when Lord Rockham is murdered, Ada immediately becomes suspect number one.
But Verity won't be able to work on just one murder. One of her friend's half-sister died and the friend is certain it was murder. The dead woman was one of the people who worked for the Royal Mail, redacting information from soldiers to home. It is very likely that she saw something that could have gotten her killed.
There is a lot of development between Verity and Sydney as they try to find their way through their marriage, both having made mistakes. They were only married for 3 days before he went to war. She thought he died and he thought she stayed home while the truth was, she went into the secret service.
A great addition to the series, even if it does end with Verity realizing she's found her very own Moriarty. Not a cliffhanger per se, but there are definitely things unresolved.

Four stars

Followed by A Pretty Deceit
This book came out October 29th
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Holistic Wealth by Keisha Blair

I liked the idea presented by the term holistic wealth (at least what popped into my head); building your joy and karma the same way you build your finances. But also applying it to your finances and basically everything in your life. That way, when the unexpected happens, as it did to the author, you have reserves to draw upon. And there were some ideas that have not yet been overused in self-help books (personal mission statement - wish this had been explained more, I feel like Blair has a great grasp of how to do this and could probably write another book on it) but others that were.
While not developed from a blog (it was based off a viral article), it felt as though it were since there are a lot of repetitions which needs to happen if you are posting day-to-day to keep people in the know of what you are trying to accomplish but starts to wear in a book when you are reading the same thing quickly. A lot of the repetitions were reminders that Blair was a widow who was left with two kids, one less than a year old, which made me feel like I wasn't the core audience for this book.  I found myself skimming over sections that didn't apply to me. Some could have been framed more in terms of general loss (I lost my brother recently and these things could have applied to me if framed differently.)
I also got to participate in Blair's 7 day program to building Holistic Wealth. The book definitely explains it better but the ideas in the 7 days felt more inclusive and were wider ranging. I liked her style but think that the program was even better. Blair is dynamic to watch and I connected with her better from her videos than her book.

Three stars

This book comes out November 5th

ARC kindly provided by Catalyst Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Love in the Stacks by Delilah Peters

Poppy is a circulation clerk, checking books out to the patrons of New Bedford. She loves people and Christmas. She's the one who volunteers to bring Ben up from the basement.
Known as "the Troll," Ben prefers to be in the basement, away from people. He's surprised that Poppy is in the basement but is immediately attracted. As she is to him. And when they're the only two people left in the library during a snowstorm, that attraction flares.
An okay story. Because it was so short, there wasn't a lot of character or relationship development.

Three stars
This book came out October 28th
ARC kindly provided by Carina Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Summer Heat by Jill Sanders

Elle Saunders just lost her grandfather. He was her only family member... almost. There are her four friends, the Wildflowers. And they are the ones to whom her grandfather left his campground. The five friends decide to band together and create a camp for adults -- let them relive their childhoods but with adult activities (some more adult than they were expecting.) But they need to make updates, as cheaply as possible. Which leads them to hiring the Costa brothers (though that isn't the name the brothers use). The men are there because the rumor is that Elle is the latest woman their father has been having an affair with., the latest whose business their father is sinking money into. Money that the board of the family company is asking an accounting for.
Middle brother Liam is as determined as his brothers to find out what happened but that doesn't mean he can't feel his own attraction to Elle. But he needs to work on finding the money. And avoidng Ryan, one of the waitresses who recognized the brothers and is threatening to expose them to the Wildflowers if one of them doesn't agree to... marry her? or at least make her their girlfriend, I guess.
That part of the story was a little weak as were the parts with the Costas father. I didn't feel like the story flowed very well but it was fun and fluffy enough that it didn't annoy me more than a little.

Three stars
This book came out October 22nd
ARC kindly provided by Montlake Romance and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

Charlotte Holmes is again solving mysteries, this time her mission is somewhat different though as she works to steal back some letters that are very important to a friend of Mrs. Watson's. The letters are, of course, indelicate and could lead to her losing her place of importance in Indian society. Well, it turns out that the woman is willing to turn down the services of Sherlock Holmes when he doesn't react the way she expects. But Charlotte decides to help the woman anyway. So she, Mrs. Watson, Olivia, Olivia's beau Stephen, and Lord Ingram are all off to a ball where the costumes abound.
As good as the rest of the series, I wouldn't recommend starting here but I would recommend reading all of the books to get to here.

Four stars

Followed by Murder on Cold Street
This book came out October 15th
ARC kindly provided by Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Missing Adults by Scott Bryan Wilson, Bob Solanovicz

Nancy Drew has just moved to a new school and some of the first people she meets are Frank and Joe Hardy. With a mixture of characters from the Hardy Boys and from Nancy Drew (though, why cut Bess? And why so many male characters?), this definitely isn't like either of the original series. For one thing, Nancy never actually says that she's a detective. Frank and Joe are depected as rather bumbling.
It's a very tongue-in-cheek story so people who are having nostalgia won't necessarily connect.

Three stars
This book comes out November 5th
ARC kindly provided by Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley
Opinions are my own