A Very Mummy Holiday by Lynn Cahoon

Jill Gardner leaves the murder trap that is her hometown and heads up the Oregon coast with her boyfriend and another couple. She doesn't know Kathi very well but the other woman is nice even if she does keep trying to get Jill to wear more makeup and lower cut shirts. But it's not like Kathi deserves to end up next to a skeleton when her and Blake's ATV turns over. Nor does she deserve the attention of the men in the area just because she resembles that dead woman.
Greg and Jill will have to help solve the mystery before Kathi becomes next in a string of victims.
This is the best of the Tourist trap novellas in awhile. Good mystery, not as much woo.

Four stars
This novella came out October 29th
ARC kindly by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Single All the Way by Karen King

Meg wasn't expecting to be single at 34 but that's what has just happened. She and her husband have just uncovered a fundamental difference and they have split. When she calls her mother to let her know, Meg discovers that Sally has left Meg's father. After years of floating, Sally has decided that she may only have a little time left but she doesn't want to spend it with someone who doesn't want to travel and who grumbles when she does. He doesn't even realize that Sally is serious about leaving.
The two ladies go to the Cornish Coast  where Sally and Ted had their honeymoon. There, they join in the Christmas festivities that are going on and learn a little more about themselves.
This book could have used another 100 pages to develop the characters and their situations a little bit more. This book was fast, fun, and fluffy and very surface level which works for some books but I wanted more from this one. We learned just enough about the characters to make me want more. I liked the ending and thought that King plotted the beats to make you understand what was going to happen and why.

Three and a half stars
This book came out October 28th
ARC kindly provided by Bookouture and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

A Snowy Little Christmas by Fern Michaels; Tara Sheets; Kate Clayborn

Starry Night by Fern Michaels
Jessie Richmond has a marketing job by day with a lovelorn talk show host job by night. She lives in CPhiladelphia and generally enjoys her life but when her uncle moves to Florida and tells her that she can have his book store in rural New York, Jessie suddenly has a life change that she's dealing with. Also a change? Working with contractor Ethan is getting her a bit flustered. And when the speed dating event she's putting on is snowed in, it's time for some romance.

A nice romance starter- it hints that romance might happen. 3.5 stars.

Mistletoe and Mimosas by Tara Sheets
Layla used to be the poor girl in town. Sebastian is not and he throws her off by being very nice one day and rude the next. Now Layla is a fancy pants real estate agent and Sebastian has moved back to town and is in need of a house so their paths cross again.
This story was okay but I never really warmed to Layla who was sort of more of the focus. The actual story was nice but I wish that there had bee more character development.

Missing Christmas by Kate Clayborn
Kristen and Jasper have worked together for five years. It is understood that there will be no romance between them in order to keep their company going. But Jasper has always loved Kristen. And this Christmas, while trying to save their company, they are snowed in together and... welll. This is a romance so...
My favorite of the three stories, I liked that Jasper and Kristen knew each other well enough to respect and love each other even before the relationship began.

Four stars

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

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