Ignite on Contact by Jaci Burton

Rafe Donovan and Carmen Lewis live next door to each other. They also interact when their job paths cross (he's a firefighter and she's an ER nurse.) Rafe is interested but Carmen is hesitant. She had a pretty bad marriage that she doesn't want to repeat and her life is already full with her job and taking care of her grandfather with whom she lives. Rafe convinces her that he just wants to take her out for a thank you, that it's not a real date.
Things escalate from there with the two of them having lives that get more and more intertwined. But can Carmen trust a known player with her previously battered heart?
I liked the first book in this series a little more just because I connected with the characters more.


Three stars
Follows Hot to the Touch
This book came out February 4th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

A couple/few books ago, Mercy Thompson killed two vampires. One that she was sanctioned to kill and one she was not. Now, however, the local head of the vampires has discovered that she was the one to kill the second vampire and has basically opened the floodgates for creepy-crawlies to come after Mercy.
At the same time, Mercy's old college friend has shown up and asked Mercy to come help her get rid of a ghost that is terrorizing the woman's son. But the timing of the invitation is more than a little suspicious. Does Amber really need help with her son Chad? And why was disbeliever Corban, Amber's husband, the one to suggest that Mercy be the one to call?
This book moved along nicely and built more on Adam and Mercy's relationship and Mercy's on character.

Four stars
This book came out February 3rd, 2009
Follows Iron Kissed
Followed by Silver Borne
I listened to this as an audiobook
Opinions are my own

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

Mercy's mentor Zee has called her in to help solve a series of murders. The victims were all fae so the human police haven't been brought it. Mercy quickly determines the killer but is shocked when Zee is arrested for the man's death. He is obviously not the killer but the Gray Lords are willing to let him take the fall in order to have it cleaned up quickly. The acceptance of fae by the humans is imperative and having one person go down is not beyond their plans.
But Zee belongs to Mercy. Whether or not he wants her to investigate, she's going to. And this book ends with a rather graphic scene and some discussion of what happens in the aftermath of rape. I am so glad that I read this book even though I listened to the rest of the series because there is at least a bit of space between the book and the brain that sometimes isn't there if you are absorbing a book through your ears. I haven't personally had the experience but, from the outside, it seemed like an eloquent description of what a victim has to wrestle with.

Three stars
This book came out January 2nd, 2008
Follows Blood Bound
Followed by Bone Crossed
I listened to this as an audiobook
Opinions are my own

Witch Slapped by Danielle Garrett

When the book opens, Holly's biggest problem is that her boyfriend Adam's parents are coming into town for the holidays. She's not quite whole-heartedly in the relationship (and I'm with her, Adam seems fairly milk-soppy so far and Garrett is really pushing the reader to think that Nick is a better fit) so she's especially nervous.
While Adam is out of town, Holly goes on a stakeout with Nick following a cheating husband. Holly is immediately concerned when she realizes that the picture Nick has of the couple includes a necklace around the neck of the wife. The necklace is the icon for a well-known, very old vampire clan. When the husband turns up dead the next day having been killed in a fairly grisly manner, Holly immediately jumps in.
She also has to deal with her SPA agent moving into the house and prying into her life. What is Harvey looking for?
Again, I'm not sure why Holly and Adam are together. Garrett is not doing a great job of connecting them and it takes away from the rest of the story.

Three Stars
This book came out January 2nd, 2017
Follows Twice the Witch
Followed by Witch Way Home
Listened to this book from the library

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

This book is oft-recommended for a reason. It is awesome. A hero and heroine, both intelligent, ready to match wits at every turn. A man and woman who are in lust at first sight but take some time for
courting though neither would acknowledge it as such. Then a look after the marriage when the true work of figuring out their relationship begins.

Four and a half stars
Originally published January 1, 1995

Follows Captives of the Night

Followed by the Mad Earl's Bride

Listened to this book on Audible Escape
Opinions are my own

Reread October 2022 as Audible book

Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas

Tom Severin, will you please by my book boyfriend?  You start the book only having five emotions (having long ago decided that the rest were superfluous) and end up with all the feels. The last possible Big Misunderstanding is circumvented because you are so in love with your bride and so aware of needing to be a decent human being in order to keep her.
Was this book perfect? I can't remember much about Cassandra other than that she's gorgeous but has a heart of gold so... maybe not. But it was damn near.
Cassandra Ravenel is stoked for her twin. Of course she is. Pandora is marrying the love of her life and he's a good man. Cassandra just wishes she could find her own oyster. Nothing shocks her more than, after confessing that feeling to West, Tom stands up from the chair he was sitting in (not hiding, just not able to get out without it being awkward) and offers to be that man for her. Her family is against the match (at least the men are; the women are willing to wait and see.) But Kelypas takes us through their relationship over the course of several months as Tom learns to have all the feels because Cassandra convinces his to read fiction. I'm not crying; you're crying.

Four and a half stars
This book comes out February 18th, 2020

Follows Devil's Daughter

Followed by Devil in Disguise
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers
Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby February 2023

The Detection Club by Jean Harambat

The premise of this book is quite lovely. Six authors from the Golden Age of Detection form a club and create rules of mystery stories - this is something that happened. Then, they are all invited to an island and a murder occurs.
I almost requested both the first and second volumes at the same time but am glad that I didn't. This was a quick read but was flattering to none of the authors with the three women getting the brunt the bad characterizations. I finished the book but just barely. The text is hard to read on my e-reader and there is a LOT of exposition from the narrator that slows down the story.

Two stars
This book came out January 12th
ARC kindly provided by Europe Comics and NetGalley
Opinions are my own