Southern Bred and Dead by Angie Fox

Verity and Ellis have hit a rough patch. Their romance has been pretty idyllic so far (his mother and the fact that Verity was engaged to his younger brother notwithstanding) so how they handle thsi figh will set the tenor of the rest of their relationship. Big doings.
The central mystery though is why Josie, a good friend of Verity's grandmother, died. It is the annual fundraiser for one of the local churches and Josie has fallen from the steeple. But did she really just fall?
We also get to learn more about Frankie's relationship with his brother and exactly why Frankie died.
This was overall a very nice addition to the series. I hate the "amateur detective does stupid things and almost dies" trope and Verity is very much skirting the line of intelligence that she has generally shown in earlier books in the series. I'm hoping that doesn't continue in future books since it mostly seems like a plot device specifically in this book.

Four stars
This book came out August 28th
Follows The Ghost of Christmas Past

Followed by The Haunted Homecoming 
ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books
Opinions are my own

Big Nate: The Gerbil Ate My Homework by Lincoln Peirce

More fun stories from Big Nate. He breaks up with his seventh grade girlfriend in order to spend more time with his friends. And even though he's still in school, at least his favorite teacher is back. We get to see Nate make a film with Gina and Chad and there is more time spent with Dee Dee (who I am really enjoying as a character and am glad to see more of.)

Four stars

Followed by In Your Face
This book comes out September 1st
ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley
Also downloaded from library
Opinions are my own

Virtual Unicorn Experience by Dana Simpson

Marigold Heavenly Nostrils and Phoebe have been friends for a number of books but their adventures are still fun and fresh. In this book, Marigold gives Phoebe a little bit of unicorn magic to help prove that Phoebe is worth being a unicorn's friend. Phoebe also goes to a meaningless trial but is disappointed with the results. We get to learn more about unicorn traditions and get to see some of our favorite characters like Lord Splendid Humility and Dakota (but no Max or the goblins.)
As always, a book worth reading: fun, fluffy, and with unicorns! Can there be anything more magnificent?

Four and a half stars
This book comes out September 1st
Follows Camping with Unicorns

Followed by Virtual Unicorn Experience
ARC kindly provided by Andrew McMeel Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews

Catalina and Alessandro are thrown together again when, once again, powerful Primes threaten to destroy the city. Her new job as a Warden of Texas earns her (and her family) some protection as a new house but that also means that she is being thrown into situations that would endanger the lives of anyone less powerful than herself. That also means that she sometimes needs to rely on others that she'd rather not, including Alessandro.
The Big Bad in this one just isn't as well developed as it has been in other stories. And the revelation of the power behind the big bad was sort of a deflation. I really hope that we get to learn more about Alessandro soon. He is still a little too much of a mystery to really care about. But you still have an amazing family and their stories do let them grow more and the epilogue definitely made me immediately want to jump right into the next book.

Four stars
This book came out August 25, 2020
Follows Sapphire Flames

Followed by Ruby Fever
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reread July 2022 as an Audible book I own

Yoga Myths by Judith Lassater

If you've been in yoga for any length of time, you've heard of Judith Hanson Lasater. In a recent podcast I listened to, she mentioned that she will have been teaching for 50 years next year. So she should know what she's talking about. And this book is a definite exploration into what has changed in yoga and our understanding of the human body.  Of course, the biggest one is "tuck the tailbone." When I started practicing in 1999, I very much remember my teacher demonstrating how/why tucking the tailbone would serve you in your poses as well as in the rest of your life. But that has slowly evolved as have other ways we do poses. Well, depending on the type of yoga you practice. The book has lots of great pictures with variations for each pose and long descriptions of why each might serve better than a "traditional" pose.

Four stars
This book came out August 25th
ARC kindly provided by Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Opinions are my own

The Switch by Beth O'Leary

Another lovely story from the Author of "The Flatshare." And this is a different sort of lovely. Still with the great character building and the people with very real problems but still a happy ending. Yes, that includes some love interests but you just know that Elaine and Leena would be fine without them.  A little dramatic and definitely a trigger warning for sibling death (ufda -- if I had read this a year ago it would have been MUCH worse.)
Leena has an amazing job with an even better mentor. So good that her mentor tells her that she is NOT dealing well with her sister's death and that Leena now has a two month paid sabbatical. Of course, Leena does not believe she needs one. But when she talks to her grandmother, the original Elaine, they both discover that they could use a little vacation from their lives. And that the town mouse switching with the country mouse might mean they each appreciate their own lives a little more.
Also, major props for Elaine having a thriving sex life at seventy-nine.

Four stars
This book came out August 18th
ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

On the Square by Brenda Murphy

Going home is rarely fun for people in romance novels but for Mai Li it is particularly sharp. She left at nineteen (or twenty, I can't remember now) after coming out to her mother meant that her mother no longer acknowledged her existence. Growing up she was mocked for not being white as well as for being gay. She wouldn't have come back if her relationship and her cooking show hadn't imploded. Now she has nowhere to live except her family's old house which is in more disrepair than she expected. And she can only get one contractor who is willing to meet her.
Dale is a single mom to three sons, only one still at home. She's been barely holding it together financially since one of her exes wiped her out. Getting Mai's job will definitely help keep the wolf away from the door. When the roof at Mai's place collapses, Dale invites Mai to move in. They are both fighting their feelings (for somewhat ridiculous reasons but people in real life are often ridiculous) but finally admit that they might have a chance at an HEA.
There was just a little too much sturm and drang in this story for me to really fall in love with either character but I have a feeling that Brenda Murphy will become an author I keep an eye out for because both Dale and Mai were fairly well-rounded and I did like much of their relationship building.

Three and a half stars
This book came out August 17th
ARC kindly provided by NineStar Press, LLC and NetGalley
Opinions are my own