An Irresistible Alliance by Stephanie Laurens

 Michael Cynster is startled and relieved at the beginning of this book to realize that, with the engagement of his older brother, he is no longer going to be as big a catch on the Marriage Mart. He can relax. But a hedonistic lifestyle hold no appeal; he's done that for awhile. Instead, he focuses on helping his brother with uncovering a plot involving some gun powder. Gun powder that is being moved by carts but none of them understand how shipping works. But Cleome Hendon does.
Cleo thought that working as her family's business as the manager would be exciting. And it was... for awhile. No, she's got it all figured out. So when Michael comes to her with a built-in adventure, she invites herself along. 
An okay story. Some light contortions to get a lot of people from previous books involved.

Three stars

Follows The Lady By His Side

Followed by The Greatest Challenge of Them All

This book came out March 11th, 2017

Opinions are my own

The Werewolf’s Christmas Wish by Kristen Painter

Bridget Merrow felt a connection to Sam Kincaid in the second book in this series (about six months ago.) But, other than some almost-kisses. He hasn't mad a move since. Now it's Christmas, it's snowing, and she needs a truck to deliver some champagne to a customer. And Sam is available to help. When the two get locked into a freezer, everything changes.

Short, sweet. Obviously not deep. Definitely need to have read the rest of the series to enjoy.

Three stars
Follows The Witch's Halloween Hero
Followed by The Vampire's Fake Fiancée

This novella came out February 23rd, 2016

Opinions are my own

One More for Christmas by Sarah Morgan

Gayle Mitchell did everything she could to make sure that her girls grew up stronger than she did. Unfortunately, that means that she alienated them when she found out her younger daughter was going to be a teacher, a “soft” profession; not at all what Gayle had steered her towards.
Samantha is shocked to hear her mother’s assistant on the phone. Even more to hear that her mother is in the hospital. She tells Ella that she doesn’t need to come but Ella does anyone. And they are both shocked when Gayle says that she wants to spend a family Christmas. Little does she know what that will entail.
Luckily, Samantha needs to check out a lodge in Scotland that she might start including in her holiday excursions business. So off the family goes. There’re hurt feelings,tears, and self-discovery. This is definitely not a a Morgan romance novel because there is no HEA or even an HFN but it was a nice family story.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out October 6th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings by Liz Ireland

 I love Christmas. I love sweet stories but this one was a little too much for me. If this had been a second or third book and we had seen April and Nick start to date, fall in love, and move to the North Pole, I think it would have set up the characters and the world and made this book much more enjoyable. 

The premise was interesting, Mrs. Claus solving crime in Santaland while trying to fit in with a new culture. And elf-slaying certainly isn’t something that you would expect. If you don’t mind that the mystery isn’t just fairly clued, it’s fairly obvious from the first introduction of the murderer or that mystery is more treacly than a treat By Hannah Swenson, this might be the book for you. 

Two and a half stars

This book came out September 29th

ARC kindly provided by Kensington and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

Is this book exactly like “Groundhog Day”? No. For one thing, Maelyn figures out how to navigate her own little time warp in about three days. Is it just as heart-warming? Yes. Will regular Christina Lauren readers love it just as much as other books? I’m not sure. This is a comfortable, cozy holiday romance without any of the edges or real life issues that the authors often explore in other books. And their sense of humor is somewhat muted.
Maelyn Jones has just ruined a life-long dream. And she didn’t even mean to. It was just one stupid, drunken night and now her whole world is crashing down around her. And finding out that her family friends are selling the cabin where they’ve had Christmases since she grew up isn’t helping. Nor is the car crash that seems like it’s going to end her life. But then she wakes up six days earlier with the chance to make things right.
I have to admit that I wish that there had been a few more days while she figured things out. And the Big Misunderstanding at the end felt sort of “meh.” Still, any book by Christina Lauren is worth reading.

Three stars
This book comes out October 6th
ARC kindly provided by Gallery Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Gribblebob's Book of Unpleasant Goblins by David Ashby

A sister and brother realize there is a world beyond the veil when a series of events leads to Nils accidentally having a book insert itself into his body. The book belongs to Robert Gribble, a disguised goblin who is also known as Gribblebob. The goblin is at first irate but then realizes that Anna and Nils might be able to help in the fight against the queen of nightmares.
A little twee but I think readers will enjoy. The world building was quite lovely with snatches of fairly tales which create a base but then adding some other magical touches here and there. This book definitely seems like the start of a series as there is more magic hinted at that we don't necessarily see on page (e.g. the boy whose writings come to life) but it's not overwhelming. The story does build slowly and end fairly quickly but overall a nice start to a series.

Four stars
This book comes out October 6th
ARC kindly provided by Pushkin Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

About a Rogue by Caroline Linden

A nice play on “Taming of the Shrew” except the names of the sisters are switched. 

Maximilian St. James hasn’t had the best life but his father’s pronouncement that they were descended from dukes turns out to be true. And he’s in line (maybe) to inherit a dukedom. But the man ahead of him seems to be a lock. Even so, Max decides he needs to get married. He sets his sights on the Tate pottery factory, er, the eldest Tate daughter. Even as demure as Cathy is, she still decides that she’s going to marry her One True Love. That leaves her sister Bianca behind and right in their father’s crosshairs. 

Bianca isn’t excited to marry Max but, the more she gets to know him, the more she realizes he is a diamond in the rough. A diamond that is perfectly willing to be less rough by trying to make the factory even better than it currently is. He’s not going to just take the money and run, instead, he wants to make an even better company.

There was a whole subplot that frankly didn’t need to be in the book. It was a perfectly lovely story before then and the rest felt like it was shoehorned in.

Three stars

Followed by About a Scot

This book came out June 30th, 2020

Hard copy I didn’t keep

Opinions are my own