Without a Brew by Ellie Alexander

When you're in a tourist town that's based on a Bavarian village, winter is the time to rake in the cash. Sloan Krause and her boss haven't officially opened the B&B that is attached to the microbrewery but a sudden winter storm during a festival means that their rooms are the only place for stranded people to stay. That includes a lovey-dovey couple, four rather entitled young people, and a young woman who seems to be hiding something even though more than one person recognizes her.   And it is the young woman who ends up dead.
This was a solid addition to the Sloan Krause series. There were a few too many suspects and the murder victim's history was a little overcomplicated. I am also sort of curious where the storyline with Sloan's former in-laws and her own past are going.

Three stars
Follows Beyond a Reasonable Stout

Followed by The Cure for What Ales You
This book comes out November 10th
Ebook kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory

 What a wonderful, political book on a wonderful, political day. The politics is not a huge part of the story but it definitely affects how lawyer Olivia Monroe and junior senator Max Powell ultimately end up together. 
It starts with a conversation at a hotel bar discussing the merits of cake versus pie. Olivia is tired after moving back to LA from NYC and her first full day at her own firm but she enjoys talking to the cute guy a few seats down. When she gets back to her hotel room, she is shocked to see him on her television screen. The man is a politician! Even more startling is the fact that he starts courting her with cakes. Well, one to begin with. The more she gets to know him though, the more she likes. 
Max is used to being impulsive. And he's always landed on his feet. But Olivia is a Black woman working in a world run by White men; she doesn't get to be impulsive. Max is fairly Woke but that doesn't mean that he really understands nor that the course to true love really will run smooth.
I liked Olivia. She was a strong lady who knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to ask. I liked Max. He was fairly self aware of his own privileges and, even when he wasn't, he works to pull his own head out of his ass rather than making others do the work for him. I really hope we get a book about Max's friend and roommate.

Four stars
This book came out June 23rd 2020
Follows Royal Holiday

Followed by While We Were Dating
Borrowed this book from my local library
Opinions are my own

Forever Charmed by Rose Pressey

I really like Rose Pressey's Haunted Vintage Myster series so, when this book was free on Kindle, I picked it up. And it's an interesting story. Halloween Laveau inherited her great-aunt's gigantic house. She can't afford the upkeep and is converting it into a B&B. But there is something buried in the house. A powerful something. Something powerful enough to even make Hallie, a fair-to-middling witch, a necromancer. And that means that all sorts of beasties and ghoulies are going to show up at her house, including two hotties who seem to have it out for each other.
I finished the book but just barely. I didn't like Hallie for most of the book (not very bright and not a lot of backbone) and the world building was sort of scattered. I might try the second book if I can get it for free since the book picked up at the end and because I know that Pressey can write better, this might just be first-book-itis.

Two and a half stars
This book came out March 25, 2013
Kindle ebook
Opinions are my own

Burn This! by Tasha Black

 Dragon-shifter rockstar Johnny Lazarus is at the top of the world or at least he should be. But the dragon that was put to sleep for 300 moons is about to come out or... else. But no one actually knows what "else" is. Johnny assumes that it means he will lose his dragon which is okay with him. The dragon has only caused him problems. So he decides to go to a rehab center because it is quiet, out of the way, and he can wrestle with his demons out of the spotlight.
Neve Whittaker is a nurse (more than a nurse? I either missed the clarifications or it was never clearly stated) at the rehab center. She's met many famous people and isn't impressed by Johnny. But she is attracted to him. First his exterior and then, as she gets to know him, the man himself. They'll just have to survive the blackness that seems to be chasing Johnny.
I really thought I was going to DNF this book after the first few pages. But I didn't and it was okay. There were a lot of things that weren't really explained and I didn't feel like we got to really know either Neve or Johny or why they would have an HEA.

Two and a half stars

This book came out March 7th, 2016

Book from my Kindle collection

Opinions are my own

A Vampire's Valentine Surprise by Kristen Painter

Delaney Ellingham is feeling run down. But that’s not a surprise since she’s prepping to be in three different categories in the Valentine’s Day bake off. One in which her arch enemy’s daughter (who she actually likes) is also participating albeit in a different division. But is it just stress or something more sinister.

This is the novella in this series that made me realize that I really just need to stop reading Painter’s interstitials; I do not like them. The regular books are super fun, fast, and fluffy but when that gets compressed into a novella, it is just fast with not as much of the fun.

Two stars

Follows The Vampire’s Fake Fiancée
Followed by The Shifter Romances the Writer

Borrowed as an audiobook from Audible
This novella came out January 11th, 2016
Opinions are my own

Game of Hearts by Cathy Yardley

I don't love the trope of my best friend's sibling (unless that is not the source of the tension) and this one didn't really make me change my mind. Yardley is a really good writer and I am very much enjoying this series but this book was not as good as the first two. I mean, even though Kyla Summers and Jericho Salomon are adults, there's some stupid reason why they're not supposed to get together; her brother doesn't want them to. I mean, Jericho also has some motorcycle club (clean cut, not SOA) issues that he's dealing with and being back in his home town to help Kyla out is bringing up some old memories that he thought were long out of his head, but those aren't nearly as much of the focus. I also didn't like that Kyla's brother never really seemed to get that her passion wasn't the garage. I get that that is probably true to life but I do like my romances to have an all around HEA (with an HFN being an okay substitute.)

Fours stars

Follows One True Pairing

Followed by What Happens at Con

This book came out January 30th, 2018

Borrowed as an audiobook from Audible Escape

Opinions are my own

Fries and Alibis by Trixie Silvertale

 Mitzi Moon is an orphan but one who just received an unexpected inheritance, a bookstore in a small town she's never heard of. This part of her family had never contacted her before but, what the heck, her life sort of sucks right now so why not get out? And she makes a super positive first impression in town... first the sheriff tries to roust her because he thinks she's a vagrant and then, when he trips, she falls on top of him. Plus there's a body that shows up behind her new building which turns out to have a mysterious connection to Mitzi and her grandmother's ghost... life gets weird fast.
Mitzi is somewhat brash, especially in her own head which we get to hear. The narrator really gets into this role adding a ton of sounds and energy that adds to this feeling about Mitzi. The story ended up being a little fractured but a fun story all the same. 

Three stars

Followed by Tattoos and Clues

This book came out July 30th, 2019

Borrowed as audiobook from RB Digital

Opinions are my own