How to Drive a Dragon Crazy by G. A. Aiken

Éibhear has been attracted to his (not blood related) niece Izzy since her mother married his brother something like 15 years ago. He went absolutely nuts when he found out she was having sex with one of his cousins but still has never made a move toward her. At least, not until this book. After all these years, he is being summoned to go find her and take her home. Nobody knows quite why but they do make it home and he finally apologizes for his actions from ten years ago. Izzy is not impressed. But they do have to work together to help keep her sister and cousins safe.
There was so much going on in this book. Some series story arcs got wrapped up in this book which was nice but it was sometimes hard to follow.

 
Three and a half stars
This book came out September 4th, 2012
Follows Dragon Who Loved Me
Followed by Light My Fire
Opinions are my own
Audiobook from library

Any Witch Way You Can by Amanda M. Lee

 Life can be odd if you grow up in a small town. Especially if you happen to be a witch. Especially, especially if everyone knows it. Bay left Hemlock Cove for Detroit and the bigger newspapers but now she's back and the editor of a newspaper that comes out once a week. She's also discovering a dead body in the middle of a corn maze. And discovering the ghost. Then another body shows up and it looks like someone with witchy connections might be the killer. Which is not a good sign for Bay's family. She works with her two cousins, Thistle and Clove, to figure out who the true killers are.
All of the characters are a little over-the-top and it can get to be a little much if you read a lot of these in a row but they are fast, fun, and fluffy.

Three stars
This book came out December 12th, 2012
Followed by Every Witch Way but Wicked
Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston

 There is a reason I have heard more than one person on the Smart Podcast, Trashy Books talk about their love for this book. The world building is amazing. The sisterhood of the women warriors in this book. Also amazing. There were some rough spots in the story but overall I tore through this book as fast as I could. 
The book opens with the startling realization that our heroine, Kera, is dead. Or... she was. She was killed by the pimp she confronted in an alley while he was shaking down his girlfriend. But somehow, she's still alive(?) in a place she doesn't recognize and surrounded by people who seem to want to kill her. When she starts to fight back (being former Marine and all), she suddenly realizes that she's much, much stronger than she used to be. But what the heck is going on? And who are these women claiming to be Crows, saying she's now one of them?
Vig knows what's going on. After all, he's the one who prayed to Skuld (a Norse goddess) to save Kera by making her a Crow. See, he knows about the Crows because he's from the Ravens, another of the nine Norse clans. And, while we're told that the Ravens and Crows are enemies from way back, we usually see them cooperating with each other. Which is good since Vig and Kera are setting up for a fine romance. Too bad there are some people trying to bring the Big Bad into this dimension and the Crows and Ravens are on point to help bring her down.

Three and a half stars
Followed by the Undoing
This book came out March 31st, 2015
Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby August 2023

What If We Were... by Axelle Lenoir

Nathalie and Marie are typical teens with outsized imaginations and a wonderful friendship. Games of "What if we were.." are interspersed with pages where we get to know more about the each of them. Each girl gets her own, fully-developed personality and along the way there are some learning moments (such as what the Vikings really looked like.) There's also a touch of romance between Nathalie and her crush, Jane Doe.

Good premise, cute book. Probably better to read in paper format.

Four stars

This book comes out December 8th

ARC kindly provided by Top Shelf Productions and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Restorative Yoga by Caren Baginski

I have taken a couple of restorative yoga classes and done one teacher training but figured you can never have too much information about ways to relax and restore my energy. In those classes, I had not always enjoyed holding poses for long periods but figured it was probably something that I needed as someone whose mind races pretty much nonstop. I requested this book at the beginning of the year little realizing how much new ways to relax would be needed.
This book has amazing pictures. It is just beautiful to look at which doesn't always happen with yoga books. The explanations of the poses are good. I'm not sure whether a novice would be able to interpret them but I could. I liked that there were warnings about which poses might provide difficulties for some learners.

Four stars
This book comes out tomorrow
ARC kindly provided by DK and Netgalley
Opinions are my own

The Dragon Who Loved Me by G. A. Aiken

 Rhona the Fearless has been fighting in the dragon war for five years along with everyone else in the series. And even after all this time, the Northern dragons still don't understand that females are just as capable as the males at fighting. And when Vigholf breaks her favorite spear... she is beyond peeved. So when she learns that she is going to be traveling with Vigholf to protect some of the royal family, she's not exactly ecstatic. But traveling together means that they're going to get to know each other better and she might discover that Vigholf doesn't want to protect all females so much as he wants to protect her.

This book does a lot to move the overall storyline forward (lots of battle descriptions and catching up with other characters) but there isn't a lot about Rhona and Vigholf.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 1st, 2011
Follows Last Dragon Standing
Followed by How to Drive a Dragon Crazy
Opinions are my own
Audiobook from library

November 2020 Rereads

 As always, opinions are my own

The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz
Fogg Lake#1
Three and a half stars (bumped up a half star on reread)
Followed by All the Colors of the Night
This book came out January 7th, 2020
Audiobook from Overdrive

 Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz

Cutler, Sutter, & Salinas #2

Three stars

Follows When All the Girls Have Gone

Followed by Untouchable
This book came out January 2nd, 2017

Audiobook from Overdrive

Untouchable by Jayne Ann Krentz

Cutler, Sutter, & Salinas #3

Follows Promise Not to Tell

Three stars
This book came out January 8, 2018
Hard copy borrowed from library

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #4
Four stars
Followed by Emerald Blaze
This book came out August 27th, 2019
Audiobook from Overdrive

Diamond Fire by Ilona Andrews

Hidden Legacy #3.5
Four stars
Followed by Sapphire Flames
This novella came out November 6th, 2018
Audiobook from Overdrive

What A Dragon Should Know

Three stars
This book came out September 1st, 2009
Follows About a Dragon
Followed by Last Dragon Standing
ebook from library