Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews

This is a very short story with a lot of gaping holes and yet the Andrews pair makes it work. I can see why other people say this is one of their weaker series but it's like the authors sort of decided to just leave out wide swathes of the story in these books. But it is Andrews and thus still worth reading.

Meli Glades is an assassin. On a planet, in a world, where there are people with enhanced powers, she is one of the very few that has innate powers. Except that Meli is doing one last job and then retiring. And that job is finished in the first chapter of the book. But her family has pulled her back in for another kill, one that would be more personal since it is the man she was once engaged to but who rejected her before they even truly met. 

Celino Carvana meets a mysterious woman who makes him fall in love over the course of a few days. But then she disappears and he discovers that she was closer than he ever knew...

Three stars

This novella came out June 2, 2009

Followed by Silver Shark

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Herring in the Library by L.C. Tyler

Elthelred has old college friends. Who knew? Well, at least one of them, Shagger Muntham, shows up in this book. Shagger seems to have a lot going on what with a new wife and a new estate. But he spends some of his days hanging out with Elthelred. And invites him to dinner. Of course, Elsie is going to come along with him. 

Friend? Literary agent? Muse? Who knows what Elsie really is. But we get a fun mystery surrounding the fact that Shagger exits, stage left, and ends up dead. But is is really suicide? Shagger's wife (with shades of personality that resemble Elthered's ex) is determined that it be determined murder.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 2010

Follows Ten Little Herrings

Followed by Herring on the Nile

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Rock Redemption by Nalini Singh

There was a time when Kathleen "Kit" Devigny had hopes for her relationship with Noah St. John. They were friends with the crackle of something more. But then he went and crushed her heart in a very deliberate manner. Now she's just concentrating on getting her acting career going and trying to avoid her stalker.

Except now she needs Noah's help with the acting. She's up for a major role but the director is concerned that Kit doesn't have enough of a social media presence. Well, that changes when one shot of a photographer's camera, taken at a function Kit is attending with Noah so he doesn't have to face his family alone, means that the actress and the rock-star-drummer are now seemingly the newest "It" couple.

We get to see behind both the facades of Noah and of Kit. The faces they show to the world are not their true selves. Kit grew up with famous and distant parents while Noah was trauamatized as a child. The ending felt a bit unfinished for me in regards to Noah's "recovery" and parts of the book felt semi-repetitive but overall I liked this book and am looking forward to reading the last in the series.

Rock Kiss #3

Four stars

This book came out October 6, 2015

Follows Rock Hard

Followed by Rock Wedding

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible Plus audiobook February 2024

The Fourth Door by John Russell Fearn

The solution to this one was... weird. There were some fair clues but this was mostly really, really interesting. Like, this was the dawn of psychiatry being used in mysteries but... really wrongly. I don't have a record of why I put this on my TBR shelf so who even knows. At least it was short(?)

Elva is going to be a maid at a great house. She is fair of face but one leg is significantly shorter than the other. That doesn't mean that she isn't trying to marry the man of the manor. And she does. But then the house his brother, his twin, is living in burns down. And that's on the same night that the brother's fiancee is murdered. 

There are so many twists and turns in this book that it becomes overly melodramatic but it was still worth a listen.

Three stars

This book came out in 1948

Audiobook I own

Opinions are my own

Bodies from the Library edited by Tony Medwar

A delightful collection of lesser-known short stories from well-known authors. They include A.A. Milne, Arthur Upfield, Agatha Christie, and more.

My favorite story was Jeffrey and Veronica who meet as strangers at Monte Carlo. Both have recently left their positions (or so they say) and are enjoying a vacation before finding work again. But a night in a casino means that Veronica has left with the wrong bag and that sets off a curious chain of events.

I wish that the stories and the author's biographies had been switched. It would have been nice to have some background to the stories before hearing them.

Four stars

This book came out July 26, 2018

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Rock Hard by Nalini Singh

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise of mousy Charlotte "Charlie" Baird hooking up with big time businessman and former rugby star Gabriel Bishop sounded fun. And the glimpses of their relationship we got in the first book was fun. But the way the story played out... Ufda. 

Gabriel can tell that Charlotte is hiding and he figures out pretty quickly why. And that's why I'm so confused that he's pushing her so fast. All of the thoughts that we get from him are that he doesn't want to push her but... he's pushing her. And I feel like I missed broad strokes of their story. Things bounded ahead quickly and we missed parts where they grew closer. The first book and then the novella were so good, I was hoping for better for this one.

Weirdly, this is one of my favorite books in this series to re-read. I honestly skip over the flashbacks and the end and I like the book much more. 

Rock Kiss #2
Three and a half stars

This book came out March 10, 2015

Follows Rock Courtship

Followed by Rock Redemption

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible Plus audiobook February 2024

All I Want For Christmas is the Girl Next Door by Chelsea Bobulski

There is a romance trope of falling in love with the girl next door and that's what Graham Wallace has done. About 2 years ago is when it happened even though they'd been friends for years. But Sarah is dating his best friend Jeremy. However, a wish on a falling star makes it so that Graham gets everything he ever wants, he's the one who's been dating Sarah for two years.

It takes him a little time to find his feet but he VERY quickly starts to figure out that this life might not be the one he actually wants. And it's that swiftness that surprised me a little bit and actually made me like Graham a little less. It would have been nice to see a little more joy in his wish and not just a guy falling in love with another girl at what is basically the outset of his dream relationship. It made the whole thing rather joyless. And there was a LOT of focus on the girls' appearance. I'm assuming this book is going to be aimed at teenage girls with the "love" story but... there is so much focus on weight and outer beauty as being what is attractive to Graham. I generally liked the writing but there was a lot of internal misogyny included in it that is sort of ridiculous in a book published in late 2021. And most of the book was three stars until the last 10% which got beyond dramatic, really highlighted Graham's self-centeredness, and it really didn't need to be included.

Two stars

This book came out October 28, 2021

Followed by All I Want For Christmas is the Girl in Charge

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own