Her Pretend Christmas Date by Jackie Lau

Younger sister Julie Tam has always felt inferior to her sister Charlotte. No fault of Charlotte's but she is an engineer with a job that their parents understand. Now, Charlotte's dating a perfect guy and Julie is... well... she's making jewelry and waiting tables. She's not ashamed of either but neither does she enjoy getting into fights with her parents over what she's doing with her life. She needs something and the perfect fix might be the right man. Too bad the blind date she's been set up with, Tom Yeung, isn't going to be that man. But she decides to tell her parents he is anyway. And when her mom asks if Tom wants to come for Christmas, Julie throws caution to the wind and asks the man who's unknowingly been her fake boyfriend for months if he'd like to go with her. When he says yes, she's absolutely floored. But grateful.

Through tribulations (sleeping on the floor) and trials (couples gingerbread house bakeoff), the two start to get to know and appreciate each other.

Four stars

This book came out December 8, 2020

Follows His Grumpy Childhood Friend

Followed by The Professor Next Door

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Marple -- Anthology

I was drawn in by names like Alyssa Cole, Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley, and Elly Griffiths and even more by the promise of more Miss Marple stories. Enjoyment will vary based on whether or not you are looking for authors who write like Christie or just more stories with Miss Marple. 

Evil in Small Places by Lucy Foley

I think Foley very much tried to write in the vein of Christie and succeeded here and there though her own voice peeped through in places. This is a story very much like previous Marple stories; Jane goes to visit an old school friend and the choirmaster, a woman much disliked in the village, is murdered. 

The Second Murder at the Vicarage by Val McDermid

Told from the first person view of St. Mary Mead's vicar, Leonard Clement, we visit a lot of old characters when the maid from the Murder at the Vicarage, Mary, is found dead in the kitchen. I feel like Christie usually gave us more clues than we got in this story but it is fun to read all of the Easter Eggs.

Miss Marple Takes Manhattan by Alyssa Cole

Dear nephew Raymond West has a play opening in New York that is based on one of his novels. Of course, he wants to bring Jane with him. She sneaks out of the hotel to go shopping and accidentally meets one of the actors in the play, though she doesn't know it at the time. Later, at an off-Broadway theater, the woman's co-lead is found behind the curtain having apparently been accidentally electrocuted and it is up to Jane to solve the mystery. 

Cole uses a deft hand to add in a wider pantheon of characters than we normally get to see in a Christie novel. 

Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware

Raymond West and his wife, Joan, again share the stage with Jane in a story set at Christmas. Of course, it will be pleasant to have the "children" with her again but it's not like the Christmases of her youth. 

The Open Mind by Naomi Alderman

This story was a little more complicated with Miss Marple in the seventies watching an older man take drugs with a very young woman while his colleagues watch and comment that he is preying on another young girl. It's not a surprise that he dies. 

The Jade Empress by Jean Kwok

On a cruise to visit her nephew in Hong Kong, Miss Marple meets an interesting Chinese expat, Mr. Pang, who is taking his daughter to meet the half-brother she never knew about. There are a series of mysterious happenings that point to Mr. Pang's being threatened and then he is murdered. 

A Deadly Wedding Day by Dreda Say Mitchell 

It is the wedding day of the son of a baronet and a young woman from the Carribean. His seats are full, hers have only her aunt, Miss Bella. A young woman shows up unexpectedly, makes a small scene, then eats dessert and dies. Miss Marple and Miss Bella figure out what actually happened. 

Murder at the Villa Rosa by Elly Griffiths

A first person story with an author debating whether to kill off his best-selling creation. He goes to the beautiful Villa Rosa where all of the occupants seem to have dark histories. Except maybe the nice Miss Marple. 

The Murdering Sort by Karen M. McManus

Raymond West's grandchild is the first person narrator of this short story. She has made a new friend, an American devoted to the environment, and has been invited to visit at the girl's grandfather's birthday. Unfortunately, it ends up being the night that the grandfather announces a new will, and then proceeds to die. Well, it seems like he does but it turns out he is testing his family... until he really does die. 

The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse

Miss Marple meets a young priest who is confused since his lady love has disappeared. Yes, she might have run away after her mother died but the general consensus is that that is not her usual demeanor. 

The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo

Miss Marple is visiting Raymond and Joan in London but jumps at the chance to leave when Dolly Bantry calls. She is missing some family heirlooms and the son of the local house has vanished as well. She doesn't tell Jane about another missing girl. 

Four stars

This book comes out September 13, 2022

ARC kindly provided by William Morrow and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley

Cathy Yardley writes such lovely contemporary novels about women in tech. This is just another wonderful addition to her canon. I went back and forth reading the ebook and listening to the book on Audible and enjoyed both versions. 

Growing up, Lily Wang just wanted to be popular. We get to see one interaction where she tries to join the popular kids but is pushed back to her circle of friends, the ones who call themselves the Nerd Herd. There is some hurt from her friends but they smooth it over quickly. Except for Tobin Bui, Lily's high school arch nemesis. But now he's a popular YouTube star and Lily could use his... not help per say but his name. Her own beauty channel has maxed out on viewers and she's not willing to get into a feud or start trashing products in order to build more. So a collaboration seems like it could be a good idea. Even with someone who mostly does pranks.

The two work together and manage to produce several successful videos even though their working styles are completely different. And, of course, this is a romance so working together might just prove that these two opposites will attract.

Four stars

This book came out October 21, 2021

Followed by Gouda Friends

Borrowed as ebook and audiobook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

I first heard about this book on the Smart Bitches, Trash Books podcast and Sarah was so giddy I knew I had to read this book. As the title mentions, we are following four women who have turned sixty. They are celebrating their retirement with a cruise. In flashbacks, we find out that they are retiring from ethical killing (the corporation they work for started by executing escaped Nazis.) Unfortunately, they recognize one of the crew members as a former coworker. And then they find out he is there to kill them. But why? It will be up to the four to stick together, figure out what is going on, and survive.

What a lovely book with well-rounded characters, even the people who are the "B" team. Definitely worth a read.

Four and a half stars

This book came out September 6, 2022

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group

Opinions are my own

Matchmaking a Billionaire by Denise Grover Swank, Angela R. Casella

Bryn Mayberry is a fourth generation matchmaker but she's having problems working with her grandmother. Yes, her grandmother took in Bryn and her siblings when their parents couldn't/wouldn't but she wasn't the warmest of grandmothers. Even today, she's more well-known around their small town for her iron will than being a loving person. So Bryn is fairly shocked when she sees Rory Byrne in their office. The millionaire is a tech mogul and Bryn's grandmother has been turning down the opportunity to create a dating app with their family name for a long time. 

Rory knows he's smart. Smart enough to realize that Bryn is someone that's going to be important in his life. Still, he agrees to let Nana Mayberry set him up with four women. He just doesn't understand yet the lengths she will go to get her way. But still, he gets to spend more time with Bryn. 

I wish we had seen a little bit more of Bryn and her sister getting back to a good place but this was overall a cute book, exactly what you'd expect from a Swank/Casella joint.

Four stars

This book came out April 28, 2022

Follows (nominally) Matchmaking Mischief

Followed by Matchmaking a Single Dad

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

The Black Cat Murders by Karen Baugh Menuhin

Heathcliff Lennox grew up with Ruth, running around the family estates together. He is somewhat excited to get to go to her wedding but is more intrigued by the death of one of the opera singers who is at the estate to entertain the guests. The man fell through a trap door and acted as a cushion for the woman singing alongside him. 

It seems that Ruth is going to be marrying a wealthy American who seems to be a good ol' Southern boy but the wedding may not happen as the alto's death is not the only one to occur in this book. This is all wrapped in with the mystery of a series of paintings known as the Bloxford beauties and has something to do with the Black Cat which is a bar catering to men who dress and perform as women. Also occurring was Inspector Swift falling in love with one of the bridesmaids.

There was a lot going on in this book and it got a little confusing but it was good enough to continue reading the series.

Three stars

This book came out April 28, 2019

Follows Murder at Melrose Court 

Followed by The Curse of Braeburn Castle

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole

Malkolm Slaine grew up poor, very, very poor, with a number of other memories that would traumatize anyone. And this was before he was forcibly turned into a vampire becoming that thing of myth, a vemon (vampire demon). Now he hangs out on his mountain trying to get revenge on the demon that betrayed him. 

Carrow Graie is a party girl. She gains her powers from other people's emotions, happiness is preferred. When she's kidnapped, given a collar that mutes her powers, and thrown into a cell, she's not really happy. At all. Then her kidnapper tells her she has to go seduce some vemon and lure him back or else they'll kill her young cousin, she's really not having a good day. But she goes. She does. And she discovers that she might just be Malkolm's true mate. 

It took me quite a long time to get into this book because it got pretty dark (I know, some of the other books do as well but this is a different kind of dark (TW child abuse)). I don't regret reading the whole things but will probably skip wide swathes on reread. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 24, 2010

Follows Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Followed by Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Hard copy I own

Opinions are my own