An Act of Foul Play by T E Kinsey

Of course Lady Hardcastle and Flo don't cause strange things to happen around them but somehow they are again caught up in a murder. This time, it's Lady Hardcastle's birthday (44th) and they are attending the theater with a large group and enjoying themselves quite thoroughly. But, after a long intermission, the curtain rises on the second act but one of the four actors on the stage is dead, stabbed. It seems like only the other actors would have had the chance to do the deed. 

They are joined in this adventure by Flo's twin sister who is taking a vacation while her husband is out of town for the army. It was nice to have a new face in the adventures and to see Flo and Lady Hardcastle work with someone who wasn't the Inspector. 

Four stars

This book comes out June 7, 2022

Follows Rotten to the Core

Followed by A Fire at the Exhibition

ARC kindly provided Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale

This was one of the books from NPR's Best Books of 2021. This book main follows Nandor Fodor as he grows up, moves from Hungary to England, and becomes one of the main researchers of psychical happenings around the country. It is this research that brings him into the life of Alma Fielding. 

It seems that there are some very mysterious happenings occurring around Mrs. Fielding. The newspapers are calling it a poltergeist. So Fodor and his friends are sent to investigate.

Summerscale takes us through the laborious process that the Institute would take to ensure that people were not faking their paranormal phenomena. We also hear the stories of some other people who claimed to be able to talk to spirits or produce objects from thin air.

This was an interesting story but it did take me quite a long time to slog through some parts.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 1, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik

I feel like we missed some character development in this book that I don't remember from the first book. The book starts off sort of slow with Kee Ildez deciding to get off the ship and go to gather information. Does that get her away from Varro Runkow who she is mega-attracted to? Yes. So that will help since he doesn't seem interested in her. There is a little bit of exposition and story building and then, a bombshell. And from there, it is non-stop go, go, go. I enjoyed both parts well enough but it was a little jarring and left little time for us to really see how Kee and Varro connect. 

More of the plot to restart the galactic war is revealed with at least one rather shocking fact thrown in the mix.

Three stars

This book came out July 12, 2022

Follow Hunt the Stars

Followed by Capture the Sun

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Reluctant Countess by Eloisa James

There is a surprising amount of this book that is dedicated to the "villain" of the piece rather than Yasmin and Giles. There is so much that it leaves a little less room for our h/h and for their eventual reconciliation after the Big Misunderstanding. 

Yasmin's family is already notorious with her mother being Napoleon's mistress. Then, she runs away with a gentleman who claims they were married but he actually tricked her in order to get money from her father in order to hush it up. Now, in England and living with her grandfather, she spends her day attending society parties and trying to avoid her attraction to Lord Giles Lilford. 

Giles is also trying to avoid Yasmin as she is loud, brash, and full of fun while he tends to be a little more straitlaced. Even when he starts to realize the inevitability of their attraction he's always trying to rein her in. And it leaves me not liking him when his stodginess keeps him from being run over by his sister. 

Three stars

Follows How to be a Wallflower

Followed by Not That Duke

This book comes out November 29, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber

Verity and Sidney are working to figure out how to take down Lord Ardmore. They seem to be blocked at every turn until a phone call comes in from France. An old informant of Sidney's, Miss Adele Baverel wants to talk to him. So they travel to find out if she is willing to tell them about other collaborators against the Allies. But Miss Baverel ends up dead in her cell and one of the local law enforcement is accusing Verity of having helped her.

This sends them off on a search for the information that Miss Baverel says she hid. Along the way they encounter old friends and enemies and nearly get killed.

This was an okay book but didn't capture me in the same way that previous books in the series did.

Three stars

This book came out August 30, 2022

Follows Murder Most Fair

Borrowed as ebook from library

Opinions are my own

Just for December by Laura Jane Williams

This book started off rough for me. It's written in the present tense and it took me about 40% of the way through before I stopped noticing. There was also a long build up to our hero and heroine even liking each other and then it went to top speed except for the obligatory Big Misunderstanding. 

Evie is our heroine and she is dealing with a lot. Her mother is in an Alzheimer's care facility but Evie has a spending habit which means that she hasn't actually paid the bill in three months. This spending issue, by the way, is somewhat resolved but this is a long-term issue that will need more than just her friends' peppiness to resolve. In addition to the spending issues, Evie's other sins include being anti-human (grumpy) and determined to believe the worse in... everyone. Including the actor who is portraying the hero of one of her books which is being adapted into a movie. 

Duke Carlisle genuinely enjoys Evie's books. They bring him joy in a world that contained his alcoholic mother and his costar/girlfriend has just been outed as having an affair with their director. And he was pretty sure he was in love with her. Mostly. And now Evie is being downright rude to him and the resulting negative publicity is probably going to tank their movie. So the studio heads think that Evie and Duke dating will bring them some good will. He needs just a little extra since he is up for a big award for one of his guest star roles. Evie's a prickly bush but he finds himself strangely attracted. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out November 24, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Avon Books UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Her Favorite Rebound by Jackie Lau

Ufda. I wasn't sure about the premise of this book but a) this series has been really fun and b) Lau is an amazing writer, if anyone could pull off a heroine dating a billionaire at the start of the book but ending up with someone different, it would be Lau. But... well. I finished the book and Lau's writing was still good but we have a good dash of insta-love tossed with a side of the hero being creep (and acknowledging it!) with just a dash of a flat villain caricature and this book fell pretty flat.

Sierra Wu is a divorced woman who doesn't want children and her mother berates her about it every time they meet. But Sierra has a secret in her back pocket, she's dating a billionaire. And at the beginning of the book, she lets this news drop. Sierra's friends have secrets as well (which we know from previous books in the series); they don't like her billionaire. And Jake Tong doesn't like him either.

Jake worked for Colton Sanders and knows just what a bad guy he is. When he sees a woman in a restaurant one night and falls immediately in love with her, he has to let her know that Colton is bad news. And then Jake has to track her down at her workplace. Thankfully, he backs off after that but he still jumps in with both feet and railroads Sierra when she does end up calling him later because... plot reasons. 

Two stars

This book came out March 29, 2022

Follows A Very Beery New Year

Followed by https://themeanderingreader.blogspot.com/2023/02/her-unexpected-roommate-by-jackie-lau.htmlHer Unexpected Roommate

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own