Spy x Family, Vol. 8 by Tatsuya Endo

 The Forgers are on a cruise. Yor is supposedly on a trip for work but really is trying to protect the last of a crime family. And that is most of the story. Loid and Anya are also on the boat and Anya is trying to help her adoptive mother but mostly gets in the way.

Four stars

This book came out November 4, 2021

Follows Vol. 7

Followed by Vol. 9

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic by Betty MacDonald

Oh my goodness. I had forgotten how much I loved the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books. Every book is a collection of children with bad manners who are taught how to behave through some magical cure provided by Mrs. P-W. This particular book includes the tattle-tale cure (every time the children tattle, a big cloud with a tail forms above their heads), the interrupter cure (when someone tries to interrupt, their mouth either stays open or opens and shuts without noise), the sloppy eater cure (pig teaches child how to eat)and, one of my favorites, the cure for a heedless child (pills that make the child slow down so she has time to think before she breaks things.

Of course, none of these would work for today's kids (notwithstanding the fact that none of these things actually exist) but it's still a cute lesson for kids on how to behave.

Four stars
This book came out in 1949

Follows Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

Followed by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Her Unexpected Roommate by Jackie Lau

Rose Pang is the last in her group of friends to be single. Would she like love? Sure. But she's got depression and her mental health is not the greatest. Should she be hooking up with a guy she just met? Maybe not. But he is really hot. Too bad he ghosts her.

Caleb Dempsey was just as into Rose as she was to him, but his phone was run over. No seriously. So he is pretty darn happy that his new roommate is the woman he hasn't stopped thinking about for the past seven months. Now he just has to make her believe that his story is true.

Three stars

This book came out August 29, 2023

Follows Her Favorite Rebound

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Take the Lead by Alexis Daria

This book is a re-release but feels incredibly fresh. 

Gina Morales is one of the experts on a television dance program. She has been on the show for awhile but has never won. She needs to come out on top so that she can stay on the show. Hopefully she gets matched up with someone famous. Well, he sort of is.

Stone Nielsen became famous when his family with eight siblings was scouted for a reality show when they lived in the wilderness. He hates it. But he needs the money to help pay for his mom's surgery so... more reality television. 

While their show handler feels different, Gina does NOT want to have a showmance. First, she wants to be taken seriously as a dancer and second, she doesn't want to perpetuate the myth of Latinas being oversexed. But she is fiercely attracted to Stone and they start a romance behind the scene.

What happens if their personal time together becomes public? How will the chips fall?

A little too much of a big misunderstanding at the end, just too much drama but overall a fantastic book.

Four stars

This book comes out February 14, 2023

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

I thought the third book of this series looked interesting but I wanted to start at the beginning of the series and did not regret it. 

Finlay is a divorced mom who is struggling to hold it all together. She has two kids and her ex is now threatening to try and take them away. His fiancee is a very put-together real estate agent and he thinks they should have the children. The latest volley? Firing the nanny. Finlay is stressed out. And now her next book is well overdue. It's just too bad that the conversation Finn has with her agent is misunderstood by one of the other patrons at her lunch spot, she ends up with a contract to kill a man. Looking into his history, Finn understands why he needs to die. She's not going to do it. Of course she's not... 

When she suddenly finds herself with a body in her van, Finn's life takes a very strange turn. One that might just be for the better. 

Four stars

This book came out February 2, 2021

Followed by Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Billionaire for the Night by Venus Ray, Stacy-Deanne

Look. I get that short stories are hard. You have to put together a story and draw people in quickly. But it also makes it a LOT harder to turn around assholes for the readers. And James is an asshole. He's rich and handsome and the worst stereotype of the two. There's no discernible reason why Kelly would agree to help him out. With 41 pages, there is no room for redemption. And the next book in the series is another couple so we'll never see more. 

One and a half stars

This short story came out May 29, 2021

Followed by Billionaire Takes the Bride

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Murder in the Third Act by Sonia Parin

Oh, this is a relief to return to the Evie Parker books that were part of the earlier series; the last book made me wonder if I should stop reading the series. 

Evie's grandmother is finally here, insisting that everyone call her Toodles. Though a wealthy woman, she doesn't stand on formality. In fact, it's driving the dowager countess a little crazy. But, when a murder happens, the two bond together in trying to beat Evie to the solution.

Evie doesn't want to deal another death. Especially one that happens to one of her house guests. Not at her house, thank goodness, but later, during the third act of a play run through. A play that has some decidedly familiar characters and interactions. 

Four stars

This book came out October 4, 2019

Follows Murder at the Seaside Hotel

Followed by Murder and a Christmas Gift

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own