Styx and Stones by Carola Dunn

Daisy’s brother-in-law has a problem and he is asking for Daisy’s help. He misstepped 6 years ago and now is receiving poison pen letters. Could Daisy come and help him figure out what is going on? She could bring Belinda and escape to the country and enjoy some time away from the town’s stifling heat. Daisy isn’t sure what she can do but she wants to help John so she goes.
While there, she finds out that John isn’t the only one receiving letters. She’s just about to solve the issue when she stumbles over a dead body. At first, she thinks it’s the local vicar but it turns out to have been his visiting scholarly brother. What is going on?
Alec and Daisy actually have a pretty significant fight but it is smoothed over when they actually talk to each other which was nice to see in a book.

Four stars

This book came out January 1, 1999

Follows Dead in the Water

Followed by Rattle His Bones

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

MacRieve by Kresley Cole

Chloe Todd is out there living her dream- playing soccer and getting to try out for the Olympic team. Yeah, she might be a little off lately, not eating or sleeping as much and finally getting interested in sex. And she's really thrown off by somehow being able to overhear her father's phone conversation even though she's in the middle of a packed stadium. Her life gets even worse when she's attacked by a big scary guy and then walks out of her house and falls into an abyss.

Uilleam MacRieve knows that his actions got his parents killed. He's carried that guilt with him for centuries. His life got even worse when he was captured by the Order and tortured for weeks. When he finds out the daughter of the man in charge is on the auction block, he is raring to go. But what does he smell when he gets there? Is that his mate? Why yes, yes it is. So he grabs her and runs away. You'd think it might be all sparkles and flowers as the two are wildly attracted to each other but there is at least one more surprise waiting for them.

I really enjoyed this book. Even though there is a lot of discussion about McRieve's being stuck in the past which makes sense because it's not like there was therapy back when he was a kid.

Four stars

This book came out May 9, 2013

Follows Shadow's Claim

Followed by Dark Skye

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Your Body, Your Yoga: Learn Alignment Cues That Are Skillful, Safe, and Best Suited To You by Bernie Clark

The hook for me in this book was that the authors promised new ways of cueing in yoga. We did not get much of that. Instead, this book is more of an anatomy book with a lot of information about how things pivot, flex, and extend in our body. A lot of repetition in that every body is not the same so traditional poses will not always work or even be beneficial; there are many reasons for "What stops me?". 

Three stars

This book came out April 12, 2016

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Dead in the Water by Carola Dunn

The Henley Royal Regatta is on! And Daisy is visiting her aunt and uncle so that she can write about it. Also staying at their house is one of the regatta teams made up of a mixture of young men and slightly older men who are just back from the war. There are some class issues betwixt the men as well. But Daisy just wants her story. Too bad one of the young men on the team gets murdered. Is it because of his personality or is his family trying to hide something?

Three and a half stars

This book came out January 1, 1998

Follows Damsel in Distress

Followed by Styx and Stones

Borrowed as Audible Plus book

Opinions are my own

Shadow's Claim by Kresley Cole

Bettina is just living her life when she's captured by four Vrekeners and tortured until she loses her Sorcerii powers. It's that mistake that leads to her agreeing to be the prize in a supernatural contest. She will be the winner's bride. And she knows just who should win, her childhood friend. Too bad Trehan Daciano has just discovered that Bettina is his fated mate and he's not going to let anyone else win.
I couldn't connect with this book and I'm not sure why. Maybe it was too much of the just Bettina story in the beginning and it took a while for the two of them to meet. I get this book's place in the series but may skip it on re-reads.

Three stars

This book came out November 27, 2012

Follows Lothaire
Followed by MacRieve

Hard copy I own

Opinions are my own

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

Ivy is licking her wounds in  her hometown. She doesn't particularly want to be there but between her dad's health and her own situation, she's stuck there for a bit. As an independently published romance writer, she's part of the new breed of writers. Not like her father's tenant, Lou. He's an agent for Ivy's sister's fiance (if that is easy to follow). 

Older than Ivy, Lou is in a different place in his life. He's trying to regroup after finding one of his writers in bed with his fiance. He's bemused by Ivy. And, of course, attracted.

The two start by trying to create a profile for each other for dating but quickly realize they'd rather be dating each other. But Lou belongs in New York and Ivy seems like she's ready to settle in North Carolina. Can they make it work?

Lots of big words like immolate and erudite in this book that I don't remember in other books of the series. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 9, 2023

Follows Matchmaking a Grump

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

It is a testament to Susan Elizabeth Phillips writing that there is some major WTFery and I still somewhat enjoyed the book.

Molly Somerville is the younger sister of Phoebe from It Had to be You. In that book, we saw her as a gawky teenager. She doesn't feel like she's changed much other than becoming a fairly successful children's author. And she has a crush on Kevin Tucker that results in the aforementioned WTFery.

Molly is a complicated character; she does a bad thing but she does realize (belatedly) that she was very, very wrong. She's a screw-up who has been masquerading as someone who's perfect. But she's not and Kevin takes great delight in pointing that out. Not that he's perfect. He knows he's getting close to the end of his football career and his childhood was... interesting. Most of his summers were spent at a summer camp run by his minister father and attended by gray hairs. When he and Molly need to get away for awhile, the camp seems like the perfect place to go.

But it's not the place he remembers. It's full of family, fun, and now... Molly.

Three stars

This book came out February 6, 2001

Follows Dream a Little Dream

Followed by Match Me if You Can

Borrowed as ebook from Libby