Rehearsed to Death by Frank Anthony Polito

I hadn't read the first book in this series but didn't think I needed to. Overall, a fun story although there was a little too bit much at the end and sometimes the language was a bit stilted. I did enjoy PJ as the narrator and really thought he seemed like a nice guy (and a real person) -- except that he was a little TSTL (the S in this case being stupid.) I get fairly annoyed when amateur detectives not only don't call the police, they actively hide evidence.
I wish we had gotten to know some of the suspects a bit more but, while we really got to know some of them, others were just sketches. It made it hard to be invested in finding the murderer.

PJ's play is going to be performed at the local theater but, rather than having the usual director, Violet the mayor's wife, there is a Big Name, Xander Sherwood Deva who comes in. And, for being in town such a short time, he manages to piss off a large number of people. So it's not a big surprise that he ends up dead, strangled with the fancy scarf he was so proud of throwing around. 

JP and PJ aren't just a playwright and actor, they also star on a home renovation show. Oh, and they're going to tackle this murder. 

Three stars

This book comes out May 23, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Witch upon a Star by Angela M. Sanders

Josie's sister is coming to visit! Sure, Jean is only there because of some MLM-ish scheme that teaches you to become a life coach, but Josie is still ecstatic. Until two dead bodies show up, both with ties to the same retreat Jean is attending. Josie is worried and, of course, she's going to investigate. But this will be while keeping her new powers on the down low. 

This was an enjoyable book to the series but I seem to be on a series of books where the characters make some bad decisions. Even her cat thinks her decisions are bad at one point but Josie barrels ahead. 

Thankfully, it's not like some other series where she's actively interfering but it seems to be getting close

 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 23, 2023

Follows Witch and Famous

Followed by Gone with the Witch

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Identity by Nora Roberts

Okay. Definitely a book that is terrifying to read if you are a single woman. Not only does our main character have her identity stolen by a man she meets in a bar but he also sticks around and does much worse things. I can't say much more without plot spoilage but it is alarming. 

Morgan Albright is finally setting down roots. She's been able to buy a small house which she shares with her roommate and good friend, Nina. And she's met a charming man at the bar. One who will change her life forever.

A lot of this book is Morgan moving back home and trying to build back a life after a major devastation but we get to see her relationship with her mom and grandmother as well as her romantic relationship grow. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 23, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

The Strange Case of Dr. Couney by Dawn Raffe

The description of this book on NPR's Best Books

 was delightful. Incubators, they're in hospitals, right? It would make sense that they've always been in hospitals. But incubators for preemies actually started out as a spectacle. They were displayed as miracles. Did all of the babies survive? No, but the preemies in Couney's incubators had a better survival rate than those in the hospitals.
Raffel focuses mainly on Couney (who was a mysterious figure whose personal biography tended to shift with his moves) but also weaves in some of her own connection to the story as well as the histories of some of the babies who survived. We hear about the origins of the story as well as learning about how the incubators rose in prominence but then fell again.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in July 31, 2018

Audiobook of my own

Opinions are my own

Tell-Tale Bones by Carolyn Haines

Seven years ago, Lydia Maxwell disappeared. Married to the abusive Tope, she had a good reason. Now Tope claims to have proof that Lydia is dead; he wants her inheritance. Lydia's mother Elisa feels differently. She's just gotten a call on her tipline that Lydia has been spotted. And nearby. She wants Sarah Booth and Tinkie to follow up. 

Of course, questioning people, especially a fraught past, is going to stir up trouble. One person even dies. And there is a lot of backstory and explaining and many, many, many storylines that do come together in the end but are slightly overdramatic in the meantime. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 16, 2023

Follows Bones of Holly

Followed by Lights, Camera, Bones

ARC kindly provided by Minotaur Books and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

April 2023 Monthly Reread

The Lady's Command by Stephanie Laurens

Adventurers' Quartet #1

Four stars
This book comes out December 29, 2016

Followed by A Buccaneer at Heart

The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick

Like many Quick books recently, this book is fine but there are just a few too many plot threads. Prudence Ryland is trying to keep her living as a psychic going after her mother died but she has a client she believes wants to kill her so she runs away to become a librarian. But then someone kidnaps her from the library and she wakes up dead, in a wedding dress, next to a dead man. She runs to Burning Cove and is presented with Jack Wingate who will be her protector and help her figure out what is going on. 

Jack is skeptical. He believes in facts and psychics can't actually provide that. But he's intrigued by Prudence and she doesn't seem to mind his scars.

I generally like this series and hope it continues, maybe just a *little* more simplified. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 2, 2023

Follows When She Dreams

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread July 2023, March 2025 as audiobook from Libby