The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner

If you had the chance, would you make a wish to relive a part of your life? Sadie Thatcher jumps at the opportunity a fortune teller gives her at a New Year's party. The only problem? Right before she jumps back a year, she kisses her brother's best friend and opens up a new potential pathway.

When she wakes up a year ago, Sadie decides that she's not going to speak up. Speaking up is what caused her to lose her fiance and her job. But not speaking up is causing a whole host of other issues. And, like most time travel books, she discovers that her path to happiness was right in front of her nose all along.

Three stars
This book came out December 5, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Killer in the Family by Gytha Lodge

I didn't realize this book was part of a series when I picked it up based on the cover. The story was intriguing, a woman puts her DNA into an ancestry site looking for her lost family. Suddenly, she is linked as one person away from a murderer. It is her father, her son, or her brother that is killing woman and then burning their bodies. Aisling Cooley has been a single mom and is generally proud of her two boys. But what does the evidence mean when her father has been gone for decades and she has no siblings?

This book was a little too twist and turny for me but might have been more enjoyable had I read more in the series (though I didn't feel I needed to have done so.)

Three stars

This book came out April 13, 2023

Follows Little Sister

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Yvonne Goes to York by Marion Chesney

The last book in this series isn't as crazy as some of the other books but it does finally wrap up the overarching love story of the former housekeeper, Miss Hannah Pym and Sir George. We also get to see what happened to Hannah's former employer who ran off with a footman. 

True to form for these stories, Hannah is boarding a stagecoach. This time, she is heading to York. Also on the coach are a lovely young Frenchwoman (Yvonne), a nobleman who says he is doing it because he is out of funds (the Marquis of Ware), and a Frenchman who is after Yvonne in order to get to her father.

A satisfying end to the series and Sir George not only finds out that Hannah has been telling the truth about her adventures, he gets to join in.

Three stars

This book came out in 1992

Follows Deborah Goes to Dover

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden

If you had the chance to go back to major life moments and make different choices, would you do it? Lolly Blanchard is about to make that exact choice. Her life changed irrevocably when her mother died. All of her own dreams were put on hold. But now her life is changing again and she's wondering whether she made the right decisions. Her aunt has the answer. Three lemon drops that, taken before she goes to bed, will let her live her life in an alternate version of her life. Lolly is skeptical... until the first night has her waking up overseas, in charge of the restaurant that she had always hoped for.

A little sappy in points but a cute read and a life lesson in how you really can shape your own decisions.

Four stars

This book came out August 2, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinion are my own

The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson

I requested this book from the library based on the title and the cover. It is a short story and fast read about a young woman from America who is studying in England. She has been invited to the home of a friend... a friend-ish type and she is writing about it in her diary. Through her eyes, we get to know Emma's family, especially her twin brother Adam. But, even though Emma's family is wealthy, it is not all sunshine and roses. And our diary writer may or may not make it out of the book alive.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 28, 2023

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose

A. J. Quill is well-known for the cartoons that lambaste various people in high places. The Earl of Wrexford wants to know how Quill knows so much about his life. Especially when Wrexford is implicated in the death of the Reverend Josiah Holworthy.

Charlotte Sloane has any number of secrets to hide (not all of which are revealed in this story). And there are two young boys she is trying to protect. Wrexford, and his search for Quill threatens to upend all of that. But the two will have to work together in order to figure out why Holworthy was killed and why that connection leads back to Charlotte.

I am pretty sure I started and abandoned this book once before. It is a little overwrought in places but ended up being an interesting story.

Wrexford & Sloane #1

Three stars

This book came out June 27, 2017

Followed by Murder at Half Moon Gate

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Not That Fancy by Reba McEntire

Reba McEntire has had a fantastic life. Singing, TV shows, movies, Broadway... the woman does it all and she shares some of that with her readers. The stories aren't particularly deep but they are entertaining. We get to see teh highs of her life as well as the lows. There's not a lot about her personal life, it's mostly about the professional but what is included is all positive. Definitely worth a listen.

Four stars
This book came out October 10, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own