Devil's Daughter by Lisa Kleypas

Phoebe, Lady Clare (daughter of Sebastian and Evie from Devil in Winter), married her best friend, even though she knew he was dying. But she had loved Henry from childhood. And, because she loved Henry, she hated the boy who made his life at boarding school hell. Even now, two years after Henry died. And that is especially true now that she's confronted with the boy, er, man himself now that her brother is marrying his cousin. 

West Ravenel sort of remembers his school days. He knew that his parents made him a miserable creature who took out his pain on others. When he grew up, he became an indolent rake. At least, he was until his brother unexpectedly inherits a financially insolvent earldom along with a widow (now his brother's wife) and three female cousins. West, much against all expectations, stepped up and became an exceptional estate manager. 

Just coming out of the haze of grief, Phoebe realizes that what her father and brother have been telling her is true, she needs to start paying attention to estates, especially the one that is going to her son. And, now gathered for her brother's wedding, she has the perfect chance to ask West about the new changes in farming. If only she can get past Henry's past hurt...

An okay book but not as good as some in the Kleypas canon. Especially since I reread Devil in Winter right before this one.

Three stars

The Ravenels #5

This book came out February 19, 2019

Follows Hello Stranger

Followed by Chasing Cassandra

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

Dr. Garrett Gibson has worked very hard to be viewed as capable. And yet, Ethan Ransom still stalks her. Well, he follows her on Tuesdays to help make sure that she stays safe as she helps people in the poorest parts of London. Ethan is part of a super secret branch of the government that is working to make sure that treasonous plots don't come to fruition. So he knows that he can't get involved because anyone that he loves could be used against him later on.
A good story but it took a long while for me to get involved.

Three stars

Ravenels #4

This book came out February 27, 2018

Follows Devil in Spring

Followed by Devil's Daughter

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old by Brooke Shields

Shields reads her own book and you get to hear the woman herself talk about aging in Hollywood, especially as someone who was known for her beauty. She discusses a range of topics including learning to stand up for herself (against Tom Cruise, against bad contracts, against the tropes of aging), raising children, and her various roles, including just being herself. 

Four stars

This book came out 

Borrowed as audibook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

I listened to a podcast and the speakers were enthusiatic about the book. I have enjoyed most of the books recommended by All the Books. 

Emory is one of the generations following a catastrophe that has destroyed the Earth. Well, all but the people living on the island. They are led by three of the elders, the three people who were alive when the fog came tearing out of the earth. The Elders are Niema, her son Hephaestus, and Thea. 

The island holds a village where everyone works to serve each other. It is a balance that is strictly maintained. When one of the villagers broke the balance by attacking Niema, he was sent away. Everyone is generally content although Emory does have a lot of questions. Sometimes, she even questions the Elders which has caused a rift between Emory and her father. Even her grandfather's death hasn't brough them together. 

Then, there's a murder on the island. The unthinkable has happened. And Emory's questioning nature is pushed forward by Abi (a being not seen on page until the end of the story; most like Jiminy Cricket giving helpful advice and pushing the villagers to behave morally.)

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 28, 2024

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper

Jessamine "Jess" Bricker specializes in personalized proposals. When the book opens, she's orchestrating one involving a shark whale and scuba diving. While that's happening, she gets several phone calls. It seems a girl (now woman) she went to school with was just proposed to. According to Diana, the effort was underwhelming. Now her maybe-to-be fiance is putting out a lot of money to pay for Jess to help with a new proposal. He's also paying for a wedding planner, Aubrey. Right now, the ladies, along with Diana's cousin Kiki are at a week-long resort retreat to start planning for the wdding. But it's not running smoothly. Diana is entitled, Aubrey seems to hate Jess for no reason and Kiki... well, actually Kiki seems like a delight. Plus, there's this man on property that Jess immediately feels drawn towards. But she's not really at that stage in her life. 

That's all bad enough but one of the other resort members dies and Jess stumbles over the body. There are some unexpected visitors but then, there's another body. (Jess stumbles over that one too.)

I really liked the character development in this one A couple of the characters were a little shallow but we mainly follow Jess around and she's got a little bit of depth to her which sometimes surprise some of the other characters. I really didn't like the ending for a couple of spoiler-y reasons but the rest was a good Harper novel and I generally enjoyed the book.

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 8, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime by Leonie Swann and translated by Amy Bojang

Bernadette has won a trip. The rest of the house decide they're tired of the cold and the damp and they're going with her. All of them. Agnes isn't sure about it but she decides to go along. 

They end up at a remote health resort. It's... fine. But there are some odd things going on. And not just in Edwina's imagination. There's the young man that stows away in Edwina's clsoet and the boa constrictor that shows up (in Cornwall?). There's also a murder. And the hotel is cut off from civilization. So it's up to Agnes and the crew to figure out what's going on. As long as they're not chose as the most likely suspects first.

Four stars

Miss Sharp Investigates #2

Follows The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp

Followed by Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For

The book came out September 3, 2024

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Folklore of Forever by Sarah Hogle

The book opens with Zelda Tempest looking across the street at her neighbor Morgan and simultaneously noticing how hot he is, being slightly annoyed by his bad violin playing, and also wishing she could get over her writer's block. She wrote a series of fairly successful paranormal books but is having trouble coming up with something new. She's also dealing with the fact that her family all seem to believe that they are witches. She knows better.
Morgan wants to get to know the Tempest women. He knows that their partners can get magic of their own. So he decides to get in touch with Zelda. And that's why I didn't love this book. I made it through to the end but I'm not sure that Morgan and Zelda will have an HFN much less an HEA. The book also rambled all over the place and with a psychedelic break in the middle that came out of nowhere. 

Three stars

This book comes out April 8, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley

Opinions are my own