The Human Workplace by Andy Swann

Nonfiction books, especially books about the workplace can get a little dry. This book was very readable and eminently pragmatic. Definitely a British book, I think there are still applications for those of us in America. My personal takeaway was that you need to have the right person in the right place doing the right actions to make a successful workplace. This is a little more touchy-feely than most of the work-related books I've read and a little bit more than I really wanted in a workplace book but overall a nice read.

Four stars
This book comes out October 3

A Talent for Temptation by Sabrina Jeffries

Meriel Vyse isn't sure about the way her life is going. She has been working for her husband's brother as a spy but she hates the work. And getting to know Quinn Raines has really made her long for a normal life.
Quinn Raines is also in love with Meriel which is why he fakes a kidnapping (really?) so that he can "rescue" her. Little does he know she's perfectly capable of rescuing herself. He finds out when she pulls a knife from her reticule and stabs him.
At under 50 pages, that really is pretty much the whole story. It's a nice story though short. Very, very short.

Three stars
This book comes out October 2

Death in St. Petersburg by Tasha Alexander

Every time I open a new Lady Emily book, I get nervous. This is such a wonderful series but outside of the cozies that I usually stick to. Will I like this book as much as the last one?
Following the pattern of the rest of the series, we get chapters following Lady Emily interspersed with chapters following a non-series character. In this case, it's a ballet dancer. More specifically, Katenka, the dancer who steps in to dance Swan Lake when the woman who was set to become the next big thing, Nemetseva, doesn't return. When she is found dead outside the theater, Lady Emily is the one who notices the Faberge egg near her body. Could it be that the notorious thief, Sebastian, is in Russia as well?
But who would want to kill a rising star? Nemetseva, like many ballerinas, has a lover who is part of the aristocracy. And she has other lovers she has left behind, but few enemies. Lady Emily is ostensibly in Russia to visit Camille but also to be near her husband as he works but she agrees to find the killer so that Nemetseva's lover can be at peace.
Oh, this was a wonderful story. I was on vacation in a beautiful place but could hardly put this book down to pay attention to the scenery. I didn't love the ending but it was an enjoyable read and I a very much looking forward to the next one.

Four stars
This book comes out October 10

Death on Tap by Ellie Alexander

The book opens with brewer Sloan Krause walking in on her husband in flagrante delicto with one of their new barmaids. She'd had a general sense that he might be cheating on her but now there's proof. So she leaves. Not only him but his family's brewery.
But her start at the new brewery in town (a destination town where beer is king) is more than a little rocky. Her ex seems determined to win her back, the supplier seems squirrelly, and Sloane discovers the body of a rival brewer in one of Nitro's beer tanks.
It's an interesting start to a new series but I'm a little trepidatious about whether it will be one that I will continue to enjoy. This book includes a LOT of set up so not as much story.

Three stars
This book comes out October 3

Holiday Spice by Samantha Chase

Finally the last Shaughnessy sibling gets her story. Darcy is the youngest as well as being the only girl. She's twenty-five and still working on figuring out what it is she wants to do with her life. She knows she's good at organizing and that's what gets her a week-long job helping woodworker Benjamin Tanner figure out his book. And it works well. Until she can't get home. And Ben is conscripted to come rescue her so she doesn't have to sleep at the airport.
Their relationship starts off with a misunderstanding and it just keeps going.
There's a lot of sexual tension in this book but I'm not sure that we get to see much else. Both  are sketched out but there's not an arc for either. An okay book but I was hoping for more for Darcy.

Three stars
This book comes out October 3
Follows A Sky Full of Stars 

Myths of Work by Adrian Furnham, Ian MacRae

Relatively short, this book was a really easy read. Some of the ideas seemed a little common sense to me (not every office should emulate Google) but there are some that I know aren't as common sense for others (listening to music at work? Horrors!). One I hadn't heard this specifically: We only use 10 per cent of our brain at work (I had heard the myth that we only use 10 percent of our brain, but ony at work). The chapters end with references and further reading that looks interesting.

Four stars
This book comes out October 3

Holiday House Call by Jen Doyle

Six years ago, neurosurgeon Dr. Karen Carmichael acted completely out of character and had a wild one-night stand with a man she met in a bar. She has an incredibly stressful job and is cruising down one of the back roads on a Tuesday night (the night she's allowed to cry) when she encounters that man again.
He may not remember her name, but Tuck sure remembers the encounter. When it turns out the car he pulls over for weaving is the woman he hasn't forgotten, Tuck is ecstatic to have a second chance. He's not thrilled that she's a doctor since he spent a LOT of his childhood in hospitals. He can see forever with this woman, if only she'd give them a chance.
This is the second book I've read in this series and I'm really enjoying it. The characters are somewhat undeveloped (we only get a glossing of why Karen and Tuck dislike each others professions) but the series seems to be a fast, fun, and fluffy series that works beautifully if your looking for an HEA without too much angst.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out October 1, 2017

Follows Called Out