November Rereads

 As always, opinions are my own

Hotshot by Julie Garwood

Buchanan-Renard #11

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 6th, 2013

Follows Sweet Talk

Followed by Fast Track

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Deadlock Catherine Coulter

FBI Thriller #24

Three and a half stars
Follows Labyrinth

Followed by Vortex
This book came out July 28th, 2021
Hard copy borrowed from library

All the Colors of Night by Jayne Ann Krentz

Fogg Lake #2

This book came out January 7th, 2021

Follows The Vanishing

Followed by Lightning in a Mirror
Hard copy from library

Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz

This book came out December 8th, 2015

Hard copy from library

The Lion's Den by Katherine St. John

While Belle isn't an unreliable narrator in the fact that she doesn't lie to the reader. she definitely withholds information as she flips back and forth from the beginning of a trip with her friend's megarich boyfriend and the beginning of their friendship. We go along with her as she is invited on and attends an all-inclusive trip with Summer. Another friend, Wendy as well as an acquaintance, Cindy, are along as are Summer's mother and sister and friend of the sister. The last is someone who was not approved by Summer and she is initially not going to let her come along but she is persuaded to allow her to come along.

The women fly across the ocean and get on the yacht where they immediately have to surrender their passports. Belle is nervous but does so. The trip only gets weirder from there and not everyone is going to make it back home.

Fast, fun, and uber-fluffy but still a nice diversion on an autumn evening.

Four stars

This book came out May 19th, 2020

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Someone Perfect by Mary Balogh

Bertrand and Estelle are the twin children of Marcel Lamarr, Marquess of Dorchester , the hero of Someone to Care. Their father, griefstricken when their mother died, left them in the care of their aunt and uncle for seventeen years. Their aunt and uncle were rather strict and pious but they loved Estelle and Bertrand and gave them a good life. She is enjoying a perfect summer day (and straying a bit out of the bounds of propriety by wading in a stream) when a dog comes leaping in her direction only belatedly called off by the owner who doesn't even acknowledge Estelle's fright.

It turns out the owner is the brother of Estelle's friend, Maria, and he ends up inviting them both to join Maria in London. He hasn't been in Maria's life for a long time but he seems to be trying to make amends for the past and up for lost time.

His back story is a little melodramatic but I did enjoy seeing he and Estelle fall in love and I look forward to Bertrand's story.

Four half stars

Follows Someone to Cherish

This book comes out November 30th, 2021
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Dance of the Gods by Nora Roberts

The second in a trilogy about <shudder> vampires, this book has the warrior (Blair) and the shapeshifter, Larkin, (two of the six destined to defeat Lilith) hooking up. Blair is a demon-hunter from modern day New York, trained to kill vampires. Larkin is part of the royal family of Geall, a not-as-mythical-as-thought realm that is to be the battleground between humans and vampires. An evil queen named Lilian is trying to take over the world and thought that Geall would be a grand place to start. The gods decided that they needed to put a team together to stop her and this book is the mid-point of their training, when they have to convince the people of Geall that vampires exist and that the people need to be prepared to fight. 

We also get Larkin, who grew up in a happy home and is still pretty heart-whole, falling for Blair, who was never loved by her father and then dumped by her fiancé because of her demon hunting. It will take some work to get the two of them together, especially while planning for war.

I remembered this as my least favorite book in the series but on re-read, actually came ahead of the third book (too much sturm and drang) whereas these two, for the most part, see what they want and take it.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 3rd, 2006

Follows Morrigan's Cross

Followed by Valley of Silence

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Death from a Top Hat by Clayton Rawson

I grabbed this book because it was first in a series and I had read two other books and figured, "Why not?" Well. It took me a LONG time to read this book. I can usually finish a book this long in a week and it took me over 5 months. It just didn't hold my interest. I like the series because Merlini is a detective who comes with the background of being a magician. This book had too MANY performers (also a medium, an escape artist, and a ventriloquist) and it ended up being very confusing with some misconceptions about hypnotism. If you want to read a locked room mystery involving a two different dead magicians, I'd highly recommend reading it in as few sittings as possible. 

Three stars

This book came out in 1938

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Morrigan's Cross by Nora Roberts

Vampires. This series has vampires. Not my favorite Roberts series but still by her so they're pretty good. In this trilogy, a circle of six, the one who is dead, the witch, the sorcerer, the shapeshifter, the scholar and the warrior, must form in order to stop the evil Lilian from turning the world into vampires. Of course, since this is a Nora Roberts book, the six start pairing up. This book highlights the love of modern day witch, Glenna, and twelfth-century sorcerer, Hoyt. We learn the beginning of the circle when Hoyt watches his twin brother Cian be "turned" by Lilith. He is then instructed by the goddess Morrigan to go to modern day New York to begin gathering the circle. Hoyt finds his brother immediately. Cian has used the past 900 years to build an empire including a nightclub where Glenna is drawn to Hoyt. Once Glenna and Hoyt convince Cian that he is a necessary part of the group, they, along with Cian's friend King, fly to Ireland where they are joined by two more people, these from the thought-to-be-mythical land of Geall. The six must learn to fight, even through heartache, in order to even begin to learn how they might be able to take down Lilith.

This book didn't get too dated because much of the action is in another realm. With being the first book and having a LOT of world building to do, Hoyt and Glenna's romance takes a bit of a back seat but this is overall a nice enough story to start a series.

Three and a half stars

This book came out August 29th, 2006

Followed by Dance of the Gods

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Plus One Pact by Portia MacIntosh

I live in a small town and have definitely hit the page on dating apps where they say, "Sorry, no men left." Cara is in the same place but she has also just discovered that her cousin, bride in The Wedding of the Century, has retaliated against Cara by inviting her ex to the wedding. Cara is now officially desperate. Luckily, her last match has actually answered her. Unluckily, he doesn't show up. Instead, Cara is sitting at a restaurant alone when a man approaches her. He is downright beautiful. And fit. But he seems to feel bad for her so she agrees to meet him at the local It place. From there, the two exchange commiserations. He, it seems, has a series of family events to attend and has been told he can't just bring his flavor-of-the-month. Bringing someone like Cara, an erudite woman with a real job (escape room designer) would get him off the family's black books.

Things do not go smoothly. In this book, both of the main characters are the klutzy but oh-so-sweet ones. And, yes, that is a little annoying and repetitive but I really liked that Millsy liked Cara even before her makeover and that Cara was actually upfront with Millsy about something that she did later in the book. A quick listen on a Sunday afternoon that I enjoyed quite a bit. 

Four stars

This book came out May 21st, 2020

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own