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 as audiobook from Libby

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Breakups are hard. Breakups are especially hard when you're part of a tight-knit group of friends. Friends who get together often at the place that Harriet considers her happy place. But now she's going to ruin their happy place because Harriet and Wyn are no longer together. They actually broke up six months ago but didn't tell anyone. Now she's on vacation with their friends alone. But hers isn't the only big news; the cottage is for sale and their weeks of halcyon vacation days are about to be over. 

There was a lot of anxiety built into this book: Am I enough for the other person? For my group of friends? And, while we saw a bit of "past Wyn," I would have liked to see more of "present time Wyn;" just a little more romance. Or maybe more of the friendships. Henry has beautiful writing but also strong character connections and this book revolved more around Harriet than anything else. 

Three stars

This book comes out April 25, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

It all started with a song. Or maybe it was a smell. Maybe it was the twinges and her lower back becoming pangs. But whatever it was, Viv had become dissatisfied with the life she was leading And she thinks she's discovered a way to get out. It involves a leap of faith on her part, trusting that she's interpreted a song correctly. It also means leaving her old group, some of whom she'll miss. 

Following her intuition and a set of bones that sense ley lines, Viv ends up at a rundown livery. She searches out the owner and starts building her new life. 

I play D&D so a lot of this felt very familiar. I liked the way that Baldree flipped the script on what a succubus looks like. He made it more of a power and less an unending search for sex. There were a few places that dragged just a bit but I liked the characters and I look forward to more in this series. 

Four and a half stars

This book came out February 22, 2022

Followed by Bookshops & Bonedust

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Dread and Buried by Angie Fox

Ugh! A whole weekend with Alec Duranja? Not on Verity's top ten list of things she wants to do with her life. But her boyfriend Ellis and her sister Melody just want everyone to get along. I mean, it's a fabulous weekend on an island. What could go wrong?

Ghost pirates. Ghost pirates could contribute to things going wrong. And a murder mystery weekend that gets all too real. Especially when Verity and Alec, who most decidedly does not believe that Verity can see ghosts, have to work together. But the ghosts are out and Verity doesn't want to join them in the afterlife. 

An okay story but there was too much Alec and Verity in this book. Reading about so much fighting just got tiring after a while.

Three stars

This book comes out April 18, 2023

Follows Give Up the Ghost

Followed by Death at the Drive-In

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

I read about this book on Smart Bitches Trashy Books. Carrie S was absolutely right when she said that people would either get this book or they didn't. I didn't; not the first three times I tried to read this book. I finally made it past the first section and did enjoy the book but I don't think I'm the exact right audience for this series. 

Cinnamon is living a life she enjoys in her small village. This is the year that a group of heroes will be chosen to fight the demons that rise up every so often. Luckily, her world is protected by a benevolent goddess. At least, that's the story until Cinnamon runs into a demon and accidentally throws a bundle of spice into his face breaking him of the spell he's under. Then her whole world turns completely upside down as everything she thought she knew turns out to have been false. Good thing that bad news is balanced out by her falling in love with the demon.

Three stars
This book came out July 22, 2021

Followed by That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson

I am a sucker for autobiographies narrated by their authors. This book is no different. Painted as a blonde bombshell from her youth, Anderson tells her side of the story. Even though this designation has brought her great heartache at times, Anderson is matter-of-fact in telling her stories. She weaves in some information that isn't available as part of her public persona, mainly how she grew up and stories from her youth. The stories are short and sometimes rather shallow but it is an interesting book and worth a listen.

Four stars
This book came out January 31, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own