The Boss of Her -- anthology

Lead Counsel by Aurora Rey
My favorite of this anthology, Elisa Gonzalez is startled to learn that the lead attorney her firm is bringing in is the same woman she had a crush on in law school, Parker Jones. They had had one night of heavy making out but Parker burned her the next day. Now they're both powerful women who are better able to deal with their emotions as well as the pressures of life.

Four stars

For Your Eyes Only by Julie Cannon
Riley Stephenson is a powerful CFO but she's awkward. Like, super shy and awkward. So she's astonished to find herself making the first move and ordering a stripper for herself after meeting her at a friend's birthday party where Jessie, the stripper, performs. I liked this story because the two were able to meet outside of work and Cannon really worked to make Jessie have her own agency in the romance. I wish we had had a better/softer ending to the story.

Three stars

Opportunity of a Lifetime by M. Ullrich
Luca Garner is a stellar intern who is assigned to work under VP Stephanie Austin, known as the office ice queen. She works hard and eventually the two find that they appreciate each other both for their good working rapport and their mutual attraction.
This was the story that worked least for me. I'm not sure how we're supposed to connect to either character nor how we're supposed to believe they work as a couple. There was so much packed into this short story that I felt a little whiplashed from how fast emotions went from love to hate.

Two and a half stars

Four stars overall
This book comes out April 17
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

I chose this book because I thought it would be about the work that a cleaner does. This book is more the portrait of one particular cleaner. That threw me off as did the fact that the "Present Day" chapters of this book is told in the present tense. For some reason, that just grates on me as a reader. Another thing that grates, the author is clearly a good friend/in deep awe of her subject and that ruins her objectivity. While I agree that Sandra Pankhurst is a pretty amazing woman, this book shows only a shining light on Sandra. I like to see a little more grit, more of the dark side of a biography's main topic. And we know for sure that Sandra herself is an unreliable narrator, so how much can we trust the historical chapters interspersed with the present day?

Two and a half stars
This book comes out April 10

The Sixth Day by Catherine Coulter; J.T. Ellison

The book opens in the 1400s during a battle with Vlad Dracul. We find out that his twin half-brothers have some book with magic powers and he sends them away during the battle that takes his live in order to save the book.
Now present day, there is another set of twins who are about to sell an army of drones to the highest bidder. Then we jump to Nick and Michaela who are on vacation in London. Nick is supposed to help his grandfather solve a problem with ransomware that has taken over his company but then they get pulled in to this bigger mystery. And it's possible that the book we read about in the beginning is going to play a part.
I think I'm going to have to stop reading this series. It just keeps feeling more and more disjointed. There were so many things going on in this book, Ellison and Coulter had a hard time weaving it all together.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out April 10
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Fiction Can Be Murder by Becky Clark

Told in first person, the reader follows along with Charlemagne (Charlee) Russo as she is trying to get to a review meeting with her book group. We learn that she is very klutzy.  We also learn that she is one of the few published authors in her group. But that doesn't make her life all sunshine and roses. She's in an ironclad contract with her agent and her latest royalty checks have been going downhill rapidly. So it's just too bad that her agent turns up dead, killed by the very specific manner outlined in Charlee's book. Guess who ends up being the number one suspect? Charlee doesn't hesitate, she decides to investigate the murder herself.
This might be a good book for some other readers. I just have a klutzy, female, decides-to-look-into-murder-and-almost-dies main character burnout. Not to mention that I've read two other books recently with the "author's book coming to life" theme recently. And the ending came out of left field.

Three stars
This book comes out April 8
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith

If you've read any story set in a mid-1800s house where there is an old man who controls the family's wealth with an iron fist and it's Christmas, you can probably predict what is going to happen. This book is notable in that we not only get to see who the murderer is, we get to see how he puts together his cover up, and then how it all goes wrong.
This was an interesting book, especially since it was first published in 1933. It was a little slow in many places and I didn't get into it completely but the idea was a good one.

Three stars
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Edelweiss (apparently I liked the premise so much I requested it twice)

In the Eye of the Storm / Catering to the CEO by Samantha Chase

In the Eye of the Storm
It's 2 a.m. and Holly Abrams is on her way to pick up her overly demanding boss, Stephen Ballinger. First he demands 12-14 hour days, then he steals her weekend mornings, now this? Holly lets loose, giving Stephen a piece of her mind. He's shocked that she feels that way; he thought that they had a great working relationship. This makes Holly even madder. Then downed trees make it impossible for her to get back to her house and she has to stay with Stephen at his giant mansion. Somehow, seeing Holly wet, in sweatpants, and without makeup makes Stephen wake up to how truly beautiful she really is.
I would hope that if this book were written today, the Big Misunderstanding would be greatly changed. As it was, it made me very aware that this was a re-issue.

Three stars

Catering to the CEO
Adam Lawrence didn't become a millionaire CEO by letting people walk all over him. Cassie Jacobs, caterer, doesn't seem to care. She has a contract that says that he can't make changes two weeks before his event, so when he tries to do so 11 days in advance, she walks out. That would be the end except that they see each other again that night when they discover that her dad is dating his mom. It is seeing Cassie outside of work that makes Adam really discover that she's a beautiful woman underneath. Too bad I can't say the same about him. Adam is a real alphahole. Like, think late 80s alphahole only concerned with his problems and only wanting Cassie when he can't have her. I actively disliked him and wouldn't have finished this had it been a full book.

Two stars.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Meaty by Samantha Irby

I listened to We Will Never Meet in Real Life and loved it so when this book came up on NetGalley, I requested it immediately. And I have to say, I really, really think that this would be better "read" as an audiobook. Part of the charm of the first book was listening to Irby's cadence and hearing the stories in her own voice. While the essays in this book are similar to those in her first, I just didn't connect as well as I did with her voice in my ears.

Three stars
This book comes out April 3
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley