30 Dates in 30 Days Elle Spencer

As the book opens, Veronica Welch's assistant Bea is helping her to meet one of her two life goals. The first, to make partner by the time she is 35 and, a very good lawyer, she seems well on track to do that. The second goal is to be married or at least well on her way. So Bea gets her set up on a female dating app, Ryder. In the next 30 days (until Veronica's birthday), Bea is getting her set up with a series of women. One of them should be The One. All of the dates are set up at Monaghan's, a bar near to Veronica's work.

Rachel Monaghan helps out at her cousin's bar fairly often even though she is a much sought after wedding photographer. She is amused to see a hot business lady who is clearly on a first date. And the same woman is there on another first date the day after. And the day after. Soon, Rachel, as well as the regulars in the bar are as anxious to see what happens as Veronica navigates her way through a series of women who are often identified by their favorite drink rather than their names.

A lovely, light read. Perfect for the holiday season.

Four stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Beyond a Reasonable Stout by Ellie Alexander

Sloan is up against murder again. This time, the victim is a man who was trying to make their town dry. Considering the fact that most of the town makes money off the tourism based around the local breweries. If the town went dry, there would be no money coming in. It's just too bad the man is found in April Amblin's office. The "official ambassador " to Leavenworth may have been annoyed by Kristopher but that doesn't mean she killed the man.

In the course of trying to (some what ambivalently) April's name, Sloan runs up against a number of people who were indebted to Kristopher who seemed to be tricking townspeople into borrowing money from him and then trying to swindle them out of their business.

A nice addition to the series but it took me a little bit to get into it. Definitely worth a read if you like the rest of the series.

Four stars

Followed by Without a Brew

This book came out October 1st

ARC kindly provided by Minotaur Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez

Roxanne Medina has worked her way up from nothing to be a billionaire before she's thirty. What she wants now is nothing except a child. But she wants her child to know its father. And that's why she enters into a a business arrangement. Or, tries to. She researches all of the principalities and found one that needs money. It doesn't hurt that the heir apparent is also known as the Golden God.Príncipe Mateo Ferdinand Juan Carlos de Esperanza y Santos is trying to save his kingdom from the degradations and excesses of his parents. Is a marriage with Roxanne the way to do it? Maybe not but it's certainly one way. It's too bad she's so infuriating, treating him as if he were one of her employees at best and more than a little dim at worst. But Shes's hot and he wants her but her personality leaves a lot to be desired. And he doesn't want just a cold relationship with his child's mother so he bargains that one of their three nights a month will be spent dating.   And it's in those dates that he begins to find a woman with whom he could fall in love.The Big Misunderstanding went on a little long at the end but the ending made the characters learn to talk to each other..
Four starsThis book came out October 14thARC kindly provided by Carina Press and NetGalleyOpinions are my own

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss

Sherlock Holmes is missing and Moriarty has formed a new group of super villains. It is a group that has kidnapped Alice, the maid, and she finds herself down the rabbit hole. It is up to the other women (girls?) of the Athena Club to help her figure out what is going on.

Bringing in another character to a series that already has many can be good or bad. I don't know that it was well executed in this book. There were a LOT of people that had to be brought back and then that many more people breaking into the story and that many more lines to include. It was a good story with a good ending but slow build with so many people to sort of shoehorn in. 

Three stars

This book came out October 1st

ARC kindly provided by Saga Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Betrothed by Christmas by Jess Michaels, Elizabeth Essex

A Lady's Gift for Seduction by Jess Michaels

The daughter of a duke, Lady Evangeline could marry anyone. And her father really wants her to marry someone who can strengthen the family connections. But not more than Henry Killam's social-climbing father. So when Lady Evangeline sets her sights on Henry, the third son of a viscount, Henry's father is at first excited, but then super pissed because Henry has published an astrology paper and that smacks of.... working.

I didn't really connect to either Evangeline nor Henry in this story and I was annoyed by all of the machinations. It was fine but not great.

Three stars

A Lady’s Gift for Scandal by Elizabeth Essex

Tamsin Lesley doesn't want to get married.  She just wants to live as a bluestocking and to do that she has to be ruined. Or fake ruined. Because there's no reason to be really ruined. When she runs into Lady Evangeline at a ball, that august young woman suggests Simon Cathcart as the perfect man to be her "ruiner." 

Simon went to war and came back different. He just wants a simple life so he pretends to be stupid. No one in his family nor his superiors (he worked for Wellington, for goodness' sake) has told anyone any different so everyone assumes that he's incredibly stupid and ignores him. He's only in town to escort his aunt to various affairs. So when Tamsin suggests a fake ruination, it seems like a good plan to him.

This is a good premise but I wish there had been more to it. I think it would have been better in a longer form but felt unfinished here.

Three stars

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by The Passionate Pen and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

When the protagonist from "The Wedding Party," Maddie, is asked to go to England and dress "The Duchess" for Christmas, she can't imagine leaving her mother behind. True, she's been dating Theo for a few months at this point but Christmas with her mother is a tradition.

Vivian Forest has been busy the past year and a half and it's about to pay off with a probable promotion. She doesn't want to lose that momentum but she also doesn't want to miss Christmas with her daughter. While Maddie works, Vivian is supposed to amuse herself. Luckily, the man she mentally dubs "Hot Chocolate" introduces himself and offers to show her around the "cottage" she and Maddie are staying in. 

Working as the Queen's private secretary, Malcolm Forest doesn't especially have a lot of free time. But he's drawn to Vivian and doesn't want to lose any time with her.

A lovely romance with an older couple. I wish we had seen more of their relationship building but a good novella.

Four stars

This book came out October 1st

Followed by Party of Two

ARC kindly provided by Berkley and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

I'll Be Home for Christmas by Karen Clarke

This is the second book I've read where a woman runs away to France in order to get away from a bad romance. In this case, Nina Bailey's fiance was cheating on her so she decides that she's going to completely change her life. She still hasn't found the job she loves so she thinks that travel blogger might work well and she can start by visiting her Aunt Dolly and seeing her favorite cousin while healing her heart. But she's not the only one who is there doing that.

Ryan Sadler had one great book that burst onto the literary scene. Now, his romance life is in tatters and his writer's block is impenetrable. But meeting Nina is starting to heal some of those broken places inside him. Even though she is not at all what he wants at the moment, she seems to be spurring his creative process and rebuilding his trust in love.

There's a Big Misunderstanding that I think is misused here and some of the thoughts get a bit repetitive but most of the book is quite fun and the early banter between Nina and Ryan is perfect.

Three stars

This book came out October 14th

ARC kindly provided by Bookouture and NetGalley

Opinions are my own