Sandcastle Beach by Jenny Holiday

Maya Mehta and Benjamin "Law" Lawson have been fighting for more years than anyone can remember. It started when they were teens (at least she was) and has carried on into their twenties. As any character in the book (or any reader of the other two books in this series) could fairly easily tell, these two were meant for each other. 

Maya Mehta needs the new grant that the town is offering. She has created a theater group that is just months away from failing. She's hooked a former boy band-er to come and be in her next play but the money would SO come in handy in renovating her falling-apart theater.

Law needs the grant the town is offering. He is third generation operating the family bar and he's ready to expand into a restaurant as well. But he doesn't want to mortgage (and possibly lose) the bar.)

Mirroring the play that Maya is putting on, <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>, the two find that their squabbling might just be hiding a bigger attraction than either of them realize. The story does get a little hokey in places but previous readers of the series will be familiar with the level of sweetness and be prepared for it. This is my favorite book in the series so far and I am already ready to read the next one.

Three stars

This book comes out March 9th
Follows Paradise Cove
ARC kindly provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews

 Hugh d'Ambry was the Big Bad in the Kate Daniels series. At least until around book 8 when he was unceremoniously kicked to the curb by the man he idolized, Roland, an old god. When the book begins, he has descended into alcoholism while his Iron Dogs (the men who followed him) are being decimated by another of Roland's men, Landon Nez. They need a place to call their own, where they can dig in and stay.
So they go looking for some people that need protecting and find a group known as The Departed. They live in a magic wood and have several groups trying to steal their land. That includes Nez. In order to cement the union, Hugh and the leader of The Departed, Elara, marry. Neither is very excited about it. They
I liked that we don't know everything about the background of Elara and her group. Obviously they had to do something desperate in order to survive, but what? and why? How is this series going to cross over with Kate Daniels again (and it will, as they will have to team up in order to defeat Roland -- it does in Magic Triumphs but there is definitely more than what we see in this one book that happens before then)? 

Four stars

Follows Magic Binds

Followed by Magic Triumphs

This book came out June 18, 2018

Ebook borrowed from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread March 2024

Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews

If you've read the Kate Daniels series (I don't think you have to have to enjoy this book but I'd highly recommend them anyway), you'll remember her adopted daughter, Julie. Well, Julie is back in Atlanta but she doesn't want anyone to know because there is a prophecy that, if she sees Kate, Kate will die. And Julie figures she's okay because she's got a new face and a new smell... no one should know who she is. Except that a lot of people seem to figure it out but that is not out of character for this world. 
Julie, now known as Aurelia, is up against a Big Bad who gets his power from his followers doing human sacrifice. She is powerful from her own magic but also from an infusion of blood that Kate gave her (and Kate is the daughter of a god.) Also, Aurelia has been studying with Kate's aunt (another god more or less) for a long time and is now her aunt's logical heir (assuming that her aunt will die.) 
So, not only does Katie have a big ol' target on her back, as her protector, Aurelia does as well. But she is back on her own turf so she's got some home field advantage.
This was a rather short book but there was a lot of packed into it and I am excited to read the rest of the series. I am currently rereading the Kate Daniels series which is really letting me see how many ties are woven in and storylines that are being continued in these books.

Four stars

This book came out January 12th, 2021

Ebook borrowed from Libby

Opinions are my own

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

It's not like Emily WANTED to be a tavern wench in a small Ren faire in Maryland. But her niece won't be able to participate without an adult. And Emily is in town to help support her sister after she was in a car accident. So she steps in. She is doing a lot, keeping track of her niece's schedule and making sure her sister is getting to her appointments so really, the guy running the faire can just get off her back.
Simon just wants everything to run perfectly. His older brother started the faire and the family ties mean that he just wants to continue what his brother started. He can't understand why Emily can't seem to take anything seriously. She picks a faire name that is basically her own name. She jokes around about Shakespeare's legacy. She's on her phone almost every time they meet during prep time. They just can't stand to be around each other.
But then Emily's tavern wench character, Emma, gets an eyeful of Simon's pirate character and a different sort of sparks fly. Chemistry.
There was a Big Misunderstanding at the end but it was actually okay because at least they were talking to each other. Sometimes it took time for it to sink in but... they  were being adults. So nice.

Four stars

This book came out September 3rd, 2019

Followed by Well Played

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby September 2023

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Eve Brown is the youngest of three sisters. And, as so often happens with a youngest child, she is still trying to find her way long after her sisters have already figured out their lives. Now, her parents are threatening to cut her off.
Eve is distraught. She knows that she's been spinning her wheels but she's not sure what to do about it. She runs out into a rainstorm and impulsively interviews for a chef position at a B&B (that she's not even sure where she is.) Of the two men interviewing her, one seems open to her somewhat eclectic persona, the other is having trouble looking away from her chest. And that's the one who seems harder to impress. Too bad he's the one she runs over (not a spoiler, it happens early in the book.) Of course, that opens the door for Eve to stay at the inn and help the owner, Jacob Wayne, run it while he heals from his injuries.
There is quite a bit about this book that strains credulity but it is a fiction book and I'm willing to forgive a lot for good character development and this book has it in spades. The characters are both open to the parts of the other that sometimes throw people off and it was quite lovely to see the understanding and acceptance that they extend to each other. I'm also hoping for a book (well, a trilogy) about Jacob's friend and his sisters.

Three and a half stars
Follows Take a Hint, Dani Brown
This book comes out March 9th
ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Heart of Devin MacKade by Nora Roberts

Devin MacKade has loved Cassie Dolin since high school. She married her high school sweetheart; he became the sheriff. Then he stood silently by while her husband beat her. He wanted to help but he couldn't until she pressed charges. And she finally did, in one of the earlier books in the series. Now Cassie is steady, her children are happy, and Devin is ready to make his move.
This is very much a nineties story but it doesn't age as badly as the next book in the series though some of it - treating Cassie like a fragile bird even though she's proven her strength - might be handled differently today.

Three stars

Follows The Pride of Jared MacKade

Followed by The Fall of Shane MacKade

This book came out March 1st, 1996

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters

Vicki Bliss is a historian who has just had the find of a lifetime fall into her lap, proof that a shrine built by Remenschneider (I listened to the book so spelling may be suspect) actually existed. A race between herself and her lover, Tony Lawrence, as well as treasure hunter George Nolan, takes them all to Germany in an old, supposedly haunted castle.
In the setting of the book, the castle is now a hotel run by the final countess (who married into the family) and the last surviving Drachenstein, Irma. The Grauphin, the old countess, is an iron-fisted besom while her niece is a “perfect heroine” including to the point of being a fainting flower. There is also at the castle a Doctor Blankenhagen who may or may not also be looking for the shrine. The countess also has a séance-loving friend and there is an older gentleman, Schmidt, who round out the party.
Peters infused the book with a sense of humor about the whole gothic atmosphere, at one point, Vicki says something along the lines of, “A secret passage? That was all we needed.” Love those bits of self-awareness.

Four stars

Follows The Camelot Caper

Followed by Street of the Five Moons

This book came out in 1973

Borrowed as an ebook from CloudLibrary

Opinions are my own