No Words by Meg Cabot

Jo Wright thought that she had had a moment with Will Price but she discovered she was wrong when the best-selling author dissed her (also best-selling) children's series. Now the man responsible for her writer's block is her numero uno enemy. So why would she want to go down to the Keys, more specifically to Little Bridge Island which is close to the man's own private island? Well, a ten thousand dollar writer's speaking fee does help. Plus, it doesn't look like the man himself will be there so she should be safe.

Except that, when she gets to the island, she realizes that the man will be there. In fact, he arrives at the airport at the same time she does. And is greeted by a young woman while she is greeted by a very pregnant librarian (Molly from book 2 in the series.) At first, Jo wants to avoid all of the activities involved with the book festival but her friend Bernie convinces her that it is wiser to attend rather than to let Will drive her off. And, interestingly, in her first interaction with the man, he apologizes (!) Jo is thrown off her game but the more they interact, the more her creative juices start flowing.

Is there a lot of depth in this novel? Actually, a lot in regards to writers (e.g. a discussion on feminist characters in children's literature) but maybe not in Will and Jo's relationship. Is the book still delightful? Oh most definitely. I am so excited that Cabot is starting to recapture the fun and the sense of what is going on in the contemporary world that was a part of the "Boy" series. 

Four stars

This book came out October 12th, 2021

Follows No Offense

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Murder List by Julie Garwood

Regan Madison is a part of the Hamilton family, as in Hamilton hotels. She has a soft heart and a drop-dead-gorgeous exterior. She also has a stalker. While she doesn't recognize it at first, when the realization hits (via a rather graphic photograph of a murdered man that is emailed to her,) she lets the Chicago police know immediately.

Assigned to Regan's case as a punishment for leaving the squad, Alec Buchanan figures at least it's better than answering phones for his last three weeks. What he doesn't expect is to fall in love with this woman. Or that he may have to put his life on the line to protect her. 

I remember liking this book more when it first came out. It is getting pretty dated (one character asks if everyone has started carrying cell phones), and Regan is a little TSTL but still a readable book.

Three stars

This book came out August, 2004

Follows Killjoy

Followed by Slow Burn

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Love, Accidentally by Jaime Clevenger; Aurora Rey

Amelia Stone is not having a great day. She's moving in with a woman she just met, Veronica, and Veronica isn't even in town to help her move. That's okay, she'll make it work. Until a dump truck hits her moving rental and Amelia ends up in the hospital with all number of injuries. Sure, the EMT is cute but her whole world is now upside down. 

Finn Douglas was burned by love, spent a lot of time playing the field, and now is just sort of stagnant. Her EMT partner teases her pretty incessantly. Especially after Finn seems so smitten with Amelia. And then Finn takes charge of Amelia's cat. When she tries to return the cat, Finn meets Amelia's grandmother and they immediately strike up a friendship. Amelia notices this especially since it is in such contrast to how Veronica and her grandmother interact. Eventually, Amelia realizes that Veronica isn't the woman for her but Finn is leery of being a rebound. 

This is a fun love story though there is a lot of drama at the end that wasn't necessarily needed and the relationship does move fairly quickly. 

Four stars

This book come out November 16th, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Bella Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Killer Content by Olivia Blacke

I'm not sure about this series yet but I've got the second one queued up from the library so I finished it and I'm glad I stuck with it because I almost put it down after the first chapter. It was a really big info dump. But it could be an interesting series. 

Odessa Dean is living the high life in New York. Or, sort of. She's housesitting and cat sitting for her aunt who has a VERY nice apartment. But she's also working at a bookstore/cafe and learning about NYC. Before she came to the big city, she lived in the bayou. And boy was that different. (I did appreciate that the drawl wasn't "spelled out".)

One of Dessa's coworkers leaves work one day but then ends up dead. And Dessa starts to investigate because she listens to a lot of true-crime podcasts (cue internal eye roll). Granted, the detective in charge doesn't actually believe it was a murder but Dessa is more on the end of clueless detective and I do really more enjoy the professional but I liked that this was a unique take on a contemporary cozy.

Three stars

This book came out February 2nd, 2021

Followed by No Memes of Escape

Borowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Guild Boss by Jayne Castle

The Vortex saga continues... on another planet in the future. This time, the Jones family is brought in through Gabriel. He's a special sort of Hunter, one who is after a specific person in the book's beginning, Lucy Bell. It seems like she wandered away drunk from a wedding and got lost in the underground tunnels. Her family has put out a big bounty for her and Gabriel is the one to notice that there is a dust bunny showing up to get a free pizza every night. He follows the bunny, Otto, and finds the girl.

BUT, that is just the beginning of the story. Lucy objects to the fact that everyone blames her; in fact, she was drugged. But that's not what makes a good story and she loses her clientele. And she blames Gabriel for that fact because... he left? I guess fiction doesn't have to make sense but this seemed odd for a character who otherwise was fairly level-headed.

Gabriel does come back though. He needs someone with Lucy's particular set of talents and he knows what she can do underground. Plus, he just wants to see her again.

There is a lot going on in this story which, even though it's number 14 in a series, seems to be setting up some new storylines. With all of Krentz's books lately, the endings seem to go on and on as in, you think this is the end of the book but then there's another chapter. And another. I also wish we had seen more interactions with Lucy's family. However, Gabriel and Lucy were both great characters and I liked seeing how their relationship went from rescuer/rescued to equal partners. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out November 16th, 2021

Follows Illusion Town

Followed by Sweetwater and the Witch

ARC kindly provided by Berkley and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed by Helene Tursten, Marlaine Delargy

I would definitely read the first book in this series before reading this one. There is some information about both the stories and the character that are important to this book. 

After the events of the last book, Maud decides to head back to South Africa and get away from the police for a little bit. While on the plane, she has some dreams about some of the first times she (maybe) committed murder or at least set out on a path that some people wouldn't call so very nice.

This is such an odd set of stories and yet I still enjoyed them. 

Four stars

This book came out October 5th, 2021

Follows An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Fast Track by Julie Garwood

Cordie and Aidan got their HEA!

I have really been looking forward to this book and can say that if you have been enjoying Garwood lately, you'll like this book.

Cordie has been in love with Aidan since she was five years old. But he's always looked at her as a sister. When her father dies, Cordie decides it's time for her to get over Aidan, move away, and get on with her life.

Her friends are conspiring not to let her leave and, while helping her to search for the mother that she never even knew was alive, Aidan starts to realize that Cordie might just be the woman he's been looking for....

I recently read "Change of Heart" by Jude Deveraux and have been struggling to figure out why that alpha male annoyed me so much more than Aidan. Both were supremely confident and autocratic, but I think that Aidan was more receptive to Cordie and her demands. Also, I think their shared history helped to create more of a bond than what I saw in the other story. Where Eli really did seem to be just a jerk, Aidan actually cared and had a (current) connection to Cordie. 

While this book shows a slightly softer Cordie than I had gotten from previous books in the series, I still enjoyed the ride. And hearing my friend laugh out loud as she read it also opened me up I some of the more hilarious parts of the story.

Four stars

This book came out July 29th, 2014

Follows Hotshot

Followed by Wired

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own