Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn, Violet Charles

With charming pictures and a dedication to keeping the story close to what was described in Quinn's earlier books, this is a bonkers romance. Playing with the over-the-top themes of the gothic romances of the 1800s, this book follows Miss Butterworth from when she was born and most of her family died of the pox, through her drudgery as a child, being reunited with her mother only to watch the woman being pecked to death by pigeons. No, literall.

A short, quick read that you will definitely need an enjoyment of the bizarre to relish. 

Four stars

This book came out May 10, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper

I tore through this book. The main characters, Rowan Thorn and Isidora "Izzy" Avramov are well-developed and both show some growth over the course of the story. Izzy more so because we are in her first-person point of view but we do see some changes in the oh, so handsome Rowan as well. I wish we had gotten a little bit more time to see the relationship between them grow from antagonism to love and the end of the mystery seemed fast but I really liked this book and can't wait for the next one in the series. 

The Avramov family are the local necromancers. It seems obvious that they might have some friction with the Thorns whose magic has an affinty for growing and healing. It doesn't completely explain why Rowan Thorn was so against Izzy working in the local animal adoption center. It does, however, explain all eyes looking to the Avromov family when a thorn is hexed at the local festival. Based on the witch governmental rulings, a representative from each family is allowed to investigate. As the scion of the Thorn family, Rowan is chosen. Izzy's sister is the Avramov scian but she is connected to the arbitrator so Izzy becomes the stand-in. Working together gives them time to talk and to work through old hurts and also solve the problem of who would like to hurt the Thorn family. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 13, 2022

Follows Payback's a Witch

Followed by Back in a Spell

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Jeeves and the Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse

This story is even more twisted than the usual Jeeves as Bertie sets out to deceive. He shows up at Deverill Hall but is pretending to be Gussie Fink-Nottle. So Jeeves is, obviously not his valet. Instead, it is a friend playing the part, one who is in love but his beloved's family doesn't want her to marry an actor. Esmond Haddock's plethora of aunts understand that feeling as they would really prefer that he not marry Corky who is in town to help her vicar uncle but is, in actuality, a Hollywood actress. One whom Gussie admires and starts to fall in love with when he shows up to the hall as Bertie.

Oh what a tangled (and often confusing with the casual racism of the time that is jarring to a modern ear) web that will take all of Jeeves' brilliance to untangle.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1949

Follows Joy in the Morning

Followed by Ring for Jeeves

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

When they were young, Lily Wilder and Leo Grady had a grand romance. And they had plans. But those plans were gone in the blink of an eye when Leo had to go back to New York to take care of his family. A series of missed messages meant that each of them thought the other had moved on. A decade later, Leo's best friend has signed them up for a boys' trip that puts him right back in Lily's orbit. 

I was impressed that the two of them got together quickly and figured out the misunderstanding. They talked! But, there has to be more drama. And... I didn't like the way it all kicked off. It was so unexpected in a Christina Lauren book (I haven't read their whole backlist but I have read a bunch of them) that it took me out of it for the whole rest of the book. Which is too bad because I did like the treasure hunting and the codes were an interesting addition but it got old with Leo solving almost all of them even though the clues were left for Lily. This book reminded me a lot of some Elizabeth Lowell's from the nineties. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 17, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Gallery Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at Melrose Court by Karen Baugh Menuhin

I saw the description for this on a sale for Audible and was able to get it for free through Kindle Unlimited. It is set in 1920 so I guess that is the Downton Abbey part of the description and it is a mystery so that crosses off the Agatha Christie. I'm not sure where the Wodehouse comes in except maybe it's a

first person narrator who seems sort of feckless. 

Major Heathcliff Lennox is back from the Great War and is trying to figure out how to keep up with the expenses of a big house. Luckily, he has Christmas with his uncle, Charles, and cousin, Edgar, to look forward to. And some other more distant cousins will be there as well. 

Too bad that, shortly before he is set to leave, a fat man turns up dead on his doorstep. In the man's pocket is the name that Lennox knows, that of a Russian countess. It seems like the man died of a heart attack so Lennox keeps heading to Melrose Court. He is very much startled to find that very countess in residence with her niece. And the countess is now engaged to marry his uncle. but she doesn't seem exactly savory nor very discreet as she decides to wear a necklace that once belonged to Lennox. And then she ends up dead with Lennox being discovered over the body holding the gun. 

This is not the last murder to occur in this book and becomes a close thing for Lennox as it becomes clear someone would like him to take the fall.

This was a nice start to a series with some good world and character building. I wish we had learned more about Lennox as there was more time spent on secondary characters.

Three stars

This book came out December 3, 2018

Followed by The Black Cat Murders

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Kiss & The Killer by Melissa Marr

Geneviève Crowe is still beheading the undead and trying to avoid marriage to the faery prince, Eli Stone, to whom she is engaged. Someone has specifically requested her work and it leads her to a posed set of now really-dead draugar. That same someone is trying to take over the role currently held by Geneviève's great-great-etc.-grandmother as the queen of the undead. And she has to deal with that even while her dead genes seem to be taking over. 

There's a lot going on in this book but it moved quickly and left a lot open for the next book. 

Three stars

This book came out April 15, 2021

Follows The Wicked and the Dead

Follows novella Blood Martinis & Mistletoe

Followed by The Hexed and the Hunter

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Lost and Found by Jayne Ann Krentz

Cady Briggs works with antiquities but that isn't the reason her great aunt Vesta left her the majority of shares in her company. The gallery is about to be a part of a big merger and one of Cady's cousins is the CEO of Chatelaine. So, why did Vesta leave those shares to Cady only? In fact, Vesta's death seems very mysterious. But Cady has a secret weapon: Mack Easton. They've worked together to uncover antiques and then verify them before. Mack knows the business and he knows Cady. Plus, he's her Fantasy Man.

Some of Krentz's stories age well. I would not lump this one in with them. Not just the technology but the attitudes of the characters and some of the secondary characters.

Three stars

This book came out November 1, 2001

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own