A Wolf in Duke's Clothing by Susanna Allen

For five years, Alfred Blakesly, Duke of Lowell, has been looking for his mate. He traveled the world

looking for her. He needs to find his mate because the shifters are dying out and, as Alpha, his pack can not find love until he does. He is an unusual Alpha in that he does not just collect wolves (his shifter animal.) Instead, he collects all of the animals that are normally considered runts (meaning he now has a LOT of footmen.)Despairing, he has returned to England and the glittering ballrooms of the ton. And it is there that he finally smells her, his mate. 

Felicity Templeton is so close. As an orphan, she is a wallflower but she has plans. In eleven days, she will reach her majority and be out from under her uncle's thumb. Being kidnapped from a ball and spirited away to the country was definitely not a part of her plans. Though nice, the residents in this house are... odd. 

But what the Duke and Felicity don't know is that there is a timeline to their courting and they will need to have some frank discussions if they want to find their HEA.

This book was a little loopy and not tightly written but I enjoyed the ride.

Four stars

This book came out April 27, 2021

Followed by A Most Unusual Duke

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon

Gethsemane Brown has few options left to her when she accepts a job as the music teacher at a private school... in Ireland. Yes, she's a fabulous violinist but can she really turn around a group of boys in six weeks to win a major award. They've got the bare bones, a great soloist and another great violinist. But that's not the thing that bothering her. It's actually the ghost of Eamon McCarthy. Yep, there's a ghost. And he's asking Gethsemane to solve his murder. His twenty-five-year-old murder.

I had heard about this book on the Get Booked podcast. They really liked the whole series and, while I liked this book well enough, it was a little convoluted.

Four stars

This book came out September 13, 2016

Followed by Death in D Minor

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Making Things Right at Work by Gary Chapman, Jennifer M. Thomas, Paul White

The authors say that the goal of this book is to minimize conflict at work. They acknowledge that conflicts will happen, even in the healthiest of workplaces and even start the book off with common conflicts that happen in the workplace. Some of the conflicts include miscommunication, having different viewpoints or communication styles. They also cover mistakes both intentional and unintentional. And of course, there is the ever popular feeling offended for which there are five languages. Interestingly, if you know the five languages of appreciation, it is often that the person's way of receiving appreciation is the same that they are most easily offended. If you haven't read the five love languages, there is a quick recap of the languages in the second section. 

Luckily, the authors include some hints on ways to avoid conflict. Of course, communication is the first up. But the emphasis is on effective communication and there are subcategories for ways to actually be effective.

The third section addresses what in other books is called "The stories we tell ourselves." They talk about the ways that we can clear up misconceptions and ways that we might misperceive others motives or values.  

Indirect communication was an interesting issue to me that I haven't seen in other leadership books.The authors highlight it as a symptom of a toxic workplace. Indirect communication includes not saying what you mean, gossiping, going above someone's head: basically, it is any time you don't talk to the person you actually need to address. Any time you do this, you undermine trust which and create more problems. 

Other sections talk about deception (even white lies aren't really okay) and making sure that we try to put ourselves in the place of other people.

Of course, they go over what the Seven Guest Service Gold Standards call "Recovery." In this book it's called by its more popular name "apologizing." This is such a big part of making things right at work that there are two long chapters about how to effectively apologize and what to do when an apology isn't enough. There are even parts of an apology outlined (apology languages): expressing regret, accepting responsibility, making restitution, planned change, and asking for forgiveness. 

Another section of interest to me was the part about forgiveness or letting things go.

This book would be best for group work rather than self study. 

Four stars

This book came out January 25, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Lady of Bones Carolyn Haines

A blast from the past arrives on Sarah Booth's doorstep when Frankie, a friend of her mother, comes to ask for help finding her daughter. Christa is a journalism student who is trying to find her roommate, Britta. They were both looking into a cult that promises the Fountain of Youth. 

In order to find out where the two women went, Sarah Booth will have to travel to New Orleans. Luckily, she can bring Coleman along with her and he will investigate as well. 

We get glimpses of many of the usual side characters (CeCe, Tinkie, Maylin) but they don't feature as heavily as usual. Jitty was a little much in this book but I think regular readers will enjoy this book. 

Four stars

This book comes out June 14, 2022

Follows Garland of Bones

Followed by Bones of Holly

ARC kindly provided by St Martin's Press and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Fierce * Conversations Achieving Success at Work & in Life by Susan Scott

This book hasn't aged particularly well (sexism and ageism are the basis of some of the examples) but some of the points are good ones. One takeaway I liked was asking anyone after a meeting, based on what you discussed, they will be implementing in the next thirty days. Many of the other thoughts 

This would be a good book for a new manager in a corporate setting who needs some reminding that hard conversations are best done quickly and done well.

Three stars

This book came out in 2002

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

The Friendship Pact by Jill Shalvis

Tae and April Holmes, though mother and daughter, basically grew up together since April was a teen mother. Now, they are still unutterably close. In fact, April helped Tae get the event that is getting her company off the ground and save her from penury.

While at the party, Tae tries to make a quick getaway when she discovers that the man she recently went

on a date with is now attending with her mother. And she's standing there in a rented dress. When she tries to make a quick getaway, she doesn't get into her Uber, continuing the pain of the night. But it doesn't get better because the driver is an old friend/flame, Riggs Copeland. Oh, and they interrupt what appears to be a robbery at the local gas station.

The two of them start with a friendship pact but, since this is Shalvis it grows into more. 

I enjoyed this book mainly for the relationship between Tae and April. The one between Tae and Riggs was a little too fast for me. I did like that the Big Understanding was cleared up rather quickly when all of the characters finally talked to each other. 

Four stars

This book came out June 14, 2022

Follows The Family You Make

Followed by The Backup Plan

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu

I had read about this book on a blog site but I forgot to pin which one it was. I do remember the article

was about ways for women to succeed. I don't know if the author described exactly how much this book skews toward assuming that the reader is in a hetero-normative relationship. There is good advice but it won't work if you are single or same sex because so much of it skews on assuming that the partners align along stereotypes. 

I also wasn't expecting dropping the ball to be so much work. Work that still needs to be initiated by the woman.

One thing I did like was the idea of thinking about, "Is what I am working on the highest and best use of my time?"

Three stars

This book came out February 5, 2017

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own