Cookies and Clairvoyance by Bailey Cates

Title: Cookies and Clairvoyance

Author: Bailey Cates

Narrator: Amy Rubinate

Series: #8 in The Magical Bakery series

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Berkley (August 27, 2019)

Source: Library Find

Rating: ☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: Baker Katie Lightfoot serves up enchanted delicacies and tracks down a malicious murderer in the newest installment of this New York Times bestselling series...

Hedgewitch Katie Lightfoot is juggling wedding preparations, a visit from her father, and home renovations on top of her long hours at the Honeybee Bakery, where she and her aunt Lucy imbue their yummy cookies and pastries with beneficial magic. But when firefighter Randy Post is accused of murdering a collector of rarities, and his prints are on the statue that was used to kill the man, Katie steps in. 

Randy is not only Katie's fiancé's coworker, but also the boyfriend of fellow spellbook club member and witch Bianca Devereaux. Bianca and Declan are both sure Randy is innocent, and so is Katie. However, to prove it she'll have to work with ornery detective Peter Quinn again—and this time around he knows she's more than your everyday baker.

My Thoughts: Another great installment of this series!

The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else: Honestly, I didn't care for Katie's attitude this time around. I know her circumstances with her trying to finish the carriage house and planning her wedding and running a business and helping clear a friend's name kind of justifies her being grumpy. However, she was unnecessarily snarky to Declan who was super understanding and kind to her when a spell backfired changing her magical life. With that said, in the past I was on the fence about Declan because I didn't think he fully supported Katie and her magic. In this book I was completely in his corner because he proved he accepted her with everything in her life. 

The mystery was pretty good with multiple suspects, and I liked that Katie did her best to solve the mystery without the aid of her magic. The ending was satisfying but we'll have to wait another book for a wedding to happen. Also, poor Conal! 

I listened to this book as I've listened to all of the previous books and once again Amy Rubinate did a great job narrating. I'm so used to her as Katie I don't know if I could get used to another voice by this point. Her voice work for the other characters are just as good especially Conal's. 

In a Nutshell: I love this series and I can't wait for to get to the next book!

Awaken the Darkness by Dianne Duvall

 Title: Awaken the Darkness

Author: Dianne Duvall

Series: #8 in the Immortal Guardian series

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Dianne Duvall (July 10, 2018) Audio published by Tantor Audio (July 10, 2018)

Source: Library find via Hoopla

Rating: ☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: He awakens encapsulated in dirt with no knowledge of how he came to be there. Riddled with injuries, he can remember neither his past nor who he is. Nor can he remember what he is. But surely no mortal man could survive being buried deep beneath the earth. All he knows with certainty is that the soothing voice and presence of the woman moving around above enables him to endure the agony of his wounds. And he will do whatever it takes to be with her. When Susan first sees the old two-story house for sale, such warmth and longing fill her that--against all reason--she makes an offer. It will take years of hard work and money she frankly doesn't have to fix up the place. So she can't explain why she bought it. She also can't explain what compels her to spend hours one night, digging in the basement until she unearths a man. A man who still lives and breathes despite having been buried alive. A man whose intense brown eyes glow amber with pain, declaring him far more than ordinary. Susan knows she should keep her distance. He has no memory and possesses gifts that would make most fear him. But as the two work together to unravel the mystery of his past, she finds herself drawn in by his teasing nature and tender touch . . . Contains mature themes. 

My Thoughts:  I just love this series. This one heavily relies on past books in the series so although the premise is fully explained the full impact of what the characters have gone through (specifically Stanislav and Yuri not to mention Seth) it is best to read this series in order with the short novellas as well.

With this one we really hadn't had much time to jump on the Stanislav bandwagon as both he and Yuri were introduced only mid series, but I liked the way his book was handled. The continuing story arch connecting the last 2 books is all but paused while Stan's story played out, but I was ok with this.

The romance part of this book was pretty typical of this series. Both Immortal Guardian and their love interest are thrown together with a whole lot of action and turbulence and the I love you's are quick but satisfying. There were some minor battles within the book but not as many (or as epic as the ones that occur in previous books) but because this book is about Stan and his amnesia this too is ok.

Once again Kirsten Potter does an amazing job narrating. With Immortals from all over the world I fully believe all of her accents and will always listen to these books providing I can get them all easily from my library system.

In a Nutshell: Yep, I'm hooked. I've been binge reading these books. If you know me, you know this isn't how I operate. I get bored easily and will fall off of a particular series fairly quickly. 8 books and counting it hasn't happened yet and I'm not sure if it will anytime time soon. 

Shelter for Sophie by Susan Stoker

Title: Shelter for Sophie

Author: Susan Stoker

Series: #8 in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes series

Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Publisher: Stoker Aces Production LLC (August 15, 2017)

Source: Kindle Freebie

Rating: ☕☕1/2

Synopsis: She’s shy, he’s stoic…not the hardest personality traits to overcome, but Sophie Carson and Roman “Chief” Proudfit have their work cut out for them.

Sophie has a crush on the silent-but-studly firefighter next door. She’s been pining away silently while secretly helping the hardworking man by mowing his lawn—which he thinks is being done by her nonexistent husband and/or boyfriend. He’s definitely not big on neighborly chitchat, but with her stutter, that suits Sophie just fine. But now a misunderstanding at a bar has put him even further out of her reach.

Roman’s difficult upbringing on an Indian reservation is a sore spot, so when he thinks Sophie is taking advantage of poor people for medical trials at her workplace, he lets her know exactly what he thinks. But when he discovers he misunderstood, he’s man enough to admit it…and also that he should have opened his eyes to his beautiful, sensitive neighbor sooner.

As the couple gets closer, each helping the other overcome lifelong pains, for the first time in years, Roman has something to live for other than his job. And, as he discovers when Sophie puts herself in danger, something even bigger to lose…

** Shelter for Sophie is the 8th book in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.

My Thoughts:  While I didn't fault the actual writing of the book (this being my first Susan Stoker book) I just had issues with the story. The characters were perfect. Sophie was beautiful with white, blond hair and blue eyes and Chief kept mentioning she looked like an angel. She helped underprivileged people, befriended the homeless, and mowed her neighbor's yard. To make her not perfect Stoker gave her a stutter. To make it even more annoying there was so much dialog with her stuttering her s's and m's in every line. Anyway, I really got tired of both the H and h being so perfect. Their relationship was even perfect. The relationship was really quite sweet, so it was startling when Chief dropped the F bomb. It just felt gratuitous, and I certainly wasn't expecting the pretty spicy sex scene with dirty talking. With sweet on sweet the spicy bits were jarring.

One last thing for a book with a Native American main character giving him a nickname of Chief is in bad taste. He's a firefighter but not the fire chief so the nickname makes no sense. Oh, but it must be ok because he said the nickname didn't offend him. Ugh!

In a Nutshell: Ok for a book that I really didn't like I'm not sure why I'm intrigued to carry on with the series. I love me some fire fighters and the skill in the writing sucked me in but make no mistake this book wasn't good.

The River House by Carla Neggers

Title: The River House
Author: Carla Neggers
Series: #8 in the Swift River Valley series
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: MIRA (April 1, 2018)
Source: NetGalley
Rating: ☕1/2

Synopsis: Felicity MacGregor loves organizing social events for others, but her own personal life is a different story. After a brief but failed attempt at a career as a financial analyst, she returned to Knights Bridge, where she enjoys running a thriving party-planning business. Then Felicity's life gets a shake-up when her childhood friend Gabriel Flanagan returns unexpectedly to their tiny hometown. Now a high-flying businessman, Gabe always vowed to get out of Knights Bridge, but he is back for the local entrepreneurial boot camp Felicity's been hired to organize. Together again, they'll finally have to face each other--and their complicated past. Gabe and Felicity soon realize their reunion is stirring up long-buried emotions. While Gabe has big plans for his future, Felicity is discovering that hers doesn't depend on fate--she must choose what's right for her. But if they can find a bridge between their diverging paths, they may just discover that their enduring connection is what matters most.

My Thoughts: OMGoodness! I normally love a good small town romance. Unfortunately, I just couldn't like this one.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: I normally like to start my book reviews with the good I found in the books I read. Unfortunately, I really don't have anything good about my experience regarding this book.

What I didn't like about this book was the first 25% of the book was a recap of who each of the enormous cast of characters. Their background. Who they are married to. Their happiness or problems they may have  had. So and so separated for a short time (I learned this tidbit twice). Even after Felicity and Gabe came together in the present we spent an even greater amount of time recapping their past. They used to go to the swimming hole. They used to hang out on the campsite sitting by the fire. They used to be best friends. Now you'd think they would have had a falling out over something significant but what it actually was about was Gabe giving Felicity unwanted advice about her career choice. Yep. That's it. He didn't cheat on her. She didn't use him to make a boyfriend jealous or do something super bad to make him hate her. Also, this was actually only 3 years ago so it makes it hard to believe they have grown up so much at this time.

The conversations between Gabe and Felicity are boring and pretty much just rehashing their past. As a matter of fact all the dialogue in this book is boring. There was a woman thrown into the story to add as potential conflict but that was only half realized and just weird.

One last thing...all the women in this story are purportedly strong and independent women. Yet all the men are the high powered educated millionaires. In one case one man is a multi-billionaire. Gabe just sold his start up company. I still have no idea what he does but he's a millionaire and his official title is (actually unofficial as this is my take on him) is start up company entrepreneurial. So, the women...one is a party planner, one is a caterer, one is children's author, one is an innkeeper, one is an ex-librarian, and one is the current librarian. None of these are shabby careers by any means but I find it grating the men in this book are all high powered ultra-rich CEOs. Why aren't any of the women architects or owners of the security firms?

In a Nutshell: I really thought this book was tedious. I couldn't wait for it to end. I'm sad this was my take on it because I really wanted to like it. I just couldn't.

 

The Raider by Monica McCarty

Synopsis: After consolidating his gains against the enemy English, King Robert the Bruce of Scotland sends his best soldiers to fortify the lawless borders. These legendary warriors of the Highland Guard let nothing come before king and country—except the calling of their heart.

Of all Bruce’s elite warriors, Robert “Raider” Boyd is the most formidable. A true patriot whose bare hands are a deadly weapon, Robbie is the fierce enforcer of the Guard, and his hatred of the English has been honed to a razor-sharp edge. But vengeance proves bittersweet when his enemy’s beautiful sister falls into his hands and he finds himself fighting temptation—a battle he badly wants to lose.

Lady Rosalin Clifford barely recognizes the rebel prisoner she saved from execution six years ago. Though her girlish ideals for fairness have matured into a passion for justice, Rosalin believes she betrayed her brother when she helped this dangerous man escape. Now her traitorous act has come back to haunt her. But she can’t deny the longing this tormented warrior ignites in her, or deny the passion that turns sworn enemies into lovers. Is the gentle love of a true English Rose enough to free Scotland’s most brutal warrior from a path of vengeance—before it’s too late?

My Thoughts: My second book by her and I'm wondering if Ms McCarty can do no wrong!

There is so much going on in my head about this book that I've started and restarted this review at least half a dozen times. All of a sudden I seemed to have lost my ability to put together something (anything) that truly makes sense. A review shouldn't be this difficult so I'm forgoing my usual paragraph review style and just doing bullet points.....

• Robbie--an amazing hunka burning Highlander Love. The strongest man in Scotland and completely smitten with someone he should hate. A bit too pigheaded when it came to his hatred of the English.
• Rosalin--a tad naive but in an endearing way, she quickly understood that the war between England and Scotland was not completely black and white. Her compassion for all, regardless of nationality or rank, was one of her greatest assets. She was smart and I never wanted to thwack her in the head because she did something to stupid to live.
• The rest of the Characters--extremely real and well drawn. 
• Rich in history--love McCarty's additional information after the Epilogue. She lets us know where she has taken liberties and why. Her usage of real places and people in her books add much more to the story than a typical historical romance. Those pale in comparison.
• The Sensuality--I'd say through the 70% mark the sexual tension between the H/h was pretty amazing. There was one bath scene in particular that I thought was a whole lot of awesome sauce although it was not a typical sex scene as Rosalin remained fully clothed. However, once Robbie and Rosalin actually had sex they had so much of it during the last 25% of the book it no longer felt sensual but more gratuitous.
• The Forever Be Thine Enemy shtick-- it made the book feel longer than necessary to be truthful.
• Robbie's declaration of Undying Love--I would have liked to have seen him brought to his knees in a more literal way when trying to prove his love for Rosalin. As it is written, I think it's a bit lackluster.
• Rosalin's acceptance of Robbie's declaration of Undying Love--she should have let him squirm more. 
• The Ending--all resolved quickly with little fanfare. How did Clifford's and Robbie's negotiations effect the war? I'm not sure they did other than to help us get our HEA.

In A Nutshell: Such an enjoyable book despite some minor issues I had with it. I will 100% continue reading this series because I love me some Highlanders and Monica McCarty knows how to write amazing ones.

Playing the Royal Game by Carol Marinelli

Synopsis: STOP THE PRESS:  THE SANTINA-JACKSON ROYAL FAIRY TALE -- FACT OR FICTION? — It seemed like every girl's dream:  fall in love with a prince and be whisked off for your very own glamorous happy-ever-after -- a royal fairy tale for Allegra Jackson and Prince Alessandro Santina. — Allegra's headline-grabbing family hardly prepared her for a life of public duty, and sinfully delicious Prince Alessandro has always seemed virtually allergic to the idea of settling down in Santa Maria.

Out of all the flamboyant, beautiful women his name's been linked with, the heir to the throne picked ordinary Allegra with the family from hell....


My Thoughts: I have mixed emotions about this book. I enjoyed it very much yet felt the I Love You's were out of place. 

Carol Marinelli did an excellent job of creating characters that I connected to. My heart broke for Allegra and I wanted to cheer for every character who bucked the Santina governing system. The characters were great. The plot was great. The romance could have been better.

Throughout the book the H/h were separated much of the time. When they were together they fought. Allegra was often saying how much Alex had changed from the man she met in London to the uptight cold fish he was in Santina. With that in mind I was not sure how she fell in love with him.

His inner thoughts of love, however,  were actually more believable. I liked that Marinelli didn't say 'and he realized he had loved her since they first met.' Nope. It was at the wedding that he realized he was falling in love with her. No instantaneous love at first sight which I very much appreciate!

I would recommend this book to fans of Harlequin and to not quite fans of category romances. Just keep in mind the I Love You's part is a little hard to swallow but overall you'll find this a great -- curl up in your favorite overstuffed chair by a warm fire on a cold afternoon -- read.

Street Game by Christine Feehan

Synopsis courtesy of http://www.christinefeehan.com/.....
For Mack McKinley and his team of GhostWalker killing machines, urban warfare is an art. But despite a hard-won knowledge of the San Francisco streets, Mack knows from experience that too many things can still go wrong. Danger was just another part of the game—and now he’s come face-to-face with a woman who can play just as tough.

She’s Jaimie, a woman with a sapphire stare so potent it can destroy a man. Years ago she and Mack had a history—volatile, erotic, and electric. Then she vanished. Now she’s walked back into Mack’s life, as a spy with more secrets than are good for her. Against all odds, she’s hooking up with Mack one more time to take on an enemy that could destroy them both, or bring them back together in one hot, no-holds-barred adrenaline rush.

My thoughts....

So, I have been a fan of Feehan since I picked up Dark Prince, the first book in her Carpathian series. I read one after another until I found myself eagerly waiting an entire year for the next delicious book to come out. Thankfully she has given her loyal fans several other series to snack on during the Carpathian lulls. One of which is her GhostWalker books. It took me a while to actually pick up the first in the series Shadow Game though. It was almost as if by picking up a book other then her Carpathians I was somehow cheating on them. Luckily the waiting for the next Carpathian book produced such a withdrawal I had to bite the bullet. I sighed and picked up Lily and Ryland's story and was hooked.

Once again Feehan introduced me to a fascinating world where not only are the men super Alpha but the women are equally capable. Both genders in her GhostWalker books can do extraordinary things. From mental telepathy to telekinesis they have it all. These are the characters that I was fascinated with my whole life. I wanted to be them....I wanted to wear Wonder Woman Underoos under my clothes to school. I wanted to be special.

So now you know my pathetic background let us jump to Feehan's latest installment of her GhostWalker series. Book #8 Street Game.

I really wanted to love this book. To not love it would be so wrong. Unfortunately, I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. I was just OK with it. It was a pleasant way to spend a few hours of my life. I don't regret reading it but I wasn't blown away by it either.

I found myself a little lost when starting the book because this book was about a totally different team of GhostWalkers that I knew nothing about. I really liked the old GhostWalkers....these were new ones. I wasn't comfortable with the new ones. OK, so I don't take to change very well. I recognize this flaw in my personality. While reading this book I just didn't feel the need to work on that particular part of me in order to like the book better.

I just didn't like Jaimie and Mack that much. Oh there was probably nothing wrong with them. But they weren't Gator and Flame. Although I did keep picturing Gary Sinese's character "Mack" from CSI:NY as this particular Mack. So I have a weird obsession with him. I think he's hot.

Anyway, even though I didn't like the main characters that much, I did find that the rest of this new GhostWalker team was super interesting. Javier really caught my attention. I can't wait for his book. Kane was another one. Oh, and don't forget about Joe.

I found the book easy to put down while I went about my business, often starting other books along the way. The steamy scenes were easy to skim (just an FYI I never skimmed Gator's steamy scenes....I'm pretty sure I read every word of every sentence. When I was done I went back and read them a second time even.) Most of the book smacked of crazy conspiracy stuff that normally would have resulting in major eye rolls and sarcastic remarks but knowing the background of Whitney and many of the baddies I was able to just go with it. I am afraid that if a new to The GhostWalkers reader would pick this particular book up they might never try another.

So, what did I like about this book??? After getting over the initial shock of not knowing any of these characters I was able to enjoy many members of this new team. I liked that even though none of my favorite past heroes were in this particular book there is hope intermingling. Jaimie did mention that she is in contact with one of the other ladies via computer. I want a giant family reunion (or would that be just union since most have never met) between all the GhostWalkers.

My advice is to read this book if you are a tried and true fan of the GhostWalker books. If you are new to The GhostWalkers you might want to start with an earlier one.

This is the spot where I tell you where to pick up your copy. A great book would get you a "Run right out to your local book store and dish out whatever they are asking. It's worth it". But since this is just an OK book I would advise you to get this book where ever you want. I keep all mine so prefer them brand spanking new (usually at Walmart prices) but I am a big advocate of the public library and that option will serve you well too.

On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn

Synopsis: A funny thing happened... — Unlike most men of his acquaintance, Gregory Bridgerton believes in true love. And he is convinced that when he finds the woman of his dreams, he will know in an instant that she is the one. And that is exactly what happened. — Except... She wasn't the one. In fact, the ravishing Miss Hermione Watson is in love with another. But her best friend, the ever-practical Lady Lucinda Abernathy, wants to save Hermione from a disastrous alliance, so she offers to help Gregory win her over. But in the process, Lucy falls in love. With Gregory!

Except... Lucy is engaged. And her uncle is not inclined to let her back out of the betrothal, even once Gregory comes to his senses and realizes that it is Lucy, with her sharp wit and sunny smile, who makes his heart sing. And now, on the way to the wedding, Gregory must risk everything to ensure that when it comes time to kiss the bride, he is the only man standing at the altar.

My Thoughts: The 8th and last installment of the Bridgerton books written by Julia Quinn was a wonderful story of Gregory who always knew true love existed. A romantic at heart he has watched all 7 of his siblings fall in love and marry knowing that he too would one day fall in love. And he did. While attending a week of festivities that his sister-in-law puts together. With the help of beautiful Hermoine Watson's best friend she will soon be his. Only love doesn't quite work out the way Gregory expects it to. It appears that when love comes calling it tends to make things quite difficult actually.

Overall I very much enjoyed this book. It felt a tad bit long especially through the middle when both hero and heroine profess their love for one another. I mean, once I love Yous are in place it is only a matter of pages before the happily ever afters get there. But this book was different. It shows that some times what you think you long for isn't always what you actually want.

This is definitely a book you should read if you have enjoyed the other Bridgerton books.