Review: Looking Inside

Looking Inside by Beth Kery
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Eleanor liked to stay over at her sister Caddy's place.  She has a hot, sexy neighbor who forgets to close the blinds when he has company over.  Eleanor has fantasies about this dude who has A LOT of sex.  It isn't until her sister's death that Eleanor re-evaluates her life and wants to be more adventurous.  She, who is normally very shy, steps out of her comfort zone.  

She decides to approach her crush, Trey, who also happens to be rich and is taking a sabbatical from women (they only want him for his cash).  But, oh!  Eleanor is different!  They can't resist each other.  

Both bond over shared loss and grief.  And they have a lot of sex.  Some drama too because Trey did know Caddy (from a work/client perspective only) and this causes some (very unnecessary) drama.

Just eh.  

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Review: Luck Be a Lady

Luck Be a Lady by Meredith Duran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5*

This is Catherine's (Catherine from the previous book who is part owner of Everleigh's auction house) and Nick's (Lilah/Lily's uncle) story.  Catherine has always loved and enjoyed her time in the auction house.  Her mother was critical and not open with her love.  Her dad loved the auction house and passed his love for it down to her.  Catherine didn't have the traditional upbringing and as such is a good business woman.   She can spot authentic from fake.  The only issues are she has to marry to gain access to her 1/2 of the business (and what husband would "allow" his wife to work) and her brother Peter who is embezzling money to fund his own political ambitions.  

Nick came from nothing and pulled himself up bit by bit.  He's self-taught and takes risks.  While he is also focused on making money so he never goes without again, he also takes care of his own (he changes a fair rent and takes care of upkeep on his properties, he helps fund the school and pays for meals for the kids who attend the school, etc).  And "his people" respect him.  He has always admired Catherine when Lily/Lilah went to work at Everleigh's.  So when Catherine proposes a marriage of convenience, he decides to take her up on it.  She gains her part of the family business and he gains more access into local politics to further his goals.  

I loved them together.  It does take Catherine time to realize that life isn't always black and white; there is a lot of gray.  They each compliment each other and share things that they haven't told anyone else.  I also liked that we got to see Lilah/Lily (and Christian) at the end of this.  My only complaint is I wanted an epilogue, something a few months later (or a year) to show what they were up to.

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Review: Big Sky River

Big Sky River by Linda Lael Miller
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Little Free Library read.

Tara is starting over in the small town of Parable, MT.  She lives next door to Bone who is also the local Sheriff and a widowed father to 2 boys.

Tara and Boone start out as enemies and gradually become more.  Complicating their relationship are Boone's 2 sons who are still healing from their mother's death and Tara's 2 step-daughters.  Tara had to walk a fine line with her ex to stay in her daughter's lives while keeping the ex happy.  

This was a more serious romance in that grief (and coping with that), divorce, parenting are front and center in the book with the romance secondary.  I picked this up expecting more of a romance.  

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Review: The Bodyguard

The Bodyguard by Anna Hackett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

.5*
Rome is ex-military and works at Norcross Security. Norcross pretty much does everything (security, investigations, etc). Sofie is a princess of a European country in town for a fundraiser; her charity- The Victoria Foundation which assists domestic violence survivors. She has a stalker and a need for a bodyguard. Enter Rome.
This had a decent amount of action and romance. Not too serious and just what I was in the mood for. I did like Sofie's dedication to the memory of her friend who was raped and later committed suicide. She also has an awesome secret job too. Rome opened about his traumatic past (his sister was kidnapped, raped, and murdered when they were children).

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Review: After the End

After the End by Katie Ruggle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nice brief update featuring each couple from the previous 4 books.  One couple gets engaged, another pregnant, another goes on a road trip, and another gets married.  

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Review: Sweep of the Blade

Sweep of the Blade by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Why did it take me so long to pick this up after reading the previous??? Anyway, this is Maud's (Dina's sister) story. Maud was previously married to a vampire. Melizard was scheming and betrayed his House and exiled with Maud and their daughter to a lawless planet. He was later killed because he betrayed the wrong people. This previous book details Dina coming to Maud's aid and the reunitment of siblings (they do not know the whereabouts of their brother Klaus or parents). There is fight at Dina's inn, Arland and Maud start to fall in love.
In this one, Maud travels with Arland to his home world and meets his vampire House. This is full of vampire politics, the knowledge of what will cause disrespect or respect, etc. I really liked Arland's acceptance of Helen, Maud's 5 year old daughter. I did think Helen seemed older than 5. It was pretty awesome seeing Maud's realization she was good enough for Arland. I would have liked a love scene beyond the fade to black one we did get.

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Review: Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America

Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Heather Cox Richardson is a college professor who also happens to write news summaries and more on social media.  My sister introduced me to her summaries.  When I saw this book, I wanted to check it out.  This is a nice history lesson and contains warnings.  

Are we a country that believes in "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?"  Or are we a country that believes it's every person for themselves and some inherently are better and more worthy than others?  Do we believe the federal government shouldn't have social safety nets?  

If we don't pay attention, if we don't trust our news sources & journalists, if we continue to believe conspiracy theories and lies, if we don't use our brains and think critically, we could be in trouble.  We are in trouble.  A certain person is leading polls right now & on track for the GOP nomination (again), despite a multitude of criminal changes and with most of those trials on indefinite hold, he will never be held accountable.  With one exception, he does have one trial going on now, but I'm not hopeful on that one.  We shall see.  If he wins in Nov 2024, I am scared.  

See: 

https://www.project2025.org/  

https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-conservatives-trump-heritage-857eb794e505f1c6710eb03fd5b58981

https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration

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Review: Dirty Sexy Saint

Dirty Sexy Saint by Carly Phillips
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Samantha runs away from her father's house to avoid marriage to a man she doesn't love, but one her dad likes and wants to take over his company.  (I usually find these story-lines so annoying; why couldn't the daughter take over the company?  Oh wait, she's not a man).  She's in her mid 20s and hasn't really done much on her own.

Clay (Saint) owns a bar.  Sam gets drunk at his bar (so smart) and throws up (so sexy) from all that ETOH.  He lets her stay with him since she doesn't have a place to stay or money.  She also starts to work as a waitress at the bar.  He wants her, but shouldn't (he likes it dirty).  But, wait, she likes it dirty too.  Just okay.  

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Review: The House of Hidden Meanings

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

RuPaul is someone I admire. He has a super fun and full of personality. He is so fun to watch. I listened to the audiobook which he narrates. It was interesting listening to stories of his childhood and things he had to overcome. I love the love and support he got from his mom. I enjoyed this.

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Review: Carniepunk: The Three Lives of Lydia

Carniepunk: The Three Lives of Lydia by Delilah S. Dawson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lydia ends up in Sang; an alternate world (I think?). There are bludmen (those who drink blood) and various carnivorous animals too (think bunnies, ie, bludbunnies). Point is, Lydia also very clearly has some sort of mental illness, so how much was in her head? Interesting.

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