Sunday, March 17, 2024

The Clue in the Old Stagecoach by Carolyn Keene, 180 pages

 Mrs. Strook requests Nancy’s help finding an old stagecoach she believes her uncle hid in her hometown of Francisville. Mrs. Strook believes the stagecoach houses a clue that will be valuable for the town! Can Nancy help her find the missing stagecoach?




Saturday, March 16, 2024

You Should Smile More by Anastasia Ryan, 245 pages

 Telemarketer Vanessa Blair isn't in love with her job. It pays the bills and feeds her foster kittens, but offers only one other perk: her friendships with Jane Delaney and Trisha Lam. But, as mind-numbing as her job is, things are about to get worse. Xavier Adams, her self-absorbed boss, calls Vanessa into the conference room and fires her. The reason? Her facial expressions. Apparently, she has resting bitch face, and it doesn't matter that her sales numbers are stellar or that she organizes office events.

After a girls' night of schnapps and imaginary retribution, Vanessa awakens to find her friends bent on a revenge strategy based on the classic business book The Art of War by Sun Tzu. At first, Vanessa wants nothing to do with it. She wants to file for unemployment and move on with her life, possibly with Carter Beckett, the cute, cat-loving unemployment rep assigned to her case. But when Xavier contests her unemployment and ruins her shot at her dream job, Vanessa is all in…



Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade, 403 pages

 Maria's one-night-stand--the thick-thighed, sexy Viking of a man she left without a word or a note--just reappeared. Apparently, Peter's her surly Gods of the Gates co-star, and they're about to spend the next six years filming on a desolate Irish island together. She still wants him...but he now wants nothing to do with her.

Peter knows this role could finally transform him from a forgettable character actor into a leading man. He also knows a failed relationship with Maria could poison the set, and he won't sabotage his career for a woman who's already walked away from him once. Given time, maybe they can be cooperative colleagues or friends--possibly even best friends--but not lovers again. No matter how much he aches for her.

For years, they don't touch off-camera. But on their last night of filming, their mutual restraint finally shatters, and all their pent-up desire explodes into renewed passion. Too bad they still don't have a future together, since Peter's going back to Hollywood, while Maria's returning to her native Sweden. She thinks she needs more than he can give her, but he's determined to change her mind, and he's spent the last six years waiting. Watching. Wanting.

His shipwrecked Swede doesn't stand a chance.



Friday, March 15, 2024

Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh, 277 pages

 Troy Alleyn, Inspector Roderick Alleyn's beautiful young wife, is engaged to paint a portrait of Sir Henry Ancred, famed Shakespearean actor and family patriarch, but she senses all is not well in the dreary castle of Ancreton. When old Henry is found dead after a suspicious dinner and an unfortunate family fracas, Troy enlists the impeccable aid of her husband to determine who among a cast of players would have a motive for murder -- and the theatrical gift to carry it out.




Sunday, March 10, 2024

Breaking the Billionaire's Rules by Annika Martin, 420 pages

 Max Hilton is my high school nemesis turned billionaire. And tomorrow I deliver his lunch order. In a cat costume.


You know he’s going to love it. He’ll smile that smirky smile, sitting there all superior in his gleaming tower, the wealthiest and most notorious playboy in all of New York, the king of everything.

Turns out it wasn’t curiosity that killed the cat—it was mortification.

I’m almost ready to quit my lunch delivery job, but then my roommate tosses me a copy of The Max Hilton Playbook: Ten Golden Rules for Picking up the Hottest Girl in the Room.

It’s the book that catapulted him to stardom. And it’s my new bible.

I’m going to use his own techniques against him. I’ll wrap him around my little finger, bring him to his knees, and crush his steely heart. Call it payback for all the single girls who had to endure legions of losers wielding his legendary tactics.

But seeing Max every day, I’m discovering a side of him
I didn’t even know existed--he’s not the jerky guy I thought he was. He has
this smile he shows only to me, and it melts my heart. His touch sends shivers
down my spine. And those forbidden kisses are driving me wild.

Falling for him was not in my plan.

Am I breaking his rules or will his rules break me first?



A Villain For Christmas by Alice Winters, 337 pages

 “I want you to help me rob a bank.”

The moment I heard those words, I should have slammed the door in my brother’s face and cracked open a book. Though if I had, I wouldn’t have run into August, the city’s main superhero… and the man of my dreams. He’s sexy, kind, and sweet—everything I’m supposed to dislike.

You see, I’m a villain… well, kind of. Honestly, I’d rather curl up and read than commit crimes, but life doesn’t always go the way I want it to, especially after being raised by some cut-rate villains who can’t even steal toilet paper without getting caught.

Suddenly, I find myself spending time with August and realize that maybe there is more to life than petting my hairless cat, but the issue is… what happens when he figures out that I’m Leviathan, an extremely powerful villain? Can he still love me regardless of who I am?

When actual supervillains start targeting August, I might be forced to show everyone who I truly am, but villains and heroes aren’t supposed to save each other, let alone fall in love.

Although, I’ve never been one to do what I’ve been told.



The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie, 212 pages

 It’s seven in the morning. The Bantrys wake to find the body of a young woman in their library. She is wearing evening dress and heavy make-up, which is now smeared across her cheeks.

But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry?

The respectable Bantrys invite Miss Marple to solve the mystery… before tongues start to wag.