Ex in the City
by Portia MacIntosh

Amazon  / B&N / BB

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

He’s not so much my one that got away, more the one I was lucky to get away from.

My eyebrows, over the years, went on a real journey, and not a nice one like a holiday, a chaotic one, like Lord of the Rings.

I swear it’s darker over there, where they’re sitting, because even the sun finds them a bit much. It’s almost as though they’ve drawn an invisible circle around themselves, creating an impenetrable bubble of hostility and drama.

…he’s matured like a fine wine, whereas I’m maturing more like a cheese.

Jo claps her hands so loudly that one of the older women at the other side of the playground ducks.

My Review:

I enjoy the clever stylings and humorous content in the writing style of this amusing scribe, her characters’ inner musings and colorful observations never fail to keep me smirking throughout perusal. I do love a good second-chance romance and copious servings of wry humor helped to prevent the angst and regrets of their bumpy past from overpowering the tone of this one. The storylines were somewhat slow and taunting initially, which found me a bit restless and annoyed, although Ms. MacItosh redeemed herself with her deft lashings of comedic wit. I remain her devoted acolyte.

About the Author

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Portia MacIntosh is the bestselling author of over 20 romantic comedy novels.

From disastrous dates to destination weddings, Portia’s romcoms are the perfect way to escape from day to day life, visiting sunny beaches in the summer and snowy villages at Christmas time. Whether it’s southern Italy or the Yorkshire coast, Portia’s stories are the holiday you’re craving, conveniently packed in between the pages.

Formerly a journalist, Portia has left the city, swapping the music biz for the moors, to live the (not so) quiet life with her husband and her dog in Yorkshire.

Favorite Quotes:

She and Nicola were the golden twins. They had apparently fought a fierce battle to come out of the womb first and hadn’t stopped since, their ferocious rivalry spurring both of them on to stratospheric heights. Childhood family games of Trivial Pursuit had frequently led to fisticuffs and Twister was banned in the Martin household for fear it would lead to a repeat of The Great Battle of Christmas 1990.

His dark beard was so impressive it deserved its own Instagram account.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and gasped in horror. Not so much a blushing bride as a victim of a zombie apocalypse.

Pen looked as if she had spent last night bathing in Evian while being massaged by angels. Being near her made Clio shrivel by comparison.

Pies devoured, she was grabbing handfuls of cakes now. Pink, white, honey-glazed, she didn’t care. She just kept shoving them in her mouth. Crumbs were flying around her like the confetti… At other tables, people guarded their cakes and their teapots, as if expecting her to attack.

Clio looked a little too enthusiastic for Amber’s liking. The kickboxing instructor had reported back to Amber that Clio scared him and asked whether she had any unresolved issues.

…it felt like they were strangers at a bad party before anyone finds the booze.

My Review:

I’ve had so much fun reading this series that I never want it to end. Katie Marsh has such a delightful wit that I want to immerse myself in her entire listing. Her brilliant and clever arrangements of words were buoyant,  agile, and so keenly honed they kept a smooth reel flowing through my gray matter and often had me chuckling as well as barking aloud with laughter. In addition to the hilarious scenarios the trio fell into and the unfortunate hen party activity choices forced upon them, a well-plotted mystery was afoot that only the Bad Girls could have solved. I adore them all and am eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Stunning views across the Grand Canal and a hotel suite fit for royalty… Lady Eleanor Swift is having a jolly good time on her Italian vacation, until a gondola ride is cut murderously short!

1924. Lady Eleanor Swift has been on a grand tour around Italy for a month with her butler Clifford. Finally arriving in Venice, she’s thrilled to be attending the famous carnival: all that’s needed is the perfect bejewelled costume for her faithful bulldog, Gladstone. But on her first gondola ride to take in the sights, a passenger collapses into the canal with a knife sticking out of his back.

Eleanor saw an argument break out between the gondolier and the victim, Councillor Benetto Vendelini, and it turns out they’re rivals from the city’s two great families. Vendelini’s murder is sure to reignite their centuries-long feud. While attending a glitzy ball that night, Eleanor learns of a plot to steal a precious family heirloom from the Vendelini household. Is the stolen item the key to solving this baffling murder?

In this floating city of tiny winding alleyways, Eleanor traces the missing heirloom to an antiques dealer in a far-flung corner of town. But when her handbag is snatched by a cloaked thief, she realises the murderer is dangerously close. Can Eleanor unmask this most cunning of killers, before she joins the other victim at the bottom of the Grand Canal?

An utterly gripping historical murder mystery set in Italy, full of intrigue and charming characters. Fans of T.E. Kinsey, Agatha Christie and Catherine Coles will be totally hooked by A Death in Venice!

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘Still harbouring a yearning to join the profession, my lady? Rigidly following a routine meal schedule and indulging in only lady-like portions?’ She shook her head in horror. ‘Not a chance, Clifford. What a hideous idea!’

Clifford! I’ve just had the most extraordinary moment where words came out of my mouth before I’d even had the thought.

‘You shouldn’t be mixed up in any of this awful trouble, anyway. I so wanted you to come away purely for a holiday.’ ‘Which it has been,’ he said drily. ‘In inimitable Lady Swift style; replete with inappropriate venues, danger and, ahem, bodies.

If a compliment was intended, please forgive my having missed it.

 

My Review:

 

I adore this delightful series. The crafty writing duo known as Verity Bright just keeps getting better with each new addition. Their writing style is smooth, witty, wryly amusing, and unfailingly entertaining. This installment was opulently detailed with the brilliance and colorful splendor of Venice and had me wanting to pack my bags and hop on a gondola myself. The mystery was well-plotted and unsolvable for anyone but the uncanny brain trust found in the pairing of Lady Swift and her infinitely prepared butler, Clifford.

About the Author

Favorite Quotes:

Maybe Amber’s lethal margaritas had tipped her over the edge– cocktails mixed by someone doing the Macarena were always going to be a risk.

Clio had thought that slipping a disc while doing up her bra would go down in history as her worst birthday ever, but it appeared that life always had new treats in store.

Clio could always say anything. She specialised in speaking her truth, no matter how unwilling the world was to hear it.

It must be nice, having an inheritance. All Gary’s dad had left him were freckles and an allergy to freshly cut grass.

She was so full of aggression she had practically grown spikes.

How had Amber managed to work with him for so long? He was the kind of person who enjoyed reading instruction manuals. Out loud.

Clio wondered how science had come far enough to be able to get Richard Branson into space and yet still hadn’t solved the problem of nasal hair.

My Review:

I adored this wittily penned and vastly enjoyable read and was thrilled to realize it is the start of a new series. The writing was giggle-snort and smirk-worthy from start to finish with cunning insights and wry humor lacing it all together.

Katie Marsh is a sly storyteller who has weaved an entertaining and immersive tale with delightfully humorous observations and keenly penned descriptions that drew sharp visuals to my mind’s eye. I was thoroughly engaged, pleasantly entertained, deeply invested, and highly amused and resented any interruptions to my perusal.

The main characters were deeply flawed yet authentic and admirable as they were living their lives and still deeply bonded from childhood while now in middle age, despite their divergent paths and odd personal quirks. I can’t wait to dive into the next installment.

Favorite Quotes:

She should have asked Mira how she’s managed to survive, because with the way Jenkins is looking at her, Eve is not sure she wants to.

People are never satisfied with what they have. They crave the unknown, the dangerous, the forbidden. And then, when they find themselves immersed in it, they cry out for the safety of their former lives.

I didn’t realize how bankrupt you were— morally and emotionally. Money can’t fix that.

Eve can almost taste the irony. For all her persuasive charm and cunning, it took becoming someone’s lifeline to glimpse her own humanity.

My Review:

This was gritty, cringe-worthy, and skin crawling creepy… yet I couldn’t put it down. I have to admit, I worry what that means about me! As is often the case with Ms. King’s brutally provocative, propulsive, and twisty tales; surprises popped out around every corner and few of the characters were even marginally trustworthy. What a nest of vipers. I couldn’t decide who was the second most heinous sociopath as there were so many to choose from.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

One thing Thorne learned early on in fatherhood was that lying to your child was the key to domestic harmony. Carrots were what dwarves ate to give them the ability to see in dark mines, and if you ate yours before they cooled, you, too, might be able to spot gemstones in the dark. Baths were necessary because they washed away any leftover bad dreams from the night before. If you didn’t go to sleep, you wouldn’t grow big enough to ride a unicorn. Unicorns lived in Cheshire and only let little girls who ate their vegetables ride them.

Sadie had been the one to precipitate his proposal to Mrs. Merkle, although not as enthusiastically as she’d advocated for him to marry Miss Highland, the milliner (she had a nice smile and Sadie would always have new bonnets), or their neighbor Mrs. Downwith (septuagenarian she might be, but she enjoyed baking biscuits and had a lapdog Sadie found charming).

The commotion amid the congregation this morning rivaled the time Mrs. Inglewood fell so fast asleep that she’d toppled off her pew and woke screaming that the devil had finally come to get her.

My Review:

I rarely read this genre but I would more often if they were all as cleverly penned and compelling a tale as this one. Elizabeth Everett has mad skills and I am her newest acolyte. I fell into her poignant and heart squeezing arrangements of words that were brilliantly peppered with amusing lashing of wit and wry humor as well as insightful observations. Her characters were uniquely drawn while each was deeply flawed yet endearing, hard-working, and mostly well- intended. I adored them while also wanting to give them a thump or two with my Kindle.

Murder in Moscow
Fiona Figg Mystery #8
by Kelly Oliver

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

She flashed her broken smile again… She smelled like stale onions and weasel.

Even after I’d scrubbed with the perfumed soap, I still smelled the lingering scent of fear.

I looked like a prudish spinster destined to spend the rest of her life reading about romance instead of actually experiencing it.

When she spoke, she sounded like a honeybee buzzing, soft and melodious.

I thought of one of my grandmother’s sayings: Old enough to know better and young enough not to care. I was neither.

My Review:

This installment of the popular series gave me new respect for the clever Kitty Lane, she is quite resourceful as well as agile. The engaging storylines were active, lushly detailed, unpredictable, and populated with a wide assortment of complex characters and occasional lashings of humorous observations. Ms. Oliver’s devious scheming is far too smart for me. The little pea in my brain was unable to put the various clues together to arrive at any semblance of the end result.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Esther was from an age where loving your neighbor meant loving your actual neighbor, not just adding an emoji to your Twitter name in times of crisis.

Olivia was pregnant with her first and acted as if it made her incapable of lifting a dirty cup into the dishwasher.

The funeral ladies grouped organic devotees in with PETA activists, war criminals, and people who bought designer shoes. One time Iris’s dad had accidentally brought plant-based queso to a cookout at Esther’s, and they’d acted as if he’d murdered an entire village.

It was so different from Los Angeles, where everyone walked around as if they might bestow upon you the honor of doing them a favor.

Mary Frances had come into the world screaming and never stopped. The nurse kept asking, What’s her name? What’s her name? right after she was born, and Esther couldn’t even hear the question. Her daughter refused to be put down for the first two years of her life. They had her tested for everything under the sun, but she didn’t have any medical problems. Just an opinion, at such a young age.

My Review:

I adored this tale as well as all the inhabitants residing within. The characters were knowable and endearing, as well as amusing and authentically drawn. I fell right into their storylines and felt for each and every one of them as their vulnerabilities and regrets were exposed. Ms. Swinarski’s agile writing was well-honed, well-paced, and perceptively scripted. I’ll be on the lookout for more of her clever arrangements of words.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Nothing was ever out of place in Victoria Blake’s kitchen. Even the plastic storage boxes on the bottom shelf all had their matching lids, proving to Tasha’s mind that her mother had done a deal with Satan at some point because how else to explain such an unnatural thing?

My Review:

This was a fun and vastly entertaining read that was enjoyable from start to finish. The storylines were unfailingly engaging, amusing, busy, and creatively detailed with a variety of activities and a full cast of uniquely quirky characters. I jumped into the series with book three, and although I didn’t struggle to keep up, I feel deeply compelled to read the first two for my own self-indulgence. I adored it!