Jane Litte's Blog, page 20

Review: The Man Who Lost His Pen (Ben Ames Files #2) by Gayleen Froese

Calgary PI Ben Ames expects a relaxing evening off as he supports his boyfriend, Jesse, one of the star performers at a charity concert. But it turns out relaxing isn’t on the program. When last-minute guest Matt Garrett shows up, it creates a frenzy backstage. An A-list movie star with an ego to match, Garrett has bad blood with many of the performers—Jesse included. So when Garrett turns up dead, Ben begins to dig for the truth, both to protect Jesse and to satisfy his own instinctive curiosi...

Open Thread for Readers for April 2024

Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general? Post about it here!

REVIEW: In Deed and in Truth by Embassie Susberry

Lillian Rose Atkins is tired. She’s tired of picking cotton, serving as a maid in a hotel, and taking care of her younger cousins. So when she receives an invitation from the mother she hasn’t seen in ten years to move to Chicago and take part in Chicago society, Lily jumps at the chance. This is her opportunity to finally have new things, be on the other side of service, and find a wealthy husband.

Rutledge “Rudy” Addison is tired. As an investigative journalist who reports on the facts of ly...

Review: Dead Lions (Slough Horses book 2) by Mick Herron

The CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning British espionage novel about disgraced MI5 agents who inadvertently uncover a deadly Cold War-era legacy of sleeper cells and mythic super spies.

The disgruntled agents of Slough House, the MI5 branch where washed-up spies are sent to finish their failed careers on desk duty, are called into action to protect a visiting Russian oligarch whom MI5 hopes to recruit to British intelligence. While two agents are dispatched on that babysitting job, though, an old Col...

REVIEW: Dear Hugo by Molly Clavering

“When the time comes for you to retire, Hugo, if you want a quiet life, don’t settle down in the country. Bury yourself in London or any really large city, and you can live like a hermit, but avoid the outskirts of a village. I am dazed by the ceaseless whirl of activities in which almost everyone in and round Ravenskirk is involved.”

Sara Monteith makes an ideal correspondent for Hugo Jamieson, brother of her lost love Ivo, killed in the war before they could marry. Her neighbours in the lo...

REVIEW: Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey

Dear Tessa Bailey,

I have been so looking forward to this book! When I heard from trusted romance friends that Fangirl Down rivaled It Happened One Summer – my favourite of your books up to then – my excitement only mounted. I’m here to say Fangirl Down lived up to its promise. It was funny, sexy (very) and pretty much hit every one of my good book buttons.

Wells Whittaker is a pro golfer who’s been in a slump for the past two years. He came onto the scene five years ago and won a couple of majo...

REVIEW: Royal Audience: 70 Years, 13 Presidents–One Queen’s Special Relationship with America by David Charter

70 years on the throne. 13 American presidents. One extraordinary queen.

From the moment she first enchanted the world as a youthful princess, Queen Elizabeth II found a unique place in American hearts—and she also played an unprecedented role in forging transatlantic ties. Over her seventy-year reign, she developed extraordinary and varied personal bonds with thirteen U.S. presidents—Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, both Bush Sr. and Jr., Clinton, Obama, Trump, and ...

REVIEW: The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger

Dear Ms. Unger:

I requested this from Netgalley and then sort of sat on it for a bit; what I remembered of the blurb hadn’t really resonated. Said blurb:

Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never su...

Review: The Girl Whose Luck Ran Out ( Ben Ames Files #1) by Gayleen Froese

Can a disillusioned former cop track down a missing girl before it’s too late?

Seven years ago, criminologist Ben Ames thought he’d change a big city police force from the inside. He failed. Now he’s a private detective trailing insurance frauds and cheating spouses through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Like police work, the job would be easier if he didn’t have a conscience.

When university student Kimberly Moy goes missing, her sister begs Ben to take the case. But before Ben can foll...

REVIEW: Matzah Ball Blues (Holidays, Heart and Chutzpah Book 2) by Jennifer Wilck

Why is this night different from all other nights?

For starters, Jared Leiman is home for the holidays. Because though he and Caroline Weiss were high school sweethearts, their postcollege lives took them in different directions. Jared became a big-time entertainment lawyer in LA, while Caroline became a fitness instructor and stayed in town to care for her sick mother. And though her mother passed away three years ago, Caroline is finally free to go where she chooses. Meanwhile Jared, who in...