Review: Sheriff's Honor

I put Sheriff's Honor by Jill Sorenson on my Goodreads "currently reading" shelf two weeks ago but hadn't actually started reading it. Why? Because my continued slump of just not reading much of anything continues to hold me in a vice grip that is getting exceedingly hard to shake. But with a lazy Sunday ahead of me, with no commitments or chores standing in my way, I was bound and determined to try to read something. The half-finished celebrity memoir I'm trying to decide if I want to finish held little appeal - so what the hell, I'll start the Sorenson. Gentle reader, I didn't read this book so much as inhale it. Like a woman who has been wandering the desert and just stumbled across a refreshing oasis. Lord almighty, I love being in the hands of a professional. 

This is the second book in the His to Protect trilogy and while it stands alone okay, I do think the reading experience is richer when you have the background of the first book under your belt. The reason for that is because our hero is Wade Hendricks, former sheriff's deputy of Last Chance, Texas who fancied himself in love with the heroine of the first book - which obviously didn't work out in his favor. His father was the sheriff, and not to put too fine a point on it, a real son of a bitch. So Wade accepts a job offer in Lost Lake, Texas, but it's not a completely fresh start. He's trading in Dear Old Dad for his alcoholic, pill-popping mother.

He arrives on his mother's family ranch only to get greeted by the wrong end of a shotgun. Meredith Rose (going by the assumed name of Mary Meadows) is a stray Wynona picked up and hired as a caretaker. Mary feeds the animals and takes care of the property. She had no idea that Wynona had a son, so a strange man drinking a can of soda in the kitchen, coupled with her past - of course she fired a warning shot. But these two don't have much time to dwell on their "meet cute" because just as they're sorting all that out? Tornado sirens start blaring. 

It hits the ground running from there. Wade has a new job to settle into and enough familial baggage to keep a team of psychiatrists busy for years. "Mary" is pretty as a picture but skittish as hell, and most definitely running from something. On top of this you have the aftermath of the tornado, including skeletal remains found near the lake. Think of a messy small town contemporary romance with a light suspense thread featuring Messy AF characters and more angsty drama than you can shake a stick at - well, is it any wonder I tore through this in a day?

However, much like the first book, it's not perfect. I read it in a day, so I'm not really sure how much I care that it's not perfect? But let's just say there are some sticking points here. To be honest, the author takes the easy way out with Meredith's Big Secret. I mean, she kind of has to I think or else this book would need about 200 more pages to resolve it. Also, the resolution to the skeletal remains raised both my eyebrows. Why? Two words. Or maybe it's one hyphenated word? Cover-up. Is justice served? Ummm. Was what happened justified? Ummm. To be honest I'm not even sure how I feel about this ending, but Wade being a sheriff's deputy, plus given how the first book ended, let's just say nothing here is black and white. As much as I enjoyed this book start to finish, even I'm conflicted as I sit down to write this half-assed cryptic review. Bad people get what's coming to them, so there is that -  but in true Sorenson fashion, it's messy.

But there's no denying that Sorenson excels at world-building, melding contemporary romance with suspense, and creating Messy AF characters. I was swept away in this story from the first sentence and I was gripped to the final page. I'm so glad Sorenson is back after a hiatus - because good heavens, I've missed her.

Final Grade = B+

April Showers: Unusual Historicals for April 2026

Y'all, I recommend before you start reading this post that you hydrate, stretch and do some breathing exercises because we have 17 (!) titles featured in this month's Unusual Historicals post. Even if I discount the two late March releases that I didn't catch in time for last month, and the one reprint, we're still looking at 14 (!) titles. I feel a little like a car salesman advertising on local television in a loud plaid jacket declaring a bonanza of choices! Everything must go! Done with stretching? Have something drink? OK then, let's dive in...

How to Fake It in Society by KJ Charles

It is 1821 and Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de La Motte is making a splash in London Society. The son of Jeanne de Valois de La Motte, infamous for stealing a priceless diamond necklace meant for Marie Antoinette, Nico hopes to restore his wronged mother's reputation, if only he can raise the funds. But he must operate with great secrecy, because the Bourbon dynasty murdered his mother, and he fears for his life.

At least, that's what he tells Titus Pilcrow. Titus was a simple shopkeeper, making and selling artists' paints, when he found himself suddenly married to an immensely wealthy woman who wanted to disinherit her nephew on her deathbed. As word spreads of his fortune, Titus finds himself a target of every scammer and beggar in London...including one Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de La Motte.

Nico is on his last legs, out of money, and on the run from some terrifying gangsters. When Titus offers Nico a space in his household, it's the perfect chance for him to exploit London's newest golden purse--until he falls in love with the man he needs to cheat. Still, Nico is sure they can have a happy ending together. If he can just find his way out of his own web of lies...

We've got a con man with gangsters on his tail and a shopkeeper who comes into a windfall who has every fortune hunter gunning for him - including the con man. Naturally the con man ends up falling for his mark, and complications ensue. As if gangsters weren't complicated enough...

Never After by Alexis Hall

On the grim streets of London, a young man succumbs to his demons. Discarded by his lover and left penniless and alone, Michael “Micha” Dashwood uses sex to pay the bills and opium to numb the pain.

When a sudden illness strikes, all seems lost. But hope finds Micha in the shape of the Reverend Thomas Mandeville. Haunted by grief of his own, Thomas cannot bear to ignore another man’s plight. He brings the ailing Micha home to heal in his parish at Nettlefield.

As Micha recovers under Thomas’s care, he begins to realize that some people in this world are worthy of trust. Thomas, in turn, learns the truth of his own needs and desires. Between the secrets of the past and the burdens of the present, their future together seems impossible. Questions of faith and the shadow of opium continue to haunt them both.

Yet possibilities, like miracles, can be found wherever you look for them.

An opium addicted hustler falls ill (surprise!) and is rescued by a grieving Reverend. Y'all I just....

Stolen by Her Viking Enemy by Roxy Harper

Swords are drawn…

sparks will fly!

For years, shieldmaiden Kara has suffered her stepfather’s cruelties to ensure her secret daughter’s safety. So being seized at swordpoint by Aksel, her stepfather’s ruthless enemy, feels like switching one captivity for another. Until glimpses of the man beneath the armor have her wondering if her captor could be her savior…

Raised in Constantinople, Aksel has returned to his Viking roots to avenge the destruction of his grandfather’s jarldom. Taking Kara was just part of his revenge. But when he realizes they have a common enemy, can his betrayal-scarred heart learn to trust—and love—again?

Shieldmaiden heroine under the thumb of a wicked stepfather is taken captive by an enemy of said stepfather, and well this situation is not any better...or is it?

The Duke's Got Mail by Samara Parish

Anonymous love letters are all well and good… until you discover you’ve been flirting with the enemy.

 

Eleanor Wright is the best compositor in London and in high demand with every printing press in town. But when whispers spread of a new machine that could put her out of a job, writing to a mysterious pen pal quickly becomes her only relief from a life that’s coming apart like a badly bound book.

Peter Montgomery, Duke of Strafford, has spent years trying to get his estate out of debt. Now he finally has the solution in a machine set to revolutionize the publishing industry. If only finding a wife was as straightforward. Peter wants a lady who cares about him, not his title. Someone like his charming, witty pen pal—the only person in London who knows his most intimate secrets but not his real name. But when Peter’s invention makes them bitter rivals in person, can the bond they’ve created on paper survive the test?

A riff on The Shop Around the Corner (or You Got Mail - whatever) featuring a typesetter heroine and a hero hoping that his invention that would make her job obsolete will haul his estate out of debt. It's straight up enemies to lovers with the added the wrinkle that neither of them realize they're pen pals. 

Becoming His Dollar Duchess by Bronwyn Scott

She’s entirely unsuitable…

but everything he desires!

To gain control of her family’s sourdough empire, American heiress Zephyrine Duval must marry a titled Englishman—or her father’s dubious choice! Beginning her husband hunt among London’s high society, she encounters the divinely handsome, British as tea, but thoroughly disapproving Hale Eberley, Duke of Sunderland…

Hale has no desire or need for a dollar princess bride. Except the grumpy duke is begrudgingly drawn to vivacious Zephy’s sunny charm! So when Zephy sets her sights on a rakehell for a husband, Hale is compelled to step in…but will he meet her at the altar himself?

Repeat after me: SOURDOUGH HEIRESS!!!!!

The Undercover Heiress by Catherine Tinley

An innocent deception…

could cost her everything!

Voyaging to England and the fiancé she’s never met, Manhattan heiress Sophia Van Bergen is desperate for one last adventure before becoming an ornamental wife. She convinces her late aunt’s maid to swap places temporarily, giving her access to an exciting new below stairs world at the Earl of Hartington’s estate. But when she starts to fall for her employer, Sophia realizes she’s in for a bigger adventure than she bargained for! Hart is in search of a wealthy wife, and Sophia has the money to save him, but will the cost of revealing her deception prove too high?

This is the second book in Tinley's The Prince and the Pauper inspired duet. She's an American heiress looking for one last adventure, posing as her late aunt's maid - and then she has to go and fall in love with her employer. Um, oops!

A Dangerous Chemistry by Jo Benedict

The bastard daughter of an underworld crime lord wouldn't usually be a candidate to deliver vengeance, but she’s never been conventional…

London 1888

Frankie Smith has waited long years to bring her father, a powerful crime lord, to justice after he murdered someone she loved. Now that he’s kidnapped a high-profile heiress, Frankie teams up with the girl’s fiancé to make sure the crime doesn’t go unpunished.

Scientist Thaddeus Bruce, Viscount Caldwell, is on the verge of developing a method to sanitize public water. He’s also flat broke. To finance his research, he’s agreed to marry a sweet-tempered heiress who shares his passion for chemistry. So when a strange woman arrives in his washroom and claims his new fiancée has been kidnapped, he’ll do whatever he must to recover her--even follow this street rat into the St. Giles underworld.

Together, they search for answers and discover secrets that span oceans. But though pursuing criminals proves increasingly dangerous, their greatest risk may be the chemistry between them.

Illegitimate daughter of a late Victorian crime lord has vowed vengeance against Dear Old Dad. When Daddy kidnaps an heiress, our heroine teams up with the chit's scientist fiancée to rescue her - and then they have to go and do a silly thing like fall in love. 

The Heart of a Rake by Abigail Bridges

Their primary goal in Society is just to have fun. Until two four-year-olds—and the possibility of economic ruin—change everything.

Lord Mark Rydell is a rakehell known for entertaining the widows and lonely wives of the ton, with no interest in marriage. A veteran of the Peninsular War, he is rumored to have been involved in more than a few boxing matches and duels, most arising from his sarcastic wit and lack of respect for all things Society. He has a mistress, the controlling interest in a gaming hell, and no desire to change any of it.

Lady Judith Lovelace, now the dowager countess of Sculthorpe, has turned her widowhood into an ongoing party. Thirty-eight and dedicated to making the best of her beauty and stamina while they last, she is determined to entertain as many of the young blades of Society as possible. Her only other focus is her three sons, whom she adores with her whole heart.

So when her devious stepson pointedly introduces her to the charming Lord Mark Rydell, Judith knew some wicked scheme was afoot. She remains suspicious even as she’s inexplicably drawn to the handsome rogue’s clever wit. She knows he has secrets—what man doesn’t? So does she.

But it will be her stepson’s secrets that threaten everything they hold dear. As their lives unravel, Mark and Judith join forces to prevent the impending ruin, even if it means all the secrets will be brought into the light.

He's a rake, she's a merry widow, and they're introduced by her wicked stepson who is up to something, but what exactly? With ruin about to rain down upon their heads they have no choice but to join forces.

The Trouble with Seduction by Jess Michaels

After watching her two sisters fall in love and marry, courtesan Julia Comerford is ready to get out of the life. She thinks the best way to do it is to marry her current protector, a viscount whose sweet words are everything she longs to hear. Only one problem: he has a serious, nosy and entirely too attractive cousin who is trying to tear them apart.

Despite being younger, Alexander has been trying to clean up his cousin's messes for years. This engagement to an infamous courtesan is just the latest. Only the more he gets to know Julia, the more he sees her for the irresistible, intelligent person she is. And the most he realizes that it isn’t his cousin who needs to be saved from her…but her who needs to be saved from family.

As the engagement falls apart, the anger and passion between these two opposites bubbles over, leading to a passion that is as unexpected as it is explosive. But there are going to be consequences to what Alexander has done. And it may only be Julia who can save him in the end.

This is the third book in the authors Comerford Courtesans series that features, well - courtesan heroines. She's looking for a way out and thinks marrying her current protector is the way to do that. Standing in her way? The man's highly annoying, and attractive, cousin. 

Duchess in Diamonds by Jennifer Ashley

London, 1816

When Eamon calls on the widowed Duchess of Aylesmore to assess her late husband’s art collection, he hardly imagines she’ll be young, lovely, and in desperate straits. Caro Aylesmore, raising her nine-year-old son alone and drowning in her husband’s debts, hopes the paintings will save them.

Dragged across Europe by his trickster father, Eamon learned all about art, including frauds and forgeries. He hates disappointing the late duke’s beautiful second wife—so much so that he impulsively offers to search the entire house for anything of value.

He's not certain why he's being so gallant. But Caro’s quiet resilience reaches him in ways he can’t explain, and young Leo, the new duke, is already finding a place in Eamon’s heart.

Caro faces more than stern debt-collectors. Her husband’s ambitious nephew aims to claim Leo for himself, and is all too eager to expose Eamon as the fraud he once was. If scandal touches Caro, she could lose her beloved son to a man who covets the title more than the boy.

As Caro falls for the disarming Eamon, she faces an impossible choice: her heart, or her son’s future.

Eamon may have to sacrifice his own happiness to keep her safe—even if it means losing the wager and his heart.

It's been a minute since Ashley has published a new historical romance and this is the start of a new series. She's a penniless widow hoping her late husband's art collection will pay off his creditors. He's the son of a con man who knows a whole lot about art thanks to Dear Old Dad. Falling in love is a complication neither needs, but of course they do.

Seven Brides for Beau McBride by Amy Barry

Beau McBride reckons he’s ready for marriage. But his ego is bigger than his brain, and his little sister Junebug can’t trust him to find the right woman. So they make a bet, both placing ads in the Matrimonial News for mail-order brides. But when she discovers that Beau has already made his pick, Junebug decides to even the odds ... by inviting six more brides to meet her brother.

 

Ellie Neale doesn’t expect much from life – and life hasn’t given her much, except a head full of daydreams and her beautiful best friend Diana. And now Diana has answered an ad to be a mail-order bride – with some letter-writing help from Ellie – and she's leaving for Montana. Unwilling to lose her only friend, Ellie answers an ad of her own, which will take her to the same town Diana is headed for. But there's a hitch: when they arrive, Ellie and Diana realise they're here for the same husband. Along with five other women!

 

With seven brides vying for Beau’s attention, he needs to make a decision – fast. The only problem is, his heart longs for the one woman who wants nothing to do with him.

Barry wraps up her McBrides of Montana series and once again sister Junebug has to save one of her brothers from himself. The complication? Junebug invites out six more potential brides for our hero and our heroine discovers her and her BFF both answered the ad for the exact same husband!  Well that's OK, because turns out our heroine isn't interested once she meets the hero - and of course that means she's now the only one for him.

The Highlander's English Rose by Elizabeth Heights

Betrothed to the Lord and in love with the Highlander.

1333 A.D. The English have proclaimed triumph over the Scots in their long-waging war. Far from the scene of battle is a beautiful widow who has everything… except her vanishing youth and the family she’s always longed for.

Isabella will do whatever it takes to become a mother. Despite her misgivings, she accepts a marriage proposal from the new Laird of Greenock—a man she barely knows—and embarks on the long journey north to Scotland.

She is blithely unaware that Hamish, the rightful Laird of Greenock, is lying in wait for her at her ancestral home, Ember Hall.

Hamish will spend his last breath reclaiming his birthright. He intends to kidnap Isabella and negotiate terms with the English usurper who has stolen his lands, his title and his younger sister. He isn’t anticipating that the woman known as The Rose of England will turn his plans upside down with her surprising courage and steely determination.

As temperatures plunge and snow makes both a prisoner, passion sparks between the Highland warrior and the earl’s daughter. Against all the odds, they begin to believe in the possibility of happiness. But the course of true love never runs smooth, and Isabella and Hamish soon discover that their problems are only just beginning.

This is the fourth book in the author's Sisters of Ember Hall series. A widowed heroine desperate for children takes a flier and agrees to marry a new laird. Except turns out the man she's planning on marrying isn't the rightful heir. That man, our hero, ends up kidnapping her. As you do. 

A Courtship in the Highlands by Kate Robbins

Love may demand the ultimate betrayal of loyalty.

Agnes Sinclair, daughter to the Earl of Caithness, has been sent to Stirling Castle to make her debut and become one of the queen’s ladies in waiting. Traveling with her uncle, John Sinclair, she scarce pays attention to his prattling on about how the king is hell bent on turning the country soft with his flowery poets and pretty parties. She’s far more interested in discovering all the delights the King’s Court has to offer. Upon her arrival, she is grateful for the respite from her uncle and ever more intrigued by the enigmatic Earl of Montrose.

William Graham, Earl of Montrose, hails from a long line of nobles aligned with the monarchy of Scotland to maintain its independence from England. Fully supportive of the king’s new approach, he offers to assist when the king informs him of a band of rebels rumored to make an attempt on the monarchs. Prepared for a confrontation with brawny Highlanders, he is shocked to discover, at the center is a seemingly innocent yet confident young woman the like he has never seen in King James’s court.

Agnes and William’s journey is wrought with passion, betrayal, and deceit requiring a giant leap of faith. Attempt it they shall, but the question remains, where will their loyalties fall?

This is the second book in the Thistle and Rose series and features a heroine looking forward to experiencing life at court. Our hero is looking to ferret out a band of rebels and is surprised to discover that the heroine is somehow at the center of it all.

Fashioning a Knight by Eva Starling

A draper’s daughter with high ambition, a troubled knight who can help her, and a gown that could make or break them and their tempestuous relationship.

Alyson Fox has one goal: to serve as a dressmaker to a highborn lady. And as the daughter of a successful cloth merchant in the bustling English town of Thetford, she believes she has the skill to achieve this lofty ambition. Her father, however, would rather see his only daughter marry and marry soon. Opportunity arrives when the town bailiff and Alyson’s awkward suitor arranges a great coronation banquet to honor King Richard the Lionheart, who has just reclaimed his throne. But when a poor, taciturn knight on the outs with the king for reasons only he knows unexpectedly joins the Fox household, the young dressmaker finds herself distracted and annoyed–until she concocts a scheme that will benefit them both.

Lord Berengar of Ashenham killed for his faith and king on the bloody sands of the Holy Land—and more. Now in disgrace, he seeks redemption, although he doesn’t know what to do other than await the king’s call. In dire need of cash, he agrees to teach the son of cloth merchant a few tricks of his trade. It’s only when his brazen daughter makes him a strange offer that he sees a spark of hope for himself.

But things get complicated as the lives of the dressmaker and the knight become increasingly entwined and what once seemed like a simple trade of favors leads to revelations that neither had bargained for—and might be too much to bear. The coronation banquet—the greatest fete Thetford has seen in a generation—will make or break Alyson’s ambition, but the untimely spilling of secrets could threaten all. Not everything can be neatly sewn up!

First in a new series, we have another medieval - this time featuring a dressmaker heroine and a disgraced knight, returned from the Crusades, looking to get back into King Richard's good graces. 

Highland Enchantment by Brenna Ash

He lives for solitude. She was promised to another. But on a rugged Highland path, their hearts lose their way.

Rory Hart prefers cliffs to castles, silence to conversation, and freedom to duty. So when his father commands him to escort an abandoned woman through the Highlands, he’s prepared for a miserable journey. But Alana Duran is not what he expects. She’s sharp-tongued, stubborn, and utterly unprepared for the wild—and yet, her spirit sparks something both fierce and tender within him.

Alana has no choice. Her father’s arranged a marriage to secure her family’s future, and she’s determined to obey—even if it means trekking through unfamiliar terrain with the brooding Highlander who wants nothing to do with her. Rory’s rough, unkempt, and infuriating—and yet her heart begins to betray her.

Their journey is one of barbed banter, stolen glances, and growing desire. The Highlands begin to feel less like a prison and more like a promise. As trust turns to attraction and attraction kindles something deeper, one truth becomes impossible to deny—some paths are meant to be walked together.

But Alana is still promised to another. Rory is still bound by duty to his clan. And love, no matter how wild or fierce, may not be enough to rewrite their fate. In a land where alliances are forged by marriage and loyalty can cost them everything, can two hearts choose love over obligation?

Yes, truly - April is apparently Medieval Month! The second book in the Highland Heartstrings series features a loner hero ordered to escort our heroine to her future's husband home, a marriage she's not thrilled about but is entering into because medieval, alliances, her family's future, yada yada yada. This one is a road romance and I love me a road romance wrapped up in a medieval setting.

Fluently Speaking Baron by Ava Devlin

Harriet "Hattie" French speaks over a dozen languages—but none of them prepared her for this.

Seven years ago, Dowager Baroness Selwyn vanished without a trace. Now she's been declared dead, and her will is a masterpiece of meddling: Hattie, the first of the seven prodigies the baroness took under her wing during her prime, inherits Starling’s Rest, the manor where they were honed from wayward fledglings into world-renowned talents.

That would be well and fine, but for the baron. The dowager baroness’s taciturn and stormy nephew owns the land the house stands on.

The solution? Marriage. Orchestrated from beyond the grave by a woman who never met a prodigy she couldn't manipulate.

Elias Selwyn spent years proving he wasn't useless.

Elias fled Starling’s Rest as soon as he was old enough and hasn’t been back since. He left behind the pudgy, unremarkable child, with only a title to hold up against the sparkling genius of his foster siblings. In the years since, he forged himself into a disciplined cavalry officer, building a life far from the manor full of brilliant wards who made him feel invisible. The last thing he wants is to be dragged back to Brighton and shackled to the girl who once made him feel small—no matter how brilliant, beautiful, or infuriatingly fluent she's become.

But his aunt’s will has one final demand: a reunion carnival showcase, performed under the pavilion where the Starling prodigies once dazzled crowds. It's meant to be her funeral. Instead, it becomes the stage where Hattie and Elias must reconcile years of rivalry, resentment, and feelings neither wants to name.

As old wounds resurface and buried secrets spark to life, the pair discovers that some inheritances can't be divided—and that together, they might just be stronger than they are apart.

First in a new series featuring prodigies. She's a linguist who can speak over a dozen languages, and he's her benefactor's unremarkable nephew, all grown up. He's not happy to be home and she's less than thrilled with the idea of marrying him - which has been orchestrated from beyond the grave.

Warrior of Ice by Michelle Willingham (Reprint)

No man ever wanted her…except the man no one ever loved.

Lady Taryn of Ossoria has survived betrayal, pain, and scars that make people turn away from her. She’s accepted the truth: no man will want her. But when her father is imprisoned by a merciless overlord, Taryn strikes a dangerous bargain with Irish warrior Killian MacDubh.

A bastard by birth, Killian has fought for every scrap of respect—and challenging the High King could finally secure the future he’s earned. The last thing he needs is a bold noblewoman complicating his plans… especially one who awakens a forbidden hunger.

As secrets unravel and enemies step from the shadows, Taryn and Killian are forced to make a choice: save their loved ones—or risk everything on a love worth dying for.

First published by Harlequin Historical in 2015, this is the first book in a duet. A scarred and wounded heroine strikes a bargain with our warrior hero in order to rescue her father. Sigh, I still have the HH edition buried somewhere in my TBR because I just suck like that.

Whew! Y'all this is A LOT. Historical romance is dying my Aunt Fanny. I hope you had fun browsing this post and that you found one (or two, or ten...) books to add to your TBR pile. What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to reading soon?

#TBRChallenge 2026: Sex, Lies & Secret Lives

The Book: Sex, Lies & Secret Lives by Thea Devine

The Particulars: Contemporary erotic romance, Simon & Schuster Gallery Books, 2010, In Print

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: I'm not going to apologize for loving Thea Devine. Frankly, I don't think she gets enough credit for coming up through the Bodice Ripper Era and helping to kick off the first wave of Erotic Romance (as a subgenre) in the early 2000s (as one of the writers to help launch the Kensington Brava line). She also was writing unapologetic bad girl heroines back in the day when that was unheard of (and still is, mores the pity). Her writing and plots tend to be nonsensical but this woman has never met a soap opera plot she didn't love. Do I universally recommend her books? No. Do I get sucked in all the same? Yes. Look, I love me some trash, and Devine excels at writing trash.

I have an autographed print copy of this, which means I picked it up at an RWA conference and probably made a fool of myself meeting her.

The Review: Y'all, this book is trash and it features a heroine who suffers from magical thinking. It also has so many seedy sex scenes in it that I lost count - not only of the number of men the heroine boinks, but also how many scenes there actually were. One every chapter would not be hyperbole. 

Jillian Durant has disappeared, but not before she sent out a SOS text message to her twin sister Justine Durant. "Justine Time" - a play on the phrase "just in time," and developed during their hard scrabble childhood. An abusive household and an alcoholic father led to the girls getting split up in foster care. When Jillian used "Justine Time" - Justine knew her sister needed her and came running.

Justine goes to Jillian's apartment and soon learns the truth about her sister's life. She's Jillian Dare, high priced prostitute to powerful and wealthy men. Jillian's way of dealing with the trauma of their childhood? Get your hands on money, a lot of it. However when your clients are billionaire assholes you find yourself (sometimes unintentionally) privy to a lot of secrets - which is why Jillian has gotten in the habit of leaving behind bread crumbs for her twin every time she takes a new job.

So what does Justine do exactly to help find her sister? She falls into her life and pretends to be Jillian. That means moving into Jillian's New York City apartment and having a lot of sex with a lot of different men. Never mind that she learns in fairly short order that the last known whereabouts of Jillian was in London. I mean, staying in New York City and banging a bunch of random rich dudes will surely lead her to finding her sister - um, somehow. God, I love magical thinking in a heroine!  Anyway, she eventually ends up in bed with Doug Rawls who rocks her world for two straight days then treats her with contempt by literally throwing money at her - so of course he's our hero. 

The plot, if we want to call it that, is basically Justine walking a tightrope of pretending to be Jillian and hoping to fool people long enough to try to find out what's going on even though she's not actively doing anything to search for her sister other than banging a bunch of dudes. We eventually learn that Doug has ties to a dead billionaire back in London and one of the last times he was seen alive and well? Yeah, he was with Jillian. So when "Jillian" resurfaces, everyone, including our villain, start to become worried and Dougie boy steps into the protector role even though he's a sneering asshole who treats the heroine with contempt while banging her brains out.  He's not too good for sleeping with a whore but he's going to remind her constantly of what and who she is. 

You've got a heroine impersonating her twin and enough sex in this book to make you think about making a doctor's appointment to get multiple shots of penicillin. The whole thing is completely over the top, from the plotting to the characters to the sex. Seriously, I began to wonder how the heroine was able to walk around over the course of this book and every man in this story had to be drinking at least 3 gallons of water a day to stay hydrated. Is it remotely "realistic?" No. Is it utter trash? Yes. Can I recommend this book to anyone? I mean....

Devine's books take up space in a very Id part of brain. It's Thea Devine and 90% Harlequin Presents. It's pure escapist camp and I inhaled this book in a few hours. I also didn't skim, even though, and this cannot be overstated, this book is basically one giant sex scene. One after another. Take the sex scenes out and you probably have a 50 page short story left. 

Do I like myself for reading this? Hey, life is too short and the world is on fire. How I feel about myself after reading this book is the least of my worries. Is this high art? No. Could I tear myself away? Also, no.  I may have felt a little cheap and a lot dirty after, but I ain't mad.

Final Grade = C+

Review: Lowdown Road

This is likely going to be one of those blog posts that 99% of my regular readers have zero interest in, but y'all - I can't help it. I've got a thing for pulp crime novels and Scott Von Doviak, while not terribly prolific, writes really good ones. In the case of Charlesgate Confidential it was his plotting, but in Lowdown Road it's the world-building. There's only one redeemable character in this entire book (who ends up dead - honestly, that bit did annoy me...) but it's such an immersive ride through the 1970s I couldn't help but get sucked in.

Think of this like a much darker Smokey and the Bandit. Or better yet, if Guy Ritchie made movies set in the 1970s about Texas rednecks only to have the whole thing careen into a blood-soaked Quentin Tarantino extravaganza at the finish line.

Chuck Melville has only been out of prison for six months when he once again finds himself in trouble. Stopping to enjoy a beer at a local Texas icehouse, he spies a beautiful woman at the bar and soon they're leaving together. One teensy problem. Said woman is married to a local Sheriff's deputy, who just so happens to pull them over doing 100+ mph. He's not terribly happy to see his wife in the passenger seat and ends up less happy when she shoots him dead. Chuck knows he's been fingered for the role of patsy and before she can get the drop on him, he shoots her dead. Second problem? The dead deputy radioed in his license plate prior to pulling them over and, um, Chuck may have "borrowed" his cousin Dean's car.

Dean is a pretty boy manwhore who was working a taco truck near the university campus. He was making a killing for his boss at it too since Dean was also selling marijuana with the tacos for his supplier, Antoine, who owns a local salvage yard. Dean owes Antoine money, which normally would not be a problem, except his taco truck boss gave his primo location to a family member - and now Antoine wants his money that Dean doesn't have. Then his cousin shows up and even though Dean had nothing to do with the dead Sheriff's deputy and his wife business, he's now dragged into it. That's when Chuck tells him his great idea. Hey, we have to get out of Dodge anyway, let's take 250 pounds of marijuana off of Antoine, load up the taco truck, and head to Twin Falls, Idaho. Evel Knieval is going to jump Snake River Canyon, and Chuck is working a deal with the guy who is running the concessions.  They'll make a killing, enough to start whole new lives. 

After stealing the marijuana and loading up the now stolen taco truck, our "heroes" hit the road - only to have a lot of company trailing after them. Bud Giddings, the County Sheriff out for vengeance, not for killing his deputy, but the man's wife. Bud was having an affair with her and fancied himself in love, but turns out he's a psychopath. Then there's Antoine, the salvage yard-slash-marijuana-kingpin. He wants his product back. And of course along the way the Melville cousins make lots of new "friends" - including a now pissed off member of an outlaw biker gang. 

The whole thing culminates when the motley crew arrives at Snake River Canyon and further devolves into a stew of drugs, booze and violence. By this point the Sheriff has run totally off the rails, Chuck is still trying to work a deal that's now gone south (surprise!) and Dean keeps getting further sucked into the undertow. This is where the one sympathetic character ends up dead (again, not happy) but how else was this 1970s petty criminal swimming with the sharks story going to end up? Frankly, no other way. It ends the only way it probably could have. 

This was a book that started out like a house on fire for me but did peter out a bit towards the end in the blood-soaked final chapters. That said, Von Doviak is a heck of a writer and the world-building is excellent. If the film rights haven't sold the author needs to find a new agent because in this doe-eyed romance reader's opinion, this would make a dynamite throwback style movie. The kind that makes you wish drive-in movie double features were still a thing.

Final Grade = B+ 

Reminder: #TBRChallenge Day is April 15

I'm not sure how it's April and now the fourth month in our 2026 #TBRChallenge, but here we are. I'm still struggling to get eyeball reading done (audiobooks seem to be going OK for the moment ::knock on wood::) so if nothing else my self-imposed monthly deadline for this Challenge is at least making me get one book read every month. Success? Not quite, but I'll take it. Anyway, our next TBR Challenge is set for April 15, and this month's optional theme is Fool's Errand.

This came out of the yearly Theme Suggestion poll. Basically any book where one of the characters comes up with some harebrained idea or scheme, some sort of desperate Hail Mary idea to worm their way out of a situation. A lot of Fake Relationship / Engagement stories fall here. Also, if reading a Presents, what I call Presents Hero Logic - the elaborate plan for revenge that makes no sense to anyone other than our hero and inevitably it involves using the heroine to get back at her father. Absolute no clue what I'm going to yank out of my pile for this month, but I'm sure I'll have fun digging for something.

That said, if you don't feel like digging or twisting this theme into a pretzel, remember the themes are completely optional.  If you just want to pick a random book out of your pile and call it good? That's OK! The goal of the Challenge is to read something, anything, that has been languishing.

It's never too late to sign up for the Challenge.  You can learn more about it, and see a list of who is participating, over at the #TBRChallenge 2026 information page.

Library Loot Review: The Harvey Girl

Never let it be said that blog reviews can't still get eyeballs in front of books. I first heard about The Harvey Girl by Dana Stabenow thanks to a review over at Books of My Heart. You don't read mysteries for long as I have, nor been a librarian for as long as I have, and not know who Dana Stabenow is. That said, I don't think I've ever read her before (I know, slightly surprising). But I'm only human and frankly I can't be expected to resist a historical mystery novel about a female Pinkerton agent who goes undercover as a Harvey Girl. That was enough for me and I secured myself an audiobook copy leveraging one of my library cards.

It's 1890 and Fred Harvey has a newer Harvey House located in the burgeoning city of Montaña Roja in New Mexico Territory. It's proving to be just as successful as his other Houses, just one small fly in the ointment - someone keeps robbing the trains carrying his supplies. There's been several robberies, always occurring during a full moon, occurring at such track junctures where the robbers can have an engine waiting to conveniently hook up the cars and ride away. Besides losing a fair bit of money, the train's conductor was murdered during the last robbery, so Harvey heads to Chicago to retain the services of the Pinkerton Agency. 

He gets Clare Wright, coming off a successful assignment. Clare will go undercover in Montaña Roja as Fred's latest Harvey Girl and start snooping around. What she didn't plan on? The amount of backbreaking work required of her to maintain her cover, that the local law is more than useless (and drunk half the time) and that a fresh dead body is going to turn up to complicate matters.

This is a story that runs on the shorter side, clocking in around 270 pages and just 7 hours on audiobook. Nothing wrong with that, it works at this length, but there are a ton of characters. The print version features a printed cast of characters and there are 26 of them. It did take a little while to find my sea legs and keep track of who was who and what was what - but I got there.

This is one of those books where real historical figures and events are featured in the story. Historical events in fiction usually work for me, but historical figures? It depends. Mightily. Here it's a mixed bag. Fred Harvey is necessary to the story given the plot. As are William and Robert Pinkerton, now running the agency after their father's passing. There's also Bat Masterton, a charming, interesting addition who is marginally needed for the proceedings. But Mark Twain? Totally unnecessary. Like why is he even in this book if only to add historical flavor where it's not really needed. Because by this point Stabenow has totally nailed the world-building. It's honestly the best part about this book. I never used to be a reader who would harp on things like world-building and craft but the older I get, the more I appreciate it - and Stabenow really immerses the reader in this world. Mark Twain may feel like filler, but so many other historical figures and tidbits do not.

What doesn't feel like filler? The historical events that play a role in this story. Robber Barons doing their scummy Robber Baron things. US relations with Mexico. All the talk about the McKinley Tariff. I also appreciated that the author didn't whitewash the business of the Pinkerton Agency. Fun fact: they went where the money was, and if that money wanted them to break strikes and bust unions?  Guess what happened.

The story moves along at a good clip and Clare is an agreeable and amiable sleuth. That said, this is not a neat and tidy ending. The mystery is solved - sort of. Clare has discovered what's going on, she just can't prove it. Will this carry over into a future book featuring Clare or will she move on to her next assignment? Time will tell, because all indications as of right now say this is the first book in a new series. 

Final Grade = B

Review: We Are Watching

I believe that Alison Gaylin is one of the very best suspense writers working today, but it still took me a year to finally read We Are Watching (actually, longer than that - I had an ARC). Why? Because I knew this book was likely to be intense and it took me that long to pull up my big girl panties and just start it already. Is this my favorite of Gaylin's work so far? No. Was I still white-knuckling my way to the end? Yes.

Meg Russo and her husband, Justin, run a bookstore in a tiny upstate New York town and are driving their only daughter, Lily, to Ithaca College. She's an accomplished bass player and is attending on a music scholarship. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a car of skinheads pulls up along side them, their phones hanging out the window filming them. In the chaos of trying to get away from them there's an accident, Lily is OK, Meg's arm sustains some permanent damage, but Justin? Justin is dead. 

Fast forward several months and Lily is taking a "gap year" and dodging therapy. For that matter, so is Meg - but she is finally reopening the bookstore, although the shadow of Justin is everywhere. Not only that, bizarre things start happening. Out-of-town customers making weird accusations, vandalism, strangers starring at the store, holding out their phones and filming them. As the incidents increase and become more disturbing, Meg and Lily soon stumble across the truth - there's a group of paranoid conspiracy theorists targeting them. Meg's father, a former musician in a moderately successful rock band in the 1970s, was accused of being a Satanist. And Meg, having won a writing contest as a teenager, published a long out of print book titled The Prophesy, that these people think foretold climate change, COVID, and ultimately the end of the world on 12/12/2022.  And with 12/12/2022 fast approaching, Meg and Lily begin to suspect that the car accident that killed Justin was no accident at all...

This one takes a while to get going, and it's an instance where I lay much of that blame at the feet of the publisher. Whoever wrote the back cover copy for this book didn't do the author any favors.  The first 40% of the book is basically what is set up on the back cover copy - meaning I spent the first 40% going "yeah, yeah, this is all on the back cover - let's move it along." What the reader is waiting for here is the second half, which is when things really start to cook. It's when the conspiracy theorists get much more brazen and we get into life or death stuff.  Because these people believe that the only way to save the world from ending on 12/12/2022?  Is for Meg and her father to "repent." And repent in this case basically means death.  This family has to die in order for the world to survive.

Once we're past the set-up this one basically turns into a white-knuckled paranoia-inducing fever dream. Meg has always felt safe in her small town, the town where she built a life with her family, but it soon becomes evident that some people she thought she could trust? Yeah, she can't trust them. Because this group has members everywhere, even in Meg's own back yard.  

I'll be honest, I knew where this one was going before it got there - which just goes to show that either I have serious trust issues or I've read too many suspense novels (probably both). But despite that? I still could not tear myself away. Gaylin can write tension and she slathers it on with a trowel here. 

I've been a public librarian for more years than I care to admit and when working a public service desk I used to joke that there wasn't a conspiracy theory I hadn't heard before. But the reality is we live in a world where everything can and is manipulated. That seemingly sane people fall down these rabbit holes and believe the most bizarre nonsense - which is what makes this book so terrifying. It's also a suspense novel that ends on a question - which I normally loathe with every fiber of my being, but Gaylin is getting a pass from me on this one. Why? I mean, how else can you end a book about a group of conspiracy theorists targeting innocent people? 

Not my favorite by Gaylin thus far, but well worth the time and a genre book that would make a dynamite book club pick.

Final Grade = B