Knottys' Hexes and O's

Hexes and O's by Lisa Wells

Kindle Edition, 400 pages
Published November 1st, 2019 by Up All Night Publishing

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Remington Smith is an orphan who inherits a Knotty residence that belonged to her best friend Beth. Regardless of her condition, her character exudes confidence and a sense of humour even after being rejected. She trusts in her third eye ability: a belief in ghosts which you must have to take part in a Seance.
Beth, the ghost, was Remington's best friend who dies and leaves her home in Knotty to, along with a list of things-to-do. I thought her character was a bit complicated as she is stuck in the veil for having unfinished business, only she can't remember what :/

Jason Hart is the main distraction who steals women's hearts and lives next door to Remington. Their romance is a work in progress. However, opposing factors of murder mayhem and other unpleasant outcomes had me worried for a minute. Thank God it didn't degenerate into worse things.

Goodreads Summary 

Inherited: One haunted house; One witch’s manual; One mandatory ‘to do’ list.
Not Inherited: One hunky neighbour; One memory-challenged ghost; One set of town gossips 
When down-on-her-luck costume designer Remington Smith receives a surprise inheritance, she must return to the town she swore to forget. And complete a list of mandatory projects. And learn to cast magic spells. Magic spells? Too bad the hunky guy next door keeps getting in the way. 
After a tornado ravages a small town, Jason Hart purchases ninety percent of the property as a cooperate training ground for Think Tank Innovations. But his first renovation crew quits. Then another. And another. They all say ghosts are running amok—and the whole town is hexed with an anti-love spell. Except Jason doesn’t believe in ghosts or (anti) love spells. And given how drawn he is to his spunky new neighbour, that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon.
While Remington works to complete her inherited to-do-list, avoid falling for her playboy neighbour, and learn how to cast spells that don’t backfire, she discovers a deadly mystery involving the orphanage where she grew up. A mystery so deadly that Jason starts trying to shove her out of town and out of his life. But Remington has never been good at taking orders.

 About the author

Lisa Wells writes romantic comedy with enough steam to fog your eyeglasses, your brain, and sometimes your Kindle screen. On the other hand, her eighty-year-old mother-in-law has read Lisa's steamiest book and lived to offer her commentary. Which went something like this: You used words I've never even heard of.... She lives in Missouri with her husband and slightly chunky rescue dog. Lisa loves dark chocolate, red wine, and those rare mornings when her skinny jeans fit. Which isn't often, considering the first two entries on her love-it list.
To learn more about Lisa Wells visit her website Follow her on social media and sign up for her newsletter.

The Christmas Sisters

The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Suzanne made a promise that if her best friend Cheryl ever died that Suzanne would take care of her 3 girls. Hannah, Beth and Posy. Their parents did die in an avalanche hiking Mt. Rainier when they were young. Misfortune and favour looked on them because they couldn't have adopted a better mother than Suzanne. She is most compassionate with a caring heart and I liked her. As the three sisters got older they grew apart and would only see each other once a year at Christmastime in the highlands of Scotland. Hannah was the most problematic since she made every excuse not to come. Except for this time, both Beth and Hannah arrived early... Posy lived with her parents all year and was an active outdoor enthusiast who loved to mountain climb as her parents did. Suzanne and Stewart loved those girls and they all had strong personalities but they never really discussed and healed from what happened to their parents all those years ago.
With the prospects of budding romance for all three sisters, this novel warmed my heart.

The Christmas Sisters: A Novel 

Written by Sarah Morgan
Narrated by Mandy Weston 👍❤
Publisher: HarperAudio
Released: Nov 6, 2018
Audiobook: 12 hours 1.5x speed

Publisher Summary

In the snowy Highlands of Scotland, Suzanne McBride is dreaming of the perfect cozy Christmas. Her three adopted daughters are coming home for the holidays and she can’t wait to see them. But tensions are running high… Workaholic Hannah knows she can’t avoid spending the holidays with her family two years in a row. But it’s not the weight of their expectations that’s panicking her—it’s the life-changing secret she’s hiding. Stay-at-home mom Beth is having a personal crisis. All she wants for Christmas is time to decide if she’s ready to return to work—seeing everyone was supposed to help her stress levels, not increase them! Posy isn’t sure she’s living her best life, but with her parents depending on her, making a change seems risky. But not as risky as falling for gorgeous new neighbor Luke… As Suzanne’s dreams of the perfect McBride Christmas unravel, she must rely on the magic of the season to bring her daughters together. But will this new togetherness teach the sisters that their close-knit bond is strong enough to withstand…

The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox

The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox

Narrator: Lauren Ezzo
Audiobook Publisher: Harper Audio
11 hrs via Scribd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Like Pearl Harbor, Carver Castle was under attack except in this case by a murderous and vengeful young man. Dead ravens had been scattered on Sophronia's doorstep and sometimes horrible messages like bad Poe poems were attached to the violent acts. Sophronia, the widow of Carver Castle, was the talk of the town. Some of the townspeople hated her but those who knew her loved her. I hated the people of Pale Harbor though. The folks were all so proud and judgemental. The one-man police force wasn't even helpful. Ugh.

Everyone in Pale Harbor secretly believed Sophronia Carver was a witch and had killed her husband Nathaniel Carver. They were just rumors for the most part. She wasn't a witch and Nathaniel didn't die because of her. Nobody knew he used to abuse her every time he got drunk either. He may not have deserved to die, but Sophronia didn't deserve the abuse and I am glad Nathaniel was dead. It meant Sophronia inherited a lot of money but she felt like a prisoner in her house because of the brutal looks she would get when she went out. Oh, the injustice of it all!

Gabriel came to Pale Harbor hoping to be the next Church minister and to start a new life. Being a minister was not who he was but he felt like honoring his dead wife's memory. She would be proud of him, but his background story was kind of sad and disparaging. He also knew next to nothing about Transcendentalism. I thought it was going to be a problem but it wasn't because he had everyone fooled. I did not like him lying although when he becomes romantically close to Sophronia, he reveals his secrets and vice versa. At least they were both being honest with each other and that was everything. The Widow of Pale Harbor is a romance and the outcome is HEA

Because of the townspeople, the police weren't of much help to Sophronia, so she and Gabriel had to be detectives while suspicions are directed at friends until they figured it out. Helen and everyone else was suspect until the very end. I was not satisfied with how it ended.

Publisher Summary 

A town gripped by fear. A woman accused of witchcraft. Who can save Pale Harbor from itself? 
Maine, 1846. Gabriel Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Maine, taking a position as a minister in the remote village of Pale Harbor. But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople claim that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a reclusive widow who lives with a spinster maid in the eerie Castle Carver. Sophronia must be a witch, and she almost certainly killed her husband. As the incidents escalate, one thing becomes clear: they are the work of a twisted person inspired by the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And Gabriel must find answers, or Pale Harbor will suffer a fate worthy of Poe’s darkest tales.

AUTHOR

Hester Fox has a background in the museum field as a collections maintenance technician. This job has taken her from historic houses to fine art museums, where she has cleaned and cared for collections that range from paintings by old masters to ancient artifacts to early American furniture. She is a keen painter and has a Master's in historical archaeology, as well as a background in medieval studies and art history. Hester lives outside of Boston with her husband.

She's on a mission to get a life - Finding You at Christmas - Novella November

Finding You at Christmas by Kristin Wallace

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Janie Worthy was becoming disillusioned about her life because her father and niece were luckier in the relationship department, according to her. Until... she decides to venture and 'Get A Life'. After letting her sister give her a makeover she decides to go on a blind date with a guy who has two first names. Except her life was about to change in a miraculous turn of events. It was lucky for her she forgot her cellphone and suffers her car breaking down on the side of the highway on her way to meet her blind date because she never would have met the swoony Biker Man. He saved her life in more ways than one.

Lair Of Dreams (The Diviners #2)

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A novel that took me way too long to finish and that I had to renew from the library 4 times. I had planned on taking my time with it, but as November came and went I was more interested in reading Novellas and Christmas romance.

This story has many threads. A new character was introduced. Ling Chan is a dream walker. Henry DuBois teams up with Ling and dreams a few dreams together. In their dreams we meet Wai-Mae and Louis, Henry's gay boyfriend.

Evie and Sam mimic a couple in love. Evie has furthered her Diviner career and has gone public with her radio show. She is known as the sweetheart seer. Sam is on a mission to find his mother who he thinks is in trouble. She is.

Theta and Memphis are romantically involved but neither of them knows they are Diviners. Henry is still Theta's best friend but he loses his job as a piano player and desires his boyfriend Louis so much that he spends more time in the dream world. Louis is dead though.

Mabel and Jericho work together at the museum while Will, Evie's uncle, is somewhere else entirely and is still a mystery to me.

Some joker fellows are keeping watch over Sam Lloyd. They are probably involved with project buffalo(?)

Lair of Dreams involves scary ghosties and supernatural events.

If I'm forgetting a few names and places it's probably because they aren't the focus

Audiobook Published August 25th, 2015 by Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Narrated by January LaVoy 👍👌💓

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O'Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. Now that the world knows of her ability to "read" objects, and therefore, read the past, she has become a media darling, earning the title, "America's Sweetheart Seer." But not everyone is so accepting of the Diviners' abilities... Meanwhile, mysterious deaths have been turning up in the city, victims of an unknown sleeping sickness. Can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld and catch a killer?

Novella November - Shadows (Lux #0.5)

Shadows by Jennifer L. Armentrout

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
Narrated by Justine Eyre
4 hours
Scribd

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are . . . well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane. Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable. Bethany can't deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren't a complication she wants, she can't stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she's drawn in. Captivated. Lured. Loved. Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence . . . and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can't stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't help hearing Young love by the Judds in my head. The story revolves around Dawson and Bethany. The new girl in school finds out she is surrounded by Luxen when Dawson accidentally lights up the bedroom appearing in his true form after having kissed Bethany. What choice does he have but to entrust her with the truth of who he was? When they are attacked by Arum, Dawson and Bethany disappear and are presumed dead. It ends on that cliffhanger.

Driven To Distraction

Driven to Distraction by Lori Foster

Kindle Edition, 384 pages 
Published November 20th, 2018 by HQN Books
Audio publisher: Harlequin Audio
Narrator: John Lane
Duration: 9:25:11

When desire gets this hot, you'd better buckle up... Mary Daniels doesn't let anything get in the way of her job acquiring rare artifacts for her wealthy boss. But this particular obstacle—huge, hard-muscled, unashamedly masculine—is impossible to ignore. Stuck in a cramped car with Brodie Crews for hours en route to their new assignment, Mary feels her carefully crafted persona—and her trademark self-control—is slipping, and she won't allow it. Brodie can't imagine what secret in Mary's past has left her so buttoned-up, though he'd dearly love to find out. Maybe then she'd trust him enough to explore their explosive chemistry. But he needs this job, so he'll play by her rules and bide his time...until an enemy determined to outwit them strikes and he needs to get close—in every way—to protect her. Otherwise, they could lose much more than a precious collectible. They could lose it all.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**I received a free kindle copy from the publisher Harlequin - Romance (U.S & Canada) via NetGalley in exchange for a review 

I started listening to Driven to Distraction the day I had dental surgery. I had 4 teeth extracted and I loved the banter between Brodie and Mary. She is a red-headed curvy broad who contracts Brodie to be the driver on a mission to recover some priceless artifact. Lori Foster's assessment of who and what Brodie looks like is pointedly correct. Let me just quote her about Brodie:

"He's a man who can swing a punch as hard as he can steal a heart, loves his family without question, does his utmost to understand women (especially the heroine) and never takes injustice lightly. He's also deliciously flawed, rugged in a most basic (very sexy) way, and he has this big-boned, slobbery, crazy-lazy dog that he rescued."

The characters were well defined and the plot was well done. The sex was also attractive and tasteful because Mary and Brodie fit together perfectly and I adored them.