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I'm doing a re-read on this series because the third book's due out soonish, and once again had a lot of fun on this ride. The series is a spinoff of the Jon's Mysteries books--this time going with a medium rather than a psychic investigator. One of the things I like is that Mack (the medium) had food intolerances, which isn't a chronic illness that gets portrayed very often.

A new series from an author who consistently writes funny romps, and this one doesn't disappoint. Was a smidge strange because I've read the human familiar series under her YA pen name, so I kept trying to compare them. There are similarities: a mage whose magic is constantly keeping their body functioning; a human familiar who loves nothing more than running into danger; the general feel of the various characters on their team. But they've been remolded in such a way that this is a different book entirely. Very much looking forward to the rest of the series.

Ok, so I might get a wee bit frustrated with a lot of time travel plots and their overly-heavy reliance on paradox and/or memory wipes as narrative drivers. This series doesn't do that, and the story is better for it. Lots of world-saving action and a very low-key romance make this new adult-ish series enjoyable and quick. Raconteur's writing has continued to get better in the last few years and this along with the Henri Davenforth series are absolutely a pleasure to read.

The estimable Ms Carriger apparently decided to dig our hearts out with a spork for this one. Agatha and Pillover get--after much longing and pining--their happy ever after. (I do love that Carriger's been writing these followups to her YA Finishing School series. This one was just a doozy for my emotions.)

Just as fun as the first one in the series, and I'm not generally a fan of enemies-to-lovers story lines. This one starts out that way but then shifts into more of a grumpy/sunshine dynamic. With a slimy fossil dealer bad guy as the foil for the two dino-shifter protagonists.

Fables, really. That's what they feel like, in most cases. Absolutely lovely and twisty and fine. Some pretty little watercolors in it, too.

Fun, contemporary action/romance (m/m) with fossils, a road trip, and dinosaur-based geekiness.

The adventure: A paleontologist and a pink-mohawked punk on the run from a private fossil hunter's goons.

The romance: Opposites-attract. Sweet + chaotic.

This Holmes-inspired/influenced series has all sorts of interesting historical details about Victorian-era London, which is why I picked up the third book in the series after a break (finished the second back at the beginning of the year). What I'd forgotten is that, outside the mystery itself, in large part the action is based on the first-person narrator making terrible choices. Yes, Llewelyn is young and inexperienced. Yes, you know he won't actually die because he's the narrator (he's Watson to Barker's Holmes). So if you don't mind wanting to bang your head on a wall due to the narrator's continued levels of folly and inanity, by all means, read this series.

As usual with multi-author anthologies, this collection had a wide range of stories, not all of which appealed to me. The writing overall was engaging, and the stories generally very sweet in keeping with the holiday theme. My favourite was KD Casey's "The Koufax Curse" (m/m) set around Tu Bishvat and baseball's spring training, followed closely by Hudson Lin's "Their Dragonboat" (f/nb).

Thoroughly enjoyed this story, set between the wars in London. KJ Charles added lots of historical details without overwhelming the story line, and the pacing of the action/mystery was just right for me. (Note to romance readers: while there is a relationship, this isn't really a romance. Ends more with a truce than a HFN.)

This was the first Cornell Collins audio book I've listened to, and his accents and voices were very enjoyable.