★ Just for the Season
In Just for the Season, Rachel Griffiths offers up a read to treasure. Forced to marry to avoid social ruin, Lady Charlotte Aveton invites a succession of suitors to her family’s country home. One snag in her plan to find the best husband? Her brother’s friend, the Duke of Warrick, once a crush and now an annoyance, tags along. Charlotte proves herself smart and confident, a heroine who doesn’t mind giving the swains a lesson or two about female potential, notably during a delightful scene when the women of the novel confound the guys by describing how men have underestimated, overlooked and taken advantage of them. Of course, the duke is the exception, but will Charlotte ever realize it? After gulping this story down, readers will be tempted to go back for a second savor.
Kiss, Marry, Kill
In Kiss, Marry, Kill by Cara Tanamachi, true crime podcaster Ella Takeda returns to her hometown after some sleuthing gone wrong. But she doesn’t leave trouble behind. The killer she’d failed to identify has followed, as well as two attractive men she knew in Chicago. Then there’s her childhood friend, affectionately known as Dr. Cheese, who reawakens her old crush on him. Will it grow to be more, and will she live to find out? The pace never lets up as Ella tries to solve the mystery and save her life. She’s sharp as a knife and nearly lethal as one too, which makes her a pleasure to root for even when she makes impulsive choices and takes dangerous chances. Told in Ella’s snappy and honest first-person voice, Kiss, Marry, Kill depicts her small Wisconsin town with love and provides a last-minute surprise.
The Paddock Club
Former model and current influencer Cat Cromwell works a secret side gig in The Paddock Club by Madge Maril. For a hefty price, Cat makes the bad exes of rich women fall in love with her—and then she dumps them, giving the wronged ladies emotional catharsis. Her current assignment takes her into the Formula One racing world, and while trying to make time with her latest mark, she meets preeminent driver Faust Ferreira Sanchez. He’s nothing like the shallow jerk she’s out to charm, and—yikes!—he seems to guess she’s up to something. Undeniable chemistry bubbles between them, but Cat, mired in old hurts, has trust issues too. Can love make it to the finish line? The story is told primarily from Cat’s perspective, with fun brand name-dropping and more than a little glamour. But readers also get to know Faust through occasional journal entries, which reveal his romantic soul and provide some satisfying swoons.