Based on the real life story of Constance Kopp, one of the first female detectives in America, this is a fun romp rooted in the very real and difficult struggles facing women during the early 1900s. I loved the historical details, including how much society pushed back on three sisters just trying to make it on their own.

I didn't especially care for the "mystery" portions of the story, but delighted in the characters, especially Constance the titular character. I was also not expecting Constance's secret!

I'm looking forward to making an art project based off this book during my next Book to Art Club!

While it certainly defies many genre standards, I'm going to use Naked in Death to tick off my 2018 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge "A classic of genre fiction."

Set in a dark future, Lieutenant Eve Dallas is drawn into the investigation of a graphic and horrific murder of a beautiful sex worker who is also related to a family of powerful politicians. During the investigation she crosses paths with an enigmatic, brilliant, and supremely sexy billionaire who may also be a suspect.

Overall, I enjoyed Robb's take on a gritty, futuristic NYC where guns are "old fashioned" and hard to come by and other various technologies are used to help predict and solve crimes. I really liked Eve's prickly character, her dedication to her job and her craft, and hey, there's a cat hero!

That said, the overall mystery wasn't super deep and I found the initial love scenes between Rourke and Eve to be a bit troubling, especially from a 2018 standpoint. There is a lot of rape in this book and I just wished there wasn't a gray area for the two main characters at first. I'm hoping this won't be a recurring theme in this series.

Also, I was a bit annoyed that Eve was pretty easily swayed into using Rourke's rich-boy tools to get the job done. Money talks I guess.

Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the murders of several powerful and famous women while struggling with her growing feelings for Rourke who again may be a suspect.

Police procedurals aren't usually my thing, but the slightly futuristic setting and the romance elements brought me back. I was glad to see the relationship between Eve and Rourke wasn't as problematic as the first book, and the sexy times sprinkled throughout kept me going through the dry police interview portions of the story.

I love Eve's rough, basic "get the job done no time for luxuries" personality clashing with Rourke's desire to take care of her while still allowing her to be herself. Super cute and hot. The love scene with the accidental hidden video camera is especially sexy and funny (good to Rourke thrown off his game a bit).

A delicious, slow-burn noir.

Polly and Adam are strangers who meet in a dead-end nothing town. One is on the run, the other is on a job. Lust and love were not supposed to get in the way. When you play the long game, someone is bound to get burned.

I believe this was my first Lippman and oh, it was so good. I adored the packaging of this novel, from its perfect cover to the glorious neon yellow end papers. I loved that I was kept guessing at the end game and the depth of the characters, told in dual POV between Polly and Adam and in vignette chapters from various others, was remarkable. You can really sink your teeth into this one. I also loved its timelessness. It took me a bit to figure out the time setting (early 90s) and once I did I loved it even more.

Also, this book is very sensual but not in a graphic way. Trigger warning for sexual violence and domestic violence.

What a frustrating book! I listened to The Woman in the Window on audio book and while the narrator was fantastic I would find myself yelling at my stereo.

The story goes a woman, formerly a child psychologist, is now an agoraphobe after at first unknown really bad incident involving her husband and small child who know n0-longer are with her in the her NYC mansion. Being stuck in the house has turned Anna into a voyeur, and her spying gets her caught up in a scary, violent situation with her neighbors across the way. You can't trust anyone, huh?

I lost count of the number of bottles of Merlot (always Merlot, never "red wine" or any other variety) our main character, Dr. Anna Fox, corked throughout the story. I grew tired of Anna almost immediately and I've realized I'm pretty over the unreliable, screwed-up, alcohol/pill addicted, female character trope. Sorry book, there are just too many of you out there. A movie adaptation is apparently in the works and I guess I would watch it.

Also, I was pleased with myself, and also annoyed, at how well I was able to predict many of the plot twists and turns. I can thankfully say there are absolutely no supernatural elements that pop out of nowhere though! I'm looking at you Behind Her Eyes!

And it is so highly amusing to me that if Anna had just let her agoraphobia rule the day, the entire plot of the book would never have happened. So, moral of the story kids, just stay inside.

After meeting over a surgical table in Devil in Spring, we finally have Dr. Garrett Gibson and Ethan Ransom's story!

Dr. Gibson is waylaid by rape-y drunk soldiers on the way home from helping deliver a baby. She has her trusty cane and her fencing skills, but three against one is still a tall order. Swooping in to "rescue her," depending on who's perspective you take, is the man who has secretly been making sure she makes it home every night.

Both annoyed at the enforced chivalry but wildly intrigued and attracted to Ethan Ransom, Garrett agrees to Ethan's request to give her proper self-defense training. He also gifts her a silver police whistle, just in case.

Ethan has been in love with Garrett since she saved Lady Pandora's life, but his dangerous occupation means he needs to stay away from her. He just can't and unfortunately his weakness is exploited by the man who hold's his very life in his hands.

A gunshot wound, a secret plot to blame Irish Nationalists for violence, and family ties make this an exciting and highly sexy continuation of the Ravenal Series.

I adore Kleypas's historical details, especially regarding Garrett's medical skills. It often reminded me of the Outlander series, just 100 years later in time. It was fun to see an Irish brogue-ed hero, and a Dr. Quinn-medicine woman type character find true love. All of the conflict made sense and I liked that lies did not create the drama.

I'm also super excited to read West's book! There is quite a lot of West, and he become quite endearing to me.

I did notice the problematic passage detailing how Ethan gained his sexual prowess, basically exploring the Kama Sutra with an Indian woman. Definitely did not need this for the story and frankly I'm tired of it. I appreciate Kleypas's statement on fixing this in future copies of this book.

I've been gleefully awaiting the simmering romance between Violet Vasquez and Bren St. James, seen in little glimpses throughout the Chicago Rebels Series, and huzzah what a pay-off!

After reluctantly accepting the challenge laid forth in the will of the dead father she never met with the sister's she never even knew she had, Violet has increasingly grown to love her new family and friends, however much it scares her. Still planning on leaving Chicago after the Rebels end their season, Violet isn't expecting to finally get her shot with the grumpy, sexy Bren St. James.

A year sober and suddenly gaining full custody of his two daughters while also taking the Rebels to finals, Bren needs help. He's reluctant to let Violet take on the duties of a full-time nanny because he wants her, badly. After seeing how wonderful Violet is with his girls, he puts his feelings aside, but some feelings are too much to keep hidden for long, consequences be damned.

I loved the tension between these two characters. Both have their baggage but the story never went full blown angst-y, which I loved. This is also the first time I've ever a book with described sex scenes that included a woman who's had a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. What a lovely, sensual, and IMPORTANT thing to see on the page. How many women will this resonate with? Countless. Having Bren see Violet as complete in her body as it is was absolutely fantastic and hot as hell.

Definitely add this to your TBR pile if you haven't already. In the interim, catch up with the previous books in the series because they are also great!

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

Apparently there is not a universe where I can read about Luke Skywalker becoming one with the Force and not weep. Even while at work.

I always try to read the movie adaptation and I usually am pretty meh about them, but this one does a pretty great job of being the movie without being just like the movie. I still liked the movie better.

SPOILERS

Luke refers to Rey as "his niece" to the caretakers on Ach-To...? PLEASE LET THIS BE TRUE?!
The lightsaber Rey brings to Luke may not actually have been Luke's, or may have been his but was also a lot of others lightsaber?
I love movie Rose, I do not like book Rose.
I wish there was a bit more Holdo. She was just as glossed over here as in the movie. Boo.
I enjoyed reading Snoke's tiny bit and seeing a brief explanation of how the Emperor had planned for a downfall, which led to the creation of The First Order.
Luke and Leia know something. We don't know the something. What IS IT?!
Luke did not immediately start a new Jedi order because he was afraid, so completely contrary to the former canon (Legends). Only started training others because of Ben Solo.

Saga, you've done it again. I loved the space-y neon infused Western vibe that reminded me of a technicolor version of Stephen King's The Gunslinger and I also was so glad to see my favorites return to deal with various horrible situations.

Staples and Vaughan continue to surprise, delight, and wreck me. And someone find me a rainbow zebra to ride on, STAT!

True crime is not typically my genre because I'm a scaredy-cat, but I felt compelled to read I'll Be Gone in the Dark as both a fan of Patton Oswalt and to satisfy my Book Riot Read Harder Challenge of "ready a book published posthumously."

I only wish Michelle McNamara had been able to finish this book in her way, because the portions written completely by her were compelling and nuanced and I really feel like she could have solved the damn thing.

I did appreciate the very clear way the editors noted the sections that were either cobbled together from her notes or drafts or written by others and the introduction and post-script written by Gillian Flynn and her husband Patton Oswalt were also wonderful. Alas, because the book was not finished by McNamara, I felt the ending was sudden and not super fulfilling after reading about so much horrible rape and murder.

Definitely lock your doors people and be glad DNA testing now exists. Yikes!