Beach read. Conveniently it is also set at a beach.

Florence May is in need of a change after recovering from cancer and the end of her long term relationship. She buys the beach hut from an old friend of her mum. Due to rezoning because of a new hotel nearby, it’s only allowed to live in the hut if there is a business in the hut.

Florence’ friends set her up as an annex of the Little Cornish Kitchen. Reluctantly Florence serves breakfast desert to her first customers. Despite the prices Florence charges the customers keep coming back. And there’s that pesky attraction to her next door neighbour.

All Florence really wanted was some solitude.

Enjoyable.

I read an ARC through NetGalley.

Quick read. The dialogue was some times spinning out of control, as it does in some movies. But in a movies it’s easier to keep up because you hear the different voices and don’t get distracted by the thought ‘who said that’.

Can't say I liked it. I got confused too often for that, and didn't really care for Sarah's input in any way.

I read an ARC through NetGalley.

At first amusing. The story is less than 60 pages, so don't expect too much in the way of plot. It's for the most part a collection of set-ups for sex between Julia and Clay.

Clay's sex talk was a turn-off. Most of it was just a variation on "I want to do you hard". To which Julia kept replying "please, Clay."

I read an ARC through NetGalley.

I guess it says enough that I was never in a rush to get back to reading this book after a day's work. It simple wasn't very engaging. Chicklits are generally predictable - which I don't mind, I wouldn't be reading them if I did - but that does require that the story is told in such a way that I am curious about the meet-cute, the dance of attraction, the inevitable fall-out and the ultimate getting (back) together.

Not so much the case here.

Rebecca is too much of an insecure doormat. After three years of living together she still hasn't talked to her roommate about the basic rules of mine and yours (such as if you're eating my food I expect you to pay for it). Neither has she started to store her food in her own room. And while I understand you don't talk back to your boss (that requires to feel safe from the backlash) and fleeting thoughts about taxi-drivers that turn out to be serial killers, it was all a bit much.

Less fretting and more action.

Also, less builders behaving like teenage boys. While most men remain teenage boys at heart, most of them have the sense not to behave like teenage boys when the person that is footing the bill is watching. Don't want to give her any reason to start looking for a more professional builder.

But then, once Rebecca started pretending she was Vanessa, the book started to pick up for me. I guess I like my heroines to be take charge kind of gals. Even if they are insecure at heart. We all need a few wins under our belt to boost our confidence. Until then: fake it until you make it.

So after a slow start, this chicklit worked out the way it should -- even had me prompting some come backs for Rebecca.

3.5 stars.

I read an ARC through Netgalley.

It was hard work reading this book to the finish. It was trainwreck syndrom that kept me going. Once I realized that, I stopped.

Eliza Darcy is going to a family reunion in England and she’s bringing her cat. Despite this, she goes through customs hassle free and is soon on her way to meet her family, all descendants from Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. It seems to be a rather incestuous family: six generations latter the last names of the family members are still all Darcy, Wickham, Bingley.

Eliza laments several times she did not get a chance to crack open her book of British colloquialisms. But the author sure did have chance to open her copy. I read a lot of contemporary British authors, but I have never seen this much British slang in one novel.

Well before the murder happens Eliza shows she is of the nosey sort. Her favourite pastime seems to be eavesdropping on other people. She is an avid reader of murder mysteries, and when Pemberley has its very own murder, Eliza offers the DCI in charge her help. Which he politely declines. Or actually, he declines through a simile that offends Eliza. As an avid reader of amateur sleuths she ought to know that help of the amateur is rarely encourage by the local constabulary.

Marvellous, the overuse of British colloquialisms has affected me too.

Determined to solve the mystery - one of many at Pemberley - Eliza presses on, with the aid of her cousin Joy and love-interest Heath.

Neither the mystery nor the romance could hold my interest. The romance is of the sort that is only attractive if you’re one of the participants. The mystery is too much hiding in shrubbery and turning around corners and seeing/overhearing things.

I much prefer a mystery where the sleuth has a vested interest because they actually know the person that was killed and do their sleuthing while talking to people. Rather than eavesdropping a lot and making assumptions.

It’s not a British colloquialism about when you assume… Eliza should know it.

I read an ARC through NetGalley.

Pepper has just joined the Bohemia Bartenders and without having met any of them (?!) she goes on a gig in New Orleans with them. The gig is to make cocktails to promote a Bohemian distillery at the annual Cocktailia event.

This event is not without its unplanned side events: Pepper immediately has the hots for Neil, Bohemia Bartender troop leader; the whiskey they want to serve at their first night is contaminated with methanol; mysterious notes are left or delivered; and when Pepper and Neil join distillery owner Dash for the follow-up they got shot at - with arrows.

Actually, that’s where the story sort of lost me. From that moment on I had a hard time connecting to the story again. In part, I think, because the attacks on Dash and Pepper got increasingly sillier. And you just know this person is going to get caught because of their own stupidity. They should have stuck with just trying to ruin Dash’s business, leave out the personal attacks.

The other part is that I got a bit weary of all the mentions of cocktails. I guess that can’t be helped at a cocktail event where the main character works as a bartender. Still, it was like being the only sober person at a party where everyone else was drinking.

I read an ARC through Booksirens.

Started out all right, but towards the end I was getting irritated with the lack of sleuthing.

After the death of her twin sister, whom she hasn’t spoken too in ten years (the sister didn’t even reach out to her when she knew she was terminally ill) Dahlia transplants herself to take of her sister’s inn and daughter. She soon finds herself intrigued with murder.

Dahlia is very self-aware and likeable for it. Detective Owen is a little too friendly. Particularly when he let’s Dahlia and her niece Danny tag along on his investigation (and doesn’t he need a warrant to remove someone’s trash from their garbage can?) or when he asks Dahlia to sit in on his interviews with the restaurant staff because he doesn’t have a colleague he can bounce ideas off. Not that he actually bounces ideas off Dahlia. Her task is to find a document that Owen could have easily found himself.

Dahlia is charming, but I don’t like the way the author is shoehorning her into this investigation. Owen let’s her watch when he interviews possible suspects, removing any reason Dahlia could have to go sleuthing herself. I would have preferred had she interviewed possible suspects on her own.

I read an ARC through NetGalley.