Royal Magic by K M Shea (2018)

Okay, I freely admit that I love a good love triangle. But it has to be a good love triangle. Not the kind where the rival for the boy's attention is a shrew or the rival for the girl's affection has been friendzoned, or the rival is an ex who they just aren't quite over (even though they should be). This book has a good love triangle wrapped up in a nice bow with a marriage of convenience. 

Gwendafyn is the second daughter of King Celrin and Queen Firea. While their royal highnesses and their eldest daughter, Yvrea, stay in Haven and continue to build the Elves' alliance with Calnor, Fyn serves as acting regent back home. Her etiquette and behavior is overseen by her Aunt Lorius; it's deperately needed because Fyn can't quite emulate the serenity, grace and poise a royal of Lessa should possess.  She's a little too brash, a little too loud. She likes sword fighting. She's so much her sister is not. 

Benjimir is the eldest son of King Petyrr and Queen Luciee. In the previous book, The Red Rope of Fate, he plotted to get rid of Lady Tari (the bondmate of the Captain of the Guard Lord Arion) to keep her from spoiling the good opinion of his bondmate, Yvrea. (It wasn't in Tari's nature, but unrequited love can make people do strange things.) After he's discovered, he's stripped of his crown prince status and sent on a tour visiting neighboring and allied countries. He's now back after 3 years of unofficial exile, to discover that Yvrea is deciding between 2 suitors for her hand. "It was an impossible, beautiful dream." While he is certain that he'll never love another, it soon becomes obvious (to us, the reader) that he wears a mask, even around her. 

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding (1999)

I read this when it first came out (23 years ago!), so it's a re-read. There were a bunch of things that I forgot, so I enjoyed it, even if they break up over something stupid. All she had to say was, "Rachel told him that I was keen on him, that you said we were breaking up and that's why he planted an unwanted kiss on me." But, she doesn't and they break up.  (spoilers)

Bridget's struggles and antics, while a bit outrageous, are relatable for any singleton. Where the first book cover a singleton's dating travails while on the quest to find a nice man, this second book covers what it's like being in a relationship (with moments that are the majestic and the miserable).  And like the first book, you end this second one with a smile on your face.

I was planning on reading the next two books but then I found out that they cover Bridget's life *after* she's married Marc and he's died from a heart attack. Instead of getting to enjoy the bliss of Bridget and Marc together (because you know it would have some ridiculous moments because that's life with Bridget Jones), we get to suffer through Bridget being a singleton all over again. I decided to pass and let Marc Darcy live on.

It's a solid follow-up to the first book. My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club by Roselle Lim (2022)

Sophie is a matchmaker. After studying for 3 years in Singapore, she’s recently returned to Toronto, ready to take up her craft and match enough clients to gain her certification. Her task is made harder, however by her mother, who declares loudly at a large gathering of potential clients that Sophie is deceiving everyone, pretending to be a matchmaker when she’s not certified. She’s no matchmaker, since she killed someone with her negligence. 

The truth of the death is a girl who was obsessed and who killed herself rather than deal with her ‘rejection.’ Sophie was her unfortunate matchmaker. Her mother knows this but she’s the worst parts of motherhood: selfish, manipulative, gaslighting and belittling. Her father is no better; he constantly enables her mother’s moods and bad behavior, while making excuses to justify it.

The One and Only Crystal Druid by Annette Marie (2021)

Ten years ago, I risked everything on a nameless boy. I came out the other side with a murder conviction, a prison sentence, and a minor case of amnesia.

I forgot everything about that boy, and now I'm out on parole, just a nobody witch volunteering at an animal rescue and keeping a low profile. Everything was fine until the notorious Crystal Druid showed up to hunt a powerful fae that's leaving a trail of dead bodies in its wake—bodies that the local ex-con, me, will be blamed for.

To save my own hide, I offer to help him. But with every clash of temper between us, something inside me cracks a little more. The closer we get to our target—and the closer I get to the guarded Crystal Druid—the more my missing memories loom.

The fae killer is far deadlier than I imagined—but so is the boy I forgot. And the only question now is which one will destroy me first.

I've been reading Annette Marie's Guild Codex series (plural) in suggested reading order. I am a major fan of her work. If you're not familiar, basically, there's a magical community (aka mythics) that exists just out of sight of the regular world. In the Spellbound series, we're introduced to it and to all things mythic through Tori Dawson, a recently-fired waitress who stumbles across a bartending job at the Crow and Hammer, a decent pub with colorful characters including 3 rather hot guys, Aaron Sinclair, Kai Yamata and Ezra Rowe. But being hot doesn't equal obnoxious and soon, the trio adopt her as the D'Artagnan to their Three Musketeers. Early on, we're introduced to the Ghost (aka Crystal Druid) when Aaron, Kai and Ezra rope Tori into trying to capture a quite infamous mythic with a rather high bounty on his head. But when the Ghost kidnaps/rescues Tori, she discovers that things aren't quite what they seem. (A couple books in, Marie expanded the world beyond the four's adventures to those of Kit Morris -- the Warped series -- and Robin Page -- the Demonized series. Kit works for the Mythic Police Department and Robin inadvertently becomes a demon mage to a rather unique demon. It's a great bunch of stories that I highly recommend.) And this leads me to The One and Only Crystal Druid, the first book of the Unveiled series.