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.

In Her Highlander's Bed (Highland Brides #11) by Lynsay Sands (2023)

This latest book in the Highland Brides has left me feeling 'meh.' I'm not quite sure why, because normally, I love this series. I don't know if it's just that I'm finding the mention of racy bits annoying (not that I read it, but the fact that I have to take time to skip it is annoying) or if it was just these 2 characters, but I didn't really click with either of the OTP. In fact, the heroine quite got on my nerves and the villain was extremely Snidely Whiplash.

It sounds like Alec might be the next hero, which would be a welcome return of the Buchanan brothers. Even though the heroine is their cousin and we see some of them, it's just not the same as the chaotic goodness that is the Buchanan clan. A bit disappointed.

(I'm not really feeling the cover, either. It looks like Stretch Armstrong was crossed with a Mr. Universe. Just not my jam.)

3 out of 5 stars.

What Happens in London (Bevelstoke #2) by Julia Quinn (2009)

We first met Olivia Bevelstoke in The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (Bevelstoke #1). This time around Miranda's best friend gets a romance of her own. There's well-rounded characters and a really nice romance that develops. 4/5 stars.

The prologue of our tale introduces us to our hero, Sir Harry Valentine. The middle of 3 children (an elder sister and a younger brother), Harry has a strong-willed, opinionated Russian grandmother, a passive, disconnected mother and a father who is a drunk. A agreeable drunk with a bad habit of stumbling and tripping, laughing when no one else did, and throwing up with regular frequency. By the time Harry was 12, any other young child would have lost count of the number of times he'd cleaned up after his father, but he had always been a precise sort of boy, and once he'd begun his accounting, it was difficult to stop... once he'd reached 20, the issue became somewhat academic... It had to be academic. If it wasn't academic, then it would be something else, and he might find himself crying himself to sleep instead of merely staring at the ceiling as he said, "Forty-six, but with a radius quite a bit smaller than last Tuesday. Probably didn't have much for supper tonight." By the time he graduates from Hesselwhite (a reasonable rigorous academy for families without the clout to attend Eton or Harow), the count has grown to 126. 

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (Bevelstoke #1) by Julia Quinn (2009)

At the age of ten, Miss Miranda Cheever showed no signs of Great Beauty. Her hair was brown -- lamentably -- as were her eyes; and her legs, which were uncommonly long, refused to learn anything that could be remotely called grace... Unfortunately for Miranda, the society into which she was born placed great stock on female appearance. 

After her best friend, Olivia Bevelstoke's, 11th birthday party, Miranda's father forgets to send someone to collect her (he's busy translating a manuscript from the ancient Greek). Lady Rudland enlists Olivia's older brother, Nigel, to escort her home. 

"Nigel is nineteen, and he is very eligible," Olivia said matter-of-factly. "He's a viscount. And he's very handsome. He looks just like me."

Even though she and Miranda have been friends since birth, she's never met older brother Nigel (away at Eton, of course). She's rather in awe when they finally meet:

At the sound of the deep voice, Miranda turned her face to the doorway and almost gasped. There stood quite the most splendid creature she had ever beheld. Olivia had said that Nigel was 19, but Miranda immediately recognized him as the man he already was. His shoulders were marvelously broad, and the rest of him was lean and firm. His hair was darker than Olivia's but still streaked with gold... But the best part about him, Miranda immediately decided, was his eyes, which were bright, bright blue, just like Olivia's. They twinkled just as mischievously, too. Miranda smiled. Her mother always said that one could tell a person by his eyes, and Olivia's brother had very good eyes.

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis (2023)

I really wanted to like this one. The description sounded interesting:

In 1910, the Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love—even where they're not supposed to...  The first book in a breathless new series, The Davenports offers a glimpse into a period of African American history often overlooked, while delivering a totally escapist, swoon-worthy read. Inspired by the real-life story of C.R. Patterson and his family, it's the tale of four determined and passionate young Black women discovering the courage to steer their own path in life—and love.

All the elements were there. Good world building, 3D characters, interesting premise. Unfortunately, I just couldn't connect. I made it about 40% through, decided I didn't care what happened. Marquis and her story could be really fun and interesting. I think it's all me and my mood. 

I'll probably pick it up later, but for now it's a DNF.

Longing by Mary Balogh (1994)

This is a standalone book by Mary Balogh. And boy, was it a saga! The audiobook was 14 hours long and it was really crammed full of events. It was chock-full of action and drama -- if you can use those words to describe a historical romance. While it was set in the 19th century, it wasn't the standard life-in-the-ton romance. Our hero is a Marquis, but it's mainly a story about the effect of the industrial revolution on regular people's lives. The ton is pretty abstract in this book because instead of Regency London or house parties in the countryside, our story takes place in Wales.

This book takes place 50 years after the French revolution during a time when the Industrial Revolution was changing society. This is a time in English history when workers were rioting because of terrible working conditions. For instance, because the price of steel drops, threatening their profits, the local mine owners cut their pay by 10%. (Not that the miners weren't living on the poverty line or anything.) And because only the gentry have voting rights, they can do this with impunity. A big specter that hangs over everything throughout the book was the Charter, a list of demands that the working man are going to present Parliament, asking for things like the vote and fair, safe working conditions and pay. 

Heartless (Georgian #1) by Mary Balogh (1995)

Synopsis: 

Life has taught Lucas Kendrick, Duke of Harndon, that a heart is a decided liability. Betrayed by his elder brother, rejected by his fiancée, banished by his father, and shunned by his mother, Luke fled to Paris, where he became the most sought-after bachelor in fashionable society.

Ten years later, fate has brought him back home to England as head of the family who rejected him. Unwilling as he is to be involved with them, he must assume responsibility for his younger siblings, the family estate he once loved—and the succession. He faces the prospect of marrying with the greatest reluctance—until he sees beguiling Lady Anna Marlowe across a ballroom one night.

Anna, far from being the bright-eyed innocent Luke takes her for, is no more a stranger to the shadows of a painful past than he is. But for her, marriage cannot so easily solve what is wrong in her life—not when a tormentor stalks her to the very doors of Bowden Abbey, where Luke and Anna must learn to trust in each other or risk any chance they may have for a happy future.

Review:

Lucas Kendrick has no wish to be back in the country of his birth, much less have anything to do with the family which rejected him ten years before. He certainly has no wish to marry. And yet, within the space of a week he does all this: returns to London, reacquaints himself with his mother and remaining siblings, and marries Anna, god-daughter of his uncle's long-term lover.