The Naked Duke by Sally MacKenzie (2005)

A tale of love, lust and insanity… with a cherry on top. 

Sarah has arrived in England after the death of her father, come to stay with her uncle, the Earl of Westbrooke. When her coach arrives  late in the evening, she’s forced to find a room at the Green Man, rather than turning up disheveled and unexpected on the Earl’s doorstep. The innkeeper balks at providing a room, even after she explained her relation. She’s rescued by a kind stranger, Robbie, who seems strangely familiar. Sure, Robbie’s a bit foxed, but he’s a gentleman with a room down the hall and Sarah hasn’t slept days. There shouldn’t be any issues…

James is only too ready to stay the night at the Green Man when he discovers his cousin, Richard, has arrived from London. Richard might arrange yet another ‘accident’ that night in an attempt at gaining the Inheritance that was ‘stolen’ because James’s father was born first. When James retires for the night, he discovers the London doxy Robbie smuggled into his room. While he’s quite tempted by her beauty, she’s obviously exhausted, so he decides to let her sleep and ‘discuss’ things in the morning. 

The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde (2020)

 At some point in the near past in this alternate world tale, some animals anthropomorphized into bipedal beings (something that may or may not have been satire induced). Peter Knox, our narrator, works for the government's RabCoT division (Rabbit Compliance Taskforce) as a rabbit spotter, someone who helps hunt down members of the rabbit underground/resistance. He's divorced and lives with his daughter, Emma. His life has been rather routine, until Connie moves in next door. Peter knew Connie back at university (and had an unacknowledged attraction to her). Connie's family includes a husband, Major (rank, not name) and a son. As Peter and Connie renew their acquaintance, Peter keeps his job secret and how it was his mistake that caused the death of Connie's first husband, Oliver. This proves a bit tricky, since Peter's boss is a fox and Emma has started dating Connie's son. Peter has a positive ear ID on a player in the Underground; something that could lead to the collapse of its courier network. Additionally, he works with a grouchy rabbit who loves hunting his own kind. 

Unlike with Fforde's Thursday Next series, I struggled to remain engaged in the story, most likely because of the story's structure (*cough* It's moving so slowly!). At the halfway point, I was fighting DNF'ing it. As usual, the world building is spot-on and well-developed. Unfortunately, it seems like there's too much world building and not enough action. 

Your Life Has Been Delayed by Michelle I Mason (2021)

1995. Jenny Waters is about to start her senior year in high school. (So, close to my senior year in West County, St. Louis.) She's returning from visiting her grandparents in New York City, with a plan to persuade her parents to okay studying journalism at Columbia University. She's eager to see her best friend, Angie, and finally kissing her boyfriend, Steve.  Things don't quite work out that way. After a slight light flicker, Flight 236 lands in 2020.

All of the passengers and crew have a hard time adjusting to 2020. Not just because of the changes in technology, but also because everyone they know is 25 years older. Three out of four of Jenny's grandparents have died. Her boyfriend and her best friend ended up married. And it gets worse: best friend, Angie, wrote a memoir about her -- "Jenny and Me" -- cue the embarrassing anecdotes and references to bird sex. The memoir was a best seller, read by all her family, and the paper's mean girl is nice enough to share its existence with the entire school. Jenny's relationship with Angie is further complicated when Jenny starts liking Angie's son, Dylan, and Angie's daughter, Jo Jo just might be Oscar the Grouch. The Springs, an elderly couple, have outlived all their friends and their children are not their age. Another passenger's husband had her declared dead and is happily remarried with kids. A flight attendant left behind a fiance. The pilot, Captain Reynolds, lost pretty much everything because his sister had to fund her meth habit.

The Maid by Nita Prose (2022)

Twenty-five-year-old Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills, has a hard time reading verbal and nonverbal cues (like sarcasm or a smile that doesn’t reach someone’s eyes). Her gran used to help her interpret the world and to figure out simple rules that Molly could follow. But Gran died a few months ago, and Molly’s a bit adrift. Life is tolerable because of her job as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, a historic, 5-star hotel. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with her supplies, and returning the rooms at to a state of perfection. She’s meticulous and polite no matter what. She embraces Mr. Snow’s “we’re all busy worker bees in the hive that is the Regency Grand.”

Molly’s work ethic and skill earn her excellent tips (note to self: tip housecleaning staff) — when her supervisor Cheryl isn’t stealing them, that is. She also makes friends with the other maids, the doorman, Mr. Porter, the hotel’s dish washer, Juan Miguel, and guests like the Chens and Giselle Black, the socialite wife of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black. As we jump into the action, Molly arrives at the Blacks’ suite to clean, only to be shoved aside by an angry Mr. Black as he’s leaving. Giselle spends the entire time Molly’s there in the bathroom (Is she crying?). When Molly returns later to clean the bathroom, Giselle is gone and the suite looks like she never cleaned. She decides to clean again and when she enters the bedroom, she finds Mr. Black dead in his bed. She has to call the front desk twice before they get the manager and call the police. 

Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2) by Ilona Andrews (2008)

This world can be really gross. Some of the descriptions in this book had me stopping my imagination to avoid triggering my gag reflex. Props to Ilona Andrews for the imagination and grittiness of this world.

This time around, a Flare is coming (when Magic swells and strengthens the magical). During a Flare, gods and goddesses can manifest and battle for power. Now Kate's going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one. When the Pack hires Kate to retrieve a set of stolen maps (they can't do it because of saving face), it quickly leads to discovering that much more is at stake. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug of war between 2 Celtic gods. Since their rebirth is mutually exclusive of one another, Atlanta is caught in the crossfire and if Kate can't stop the cataclysmic showdown, Atlanta may not survive... Add to that a missing coven of the Divine Crow, a sensate (see: street rat named Julie), wraithlike creatures hunting them, and the Beast Lord declaring she's his future lover and feeding her soup, Kate’s life has gotten a lot more complicated.

3 out of 5 stars.

Diamond Fire (Hidden Legacy #3.5) by Ilona Andrews (2018)

Catalina Baylor’s sister, Nevada, is getting married and her family is in charge of security. No big deal, right? Sure. After all, the family runs one of the best security firms in the world. In a world where magic is commons and powerful Primes run things, Nevada and billionaire Connor Rogan are a power couple in every sense of the word. The Baylors have recently formed their own House, so the world is watching to see if they flop. 

Rogan’s extended family overruns his mother’s home, the Warehouse, as they countdown to the big day. They’re obnoxious and have many secrets. Things come to a head when the wedding planner is ejected, someone steals the lucky tiara Nevada is supposed to wear and delinquents break in to the catering bakery to poison the cake fondant.

Affairs, greed, blackmail. People unsatisfied with an annual stipend of $2M. Will murder be next? Luckily, being a Prime — whose gift is making people like her — is going to aid Catalina in ensuring that Nevada’s special day goes off without a hitch… Even if it kills her. 

3 out of 5 stars

Magic Bites (Kate Daniels #1) by Ilona Andrews (2007)

First of the Kate Daniels series. 

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up magical problems. Then Kate’s former guardian, Greg Feldman, a powerful Knight Diviner who works for the Order of Merciful Aid, is murdered and her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles: the Masters of the Dead, necromancers who control vampires (the People), and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shifters. A series of bizarre and truly gruesome killings (which includes Greg) have the Masters and the Pack ready to start a war, because it looks like the other is behind it. Pressured by both sides to find the killer and temporarily deputized by the Order, Kate sets out to bring Greg’s killer to justice and stop the violence before it spills over into the unmagical world.