In case you haven't noticed, I love linked series. And Devon Monk is great at it! She started with her Ordinary Magic romance series, spun that into the Souls of the Road romantic suspense series, spun that into her Mystic Crossroads series and has now returned to the scene of the original crimes, giving us a new trilogy of cozy mysteries, the Ordinary Oregon Mysteries.
So, I spent a little time recently re-reading two books that I haven't thought about in awhile. These stories are in KJ Charles' A Charm of Magpies world. A Queer Trade takes place during the second Magpie Lord book, A Case of Possession, while Rag and Bone takes place during the sequel/standalone/spin-off book, Jackdaw.
I'm a fan of the whole series, but these two books are...gentler, in a way? I dunno. They're both great, low-angst reads. And it's always such fun to see the main characters from the series appear as such total side characters.
The first book--The Wedding Game, by Meghan Quinn--is the second book I've read recently that revolves around a reality TV show. And, just like the other one, both heroes are jaded divorce lawyers. Go figure. Have I just discovered a secret trope?
https://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Game-Meghan-Quinn-ebook/dp/B0899QWN9Y/ref=sr_1_1
USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn’s latest bauble is the charming story of a crafting queen battling a jaded divorce lawyer on a wedding reality show.
Luna Rossi is a veritable crafting genius—she can bedazzle and bead so hard her Etsy site is one of the hottest in the world. So it’s only natural that Luna would convince her brother and his husband-to-be to compete on The Wedding Game, a “do-it-yourself” TV show, for the title of Top DIY Wedding Expert.
As a jaded divorce lawyer, Alec Baxter scoffs at weddings and romance. But when his recently engaged brother begs him to participate in The Wedding Game, Alec grudgingly picks up a glue gun and prepares for some family bonding.
Both fierce competitors, Luna and Alec clash on national TV as harsh words and glitter fly with abandon. But as they bicker over color swatches and mood boards, they find themselves fighting something else: their growing mutual attraction. While Luna is torn between family loyalty and her own feelings, Alec wonders if he might have been wrong about love and marriage all along…
The Wedding Proposal (by Sue Moorcraft) is not technically a wedding book--but it starts with a botched proposal, so I think it counts. It opens with a forced proximity trope--two former lovers find themselves sharing space on a houseboat in Malta.
Asher Wright has spent his career creating and concocting the perfect dishes and is about to open his very own restaurant. Life is good. His love life, however, is far from cooking! He hasn’t thought about Lucy Gray in years – not since they both graduated, reeling from the shocking loss of her then boyfriend and his best friend Kris, who tragically died at 18. So when he witnesses the breakdown of her wedding in all its humiliating glory - old wounds and long-buried emotions resurface.
As Lucy lands a right hook on her soon-to-be ex-fiancée in front of their entire wedding party, she has a moment of realization... Love is not on the menu for her! Fate, however, has other plans... A chance twist of events lands Asher as the private chef for Lucy’s spirited grandmother, Mitzi, and what begins as awkward encounters in Mitzi’s Portland mansion soon evolves into a simmering connection she never expected.
As Asher and Lucy work through their past they discover a bond that feels both familiar and excitingly new.
So, this book was a surprise. It doesn't appear on Lanyon's website--as far as I can tell. Personally, it's not my favorite site to try and navigate. It's not in "standalones" which it wouldn't be since I believe it's part of a series. It's also not on the series page, however. Although, to be honest, I'm not sure which series it belongs to, so I might have missed it. She's got quite a few books with FBI characters and it's been awhile.
Lanyon is one of those authors--like me and so many others I know or knew or try to follow--whose output has slowed dramatically in the past ten years. It's been rough.
Anyway, this is one of the better books I've read lately, even if it still catches me off-guard how emotional her FBI characters tend to be. I mean, they all claim to be good at compartmentalizing, but I think that's just one more thing they're in denial about.
That having been said, her profilers are a lot better at reading people than the run of the mill agents, so maybe it's my own (completely non-existent) experience with FBI agents that's at fault?
