Architects of Memory (The Memory War #1) by Karen Osborne
Indenture Ash knows if Aurora found out about her celestium sickness, she will never become citizen. But priorities change when she stumbles upon a huge corporate conspiracy that contradicts everything she used to know.
The Unexpected Dream (Sports #3) by Nicole Pyland
Content warnings: divorce, biphobia
The Unexpected Dream is a softball romance, which should totally be a trope.
Mia Landis (30, bisexual) accidentally got pregnant and misses her chance of playing at Tokyo Olympics. Used to be a prodigy pitcher on the national team, her life now revolves around handling her divorce, caring for her two-year-old daughter Hazel, and coaching softball at her old high school. When a player mentions tryouts for a professional league, Mia decides to give it a try. Skylar Donahue (25, lesbian) also wanted to play at Tokyo but had injured her wrist weeks before the games. She ends up being the pitching coach when all she wants is to be a player. With her lingering injury, she cannot pitch but just might make the team in the new league as a catcher.
The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen
Alison Green was partly tricked into producing a Shakespeare school play. Desperate to be valedictorian, she wanted everything to be in her control. But alas, mistakes happen and soon she found herself in the midst of a failing play, ruined friendships, strained romance, and much more.
I am glad I have read A Midsummer Night’s Dream before reading this book. Otherwise, it would have been incredibly confusing.
Fair Game (Payback #2) by Charlotte Mills
Content warnings: stalking, poisoning, murder, attempted murder, death, self-harm in antagonist, blood, alcoholism, suspected cheating of minor character
This book takes place about two months after the epilogue of Payback.
Lexi Ryan (~34) now works at internet firm Shield Securities while her girlfriend ex-DCI Helen Taylor (~40) is settling down as a civilian. When Lexi feels like she is being stalked, Helen makes it her job to protect her and find out what is going on.
Payback (Payback #1) by Charlotte Mills
Content warnings: off-page arson, murder, suicides, pedophilia, rape, deaths of family members, sexual harassment; blood, cancer
I did not expect the story to escalate like this.
Dead body. Arson. Missing person. Throughout most of the story, I had trouble getting into the plot, connecting with detective Kate Wolf (34) and her boss Helen Taylor, as well as understanding their attraction. A lot of things did not add up for me, so it took me a very long time to get past the first few chapters and keep reading. Even as I was close to finishing, I couldn’t understand why everyone loved it so much. Until I did.