My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson

Best friends Kamryn Matika and Adele Brannon though nothing could come between them - until Adele di the unthinkable and slept with Kamryn's fiancé Nate. Worse still, she got pregnant and had his child. When Kamryn discovered the truth about their betrayal she vowed never to see any of them again.
Years later, Kamryn receives a letter from Adele asking her to visit her in hospital. Adele is dying and begs Kamryn to adopt her daughter Tegan. With a great job and hectic social life, the last thing Kamryn needs is a five-year-old daughter to disrupt things. Especially not one who reminds her of Nate. But with n on else to take care of Tegan and Adele fading fast, does she have any other choice? So begins a difficult journey that leads Kamryn towards forgiveness, love, responsibility and, ultimately, a better understanding of herself.

I thought this would be lighter, and shallower, than it was. The ending was kinda abrupt, but overall it was an enjoyable read.  

Personal by Lee Child

The 19th Jack Reacher adventure finds our hero pulled into an international law enforcement investigation trying to stop a sniper from attacking the upcoming G8 summit. For a warm up the prime suspect has taken a shot at the French president and he happens to be an ex-Army marksman that Reacher put in prison 15 years ago and is currently in the wind. Who better to track down an elusive assassin than the man who previously caught him? This time out JR is teamed with a young CIA analyst named Casey Nice and they’re off to London via Paris with a ticking clock to beat and two criminal gangs running interference.

This time around it’s all business and despite having an attractive partner Reacher’s got no time for romance. An old general who cajoles Reacher into assisting in the hunt calls him ‘Sherlock Holmeless’ in an on-target jab at JR’s wandering lifestyle. Anyway, Reacher drinks a lot of coffee as usual and with an assist from British intelligence manages to neutralize a Serbian gang and take down the leadership of a domestic gang of ruthless thugs and eliminate the ex-Army assassin while leaving a trail of bodies all over London.

Another enjoyable Jack Reacher story. I enjoyed the twist at the end. 

The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr by Frances Maynard

Elvira Carr is twenty-seven and neuro-atypical. Her father – who she suspects was in the secret service – has passed away and, after several Unfortunate Incidents growing up, she now spends most of her time at home with her overbearing mother. But when her mother has a stroke and is taken into care, Elvira is suddenly forced to look after herself or risk ending up in Sheltered Accommodation. Armed with her Seven Rules, which she puts together after online research, Elvira hopes to learn how to navigate a world that’s full of people she doesn’t understand. Not even the Seven Rules can help her, however, when she discovers that everything she thought she knew about her father was a lie, and is faced with solving a mystery she didn’t even know existed . 

A delightful, heartwarming story that kept me enthralled. 

The Secret Ingredient of Wishes by Susan Bishop Crispell

26-year-old Rachel Monroe has spent her whole life trying to keep a very unusual secret: she can make wishes come true. And sometimes the consequences are disastrous. So when Rachel accidentally grants an outlandish wish for the first time in years, she decides it’s time to leave her hometown—and her past—behind for good.

Rachel isn’t on the road long before she runs out of gas in a town that’s not on her map: Nowhere, North Carolina—also known as the town of “Lost and Found.” In Nowhere, Rachel is taken in by a spit-fire old woman, Catch, who possesses a strange gift of her own: she can bind secrets by baking them into pies. Rachel also meets Catch’s neighbor, Ashe, a Southern gentleman with a complicated past, who makes her want to believe in happily-ever-after for the first time in her life.

As she settles into the small town, Rachel hopes her own secrets will stay hidden, but wishes start piling up everywhere Rachel goes. When the consequences threaten to ruin everything she’s begun to build in Nowhere, Rachel must come to terms with who she is and what she can do, or risk losing the people she’s starting to love—and her chance at happiness—all over again. 

Well written, with sweet magical moments and lots of southern charm. A very sweet story.  Not a good book to read while trying to diet, the descriptions of some of the pies was too tempting.

First Family by David Baldacci

Camp David, USA.
A birthday party turns into a nightmare when a child is snatched after the celebrations. The First Lady enlists the services of Sean King and Michelle Maxwell to bring the child home safely. But she and King share a past. Years ago he saved her then senator husband from political disaster. And this may not be all that passed between them. With Michelle still battling her own demons, the two are pushed to the limit, with forces aligned on all sides against them - and the line between friend and foe impossible to define... or defend.

Complex and interwoven plot lines give us a story full of action and drama.

King and Maxwell save the day again. 

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden ... and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying. 

This book is surprising, charming, well written, well plotted and full of likeable, interesting characters. It had me laughing out loud at times.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan--from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic... 

Stella and Michael are both interesting, believable characters. Their chemistry works.

A beautiful, wonderful story that had me laughing and crying.