Now and Then Friends, by Kate Hewitt

Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN 9780451475596, July 2016

In the little Cumbrian town of Hartley-by-the-Sea, Claire West and Rachel Campbell were best friends as children, at least from Year Two through Year Five. But they came from very different backgrounds, and in Year Six things changed. Rachel's mother, the reliable working income in their household, fell and broke her back. Rachel became responsible for the care of her younger sisters. Meanwhile, Claire's wealthy family enrolled her in a tonier school than the village school they'd both attended till then.

Claire was too shy to walk out of the circle of rich girls who were suddenly her "friends," while Rachel was too proud to fight this apparent dropping of their friendship.

Fifteen years later, Rachel is still in Hartley-by-the-Sea, having given up her cherished opportunity to attend Durham University to support her family when their father leaves them, without explanation and apparently without a backward glance.

Penric's Demon (World of the Five Gods #1.5), by Lois McMaster Bujold

Kindle Edition, July 2015

Young Lord Pnric is on his way to his betrothal in Greenwell when, five miles out of town, he encounters a party of travelers. Learned Ruchia, a divine of the fifth god, the Bastard, en route to a house of that order, has suddenly fallen ill. In fact, she has had a heart attack, and is dying. One of her party has ridden off to get help from the town. Penric feels a need to help, even if the only help he can give her is to hold her hand as she dies.

She says she's accepting his help.

And suddenly everything changes.

Ruchia was a sorceress, and the demon she has carried for many years now needs a new home. It, or she, leaps to Penric.

His life is forever changed.

Daughter of Mystery (Alpennia #1), by Heather Rose Jones

Bella Books, ISBN 2940150664623, February 2014

Alpennia is a small country, probably near Switzerland, at perhaps, roughly, the Regency period in English history. This is a different history, though, and along with all the normal rites of the Church, there are the Mysteries, real visions and miracles, with their own rites and ceremonies.

Margerit Sovitre is an orphan whose guardians are her mother's brother, and her father's sister--who often do not see eye to eye. With a limited fortune of her own, and Uncle Fulpi having two daughters of his own to bring out, Margerit is getting one season to find a husband, maybe a second if necessary.

And then, quite unexpectedly, her godfather, Baron Saveze, dies, and leaves his wealth to her. He does not leave her his title, which goes to his nephew Estefan, with whom he has been on bad terms for a long time.

Margerit is suddenly wealthy, and also suddenly has an enemy. It's just as well the Baron has also left her his bodyguard, Barbara.

Mouse & Dragon (Liaden Universe #7), by Sharon Lee (author), Steve Miller (author), Bernadette Dunne (narrator)

Audible Frontiers, September 2012 (original publication June 2919)

Aelliana Caylon has survived her brother's attempt to kill her. Her mother, Delm Mizel, has declared her son and heir dead for his crimes. Daav yos'Phelium, Delm Korval, has taken her under his protection, now that she is able to say she does not feel safe in House Miz, el. And she and Daav are natural lifemates.

But Mizel views her simply as an asset, all the more valuable now that the heir is officially dead, and also resents her for having been the occasion of the events that caused his death. The Delm is determined to get her back and wring every bit of value out of her. Her brother's abuse of her has damaged her natural bond with Daav. And getting Ride the Luck offworld and starting a working, successful courier service is going to be even harder than she anticipated.

Murder Under the Covered Bridge (A Bucket List Mystery #1), by Elizabeth Perona

Midnight Ink, ISBN 9789738748954, July 2016

The Summer Ridge Bridge Club ladies are working their way through their "Sixty Lists," each woman's list of sixty things she wants to do before she dies. Getting caught doing one of the early items earned them the sobriquet "The Skinny-Dipping Grandmas." They're now working on another item, a sexy pin-up calendar, and they, or at least most of them, do not want to get caught doing this one.

The last picture that needs to be taken is Francine's, in a horse-drawn carriage, at the Roseville Covered Bridge, recreating her great-grandmother's scandalous escapade with the family's carriage driver. Joy is living out her dream, as an on-air feature reporter for the local tv station and is doing a piece on the Roseville Bridge and its history. Along with filming her segment, she's going to take the pictures of Francine and her husband Jonathan.

And despite Francine's paranoia about getting caught taking the sexy pictures, everything is going just fine. At least, it is until her cousin William ambles by, walking onto the neighboring land owned by a touchy local hermit, and  gets shot at from two directions.

Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans & Robots, by John Markoff (author), George Newbern (narrator)

Blackstone Audio, ISBN 9781504614269, August 2015

Computers of all size and shapes have become a seamless part of our everyday lives. We carry in our pockets more computing power than Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins took to the moon. Robots are still mostly less visible, still doing most of their work in factories, in space, and in other settings where humans don't add enough value to justify the risk of lives.

And whether we call them computers or robots, right now they're still just machines.

Roots of Murder, by R. Jean Reid

Midnight Ink, ISBN 9780738748771, July 2016

Naomi "Nell" Nelligan McGraw is a woman from the midwest, who married the son of a newspaper owner in Pelican Bay, Mississippi. In time, Mr. McGraw Sr. died, Thom inherited the paper, and Thom and Nell ran it together.

Now Thom has been killed by a drunk driver, and Nell is a widow, raising their two children and running the paper on her own. It's only been a month, and she's just beginning to regain her emotional footing. It's a challenge being a single parent of a teenager and a pre-teen, but the paper is also a challenge. Nell is a good journalist, and a good editor, but Thom was the one with the people skills, good at handling the staff. Nell has no confidence in her skills in that area. She's managing, though.

Then she gets a call from Kate Brown, owner of the local bicycle shop. She was out hiking in the state park, and found a tree downed by the recent storm. In its roots, there were two skeletons. And they were clearly murdered.

Sunset Mantle, by Alter S. Reiss (author), Christopher Price (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, September 2015

Cete is a soldier who committed an act that resulted in him simultaneously receiving a belt of merit, a very high honor, and exile from what had been his home and country. He is traveling the world looking for a new place to be a soldier when he arrives in the remote Reach Antach, where at last he has a chance of employment.

The downside is that the Reach Antach is doomed, for reasons of politics and economics, and one soldier more or less, no matter how good, won't make much difference. Yet Cete has found a reason to stay. He's met a blind weaver-woman who creates beautiful works of art--including a Sunset Mantle that Cete very much wants. What he also wants is the woman herself--if he can have her without making her precarious circumstances worse. The sane thing for her to do is leave the city and go somewhere safe.

The Last Witness, by K.J. Parker (author), P.J. Ochlan (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, October 2015

In a world that is recognizably not our 18th or early 19th century, the teller of this tale is a man with an interesting talent. He can take memories from your mind so neatly that you'll never know the stolen memory is gone. He's made a nice business of this. Some people will always have memories that are too painful and they wish to be free of. Others will have memories that it would make their lives easier to have someone else forget. Unfortunately, once he's removed a memory from your mind, he has it in his--forever.

And some of the people he does business with are dangerous men, who might want to eliminate the last "last witness." Eventually, he outwits the gambling compulsion he picked up somewhere along the line, and manages to retire in relative comfort, with little need to associate with other people at all.

That's when he discovers there's someone else in the world who has his talent, and e'sven fewer ethical standards. It's someone to whom he has a connection that's painfully close.

Saddled With Trouble (Michaela Bancroft #1), by A.K. Alexander (author), Michelle Scott (author), Suehyla El Attar (narrator)

Audible Studios, July 2016

Michaela Bancroft is having a rough time. She's in the process of divorcing her husband, Brad Warren, after ten years of marriage. Brad's new fiancee, Kirsten, is actively harassing her to get her to sign the divorce papers instantly--without holding out for the thousands of dollars Brad owes for the medical bills insurance wouldn't cover in pursuit of a pregnancy they never achieved. Her wild friend Camden has moved in with her while waiting for the settlement on her divorce, too. And with all the bills, Michaela is running her horse ranch on minimal help.

And then her beloved Uncle Lou misses a breakfast with her that he had suggested. She goes to his ranch--and finds him in his prize stallion's stall, with a pitchfork through his back.