Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Audio ARC Review: Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave

Posted March 13, 2025 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve loved this series, even when it goes off the rails a little bit. These are cozy mysteries with a slight edge compared to others I’ve read. I think this book specifically is more on the cozy side than the others and a bit more grounded than a couple of the previous ones. I was happy to encounter a new mystery instead of a continuation of the other plot that had run its course. The first four books each had individual mysteries that get resolved in each book, but there was a larger mystery and thread throughout all of those. It got a little tiring. All of that to say – this book follows a new mystery based in Finlay’s neighborhood. It was set up at the end of book 4 when a body is found in Mrs. Haggarty’s yard. Finlay and Vero spend this installment trying to figure out who murdered this dude and buried them in the yard, since her ex-husband is the one implicated in the crime. Finlay believes, as much as Steven sucks, that he isn’t responsible for it. I will say that I love how this book brought the series back to its roots, as I touched on before. There’s a new storyline to follow that kind of reads like a standalone story. The humor and heart of these books get met every time and keep me reading. I know that a lot of people are sick of the antics or thought the books veered […]

Recent Reads | Into the Woods and The Meadowbrook Murders

Posted February 28, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I put off reading CANADIAN BOYFRIEND for a while and now, with my review copy of INTO THE WOODS, I’ve spoiled a bit of that one. So I can generally recommend to not read this one first unless you have no interest in the first book in this shared universe lol. Moving on! This one follows Gretchen and Teddy as they work at an artsy summer camp. Gretchen is in the middle of buying a building to expand her dance studio but fills in for a pregnant friend, while Teddy is there reeling from his band’s breakup and hoping to work on a solo album. They have interesting and honestly sometimes off-putting personalities. I don’t know what it was but it took me a few chapters before I actually liked either one of them lol. The summer camp vibes are incredible here. I love the idea of adults at summer camp since I don’t read as much YA anymore. However, there was something about this story that just didn’t keep my interest. It took me SO long to read, which is not common for romance or books by Jenny Holiday for me. I was never in the mood to read this and think some of the story was a bit slow or repetitive through the middle. I feel like I could sum up the middle 50% of the book with a few sentences at most. Gretchen and Teddy were different than other romance book MCs – like I said, their […]

Recent Reads | A Killing Cold and The Five Year Lie

Posted February 19, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve been saying for years that I need to read a Kate Alice Marshall book and I’m glad I finally did! Apparently it just took me getting it in my BOTM. (By the way, I am getting much better at reading those…) The book follows Theo as she heads to her new fiance’s remote cabin in the woods to meet his family for the first time in their whirlwind romance. The mysterious, uber-wealthy family has spent years of summers and Christmases at their compound with cabins up in Vermont. When she finds a photo of herself in the abandoned cabin, memories of her childhood slowly come back. Is it possible she’s somehow been there before? I really loved this one and read the majority of it in a day. I found myself continually turning the pages to see what happened next. I was suspicious of the entire family at different points in the book and it really wasn’t what I expected to be honest. I think the majority of things I could discuss would be spoilery so I’ll just say that the atmosphere of this book was really well-done and perfect to read on a snowy weekend like I did! Some things were a little convenient (fate? IYKYK) and didn’t seem realistic at all. There were a couple of explanations for those things but do think the reader needs to suspend their disbelief to really buy into it. I ended up really liking the end of the book and the […]

Recent Reads | Onyx Storm and Beautiful Ugly

Posted February 6, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

If you thought IRON FLAME was a slog to get through with all of the filler and unnecessary fighting, allow me to introduce you to ONYX STORM! Also a slog with even more filler and (at least) less fighting. This book would be boring for 100 pages and then offer 50 pages of intrigue and then keep repeating until the end of the book. I’m starting to question the sanity of myself and others who continue to read the series – I genuinely don’t get it. FOURTH WING was a comparatively fun ride, especially for those nostalgic for old school YA fantasy, aged up into romantasy with sex scenes. I still didn’t really understand the five star reviews of that book because of the horrible, repetitive romance and writing style but at least I could understand why the experience was fun for folks. This book and its predecessor brought to the table a whole lot of nothing except for at the very end. And this one doesn’t have me itching to pick up the next book like IRON FLAME did. I’m wondering if this is where me and my FOMO part ways with this series… We’ll see how I feel when the next one comes out but as of now I’m mostly frustrated and confused. I’m gonna go read some theories because this book pretty much answered nothing that was brought up in the previous two books. If it’s true that this was originally a trilogy and got pushed to […]

Recent Reads | Only If You’re Lucky and Lost Man’s Lane

Posted January 16, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve been meaning to read this author forever and I’m pleased that I think I’ll enjoy her other books – maybe even more than this one based on reviews! This story follows Margot at the end of her freshman year of college – she lost her best friend Eliza before school and is just trying to get through the year. When enigmatic Lucy randomly invites Margot to live with her and her two friends, she jumps at the chance to forge some real friendships again. The book flashes “before” and “after” – in the after, Lucy is missing and a frat boy from Margot’s hometown is dead. How is everything connected? The author did a great job of making me wonder that the entire story, but my biggest complaint is around pacing. The story starts and builds pretty slow. There’s a lot of “privileged kids getting drunk and doing drugs” to build up the friendship dynamics, which made sense, but it didn’t feel like a mystery/thriller for the bulk of it. Don’t get me wrong: the college setting was super fun and I want more books there… but the beginning felt like a YA contemporary. However! Once the twists started, I was enthralled. There were a number of reveals I absolutely didn’t see coming, though there were a couple I had predicted. The ending was really surprising and enjoyable. I feel like some pieces were unbelievable but I didn’t really care – it was well-plotted in many ways. Willingham will […]

Holiday Reviews: The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year and A Winter Wish

Posted December 25, 2024 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

Story I’ve been an Ally Carter stan since I was a preteen so you know I’m going to be here for anything she puts out. I didn’t love her previous adult mystery/romance and was really hoping this one would be better for me. I’m thrilled to report that it was! Maggie and Ethan are rival mystery book authors (according to Maggie at least). They’re both heading out on a mysterious Christmas trip, no clue that they were invited by the Agatha Christie of their time (Eleanor Ashley). They, along with members of Eleanor’s family, were brought to her huge mansion/castle in the English countryside for some reason. When Eleanor goes missing a few days before Christmas, Maggie and Ethan use their crime, poison, and general mystery trope knowledge to try to figure out what happened and where she is. I really enjoyed the romance between these two and the setting was incredible. Only one bed, enemies-to-lovers, he-fell-first… all the good tropes! The fact that there was also a mystery in the backdrop made this book even better. Carter did a great job balancing both genres IMO but I do wish there was a liiiittle more of the mystery. I think the Knives Out plus holiday rom-com comparison was perfect for this book, which also means additional puzzles, riddles, and time with other characters would have been welcome. Wintery Setting & Holiday Feels The book is set at a snowy castle on 20,000 acres in England with no phone signal, plus […]

Holiday Review: Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop

Posted December 18, 2024 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 1 Comment

Overall Average 3.5 stars across the 12 stories. This wasn’t a bad collection but not very memorable. I liked the stories that centered more around the bookstore. Lots of them were about authors or writers (which made sense) and had a ton of literary/mystery references. Probably a great collection for a classic mystery lover. Stories Black Christmas – Jason Starr This was a bit creepy and depressing to start off the book of stories, but I didn’t mind it. I could assume where it was going but the very end confused me. A Midnight Clear – Lyndsay Faye I kind of thought this was too similar to the first story but it took a more interesting turn toward the end. You expected it to go in one direction and it didn’t. Wolfe Trap – Loren D. Estleman This is meant to be a “Claudius Lyon Mystery” apparently and even though you could argue you don’t need to know anything about that series to read this little standalone, it definitely would have helped… I’m still pretty confused about who the characters were, including the narrator. The ending was funny but overall not worth the effort and confusion.” Secret Santa – Ace Atkins This was my favorite so far, easily! You expect a certain story arc and it repeatedly changes. The author did a whole lot in a short story. “The Writer” character himself went up and down in likability as well – lot of complexity in this. The Gift of the […]

Recent Reads | Love and Other Conspiracies and Hemlock House

Posted November 8, 2024 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I saw this book getting some love on Goodreads and decided to request it on a whim from the library. I really haven’t read a lot of romance this year and was hoping to find a win… and boy did this deliver! I absolutely loved this romance – A+, no notes. Hallie is in need of a breakthrough show for her job at Skroll (basically like Buzzfeed I guess but heavy on video content) when she finds a random conspiracy show on TV and falls for the guest of the episode, Hayden. She learns of his successful podcast and immediately thinks he has something special. The two of them begin a show where he discusses conspiracy theories and hunts cryptids. She’s the skeptic and he’s the believer, and their banter on the show quickly turns into something more. I absolutely loved the tension and chemistry in this book. Hayden honestly set the bar high for other romance heroes. He was thoughtful, caring, and sweet at every single turn. Hallie had a horrible previous relationship with her ex that still works at Skroll, so there was a lot of heaviness and gaslighting in this book. It was hard to read and I prefer my romances super fluffy, but the swooniess of everything else overpowered it. I was rooting for Hallie so hard. I knew pretty early on that this was going to be a five-star read and it maintained that level of excellence throughout the entire story. It will certainly go […]

Recent Reads | Worst Case Scenario and The God of the Woods

Posted October 14, 2024 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve been absolutely loving TJ Newman’s books lately – I know I haven’t looked that hard, but I don’t think a lot of authors are writing thrillers like these! (If you have recs, let me know!) They’re basically disaster thrillers where an airplane causes some kind of havoc – her first book was about a hijacked plane crashing, the second book had a plane sinking underwater and needing rescue, and this one is about a plane crashing into a freakin nuclear power plant. The setup, as a result, was a bit different – the plane has already crashed and the team at the power plant / in the small town have to rally together to figure out how to save everyone. There were definitely similar elements to her first two books, like going back and forth between different people involved, but not really a past/present situation. Everything is happening real time in this one. I didn’t expect to finish this book as quickly as I did and ended up kind of sobbing at the end of it! I think each of Newman’s books have gotten stronger (especially with characters and emotional punch) as they’ve come out. I feel like the ending was a little abrupt but otherwise this was super addicting. I cannot fathom the amount of research that must go in to all of her books… She has all of this stuff about nuclear power plants and underwater welding and crazy things that go beyond her normal flight attendant […]

Recent Reads | The Examiner and The Unwedding

Posted October 3, 2024 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

Janice Hallett has very quickly become an auto-buy author for me. I’m now officially caught up on all her books (sad!) because I completed her backlist before diving into her new release, THE EXAMINER. Hallett always writes in mixed media or epistolary format so you spend a lot of the initial pages wondering where all of these emails or texts or audio notes will take you. THE EXAMINER is much of the same, except for a little bit longer… It takes a while to figure out what the mystery actually is. The premise is a bunch of students are taking a Masters course in art at a college and something goes haywire, or someone goes missing, or someone dies. You don’t really know right away as the messages are just the students getting to know each other and eventually having disagreements. The story evolves into a lot of wild revelations. I’ve always thought some of Hallett’s premises are a bit far-fetched (primarily the TWYFORD CODE in some ways as well as ALPERTON ANGELS). That hasn’t affected my enjoyment of these books though, as one of them was five stars. I will admit that the EXAMINER was a bit too wild for me. It didn’t feel realistic that all of this would actually happen. I’m not saying all of my books need to be super realistic (ex: I read cozy mysteries or books like FINLAY DONOVAN where the amateur sleuth figures complex mysteries out) but with each reveal and twist, I […]